What’s known as the Ides of March is based on the date of March 15, according to the ancient Roman calendar. And here in Albert Lea what could be called the “slides of March” was based on a once-popular outdoor wintertime activity known as sledding. Thus, about nine decades ago the pending end of another winter season and lack of ice and snow would result in putting away the sleds and toboggans.

Tobogganing became very popular in Albert Lea during the 1920s. What helped to emphasize this cold weather activity was a local toboggan slide, a frozen lake surface, several winter carnivals and teams to ride the long sleds.

In January 1920, a large wooden toboggan slide near the corner of Fountain Street and North Washington Avenue to the rear of the Mark M. Jones property was built with its lower end pointed directly at Fountain Lake. (Mark M. Jones died in 1935 and was the grandfather of the property’s present owner, Mark S. Jones.)

Several toboggan teams were organized by employees of local business firms. Team members wore uniforms that were colorful and appropriate for the weather conditions. Those uniforms also added a special touch to several winter carnival events. Yet, there was evidently no team competition involved. All these team members had to do was ride down the iced-up slide out onto the lake ice and go as far as possible. Sometimes the long sleds would nearly get to the north side of the lake near the end of what’s now Lakewood Avenue. Then the challenge was to carry the toboggan back across the lake, up the bank and steps to the top of the slide for another fast slippery ride.

Also using this slide were bobsled enthusiasts and maybe younger people with their small individual sleds with steel or wooden runners.

The original toboggan slide behind the Jones residence was replaced with another wooden platform constructed by members of Albert Lea’s Leo Carey Post 56 of the American Legion.

About a year or two later this newer toboggan side was moved to a site on Frank Hall Drive just north of the end of Fourth Street. For a few years this slide was based above a steep bank, then onto a level area and hopefully out on the frozen surface of Albert Lea Lake. This slide was also likely used by the students of nearby Luther Academy.

The bobsled and sled riders also had another pair of slides based on the icy surface of Fountain Lake. In the 1920s, ’30s, ’40s and maybe even later there was no roadway between St. Theodore Catholic Church and school and the lake. Thus, the sleds could use a slide behind the church to go down the embankment onto the lake’s surface and go north to the other side near what was then Lakeshore Greenhouse. Then the sled riders could go up the embankment on the north shore and use another slide to go back across the lake. The use of these two slides resulted in plenty of back and forth sledding trips on the lake’s frozen surface.

Through those years, and even up to the present time, children and their parents have had the option of using their sleds on slopes in other parts of the city.

One general area is on the east side of Frank Hall Drive across from and somewhat to the north of Academy Park. (At the present time a fence near the bottom of the slope has reduced the places where a slide can be established.) Another still popular place for sledding is to the west of Lakeview School where a slope near the corner of Abbott Street and appropriately named Winter Avenue is available for use. Other places with slopes for sledding slides, especially during past winters, were based on the Park Avenue, Oakwood and South Edgewater Park Peninsulas.