Runaway Pond Bicentennial: Pictorial Postmark, Cachet Envelope and Postage Stamp
On June 5, 2010, a special Postal Station was open from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the Glover Post Office inside Currier’s Market on Main Street in Glover, VT.
The Glover Historical Society worked in cooperation with Barton and Glover Post Offices to produce a special hand- pictorial postmark commemorating the Runaway Pond 2010 Bicentennial. Anyone sending mail could have the special U.S. Postal Service pictorial postmark used to cancel their mail at no extra cost. The postmark features a design created by Randy Williams of Glover which shows Spencer Chamberlain running just ahead of the waters as he makes his epic race to the grist mill to warn the miller’s wife of the coming flood. This design will be familiar to all who have the famous “Run, Chamberlain, Run” t-shirts from past Glover Days. Customers could request the special postmark free of charge by mail for 30 days after the event by sending a self-addresses, stamped envelope contained the letter or envelope they wished to be cancelled to: Postmaster, Barton Post Office, 405 Main St., Barton, VT 05822. Customers could also bring in their own envelopes to obtain a postmark that they could take home as a keepsake.
In addition, a special Runaway Pond commemorative cachet envelope featuring artwork by local artist Meg Gibson was available for sale. The intricate black and white design, printed on regular sized envelopes, incorporates many of the events of June 6, 1810, when 60 Glover men and boys met at the shores of Long Pond to dig a ditch that would divert some of the pond’s waters to help power the local mill, which was running slow due to a dry spell. Once the channel was completed, the water began to flow as planned, but then suddenly the whole hillside gave way because of quicksand and the two billion gallons of water rushed out, creating a path of destruction all the way to Lake Memphremagog, where it ended, 26 miles and six hours later. Ms. Gibson’s design shows the diggers with their picks and shovels, the runaway waters, the runner racing to warn the mill, and the miller’s wife and a horse at the mill. In the raging waters are seen animals and uprooted trees. A short description of the event is included inside the envelope.
Also available was a Runaway Pond postage stamp that is a reproduction of an early 1900 color postcard showing the Runaway Pond basin.
The whole package (the special cachet envelope with the special Runaway Pond postage stamp and the postmark) costs $5.00. Anyone wishing to order it by mail should send $5, payable to the Glover Historical Society (or GHS), to “Stamp, Glover Historical Society, PO Box 208, Glover, VT 05839”, along with a business sized SASE, and it will be mailed to you. The special cachet envelope with the postmark (but not the special postage stamp) will be sold for $2.00, and may also be ordered by mail to the same address.