Blizzard conditions with howling winds that blanketed much of the Midwest earlier this week may have left Dowagiac digging out of 12 inches of snowfall Wednesday, though Saturday’s Ice Time Festival is likely to revel in near-perfect conditions, with cloudy skies and temperatures warming to the upper 20s.

“Ice artisans who dress for the event, bundled in layer upon layer of clothing, prefer working in colder temperatures and cloud-covered skies, which help to maintain the crystal-clear clarity of the ice blocks,” said event chairman Dr. Timothy Dowsett, who is marking his ninth year at the helm of Dowagiac’s winter arts festival.
Thirty-nine businesses partnered with Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce to help underwrite this year’s post-blizzard event.
Lyons Industries led the way as the event’s top Platinum Sculpture Sponsor.
Corporate festival donors also include: Dowagiac Area Federal Credit Union and Dowsett Chiropractic Health Center as Gold Sculpture Sponsors, and Kemner-Iott Agency of Cass County and Yazel and Clark Funeral Chapel as Silver Sculpture Sponsors.
Bronze Sculpture Sponsors are City’s Pure Ice, Living Alternatives for the Developmentally Disabled (LADD), Leader Publications and Attorney Mark Herman.
The larger cornerstone sculptures, situated at the center of Dowagiac’s downtown at Front and Commercial streets, have been underwritten by Badner Construction, Bender Electric and Moore Brothers Buildings, along with Dowagiac Area Federal Credit Union, Dowsett Chiropractic Health Center and Lyons Industries.
The Professional Ice Carving Competition, which will be staged at Beckwith Park on Saturday from 1 to 3:30 p.m., was funded, in part, by Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital, Dr. Charles Burling and Dr. Jon Gillesby, Cass County Council on Aging, Dogwood Fine Arts Festival, Harding’s Friendly Market, Jim D’s Body Shop, The Marshall Shoppe, Mennel Milling Co., Preferred Printing, SEMCO and Zeke’s Restaurant.
Another 20 businesses have funded the single-block ice sculptures that will be situated along Front and Commercial street sidewalks.
Sponsoring this group of frozen art are Booth’s Country Florist and Gifts, Caruso’s Candy Kitchen, Creative Foam, Eckman Chiropractic Clinic, Kim MacGregor’s office of Edward Jones, Farm Bureau Insurance, Image Publications, Imperial Furniture, Kemner-Iott Agency of Cass County and Ladies Library Association.
Single-block sculptures were also sponsored by:  Laurie Anne’s, Southwestern Michigan College and also its museum, Subway, Vincent J. Jewelers, Vylonis Contracting, Wood Fire Italian Trattoria and Yazel and Clark Funeral Chapel.
Auxiliary events for families feature: the eighth-annual Winter Hibernation Sale and the Ladies Library Association winter book sale, along with the sale of Girl Scout cookies;  a timber carving demonstration and Silent Art Auction featuring the sale of a rustic bench and a Native American bust, carved from two four-foot logs; and Fruitbelt Wood Carvers’ Exhibition at what organizers call Carvers’ Cave, located within the Front Street entrance to Round Oak Restaurant.
Popular events feature an ice-carved soda fountain  that Caruso’s will serve ice cream  from and the event’s “hot spot” on Commercial Street, where the city Department of Public Safety will serve complimentary s’mores over an open campfire.
Families this year will also enjoy sweet and salty nuts and, like its name, Smokin’ Good BBQ.
Children  can enter Caruso’s ice cream eating contest and  participate in interactive events from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Who Knew? Consignment and from 1 to 3 p.m. at The Red Raven.
At the clothing consignment store children can make penguin-shaped photo frames.
At Red Raven they can meet Miss Dowagiac Katie Haneberg and also frost sugar cookies and make snowmen from pop sickle sticks, or decorate key chains and magnets.
The event’s chili cook-off features two divisions this year.
Vying for the professional title will be Beeson Street Bar and Grill, the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, Trackside Restaurant, Wounded Minnow Saloon, Wood Fire Italian Trattoria and Zeke’s Restaurant.
Entering the amateur division are Janet and Hope Daniel, George Tabbert Jr., Denise Muha and Paul Pugh, all of Dowagiac; Fred Haw of Sister Lakes; Jim Rank and Charlie Retherford of Cassopolis; Markus Chevalier of Decatur; and Martha and Karyn Delio of Goshen, Ind.
The 10 participating businesses of the Winter Hibernation Sale, which opens at some locations at 6:30 a.m., will present $250 in Universal Dowagiac Gift Certificates during that day’s in-store drawing.
Several locations are also rewarding pre-dawn shoppers with complimentary gifts when they make a purchase.
Participating sites of the drawing include: Beeson Street Bar and Grill, Booth’s Country Florist and Gifts, Imperial Furniture, The Marshall Shoppe, Oh My, Red Raven, Shirley’s Flowers, Vincent J. Jewelers, Who Knew? Consignment  and  Wounded Minnow Saloon.
Winter sales promotions  will also be staged by Frame of Mind Custom Framing and Art Gallery, Iconik and Laurie Anne’s.