GRAPEVINE-2 News for Nelson and Munsonville
August 2014
Old Home Day Issue
Nelson Old Home Day Guest Speaker – Rebecca Rule
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f you think a good dose of humor and fantastic storytelling will round out your summer, then you’re in luck! This year’s Guest Speaker is none other than New Hampshire’s very own Rebecca Rule!
Rebecca Rule’s books include memorable titles like Live Free and Eat Pie, as well as Headin’ for the Rhubarb—A New Hampshire Dictionary (well, kinda), and Could Have Been Worse. And this is just part of why having Rebecca Rule in Nelson on Old Home Day promises to be one heck of an event you’ll not want to miss. The Nelson Old Home Day Committee would like to thank Mike Blaudschun for his help in securing this fantastic story teller, as well as the Nelson Board of Selectmen, and the people of Nelson (young and old!) for continuing to make this event a success year after year. -Julio Razquin You can visit Rebecca’s website at http://www.rebeccarulenh.com
From My Rock For over fifteen years, Rebecca has been collecting stories from all over New England, and sharing them at town halls and other venues: there have been reports of ensuing uncontainable laughter, which sometimes results in people falling off their chairs, and/or peeing their pants. She is a recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from New England College, and has authored several books, including an illustrated children’s book.
Message in the Snow By Don Bennett
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n a late winter morning after about a one-inch fall of featherlight snow, on what remained of previous winter snows, walking near the top of a long hill on the Aten Road (Shinbone Shack Road) I discovered a puzzling sight. The snow had fallen during the night or early morning so there was no other
Volume 31, No. 3 tracks, two legged or four, ahead of mine, anywhere to be seen. My walk that morning had taken me to the top of the next hill beyond the power lines where I turned around and retraced my steps, but on the opposite side of the road and downhill to the trail leading to my rock. Perhaps there had been one car passing but no human or animal tracks to be seen on either side of the road in the fresh snow--until I entered the clearing where the power lines cross the road. There in the snow in a cleared area about six feet off the side of the road were two, nearly perfectly formed letters, “R P” side by side in the snow. The characters were about eight to ten inches high, formed by tiny animal tracks about the diameter of a wooden pencil eraser. My only explanation for the letters in the snow was that they were written by a sophisticated mouse or vole named Ridley Prendergast who might live in the neighborhood. I sent this story and photos to Bob Ganley, who lived in Hancock at the time, and had a column in a small local paper primarily about birds. He proffered his explanation of the phenomenon I had witnessed. “When I saw your photos, my first impression was that the ghost of Perly Swett must be up and about causing more mischief. If you know who he was, he often left all kinds of messages, especially around the Shinbone Shack area. But on closer inspection I saw that the initials didn’t match, so I concluded that it must be the ghost of Roger Tory Peterson, doing anything to get a mention in my column.” (continued on page 2)