HANOVER — After 25 years, the annual Occom Pond Party has been canceled indefinitely due to unreliable weather conditions.

The event, which includes ice skating, ice sculptures, a snow castle, sleigh rides and cold weather-based activities, is hosted by the Hanover Parks and Recreation Department. It traditionally takes place the second weekend of February as a family-friendly alternative to Dartmouth College’s annual Winter Carnival.

“We’ve decided this event isn’t viable,” said Liz Burdette, assistant director of the department. “Without predictable winter weather, the challenges become insurmountable.”

Rescheduling it to earlier in the season wasn’t considered, as it has always taken place the same weekend as the carnival. The event started out as a multi-day celebration focusing on winter games before becoming a one-day celebration that also featured food, music, a parade and sugar-on-snow.

Canceled last year due to the pandemic, the Occom Pond Party took place for the last time in 2020. Just 1½ hours before it was scheduled to start, the ice on the pond was deemed unsafe.

“The pond was off limits, so that morning we had to reconfigure the entire event and figure out how to make it happen all on land, which was a challenge for sure,” Burdette said.

In 2019, it was moved back a day due to rain. Activities went on as planned — to a degree.

“Snow sculptures and an ice castle don’t fare well in the rain, so it wasn’t the same level of event after the warm weather and the rain,” Burdette said. “There was a lot of melting that year.”

In 2018, there was barely any snow: Sculptures were made using snow and ice shavings that came from after the ice on the pond was planed.

“We were able to scrape together a couple snow sculptures … but it wasn’t enough to build what we would normally do,” Burdette said.

In 2017, the Occom Pond Party went on as planned, but in 2016 it had been canceled because there wasn’t any snow or ice. The parks and recreation staff started to discuss what to do about the party in November, when planning typically starts. They spoke to Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin and other members of the community.

The decision, Burdette emphasized, was not made lightly. But with limited staff resources, planning for an event that routinely had to be canceled or greatly adjusted, the challenges became too much to handle.

“It was really, really sad to cancel this event,” Burdette said. “It’s been our keystone event for so many years.”

Staff are working to plan other family-friendly events to take its place, including movie nights.

“In deciding to cancel this event, it does open new opportunities for events moving forward,” Burdette said.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.

]]>