Residents of Maple Grove, Minnesota, found the winter much less enjoyable this year, thanks to the scarcity of snow that turned popular sledding pastimes into nothing more than wishful thinking. The lack of fluffy white prompted a community call to action. Maple Grove Parks and Recreation sought to ensure the future is brighter—or rather, whiter—for sledders by asking for sled donations for the new Sled Shed at the Gleason Fields sledding hill.
The call to arms, issued on the city's Facebook page, asked residents to donate gently used sleds by dropping them off at the Maple Grove Community Center front desk. They boldly assumed that nature, having skimped on snow this year, would provide amply next season, with the audacious optimism that there can't be two years of almost no snow in a row.
The sentiment was rooted in an earnest desire to reclaim the joys of winter, as evidenced by a photo of better times, titled "Winter fun time," shot by local T. Khan, and once submitted to a city photography contest.
Embracing a proactive approach, the community is stashing away sledding gear, with residents eyeing the skies and anticipating the next bout of snowfall hopefully. This combined effort is an attempt to safeguard a cherished cold-weather tradition, even as the last winter failed to deliver snow sufficient to support sledding. After a bust of a season, there is a communal resolve that next year, the sleds, gathered by the community and stored in the Sled Shed, will not merely gather dust.
