Odd ritual marks spring in Vt. town

WEST DANVILLE, Vt. -- Forget what the calendar says. In these parts, spring doesn't arrive until the cinder block falls through the ice on Joe's Pond.

The 65-pound block, which is placed on a wooden pallet on the frozen surface of the pond each winter in a $1-per-chance guessing game, plunged into the water at 5:25 p.m. Friday.

Four people who guessed April 25 at 5:15 p.m. won $1,323 apiece in the annual contest, according to organizer Dave Parker.

The earliest-ever ice out date was April 16, in 1998 and 2006; the latest was May 6, in 1992.