Video by Urban Ice Anglers goes viral

Karl Erickson of Urban Ice Anglers took a quick video while he was out with students ice fishing on White Bear Lake and never expected it to go viral. But it did.

Erickson used a video of car that went through the ice to talk about watershed management and not polluting in a lake. The driver of the car got out safely after hitting a pressure ridge a few months ago and going through the thin ice. In the video, the bumper of the car is shown while the front is sitting on the lake bottom. Urban Ice Anglers put a few cameras through the ice and saw that fish were around the car, set up their portable fishing house, and then reeled in some fish.

View the video at:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFs4IpUxMGG/?igsh=emE3cHB5MHU0bmQw

Urban Ice Anglers is a dedicated group of passionate people and community partners that are dedicated to providing ice fishing opportunities for underserved youth. The regularly fish on Como Lake in St. Paul, Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, and White Bear Lake.

Karl Erickson  has worked serves as the program manager of woodworking at Elpis Enterprises (2161 University Ave W.) since September of 2022. In that role, he helps mentor homeless impacted or at-risk young adults around woodworking and youth programs to build skills/resumes for their next career endeavor. He also oversees and manages 180 annual birdfeeder, birdhouse or other wood project workshops for over 8,000+ youth each year all over the Twin Cities.

He wrote a grant to the MN DNR's "No Child Left Inside" grant fund to put together 30 days of ice angling with the attempt to get 10,000 students that opportunity as part of the 10,000 Ice Anglers Project. He is fundraising for this project and plans to collaborate with Baztec Fishing and Outdoors, Ardent Outdoor Group and Future Anglers of Minnesota, Saint Paul Police Activities League nonprofits to run this series of events. He also plans to use the 10,000 Ice Anglers project to help build trust in the communities with various police and fire departments and the students they serve. 

Prior to joining Elpis, he taught physical education for six years at Higher Ground Academy in St. Paul. While teaching, he executed a grant with the Adam Thielen Foundation to fully equip his P.E. department with new equipment. He also wrote and executed a Minnesota DNR grant to help get over 1,000 of student's ice fishing on Como Lake with the help of Ardent Outdoor Group and the Saint Paul Police Activities League. He partnered with Free Bikes 4 Kids to help over 120 of his students get a free bike and helmet. He also partnered with Tickets for Kids charity to get over 400 of his student's opportunities to go pro sporting events or other entertainment venues.

Prior to teaching, he served seven years in the Minnesota Army National Guard and was deployed twice to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He believes that collaboration and shared vision can produce massive change for others. He also believes that getting EVERY student a chance to create an unforgettable memory as part of a school day is essential to helping the next generation find positive outcomes to build confidence from, with those newfound confidences, they can take on the next challenging thing with ease and sense of calm.