Every now and then we meet someone new and get an unexpected surprise.  That happened to us yesterday.  By chance we met Calvin Alexander - a really nice young man who turned out to be the son of Cedric and Susan Alexander in Cabot.  We've known the Alexanders for a long time - Cedric has belonged to the Cabot Historical Society and works for Vermont Fish & Wildlife; Susan operates Vermont Switchel Company.  Their son, Calvin, is an arborist - his business is to remove stumps, trim trees or remove them to improve the appearance or safety of your property.  We went to his Facebook page, Alexandertreevt, and it's impressive.  He was on his way to see a customer at Joe's Pond, but we asked for a business card and you'll find it posted on our Services page.  Instead of complaining about how the trees have grown up to obscure your view, you can give Calvin a call and have them trimmed or removed.  I wish we'd met him a few years ago when we had to take down a couple of big maples on our back lawn, leaving stumps.  I have now encouraged enough flowers to cover them so they are no longer unsightly, but we'll keep him in mind in case we have other tree problems.

We had another cold night last night, but today is beautiful.  It still isn't going to be "July hot," but we'll take what we can get.  There are lurking clouds, so we know the weather is likely to change.

I learned the other day from the Hardwick Gazette that the state Department of Parks, Forest and Recreation is negotiating to buy Molly's Falls Pond property in East Cabot from the Vermont Land Trust.  At first I thought that might include Molly's Pond, but in re-reading the article, I understand it is the pond created by the dam - often referred to as "Marshfield Dam," even though it is entirely in Cabot - owned by Green Mountain Power Corporation (GMP). (See above photo.)  The new park property will likely border Groton State Forest and therefore extend the park system all the way to Route 2.  It will be interesting to see if this sale happens.  It will mean there will probably be entrance fees to access the pond and whatever other facilities the Department of Parks, Forest and Recreation provide.  The $1.2 million deal, to be made with funding through the federal forest legacy program, is expected to close by September 1st.  Then there will be hearings this winter to find out how the public wants the area developed.  GMP will retain ownership of the dam and a cottage on Lovely Road.  The picture above is of the Molly's Falls taken from the bridge on Lovely Road over Molly's Brook.   There is another brook further down Lovely Road that connects Peacham Pond to Molly's Falls Pond.  

Molly's Falls Pond was created in 1927 when the power company's dam was completed.  The community known as Petersville was removed to allow for the flooding created by the dam.  There were several farms and a school before the dam was built.  The properties were purchased by the power company and buildings removed prior to construction of the dam.  The dam had just begun to fill when the 1927 flood came, and the power plant located in Marshfield was the only source of power for several days.  All other power plants were down, but Archie Bullard didn't know that; he only knew nobody came to relieve him, so he kept the Marshfield plant running continuously for 154 hours.  Mr. Bullard had no idea how serious the damage to the rest of the system was at the time - he simply stayed at his post and did what had to be done,  and only later learned Power Plant #6 in Marshfield had supplied power to Barre and Montpelier hospitals.

The dam was so new that at one point during that awful flood, authorities had horses in place ready to pull open the gates to let the water out.  Had they done so, or if the dam had not held, Marshfield Village would no doubt have been wiped out. 

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