Waupaca Chamber cancels event

By Angie Landsverk

The Waupaca Pond Hockey Classic scheduled to take place Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 28-29, on Waupaca’s Mirror Lake is canceled.

“There were a couple of factors. We were a little bit low on teams to make it feasible,” said Mitch Swenson, vice president of tourism at the Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce.

Last year, nine teams participated in the event.

“Our goal was to increase that number. Unfortunately, we were at six,” he said.

Swenson said the other factor was the concern about the mushy cover on Mirror Lake, after last week’s rain and then warmer temperatures, and whether it would be feasible to develop rinks on the lake.

The Pond Hockey Committee met on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 19, and decided to cancel the event. It alerted the six teams that had signed up to participate.

This year’s Waupaca Pond Hockey Classic would have been the fifth annual event.

“Our committee will continue and regroup. We will meet again next month,” Swenson said. “We’re looking at ideas for 2018. We don’t want to drop the event.”

Among its topics for discussion will be marketing and whether the committee needs to pick a different weekend for the event, he said.
“It seems like we have had warmer temperatures the last couple years,” Swenson said.

He is in contact with the coordinators of other pond hockey events in the state and said calendars will be compared to make sure people are not being pulled in multiple directions.

While the Pond Hockey Classic will not be held this weekend, the second Fat Bike Race will still take place, Swenson said.

It will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28.

People may watch the event at the Waupaca High School Soccer Field Parking Lot, off of King Road.

In addition, the annual Candlelight Ski Hike & Snowshoe Event is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, at Hartman Creek State Park.