George, the dummy, waits for spring on Silver Lake.
By Curt Peterson
For more than 50 years Barnard residents have relied on a fellow named George to learn when spring has officially arrived.
Historically sponsored by the Barnard General Store, George (a dummy who is tied in a sitting position, his high chair supported by the ice on Silver Lake) announces the “ice out” by breaking through the melting ice and plunging into the frigid water.
Barnard General Store co-owner Jillian Minerva says she often positions George later than she should.
“Don’t worry,” she told the Mountain Times, “we always have someone watching me from inside, near the phone, just in case!”
“In 2015, I think, an unusual warm spell melted the ice very quickly and I hadn’t put him out there yet. We tied a rope around my waist in case I fell in,” she remembered. “George went down four days later. I’ll never cut it that close again!”
Inside the Barnard General Store, the Minervas conduct a pool – a participant pays $5 to register a guess as to the date and time that George will disappear into the depths of the lake; $20 buys six guesses.
In 2019 then 4-year-old Charlie Park won. He kept $25 and donated the rest of his half of the $190 reaping to Helping Hands.
Total wagers average between $150 and $200, but, Minerva said, the 2020 pot, won by Oliver Szott, then 14 years old, was only $60 because pandemic restrictions limited access to the wager jar.
The winner is paid half whatever is in the pool, and the balance goes to local non-profit Barnard Helping Hands. Often winners donate their portion as well.
The dummy’s watery adventure is a community event. In February 2017 Minerva posted on the Barnard listserv: “I’m wondering if anyone has a spare brick … and some spare rope I can borrow,” she wrote. “I need a brick to weigh down the chair [George] sits on and some rope to pull him to shore once he goes down.”
“I can promise to return the rope as soon as he goes under … maybe not so much for the brick.”
George is a reliable predictor of spring’s arrival — once he’s made the call, Minerva hauls him and the chair from the lake, dries him out, and stores him at the Barnard General Store until his services are required again next year.
Minerva doesn’t participate in the pool, but she guesses George will take a dive on April 14 this year.
What’s your prediction?
