Crystal Lake hosts 2nd annual Winterfest

Posted 2/20/19

The second annual Winter Fest was held Monday by Scenic Hudson to bring attention to Crystal Lake. Shuttles were set up at various locations around the City for residents to visit the lake and take …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Crystal Lake hosts 2nd annual Winterfest

Posted

The second annual Winter Fest was held Monday by Scenic Hudson to bring attention to Crystal Lake. Shuttles were set up at various locations around the City for residents to visit the lake and take in the scenery.

“This event is to bring people to the sight, that is underutilized,” said Anthony Coneski, Parks Event and Volunteer Coordinator. “Last year we opened up the park, we created a gateway and an area for people to use.”

The event was a collaboration with different members of the community. It was hosted by Scenic Hudson in collaboration with businesses in the community volunteering their time and resources for the event.


The Armory Unity Center, City of Newburgh Recreation Department, Merakey, and NFA P-tech, helped with the decorations, painting snowflakes that were hung up around the area.

Hasina Grice, the owner of Perfect Sweets, donated her time and 400 mini pastries for community members.

“I was asked by Scenic Hudson to do this event,” said Grice. “It’s nice to participate in something to get people to come out and enjoy the city.”

Blacc Vanilla Cafe donated enough coffee and hot chocolate for 200 people, with milk provided by Dutchess Creamery.

Community Members could pick do arts and crafts with Outdoor Promise, go snowshoeing with Mountain Top Outfitters, or go on a fat bike demonstration with Wheel and Heel.

“People are so excited about the bikes,” said Ed Madden, Owner of Wheel and Heel. “I think for some folks it’s their first time on a mountain bike. It’s a really positive thing.”

Crystal Lake is a hidden gem in Newburgh that Scenic Hudson hopes to highlight and bring publicity to with events like these. The event brought in over 200 people throughout the day. Community members sipped hot chocolate, danced to the music and took in the scenery sitting around a campfire put together by Scenic Hudson.

Councilman Bob Sklarz is looking to make the presence of the Lake known by putting together a resolution for signage in the area.

“What I noticed about Newburgh is when you go place to place you see people volunteering to make Newburgh the special place that it is,” said Sklarz. “This is a really nice event, it’s great that they offer transportation to get people here. I am going to put up a resolution to get signage to make this place more known.”

If you would like to visit Crystal Lake it is located at 100 Temple Rd, Newburgh. The area is open all year long with trails to walk around the lake.