On Saturday and Sunday, Saranac Laker Matt Pafundi is organizing the Tri-Lakes United Ice Palace Pike Challenge and Fundraiser, a free, all-ages ice fishing contest where the winner’s scaly trophy gets added to the top of the palace.

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Rules

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The Munn family, from left, Taylor, Olivia, Liam and Lindsay, hold Olivia’s runner-up pike at the 2024 Ice Palace pike challenge last February. The contest is returning this weekend and expanding this year. (Enterprise photo — Matt Pafundi)

Eligible contestants are people who are attending school, attended school or were homeschooled in the three Tri-Lakes school districts — Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake and Lake Placid. There are divisions for adults and kids.

In both divisions, first place gets $500 and their fish in the Ice Palace, second gets $250 and third gets $100.

It is a strictly drug- and alcohol-free event, and cheating is forbidden.

The challenge starts at daylight on Saturday and ends at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. The weigh-in station is next to the Ice Palace on River Street. Parking is not available at the site. Contestants will need to park elsewhere and walk their fish over.

Raffle contestants must be present at the drawings to collect raffle prizes, which will be drawn after the final fish weigh-in at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.

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“Carnival Care Package”

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After last year’s fishing contest, Pafundi said people told him: “Keep it about the kids.” He wants to “put a little wind in their sails.”

This year, he created an account at Community Bank under the name “Carnival Care Package.” Raffle proceeds and donations will be put into the fund, which Pafundi will use to support kids’ needs around the area.

The fund drive is ongoing and will go through the last day of Winter Carnival — Feb. 9. To learn how to donate, contact Pafundi at trilakesteam123@gmail.com or 518-637-1355.

Pafundi said he’ll work with local schools, police departments and other organizations to get the money to kids who need it.

“The truth is, there are a lot of children that need things that their parents cannot supply. Dance lessons, winter boots, ski passes, ice skates, bowling balls — the list goes on,” he said. “I know first-hand not having things makes it hard to fit in socially and grow as an individual.”

When he was young, Pafundi’s family moved here from Long Island. They were not wealthy and his family had to adjust to mountain life, though he took to it well.

“We went through a lot of hard times, not always having what we needed to fit in socially,” Pafundi wrote. “This included not wanting to go to school. I surrounded myself with the best hard working people that I could and was proud of the way parents in Saranac Lake respected me.”

He remembers his BOCES teacher Kevin Brousseau being the wind in his sails. Brousseau and his family would pick him up every Saturday to ski at Whiteface Mountain. This is something that had an impact on Pafundi, outside of just skiing skills.

“I fell into an unspoken big brother position, often fighting for Saranac Lake and those who couldn’t fight for themselves,” he said. “That’s just the way it was back then. I learned that with grace if you do the best with what you have day-by-day you will step forward in your life.

“We are living in a world that is moving at a rapid pace and makes it easy to forget about what others could use a little help with,” he added. “As Tri-Lakers and New Yorkers we are blessed with tons of beautiful things but the best thing we have is each other.”

Pafundi thanked the Ice Palace Workers 101 for their years of dedication and commitment volunteering to build the palace, the catalyst for his fishing contest and the pedestal the prize pike will sit upon.

“In my opinion you can run into fate but you cannot run from it,” Pafundi said. “For example, I truly believe in what I’m doing. Fate gave me a shot to do something I really believe in so I took it, jumping on fates train, doing what I believe in. If I had just looked the other way and had not tried it would of haunted me always running from the thoughts of what could of been. My team is here to fight for these kids and you. As fate rolls down the track, take a shot with me.”

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Tradition evolving

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The tradition of putting a fish in an ice block at the palace began years ago after IPW volunteers found one that had died and was frozen belly-up in the bottom of an ice block. For years, people donated fish for the palace. Then, in the 1990s, Tim Moody asked a young Pafundi to go catch the fish. He did this for years until he graduated in 2002 and got a job in Albany.

Catching the pike for the palace was a great source of pride for him.

“I never really told anyone I was catching these fish because from where I came from in life having my fish in the Ice Palace was a dream come true,” Pafundi said.

He always wondered if anyone followed in his footsteps. After returning to his hometown in 2019 and seeing a fishless palace, Pafundi got to relive his childhood excitement in 2023 when he saw the palace going up. He then raced out on the lake to catch two large pike and presented his harvest to the Ice Palace Workers 101. That excitement was something he felt others should have the change to have.

Last year, he opened the opportunity up to Saranac Lakers.

Sam Duprey, a Saranac Lake high school student, took first place, winning $500 and his fish in the palace. Carter Hewitt, a SLHS graduate, took second place, winning $250 and his fish in the palace. John Duprey of Saranac Lake won third place and Olivia Munn, 6, from Bloomingdale was a top contender, holding second place for a big chunk of the weekend.