The Idaho Falls Sister Cities Youth Delegation is gearing up for its annual Winter Carnival & SlitherFest set for Saturday, Dec. 29 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Joe Marmo/Wayne Lehto Ice Rink at Tautphaus Park. The event is one of the delegation’s four major fundraisers.
Admission is $5, which includes free ice skating lessons from 11 a.m. to noon, open skating from noon to 4 p.m., hot dogs, chips and drinks. Attendees can also expect corn-hole games and Japanese activities. Additional support for the event comes from the city’s Parks & Rec department.
As an additional entertaining spectacle, there will also be an ICE Bocce Tournament (no skating involved). According to event organizers, it’s easy to learn, consisting of 32 teams with 2-4 players per team. Teams will play a minimum of three games with the winners playing a championship round.
As a subset of the Idaho Falls Sister Cities (an organization dedicated to furthering the intercultural understanding between citizens of the United States and the citizens of Japan), the organization supports youth from Idaho Falls and the surrounding area as they set out for Tokai-Mura -- Idaho Falls’ designated Sister City. The youth groups alternate years with the visit taking place late July to August. During odd-numbered years, Japanese Students visit here, and during even-numbered years, the U.S. Students go to Tokai-Mura.
Work credit points are earned by participating in fundraisers and attending monthly meetings. Students going to Japan will need to pay for any airfare not covered by work credit points and bring shopping money. Participants also pay yearly fees of $25 per student, or $35 per family. The Tokai-Mura organization pays for food and entertains the students while they are in Tokai-Mura.
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