Forget what the calendar says. In West Danville, Vermont, spring doesn't arrive until the cinder block falls through the ice on Joe's Pond.

The 30-kilogram block is placed on a wooden pallet on the frozen surface of the pond and tied to an alarm clock on shore each winter in a $1-per-chance guessing game. It plunged into the water at 5:25 p.m. Friday.

Dave Parker, the organizer Joe's Pond Ice Out Contest says four people guessed April 25 at 5:15 p.m. and that turned out to be the closest time. They each won $1,323.

The 20th annual contest drew more thank 12,000 entries, many far from Vermont.

The earliest-ever ice out date was April 16, in 1998 and 2006. The latest was May 6, in 1992.