MCCALL, Idaho — It took ice sculptor, Chris Braden and two partners several weeks and about 300 hundred hours to complete their piece, "Underneath the Sea" for Winter Carnival this year. The theme for sculptures is "Legends, Myths, and Superheroes", Braden drew inspiration for his piece from his 6-year-old daughter, "she loves the Little Mermaid, loves Ariel so we kind of went with that" says Braden.
Chris and his family moved from Massachusetts to McCall last year, opened up a business, Ruby's Kitchen and entered into the Winter Carnival sculpture contest, "our last years winner, Ruby's kitchen, they were a brand new business, their first entry and they won the grand prize." says Marketing Director for the McCall Chamber of Commerce and Visitor's Bureau McKenzie Kraemer. Chris, who not only owns Ruby's Kitchen but works there too got his start in sculpting about 20 years ago as a side job. A chef he previously worked for got him into it.
We asked Chris if he felt any pressure to out do himself this time around, to which he replied, "really it's just all about having fun out here. All the businesses get together, we kind of just trying to support each other and this is a great thing that brings a lot of people to town."
With his sculpture set up outside of his restaurant, Chris suggests visitors, "come by and get their hot chocolate and coffee just for viewing." This weekend, Chris' piece "Underneath the Sea" won the grand prize.
If you'd like to visit Ruby's Kitchen, click here.
For the Winter Carnival event schedule, click here.
For a map of all ice sculptures, click here.
