Entertainment

By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@timesleader.com
Features Writer
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Be it known to all people of the realm, both gentles and commoners, that various and sundry knights and ladies and pixies and dragons shall assemble for a long weekend, starting Thursday next, in the Barony of Endless Hills, at a chosen spot otherwise known as downtown Clarks Summit.

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Part of the charm of creating art from ice, Mark Crouthamel said, is knowing it won’t last forever.

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Members of the Society for Creative Anachronism enjoy portraying personas. Here, Baroness Isabella Ironhands (Kati Williams) and Baron Robert of Worcester (Rob Craig) impart some words of wisdom to Lord Ulrich Drachondonner (Tom Conmy) before his investiture as Baron while Lord Gunnarr (Dabe Gable) looks on.

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Visit and ye will likely see flesh-and-blood folks in flowing robes or sturdy tunics, ready to discuss courtly love, demonstrate centuries-old crafts or perhaps duke out a battle as in days of yore. Ye may climb aboard a horse-drawn carriage for a ride through town and … if ye hear a strange whirring noise, fear not.

That would probably be ice carver Mark Crouthamel working with a chainsaw, crafting intricate figures from 300-pound blocks of ice during the fifth annual Clarks Summit Festival of Ice, with a theme this year of “A Frozen Renaissance Faire.”

“I have a whole team, and we’ll do everything from dragons to mystical creatures like pixies to wild boars,” he said. “We’ll have kings and queens and ladies-in-waiting and dancers and minstrels playing flutes, all different sizes.”

Crouthamel, who owns Sculpted Ice Works in Lakeville, expects to bring some 40 ice sculptures to the festival via a parade, which festival chair Barry Kaplan said “is going to be a doozy. You don’t see too many parades in winter.”

The Society for Creative Anachronism will send several members and horses to take part in the parade on Thursday evening. On Saturday, re-enactor Ron Cudworth explained, they’ll be back to demonstrate such martial arts as fencing and rattan fighting (with swords made from a hard bamboo called rattan) as well as arts and crafts.

“There could be blacksmiths making swords and armor. We might have painting, beading, candlemaking, soap making. It depends on who comes,” Cudworth said.

Each member of the SCA creates a “persona” – Cudworth’s is a 13th-century Welsh warrior named Tigernach – and you shouldn’t be surprised if they speak in the vernacular of such an individual.

If weather permits, Kaplan added, the Pocono Equestrian Center will offer horse-drawn carriage rides to the public.

The first ride, however, likely will be reserved for some youthful royalty. Eight-year-old “ice princes” Bryan and Jeffrey Barlow of Clarks Summit, who are twins, 7-year-old “ice princess” Lauren Berry of Dalton and 10-year-old lady-in-waiting Kateryna Rebensky of Clarks Summit already won a contest that entitles them to a bit of pampering.

Ice-carving demonstrations are scheduled from morning until evening Feb. 13-14, and various musicians will perform throughout the festival at local businesses.

Organizers, meanwhile, are hoping for cool weather. “Anything under 32 would be fine,” Kaplan said.

If you go

Parade: 7 p.m. Saturday through downtown Clarks Summit

Post-Parade Party, with entertainment by Abington Youth Theatre Co., at the borough building

Ice-carving demonstrations: 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 13 and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 14

Renaissance re-enactors: noon to 3 p.m. Saturday

Musical entertainment:

Classical violin duo Fritz and Leah Valenches, 9:30 to 11 a.m. Feb. 13 at Community Bank & Trust

Von Storch Duo, acoustic swing, bossa and jazz, 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 14 at PNC Bank

Charles Havira folk/rock guitarist, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 14 at Monogram Muse

Barbara Cohen & Joe Cole Trio, 1 to 3 p.m. Feb. 14 at Woods & Co.

Mark and Deidre’s ancient folk and Renaissance music with harp and violin, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 14, Everything Natural store

Melt My Heart Drum Circle, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 14, Everything Natural store

Rich Jennings Duo, blues and jazz, 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 14, Ambience Wallcovering.

Rouge Chimp fusion band, 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 15, at Sylvan

Coleman & Doug Smith Trio, acoustic swing and bluegrass, 1 to 3 p.m. Feb. 15 at Gerrity’s

Mark and Deirdre’s ancient folk and Renaissance music with harp and violin, 1 to 3 p.m. Feb. 15, Everything Natural

Wayne Smith, solo piano jazz, 12:30 to 2:20 p.m. Feb. 15, Paulette’s Pretty Purses.