Submerged in more ways than one

Back one early winter in the 1980s, M.E. had a temporary assignment near Wassau, Wisconsin. My team and I would fly to the Steven's Point Airport (STE) once a week. Posted at the airport was an unofficial sign announcing a contest worth $500 to guess when a discarded auto would melt through the ice of a nearby lake (or what residents called a "flowage").
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When we got to Wassau we asked the locals about the contest (believe chances were $5). It was an annual contest, and a form of entertainment to break the winter doldrums. By the time we left, 11 weeks later, the ice had not melted yet.

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Thirty years later such entertainment is obviously an environmental no-no, and any mention of it in Stevens Point history seems to have been deleted. Perhaps our Wisconsin readers will be able to shed more light on the exotic spectacle.

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What reminded me of the preceeding is this similar tale that ended well:

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03/03/2010 Car Falls Through Ice on Reykjavík Lake firefighters and search and rescue team members had to be called out to pull the jeep out of the lake. It is not yet clear how much damage it suffered.

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Submarines are always silent and strange.