In the middle of the freezing winter, it’s wonderful to have an opportunity to enjoy something magical. For La Porte residents, that opportunity was the La Porte Winterfest Ice Sculpture Demonstrations at the Fire and Ice Fest. City’s Pure Ice employees arrived at Plaza 618 with giant blocks of ice to chisel and carve into wondrous creations for the residents to enjoy.
“This event is a great opportunity for families to come out to downtown La Porte for some winter fun,” said Angela Rose, Downtown Director of Downtown La Porte Main Street Association. “We’re really blessed to have La Porte residents come out today to enjoy the ice sculpting. It’s really exciting to be a part of this because I used to come out here when I was a little girl and now I have a chance to help add to the quality of life here.”
Starting at 2 p.m., the team began carving the hulking ice blocks into various sculptures, ranging from the city’s signature maple leaf with the words “La Porte,” to the front side of a Volkswagen, to the snowman Olaf from “Frozen.”
“Being a part of this is really cool,” said Patrick Hunsley, a sculptor from City’s Pure Ice. “Despite the weather, it’s nice to see people come out and take photos of our creations.”
The big project for the sculptors was the ice slide, which took over an hour to complete. Chiseling and fusing multiple blocks of ice together, the team finished the creation that offered children a chance to slide late into the afternoon. To cap it off, they inserted a light underneath the small sheet of ice to give it a magical glow.
“It’s beautiful to see these sculptures here on Main Street,” said resident John Mills, who came by with his family. “In fact, just witnessing the whole process of carving out these blocks of ice is an awesome experience within itself.”
“When developing this project, we really wanted to give this event an element of interactivity with the children and their families,” said Ralph Jr. “Bud” Lies, Owner of City’s Pure Ice. “Being a part of this endeavor and giving back to the community warms my heart. We enjoyed coming out today and bringing blocks of ice to life. As a close friend of mine once said: ‘Go to your happy place.’”
Friday was only the first day of La Porte’s Fire and Ice Fest. Be sure to visit the festival throughout Jan. 25-26! For details, visit http://www.cityoflaporte.com/450/WinterFest.
