The 100th anniversary of Michigan Tech’s Winter Carnival roared to life Wednesday evening with the all-nighter. The Inter-Residence Hall Council entertained a boisterous crowd with a slate of All-Star Game contests for broomball’s different leagues. Pancakes, sausages, and other breakfast staples could be found in Fisher Hall. Speakers were set up by the Audio Engineering Society and manned by the staff of WMTU. Pasties, chocolate bars, and other delights were for sale at stations throughout campus. Plenty of carnival games were offered, everything from a long platform to complete belly slides to hoop tosses.
The main draw of course was the snow statues. By 9 PM, many of the all-nighter sculptures were graduating from the forming phase to detailing. The month long statues were farther along, but no less mysterious. This year’s theme is, “Come one, come all to our 100th Carnival!” It’s broad enough that individual fraternities could go in very different directions with the story they want to tell. Most opted for a collection of images carved in white, rather than one individual scene.
Tom Sapak of Tau Kappa Epsilon says that each phase in the building process needs to be taken seriously to get a great end result.
Dane Riha and Justin Liakos of Delta Sigma Phi say having fun is the most important thing, because it is too time consuming if you don’t get enjoyment out of it as the builder. Having an audience is more of a secondary benefit.
Tyler Brown from Hancock’s Phi Kappa Tau says the statue is a uniting goal, helping to get every member to pull in the same direction.
Judging will take place this morning. Keweenaw Report will have results from statues and the rash of special events taking place through the weekend.