Addison Earley, 7, of Butler scoots down the ice slide with the assistance of Liam Robinson, a 9th grader at Butler High School, during the Butler AM Rotary's Carved in Ice Festival at Diamond Park Saturday.

The Butler Carved in Ice festival brought crowds to Diamond Park Saturday as saws ripped through blocks of solid ice.

This was the fourth year of the event, which has become a local-favorite fundraiser for the Butler AM Rotary. This year a significant portion of the proceeds will benefit the club's playground project at Butler Memorial Park and the Weekend Backpack Program, according to Lisa Campbell, Rotary board member.

“This year is the most ice we've sold yet,” Campbell said. “We sold over 100 blocks of ice.”

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The blocks, which could perhaps more accurately be called slabs, survived Saturday's warming temperatures long enough for the carvers to work. Single-block sculptures were scattered throughout the festivities, and sculptors worked away at larger pieces throughout the day.The sculptors were men from the DiMartino Ice Co. One such employee, Jason McAlister, 24, was helping assist carvers by dragging away excess ice. He said it was a little warm for their work, and he pointed out a few cracks running along some of the blocks.“Overall, though, it won't make much of a difference,” McAlister said.

As the large Jeep sculpture at the front of Diamond Park began taking shape, he said such a piece would take about two hours for their group to finish.Though there was plenty of food, raffles, children's attractions, a chili cook-off and other activities, much of the crowd gathered simply to watch the carvers work. Ed Fee marveled at their ability, and said he was thankful for the event.“It takes a lot of skill,” Fee said. “This is the kind of thing that keeps people coming downtown. It keeps the city alive.”Looking over all the carvings, Judy Heathcote had similar sentiments.“There are a lot of beautiful ones in here,” she said. “This is something nice to be doing in the winter time.”

Fire performer Kristen DeSantis from DYEnamic Flame performs during the Carved in Ice festival.

Elena White, 4, of Cambridge Springs enjoys a ride on a tractor carved from ice at Diamond Park Saturday.