Get ready to celebrate winter.

The annual Glenwood Winterama is set for this Saturday, Feb. 11, outside on Lake Minnewaska near the Lakeside Ballroom.  

The event, organized each year by Glenwood & Beyond as a fundraiser for its activities, will resume with many of the popular activities that have become associated with Winterama. The event will feature outside activities on the lake in front of Lakeside Ballroom and also feature some inside activities like the Chili Cookoff, face painting and kids games.  The annual celebration will again feature the “Polar Plunge,” the Chili Cookoff and fireworks over Lake Minnewaska, according to Kim Agre, who represents Glenwood & Beyond.

Many of the activities for Winterama will take place on the lake or at Lakeside Ballroom, but again this year the evening activities will take place at Captains Bar & Grill, where there will be drawings for prizes and fireworks at 7 p.m.

Outside activities this year will again include the kick sleds for children, an event that has been sponsored by the Sons of Norway since the beginning of Winterama.  New this year will be snow activities because there is adequate snow cover, Agre explained.  The outside activities will include snow piles that can be used to make snow sculptures.  There will be a bigger pile of snow for climbing and there will be a token hunt in another snow pile.  Children can dig and hunt for tokens in the snow pile.  Those tokens can be redeemed for prizes, according to Agre.  

The inside activities will include kids art projects, face painting and a scavenger hunt for two different age groups.

The Chili Cookoff is always popular as local groups compete to provide the best chili.  The Chili Cookoff is from noon until 2:30 p.m. at Lakeside Ballroom.  Chili feed wristbands will be for sale starting at noon.  The Chili Cookoff awards ceremony will begin at 2:30 p.m.

After the Chili Cookoff awards, spectators can move outside for the annual Polar Plunge, which is a fundraiser for the summer Waterama celebration.

After the Polar Plunge, activities will move to Captains Bar & Grill where prizes will be drawn for the Bobber and Premiere raffles at 6:30 p.m.  Fire works will begin over Lake Minnewaska outside of Captains Bar & Grill at 7 p.m.  There will be a DJ from 8 p.m. until midnight at Captains.  

All activities are made possible by local volunteers and those attending are encouraged to purchase raffle tickets that will be available throughout the day.  Funds from the raffle this year will go to help finance a permanent sailboat structure at the node along Lake Minnewaska at the west end of Minnesota Avenue and North Lakeshore Drive.  Glenwood & Beyond is hoping to have the permanent structure installed by this summer, Agre said.  There are two raffles, the bobber raffle for $2 and the Premier raffle for $20 per ticket.  The Premier raffle tickets can be purchased before the event at Palmer Creations in Glenwood or during the activities on Saturday.  The drawings for the raffle will be at 6:30 p.m. at Captains Bar & Grill.

Take the ‘Polar Plunge’

What is more Minnesotan than jumping into a frozen lake?

That’s exactly what many area residents do when they take the “plunge” into Lake Minnewaska.  The activity attracts jumpers and many spectators and will again be held on the lake in front of Lakeside Ballroom in Glenwood.  This year, the Polar Plunge will start at 3 p.m. in front of Lakeside Ballroom . 

Those who want to jump need to register for the event.   

The Winterama event is a major fundraiser for Glenwood’s annual Waterama summer celebration.  

To register, contact 2023 Waterama Vice Commodore Sarah Iverson at 320-424-1745 or email her at sarahbiverson@gmail.com. 

Jumpers will be given an information letter, a pledge form and a liability release form; jumpers are asked to raise, at minimum, $150 for the plunge, although a person can raise more or less and still jump. All money raised at the Polar Plunge goes toward Glenwood’s annual Waterama celebration held each July. Performing a skit or dressing up for the plunge is encouraged, but jumpers are asked to keep the content family friendly. Jumpers must be 16 years old and older. Polar Plunge registration is open now through Feb. 8.

Winterama schedule of events

•Shop Hop (specials at local retailers during retail hours0

•Minnewaska FFA ice fishing tournament TBA

•Kid’s games on Lake Minnewaska near Lakeside Ballroom from noon until 2:30 p.m.

•Kids art, scavenger hunt and face painting inside at Lakeside Ballroom starting at noon until 2:30 p.m.

•Chili Cookoff Inside Lakeside Ballroom is from noon until 2:30 and wristbands will be sold starting a noon. Followed by the Chili Cookoff awards ceremony at 2:30 p.m.

•Waterama Polar Plunge starts at 3 p.m.

Captains Bar & Grill Meat Raffle from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m.

Food and Drink specials at Captains Bar & Grill 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

•Prizes for Bobber and Premier Ticket Raffles will take Captains Bar & Grill at 6:30 p.m.

•Fireworks over Lake Minnewaska outside of Captains Bar & Grill will start at 7 p.m. 

•DJ at Captains Bar & Grill from 7:30 p.m. until 11:30 p.m.