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Suburban gets wet; contest results have to wait

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

The Chevy Suburban on the ice at Traxler Park broke through and sunk on 03/20/08.

JANESVILLE — The first day of spring brought a sure sign winter is ending: The Suburban fell through the ice on the Traxler Park lagoon.

The Janesville Kiwanis Blackhawk Golden K Club has been raising money with its “When Will It Sink?” fund-raiser for five years. People pay for the privilege of guessing when the red Chevy Suburban will fall through the ice.

The guess closest to the actual fall-through wins $3,000, and 14 others win smaller cash prizes.

The Suburban fell through Thursday, but Kiwanian Bob Johnson said he doesn’t know exactly when.

The truck comes with a clock that is guaranteed to short out as soon as it hits the water, Johnson said, but the clock can’t be read until the Suburban is on dry land.

The Suburban won’t be hauled out until the water turns from solid to liquid, and that may take awhile.

Johnson guessed several dozen people chose the first day of spring, so it’s likely all winners will be people whose guesses were March 20. The question is how close they came to guessing the hour and minute the Suburban’s clock got wet.

After expenses, Johnson figures the club will have about $8,500 to give to organizations that benefit local children, such as school breakfast clubs, scholarship funds for the highly needy, Scouts and 4-H.

“I look forward to giving away a lot of money and helping the kids, because that’s what Kiwanis is all about,” Johnson said.