Ice was first to have a turn under Willy Tuz’s knife or chainsaw or chisel, depending on what was needed.
Then, for business reasons, he turned to culinary carving. Fruits and vegetables became pieces of art in his hands.
With both ice and food, Tuz has made his mark. He is the owner of Colorado Fruit Designs: Willy’s Wild Carvings, which relocated to Mesa Mall in March.
He also founded the Great West Ice Fest in 2017, bringing chainsaw ice carving to the Grand Valley.
Now his carving stage is set to get much, much bigger. Tuz is one of seven professional pumpkin carvers competing for $25,000 on Food Network’s “Outrageous Pumpkins,” with the first episode airing Sept. 13.
“This is like one of the best pumpkin carving shows that I know about,” Tuz said.
A carver must be invited to send in a portfolio of work, and then must audition and be selected from there, he said.
These are the “best carvers in the country,” he said. “The fact that I was on the show is really neat.”
His invitation came in 2019 and the competition was recorded the same year, fortunately well before COVID-19 stopped production for many shows.
The host of “Outrageous Pumpkins” is Alyson Hannigan (“American Pie”), and the pumpkin carvers Tuz competed with were from across the country.
The judges are Terri Hardin and Ray Villafane, who is “one of the best pumpkin carvers in the entire world. I’m catching up with him!” Tuz said with a chuckle. “It’s an honor to be judged by him.”
“It was an awesome opportunity. I feel blessed to represent Grand Junction, Colorado,” Tuz said.
“It started as a little dream to become one of the best carvers,” Tuz said. “Especially for me and the industry that I am in, if there is a stage you want to be on, it’s the Food Network. It’s huge.”
Because of Food Network’s reach, his family in Mexico can watch the competition along with his community in the Grand Valley, he said.
“Hopefully, it brings some happiness to people and maybe inspires other people to dream and to have passion about something and not give up on something because you never know where it can take you,” Tuz said.
This year has been a tough one, and as a business owner, “nobody trained us for this stuff,” he said, referring to COVID-19.
He moved his business to Mesa Mall and opened the doors on March 1, only to close them again two weeks later.
“When there are no events, what do you do?” said Tuz, whose carvings are part of events not only in the Grand Valley but across the state.
“We have a beautiful store. And we are hoping to continue to push it, not give up,” he said.
“Outrageous Pumpkins” is a bright spot in the year for him, but Tuz isn’t stopping there.
He is part of the planning for a new event with large pumpkin sculptures and live pumpkin carving at the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens.
Scheduled for Oct. 9-10, the event will benefit Strive.
Tuz also wants to continue with the Great West Ice Fest in the winter months.
In the meantime, he is hopeful people will watch him compete on “Outrageous Pumpkins.”
“It’s really neat. You feel like all the hard work and sleepless nights pushing yourself to become better, it pays off in a way,” he said.
For information about “Outrageous Pumpkins,” go to foodnetwork.com/shows/outrageous-pumpkins.
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September 06, 2020 at 01:15PM
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Grand Valley carver part of competition in Food Network's 'Outrageous Pumpkins' - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
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