Jeff Kaiser from Youngstown, Ohio, works on an ice train on the 2023 Carved in Ice festival at Diamond Park. This year’s event is scheduled Feb. 9 and 10. Butler Eagle File Photo
It’s hard to convince people — let alone explain to them why — they should buy a block of ice for $500, but Peggy Weckerly of the Butler AM Rotary Club has managed to sell more than 100 the past several Februarys.
As Weckerly explains to potential sponsors of the Rotary Club’s annual Carved in Ice event, the blocks will be cut into designs by professional ice carvers and displayed in Diamond Park in Butler during and after the event.
According to Weckerly, the deadline to purchase ice for the event is Jan. 19, and the Rotary Club has a goal of getting 125 ice pieces sponsored for the Feb. 9 and 10 event in Diamond Park.
“Last year we saw 119 blocks all told … Each year we shoot for more,” Weckerly said. “We're up to 80 now, but there is no limit.
This is the eighth year of the Carved in Ice festival, an event Weckerly said started as a way for the Rotary Club to provide free entertainment in downtown Butler. The event’s kickoff Friday evening, Feb. 9, will not only bring the ice designs to Diamond Park, it also will feature live ice shaping by carvers from DiMartino Ice Co., who always make the central display for the event’s main sponsor, Diehl Toyota.
“The money they give us buys 12 huge blocks of ice, which DiMartino Ice fashions into a sculpture,” Weckerly said of Diehl’s sponsorship. “This year it’s going to be a VW Bus.”
The evening of Feb. 9 will also feature food trucks and vendors, but event hours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, will feature children’s activities at the Holly Pointe Building, 220 S. Main St., as well as a chili cook off at the Butler Art Center and Gallery, 344 S. Main St.
Weckerly said the club came up with a new aspect to the event this year, “Carved in Icing” and invited local restaurants to contribute desserts to be purchased at the event.
Money raised through Carved in Ice helps the Butler AM Rotary Club provide funding for programs including student scholarships and the Kids’ Weekend Backpack Program, Weckerly said.
She also said the event continues to be free, as it was always meant to be, with fundraising coming from sponsors, raffles and the food-related contests that take place during Carved in Ice.
“This is Butler AM Rotary's gift to the community. You don't have to spend money to be there,” Weckerly said. “You can enjoy the ice, you can enjoy the DJ, the ice, the entertainment for free. That's what we wanted.”
To purchase an ice block for the event, visit butleramrotary.com.
A frozen unicorn at the 2023 Carved in Ice festival at Diamond Park is lighted with purple light. This year’s event is scheduled Feb. 9 and 10. Butler Eagle File Photo
