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Rotary Car Goes Through The Ice

March 14, 2025 Steve Schwaller

(Arnolds Park)– Here’s a sign of spring: the Rotary car has gone through the ice on Smith’s Bay of West Lake Okoboji. It had been leaning the past couple of days and finally went the rest of the way through Thursday evening.

The exact time the car officially went through will be determined by a specially rigged clock that will be retrieved when the vehicle is removed. That likely won’t happen until early next week. The person with the ticket with the minute of which the vehicle went through is the winner of the $1,000 prize. Erin Reed of the Iowa Great Lakes Rotary Club says ticket sales this year were brisk…

“I think we almost sold out. We got really, really close, so somebody’s got that ticket out there, we know that for sure.”

Reed says the Car Drop contest is one of their largest fundraisers of the year…

“We really have a focus on children. We’ve been very instrumental in the Shelby Duis Park over at Elinor Bedell State Park and so funds go towards that. We also focus a lot on nonprofits in the area. We have speakers that come in and through their stories it’s always interesting to hear about all the different wonderful nonprofits in this area that do great work, so we really appreciate the opportunity to support those.”

Even though the car is now at the bottom of the lake, there’s no need to worry about pollution. The vehicle, which is the same one used each year, has been completely stripped of it’s engine and components.