The idea of Winterfest came to us on plane ride in September of 08’ after interviewing former Olympian Scott Hamilton at his Nashville residence. During the dialogue we had asked Scott about the possibility of returning to his hometown of Bowling Green, Ohio. He mentioned that the upcoming February 2009 marked the 25th anniversary of winning a gold medal at 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics. Additionally, that he had already been thinking about the idea of a fundraising event to benefit the BGSU College of Business Dallas-Hamilton Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Hence we decided to take a listless winter weekend in northern Ohio and turn it around into a lively celebration made up of a host of cool events! Accordingly, we should adorn our streets with ice sculptures. We could create a plethora of winter games and festivities for both kids and adults. Let’s warm things up with a chili cook off, special citywide menu items including hot soups and drinks and live entertainment in our local clubs. Moreover let us organize a citywide price freeze clearance sale at area retailers.

But what makes Winterfest truly special, we believe, is that the entire weekend pays homage to the skating heritage our community has come to enjoy. Each major event is an actual fundraising event to help support local youth skating and hockey clubs as well as variety of beneficial organizations. There are all kinds of things that you can participate in, or just go and check out. So this February 19-21, 2010; grab your hat and gloves and get out and enjoy this inaugural Winterfest!