West 7th’s House of Thune channel inner growth to take world snow sculpting title

Sculpting Championship in Stillwater in late January. Taking on teams from around the globe, including teams representing Canada, Turkey, Finland and others, House of Thune is made of captain Dusty Thune and members David Aichinger and Kelly Thune. Their sculpture, entitled Journey, was inspired by “falling apart, picking up the pieces and trying to rebuild ourselves,” according to  a Facebook post by Aichinger. In the midst of the competition Aichinger got a phone call informing him that he’d lost his arts studio, the National Heritage Art Centre in Oceola, Wisconsin,  to a fire. After dropping his tools he later returned to competition only to take the top spot. “I know the coming days will be filled with mourning, but I also know that all these great memories will at least give me something to smile at,” he said. A GoFundMe has been set up to rebuild the studio: bit.ly/3QXVFfT.