2026 January 16-18 Presented by Modineer Group
HUNTER BROTHERS HISTORY: We would like to offer our appreciation to Conrad Rader who used the resources of the Local History Room of the Niles District Library and of the Museum at Southwestern Michigan College to put together this information. We were fortunate to have Conrad and so many others help us to bring the story of the Hunters Brothers
Ice and Ice Cream Company to life. During the 19th century, ice harvesting in the United States experienced massive growth as an industry and continued through the early part of the twentieth century. Prior to this, ice harvesting was a small scale, local activity, done by people who needed ice and were willing to provide the labor. The Niles Republican in June of 1870 mentioned that lake ice was available from the ice house run by Milo Brown and H.C. Platt (grocer and hardware cooperative). Ice harvesting began when the ice reached a thickness of at least nine inches. Ten to eleven inches was better. The less it snowed, the better because snow insulated the lake from freezing. Horse-drawn plows would scrape the surface of the ice as soon as the ice reached a thickness of five inches and be able to support the weight. Once the lake reached cutting thickness, the ice was marked out with marker plows which cut a shallow guide groove in the ice. The ice was then scored by cutting plows and later gasoline powered saws to about half of it’s thickness. Crosscuts formed the ice into “cakes” roughly 22 inches by 22 inches, although some operations used larger cakes. A cake of ice 22 inches square and 12 inches thick would weigh about 190 lbs. Then, large sections of the scored ice called “floats” were cut free and moved towards the ice house. Closer to the shore, men using saws and breaking bars separated the cakes and fed them into the channel that led to a conveyor that lifted the cakes out of the water along the run to the icehouse. Inside the icehouse, the cakes were stacked and then covered with either sawdust or, in the case of the Hunters, March hay, for insulation. The process for filling the ice house would take roughly two weeks, and then the Hunters would continue their operation, loading railroad boxcars of ice for as long as the ice was good. Hunter Family History: 1898 Henry and Lemont Hunter of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin , move to the Niles area and purchase 22 acres of land on the northwest shore of Barron Lake on the advice of railroad employees. Barron Lake turned out to be an excellent choice. The spring-fed lake produced ice of exceptional purity, which became a hallmark of the Hunter business. The Hunters built two ice houses and filled them in the first year. The Michigan Central Railroad used Hunter ice almost exclusively in their dining cars due to this purity of ice. The railroad also used the supply provided by the Hunter brothers to ship fruit during the summer months. The Hunter Brothers owned the first documented commercial ice harvesting industry in Michigan as well as the first industry in Howard Township.
1899 Over 100 men are employed to extract ice that is 14 inches thick. The house is 2/3 filled by February 8, and 50 boxcar loads a day are leaving on the Michigan Central Railroad.
1903 Henry Hunter dies and Lemont runs the business single handed until Henry’s son, Edward, is old enough to join the family business, running the office.
1904 278 railroad cars (each car could hold 15 tons) loaded directly from lake.
1909 1116 railroad cars loaded directly from the lake.
1910 Newspaper article reports $10,000 payroll and 160 employees. 1293 railroad cars loaded directly from the lake.
1911 A Hunter Brothers employee counted 24,950 cakes of ice harvested from the lake over an 18 day period.
1914 Hunter Ice and Ice Cream Company formed to take over retail operations. Their ice cream and dairy operations were also noted for the purity of their products. The ice cream operation produced 400-500 gallons per day, any flavor, and could be molded into various shapes. Cost of ice was 30¢ per 100 pounds.
1918-1919 An “open lake” year. No ice was harvested due to lack of freezing conditions on the lake. This was the only year that the lake was not harvested while the Hunters worked it. The Michigan Central Railroad reversed it’s usual practice by unloading ice that had been harvested from Northern Michigan into the ice houses this year. Each of the ice houses on Barron Lake had a capacity of 20,000 tons. An advertisement in the Daily Star has the Hunters reminding people to order their Valentine’s ice cream cakes, molded in hearts with centers.
1919 First ice house burns down. Ice houses are prone to fire due to their size attracting lightning strikes. The Hunters also build a freezing plant at their location at Hickory and Ninth in Niles , able to produce 25 tons of ice per day.
1924 The Hunters sell their business to the Consumer Ice Company of Jackson, Michigan
1925 Fire consumes the last Hunter ice house on Barron Lake, now owned by Consumer’s Ice Company. By now, artificial ice production has virtually replaced ice harvesting and the ice houses are not rebuilt. In the 28 years of commercial ice harvesting, only one man died. He fell into the water during the winter, with no clues to explain his disappearance. Fishermen recovered his body in the spring.
1981 Irma Hunter, Henry’s daughter, dies and the Hunter Foundation is funded.
2005 First Hunter Ice Festival: The Hunter Ice Festival is held each year in downtown Niles every January, the weekend before MLK b-day. The festival pays tribute to the great history of our area's Hunter Brothers Ice and Ice Cream Company, which not only created the best ice cream at the turn of the century, but also cut ice blocks out of Barron Lake and shipped it throughout the land, and whose foundation has supported the community in too many ways to count since 1981. The Hunter Ice Festival has become something the greater Michiana Community looks forward to each year, always providing fun and true Ice Art. Meet a few of the carvers that will be in NiIes this year:
Our festival is coordinated by Aaric Kendall: Argenta, Illinois. When Aaric Kendall was in high school, working part time in the kitchen of a private dining club, he got the chance to carve a swan out of ice at a Springfield, IL charity event. Kendall was able to hone his skills when he later attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. There, he was president of the school’s ice carving club, which set up competitions so chefs-in-training could practice. Argenta, Illinois resident Kendall has since gone on to win the U.S. Ice Carving Nationals and earned the right to compete in ice carving events held in conjunction with two winter Olympics — Turin, Italy, in 2006 and Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2010. He was the Bronze Medalist in Turin and won Gold in Vancouver. Aaric placed 2nd at the World Ice Art Championships in 2015. Kendall worked as a chef at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in St. Louis, where he did all of the hotel’s ice carving. After more than a year, he took a job in the same city with Ice Visions, a full-service ice carving company. There, he sculpted everything from turkeys and cornucopias for Thanksgiving to corporate logos for business functions and monograms for weddings. Kendall also started Double A Carving Company, a full-service ice carving company. His shop, which includes a 13-by-10-foot freezer where he carves, is on the property of his parents’ home, where he grew up. Dean DeMarias: Fate, Texas. It was the summer of 1988, I was in garde manger class at El Centro, a com-munity college in downtown Dallas, when I carved my first block of ice. By October I was full time, at Bifulcos Vanishing Sculptures working for Robert Bifulco, doing a little bit of everything, sales calls, picking up equipment, deliveries, maintaining equipment and even a bit of sculpting. After going back to school to work on my art degree 1992 i kept my hands on my chainsaw working anything I could find. By 1997 I was running full steam ahead and by February 1998 I officially stated Dallas Ice FX. "I only competed in a few local competitions winning some and DQ’ing in others. I competed nationally for the first time in 2003, again in 04, 07 and 08, finishing in the top 10. 3 silver medals and a bunch of bronze." My first experience with international competition was in 2007 at the World Ice Art Championship in Fairbanks, AK. with team Fear No Ice.
• 2007 2nd place abstract multi-block “Sweet Motion of the Northern Lights”
• 2013 10th place realistic single block “Fallen”
• 2013 DQ multi-block Team Texas “STRIKE”
• 2015 2nd place realistic Team Texas “Octopussy” peoples choice, governor’s award,
• 2016 7th place abstract, single block Team Texas “H2” peoples choice.
• 2016 3rd place realistic, multi-block Team Texas “How to Train Your Dragons”
Danny Bloss II: Niles, Michigan. Danny Bloss II started carving ice at the first Hunter Ice Festival in Niles after taking an ice carving class with the Executive Chef at the University of Notre Dame’s Morris Inn. As he works as a chef at the University of Notre Dame in the Food Services Department, he continues to further his passion for ice carving. He is a frequent participant at almost all Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan winter festivals, having won numerous Silver and Bronze medals in National Ice Carving Association sanctioned competitions. He reached the pinnacle of his ice carving career in 2017 when he won the Professional Division National Championship. Danny works with ice carvers from every corner of the country to hone his skills but always works with his wife Becky at the St. Joseph, Michigan Magical Ice Festival every year. He also does all the ice sculptures for the University of Notre Dame events as well as other events in the South Bend, Indiana area. Danny’s ambition is to someday own his own ice shop. When the weather is warm Danny also is a wood carver and does chalk art at several festivals throughout the country. Danny lives in Niles, Michigan. Josh Nivens: Buchanan, MI. Josh is a talented and experienced ice sculptor known for his stunning, intricate works of art featured at winter festivals across the region, including the annual Hunter Ice Festival in Niles. With over a decade of experience in the craft, Josh blends his culinary background with his passion for ice carving, using chainsaws and chisels to transform blocks of ice into breathtaking sculptures. His live carvings have become a highlight of many community events, captivating audiences with his skill and creativity. Johnathan Harvey “Harvey” Russell is a professional ice sculptor based in the St. Louis area, known for his dynamic and creative ice carvings at festivals and winter events across the Midwest. Harvey has been carving ice full‑time since 2004, bringing frozen art to life with precision and imagination. His work has been featured at events like Bloomington’s Freezefest — where he’s been a regular participant since the festival began — and other community celebrations, delighting audiences of all ages as he transforms blocks of ice into detailed sculptures
Samantha (Sammy) Moore: Elkhart, Indiana. Samantha Moore (Sammy) is from Elkhart, Indiana. She started carving ice in 2017 with the Michiana Ice Carvers Association. She is the chef for Goshen Health Hospital in Goshen, Indiana. Sammy’s hobbies outside of ice carving are training jujitsu, hiking, and camping. Sammy also competed at Ice Alaska in 2020.
