MAYVILLE - Members of 2009 Mayville ICE. Festival ice castle construction crew were given the Community Service Award at the Mayville/Chautauqua Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting and dinner held recently at Olives Restaurant in Mayville.
The all-volunteer construction crew consisting of Tom Przepiora, Rick Syper, Rick Newell, Tom Douglas, Bob Barnes, Dan Sullivan, Dave Douglas, Chris Kowal, Jack Berkemeier, Ron Zentz, Gary Roush, Jim Bradford, Doug Swan, Jim Kochersperger, Jeff Lang, Bambi Hawkins, as well as others, constructed an elegant ice castle despite the challenges of unseasonably warm weather before the 2009 winter event.
Taking a lesson from the Amish community in preserving ice during the warm months of summer, the ice castle was filled with snow and cased in many barrels of hay for the duration of the days of unexpected warm weather in February. After the cold weather returned, the hay bales were removed to reveal a still frozen and preserved ice castle. The castle construction crew went on to finish the castle in record time, creating a unique castle.
Article Photos
Pictured, from left, are Rick Newell, Jack Berkemeier, Jeff Lang, Tom Przepiora and Chris Kowal accepting an award for the 2009 Mayville ICE Festival ice castle construction crew; and Ken Shearer, Mayville/Chautauqua Chamber of Commerce president; presenting the 2009 Community Service Award from the Mayville/Chautauqua Chamber of Commerce.
The 2010 ICE Festival will be held the weekend of Feb. 12-14 at Lakeside Park in Mayville. The winter event will also have a new name beginning with the 2010 festival - the President's Day Weekend ICE Festival.