News
Thursday, Apr. 4th, 2013
3 Minutes: Take the Pinehurst Project Survey
The Pinehurst Project is currently in their planning stage. As many of you are aware, the proposed changes to Pinehurst Park (on Eau Claire's North side) include rebuilding, reconstructing, and reinventing the former ski hill to create a site where residents of the Chippewa Valley can have fun and stay active in winter via tubing, alpine skiing, snowboarding. The organizers of the project have created a short survey they would like you and your friends and family to fill out. Your feedback will help them work with the City of Eau Claire as they continue planning for this project.
Link to survey: https://cvtc.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6rLYXYyUD2bqBlb
Monday, Feb. 4th, 2013
Eau Claire snow carvers win US Nationals!
"Dancing Fire" – shown here 12 hours before the United States National Snow Carving Competition's deadline on Feb. 2 (Lake Geneva, Wis.).
Last weekend, a snow-carving team featuring the talents of Eau Claire's own Winter After Hours snow sculptors Jason Anhorn and Steve Bateman – along with Wauwatosa artist Dave Andrews – won first place at the United States National Snow Carving Competition in Lake Geneva, Wis. Their piece was called "Dancing Fire."
It was Andrews’s idea to form the award-winning squad. Bateman and Anhorn had actually competed against (and finished behind) Andrews in past competitions, but their mutual snow-carving respect brought them together after a December phone call from Andrews – a 20 year veteran of the frosty craft who has competed at the US Nationals 10 times.
After viewing two of Andrews’s concept sketches, the three settled on the “Dancing Fire” design. Andrews completed a clay mockup about a week before the competition, which finished on February 2. As Anhorn describes it ...
"We arrived on Tuesday [Jan. 29] in the pouring rain and 60 degree temperatures, with a forecast of cold on it’s way. Wednesday morning at 9am, the event had a kickoff meeting for all of the sculptors. During the meeting, the snow started and the temps dropped and the wind picked up and kept cooling until it was well below zero for the remainder of the event, which is perfect for achieving tight details in snow. The city of Lake Geneva treats the snow sculptors very well, with each team in its own [hotel] suite, 3 gourmet meals a day, new jackets and other perks. Our team got off and running on Wednesday just after the meeting and we never looked back, working late into every night, taking breaks only to warm up our meals. Our families arrived for the weekend and the city of Lake Geneva was very welcoming."
If that weren’t enough, along with its first place designation, the team received seed money to travel to an international competition. Anhorn says they are shooting for the 2014 Olympics in Russia and hoping for a national sponsorship.
Oh, and we should probably also mention that Bateman and two other artists snagged third place at an international competition in Frankenmuth, Mich., only one week prior to the United States Nationals.
Read more to see more pictures ...
Tuesday, Jan. 15th, 2013
Mount Simon Park to expand?
Amongst the many wonders of Mount Simon Park, one of the city's public disc golf courses.
Eau Claire’s Mount Simon Park might be expanding in the near future. The city is on track to receive a $166,000 matching grant from the state’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program to help buy 1.2 acres along the park’s northwest side. According to the state Department of Natural Resources, the land will offer an ideal place for hiking, fishing, trapping, cross-country skiing, and biking. The expansion isn’t a done deal, however: The DNR Board must still OK the grant and the city must budget its own matching funds and negotiate purchasing the property from its private owners, says Phil Fieber, city parks director. In other park-related news, Eau Claire’s Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department is also pondering plans to upgrade Pinehurst Park to improve wintertime recreation there, including making sledding safer and perhaps adding downhill skiing and snowboarding to the mix. A public input session will be held Jan. 16, and the process is expected to take several years.
Friday, Jan. 11th, 2013
The Pinehurst Project wants your opinion
As you may recall, some winter loving locals are working to hard to revamp Pinehurst Park, converting the ski hill turned sledding hill into to a frosty shangri-la of wintertime activity. A meeting will be held Wednesday, January 16 in the LE Phillips Memorial Public Library (lower level) at 5:30pm. The meeting is a public input session on the changes proposed by the Pinehurst Project, including rebuilding, reconstructing, and reinventing the site to create a park where residents of the Chippewa Valley can have fun and stay active during the cold months via tubing, alpine skiing, snowboarding, and more. Come on out and show your support and add your two cents.
They’ve provided a few schematics of the proposed plans. You can download the “Recreation Use Schematic” and the “Proposed Site Work.” Or view the Recreation Use Schematic here.
Wednesday, Jan. 9th, 2013
Attack of the Ice Nessie!
The “Loch Chip Monster” has returned, and this time, it’s personal frozen. My eagle-eyed wife Shannon spotted the new sculpture this morning driving across the Madison Street bridge. In case you’re not familiar with the Legend of the Loch Chip Monster, the story of a mysterious Nessie-shaped concrete sculpture that appeared in the Chippewa River last summer, read a quick recap. This new one is in the exact same spot.
Not sure how long she’s been out there (looks like the tail piece has tipped over), but we assume it originates from the same folks behind the original monster(s) – the whimsical workers at nearby Silvermine Stone. Our photographer Josh says it appears to have been cut out of the adjacent river ice and placed into slots in the frozen water.
Click on the photos to embiggen ...
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