"Leprechauns, salt suspected in St. Patrick's day sinking" from the March 19, 1968 Door County Advocate
The old car didn't wait for spring. Not even for the guessing deadline.
Sunday morning between 10:15 and 10:30 the old car put on the west side ice by the Sturgeon Bay Lions Club went through the ice and sank out of sight.
The Lions had set midnight March 20 as the deadline for guessing when the old car would sink. It went down three days early.
Some wanted to blame the premature St. Patrick's day sinking on the same leprechauns who painted the orange car green on St. Patrick's day last year.
Others were inclined to believe reports of salting around the car. "It was the squarest hole I ever saw," reported one observer.
The Lions, naturally, were disappointed. "Ticket sales were just really beginning to move," reported Herb Johnson, committee chairman.
Johnson said he checked the ice Saturday and noticed that the sun reflecting from the car to the ice had made an opening of clear water on the south side of the car. Johnson said mild weather and rain of the past week had left only two to three inches of good ice, the remaining 12 inches being the slushy type.
It could be several weeks before the clock inside the car reveals the contest winners. As soon as the ice clears in the vicinity, the car will be pulled up.
Last year the car sank during the noon hour on March 30 but the car didn't fill up inside with water until almost five hours later, stopping the clock at 4:56.21. The person guessing the closest to the time will receive a color television set.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
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