To the editor:

As usual this year, I have a long list of people and businesses to thank. I thank the Department of Environmental Conservation for getting the site of the palace graded so well at the end of its dredging project. The grading and opening up of the site allowed us to build a large palace. Thank you to the village Department of Public Works crew for packing down and leveling the snow on the site, which made construction easier.

During the initial gathering of equipment, we had to move the excavator over slippery roads, and the town of Harrietstown road crew sanded the road just ahead of us. This was part of their routine road maintenance but was just in time for us.

Many local businesses again made donations of equipment and other materials we use. They are as follows: the Belvedere for providing a meeting place and meal to design the palace; Hyde Fuel for fueling our equipment; Sturdy Supply for providing heaters, chainsaws and lifts; Taylor rental for a tractor and snow-removal equipment and a lift; Coakley Home and Hardware for rope, buckets and lights; Douglas C. Cochran for his excavator and his time using it to lift the ice from the lake; Paul Smith’s College for the use of its log loader and operator Tom Bartiss; Larry and John Sweeney for using their equipment to clear the ice prior to the build; Lee Foster, Bill Madden, Garrett Foster and John Pietras for their tractors; John Pietras who also built the room in the maze and covered the carvings with tarps; Kim Duso for the use of his family saw; Luck Brothers for the use of their crane and operator Dan Trim; Bobcat of Plattsburgh; and Hulburt’s Tri-Lake Supply and operator Darren Dalton.

Thanks to Pat Carnell for being our daily email coordinator, maintaining the list of volunteers and purchasing new ladders for our use. Thanks to the Women’s Civic Chamber for coffee and food each morning; to St. Joe’s for the coffee, etc; Dunkin’ Donuts for the goodies; the Downhill Grill for snacks after each day’s building; and of course the Lakeview Deli for the bowl-and-a-roll lunch each day for the builders; and to everyone else who made food appear. And a special shout-out to to all the volunteers who came out to re-slush and repair the palace after the rain. It could not be done without everyone’s help!

As the organizer of the build, I can’t stress enough how much I appreciate the hard work and dedication of the volunteers who each year go out into the cold and spend hours and days building the centerpiece of the Winter Carnival. I thank you all.

Dean Baker

Ice Palace chairman

Saranac Lake