The awards were handed out after the twelve teams were introduced. The sculptor from Africa finally arrived late Friday night. So, including him, there were 4 international teams, 2 Saskatchewan teams and 6 Alberta teams involved. We were told afterward that one of the judges had just come from Ottawa’s Winterlude National Competition and she felt that the level of carving was every bit as good or better in Edmonton.
We felt that there were some very talented sculptors in the competition and the variety of styles was very evident.
And the winner is …
First up was the People’s Choice Award. Everybody coming down to the festival site on Sunday morning had a chance to vote on their favorite sculpture. Our bucket (people were given a ticket to drop in the a bucket in front of their choice) had quite a few tickets (votes) in it. However, in the end, Brian from Red Deer was the declared the favorite.
The overall awards, as decided by the judges, was next and was handed out in reverse from third to first. I’m not sure about Theressa, but I was quite nervous because I thought we stood a good chance of placing in the top-three.
We were awarded second place. Yahooo!!! We got to meet the mayor of Edmonton. I can’t remember his name, but he shook our hands and said “nice piece”. It was a great piece in our mind and evidently the judges thought so as well. We worked very hard getting smooth surfaces and great lines. Theressa’s work on the helmet was viewed with admiration by many people walking by. Many, many of the spectators instantly recognized the turtle design of Olympic Gold Medalist Jon Montgomery.
That night, after a great supper at Joey Tomatoes, we went back to the festival site to get some night shots. The organizers did a great job of lighting up each of the sculptures with at least two sets of colored LED lights that changed colors. Extreme Sledder looked great under the lights.
Extreme Sledder at Night
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