Cover Photo Courtesy Jeff Halverson Photography
Frozen Assets raises more than $1,000,000 net since 2012!
With more than 6,000 visitors joining us at The Edgewater and on Lake Mendota, Frozen Assets raised more than $127,000 net for our lakes this year. THANK YOU to all of our sponsors, guests, volunteers, and event partners who made the festival and fundraiser a huge success!
Thank you to our presenting sponsor Lands’ End and to our platinum sponsor The Edgewater. Lands’ End provides critical funding and apparel to keep our staff and volunteers warm. The Edgewater and its staff were incredible hosts of the festival and fundraiser for the FIFTH year in a row!
Funds raised will be used to purchase easements for three miles of buffer strips, which help capture nutrient-rich runoff from farm fields before it enters our lakes. See some of the other projects we’ve been up to since our founding in 2010.
Keep reading for a recap of the event and respond to our survey below to give us feedback about how we can make next year even better!
FROZEN ASSETS FESTIVAL FEEDBACK
A few of our FAVORITE festival moments:
First ever 5K on Lake Mendota
Participants in our first Frozen Assets 5K braved the snow, ice, and slush on a foggy morning on frozen Lake Mendota. We had runners, walkers, snowshoers, and even a polar bear!
Want to see more moments from the Frozen Assets 5K? See event photos here.
A 5K ENTIRELY on frozen Lake Mendota!
THANK YOU for braving the snow, ice, and slush and supporting our lakes! This year, 150 participants ran, walked, or snowshoed a collective 450 miles in the first ever 5K entirely on frozen Lake Mendota.
Top female finishers: MacKenzie Roman, Suzie Howe, and Alissa Hickok
Together, we raised money
Funds raised will support important lake improvement projects, educational programming, and water quality monitoring.
Top male finishers: William Vencill, Nicholas Day, and Ben Martin
Learning about our lakes
Thanks to interactive displays from the Center for Limnology and Water@UW, guests learned about the science beneath the ice. This included our first poster display on the ice!

Photo: Jeff Halverson Photography

Photo: Jeff Halverson Photography
Badger (and lake!) pride
Bucky Badger made his way around the festival and said hello to the thousands of people who came to support our lakes. In the winter, our frozen lakes become our biggest public parks. Thank you for coming!
Almost 2,000 marshmallows!
Thanks to the help of our many Frozen Assets volunteers, we roasted 1,890 marshmallows on Lake Mendota! We hit a new festival record for s’mores enjoyed on the lake in ONE day!

Photo: Jeff Halverson Photography
An evening in Rio
We had a SOLD OUT crowd at our evening fundraiser with tons of fun costumes and performances for our lakes. We also raised an additional $25,000 from our raffles and other games. THANK YOU!