Photo courtesy of Donna Bonia
What could be better than enjoying an evening stroll through Uptown Westerville? Add family and friends, spectacular ice sculptures, and food to the mix and you’ve got the annual Uptown Ice Sculpture Tour. Entering its fifth year of frozen festivities, the tour will be held Dec. 21 and is free to the public.
A Gift for All
Westerville residents and business owners alike are excited to see Uptown become an art gallery of ice yet again. Designed as a seasonal activity for the community to enjoy together, the self-guided tour also serves as a way for local merchants to show appreciation for community patrons.
“It’s kind of a thank you to the residents from the merchants, since (the merchants) pay for the sculptures,” says Debbie Bennati, event organizer and co-owner of A Gal Named Cinda Lou.
The spirit of generosity doesn’t stop with the merchants’ sponsorship of sculptures. Tour-goers will also enjoy extended holiday hours at many of their favorite Uptown retailers.
“People love being able to do their holiday shopping while visiting the sculptures and stopping to eat in one of Uptowns many great restaurants,” says Uptown Westerville Inc. Executive Director Lynn Aventino. “The City does a great job of decorating the Uptown area with the Christmas tree at City Hall, the light posts down the street adorned with wreaths and electric candles and the streets are often lit with luminaries.”
Rock On Ice
Rock On Ice, a local ice sculpting company, has been working with this event since its inception and through its transition from a live sculpting performance into a self-guided tour. Though the company also specializes in pumpkin carving, sand sculpting and food art, it’s mostly known for its spectacular ice sculptures.
So how exactly does an ice sculpture come alive? Greg Butauski, sculptor and owner of Rock On Ice, gives insight on how he designs and constructs the sculptures for the annual tour. Most of the designs are holiday-themed, but some of them also aim to represent a store’s particular specialty.
“Some people have special requests or design ideas,” says Butauski. “My favorite one is the grandfather clock; we always do it for the guy who owns the clock store.”
Butauski says there are 10 general steps to follow when working with ice. Firstly, there is design and template creation, followed by a series of steps focused on cutting out excess ice with a chain saw. Finally, the sculptor will sand out any tool marks and add the details and fine lines before cleaning the final product, brushing away excess ice.
Did you know?
Greg Butauski is one of only six Master Carvers certified by the National Ice Carving Association
Butauski and Rock On Ice start constructing sculptures for the tour as soon as design requests start rolling in from the merchants. Once constructed, the sculptures are kept in freezer storage at Rock On Ice until the event.
“When it comes time and it gets dark, we like to light them up,” says Butauski. “The lighting is lit from underneath ... we put it in the carving stand and it shines right up through the bottom.”
The lights will vary, based on the sculptures’ themes and each businesses’ preference. In the past, there have been myriad holiday-themed designs including snowflakes, holiday wreaths and ornaments, Christmas trees, reindeer and more.
For more information about the annual Uptown Westerville Ice Sculpture Tour, visit http://www.shopuptownwesterville.com.
Jenny Wise is an associate editor. Feedback welcome at jwise@cityscenemediagroup.com.
