Start your day with a laugh. This came to me from a friend on the west coast. Turn up your sound. This is a phone call from a man who witnesses a car accident involving four elderly women. It was so popular when they played it on CHUM FM, that CBS picked it up. The guy's laugh is contagious. Just close your eyes and picture what he sees.


I can't believe we've got get another gloomy day. Showers expected, but clearing tonight. That's not going to help much, but apparently it's going to stay clear through the night and into tomorrow. It will be nice to be able to have the windows open more than a mere crack at night, though.

I worked yesterday at the historical society building in Cabot, doing inventory. We hope to finish up before we close this winter - it's a really slow job because every picture, every small item and every large one must be counted, described, photographed and numbered. I was looking for more copies of the "Contact," a monthly newsletter Rev. E. H. Nickerson sent to all the men and women in the service during WWII, from March of 1943 to July of 1946. I didn't find what I was looking for, but fortunately, Caleb Pitkin had made a CD of most of them when we were doing the oral history book in 1999, and with what we had at the historical society, I was able to make copies and now we have a complete set of originals except for the one issue I had to copy from his CD.

They are extraordinary in that there are letters from those in the service, local news about everyday happenings in Cabot, jokes, reports on the whereabouts of those serving and as much as was permitted, about how the war was going. The newsletter served as a go-between for not only family members and those serving, but for the men and women in service to find fellow members and keep in touch.

Rev. Nickerson was producer and editor, typing and mimeographing each copy with the help of some high school students and other volunteers, and he also found sponsors to help with the cost of producing and mailing the newsletters each month. At Christmas, packages of food and other items were sent - the Goodrich farm sent maple syrup, and packages were sent well ahead of Christmas in the hope they would find the men somewhere near the right time. The government restricted mailings to under five pounds and not more than one package a week sent to any one person; therefore, because the packages Rev. Nickerson was sending went over five pounds, he split them up, sending one package from "Contact" and the second one from himself. Postage in 1944 for those packages cost $75 - the contents were donated or purchased with money donated by local people.

Those "Contact" issues are a rare bit of history, incorporating local as well as a very personal view of life on the home front and in the front lines.