Notes from Town Square: Biography of an ice block

Ice. How many forms of ice are there?

Well, let’s name a few. The most obvious this winter for southwest Wyoming would be snow and black ice. Then, we have the ice in our rivers, lakes, streams, glaciers and of course massive ice bergs. Also, we have frost on our windshield and icicles on our houses. Next, we have more favorable kinds of ice including ice cubes, crushed ice and most people’s favorite ice cream.

We don’t want to forget the useful kinds of ice including dry ice,if this really counts, and block ice for our hunting, camping and fishing excursions. Water and ice really are an amazing creation of molecules and nature.

For the purpose of this biography we want each and every one of you to meet the 300-pound ice block that can only be seen locally, in a rare form, once a year during Green River’s Crystal Classic Winter Festival. It is an elusive creature that is so special it has to be shipped in from another state. This crystal clear Clinebell is named after the inventor Virgil Clinebell who created a machine in 1964 capable of making pristine blocks of clear ice.

The Clinebell blocks arrive in Green River Thursday. They will be carefully unloaded from the semi by a Green River Parks and Recreation Department employee and placed in a metal shed overnight. Next stop will be the People’s Choice Ice Carving Competition. A 300-pound block will be delivered to one very lucky ice carver and placed on the carver’s display box via fork lift. Once on the box, the carver will delicately unwrap the block from its cardboard and plastic outer shell. It will be carefully inspected by the would-be carver for any impurities or cracking. These imperfections, which are rare in the Clinebell block, can be made by air molecules that bind to impurities in the water. However, during the creation of the Clinebell the water is circulated as to eliminate any trapped air from binding to the impurities. Once approved for carving, the artist begins creating an artful masterpiece for public display.

As the Clinebell is chiseled, sawed, melted and refrozen, we meet one of our very talented Ice Carvers from Columbus, Ohio; David A. Smith, aka “Pablo.” Smith has been an artist his entire life. He earned a degree in Culinary Arts and also has a business degree and Marketing experience to boot. He not only creates sculptures out of ice, he carves pumpkins, fruit and vegetables, sculpts sand and is trained in glass blowing. Smith may look familiar to some of you, as he has been a finalist on Food Network’s “Halloween Wars” and most recently “Cake Wars: Christmas.”

After several hours of chainsaw work, fusing, and drilling, the Clinebell becomes a beautiful sculpture of ice public to enjoy. We hope each and every one of you will come out to see the 300-pound Clinebell molded into a work of art at this year’s Crystal Classic Winter Festival, Friday and Saturday.

For a full listing of events visit the city’s website at http://www.cityofgreenriver.org

 

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