DELANO, Minnesota — The weather is full of ups and downs. But for The Ice Palace in Delano, crews are wishing for a steady winter season. 

“It’s been very cold and then very warm. We’re going up and down, and up and down,” said Britton Youngstrom, director of operations. “But as you can see… everything here, we put here. Mother Nature has provided no ice or snow for us. We have a snowmaker and we have sprinklers going so when the temperatures are allowing, we’re able to grow the ice.” 

Crews started laying the ground infrastructure at Delano Central Park three weeks ago and started freezing ice about a week ago. 

“Everything starts happening fast when the temperatures hit,” Youngstrom said. 

But on Sunday, the weather was too warm for ice building. As temperatures go down, the ice goes up. Currently, ice is about 10 to 12 feet high. 

“We are a lot more on track and very hopeful for this season,” Youngstrom said. 

Last winter’s mild temperatures forced The Ice Palace to open a month late and close after being open for only four days. At this time last year, ice building hadn’t even started yet. 

“It’s devastating to us cause we put in a lot of work and our crews, they really grind through the night to bring the best product,” Youngstrom said. “To not be able to share that with the public is the largest thing that was kind of a morale hit because the reason we do this is to share it with people, to create positive experiences, and to really leave that positive footprint for the winter magical realm.” 

While Youngstrom would not disclose how much money they lost, he described it as “fairly significant.” 

They weren’t the only snow/ice-related event impacted by the weather. 

The weather also forced early closures for Ice Castles and Art Shanty Projects last winter. This year, Ice Castles is moving to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. And after having to cancel last year, the Minnesota Ice Festival plans to be back this season. 

“We’re trying to decide if this is the new norm for Minnesota or not. As the last two years have proven to have that unequal temperature fluctuations. But you know, we keep trudging along,” Youngstrom said. 

The family-run business is based in Idaho. They typically have locations in both Idaho and Minnesota but after last winter’s hit, they decided to just focus on Minnesota this year. They expect 40,000-50,000 visits. 

“The Ice Palace, you enter into another world. That’s the feeling that we aim to achieve,” Youngstrom said. 

The plan is to open Dec. 28. If the weather cooperates, they will stay open through the last weekend in February. Tickets can be bought online. 

MINNEAPOLIS — The Republican Party of Minnesota has elected Alex Plechash as chairman, ousting David Hann as the party’s leader during the state central committee meeting on Saturday.

The committee also voted for Dep. Chairwoman Donna Bergstrom to keep her position. 

“We had lots of passion and emotions and conversations in our ballroom,  but it was really good,” Bergstrom said on Sunday. “At the end of the day, I’m very happy that I was reelected as deputy chair.”

Bergstrom said a big focus for the party moving forward will be on messaging and reaching more people as they prepare for the gubernatorial race in 2026.

Plechash currently serves on the Wayzata City Council. According to his campaign website, he is a former committeeman for the Republican National Committee and has spent 20 years as a Republican activist.

Bergstrom has held her role as deputy chair since 2021, a time when the party was navigating financial struggles, the forced resignation of former chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan and a prominent donor’s sex trafficking charges.

“When I was first appointed by chairman Hann in October of ’21, and he was elected, we were in very, very bad shape, quite frankly,” Bergstrom said. “We had lost a lot of trust throughout the state with our party units. We were in the financial dire straits, if you will, so there was a real emphasis on bringing stability back, bringing non-drama back.”

“He and I had a great working relationship,” Bergstrom continued, speaking of her relationship with former chairman Hann. “We talked through issues behind closed doors, worked out those differences and so when we came forward, it was pretty much a united front, and I think the party needed that and appreciated that. Then there were some times when people would ask me to, ‘You got to really stand up and push back,’ and things like that, and I said I will definitely be your voice, but at the end of the day the chairman’s the chairman and he gets to make the decision.”

Bergstrom said she is looking forward to a more bold and united party under Plechash. 

“He’s also a retired Marine, so we have what I say is a secret handshake,” she said. “I don’t think he’s going to be afraid to make bold decisions, and I think people are really looking for that. We saw that modeled on the national level, we saw President-elect Trump do that same thing, be very bold in his statements, and tell people black and white this is how it is, and I think people are really looking for that in Minnesota.”

Minnesota DFL chairman Ken Martin said Hann’s removal as chairman was made “with by the help of far-right activists, including the group Action 4 Liberty” and provided this statement in response to the GOP’s new leadership:

“The Minnesota GOP has been completely captured by the most extreme, fringe activists in Minnesota politics. Control of Minnesota’s entire state government is on the ballot in 2026. Today’s chaos shows that if Minnesota Republicans regain power, they will be beholden to the same far-right fringe that now dominates the national Republican Party.”

The Minnesota GOP has not won a statewide election in Minnesota in almost two decades. 

Plechash did not return KARE’s call for comment.