September 07, 2024
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Pet owners flock to dog park despite snow, frigid temperatures

By Aimee Barrows and David Petesch
The cold doesn’t seem to bother Gracie as she plays ball with her owner Joel Plapp, of Sycamore, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, at the Sycamore Park District Dog Park. Snow, frigid temperatures and wind rolled into the area Thursday making travel and any outdoor activity a challenge.

The cold doesn’t seem to bother Gracie as she plays ball with her owner Joel Plapp, of Sycamore, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, at the Sycamore Park District Dog Park. Snow, frigid temperatures and wind rolled into the area Thursday making travel and any outdoor activity a challenge. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.co)

The nasty road conditions didn’t stop some people from venturing outside, because no matter how cold or snowy it gets, pets still need to exercise.

Plenty of pups and their owners were at the Sycamore Park District Dog Park as the snow began to fall Thursday in DeKalb County.

Sycamore resident Lindsey Engelsman said she wanted to get her dog, Mavis, outside to run before the weather got any worse.

“I wanted my dog to run around and get her energy out,” she said. “It’s not that bad yet. I’ve had my dog out in much worse conditions.”

The Gilson family of Sycamore was bundled up to play with its dog, Mary Puppins.

“We have family from Pennsylvania visiting and wanted to get outside and play before we enjoy Christmas together,” Melissa Gilson said. “We’re hosting Christmas this year, so we don’t have any travel plans to worry about.”

Sycamore resident Jacki Miller said her dog, Duke, also needed to “get his energy out.”

“Dogs are important and they need to exercise, and we’ll be cooped up for two days,” she said. “There is supposed to be 50 mile-an-hour winds Friday, so we won’t be coming back to the park. We’ll be inside the next few days.”

Joel Plapp, of Sycamore, tries to stay warm as he watches his dog Gracie Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, at the Sycamore Park District Dog Park. Snow, frigid temperatures and wind rolled into the area Thursday making travel and any outdoor activity a challenge.

Joel Plapp, of Sycamore, tries to stay warm as he watches his dog Gracie Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, at the Sycamore Park District Dog Park. Snow, frigid temperatures and wind rolled into the area Thursday making travel and any outdoor activity a challenge. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.co)

The dogs may enjoy the cold, but the temperatures were seemingly too much for DeKalb-area children. DeKalb’s premier sledding hill at Hopkins Park was completely empty Thursday afternoon.

Alexander Galindo was wearing athletic shorts and a hooded sweatshirt while picking up bags of rock salt Thursday at Jewel-Osco, 220 W. Peace Road.

Galindo lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, and is visiting his grandmother in Sycamore for the holidays. He said he has never seen a winter storm in person, so he’s hoping for a lot of snow.

“I’m excited,” Galindo said. “We don’t have to prepare like this down south. I’ve never even seen a bag of salt this big before.”

Eric Rodriguez was working at Thirsty Liquors, 1039 W Hillcrest Drive, on NIU’s campus.

Rodriguez said there was a big rush of customers when he opened the store at 9 a.m. to stock up before the storm, but it quickly cleared out when the snow began to fall.

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