Joe’s Pond Ice Out winner announced

WEST DANVILLE, Vt. (WCAX) - A St. Johnsbury family is the big winner in this year’s Joe’s Pond Ice Out contest.

Thousands of tickets are sold every year by people guessing when a cement block will fall through the ice, stopping a clock on shore.

Officials say Mark Turner of St. Johnsbury picked the exact ice out time this year -- Monday at 10:18 p.m. Turner and his wife and son pooled their money and bought 80 tickets. They also had a strategy for their guesses.

“We looked at how the temperatures were and we decided to tighten up our days because we knew it was not going to last until May,” Turner said.

He says he really hasn’t decided what to do with his $5,000 prize, other than take the family out for a nice dinner.

The Joe’s Pond Association plans to use its share of the ticket sales for water quality improvements.

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