We've had a great weekend - actually, the whole week has been pretty awesome. Maybe a little too hot for a lot of us, but for folks who took the week of the Fourth off and were able to be at Joe's Pond (or other vacation spots) it was probably close to ideal.
     Personally, I'm very happy to have the weather cooler. I even got outside today to pull some weeds in my flower beds. It's either been too hot, too buggy, or too wet and they really got ahead of me this year. 
     We have heard several reports about excessive wakes caused by wakeboard boats. I wasn't aware boats are specially designed so the stern can be made to sit lower in the water, thus throwing out a very large wake. It's great fun for surfboarders, but raises havoc on a small body of water. Even if they are traveling out in the middle of the pond, the wakes still roll ashore with great force, damaging water fronts docks and boats tied alongside. Joe's Pond Association does not have the authority to act in a situation like this, but there are regulations that pertain (click on image to read), so when it

happens, property owners should either speak to the boat owner, or if not known, inform the State Police. The police will want the registration number on the boat, so if you are having this problem, get as much of the number as you can before making the call. We hope this helps.
     If you are the owner of one of these boats, please be aware that you could be damaging others' property without realizing it. A waterfront can usually handle an occasional large wave, but any prolonged wave action is going to do considerable damage to some properties. The islands and natural waterfronts are particularly vulnerable, and when a big wake hits docks where boats are tied up, a lot of damage can result. So please consider your neighbors and use good judgement. On larger bodies of water, you can stay far enough from shore so the wake would be minimal by the time it hit, but Joe's Pond is small, so we have to be extra careful and considerate of others' property, wildlife, and smaller vessels.
     I had a note from my friend, Mary Whitcomb this morning with photos she took at the Hubbardton Battlefield reenactment this weekend. She said it was a beautiful weekend for it and lots of people were on hand to enjoy the event. I won't try to arrange the pictures, but if you click on the first one, you can then see the whole series. Thank you, Mary - very nice pictures.