Carving Ice at the Great Winter Adventure

By Jonathan Kleyer

Ice sculptures—and cast-off chunks of ice—were all over the square at the Kalamazoo Mall, along Michigan Ave. as ice sculptors went to work for the Great Winter Adventure.

Unfortunately, the works of art had short lives because of the weekend’s rainy weather. Even the morning the sculptors started, water could be seen dripping from the pieces.

“The weather can really kill it,” commented Roy Calo, a sculptor from Eastpointe.

Still, while they lasted, they were a good sight for downtown Kalamazoo.
Children were invited to put their arm around a sculptured snowman as their parents took pictures, and the sculptors collaborated, early in the morning, to use multiple blocks to create a large throne with ice figures standing on either side that people could pose with.

Vicki Kettner, of Downtown Kalamazoo, said that the theme for this year’s event was based on Where the Wild Things Are but Calo said beyond that, the big pieces weren’t planned. In addition to helping with the multiple-block theme sculptures, Calo carved pieces such as a howling wolf, or an eagle.
“We got there, talked about ‘this is what we’re going to do, blah blah blah,’” Calo said humorously. “A lot of times we don’t really know what we’re going to get into, so we have to be prepared. Me and my partner came out and, you know, some of those pieces we did like the howling wolf were backups.”
Calo said that he got involved in the Great Winter Adventure this year because he competed in Kalamazoo seven years ago. This is his second time carving in Kalamazoo, and he hopes that next year the event will have grown.
Kettner said that this year donations allowed them to get more ice than previously, but she, like Calo, continue to hope for even bigger ice events in the future.

Kettner said that this year donations allowed them to get more ice than previously, but she, like Calo, continue hoping for even bigger ice events in the future.

“It’s about getting the crowd,” Calo said, mentioning that he suggested several attractions to Kettner that might help attract and keep the interest of children.

Calo has an extensive background in ice carving. He explained, “Between me and my partner, it’s at least 52 years of experience. I’m a chef, and I already knew how to carve wood. So when I started cooking, I moved to ice. The difference is that once you start carving the ice, you can’t stop. Once you start, you have to finish it.”

He said that he considers all of his pieces favorites, no matter what they are. If asked about a piece he is particularly proud of, he recalls his top four competition pieces.

“Number one is a chameleon with a long tongue and a butterfly at the end,” he said. The tongue and butterfly had made that sculpture particularly difficult to carve. “It’s hard work,” he added.