The ice has cracked underneath Hancock’s little church on Norway Pond, and the winner is a woman from upstate New York who guessed the correct time down to the minute.
Hannah Rodat-White accurately guessed 1:59 p.m. on March 27 as the date and time of the ice cracking beneath the little church on Norway Pond. She lives near Albany, but has relatives in Hancock, according to event organizer Jane Richards-Jones, which is how she came to participate.
“Exactly on the minute, it’s fairly unusual,” Richards-Jones said. “It’s pretty interesting. What are the odds?”
The ice-out event is a 50/50 fundraiser, whose proceeds go toward maintaining Hancock’s Meetinghouse and vestry buildings. Total donations were $1,139, meaning that after the split with Rodat-White, the church will receive $569.
“It was a really good year,” Richards-Jones said. “It was up a little bit from the past couple of years.”
The little church was placed on the ice for this season in January. Richards-Jones said the ice going out from under the church is fun for the organizers, signifying the end of the event.
“It’s very exciting when that happens,” she said. “The red flag pops up, we get the signal of the minute the ice goes out, and the ice-out team gathers.”
This is a somewhat early date for the ice out compared to previous years, Richards-Jones added, as it is only the fourth time out of 10 years that it has gone out in March. However, it is the second year in a row that the ice went out on March 27, making the date a popular one for many this year.
Once the ice is finished going out of the pond, the next steps will be to haul the little church to shore and get it ready to store until next year. Richards-Jones said organizers are already looking forward to it.