There is lots of fun planned for the annual Lake Mills Main Street Program's Knickerbocker Ice Festival, scheduled for Saturday, February 4. Look for the ever-popular ice sculptures around downtown Lake Mills, Iceberg Open Golf Tournament and Ice Fisheree on Rock Lake, games in the park, a chili cook-off at Carp's and an ice wine release at Lewis Station Winery.
We will again hold a raffle for cash prizes - look for the strolling raffle ticket sellers around downtown Lake Mills on Saturday. Tickets will be $5 for 1 ticket, or 5 tickets for $20. This will be a 50/50 raffle - the more tickets we sell, the bigger the "halves" will be!
Ice carvers will invade downtown Lake Mills beginning at 9am on Saturday, and will be working on their carvings all day.
At 10am, the Knickerbocker King and Queen will be crowned at TT's Time Out. You can also register for the Iceberg Open Golf Tournament that starts at 10:30am.
The Ice Fisheree will begin at 6am and continue until the late afternoon. The Wrap Up Party will take place at 6pm at Sportsman's Pub - winners will be announced and prizes will be handed out.
Carp's Landing Restaurant will host their annual Fire & Ice Chili Cook-Off from noon until 2pm. Contestants will compete for cash prizes in two chili categories - red and "other." Judging will be done by the event goers who will pay a flat fee of $5 to sample each chili and rate their favorites. The chili in each category with the most votes will win that category. Carp's will follow up the Chili Cook-Off with live music later in the day.
On Saturday, Feb. 4th at noon, Lewis Station Winery will be releasing their Ice Wine in tribute to the Knickerbocker Ice festival. The wine, "Knickerbocker Ice" is made from grapes frozen on the vine. This is a dessert wine that you'll be able to sample for the first time during this festival. Ice wine is a special treat and we're thrilled that our own winery will be creating this delicacy!
Do you love horse and wagon rides? From noon to 4pm on Saturday, Thundering Acres will have their horses at the ready to take you on a snowy Knickerbocker ride through Lake Mills. They will load up at Commons Park on Lake Street.
Water House Foods will be in their new location, just down the block on Lake Street, but much much bigger than ever before! This will be their first weekend in their new home, and you won't want to miss it!
Commons Park will be the setting for the Sled Parade at 1pm, and the Snow Ball Eating Contest, the Fish Toss and the IdiderDAD race, scheduled to start at 1:30. Competitors in the Snow Ball Eating Contest will be eating Hostess Snow Balls - yum! The Frozen Fish Toss will be like an old-fashioned egg toss, with teams of two tossing the fish back and forth across an ever-widening space. Drop the fish and get disqualified. The winner gets an incredibly cute fish hat knit by our very own yarn store owner, Karen Anderson of Kaleidoscope Fibers! The IdiderDAD race will harness Dads to sleds, with a kid of their choice on board.
Specific event information and registration forms can be found here:
The Team Trivia Contest will start at 7pm on Friday, February 3 at City Hall (200 Water Street), and continue until approximately 10pm in the Community Center. Teams can have between six and eight players; each player pays $10 to pay. The top-scoring (read: BRAINIEST) team will win $100 and the coveted Brain Trophy. Prize money will also be awarded for the second and third place teams.