I thought you might like to see some snow pictures Fred took this afternoon. People seemed happy to be able to move about today - lots of snow around and still on some cars, but there is spring in the air for sure - lots of warmth in the sun. Here's a short slide show: Slides

The storm left its mark in many ways. There was flooding and power outages; at least a couple barns caved in; schools were closed, as were many businesses; in St. Johnsbury the sidewalk plow was broken down, waiting for parts, so things were a mess there; and most tragic of all, a 2 year old toddler was hit yesterday by a plow at the Darryl Bradley home in Danville. The child died. We have no further information. So sad.

I just spoke with Mike Greene at the Joe's Pond Country Store, and he says someone was in three days ago, just before the storm, and reported the ice is 2 ft. thick. I went back on the blog and found on March 24th last year we had 18 inches of ice reported, and I commented that the most we'd had all year was 24 inches. That makes us wonder if this will be another year like last year - remember, it went out on April 5th, the earliest ever.

Come what may, the contest is over on April 1st, or when the flag goes down, whichever comes first. We'll keep you posted on any new ice reports or events that may have an impact on the outcome of the contest. Watch the web site - Fred will be putting up a banner on home page for up-to-the-minute reports.

Sadly, I just heard that Robin Nicholson's father died on March 6th. His funeral is tomorrow, but I haven't seen the information on the Times-Argus website yet. I'll keep you posted. Robin and Mark have a cottage on Old Homestead Rd, and their home address is: 76 Sugarwoods Rd., Barre, VT 05641. Our condolences to Robin and her family.