Winter Carnival kick off a success

Mother nature may not have cooperated, but residents and visitors were out and about enjoying some of the Winter Carnival events held Saturday, Jan. 27. Other events are planned for Feb. 10.The 2018 Winter Warm-up 5K enjoyed its second running through the streets of Syracuse Saturday morning. The event had 55 runners take off from the old Syracuse Elementary School and partake on a road course through downtown Syracuse, first heading to Shrock Park, following to uptown and back down toward the village before returning to the school.Landing in first place overall was Mark Farkis, who finished the course at 19:40, narrowly beating Samuel Murray by two seconds. The top female was Stephanie Burkholder, who finished the course at 26:45.Syracuse Public Library was abuzz as visitors enjoyed chili, soup and a book sale. Several stopped by after the race to fuel up.This was the third year for the Polar Plunge at Oakwood. This year, not only was Oakwood hosting, it organized this year’s event raising $700 for the Turkey Creek Fire Territory. Five teams participated along with a host of individuals, all running down Oakwood’s beach into the icy waters of Lake Wawasee, which did have skim of ice on it.