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Alpena Ice Fest Kicks of at Mich-e–ke–wis Park

 

Saturday morning, the Alpena Ice Fest kicked off at the Mich–e–ke–wis park and brought family fun with ice sculptures, sledding, s’mores, and more. Tim Kuehnlein, Thunder Bay Arts Council, said, “It’s been a tremendous day. There were, I would estimate, a good thousand people here. We had 1000 s’mores to give away, and they’re all gone, so not everybody got one.” He said, “The weather cooperated with us, even though some things are melting now. We had a wonderful morning.”

Tim Kuehnlein, Thunder Bay Arts Council

Families came out in droves for all the fun offered up with the s’mores, sledding, hayrides, and sculptures. For those who sponsored all the fun, the number of people only added to their excitement. Leann Schultz, the Director of Marketing for the Alpena Alcona Area Credit Union, said, “It was a great turn out, and what I’m proud of is that we were one of the sponsors again this year from Alpena Alcona Area Credit Union, but to give our community something to do and we see so many families coming to an event like this. I had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people that travel to Alpena this weekend just for this event, and to think what that does per community is just so exciting.”

It wasn’t just the parents excited that all the kids were having fun and enjoying all the fun opportunities, but the ones running the event too. Kuehnlein said, “One of the most rewarding parts is seeing people come out, be outside, enjoy art, the ice, the live sculpting, and more than anything, the little kids just having a ball and engaging in all the activities. Their parents able to appreciate you know what was around us.” He said, “It’s just been a great experience. Hopefully it will translate into what’s going on downtown this evening. I’m sure the temperatures will start to change a little bit, maybe we can salvage the melting.”