THUNDER BAY – Gammondale Farm held its first sleigh ride of the season on Saturday, much later than normal for the much-loved annual activity.
Gammondale Farm’s Sleigh rides have been a staple of wintertime fun in Thunder Bay for many years but this year’s rides couldn’t start until mid-January due to lack of snow throughout the end of 2023.
“We’ve never had it happen before that the first rides of the year are on January 13th, but we finally have snow. That’s the big part of the sleigh ride business, right?” said Sue Gammond, owner of the farm. “We were talking to a few people this week actually who are missing the snow that was very late coming.”
The first rides of the year went to the kids with the Youth Move Program who, by sheer chance, booked Saturday for their group members back in the late autumn.
“People want to book birthday parties and groups like church groups or the cadets are going to bring 70 cadets out one evening,” said Gammond. “But the Youth Move people have been on pins and needles because they booked this sleigh ride in October. So, they’ve been praying for snow and it came true.
Getting things ready for the hundreds of sleigh riders coming through is no easy task and Gammond said she’s very thankful for the staff who come out year after year to help.
“It’s a great community of workers here and we have so much fun,” said Cassidy Williamson “It’s not really working (to us), we’re coming here and we’re having fun and we’re playing with the horses and we’re cleaning up the cabin.”
Sleigh rides will continue as long as there is snow, to find out more or to book your own ride, visit the Gammondale Farm website
