Punxsutawney Phil is getting “iced” again this year.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Academy of Culinary Arts Ice Carving Club will create its annual tribute to Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day with an ice carving of Phil on Gobbler’s Knob as part of the community Groundhog Day celebration.
The ice carving event will take place in front of the Academy of Culinary Arts classroom on Gilpin Street on Saturday, February 1, and will remain on display through Groundhog’s Day on February 2.
The Ice Carving Club has been part of the Academy of Culinary Arts student groups since the 1990s. It has had several advisors since that time, with Chef Thomas Barnes taking over the advising role in 2019.
There are about 20 students in the club, and they are active year-round; they do ice carving demonstrations for Academy of Culinary Arts open houses and participate in other training events, led by Chef Barnes.
“Groundhog Day is a great bonus opportunity for the students,” he said. “The Ice Carving Club students start working on their ice carving project for Groundhog Day by creating smaller statues the weekend before the holiday to add to the Groundhog Day display,” Barnes said.
“In preparation for the Groundhog Day display, and not knowing Phil’s prediction, we create eight snowflakes (representing six more weeks of winter) and eight flowers (an early spring) and columns to display these sculptures,” he said. These sculptures are made from four 350-pound blocks of ice.
Then, on February 1, Chef Barnes is on-site around 7:30 a.m. to begin setup and preparation for delivery of the ice for the larger statue from Joe’s Drive-In in Punxsutawney.
After time for the ice to temper, around 8:45 a.m. Chef Barnes and the students will begin creating the ice statue of Punxsutawney Phil on Gobbler’s Knob. The smaller statues created the weekend before will be placed around Phil to complete the display.
In addition to the ice carving display, several students at the Academy will be shadowing chefs from Nemacolin Resort who are working during Groundhog Day. IUP continues to have a very strong relationship with Nemacolin, including the resort serving as a host for IUP students doing externships as part of the Academy of Culinary Arts program.
Tyler Hutchison, a 2009 Academy graduate and executive chef for the greater campus of Nemacolin, is the Nemacolin team leader for the day. He will be joined by 2010 Academy graduate David Carrier, who is a chef de cuisine at Nemacolin.
A number of students from IUP’s Cook Honors College, the Student Government Association, and the Academy of Culinary Arts will be volunteers for the day’s events.
“From the start of the school year, students in the Ice Carving Club progress through different ice carvings, each a little more challenging. We start with a small hand-carved vase, then students begin working with chainsaws to create a half-block carving of a pumpkin or cornucopia. Next, the students create a full-block train car set for the final carving before Groundhog’s Day,” Barnes said.
“After Groundhog’s Day, the students continue to work with full blocks of ice to make a wine rack display piece. The final project is a basket or a swan.
“The art of ice carving is a fantastic way for students to see a side of the culinary arts industry that they may not get to do in other programs. The Ice Carving Club offers the opportunity to get the basics of ice carving in the two semesters, and students can add that skill to their résumé,” Chef Barnes said.
“It used to be very common that chefs who worked in the garde manger (cold kitchen) would prepare ice carvings for display on buffets or for big events. Today, it is more likely for resorts to buy carvings from companies that specialize in displays. So, either way, if a student finds their passion is ice carving, they have opportunities to do that work professionally. This helps our students to become even more well-rounded in their skills,” he said.
The Ice Carving Club and its outreach is just one example of how our Academy chefs expose our students to real-life work and situations. Most recently, Chef Barnes and Chef Erin Reed (the 2024 American Culinary Federation Pastry Chef of the Year) took seven students from the Academy to the Pennsylvania Farm Show for Dairy Day.
The Academy of Culinary Arts students attending the Pennsylvania Farm Show included culinary arts program students Jacob Anderson, Brock Kutskel, Elizabeth Myers, and Luke Behr, and baking and pastry arts program students Karly Framer, Jamal Keith, and Ava Rokosky.
Anderson, Kutskel, and Behr competed and won the “mystery basket” cooking competition against students from Philabundance, a nonprofit organization out of Philadelphia. Students were required to create five entree plates utilizing all of the basket ingredients (ground pork, skyr yogurt, honey, brussels sprouts, and potatoes) in just 30 minutes.
Teams had just seconds to conceptualize a dish, and Team IUP created a mini-pork meatloaf accompanied by a brussels sprout and apple slaw (utilizing the yogurt and honey) and a crispy potato latke and Boursin cream sauce.
In addition to the student competition, Chef Barnes and Chef Reed led demonstrations featuring ricotta agnolotti and grapefruit cheesecake while students helped prepare thousands of food samples for six different demonstrations throughout the day.
About the Academy of Culinary Arts
The IUP Academy of Culinary Arts, located in Punxsutawney, is fully accredited by the American Culinary Federation, the maximum accreditation possible for culinary programs in the United States. IUP’s 16-month accelerated program includes study for 12 months and a paid externship during the final semester.
IUP has a 100 percent externship placement record, with more than 85 percent of students placed in four- and five-star and diamond properties for the externship experience. Students can also choose to complete a stand-alone 16-month baking and pastry arts program or complete both programs.
Students who successfully complete the culinary arts or the baking and pastry arts program also have the option to apply up to 38 credits toward a bachelor of science degree in hospitality management at IUP or 32 credits toward a bachelor of science degree in nutrition. Admission into the nutrition track is guaranteed for culinary graduates.
Graduates can also apply 21 credits toward a bachelor of science degree in education with a major in K–12 family and consumer sciences. Graduates of the program can choose to take advantage of applying their credits toward any of these bachelor’s degree options any time within 10 years after culinary graduation.
Academy students currently have classes at the facility on Gilpin Street in Punxsutawney and at the Fairman Center (the former J.B. Eberhart building) in downtown Punxsutawney.
In spring 2022, IUP’s Council of Trustees approved the Academy of Culinary Arts’ long-range facilities plan, which includes a new, 45,000-square-foot education and multipurpose commercial site anchored in downtown Punxsutawney, with the facility to serve as the main educational, retail, and experiential hub for students and the surrounding community.
The new facility will offer between 32,836 and 36,644 square feet of instructional space for Academy students.
Since its founding in 1989, more than 4,200 students have studied at the Academy of Culinary Arts. Graduates of this program continue to be in high demand, working in four-star resorts and facilities, featured in national publications, and even in nationally televised cooking competitions.
Academy chef instructors are all highly trained, with years of culinary experience. For example, Chef Erin Reed was named the American Culinary Federation 2024 Pastry Chef of the Year, the American Culinary Federation’s highest honor.