Cabot School District
ANNUAL MEETING

Monday, February 28, 6PM

School Gym


Tomorrow, March 1, 2011:
Regular Town Meeting at the
School Gym, 10 a.m.
Lunch will be available.

*****

All Cabot residents interested in local economic and community development issues are invited to attend the Planning Commission's public work session on Monday evening, March 7th at 6 PM, at the Willey Building in Cabot.

This is the fifth scheduled public work session covering different topics included in the 2011 Cabot Town Plan.

Light refreshments will be served.

A hard copy of the preliminary draft of the Economic Development section is available for review at the Town Clerk’s office and at Town Meeting tomorrow -- or e-mail to request the document in pdf format: cabotplanning@gmail.com

I sort of took the day off yesterday and tried to put some order into my office space. I have files scattered everywhere and needed to put them in their proper corners. Literally. One corner is for historical society stuff, one of Ice-Out, another stack is Joe's Pond Association and then there are "pockets" of stashed information that I need for when someone e-mails me asking where their Aunt Tilly is buried or what year great uncle Ben died. I have my own files, of course, and those include a few "to-do" files and a bunch marked "WHAT to do?" that I have no idea where to put them so I could ever find them again. And that's only my office. My computer is another much larger filing system and I spent considerable time yesterday sorting out photos so I will be able to find them if/when someone asks for them. And then there are boxes stored in the hallway and in the basement . . . I'll get to them someday.

It's good to go through things every so often just so you know what you have on hand. It's like my spice cupboard. I go through that from time to time. I heard some expert on TV the other day telling how long to keep spices around. I have some in my cupboard I think my grandmother had. They would have been passed down to my mother, who also never threw anything away - she was Scotch - and now I have them. I don't use them, I just don't want to throw them away. Then I have the duplicates that I've bought recently because I forgot I bought some just a few weeks ago. The memory that I need something often precludes the memory that I already bought it. So I won't open the second container of cinnamon - unless I forget that I've already opened one. It's not that I have a real problem with memory - it's more that I'm usually in a hurry and when I don't find what I want right away, I grab whatever's handy. That's how sometimes a recipe comes out with a surprisingly different taste than the last time I made it. No cinnamon? Use nutmeg! No fresh lemon to grate? Grab the little bottle of lemon peel that's been in the cupboard since Billy was a kid.

Today I can get going on pressing projects, having accomplished my housecleaning exercises yesterday. It's a good day to stay inside, too. We have alternating freezing rain and snow flurries going on. The thermometer is steady at 26 degrees and there a gusty wind out of the south, as near as I can tell. I measured another inch of snow this morning, but I didn't go out on my snowshoes to get a measurement of what's on the ground. I'll wait another week to do that. The forecast doesn't look good for all this week. It's going to be cold and then another storm coming in next weekend. It'll be more interesting then.

Bill Rossi just sent us a picture of the pileated woodpecker at their house. Looks like he's got a good start on mutilating that tree. Bill didn't say if the tree belongs to them or one of their neighbors. These guys make huge holes in trees. We've heard of them attacking houses, too. In fact, soon after Ned and Carolyn Hamilton redid their cottage next door to us when we lived at camp, there was a pileated that routinely banged away on their new building. I don't know if he did much damage, but he certainly kept at it for a while. Fred's brother had one working on his house, too, I think. I read somewhere they get confused, especially during mating season, and since sometimes they find something that makes an unusual noise when they peck away at it, they consider it sort of a mating call or something. Like the wheel that squeaks the loudest gets the oil, maybe. We see them up in the woods sometimes, and in the spring and summer when the windows are open, it's fun to hear them and others like the red-headed and downey woodpeckers rapping away - and then they have a distinctive call when they fly. Here's some information if you're interested: Pilleated Woodpecker

The scanner is unusually quiet today. I just checked to see if it's working and if maybe the volume got turned way down, but it seems to be ok. Just not much going on. With this weather, perhaps people are wisely staying at home, if they can. Some schools are still closed until after tomorrow's town meeting, and those that aren't closed for today because of the weather.

That reminds me - the son of a woman who grew up on a farm in Cabot recently asked me for information, and then sent me one of his poems. I liked it and asked if I could use it on the Cabot history website; to which he agreed, so I'm sure he won't mind if I include it here, too:

Cabot Snow, 1938

Wooden snow roller
on Hollister Hill
drawn by a four-horse team.

Smith-hammered rivets rattle holes
in steel straps clasping hand-hewn oaks.
Each slab creaking in recollection
of hillside woods' blizzard-twisted anarchy
whilst underneath,
the dry compacted snow-fall
squeaks
and squeaks
and squeaks
and squeaks.

Cattle wake with milk-distended udders.
Dairy breath rises from thirty cuds
to paint a crystalline forest dawn
on Will Walker's dusty, doomed and mullioned window panes.

The Walker barn, one of a few round barns in existence then, was severely damaged in the hurricane of 1938, thus the reference to "doomed." Walker's farm was on Whittier Hill in Cabot, but the author said there were also family connections to Hollister Hill in Plainfield.

We haven't had much more snow yet today, just a flurry or two, but it is looking like we could get more tonight. My thermometer is reading 20 degrees - I think it's stuck there. When I was out at about noon, the wind was bitterly cold, right out of the north. The picture above is the back of our house where Fred snowshoed up into the woods this morning. You can see his wood piles are nearly out of sight after the 10 inches of snow from this last storm.

Fred and Jamie were going to take care of the remains of the deer that was killed a few days ago in the woods near our house, but when Fred went up to do it, Jamie was stuck where he was plowing his yard with "The Peach" to make room for more snow. He went a little too far into the snow and dropped over the edge of the frozen ground where he'd plowed previously, and that got him lodged with the plow on the front not helping. They finally called Luke Persons to come with his rig and get The Peach out of trouble. By the time they'd finished all of that, they lost interest in the deer carcass.

I made a short slide show of the retrieval of The Peach. I have to say, it's usually Jamie that is rescuing someone, but getting stuck in the snow can happen even to the dyed-in-the-wool-Vermonters. Then is when we're really glad to have good friends and neighbors to help. Stuck in a snowbank

Fred got some pictures of the remains - I won't post all because it's pretty gruesome. However, this happens all the time in the deep woods - it's just the nature of things. This time it happened close to our houses, so we'll need to take care of it. It's amazing that in the space of only a couple of days just about all of that whole adult deer is gone. There are still some remains, but animals will probably clean that up in the next few days. Anything that's left, we'll take care of later. You can see that there are plenty of tracks even though we had almost 10 inches of snow yesterday.

After a very busy day for road crews and emergency crews yesterday, today has been absolutely quiet. I haven't heard a call all afternoon. They are no doubt taking advantage of the lull before more storm hits. I think it's going to be really cold tonight and then maybe more snow. I don't really know - I'm tired of hearing the same weather reports all the time. I'm waiting for a forecast of rain and temperatures in the 50's and 60's . . .

We are getting the promised snow - started around 8 a.m. and is coming down steadily. I measured about 3/4 in. at 9 a.m. It's pretty out there, but not as nice as it was yesterday.



















Bill and Diane Rossi were skiing at Burke yesterday. Diane sent the above photos and commented, "I feel so sorry for those poor people in FL and AZ, to miss days like this!"
Top picture is looking northwest at Willoughby Gap from the top of Burke Mountain. Bill was waiting for Diane to ski down to him - and that's him poised, ready to shuss past the necklace tree to get to his favorite spot for lunch. Diane said they had a great day, beautiful sunshine, warm temperatures and the snow was perfect.

We did our usual walk yesterday, but when Fred let Otto (Jamie and Marie's dog) out, he went a little berserk, barking and took off into the woods towards our house. He didn't want to come back when we called him but also seemed reluctant to go further into the woods. We thought he must have seen or heard another animal, and finally coaxed him along with us, but he kept returning to sniff the air from the snowbank next to the woods.

When Marie got home, we got a call from her saying he had taken off into the woods and when she finally got him in, she put on her snowshoes and went to see what all his fuss was about. She found a deer carcass with lots of animal tracks around it where they'd been feasting. We suspect coyotes took down the deer. In the deep snow, a deer has a hard time, but the coyotes would be able to run without breaking through the crust. This morning, we had an email from Marie saying she spotted a large coyote and a bobcat as she was heading out this morning. Then Fred just happened to look out at the right time and there was a bobcat heading down our driveway.

It's definitely attracting a crowd. Jamie said they could hear crows at the scene of the kill this morning, too, so apparently everyone is getting in on the banquet. I think the plan is for Fred and Jamie to burn the remains this weekend - if there are any remains. That will prevent a stink this spring and keep our domestic animals from getting into the carrion.

We hate to have the deer taken like that, but it's nature's way - survival of the fittest. We have often come upon remains when we've been snowshoeing in our woods, but we haven't happened to have one killed this close to our house. You can bet Woody will be kept indoors for as long as there are any remains out there to attract predators. He's a big cat, but wouldn't have a chance against hungry coyotes and bobcats.

Road crews are busy, and I just heard an ambulance call to Mad River for an injury, the second call this morning - they have two ambulances out now. I don't know what the injuries are, but visibility on the ski slopes would not be good today, I think - those trees and other skiers would appear out of nowhere.

JAQUITH PUBLIC LIBRARY, MARSHFIELD, VERMONT

Marshfield: Wednesday, March 9 at 7 p.m. – Reading with local authors Robert
Barasch and Charles Barasch. Robert will read from his new book Parallel
Play: a Novel about a young attorney who enacts a repeated dream by
appearing naked in a public place leading to his referral to psychiatric
treatment. Charles Barasch will read from his new work as well as his book Dreams of the
Presidents, which contains 42 poems, each one a dream a U.S. president might
have had. At the Jaquith Public Library on School St. For more info. call
426-3581 or e-mail: jaquithpubliclibrary@hotmail.com

Marshfield: Thursday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m.- Sports Film Series:
This Academy Award winner cycles highon comedy as four friends come to terms with life
after high school. When a top-notch cyclist learns that the world's bicycling champions are always Italian, he attempts to turn himself into an Italian, driving his parents
crazy. But everything changes after he meets the Italian racing team -- an
encounter that ultimately leads him and his friends to challenge the local
college boys in the town's annual bike race. At the Jaquith Public Library
on School St. For the title of the film call 426-3581 or e-mail:
jaquithpubliclibrary@hotmail.com

********

I sort of took the day off yesterday. I've mentioned before that four of us, Fred and I and two of our neighbors, celebrate birthdays by going out for lunch. When Fred's birthday came around in early January, there was one thing after another that delayed our going out - the weather, one of our neighbors was not feeling well, then the other had company for a few weeks, then the weather again - so when we saw a break coming up for yesterday, we said, let's do it!

These pictures show you the kind of spring day we'd been patiently waiting for all these snowy weeks.

The restaurant of choice for some time now when we go out with our friends has been "99" in Littleton, NH. That started when we went there one summer day when it first opened and had probably the best lobster rolls any of us had ever had west of the coast of Maine. Over time we've learned that "99" serves lobster rolls only occasionally in the summer, and in the past they have not been on the regular menu, but invariably when we go there, no matter what month, one of us will ask hopefully, "Do you have lobster rolls today?"

We were disappointed again yesterday, of course, but life goes on and we had a very nice lunch in spite of no lobster rolls. We made the usual stops at Staples and Walmart, and then agreed to add McDonalds as a required stop for ice cream on these trips. Of course, the nice lady who took our order for "ice cream cones," patiently explained it's not really ice cream, it's frozen yogurt, but that fell on deaf ears (no pun intended) and we settled at a table to watch waves of people surging around us, mainly little kids with teenage brothers, sisters and I suppose sitters in the mix, with a few obviously harassed adults trying to keep order. It had been the same sort of crowded bedlam at Walmart, and I explained to our neighbor ladies that schools are closed this week for vacation. The strip on Rte. 302 in Littleton is as close as kids in that area can get to being at a mall without traveling miles.

We had a very nice day and shortly after arriving home I had a call from son, Bill, in answer to my plea to tell me again the name they'd picked for our granddaughter when she arrives in July. He wanted to let me know he'd sent an e-mail with all the info I needed. Here's his e-mail:

The first name we picked for the baby is "Tangeni". That is Monika's sister's name, and also I think one of her grandmothers as well...family name from her side either way, and a name specific to the Ovambo tribe in Namibia which roughly translates to "praise God". Looking around online, the sites all say it's a boy's name which Monika says it definitely is NOT. The boy's version is spelled differently something like Tangei I think she said. Anyway, we are letting Jo-Ann pick out the middle name (within reason), as long as it's not Hannah Montana or Lady Gaga....we'll let you know on that one!

So right off the bat I figured I'd use a mnemonic to remember it now, something like "tan genie," with mental pictures of Barbara Eden, right? Turns out I was pronouncing it wrong, and Fred set me straight, having discussed it with Bill before I got on the phone. Fred told me it's "tan-JAY-nee" like there is a hard "a" in there. So then he gives me his version of how to remember it - simply think, "tan Janie." Now that makes it really easy maybe for him, but my mental picture switches to Don Mullallay. That's a stretch for you, I know, but Don is about the only person who still calls me "Janie," and I can't help what pops into mind to help me remember, now can I? But I can work with it.

I'm sure we'll all get used to the name, Tangeni, but what worries me now is that Bill mentioned this is the "first name we picked," so does that mean there may be others in the running? Never mind, I think it's a lovely name and I'm sure Jo-Ann will pick a nice name to go with it, and even if the name changes before the little one arrives in July, we'll adapt.

Back to work - I have put up the maple sugaring page on the Cabot Historical Society website, www.cabothistory.com and now I'm starting to work on Cabot ponds. There are five, so I'd better get started.

Beautiful bright sunshine today, but there's a bitter northwest wind and the thermometer is barely above 10 degrees. The sunshine is wonderful, and there's even a bit of warmth to it, out of the wind. I just came in from hiking up Jamie and Marie's driveway and my feet were cold. I keep a big old round stone by the wood stove and have brought that in to put my stockinged feet on while I'm typing. So nice and warm. I was talking with Blanche Lamore yesterday - she's going on 99 years old - and we were discussing how folks used to keep those hot rocks on the back of the old wood stoves years ago to use in sleighs to keep warm, and later in the early cars that had no heaters. Blanche has a wealth of information.

I had a nice note from Terry Powers this morning and a very sweet picture:

Ann and I are pleased announce that we will have a new Great Nephew around camp this summer. Michael Hovey Lewis was born in Burlington yesterday. Michael's parents Chris and Michelle Lewis and sister Kathryn spend lots of summer days and nights at the pond during the summer. You'll see them playing on the lawn or cruising in the pontoon.

How exciting it is to know that he will grow up to experience the love of Joe's Pond as we all do!!!!

Terry

We thank Terry and Ann for the good news.

The weekend produced a bunch of ski and snowmobile accidents. It's unfortunate people don't take more care when they're out having fun. Accidents will certainly happen sometimes, no matter how careful we are, but sometimes people don't seem to use common sense - like skiing out of bounds or on slopes that are beyond their capabilities; and snowmobilers sometimes don't realize how fast they are going and sometimes don't take proper care when crossing roadways. It's very sad when a vacation ends in tragedy. At right, snowmobilers in West Danville at the rail trail crossing of Rte. 2.

Under guidelines for Budgeting in Washington DC:
Here is an example of Discretionary Spending

Not much relief from winter here right now. The few spring-like days we had were just a tease, and now we've been plunged back into winter with near-zero temperatures, snow and wind. And March is yet to come.

We had a fun weekend, though. Bill and Diane were here on Friday night - always fun for us - and on Sunday our whole family got together for Sunday dinner. In spite of two sons living within a few miles and one within a hoot and a holler, we don't all get together that often, so there's lots of catching up to do and lots of laughing going on. I nearly had a crisis yesterday morning when I got ready to make dessert. In the past I'd done a chocolate cherry cake using a cake mix and a can of cherry pie filling. About as easy as anything could be, right? Only when I went to the cupboard, I didn't have a mix. I was SURE I had one, but it turned out to be brownie mix. How did THAT get in there? I really didn't want to take time to make a scratch cake, so I dumped the brownie mix, three eggs, the can of cherries and some instant coffee and vanilla for extra flavor (I always add a little coffee to anything chocolate) and stirred it all together and poured it into the pan. After it was baked, and cooled, I put one half on top of the other - I thought about putting raspberry jam between the layers, but thought it might be overkill - and served it with big dollops of whipped cream. It made nine good sized servings, which was just the right number, and my "cobbled dessert" was a big hit. I think it was better with the brownie mix than the plain cake mix. It would have been really good with ice cream, too. Now I'm thinking how good it would be with other things added - walnuts, chocolate chips, coconut - or maybe use raspberry pie filling instead of cherry!!

Some of you will remember that Henretta was having a really bad time with suspected full moon antics a few days ago. Turns out she wasn't the only one. I thought a full moon's effect lasts only one night, but apparently it can get extended over at least a couple days. For instance, Bill and Diane Rossi have had a string of unusual happenings at their house: first one garage door got iced in; then the other one broke (without provocation); the snow blower got stuck and then sheared a pin; Diane wanted to take a break from it all and watch a movie, but the DVD was flawed; a replacement was sent and that one wouldn't work, either . . . the gremlins were surely working overtime.

I can't say we've experienced anything unusual although our TV has had its moments - I thought our 30 year old TV was going to finally give it up and we'd have to get one of those big flat screen ones, but Fred found a loose connection and now except for problems the stations may have, we're good. I've given up watching CBS in the morning now that there's a new group replacing Harry Smith, Maggie Rodriguez and Dave Price. I can't handle the giggles and gaffs of the new morning anchors, so I depend on CNN for news during the day and get local news and weather more from my computer.

You should read some of the news items Fred posted on home page. There's a really scary one about what we're getting on our vegetables along with the benefits of vitamins. Who knew there may be fewer pesticides on foreign-grown produce? And wine? I guess that's a big boost for domestic varieties. I wonder how some of Vermont's wine measures up.

Town reports came out last week. I haven't read mine yet, but will do that before our meetings - the school meeting is on the evening of Feb. 28; the regular meeting is on March 1. I think most towns are in the same predicament as Cabot - lots of requests for money and nobody really wants to get into a situation where the taxes are going to be raised.

It's about time for us to begin giving a daily update on ice conditions so all the Ice-Out Contest fans will be able to make their calculations on when the clock will stop. We are waiting for a decent day so Diane can get to an ice fisherman to find out how thick the ice is. It's been so cold and windy on the ice, only resolute ice fisher people are comfortable out there - or maybe a snowmobiler for a brief time - but most of us prefer to stay inside and watch the gusts of wind carrying snow down the pond lickety-split. We'll get the information soon, though, and let you know.

Some of you may have heard about the backhoe that went through the ice at Peacham Pond on Feb. 12. If not, here's what happened: A couple of trucks got stuck in the slush on the ice. We've been hearing that there is a layer of slush on top of ice - the slush was covered with a layer of snow. When the trucks couldn't get out, a friend called Scott Abare, of Cabot, to help. Abare went with his backhoe, but got only about 150 ft. from shore when he went through the ice, "dropping like a stone," according to Todd Wellington, reporter for the Caledonian Record. Abare was fortunate he was able to get out through the open window of the skidder and suffered only minor cuts from ice, a really cold dunking, and no doubt the scare of his lifetime.

Some fishermen, Trevor Hall, Kevin Brown and Scott Phelps helped him out of the water, got him into a heated fishing shack and into dry clothes and gave him hot food. His $25,000 backhoe was under 20 feet of water. Undaunted, Abare went home briefly for dry clothes and came back with his skidder to finish the job. He set the skidder in place on the shore and attached a tow line, and with the help of his son and 25 or 30 members of the Christ Covenant Ministries in Marshfield, got the trucks safely off the ice. His advice:
". . .when there's water on the ice, it might be best to stay off it."

I don't know Scott Abare, but I think this is a really nice story - pretty typical of how friends and neighbors help each other out here in the Northeast Kingdom. Unfortunately, his backhoe is going to have to stay where it is until the ice is gone in the spring. Then I'm sure those guys whose trucks he got off the ice will show up to help him.

As for the members of the Covenant Ministries - they routinely do nice things like that. We're all fortunate to have good-hearted people like these in our Kingdom neighborhood.

Yesterday we though spring was here for sure, but overnight the weather turned on us and we awoke to four more inches of snow, howling wind out of northwest, and really puny sun. We know it's still only February, but those few days of spring really got our hopes up.

I had a note and this photo from Ray Rouleau this morning:

Caroline & Ned came to spend a couple of days with Don & Diane, so we all had dinner at our place last night. It was good to see Ned doing so well.

Ray

It sure is a happy looking group of obvious sun worshipers. These folks always arrive at our Joe's Pond May meeting in shorts, no matter what the weather; those of us who hang out all winter here in the north, arrive pale and usually with our winter parkas and jeans, knowing even when the sun's out, May in Vermont is usually chilly.

I also had a note from Liz Randall, down across the road from us. She and John arrived on Wednesday for a few days. She took this picture of John and their dog, Riley, as they headed down to the shore to check out the pond this morning. Liz was out taking pictures of the full moon last night, as was Fred.

Bill and Diane Rossi were here for dinner last night and Fred took a couple of pictures of the moon, too. Then, as they were leaving, they saw a strange something gliding noiselessly across the sky - not a plane, nor a shooting star, but "something." It must have been "one of those nights" because our neighbor, Henretta, reports this morning that not only her car quit, late yesterday, but the lift her mom needs to get upstairs at their house on Clubhouse Circle stopped working, then Henretta's vacuum broke down and now her computer is acting up. Sounds to me like there's a motor gremlin loose. Fortunately, except for our computers, we haven't used anything mechanical during the past 24 hours except Fred did use the snowblower early this morning. Perhaps the jinx was over by then - or maybe it was just targeting certain people. So far, no other reports of hi-jinks.

Here's a picture Fred took of that old Devil Moon last night.

I was contacted by Reta Goss, the town clerk of Warren, Vermont, wondering if we knew anything about a very large flag in a photo of Cabot taken long ago. She said they are renovating the town hall in Warren and discovered a huge old flag in serious disrepair in the attic, and having seen the photo of ours wondered if we might know something about it.

I found a photo in our collection that was hanging over Main Street in Cabot in the election year, 1900, when McKinley and Roosevelt were on the ticket. That was Teddy Roosevelt. McKinley was assassinated the following year and Roosevelt became president.

I don't know what they will decide to do with their large flag, but it would seem to be a "keeper" if they can repair it. It had 39 stars, and after looking it up, I learned it was made in the fall of 1889. The flag maker, probably Annin Company, thought the Dakotas would be admitted as one state, but instead the territory was split into north and south. Reta said there were six more stars sewn on separately. One was probably when the error was evident, and the other five were added as new states joined the union.

I hope the town is able to have the flag restored, or at least will be able to keep it safe from further damage. I don't think we have anything like the flag in the picture - it was probably disposed of long ago - but we do have several old flags. That is another thing on our to-do list, come spring when we open the Cabot Historical Society museum again.

I heard from Jennifer Cowles, who now lives in Colorado. She said she is going to sell her cottage on Rt. 2. I guess she hasn't been able to get back to Vermont much and now she is getting married, she said her home base will be Colorado. Our best wishes to Jenn.

I have been hearing from our JPA members in response to an email I sent reminding them to get their Ice-Out tickets to me before April 1. Activity for the contest is beginning to increase, and that's good news. Perhaps our winner this year will get more than the $5,000 last year's winner received. It all depends on how many tickets we sell, of course. We always try to keep expenses down, and the way we operate, we don't have a lot of expenses, just for some postage for sending out tickets and of course, printing. We depend on free advertising, mostly word-of-mouth.

Here's a note I had from Charles and Alice Aime, our summer neighbors on W. Shore Road:

Jane, hope you and Fred keep warm and enjoy the beautiful winter scenery around Joes pond. The weather here in Ft. Myers, Florida is great, sunny and warm. Love Joes in the summer but do not miss it in the winter. Have a great day!!! Charles

On a day like we've had today, I don't envy our Florida friends all that much - but come the weekend, I'll probably change my tune.

When we went to St. Johnsbury today, we found things humming nearly everywhere. Starting out in West Danville, there was a truck inspection stop in the parking lot opposite the stores. There were two logging trucks there when we first stopped to get the mail, then a third came along and another truck with some kind of tubs loaded on it came in and had to park at one side - it was still there when we came back a couple hours later. There was also snow clearing going on - much needed, as you can see in the pictures.

Then, we had to wait in Danville for a big truck with a huge piece of wind tower aboard. It was stopped coming up the grade into town and had a hard time getting going again - that's a really big section and must weigh an enormous amount. Further down the road we met another big section. I think they are on their way to Ohio from Maine or something. This route is the best way to haul them - other routes apparently have more hills, corners, bridges, or whatever that a load that size can't navigate.

In St. Johnsbury, we stopped at St. Johnsbury Animal Hospital to pick up kitty food for Woody, and I watched that enormous St. Bernard, I guess it was, drooling all the time, its owner apparently inside at the vet's. Fred said maybe they were working on this big guy's twin . . . but I don't think there would have been room for two like him in that little truck. I could see in the back seat a yellow jacket like firemen usually wear, and thought I could make you part of the word "Lunenburg" - but I may have been wrong.

Everyone seemed happy to have the sun out and temperatures in the mid to high 40's. Water was running, we got the car washed, it felt a lot like spring, and gave us all a big lift. We saw the Berwicks, from Peacham and Joe's Pond in White Market, and our neighbor, Cecil Metcalf. Everyone was talking abut the weather being so nice. We'll enjoy it while it's here, for tomorrow it begins to go foul again. Here's a slide show of our journey this morning. slides

Here's something that sounds like fun -

Our 8th grade class is hosting a Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction on Friday, Feb. 18 from 5-7:30 PM in the school cafeteria. There will be spaghetti, meat and veggie sauce, salad, garlic bread and drinks for $8 a plate.

Money raised will go towards the 8th grade class trip to Washington DC. As our teacher Peter Stratman explained, many schools dropped this kind of trip from their activities long ago due to budget cuts. Cabot is one of the few places left where the community is strong enough to raise all the funds for a trip of this size outside the regular school budget.

Head on down to the guy on Friday night and have a great spaghetti dinner, and join the fun of the Silent Auction. It's a good place to be on what may be a cold Friday night, and it's a good cause. Parents and kids work hard to make these trips happen.

The Vermont Food Venture Center (VFVC), a modern 15,000 square foot food processing facility is near completion in Hardwick, VT and seeking clients and tenants for the many opportunities presented by the new building. We can accommodate everyone from existing companies who need to sign a multi-year lease for large processing spaces to start-up food businesses requiring a few hours of processing with shared-use equipment.

We will be holding a free, public tour of the facility this coming Saturday, February 19th at 10am. The tour should last approximately one hour.

The VFVC is located near Vermont Soy at the Hardwick Industrial Park, on Junction Road, off of Route 15 in Hardwick.

If you have any questions, please contact Louise Calderwood, the Interim Project Manager, via e-mail at rcalderwod@aol.com or by phone at 802.586.2239

The Center for an Agricultural Economy
41 S. Main St., PO Box 451
Hardwick, VT 05843
802-472-5840
website: www.hardwickagriculture.org
blog: www.hardwickagriculture.blogspot.com

Today has been COLD. Last night it was well below zero, and today the thermometer didn't get out of the single numbers above zero most of the day, with a really brisk wind that cut right through you in spite of some sunshine. If I make it sound like I was out there feeling the pain, don't be fooled. I was out just long enough to collect the data for my CoCoRaHS report at 9 a.m., found out what the weather was like, and stayed happily by the fire the rest of the day. We got another 1.5 in. of snow over night. It's clear as a bell tonight and only four below on my thermometer, so perhaps we won't have any new snow in the morning.

I finished up a page on the Cabot cemeteries for the historical society website, and started a new on on maple sugaring. In the process of pulling together some history for the intro, I went back to read what John M. Fisher wrote for the Vermont Historical Gazatteer (1867-1891), when he told about Benjamin Webster bringing his family to settle on Cabot Plain in 1783. I really appreciate that Fisher set down so much of the history for us, but there are certain things I find a little hard to believe.

He wrote about Ben and Mrs. Webster coming in March, "traveling on snow-shoes, and the hired man with Mrs. Webster's assistance, drawing the few goods they brought with them on a hand-sled, among which was a wash-tub, and in this tub their little daughter two years of age . . . the snow was 4 feet deep upon a level . . . " Well, sure, I can believe the 4 feet deep snow; after all, there is an almost identical story in the history of Danville, when Captain Charles Sias brought his family there. That was in March of 1786, and there was the same snow depth, the hand-sled with his family and effects, but he "brought with him 10 children, seven sons and three daughters . . . the snow was very deep and the way was trackless."

Like the Webster family, the Sias clan dug away the snow that had nearly buried the log cabin each man had built previous to bringing their families here. And the first task was to tap the maple trees. Here's where I begin to wonder if the truth may have been stretched just a tad. The author describing the Sias family didn't mention exact amounts of sugar that was made, only that the maples ". . .stood thick around them in the most beautiful groves, affording them sugar in abundance . . ." However, Mr. Fisher wrote that Mrs. Webster, while waiting for her husband to return from Newbury with the remainder of their belongings, took advantage of the warm weather and tapped some maples and made "40 pounds of sugar."

Considering that it takes at least 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup, and the sap had to be either boiled in an open kettle or in a hollowed-out log by putting heated stones in the sap to make it boil, it's hard for me to believe Mrs. Webster could manage that, even with the aid of the hired man who Benjamin left behind with her while he was gone. I don't know how much sap/syrup it would take to make a pound of sugar, but I dare say, a LOT. During World War II we always had a tub of maple sugar - regular sugar was rationed - and granted, that wooden tub was heavy, but it also took a lot of boiling to get it to crystallize, and we had equipment especially designed to do the job.

This is a picture sent to me by Ruth Goodrich of a recent display on the statehouse lawn showing the method commonly used to boil sap and make maple syrup years ago. Most settlers had an iron kettle like this one, and they must have brought with them an auger and enough wooden spouts and buckets to tap the trees. Then they would need to cut wood and split it to keep the fire going - another strenuous job. Life was certainly not easy. Early settlers had to have been strong, resourceful, amazing people to eke out a living here in the wilderness. Even today, rural Vermont can be a challenge.

Before I close, I had a message from Liz Sargent about her sister-in-law, Sheri Pearl who was in that really bad accident last week and was severely injured. Here's what Liz wrote:

As of today, Tuesday 2/15, Sheri is to be going to NVRH tomorrow (Wed. 2/16) via ambulance where she will continue her rehabilitation. She will be closer to home which will make it better and will get the physical therapy she needs to go the next step which is home!

Each day is a tiny bit better, but she still have mobility work to do and is still in a lot of discomfort, but she's gaining!

For those out of town, NVRH is our local hospital in St. Johnsbury. Sheri will be able to see her grandkids also which will brighten her days!

Thanks for all the thoughts, concerns, prayers, etc. on her behalf.

Best to all, Liz

Elizabeth A. Sargent, 529 Jamieson Rd., Danville VT 05828
802-748-1456 - lizsargent@charter.net

We are so glad Sheri is doing well enough to be transported to NVRH. We wish her a speedy recovery.

The Annual Soup Sale sponsored by the Friends of Cabot Library will be held on Thursday, Feb. 17th, from 3:00 - 7:00 p.m., at the Masonic Hall in Cabot. The soup may be eaten there and/or taken out. Some of the homemade soup choices will be: four vegetarian - spinach and bean, winter vegetable stew, sweet potato/peanut stew and tomato bean. Meat-based options - chicken noodle, meatball stew, corn chowder, cheese ale and carrot ginger. Included with the soup is a muffin or roll, cookie and drink.

I don't have the answer to my sap spout question yet, but Ruth (Goodrich) sent me some really nice pictures to go on my maple page. She said she'll get back to me on the spout. In the meantime, I will get to work with the photos Ruth sent.

We've had wild weather swings today. It started off fairly bright, then clouded in and the temperature actually got up to around 40 degrees. This afternoon it began to rain, and now the temperature is going down again - I guess it's going to slide back to the zero or below mark. Again. Lots of wind.

I measured our total snow depth today, and found it's compacted some since last week, even though we've had quite a few inches of new snow. Last week I measured 29 inches, and this morning I got a measurement of 26 inches, but there was about 3/4 in. more water content today, so all that snow we've had is in there, but settling every day and especially today with warm temps and rain. I got my measurements before the rain began.

We went for breakfast to Miss Lyndonville Diner (picture at right) with Bill and Diane Rossi this morning. It was fun - they know the folks at the diner well because they stop there on their way to Burke when they go skiing. We stopped at the White Market just down the road from the diner - wow! that is a big store! We hadn't been in there for some time and were surprised at how large and nice it is. The Bona family owns two stores in Lyndonville and one in St. Johnsbury, and they are going to remodel the St. Johnsbury store soon. I don't know if they have room to actually expand the building, but perhaps there is space now used for storage, etc., that can be incorporated into the store area. It will be interesting to see how it develops. That's us heading out - Fred and his camera going in another direction.










While the rest of us were in the market, Fred went to check out the Agway store. He found a couple of cute cats there. I didn't know until he brought back a picture, the Lyndon Dog Pound is in the same area. He didn't go into the pound - Woody is enough pet for us, so we're not interested in more animals right now. It's always dangerous to go into a place like that unless you really want a pet. All those sad looks - makes you want to bring them all home.

Diane left off some Ice Out tickets at Marty's, and we're beginning to notice more ticket action. Once we get into March there will begin to be more interest in when the ice will go out. With such warm temperatures today, perhaps people will begin to think SPRING! It sure felt good to have it milder today. Good for making snow sculptures. It's going to be hard to go back to below zero weather tonight, though.

Today was quiet. The weather was relatively calm with a little snow, very little sun, not a lot of wind, and seasonal temperatures. We are promised temperatures near 40 degrees by Thursday or Friday. How spring-like is that!!

I'm thinking maple sugar season. I think as a result of finding those old photos of sugaring years ago here in Cabot for the Chronicle, I realized the Cabot Historical Society website should have a page on maple sugaring. Maple products have been a huge part of the town's history and are still a growing industry here.

Some of you probably don't know that Alonzo M. Foster, who lived where Keith Burtt now lives, at Maple Glen Farm on the lower end of Cabot Plain Road, just before you hit Rt. 215, invented a popular sap spout. Alonzo bought the farm, the Thomas Lyford place, in 1866. His daughter, Linie Dell Foster, married Payson Walbridge, who continued working the farm which stayed in the family until the late 1970's when Bob and Barbara Davis bought it. I think I mentioned their extensive maple sugaring a while back.

I was surprised and dismayed today when I realized I don't know what the A.M. Foster sap spout looks like. Now, that may not seem like a huge problem to you, but for me, it was humbling. I grew up knowing about sugaring; when Fred and I lived at the cottage on here Joe's Pond (for about 18 years), we tapped trees and made our own maple syrup. I helped wash wooden buckets and more sap spouts than I could count when I was a kid. I learned to drive the team of horses pulling the gathering tank, carried wood for the big evaporator my father tended, and ate eggs boiled in sap - but I don't know an A. M. Foster spout when I see it??!!

I searched the internet, but found nothing. I disengaged the spout (picture at right) we have hanging by a string at the back door for Woody, the cat, to knock with when he wants to come in - but there was nothing on the spout to identify it. Finally, I sent the picture off in an email to Glen and Ruth Goodrich over on Rt. 2 in East Cabot. Their family has been in the syrup-making business for eight generations and I'm sure they'll be able to help me. I'm pretty sure there's one of A. M.'s spouts on display in the historical society building, but I can't get in there until things thaw out in the spring. The page for the website is on hold for the time being, and if I don't hear from Ruth or Glen in a day or so, I'll take a ride over there. It's always a hoot going there, especially if Glen is doing one of his tours. He likes to amaze the flatlanders with his stories and statistics. He's amazed me with them a time or two, as well.

Then I went back to the page I'd been working on before I got my sugaring page urge. That one was about cemeteries and how early settlers dealt with the folks who died back then. Folks were pretty sensible about it. The settlers probably brought their customs regarding death from Europe, but in their new wilderness home, they had to be practical. When somebody died, the body was wrapped in a simple shroud, maybe it was coated with pitch if their kinfolk had time to fuss, and the body was laid out on a board so the neighbors could carry it. A grave would be dug where it was handy and close by, and the head of the family would say a few words or offer a prayer and a wooden marker or maybe a field stone with the name and date carved into it would mark the grave. If it was winter, the body would be carried to the barn and hung up or sometimes covered with hay to wait for the ground to thaw for burial in the spring. If there was no barn, a snow drift would do. That's probably where the stories originated that to save food, Vermonters put their old folks out in a snow bank for the winter and thawed them out in the spring.

Even before the white settlers came to Vermont there were Indian tribes who hunted in the area. Most didn't live here because the weather was too harsh and there wasn't much food to be had in winter. If an Indian died in the winter, the body was wrapped and strung up high to keep it away from animals, and the tribe would move on. The first one to come by in the spring was obliged to bury the corpse.

I will have more history on the subject as it relates to Cabot on the website in a day or so. And with luck, also a page on a sweeter subject - the maple industry in Cabot.

I have to tell you about the really nice surprise we had this afternoon. Our neighbor, Henretta, stopped by with one of her amazing baskets with a gourmet meal for the two of us, complete with a bottle of pinot noir! It was for Valentine's Day - and a thank you for the snow blowing Fred does to keep her driveway navigable. She does this for us often - and it is always such a treat. Today it was coq au vin with couscous, arugula salad, a baguette and chocolate ganache cake. Scrumptious. I guess you know we'll be celebrating Valentine's Day tomorrow evening in style, with lovely red place mats and matching napkins!! Yep, those were included. And bless her, she apologized for not having candles in the basket . . . ! I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night. I guess I'll have to think of something else for Fred for Valentine's Day now I don't have to plan a special meal . . .

We've had a varied dose of weather today. It was cold this morning - around 15 degrees, but then warmed up with bright sunshine to around 30. there was a strong south wind that seemed to cut right through you. We did our run/walk up Jamie's driveway just before noon and I made the mistake of wearing a lighter jacket since I saw the temperature was 30 degrees. I came in without doing the usual several climbs up our driveway - I was just freezing. Usually by the time I get up Jamie's driveway I'm well warmed up, but not today.

Soon after lunch we began to get some light snow and around 3 o'clock it was really coming down hard. Now it's nearly stopped and the thermometer has dropped back to about 24 degrees. The forecast is for below zero temps tonight.

I've had a note from Liz Sargent about Sheri Pearl, her sister-in-law that was in the bad accident on Thursday. Here's what Liz had to say:

It's going to be baby steps but there seems to be no life threatening injuries. The "girls" are very fortunate to still be here with an accident like that. Sheri will be in Dartmouth Hitchcock for a bit longer and then we'll see if she has to go to a rehab place. She has a broken pelvis, concussion, and numerous bumps and bruises. This all happened on her son Henry's 23rd birthday! Not to mention the fact that today, 2/12/11, is the second anniversary of John's death. Enough already!

I'll keep you posted on her progress, but we expect a full recovery ~ with time. The other girl is doing well and home.
Liz

We are very glad Sheri is going to be ok.

If some of you are still undecided about shoveling your camp's roof, you may want to read the article Fred posted today on home page. You'll find it under "News Items" at the center of the page right under "Welcome to Joe's Pond." It gives a lot of good information and also the total amounts of snow recorded so far this year in the Burlington area. I'll be measuring the snow depth here either tomorrow or Monday, but I believe it's something over 30 in. With rain expected late next week, the snow pack should go down, but it could also mean that what remains will be heavier.

Middle son, Bob, went skiing at Mittersill in Franconia, New Hampshire yesterday. His skiing buddies, Fred Leferrier and John Gebbie, weren't able to go, so he went by himself. As some of you may remember, Mittersill installed new lift equipment and is trying to make a come back as a fun place to ski. It has a charming Alpine-like village with private vacation homes and rental cottages and a central hotel and ski lodge. Bob said the ski area is considered "primitive" - it doesn't have snow making, is not groomed, and there is no ski patrol. However, he said he thoroughly enjoyed his day of skiing - even though he was the only person on the mountain except for the two guys running the lift, one at the bottom, one at the top. Sounds like a great place to get away from it all . . . Of course, just over the top of the mountain is Cannon ski area, and I expect there were plenty of skiers and boarders there.

I was dismayed today to read in the newspaper that it was Sheri Pearl, of Danville, who was involved in the bad accident yesterday on Rt. 2. I'd heard the report come in on the scanner - a milk truck and a regular truck had crashed - but as usually happens, there is not much indication of how many or how badly people are hurt, and never any names. We had to go to St. J. this morning and saw the marks in the snow, almost opposite the entrance to the VTrans lot at the top of the hill near the turn for Frye's Gravel. Sheri hit an icy patch and skidded out of control and into the path of the empty milk truck. She was airlifted by DHART to Dartmouth-Hitchcock, and was listed in fair and stable condition last night. Her passenger, Asling Hennessey, also of Danville, was taken to NVRH and is listed in good condition.

As some of you will remember, Sheri's husband died suddenly on Feb. 12, 2009, and both her in-laws, Bill and Lucia Pearl died very recently, Bill last April and Lucia in December. The Pearl family has owned the small island, known now as Pearl Island, for many years.

We will hope Sheri makes a rapid and full recovery, and we'll try to keep you posted.

I just read Burr Morse's latest e-newsletter, and he's saying sugaring is about two weeks away. Maybe, but he's in Montpelier area, not Joe's Pond area. I doubt there will be much sugaring going on for at least four weeks. Of course, the weather if fickle - we all know that - and it could turn warm and balmy even next week and that would send all the sugar makers scurrying into the woods on their snowshoes to get those trees tapped and the lines free of snow. Warm days and freezing nights are needed and we haven't had any of that for quite a spell.

It was beautifully sunny again today, but colder'n blazes. At noon as we were coming home from St. J. the car thermometer was only registering 17 degrees, and there was a stiff wind blowing. According to WCAX weather folks it was a south wind, and that may be, but it felt like it was blowing right off the South Pole.

Today was the first day for months that the sun came in my office window at just the right angle so I had to put on my eye shade in order to see my computer screen. That means the sun is now enough higher in the sky so it gets over the big fir trees out back. From now on until late fall, I'll need my eye shade every sunny afternoon. Of course, eventually I'll begin to complain about it being too hot and have to let the window shade down and even keep the window closed, but for now, it's a sure sign that in spite of the snow and the cold and varied prognostications, the world is turning just as it always does, and spring will get here in due time.

I sent off some sugaring photos today to the Cabot Chronicle for their March issue. We have some really nice old pictures in the historical society collection. Sugaring certainly isn't like it used to be. Our sugar place was the stand of maples in back of where John "Woody" Woods house is. It was known as "the Webster Lot," because it was land that had originally been settled by either Benjamin or Nathaniel Webster, I'm not sure which. Both were early settlers and located on the Bayley-Hazen military road. The name stuck, although I don't know if my great grandfather, John Bolton bought the land from a Webster or someone else who had lived there after they did, but we hayed the fields, planted potatoes, sometimes pastured sheep and sugared there until around the 1950's, when it was sold to Bill Davis, the manager of Cabot Creamery at the time. He built the house that's there now. He and his wife had a big sugaring operation. I don't believe anyone taps those trees now, but several houses have sprung up on the land that was the Webster Lot, so perhaps the trees are being tapped.

These pictures are of George and Lucia Hill. He used oxen for a lot of the farm work. Apparently they didn't have much snow that year - it looks pretty bare. I can't tell you which George it is pictured here - there was a George E. (1862-1911) whose wife, Lucia (1864-1957), is pictured tending the evaporator. Their son was named George F. Hill (1889-1973). We have lots of Hill family pictures, and of both Georges, I believe, but they always dressed similarly so it's hard to date the photos.

Here's an interesting prospect:

Belize Fundraiser Breakfast
At Applebees in Littleton, NH
On Feb 12th From 9-11
$8.00 all you can eat pancakes and bacon
To Benefit the Cabot School Belize Trip

Another nice day. We have some high fluffy clouds that blot out the bright sunshine from time to time, but mostly it's been very nice and the temperature is climbing - almost to 20 now. There is a fair amount of wind that is blowing around the 1 inch of very light snow we got overnight, but I don't think it's causing any problems.

Fred got some nice pictures this morning after he'd been out to clear all the driveways. We wanted to be sure ours was ready for the oil truck - but so far it hasn't shown up. It could be because of the bad accident on Rt. 2 which I heard about on the scanner just after 9 a.m. The report was that a milk truck and a "regular truck" were involved and it happened about a mile west of Danville. We'll hear more about it on tonight's news, I'm sure. Rt. 2 was closed to traffic for at least an hour from what I could gather from the scanner chatter. That one inch of snow is just enough to make things slippery all over again. It was very dry and fluffy, but with the temperature at about 12 degrees earlier this morning, there was no melting going on and salt wouldn't be working much.

I am able to send emails again this morning. I wasn't aware there was a sending limit on our FairPoint email accounts, so for the JPA mailings, we've set up a new account: joespondvt@gmail.com. The limit there is 500 (I assume for 24 hours). I try not to send off a lot of mass emails, but sometimes it's needed, like yesterday. I will be sending another batch soon from the new address to be sure it's going to work as hoped and so you'll all have it in your mailbox. Some of you may need to allow it or it will bounce.

I received lots of responses last night - some property owners had already had their roofs done and others were able to report they'd made arrangements. I also heard from Scott Ackermann of Cabot - one of the men available to shovel, and he had already heard from someone here and will be working at Joe's Pond today. He also told me he is available to take care of nuisance animals such as beavers, skunks, raccoons, etc., that may be prowling or bothering a neighborhood. He is a licensed trapper - his dad, Walt, was a game warden for many years, so Scott knows about these things. I believe both Scott and his brother, Ben, are our neighbors a little way up Cabot Plain Rd. I think they do some logging, too. Good neighbors to have!

Here are the photos Fred took: Slides

I've hit a bit of a bump in the road here this morning. In the process of sending the emails to remind everyone about the snow, I maxed out my limit for sending mail so haven't been able to use any of my Fairpoint emails today. I had no idea there was a maximum, but we're told it will be 24 hours before we can send emails again. I've received several responses today and will answer each one, but it will have to be tomorrow. We've opened a gmail account which I think will work better for the JPA mailings I occasionally do, like this morning, but need to get my address book transferred before trying that. I also apologize for not using the bcc, but nothing worked the way it was supposed to this morning so I sent the message in blocks and just let 'em go.

It's amazing how frustrating it is not to be able to respond to messages or send new ones. Fortunately, we had errands to do in Cabot Village, so we headed there this afternoon and enjoyed being out. We took lots of pictures there and when we got back decided to take a few on W. Shore Rd. and Sandy Beach Rd. so you can see the snow for yourselves. Some places are better than others, and some have already been shoveled off, as you can see. When we were in Cabot, Walt Ackermann said his two boys have been hard at work for days right there in the village, so I don't know if they will have the time or the energy to get out here if someone calls, but it won't do any harm to try.

I made a slide show and you will see there's lots of snow near the cemetery on the Plain - although we've seen the banks much higher than now, even with the wind break plowed up to catch blowing snow before it gets to the road. The wind was blowing up there, as usual, but in the village, the sun was melting the snow in spots.

We stopped at the library - always a pleasant stop, and popped in to check on Tara, our town clerk, who is expecting momentarily. Assistant clerk, Linda, said Tara had come in today but left as she was getting some indications her baby girl may be ready to make an appearance.

We had a nice chat with Mike Cookson at the garage. We had our car inspected while we visited Harry's Hardware to see Julie and Walt Ackermann and check on Ice Out tickets and to leave off a couple of the Cabot history books for them to have on hand, and then went to the library. We didn't stop at the general store because we didn't need anything today, but they are always very congenial, too. People are talking about town meeting, of course. I sounds as if it could be a good one this year - lots of big money items to decide.

Here's the slide show: Feb. 9, 2011 Slides

I sent off an e-mail message to all our JPA members this morning about the snow loads on roofs here at Joe's Pond. I've already had several responses from folks who are prudently taking steps to check out their personal situations. Not all camps would be in danger, but those with flat roofs or porch overhangs that may have drifted snow on them, could find damage when they come in the spring if the snow is not taken care of.

Dave Parker told me this morning he was at his camp on Otis Drive and noticed that several of his neighbors' had lots of snow on them. He said there were some roofs with six-foot deep drifts. That's a lot of snow! Dave said to give him a call at 802-476-1340 if you have trouble finding local help to shovel for you, as he knows several people in Barre who would like the work. We're expecting more snow daily for the rest of this week right into next week. Today started off beautifully bright (but cold) and now we're seeing the clouds closing in that will mean more flurries.

We learned yesterday from Bill and Monika that we are expecting another granddaughter in June. Monika says all is fine and Jo-Ann is excitedly looking forward to her baby sister's arrival. Of course, by the time baby sister is entering kindergarten, Jo-Ann will probably be choosing where she's going to go for college.
We're happy everything is going well and can't wait for the little one to arrive.

Here's another happy event coming right up that sounds like a lot of fun:

What happens when the Fairy Godmother goes on vacation? How do you defeat a dragon and a troll with only your wits? The answers to these and other puzzling questions will be revealed this weekend when Cabot Community Theater performs "Fresh Tales," four one-act comedies for all ages! This energetic theater group includes 21 actors, both kids and adults, almost entirely your neighbors in Cabot.

Performances are:

Friday, February 11 at 7:00, and
Sunday, February 13 at a 2:00 matinee
in the Cabot School Performing Arts Center

Admission is $5 at the door, with a special family rate of $20.
All proceeds beyond the cost of the production will be donated to CSPAC.

Please come and enjoy an evening or afternoon of homegrown energy and talent!

I just had a call from Garey Larrabee suggesting I should remind cottage owners they may want to make arrangements to have their roofs shoveled off. The snow is really deep - we're going to be getting more every day this week - and it could be too much of a load for your roof to withstand. We'd hate to have anyone's cottage damaged. Here are a few names of people who may be available to shovel:

Kyle and Connor Johnson, 802-563-3187
Bill Jones, 802-684-3919
Rodney Sholan, 802-563-2353
Ben and Scott Ackermann, 802-563-2061
Steven Watkins, 802-426-2053

I have to tell you - nearly all of them are right out straight, so it may be difficult to find anyone. Good luck.

This just in:

Notice from Faith in Action Northern Communities Partnership, Inc.

Hello Neighbors! FIA is sending out a request on behalf of a fellow community member who is need of about 3 cords of fire wood.

Anyone with any information or suggestions on where we could find some fire wood to help this neighbor in need is encouraged to call the Faith in Action office at (802) 563-3322 or stop by Monday – Friday, 9am – 3pm.

Thank you and remember every event, program and service offered by FIANCP is free of charge!!! For more information and opportunities to help your neighbor please call (802) 563-3322

MAIN OFFICE:

Faith In Action Northern Communities Partnership, Inc.

3339 Main St, PO Box 157

Cabot, VT 05647

(802) 563-3322

********

Business Owners, Organizations and Community Members, please join us as we explore Cabot’s Options forCommunity & Economic Development with Bill McMaster, Community Resources & Development Specialist for UVM Extension and Gwendolyn Hallsmith, the Director of Planning and Community Development for the City of Montpelier, Vermont & the founder and Executive Director of Global Community Initiatives (GCI)

Tuesday, February 8
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Masonic Hall, Cabot, VT

If you have any questions, contact Lori at (802) 563-3338 or
cabotcoalition@fairpoint.net