Nobody Had Fun Today

I have not had a fun day. It's freezing cold out, it's snowing, I'm sad and upset again after beginning some healing, I didn't go to church, and I ran out of oil (and I am on automatic delivery!). So the oil man came about 5 PM and had to bleed some oil pipes. Of course, I have not cleaned at all, and it is an awful mess here. But at least I am alive, right? The following article references Brighton (Island Pond): right up the road.

From the Hartford Courant:

Conn. Man Dies In Snowmobile Accident
Associated Press

February 4 2007, 4:46 PM EST

It was a deadly weekend for the delayed snowmobile season in northern New England, with four snowmobilers killed and at least five others injured across the region.

On Saturday, Mark Delgrosso, 49, of Niantic, Conn., was killed when the snowmobile he was riding left a trail, went into a ditch and hit a rock in Brighton, a snowmobiling hub in northeastern Vermont.

Police said the force of the crash threw Delgrosso from his machine into an embankment.

Two men died in New Hampshire, where three other adults and a child were seriously hurt.

"It's been one after another," said Fish and Game Conservation Officer Michael Matson.

Snowmobilers also died in Maine and Vermont as enthusiasts took advantage of new snow and newly frozen lakes and ponds throughout the region.

"The ponds are frozen now. You have your first good snowfall and unfortunately, some people aren't using caution," Matson said. "Everybody's out there because they have been waiting so long for the snow to come."

In Baldwin, Maine, Arthur Auger, 24, of Salem, Mass., died Friday evening when his machine slammed into the embankment of Woods Mill Pond.

The accident occurred around 7:30 p.m. while Auger was trying out the machine he had recently purchased, Mark Latti, spokesman for the warden service, said.

"He was unfamiliar with the pond and unfamiliar with the snowmobile," Latti said. "He was driving along at a high rate of speed and he struck the embankment of the pond. He didn't know it was coming."

In New Hampshire, Russell Davis, 52, of Belmont died Saturday afternoon after hitting a tree in the town.

Saturday evening, a 37-year-old man was killed when his snowmobile apparently hit a small island of rocks on Arlington Pond in Salem. His name hadn't been released.

"He didn't see a small island come up in front of him," police Sgt. Eric Lamb said. "At night, these islands come up fast."

In Washington, Vt., a Massachusetts man broke his pelvis and four vertebrae when his snowmobile collided with another on Saturday. Charles Peet, 27, of Belchertown, Mass., was participating in a fund-raising ride. The other rider was unhurt, police said.

Two crashes in New Hampshire on Friday and Saturday sent four people to the hospital with serious injuries.

Keith Vigeant, 32, of Derry, N.H., crashed on Sunset Lake in Hampstead during Friday night's snowstorm. Fish and Game said Vigeant crashed into shore in poor visibility. Investigators believe speed was a factor.

And Saturday evening in Derry, N.H., two snowmobiles crashed on Big Island Pond, sending two men and an eight-year-old boy to the hospital.

Fish and Game said the machines collided nearly head-on, while both were going about 50 mph.

The drivers - Michael Derienzo, 39, of Sandown, N.H.; and Anthony Kalil, 20, of Atkinson - and the youngster all were seriously hurt.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press