Weather swings cancel Geneva snow sculpting

It's the ninth snowiest winter on record in the Chicago area. And it's cold, with temperatures today expected to hit a high of 7.

But that freak warm-up to 45 degrees Sunday, along with an inch of rain, managed to ruin what was going to be Geneva's first snow-sculpting exhibition.

"Sno Sculpting," which was to take place today through Saturday, was supposed to be done with four truckloads of pristine manufactured snow trucked in from Raging Buffalo Snowboard Park in Algonquin.

"We did not make it through Sunday's rain and warm weather," said Jan Ostler, secretary of the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission, the event organizer.

"We worked all night long to cover it and watch it, but Monday it was nothing but slush." The volunteers were unable to pack it into the cylindrical molds to make the 8-foot blocks the artists would use.

Local professional snow sculptors Mark Wissing of Geneva and Joe Gagnepain IV of Batavia were to exhibit. Four teams from Geneva, Batavia, St. Charles North and St. Charles East high schools were going to carve also. The artwork would be done on the Kane County Courthouse lawn and at Fourth and State streets.

Besides the snow being ruined, Sunday's rain turned the courthouse lawn into a sheet of ice, Ostler said.

"It became a real safety issue," she said.

The commission has already learned a lesson from its inaugural effort, Ostler said. It will schedule next year's exhibition for January, so if the weather doesn't cooperate it can have a rain date in February.

"We are going to be ready for next year," Ostler said.