WELLSBORO, PA – A free winter event will unfold this Saturday, Feb. 7, as seven different ice sculptures will be carved from 2.85 tons of ice. These sculptures will be on display in downtown Wellsboro on the sidewalks in front of seven businesses.
The Candy Land-themed throne, pre-carved from seven 300-pound ice blocks or 2100 pounds of ice, and the hockey player and toboggan, each pre-carved from two 300-pound ice blocks or 600 pounds of ice apiece, will be assembled on-site using “magic glue” (water). They will be ready for people to enjoy by 10 a.m. Saturday morning.
Children and adults can sit on the ice throne at the Ginn and Vickery law offices at 99 Main Street to have their pictures taken by friends and family.
The hockey player with a carved out head where people can put their faces and have a photo taken will be at the Penn Wells Hotel at 62 Main Street. At Beck’s Bistro at 104 Main Street sit on the toboggan for a photo.
During each of the four live ice carving demonstrations 600 pounds of ice will be turned into a polar bear beginning at 11:30 a.m. at Dunham’s Department Store, 45 Main Street; a skier at 12:30 p.m. at CS Sports, 81 Main Street; ice skates at 1:30 p.m. at Nessmuk’s Sporting Goods, 91 Main Street; and snowflakes at 2:30 p.m. at Finkelstein”s Emporium (formerly Hub’s Home Oxygen & Medical Supplies), 86 Main Street.
The two ice carvers are: Stan Kolonko, owner of The Ice Farm in Jordan, New York and Louis Medlock who lives in Missouri. The public is invited to watch them work and ask them questions.
Medlock has been an ice carver for around 10 years. He comes to The Ice Farm from Missouri during the busy season to help out. He won a gold medal in Alaska and looks forward to more ice carving competitions around the world.
Kolonko has been carving ice since culinary school in the 1990s and has won gold medals for ice carving in both China and Alaska.
He started The Ice Farm in 2003 with one ice machine. Kolonko now has over 100 machines each making 300-pound ice blocks.
It takes 3 days for one block of ice to freeze. The ice is crystal clear due to a pump constantly moving the water as it freezes. If the water is not moving, the ice would be white.
Kolonko and his wife Lisa live on the Christmas Tree Farm in Jordan NY. It is now known as The Ice Farm & Christmas Tree Farm.
“Stan and I bought the tree farm in 2021,” said Lisa. “It had already been in business for 34 years with two previous owners. We have 34 acres and built our log cabin home on the farm. We grow Balsam, Fraser, Concolor, Canaan, Blue Spruce and Douglas Fir trees. We also have ice carvings at Christmas. This past year, we did a large ice maze with ice we made and welcomed thousands of visitors.”
FNN would like to remind those planning on attending to dress in layers as temperatures are expected to be in the single digits on Saturday.
For more information about Ice Ice Baby Weekend and the three other themed weekends, visit the Wellsboro Area Chamber of Commerce’s website at www.wellsoboropa.com, email info@wellsboropa.com or call 570-724-1926.
