An award-winning festival dubbed “Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge” will take place from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15 on the mall of the College of St. Benedict.
Anyone is welcome to attend the free fun-and-fitness event. It will include relays for skiing, snowshoeing and sledding; giant-sized board games played on a snow field; a cozy bonfire, cocoa and pancakes topped with maple syrup from the St. John’s woods.
Sleigh rides might also be part of the fun, weather permitting.
Last year, CSB and SJU were honored as the winners of an eight-week competition with nine other colleges in the United States. They all competed in an effort to get students and residents in their areas involved to do a wide variety of outdoor activities. The participating colleges that attracted the most active exercisers took top honors. Thus, CSB/SJU, combined, was named champion even though collectively they ranked as only the second smallest school to be chosen to compete in the Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge. The two colleges were given an astonishing 40 percent of the total points among all competitors, enough to make them easily the winners. Those who participated were students, faculty, alumni, friends, family members and others with no immediate connections to the two colleges.
The competition took place between Sept. 17-Nov. 22 last year.
The two schools won $10,000 for such items as tents, backpacks and sleeping bags that can be used for people to check out at the Outdoor Leadership Center at SJU.
Some of the money was also earmarked to help fund the Feb. 15 event on the CSB campus.
