*** Between changes to Blogger and this new computer, I can't enlarge the pictures by clicking on them. I have to right-mouse and say "Open in a new window". I don't know what Mac people have to do.***
Yes, folks, it's the last weekend in January and that means the stalwarts gather on a well-frozen pond (officially called "Sunset Lake", by the Floating Bridge) and see how folks got the ice that kept food cold in ice-boxes, way back when.The ice harvest is in its 31st year of tradition. On the right you see Jon Binhammer, the Town Forester (his day job is with the Nature Conservancy), who has inherited the Ice Harvest from Art Wilder, a local resident who was a boy when ice was harvested each January and has managed the festival for years and years. Jon is now the man in charge, and Art is the Resident Expert.
The man on the left remains nameless, because I got there after the introductions, and all I know is that he lives in Brookfield and works for the Randolph Herald. He's shoveling ice pieces out of the water patch where the ice is being harvested. Water on ice becomes very slippery, and the shovel (looks like a potato shovel to me) is perforated so as little water as possible hits the ice. Jon's metal net serves the same purpose, but only for big ice chunks. The "vehicle" to the right of Jon is a type of "ice scorer". Many scorers were pushed by hand, but this seems to have been horse-drawn, to score the ice in a checkerboard pattern. The scoring shows the cutter where to cut.
Today the ice was between 14" and 24" thick, depending on where you stand on the pond, but we've had rising temperatures and freezing rain over the last couple of days. The exciting part of today's experience was that there was so much slush and water on the pond that anyone involved was going to be soaked to their knees. There was a real risk of falling in that had Mr.Wilder a little concerned, once the cutting began.
Yes, folks, it's the last weekend in January and that means the stalwarts gather on a well-frozen pond (officially called "Sunset Lake", by the Floating Bridge) and see how folks got the ice that kept food cold in ice-boxes, way back when.The ice harvest is in its 31st year of tradition. On the right you see Jon Binhammer, the Town Forester (his day job is with the Nature Conservancy), who has inherited the Ice Harvest from Art Wilder, a local resident who was a boy when ice was harvested each January and has managed the festival for years and years. Jon is now the man in charge, and Art is the Resident Expert.
The man on the left remains nameless, because I got there after the introductions, and all I know is that he lives in Brookfield and works for the Randolph Herald. He's shoveling ice pieces out of the water patch where the ice is being harvested. Water on ice becomes very slippery, and the shovel (looks like a potato shovel to me) is perforated so as little water as possible hits the ice. Jon's metal net serves the same purpose, but only for big ice chunks. The "vehicle" to the right of Jon is a type of "ice scorer". Many scorers were pushed by hand, but this seems to have been horse-drawn, to score the ice in a checkerboard pattern. The scoring shows the cutter where to cut.
Today the ice was between 14" and 24" thick, depending on where you stand on the pond, but we've had rising temperatures and freezing rain over the last couple of days. The exciting part of today's experience was that there was so much slush and water on the pond that anyone involved was going to be soaked to their knees. There was a real risk of falling in that had Mr.Wilder a little concerned, once the cutting began.
Jon demonstrated the sawing. The saw cuts on the upstroke, so he put the saw into the water until the end of the blade was below the ice, and then drew the saw back along the scored line. Look at all the water Jon was working in! Why is there a rope on the saw? So if it get dropped into the pond, it can be retrieved!
Next, getting the block out! Jon's using ice tongs, but the risk is that if the block is too heavy, it will be dropped back into the pond, or the person will fall in! His helper brought the big tongs attached to the pulley, and the block was hauled out of the water, faster, easier, and safer! Click on the picture to enlarge it. You'llsee the size of the blocks that had been harvested already.
Several onlookers tried their hands at this, all successfully. "Hold onto his(her) coat, there!", said Mr. Wilder, as a rank amateur attempted to wield the ice saw. That was not going to be me, no way. About half an hour after this started, they discovered that the upright supporting the pulley was getting pretty unsteady, and that put an end to the ice-cutting!!
In Vermont, ice was always harvested from lakes and ponds and was very labor-intensive. Mr. Wilder said an experienced pair of workers in good very cold weather could bring out a couple of blocks every minute. But we're talking tons of blocks to harvest. It took dozens of people: the ice had to be moved ashore and then onto wagons. Ropes, pulleys, home-made ramps, teams of draft horses hauling ice on sledges, people loading blocks of ice into wagons and packing them with sawdust ... apparently crowds of men and boys turned out, not to watch but to really work hard, from dawn until just before dark!
Next, getting the block out! Jon's using ice tongs, but the risk is that if the block is too heavy, it will be dropped back into the pond, or the person will fall in! His helper brought the big tongs attached to the pulley, and the block was hauled out of the water, faster, easier, and safer! Click on the picture to enlarge it. You'llsee the size of the blocks that had been harvested already.
Several onlookers tried their hands at this, all successfully. "Hold onto his(her) coat, there!", said Mr. Wilder, as a rank amateur attempted to wield the ice saw. That was not going to be me, no way. About half an hour after this started, they discovered that the upright supporting the pulley was getting pretty unsteady, and that put an end to the ice-cutting!!
In Vermont, ice was always harvested from lakes and ponds and was very labor-intensive. Mr. Wilder said an experienced pair of workers in good very cold weather could bring out a couple of blocks every minute. But we're talking tons of blocks to harvest. It took dozens of people: the ice had to be moved ashore and then onto wagons. Ropes, pulleys, home-made ramps, teams of draft horses hauling ice on sledges, people loading blocks of ice into wagons and packing them with sawdust ... apparently crowds of men and boys turned out, not to watch but to really work hard, from dawn until just before dark!
Horses and wagons took the ice to people's homes. Horses and wagons took crates of ice, lightly hosed down with water until the individual blocks froze together ("It wasn't hard to chip them apart. Didn't take but a minute or two", said our expert) to the train, which took the crates to Boston. Imagine! Boston, and not thawed on the way. If it was really a really cold winter ambitious ice-harvesters could harvest 12" blocks of ice in January and then another 12" block in late February. 12" thick ice. Mr. Wilder said that ice cut in January and properly stored would last a household into October.
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