The end is near! Only a couple more days to get your Ice-Out tickets! Fred and I were in St. Johnsbury early this morning to do interviews on WSTJ and KIX 105.5FM. Our friend, Don Mullallay (shown at right) is always fun to talk with on the air. Don has worked at WSTJ for a long time - back when it was WTWN and owned by Dean Finney. I worked there for a while in the office. I wrote copy and did commercials and a few remotes with Don and Ken Green from time to time. It was a very busy place then with two studios and all kinds of people working there doing advertising, copy, regular programs. My main job was bookkeeping and scheduling programs, but we all wore several hats when needed. It was a fun place to work.









We met today for the first time Josh Thomas, (above) a zany character on the FM station. His two dogs come to the studio with him every day. They are sweet dogs, friendly and well behaved. Josh was a hoot to interview with. Here's a link to the KIX site: KIX105.5
Click on "Listen" on the vertical menu. (I hope you like country western music . . . )

Diane chided me this afternoon for not letting people know we were going to be on the air talking about the Ice-Out Contest. I had asked her to go with me - part of the co-chairing duties, right? But she said she was busy that day. I wasn't very specific about the time because I hadn't had confirmation when I spoke with her about it, so as she was heading off early this morning (she really was busy) she got only part of our second interview, not the 15 minute one on KIX. So I hasten to apologize for not posting something here to let you know about this event. Fred pitched in and we covered most of the high points, we think.

After we left the station and began our rounds to pick up and distribute Ice-Out tickets, we learned there was immediate response to the broadcast. At least one person rushed up to Thurston Motors and bought 10 tickets after hearing Fred and me on the radio.

We bumped into Doug Hamilton at St. Jay Hardware - always fun to chat with Doug, and of course store owner John Gebbie was there to liven things up a bit, too. John and middle son Bob had been skiing last Thursday at Jay. John said it was great fun. Now there's a couple of skiers who, in spite of their age, still act like kids. I didn't ask if Fred Leferrier was with them on his board . . . The three of them head off whenever they can during the winter, then water ski in the summer to keep in shape.

At Caplan's, Gary Ely lamented the loss of the Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon program Catamount Arts used to have. He said the concerts were wonderful but attendance dropped off so they stopped having them.

Ernie Thurston was at the car dealership today. He and Barb got home Sunday. He said he was surprised at all the snow and no open water on the pond. I guess they won't be opening camp right away.










We went to Walmart in Woodsville after we finished in St. Johnsbury. We came up 302 to Groton and then the road through Peacham to Danville. The road was surprisingly good - not as many potholes as there are on the interstate! Even that short stretch across the corner of the Town of Barnet that isn't paved wasn't bad. There was a good bit of snow in the Peacham area, but not as much down around Groton and Wells River. Above are farms along the way - a tree farm across a ravine and then a big barn (house on opposite side of the road) was just before reaching the Peacham town line.

We were home early and Fred got this picture of the White Mountains as the sun reflected off them, clearly visible from our living room window. It has been a very pretty day, and there was even a little melting going on. But that is all due to change tomorrow night as we are getting another load of wet, heavy snow. Can you imagine? I guess it's only reasonable since Friday will be April Fool's Day.

This evening we saw our two fishermen are back - in back of the big island. I noticed there were a lot of snow mobile tracks out there, too. The sun was hitting just right so they showed up. The two guys fishing don't travel by snow mobile, though. They walk and use their bait buckets for seats. Low tech.

Diane and I are going to be busy counting tickets and trying to keep all our outlets supplied for the next two days and beyond as tickets straggle in by mail. Neither of us has many tickets left, so we probably will run out, but fortunately people can go on the website for tickets and get them mailed before time runs out on April 1. If you are sending us tickets by mail, PLEASE be sure they are postmarked on or before April 1. And also be sure you send the right part. Even though they are plainly marked, in their rush to get them in the mail, people all too often send the wrong end of the ticket and then we don't have all the information we need, so the ticket gets tossed. We try to figure out who they belong to, but sometimes it's impossible if there isn't enough information on their check or if they send cash. So be careful that you get everything filled in correctly and in the mail on time so you're pick is in the running. Anybody can win at this game. It's pure chance and luck.

But we all need to be patient because even though the contest officially ends at midnight on April 1, it isn't over until the clock stops. Right now the clock isn't even set up. No pallet, cinder block or flag. There's still one shanty on the ice and no sign they are going to move it any time soon. Once that is gone, the flag will go out. In the meantime, life on Joe's Pond is pretty much the same as it was in January and February. Lots of snow, good snowmobile conditions, no melting, no water showing anywhere - we're caught in a time warp.

I just had a report from Diane saying Ice-Out tickets are coming in like snowflakes in March. If this pace keeps up for the next few days, we'll be near last year's mark for tickets sold, we think. Usually the weather has warmed up enough to have water showing around the edges of the pond by now; but this has been a totally different winter. Like Tom Dente says, "It's the winter that just keeps on giving." He said snow is in the forecast in Connecticut, too.

Snow is not only forecast for here, we're getting some this morning. Light flurries, but enough to be discouraging to people, deer waiting to drop their fawns, bears waiting to come out of their dens, geese looking for water to land on - seems like everything is on hold. I finally brought in some bare branches from a bush on W. Shore Rd. I know is a willow, and the pussy willow buds popped out overnight. It loves the warm house and tepid water. When they are fully developed about to turn in to green leaves, I'll probably take them out of the water so they will last - although as I think about it, we might appreciate seeing green leaves more, so maybe I'll let them continue on to become leaves, pollen and all.

There is a new comment on home page. Stephanie Burtt, whose husband and father-in-law own the Burtt farm on Cabot Plains Road, just before Rte. 215 where the beef cattle and apple trees are, is looking for a year around house-sitting situation. If you know someone in the area who is not often here or is going out of the country and wants to have someone reliable look out for their house, take a look at her comment and get in touch.

Fred did recycling today. I'm posting some of the pictures he took along the way.
He went with Bill Rossi to pick up some Ice Out tickets at Larry Rossi's on Otis Drive. At first glance you might think this is a picture of West Shore Road in winter, but it's actually the rail trail. Nicely packed and plenty of snow. Then they continued up Rt. 15 to where the little store and gas station (it was once a garage operated by Jack Burbank) used to be. It has been taken down. The last business there was a little pizza place, but unfortunately, that didn't survive.












Further up Rt. 15, in Wolcott, he took this picture of a barn that had burned back in the winter sometime. Progress is slow getting it rebuilt, but at least it's started.

While in West Danville, they stopped at Hastings Store. Lunch specials always are really good. They didn't get any chili today, though. New maple syrup is in - at least some producers are making it. It can't have been a very good year so far. Perhaps they'll still get some good runs, but right around here it's been mostly too cold for sap to run much.












Seems like it's a little warmer today - actually about 32 degrees, but there's still a sharp, cold wind out of the northwest that cuts right through you. Hopefully, it's cutting through some of the snow, too. Saturday when we went for a walk Fred was able to walk on the snow. There's a strong crust left from the last couple of rainy days. With all the really cold weather, that mushy snow has frozen very hard. By the end of the week, if the weather folks are right, we may get some thawing.

Here's a reminder about a meeting in Cabot -

Tonight at 6 PM at the Willey Building, the Planning Commission will host a public work session on the Facilities, Utilities and Services section of the Town Plan. This section covers all aspects of community life, from Town government and the Cabot School to water supply, health services, solid waste, recreation facilities, etc. If you want to learn more about Cabot's existing facilities and services, or have suggestions for improvements, this is the work session for you!

Light refreshments will be served.

This came from Homer today, explaining about the Sunday service at Peacham that I blogged about yesterday:

THIS WILL EXPLAIN ABOUT MARGARET SINGING YESTERDAY (SUNDAY) AT PEACHAM. IT WAS THE ORDINATION OF PASTOR BOB POTTER'S SON FROM CALIFORNIA. HERE'S THE PROGRAM:

JEFFREY MARK POTTER

ORDINATION 3/27/11

AT PEACHAM CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

YOU CAN SEE THIS ON YOUR COMPUTER -

WEB SITE: PEACHAMCHURCH.ORG

(WEEKLY RECORDED VIDEOS - Margaret sings near the end of the service.)

"AMAZING GRACE" PLAYED BY JEAN ANDERSON, 80 YR. PLUS

POTTERY BOWL MADE BY JEFF POTTER

SOLO BY GRANDSON, NICK POTTER FOR HIS UNCLE

"JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE"

LAYING HANDS ON JEFF BY CONGREGATION

WORDS BY REV. BOB POTTER

SINGING BY MARGARET GUILMETTE FITTS

GIFTS:

BIBLE FROM HIS DAD

ROBE FROM HIS DAD

SASHES FROM AN AUNT

CERTIFICATE FROM THE CHURCH

BOB HAD A ROBE ON THAT HIS DAD GAVE HIM 50 YEARS AGO WHEN HE WAS ORDAINED. IT WAS SIMPLY A SUPER SPECIAL DAY !

MARGARET'S SINGING WAS NOT A PLANNED PART OF THE PROGRAM. JUST BEFORE DOING IT, 5 SECONDS, SHE ASKED REV. BOB IF SHE COULD SING IT. IT SURE WAS A SPECIAL SURPRISE FOR ALL. LOTS OF TEARS.

It's a beautiful day, but I'm afraid I have to report there probably isn't much melting going on. Our thermometer has been in the high teens most of the day and even now, with the sun finally around to the back of the house and shining on the back of the board the thermometer is attached to, it is reading only 45 degrees. The sun will be behind the trees and hill in another hour or less, and temperature will slip downward again.

I have weather for both Cabot and W. Danville displayed on my Google home page. Cabot is listed as being 24 degrees, W. Danville 25 degrees. There is a variance in the wind, too - Cabot getting a west wind but W. Danville a northwest wind. We know W. Danville gets all the wind there is all the time. There is plenty of wind again today, and last night the temperature got in the low teens.

Many of you know Homer and Margaret Fitts are back from their Florida vacation. Homer assured Diane and me he'd make it back before the ice went out, and now we know we didn't need to worry. We've had the ice go out when Homer was not in residence, but the times have been few. Fortunately, he always has it covered by others of us here at the pond, so the clock gets checked regularly, whether he's her or not.

This message from Homer -

HI -

WE WENT TO CHURCH IN PEACHAM THIS MORNING. IT WAS TERRIFIC ! REV. BOB POTTER ORDAINED HIS SON JEFF. MARGARET PRAYED THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD ON HIM AND SANG IT ALSO. SURPRISED EVERYONE.

WE STOPPED AT CAMP. DOUG HAMILTON HAD SHOVELED A PATH TO THE GARAGE DOORS. WE WENT INSIDE BUT THE BACK SIDE DOOR HAS 4 FEET 8 INCHES OF SNOW. THE SIDE DOOR ON THE SUNNY SIDE ONLY 4 FEET. GUESS WE WILL STAYING IN BARRE FOR A WHILE LONGER.

ONE ICE SHANTY STILL ON THE ICE AND ONE IN THE ACCESS AREA. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY THEY ARE TO BE IN EITHER PLACE.

LOVE AND BLESSINGS,

HOMER AND MARGARET

I haven't heard from Ray Richer if the flag is out and the clock set up yet, but I'm guessing not since there's still one shanty left on the ice. It will be gone by the end of today, I expect, and then Ray may wisely wait for a warmer day to put everything out there.

There's no hurry, unlike last year. The ice is still a foot or so thick, I'm guessing. The thing is, we never know how much melting is going on just because the earth has turned toward the sun and being warmed in spite of our above ground cold temperatures. So far there are two indicators missing for the start of serious ice melting at Joe's Pond. (1) there is no sign of open water in the channel leading into the pond, and (2) there is no melting around the shoreline indicating things are warming up. I'll check with Garey Larrabee tomorrow to find out if his fisherman friend has an updated ice depth for us - they can still fish, but the shanties have to be off the ice today.

Don Walker, a big ticket seller for the contest and one of the founders, has been in touch, and he's still got some tickets, but has sold most of them - we're talking 100s - Don has lots of contacts in the Montpelier/Barre area. We have a host of other JPA members who do a great job selling tickets, too, and we thank them. It makes the contest way more fun when the winner stands to take home a nice big check. Last year it was an even $5,000 - I confess I rounded off after the expenses were deducted so there wouldn't be some odd cents attached - I like nice round figures whenever possible, and it went to one winner. Some years we've had more than one winning ticket, and that's always fun, too. We like making as many people happy as possible!

We just came back from walking to Diane and Bill Rossi's, and the wind is biting out there. Temperature right now is reading 22 degrees - it's been in that vicinity most of the day, and the wind is right off the ice cap of the Arctic. We could see clouds of snow being carried down the pond as we talked with Bill and Diane. Click on the photo and you'll see what I mean.

Coming home was pretty cold, but we kept reminding ourselves it's almost April, so we can stand almost anything for a few days more and then the weather MUST give us a break.

Evelyn Richer said last week a small flock of geese circled over the pond in front of their house, but then moved on. No open water there! Evelyn was upbeat about spring, though, and said they are hearing more bird calls, so she knows the season is changing, but she said she hasn't heard a red-winged blackbird yet, and she's waiting for that undeniable sound signaling spring is here.

The road didn't seem too bad as we walked from here to Rossi's, but it's frozen and we know if warm sunshine hits it, it will turn to jelly again.

All but one of the fishing shanties are off the pond now. That one will no doubt go tomorrow. Ray Richer is poised, ready to get the flag out for the Ice-Out Contest. We will be busy dispensing and collecting tickets this coming week - the last week is always a rush. Fred got this picture of the last remaining shanty.

I have had regular newsletters from our friend, Bob Labrie, in Goshen, MA, who oversees an Ice-Out Contest fashioned after ours. The Goshen Fire Department has a website and it's very interesting. In his newsletter he refers to our contest:

I received an e-mail from Jane Brown this week. Jane is one of the many volunteers on the Joe's Pond Ice-Out Committee in West Danville VT. Their Ice-Out contest (www.joespondvermont.com) served as the model for the Meltdown. She reported that their ice measured 18" thick which was almost half as thick as it was this time last year. I wonder if they received more snow than we did which acted as an insulator and resulted in a thinner ice pack than we have?

Goshen Ice Out

I'll have to assure Bob that not only did we have a heck of a lot of snow to insulate the ice, we may have gained a few inches in the past few days, it's been so cold.

I talked with an acquaintance who is visiting from Connecticut and she was happy to tell me her crocuses are in bloom and her tulips well on the way. I muttered under my breath, yeah, rub it in - so you'll be sweltering while we're nice and cool in a couple of months.

Now it's time for beans and hotdogs. It's Saturday night, isn't it?? Doesn't everyone have beans and franks on Saturday night? I'm afraid our beans come out of a can, but I like to remember the ones my mother used to bake in the big brown bean pot with a piece of salt pork and maple syrup or molasses. She used to make cinnamon buns, too, and sometimes a batch of bread. She taught school all week, so her Saturday was spent cooking and cleaning.

I'm afraid I wasn't much help at either although she insisted I help with the housework. I think she always did a washing on Saturday, too. We didn't have a washer and dryer - the round wringer washing machine was in one corner of the kitchen and got rolled over to the sink so she could run the clothes through the wringer into a sinkful of rinse water. Then they were hung out in the woodshed where they froze stiff as boards in a matter of minutes. I remember bringing in long-johns and having to "break" them to drape them over the clothes rack. They would eventually dry out by the wood stove or over the hot air register in the dining room.

Saturday night and beans was something to look forward to - most of the work was done and when the dishes were washed and put away, we'd settle by the radio to listen to Jack Benny or Amos 'n' Andy, Burns and Allen, Fibber McGee and Molly; mother and I liked Lux Radio Theater and Inner Sanctum Mysteries. That took us away from war news a bit, I suppose. I think my father would be in his workshop for a while after supper, unless we were reading a good book together. He preferred reading to listening to the radio, but by 9 o'clock, the house was dark and quiet with everyone in bed.

So it was when I was a kid on a Saturday night.

NOTICE:  Dog licenses must be renewed by March 31, Thursday.

The Cabot Town Clerk's office will be closed April 1, Friday.

Just this morning Diane Rossi and I were saying there isn't enough "good" news in the world today, and then I found a forward from Homer Fitts in my e-mail. I often am too busy to look at forwards, but this one I looked at and read - but, because these things are often a hoax, I checked on www.truthorfiction.com to see if it was a true story. It was, so here's a link. If you haven't already seen it, I think you'll like it:
Kalat statue

I have to tell you, our weather still won't give up winter mode. We've had "snow showers" most of the day - squalls that roll through like summer rain storms. It's presently partly sunny, 32 degrees, and snowing. Not lightly - really snowing hard. There should be a rainbow out there someplace . . . !

We were in the Hanover area yesterday and there is not much snow there. As we were returning home in the late afternoon, we could clearly see the snow in the mountains north of us. There was a cold wind, even there, so we didn't experience much of a spring break like sometimes when we've been down that way. We did see several deer on the median in the Thetford area - lots of bare ground for them. Later we spotted some turkeys and then in the Ox Bow area, a couple of geese. I tried to get pictures, but we were moving pretty fast and in traffic, so it was a point and shoot operation - no time for zoom.

When we hit West Shore Road at around 6 p.m., we were surprised at how much the its condition had deteriorated. Mud and deep ruts making it hard to find any ridges to ride through some spots. We've seen it worse, but when we found a message on our phone saying Harry's Hardware Store in Cabot needed more Ice-Out tickets, we knew our best chance was to wait until morning and hope it froze good and hard. We got our wish, and made it down to Cabot this morning with no problem, going the usual way, over the Plain. We didn't come back that way - instead, we went to Marshfield (Rte 215 south is pretty bad, too, with lots of pot holes to dodge.) We noticed that John "Woody" Woods has buckets out all around his house near the Bayley Hazen Road. I don't know if he is doing the sugaring or if Dick Spaulding may have tapped the trees. Dick has a large sugar woods in back of his house out on Dubray Road, at the top of the hill, but he may have an agreement with "Woody." We were told "Woody" is chef at some restaurant in Stowe and his little trolley by the beach is for sale.

The road to Cabot was not good, especially this end from Brickett's Crossing Rd. to the cemetery. From there down, it hasn't really melted much, so that end will get worse after the other end is better. Everyone is complaining about the mud this year. I've had the scanner on this morning and heard this conversation:

First guy: "I can't b'lieve how many cars're travelin' on this road!"

A little later, "I just counted 39 cars that'of gone by me here."

Different voice: "Let me get past ya and it'll make it 40."

Another guy chimes in: "Is anybody throwin' rocks attcha yet?"

"Nope. All I got so far is big smiles an' waves."

"Yer doin' good today!"

There was some chatter later about bad spots being reported and what material they would try to use to give it a temporary fix. The frost is nowhere near out, and in some spots the mud goes partway to China, so no amount of fill seems to help.

This morning we stopped in West Danville after making a run to Danville to do some banking, and a friend said she was stocking up so she wouldn't need to go out for a week or so. She's afraid her vintage truck won't survive the mud.

At Hastings Store this morning, we picked up Ice-Out tickets and there were six that had been printed from the website, but whoever left them at the store, left the wrong end of the ticket - the part you are supposed to keep for your records. We don't have a clue who may have left them, but I'm sending them back to the store, so If you made out six paper tickets, four of them in red ink, two in blue except for a red ink correction on one, take the part you kept back to the store, leave it and pick up the receipt parts. Here's the thing: if your pick won, we'd have no way of knowing who you are because nothing identifying you is on this end of the ticket - the part you are supposed to keep.

We always have a few glitches, but we do our darndest to figure it all out so we don't have to discard any tickets. It isn't unusual for people to send in the wrong part of the ticket, and if it comes in the mail, there's either a check enclosed or return address for us to identify the ticket owner. But these were obviously paid by cash.

Some of you may get the FairPoint Communications newsletter, but if you didn't, here's an interesting link to check out. It's 24 hours of air activity as seen from space condensed to 1.5 min. Pretty amazing. Take a look. air traffic from space

Another interesting link is for recycling electronics in Vermont. There is a free program starting in July of this year through the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) ANR E-waste Program

We have another of those really cold but sparkling snowy mornings. It's only 15 degrees at 8:45 a.m., and the nice weather is only for today. Colder than normal by quite a lot, according to the weather folks. The snow is really pretty, though, and even with all the new snow and cold, there has been enough warmth for the snow to begin pulling away from the tree trunks - a sign the sugar makers look for to indicate sap is going to flow soon. The top picture is our back yard; the one below is the front yard and the turn-around for our driveway. The snow has all rounded, unblemished features with about 3 inches of fluffy new snow on top of what we already had. There was some cloud cover in this bottom picture looking north from our house towards Walden.

Another snowy day. It isn't very cold - 30 to 32 degrees most of the day, but it feels raw and the snow has been unrelenting. I measured 3.5 in. this morning at 9 a.m., and we have had another inch or two, but some of that has melted. Not a pretty day, by any measure.

I've been working on the Joe's Pond Association newsletter, getting ads and information together so it will be ready to print as soon as we have an Ice-Out Contest winner. I was a little surprised when I realized this morning we have only a little over a week left that we can accept tickets - nine days, to be exact. With all the snow and the only sign of spring to date being muddy roads, people aren't thinking about when the ice will go out - more like when the heck will winter quit?!

Our ticket supply is getting lower, but you can still print tickets from the website and send them to us, but be sure the postmark is on or before April 1st. You'll also find on the website a list of places that have tickets to distribute in this area; or contact me and I'll send you tickets (if I have any left). With only 16-18 inches of ice left, there could be an early ice out again this year, I guess, in spite of the snow. Any ice shanty's on the pond have to be off this coming Sunday, so I expect Ray Richer will have our flag out then - and not a bit too soon, either. I always worry about him going out there if the ice is getting too thin. Like last year. I was very concerned. Ray knows what he's doing and doesn't take unnecessary chances, so I'm sure everything will be ok - but I'm going to get in touch with Evelyn and see if everything is "go" for the flag to get put out.

I received the following notice this afternoon:

On Monday evening, March 28th at 6 PM at the Willey Building, the Planning Commission will host a public work session on the Facilities, Utilities and Services section of the Town Plan. This section covers all aspects of community life, from Town government and the Cabot School to water supply, health services, solid waste, recreation facilities, etc. If you want to learn more about Cabot's existing facilities and services, or have suggestions for improvements, this is the work session for you!

This is the sixth 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 Facilities, Utilities and Services section is available for review at the Town Clerk’s office, or return e-mail to request the document in pdf format.

If the weather and roads allow, this may be an interesting work session to attend. There's no doubt our town has changed in the past 10 years or so. I'm amazed at how many homes there are tucked into the woods all along our back roads. I was also amazed at how many innovative people and products were at the Maple Festival in Cabot last Saturday. Everything from art to Zen - well sort of. There was home-made granola that was delicious, very interesting art from recycled materials, home-made lotions and salves and balms that are really nice, plus all sorts of hand-sewn, hand knit, hand crafted items to choose from - and all made by Cabot people. Really interesting. Then, of course there were things like maple syrup making, iron working, chainsaw carvings - big, important stuff going on by a different sort of craftsman. It reminded me of how people here lived in the 1700s when they absolutely had to depend on their own knowledge and ingenuity to survive. I was impressed by what my neighbors are producing these days. And I'm sure what I saw displayed at the Cabot gym last Saturday was only a sampling of what's out there, and not only in Cabot, Walden, Danville and Marshfield, but throughout Vermont.

By the way, I heard today from the historical society president, Bonnie Dannenberg that the Martha Stewart Show had called wanting to shoot some film by the old restored West Hill School House. They called from NYC wondering if we still had some snow here . . . I just hope they come prepared for the snow and the mud.

We are in the process of getting 3-6 inches of new snow - depending on when you get a weather report. The forecast started off at something like 6-9 inches, and on the scanner I'm hearing the guys on the road crews saying we've had "an inch or so" in most areas, and the storm warnings have been taken off reports. Those guys seem to think there won't be much more snow. It seems to me the temperature is inching upwards, so it may all turn to rain soon. The thing they are watching out for is that roads will get slick, so they are salting the roads. Right now my thermometer reads 30 degrees and it's is snowing lightly.

I was at Hastings Store this morning on my way to Danville town offices to check property transfers for the newsletter, and Garey told me Hazel Greaves (Barre Ave. and Walden) had emergency surgery over the weekend, but is doing well.

Garey also told me the latest report he's had about the thickness of the ice is that it is between 16 and 18 inches. That's down considerably from the 24-30 in. we'd had reported about two weeks ago. No surprise, though, with lots of warm days melting the snow on the hills, rushing warm(ish) water into the pond.

We are thinking Ice-Out ticket sales may be down a bit from where they were last year at this time - but we need to remember that last year we got spring weather earlier and we didn't have nearly as much snow as we have this year, and this year it still seems like winter even though there are only 10 days left before the contest closes. That said, I just checked back and on March 24, 2010, Kevin Johnson reported 32 in. of ice, but there was hardly any snow on the ground. The more information I gather from previous years, the more confused I get. It's very difficult to figure out why the ice went when it did even in the past, let alone try to guess when it's going out this spring. Lots of people are holding onto their tickets or delaying buying them until the last possible moment. Can't fault them for that!

I spent yesterday afternoon working on the computer with granddaughter, Jo-Ann, designing an invitation to her 13th birthday party. We had a great time doing it, and they were pretty cute. She's having 24 kids - everyone in her class at school and two friends she calls "cousins" from Norwich - and the girls will all be sleeping over. I didn't ask how many girls there would be, but I can only imagine the bedlam. Fortunately, boys don't have sleepovers - or at least mine never did until they were old enough to camp out in the woods. But we had a garage at camp that served as a summer dorm, and it was often filled to overflowing with somewhat grubby teenage boys sprawled between drums, keyboards and guitars.

We had corned beef and cabbage - really an old fashioned "boiled dinner" with potatoes, turnips and carrots. I got the corned beef at Hastings Store and it was really excellent. It was a risky choice to serve Monika and Jo-Ann because I was pretty sure they'd never had anything like that. Although they had never had beef that way, they both said they liked it. Jo-Ann wasn't too keen on the turnip, but she tried cabbage the way I like it, with a little vinegar on it, and came back for more. We didn't have much left over, so that's a good indicator. Leftovers are on the menu tonight.

Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District Annual Tree Sale is April 30^th

Order forms for the Annual Tree Sale are available on the Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District web site: http://www.vacd.org/~winooski/.

There is a wide selection of native trees, shrubs, and edible plants available at very reasonable prices, including American elm, American chestnut, hazelnut, maple, mulberries, and currants. This is the 28^th year of the tree sale to promote the planting of native trees and shrubs in Vermont, and is a fund raiser to help support workshops, educational materials, and quality conservation programs to the people of the Winooski Watershed. Order forms must be postmarked by March 25. Please remember to also support your local nursery businesses for your planting needs.

Did you see the BIG moon tonight? Actually, we didn't think it looked that much closer than usual as it came up over the hills in back of West Danville. There were trees in the way as it first came up, but it was still very nice.

Would you believe it? We awoke to a skimming of new snow this morning. The day turned out to be pretty nice, but this morning there was just enough snow to cover everything and make our world look clean and sparkling, but underneath was a grim reality of deep ruts, frozen rock hard and mud that had changed from slippery slime to a sheet of glare ice, made even more treacherous by the half inch or so of new snow.

We made our way carefully to the Maple Festival in Cabot - Diane expertly keeping her car on the road in spite of the glazed patches and deep ruts steering her in directions she had no intention of going. We all agreed going home would best be accomplished on paved highways. I spoke with several people at the Maple Fest who were complaining about their back roads, too. Mud season is here, but apparently winter hasn't given up on us quite yet. Tonight the thermometer is at 18 degrees and we're expecting more snow on Monday and Tuesday - or rain, depending on location. In the meantime, the ruts remain, defying correction by hone or harrow, and we all know this is only the beginning. The frost is far from being out, and the constant thawing and refreezing only makes muddy roads worse.

The Maple Festival had a lot going on, and we set up on our mark at around 9:45 a.m. Lots of folks had gone to the pancake breakfast, but we all had early morning chores to attend to like recycling, checking e-mails and such. You see, this is a really busy time for the Rossi and Brown households with the Ice-Out Contest heating up as it always does in the final couple of weeks, which in turn triggers the release of the Joe's Pond Association newsletter which is still a work in progress with lots of reports and ads still to come - so we all have to stay on top of things like e-mails, phone messages, snail mail pickup, etc., and were it not for our enthusiasm for keeping ticket sales equal to or preferably a bit above last year, none of us would have taken time out to spend a whole day at the Maple Festival.

We had fun at the festival and we met a lot of really nice people - some old acquaintances, many we'd never met before. There were interesting things going on, but of course we couldn't get to see and do everything, even though Bill and Fred were happy to help out by manning the table while Diane and I "worked the room." We took turns spelling each other, and it worked out very well. Turns out we each sold about the same number of tickets, but I'm sure Diane and I worked harder at it, on our feet and approaching people directly, while Fred and Bill sat calmly and let people come to them. My voice finally began to give out, as it often does after a day of incessant talking, but it'll be fine by tomorrow.

Fred took lots of pictures, and we have lots of new products and services to show you - some you'll see in the slide show, and others will show up as business cards on the website. Here's a sample of our day at the Maple Festival, Cabot, Vermont:
Maple Festival 2011

If you are looking for a great way to celebrate the end of winter and
help raise funds for prevention...come to the

3rd Annual Cabot Maple FEST
this Saturday, March 19th
Cabot School Campus
9 am - 3 pm

The day's activities begin with a pancake breakfast complete with a bar
of local syrups to savor.

Craft vendors, Maple products and Maple baked goods will be in the Cabot
School Gymnasium, while outside, Anson Tebbetts will serve up
Old-fashioned sugar-on-Snow with sour pickles and fresh homemade donuts.

Horse-drawn wagon rides will take visitors to a Sugar house on a hill
just out of the Village. A guided snowshoe tour will lead folks to the
historic Old Center of town, while entertainment will continue throughout
the day. Activities include, live wood carving, silent auction with
great items, iron forge demonstration, dance, martial arts and a lot
more!

Bill Doyle's recent film "Living in Washington County", will be shown, as
well as, the film "Noble Hearts" by a local filmmaker that profiles
Vermonters in the Civil War.

Something for everyone. Come and celebrate the first signs of Spring.
We hope to see you there.
--
Lori Augustyniak, Cabot Coalition
P.O. Box 245, Cabot, VT 05647
802-563-3338

Meeting about High School Quality

and School Choice for Cabot (Tuitioning all Cabot High School Students)

We have organized a second meeting for parents and community members in Cabot who want to discuss Cabot High School quality and the possibility of providing school choice for our 9-12 grade students. This would mean that Cabot High School Students could go to any high school that is approved by the State of Vermont as residents of Walden and many other communities in Vermont have - and would also include private institutions like St Johnsbury Academy, etc. We appreciate all points of view and would especially like to focus on the differences between merging with Twinfield or other local school and school choice, NECAP scores for our 11^th grade 2010, as well as continue our discussion of challenges of School Choice which include transportation issues, general cost issues, etc.

Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Meeting time: 7:00 PM

Place : Cabot School Performing Arts Building

If you have any questions or concerns,or would like to receive minutes if you cannot attend,contact: Jennifer Taylor 563-2591.

We had another beautiful spring-like day today. The sun was bright and warm and we could almost see the snow depth dropping. One sure sign of spring is muddy roads. The road from our house to Rte 2 continues hold up very well, but we're told Brickett's Crossing Road is very bad. We haven't heard how the road over the Plain is, but I'm sure there are the usual trouble spots.

We went to St. Johnsbury for haircuts and other errands. As we left West Danville, we met another section of wind tower, and outside of Danville, yet another section at the scenic look-out on Diamond Hill. It was good they got through Danville early, for later in the day crowds lined the road in Danville and West Danville to honor Cpl. Ian Muller whose body was brought home today.

Flags lined both sides of Rte. 2 in Danville Village all the way to Marty's 1st Stop. There were flags at businesses many homes. In West Danville, the flag by the footbridge was at half-mast; there was a somber crowd gathered there, waiting for the procession bringing the young Danville Marine from Burlington airport to the funeral home in St. Johnsbury.



Flags lined the street by St. Johnsbury School, and people gathered as reports of the procession's progress along Rte. 2 and anticipated arrival time was broadcast over WSTJ. We noticed many young men in uniform as we went about our business in St. J. Young men Ian's age, and some older, uniformed sheriffs. People we spoke with were so sad to be welcoming Ian home in this way. Even people who said they hadn't known him or his family, were emotional and found it hard to find the right words to express the sadness, the sense of loss, the helplessness and, for some, frustration at yet another young life lost. I cannot imagine the pain the Muller family is going through. We hope the display of respect and caring shown today in some way helps that grieving family.

Not as nice a day as Monday and Tuesday, but still not bad. There was a little snow first thing, but that was gone very soon and although we didn't have any real sunshine, the sky brightened a few times and with temperatures ranging right around 40 degrees, it wasn't all that uncomfortable. There is still melting going on, but it has slowed down because of freezing temps at night. This is the way we all hope it continues - a little warmer each day, cold nights, good for sugaring and getting shed of the snow cover without flooding anything.

There are only a couple of ice shanties left on the pond. Wisely, I think, the others were taken off when we had those rainy mushy days. If a shanty gets solidly frozen into slush, it's likely going to come off the pond in pieces.

I'm getting anxious now to have the Ice-Out apparatus in place. There will be TV folks coming around soon and it's great to actually have something out on the ice for them to see. It's kind of hard for them to come up with much of a story when there's noting but snow and ice and fishing shanties out there.

We had a nice dinner with Don and Diane Sherwood last night. Don said the skiing at Burke was super good yesterday. I marvel at those two - skiing all day and then having a great dinner party in the evening . . . they'll be leaving here by the end of the week and then they are off on a trip to Turkey within a few days. I get tired just thinking about all the packing and unpacking and endless details involved.

We had a card from Homer and Margaret Fitts this week, too. Homer sent it from Key West, and they were headed for Venice, FL for a few days. They'll be home in about a week, I think. Before he left, Homer promised he'd be back in time for Ice Out. He'd better be - we need him to do interviews with the TV crews.

Diane and I are going to be at the Maple Festival on Saturday. We think Bill and Fred are going with us to help, but that could change, depending on whether Bill can find any maple pie. I think he's hoping for some like Catherine Beattie makes . . . but that isn't likely to happen. We may lose the guys to Julie's lunch counter at the hardware store. We are all hoping for nice weather, but even if the weather isn't great, there will apparently be a lot going on indoors that folks can enjoy.

Don't forget the corned beef or beef stew supper tomorrow at the church in Cabot. And lasagna on Sunday! I had both ads on yesterday or the day before. Check 'em out. There is the pancake breakfast on Saturday, too. If we play our cards right we won't need to cook any meals for the rest of the week . . . !!!

WANT TO SKIP COOKING ON SUNDAY?

The Cabot CANAC and Marine Biology students are making lasagna again. Dinners will be available for pickup at the Cabot School Dining Hall on Sunday, March 20, between 1:30 and 3:00 p.m.

Orders will be accepted until 9:00 p.m. this Thursday, March 17. Please call Caleb Domey at 563-3147 or email Caleb.Domey@yahoo.com, or contact any Belize trip student you know.

All dinners serve four people, and include garlic bread and cookies, and the price is $15 for Vegetarian or Meat Lasagna. Checks should be payable to Cabot School.

Proceeds benefit the Marine Biology and Cultural Anthropology trip to Belize.

This afternoon I'm writing to make an apology to businesses in Danville for not including them when I wrote about ways to survive the Rte 2 construction this summer. I've heard from at least one merchant calling me on the carpet for it.

My effort to let people know there is life west of Joe's Pond was in no way meant to mean the businesses in Danville would be off limits for the summer or however long it takes to complete the construction. On the contrary - I'm sure they will all be there ready and able to serve customers as they always have. No one is certain how the Rte 2 construction will impact Danville merchants, but I'm sure people who normally shop there will remain loyal customers. We don't give up established habits easily, nor do we forsake friends and business associates when the road gets a bit rough.

To anyone who may have taken offense or had concerns about what I wrote, I can only say, my intentions were good. I try to make this blog a place for readers to find helpful information. I'm indeed sorry if what I wrote seemed biased.

Rte 2 work will begin in another month or so. I'm sure the people in charge will do their best to keep traffic running smoothly throughout, with as few delays as possible; and with luck and the continued support of the community, everyone will survive and be happy with the resulting "new look" of Danville.

Here is the link to the page Mert Leonard has set up to keep everyone current with what is going on during the construction. http://danvillevt.com/Route_2_Project.htm

Beautiful day here this morning. It was cold last night - in the teens, but warming nicely this morning. It looked a little hazy as the sun was getting higher, but that may have been moisture from the warmth of the sun over the cold snow. Our trees were sparkling with frost, but that soon melted away and now we have another nice day - second in a row. Very welcome.

We were in St. Johnsbury for granddaughter Jo-Ann's basketball tournament game yesterday afternoon. It was a very good game. The Waterford 5/6 grade girls played Lyndon girls. The Lyndon girls were taller and heavier, but they were no match for the wiry, lightning quick and dedicated Waterford scrappers. One can't help being impressed with the way the Waterford team has improved over the course of the season and the way they play. This is a photo of the teams after the game doing the high-five thing. (Waterford girls in black.) It was nice to see how the teams interacted on the floor, too. On several occasions when someone took a tumble, a member of the opposing team would offer a hand up. Good sportsmanship made it all the more fun to watch. Waterford won something like 11 to 14 - I can't remember the exact score, but it was close all the way.

We saw some Joe's Pond folks there - Fred got this picture of Bo Keach - Bill is leaning forward on her left, and sitting in front of them out of range were Carmen and Richard Gagne. I know the Keach's granddaughter was playing, and I expect the Gagnes were there for the same reason, just like we were.

Jo-Ann only played for a few minutes early in the game, but she was fine with letting her more experienced
teammates bring home a victory. There will be another game tonight, but I don't think we can be there as we have another engagement.

Each time we've been to the St. Johnsbury Academy Gym, we've wondered about the building under construction in back of Brantview. (Picture at right.) I spoke with Tammy in the Development Office this morning and she told me it is a new dorm that will house 40 male students. Dale Wells (W. Shore Rd.) is the builder and it will be ready for students this fall.

We are saddened at the loss in Afghanistan of another fine young Vermont man, Cpl. Ian Muller of Danville. There is a story in the Burlington Free Press this morning: Cpl. Ian Muller Our sincere condolences to his family. I know they are very proud of their son and brother. The ache in their hearts is unimaginable.