Winter Carnival 1988

How can an event like the Saint Paul Winter Carnival be an answer to prayer?

For our family, the 1988 Minnesota State Snow Sculpting Competition during the Winter Carnival provided more than just an artistic outlet.

Friendly Competition

Patrick remembers that the Minnesota Chapter AIA (American Institute of Architects) encouraged architects from Minneapolis and Saint Paul to form teams and compete in the 1988 Saint Paul Winter Carnival Snow Sculpture Competition.¹Interview with Patrick Blees. January 14, 2024. This was to be a friendly, artistic contest across both sides of the Mississippi River.

Representing the west side of the River, the team started with 2 college friends: Bill Blanski and Patrick Blees who met at the U of MN in the early 1980s. Rick Rice, another architect from Patrick’s office agreed to join the team. In 1988, they were young, professional architects in Minneapolis.

Rules

The 1988 Snow Sculpting Competition:

• 24 – three-person teams
• 6-foot x 6-foot x 10-foot block of snow²“Bear carving wins snow sculpture contest.” Star Tribune (Minneapolis MN). January 27, 1988. page 3B.
• hand tools only (machetes and axes provided)
• 3 days to construct (January 24 – 26, 1988)³St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press Dispatch (am edition). January 25, 1988, page 1A. Photo caption indicates that the deadline is Tuesday [January 26].
• All participants received winter hats and coats
• Prizes: 1st place $500, 2nd place $300, 3rd place $150
• First place winner represents Minnesota at the U.S. Snow Sculpting Competition
• Snow Sculptures available for viewing on Harriett Island throughout the Winter Carnival: January 27 – February 7, 1988

Tales of Fire and Ice

The theme of the 1988 Winter Carnival was “Tales of Fire and Ice,” honoring the opposites of the carnival’s mythic fire and snow kings.

Playing off the theme, the team envisioned a scene of how all great stories begin: friends seated at a fire. The team worked for 3 days, slicing, carving, defining.

1988 Snow Sculpture “The Tale Begins”⁴Patrick Blees. Photograph of snow sculpture. January 1988. Digital scan of original Kodachrome slide.

Prayer

Our first-born son arrived 9 days before the competition and I quit working. Patrick and I were convinced that I should be a stay-at-home mother; we would live off one income.

Truth be told, one income did not meet our fixed expenses. Our budget showed that we were going to be $50 short every month.

We prayed.

1988 Snow Sculpting Competition 3rd Place Sponsor’s Award⁵1988 Snow Sculpting Competition Sponsor’s Award 3rd Place Plaque. Original owned by Patrick Blees, January 2024. Interesting additional items to note: 1) It was about this time that Patrick discontinued using the nickname Pat. 2) The sponsors were Rax, a fast-casual, roast beef restaurant, and KTMA-23, the local UHF station that was the first home of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The Minneapolis team of Blanski, Blees & Rice won 3rd place!

They split the prize money; each of the guys brought home $50.

God answers prayer.

SOURCES

• 1
  Interview with Patrick Blees. January 14, 2024.
• 2
  “Bear carving wins snow sculpture contest.” Star Tribune (Minneapolis MN). January 27, 1988. page 3B.
• 3
  St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press Dispatch (am edition). January 25, 1988, page 1A. Photo caption indicates that the deadline is Tuesday [January 26].
• 4
  Patrick Blees. Photograph of snow sculpture. January 1988. Digital scan of original Kodachrome slide.
• 5
  1988 Snow Sculpting Competition Sponsor’s Award 3rd Place Plaque. Original owned by Patrick Blees, January 2024. Interesting additional items to note: 1) It was about this time that Patrick discontinued using the nickname Pat. 2) The sponsors were Rax, a fast-casual, roast beef restaurant, and KTMA-23, the local UHF station that was the first home of Mystery Science Theater 3000.