WILLOW CREEK — The tenth annual Willow Creek Ice-Out drew 200 entrants yesterday — the largest field in the competition’s history — and produced a winner from twelve miles away, sparking a debate that will likely occupy the town for weeks: should out-of-towners be allowed to compete for the Ice-Out prize?
The winner was Arthur D. Webster, a retired schoolteacher from Pottersville, who predicted the ice would clear from Homan’s Pond at 10:22 AM on March 18. The actual clearance, observed by Ezra Homan using the standard flour-barrel buoy method, occurred at 10:19 AM — a margin of three minutes.
Webster’s prize: $190, after the customary five-dollar donation to the library fund.
“I have been following the Ice-Out in the Gazette for several years,” Webster said, accepting his winnings in the form of a check drawn on the Bangor Savings Bank. “I have a cabin on Pottersville Lake, and I watch the ice there with the same attention that the people of Willow Creek give to Homan’s Pond. When I saw the conditions this winter — the late deep freeze, the early February thaw — I felt confident in my prediction.”
Not everyone is pleased that the competition’s largest prize pool has left town.
“I have nothing against Mr. Webster personally,” said Ezra Homan, who finished 14th and has still never won the Ice-Out in ten years of entering. “But this competition was started by mill workers, for mill workers. It is a Willow Creek tradition. The prize money should stay in Willow Creek.”
Arthur Whitcomb, the Gazette’s editor, takes the opposite view in his weekly editorial:
“The Ice-Out belongs to Willow Creek — that is true. But its fame has spread beyond the town line, and that is not a thing to mourn. A competition that draws entrants from twelve miles away is a competition that matters. The prize pool is larger because of the out-of-town entries, not in spite of them. And the town should be proud that its little tradition has become a regional attraction.”
The Ice-Out organizers have not yet decided whether to restrict future competitions to Willow Creek residents. The question will be put to a vote of the entrants at next year’s gathering.
In the meantime, Mr. Webster has promised to spend his winnings at the General Store on his next visit. “I hear the coffee is excellent,” he said.
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- Ice-Out Marks 30th Year; Amos Homan, Age 10, Enters for First Time
- Ice-Out Draws Record 500 Entrants; Prize Pool Tops $500