By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
In spite of concerns about the winter storm that rolled through the area Friday and Saturday, the first-ever City of Burlington Ice Festival came off with few issues.
The winning sculptor was Joshua Jakubowski, who designed a new-age Christmas tree of varying textures. Dan Ingibrigtson finished second and Gary Richter third, both with variations on Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus.
Mayor Jeannie Hefty said the city got a break with the weather and as a result, had a terrific event.
“We were blessed – blessed with the weather, to have the window to keep going,” Hefty said. “We were prepared earlier. We had the ice delivered Friday rather than early Saturday.
“And the sculptors love Burlington,” she added. “They want to come back.”
Hefty also said there was great community support – from sponsorships for each of the sculptors to the building of the wooden pedestals that the ice sculptures were displayed on by Burlington High School students.
“Expect it to grow,” she said. “We will be starting earlier with the planning next year.”
Hefty has already put the festival on calendars for 2017 and is expecting more sculptors as the word spreads. Sponsors are stepping forward for next year as well. She is hoping for additional entertainment in the park as well, which couldn’t be arranged on short notice this year.
There was one down note to the weekend. By Monday, five of the sculptures had been vandalized, with four broken – including the first-place winner.
“We kind of expected (it)… other shows have had things happen,” Hefty said. “I was disheartened (Monday) morning and heard about the vandalism.”
“But we’re still moving forward,” she added. “There was so much positive Saturday.”
Hefty said the city is looking into additional security measures next year.
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