The Town wasn’t keeping a secret, and the Local wasn’t suppressing the news. If you didn’t know about Cornwall Community Day, you weren’t left out of the loop. The plan for the event at Ring’s Pond didn’t exist until early in the week.
It began as a fund-raiser for the Sands Ring Homestead, and quickly morphed into a free afternoon of fun. The supervisor and the other organizers picked a date that’s easy to remember.
They scheduled Community Day from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 2. It’s the same day as the Super Bowl, but football fans shouldn’t have a conflict. The Cornwall event will be over long before the opening kickoff and the start of most parties.
Community Day will be a throwback to what was once a Cornwall tradition. In a different era, there were annual skating races at Ring’s Pond as well as an assortment of activities for the whole family. And that’s what people can expect this year.
They can race or just skate on the pond. They can go sledding or hang around a bon fire. If that doesn’t keep them warm, they can walk to the Sands Ring Homestead and have hot cocoa and s’mores (toasted marshmallows on Graham crackers).
The Friends of Sands Ring will be serving the treats in the kitchen or (if that’s not safe enough) on the porch. They won’t ask for donations, but they may distribute a flyer explaining how people can help.
The Friends are one of a few organizations contributing to the day’s activities. The Greater Cornwall Chamber of Commerce is helping with the event and so is the Lions Club, which is appropriate since the Lions were responsible for the races years ago.
The Town Historian, Maryanne O’Dell, has been involved since the beginning (which wasn’t all that long ago). She and Supervisor Randy Clark developed the idea while they were discussing the restoration of the Homestead. Mr. Clark got an informal OK from his colleagues, and scheduled a special Town Board meeting for Friday at noon to discuss the arrangements.
As of midweek, it looked like the weather would cooperate. On Tuesday, the ice on the pond was six inches thick. The cold snap was expected to continue until the weekend when the temperature would rise to a balmy 35.
While that may seem like summer, this reporter turned down the supervisor’s invitation to sit in a dunking booth. That’s one thing you won’t find at the pond on Cornwall Community Day.
