Grand Lake’s annual Winter Carnival was held Saturday Jan. 23 under the theme, “A Royal Celebration: Crowns, Gowns and Castles too”. Each year the popular event features multiple competitions such as teapot curling and bed sled racing. The King & Queen contest featured a total of eight couples. First place went to Laura and Don Summers, second place was awarded to Kim and Jeff Buckley and Tracey Williams and Hayden Burke took third place honors.

The Teapot Curling competition featured a total of 16 teams sweeping the ice. The Short & Stout team walked away with a first place finish, Team Harvey finished in second place and the King Phipps team took home third place. The Queens team was voted best-dressed competitors for Teapot Curling.

The ever popular Bed Sled Races featured a total of six teams this year. The MP Wrestlers took the top spot in 2016 followed by the Pancho & Lefty’s team and rounding out the top three was the Grand Lake Fire Department team. The Bucky Beavers were awarded the Best Dressed Team award for the Bed Sled Races.

A Snow Sculpture competition was held throughout the day with judging conducted at 3 p.m. the afternoon of the carnival. There were a total of 12 sculptures judged for the competition. The Hub’s sculpture was awarded first place. The Never Summer team took the first runner-up spot and Pancho & Lefty’s team was awarded third place. The Whispering Pines team was recognized with Honorable Mention designation.

The Best Costume competition featured 12 individual contestants. First place in the Costume competition went to Carnival King and Queen Laura and Don Summers. Samantha Miller and Shawn Bruegger took second place honors as “Marie Antoinette and her Executioner” and Terry Parker and Dale Williams were awarded third place for costumes as “Prince George and Princess Charlotte”.

The Human Bowling event featured 24 adult and six kids teams. First place in the adult category went to Team Dancing Turkey. Team Owl was the second place finisher and Team Iron Meeses came in third. Team Candy Strike took the first place award in the kids division.

The Hole-in-One Snow Golf contest was especially popular this year with approximately 150 contestants. The Parent/Child Sled Pull featured five teams competing and the Kids Snowshoe Steeplechase race tallied 28 child contestants. The Kids Snowman Contest featured 18 snowman entries and 200 people attended the Masquerade Ball held at the end of the night.

Event organizers wish to thank everyone for their support and participation.