We've don't have much to report on the vandalism at Cabot's Center of Town.  I learned tonight that the capsule buried there in 2001 may have been previously removed by members of the Cabot United Church for some reason.  However, I haven't had confirmation of that - and the graffiti remains as a sad reminder that some people have little regard for history or the property of others.
 
I found this picture taken in 2001 and published in the August 15, 2001 issue of the Hardwick Gazette.  It accompanied a story reporter Chris Dodge did about the ceremony held the Sunday before, on August 12.  It shows Jennifer, the daughter of  teacher and historian Jenny Donaldson of Cabot, holding the capsule.  I learned from reading newspaper articles today that when the capsule was opened the first time in 1951, water had seeped into the container and some of the papers were sent to a library in Montpelier to be professionally dried and restored.  There were newspapers in the capsule opened in 2001, as well, and other mementos.  

The photo at the right shows a few of the1000 people that attended the original ceremony in 1901; below is a picture of some of the people who attended the 1951 ceremony.  That crowd probably wasn't nearly as large as in 1901, but people were every bit as enthusiastic and
excited about preserving some of Cabot's past in this way.  The big boulder, inscribed "Congregational Church, 1801-1901" was a fitting marker for the first meeting house built in Cabot.  Solid as the ledges it was built upon, the meeting house withstood being moved from it's original site at the Center to a spot on the Common in the Village, about where the school is today; and then moved again to a more advantageous spot a few rods west to where it remains today.  There it was raised to make room for a kitchen and dining hall downstairs, and eventually became Cabot United Church when it was decided the Methodist Church should merge with the Congregational Church.  Both buildings remain at opposite corners of the Common - the Methodist building no longer used and in need of attention.

All photos here are from the Cabot Historical Society collection, and newspaper clippings about the Old Home Week celebrations  are from our research section.