Love it or hate it, winter has finally found its way back to The Heartland of New York. Actually, it is OK to have it both ways.

You can hate winter when the snowplow re-buries the entrance of the driveway you just cleaned out, or the precipitation falling out of the sky makes driving dangerous.

You can love winter when there are fun things to do outdoors in the chilly weather. For 40 years, Cooperstown has hosted its annual Winter Carnival. The event coming up this weekend will mark the 41st, with the theme "The Dog Days of Winter."

A winter celebration is nothing new for Cooperstown. Ever since the Knox School for Girls began in the early 1920s, the school put on a community winter carnival on the shore of Otsego Lake at the Otesaga Hotel, where the school occupied the grounds during the non-tourist months of the year. The Knox School was in Cooperstown until the end of the 1953-54 school year.

Finally in February 1967, a winter celebration resumed in the village. The Cooperstown Winter Carnival committee had been formed, with Joseph Canzeri as general chairman, along with Henry Phillips and Richard Jacobson as co-chairmen. The committee was formed with winter sports enthusiasts from the Cooperstown Ski Club and Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce.

One thing in common with this weekend’s events and those in 1967 is dogsledding. One can enjoy demonstrations and sled rides this weekend.

The Arctic Sled Dog Club held races during the afternoon on Sunday, Feb. 26. They started on Main Street, with five to eleven dogs per sled, and ran a 12-mile course, 10 of which were up and down Otsego Lake. The dogs raced against time rather than other teams.

The 1967 Carnival opened on Friday, Feb. 24, with a program at the Cooperstown Theater. Ski movies were shown, as well as a "Sea and Ski" fashion show with models from the Cooperstown area. A Bavarian party followed at the Hotel Pratt, under the chairmanship of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Busch Hager. Between 400 and 500 people attended.

Teens had an evening activity to attend, with a live rock ’n’ roll band at the Cooperstown Community House.

There were a wide variety of things to do on Saturday. Ski races were held Saturday morning at Mt. Otsego, a former popular ski area just north of Cooperstown. Costume skiing and an obstacle race took place Sunday afternoon.

Another Saturday morning event was the Gymkhana On Ice. The Turnpike Saab Club coordinated this race on Otsego Lake, which started in the Three Mile Point area.

One could be a baseball and snowmobile enthusiast at the same time on Saturday afternoon. At Doubleday Field, a game of baseball was played, and snowmobiles were used to get around the bases. Teams representing Cooperstown and Richfield Springs were formed.

Two dances were held on Saturday night. One could choose "The Susquehanna Ball" held at the Fenimore House, or the Winter Carnival Dance held at the Cooperstown Bowl-A-Rama.

By the end of the weekend, an estimated 10,000 visitors had come to the Carnival. The single-most attended event was the dogsled races on Sunday afternoon, which drew an estimated crowd of 6,000. Lining Main and Pioneer streets and well out onto the lake, they watched The Jones Team finish in one hour, 18 minutes in the run against time by the 22 teams entered.

Throughout the weekend, Carnival visitors enjoyed several snow sculptures created in the downtown area. Plenty of prizes and trophies were awarded to nearly all the weekend events.

The Cooperstown Winter Carnival continues to be a pleasant tradition in our region and has always taken place, whether there were spring conditions, or record-setting blizzards.

For more information about this weekend’s events, visit www.cooperstowncarnival.org.

This weekend: Former Oneontans showed pride in where they came from.

City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.