Phi Kappa Tau in Hancock wins overall first place in Winter Carnival month-long statue competition

Phi Kappa Tau, the Michigan Tech fraternity located in Hancock, captured overall first place in the Winter Carnival month-long statue competition with "Behold For Your Eyes to See, the Glory of Roman Technology." (Photo courtesy Michigan Tech University)

HOUGHTON -- Returning to its long record of first place Winter Carnival wins (after a second place last year), the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity in Hancock captured overall first place in the 2019 Winter Carnival month-long statue competition.

This year's theme is "Years of Innovation STEM from this Snowy Situation."

Second place in the overall division went to last year's winner, Tau Kappa Epsilon, for "In Frigid Fields Carved From Snow, A Nation's Progress Has yet to be Slow." Third place again this year went to Delta Sigma Phi's "Paradigm Shifts in These Snowy Drifts."

In the Women's Division, Alpha Sigma Tau grabbed the top spot with "Ford Frozen in Time." Second place went to Theta Chi Epsilon for "Women of the Past Who Proved the Possibilities are Vast," while last year's women's division winner, Delta Phi Epsilon, took third place.

The team of Alpha Gamma Delta and Sigma Tau took first place in the Co-Ed Division with "The Kennedy Space Center." They were followed by Delta Zeta and Delta Upsilon in second place for "Magic School Bus." Third place in the Co-Ed Division went to the Four Wheelers of Michigan Tech for "Parking Garage."

For the third straight year, St. Albert the Great University Parish was the overall winner in the All-Nighter competition. They also took the top spot in the Co-Ed Division. Construction in the division began at 4 p.m. Wednesday and ended at 9 a.m. Thursday.

The Society of Women Engineers placed second overall and best among the Women's Division, while the Lutheran Collegians, competing in the Co-Ed Division, took third place overall.

Treehouse took the top spot in the Men's Division of the All-Nighter competition, followed by Sleepy Hollow and More in second, and Toll House in third.

Phi Delta Chi was runner-up in the Women's Division and Pavlis Honors College was awarded third place in the Co-Ed Division.

Click here for complete results and photos of winners.
Click here to see more photos of the snow statues.

Winter Carnival statue winners announced: Tau Kappa Epsilon takes overall first place

From Michigan Tech News:

Tau Kappa Epsilon's massive snow statue "Behold a Frozen Thor, Mighty God of Viking Lore" captured the overall first prize in Michigan Tech's Winter Carnival. The statue is located alongside US 41 near the University's Administration building. This was Tau Kappa Epsilon's second win over the last three years. (Photo courtesy Michigan Tech University)

By Mark Wilcox, Michigan Tech News Writer

HOUGHTON -- The winners have been announced in the Snow Statue Competition at Michigan Tech’s Winter Carnival. This year’s theme is "Myths and Tales of the Past in Our Frigid Forecast."

Judging took place early Thursday morning following Wednesday's all-nighter.

For the second time in the past three years, Tau Kappa Epsilon took first place in the month-long statue division. The winning entry, located along US-41 in front of the Administration Building, is "Behold a Frozen Thor, Mighty God of Viking Lore."

Once again this year there were three divisions in the month-long competition -- men, women and co-ed. Prizes were awarded to the top three statues in each division. The top three scores among all the statues were placed in the "Overall Month Long" section.

Second place in the overall section went to last year’s winner, Phi Kappa Tau, for "A Sword is Drawn from a Stone and a King Ascends an Icy Throne." Their entry is located in front of their house at 1209 Quincy St. in Hancock.

Phi Kappa Tau in Hancock took second place this year with their creation of Camelot -- with King Arthur and his knights of the round table, Merlin the magician, and a threatening dragon. Phi Kappa Tau has taken first place nine times in 11 years and second place to Tau Kappa Epsilon twice. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

Third place overall went to Delta Sigma Phi, "βπ in its Prime Frozen Time." All three groups competed in the men's division of the month-long competition

In the women’s division, Delta Phi Epsilon took the top spot with "A Creature of Purity and Grace Caught in This Frozen Place." Second place was awarded to Delta Zeta for "Tangled in the Wind and Snow, to Houghton Rapunzel Must Go." Alpha Sigma Tau took third with their entry "Beware of the Brrr-muda Triangle."

In the co-ed division, the winner was the team of Sigma Tau Gamma and Theta Chi Epsilon for "Epic Written in Ice and Snow Showing Heroes and Dragons from Long Ago." Four Wheelers of Michigan Tech captured second place in the co-ed division with "The Myths at Tech are Commonplace, You Can Always Find a Parking Place."

In the all-nighter category, St. Albert the Great University Parish repeated as the overall all-nighter winner, followed by the Lutheran Campus Ministry-ELCA and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in third place. All three groups competed in the co-ed division.

Moose Lodge captured the top spot in the men's division followed by Sigma Kappa Upsilon Mu, with the Men's Rugby Club in third.

Phi Delta Chi was the lone entry in the women's division of the all-nighter competition.

Editor's Note: For a short video and photos of all the winners, as well as a link to Saturday's schedule of events click here.

Hancock Labyrinth project continues on October Saturdays; volunteers make a difference

By Michele Bourdieu

Hancock Labyrinth volunteers, from left, Jake Jurkowski, Aaron Townley, Jared Townley and Gunnar Johnson are pictured here with bags of weeds they collected on Saturday, Sept. 19, during a Labyrinth cleanup morning. Jake, Aaron and Gunnar are members of Michigan Tech's Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity. Jared was visiting his brother and joined the group. The Labyrinth maintenance project continues this month. More volunteers are needed on Saturdays, Oct. 17 and Oct. 24. (Photos by Keweenaw Now)

HANCOCK -- On a sunny Saturday in mid-September, Jared Townley was visiting his brother, Michigan Tech student Aaron Townley, a member of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, which is located in Hancock, and cheerfully joined a group of Phi Kappa Tau volunteers in helping with maintenance of the Hancock Labyrinth -- a project of the Copper Country Community Arts Center.

Jared was digging up some of the rocks marking the Labyrinth path and raising them to the surface.

Jared Townley, visiting his brother Aaron Townley on Sept. 19, digs up rocks and replaces them in the paths of the Hancock Labyrinth. The Townley brothers are from Freeland, Michigan.

"The rocks got plowed under when the snowplows came through in the winter," he explained.

Jared, a theology and classics major, recently graduated from Valparaiso University in Indiana, and Aaron is studying engineering at Michigan Tech.

Carol Kozminski, Copper Country Community Arts Center board member and Labyrinth project leader, expressed appreciation for the hours of volunteer help from community members and students. She noted the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity members have been regular helpers with the project.

Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity members Andrew LeSage, left, and Rob Shlimovitz clear tall grass around the plants and sculptures of the Labyrinth on Sept. 12, 2015. 

Two more Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity members, Andrew LeSage and Rob Shlimovitz, who were helping at the Labyrinth earlier in September, said their fraternity is a social one but offers a lot of community service.

"We especially try to get back to Hancock to help because they do so much for us," LeSage noted. "Hancock is very supportive of us, especially during Winter Carnival."

Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity has one first place in Michigan's Winter Carnival fraternity division several times over the years.

Pictured here after a Saturday morning of hard work on the Labyrinth are, from left, Phi Kappa Tau members Andrew LeSage and Rob Shlimovitz with Allyson Jabusch, volunteer coordinator, and Carol Kozminski, Labyrinth project leader.

Assisting Carol with coordinating the volunteers is Allyson Jabusch of Hancock.

"She's my great volunteer who calls everybody to help," Kozminski said.

Jabusch has dedicated many Saturday mornings to working on the project with other volunteers.

Visitor Mary LeDoux, right, who was in town for the Sept. 19 Parade of Nations, chats with Allyson Jabusch, left, and Carol Kozminski about the Labyrinth.

"It's years in the making and if the citizens want it they've got to help," Jabusch said. "Thanks to the efforts of Phi Kappa Tau brothers at the Labyrinth Park the last two weekends (in September) more than a dozen bags of weeds and a pile of dead pine trees were produced. Also many, many rocks were unearthed that had been buried by winter snow plowings."

Located at the base of the Lift Bridge near the Ramada, the Hancock Labyrinth was built in 2000 by volunteers led by community artist Mary Wright.* Gardens and sculptures were added in 2003 by community artists and volunteers. The Labyrinth is now on a National Registry of labyrinths.

This sculpture tells the history of the Hancock Labyrinth. Click on photo for larger version.

Jabusch adds that the Ramada Inn has also been helpful in grooming this special spot near the motel.

"It serves as a place of solace, right in the middle of the intersection of Hancock, Houghton, and the Keweenaw Waterway," she said. "With more  cyclical  maintenance of the gardens by local citizens, the Labyrinth would serve as a kind of pocket park adding to the attractiveness of the City’s waterfront -- a great walking destination!"

Anyone wishing to volunteer on the next two Saturdays in October can call Carol Kozminski, gardening project leader, at 523-5570 or the Copper Country Community Arts Center at 482-2333 for more information -- or just show up around 9 a.m. on Oct. 17 or 24.

To learn more about labyrinths in general visit www.labyrinthsociety.org. The Hancock Labyrinth is listed on the World-wide Labyrinth Locator: http://labyrinthlocator.com.

* Click here to read a July 2000 article on the building of the Labyrinth and its purpose -- archived on Keweenaw Now's precursor, Keweenaw Today, thanks to Pasty.com.