By Lee Kling

WINTER has suddenly struck York in an instant, from 70 degrees to nearly freezing seemingly within one night. Along with that comes the bare gray skies with no more colorful leaves, York College is trying to change the gloomy season and bring in more traditions for the holidays on campus. 

On Tuesday Nov. 29, the college will hold its second annual Winterfest from 5 to 10 p.m. This year a big new tradition is being introduced: ice skating on the main campus tennis courts from 7 to 10  p.m. Students will have the opportunity to ice skate on the old tennis courts under the lights, although it’s not the ice you were expecting. 

“Its not necessarily ice, it’s a synthetic rink and I believe they had this on campus years and years ago.” Cindi Reisinger, senior executive assistant to the president, said.

A company will be coming in to set up the synthetic rink that day at 4 p.m. Reisinger mentioned that students are looking for more traditions on campus and the thought of ice skating was intriguing. “A lot of colleges kick off winter and we wanted to build off that,” she emphasized.

Her response to the question about the goals of Winterfest can be heard in the audio below.

Other activities will be available to students throughout the night such as the welcoming and “flip the switch,” celebration tables and activities in the student union, and a bonfire to end the night. 

“November in Pennsylvania is kinda depressing, leaves are gone, it’s gray, and it gets cold,” Reisinger said. The goal for York College is to provide the students with something that can keep positive attitudes despite the weather turning colder and finals approaching. 

They also plan to decorate main campus with many Christmas lights as well as decorating the fountain with the YCP letters lit up. The president will be there to have a ceremonial unveiling of the lights to kick off the night around 5:30.  

The event will also have different tables set up around the area with information and food from many different cultures. Students will have the opportunity to collect stamps from all the tables. Those who get stamps from every table will be entered in a raffle with the chance to win gift baskets.

As of now this event is just for students, but it was mentioned that in the future that the college would like to include families and friends in the events.

All students who plan to attend the event need to register online; emails were sent out to students with a link to register. Students who do register will receive a Winterfest tote bag with the logo on the side while supplies last. There are opportunities all throughout the night to win prizes, eat food, and make good memories.

Lee Kling is a senior majoring in Criminology

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