The "Fire & Ice Festival" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sunday afternoon and I'm walking around Lititz Springs Park in Lititz, Pennsylvania taking photos of all the ice sculptures that were part of the "Fire and Ice Festival."  The outdoor temperature is 8 degrees, but with the wind blowing about 25 MPH it feels about -10 degrees.  Actually, after about fifteen minutes of taking photos I can no longer feel my fingers, my nose is dripping like a faucet and my feet are ... I guess they are still down there.  

The small pond directly inside Lititz Springs Park with
a few of the ice sculptures around the rear of the pond.

There is no way the ice sculptures will melt today!  The "Fire and Ice Festival" ran from February 13-16 with a party in Lititz Springs Park Friday evening with ice sculptures, food, games and live entertainment.  Throughout downtown the retailers were open with more ice sculptures along the streets.  Saturday was the "Fire" part of the event with a chili cook-off at the local high school as well as a winter wonderland carnival featuring  games, activities and contests.  

The stream that feeds the small pond is filled with ducks.
The sculptures line either side further down from where
I have taken this photo.  The steam rises from the water.

On Sunday there was a dodgeball tournament at the high school with a community movie night at nearby Linden Hall School for Girls. On President's Day the park was open for all to enjoy the ice sculptures.  The weather certainly cooperated with the temperature never going above the freezing mark thus keeping the ice sculptures in great shape.  This year there were 34 sculptures that were sponsored by local companies and community organizations and members.  The retirement community where my mother and father lived, Moravian Manor, sponsored a huge ice throne while Keller Brothers Ford sponsored a large image of a mustang (horse) since this is the 50th year of the Ford Mustang automobile.  

At the head of the stream pictured above is the spring.
Here you can see a few ice sculptures that fill the water.

The local semi-pro Lancaster Barnstormers baseball team sponsored a smaller sculpture showing a baseball player.  The sculptors were from the DiMartino Ice Co. who carved the sculptures on site starting beginning Thursday and continuing until after dusk on Friday.  They used chainsaws for basic shaping, augers and routers for shaping and hot irons for polishing the sculptures to make them crystal-clear and sparkling in the spotlights at night and the sunlight during the day.  I photographed over a dozen of the sculptures while walking in the park today so you can see the level of artistic talent that the workers of the ice company possess.  Beautiful work done by skilled talent.  I stopped my picture taking when I wasn't sure if my finger was actually pressing the shutter release. Enjoy!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Skateboarder 

Stars with tails

Not sure what it is, but it was well done. 

This was one of the larger sculptures that was of the mustang.

Tow truck

Hearts

Baseball player

Red rose 

Bench sponsored by Moravian Manor Retirement Home.

Dump truck

Another large bench.  This was next to the pond that was at the entrance to the park.