Bayside Ice Festival Begins Saturday
Softball, Hockey Planned on Moran Bay at St. Ignace

Moran Bay at St. Ignace will be bustling with activity for the next two weekends for the second annual Pond Hockey Championships and the inaugural Bayside Ice Festival, which starts Saturday, February 16.

The festival begins with the Frozen Yooper Softball Challenge at the parking lot of Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry on North State Street Saturday, February 16, and Sunday, February 17.

The following weekend, Saturday, February 23, and Sunday, February 24, will feature adult snowbowling and the pond hockey championships.

Along with the softball tournament, the first Saturday features dog sled rides for kids, provided by St. Ignace dog sled racer Chuck Cullip, a snowmobile poker run, sponsored by the Straits Area Snowmobile Club, and the inaugural LaSalle High School Challenge, a tournament of three competitions for high school classes.

The Hanson Brothers from the 1977 hockey movie, "Slapshot," will be featured Saturday, February 24. The trio of comedic hockey players, with their signature black framed glasses, long black hair, and "foiled knuckles," will be on hand to mingle with the crowd and will be available for autographs and photographs.

The St. Ignace Visitors Bureau community tent nearby will provide a hot meal and hot cocoa or other beverages.

Live music will be provided on both Saturdays, featuring St. Ignace's C&T Factory Saturday, February 16, and Mackinac Island's Tricky Dicky and the Spoonmen Saturday, February 23.

The pond hockey tournament expects up to 56 six-person teams, playing on 10 rinks.

The event went so well last year that the Visitors Bureau, working with the Special Events Committee, and the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce, decided to add more activities this year for everyone to get involved in outdoor winter fun.

"The festival was an idea we thought up last year because we wanted to get more people out here and give them something to do other than just watch hockey," said organizer Mark Sposito. "This year's event should double the size of last year's event."

Added Lynne Piippo, Visitors Bureau director: "The town was really interested in having a festival during the winter and we've been getting great cooperation, from volunteers to people registering teams for all the events. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and enjoying the days with the community."

Volunteers are needed to help coordinate the two-weekend event. If interested, call the Visitors Bureau at 643-6950.

LaSalle High

School Challenge

One of the new additions will involve St. Ignace students in outdoor competition this Saturday.

The tournament will include one team from each high school class, including a seventh-grade class and an eighth-grade class, and a combined seventh and eighth grade class from Gros Cap School.

The tournament begins at 10 a.m.

Each team will have up to 10 players, boys and girls, and will compete in ice bowling on the bay and tug-of-war. In the Mini-250 Snowmobile Race, students will race around a track on small snowmobiles that travel no faster than 10 miles per hour.

A score will be kept for each challenge, and the class with the best score overall will be awarded a trophy with its class name and graduating year. The trophy will then be presented annually during the festival. The winning team will be treated to a pizza party.

"Any student or youth can participate in any of these games," said Mr. Sposito. "It will be fun for everyone, not just players on a team."

Adult Snowbowling

An adult snowbowling tournament will be played on the ice the following Saturday. Teams of five men and women will compete in a baker scoring system, with scoring based on a three-game total. Games begin at 9 a.m.

Players must be at least 21 years of age to participate. This year, each team will be required to reset their own pins.

Registration is $25 per team. Teams can register right up to the time of the first game, or they can register on the Visitors Bureau's Web site, www.stignace.com, or at the Visitors Bureau office in the Bell Complex building on Spring Street.

The winning team will be awarded a trophy and each player from the winning team will receive a fleece jacket. Each team will receive a casino package and winter hats.

Frozen Yooper

Softball Challenge A new addition to the softball event will be a co-ed tournament. It is in need of more teams.

The men's tournament needs only one more 9-to-12-man team to fill the eight-team list.

Games will began around 9 a.m., depending on how many teams register, said Mr. Sposito.

Deadline to register is Wednesday, February 13. Registration is $200 a team. Teams can register either online, at www.st.ignace. com, or stop by the Visitors Bureau.

Players must be at least 18 years old. Each team is guaranteed to play in at least three games. Games are five complete innings.

Each participant will receive a winter hat, a casino package, and two tokens for food or beverages at the community tent.

Upper Peninsula Pond

Hockey Championships

The four-on-four pond hockey tournament has grown into a major winter event for the Eastern Upper Peninsula, with twice as many teams participating this year, said Mr. Sposito.

Teams are coming from Virginia, Maine, New York, Rhode Island, Illinois, Canada, as well as local teams and in-state teams.

"The word has spread quickly since last year," said Mr. Sposito. "It's going to be bigger and better for everyone."

Last year, 24 teams took part. This year, Mr. Sposito filled the 48- team tournament roster by February 1 and then decided to expand it to 56 teams.

The first games of the tournament will begin at 9 a.m.

In pond hockey, there is no goalie. The goal net is merely six feet long and only five inches tall. Players cannot lift the puck and body contact is kept to a minimum, thus there is no body checking. Games will have two 20-minute periods. Each rink will be enclosed by walls of snow.

The tournament will be played in three divisions for teams with players 21 years old and older: a gold division, silver division, and bronze division.

Each division is based on playing experience, from college hockey to purely recreational experience.

Players between 30 and 39 years old will have gold and silver divisions, while players 40 years old and older will have one division, as will the women's tournament, which includes all ages. There will be eight teams per division.

Ten rinks, each 75-feet wide by 150-feet long, will be constructed on the ice of Moran Bay. The rinks will be constructed by volunteer firefighters from the St. Ignace Fire Department. Only four rinks were needed last year.

In case the ice on the bay is not solid enough, the alternate plan is to flood the Shepler parking lot and build the rinks there.

Either way, said Mr. Sposito, the pond hockey championships will take place.

Mr. Sposito and a volunteer crew have been checking the stability and thickness of the ice in the bay throughout the week.