Congratulations to Valarie Patten of Hinesburg, Vermont, winner of the inaugural Lake Iroquois Association Ice-Out Challenge. Valarie selected the winning date and time of March 27th, 2021 at 1:41 PM, within two minutes of the actual time the clock stopped. According to Ernie Rossi, LIA Board Director and observer that day, “The pallet flipped, the block went through and stopped the clock at 1:39 PM on 3/27. Only thing missing was the popcorn!”.
LIA plans for the contest to be a yearly fundraiser. In this first season, 2,262 tickets were sold. With an initial goal of selling 1,000 tickets, that amount was more than doubled. We hope that the contest with its level of participation is bringing more awareness to LIA’s management efforts around Lake Iroquois. Our share of the proceeds, after expenses, will be used to encourage and increase lake shore property owner participation in the Vermont Department of Conservation’s (VT DEC’s) Lake Wise Program.
The Lake Iroquois Association would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the contest participants. Even if you were not the lucky winner, please know that your contributions will go a long way toward improving the water quality and shoreline protection of Lake Iroquois. We hope that you plan to participate in years to come for some mid-winter fun and a chance to win some money, but most importantly, for the health of the Lake.
You can find more information about the mechanisms of lake ice and historical ice-out dates on Lake Iroquois on our website at: https://www.lakeiroquois.org/enjoying/ice-out-dates. To learn more about VT DEC’s Lake Wise program and how you can participate, please go to their web site at dec.vermont.gov/watershed/lakes-ponds/lakeshores-lake-wise/what.