“The use of traveling is to regulate the imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” — Samuel Johnson

NANEENA, Alaska. — We stopped at this little wide spot in the road.  There were two gift shops, with restrooms, soft drinks and some nice things available for purchase.  And other things to buy too, like genuine Moose Poop Christmas tree ornaments.  The material is dried thoroughly, whether baked or sun dried I have no idea, and then painted festively and mounted on a card, describing the provenance and certifying its origin.

As we approached Naneena, our bus driver/tour guide announced Naneena’s chief claim to fame, the Naneena Ice Classic, featuring the Four Legged Tripod.  A four legged tripod?  He caught my interest.  The actual structure is on display for all to see, at least in July.  I estimate it is ten feet tall, and made from sturdy metal pipes.  It’s painted, with easy to see red and white strips, and adorned with pennants on each of the four tripod legs.  Why is the four leg structure called a tripod?  It’s always been that way, I guess.

The ice classic has happened there on the Tanana River in Naneena since 1917.  The legs of the tripod-with-four-legs are driven two feet into the ice of the river, 300 feet from the shore’s edge.  The Tanana River usually freezes over in October.  When the ice breaks up, it breaks a connection with a clock that records the exact time.

People bet on this.  A ticket costs $2.50.  The purchased ticket specifies the month, day, hour and minute of the predicted breakup.  Half of the money collected goes to the winner.  The community gets the other half.  Lots of tickets are sold.  The amount awarded this year was shared by more than one winner; the amount shared was $311,652.00.  Of course, some think the modest little community was the winner.

If you want to try your luck, the website is www.naneenaakiceclassic.com, or, if there are questions, you may email iceclassic@alaska.com.   There’s a four-minute YouTube video available.  Mrs. B and I watched it; we were surprised by the end.  Good luck for those of you that want to take a chance in 2020.

Hint: Don’t pick April 31.