Celebration in Cabot!

There will be a special church service and celebration this Sunday at the United Church of Cabot to honor 175 years of service to the community. There will be a hymn sing at 10:00 followed by a service at 11 followed by lunch. After lunch, the Cabot Historical Society will be open from 12:30-3:00 p.m. I look forward to seeing you there.

Congregational gatherings were first held at the Center of Town, in a large meeting house that served for the church, the school, and other town gatherings. By the mid-1800s most of the business in Cabot was being conducted in the valley by the Winooski River where there was power for mills. The old meeting house was moved from the Center to about where the present school building is today. Later, to gain more prominence in town, the building was taken down and a new one built where it stands today, close to the street. Above left, Old Home Week Celebration in 1901; at the right, a more recent photo, as it looks today, with the Civil War monument in front.

For many decades, the Congregational Church and the Methodist Church, which stood diagonally across the town common from each other, were in competition for members. Each Sunday the bells of the two churches rang out, calling their members to worship - even the church bells were rung in competition, each congregation declaring their bell had the best tone. Eventually, as attendance dwindled and it became too expensive to keep both buildings operating, the two churches merged. The Methodist building became part of the school campus with classrooms there, and what was originally the sanctuary became a gymnasium. That was still our gymnasium when I was in high school. Our basketball games were held there, Halloween parties, and proms. After the new gym was built, the old Methodist church building was eventually sold to a private owner, and is still standing today.

The United Church of Cabot still overlooks the town common next to the school. When I was in school, we had a close connection to the church. I remember having public speaking events there, debating contests, and Christmas parties. It was a welcoming and very busy part of both the general and the school community. The downstairs dining room hosted numerous dinners, teas, and luncheons, and high school students often volunteered to wait tables or work in the kitchen for those events. There were weddings, funerals, and other celebrations. It was also where Rev. Nickerson gathered news to print in his newsletters for those from Cabot who were serving in the military during WWII. The newsletter was called "Contact" and was full of town news, letters from service men and women, silly jokes, and just the right amount of prayerful reassurance for those lonely, frightened young people serving our country. We weren't aware of differences in religion then. It didn't matter. We weren't worried about exposing students to religion; it was a kinder, gentler time and we were grateful, even as teenagers, for Rev. "Nick" and his quiet, strong support as news came of someone we knew being sent to Europe or Japan, or worse, being injured or killed during the war. There is a full set of "Contacts" at the historical society if you'd like to see them.

I was never particularly religious, but it was important to me to be married in the church at Cabot, and family funerals were always held there. It was familiar, reassuring, welcoming. 

The church building functions differently today - there is a daycare in the dining room that used to welcome a variety of organizations for their meetings, and wonderful meals that were prepared and served during Fall Foliage Day and other celebrations. Meals are still prepared there, but they are either served outside under tents or are take-out only. The sanctuary is still lovely. There is a balcony that is accessed by narrow, creaky stairs, and beautiful stained glass windows. The organ is a very special instrument, and I've attended wonderful recitals there, evening hymn-sings, and enjoyed services in the past. The historical society used to promote lectures and special events there - I remember a quilt exhibit one year. There were dozens of quilts displayed at the front of the church, some draped over pews - it was quite a sight. And there were dozens of people there. Another time, a Mark Twain impersonator performed for us. And of course, Christmas pageants and special services. You will be impressed with our small but beautiful church - stop by and celebrate it's 175 years standing on that spot.

And now I have some sad news about our loon family here at Joe's Pond. It seems that the one chick that the pair of loons hatched in the third or largest pond, is no longer with us. Nobody seems to know what happened, but Gretchen Farnsworth told me she and Jim were gone for a few days and when they got home, the chick was missing. Unfortunately, none of our loons were successful in raising their chicks here this year.

A quick addition:

Cabot Road Closure/Work Update

Ducharme Road is back open as of 4pm. We got the washed out section by the guard rails back to two lanes this morning with the exception of a top coat of gravel going up through. Which put us behind, so we only got one of two culverts changed today. So this means next Tuesday after 8am, Ducharme Road will be closed for the day so we can change the upper culvert that failed this spring after mud season.

While Aldo and I kept plugging along on washouts, I had Tom run around town this week with the roadside mower to cut down wild parsnip and hog weed patches we have around town. He used a blower once he mowed a spot before moving to the next to further try to prevent the spread of these invasives. Once we get to mowing all the back roads, we will mow these sections again to keep the second round from maturing and spreading their seeds.

Next Monday we will get back to Whittier Hill to hopefully wrap that road up, however neither gravel pit near us have ditch stone yet so it's getting kind of hard to complete these projects without that stone being readily available. There are a few small spots left to finish up on the back roads and a handful of spots on the blacktop to complete this years flood work.

This last Tuesday we had a pre-bid meeting on Blodgett and the Upper Jug Brook Rd. culvert site for permanent structures to be built this year. Bids are due next Thursday and hopefully if everything goes to plan, the select board can approve a bid by the first meeting in August to get the ball rolling to complete these this construction season. We will continue to grade rough stretches and as we go to get the roads healed back up for pleasurable driving.

We still have a ton of work to do including 3 grants to complete by September 30th for the state.

Have a great weekend everyone. As always, thank you for your appreciation and understanding. 

Sid Griggs, Cabot Road Foreman.