Brrrrrr. It's cold!! We had a minus 6 degrees last night - not earth shattering for January at Joe's Pond, but after the stretch of relatively normal 20s and 30s, it felt cold. We had a blustery day yesterday. Fred had an appointment yesterday afternoon in the Barre/Montpelier area, so we headed out right after lunch in relatively calm weather, even a little sunshine as we cruised through Marshfield and Plainfield. However, all that deteriorated and when we headed home at around 3 o'clock, we had snow squalls that slowed traffic somewhat, but the road didn't seem to be really bad. The temperature was already beginning to drop, and it was no surprise to find it several degrees colder as we proceeded east and climbed out of Marshfield towards Joe's Pond. When we got to East Cabot, going up the hill from where the new construction took place, there was a tractor trailer with an empty flat-bed down over the bank and blocking the west bound lane. I guess he couldn't make the hill and began sliding - or he could have lost control on the way down - hard to tell. Other than that one incident, traffic was moving very well in spite of the snow-covered road, snow squalls and plummeting temperature. Once safely home, the snow squalls got even worse and with the wind whipping snow off the trees, visibility was zero for a few minutes.

I have been having an interesting email conversation with a former Cabot resident who recently purchased a copy of the Cabot oral history book, and in doing some research for him, I was reminded of what a great resource we had in the Contact monthly newsletter that Rev. Nickerson, the minister in Cabot during the 1940s initiated. I've mentioned that here before, I know, but even though I read every one and quoted huge amounts from them for the chapter on WWII, I found myself re-reading some of the letters from Cabot servicemen (there were also two or three women in the service, but I think they signed up in later years and weren't overseas) serving in both theaters of war.

I remember when the Cabot book was first published, we heard from several younger members of families who had someone in the armed services, saying they found information there they never knew about. The men apparently wrote in letters home or to Rev. Nickerson about experiences they simply didn't talk about once they were back home. Cabot was unique, I think, having that newsletter. I remember that Rev. Nickerson included men from Marshfield on his mailing list. He said they were such close neighbors he couldn't exclude them. The same might have been said about men who served from West Danville; however, West Danville/Danville never had the same closeness Cabot and Marshfield had, for some reason.

In writing this history of West Danville, we did not find much information about young men and women who served in the wars. The community certainly contributed its share - those who served in various wars and returned, and those who served but didn't return home. Unfortunately there was nothing comparable to Cabot's Contact for information about them. Their service was no less respected or valued; it was simply not documented in the same way.