Ice-Out Pictures and Other Important Information!

 Here are  the photos Joanne Stewart shared from yesterday's setting the block and flag in place. Looks like Larry had plenty of help! I think they made a celebration out of it with several neighbors showing up. Perhaps Larry was serving green beer, being St. Patty's Day!

Here you see Larry and his crew getting the hookup set on the deck of Bill and Diane Rossi's boathouse. The line drops down onto the ice and is supported by stakes set into the ice so it won't freeze in after a brief warm spell and cause the clock to be stopped before the ice is actually gone.

There has to be enough pull on the rope attached to the block to disconnect the power to the clock on the boathouse deck. It may not be rocket science, but it does take some skill and patience to get it just right. Over the years, it's come down to almost an exact formula, and Larry has it well in hand.

The finishing touches on the rope, stakes are in place (photo below) and the setup looks really good. 

That is JPA Secretary Jamie Stewart pictured below (he's on the left) with Ray Rouleau, who lives next door to the Rossi's and who keeps a close eye on things when Diane is away - or actually, most of the time. There won't be much going on for a while, but beginning this weekend, the weather is going to warm up, we'll have lots of sunshine, and that will work miracles on the snow and ice.

And there you have a pretty complete record of the actual "mechanics" of this contest. There will be regular reports posted here and on the JPA website, https://www.joespondvermont.com/. That's where you need to go to purchase tickets, as well. A complete list of places selling tickets is poster there, or you can buy tickets on line. Directions are there - all it takes is a few minutes and one good guess to be rewarded with a check for around $5,000, depending on how many tickets are sold. Good luck!

A friend raised an interesting question - why all the fuss about St. Patrick's Day? I never really thought about it, but it's a logical question. I know there were a lot of Irish immigrants who helped settle our nation, but there were also a host of other countries represented, and nobody celebrates as a group quite like St. Patty's Day. Personally, I think it's just a fine excuse to eat corned beef and cabbage (yum!) and drink green beer (yuck!), at least for a lot of people that I would bet haven't a clue about the origin of the celebration.

Historically, St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in Ireland back in the 17 century to commemorate Saint Patrick who is credited with bring Christianity to Ireland, and was celebrated on the anniversary of that saint's death, March 17, 461 AD. Turns out, he wasn't even Irish. He was born in Roman Britain and his name was Maewyn Succat. He didn't care for that name, so chose to be called by other names over the years, one of which was Patricius, and that apparently was easier to remember than Magonus, Succetus or Cothirthiacus, which were only some of his other choices.

His father was a deacon in the Christian church, but Patrick was a non-believer until he was captured by Irish pirates when he was a teenager and held as a shepherd in northeastern Ireland for six years. He learned the Irish language and eventually managed to escape, but before he coulld get home to Britain he was captured again, this time by the French.

While he was held in France, he learned more about Christianity and studied in a monastery. When he was finally released, he went home to Britain and continued to study Christianity. He had a vision that sent him back to Ireland to bring Christianity to the Irish who were pagans and druidics. To cut to the chase here, the Irish are basically celebrating the man who brought Christianity to them all those years ago. However, according to information in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, it was the Irish immigrants who came to the United States who raised the celebration to the frenzied level it enjoys today. 

The first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in, where else? Boston, in 1737; later New York City began to celebrate in 1762. In 1962, Chicago turned its river green to mark the holidy, and that stuck, even though the original color associated with the celebration was blue! It seems that the other trappings of the celebration, the "wearing of the green," corned beef and cabbage, green beer and shamrocks are all pretty much gimmicks to commercialize the celebration - and eventually the Irish adopted these symbols, but according to our friends at Encyclopaedia Britannica, "they did so largely for the benefit of tourists." And there you have it!

After I signed off with this posting, I went to Front Porch Forum and found this announcement that I'm sure people around Joe's Pond will be very happy to see: 

Danville Health Center Welcomes Dr. Dege & Dr. Fine!

Casey Legge, Northern Counties Health Care • Sherman Dr, Saint Johnsbury

Announcement

Northern Counties Health Care is pleased to announce that our Danville Health Center team has expanded with the addition of Dr. Jay Dege and Dr. Sharon Fine. They join a fantastic team of health care professionals including: Dr. Linda Bisson, Katie Burnell, FNP, Dr. Tim Tanner, and Abby Young, FNP.

Dr. Dege is a family medicine physician who focuses on fostering and supporting healthy lifestyles using preventative medicine to maximize quality of life and works in a collaborative approach to support patients with chronic illnesses. Dr. Dege is now accepting patients of all ages.

Dr. Fine is a family medicine physician who has worked at the Danville Health Center since 1997. Following a three-year hiatus due to an unexpected diagnosis of advanced cancer, Northern Counties is pleased to welcome Dr. Fine back! She is ecstatic to find herself well enough to return to providing patient care.

The Danville Health Center is proud to offer same day availability for acute, chronic and preventive visits for patients of all ages. If you are interested in becoming a patient, please visit our website at http://bit.ly/3qI7eci or call the Danville Health Center directly at 802-684-2275.