LEEDS — Approximately 100 people, ranging in age from preschoolers to senior citizens, gathered March 7 for the Snow Lantern Snowshoe Trek up Monument Hill.

The event was sponsored by the Leeds Youth Athletic Association and the funds raised by the trek will be used to support Leeds’ youth athletics.

People made a two-mile climb, winding across snow-covered fields and through the woods, to the summit of Monument Hill and the Howard Peace Monument. The monument was erected by Leeds natives Gen. O.O Howard and his brothers Gen C.H. Howard and Rev. R. B. Howard to honor the men from Leeds who died in the Civil War.

For many years, students from the Leeds Central School have hiked up Monument Hill on a school-wide field trip, but this was the first time a winter trek has been organized.

Ice luminaries and snow lanterns created by LYAA volunteers lined the moonlit course. By the time hikers reached the top of Monument Hill, darkness had fallen, overhead the stars were bright, and lights from across the Androscoggin River twinkled in the distance. After resting briefly atop the hill, the snowshoers started their descent, their headlamps flickering through the trees as they went down the trail.

When the group returned to the starting point, there was hot chocolate, cookies and a large bonfire to greet them.

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