Ocean City Happenings: Winter Warrior Festival, Environment Family Fun Day on Feb. 14

Ocean City’s Winter Warrior Challenge will return for its third year on Saturday, Feb. 14, for some fun and wintry competition.

Winter Warrior includes three components: an obstacle course race for children, an obstacle course race for parents and individuals, and team challenges such as a fire truck pull.

• Kids Obstacles: A fun, non-competitive course includes a rock wall, hazard walls, cargo net, agility poles, teeter plank, monkey bars, floating steps, tire run, and noodle tower.
• “Winter Warrior Challenge:” Show your grit on a cold 2.5-mile course with 10 obstacles. Look for things like sand mounds, floating steps and a cargo-net climb along the way. This race is reserved for participants ages 14 and older (or those younger but accompanied by an adult). All competitors receive an exclusive Winter Warrior Challenge finisher T-shirt.
• “Winter Warrior” Team Challenges: Teams of four from local businesses, organizations, churches and other groups will compete in events such as a fire-truck pull, dummy rescue and tire-flip relay.

Registration for all events is open now, and discounted fees will be available through 4 p.m. Feb. 11. For complete information and registration, visit ocnj.us/race-events.

The seventh annual Ocean City Nature & the Environment Family Fun Day is set for 9:30 a.m. to noon on Feb. 14 in the cafeteria at Ocean City High School (501 Atlantic Avenue).

The event is a great chance to get the kids out to do something educational, interactive and have loads of fun this Presidents Day weekend. Last year’s event drew more than 850 parents and kids.

    Arts and crafts and other kid-friendly activities highlight the Ocean City Nature & the Environment Family Fun Day. (Courtesy of Ocean City)
  

This year’s event will include a wide range of hands-on experiences focused on nature and the environment and catered to both children and adults.

Hands-on Activities:

• Meet and Greet Ocean City’s Boardwalk Raptors – East Coast Falcons
• Small Zoo Animal Interaction (Cape May County Zoo)
• Marine Life Interaction (Wetlands Institute)
• Recycling Arts and Crafts (Ocean City Environmental Commission)
• Nature and Environmental Takeaways
• Food Drive: Please bring canned and shelf stable foods and personal products to donate to the Ocean City Ecumenical Council Food Cupboard)

Demonstrations, Exhibits, Experts:

• The Importance of Pollinating Insects – Show and Tell (Ocean County College, Barnegat Bay Partnership)
• Planting Your Own Pollinator Garden – Show and Tell, and Pollinator Seed Giveaway (Ocean City Garden Club)
• The Wonderful World of Birds: N.J. Audubon Society
• Bringing Back the Original Jersey Tomato: Show and Tell, and Tomato Seed Giveaway (Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center)
• Environmentally Friendly Shellfish Replenishing – Demonstration (ACT Engineers)
• Protecting the Watershed and Cleaning Up the Bay – Demonstration (AmeriCorps)
• Trash Decomposition and the Environment (Ocean City Environmental Commission)
• The Ins and Outs of Recycling (Cape May Municipal Utilities Authority)
• How to Compost (Ocean City Environmental Commission)
• Native Plants Exhibit (Ocean City Environmental Commission)
• Energy Efficiency (South Jersey Gas)
• Energy Efficiency (Atlantic City Electric)
• Water Efficiency (New Jersey American Water)
• Solid Waste and Wastewater Management (Cape May Municipal Utilities Authority)
• Electric Vehicle Charging Location Maps

The event is sponsored by Ocean City’s Environmental Commission and held in partnership with the Ocean City Free Public Library, Cape May County Park and Zoo, The Wetlands Institute, Ocean County College, Ocean City Garden Club, Ocean City Ecumenical Council Food Cupboard, Rutgers University Agricultural Extension Center and the Audubon Society of New Jersey.

The Greater Ocean City Theatre Company will celebrate love with some of the most enchanting and unforgettable songs to ever grace the Broadway stage at 2 p.m. Feb. 14. Bring that special someone, your family, a friend, or let Broadway be your Valentine this year for the “Love Is in the Air” show at the Ocean City Music Pier.

Talented performers from the OCTC’s Professional Broadway Series and student programs are back on stage for a relaxed and fun cabaret featuring favorite Broadway songs.

After the show, keep the Valentine’s celebration going at The Flanders Hotel with a special reception. You’ll get to meet the performers and enjoy drinks and light fare, including a fondue station, grilled vegetables, antipasto, international cheeses, and passed hors d’oeuvres like fig and mascarpone puffs, Mediterranean chicken skewers, mini crab cakes, and mini-grilled cheese with tomato soup.

You can buy tickets for the cabaret and reception at oceancitytheatrecompany.com. Show-only tickets are $18 per person. The $75-per-person package includes both the show and the post-show reception at The Flanders Hotel. You can also pre-order via OCTC's site for a $25 bouquet from SeaSpray Flower Cart, which will be available when you check in.

All proceeds will support the Ocean City Theatre Company.