2007 Winter Carnival Firsts: Miss Michigan, Dog-Sled Rides

Along with the usual awe-inspiring snow statues and a variety of fun events, Winter Carnival will offer visitors something new: dog-sled rides and a visit from Miss Michigan.

The Queen’s Coronation, set for Saturday, Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m., will be emceed by Miss Michigan, Angela Corsi of Farmington. She will perform a contemporary dance, the talent section of her Miss Michigan pageant performance, as well as introduce the eight Winter Carnival Queen candidates. Tickets are available for $10 at the Rozsa Center. For more information on the candidates, visit mtu.edu/carnival.

Also on Saturday, an ice fishing competition will be held on Chassell Bay, with the Sigma Rho Fraternity as the official weigh-in site. The deadline to register is Friday. For more information, visit https://www.involvement.mtu.edu/organization/blue-key-national-honor-society and click on "Ice Fishing Competition."

Dog-sled rides begin during the All-Nighter, on Wednesday, Feb. 7, from 6 p.m. to midnight, and continue Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 8-10, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., starting from the northwest corner of the Memorial Union. In addition to enjoying an extensive ride, participants will learn about the history of dog-sledding and care of the dogs. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for students, and free for children under 5.

Horse-drawn sleigh rides will also allow visitors a leisurely tour of the campus snow statues from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 8-10.

When Michigan Tech student organizations began snow-statue building in earnest, on Jan. 15, they faced an unusual problem: a lack of construction material.

“The start was a little rough, but luckily, we got some more snow recently,” said Blue Key member Lynn Williams. “Until then, the City of Houghton was helping by dumping their snow on campus for us to use. And some students have been driving pickup trucks up to Calumet or South Range, wherever they could find a spot where there was snow.”

The theme this year is “Ancient Worlds Come to Play in Snowy Drifts of Modern Day," and students will be putting in marathon sessions on their pyramids and Parthenons during the All-Nigher, starting at 4 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 7, the official beginning of Winter Carnival recess.

Groups erecting One-Nighter statues will have until 8 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, to construct their creations from start and finish, while organizations that have been working since Jan. 15 will put on the last details.

Visitors come to wander through campus and enjoy the show. Food and hot beverages will be available to students and visitors throughout the evening.

Williams recalls her own experience working on a One-Nighter. “It was enjoyable, but it gets cold,” she says.

Winter Carnival events on Thursday, Feb. 8, include the beards competition, set for 1 p.m. in Fisher 135, and the Stage Revue performances at 5 and 9 p.m. in the Rozsa Center. The Stage Revue is scripted for a college-age audience, so it may not be appropriate for young children.

On Friday, the Student Development Complex practice fields will host snow volleyball, at 10 a.m.; and snowshoeing and the tug of war, at 11 a.m. Downhill skiing and snowboarding events will be held at Mont Ripley at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively.

Saturday night, the Torch Light Parade is held at 8:30 p.m. at Mont Ripley, with the ski patrol descending the hill bearing torches. Festivities conclude with fireworks ignited at the ski hill and the Sno-Ball dance, at 9 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom on the Michigan Tech campus.

For more information on Winter Carnival--and there is plenty--visit https://www.mtu.edu/carnival.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.