Brewer winter festival 2004 a big hit

BREWER - The ice sculptures of a girl ice-skating, a fish jumping out of the water and a sailing vessel gleamed so brightly Saturday morning that people driving over the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge to Bangor turned around to see what was going on. "We were going across the bridge and saw the ice sculptures and the kids wanted to turn around and look at them," said Eddington resident Christie Theriault with three children in tow. "They're amazing."

The ice sculptures were just one part of Brewer's Penobscot River Winterfest this past weekend. The event was a partnership between Brewer's Parents-Teachers United and the Penobscot Landing advisory committee. The two-day event included live music, two chili cook-offs, professional ice carvers and ice- and snow-carving competitions, live performances, and sliding, ice-skating and games for youngsters.

Some 900 people converged Saturday on the Brewer Auditorium for the festivities. During the day, several hundred children sledded at Doyle Field while other ice-skated. Several groups also spent hours creating snow sculptures on the football field. At the Muddy Rudder, several hundred people participated in the people's choice chili cook-off, which was won by students from United Technology Center in Bangor.

Brewer Mayor Michael Celli said this year's Winterfest was much larger than last year's.

"This festival is about 20 times bigger than last year," he said. "If we can do this every year we'll do all right."

"I think it turned out tremendous," Brewer City Councilor Manley DeBeck said. "It shows Brewer is truly a city of caring and sharing. They came together to enjoy and participate. It's a lot of fun for children, young families, middle-aged people - people of all ages came together."

As she watched artists Steve Griffiths and Jeff Day carve away at the crystal-clear ice, 4-year-old Taylor Theriault said she liked the two ice snowflakes that flanked the three larger sculptures. Her big sister Kaitlyn Theriault, 5, said she liked the sculpture of a girl ice-skating that stood 12 feet tall and took six blocks of ice to make.

The ice sculptures will stand along the Penobscot River in the Muddy Rudder parking lot until they melt away. After Griffith and Day finished carving on Saturday, Griffith boarded a plane heading to Fairbanks, Alaska, for the World Ice Art Championship on Sunday. He said Brewer's event was a warm-up.

Both artists were in Brewer for last year's winter festival and were invited back. A newcomer to this year's event is carver Rodney Richard, also known as The Mad Whittler. The Mad Whittler used a chain saw to carve a bear cub from a block of wood in a matter of minutes on the steps of Brewer Auditorium, where the other Winterfest events were held.

Part of a copyright article from the Bangor Daily News by Nok-Noi Hauger, Of the NEWS Staff: Monday, March 1, 2004.