As of this morning, Sunday, all skiers and snowmobilers are happy with the white stuff that came down last night.  Church services were canceled in many places or moved to Zoom or YouTube.

The Andover Historical Society will not meet again until March of 2022. At its October meeting, the group received several gifts. Keith and Bonnie Vashaw (nee Farrington) brought with them a model of a covered bridge and a small intricate power drag saw model. The bridge was made by Keith’s father Norman and shows several different types of construction and has a removable side and roof. Keith has used it at various “show and tell” events in schools for many years.  The saw rig was made by Mervin Vashaw, Keith’s uncle.

The society voted to accept these unusual gifts as well as a gift of $300 from Dan’s Painting. Member Peter Stowell has been scanning many of the class photos, including the years 1899, 1901 and 1904. He is donating his time and materials for this project.  Peter has also donated a screen for slides or movies to be used by the society for future presentations. A committee consisting of Peter Stowell, Pam Berry, and Wendy Hutchins will be exploring articles regarding archival preservation for future projects.

I’m not a regular Facebook user unless I get something from someone, but the other day a photo showed up in my box telling of a Christmas gift to Pete’s Hardware from the owners of the campground — a really delicious-looking plate of Christmas cookies. A nice gesture toward the store that saves us a lot of traveling for hardware, batteries, and other needed supplies. Thanks, Pete, from all of us for making our lives easier.

Every once in a while, I just can’t help myself to comment on passing events. Here we are in the midst of a continuing pandemic and the focus of a great many people and the media is how can we go on practicing our general focus on parties and gatherings. A little self-restraint would certainly help the situation, but in general we don’t see self-restraint anywhere in our society. The general attitude is I want to do and have what I want to do and have. We are, in many instances, totally unaware of what is necessary for the common good. So I encourage all who aren’t vaccinated to get the total of three shots — two vaccines shots and one booster and stay away from gatherings. There will come a time when we can all do those, but it’s certainly not now.

A great New Year’s resolution might be, I will work and live for the common good of the community in which I live.