Snow delayed the Friday night /\ gathering - now open

[radfringe]

Heavy snows yesterday prevented access to the Friday Night Gathering at the /\



snow removal today


bringing out the heavy duty equipment


good and bad

the good: snow is fluffy and light for easy removal, and temps will warm up today
this fluffy


not this fluffy

this is awwwwwwwwwwww......

the bad: powdered snow not good for building snowmen, warm temps will melt snowmen if we could build them



Supplies and Equipment list: things to bring





*** ( http://www.sover.net/~newfvt/histry.html )

most importantly bring a sense of humor:



***St. Bernard trivia:
The Saint Bernard's prowess as a search and rescue dog is legendary. Here is a look at the history that gave the Saint a heroic reputation.

The Saint Bernard hails from the Great Saint Bernard Pass, a treacherous mountain route high in the Swiss Alps. In the 10th century, a monk named Bernard De Menthon founded a Hospice in the Pass to benefit all passing travellers.

Each morning the monks from the Hospice searched the pass for lost travellers. The monks took along dogs known as Thalhunds or "Dogs of the Valley far below". Noticing how the dogs easily located people buried deep in snow, they quickly became part of the rescue work of the Hospice. Next they were called Alpine Mastiffs, a name that remained until 1856 when Sir Edward Landseer coined the name Saint Bernard and immortalized the dogs in many famous paintings.

As the Monks became involved with rescue work, the dogs underwent training as well. They learned to locate, awaken and revive snowbound victims, move them without injury and summon help from the Hospice.

The dogs were trained in teams of four with each dog serving a specific purpose. After the dogs had located a victim and removed the snow surrounding him, two Saints would lay with the person to keep him warm. The third Saint licked his face for stimulation and to keep him conscious.

Little bit more trivia: the St. Bernard breed came out of the Mastiff line, as did the Great Dane, New Foundland, and Great Pyrenees.

this is a Mastiff -


males can be 250lbs+, females 200-225lbs.