Annual Events - Ice Harvest

The ice harvest event takes place at Clear Lake Park in Waseca Minnesota. This event is usually held in the beginning of February.

Listen to Arthur Carlson's ice harvesting stories.

There are many different sites to explore, for example there is an introduction to ice harvesting, ice cutting, ice scoring, outdoor camp kitchen, woodcutting, horse teams pulling sleighs and cutters, and sliding.

This is an all day event for students. If you are only able to stay a short amount of time, you may pick and choose what you would like your students to experience. Some of the demonstration sites are scheduled over lunch hour, but in order to fit everyone in we have to schedule over the lunch hour. Please be on time to avoid overcrowding at demonstration sites.

Map of sites.

What the students need to know:

• Dress for the weather! Students will not be allowed to participate without mittens or gloves, jackets and boots. Even if temperatures are moderate, the wind on the lake can be below zero. No indoor shelter is available.
• NO RUNNING AROUND, IN FRONT OF OR BEHIND THE HORSES. Students will be reminded to be watchful around the horses. The teams may be coming and going. Heads up to chaperones, teachers and students BE CAREFUL! Barricades will be in place around ice cutting holes. Students must stay behind the barricades until it is their turn to cut.

Dress Code for Ice Harvest:

We cannot stress enough the importance of dressing for winter weather. Without proper gear, the experience can become life threatening. We strongly suggest those who do not meet the dress code stay back at school. Every year we have a problem with kids freezing from lack of winter gear. There is no outside shelter. You will be outside for approximately 2 1/2 hours. The heated shelters are volunteers that show up. There is no guarantee they will be there. If they are, it’s for emergency only. Please help us correct this problem and police your group before leaving your school.

• Heads must be covered– hoods that stay up and tied under chin are acceptable.
• Ears must be covered with ear muffs or bands and head with a hat.
• Necks must be covered with scarf or muffler ( polar fleece dickey) .
• For face protection have enough scarf to pull up over nose, mouth and chin. Pull-over head masks are ideal.
• Insulated mittens are the best. Insulated gloves permitted, but hands stay warmer in mittens.
  Single ply gloves or mittens will not keep you warm and are not acceptable.
• Insulated boots– large enough for thick wool socks. Borrow your older brother or sisters boots for the extra room– your feet will stay much warmer if you can move your toes.
• Long underwear-tops and bottoms or at least 2 layers of pants and shirts. First layer should be snug to your skin. Snow pants with bibs and one layer acceptable. Snowmobile suits and one layer IDEAL!
• Jackets and coats-the longer the better. Down or wool liners and vest underneath lighter jackets acceptable. Most fashionable jackets will not keep you warm and may not fit with multiple layers underneath. Parkas and oversized jackets with layers underneath are best.
• Hand and feet warmers can be purchased that when activated will keep fingers and toes warm for hours. These work great for this event and cost about $1.00 at Fleet Farm and Wal-mart. Instruct children not to activate until they arrive at the event.

Directions to Clear Lake Park:

Please call with any questions 835-7700. Thank you again for participating in this living history event!

Do you know how the harvested ice was kept frozen?
The harvested ice was kept frozen by its sheer bulk: the more that could be tightly packed together, the longer it stayed cold. Ice houses, where stock could be stored year-round, had double outer walls separated by an insulator such as sawdust. An opening at the top vented the latent heat released by melting and water drained at the bottom.

Ice harvesting eventually became the victim of its own success. By World War I, harvesting ice had largely switched to mechanical methods both to make ice and refrigerate shipments. Home delivery of ice continued for a long time. In the 1920s, apartment buildings were still constructed with ice doors opening into each kitchen. In the 1930s, electric refrigerators replaced iceboxes in most city households. Some non-electrified rural areas relied on ice deliveries until the 1950s, but eventually what had always been a faintly comical business melted away with scarcely a trace.