The World's Longest Cadillac Parade

 

On August 17, 2011, Barton hosted the world's largest Cadillac Parade, which kicked off the Orleans County Fair at Roaring Brook Fairgrounds in Barton. The parade was over an hour long and lots of fun as the entire town turned out to view it. Lori Seadale organized the parade, and I don't know how she did it and did it so beautifully. The library and stores in the village closed as the cars rolled by. My camera battery died, but young friends of mine saved the day and ran into the library to get my other battery for me. I was going to post only my favorite Cadillacs in this post, but there were too many to show, so I give you the slideshow of all of the cars that I photographed (I shot over 250 of the 298 cars in the parade). 

The Cadillac Parade was the world's longest parade of Cadillacs. The Guinness Book of World Records was on hand to count and certify the achievement. The record was easily broken, but the count of 298 would have been bigger except some cars overheated in the parade and never finished the route. I heard that other Cadillacs were late, and there would have been almost 350 cars but for these problems. But the day was a wonderful success and I am amazed by Lori's efforts and achievement! Congratulations!

You can read more about the parade here:
Guinness Book of World Records
New York Times
General Motors Cadillac Press Release

You can view individual photographs here.

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An October Flood

The Barton River at the white funeral home on Elm Street in Barton Village.
The electric fence is for the horses that usually pasture here by the river.

We had a tremendous amount of rain on September 30 and October 1. The Barton River flooded over its entire length. I was able to go out on the afternoon of October 1 and photograph the flood as it started to recede. Earlier in the day, roads had been closed because they were covered in water. I did not capture that, but even receding, the water was impressive.

The Barton River flows through the village as it travels north to Lake Memphremagog. It is an old river on a flat flood plain and has many deep oxbows. In some places it looks like a muddy ditch and in other places it is quite dramatic, such as at Highbridge Hill where it flows under the railroad (which I haven’t yet been able to capture).In Coventry, the Barton River Marsh is a natural national landmark.. In 1810 Glover, people tried to change the flow of the Barton River, causing the huge Runaway Pond flood. The river is a popular canoeing trail in the summer.

Elm Street on the bridge looking south.

Elm Street

Route 5 north of the village.

A harvested corn field on Route 5.

Storm clouds are still visible in the north.

Route 5

The B&W Snack Bar, closed for the season, had been totally surrounded by water earlier in the day.

View from the B&W picnic area.

A logging operation on Route 5.

Because of the heavy snows this winter, we are anticipating more flooding this coming spring.

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Quite the Week

Barton Village seen from the Welcome O. Brown Cemetery in September 2010.

It has been a week of disorganization: huge software failures, bad weather, meetings, construction . . . I have been disorganized and frustrated. There was a huge snowstorm here and the awful earthquake in Japan. But now it is Saturday and I can reorganize and move forward. It is snowing quite heavily here (of course), so it will be a quiet, contemplative day. We haven't suffered as millions of other people have suffered this week. For that I am thankful and prayerful.

The fall foliage photographs that I am posting here are from September. After my solo Pageant Park hike, I continued the day at the Welcome O. Brown Cemetery in Barton Village. There are good views of the surrounding hills and mountains, and of the village there.

We are blessed to live in a quiet, beautiful corner of the world.

I was torn whether to photoshop the wires out of the photograph above. I decided not to.

The steeple of St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Barton Village.

When I look at these photographs, and think back of all that has happened this week, I realize how fortunate I am. My problems and frustrations have been put into perspective again, and I pray for the safety and recovery of the millions around the world who are suffering this week.

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