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The Ice Man Cometh
Defence News 2003
By WO2 Roger Phillips
"Cairns-based chef and warrant officer caterer at 51FNQR, WO2 Tony Herrmann, has been chosen to represent Australia at the Ice Art World Championships, in Belgium this Christmas.
This prestigious event will see eight European and eight non-European teams of two ice carvers, creating sculptures from 120-kg blocks of ice.
Each team is expected to carve up to six blocks over five hours each day of the four-day competition.
According to WO2 Herrmann, the event will be physically challenging.
“Belgium will be very cold at this time of the year and to carve six blocks each day of the competition in a five hour period will test everyone’s stamina,” he said.
The championships are by invitation only, with a design and team captain’s resume submitted to the judges to qualify for the competition, which carries a 10,000 Euro prize.
Ice carving is popular in the Northern Hemisphere, with Japan, Canada and the US being the hot favourites at this event and apart from the Winter Olympics in France and Norway, this is only the second time that Europe has hosted the World Championships.
WO2 Herrmann will be going to Belgium with Australian champion ice carver and team captain Glenn Smith, of Melbourne, who has been competing overseas since 1985.
“It is quite an honour for me to be chosen by Glenn to accompany him to the World Ice Art Championships, as the international standard of the competition will be exceptional.”
Along with the more modern tools of the ice carver, such as chainsaws, WO2 Herrmann will be using chisels specially made from recycled weapons parts as a fitting tribute to his long career in the Australian Army.
He joined the Army in 1979 and has served with HQ 7MD, 5/7RAR, SASR, 1RTB, 1RAR, (including time in Somalia) 3RAR, ASC/ALTC before his current role as WO2 Caterer at 51FNQR.
He has cooked for some VIPs in his time, including Prime Minister John Howard, Madonna and Chelsea Clinton and has 120 national medals for cooking, including 46 gold medals.
Mr Smith believes that the competition will be tough with at least two of the sculptures needing to be at the maximum 2.5m high to be in the running for the prize.
“When I started competing in 1984, Australian sculptors were a novelty – now we stand on our own feet as far as standards go,” he said.
The Australian team has adopted ‘It’s summer down under’ as the theme for the various ice sculptures, which will include pieces on surfing and a bushfire scene.
The ice is specially made for sculpting, with the water kept constantly moving throughout the freezing process to ensure it is clear.
Each 120-kg block can take up to five days to make."
Ice Man Recognised for Service
Lotus Glen Correctional Officer Tony Herrmann has been awarded the Conspicuous Service Medal in the Australia Day Honours list in recognition of 26 years service to the Defence Force.
In his other life with the army, Warrant Officer Class 2 Tony Herrmann is the caterer of the 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment and a talented, world class ice sculptor.
Tony joined the Army Catering Corps in 1979 and has seen service in many of the Army’s units, including overseas service in Somalia.
Tony admits that when he first joined the Catering Corps, many of its cooks were accused of only being able to produce bully beef and stew..
He is proud to announce that, today, army cooks are being recognised as some of the nation's best chefs.
Tony said his Australia Day honour also recognised his fellow catering staff who had supported his standards and requirements over the past five years.
If these achievements aren't enough, Tony is also a keen entrant in cooking and ice carving competitions, having won 147 medals in his career, including 51 gold, 42 silver and 54 bronze medals.
His most treasured is the Silver Medal for Ice Carving from the 2003 World Championships, which earned him the appropriate nickname of the Ice Man.
Created on 05/22/2007 09:24 PM by admin
Updated on 05/23/2007 06:16 AM by admin
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