“Say When” by Team SnoKraft

Veteran Frostival snow sculptors Jay Ray and Team SnoKraft — Mike Nelson, Josh Zeis and David Swenson — once again topped the Moorhead Business Association’s annual snow sculpture contest.

Jay Ray’s depiction of a fierce Oriental dragon won first place in the MBA’s contest, as well as the People’s Choice Award. Team SnoKraft’s “Say When” came in second.

The SnoKraft entry was based on the Norse myth of Aegir, the giant who brews beer and ale for the gods. A hapless Viking holds up his drinking horn as the overfull cauldron is tipped and washes over him. (The cauldron itself looks suspiciously like the Covid-19 virus with its protein spikes, sculptor Mike Nelson notes.)

A week after completing their Frostival entries, Jay Ray and SnoKraft’s Nelson and Zeis competed in the first time in the national competition at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Their sculpture, “Here There Be Dragons,” earned third place, coming in behind Team Wisconsin #1 and Team Florida. It came close to winning the People’s Choice Award, coming in just one vote behind Team New York.