Talk about a guy who has fun with the cold.

Harold Sawatzky of Langley is the owner-operator of Ice Decor, a company committed to excellence in the ice sculpture industry.

Sawatzky 鈥� no relation to former Vernon Mayor Rob Sawatzky (鈥淣ot that I know of,鈥� he laughed) 鈥� and his company have been tasked with helping to build three different sites for the Vernon Winter Carnival鈥檚 Winter Playground at the Vernon Army Camp.

鈥淥ne鈥檚 in the igloo and will have some ice bars for the adults along with some furniture,鈥� said Sawatzky Thursday morning, decked out in his winter finery 鈥� toque, winter jacket, snow pants. 鈥淭he castle here (behind me) has a throne in it for kids to sit on, and over yonder we have an ice slide.鈥�

Ice slide?

鈥淎 piece of greased lightning for kids to slide down on their slippy slides or toboggans,鈥� said Sawatzky, as he watched Ice Decor employees Isaac and Sergei Woewoda, along with Vernon volunteer and Winter Carnival ice sculpture competitor Tyler Welfing, work on the slide. 鈥淚t鈥檒l be about 30 feet long and will be a lot of fun.鈥�

Fun 鈥� Snow Much Fun as per the Carnival motto for 2022 鈥� will be had as the 62nd annual Vernon Winter Carnival kicks off Friday, Feb. 4.

And the Winter Playground at the army camp will be a big part of it.

鈥淲e will also have snowshoeing, and some fat bikes up here so people can rip around on those,鈥� said Carnival executive director Vicki Proulx. 鈥淲e鈥檒l have some games including a giant, human-sized foosball court or table, if you will, where you can challenge others to a large game of foosball.

鈥淎nd on the other side (of camp road), we have the adult ice bar, three different ice bars set up. There will be live entertainment, some games and some ice carvings in there as well.鈥�

The Winter Playground will run all 10 days of Carnival. For more information on the park and other Carnival activities, checkout.

roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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