In the words of the popular Disney character, “Some things are worth melting for.” Despite warmer temperatures than usual in Niles this weekend, ice carvers from all over the country carried on the tradition of creating plenty of ice sculptures for people to see as part of the annual festival.

As per tradition, I attended the Hunter Ice Festival with my family this weekend. I’m sure everyone who went will agree that this was one of the warmest ice festivals the city has ever hosted.

But that didn’t stop people from attending.

By the time I got to the Hunter Ice Festival Saturday afternoon, a good portion of the sculptures were already melted to the point that they were indistinguishable, but it didn’t seem to stop the fun.

The tour through downtown is usually a brisk walk of people huddled together, stopping every now and then to take a picture of a sculpture they like. This year guests got to add a guessing game to the mix. It was fun to see small children arguing over whether a mountain of ice was a clown, a plane or a puppy dog.

While many sculptures were melted, there were still plenty of pieces in great shape. Olaf and Elsa from Disney’s “Frozen” were among favorites listed by visitors traveling from all over Michiana, and an impressive amount of business owners sponsored sculptures representing their organizations.

In addition to the warmer temperatures, organizers spent a lot of time this year determining how to work around the bridgework downtown, which moved the interactive zone and eliminated a lot of space to put sculptures.

Again, this didn’t seem to deter festival-goers. In fact, it seemed more children were participating in the interactive zone than in previous years. The festival was a bit more compact than usual, but I think it encouraged people to frequent the businesses on Main Street more than usual. Lines were out the door at every restaurant I walked past and I saw plenty of people leaving retail outlets with shopping bags full of goodies, so I’m sure the downtown merchants were pleased with the spike in traffic.

So, I’d like to commend the organizers and volunteers who spend all year putting together the Hunter Ice Festival. Despite challenges they were able to work out throughout the year and other struggles they overcame on the fly with the warm temperatures, I think everyone who attended the festival can agree that the festival is a great asset to our community.

Congratulations on another great event. I can’t wait to visit the event with a completed bridge and even more Niles businesses to frequent next year.

 

Ambrosia Neldon is the managing editor at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7713, or by email at ambrosia.neldon@leaderpub.com.