The second Winterfest, an annual fundraiser at the Glenview Community Ice Center, drew an estimated 500 to 1,000 people to the Glenview Community Ice Center (1851 Landwehr Road) on Jan. 20 in Glenview.
Saturday’s Winterfest benefited the Glenview Park Foundation. According https://www.glenviewparkfoundation.org/, since its inception in 1996, the Glenview Park Foundation has raised more than $2.3 million via private and public donations plus fundraising events.
Winterfest helps, “to showcase this tremendous facility,” said Kevin Christell of Glenview, Glenview Park Foundation president.
The event causes, “people who don’t normally come here (to) say, ‘Hey, this is part of our park district.’
“It is state of the art,” Christell added about the Glenview Community Ice Center.
The Glenview Community Ice Center reopened in September 2020. On a Jan. 20 Saturday where snow was visible through tall atrium windows, people were attracted to the front entrance fireplace which features artwork reaching to the ceiling.
The Under the Stars fireplace sculpture is by artist Elisa Boughner and was funded by the Glenview Park Foundation. Winterfest proceeds help to fund camp and programming scholarships as examples.
“We’re trying to make Glenview as good as it can be through recreation,” Christell said.
The schedule included family skating and Rink A high school competition hockey featuring Glenbrook South High School of Glenview and Saint Viator High School of Arlington Heights.
Jimmy Philbin Jr. of Glenview, of the 2012 Class of Glenbrook South High School, is head coach of the Glenbrook South High School varsity blue hockey team.
Winterfest is, “outstanding,” Philbin said.
Philbin is, “a former player at Glenbrook South so it means so much to be able to coach a group like this.
“These guys have brought it all year and we’re having a great year and looking forward to state playoffs,” Philbin added.
There was also the Glenview Stars versus the St. Louis Sting game in Rink B.
“We’ve been able to partner with Glenbrook South Titan Hockey Club and the Glenview Stars Hockey Association to kind of build in some popular hockey games and then add some other community events too,” said Brian Montgomery, ice center general manager.
“We’ve just got more community feel to the event as we’re kind of continuing to grow.
“It feels like we’ve just kind of found a spot where we’re able to make a lot of our relationships work to build up a great cause from the park foundation and raising money for underprivileged families and kids,” Montgomery said.
“That’s what we’re here for.”
A figure skating exhibition was offered for the first time at Winterfest. Solomon Bristol, 18, of Wheeling and a senior at Wheeling High School, skated to the song “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.”
Of the solo routine, “I picked the music myself, I edited it, I choreographed it, it’s completely self made, I’m very proud of it,” said Bristol, who coaches at the Glenview Community Ice Center.
“I love it here,” Bristol added about the Glenview Community Ice Center as his teaching and training center.
Winterfest is, “a great opportunity for skaters to see all what’s out there, what’s possible,” Bristol said. “I think it is really important to show that you can do all this cool stuff if you just keep at it, keep practicing.
“It will help get people into skating and help people stay in skating which is the ultimate goal.
“We want to get more people into hockey, we want to get more people into figure skating,” Bristol said. “We want both of our sports to grow because at the end of the day, we love the ice.”
Numerous giveaways included lip balm, trinkets and lollipops offered by Glenview Bank & Trust, a Wintrust community bank.
“The most, most important part of what we do here, we’re here for the community,” said Veronika Yankov of Northbrook, the bank’s branch manager.
Visiting the Glenview Bank & Trust table were Adam and Kathleen Wilson of Wilmette and their children Brayden, 4, and Connor, 6, a kindergartner.
“They have a lot of different things to offer for the family,” Kathleen Wison said of Winterfest.
“It’s really nice that the community puts this together,” Adam Wilson said. “It’s a great turnout today.”
Andrew and Jamie Given of Glenview took ice rink bumper car rides as a family with children Zach, 7, a first-grader, and Claire, 9, a fourth-grader.
“We love Glenview, it’s such a great community,” Jamie Given said.
Andrew Burks and Chihua Ma, new to Glenview, experienced ice skating with their children Mina, 1, and Lucas, 3.
Lucas wore new hockey gear and it was Mina’s first time skating.
“This is fun,” Andrew Burks said. “It’s a great event.
“We’re excited to have something like this in the community.”
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
