CAMDEN, Maine — Despite bitterly cold temperatures and a snowstorm, a group of die-hard art enthusiasts donned their warmest gloves and Carhartt coveralls Saturday to work on snow carvings and ice sculptures in downtown Camden.
The chilly activities were part of the town’s annual Winterfest, which will culminate next weekend with the 25th annual U.S. National Toboggan Championships. The ice carvers were in it for fun, chipping blocks of ice into fantastic objects by the Camden Public Library’s amphitheater. But the snow sculptors were seeking glory, as well as a good time, as the first-ever Winterfest Snow Sculpting Competition is Maine’s only nationally-sanctioned snow sculpture event. The winners will bring their carving implements with them to Wisconsin next year to compete for Maine at the national snow sculpting competition.
Stephen Seymour, a kindergarten teacher from Windham, was busy turning a seven-foot-high block of snow into a polar bear cub looking down at a baby seal through a hole in the ice. He and his wife, Karen Seymour, used implements like a horse’s curry comb, shovels, a dog chain, a linoleum scraper and a drywall knife to help them sculpt.
“You never look at tools the same way again,” he joked.
Elsewhere on the Camden Village Green, a crew of local folks were turning their block into the Tardis time machine from television’s “Dr. Who.” Broo Temple of Lincolnville said that a different team had made an emergency cancellation and his group stepped forward.
“They let us know last night,” he said Saturday.
“But since it’s a time travel machine, we’ve been working on it for four weeks,” teammate Seth Silverton of Lincolnville joked. “No. We’re complete newbies.”