Nenana Ice Classic jackpot hits record high

The jackpot for the Nenana ice classic has hit a record high.  This year’s amount is over $338,000.  The amount was announced at the Ice classic’s board of directors meeting.

Last year’s jackpot was actually the second lowest in the last 10 years. The previous record amount was 335,000 dollars.

Manager Cherie Forness told the Fairbanks News Miner that she  predicts the ice won’t go out at least for another week and a half, making the breakup date around May 5^th or 6^th.  According to the Ice classic’s website on Monday, the ice was still 39 inches thick, although water can be seen at the river edge.

Over 265,000  tickets were sold this year.  There are now 200 sales locations around the state. The ticket sales this year added up to $663,000 dollars — just 50% of it goes to the jackpot.  The rest is used to pay ticket sorters and other expenses as well as some funds going to non-profit organizations in Nenana, the Fairbanks Rescue Mission and the Special Olympics of Alaska.