Ice fishing, ice sculpting, skijoring, but no lutefisk this year
By Holly Neumann
In spite of not having the annual lutefisk supper, the 60th annual Iola Winter Carnival, held Feb. 4-6, was a big hit with spectators and participants.
“It was a little different, but it has gone very well,” said event chairman Mike Mazemke. “The ice sculpting was great to see, the fishing tournament was very well attended and the skiing events always draw a great crowd. We could not ask for better.”
Some of the events that took place Feb. 5 included ice fishing, skijoring and ice sculpting.
Vicky Koss of Scandinavia took part in the ice sculpting contest.
“It’s a great way to be creative and see what you can do with a block of ice,” she said. “I am missing the lutefisk supper this year, so I decided to carve Larry Lutefisk. It’s tradition. After all, you have to uphold tradition.”
While Koss was busy carving, others filled the ice on Lake Iola to take part in the kids’ fishing tournament.
“We came from Oshkosh,” Josh Mitchelski said. “I brought my two kids with me. It’s darn cold, but we put up the shanty and had fun. What a great event for a small community.”
His son Colby, age 4, agreed.
“I didn’t catch a fishy yet, but my sister did,” he said. “I really like the bag of candy they gave me.”
Jerry Thompson organizes the skijoring event.
“This event is exciting,” he said. “Of course, it does not always go as planned, but the people really enjoy getting outside with their dogs. When they can ski with them, it’s even better.”
Racers Kevin Fores and Dawn Lashua were returning for another year of competition.
Lashua headed out on the trail with Yeti and Gus.
“I like the fact that I don’t have to work as hard when I ski,” she said. “It’s a true team effort to get to the finish line.”
“The dogs make it the best,” said Fores, who races with his dog Kira. “Everyone is having a good time.”
Jack and Lisa Johansen of Sheboygan came across the event on social media.
“We had to come and see for ourselves,” Jack said. “Who knew we could have so much fun watching this?”
“Next year, we’re coming back for the whole weekend,” Lisa said.
The highlight of the weekend events was the ski jumping that took place Feb. 6 at the Iola Winter Sports Club grounds northwest of Iola.
Benji Bauer, 6, competed in Iola for the first time and was jumping off the 5- and 10-meter hills.
“I like jumping,” he said. “It’s not really that hard to do.”
Beth Frolik and Abby Ashcraft from the Norge Ski Club in Chicago jumped from the 60-meter hill.
“It is awesome,” Frolik said. “It is like you are flying through the air or the closest thing to it.”
“I love the ski jumping environment,” Ashcraft said. “Traveling to the different communities is so much fun.”
Ashcraft loves coming to Iola.
“The jumps here are so much different than ours,” she said. “It is a lot of fun being here.”
While Ashcraft has hopes of going to the Junior Nationals a year from now, Frolik’s dreams are simple.
“As long as I am having fun and learning, I want to continue to fly,” she said.