This weekend's Whittle the Wood Rendezvous, perhaps the city's signature community event, moves into its 10th year when it begins Wednesday at Craig City Park.

Pennie Bricker, an administrative technician with Craig Parks and Recreation, has played a hand in organizing each one of them. The event, she said, has high expectations every year.

"It just gets better every year," she said.

This year is no different.

The 10th annual Whittle the Wood, an event that showcases the wood carving talents of artists from across the Midwest, kicks off at 9 a.m. Wednesday with the tree lottery.

Twelve artists, the same number as last year's event, are signed up to transform tree stumps into eye-catching sculptures. Ten of the artists have participated in Whittle the Wood before, Bricker said, and two are in their first year.

During the tree lottery, the artists each will draw numbers, and those numbers represent the order in which the artists will choose their stump. There are 14 stumps, each 15 to 20 feet long, for the artists to consider.

The artists begin carving Wednesday, and that will continue throughout the next few days, culminating in Saturday's judging.

Bricker recommends residents take time from their week to visit City Park and watch as the chunks of wood evolve into works of art.

"Once the carvers get started, the trees transform so fast, it's not even funny," she said. "Everybody should take a walk through the park one of those weekdays just to see how they're going. They can walk through the park any time to check it out."

The carvers will work from about 8 or 9 a.m. to about 5 or 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. They are allowed to carve their sculptures until 4 p.m. Saturday, when a panel of three to five judges critiques their work.

Up for grabs is $1,000 in prize money for the first-place winner in the best carving category. Second place earns $750 and third place $500.

Plaques will be awarded to the winner of the artist's choice and people's choice competitions.

Saturday "is the big event," for Whittle the Wood, Bricker said.

Food and craft vendors set up about 10 a.m., and live music begins playing at 3 p.m. A silent auction, with items from the wood carvers up for bid, takes place between noon and 5 p.m.

At 6 p.m., the main musical act begins.

"Asleep at the Wheel," an Austin, Texas-based country/Western swing band, is this year's featured performer. The band, formed in 1970 in Paw Paw, W.V., has nine Grammy Awards and more than 20 studio albums to its credit.

The concert, which also is at City Park, is free. Visitors are allowed to bring their own coolers.

About 5,000 people attended Whittle the Wood last year, a number that Bricker said is doable again this year.

"If the weather is nice, absolutely," she said.