OLD ORCHARD BEACH — While a lot of people and organizations coordinated to make Old Orchard Beach’s Winter Carnival a reality over the weekend, perhaps the biggest contributor was Mother Nature herself.

The main feature of the annual event ”“ a giant snow hill extending down the natural slope of Old Orchard Street ”“ needs a healthy dose of the fine, white powder to be a viable attraction. In past years, when accumulation was paltry, the snow had to be trucked in from other locations.

This year was different, said Sharri MacDonald.

A member of OOB365, an organization dedicated to promoting year-round business and tourism in the popular seaside town, MacDonald said that constructing the snow hill was a much simpler endeavor this year.

“Since we’ve had so much snow, Public Works just plowed it toward the middle of the road,” said MacDonald. “We were blessed. Mother Nature took care of us.”

A series of pummeling storms has conspired to make it a difficult winter for many in Maine and elsewhere this season, but on Saturday, it all seemed worth it to the children who lined up at the head of the slide. A handful of younger children looked nervous as they approached the drop, eyeing a long, downward trajectory made faster by the sleek sheen of hard-packed snow; but once gravity took hold, squeals of delight echoed off the facades of buildings along the closed-off stretch of road.

Some children, like young Olivia Garland, took comfort in the arms of parents who rode the hill with them.

“We’ve known about it for a while, and we finally decided to make the trek down,” said Colleen Garland, watching as her husband, Scott, rode in a sled with their daughter. “I think it’s awesome, especially when you have little kids. With a winter like this, there’s only so much you can do.”

Holding their youngest daughter, Tessa, Garland smiled and said she’d had a chance to go down the hill herself, and was impressed.

“It was fast,” she said. “Definitely fast enough for me.”

Others who attended were merely curious, and wanted to see the hill up close. Chuck Hazelton, watching with his friend Kristy McCubrey, said he was perfectly content to feel the fresh air and live vicariously through the children.

“I just happened to see this (hill) being built the other day, and wanted to check it out for myself,” said Hazelton. “I just like watching the kids have fun. It’s nice for the community to have an event like this.”

Aside from the hill, the Winter Carnival also featured a pub crawl, which allowed adults the chance to scope out several establishments along the strip. Aside from reminding people that the town doesn’t completely shutter itself in the winter, the pub crawl exposed people to local businesses, said MacDonald ”“ which is what OOB365 is ultimately about.

“Our whole core mission is to bring people to businesses near the beach, especially during the off-season when we’re less visible,” said MacDonald. “It’s a good way to bring tourists into the downtown.”

Ami Porter, who brought her 9-year-old son Lucas to Winter Carnival, simply felt the need to get out of the house.

“The kids love it,” said Porter. “They get to have fun and get some exercise. In a winter like this, when you’re cooped up all day, you need a reason to go outside.”

— Staff Writer Jeff Lagasse can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 319 or jlagasse@journaltribune.com.