Vulcan Krewe

The Saint Paul Vulcan Krewe is a tradition of the St Paul Winter Carnival held each year. The king of the Vulcans is King Boreas Vulcanus Rex and dates back to 1886. The Vulcans are prominent at many events in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas held through out the year, up to 400 events per year. I typically see them at parades where they leave their trademark black grease "V" on the parade onlookers. In the past, the Vulcans would mark the parade viewers with a "V" on their faces. Many people would flee during their walk through the streets but the brave would stand proudly and get the marking from the Krewe.

  

Ice Melts Above 32 Degrees Fahrenheit

As I mentioned earlier in the week in regards to this weeks ice carvings I've been posting, the day after they carved the blocks of ice, it warmed above the freezing point for about 36 hours. This caused havoc with the spectacular creations as you can see in the two photos I've posted today. You can sort of make out what some of the carvings are. All of the details are gone and pieces have fallen to the ground. Yet there are a couple ice carvings that I have no idea what it could have been. Despite the melting that has taken place, I really like the way these photos turned out with all of the lights on the trees, the colors the ice blocks are with the lights reflecting. Next year I'll try to get out there on the first night just in case there are warm temperatures once again.

Frosty The Ice Man

Another frozen delight from the St Paul Winter Carnival ice carvings in Rice Park.

Frozen Fish

This aquatic vertebrae gives new meaning to the cold blooded spices. This frozen wonder is on the right side of yesterday's grand ice carving display which can be seen in Rice Park during the St Paul Winter Carnival.

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Saint Paul Winter Carnival

One of my personal favorite times of the winter season is the two weeks of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival held each year for the past 122 years. Last week I posted a few photos from the Snow Sculpture contest. This week will be some of the creations made from blocks of ice. I only have a few of them because the day after the blocks of ice were carved, the temperatures soared above the freezing point for about 36 hours. There was a lot of melting during this period and by the time I was able to make it to the carvings of ice, they were not that recognizable. My guess is the event organizers had to recreate this welcome to the winter carnival creation. You'll know what I mean later in the week when I posted a photo of the half melted ice creations.

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Please, Do Not Touch Snow Blocks

What I don't get about the snow blocks is, why are they so close to the sign and the highly secure rope? They are just TEMPTING people to touch the snow blocks. Do you not want to touch those snow blocks after reading this sign?

This is the last Snow Sculpting Contest photos. This submitted photo from swc is the 3rd place creation titled 'Dream Hunt'. It was crafted by Jim Trost, Jared Trost and Jim Krueger. The cash prize for their third place finish was $300 dollars.

I'm Telling Mom

This "Tree House" created by Jim Baller, Bob Baller and Judy Grufman was the second place finisher in the 2008 Snow Sculpting Competition. This competition was part of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival daily events. The cash prize for second place was $600 dollars. Photo submitted by swc.

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I'm A Rocket Man

This was the first place snow sculpture from the 2008 Saint Paul Winter Carnival held at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds. I didn't catch it at first, but there is a mechanical dog looking up at the Rocket Man. This creation by Jon Baller, Curt Cook and Joseph Hauwiller Jr won them a cool $1200 cash prize. Not bad for playing in the snow eh?

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Check Your Head

You warm climate, southern/coastal states can build your castles, shapes, and amazing things out of beach sand. But us cold climate, northern snow states can do something you cannot, we can create those very same things using snow! Today's contribution photo from swc was taken at the State Fair Grounds. The snow sculpting competition pits teams from around the region creating incredible shapes from blocks of snow. This event is part of St Paul's 122nd Winter Carnival celebration.