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Fire and Ice returns to Tupper

TUPPER LAKE – As Saranac Lakers enjoy the last few days of Winter Carnival 2016, Tupper Lakers are gearing up for their very own winter celebration, the Fire and Ice Festival.

Last year’s inaugural event surprised many who doubted its organizers could pull it off. Lead organizer Christine Marquis dreamed the festival up and set an initial fund-raising goal of $8,000. After several “FUNdraisers,” as she calls them, including a ski movie night at the Adirondack State Theater and a volleyball tournament, the group fell short of that goal but still managed to raise about $5,000, which allowed Marquis to keep her original vision of horse-drawn sleigh rides, bonfires, fireworks, fire dancers, dogsled rides and live music more or less intact.

“I think the first year, people were very hesitant,” Marquis said. “They didn’t think I could pull it off, and they were really surprised and had a great time.”

For this year’s celebration, Marquis decided to hold one high-end cocktail party at Tupper Lake’s Leary Castle along with another ski movie at the State Theater, and she didn’t have any trouble meeting her goal.

“Everybody was very supportive after last year,” she said. “Our goal was $8,000, and we met that exactly with the two events.”

Marquis said a 50/50 raffle brought in an additional $1,500 for the festival, giving the committee a total of $9,500 to play with. The money lets the festival offer many of the same attractions as last year while expanding in new directions.

On Friday night, for instance, the Trail’s End Tavern, which Marquis manages, will host a Weekend Opener party featuring live music by Trench Town Oddities, a Canadian band.

“They’re a cover band playing alternative rock,” Marquis said. “They’ve been playing around the North Country recently. They’ve been playing at Smoke Signals, they’ve been playing at Whiteface, so their name has been getting out there a little bit. They’re a great time.”

For Saturday’s events in the Municipal Park, Marquis said she and her fellow organizers chose to treat festival-goers to some thematically appropriate eye candy.

“This year, we have ice sculptures,” she said. “That’s our new addition.”

Marquis said five local businesses agreed to sponsor ice sculptures created by the Ice Farm of Auburn, who will also give a live ice-carving demonstration in the Municipal Park at 2 p.m. Saturday.

“They’ll all be lit up, so we’ll have some nice ice to look at,” she said.

Marquis said organizers used the additional $1,500 they raised beyond their goal to sponsor a literal ice bar which will stand near P-2’s concession stand in the Municipal Park.

“If somebody orders a drink, they can have it by the ice bar,” Marquis said.

Saturday will also feature new fire attractions.

“I have a professional outfit called Fire Magick coming out of Watertown that is going to be quite spectacular,” Marquis said. “They make all their own costumes. They’re doing an hour-long custom routine for us with fire and ice.

“If it’s not (too) windy, we’re going to do a Chinese lantern and memory send-off. I’m going to go buy 100 Chinese lanterns and hand them out in the park, and people can send them off in memory of whoever they lost, a loved one. After the fireworks, we’ll pass them out for free.”

Sunday’s events were originally scheduled for Big Tupper Ski Area, but Adirondack Residents Intent on Saving their Economy, the group that runs the mountain, announced it would not open for the season at the beginning of the month. Marquis had to scramble to figure out a Plan B. Luckily, she was able to secure the Tupper Lake Country Club and Groomed Cross Country Ski Center.

Marquis said the local chamber of commerce’s Zorb balls, the human-sized hamster-style spheres last seen at OkTupperfest, will be on hand Sunday for the festivities.

“They’re huge they’re like 9 feet tall,” she said. “I’m going to have those up on the driving range up there in a race-like fashion, so they can set them up, go head-to-head, race, turn around and come back.

“That ought to be interesting.”

Also new this year is a combination cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding relay hosted by town Youth Activities Director Mike Fritts.

“We tired this once before,” he said. “It was a bit of fun, so I thought it would be something that would fit in nicely with what Christine is doing with the Fire and Ice.”

Fritts said teams of three will compete for prizes in the event, which will take place near the sledding hill.

“The first person will start off on skis, do a couple laps and tag off,” he said. “The snowshoer will do a lap and tag off to the sledder, who will race to the bottom of the sledding hill. It’ll just be time-based, depending on how many people we have. We may have to do different heats.

“Hopefully, we’ll have enough people to do an open division and a kids division, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Also new this year is a Recycled Sledding competition.

“It’s like a green, recycled sort of theme,” Marquis said. “You can make a toboggan out of anything: garbage, anything recycled, basically. I’ve seen one made out of PBR cans. People were using pizza trays for saucers.

“It’s a use-what-you-have sort of thing. People get real creative with it. We’ll do a contest for that – $50 for first place, $25 for second.”

While Marquis said festival-goers will not have access to the inside of the country club, she said the group will use the pro shop as a warming shack. Buttons and T-shirts designed by Evan Bujold featuring Bob the Yeti, the festival’s mascot, will be for sale there, and Marquis said organizers will hand out free cookies and water to children provided by Larkin’s Deli and Bakery. Arthur’s “On the Road” Southern Style Barbecue food truck will be on site from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The festival will also feature the same bonfires, fireworks, horse-drawn sleigh rides, dogsled rides, public skating, sledding and golf tournament that made last year’s event so popular. Marquis, ever the optimist, said she hopes one missing ingredient finds its way to the area for this year’s event: snow.

“We can always have the fire and the ice, but the snow is nice, too,” she said.

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