FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: January 16, 2012
CONTACT: James Tye, Director of Development and External Affairs Clean Lakes Alliance
Cell: (608) 628-6655 or James@cleanlakesalliance.com

Mendota Freeze Contest Names a Winner!

Waunakee Woman Wins Grand Prize of Cross-Country Ski Package

MADISON, WI – The Clean Lakes Alliance is pleased to announce that Beverly Miller, of Waunakee, has won the first annual Mendota Freeze Contest by guessing correctly that Lake Mendota would freeze for the first time this winter on January 14.

“I am surprised and very excited,” Miller said, when she was notified today about the contest results. She added that she had entered the contest at the urging of her son, who saw it reported on WMTV-TV in Madison.

Don Heilman, CLA president, said the lake’s later-than-average freezing date resulted in even more people entering the contest than he had expected.

“The Mendota Freeze Contest opened on December 1st and ran until Saturday, when the Wisconsin State Climatology Office announced that the lake had officially frozen over,” he said. “We had fantastic participation from the public and great support from our sponsors, and I think everyone had a lot of fun with it.”

More than 500 people entered the free online contest by registering their freeze predictions at the CLA website, www.cleanlakesalliance.com. Lake Mendota’s freeze date was determined by the Wisconsin State Climatology Office, which has tracked the freeze dates for Madison lakes since the mid-19th century. Miller’s name was drawn from the entries of the first 10 people to correctly guess that January 14th would be the day.

Miller won the grand prize of a complete cross-country ski package donated by Erehwon Mountain Outfitter. CLA also awarded prizes of $50 gift certificates, donated by Middleton Sports & Fitness, to four runners-up. Their names, also drawn from the pool of correct entries, are Connie Estep, Matt Murphy and Victoria Whelen, all of Madison, and Mike Hardiman, of McFarland.

Heilman said the contest was intended to draw attention to the year-round importance of area lakes.

“So many people enjoy our lakes in the winter as well as in the summer,” he said. “Nearly every day of the cold-weather months you can find people ice boating, snowshoeing, skating and fishing on our lakes, they really are Madison’s frozen assets!”

The Mendota Freeze Contest was sponsored by MyWeather.com and Madison Magazine. Hundreds of people followed the contest on Twitter (@crazy4lakes and #mendotafreeze) and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CleanLakesAlliance, and CLA plans to maintain those sites for several weeks so that people can learn more about the history and quality-of-life contributions of Mendota and Dane County’s other lakes.

For more information on the freeze dates for Lakes Mendota, Monona and Wingra, visit the Madison Lakes Ice Summary at the Wisconsin State Climatology Office.

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The Clean Lakes Alliance is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the improvement and protection of the lakes, streams and wetlands of the Yahara Watershed. Through community support, advocacy and education, the Alliance is leading the charge to restore and protect the lakes for future generations.

MyWeather was created by Weather Central, LP (WXC.com), to provide consumers with personalized, precise, portable weather data and graphics online and on mobile devices. Weather Central, founded in 1974 by broadcasters and meteorologists based in Madison, Wisconsin, is the leading provider of professional on-air, online, print, mobile, and enterprise weather solutions and forecasting in North America and to major customers worldwide. Utilizing the company’s dynamic weather graphics, precise forecast models and data, and patented technology, more than 1,000 partners and hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide benefit from Weather Central’s attention to weather presentation, detail and insight. For more information please visit MyWeather.com, like facebook.com/myweather, watch youtube.com/myweather and follow @myweather.