Sadie Ellis climbed into her pink castle, complete with turrets and towers and shimmering white ribbons.
She certainly looked like a princess, all decked out in her pink parka, sheer white skirt over pink snow pants, purple boots and, of course, a tiara perched atop her head.
The 5-year-old Skowhegan girl waited in line at the top of the hill with other entrants in the sled box derby held Saturday at the 23rd annual Lake George Regional Park Winter Carnival.
After someone gave Sadie’s Castle a push, she sailed down the snowy incline in her castle, her mother, Amy Ashbrook-Ellis; father, Derek Ellis; and grandmother, Connie Higgs; cheering her on.
“She’s all about the princess in pink,” said Derek Ellis, the park’s ranger.
Like her granddaughter, Higgs, of Madison, also was wearing a tiara.
“Sadie brought it for her little friend, but she never showed up,” Higgs said. “She was going to ride with her.”
Sadie was one of 41 children who entered the sled box derby on the east, or Skowhegan side, of the lake. Participants in the derby rode in sleds created from cardboard boxes.
There was a train-shaped sled, an aqua and white-colored skate-shaped sled, green army tank, a multi-colored hot air balloon and a horse-drawn carriage. There was even a sled shaped like a shark. Alex Smith, 6, of Canaan, flew down the hill in his black, red and yellow cardboard tractor with big pipes.
“Good job, Alex!” his grandmother, Diana Smith, of Cornville, shouted.
Sadie emerged the winner in the Best-Looking Sled category, which netted her a trophy. Thirteen other trophies were given in that category as well as awards for most creative, longest slide and best crash sleds.
“It was fun!” Sadie crooned after she finished.
Her nose and cheeks as pink as her parka, she said she slides a lot at home, so she wasn’t scared about competing.
Her mother said she and the family spent two days creating the castle, which is what Sadie wanted.
“We copied a princess boogie board,” Amy Ashbrook-Ellis said. “This is the first year we made a sled. We have come and watched in previous years.”
Elsewhere at the sunny, snowy carnival, dozens of colorful ice shacks dotted the frozen lake for the annual ice fishing derby. For the first time, the carnival was holding a competition for the best ice fishing shack on the lake.
The Wesserunsett Arts Council performed ice sculpture demonstrations, people of all ages were skiing and snowshoeing and a chili cook-off was hosted over an open fire.
Park Director Jeff McCabe, who arrived at the lake between 4 and 5 a.m. when it was about 16 degrees below zero, said he expected more than 1,000 people would attend the carnival before the day was over.
Just before noon, the parking lots were full of vehicles and people were still entering the park.
“It’s a great turnout,” McCabe said. “It’s always nice to see such a great turnout.”
Many people helped to make the carnival a success. Stanley Ames, of Canaan, and his grandson, Peter Clark, used a front-end loader to move snow around the grounds. David Daigneault, a Skowhegan police officer and cub master for Cub Scout Pack 403, organized the box sled competition. Inside the crowded warming hut, Larry Goldsmith, scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 403, sold hot dogs and other treats with help from volunteers.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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