This weekend, Sioux Falls received its first taste of the winter season. The community did not waste any time getting into snow time activities.
On Saturday night, Sioux Falls received just under three inches of snow. This winter season started off drastically different from previous seasons. Last year, Sioux Falls had a late start to its winter, not getting its first major snowfall until early January. In the last five years, this is the first time that Sioux Falls has received a significant snowfall in November.
Not only was this the first snowfall of the year, but it was an early glimpse into the winter months to come. With this large snowfall, many chilly activities like sledding and building snowmen are finally back. Many families and teenagers alike did not waste any time getting into their favorite winter pastimes. Eager children were outside early on Saturday morning making the most of the snowy surprise. Snowmen, sledders and snow angels were scattered throughout the town.
“[This weekend I have been] snowboarding and building snowboarding ramps. … [My favorite memory this season was] hitting a 180 [degree spin] off of a rail yesterday,” said Isaac VanRoekel, an eighth grader at Patrick Henry Middle School.
With the large pre-season snowfall, VanRoekel made sure to make the most of this rare opportunity. VanRoekel is dedicated to his craft as a snowboarder and utilized this weekend to get a head start on the season. He wasted no time in getting involved in the winter fun and was at Spellerberg Park early in the afternoon on Saturday ready to snowboard. With a little hard work and skill, he created ramps of snow with his friends and began to shake the rust off of his snowboarding skills. Even though this was just a short preview into this winter, VanRoekel was able to make meaningful memories with his best buddies over this short look into the winter to come.
On Saturday morning, filled with the Christmas spirit, many children began to go back to their favorite Christmas traditions and activities.
“My son woke me up on Saturday morning and made me watch ‘A Christmas Story’ with him. [He was saying that] it is basically Christmas,” said Xavier Pastrano, a LHS English teacher.
Even though this weekend was just a short look into the winter season to come, Sioux Falls made sure to take advantage of this snowfall and made memories that will last a lifetime.
