NEED TO KNOW: Week of Feb. 2

Lauren LaRocca, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·3 min read

Feb. 2—FIRE IN ICE EXPANDS TO TWO DAYS

Fire in Ice has grown to become the most popular First Saturday of the year in Frederick, so, naturally, event organizer Downtown Frederick Partnership has expanded the winter wonderland of ice sculptures across two days this year, Friday and Saturday (Feb. 3 and 4). Those days will be chockfull of activities throughout downtown Frederick — ice carvings, live music, fire performances and, new this year, the Ice Games Center and Polar Lounge. Several downtown businesses will host their own ice-themed parties this weekend, like Cafe 611's Maddog's Icy Inferno (9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Feb. 3), a night of a DJ dance party and visual art, and a Fire in Ice Absinthe Tasting (3 to 9 p.m. Feb. 4) at Tenth Ward Distilling. All of this is to say: Bundle up and head on out.

DANIEL ROSS WINS AN EMMY

Shout out to former Frederick resident Daniel Ross, who won the inaugural Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice Performance in a Preschool Animated Program last week. He took home the award for his role as Donald Duck in "Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas." 72 Hours last spoke with Ross in 2017, when he'd just landed a voicing role as Donald Duck in the Disney Junior TV series "Mickey and the Roadster Racers" — his first voice acting role for an animated series with a worldwide audience. It's exciting to see how far he's come, especially given the fact that, three years prior to our 2017 interview with him, he'd packed up his car and drove across the country to California, though he had no work lined up, other than a night shift at Target. If this isn't inspiration to follow your dreams, we don't know what is.

FCC LIT MAGAZINE WINS an AWARD

The 2022 edition of the Frederick Community College literary and visual arts magazine, Tuscarora Review, won a first place award from the American Scholastic Press Association. This particular issue focused on student mental health, a theme that came together organically as submissions were reviewed. "This magazine shines light on what can be deeply isolating experiences for our students and lets them know they are not alone," says Magin LaSov Gregg, faculty advisor to the magazine. View the entire magazine online at apps.frederick.edu/flipbook/2022TR/index.html.

MIKE KUSTER is NAMED COUNTRY IMPACT ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Another shoutout is in order for Mike Kuster. The Independent Music Network recently named the Walkersville singer-songwriter 2022 Country Impact Artist of the Year. Kuster released three songs in 2022, "Seeing Less Than Half of Their Faces," "King of the Honky Tonk" and "FarmHer," all of which spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on IMN's Country Charts. You can catch him onstage this weekend at Buckeystown Pub when he plays an acoustic version of his Honky Tonkin' show from 6 to 10 p.m. Feb. 4.

CAST YOUR VOTES!

This is your reminder to vote for your favorite artists, some of whom are based here in Frederick County, for the 2023 WAMMIE Awards. Walkersville country artist Mike Kuster has been nominated for Best Country/Americana Artist and Best Country/Americana Album for his "Better Late Than Never," and four of his songs are up for the award for Best Country/Americana Song: "I'm Leaving Home," "Better Late Than Never," "FarmHer" and "Monocacy Mud." Stripmall Ballads, the moniker of Brunswick-based folk artist Phillips Saylor Wisor, has been nominated for Best Folk/Bluegrass Artist, Best Folk/Bluegrass Album for the 2022 release "Laundromat" and Best Folk/Bluegrass Song for "Chainlink Choker." Winners will be announced live at the WAMIE Awards Show on April 1. Go to wammiesdc.org, log in, and vote!