Plenty of snow available for sculpting exhibition
If anyone wants to make a sculpture out of the 6-foot pile of snow next to my driveway, they can have at it.
My point is this: There is plenty of snow around for the snow-sculpting teams that are competing this week at Geneva Commons in the first "Sno Sculpting Exhibition" in the parking lot of Dick's Sporting Goods.
Some folks out there may remember that this event, hosted by the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission, was canceled last year because of "bad weather" in February.
"We had a spell of 50-degree weather with torrential rains, and then it turned very cold and the snow turned into ice," said event Chairman Jan Ostler.
But forget about the snow that has been piling up around us. These teams - four professional teams and one each from Geneva and Batavia high schools - won't necessarily need what is on the ground. They will be using blocks of snow that were preset in molds. The students will work on 6-by-6-foot blocks, the pros will use 10-by-10-foot blocks.
"It is a large parking lot, so those who want to see it will be able to walk around the sculpting area," said Ostler, who added that the area closest to the sculptors will be fenced off for safety reasons because of the sharp tools being used.
There will be plenty of imagination and experience on display, including two Geneva artists, Joe Gagnepain and Mark Wissing, who will each lead professional teams. Sculpting will take place from today through noon Saturday, with winners announced at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Claddagh Pub in the Commons.
Your favorite hoofers:
The word is getting out now in a big way. It's time to secure your tickets and/or place your votes for the Feb. 7 Dancing with the Geneva Stars fundraiser at Eagle Brook Country Club.
If you didn't get an invitation in the mail, you can get ticket information or place votes at genevarts.org at $1 each for your favorite dancers of the six couples competing.
Click on the Dancing with Geneva Stars icon, then choose your favorite couple and make your donation through votes.
It wouldn't be fair for me to make a pitch to vote for Dave and Pat Heun, now would it? Of course, it wouldn't. But is anything ever fair when it comes to voting?
Seriously, I hope that the community supports Geneva schools and arts with plenty of votes for all of the couples.
Those who attend will see some pretty good dancing. And you'll be able to join in, as the evening concludes with open dancing.
A festive future:
The holiday lights should be put away or at least turned off until next year, but one can't help envision what's in store for the future.
Downtown St. Charles takes a back seat to no one when it comes to lighting up the downtown area during the holiday season. One can only imagine how nice the new First Street plaza will look from mid-November to early January when that project is finally completed and decked out for the holidays.
dheun@sbcglobal.net