Brookfield/Sturbridge lake group's 'ice-out' challenge canceled due to lack of ice
A lake preservation group's planned winter fundraiser, featuring a handmade sea serpent, is being canceled because of a lack of ice on the lake.
The Quaboag Quacumquasit Lake Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the quality of Quaboag and Quacumquasit ponds in the Brookfield/East Brookfield/Sturbridge area, had initially planned to run an ice-out challenge where participants guess the exact day and time that the ice melts on Quaboag Pond.
Volunteers built a serpent named NorPondapuss, Norpie for short, to be placed on top of the ice just off the Quaboag Pond boat ramp. In the spring, when the ice melted, the serpent would plunge back into the pond.
Norpie also came with a fictional history dating back to 1398: Scottish travelers brought an egg from the Loch Ness Monster to North America. Around 1492, the story goes, the egg melted from the North American ice shield and floated down into Quaboag Pond.
Last weekend, members attempted to place Norpie on the pond. However, they decided that the rise in temperatures would prevent them from holding the fundraiser this year.
After a quick spell of record cold last weekend, high temperatures are expected to be in the 40s for much of the next two weeks.
The organization hopes to conduct the competition in 2024.
Meantime, in Hubbardston, a ice-out event dubbed Frozen Assets is taking place as scheduled. In this case, a pond on the Whillimasville Road property of The Country Hen is the setting and the sinking subject is an outhouse.
The Frozen Assets contest was established years ago by town officials who wanted to give residents something fun to do in the middle of winter.
More:The game has begun in Hubbardston
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Not enough ice on Mass. lake forces cancelation of fundraiser
