Notice: This article is more than one year old and is part of the Henry Ford College news archive. Information in the article may be outdated. For the most current news and information about Henry Ford College, please visit hfcc.edu/news, or contact communications@hfcc.edu.
Release Date: 
Monday, January 18, 2016

Ice Carving Club Earns Recognition at 2016 Plymouth Ice Festival

HFC Ice Carving Club Members Robert Speeks, Jeff Lao and Steve McCormick pose with their sculptures created during the dueling chainsaws segment of competition.
HFC Ice Carving Club Members Robert Speeks, Jeff Lao and Steve McCormick pose with their sculptures created during the dueling chainsaws segment of competition.

Students from HFC, Oakland Community College (OCC), the University of Michigan (U-M) and the Art Institute of Michigan in Novi participated in an ice-carving competition in mid January at the 2016 Plymouth Ice Festival.

The HFC Ice Carving Club performed well in the Collegiate Individual Competition, as noted below:

  • HFC student Steve McCormick took 1st Place with his ice sculpture of a praying mantis, which he called “Holy Bug”; and
  • HFC student/president of the Ice Carving Club Robert Speeks took 5th Place with his ice sculpture of a chameleon.

HFC took 1st Place in the Collegiate Team Competition as McCormick and Speeks joined forces to create an ice sculpture of a lion and a mouse, which they called “Scaredy Cat.”

In the Dueling Chainsaw Competition – where sculptors had 15 minutes to carve their artwork – Culinary Instructor Jeffrey Lao was named champion for the third consecutive year with his ice sculpture of a hippo. Taking 2nd Place was McCormick with his ice sculpture of a koala bear.

The HFC Ice Carving Club’s artistry was on display for record crowds of people over the course of three days to see many intricate displays of ice sculptures, including – most notably – the ice sculpture of an AT-AT Imperial Walker whose legs are being tied up by a Snow-Speeder in a scene from 1980’s “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.” It took 14 blocks of ice to create this ice sculpture.

Lao and Speeks did an ice-carving demonstration on FOX 2 on Jan. 4. During the Plymouth Ice Festival, Lao and Speeks did interviews with WJR (AM 760) and FOX 2, respectively.

“On Friday and Saturday, since the weather was warm, it made for some messy carving. At the end of Saturday, we were covered in mud. On Sunday, right before competition began, there was freezing rain. Then snow started coming down. We saw the whole temperature change while we were out there. It all worked out in the end,” said Lao.

For further information about the HFC Ice Carving Club, contact Lao at 313-845-6391 or Jjlao1@hfcc.edu. For more information, please visit www.HFCCice.com.