Ice Sculptures

bonnieb@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The entries in Chambersburg's third annual Chili Cook-off were so hot, their fumes melted the ice sculptures on Main Street, according to one participant. Clint Bolte, a volunteer with the YMCA chili cook-off team, said the ice sculptures at Ice Fest 2006 were melting not because of the warm weather, but because "people from the chili cook-off were out there breathing on them. " Judging the 12 entries behind a closed curtain Saturday were seven local luminaries who cleansed their palates with water, buttered bread, grapes and oyster crackers between bites.

Thousands of people packed the streets of downtown Chambersburg on Saturday to admire and photograph the more than 70 ice sculptures on display at IceFest. But it's been a tough week for the festival's main attraction - ice. First, rain forced Thursday's carving activities to be postponed. Then, Saturday's unseasonably warm temperatures disfigured some of the ice masterpieces. But most of the passers-by seemed unfazed that many of the ice sculptures had lost their original brilliance.

They are beautiful works of art. But you won't find them in a museum. And forget about displaying them in your house. As soon as the temperature begins to rise, they'll disappear. But attend any outdoor winter festival and you're bound to see a chunk of frozen water being transformed into glistening masterpieces - some with amazing dimension and detail. When the 11th annual IceFest is held tonight through Sunday, Feb. 3, in Chambersburg, ice sculptures will be front and center, lining downtown streets.

julieg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The only heat IceFest organizers want visitors to experience is from the chili cook-off and new hot pepper-eating contest. However - as of Wednesday - it was looking doubtful Mother Nature would agree with them. Organizers decided Wednesday to delay, by one day, putting the smaller ice sculptures around Main Street, said Theresa Bachman-Myers, executive director for the Council for the Arts. They will be put out by 5 p.m. Friday.

Bone-chilling cold returned to the area just in time for the first day of IceFest in downtown Chambersburg on Thursday night. Following a brief ribbon cutting ceremony on the square, IceFest kicked off its four-day winter festival with live ice sculpture carving. “This is just a wonderful event. It is a real jewel in the crown of the county as far as tourism ... it's really gratifying that it's become one of the main events of the year and that it brings so many folks to the county and offers so much to the residents of the county,” David S. Keller, chairman of the Franklin County Commissioners said following the ribbon cutting ceremony.

By STEVEN T. DENNIS Staff Writer Camelot is making an appearance in Hagerstown for the next two days. See it while it's cold. A castle, towers, dragons, shields, knights, swords and other medieval and Renaissance items - all made of ice - are being carved up at the Washington County Career Studies Center on Oak Ridge Drive. Culinary arts students and others at the center have taken time out from their other studies to chisel 90,000 pounds of ice into sculptures for the center's Ice Festival.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Something positive comes out of the snow's arrival - the ability to hold IceFest '05 today through Sunday, Jan. 30. Throughout downtown, sidewalks will be graced with ice sculptures of penguins and piggy banks, rocking horses and race cars, the founding fathers and some 60 other designs, not to mention an enormous throne on the square. Tonight and the evening of Friday, Jan. 28, spectators can watch as master carvers sculpt 11 of the largest pieces on the spot.

Coffee house, poetry night Come and read a favorite poem or your own original work, or just relax and listen. Sponsored by Greencastle Area Arts Council and the owners of Cup O' Joe. Today, 7 to 9 p.m. Cup O' Joe, 21 E. Baltimore St., Greencastle, Pa. Free. Call 1-717-597-3284. 'Meet Me in St. Louis' The musical follows the Smith family as they visit the 1904 World's Fair and features many old favorite songs. Fridays and Saturdays and select Sundays through Saturday, Feb. 28. Washington County Playhouse, 44 N. Potomac St., Hagerstown.

Single-digit temperatures accompanied by a wind chill factor below zero was filling up the Cold Weather Drop-In Shelter in Chambersburg, Pa., Monday night as people sought refuge from bone-chilling conditions. The National Weather Service in State College, Pa., was calling for temperatures of about 1 degree this morning in Franklin County with the wind chill factor between -7 and -15 degrees. A wind chill advisory has been issued for much of the state. At the Cold Weather Drop-In Shelter at 195 Loudon St., 14 men and four women sought shelter from the freezing conditions Sunday night, said Tom Newcomer, president of the shelter's executive committee.