Sad News and Weekend Weather

I am sad to start off with the news that we have lost another member of our Joe's Pond community. Harry Rudin, who's family has had property here at the pond for many years, passed away this past week. Harry frequently visited the pond, even though he lived in Switzerland. However, he had not been here in recent years, but he stayed in touch with friends and was always interested in the activities and news of the community. He was one of the first to buy our book, West Danville, Vermont, Then and Now, 1781-2021, and enthusiastically praised it. We shall miss him, and we share with his family the sadness of his untimely passing.

Harry Rudin Obituary, 1937-2022

    Harry Rudolph Rudin, Jr. [85] has the same name as his father. Harry was born on January
23, 1937 in New Haven Connecticut, where his father taught international diplomatic
history at Yale University. His mom, Anna Louise Rudin, was an artist trained in New
York City schools. One of her paintings hangs in the West Danville United Methodist
Church.
    Harry Jr. graduated from Yale with a PhD in electrical engineering. He was also on the
Yale swim team and was a very good swimmer. He holds the family record for
swimming across Joe’s Pond. After graduation he worked at Bell Laboratories in New
Jersey and then at IBM in Switzerland.
    Harry met his first wife, Karen, at the Danville Fair. They had three children – Mark,
Sven and Kirsten. He is also survived by his second wife, Edith and two additional
children – Linda and Annika – all of whom remain in Switzerland, except Sven, who
works at Los Alamos labs in New Mexico.
    Harry was a ham radio operator, the same hobby as Ralph Hastings in West Danville,
with whom Harry often communicated by radio. Harry loved Joe’s Pond and, as a
teenager, once rode in the rear of Bob Sanguinetti’s speedboat, collecting the ingredients
from Joe’s Ponders for oatmeal-raisin cookies in a huge metal bowl. After baking them
in our camp oven, Bob and Harry distributed the cookies back to those who contributed
the ingredients.
    Harry fell near his home at the end of August 2022, breaking a femur bone in his leg. He
was in a Zurich hospital for about 2 weeks, and then went to rehab about the middle of
September. In rehab, he caught pneumonia and was back in hospital where he passed
away at 5pm on Oct 2, 2022 with family at his bedside.

For those wishing to send condolences to his family in Switzerland, the address is: Vordere Bergstrasse 1, 8942 Oberrieden Switzerland.

Harry's brother, Andrew "Andy" Rudin, is a well-known summer resident at the family cottages here at Joe's Pond. Andy and his wife, Joyce, live in Pennsylvania at: 7217 Oak Ave., Melrose Park PA 19027. Or sincere condolences to the whole family, and special thanks to Andy for the above obituary. Our thoughts are with all of you. 

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If you went to Autumn on the Green in Danville yesterday (Sunday), you probably know there was very good attendance. Everyone seemed excited to be out and about on such a beautiful, sunny, fall day, seeing friends and neighbors and enjoying the beautiful foliage and fair-like atmosphere. I was with Patty Conly for a couple hours int he morning at the Historical Society booth to promote our book and events sponsored by the historical society. We had a very steady flow of people all morning, and what a pleasure to see so many friends and acquaintances - some I hadn't seen for a long time. It was also very encouraging to have so many people interested in history! Almost everyone we talked to either had our recent book, West Danville, Vermont, Then and Now, 1781-2021 and wanted to talk with Patty and me about it, or they wanted to buy a copy - or they wanted a copy of an earlier history of Danville, Village in the Hills, which we also had on hand. 

The down side for me was that I really didn't dress for the cold. I usually go to those things with an excess of warm clothing, but I hadn't anticipated we would be located on the shady side of the park and open to the north wind. Even when the sun was high, the big maple trees kept us in the shade, so we didn't warm up much at all. I had hot coffee with me, but when I left a little after noon, I was chilled to the bone, hungry, and aching from standing for nearly two hours straight. I had been looking forward to grabbing some "fair food" after Liz Sargent came to relieve me at the booth, but honestly, I was too cold and tired - so tired even fried dough didn't keep me there! I was grateful that my car was parked in full sun and was toasty when I got in. I could have stayed there the rest of the day!

Traffic was slow going through Danville, past the Green. I had to go to Marty's before I went home, but drivers were courteous and let me into the line. There was traffic control at the light, so we didn't have to wait for the light to turn green - we were waved through, moving pretty slowly. Even though traffic was backed up approaching Danville from the east half way up Dole Hill, they let me turn in at Marty's, and it was the same traveling west. After passing through town, traffic going west went at normal speed, but in the lane coming into Danville, it was backed up about to the Peck farm. There seemed to be plenty of parking around the Green, and everyone seemed to be in high spirits. If there was any road rage, I didn't witness it.

Last night was a cold one. I had a low of 28 degrees, and the grass was showing white in spots when I first looked out around 7:30 a.m. It is only 46 degrees now in the shade - but much nicer in the sun, and the foliage is turning very nicely. I think we are about at peak in most places, and this coming week promises to be very nice for leaf-peepers, with days warming up to nearly 70 by Thursday. Pretty typical early October weather, and many of us are grateful, especially considering what other parts of the country have experienced this autumn.

I expect many, like son, Jamie, are taking full advantage of this last gasp (perhaps) of nice weather to work on getting ready for winter. This weekend, Jamie and Marie finished taking all the buoys out of the water and got them cleaned up and stored for the winter. He also told me this morning he is working on his snowblower to be sure it is ready! In a few weeks he will be putting the plow on his truck, and then we'll be ready for whatever comes our way! It isn't always easy, living in northern New England, but most of us wouldn't want to live anywhere else! Enjoy autumn while it's here - and while the weather is being civilized! It could turn on us any moment.