Missing Item and Some History

 A note from John & Liz Randall - 637 W. Shore Road (last property north on the west shore) - who are looking for their dock (pictured at right), new last year, made of pressure-treated lumber, 3'x16'. Please let them know if you see it floating in the pond or if you find it resting on your waterfront. You can reach them by email, lizrandall@optonline.net. or by phone, 631-603-7472. 

Slowly but surely, our communities are putting the pieces back together to get roads, homes or businesses opened up again. WCAX ran a piece about the Cabot community coming together to install a temporary bridge on one of their badly washed-out roads. Also, the Walden Select Board thanks a whole bunch of people who turned out to assist their two-man road crew to get roads in shape again. Here is the post from Front Porch Forum:

The Town of Walden Selectboard would like to thank everyone helping our two man road crew, Bob and Stan, we could not have done it with out. Thank you Louis and Zachary Patoine, Eric Kittridge, Lucas Persons, Dana Fields, Shawn and Caleb Messier, Bart Mitchell, Jason and Alex Larrabee , Roger Pion, Bryan Pal, and Keith Gadapee. Thank you to all the residents that cleaned up sections of roads and marked washed outs. Thank you to those who brought these men food , cold drinks, or just stopped to give your gratitude. What an amazing community we live in.

I went to the Danville website to see if there were road updates there, but I didn't find much. I did find that the Public Beach in West Danville is apparently open again after being closed over the weekend due to the high water and possible contamination. There may have been some problems on Danville roads, but perhaps that town was not hit as hard as some other towns in our region. If you are traveling, especially on back roads, please be extra careful and expect occasional water bars, or partial washouts along the ditches. Don't trust the road shoulders - they could be "soft," as mentioned on the Danville site.

If you were in Cabot Village on the July Fourth and noticed a very large, round boulder on the lawn at the Cabot Historical Society building, that is because the historical society removed it from the Center of Town site - the geographic center of Cabot where, in 1901 that boulder was placed over a capsule with a few artifacts from the town at that time, to be opened in 50 years. The boulder also marked the site where the meeting house once stood before it was moved to what is now the common in the village and eventually was incorporated into what is now the United Church of Cabot. But that's another story. 

Over the years, The Center of Town was a favorite spot for gatherings and there were special celebrations when the capsule was opened, in 1951 and again in 2001. New artifacts were inserted in 1951, and the capsule was returned to the cavity in the ledges and secured by the boulder, but in 2001 it was decided not to restock the capsule. The Judith Lyford Women's Club had been instrumental in doing that, but they no longer existed. There was nothing of particular value in the capsule except some newspaper clippings, and nothing new to add.

 A few years ago, I went with board members of the Cabot Historical Society on a tour of some of Cabot's many historic sites, and we visited the Center of Town. There is a charming wooded area, tall pines alongside the little cemetery, remains of the pound where stray cows, horses or sheep were kept until their owners bailed them out, and a short distance up the hill on the old roadway the boulder marking where the meeting house had stood. We were shocked to find the boulder had been pried off it's foundation, no doubt looking for that hidden capsule, and graffiti was spray-painted over it. There was debris left from what must have been numerous parties, and the place was a mess.

We had hoped to somehow get the site cleaned up, although nobody knew exactly how to go about that. Then Covid came along and the historical society remained dormant. It was a wonderful surprise and joy to see that boulder had been removed and cleaned - not a sign of spray paint left, thanks to the effort of Vice President Ruth Goodrich and her husband, Glen, I expect. I haven't heard what the plan is for the boulder, but I'm hoping it can be returned safely to it's original site, marking the location of Cabot's first formal meeting house.

So, congratulations and many thanks to the rejuvenated Cabot Historical Society for cleaning up that historic marker. I only hope vandals will leave it alone. It was wonderful to have the historical society museum open on the Fourth of July, and I hope in the near future there may be regular open days, not just by appointment.

Note: You will notice that in the 1901 photo, there are no trees in evidence. That is because much of Vermont was clear-cut at that time for the lumber and to clear land for livestock, mainly cattle and sheep. Over the years, much of that land has reforested, and today 75% of our state is woodland, with much of it privately owned and/or in Land Trust.