Wednesday, February 29, 2012

I just checked Front Porch Forum and found this message posted: (I'd seen a post yesterday from one of the victims)

Joyriders Arrested

Paul White, Station Commander
US Route 2

PRESS RELEASE
TROOPERS: Trooper Darryl Cremo, Detective Sergeant Matt Nally, Sergeant Michael Kamerling
INCIDENT/VIOLATION: Burglary (2 Counts), Petit Larceny, Possession of Stolen Property, Operating without Owner’s Consent (2 Counts), Possession of Marijuana, Unlawful Mischief.
DATE AND TIME OF INCIDENT: Early morning hours on 2/28/12
LOCATION OF INCIDENT: Main Street and Elm Street, Cabot VT

DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT:
On 2/28/12 Vermont State Police in Middlesex received multiple complaints about vehicles being entered and having items stolen from them, along with two reports about vehicles being taken from their driveways. Both vehicles were subsequently located with one of the vehicles sustaining damage. These incidents occurred on Main Street and Elm Street in Cabot in the early morning hours on 2/28/12.

An investigation into these incidents showed that Melvin Dunster, age 18 of Cabot, and a juvenile accomplice, were the subjects responsible for these incidents. A search warrant was applied for and granted for Dunster’s residence in Cabot. Upon executing the warrant, evidence linking them to the above crimes was located.

Dunster was lodged at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility on $5,000 bail. The juvenile accomplice was issued a citation to appear in Washington District Court.



Today was almost a total loss for me as far as accomplishing anything substantial is concerned. It started off badly when Woody, our cat, got spooked when the contractors came a little after eight o'clock. It wasn't their fault - Woody has been friendly to them when they were inside, but this was outside and when they started unloading big, unfamiliar equipment, he took off along the path Fred had shoveled to the back of the house. He was peering in the window of my office and I, not knowing he was frightened, went into the garage to let him in. He is used to being let in at the back door, so when he heard me in the garage I guess he thought those machines were after him and he took off before he realized it was only me. We didn't see him for the rest of the day.

We checked all his favorite hiding places - what few are available with all the snow we now have - and couldn't find him anywhere. We both worried about him - he is pretty much an indoor cat during the winter, even though we know he spent all of one summer on his own in the woods and fields before we captured him one cold October night.
When he didn't come home a few hours after the workers had gone and things were quiet, we really began to worry. We called our neighbors that he often visits in the warm weather, Henretta and Jamie and Marie, and sure enough - about 6 o'clock Henretta called and said her dog, Cassie, had alerted her that Woody was hanging out in their garage. Fred went up right away and got him so tonight we are very relieved that our precious Woody won't be spending a cold night alone in the snow.

I say my day didn't amount to much because I was truly worried about the cat and it was hard to concentrate on anything for long. I did get an old journal scanned, and that is something I'd been dreading. It was written by one of the Osgood family members in 1797, and is dilapidated and fragile. Lots of pages are missing, but there were 13 in scannable shape. Most are an accounting of money spent. I haven't had time to read much of it, but noticed on one page he'd paid for a horse to go to Peacham, then to Montpelier, and later to Danville, (horses were scarce in those early years, and he apparently didn't own one). While in Peacham he bought "a little pair of shoes," perhaps for one of his children. It will be interesting to transcribe the pages. And tomorrow we'll be sure Woody is inside when the workers arrive so he doesn't panic and we can both get our work done.

Fred spent quite a bit of time walking around our property and along the road calling for Woody - he usually comes when Fred whistles, but not today. Before the men left, I had Fred ask them to check their trucks, both in the backs which had been open all day, and under the hood (Fred had already checked underneath both trucks). I think they thought we were kind of foolish to ask them to look under the hoods, but years ago, Hideous, a sweet-but-sometimes-really-vicious little tri-colored female, crawled up into the motor of Fred's car one cool fall night and when he got to Montpelier to work the next morning, he heard her meowing. She was pretty battered and spent the night at a vet's, but she was ok. She'd ridden all the way from Joe's Pond to Montpelier on the hot motor with the engine fan whirling next to her. One wrong move and she would have been history. So we really couldn't let the trucks leave unless we knew for sure Woody wasn't hiding somewhere in one of them. He's a much larger cat than Hideous, so probably wouldn't be able to crawl up into the motor cavity, but I needed to know for sure.

He's been very contented tonight. Once he got inside it took a while for him to relax and return to normal size (he was still "blown up" from Cassie barking at him, I guess), and it took even longer for him to get filled up with food and water, but after spending some time cleaning his feet and grooming himself, he curled up to watch the news on TV with us. He's now fast asleep in my (his) chair.

Here's some news - I heard today that long-time Joe's Ponder Tony Stewart got married on Feb. 12. His bride is Beth Cobler, a very special lady. Tony and Beth have been together for something like seven years, so we're very happy for them both.

We also heard from Karen Desrochers that she and Jim (Old Homestead Rd.) are moving from Texas to Montreal very soon. Karen gave me her new address so it could be in the newsletter. We also have posted it on the website directory of members. Karen said they are excited to be moving closer to family and Joe's Pond.

The only other news is that Ice-Out ticket sales are beginning to pick up. We have only a month - four short weeks! - to April 1st, and lots of folks are wanting to get in on the contest. The more folks who join the game, the more someone will win; we split 50/50 after expenses. It looks like the winner will get close to $5,000 again this year - we can only guess at that, but sales are about the same as last year at this time. That said, I think the on-line sales are considerably up this year so far. It's going to be a fun contest, for sure.

From The Cabot Public Library –

We welcome your ideas for programming and book suggestions for 2012.

Programs

Home Brewing Basics – Tuesday, March 20th6:30 pm – 7:30pm

Home brewer, Charles O’Connor, will discuss the basics you need to know to make your own beer at home. If you have samples of your own home brewed beer, feel free to bring them in to share with the group. [NOTE: There will be sharing to bring samples home—no drinking in the library, folks]

Mapping a Sense of Place – Saturday, March 24th 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

What IS a map? Why would anybody make one? How do you decide what to put on the map and what to leave out? Mapping is a way of showing what matters, of demonstrating ownership, of recording important places with lines, dots and symbols. With your map you can show someone how to get to somewhere or help them recognize a place that’s important.

In this workshop, led by Julia Shipley, we’ll get inspiration by examining all kinds of maps. We’ll explore how they reveal information about different places and terrains. Then we’ll try our hand at making memory maps, event maps, and other kinds of maps of the places we know best: our houses, rooms, woods, gardens, trails, neighborhoods, fields, barns, streams....Materials will be provided

Susannah Blachly with Two Shoes Off – Saturday, March 31st7:00 pm

Immersed in the joy of northern New England’s rich musical traditions, Vermont’s Two Shoes Off fuses the well-loved sounds of fiddle, guitar and mandolin with percussion and fine vocals, bringing to the stage a blend of old time jamming, Celtic melodies, American song-styles and world-beat rhythms. With original writing as their foundation, Two Shoes Off offers a fresh approach to traditional music that is by turns fun, funky and deeply moving. Two Shoes Off members include Susannah Blachly, George White, Dan Haley & Carter Stowell.


Yoga & Wellness Classes - Tuesdays 6-7:30 pm

We’re on for Tuesdays except for March 13th. For more information contact Alicia: 802-563-3220 or aliciafeltus@gmail.com

Dungeons & Dragons – Fridays 3:00-5:30pm

Join the group, conquer the obstacles, and get out of the dungeon alive! All are welcome.

Universal Class

Universal Class is an educational service providing high quality online courses for patrons interested in the lifelong pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. Over 500 online Continuing Education courses are available for free. These classes are provided by Recorded Books, Vermont Department of Libraries, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. For info on how to register, either stop by the library, call us at 563-2721 or email at cabotlibrary@yahoo.com

Thank You!

Thanks so much to Beth Hoffman for showing us how to make beautifully decorated cookies! Many heartfelt thanks to Paula Davidson and Karen Alexander for their years of service to our community as Library Trustees. We will miss you and your thoughtful discussions!

Reminders

  • Hours:
    • Tue 9-6 *** Story Hour 10:30-11:30 am ***
    • Wed 2-6
    • Thu 11-6
    • Sat 9-2
    • Closed Sunday, Monday, and Friday
  • Echo Pass – Allows up to 2 adults and 3 youths, $4 per each admission price, entrance into the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center in Burlington.

See you at the Library!

Kathleen Hoyne and Anne Walker

Saturday, March 24th

10:00 am to 12:00 noon

Mapping a Sense of Place

with Julia Shipley

What IS a map? Why would anybody make one? How do you decide what to put on the map and what to leave out? Mapping is a way of showing what matters, of demonstrating ownership, of recording important places with lines, dots and symbols. With your map you can show someone how to get to somewhere or help them recognize a place that’s important.

In this workshop, led by Julia Shipley, we’ll get inspiration by examining all kinds of maps. We’ll explore how they reveal information about different places and terrains. Then we’ll try our hand at making memory maps, event maps, and other kinds of maps of the places we know best: our houses, rooms, woods, gardens, trails, neighborhoods, fields, barns, streams....

Materials will be provided.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

After a blustery start on the day, we ended with bright sunshine and some nice new snow. It's hard to say how much snow we actually got here, but I measured just under 4 inches this morning. Some locations got as much as a foot or more, according to the weather report. The temperature remained pretty seasonal all day, but tonight it has slipped into the single numbers above zero, and may dip below zero overnight. We were interested that with yesterday's snow, the measurement on Mt. Mansfield is a little above what it was last year at this time - and last year we thought we had lots of snow. The continued cold nights will also continue to make ice, so it's looking a little more "normal" for our Ice-Out Contest than it did a week ago. We still have a month of craziness to go, so who knows!

Woody is enjoying having the workers here doing the insulating on the house. It seems to amuse him to sit on a window sill and watch them as they pass back and forth to their trucks. He even ventured outside at one point to investigate them; but it was way too windy for him to stay long today, although he made several short trips and rushed to check out the path Fred shoveled for them to get around to the back of the house. Woody loves to go outside and pop up on the deck railing so he can peer in at me as I'm working here at the computer. That's his signal for me to get up and go to the back door to let him in - even when he's just come from the open garage. He never seems to get that he could go back they way he came.

You can see we have built up quite a bit of snow in the past few days. We hadn't needed to shovel walks until this week, just when the work was scheduled on the house.

Since working on the correspondence with the Vermont Agriculture Experiment Station from years ago, I became curious about when the experiment station was founded. The university was founded in 1791, and merged with the Vermont Agricultural College around 1865. The agriculture research department took over the old Medical College building, turning the medical lab into a milk lab. Then they added a botanical lab and eventually had a dorm in the same building. In 1892 the university awarded their first baccalaureate degree in agriculture. Prof. Joseph Hills, to whom much of the correspondence our historical society has is directed, became head of the experiment station in 1893. Apparently giving away fruit trees in 1892 was their way of reaching farmers - great public relations, and I'm still amazed at how many people availed themselves of the station's services.

I learned something else while researching UVM's Agriculture Experiment Station: In 1924, the first radio broadcast in Vermont originated from the UVM station, WCAX, which was run by students. Now, of course, WCAX are the call letters for Vermont's foremost and oldest television station. The television station was WMVT when it started in 1954, but in 1955 the call letters were changed to WCAX-TV.




Monday, February 27, 2012

Today has been dreary and cold. The thermometer didn't seem to show the right temperature compared to what I felt when I went out around noon to get a little exercise. There was a brisk wind kinda from the east so when I was heading back home along W. Shore Rd., it was really cold. Tonight it's snowing, so lots of folks are really happy.








Fred was
at Marty's today and the place was busy with snowmobilers. The price of gas has some of them thinking twice about long trips, we've heard, but that didn't seem to be a factor at Marty's today. They were buying gas and food, as you can see above. Then, in West Danville, there were plenty of people milling around on the trail next to the parking lot across from Hastings Store.

I think we only got around 5 inches here, but some places got as much as 18 inches,
and ski area folks are overjoyed. We talked with Joe's Ponder Bob Wechsler tonight and he's elated with all the new snow because he's a skier.The forecast was for possibly rain late this afternoon and tonight, but I just looked out and it's snowing pretty hard and the thermometer is reading 32 degrees.

I can tell you someone who is ready for spring, and that's Woody. He hasn't been out much this winter. The icy conditions aren't his cup of tea. This is about as far as he's willing to go - to sit in the driveway and watch the traffic going by for a few minutes - and then he's ready to come in. You can tell by the sour expression he'll be really glad to see bare ground. Enough with this cold white stuff.

I've been working with some correspondence from the late 1800's into the early 1900's directed to the University of Vermont's Agriculture Experiment Station. I didn't know much about it, so I did a little searching and found it was started in 1886. The earliest correspondence I have in our collection is from 1892, and is directed to the professors who were apparently heading up the research station. UVM was founded in 1791, and merged with the Vermont Agricultural College around 1865. I thought it interesting that farmers in this area in particular seemed to be contacting the experiment station for lots of advice. There was a huge give-away in 1892, of free fruit trees, and local farmers signed up to receive the trees and agreed to report on their progress. I was surprised at the variety of trees available - apparently plum, peach and pear trees, and a large variety of apple trees were available.

One gentleman, L. Bancroft, of Berlin, Vermont, listed the trees he already had: 25 apple trees; 8 plum trees; and 3 pear trees in addition to strawberries, raspberries and grapes. He was looking for blackberries and some different varieties of apples. I wondered if many of those apples would go into cider.

Other people were looking for advice on fertilizing their land, controlling pests including beetles and rats, the feed mix for cows and pigs, and in the 1900's they began requesting recommendations on what cream separators were good to buy and seeking suggestions for making better butter.

I'm not sure how we came to have this collection of about 135 letters and postcards, but I believe a relative of one Professor J. S. Hills, I believe. There was a family by that name living in Cabot years ago, and somewhere in some other papers, I've seen correspondence regarding Prof. Hills, so I'm hoping to get that put together with this batch of letters in order to make some sense of it all. It's exciting when I'm able to put bits of scattered information together to make sense.

We're having some weatherizing done to our house - insulation added overhead in spots where the wind moved the existing insulation around, and then we're having some added into the walls. When our house was built, the norm was to use 2x4 construction and fiberglass insulation, and now recommendations are for at least 2x6 construction and either cellulose or foam insulation. We're hoping to save a little fuel by doing this work. They are also going to replace the pedestrian door in our basement. The present door is old and weathered, and we cut a hole in it to install Woody's kitty door. Not the greatest idea we've ever had, but it has worked well for him, and we close it off during the winter. Now he'll have a kitty door in the pedestrian door into the garage and he'll have to come to the kitchen door and knock to get in. That should work a lot better because he often brings in little friends, like squirrels, chipmunks, baby bunnies, field mice and moles during the summer. He would proudly bring his catch to us, usually in the living room, and announce his arrival with a loud "meee-ow," and by so doing, would of course release the critter which usually was very much alive and the chase would be on. This new arrangement should end that fiasco. He can drop them in the garage and they'll have a good chance of escaping into the woodpile or back outside, out of his reach, and we won't need to intervene. We're looking forward to the change.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Here's an important reminder about the Inspired Dinner scheduled for this evening. It has been canceled and will be rescheduled sometime in April. We'll keep you posted.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Update on the weather -
It's been snowing quite heavily all afternoon and the roads are slick. In the past half hour I've heard about a horse trailer that rolled on I-89 northbound, people hurt and horses loose; minutes after that call there was another rollover reported on Route 15 in Walden - near the bridge in front of the town garage. Rescue vehicles are having to be very careful because of road conditions, and traffic has been stopped at the scene.

Just now there's a report of a vehicle on the guardrails on I-89 southbound. This may go on for a while - it's still snowing quite hard and there's some wind. Temperature has fallen to about 22 degrees, so things are icing over. It's a good night to stay home if one doesn't need to travel.
I measured 5 1/2 in. of new snow this morning. There are now 22 1/2 in. showing at my stake in the back yard. We've had quite a lot of wind, so the snow is blowing around now, but there's still a lot on the trees. There are some white-out's from blowing snow on the highways, but traffic seems to be moving well.

We didn't lose our power last night, and while we've only had a glimmer of sunshine from time to time so far today, it isn't very cold - about 28 degrees - and really kind of fun to be out with the snow blowing around. It's kinda like a March storm . . . ! Lots of people are elated with the new snow, and with more to come, winter is finally looking more normal.

I had a newsletter today from Bob Labrie who runs the ice-out contest in Goshen, Mass. He commented on the "whacky winter" and is hoping the ice on their little pond lasts until April. They don't have as much ice as we do, and almost no snow, and their flag always goes down a week or two before ours. This year, who knows? I'm going to be prepared - I'm starting the newsletter now and will try to have it ready to go whenever the contest ends. I already have had a few announcements and hope to have others, plus some ads have come in early. I love it when there are new businesses in the area to include along with our regulars. Our ads are not expensive, and the newsletter reaches all of our approximately 300 member families around the pond - plus well beyond as we post the newsletter on the website, so lots of folks get to see the ads and read our Joe's Pond news.

Our cat, Woody, gets pretty bored this time of year. He was outside with me for a short time this morning, but wasn't happy with the blowing snow, so hung out in the garage until I'd finished shoveling the deck and taking my snow measurements for CoCoRaHS. When I was finished and we came inside, he was full of energy, but that lasted only a few minutes. Sometimes when he gets really bored, he hangs out on the mantle, carefully arranging himself among the various objects I keep there, and so far has avoided knocking anything off. Occasionally he jumps down from there onto the back of my chair, and if I happen to be in it, that creates quite a rumpus because I am generally not aware he's even on the mantle, let alone going to pounce on my shoulders. I guess scaring the daylights out of Jane is his fun winter pastime.

Friday, February 24, 2012

We're getting some snow this afternoon. I've had the scanner on as I was working here at my computer, and the official word is that from 4-8 inches is expected over night and another 3-4 tomorrow. It looks like we have about 1 in. so far. Apparently some areas like in St. Johnsbury and probably west of us, too, it has been rain and freezing rain. There have been a few reports of cars spinning out, so the driving is not great. I don't think we got any rain here at Joe's Pond, but the snow still makes the roads slippery. It's good that this comes on the weekend when fewer people have to get to work.

I've been sorting and filing the pictures I have scanned for the historical society in Cabot. I decided I should try to put them in better shape so I can find them - or so anyone else could find them, which means I've had to re-name many of them so they will show up alphabetically in a logical way. It's been time consuming, but I've been able to get 1,014 of them done and on a CD-R. There are more, but I'll do them another time. I have lots of duplicates, and this is a good way to sift them out. I have sometimes several versions of the same subject - depending on the year it was taken, angle, or whatever. Different things sometimes show up in those that appear to be exact copies, so I keep them. The originals are all filed away in albums and duplicates stored in archival containers, so we're making progress. Now I'd like to get them onto the web site so lots of other people can access them.

We've been hearing more about the norovirus that's always around this time of year. I heard on CBS this morning that every year there are 20 million cases reported, and about 800 deaths. It hits the very young and elderly hardest. Most folks come out of it ok as long as they stay hydrated and get plenty of rest. The report also said scientists are working on a vaccine. The advice for the present is to be sure to wash your hands frequently and stay out of crowds.

The scanner is crackling with activity - mostly road crews discussing what course of action they will take to keep ahead of tonight's storm. They may be in for a long night.

I've had a busy day, and now it's supper time. There are supposed to be strong winds tonight, and that always means our power could go off, so I want to get our meal out of the way so I won't need to cook on the wood stove - a slow process at best, but always an option if needed - known as "Plan B."


Thursday, February 23, 2012

We've had a bit of everything for weather today. We got about an inch of new snow overnight, and today there have been snow showers, sunny periods, and low hanging clouds, with temperatures in the mid to upper 30's and low 40's. There has been some wind, but the snow is heavy and is still sticking to the trees. Tomorrow we are expecting from 3-5 inches more snow, so the roads could get a bit slippery. Our back road looks more muddy than snowy - like it does in the middle of March. I just took this picture as the sun was hitting the clouds in the east. There is a fairly strong west wind that seems to be moving storm-laden clouds our way in a hurry.

There will be a special gathering at the pavilion this summer, called Spirit(s) of Vermont. It will be Sunday, July 8th from 2 to 6 pm. It's to raise money for the Pope Memorial Library, and Henretta Splain tells us she and the other organizers are shooting for at least four wineries, four distillers and four breweries to showcase their products. She said they are trying to keep the participants to the NE Kingdom and nearby surrounds. It sounds like it will be a fun event, so mark you calendars. It is also on the Events Calendar, and we'll no doubt have reminders as the date comes closer.


As often happens, someone reads the blog and connects with something I've mentioned regarding Cabot history. Today I've been corresponding with a grandson of Roman Kurz, who I mentioned owned the B & K Cheese plant in Cabot in the 1940's. I've had great fun searching out photos and information for this gentleman, and was able to put him in touch with some people who may be able to tell him more about his grandfather. He didn't have a photo of his grandfather, so I was able to send this one from the Cabot Historical Society collection. His uncle, Bob Kurz is shown in the middle - home on leave during WWII, or perhaps just about the time he was discharged, judging from the date. That is Bob Brimblecomb standing with Bob and his father, Roman Kurz. Brimblecomb was a local plumber whose shop was where the Historical Society museum is now. I believe the building the men are on was part of the Cabot Creamery, and Mr. Kurz began his cheese-making operation there. He later moved to a one-story building I think he built near his home, above where Cabot Commons housing development is now.

Going through my photo files to find the Kurz photos inspired me to reorganize those files, and that is proving to be a huge project. I'm only working on the photos for Cabot Historical Society; my own personal collection, will need to wait. It will be interesting to see how many photos there are in the collection(s) if I am able to accomplish what I'm setting out to do. This is a diversion from some of the other work I've been doing, but it gives me some ideas how to improve the process of preserving photos and document scans. I often think that if I were to begin the process all over again, I'd do it differently; but I've come too far to re-do it, so will try to make it more efficient as I continue to learn.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

CABOT RECREATION DEPARTMENT

February 21, 2012

Preschool, Kindergarten, First and Second Grade Parents,

Little League season is coming! At the Preschool and Kindergarten level children play T-ball. It is a lot of fun and competition is low. Games and practices are scheduled on Saturday mornings. First and second graders play Farm League and their practices and games are also on Saturdays. Farm League is also for learning the basics and while it looks a bit more like baseball they have many of their own rules that allow more children to be successful. If your child wants to play please sign them up on one of these dates!!

SIGN- UPS are scheduled for Friday the 24th from 3 - 6PM Saturday the 25th from 9AM – 12 noon

AND Friday, March 9th from 3-6PM

Saturday, March 10th from 9AM – 12 noon

IN THE GYM

If you have questions please contact Rebecca Nally at 563-3503 rmnally@yahoo.com or Libby Hale at 563-3226 libbyhale1@gmail.com

Thank you and we look forward to seeing your child out on the field!

Cabot Recreation Department

Remember!

*LITTLE LEAGUE sign ups are this Friday from 3-6 pm and Saturday from 9:00- 12 noon in the school gym.

* LITTLE LEAGUE is for boys and girls from preschool through 6th grade.

*The cost is: T-BALL (P, K) $25.00, All others $35.00 first child, $25.00 2nd and $15.00 all subsequent children. Scholarships are available.

*PLEASE sign your children up during sign-ups so we will be able to create the correct size and number of teams. Once the game schedule is written we can’t add teams. Children learn more and have more fun on smaller teams.

*If you are interested in helping in any capacity please let us know. If you are interested in helping “on the field” please be sure to bring your drivers license to sign-ups and fill out a volunteer application.

*THANK YOU!

Cabot Recreation Department

For more info contact Rebecca Nally- 563-3503 rmnally@yahoo.com or

Libby Hale- 563-3226 libbyhale1@gmail.com

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

It's getting harder all the time to believe spring isn't already here. Today has been another very pleasant day with sunshine and mild temperatures. Even the crows think it's springtime! I counted 13 milling around on the road at the end of our driveway this weekend. It was a regular convention. Today a beautiful white rabbit crossed the road by our mailbox and I watched him bounding through the woods just inside the tree line beside our driveway. I've been seeing more rabbit tracks than usual this year, but this is the first actual bunny I've seen for quite a while. At least this one hadn't started to turn color, and I guess that indicates it's still winter.

I bet some of you didn't know there used to be more than just Cabot Creamery making cheese in Cabot. There used to be a cheese plant just about where Cabot Commons, the adult housing building is, above Willey Memorial Hall in Cabot Village. It was operated by Roman Kurz. My uncle, Bob Bolton, used to work there, and I remember how good their cheese was. Today I came across what I believe is part of a box used for shipping, perhaps, with their logo and information. It was in some of the papers I'm working on for the Cabot Historical Society. Mr. Kurz came from Bavaria, Germany in the late 1930's and worked first at Cabot Creamery, and then began making cheese - ricotta, mozzarella and cottage whole milk cheese. It was difficult for Mr. Kurz because he was German, and he was trying to grow the business during the World War II years. Not only that, I expect there was competition from Cabot Creamery. In 1948, Roman sold the business to his son, Robert, who eventually sold it to Vermont Cheese Products Company. In 1964, the factory closed and the equipment and building were auctioned. Cabot Farmers Co-op bought the building and began tearing it down; however before they finished, the building burned.

I also found this advertising gimmick from J. T. Drew, who had a store in Cabot years ago. It isn't large, about 2 inches wide and four inches long, and it's made of very heavy cardboard. The bottom half has grit for lighting matches. I don't have an exact date on this bit of advertising, but J. T. Drew was in business in 1890 in Cabot. (Picture below.)

Glenwood was a big name in stoves. I found this web site:
Glenwood Stoves

Monday, February 20, 2012

By the way, if you are interested in following the Cabot select board's meetings, they are now posted on the Cabot Chronicle site:
www.cabotchronicle.org

You'll see them listed on the menu at the left side of home page.
This was the beginning of another really nice "almost spring" day this morning. It was deceptively cold, in the single numbers above zero this morning, but warmed up nicely during the day.

Fred went to recycle this morning and got some pictures along the way. The road out to Route 15 was still frozen, but it looks as if over the weekend some real thawing had taken place. Brickett's Crossing Road sometimes gets pretty bad in the spring, and this year I expect may be one of those bad ones. We haven't had much snow, but we've had some very cold weather and the frost may have gone pretty deep, and I think that sometimes makes mud season worse. We'll wait and see.

Fred stopped to check on how Ice-Out ticket sales have been at the Walden Corner Stop-Inn Shop. That's also known as the Walden General Store and is at the four corners where the Cabot Road becomes the Bayley Hazen Road and crosses Route 15. The Cochrans have sold a nice number of tickets for us already, so we think people are counting on an earlier than usual ice-out date. Again, we'll wait and see.

I want to share a newsletter I received today. And yes, I'm a roadie - from way back!

Hello and welcome to the monthly Ricksha Radio Road Crew newsletter!

As you may or may not know, Ricksha Radio is an all original rock & roll band from St. Johnsbury, VT. The core of the band is Theresa Dimick on drums, Jamie Dimick on guitar and Bob Dimick on whatever no one else wants to do - mostly ke
ys and vocals.

You also may or may not know that we put out our debut album, "Welcome To My World" in August, 2011, and it is gathering momentum in a big way! Cats like Jeff Holderby, Al Borbeau and Jesse Howes played on it and we are very proud of the CD.

We'd like to ask a favor of you: Ricksha Radio is out there on internet radio stations and music outlets like Radio Free Vermont, Last FM, Itunes, Amazon, Hitlantis, Jango and many others however we really do not have a feel for which songs are the strongest to feature as "great first-impression" singles. Would you guys please take a listen and let us know which one or two you like most? Like any true rock & rollers, we always crave more "feedback" (nyuk, nyuk). Tons of "thanks" in advance! Also let us know if there is some site or outlet that we're not on but should be!

Here's a link: you can hear the complete tunes at our Myspace site, :30 second samples at
http://ricksharadio.com/music.html or if you prefer, we are on Amazon.com , Itunes or, if you have time, access Radio Free Vermont through Facebook and request us at: http://freevermontradio.org/index.php. Please leave feedback or comments whenever an wherver you can!

If you choose to buy or download at any of these sites, we so appreciate it however for Road Crew members only, if you would like an autographed copy of the CD, email us and we'll get one out to you for a flat $12. Personal checks will be fine and we will have a PayPal account shortly.

It's official - we've begun work on the follow up record and attached is a photo from the first studio session - me playing "nashville tuning" on my sweet vintage 1950's Gibson acoustic guitar last weekend and again on my beloved Takamine. The song has a working title of "Leaving Nothing" and we will be posting an MP3 soon asking our Road Crew members for input on the new tune.


Thanks for being a charter Road Crew member and we promise to keep this monthly letter brief, fun and interesting with giveaways, sneak previews and any other cool stuff we come up with along the way. Stay tuned and if you have friends who might want to sign up, please forward.


Thanks for listening,
Bob "BB" Dimick
Ricksha Radio

Join Ricksha Radio's Road Crew / mailing list at: http://www.ricksharadio.com/forms/mailform.html
Check out our latest CD/MP3s/Ringtones at: http://ricksharadio.com/music.html
P.S. We do not share any info. or addresses with anyone however if you wish to unsubscribe, please shoot us an email with "unsubscribe" in the subject box and we'll take care of it.









Above left, Bob in the studio playing his Gibson acoustic guitar; at right, with his Takamine acoustic guitar. I don't know about such things except I love to listen to the music, but I'm sure there are those of you who know a lot about those instruments and will appreciate Bob's affection for them.

I'm sure the band will appreciate any input, whatever your age or music preference. I have to admit I'm partial, having been part of the "crew" for this group in ways you couldn't imagine.

This is a poster from "back in the day." Fred and I had just met, and we were at this concert/dance. It was great fun - they had some mild pyrotechnics, as I recall, and I think the drummer, Gordie Gorley, smashed a drum or a guitar or something in spirit of showmanship and the new year festivities. It turned out to be the first of many New Years celebrations the two of us would share with Bob and his music - and always a fair number of family and fans.

Saturday, February 18, 2012


We went to the basketball game in Cabot last night. Our granddaughter, Jo-Ann, was playing - the 7th and 8th grade Waterford team against the 7th and 8th grade Cabot team. It was a really good game and they seemed to be pretty well matched. The girls on both teams did a super job, and since Cabot is my home town, we just cheered for everyone. It's fun to see those young athletes doing their best and playing a really good game. Jo-Ann was tired and hungry when she got back to our house. Her aunts and uncles showed up for the game and then we had a family meal here, so it was a fun
evening.
That's Jo-Ann in the dark green uniform, No. 3.









New granddaughter, Tangeni, is about 7 1/2 months old now and
has been to all of her big sister's games this year, so she takes in all the noise whistles, yelling and excitement like a pro. That's her concentrating on her Aunt Theresa above left. She even tolerated Cabot's mascot, a giant fuzzy toothy husky, above right, doing a little performance for her and some other youngsters. The mascot and a friend put on a pretty funny show at half time - I don't know who either of the boys were, or whether the performance was planned or them just goofing around, but we certainly enjoyed watching them - maybe even more than Tangeni did.

Waterford won, 17-14, but Cabot was ahead for a while and it turned out to be a hard-fought win for Waterford. Both teams played a really good game.

We've had a little snow over the last couple of days. We got a little over an inch yesterday and an inch and a half overnight. It's been well above freezing all day, so the snow has packed down and really didn't amount to much at all. We're wondering if the sap ran yesterday and today. I wouldn't be surprised if it did - there seemed to be a lot of warmth in the sun.

Fred and I had a nice surprise the other day. Cia Considine, one of the staff members of the Cabot Chronicle, stopped by with some delicious cupcakes for us and a special coffee mug for Fred. The printing around the bottom of the mug says, "Established 1920 Re-Established 2008." Fred helps with their website, www.CabotChronicle.org, and I sometimes supply historic information or photos from the Cabot Historical Society collection.

Speaking of the Historical Society collection, I'm working on a very old journal/ledger that belonged to Thomas Osgood, who lived in Cabot years ago. It is badly torn with many pages missing, and is quite fragile. I will scan what pages there are and then put the original book away so it will be somewhat preserved. On the last page I can make out the following: "
1796 March the 16 and 17 days there was a very great storme of snow about eighteen inches deep and I was at Dewesburg at Esq. Colmans blocked up with the snow three days & we got home the 22 day a Sunday."

March storms can be doozies - lots of us are wondering if we'll have one of those big ones this year after such a snow-less winter.

Osgood's trip home from Deweysburg, which was a strip of land between Peacham and Danville, would probably have taken him over the old military road to Cabot Plain and then towards the Center of Town. The distance would be about six miles, but all tough going back in those days. Throughout the journal are references about his "mare," indicating he had a horse he would let others use for a price. When the settlers first came here, not many of them had horses. They used either cows or oxen for working the land.



Crafter and Vendor table space is still available for Cabot Maple Fest March 17, 9-3 in Cabot School Gym. Maple Fest is posted on websites for Yankee Magazine, VT Life and VT Vacation, VAST, WCAX/Vermontopia and others, and will be featured on the front page banner of the Washington World and an ad in the Hardwick Gazette that week. For registration form, go to www.CabotChronicle.org and click on the link on the left side of the page, "Maple Fest Vendor Form 2012". For questions call 802-595-7710. It's going to be fun!
*****

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Cabot Community

Spring 2012 Parent Information Series

FREE bi-weekly parent information sessions to promote a healthy community for children and youth.

The Tuesday Evening sessions run from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the Cabot School Primary Building. To Register for any and/or all sessions please call Pat at WNESU 454-9924. Ext. 308 Please leave name, phone number, and number of adults and children attending.

February 7: Ready to Learn: Social and Emotional Learning in Young Children

Ready to learn means kids are socially and emotionally ready to participate in learning at school. Twinfield Union School’s early educators, Betsy Zeigler and Denise Boucher will share suggestions to help families fulfill their important role in preparing their child for beginning school.

Co-sponsored by Central VT Building Bright Futures

February 21: Shaken Baby Syndrome

This prevention program will describe the cause of abusive head trauma in babies. Prevention techniques will be discussed including why babies cry, the crying cycle and how to console them. How to handle an inconsolable baby and how to deal with frustration will be explained.

A Training Program of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont

March 20: Keeping Children and Youth Safe: Suicide Prevention for Parents and other Concerned Adults

Cabot School is joining a state-wide effort to address the growing concern about the increase of suicide in children and youth. Please join us to discover how you can be prepared to help prevent a tragedy from occurring.

Presented by Laura Lacroix,

Cabot School Counselor

April 3: PLUGGED-IN: Technology, the Internet and Child Safety

This presentation will help adults under-stand the risks and benefits of having techno-logically-savvy children and adolescents. Issues covered will include screen time, cyber-bullying, exposure to internet pornography, online gaming, “sexting,” cell phone usage and the warning signs displayed by children and youth in trouble.

A Training Program of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont

April 17: Nurturing Healthy Sexual Development in Children

This presentation will help you to better understand the sexual development of children, and how to respond to children's’ sexual behaviors and questions in ways that promote healthy development. Participants will gain an under-standing of the scope of child sexual abuse and the relationship between healthy sexuality and child sexual abuse.

A Training Program of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont

FREE Childcare and Sandwiches Provided

Snow & Ice Report

 W e're through another March snowstorm, and as far as I can tell, we aren't expecting more snow this month. We'll probably have...