It's time to update you on all the changes around the pond. Fred and I were driving along Rt. 15 a few days ago and noticed "new wood" showing up on Channel Drive. We investigated and found the new bridge across the channel where the railroad track used to be. We took a picture.

We told you some time ago, I think, that the Dente cottage on Edgewood Ave. was having some work done. That seems to be progressing nicely. On Barre Ave., the Alonzo's cottage is taking shape. We've been told Trent Fenoff and Nate Hale, the builders who did Sue and Eric Martin's place are doing Alonzo's.

On West Shore Rd., the Rouleau lot is beginning to look much, much better. The debris left after clearing the woods has been removed and lots of fill has been brought in. The trucks were hauling today, but it's still too early to guess how the lot will look when it's finished and landscaped.

The Rickers on Sandy Beach Road are apparently having some landscaping done, too. There were some large boulders and lots of machinery there today, and I didn't take any pictures, but I'll go back perhaps this weekend sometime to check that out and post some photos.

We're expecting some interesting weather in the next couple of days. It seems our mild spell may be over and we can look forward to some more seasonal (translation, windy, cold, snowy)
weather for a while. So we may not have a green Christmas in Vermont after all . . . but we'll have to wait to find out! This has been a very unusual fall, and that trend may continue.

William "Billy" Costa, a long-time Joe's Pond Association member and dedicated St. Johnsbury businessman and civic leader, passed away Saturday morning in Florida at age 75. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday at 1 p.m. at St. John the Evangelist Church, Main Street, St. Johnsbury. Visiting hours at Sayles Funeral Home, Summer Street, St. Johnsbury, from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.

There is an article about in Monday's issue of The Caledonian Record, and the obituary is in Tuesday's issue. Billy and his wife, Gay (Buttura) and their family shared a cottage on Barre Avenue with Gay's sister and husband, Sheila and Michael Calevro and family.

www.caledonianrecord.com

This is a way to support one of St. Johnsbury's gems and perhaps get something in return!

Check it out and perhaps you will want to support the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium in St. Johnsbury VT. Follow the link below for details.

http://fairbanksmuseum.org/shop/shop_product_museum_raffle2006.cfm

THANKSGIVING MORNING AT JOE'S POND.
THAT'S ICE IN THE QUIET WATER IN BACK OF THE BIG ISLAND. IN THE CHANNEL, THERE'S MORE ICE IN THE SHALLOW POOLS. TONIGHT IS NOT AS COLD AS IT HAS BEEN, ONLY ABOUT 31 DEGREES, BUT THE WATER TEMPERATURE IS GOING STEADILY DOWNWARD - WE'LL BE SKATING AND ICE FISHING BEFORE LONG.

HOPE YOU ALL HAD A WONDERFUL, SAFE THANKSGIVING.

This came from our sister-in-law in Colorado. Have fun with it, and Happy Thanksgiving!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BUT PROBABLY DON'T - (that may or may not be true, but could be fodder for conversation with the Thanksgiving crowd at your house!)

1. Money isn't made of paper, it's made of cotton.
2. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.
3. The dot over the letter “i” is called a "tittle".
4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.
5. Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller.
6. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
7. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.
8. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor, who had red eyes. He was albino.
9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily.
10. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.
11. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small sized dog.
12. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.
13. Most lipstick contains fish scales (eeww). Helps the sheen.
14. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.
15. Ketchup was sold in the 1830's as medicine.
16. Upper and lower case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the upper case' letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters.
17. Leonardo Da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time, hence, multi-tasking was invented.
18. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.
19. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.
20. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter P a n; there was never a recorded Wendy before!
21. There are no words in the dictionary that rhymes with: orange, purple, and silver.
22. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips. Maybe he was allergic to fish scales.
23. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go mad and sting itself to death.
24. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original "Halloween" was a Captain Kirk's mask painted white.
25. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar (good to know.)
26. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand (and you thought this list was completely useless.)
27. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law, which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
28. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.
29. Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with. It's the same with apples!
30. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!
31. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.
32. Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.
33. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing gas in a space suit damages it.

I need to make another correction. I said in a recent posting that Rachel Lewis on Sandy Beach Road will be there year around. Evelyn tells me that isn't the case, it's Rachel's daughter, Anita who will be living here this winter. Apparently Rachel is in Florida. I don't have an address for Rachel, but will get in touch with Anita and update the on-line directory.

I'm going to concentrate on Thursday's dinner now that the newsletter is out, so I may not have much news for a few days. If there's anything exciting going on, I'll get it on. So everyone have a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving.

We delivered newsletters to some of the year 'rounders this morning. The weather has changed to a more normal November temperature - in the 30's and windy. It was cold almost anywhere on the pond. We were glad to get back onto the hill where we're sheltered a bit from the north wind. A few days ago someone told me how interesting it is to see the changes going on around the pond. That was enough to send Fred and me out with the camera. Our first stop was on Old Homestead at the Desrochers cottage. That is coming along very well as you can see - it's enclosed, ready for the inside work. Next door, the Stover cottage has had some sprucing up, as well. That is an awsome window on the upper level.

Directly across the water from there we noticed some work being done on another cottage - I believe it is Kari Lizer's. Looks as if there is a new foundation and some roof work. On Barre Avenue, we thought the Morley's cottage had been leveled, but after looking at it from a different angle, I now believe it is the Alonzo's cottage that has been taken down and will be rebuilt on a new foundation. Barre Avenue is changing, that much we're certain about.

At the other end of the big pond, Billy Hamilton's place is looking really nice. We took the picture from the Erdman cottage next to the pavilion, and there was a bitterly cold wind whipping through the pavilion so we didn't hang out. We took a picture of Erdman's, which appears to be pretty much all done except for some decking. While we were there, we snapped a picture of the Silloway and Powers cottages. That shoreline has changed quite a bit in the past five years. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

We were really glad to get back into our warm car. As we were leaving, I noticed the red fencing in front of the Farmer cottage. That may be to help contain some of the snow that blows in there during the winter. I imagine it drifts there pretty badly some winters. There hasn't been much snow so far, but now the unseasonably warm weather is gone, we are expecting some flurries in the next couple of days, though. We hope you enjoy looking at the pictures from the comfort of your warm home. We are happy to be able to post them for you.

The newsletters are "in the mail" and everyone should have theirs at least by Monday or Tuesday. We have also posted the newsletter on the web site, www.joespond.org. In transferring it, some details were lost, so the on-line version is not as nice as Evelyn's printed copy. For that I apologize. She did a great job of designing and printing, as usual, so thank you, Evelyn, and I also thank everyone who contributed their reports or articles. We also thank those who purchased ads to help defray the cost of publishing. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Here's some good news -

I had an e-mail from Tom and Camilla Dente yesterday. Tom reports Camilla is doing very well. She's walking up to a mile on days she doesn't have physical therapy, and is feeling fine. In case any of you don't know - Camilla suffered some heart problems on the weekend of Danville's Autumn on the Green. She was admitted to NVRH in St. Johnsbury and then sent to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH. After a brief stay there, she came home to Joe's Pond where Tom, with the help of friends here, hurriedly closed camp so he and Camilla could return to their home in Connecticut earlier than originally planned so Camilla could get started with physical therapy. Thanks to the quick actions of Tom, Dr. Joe Hebert at the Danville Health Center, and the excellent care at both NVRH and Dartmouth Hitchcock, this story has a happy ending and Camilla will be fine.

We have another bit of good news, although an an entirely different level. Workers have been busy at the Marlyn Rouleau cottage on W. Shore Road. Trucks have hauled in literally tons of fill to raise the level of the lot at their camp. In addition, the stumps and brush left after Randy Rouleau cleared the lot from the cottage to W. Shore Rd, is being taken away and workmen told us today that it will be completely cleaned up. I'm sure everyone in the neighborhood will be pleased that this is taking place. Above is a picture of the lot when the trees were cut in 2004.

Down the road at the Bob and Dottie Noyes cottage, a water well was drilled this week. Work on the renovations is progressing nicely and we're beginning to see how the changes will look. You won't recognize their place next summer.

It's hard to keep up with all the things going on just on West Shore Road, and I'm sure there are more improvements happening at other locations around the pond. For instance, there is something going on down on Birch Bound Road - I'm not certain, but it may be at the Robinson's. Then, on Edgewood Ave., there seems to be some "new wood" showing up on the Richard and Stephen Dente cottage. In a couple of days, after we get the newsletter in the mail, I'll take some time and drive around the pond to scout for other changes.

Still no information on that aluminum boat that was found floating loose a few days ago. With all the rain and wind we're getting here tonight anything not securely tied down is likely to end up lost, battered, or both. Things are pretty soggy. And wild. The temperature hasn't dropped - yet. Later, on the weekend, there may be some snow, but tonight I'm getting a reading of 60.3 degrees!

DANVILLE SCHOOL STUDENT ACCEPTED BY THE PEOPLE TO PEOPLE STUDENT AMBASSADOR PROGRAM

Joe's Pond Association recently received a letter from Jonah Willcox-Healey, a sophomore at Danville School, requesting a donation in order for him to participate in the People to People Student Ambassador Program's planned trip to Japan. The trip will be in the summer of 2007, and students will be gone 14 days. Tuition cost is $6,000, which delegates must raise in order to take advantage of this opportunity.

Since JPA has no meetings until after the date Jonah would need to have his tuition paid, we are unable to bring this up for consideration of our membership. However, if individuals would like to help Jonah realize his goal, here is some of the information Jonah included in his letter:

Jonah is a member of the Danville School Student Council, Vermont Teen Leadership Support Program, VSAC, Adventuring Club and French Club. He has received the Sen. Jeffords Choice Congressional Art Competition Award, an American Mathmetics Contest Award, Presidents Education Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence, and an American Red Cross Leadership Award.

The objective of the People to People program, founded in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, is "to promote international understanding while building leadership skills among America's youth . . . Student Ambassadors are carefully interviewed and evaluated before their acceptance." It is an honor for a student to be accepted to this program. People to People has launched such programs as Sister Cities, Project HOPE, and Pen Pals.

When Jonah returns, he will share his Japan experience by addressing his school, the community and his contributors He will show pictures, talking about his experiences, and share his journal of the trip. Anyone wishing to help Jonah realize his goal should send their contribution, in any amount, to him, Jonah Willcox-Healey, 9 Woods Hill Rd., Danville VT 05828.

Or you can send contributions directly to People to People. (Be sure to include his name and Delegate ID #821170.) Send to:

Office of Admissions, People to People Ambassador Programs
Dwight D. Eisenhower Bldg., 110 South Ferrall St.
Spokane WA 99202-4800

Should you wish to contact Jonah, his phone number is 802-684-9666.

COOKBOOK ALERT!

Here's a small correction for page 96 of the Joe's Pond Cookbook:
French Toast Casserole
Should be "1-1/4 cups brown sugar."
You'll see brown sugar in the how-to directions, but it wasn't specified in the list of ingredients. Enjoy.

Someone on Joe's Pond has lost their aluminum rowboat. We tried to track it by the numbers, but apparently it hasn't been registered in recent years. If you recognize the boat, contact us (janebrown@fairpoint.net) and we'll give you further information. The water here has been high, so it could have floated off, probably from the south end of the big pond, but with the erratic winds we've had these last few days, it could have come from anywhere on the lake. Click the picture to enlarge.

Remember the bees' nest picture we posted a while back? Here's a closeup. While walking down to Sandy Beach Road to pick up a prototype of the newsletter from Evelyn (yes, it'll be out soon!), I saw an unusual number of caterpillars, both squashed and alive, with, I think, a larger than usual brown band between their two black ends - which I think has meaning regarding our weather. We heard another bit of weather-lore while in Maine: The number of the day on which the first snow comes will indicate the amount of snow you can expect during the winter. I guess in Maine that would be in inches; here, I'm not sure. There are lots of those weather-related sayings on the coast. "Rain before 7 stops by 11."
"If with your nose you smell the day, stormy wether is on the way." "Swallows fly high, clear blue sky; swallows fly low, rain we'll know." "Half your wood and half your hay should be remaining on Candlemas Day (Feb. 2.)"

Anyway, this week we spotted a female partridge racing across our lawn into the garden area, and then this young male came roaring out of the bushes, tail fanned, neck ruffed, in hot pursuit, dashing up our walkway to intercept her. His spring fever was not only misplaced, but definitely not appreciated by the little hen, and the last we saw of them, he still hadn't caught up to her.

We've been watching all the building going on - things are progressing at the Noyes cottage where a well was drilled this week; everything is put back in place at the Byrd's and it looks very nice; Butch and Sue Bouchard told me yesterday they are finished with their remodeling and expect to have a family Thanksgiving at camp this year; and at the Richer's I was amazed at how fast they have come along with the new garage/workshop. It's going to have room to store not only their vehicles, but other equipment as well, and Ray's woodworking shop is to be located on the second story.

Another spot everyone has been watching is in the big field at the north end of West Shore Road. We've seen campers, trailer trucks, horses, and an assortment of containers and vehicles there for a couple of years, and in addition footings of an unusual design were in place high on the hill, but no structure seemed to get built. Now all that has changed. Here is a picture we took Saturday morning. There were four horses grazing nearby, and we noticed they have a nice newly enclosed shelter this year, so they may be here longer than in the past.

We've noticed more lights around the pond this year than ever before. I think that has to do with gaining more year 'rounders. Sam and Judy Lewis are now here year around, and next door to them, Rachel Lewis will be here year around, we've been told. Also, Bill Dimick will be at the Dimick/Brown cottage this winter. Fred and I lived there for 18 years until we moved to our present home in 1996, so it is nice to have the place fully utilized again. Homer and Elsie (Fitts) across the bay told us how much they missed our lights after we moved; now Homer will see lights again and he and Bill will no doubt get together for a beer or two during the long winter. Some of the old Joe's Pond gang (Jackie LaGue, Tony Stewart, Patty Nichols, Paul Fitzgerald) have already found out Bill's back and have stopped in. Bill has done some renovating, too, to make the place snug for winter - and the whole family is pitching in to help where we can. We're thinking Christmas at Camp this year! It's been a long time!

This has been a dreary day, rainy, foggy, not too cold, but chilly-damp and depressing if you let it be. Aside from my computer acting up this morning so I couldn't scan, things went surprisingly well in spite of the fact I was dragging a bit after getting in so late last night. No, we weren't partying - or not exactly. We were counting votes after the polls closed in Cabot, and actually it was sort of a party atmosphere, but the folks who'd been there all day like Chris, Velma, Blanche, Carla, and Harry, were only wanting to get things done so they could go home, I'm sure. There were a few last-minute voters when Fred and I got there at about 6:45 p.m., but the polls closed promptly at 7 and we began counting the masses of paper ballots. I think there were at least a dozen workers paired up in twos. By ten o'clock it began to look as if we might be in the home stretch, and shortly after 11 we were pretty well finished. It seems as if counting votes wouldn't be such a difficult task, and it isn't - but if you've ever done it, you know you get really tired. We were glad to be home a little before midnight.

It's nice to be through with the campaign ads and telephone calls - I don't think the phone rang more than a couple times all day! I've had time to go through some of the pictures I've taken in the past few days and thought you might like to see the progress on the Noyes cottage here on W. Shore Rd. We haven't been down to see how the Allen's addition is coming along; and we need to check out the progress on the Richer's new garage/wood working shop. The weather will be changing radically by this weekend - forecast is for snow again - so that may slow things down a bit.

Once again Fred has changed the web site to make it easier, we hope, to navigate. You'll find "Community Links" where the "Community Storefront" used to be, and he has consolidated some pages and added new links that may be helpful. We'll be adding some photos to the gallery soon, too. Oh, yes, Fred says to be sure an check out "mapping" at the bottom of the Community Links page under "General Interest." That is a new technique that includes something like 12 cities now and is eventually going to be available for the whole country. I plugged in New York City and went to "street level" and "hybrid" - it's like being in a low-flying plane over the city. You can take a virtual tour of the city. Cool.

I almost forgot - Hastings Store has a new web site and we've linked to it. Also, we will have the newsletter out soon. Evelyn is being interrupted by the work on the garage but we'll still have the newsletter to you before Thanksgiving. It's going to be another biggie, I think, lots of pages.

We took a few days to go to Maine - now we're back and working hard to catch up on everything. This is a picture of the Nubble Lighthouse in York, Maine, taken from the bridge at Cape Neddick.

Evelyn and I are working on the fall issue of the Joe's Pond Association newsletter - we aren't going to promise anything more than that it'll be out before Thanksgiving. Even though we had a deadline set for reports, etc., things simply didn't work out. But we have almost everything in now and it shouldn't take too long to get it together.


Here are a couple of pictures I took this morning. Work is still going on at the Desrochers place on Old Homestead, and I couldn't resist taking a picture of the Gruggel/Cobb camp, known for many years as "Gossholm." The weather was so nice, it hardly seemed possible we had plowable snow only last week.