Our spring-like weather is dissolving into more normal, winter-ish weather, but we won't see any real winter temps until tonight when below-zero temps are forecast. Right now we have a nice north wind that is blowing around the small amount of snow we're getting as snow squalls move through. There was barely enough new snow to measure this morning, and not much more is expected. It's dreary with no sun after such a bright day yesterday. My thermometer is registering 28 degrees and that is going to fall during the day.

Here is an announcement from Faith in Action:

Special Distribution of Government Food:
Saturday, February 11, 2012 11 AM - 1 PM ONLY
Faith in Action Northern Communities Partnership will be distributing 2,400 lbs. of canned food to Cabot area folks who were negatively affected by Hurricane Irene.
Signing a basic general form will be required indicating that you were in some way impacted by Hurricane Irene, but specifics are not required.
Call Faith in Action at 563-3322 if you have any questions.

So many people were impacted by Hurricane Irene, it's good to know there is still some help available.

Yesterday, while assembling some papers Jennie Smith Donaldson had used in teaching her students about the history of Cabot, I came across the information that at one time the meadow that is now Cabot's recreation area, just off the northern end of Main Street, was once a pond. The Winooski River winds through the town from north to south, and there are buildings all along its banks, some literally hanging over it. In the early years, the first mills were located along the river, and to harness the water power used to operate them, dams were built. Lieut. Thomas Lyford built the first one, a saw-mill, which began operation in the spring of 1789. He next built a grist-mill, which his son, Thomas Lyford, Jr. ran. The Lyfords built the first house in 1794 near the mills in what would become, but it wasn't until around 1806 that others began to settle in what would become the village. Then John Dana, who had a store on the Plain where the first settlement in Cabot was, bought a small house in the village and established the first store; he also bought a lot of land and sold it to people moving from the hills into the village. He eventually built a much larger one, and by within a few years, there was a tannery and, of course a distillery. The first flood was in the spring of 1833, when the Winooski overflowed its banks and washed away a wool-carding and cloth-dressing shop under construction by George Fielding.

The Winooski has its headwaters in Cabot, near Coit's Pond. The river was called "winooskitook" by the Abenaki Indians, meaning "the wild onion river" or "wild onion place." The story is that Ira Allen and his followers didn't like the name because it would remind people of the French and Indian War, so they called it "Onion River." However, as settlements grew up along the river Montpelier became known as "Montpelier-on-the-Onion," which apparently bothered some residents, so the name was changed to the present, Winooski River. Maps as late as the 1880's often showed it as the "Winooski or Onion River."

This is a picture of the backs of some of the buildings along the Winooski River in Cabot Village, taken probably in the early 1900's.

Now, back to my old documents and treasures.