The thousands of people who attended the 10th Annual Hunter Ice Festival in downtown Niles over the weekend were treated to some spectacular sculptures.

Andrew Thistlethwaite, a former Niles resident and ice carver who helped sculpt the 15-foot tall ice dragon, said weather conditions were perfect.

“This is the honey hole for ice carving,” said Thistlethwaite, who now lives in San Antonio, Texas. “You could put the details in it and glaze it with the torch and it stays and doesn’t melt out. The weather was just right.”

The ice dragon was created with 18 300-pound blocks of ice. Thistlethwaite and fellow ice sculptor Buddy Rasmussen spent a better part of Thursday finishing the dragon.

“That was one of the biggest ones for me,” Thistlethwaite said. “The most challenging part was being up on top of the fork lift 15 feet in the air. Sitting up on top of a little pallet on a fork lift can be a little precarious.”

Lisa Croteau, of Niles Main Street/DDA, said an estimated 12 to 15,000 came to the festival Friday through Sunday.

“It was pretty crowded,” Croteau said. “I think people

enenjoyed themselves. There were just as many people on Sunday as there were out on Saturday. The sculptures were just amazing.”

Approximately 120 gallons of ice cream were sold during the three days — about average for an ice festival, according to Croteau. She said people could buy the remaining three to four three-gallon buckets of Hunter Ice Cream for $50 each.

The people’s choice award for best corner sculpture went to “Jeffrey the giraffe” on the corner of Main and Second streets. It was created by Aaric Kendall of Argentina, Ill., who also did the pre-carved pieces for the festival.

The Prized Pig was chosen by judges as the best chili in the chili cook-off. Finishing in the top three for the People’s Choice chili awards were: Niles High School Team No. 1, first; El Amigo Pepe, second; and Jim Morris, of Niles, third.

At the ice fights Saturday, the team of Eric Kendall, Dean DeMarais and Reverand Butter defeated the team of Ricky Rosario, Andrew Thistlethwaite and Danny Bloss.

The winning team created a Spartan horse with rider, while the losing team created a chainsaw.