Winter is dreaded by some, beloved by others and inevitable to all. With dropping temperatures that usher in snow squalls and harsher weather, wintertime in the borough has taken many
forms throughout the years. Skating, sledding and Detwiller’s frozen fountain are some iconic winter scenes in Hellertown.
The fountain in Hellertown’s Detwiller Plaza attracts a lot of attention when it is entombed in ice, as typically happens when the area receives a cold snap. (Credit: Helen Behe)
Now, in early December, one can’t help but remember past winters and look forward to the activities of the coming months.
In the years of Pennsylvania’s colder winters, the Heller-Wagner Grist Mill’s pond was a popular place for ice skating. Originally, the Grist Mill had two ponds, one higher and one lower. While the higher and larger pond was never opened for skating, the smaller and lower pond, located near West Walnut Street, was occasionally flooded by the fire department during winters and frozen for the residents to go ice skating. The community event drew people of all ages and allowed them to enjoy the crisp weather together. Skating at the Grist Mill was a tradition that continued for decades, but eventually had to be ended due to safety concerns with unstable ice and issues with maintenance. Today, the location of the lower pond is a grass-covered field used for special events and parking. Though the lower pond is no longer open for skating, the Grist Mill continues to host community events during the cold months. Be sure to stop by the Mill this Sunday, Dec. 15 for the annual Shopping at the Mill and Santa’s Visit! From noon to 4 p.m., photos with Santa will be available for children, local artisans will sell their crafts and the Hellertown Historical Society Train Engineers will have their locomotive display running.
Another staple outdoor wintertime activity, sledding used to be a borough-wide affair. Following snowstorms, kids would hike their sleds over to the Silver Creek Golf Course to try out the slopes across from Lost River Caverns. The golf course, with its smooth and numerous hills, was transformed into a winter wonderland after just a few inches of snow. Silver Creek was not the only popular place to sled; Tobias Drive and Magnolia Road, which both run adjacent to Dimmick Park, also had excellent streets for sledding. The roads were barricaded to traffic and people were free to use them for tobogganing. Nowadays, the Dimmick Park hills across from the Hellertown Area Library are popular spots to take your sled after a fresh snowfall. The park’s wide baseball fields, ideal for rolling snowballs, are also home to many snowmen in the days following a storm.
Sometimes the best part of winter is how it beautifies the borough. Though not an activity itself, a sight very familiar to locals or those passing through town is the 1940s-era fountain at Detwiller Plaza. During wintertime cold snaps, the Plaza’s fountain slowly transforms into a three-layered cake of ice. Sometimes the frosting gets a little color too, as the lights at the fountain’s base turn the ice sculpture kaleidoscopic in the evenings. Finding the fountain ice in various states of frozen or melted decay provides for some fun shape-watching, but it is prettiest when completely solid. When the next cold snap hits, drive or walk to the Plaza in the evening for a good chance at seeing the fountain frozen and illuminated.
As the years come and go, winter in Hellertown acquires and retires different traditions. Sledding moves to different hills, the fountain gains some color and the Grist Mill swaps its skating for a bit of holiday cheer. No matter the location or activity, the borough is always a place to enjoy wintertime with others and make lasting memories.
Helen Behe is an MFA candidate at DeSales University, where she is studying through the program’s poetry track for a degree in creative writing and publishing. Aside from her studies, Helen enjoys gardening, boxing and rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles. She is a resident of Bethlehem. Read more of Helen’s Then & Now series here.
