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Uncle Mike's Thoughts Of The Day / A Couple of Front Pages on the Tragedy in Norway

« on: July 23, 2011, 08:24:13 AM »

Saturday July 23, 2011
The morning after the day before.


Norwegian newspaper.


The Times, London

122

Current News & Events / FXFD Ladder Truck Group Picture and Ladder Training

« on: July 12, 2011, 10:12:29 PM »

Rhett Heald and Tom Hungerford were at the fire station Tuesday night, for a group photo with the department and the new ladder truck. Rhett and Tom purchased the truck from the St. Albans City Fire Department, and offered it to Fairfax to "borrow" and maintain. The department thanks the two gentlemen for their generosity.






L-R Rhett Heald, Tom Hungerford, former FXFD Chief Jim Field and current Chief Justin Hayes.


Afterwards, the department members had hands-on training with Lt. Dave Raymond from the St. Albans City Fire Department. Chief Hayes referred to Lt. Raymond as the "Ladder Guru" as Dave has done extensive maintenence on the ladder truck and knows the truck inside and out.

123

Uncle Mike's Thoughts Of The Day / Pit Photos from Granby and Drummond

« on: July 10, 2011, 09:05:45 AM »

Lonnie bending some metal to make a foot rest for the car.


Two major changes between and ESS car and an All Star car- one is that most 410 clubs run a flat wing on top. The ESS wing usually is dipped like the small wing on the front.


The other is that most 410 clubs run Goodyear tires, as opposed to Hoosier tires with ESS.


Lonnie and Anthony chatting at Drummond.


Dale Blaney and Jessica Zemken having a laugh before the drivers meeting at Drummond.


Dick Spadaro and Anthony having a chat.


George Suprick joins in the conversation.


Officials arrive, and the meeting will get started shortly.

124

Current News & Events / Franklin County History Expo Pictures

« on: July 09, 2011, 07:37:43 PM »

The Fairfax Historical Sociaty had a display at the inaugural Franklin County History Expo, held at the Franklin Town Hall. This will be held every other year, to fill the gap the years the Vermont History Expo is not held.
This was a very well attended event, and gave an oppertunity for the county's societies to get together.
Many thanks to Paddy Shea, who transported items to and from our museum, and helped run our display.


Our display.


We went with a theme of "Made in Vermont. Made in Fairfax." We used pottery jugs, products from the old Spartan Industries, and Bert Rich's wooden leg.


Berkshire






Richford had posters up of pictures of the 1927 Flood.


Nat Worman was going around getting pictures and stories.


Richford also had a car out front.


Franklin had a display of farming items.


Bakersfield, celebrating their postal service.


Paddy Shea and her son.


The back curtain on the Town Hall stage.

125

Uncle Mike's Thoughts Of The Day / Pictures from Mohawk

« on: July 08, 2011, 10:32:14 PM »

I didn't take a lot of pictures at Mohawk Thursday night. The ones I did take were on the front stretch as we got the car lined up for driver introductions. The trouble with Mohawk is that the Musco lighting is so bright, you try not to use a flash, but then the photo might be a touch blurry.


Lined up for driver intros.




Mike Mallet doing driver intros from the frontstretch.






Four wide parade lap.


Shooting off fireworks for the parade lap.

126

Uncle Mike's Thoughts Of The Day / Live from Mohawk Raceway with Anthony and the ASCoC

« on: July 07, 2011, 05:07:19 PM »

Greetings from Hogansburg, NY for night number 3 with the All Star Circuit of Champions.
Haven't done a car count, but there are some new faces. The guys from Quebec are not here as they get ready for an ESS show tomorrow night. Lucked out weather wise this week. Another beautiful day on tap.
I will keep you posted on how Anthony does tonight.
Please leave any comments or questions.

127

Current News & Events / Franklin County History Expo Saturday

« on: July 07, 2011, 09:48:03 AM »

The Fairfax Historical Society will have a table at the Expo.

FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORY EXPO

Franklin Town Hall
Main Street, Franklin, VT 05457Franklin's Historic Town Hall on the green Franklin Village


Saturday, July 91:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Ticket Pricing: free!
 Taking a page from the Vermont Historical Society's wildly successful Vermont History Expo ten Franklin County historical society bring displays to this picturesque rural community. A What's In Your Attic table will provide informal appraisals at $5/item otherwise admission to this event is entirely totally free!!
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Category(ies): Special Events


 Neighborhood: Franklin County


Family Friendly: Yes


Ages: Elementary | Teen | 18-20 | 21-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60 and up


Parking: ample on both sides of Main Street in Franklin Village


Directions: From the South: I-89 to Swanton Route 78 East to Highgate Center Route 207 North to Franklin Village.


Sponsors: The Franklin Historical Society The Town of Franklin and all ten participating historical societies!


Organizations: Franklin Historical Society

128

Current News & Events / New Ladder Truck Gets First Call-Pictures from Westford

« on: July 06, 2011, 10:54:47 PM »

The new ladder truck was used on a fire call for the first time Wednesday for the structure fire in Westford. I was near the port-a-pond, opening chutes on the tankers to fill the pond. That's when these pictures were taken. Later I was closer to the house, keeping track of who was in the building and for how long. I didn't take pictures during that time.

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Uncle Mike's Thoughts Of The Day / 360Nitro.com's pictures of Anthony at Granby and Drummond

« on: July 06, 2011, 09:19:04 PM »

Kevin Berthiaume was taking pictures for 360Nitro.com, a motorsports website in Canada, at Granby and Drummondville the last couple of days .
Here's a few pictures he took of Anthony and in the pits.
GRANBY










DRUMMOND







Driver introductions

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Uncle Mike's Thoughts Of The Day / Pictures from Granby

« on: July 06, 2011, 01:01:13 PM »

Meeting your idol. Anthony talking with Stevie Smith. Anthony used to have one of Stevie's shirts that he wore forever, and the the first sprint car, the yellow one, was modeled after one of Stevie's cars.


The #23JR of Jack Sodeman, Jr. Before the wreck. Some say it was the worst wreck they ever saw. I didn't see it, but heard it. The wing post broke, and he spun, flipped, and cleared the wall and fence in turn 3 and 4. I guess he broke his ankle in the wreck.


This is one of the pictures from the wreck, courtesy of 360Nitro.com. The rest of the pictures are on the 360Nitro site here: http://www.360nitro.com/chroniqueurs/steve_berthiaume/2011/20110704%20Sprint.html


Anthony's car.


We were parked next to Daryn Pittman. Here, Daryn works on his car before winning both races at Granby and Drummond. Great guy.


Carl with Anthony in line early in the evening.


Daryn Pittman's winning car.


Daniel Lampron was uninjured after wrecking with the race leader Fred Rahmer ON THE LAST LAP. Daniel went end over end. Anthony was behind the wreck and thought Daniel was going over the top of Anthony's car, because Daniel was so high in the air.


Fred Rahmer wasn't so lucky. He ended up with a broken sternum. I saw him barrel roll down in turn one. Appartently, someone went to the outside of Lampron, a lap down, who moved down, right into the path of speedy Rahmer. Crash.

131

Uncle Mike's Thoughts Of The Day / Drummond Update

« on: July 06, 2011, 08:07:47 AM »

Back home again. What a great couple of days.
Anthony finished 11th again last night with the All-Stars at Autodrome Drummond. Anthony held his own, found the top groove to his liking late in the race, stayed out of trouble and out of everyone's way. A very happy couple of days in Quebec. Met some really nice people. Daryn Pittman went flag to flag for the win, sweeping both races. We parked next to him at Granby. Nice guy. Great crew. Very happy for them.
Pictures later today.

132

Uncle Mike's Thoughts Of The Day / Update from Granby

« on: July 05, 2011, 12:42:07 AM »

Greetings from the Hotel Castel in Granby, Quebec. (Thank goodness for wi-fi.)
Great night at Autodrome Granby. First time in a 410, and Anthony comes home 11th. 20 cars started the night. 18 started the A-Main. They ran time trials and Anthony was 12th quickest. Started A-Main 12th, but spun on first lap, brought out caution,  then worked his way back.
Very proud of him. Got used the more powerful motor right off. I was watching hot laps and thought they looked no different than a 360, but then watched Anthony fly into turn 1 and realized he was going much faster than normal.
Drummond Tuesday night.

133

Uncle Mike's Thoughts Of The Day / Picture of the Day 7/4/11 and Blog-Off To Quebec, and Other Musings

« on: July 04, 2011, 09:52:00 AM »

Monday July 4, 2011
Happy Independence Day!!
Picture of the Day

Anthony posted this picture on Facebook this morning. This is the car he will be competing with the All Star Circuit of Champions this week.

I will be out of reach for a couple of days as we will be in Quebec for Anthony's inaugural attempt with the 410 motor. Unless there is wi-fi somewhere, You won't get a posting until Wednesday morning. I plan on taking lots of pictures.

Strange. No tennis from Wimbledon on July 4th this year. They must have pushed the tournement up a week. Funny how we celebrate our independence from England and then watch Wimbledon on the 4th.

FIFA Women's World Cup has been going on. US plays Sweden Wednesday to see who wins the group stage. Been watching a lot of women's soccer lately. Some of the goals have been great.

Someone mentioned on Facebook that they saw a Back To School commercial. That's just wrong.

Holy crap. What a display of fireworks around town Saturday and Sunday nights. The economy must be OK. Some of those fireworks looked expensive.

If you ever want to see the true meaning of Independence Day, watch "1776". Yes, it's a musical, but still one of my favorites. The FCTC did a great job doing the stage version a few years ago. I may be biased because my sister, Margie, directed, but it was one of their better productions.

Have a safe 4th everyone!

134

Current News & Events / Where's the Burlington Free Press?

« on: July 02, 2011, 07:28:37 AM »

Breakfast was ruined this morning. No Free Press. I always read the paper while having breakfast. Foothills Bakery didn't have any papers either, so it wasn't just home delivery.
Oh well. Had the North Korea/Sweden Womens World Cup soccer game on TV and checked Facebook on my iPhone.
Just not the same.

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Uncle Mike's Thoughts Of The Day / 7/2/11 Pictures of the Day and Blog- Anthony's New Adventure

« on: July 01, 2011, 10:16:00 PM »

Saturday July 2, 2011
Pictures of the Day

A 410 cubic inch motor. Anthony usually runs a 360.


Paul Lague working on the engine. (Anthony posted both pictures on Facebook.)

ANTHONY'S NEW ADVENTURE

Anthony and Lonnie purchased a 410 cubic inch motor for the sprint car a couple of months ago. Anthony found a used one for sale and it was reasonably priced. This is the same size motor that the World of Outlaws run. Another 410 club is the All Star Circuit of Champions, made up of quite a few racers from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the Midwest.
The All Stars have three races in our area next week. Monday July 4th at Autodrome Granby, the next night at Autodrome Drummond, and then Thursday night at Mohawk Raceway in Hogansburgh, NY. Anthony will test his skill with these guys. It will be different than the 360. A couple of hundred extra horsepower. Not to mention quicker lap times.
Anthony talked with other ESS drivers about the difference between a 360 and a 410. One driver said a half mile track will feel like a quarter mile track. Another driver said going from point A to point B is very quick.
Since all sprint cars are basically built the same way, competing with the All Stars will be like one of the Thunder Road Late Model regulars putting in a different engine in their car and trying to compete with the Nationwide cars at Loudon.
The end of July sees the World of Outlaws come to our area. Sunday July 24th they will be at Lebanon Valley Speedway. The following Saturday, they will be at Autodrome Drummond. Depending on how things go next week, Anthony may give Lebonan Vally a try, but will definitely join them at Drummond. This is the equivolent of trying to race with the Sprint Cup guys.
This is going to be exciting.