Milfoil Update

  Good Morning --

As part of its efforts to contain and possibly eradicate an infestation of invasive Eurasian watermilfoil, the Joe's Pond Association (JPA) has contracted with SOLitude Lake Management, a licensed aquatic herbicide applicator, to conduct a treatment of a portion of Joe's Pond with the herbicide ProcellaCOR.

This treatment will occur on Wednesday, August 26^th beginning at 9:00 AM.  

ProcellaCOR is the only aquatic herbicide approved by the VT Agency of Natural Resources for use in the control of Eurasian watermilfoil because it is narrowly targeted, affecting a very small number of native aquatic plant species, its extremely low toxicity overall, and its rapid dissipation. 

Approximately 35 acres of the First and Second Ponds of Joe's Pond will be treated by the method of subsurface injection.  This represents just under 9% of the total 400 acre area of Joe's Pond and approximately 27% of the total area (130 acres) of the Joe's Pond littoral zone, or shallow water portion of the lake, within which Eurasian watermilfoil will grow.

Despite the relatively benign characteristics of ProcellaCOR noted above and the limited treatment area, the permit issued by VT ANR to the JPA authorizing this herbicide treatment includes a number of temporary water use restrictions including:

• No boating activity anywhere on Joe's Pond from 9:00 AM Wednesday, August 26th until 12:00 PM on Thursday, August 27th
• No swimming or other human water contact during the same time window
• The Town of Danville will close the Joe's Pond beach for water recreation during this time
• If water is drawn from the pond for domestic use, this should be discontinued during this time period.  Bottled water will be made available by the JPA for pick up at the JPA Pavilion upon request.  Contact Joe Hebert, JPA President, at pjhebert@charter.net if you need to replace your domestic water supply.
• Irrigation of food crops by water drawn from Joe's Pond should be discontinued during this time.

The JPA will be conducting post-treatment water sampling within 48 hours of the treatment to ensure there is no residual herbicide in and downstream of the treated area.

Two post-treatment aquatic vegetation surveys, one this fall and another in 2027, will be performed  by an environmental consultant to assess the effect of the treatment on both Eurasian watermilfoil and native plant species sensitive to ProcellaCOR.

Results of the post-treatment water sampling and aquatic vegetation surveys will, upon completion, be posted on the JPA website:  www.joespondvermont.com

The JPA apologizes for any inconvenience or other losses of opportunity incurred by JPA members, and other users of Joe's Pond, as a result of this invasive species management operation.  The JPA does not take lightly the decision to utilize an aquatic herbicide to control and potentially eradicate Eurasian watermilfoil from the waters of Joe's Pond but rather, arrives at this decision only after extensive discussion and evaluation of alternatives by the JPA Eurasian Watermilfoil Management Committee and solicitation and consideration of input from the JPA membership.

Thank you to all JPA members and other recreational users of Joe's Pond for your forbearance and understanding of our collective interest in protecting Joe's Pond from the scourge of invasive watermilfoil.

For the Joe's Pond Association

Joe Hebert, President

Barry Cahoon, Water Quality Director

Eurasian Watermilfoil Management Coordinator

        

Season Finale Sunfish Race

 

This is a friendly reminder that the final Sunfish Sailboat race of 2026 is this Sunday. We hope to see many of you out on the water!

Race start: 1:00 p.m. sharp
Rain date: Following Sunday, if needed

The Award Ceremony will follow the race at Mark and Rosie’s cottage on North Shore Road.

As mentioned in the JPA newsletter, our 54-year-old trophy, the Caledonian Cup, was beginning to show its age. When I brought it to NEK Trophy and Engraving, they generously offered to refurbish it at no cost to the Joe’s Pond Association. They replaced all of the nameplates, re-engraved every winner’s name using their new laser engraver, and lightly polished the metal components. The Caledonian Cup looks wonderful once again!

Unfortunately, there is now only enough space remaining to engrave the 2026 winners’ names. At the Award Ceremony, we’ll need to discuss how we would like to move forward with the Caledonian Cup races.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Looking forward to seeing everyone Sunday!

Thank you,

Susan Bouchard

A little history for you: Above, the 1995 winners Bob Kimball and Bob Colomb, and co-chair Tom Dente, winner Jay Chatot, and Tom's co-chair,  Eileen Morrison. At right, the fleet of racers in the 1970s when it was a wonderful new sport and everyone wanted to own a sunfish and be in the race. There were singles, doubles, and occasionally a "Powderpuff Race" for women only. As I recall, races were just about every Sunday, weather permitting, and during the week sailors were out there whenever there was a good wind, practicing. I think Burt Morrisson was giving sailing lessons most years in order  to encourage new and/or young sailors. Not only were there lots of enthusiastic sailors, it became a very popular spectator sport and non-sailors lined up on docks and decks with binoculars to cheer their favorite sailors on. Imagine what it was like navigating with this many boats trying to line up before the start of the race! It took skill, patience, and very often a sense of humor!

Last Call!

  Event details:
> Get ready to have a Party!!
> JPA Annual Cocktail Party - August 22, 2026 at the Pavilion from 5:00 to 7:30
> No tickets required
> BYOB and please bring an appetizer to pass
> Please bring cash and/or checkbook for raffle and Silent Auction
> Contact: Susan Yesalonia  (802-793-3973) or Nancy Buttura (802-279-4146) if you have any questions.

End the Summer Season of Good Times at Joe's Pond with Good Friends!

 

 

The roadsides were trimmed over here on West Shore Road yesterday. I had to go to Cabot Village in the afternoon and everything looks so much better - and visibility on some of those corners is way better now! I noticed the mower guy avoided cutting down the gone-by lupines along the roadside in front of my house - I expect he was afraid he might get yelled at if he cut them. It would have been fine - they have all expelled their seeds and I bet there are small bushes beginning to grow there that I would prefer get cut before they are too big. It doesn't take long for the woods to close in on me and taking down larger trees is always more painful than cutting away bushes. 

It's a beautiful day today and I have a meeting this morning - fortunately here, on my porch. We are getting ready for the Annual Meeting at the Cabot Historical Society and there will be a whole new slate of officers. All but our treasurer are stepping down this year but each will continue working with CHS in their own particular areas of interest. Ruth Goodrich has been our president since Bonnie Dannenberg passed away, and she plans to have genealogy classes at the historical society. We are looking forward to expanding our connections with the community and I think that will be a wonderful addition. Vice President Brittany Butler is going to concentrate on youth programs with school students and CHS. She has done some of that in the past and we're hoping to expand that program. Secretary Marcy Martin has been one of our willing workers and will continue to volunteer wherever she is needed. All three ladies have busy lives and we are fortunate they are willing to find the time to continue working with us.

Our new slate of officers are seasoned, long-time members of the historical society and perfectly suited to their new positions. Fred Ducharme has held offices in town and will lead us as President. Dawn Andrews has a long history working with historical societies and we are excited that she will be our next V.P.;  Amanda Legare has served in various capacities at CHS for many years and will be an excellent secretary. We are happy that Seth O'Brien will continue as our treasurer. We will be nominating at least three more board members to serve as Trustees, which will be a new concept for our organization. 

We are facing critical decisions to get our building repaired and updated, and the new board will have their work cut out for them, finding funding and executing the project. It's a new era for our Historical Society and we are getting prepared for it. There are numerous people in town who have unique experience with organizations such as ours. Some are members, some are not. We hope to engage them to help us become a thriving, well-organized, and interesting resource for historical reference that our community and visitors will use and enjoy. The energy is high - we're excited at the prospects ahead.

The days are getting shorter, school will be starting in another week or two - and summer is over. Darn! It seems to have flown by and I'm really not ready for turning leaves and crispy nights. It is always sad when our summer residents begin to leave. I include both humans and migratory birds; however, we get a whole new crop of both during the colder months. We accept the change, but we will miss our friends. It's been a fun and busy summer at the pond. We still have one more meeting after the Cocktail Party - the Fall Meeting of JPA on September 5th, 10 a.m., at the Pavilion.

Pickleball Tourney Results

 

Hello all.  I wanted to thank all the players, volunteers and spectator's who came on Sat and Sunday for making the 2026 Picklefest and Doubles tourney another success.  So far we have received around  $700 for the PB/tennis courts.  There is still time to donate by either cash, check or Venmo.  It was a lively fun bunch both days celebrating the JP Pickleball community!

 THANK YOU Pam & Joe H, Joanne & Jamie S, Bob M and Jane and Nicole S for all the help keeping both days organized.  

 And a special thanks to the Erdman/McMann/Roberts and Kidney/Bravakis families once again for giving us lots of players and teams for Sat and Sunday’s tourneys.

Saturday’s Picklefest final had Kim Kidney and Charlie Roberts barely beating Laela Roberts and Rob Stewart in an exciting doubles contest.  No doubt some bragging rights for Charlie in the Erdman Camp! (Laela, Kim, Charlie, and Rob at right) 

 In Sunday's double tourney we had another fun and competitive day.   Julie Hendrickson and her daughter Elana (pictured right) dominated the advanced division never losing all day and beating out the Segale bros - Mike and Tom in the final.  The intermediate division featured Chris Burns and Norma Segale (bottom right) getting by the Grandmother-grandson duo of Kim Kidney and Teo Bravakis.   

 It was a fun 2 days of pickleball, laughs and fun.  It was cool to see so many family double teams joining to play on Sunday.  Of the 9 teams who played I believe 7 were made up of family combos.  Brothers, 2 sets of Cousins, Mother-Daughter, Father-Son, Uncle-Nephew and Grandmother-Grandson!  

Cool stuff!      

 Thanks again everyone and see you on the courts!

 Tom Segale

617.909.0960

 

Reminders

Can you believe it? We're nearing the end of August and our summer season at Joe's Pond! The summer has whizzed by so quickly, I'm really not conditioned to the warm weather yet, and already we're headed for cool evenings and slower growing season. I've noticed the difference in my lawn - it was growing like gangbusters only days ago, but now it has slowed considerably. Not only that - the water level in my pond is down - again. It was doing so nicely a month ago, but now the frogs are basking in the sun on the bare banks and I only hear an occasional "ger-lunk" in the evening. I had a lovely chorus out there this spring - lots going on in the frog world, day and night; but not so much now.

We have had a busy summer - lots of Joe's Pond activity, too, with divers inspecting for milfoil, and somewhat reduced activity on the water, due to restrictions in milfoil-infected areas. We think the social events have not been quite as well attended this year, and the pig roast had to be cancelled due to so few reservations. Times change - sometimes we just need to adjust and move on.

Our last social event of the season is coming up very soon, so mark your calendar and don't disappoint these hard-working volunteers!  This is a chance to see friends and give summer a great send-off before many of you head off to your winter homes. Sue Yesalonia sent me this reminder: 

 Nancy Buttura and I have been working very hard to make sure this is a great end-of-the-year social event and we hope to raise money for JPA through donations, our Silent Auction, and raffle. We have collected a great assortment of items thanks to many JPA members and community vendors. Hope to see you there!

 Event details:

Get ready to have a Party!!

JPA Annual Cocktail Party - August 22, 2026 at the JPA Pavilion from 5:00 to 7:30

No tickets required

BYOB and please bring an appetizer to pass 

Please bring cash and/or checkbook for raffle and Silent Auction

Contact: Susan Yesalonia  (802-793-3973) or Nancy Buttura (802-279-4146) if you have any questions.

 ****************

This reminder is not nearly as exciting as Sue's, but the Cabot Historical Society museum is open every Saturday from 1 to 3 o'clock. Amanda Legare and I will be there this Saturday - stop by and say "Hello!" We have interesting exhibits - lots of "cool old stuff" as one of our volunteers put it recently. Like the old butter churn pictured here. Next to it is a folding clothes rack on the left, and wooden buckets and woven baskets on the right - all items used daily in homes years ago.There are albums of photos spanning the years, old newsclips, old diaries, family histories, information on all seven cemeteries in Cabot - old tools, doctors' satchels with little pill viles, and much more. Two floors of items collected over the years, and we have several new items recently added to our collections. Come in, tell us what you are looking for, or just browse. We'll be happy to see you.

 

Fun Visitors

 I received this message from Jenny Gelfen yesterday: 

Jane --

Last Saturday we had a most unusual visitor on Joe's Pond: a beautiful small boat driven by a wood-fired steam engine complete with a whistle. I couldn't paddle fast enough to reach it before it motored away. The Sembrebons got these pictures. 

That is truly an unusual sight. I can't imagine being out on the water under the broiling sun with a wood-fired boiler to tend to! That must have been a hot ride, but whoever it was seemed to be enjoying the fun and that is a very trim vessel! I tried to make out the registration number or find name on the boat, but didn't have any success. I'm sure someone on the pond (or seeing this!) will know who these people are. I would love to know, so shoot me an email. 

Steamers were common years ago - Joe's Pond had at least one that made regular trips around the pond delivering passengers about every two hours. It was called the Mineola and was docked at a small boathouse near West Danville train station in about 1899. Train passengers could take the steamer to various destinations on the pond such as Flint's Park to spend a day fishing or swimming and return by steamer to take the train back home in the late afternoon. You can find more information on page 18 of West Danville, Vermont Then and Now, 1781-2021. Don't have a copy? Let me know, or stop at the Danville Historical Society to pick one up. It's a very complete history of West Danville and Joe's Pond and includes solid information about surrounding communities such as Cabot, Walden, and Danville. Lots of photos and it is well indexed. Every home on Joe's Pond should have a copy!

Stay cool and enjoy the weekend! 

More Sad News

We have lost another soul close to the Joe's Pond Community, Mary Calcagni, who passed away on July 30. The Calcagni family (on North Shore Road) have been active in the Joe's Pond Association for generations and our thoughts are with them at this very sad time. Condolences may be sent to Joe's Pond family members - Joey and Joni at 18 Windywood Rd, Barre, VT 05641; Matthew and Hilary at 317 Shaw Mansion Rd, Waterbury Ctr., VT 05677;  or Robert and Andrea (Calcagni) MacLeod at 15 Chestnut Lane, Barre, VT 05641.