By Staff
Some of the Midwest's top ice carvers travel to The Grand Old City for Saturday's ninth annual Ice Time Festival of the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce, which offers festival-goers a chance to take home a work of art produced by an on-site timber artist or a memento of one of this city's public works of art.
Twelve culinary chefs, including an international bronze medal winner, have entered the ice carving competition that opens at 8 a.m. Saturday in downtown Dowagiac and awards $1,200 in cash prizes and $1,785 in per diems.
According to Vickie Phillipson, program director of the Chamber and Downtown Development Authority, this year's top carver, selected by nationally-renowned sculptor Tuck Langland, will take home a cash award of $600, with second place receiving $400 and third place receiving $200.
Returning to the festival for his ninth year is Scott Erwin, corporate chef for Martin's Supermarkets in South Bend, Ind., who is a founding member of the National Ice Carving Association and an active and certified member of the American Culinary Federation.
Erwin, who has received multiple ice carving
awards and is an international bronze medal winner in ice sculpture, also
presents seminars in ice and tallow carving.
Phillipson said Erwin, along with Andrew Thistlethwaite, executive chef for
Elcona Country Club in Bristol, recruited some of the best culinary chefs in
the Midwest to appear at Saturday's competition.
good for areas with snowy climates," said Anne Mehring, arts administration
director for the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo. "On the state level,
southwestern Michigan is noted for the number and quality of arts projects
that are held in this part of the state. The Kalamazoo arts council is
delighted to see the festival happening in Dowagiac."
The 2005 Ice Time Festival received a minigrant from the arts council and is
also being funded, in part, by four corporate sponsors that include: Dowsett
Chiropractic Health Center, Harding's Friendly Market, Dowagiac Area Federal
Credit Union and Southwestern Michigan College.
Due to this weekend's unseasonably mild temperatures, event organizers
anticipate another record crowd for the winter arts festival, which has been
profiled as one of the many creative ways communities across the nation
celebrate the bone-chilling and often boring months of winter.
More than 22,400 pounds of ice will be transported to the downtown from a
Chicago ice plant, from which the culinary artists will carve 51 ice
sculptures and the show's 2,200-pound multi-block sculpture at the Beckwith
Park, which is sponsored by Harding's Friendly Market.
Phillipson said the work of timber carver Lonnie Glines, who will provide
on-site demonstrations on Beeson Street from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., will be
featured in the Silent Art Auction. The chainsaw artist from Harrison will
carve two three-foot statues from logs. Festival-goers can bid on the
statues throughout the day, with the two works of art awarded to the top
bidder.
Proceeds from the auction will help the Chamber of Commerce, which has a
reserve bid in place, cover festival costs associated with this year's
Phillipson said Ice Time is also pleased to welcome the exhibition of the
Fruitbelt Wood Carvers Association, beginning at noon at Perk &Beans,
located at 142 S. Front St. Working artists include: Sam Hansen, president
of the organization from Dowagiac; former Dowagiac resident Jerry Drake of
Elkhart, Ind.; Ron Carlisle of Cassopolis; Roberta and Furmer Reed of
Marcellus; Jerry Gracey of White Pigeon; and Gordy Roberts of Bristol, Ind.
Unlike the culinary chefs, who will be carving ice sculptures outside,
Hansen said, wood carvers use very little electrical tools, relying mainly
on carving knives and chisels to craft their items. Representatives of the
23-member organization who will be on hand for the Ice Time Festival will
also display some of their finished carvings, as they continue their on-site
carving of new projects.
New this year, families can purchase fresh kettle corn, which will be made
on site at the Beckwith Park, or sample some of southwestern Michigan's
hottest chili during the annual Professional Chili Cook-off. Free samples
will be available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Beeson Street Grill, The Eagles,
Trackside Restaurant, Wood Fire Italian Trattoria, Wounded Minnow Saloon and
Zeke's.
For the most daring appetites, Phillipson said, Saylor's Front Street
Pizzeria will host its annual HOT!!Buffalo-Wings-Eating Contest at 2 p.m.
The contest, which is sure to bring tears to the eyes of daring competitors,
is open free of charge. Owner Jamie Saylor said people can sign up for the
competition that morning. The event will be staged outside the Front Street
pizza shop on the sidewalk.
Those folks wishing to cool down their taste buds, will want to enter the
ice cream eating contest, hosted by Caruso's Candy Kitchen at 11 a.m.
According to officials at Caruso's, ice cream enthusiasts will attempt to be
the first to devour the legendary Pig's Dinner, which includes four flavors
of ice cream, four toppings, crushed nuts and whipped cream that sit atop a
split banana. If you think your appetite can handle all of that sweetness,
you'll want to sign up for the competition that morning at Caruso's. The
event will be staged on the Front Street sidewalk, outside of the business.
Youngsters will also enjoy building miniature "snow" sculptures from
marshmallows at the Beckwith Park, beginning at 1 p.m. The children's
interactive workshop is a free activity, hosted by the Miss Dowagiac
Scholarship Pageant of the Chamber of Commerce.
Festival-goers are invited to enter a creation made at home in the Ice Art
Competition that will be judged at noon at Perk &Beans. Participants can
freeze something colorful at home in a unique-shaped container and bring it
with them to the festival. The winning entry will be judged on originality,
shape and color.
Prizes for the Ice Art Competition and the children's marshmallow event are
being provided by McDonald's Restaurant of Dowagiac and the Chamber of
Commerce.
Mr. K's Wearhouse &Embroidery from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. will host a children's
face-painting artist Sharon Tubergen of Three Rivers.
Ice Time also features its second-annual Winter Hibernation &Pajama Sale
that opens at 7 a.m. at The Marshall Shoppe. Phillipson said eight of the
downtown's specialty shops are offering final markdowns on fall and winter
merchandise, with some prices slashed up to 75 percent off. Participating
sites are: Apparel Alternatives Etc., Booth's Country Florist, Laurie Anne'
s, Majerek's Hallmark, The Marshall Shoppe, Mr. K's Wearhouse &Embroidery,
Suite Dreams and Vincent J. Jewelers. Some locations require shoppers to
wear their pajamas to receive the best early-morning bargains.
The showcase 2,200-pound multi-block ice sculpture, sponsored by Harding's
Friendly Market, will be located beneath the Haggin-Wimberley Memorial
Bandstand at the Beckwith Park.
Lining downtown sidewalks will be the 46 ice carvings, sponsored by the
following businesses: John Scott Insurance, Majerek's Hallmark, Wounded
Minnow Saloon, Suite Dreams, Eckman Chiropractic Clinic, Preferred Printing,
Dixon-Livingston Insurance, Klett Development, Wolverine Mutual Insurance
Co., Booth's Country Florist, Zeke's, Franklin &Son, The Marshall Shoppe
and Swiss Valley Ski Area of Jones.
Ice sculptures are also being sponsored by: Guy Eby Insurance of
Cassopolis, Dr. Matthew Cripe, Subway, Dr. Charles Burling and Dr. Jon
Gillesby, Hale's Hardware, Leader Publications, Landmark Mortgage Co., Lyons
Industries, Ridge/Napa, Southwestern Michigan College, Behnke's Paint &
Floor Covering Store, Nice Ice, Meridian Title Corporation, Mr. K's
Wearhouse &Embroidery, Vincent J. Jewelers, Standard Federal Bank, Deals on
Wheels, A-1 Expert Tree Service, Mahar Insurance, Cass County COA, Wood Fire
Italian Trattoria, Lifeworks, SunTree Hardwoods, Krager Boat Storage of
Vandalia, Badner Construction and Bender Electric of Cassopolis, Apparel
Alternatives Etc., Dowsett Chiropractic Health Center, Dowagiac Area Federal
Credit Union, C. Wimberley Auto Group, McLauchlin-Clark Funeral Home and
Underwood Shoes.
Dowagiac Ice Time is being coordinated by Event Chairman Dr. Timothy Dowsett
of Dowsett Chiropractic Health Center, with the assistance of Vickie
Phillipson, program director of the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown
Development Authority; Paul Potter of Image Publications; Patti Badner of
Guy Eby Insurance in Cassopolis; Patty Booth of Booth's Country Florist; and
Gail West of Wolverine Mutual Insurance Co.