Here are some thoughts a blog reader had about the pending H.223 bill in our legislature:
 

I read H. 223 with interest, as well as the Caledonian article.  Several thoughts come to mind:

*I wish it didn't put all the responsibility on the Secretary (whoever that may be) but instead would have a committee  that deals with enforcement, education, etc.

*On the whole, I agree with the proposals.  We all know that there are septics that leak, phosphate run off into our lakes and streams, erosion from heavy rains on purely lawn shorelines, etc.  Buffers of low-growing shrubs are really helpful for all of these.  And it [buffers] helps keep the geese off the shoreline.

*Local rules vary so much with each town about shorelines.  I remember several years ago worrying about some land being sold up by wetlands, that the new owners would clear down to the shore, that they would build too close, etc.  I called the Town official and told her my concerns and asked what their rules were.  She informed me they didn't care what people did.  As far as she was concerned, they could fill it in if they wished.  So, it is really important to have guidelines, rules that are consistent for all.  It protects the quality of the water for everyone.

*I may be wrong, but the bill seemed to say that people who already had property with lawn down to the shoreline were allowed to keep that.  It is for new development.

*Along West Shore Road the property that to me has done the most sensitive and sensible treatment of shoreline is that big tan clapboard house with the metal green roof.  They have left a lot of the trees along the shoreline, have a perfectly good view, I am sure, and have several reasonable ways down to the water.  It is really well done.

Just my thoughts.

Happy Easter!!

HDM

 

We'd like to know how others feel about the H.223 bill, or the comments above, so send an email or simply post your comments below.  Please keep your response civil.  If you feel strongly about the bill, either for or against what it contains, don't hesitate to get in touch with your district's representative.

Today's warm temperatures seem to have melted the layer of snow so at least the pallet is visible again out on the ice.  The flag remains stationary - and if you have looked at the setup on the web cams you've seen two little dots at the left of the red flag.  Those are reflectors put on to warn any nighttime snowmobile travelers.  It wouldn't be good to run into the pallet and flag, either for the contest or for the snowmobile.  There haven't been many fishermen out there this weekend, but the last report we had was day before yesterday when Everett reported 16 inches of ice.  The low  temperature last night was 19 degrees, and we are in for a few days of colder weather, so we don't look for much melting to go on this week.

We've been hearing some people grumbling that their guesses on the Ice-Out Contest are proving to be off due to the weather, so they are buying more tickets in order to have a better chance at winning.  Smart move.  Who knew spring was going to be delayed like this?  After a fairly gentle winter, we might have expected an early spring, but looks as if that isn't going to be the case.  We are reminded that some years the ice has held on into May . . . but that was before anybody knew about global warming.  In more recent years, we've had a see-saw of dates, but the trend has been for the ice to go out earlier than in the first years of the contest.  The chart above shows clearly there's a trend going on, but it's hard to predict how late the 2013 date will be.  

I had an interesting message from Andy Rudin today - about how global warming is, and probably will continue to impact the maple sugar industry in Vermont. Here's the story he sent.  It's amazing to me that pulling the sap out of the trees as they now do doesn't hurt them.  When my family sugared, we were careful where and how many taps we put in a tree, how large or old the tree was, and treated the process more like we were taking some of the tree's life blood than just pulling out as much sap as possible.  And it's scary to think Vermont is likely to one day have a climate that is inhospitable to maples.  

I guess the best we can do is enjoy what we have now and appreciate the colder weather in store for us this coming week.  Perhaps it will extend the sugaring season; probably will also extend the mud season, but after reading that article about sugaring, I guess the cold and the mud has to be considered a good thing.

Get your Ice-Out Contest tickets in the mail or turned in by midnight Monday, then sit back and hope the date you picked is a winner.  This is just another one of those years that proves this contest is a battle of wits - with Mother Nature.

Easter and Passover Greetings

This photo was taken by Fred's cousin, Ora Wry.  It won 3rd price in a recent photo contest.  Many thanks to Ora for sending it to us.  I thought it was a perfect way to celebrate today on the blog.

 

Homer Fitts is the greatest - he never forgets a holiday greeting and when he's at camp, always has appropriate decorations according to the holiday.  This morning I got this from him:  
" HAPPY     EASTER "
He also wrote that he and Margaret will be with family here in Vermont for Easter, so a big "Welcome Home, Homer & Margaret" to them, and HAPPY EASTER to them and everyone.

I'm reminding everyone that there are only THREE DAYS LEFT to purchase and/or get your Ice-Out Contest tickets in.  The contest closes at midnight on April 1.  Picture Fred poised over the computer, ready to pull the plug on the on-line ticket sales at precisely midnight on Monday.

I hope you'll use your tweets and Facebook postings to remind friends to check out the Ice-Out Contest on www.joespondvermont.com.  You'll be doing them a big favor, giving them a chance to win about $5,000.  We expect sales to be about the same as last year - perhaps a little more - depending on these next three days.  Make it happen!

I have news about the ice on the pond:  Diane told me this morning the latest report of ice depth is 16 inches.  That came direct from Everett, who is a frequent ice fisherman.  Diane said there was someone fishing near their home yesterday - not much activity today, but if the weather holds, we may see more this afternoon.  Tomorrow being Easter, perhaps not so much.

There was a meeting Monday regarding the high bacteria counts we had last summer here at the pond which closed the public beach at least twice.  Kelli Merrell, who is an environmental scientist with Vermont's Lakes and Ponds Management/Protection Program, did a presentation that will give you a clearer understanding of the problems Joe's Pond had and may continue to have.  We have posted Kelli's report on the website, and this link will take you directly there. 

 

Unfortunately, we have been unable to resolve the problem that was called to our attention recently - that  Mac and Apple users are unable to access the web cams for the Ice-Out Contest.  We got permission from Bill and Diane Rossi, who own the cameras, to contact the company they purchased them from to see if there is a solution.  The company gave us a number to call so they could provide an app that would allow Mac users to access the cameras.  We posted that number, but since then we've had reports that the app the company provided apparently doesn't do the trick.  So at least for now there is no solution.  As Diane explains, it's really a security system for their home, not meant for public viewing.  We will continue to try to find a way around the problem, but in the meantime, we apologize - those of you who use Mac computers will not be able to access the web cams.  If we resolve the problem, we'll post the information here.

I received this message from Michael Morley this evening:
 

Re: Editorial "Shah of our Shores" The Record Today, March 29th

This bill sounds like a potential disaster for camp owners throughout Vermont. Hope someone from the Association is watching the goings on in Montpelier. 

 The Record has it as S.223, but I found it under H.223.   Other than having the wrong branch of government, the editorial in the Record is scary about the potential effects this bill, if passed, could have.

M Morley

Franconia NH 

Here is a link to bill H.223.  

The Caledonian Record editorial is posted here.  Click on the image to enlarge enough to read comfortably.  

After reading the bill H.223, you may want to contact your district representative to let him or her know your feelings.  

For Immediate Release:     3/29/13

Submitted by:         Francine Perkins

                             Public Relations Officer

  

Re:    REVISED DANVILLE FEGC 028-3(32) PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE

 Attention Danville Residents and Businesses: 

 An informational public meeting to review the upcoming construction schedule for the Danville project has been scheduled for Thursday, April 4^th, 2013 at 7:00 pm at the Danville Town Offices on the 2^nd Floor. Interested residents, property owners and businesses are welcome to attend to discuss this summer’s work schedule and upcoming project milestones. 

Pike Industries (the contractor) will present and discuss their 2013 work schedule.  Representatives from the VT Agency of Transportation and Pike Industries (the contractor) will be available to address questions.  For further information please contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC at (802) 479-6994.

We enjoyed another nice spring "sugaring" kind of day and I think everyone in the Kingdom is   Now that is a definite indication spring is here!realizing we're definitely on the other side of winter and it won't be long before there's open water in the ponds and lakes, green grass in the fields and trees a-buzz with bees in apple blossoms.  This picture shows what our driveway looked like early this morning.  By noon, the driveway was clear of snow and the road was getting muddy again.  It was beautiful this morning, though, fresh and clean with about an inch of new snow. 

We had errands to do in St. Johnsbury this morning and there were signs of Easter everywhere. Fresh tulips and daffodils, Easter lilies and hyacinths, chocolate bunnies and marshmallow chickens.  Having been away from my computer all morning, I had lots of mail to catch up on.  This announcement, for instance:

Re:    DANVILLE FEGC 028-3(32) PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE

Attention Danville Residents and Businesses:

An informational public meeting to review the upcoming construction schedule for the Danville project has been scheduled for Thursday, April 4^th, 2013 at 6:00 pm at the Danville Town Offices on the 2^nd Floor. Interested residents, property owners and businesses are welcome to attend to discuss this summer’s work schedule and upcoming project milestones. 

Pike Industries (the contractor) will present and discuss their 2013 work schedule.  Representatives from the VT Agency of Transportation and Pike Industries (the contractor) will be available to address questions.  For further information please contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC at (802) 479-6994.

Now that is a definite indication spring is here!  Work is going to begin again on the Route 2 Project!  While it isn't a great prospect for townspeople and merchants in Danville (not to mention travelers on that section of Route 2), the good news is - this should be the final year of the project.  If all goes well, the Green will be redone, odds and ends of work will be completed, and by fall Danville should be pretty again and back to normal.  It's been a long haul.

Another message I had today was from a friend over on the far western side of town, Sue Carpenter.  She wrote:
 Hi, Jane - I didn't read enough of you blog this AM to see if you identified the photo across the top.  If not, that's our sugarhouse, my father and Pete (white) and Lady (brown).  Probably taken in the mid 70s.  The tree showing behind Lady's nose is about 3 times as big now, and the tree over the back of Pete is about 4 times as big.  They look a little wild because they had just unloaded a load of sap and were probably making the turn to head back to the woods.  The horses surely were wishing they could go straight and head for the barn.


This message rated a big WOW! from me.  I had no idea whose sugar house that was.  It is from the Cabot Historical Society's collection - a postcard with no identification other than "Cabot Sugar House." I was delighted to find out it was Charles Carpenter and his team, Pete and Lady, and never expected anyone to recognize the picture.  Sometimes these pleasant surprises just make your day, don't they?

We had another message today asking how to access the Ice-Out web cams if one is using a Mac computer.  Diane (Rossi) gave Fred the contact information for the people they got the cameras from and they were helpful.  There are now instructions on the Ice-Out web-cam page that tells you what to do.  We haven't heard yet if it worked out alright, but I imagine it did.

I'm still not quite caught up with things, and I'm sure there will be more mail tomorrow, but I'll get to all of it soon.  Now it's getting late and I've had a busy day.

We are saddened to report the passing last Saturday of Margaret Hebert, mother of Dr. "Joe" Hebert of Old Homestead Road.  She was 92.  Mrs. Hebert lived in northern Maine, where she had been born and raised her family.  Part of a large, extended family, she will be dearly missed.  Her full obituary is here.  Our sincere condolences to Joe and Pam and their family. 

 Spring is moving along, but slowly here.  We had bright sunshine early in the day, but now the clouds have developed and it looks as if it might rain.  Or snow.  I'm seeing 40 degrees on the thermometer right now, but that may change.  I think the forecast is for snow overnight.  We're certainly not worried that the ice will be out before the contest closes on April 1st.  I haven't seen much evidence of melting going on even around the edges yet, although I'm sure in certain places it's beginning.  I know as soon as the sun gets higher in the ski the earth around us begins to warm up, so things are happening from the ground up, even if the air above is still pretty chilly. 

We think we saw a cedar waxwing in our small maple tree this morning.  We didn't get a good look at it, but it was gray and bigger than a chickadee.  When we hiked up Jamie & Marie's driveway, I heard a mourning dove calling up near their house.  I think they may still have a bird feeder out, and that may have been the attraction.  I'm sure they'll be getting the feeder in soon - those old mother bears are going to be waking up hungry and ill tempered very soon.  I've been watching for pussywillows and robins, but haven't sighted either yet.  Still, I can feel "spring" in the air . . . !

This photo came tonight from Karen (Gruggel) Cobb who lives in Lynchburg, VA.  Karen and husband, Lee, enjoy summers at the family cottage on Narrows Drive - well, to be precise, they are right at the narrows.  Karen said they got a "surprise snow storm" on March 24th.  Looks to me more like Vermont than Virginia!  I hope it didn't stay very long and things are back to normal now. 

Another beautiful day - very nice mostly sunny maple sugaring weather.  Our temperature is creeping up to about 40 degrees which, if it drops at night into the 20's again is perfect for sap to run.  I cannot say our roads are quite as nice, though.  I went out W. Shore Road to Route 2 this morning a little before 7:30 and they were rutted but firm; on the way back a couple hours later, the were already pretty soft and it looks like there will be the usual islands of firm ground between pools of sloppy, car-eating mud.  Makes us really, really glad we have those camera set up at Bill and Diane Rossi's so we won't have to go through the mud to check the clock twice a day.

Henretta and I did the radio thing in St. Johnsbury - you'll find links on home page to both the Kix 105.5 FM interview with Jess Huffman, and the longer WSTJ  session with Don Mullallay.  The FM reception was very good, but the AM reception here is always a bit spotty, so the recording is a bit rough, especially at the end.  We had fun doing it, though.

Every time I've gone towards Danville lately, I've wondered what what happening just beyond the turn that goes to Frye's quarry, about opposite the VTrans garages.  I finally remembered to ask Garey at Hastings this morning when Henretta and I came back, and he said it's a driveway to reach a piece of property owned by one of the Calkins family.  This morning it looked like a huge pile of stone fill had been dumped there, but Garey said it was where they'd broken up ledge to lower the grade.  So now I know - we'll be watching to see if there's going to be a building there or what.

Remember this is the final week that Ice-Out tickets will be available.  Next Monday will be the end of the contest, so be sure you get your tickets and either have them already turned in or  in the mail before then.  A few more days of weather like this will start the melting process for sure.  Spring is almost here, folks!

I mentioned yesterday that the Ice-Out Clock is now running and our 2013 contest is officially under way.  I forgot to tell you that Henretta Splain and I will be doing the annual interview with radio station Kix 105.5-FM at 8:10 tomorrow morning and then will be talking with Don Mullallay on WSTJ  AM-1340 at 8:30.  We have lots to talk about with so many changes this year, and it's particularly fun to have Henretta on because she is our data technician, logging in every ticket's date and time so we can locate the winner within minutes of the clock stopping.  Henretta is new this year, too - our former data specialist retired - but everything is perfectly in place and Henretta has already logged in hundreds of tickets, so she knows what she's doing.

I hope you'll listen and maybe even call the station, 748-1340, if we aren't being clear about something.  It's all fun, and Don has been doing this yearly interview with us for years now, but he probably doesn't have any idea how much has changed this year.  I know he'll have lots of questions.

Tune in, and if you still have questions about the changes to the 2013 Ice-Out Contest, contact us here.

Did you hear the drum roll at about 12:13 p.m.?  That was when Diane plugged in the new Ice-Out Clock.  The 2013 Ice-Out Contest has officially started.  With a little luck and no power outages, the clock will not stop until the ice melts beneath it or there's enough open water for the wind to carry the ice it rests on away from shore and disconnects the clock.  

Just in case some of you still haven't visited the web cam page, here's what you need to do.  First, be sure you are in Internet Explorer as a browser.  Go to www.joespondvermont.com as you would normally do, and then there are several ways you can get to the web cam page.  You can click on "Ice-Out Web Cam" at the top of the page, go to "JP Assn." and find a link, or scroll to the end of the menu at the left of home page where you'll find a link.  

We are entering the final few days of the contest.  You can purchase tickets at outlets until close of business on April 1st; tickets that are mailed must have a postmark no later than April 1st; and at midnight on April 1st, the on-line ticket option will no longer be available. After the contest closes, we wait for the clock to stop.  We will monitor the clock regularly and keep you updated here on the blog about ice conditions and any important news until we have a winner.  As soon as we have verified a winner, it will be announced here and in the media.  We wish everyone luck in picking the correct time and date. 

Another crazy March day weather-wise.  We started out with snow showers, then weak sunshine and snow showers, then bright sunshine and blowing snow - it's pretty typical March.  Where the sun is hitting the road there are wet spots showing some melting is going on, but that wind is still biting.  It should be an interesting day for the sugar makers' open house events.

I've been carrying on an e-mail conversation with the vice president of the Schroon Lake, NY lake association, Vince Blando, who is interested in the possibility of setting up an ice-out contest like ours.  Mr. Blando is presently vacationing in Vero Beach, Florida, near Fort Pierce and Sebastian.  I wonder if any Joe's Ponders are near enough so you might arrange to meet him and answer some of his questions?  I'm answering what I can, but I think he'd really like to connect with someone from here.  We can of course do it by e-mail, and if anyone would be up for that, I'll get your e-mail address to him if you give me permission; or if you'd just like to meet him and chat, I'm sure he'd appreciate your insight about our Ice-Out Contest.  They are still very much in the preliminary stages of seeking information, association approval and possibly state permits, as NY has some laws about such things, of course, but he wants to be well armed with as much information as possible by the time he introduces the idea to their association board.

I hope you're all enjoying March Madness - lots of excitement going on.  Did I mention that granddaughter Jo-Ann's team at Waterford School won the Rotary Basketball Girls B Division?   Their team is called the Eagles.  She's #5, in the front row.  They are 7th and 8th grade girls, and I think all of them are looking forward to playing high school basketball.


 

Upcoming Programs at the Jaquith Library

All events are free and at the Old Schoolhouse Common at 122 School St. in Marshfield unless noted otherwise. For info: 426-3581 

Friday, March 22, at 7 p.m. Do You Want to Save Money on Fuel? Learn about weatherization savings and techniques and the Marshfield and Plainfield weatherization program. The program has a limited number of $100 home energy audits for homeowners in both towns. Attendees at this discussion will have the opportunity to sign up for the program and win a FREE audit by a professional. Refreshments will be served.  Sponsored by the Marshfield and Plainfield Energy Committee.

Wednesday, March 27 at 7 p.m. Workshop on Solar Net Metering for Single or Group Systems. A chance to learn about different financing models and to meet other people interested in group net metering solar systems. Please pre-register at 426-3100. Sponsored by Marshfield Energy Committee and the Jaquith Library.

Thursday, March 28 at 7 p.m. Spur of the Moment Film Series. (2011), droll French comedy written, directed and acted by physical comedians Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, and Bruno Romy. “Effervescent, delirious and delightful…thoroughly recommended!” –Andrew O”Hehir, Salon.com. For the title of the movie, go to our website at: www.marshfield.lib.vt.us or call the library: 426-3581.

Wednesday, April 3 at 7 p.m. Classic Film Night with Tom Blachly and Rick Winston. (1950), directed by J.B. Priestly, and starring Alex Guinness, Kay Walsh, and Beatrice Campbell. George Bird (Guinness) leads a drab life as a salesman until he is told he has only one month to live. Withdrawing his meager savings, he decides to spend his remaining days in a posh seaside resort, where he suddenly comes in contact with a world he has never known. For the title of the movie, go to our website at: www.marshfield.lib.vt.us or call the library: 426-3581.

Friday, April 5 at 7 p.m. Game Night: Drag the board games and cards out of your closet and come on down to the Jaquith Library for a fun night of playing games.

Sunday, April 7 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Herbal Workshop with Angie Barger. Continue learning about herbology with Angie.  This is the second workshop Angie has taught at the Jaquith and will be jam packed with interesting information and hands-on experiences.

Wednesday, April 10 at 7 p.m. A New Beginning:  Education in a Sustainable Future. Join David Maynard, Waldorf Teacher and environmentalist,  for a talk that takes a look at the dynamics of energy and resource use and how they shape our world. We are at a cross-roads in time, and our choices as humans will greatly affect our children's lives. Can education ensure a bright future for generations to come?

Friday, April 12 at 7 p.m. Spur of the Moment Film Series Presents: (2012), directed by Benh Zeitlin and starring Levy Easterly, Dwight Henry, and the amazing 6 year old academy award nominee, Quvenzhane Wallis.

Wednesday, April 17, at 6:45 p.m. Song Circle: Community Sing-A-Long with Rich and Laura Atkinson. Everyone has a great time singing with Rich and Laura. Singers of all ages and abilities are welcome and song books are provided.

Friday, April 19 at 6 p.m. Art and Author Night. Join us for an art opening of Lark Upson’s work followed by a reading with author Gayle Hanson at 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

Wednesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. Bicycle Maintenance with Anne Miller and Friends. Tune-up your bike for Spring. Gas prices are going up! Get out your bike and get it ready to go with Anne Miller and special guests

I just saw this link on Cabot Front Porch Forum and couldn't resist passing it on:  Mixup in Illinois  Thanks to Karen Meuller-Harder in Cabot for spotting that article. As Karen remarked, "This wouldn't happen in Vermont."

Also a reminder that this weekend is the Vermont Maple Open House on the 23rd and 24th.  Find a sugar house to visit - there will be lots of them open and welcoming visitors. 

We've had a beautiful day today with bright sunshine all day long - something of an oddity in the recent days.   We had about 3/4 of an inch of very dry, fluffy snow this morning, but even though the temperatures have been only in the low 30's, some of the snow has melted and/or settled. This is how our morning started off - bright sunshine and hardly a cloud in the sky.

We may have more snow flurries the rest of the week, but today has recharged our batteries so we won't mind the cloudy periods ahead quite so much.  I'm sure skiers everywhere are rejoicing at all the new snow this storm left for us.   We got well over a foot here at Joe's Pond and that brought the total on the ground back up to just about two feet when I measured this morning.

If you are in the Joe's Pond area, contact Helen Morrison, 802-563-2488

 Happy First Day of Spring!  I'm happy to acknowledge it here, but looking outside from my office window (top picture), things look very much like winter.  

We have had just about a foot of snow in the past couple of days, and it's still snowing very lightly.  We are back to 24 inches on the ground, and that is the most I've measured all winter.  We're going to have snow showers most of the rest of this week, so we may gain a little more, but also what we have will pack down a bit, so I don't expect our total depth to increase by much - unless we get another big storm in April.  It could happen!

The next picture is from our living room - looking towards the pond and Route 15.  I was checking for pussy willows a few days ago (didn't see any) and now all the trees look like they've burst out with pretty white buds, but it's snow.  If we were in December, we'd be excited that everything looks so "Christmasy!"

I've been working on the Joe's Pond Association newsletter.  I panicked a little about two weeks ago when we were having real spring-like weather, thinking we might be facing another nail-biter with the ice threatening to go out early, so I sent out my deadline notices to all our officers who make reports for the newsletter, contacted businesses for ads, and in between distributing Ice-Out tickets and everyday life, began whipping the newsletter into shape.  When temperatures dropped into the zero zone and then we were warned of this latest storm, I began to relax a bit - no way is the ice going to go out any day soon.  The good news is - the newsletter is coming along just fine, once all my reports are in by deadline Friday (hopefully) all we need is the name of the winner or winners of the Ice-Out Contest and we're ready to publish.

That said, I've neglected some of my e-mail, but I'm going to try to remedy that now.  One of the e-mails that came recently was particularly interesting.  It was Walter Ruf (Sandy Beach Rd) and was sent on Monday, March 18th from Florida where he and his sister, Mimi, spend the winter:  
Hi,YOU ALL,today is the 60th anniversary of my sisters and my arriving in New York USA.We looked forward to a new and better future after being in Germany during WW2. Coming into NY harbor on board the USS America was very exciting, and wondering what was ahead for us in a new country and with relatives we had not ever met. But all went well and we are still here and proud citizens of this country. I have to quit now because dinner is ready and a great bottle of wine is waiting to help us celebrate.  Zum Wohl! Prosit Chin Chin!!     Regards to you all, Irma (Mimi) & Walter.

 We at Joe's Pond are very happy Walter and Mimi are here.  

Early this month Karen Cobb sent a very interesting photo.  It took me a little time to figure out exactly what I was looking at - but I bet some of you who are familiar with the cottages near the familiar Gruggel/Cobb place on Narrows Drive will "get it" right away.   Here's what Karen wrote about the picture:

Have chuckled for years when I was told our camp has been called either the Castle or the Haunted House on Joe'sPond Pond!  Might have some validity though as for past 4 years an interesting apparition has been seen from the porch window along the channel side. In the past the apparent house was in muted tones of brown and gray and not as distinct as the photo I am sending. Couldn't really figure it out initially, but last year, Voile!
It is a reflection from across the big pond of the Roy camp! Know someone else owns it now, but it will always be the Roy Boys camp to me!  The kicker for me last year was seeing it from a new location on the porch as well as it being in living color for the first time!  I know Auntine is getting a kick out of it too! She was the original Gruggel owner in 1941!  Needless to say, it will be a top priority to view it again hopefully this summer when we return!

I'll give you a hint - the Gruggel/Cobb cottage is at the narrows between the middle and big pond, so their porch windows look towards the cottages accessed from Route 2.  Send me an e-mail if you are able to figure this out.  I'll give you more hints tomorrow if nobody comes up with an answer.

& & & & &

I didn't want to spoil it for those of you who hadn't had a chance to see the picture and information Karen Cobb sent, so that's why I'm putting this at the bottom of this morning's post.  Around 2 o'clock I got this e-mail:

 

Hi Jane

Mary Ellen Stover’s cottage is superimposed in the picture next to the ??? (don’t know the names of the owner –wish I had the JP directory in hand) cottage. You can tell the picture is a reflection as the addition on Mary Ellen’s is on the wrong side in the picture. Keep up all of the great work on the JP website.

Thanks

Rick Hackett

That's exactly right, and the cottage to the left is now owned by Kari Lizer.  It used to be the Bob and Ruth Wernert cottage.  Kari bought it around ten years ago, I think.  I'm not surprised that Rick Hackett got it right away - his cottage is in Mary Ellen Stover's neighborhood.

It seems winter isn't finished with us.  Our brief taste of spring, accompanied by a mini mud season, was just a teaser.  Last night we had a low of -1.1 degrees.  It's been chilly all day although there was lots of bright sunshine until mid-afternoon.  The forecast is for up to a foot of snow beginning sometime tonight and into tomorrow.  Then snow showers off and on for the rest of the week.  How's that to start off the official spring season on Wednesday!?  

We were away most of the day, first to recycle in Wolcott, then back to deliver the last of this year's Ice-Out tickets to the outlets in Walden and Cabot.  In both Walden (actually South Walden), and at the Cabot General Store, they still had tickets on hand, but because we're into the last two weeks before the contest closes, tickets are going to be scarce quickly.  We've had to make special deliveries almost every year in the past to keep outlets supplied.  This year I've divided my remaining tickets among the outlets I keep supplied and if all of them are sold, people will need to go to the web site for their tickets.  Not a bad thing, but lots of folks either don't have computers or prefer to have a regular ticket in their hand.

In the afternoon, we went to St. Johnsbury and delivered remaining tickets to outlets there.  We picked up some tickets and in the ones that we got at Hastings Store, someone had left the wrong end of the ticket - the small portion - and kept the part with all the identifying information on it.  The tickets are numbered 4,125-4,134; they were wrapped neatly in a $10 bill and secured with a rubber band.  Unfortunately, we won't be able to enter the tickets without a name, and all of them had very reasonable picks for dates and times.  I'm hoping someone will realize they turned in the wrong end of the ticket and get in touch with us.  Every year a few people do this.  Sometimes we are able to locate the owner of the ticket, but sometimes not.  Please check the tickets you're holding to be sure you have the smaller portion, which is square, not the larger rectangle that has your contact information.  We'd really like to know who these ten tickets belong to.

When we were in Cabot today, I saw Bobby Searles, the new owner of Harry's Hardware Store in Cabot.  Bobby had owned the general store for some time, but only recently acquired Harry's.  The plan is to operate it as a traditional hardware store and also have other merchants in some of the space.  Butters Restaurant is also poised to open there, but Bobby told me today they don't know yet when the doors will be open.  There are lots of folks happy that there will be gasoline pumps in operation again in town, too.  Bobby could only tell me there will be a "spring opening."  I didn't get to see Stan from Butters - he was at the old space next door, but we were running late and had to get home, and I knew his opening depends solely on when Bobby is ready.  

If you must be out on our roads tomorrow, please drive carefully.  This could be the last of the big snow storms for this year, and this time Joe's Pond may have a fair amount of snow delivered.  I have measured a total of 112.7 in. of snow over the course of this winter, from November 5 when we had the first measurable snowfall, until now.  Not a bad winter for snow at our location.  The most snow I've measured, new and old on the ground, was 24 in. and that was at the end of February lasting into the first week of March.  Those figures are available on the website, www.cocorahs.org.  My station number is VT-WS-12, and my location is 3.9 ENE - measured in miles and direction, as the crow flies, from the town of residence.  You can check stations all over U. S. and some in Canada.  We'll see how much we can ad to that total tomorrow!
 

Veteran Joe's Ponder, Homer Fitts, is in the news again, even though he's warming his toes in the Florida sun.  Most folks around Joe's Pond know that there are lots of folks who escape the cold winter months by going to Florida, and we have quite a large number of people here who have or had ties to Barre.  That's how "Barre Day" got started 16 years ago.  Homer, it turns out, was co-founder with Roland Lajeunesse back in the day.  Here's a recent story done by the Times-Argus in Barre.  Barre South.

We are getting a real March mix of weather.  Last night the temperatures dropped into the single numbers again, and there were a few snow flurries in the early morning hours.  Now the sun is out and the wind is picking up - I believe the forecast is for a winter storm bringing snow and/or rain to our area tomorrow into Tuesday.  So far, the thermometer outside my office window hasn't moved above 22 degrees, even now, with the sun moving to that side of the house.  It doesn't matter, I'm not going to go outside as far as I know.  I have way too much to do here at my computer.

We had to scramble today to get tickets to Caplan's Store in St. Johnsbury - well, we got them as far as the Joe's Pond Country Store where Dave Caplan will pick them up early tomorrow morning when he stops there for breakfast.  It seems someone came by Caplan's yesterday and bought all the tickets they had and would have bought more.  I have no idea who it was, but we thank him for grabbing so many and wish him (or whoever he gives them to) luck.

We're down to two weeks before the deadline, April 1st, to get tickets.  I'm nearly out of printed tickets, and I'm pretty sure Diane is, too.  In the next few days we will distribute the last of what we have to the various outlets and after that, people will have to go on line to either print their tickets and send them to us or buy ten outright, using a credit card.  It still costs only $1 a ticket - we intend to make it easy for Ice-Out Contest enthusiasts to get into the game.

By the way, if you are looking at the image of the new clock on the web cam, and wondering why it isn't running, that's because Larry Rossi is waiting for Ray Richer to check out the hookup - Larry being new at this and Ray being an old hand at it.  Larry wants to be sure everything is going to work the same as in the past.  Once Ray has given his stamp of approval, Diane will start the clock.  There's no hurry, with temperatures this cold and ice still a couple feet thick, we don't expect the ice to go out any time soon.  With another storm coming that might bring rain, things could change quickly, though.
 
If you sometimes wonder how I spend my time other than doing Ice-Out stuff and writing on the blog - it's also time to get the Joe's Pond Association newsletter ready to publish.  Fred took this picture of me on Wednesday at the Danville Town offices, going through the property transfers.  That information will be in the newsletter and also effects our Joe's Pond Directory.

This announcement came to me today about the Maple Open House weekend next week. That's a great opportunity for folks who don't usually get a chance to visit a maple sugaring operation to go and see exactly how maple syrup and sugar are made.  Take the kids and maybe some friends and plan to visit at least one of the maple producers in our area.  You'll enjoy the experience and better understand all the work and long hours it takes to produce that wonderful golden sweet stuff.

I bet you thought I got lost on one of our snowshoe treks or something.  Not so - although I'll admit that after two consecutive days trudging along our hillside on snowshoes, I was hurting.  One hip gives me fits every now and then, the result of an old sliding injury back when I was in my late teens, I suppose. But I'm fine now and walking the hill to Jamie and Marie's house every day.  The reason I haven't blogged in a few days is that I've been pretty busy getting the JPA newsletter ready for printing as soon as the ice goes out - and then this is the last hurrah before the end of the Ice-Out Contest, so there are lots of things to deal with.  Our ticket supply is dwindling, but there's always the on-line tickets, so we aren't worried.

It's cold again.  Those wet, warm days have given way to the reality of March.  Last night the temperature went into the teens and we had a sifting of snow on the ground this morning.  Things were frozen back up - a blessing since there was some flooding here and there.  In St. Johnsbury, the area where Jamie is at KATV had to be evacuated because of an ice jam in the river that backed the water up into the parking lot.  I haven't talked to him, but I'm sure nothing was damaged in the building, and I don't know that he even left - but I imagine he moved his car out of danger.

We had a deep mud hole in front of Encarnacion's on Wednesday, but the town came and fixed it right away, as soon as we called and told them about it.  They said roads all over town had bad spots - some worse than others - but they managed to keep traffic moving ok.  In St. Johnsbury on Wednesday, there was absolutely no snow.  We were there in the morning, picking up Ice-Out tickets at St. Jay Hardware, Caplan's and Natural Provisions, and it was very spring-like.   We still have about a foot of crusty snow on the ground.  I think anyone can walk anywhere on it without breaking through, but neither of us has tried.

Diane told me a car came bombing up the pond and ran over the rope to the Ice-Out pallet and flag yesterday.  She was very surprised to see a car going by that close to the shore, but said no harm was done as the rope that secures the setup is well encased in ice after the warm spell.  You can bet all those ice shanties are well frozen into the ice, too.  That means there will be a lot of junk remaining on the ice after they take them off - when they get frozen in they sometimes just take whatever they can pry loose and leave the underpinnings to float off.  Last year there was an unusual amount of debris left on the ice - tarps, wood and junk.

It's Maple Festival time in Cabot tomorrow.  You may want to go down and check out all the activities.   Click on the image at right to enlarge it.

Here is the complete obituary for 10-year-old Millie Bertrand, granddaughter of Fred and Elinor Bertrand.  We are very sad at the loss of this bright young life, and our thoughts are very much with her family.

We have a rainy day here.  The temperature is in the mid to high 30 range, and snow pack is disappearing rapidly.  We were out on West Shore Road last evening and there are some fairly deep muddy spots.  It seems early for mud season, and I expect this is just a preview of what's in store for us on a grand scale later - but then there's the possibility our mud season has started and will simply last longer than most years.  Not a pleasant thought, but it could happen.

I'm glad we took advantage of the fine weather this weekend and went snowshoeing in our newly cropped woods.  We are seeing our property in a whole new light now - literally and figuratively.  It's much more open, with much of the soft wood harvested on the hillside in back of the house.  We still have a cluster of fairly large spruces and firs between us and Jamie and Marie's house, which were left because it's very wet in that area and Johnny Doyon didn't want to get his big rig mired in there.  We're hoping to perhaps have someone with lighter equipment take out some of those big old trees.  Then there's a small clump near the road, also in a wet spot, that are hiding our view of the pond, and I'm hoping we can take them down, too.  We think we'll have some very nice walking paths and clearings to enjoy once the snow goes and we've had a chance to settle some of the debris.  Johnny picked up most of the brush, but there will be some left in spots where he packed it in front of the tracks of his big tractor so he wouldn't get into the soft ground so much, and that will be something of a tangle until nature takes over and covers it with moss and undergrowth..  We may thin out some of the young maples to make the remaining ones stronger and healthier.  It would be nice to have a nice young maple stand out there.  

In the middle picture you can see a couple of mounds of earth where trees had come down.  Johnny was able to salvage the logs, but some of the roots are left tipped up.  Those will grow over and diminish somewhat as time passes; in the meantime, the make great shelters for small animals.  We're hoping some of the wet spots will begin to dry out a bit now they are opened up to the sun.  

So today is revealing more of the stumps and furrows as the snow melts around them, and soon there will be emerging new growth to renew the landscape.  We'll enjoy watching the evolution.

Suzanne Masland, on Edgewood Road, let me know that there were signs someone had been around cottages on Edgewood during the weekend.  She said she didn't see any evidence of damage, but wonders if it might have been cottage owners or prowlers.  Also, a vehicle had apparently been stuck in her driveway while she was gone during the day, and she's wondering about that.  If anyone has information, get in touch with Suzanne at: suzannemasland@yahoo.com

We recently received very sad news from Florida of the death of Millie Bertrand, granddaughter of Fred and Elinor Bertrand, Bonita Springs Florida and West Shore Road, Joe's Pond.  Here's the information I have:

There will be calling hours at Glick Funeral Home,3600 No. Federal Hwy, Boca Raton Tuesday, from 6-8Pm with a service at 7PM.  The family and Millie's body are flying to Boston on Wednesday and driving to Vermont. There will be calling hours at Guare Funeral Home, 30 School Street, Montpelier, Thursday night from 6-8PM and the funeral will be at St. Augustine's Catholic Church , 16 Barre Street, Montpelier at 3PM on Friday. The family is flying home on Saturday. The obituary will be in the paper tomorrow. I expect the Times Argus and Burlington Free Press.For those that would like to send cards or messages, here are there addresses:

Ellie and Fred Bertrand

25061 Ridge Oak Dr.

Bonita Springs, FL 34134

elliebertrand12@aol.com

fbertrand@aol.com

Michael Bertrand

99 SE Mizner Blvd,944

Boca Raton, FL 33432

michael.s.bertrand@gmail.com

Kim Bertrand

62 Constitution Rd

Charlestown, MA 02129

kbertrand@mindspring.com

Our thoughts and prayers go to the family at this very sad time. 

The flag is out!  Everything went relatively smoothly.  Larry Rossi and his helper, John, were on hand at the prescribed time and got things all set, ready to hitch up after Ray Richer has had a chance to check out their work.  Ray couldn't be there this morning, but will look at things later.  We got some pictures, and I made a slide show.  We also stopped at the fishing access to see if people will be able to see the flag - a large red stationary flag this year - on the pallet, and we think they will be able to see it ok.  Of course, all anyone needs to do is go on the website and follow instructions to view the flag and the clock on their computer - any time, day or night.  Saves lots of travel through mud, snow and weather.  As you can see, the clock is large and round, and is easily visible by the camera - or from Diane and Bill's dining room!

When we were at the fishing access, I asked a fisherman how thick the ice is and he said two feet. I doubt it will get much thicker this year, but we could have another stretch of below zero weather that would add an inch or two, I guess.

There are lots of shanties on the ice - this is the view from the fishing access.  There seem to be quite a number of snow machines on the pond, too.  We're hoping snowmobilers will stay away from the flag setup and treat it like a buoy - not go between it and the shore.  It's hard to put markers out there to keep people off the rope, but we may put some reflector tape on the flag just so any night drivers will see and avoid it.

We thought you'd like to see that our roads are still pretty good - no deep mud yet, but there's definitely the possibility they will get pretty slimy this weekend.  This was how it looked when we left our house around 9 a.m. today.  We've had lots of sunshine and warm temps all day and I think tomorrow is going to be warm and possibly some rain by Monday, so no doubt the back roads will begin to show signs of spring. 

You will notice there aren't any high snow banks along W. Shore Road.  In West Danville, there's a fair amount of snow piled up from plowing the parking area across from the stores (see above), but it's nowhere near as big as most years.  I don't know how much that will affect the thawing of the ice - that's anybody's guess.

We went out on snowshoes this afternoon.  Fred was finishing up something on his computer, so I started ahead of him.  He caught up to me when I was back at the house.  It wasn't that I was going so fast - it was that he was held up longer than he thought.  He followed my tracks and I bet it took him less than half the time it took me.  I had the camera and stopped to take pictures, admire the view, and try to figure out where our old walking paths were.  The whole look of our woods has changed drastically.  We can see our house from almost anywhere on our property, and that is completely different.  There are several spots where the view of the pond is wonderful - and not far from the house.  The other thing we both noticed is that with the trees gone, the lot seems a lot smaller and although we probably traveled the same distance we always have when we have taken walks, it seemed much shorter.   It will all look different after the snow is gone and the foliage comes out, too.  We may have some cleaning up to do, and hopefully we will be able to make better walking trails.  I'll try to post some photos tomorrow.  Right now I'm tired and hungry.

It's a beautiful spring morning here at Joe's Pond.  Fred and I are heading down to take pictures of Larry and Ray setting up the flag and pallet.  They will get the clock set up, but of course we're going to have to deal with the time change, so we may not officially start the clock until tomorrow.  We'll leave that up to Diane - she has the clock and will be the official word on that.

The weather here is gorgeous.  My front deck thermometer is reading 40 degrees already, but the one outside my office is at 26, but rising rapidly.  We are expecting temps in the high 40's or low 50's today.  It's a great day to be setting up the pallet and flag for the Ice-Out Contest, and we are very pleased to have it out there this early.  No telling what the conditions will be later on in the month.  Later today I'll post some pictures and give you any updates on the contest.  Ticket sales are really revving up now, so it looks like it'll be a good year.

File Your Homestead Declaration!

Tara Rogerson – Town Clerk, Cabot

Beginning in 2013, all Vermont residents who own and occupy their home on April 1st must once again file homestead declarations ANNUALLY by April 15th with the Vermont Department of Taxes.

Residents who fail to file a declaration will be assessed the non-resident property tax rate; penalties apply for late filed declarations.

Find more information at the Vermont Tax Department's website at www.tax.vermont.gov

2013 Town and School Meeting Results

Tara Rogerson – Town Clerk, Cabot

Election Results are in!! Congratulations to our newly elected and those who have volunteered their time to make the Town and School Meetings successful.

Selectperson (3 year) - John Daniels
Selectperson (2 year) - Caleb Pitkin
Selectperson (1 year) - Jeff Gabrielson
School Director (3 year) - Chris Tormey
School Director (2 year) - Ry Hoffman

All other Town Meeting Australian Ballot Articles were approved.
All other School Meeting Australian Ballot Articles were approved with the exception of Article 5, to close the High School.

Please contact the Cabot Town Clerk's Office if you have any questions.

A couple of things we need to remember:  We set our clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night, March 9th, and the following Saturday, March 16, is Cabot's Maple Fest.  Mark your calendars!  Click on the poster to learn more about the Maple Fest.

I received Burr Morse's newsletter today and was amazed that they have already made some maple syrup over there in Montpelier at the Morse Maple Farm.  Probably not very much, and I don't imagine they've made much since, but it's a start.  Their weather is always a bit different than we are here - their growing season is always at least a couple of weeks ahead of us and lasts longer, too.  So it's logical maple season would be earlier, too. Things are beginning to look and smell a lot more like spring around here, though.  I noticed today how the wind was blowing - typical March wind - the kind that I looked forward to when I was a kid.  My mother, who had even more freckles than I, used to try to keep me out of the wind so my freckles wouldn't "come out."  There was no  way she was going to be able to keep me inside on nice windy spring days, and no way I cared whether my freckles stood out or not.  They always bothered her far more than they bothered me.  I don't know if it was the wind or the sun or a combination of both, but I always managed to have a good crop across my nose and later, covering most of my face.  Of course now those freckles blend with "age spots," but they don't bother me much, either, although I do have a dermatologist take a look at my skin every couple of years, having had some really severe sunburns as a kid.

Today we actually saw the sun for a few minutes, and that was a rare treat.  I don't know what the high temperature was, probably in the mid 30's, but there was lots of wind.  I've been looking out at the landscape around our house, noticing how it has changed since we had the big trees cut.  There are still lots of young maples and evergreens, so it doesn't look scalped; but it's taking time to get used to seeing the contours of the property.  From my office window, I keep watching the steep hillside in back of our house, expecting to see a deer or a turkey meandering by.  So far I haven't spotted anything bigger'n a squirrel out there.  I think the logging operation is finished, although we haven't had word from Johnny Doyon, our logger.  There is still a fair amount of product at the landing, waiting to be picked up, but he seems to have taken away all the logs that were down and the brush from them, and it's looking pretty good.  Of course, there's snow covering everything, so it will be hard to tell until later in the spring, but I'm hoping we'll have some quick recovery of ferns and undergrowth to cover the inevitable scars from the logging.

We celebrated Diane Rossi's birthday last night with dinner here.  Don and Diane Sherwood had just arrived for their winter Joe's Pond vacation, and we were happy they could join us.  Now we're all excited that the flag and clock for the Ice Out Contest is going to be set up on Saturday.  At least, that's the plan as of now.  Larry Rossi and a helper will be out there on the ice getting things lined up.  We aren't certain, but we think the web cams should have the clock and the flag on them by Saturday night.  We'll keep you posted.

Greetings from Lyndon State College.  

We now have 31 exhibitors and over 150 individuals registered for the NEK Veterans Summit.  We have room for about 50 more people.  If you haven’t done so already, please register by Wednesday, March 6, 2013 so that you will be assured a seat.

 

This is shaping up to be an outstanding event!  We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, March 9, 2013.  This Saturday!

 

Best regards,

 

Thom Anderson

Assistant Professor & Advisor to the LSC Veterans Club

Mountain Recreation Management

HAC 123

Lyndon State College

PO Box 919

Lyndonville, Vermont 05851-0919

802-626-6208

Thomas.Anderson@LyndonState.edu

 

 

 

 

 

Cabot voters turned out like never before last night.  The gymnasium was filled to capacity with people standing and sitting on the floor.  It was a remarkably orderly meeting, held in check by veteran moderator, Ed Smith.  Those who spoke to the meeting were respectful and presented fair and logical questions.  The discussion went on for nearly two hours before a vote was called.  That, of course, took a lot of time since voting was done by the checklist.  We came home without waiting for the count.  We got the results on the 11 o'clock news, on WCAX-TV  Voters kept the school with a vote of 322 to 149.