By Ed Shannon, staff writer

Dane Bay has once again become the last part of Fountain Lake where the final bits of winter ice finally faded away. Thus, Tuesday, March 27, will be recorded as the ice-out date for 2006 by Bill Malepsy, the city&8217;s official lake observer.

Last year&8217;s ice-out date was recorded as April 5.

Malepsy said the last slivers of ice melted in Dane Bay about 7 a.m.

This is the 95th year for the listing of ice-out dates for Albert Lea&8217;s centerpiece lake.

The recording of these dates for Fountain Lake is reportedly the third oldest in the state, according to Peter Boulay of the State Climatology Office at the University of Minnesota.

The longest-known recording of ice-out dates started in 1867 for Lake Osakis near Alexandria, but hasn&8217;t been consistent. The recording of ice-out dates for Lake Minnetonka west of the Twin Cities started in 1870 and has been consistent since 1887.

The earliest ice-out date recorded since 1912 for Fountain Lake is March 7, 2000. The latest recorded ice-out date for this lake is still April 30, 1953.

Malepsy has been observing and recording the ice-out dates for Fountain Lake since the spring of 1969. He&8217;s continuing a local tradition started over nine decades ago by John E. &8220;Pop&8221; Murtaugh.

Murtaugh started recording the ice-out date in the spring of 1912. He was then the owner and operator of the Casino, a lakeside dance hall and canoe and row boat rental service then located at the north end of Newton Avenue. The melting of the ice cover on Fountain Lake was a prime business concern for Murtaugh. He would reportedly paddle a canoe all the way around the lake&8217;s shoreline, including the bays, to check on the status of the hopefully ice-free surface.

Murtaugh recorded these ice-out dates in a small notebook. This notebook is now owned by Malepsy.

The rule used by Murtaugh, and later by Malepsy, since 1912 to determine the lake&8217;s actual ice-out date is based on the day when there&8217;s only water visible on all parts of the lake, including Dane and Edgewater Bays.

&8220;Pop&8221; Murtaugh died in 1969. His friend Malepsy then took over the local tradition of establishing and recording the yearly ice-out dates.

Malepsy and his son, Mark, operate Bill and Mark&8217;s Barber Shop on East Clark Street in Albert Lea.