ICE OUT Contest - '10

This may not be the 10th Ice Out Contest (maybe it's the 7th or 8th), but '10 has a nice ring to it.

Notice is hereby given to all persons near and far that Ice Out Contest '10 is officially open. Just as WBC Regular succinctly stated, the 'rules' are quite simple. They are: 1) Anyone is entitled to submit by reply to this post or by a new post one guess as to when the ice will be declared gone from Witch Bay. The guess must include date and time of day (please denote AM or PM). 2) The person who guesses the closest to the actual time wins. The guess may be before or after the actual time - just closest in days, hours and minutes to the actual time. 3) Gail shall be the official time keeper - no questions asked. 4) Entries must be submitted no later than midnight on April 1. Somehow that date seem appropriate for a fun thing to do. (One guess was within minutes of the actual time last year, but it was submitted a day or two late -- OUCH!)

Also as stated, the winner will be held in highest esteem by his fellow WBC guests and readers of this message board. Good luck to all, and may the best man or woman win.

As a former winner (I think I won the inaugural contest), I hereby humbly submit my estimated guess - April 28th at 1 pm.

Thanks.

Chris Lowe

OK. I see Chris got his in ON TIME this year. Well, as in FIRST! lol. (Just teasing, Chris!)

Ok ... let me see. I have studied the weather patterns. I have consulted with all the Kenora weather experts ... ok ... actually NO Kenora weather experts, but I DID read Wilkening's post on ice fishing so maybe that can be a substitute for my lack of initiative on this matter.

I looked at the weather forecast for Wisconsin (easy to do as I live in Wisconsin), doubled the snowfall and cut the average above-zero temperatures in half, added a fudge factor ('cause I like fudge!), and looked at Al Gore's book on global warming. I didn't actually READ the book (just to be clear) but I DID look at it.

I also looked at the e-mails claiming all the studies done on global warming were fakes with fudged data. (I said I liked fudge!)

Based on all this research, I predict ice out in Witch Bay will be May 1, 2010, precisely at noon Kenora time. I would think I don't need to say "AM" or "PM" as noon is noon everywhere.

As the reigning world champion, I figured I would chime in with my guess. Before doing so, I would like to make a few comments about what a great honor it has been holding the title for the past 10 months or so. Everything has been great -- from the ticker-tape parade and welcoming ceremony when I got to Camp back in August, to all of the free perks and honoraria that come with the position. I want to thank Gail and the staff at Witch Bay who made it all possible, as well as the organizing committee who puts together such a great contest every year. With all that being said, and in light of the continued global warming prevention efforts of Al Gore, I am again guessing May 3rd at 1:30 p.m. for ice-out.

Fellas, 3 entries out of 241 views? That's 1 entry for every 80 views. Maybe the views are run up by Chris checking 10 times a day to see if anyone has guessed close to his guess. Let's get some more pizzaz into this. After all, it's all in fun. With the weather we've had in St. Joseph, Mo., this winter (8" of snow last Sunday and an overnight low of 1 last night), I'd probably guess ice won't be out until the middle of June. But, that would mean I'd be dodging icebergs when I'm in camp the first week of June. God forbid! The more people that submit a guess, the more fun it will be for everyone. I hope to see your guess on this board soon. Good luck.

This is my entry- May 6th 3:45pm.

I think Chris missed it by one day. Remember this is not a leap year. My prediction is April 29 at 1 p.m.
I look forward to the parade and gala celebration when I am there in August to claim the title of Grand Guru of Ice Out Predicting.

Puma

I was the guy who was so close but put my bit in late. So this year I am here early. May 5 at 2:30pm.

If/when I win can I have a ride on Hanks red golf cart?

Thanks everyone, looking forward to getting back to the best place on earth... WBC.

Todd

El Niño will have a dramatic influence on this year’s ice out. I believe that it will occur on the Full Moon of April 28 at 3:30PM. Hank will see his shadow on the 29th at 13:37.

My wife Mary predicts that the ice will go out on the 27th at 12:20pm.

April 20 at 4:00 p.m.

Pass out the sunscreen Witch Bayers, I think this years ice-out will happen on April 18th at 5:00 P.M.

Trexie and Fivelines played their cards close to the vest submitting their bids at the last minute so they couldn't be squeezed out by a later bid that was just minutes different than their bids. We'll see soon enough how that chess match works out.

Another last-minute entry by Ed, er, Mary Petro opens up yet another point of consternation for yours truly. Should contestants be allowed to submit bids in a spouse's name? How about in the names of children, grandchildren, next door neighbors? Does Mary even know the Ice Out Contest exists? If those perplexing questions weren't enough, how about the fact that the bid is for "the 27th." The 27th of what -- April? May? June? I feel confident that the bid was not intended to mean the 27th of March in as much that it was submitted after that date, although strange entries like that have been entered before. This calls for an executive decision. Gail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, I will accept Mary's bid, and will assume she meant April 27. Why put her through the apparent anguish of registering on the WB message board just to submit a guess in this for-fun-only contest? This may open up a whole can of worms, - no pun intended - but in the spirit of the game, it's the right thing to do.

Thanks to all who entered the contest. Now, we wait for Mother Nature to do her magic and remove the ice from Witch Bay. May the best man or woman win!

The Great Karnak urges me to designate April 19th @ 3:39:02 PM.

Game on.