Sad News

A long-time West Danville resident and recent flood victim, Dot "Pete" Blackadar, passed away on Saturday, September 15th. Pete was well known locally, having lived at Joe's Pond for many years with her husband, Archie. She celebrated her 97th birthday on September 5, and a few days later attended a fund-raising celebration held in Danville for her and her niece who lost their home and all their personal belongings in the recent flood that devastated Lyndonville. It is wonderful that so many of Pete's friends turned out for her, and I'm sure she enjoyed ever minute, seeing old friends and knowing that so many people cared about her. It is very sad that she passed away so soon after that celebration. We will miss her.

I just learned that Don Sherwood (Old Homestead Rd.) fell this weekend and broke some bones. He was  getting patched up at NVRH today. We wish him well, and a speedy recovery. I'm sure he'd appreciate a card - his address is P. O. Box 21, West Danville, VT 05873.

As I went back and read over this post, it reminded me of the local news items we all looked forward to not too many years ago in almost all daily newspapers. There were "reporters" in nearly every town who regularly sent news items to papers like the Caledonian Record, Times Argus, and Hardwick Gazette. Those reports were about everyday happenings in their neighborhood - from what kids were home from school with chickenpox to who visited whom for afternoon tea, or who went shopping in St. Johnsbury on Tuesday. We looked forward to those local news columns that connected us with our neighbors.We knew who had finished haying or cutting in their corn, when our neighbor won a blue ribbon for the biggest pumpkin at the fair, who was home from college, and sometimes things like how many trees a neighbor had tapped that spring or how many jars of apple jelly Cora Smith put up. Those local columns were folksy and sometimes divulged more than anyone probably needed to know about their neighbors, but everyone took it in stride and appreciated the effort. 

The service of those "reporters" was especially appreciated during WWII when information on the whereabouts of service men and women was sometimes hard to come by and neighbors shared the good news and the bad, worrying and concerned, even when it wasn't our own family. Those newsy columns under headings, "West Danville," "Cabot," or "Walden" led to many impromptu neighborly visits, maybe with a casserole or a few cookies still warm from the oven in hand to offer assistance, a friendly ear, or a shoulder to cry on. 

Years later, finding information for our book, West Danville, Vermont Then and Now, 1781-2021, I appreciated the local news columns again for the priceless information that would have never been available to us had it not been for some lady carefully writing down the daily happenings in her community and sending it in the mail to the newspaper every week. 

Enjoy the lovely fall weather - it's a time to get things buttoned up before cold weather comes. I went to Cabot Village this morning for a meeting and the foliage along Cabot Plains Road seems quite a bit ahead of here at the pond. The Plain is quite a bit higher in altitude than the pond, so I suppose that makes some difference. It isn't unusual to find snow on the Plain when there is none at this level. The climate might be a little cooler up there, but you can't beat the scenery - the view from the Plains Cemetery was spectacular this morning. Woodbury quarry stood out gleaming white in the morning sun, and behind it, the Worcester Range, Camel's Hump and Mansfield were serene and stately, layered perfectly in the distance.