Here They Come to Save the Day

They're strong, they're powerful - they're superheroes of the ice kind and they are making their descent upon Clarks Summit this weekend.

The ninth annual Clarks Summit Festival of Ice begins today and this year's theme, "Sub Zero Superheroes," promises to rescue visitors from the winter doldrums, according to organizers.

"There are professionals and people who do it for the love of it who carve sculptures from sand, snow, ice or even butter; people will carve things out of anything," said Barry Kaplan, president of the Abington Business and Professional Association (ABPA), which sponsors the Clarks Summit Festival of Ice. "Ice is a magical substance to carve with. It is ephemeral, it is three-dimensional; you are taking a substance that makes up 75 percent of the world in one form of an other and crystallizing it and transforming it into superheroes for this year's festival and having fun with it."

This year's superhero theme was actually the second of two choices, explained Janice Bevacqua of First National Bank in Clarks Summit, which is this year's presenting sponsor.

"There were two choices for this year; they were either rock and roll or superheroes and since next year is going to be the tenth anniversary of the festival, they decided to save rock and roll for next year," she said. "This theme is fabulous because it appeals to both kids and adults and it is going to bring in so many people."

One way that this year's festival will bring people to the borough is through a Comic Con that will be held on Sunday, Feb. 17, at Clarks Summit Elementary School, 401 W. Grove St., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is the first time that the Clarks Summit Festival of Ice has had such an event and, Bevacqua says, it is a welcome addition.

"The Comic Con is going to bring a different group of people to the festival," she said. "It will bring people who haven't been to the festival before to our town because they will be at the Comic Con. I think people from farther and father away will come."

Kaplan agreed with Bevacqua, citing the festival's Renaissance theme from 2009 as an example of how the various themes invite a larger audience to town.

"This is the Abingtons' signature event and it is certainly the single largest event in terms of the numbers of people who come to town for a specific time and purpose," he said. "We saw that with the 'Frozen Renaissance Faire' theme because it brought out people who were interested in seeing the ice festival and the quirky, fun and interesting offshoot events. It also brought out the people who were interested in Renaissance reenactment."

"This is a much bigger audience and it is doing the exact same thing," he continued. "All of these blockbuster superhero movies exist because that's how many people love these characters, they identify with them, they aspire to be like them and they are heroes to some people, not just kids but adults, too."

Additional events taking place during the Clarks Summit Festival of Ice include the Heroes and Subs Table Decorating Competition and Luncheon, to be held on Saturday, Feb. 16, from 1-3 p.m. at the Ramada Inn. Live ice carvings by Sculpted Ice Works of Lakeville, Pa. will be held throughout the weekend, as well as live music and other family events. The entire festival kicks off tonight with the annual "Family Fun Faire," beginning at 6 p.m. at the Clarks Summit Borough Building, 304 S. State St., followed by the annual parade, which will begin at 7 p.m.

For a complete listing of events, be sure to check out our pull-out guide to this year's festival, beginning on page 9.

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