Tara Hennessy always hoped her first ride in a helicopter would be to see Hawaii from above — but getting a bird’s-eye view of her hometown was a pretty close second.
The Barrie resident took a tour on a helicopter during a visit to the city’s Winterfest on Saturday morning, telling BarrieToday it was her first time aboard a chopper.
“My dad was in the military and he was always on a plane and in helicopters, and I just never got the chance, so I thought I would take it,” she said.
Hennessy paid $90 for the approximately 10-minute flight, which she said “was amazing.”
“It was so smooth … and serene,” she said. “I actually live in a house close to the water, so it was neat to see my house from the sky. It was really amazing to see all the (ice) huts and people out and about.”
She said she planned to stick around and check out the rest of the day’s activities before walking home across the ice for the first time.
“I have never walked on the frozen lake. I’ve always been too scared, but there are so many people out there,” she said.
One of the more popular activities taking place Saturday was the lumberjack competition.
“It’s something different for people to see. There are some good jokes and it keeps the crowd entertained,” said Clarke Ellah, owner of Great Canadian Lumberjacks, who, along with his crew, was performing three times on both days of Winterfest.
The theme of this year’s Winterfest is Dino Experience, and that could be seen around Centennial Park with several ice sculptures being created by artists.
Frad Marquin was one of the ice sculptors, and he was in the midst of creating a raptor out of a big chunk of ice.
He started as a sculptor more than 30 years ago, initially learning on wood before moving to ice.
He said he enjoys making the ice sculptures, adding this was his first time making a raptor, which he figured would take him about two hours to complete.
“When you do ice sculptures, there is no practice. You have to remember all the details and sometimes they just give you a piece of paper … You just think about the design and go,” he said.
Winterfest continues Sunday. More details can be found here.
