The Curran Homestead had its first annual Ice Harvesting Step-Back-in-History on Sunday, February 15 on Fields Pond directly across the way from the Curran house and barn. There was a turn-out of some 40 plus adults and kids, and many of those kids stepped up to use the tools on hand and actually harvested ice. This was a first for everyone, and there was much enthusiasm displayed in cutting ice block with our authentic ice cutting saws using a circular cutting motion and fishing block out of the frigid waters with ice tongs. Some 30 blocks were hauled up onto the frozen pond surface.
Because of a spell of recent 40 degree Fahrenheit weather in recent weeks, there were actually two layers to the ice blocks harvested. The top was a cloudy mix of 4 plus inches, and the bottom a clear solid mass of 16 inches. Board members Irv and Karen Marsters, Fred Hartstone, Cathy Martinage, and Geralyn Mott were on hand and helped make this happen. Dick Hanson was of invaluable service to this year's harvest leading the preparation for this event as well as the actual cutting of the ice. We look forward to improving our ice cutting technique and invite any future donations of authentic ice cutting tools to add to our collection and lend to greater historical accuracy and the future success of this event.
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