I apologize for not writing a blog yesterday. I wear many hats and the one I wore yesterday was in ticketing for Ice Alaska. If you came to the park between 6PM and 10PM I might have met you. 

The Youth Classic concludes today at 5:00. The judging will begin shortly after that under white light, but the kids won’t know until Friday night at 8PM who wins. Colored lights can be added after the judging. The kids’ creations look fantastic! Despite eight inches of snow yesterday and a brisk wind today that makes it feel much colder, the kids have been working hard, following directions, keeping their sites clean and finishing up their masterpieces. They were all too busy for a photo op this afternoon. For a little levity and cheerleading, Katy, one of the volunteers, led everyone in a sit up contest this morning. Everyone was warmed up, pumped up and ready for the home stretch. One young lady had originally named her wonderful ice creation “My Cat”. She had trouble with the ears so her new title is “My Cat Teddy Bear.” The word Cat has a big X over it. Don’t you love the inventiveness of youth? A two girl team was patting each other of the back at the completion of their breathtaking rendition of Denali. The almost finished sculptures are really amazing. Awards ceremony will be tomorrow night at 8PM so stop by the fairgrounds.

A little humor from the park, in the middle of winter, in the middle of an ice park in Fairbanks: one of the games in the kids’ park is an ice ping pong table. One of the wooden ping pong paddles was broken, so a volunteer was sent out to try and find a replacement paddle. There is not too much of a need for paddles in Fairbanks in winter and our volunteer had to drive all over trying to find one. He made a giant loop of the city and finally found four paddles. Tomorrow is Kids’ Day so everyone now will be able to play ping pong. Our volunteers are great.