Another nice spring day, but not much melting going on. I do believe there is a certain amount of melting that is a result of the sun being higher in the sky and the longer daylight hours - it warms the earth and the ice in Joe's Pond does begin to melt a bit even if the air above is darned cold. We're in for a real warming trend for Friday, but then back into the cold again over the weekend. Diane sent this picture of the clock, thermometer and flag - Ice Out is continuing just like always, in spite of businesses closing and people being nervous over the COVID-19 scare. Some things just stay constant, and we're happy that the Joe's Pond Ice-Out Contest is one of them. People are still buying tickets, still interested in when the block will go through the ice and stop the clock. We are fortunate to have tickets available on line so nobody has to take any risks to be in the game. It may be that the organizers will need to take special care about picking up and processing the paper tickets, but they will handle that when the time comes.

Some of you probably remember Nelson D. Craige - unfortunately, he died on Friday, March 13, in a snowmobile accident in Maidstone, Vermont. I never knew Nelson, but he spent time at the family camp on West Shore Road as a youngster. Here is a link to his obituary in the Times Argus. Our condolences to the Craige family - this was a tragic accident and we know they must be devastated.

I wonder if anyone remembers dog-sled races being held on Joe's Pond? We have some photos but they are not dated, and it would be nice to know when this happened and whether were they held on a regular basis or was it just a one-time thing? Any recollection you may have would be helpful. Send me an email if you know about this: janebrowncabot@gmail.com.