Fun in the snow, guaranteed

Do you like to play in the snow? Would you like to be guaranteed to have snow to play in?

If so, mark your calendar on Friday, Nov. 23. That's the day after Thanksgiving.

On that day, St. Louis County Parks will hold the first-ever Thanksgiving Snow Sculpture Contest. It will be from noon to 3 p.m. in Queeny Park in west St. Louis County.

There will be a division for kids 15 and under. All others go into an adult division. Park Director Don McCann said there will be first, second and third place prizes in both divisions. But, he added, "There will be a prize for everyone entered."

But, how can McCann guarantee the snow?

It's easy. The Greensfelder Recreation Complex at Queeny has an indoor ice rink. That opened on October 26. Zamboni machines sweep up ice shavings off the rink at least four times a day.

"That means we'll have a month of ice shavings from the rink stored up by the time of the Snow Sculpture Contest," he said.

"And, if we have to, we'll shave the ice more often to make sure there's plenty of snow for the contest," McCann said.

He plans to have a huge pile of shaved ice outside on the paved Swim Center Plaza. Teams then pick up as much snow as they need to make their individual sculptures.

There is a $10 charge for each team entered in the contest. But, your team can be as large as you want. "The teams can be from one to 20. The more the merrier," McCann said.

There are no residency requirements. Contestants can be from anywhere in the metro area.

Advanced registration is required. To enter, call (636) 391-0922.

McCann said he got the idea for the contest while on vacation in Florida last summer.

He and his family stayed at the Don Cesar Hotel in St. Petersburg. The hotel sponsored a sand sculpture contest for guests. His family did one sculpture of the hotel. They added a unique touch by spraying pink food coloring to match the hotel's actual color.

They also used his granddaughter in a mermaid sculpture. They buried her up to her head in sand and then attached a sand tail, he said.

Other contestants made sand castles. "One did a good Mickey Mouse," he said.

"I got to thinking, how can I reverse this process and make a program for my facilities at Queeny," he said.

That's when he thought of the ice shavings from the Greensfelder rink.

He said the contest also will give him a chance to introduce the rink to more people.

The Greensfelder rink opened Oct. 26 and will stay open until Feb. 28, 2002. There are open skating sessions and lessons for skaters from age 4 on up. There also are "stick and puck" sessions when hockey players can practice individually.

The Mid-States Hockey Leagues also play games at the rink.

Another rink feature is birthday skating parties. Families can rent an individual party room and then take part in the open skating times at the rink.

While you're at the Queeny Park rink, you might like to enter in another "guaranteed snow" event. That's the "Guaranteed White Christmas."

You enter a drawing. If you win, the Parks Department will dump a one-ton load of ice shavings in your front yard for a private snow sculpture party. Also included is an ice skating party for up to 15 at the Queeny rink. That includes free admission, skate rental, a party room and pizza.

Cecil Whitaker's Pizzeria co-sponsors this event. Entry forms can be obtained at Queeny Park or at the Cecil Whitaker restaurant at Weidman and Manchester Rds.

St. Louis County Parks has two other indoor skating facilities. The Kennedy Recreation Complex is in south county. The North County Recreation Complex in Veterans Memorial Park is in north county.

You can call for information at the Kennedy Complex at (314) 894-3089 or the North County Complex at (314) 721-8102.

For information about the total St. Louis County Parks program, visit the website at www.st-louiscountyparks.com.