the Walnut Diary

13 April, 2017  Douglas Fyfe accepts the proffered mantle.

Jim, thank you for graciously passing of the Mantel. In this increasingly unpredictable world we live I am grateful for the constants, including Rod and his diligent efforts to keep us informed and distracted with all things ice and snow.  Of course, Newboro Lake is far from predictable –  indeed she is complicated.  I would never claim to know her secrets and any indications otherwise are simply the result of her toying with us.  I  am lucky – very lucky to have bestowed on me the honour or Ice Out winner for 2017.  More importantly, I am lucky to be able to spend quality time on Newboro lake year after year and to share in her delights with so many others.  See you all on the lake! 

Doug   (Emerald Island)

12 April, 2017  Jim Waterbury relinquishes the Mantle:

Hello Rod,

As the proud bearer of the 2016 Ice-Out Mantle I am very pleased to relinquish it to Doug.  Doug seems to have a good nose for the lake as this is the second time in 3 years he has been correct in his predictions!

Doug, I know you will bear the Mantle with grace and humility, while entertaining all onlookers with your acumen and keen insight.  Congratulations!

May 2017 be another wonderful year for all of us on the lake.

Regards,

Jim Waterbury

11 April, 2017, 8:45 a.m.

There being no contrary assertions to Maggie Fleming’s report of 10 April, 2017, I hereby declare Doug Fyfe of Emerald Island the 2017 winner of the guess-the-ice-out contest for Newboro Lake.  Congratulations, Doug, and may you enjoy the all of the rights and privileges which come with this award.

Thanks to all who took the time to enter this competition and follow through its tumultuous progress.  My thoughts remain on the loss to the ice of Doug Good, a neighbour and good friend to the Rideau Lakes and Cataraqui Trail.

5:00 p.m., 10 April, 2017.  

Maggie Fleming of Newboro has just announced that the ice is out of Newboro Lake.

A look at the remaining entries shows Doug Fyfe of Emerald Island (2015 winner) with his selection of April 8th as the likely winner, as I have no other remaining contestants but Dr. Roz Dakin (2014 winner) on April 14th.

Due diligence requires a delay to allow news of a remaining section of ice of an area greater than 100 square feet remaining in some isolated bay, though I see little need for an inspection voyage in the Judge’s Launch this year.  Perhaps it’s time for Jim to prepare to hand the mantle on to Doug, who will no doubt offer an acceptance speech befitting the solemnity of this grand occasion.

Feel free to post any parting thoughts here, Mr. Waterbury.

If no one reports an ice floe on Newboro Lake by 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 11th, I shall declare Doug Fyfe the 2017 winner of bragging rights for the season on Newboro Lake.

Past-winners of the Newboro Lake Ice-out Guessing Competition

2016: Jim Waterbury  (current holder of the bragging-rights mantle)

2015: Doug Fyfe

2014  Dr. Roslyn Dakin

2013   Louise Pritchard

2012  George Kitching

Rewards

To the winner of this competition passes the mantle of Ice-Master/Mistress of the Lake, with all of the bragging rights and free-beverage privileges which go with it, until the mantle again passes on at the conclusion of the 2018 competition.

Rules

Entries may only be made by posting comments at the end of this post with the entrant’s first and last name and the geographical area of the Lake each has chosen to represent, and of course the date in 2017 on which the entrant predicts that judges and volunteers will no longer be able to find a patch of floating ice of greater than 100 square feet in surface area on Newboro Lake.

As usual, the dates are on a first-posted basis.  If someone double-posts on an already-taken date, the moderator will void the second entry, using the date stamp of the message software to establish priority.  The moderator will make a reasonable attempt to notify any thwarted aspirants to a particular date, but entrants would do well to read the comments section of this post religiously.

Emails to Rod with dates, or postings to the Ice Observations Page will not be accepted as entries this year.

Contest entries will be accepted until 11:59 P.M. on March 15, 2017, so beware the ides of March.