Back to winter! I measured an inch of very light, dry snow this morning and it's been snowing lightly to moderately since then, so we probably have another inch or so. Nothing that is going to hold up traffic or anything, but the temperature is in the 20 degree range and there's a mean gusty wind that makes it feel like it's in the single numbers when it's whipping through. Now that we're into December, I guess we can't complain - this is "normal" for this time of the year. I just hope we get an early spring to offset starting winter so darned early.
     I know many of you know this, but just in case you've forgotten - I'm no longer involved directly with the Ice-Out Contest. It's now in the very capable hands of Diane Rossi, Mary Anne Cassani and Michelle Walker. This new committee decided last year they would not distribute the usual ten tickets to all our members; therefore, if you are wondering what you did with your ten 2019 tickets, don't fret it - you never received them. Perhaps you picked up some at one of the meetings last summer and if you misplaced them or left them at camp, that's another scenario altogether. If you didn't pick up any then and want some mailed to you, get in touch with one of the committee members:
Mary Anne Cassani - 802-684-2195
Michelle Walker - 802-563-2357
Diane Rossi - 802-563-6088

Mary Anne will be monitoring Hastings Store and after about the first of the year, the mail as well. She will alert me to any mail not Ice-Out related, but until the end of Ice-Out season, that's what the majority of the mail is.
     Nothing else has changed. Fred is doing the web site, Henretta Splain is already logging in tickets, and I'm still here answering emails and writing the blog. Later on, more will change because I am resigning as secretary of JPA - but the changeover will be relatively seamless, and God willing, neither of us is going anywhere, and we'll always be happy to hear from anyone in need of help or information.
     I feel after twenty years as secretary, it's probably time someone else gives it a shot. Not only that, but I really, really, really want to finish up this history of West Danville, and even after all the stories are told and the writing is finished, the manuscript will need to have photos inserted and be formatted ready for printing - no small job, and Patty, Dot, Jane L. and I - along with our super editor, Linda - are going to be very busy. I'm "clearing the decks," so to speak, in order to have time and energy for that process.
     Every now and then someone will ask how come we haven't publish yet - it's been four years since we began this project. I have to say that unless you have written a book, you don't understand how much work it is. Even if you have written a book, unless it was one that had to be researched and the information verified as much as possible, you'd have no clue. One of our problems is the constant discovery of "new" material - something that comes out of the shadows of someone's mind or from a dusty edition of some old book or newspaper - and we feel compelled to investigate and probably we'll want to include it. I've told the others several times, we have to draw a line here some place; but then we find something we hadn't seen before that we know needs to be included. It's the nature of a history project - it's never going to have "everything" included, we know - but we'll try our best to not leave out anything important that comes our way.