Yellowknife Rotary Club hosts contest for 'Ice Device'

The Rotary Club of YellowknifeTrue North is selling guesses as to whena 40-gallon drum theyve dubbed the Ice Devicewill fall through the ice onFrame Lake.

The winner with the correct guess will take home $3,000. There is a prize of $2,000 for second place, and $1,000 for third place.

Jeromy Ball, the club's secretary, said a rotary club in Colorado has been holding the fundraising event for the last 28 years, and the Yellowknife chapter thought it would be a fun thing to try.

Many communities in the North also set up devices to record the exact moment of break-up on rivers for local guessing pools.

In Yellowknife, the guesses will have to include the exact date, hour, minute and second that the Ice Device will fall through the ice, and also the temperature the day it falls through, in case theres a tie.

"It has two watches inside of it that when it gets wet it shuts off automatically," said Ball of the 250-pound device. "We also have a webcam on it 24 hours a day, just as a back-up."

The Rotary Club will use the money it raises for community projects in Yellowknife.