Plymouth Ice Festival
Page 14
Lao won the 2015 Dueling Chain
Saw competition when carvers are
presented with a block of ice and have
15 minutes to create a sculpture. Lao's
creation of a turtle was chosen unani-
mously by the judges who awarded
second place honors to Henry Ford
alumnus Chris Burnash whose cre-
ation of SpongeBob Squarepants was a
crowdpleaser.
TheHenryFord teamalso created a
huge sculpture of a mythical kraken
rising from the ocean, using 24 blocks
of ice last year. They also were respon-
sible for the sculpture of the Red
Wings logo, a roasted pig, a martini
glass and a superhero.
Lao said that the team success last
year was helped by the perfect carving
conditions. “The temperatures were
exactly where we wanted them last
year,” he said.
While the competing teammembers
were not finalized at press time, Lao
said that this year, he expected a team
of five carvers from the club to partici-
pate. McCormick, who is the club pres-
ident this year, will return, Lao said, as
will Tampakes, who serves as vice-
president of the club and Speeks who
is the tools and equipment officer of
the club.
Lao said that tentatively participat-
ing this year are Angelina Adkins, the
public relations director for the club
and Jayme Slais, a culinary arts major
at the school.
Planned carvings this year, Lao said,
include a chameleon, a preying mantis
and an abstract phoenix, among some
other ideas the clubmembers have.
Lao, who began his educational
career in advertising, transferred to
the Henry Ford Culinary Arts program
when he made the decision to change
career goals. He has been carving for
about 6 years, he said, after his faculty
advisor noticed a number of art classes
in his educational resume and suggest-
edhe give it a try.
He's been at it ever since, he said.
“This is an art form that depends
totally on how much you are willing to
put into it,” he said, “and how much
confidence youhave.”
When the chain saws are scream-
ing, ice shards flying and the clock tick-
ing away the 15 minutes, Lao said it
will be experience, understanding and
confidence that determine the winner
this year.
The Dueling Chainsaw event takes
place in Kellogg Park at 7 p.m.
Saturday. The team competitions take
place from 9 until noon on Saturday
and the individual competitions are
planned for 8 a.m. until noon on
Sunday.
Winners will be announced and
awards presented at 1 p.m. bothdays.
Champs
from page 13
