Alums Marissa and Jesse Keppley were ardent BU hockey fans as undergraduates, attending all Terrier home games—even naming their son Colin Parker, after longtime men’s hockey head coach Jack Parker (SMG’68, Hon.’97).

But the Florida natives have never had much ice time themselves. That changed at Winterfest, held February 22 to 24 on the Charles River Campus, when Marissa (CAS’09), Jesse (CAS’08, GRS’12), and three-year-old Colin laced up for a turn around the outdoor ice rink set up on Marsh Plaza. “We were excited about skating,” Marissa Keppley said. “Marsh is my favorite place on campus.”

Sponsored by the BU Alumni Association, Winterfest was scheduled for February 8 to 10, but was postponed in anticipation of the blizzard that dumped two feet of snow on the region and closed the University. The event drew approximately 800 alumni and other guests to campus.

The outdoor skating rink was a first for Winterfest, now in its eighth year. Sandy Miller of Watertown, Mass., learned to skate as a child, but she eyed the artificial ice skeptically. “I put my insurance card in here just in case,” said Miller (GSM’77, SED’07), patting her coat pocket, “as a good luck charm.” Other activities included a men’s ice hockey game (the Terriers fell to UMass Lowell, 3-0), a broomball tournament (the alumni team bested the student team, 3-0), a women’s hockey game (BU beat Connecticut 7-5), and an ice-sculpting competition, which Derrick Kwan (CAS’14) and Meera Ganesan (CAS’13) won for their sculpture, “Baby Patrick,” based on the starfish in SpongeBob SquarePants.