Cold weather fun: Breaking the ice in Venango County

Holy crap it was cold in Venango County.

Saturday morning's temperatures were in the single digits.

For most sane-thinking folks that meant staying in where it was warm. For others, it sounded like a perfect time to head up to the beach at Two Mile and take a dip.

​While others thought maybe a ride into Franklin to view the carved ice galleria was more befitting of the temperatures.

​Whichever the case, the weather was the weather and folks were folks and fun was fun.

​And pictures were made.

Hundreds of people hit the beach on Saturday, many to watch. The terms used by Luke Kauffman, director of Two Mile Run County Park, were "bears" and "chickens" for those who registered for the annual event. It's not hard to decipher what that means, but those who registered for the icy plunge were dubbed "bears," while those who donated money by registering but decided to remain warm-ish and dry were called "chickens."

Kauffman said that just under 200 people registered for the plunge, bringing in somewhere around $ 5,000 to the park for use during its many activities throughout the year.

​Sometimes it pays to be crazy.

Downtown Franklin may not have been quite so crazy, but it too was frigid. The many shops and restaurants offering a warm respite from the cold were comfortable bookends for viewing the many ice sculptures in Fountain Park. The 27th annual Franklin on Ice festival brought hundreds of people into Franklin throughout the course of the day and evening to view the artistry of the DiMartino Ice Company sculptors. The cold weather was perfect for their creations to stay exactly as they intended them to be viewed. 

Sadly, the weather is expected warm considerably with rain in the immediate forecast. This means the winter cultural wonderland will likely only be a weekend long event this year.

Below are more photos that prove Franklin's motto of being always eventful.