Snowfall sets a Christmas Eve mood

BROWN COUNTY - At the Suamico Elementary School sledding hill Monday, the falling snow was just enough to make even the unconventional sleds fast.

“I don't know, it's some kind of snowmobile sled, we've had it for years,” explained Clate Bub of Sobieski. “I don't even know where we got it, or when we got it.”

But it still works?

“Yeah, works real good.”

Bub's 10-year-old son Drake is king of the hill.

“We'll it's like really fast, you can turn and stuff on it,” Drake Bub said.

And just down the road, dozens of cross country skiers hit the trail at the Brown County Reforestation Camp.

“When you get the snow coming down, it just reminds you when you were a kid. Christmas and days gone by. It's just a good feeling, and it just puts you in the spirit of Christmas,” Paul Jaffe of Freedom said.

The Ashwaubenon High School Nordic Ski team was in the spirit.

“Every Christmas Eve, we ski out into the woods and decorate a tree, bring in old ornaments and then we do a back-country ski in the woods,” assistant coach Catherine Egelhoff said.

Much too far for this reporter to hike.

“It's past the little lodge picnic house out there, go up the next little hill, and it's on the right,” Egelhoff explained.

A snowball fight between friends rounded off the event.

“This is an awesome way to spend the holiday,” Egelhoff said. “For skiers, what could be better? It's snowing out, we're out here skiing, doing what we love to do.”

And there were new traditions as well. Two year-old Renee De Roy got her first taste of Christmas snow.

“We came up north to see the family, drove all the way - 13 hours from Overland Park, Kan. - on Friday, just to spend the holidays with the family,” Renee’s father Jo said.

And with a fresh coat of snow, De Roy says it couldn't get any better.

“It just makes you want to hunker down, enjoy some hot chocolate with the kids, and tell stories by the fire.”

The snow was just enough to allow some snowmobile trails in our area to open. In Brown County, conditions are variable, but Zone 6 opened Monday morning. Riders are urged to check the county's website for conditions before heading out.