March 29, 2007 The ice was gone by March 31. |
March 13, 2008. The ice was gone by March 20. |
. Again in 2009, the ice was gone in the part of the pond visible from the bridge at Freedom Street by March 20. |
March 13, 2010
March 15, 2010
In 2010, the ice was gone by March 14. |
March 17, 2009
March 20, 2009
The "Ice-Watch" Has Ended
year 1980 marks many changes and it also marks the first year since 1911 that no records have been kept by employees of the now phased-out Rockwell plant and its predecessor, Draper Corporation, on the date that the ice has disappeared from Hopedale Pond. This year, Hopedale Pond itself almost appears to be making note of the cessation of such record keeping. Although it is an inanimate object, the Pond has been anything but cooperative in the ice department. The covering has come and gone all winter and it has offered little or no ice skating. Through the past years, the statistics on the departure date of the ice have been kept by Draper employees including Pat Dillon, George Bacon, George Young, Howard Fitch, Norman Taylor and Roy Rehbein. Some of the statistics reveal that the earliest date that no ice could be seen from the Draper plant at 3:30 PM was March 14, both 1921 and 1953. In 1979, the pond was free of ice on March 21, while in the year of the great blizzard, 1978, the ice cleared the pond on April 12. The report which was compiled over the years revealed that 1955 was almost the warmest year with the ice departing on March 15. Sayings about New England weather prove true by the report which notes that the next year, 1956, was tied for the coldest year recorded. The report, which was diligently kept, shows that the pond was clear of ice in the month of March for 47 of the 68 years that the records were kept. Ice left the pond in the month of April for a total of 21 years. Roy Rehbein, a long-time employee of the loom manufacturing firm was the last person to mark the report, and he noted the date of March 21, 1979 as the date the ice had left the pond on his last occasion to record the information. To this he added, "This will likely be the last report from Draper - the end of an era." Little things like the date upon which ice left the pond were an indication of how the employees felt about the plant, the looms they made and the town in which they lived. The observation took only a minute or two, but it was recorded religiously by the record keepers. Rebhein was obviously correct in his prophecy. "The end of an era" has arrived. Milford Daily News, February 12, 1980. Recent "iceout" dates. To be consistent with the Draper records, which marked the date when no ice could be seen from the shop at the end of the work day, the dates given are when no ice could be seen at the lower end of the pond, late in the day. In some of these years, there was still ice on the West Cove (near the Ellis and Gannett homes), and likely more in other coves further up the pond. It's possible that the Draper records were recorded when the pond was viewed from an upper floor, but I don't think the West Cove or any others would be visible, even from there. 1982 - March 30 1983 - March 13 2004 - March 25 2005 - April 2 2006 - ? 2007 - March 31 2008 - March 20 2009 - March 20 2010 - March 14 2011 - March 20 Park, Pond and Sports Menu Draper Menu HOME |
March 17, 2011
March 18, 2011
March 19, 2011 - 11 am
March 19, 2011 - 2 pm
March 20, 2011 - 2 pm
pond on the morning of the 20th, but a few hours later it was gone. For the third time in the past four years, the ice was gone on the 20th. |