COLTON -- Every year the town of Colton’s Winterfest Weekend includes many indoor and outdoor activities. This year, with the theme “Get Your Kicks on Route 56,” the festival also includes activities leading up to and following Winterfest Weekend.

The festival officially kicks off Thursday, Jan. 25, with the all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner at Colton-Pierrepont Central School (CPCS) and ends Sunday, Jan. 28 with Rock ‘n Skate in the town pavilion at Swift Field.

The schedule of weekend activities, now available on the town website, www.townofcolton.com, will be updated as more details are confirmed.

During the festival, the Colton Winterfest Planning Committee in conjunction with the Colton-Pierrepont Teachers’ Association will offer a program exploring the lives of the iconic loons of Adirondack and northern New York waters.

The Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation will share information and stories about these water fowl on Sunday, Jan. 28, at 2 p.m. in the CPCS Auditorium. The program will provide insight into loons’ unique adaptations, their lives, and their habits.

Admission is free for K-12 students and $3 for adults with the proceeds benefiting the Neighborhood Center serving Colton, Pierrepont, and Parishville.

In association with the presentation, the town’s Tourism & Beautification Committee, in conjunction with CPCS art students, are painting a 3- by 3-foot barn quilt featuring a loon to be raffled in support of the Neighborhood Center.

Raffle tickets, 2 for $5, will be available throughout the festival, starting at the spaghetti dinner on Jan. 25 and ending during the loon presentation on Jan. 28. The barn quilt will be displayed at St. Patrick’s Church Parish Center as part of the Quilt Show on Saturday and Sunday of the festival.

In a follow-up to the festival, K-6 students at CPCS can participate in a book writing contest about “Higley,” the resident loon on Higley Flow. Students will be provided with pictures taken by area photographer John Bartholomew and information from the loon presentation. They will use these to write a short book about the loon who had a misadventure in the fall of 2017. The winning book will be bound and placed in the school library for all to read.

For details about the loon program, call Judy Fuhr at 315-262-2362.