LITH Cancels Pond Hockey Tourney Due to Weather

This week’s crazy weather pattern _ which included record warm temperatures and lots of rain _ has wrecked havoc on winter activities, including the cancelation of Lake in the Hills annual Pond Hockey tournament.

Wood Creek Lake has four inches of ice, but the Lake in the Hills Parks & Recreation Department needs the ice to reach a depth of at least eight inches, said Trevor Bosack, recreation supervisor.

The Pond Hockey tournament was scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 2. It had already been cancelled in January due to warmer weather.

“At this point, we are just going to cancel it for the year,” Bosack said.

Tuesday’s warm temperatures and the rain depleted the ice on the lake, he said.

The weather also affected the village’s two outdoor ice rinks at Sunset Park and Stoneybrook Park. The rinks are not currently up and running, he said. Ice skaters were out last weekend and public works may try to add water to freeze over the rinks for this weekend, he said.

A wind chill advisory is in effect with temperatures expected to drop 15 to 25 degrees below zero late Thursday and early Friday morning.

A lackluster winter has affected another one of LITH’s programs, the Snowman Photo contest. The region has received less than three inches of snow so far this season.

“It’s not cancelled, but we are not getting submissions,” Bosack said.

While it did snow this week, it may not have been enough to build a snowman. LITH’s deadline for the photo contest is March 1 so there is still hope.

“It’s just an open-ended program,” Bosack said, adding if at any point there’s enough snow to build a snowman, people should get a photo and enter the contest.