2008 Festival of Ice Review

Saturday, February 9th was the date for The 8th Annual Festival of Ice at Colio Estate.
These are my notes on this perennial favourite event:

When I awoke to a grey sky in the neighbouring community of Kingsville on the morning of our 8th Annual Festival Ice, I thought about the incredible run of good weather the region had experienced on this day for the last several years. We joked that our Tour Centre manager used her inside influence with God almighty to ensure the day would be a beautiful, mid-winter one. We affectionately referred to her as "Saint Gail".

This day, however, it appeared at first like she had lost her touch. With global warming, you just cannot be assured anymore that a Saturday in February will be cold enough to guarantee that the 300 lb. block of ice will hold the cutting edge of a chisel. For the handful of ice carvers who came to ply their trade, they would probably prefer the cold over the rain that was threatening.

So, after honouring the what-it-is-to-be-Canadian ritual of heading to the drive-thru of the local Tim's for the 4 double-doubles and two large mixed boxes of timbits to warm up the troops assembled to help in the festivities, I headed to the winery at Harrow, in the southwestern corner of Ontario.



As I pulled up at 8:45AM, the chainsaws making the first cuts were already filling the air with their trademark buzz. Most of the carvers were well in to the process of transforming their ideas from paper to ice. There was one single and five teams of two carvers for this year's event, and all had made the trip here from nearby Michigan.

One jovial sort even had the misfortune of being stopped by Customs officials who searched him high and low for nuclear missiles, only to find weapons of mass construction that he would be using in our ice carving contest. Amazingly, though arriving late, he was able to maintain his sense of humour and a perspective on his treatment at the border. He has been coming to this event at our winery for as long as we have held it and this was not about to deter him or his disposition this year.


When I entered the heavy oaken front door of the winery, I walked into a beehive of workers anxiously scurrying about, tending to all the last minute details in anticipation of the heavy crowds about to descend on them for the day's festivities. I looked around and saw the smiling, dedicated faces of my colleagues who gave up their weekend to pitch in and do their part to make it all work. Somehow, my role here felt diminished by all the hard work that had preceded me.

And, at a few minutes before noon, the throngs of visitors from all over the county and beyond began to roll in, bringing with them an end to the rain and in fact, even some patchy rays of sunshine. They came from as far away as Eastern Ontario and Illinois in the west.






The crowd of nearly 1000 people was treated to the sounds of music and laughter, the smells of cinnamon and spice from the mulled wine available and the sumptuous hot dogs, sausages and burgs put on by the local Kinsmen. There were draw prizes, free tours, Icewine samples, baked goods from local vendors and craftspeople displaying their wares and talents.

As a value-added bonus on the day, visitors brought over 500 canned goods and raised over $219.00 by sipping on mulled wine, for the St. Vincent de Paul's foodbank.

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the carvers, the local vendors and craftspeople, the Kinsmen and the other local service organizations who worked so hard to make this another special event in the annals of our winery's history.

Finally, thanks to my winery colleagues for bringing their enthusiasm to one of the dog days of winter, and making it a fun time for all those in attendance. And, unwittingly, by embracing winter themselves and demonstrating the fine art of being Canadian.


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