Happy Valentine’s Day, and according to Charles Schulz, “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” The World Ice Carving Championships at the Tanana Valley Fairgrounds officially began this morning when the horn blew at 8:00AM. The six teams, spread out through the woods, have been busy cleaning, scraping and preparing their blocks. It will be a while before we will be able to imagine what the finished sculptures will look like. Steve Brice’s team entry is entitled “Thunderstruck”. Tator Edward’s team entry is entitled “The Battle”. Dean DeMarais’s team’s entry is called “A Frozen Fate”. Wade Lapp’s team entry is entitled “Bess-T in the Forest”. Robert Stuttgart’s team entry is entitled “The Subconscious Mind”. The team from Latvia, led by Karlis Ile, has an entry entitled “Hope”. We wish all our teams the best of luck. The mayor of Fairbanks North Star Borough, Bryce Wade, officiated at the blue-ribbon cutting ceremony at the Ice Alaska Stage. There have been lots of visitors to the park already. One young man with a sled was overheard to say, “That slide is AWESOME!”