Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Crowded Country Calendars!

Living in rural Vermont means there are always more things to do than there's time for! And I don't just mean weeding the garden or clearing out the garage.

This weekend, history and music fans have the very unusual opportunity to hear music from the Waterford, Vermont, family of Euclid Williams, recreated by contemporary folk and bluegrass band UnCommon Folk, on Saturday June 18 at 6:30 at the Lower Waterford Community Church (across from the Rabbit Hill Inn, in Waterford, Vermont) -- see preceding post.

And for the rest of the weekend, why not visit the Vermont History Expo in Tunbridge, Vermont? This stunning exposition of all things historical, intriguing, and fun is a family event that takes place once every two years. I'll be there with a group of fellow Vermont authors, and I'll be presenting at 4 pm on Saturday "Myth, Legend, and Wild Truths of 15-Mile-Falls" -- which is of course the section of the Connecticut River that includes the Moore Dam reservoir at Waterford today.

Here's the handout for my talk, so you can get a bit of the flavor! Hope to see you at the Expo.



TRUE OR FALSE?

In 1840, it was impossible to take a boat up the last one-third of Vermont’s Connecticut River.  TRUE   FALSE


Fifteen Mile Falls was a killer stretch of the Connecticut River, and “spiked boots” tied to trees at the edge proved it. TRUE FALSE


Nobody ever rode a log through Fifteen Mile Falls and survived to tell the tale. TRUE   FALSE


Loggers ate the best food on the river! TRUE  FALSE


George Van Dyke was a wicked, stingy man who stripped the boots from his own loggers’ feet after the log drive. TRUE  FALSE


George Van Dyke’s death caused the end of the Connecticut River logging days. TRUE  FALSE


To buy land along Fifteen Mile Falls, the power company threatened residents to make them sell out.  TRUE  FALSE


There are bodies of dead men in the cement foundations of Comerford Dam on Fifteen Mile Falls. TRUE  FALSE


The men who built the Comerford Dam wooed away the “local girls” and caused fights with local men. TRUE  FALSE


If you go boating behind the Comerford Dam, you can look into the water and see the remains of the drowned town. TRUE  FALSE

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