CLOQUET - Just because Cloquet no longer has Bentleyville, don't count it out for winter fun.
Cloquet artist Tim Young and Cloquet City Street Department Supervisor Lester Peterson have teamed up to bring residents the first Cloquet Snow Carving Festival, starting in January.
"That name is a working title," Young said Monday. "But we want to draw people here for some fun that I like to say is here today, gone tomorrow - literally."
Young has been carving snow sculptures for the past 15 years, and anyone driving on Freeman Road has been privy to the view of his dolphins, horses and even a 15-foot tall snow sculpture of Winnie the Pooh in past winters.
"Carving has always been a passion of mine," he said.
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Young was inspired to carve sculptures out of blocks of snow and ice after seeing a photo of his dad with a snow rabbit he had carved.
"It's really just taking the building of a snowman to another level," he said.
Young and Peterson envision creating some 12 snow sculptures along a trail through Veterans Park. Peterson said his staff would make the containers to hold the snow from Jan. 3-9 and artists who have pre-registered could get to work carving the following week.
"It doesn't cost us anything at the city," Peterson said. "We're thinking we'd place ice luminaries along the trail as well, maybe hold an event through community [education] with hot chocolate, something similar to the hay maze event we had in October."
The city tried a smaller version of the venture three years ago when artists carved some five sculptures around the park. Now that Young is involved, he'd like to make it an annual event.
"It takes time to carve the sculptures - I do a lot of math to get the perspective right," he said. "But when you carve something this big for the enjoyment of others, it's worth it."
Young is considering carving a veteran's memorial and said the subject matter is open to each artist.
Artists are needed to carve the snow into sculptures. Contact Young at 218-590-8880 or 218-879-8788 or Peterson at 218-879-7762 for more information.
