ONTONAGON — The winner of the Ontonagon River Ice-Out contest was only 19 minutes from a perfect prediction this year.

The Ontonagon County Road Commission determined ice left the river at 8:19 p.m. on April 20.

John Domitrovich guessed the ice would leave the river at 8 p.m. that day.

Domitrovich won the Ontonagon-White Pine Rotary Club contest and $482.

The Ontonagon Area School Education and Enrichment Foundation received half of the contest money, the other $482.

The foundation was presented with a check for $482 Wednesday as half of the Ice-Out funds. Paula Domitrovich, a member of the foundation, said the money is used to present grants to teachers which enable them to take the students on special educational trips or events.

She said five applications for grants were funded in the past year.

Trips to hike the Adventure Mine in Mass-Greenland, to Green Mountain for orienteering and a hike to Beaver Lodge were three of the grants received by Ken Raisanen’s classes.

Paula Domitrovich said a grant was given for students to attend a Spanish event at Northern Michigan University in Marquette but was canceled because of bad weather and another grant was used to help provide funding for computers.

She appealed for more people to join the foundation, noting that with cuts in funding, the group is trying to provide a chance for trips that will be of value to students.

The group thanked all those who purchased Ice-Out tickets, although one member thought that a contest to determine when the snow would finally melt this year would also be fruitful.

—Jan Tucker