Sled riding bash at Breitenbach Vineyards welcomes snow to the Valley

  • by Jennifer Kneuss
  • January 23, 2012
  • 387
                        
Summary: Winter sport enthusiasts were delighted to (finally) get a solid layer of snow in the Tuscarawas Valley last weekend. Breitenbach Vineyards seized the opportunity to host a community sled riding party. “Sled riding is my thing to do ever since I was a little kid. I’ve been waiting for this snow to happen, just so I could get the sled out and go down the hills!” exclaimed Renee Yenny delightedly as she made her way uphill for yet another ride down a gentle slope on the grounds of Breitenbach Vineyards. Yenny, along with many other snow enthusiasts, was delighted to finally have a respectable amount of the white, fluffy stuff descend on the Valley over the weekend. “I’m here to sled ride and have a good time,” added the Strasburg resident. “I like to snow ski as well, and was in a ski club in high school. This is a little safer, now that I’m 40. No snowboarding, though,” she laughed. The Yenny family heard about the event through Facebook. “This sled riding festival came together like 24 hours in advance,” commented Jennifer Kohler of the January 21 impromptu event. Kohler, whose family owns the vineyard, was bundled against the cold under the clear, starry skies, and wore a big smile as she viewed all of the families enjoying themselves. “This is the absolute, quickest festival ever put together!” “We’ve got food, sled, fire – everything we need to have a good time,” said Wade Yenny. “I love sled riding. We’ve gone down pretty fast. Of course, I’m going down on my stomach, so I’m getting snow in my face. I’m blind by the time I get to the bottom of the hills. It’s fun, and it’s great! The walk back up isn’t that bad, either. It’s good exercise, and we get excited to go down again. Renee is bound to throw a few people out of her way on the way down. She’s a little feisty,” he teased, grinning at his wife. The Hallman family was also bundled against the cold and were joining in the fun. “I love the snow, and so do the kids. It gives us an opportunity to get outdoors and play. It’s a good hill out here, and good exercise. I’d much rather have snow than heat,” admitted Michelle Hallman as she waved to her husband, James, and children Noah, 12, Naomi, 6, and Niall, 3 to stop by the roaring bonfire to warm up before they attempted another run down the hill. “We heard about this through Facebook. We come to all the festivals and other events out here anyway.” “I love sledding,” commented Kohler. “This is our first ever sledding party bash, up in the vineyards of Breitenbach’s. Hopefully this will be a yearly tradition. We’ve got the sleds, a bonfire, hot beverages, and donuts. We’ve also got entertainment, with Scott Paris from Canton on guitar. Since this is going to be an annual thing, in the future we are thinking of doing it bigger and better and getting into the winter festival type mode. We’d like to have ice sculptures and other neat ideas. My dad was just thinking this would be a fun opportunity to open up the land to some people who are curious and wanted to come up and see what this is all about. We are planning on having more festivals in the future, and hopefully utilize this wonderful stage that has seen so many great entertainers play here over the years. We have big plans coming up, so tonight we’re kind of getting our feet wet. We try to make everything we do at Breitenbach, from the Dandelion Festival to the dog show, a family event. We want a fun, wholesome atmosphere.” “I want to open this up for community events, and this sledding party is a great way to start,” stated Kohler’s father, Duke Bichsel, the owner of the 12,000 vine Vineyard. “We hope to have some concerts out here in the future, and do other things where families can come together and have a good time.”


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