Martha Watts opened her toolbox on Thursday afternoon and set to work creating the lettering for this year’s Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Ice Palace, starting with the letter “u” in the name of the theme “Music Legends.” Her tool box is a cooler. But she’s not using it to keep things cool. She uses it to keep the dyes she colors the slush letters with from freezing Watts was putting the finishing touches on the Ice Palace. Tonight, the palace will be lit up with an opening fireworks display at 7 p.m. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

SARANAC LAKE — Let’s get this party started! The 2025 “Music Legends” Saranac Lake Winter Carnival kicked off last night, ushering in 10 straight days of communitywide events, celebrations and lots and lots of music.

There will be athletic feats, several parades and fireworks shows, big dinners, magic, comedy, crafts, movies and the Rotary Show.

New events this year are the Cosmic Bowl and Boogie at Romano’s Saranac Lanes on Feb. 2, and the Chucklehead Hoedown joke fest at The Garagery on Feb. 6.

Along with the new and existing Carnival events, there are loads of events around the community — live music at bars, music movie screenings at the library, karaoke at both the bars and the library, shows at art galleries, theatrical performances.

Carnival Committee Chair Jeff Branch said there’s so many, it’s hard for the Carnival calendar-makers to keep track of all of them, but it’s great to see. A list of events can be found at saranaclakewintercarnival.com/calendar.

Branch returned to being the Carnival Committee Chair after one year away as Rob Russell took up the reigns in 2024. Branch said he didn’t miss a beat getting back into the role he held for years prior.

“It was just like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes,” Branch said. “I don’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.”

He pointed out that Carnival is an all-volunteer-run event.

“If you see someone working on, for or around Carnival, they’re a volunteer. Reach out and say ‘Thank you’ to them,” Branch said.

He said there’s a load of groups in the Feb. 8 Gala Parade this year.

“Just reading the descriptions, it’s covering all aspects of music legends,” Branch said.

He’s seeing tributes to the biggest names in genres like country, rock and hip-hop. After two parade entries kicked up controversy last year, the committee has formalized its rules in writing and is not allowing special interest groups to promote their groups in the parade.

Instead of a playlist of music at the judge’s stand in front of the town hall, this year, local music legend John Warchol of the KISS cover band Sonic Boom will play live music, including the National Anthem at the start of the parade.

There’s a new award for the parade this year, too — the Rich Merritt Gimp Trophy — named in honor of Rich Merritt, a Saranac Laker who traveled up from Albany every year to lead the Gimps in Carnival revelry down Main Street and Broadway.

Merritt died unexpectedly in October at the age of 59. His family approached the Carnival Committee to request the new trophy category.

The trophy winner will be chosen by Merritt’s friends and family and will be awarded at the band concert immediately following the parade. Merritt had been going all-out for the parade since the late 1970s.

“They were really the epitome of what Carnival is,” Branch said of Merritt’s group. “They come up just to cut loose and have fun.”

The ice carvers at the Ice Palace have been having fun with the “Music Legends” theme, carving thrones with guitars as the seat-backs, a piano, Elvis statues, band logos for the Grateful Dead and Rolling Stones and a replica of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame entrance.

The ice quality is high this year. The bottom half of each block is crystal-clear.

“I would break a chunk off and put it in my drink, it’s that clear,” Branch said.

“This is a one-in-20-year weather pattern that we’ve had to get this done,” he said.

After several years with warmups, thin ice and truncated building seasons, Branch said it was a blessing to have a perfect year, and the IPW took advantage of it.

This year’s palace has 3,478 blocks according to Mary Brown. Each block is 4-foot-by-2-foot and between 10 and 16 inches deep.

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Cosmic Bowl and Boogie

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Flashing lights, glowing pins and the music of the legends. Romano’s Saranac Lanes is holding a “Cosmic Bowl and Boogie” on Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. Cathy Romano said people can stop in anytime to knock down the pins and enjoy legendary music.

Romano said they’ve wanted to have a Carnival event for years now.

“We thought it would be a good event for people out and about in the cold,” she said. “They can come in, warm up, bowl a game and then head on to their other events.”

Romano said they’re always trying to promote the sport of bowling, and Winter Carnival is a good time to try for a strike. Romano’s is also the location of the Paul Smith’s Booster Club 31st Annual Chocolate Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. The lanes will be running then, too.

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Chucklehead Hoedown

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“Have you heard the Mexican weather report?” Bob Seidenstein asked.

This is one of the earliest jokes Seidenstein remembers telling and it’s the type of joke he’s hoping to hear a lot more of at the Chucklehead Hoedown, his free round-robin style comedy show of one-liners, zingers and riddles at the Garagery from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday.

Anyone can sign up, tell their joke and get a free soda. Seidenstein’s got people telling jokes from ages 5 to 78. All the jokes should be short and clean: “Like a brand-new shot glass.”

To register to tell a joke go to tinyurl.com/42xnbe4s or just show up.

This doesn’t have to be original stuff. People can bring their favorites from joke books, lines from the best comedians or traditional family jokes.

“What are new jokes?” Seidenstein asks. “New jokes are old jokes you haven’t already heard. … Ecclesiastes, a book in the Bible, says ‘There’s nothing new under the sun.’ And that was written 4,000 years ago, so who cares?”

Seidenstein chose the round robin format because he wanted something fast-paced. He’ll have his comrades Three Dollar Bill Peer, Screw Loose Bruce Young and Steve Napoleon Trombonaparte Erman to help keep things rolling.

Doors will open to the public at 5:15 p.m. Jokesters are asked to show up at 4:45 p.m.

“The Garagery’s the best stage in town, as far as I’m concerned,” Seidenstein said.

The event is free and, though he hates to say it, he’s thankful to Garagery owner Adam Harris for his generosity with the venue.

Seidenstein loves all humor. His pockets are full of gags — a watch-winder, squirting nickels and tiny plastic hands.

“I’ve always been drawn to jokes,” Seidenstein said

He’s been telling them since at least age 6.

“Maybe the reality of primary school made me turn to humor as a balm,” he said. “Mad Magazine is the only reason I got through junior high.”

Oh, and the Mexican weather report? “Chili today, hot tamale.”