By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Three years ago, Kelly Madison and her team of snow sculptors bundled up to chip away at frozen blocks of snow in the midst of a polar vortex.
It was January 2019 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and wind chills pushed temperatures to the minus 40s.
So, venturing out into Wednesday’s wind chill values of minus 15 degrees for the start of the Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition at Sinnissippi Park was nothing she wasn’t ready to face.
“Since then we’ve been prepared,” Madison said. “For me, multiple layers, don’t wear cotton, have your wool socks, have some good winter boots and ski gear and you’ll be good.”
The annual competition, now in is 36th year, runs through Saturday as 11 teams compete for the right to represent Illinois at the U.S. Nationals. There is also a high school division with 11 teams.
It will warm up for the teams on Thursday before more below zero temperatures are in the forecast on Friday.
“We’ve sculpted in much colder,” said Randy Tackett of Rockford, who is part of the team Kilted Snow Weasels. “Because we’ve been doing it so long we’re pretty used to it.”
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Teams carve and slice away at 10-foot tall blocks of ice that are 6-foot long and 6-foot wide. High school teams work on smaller blocks that are 6-feet tall. No power tools are allowed, meaning the artists carve, chop and chip away with saws, picks and other handheld tools.
It can take days before the sculptures start to take their final form.
“Friday night a lot of times they don’t look like much at all,” Tackett said. “To see the big change from looking like nothing to the finished pieces on Saturday; it’s amazing how fast stuff gets done.”
Madison, a Rockford native now living in Algonquin, is part of a team of local sculptors called Cave People from Space. They’re creating a sculpture of an anteater in a rocking chair reading a book to an ant. It’s fittingly called “Antreader.”
“Our team really likes puns,” she joked.
She said work can last about 10 hours a day, or about 40-45 hours total before they must put their tools down and submit their final project for judging on Saturday.
“You’re going to carve the same sculpture at least 10 times,” she said. “A little smaller each time, each time, each time — and basically hit it until it turns into something.”
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A tribute in snow
Tackett, who has been a snow sculptor for 35 years, and his team aren’t competing this year. Instead, he, Bill Brown and Grant Rundblade are creating a sculpture they’ve done before in honor of a former team member.
George Harnish, a long time supporter of the Rockford Park District and a champion sculptor, died Feb. 25 at age 64. The former Auburn High School teacher won the state championship five times, including four of them with the Kilted Snow Weasels, and placed third at nationals, according to his obituary.
Harnish competed with the Weasels from 1994 to 2018. But even after he stopped competing he was an integral part of the competition, helping other sculptors and the high school teams even while he was using oxygen support to breathe, Tackett said.
“There’s a lot of people he helped,” Tackett said.
The sculpture they’re creating, called “The Call” was Harnish’s favorite piece. It’s a completely hollow depiction of a wolf’s head howling at the moon. Tackett said Harnish had wolf dogs as pets.
“It’s a fitting tribute to him,” Tackett said. “He was very well loved out here.”
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Viewing
The winners of the competition will be announced at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Sinnissippi Park, 1401 N. Second St., Rockford. There is also online voting from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday for the People’s Choice Award. You can vote for that here.
Then, the sculptures will stand for people to view for as long as the weather stays cold enough.
Tackett said he’s often asked if it’s sad to see the art melt away after the hours of work put into the project.
“It’s snow. It’s not meant to be permanent,” Tackett said. “We finish and then we walk away and they’re for people to enjoy as long as they’re out here.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas .