Winters are long in Colorado’s high country. And while they’re rarely boring, given the abundance of available outdoor activities and DVD rentals, cold-climate residents are always looking for new amusements.
In Fraser – nicknamed the “Ice Box of the Nation” – just waiting for the spring thaw has become its own thrill.
Every March, the Grand Futures Prevention Coalition plops a brightly painted old refrigerator on the frozen Lions Club fishing pond along U.S. 40 and solicits guesses as to when, exactly, it will fall through the ice.
It’s just another way the frozen corps of the Grand Valley can poke a little fun and help others too.
Anyone can record a guess of the precise day, hour, minute and second the fridge will sink. Guesses are sold for $2 each or three for $5. The winner gets $500; second place receives $250, and third takes home $100. The rest of the pot goes to Grand Futures, which works to promote alternative choices to substance abuse among local kids.
This will be the third round for the frozen-fridge fundraiser, which Grand Futures’ director, Deb Ruttenberg, says has a fine side benefit of making people laugh.
The fundraiser is modeled after similar contests in other communities around the country. Fraser’s may be the only one using a refrigerator, playing off of the chilly valley’s frosty reputation.
“Someone said why not use an old icebox, since we’re the Icebox of the Nation,” Ruttenberg said. “We couldn’t find one, so we started with a fridge. We’re still looking for an old-fashioned icebox to use.”
To make the contest more visible to travelers on U.S. 40, Ruttenberg paints the big white refrigerator in bright colors.
The Fraser Crane company donates its equipment to put the fridge in the middle of the pond, which is just south of the only stoplight in town. Once it falls through the ice, Grand County Search and Rescue pulls it out of the pond as part of a training exercise.
To get into the pool, call Ruttenberg at 970-887-9655.
Janet Day, a freelance writer living in Fraser, thinks the fridge will sink on April 15 at 3:30 p.m.
