Upper Deck in ruins.
Sign proclaims "We'll be back" 

The Upper Deck sports bar was destroyed by fire early Sunday morning.

At around 4:45 AM, Mary was awoken by a large explosion. She was not sure if she was dreaming, but she did get out of bed. When she looked out the window to the back of our property, she thought that she saw a full moon. Except it was pouring buckets outside. Upon closer inspection, she realized that a very aggressive fire was in the process of consuming the Upper Deck Sports Bar, which was located less than 100 yards from the back of our property. Burning embers were intermixed with the downpour, and raining down in the forest behind our building. The good news at the time was that the fire department was onsite, and the rain prevented any secondary fires from being started. The bad news is that when we went to see the result during the day, the building was totally consumed. A total loss.

We have not picked up any rumors around town as to the cause, however, as if in defiance to the fire, the note "We'll be back" was posted on the Upper Deck's sign on the Killington road.

Mary and Carolyn at
Williston Golf Course in July 

The ladies club championship played out this week at Green Mountain National Golf Course. Last years Ladies Champion, Carolyn Barbieri, successfully defended her crown, carding a 179 over the 2 day event. Congratulations Carolyn!

Second low gross was captured by former Fox and Pheasant Innkeeper Nina Tasi. Nina made a run for the title, carding a 183 over the 2 days. Nina had a great second round, turing in an 87 to close to within 4 strokes on Carolyn.

And lastly, there is currently a battle to be played on the low net side of the tournament. Alessa DeMartino and Carol Kostelnik tied for low net honors. A playoff between the 2 is being scheduled for a future date.

Mary prepares her bunker shot
from the front right sand trap on the 15th
green at Green Mountain National Golf Course. 

In the summer, it is tough to ask for a nicer day than today. We had an 8:50 tee time at Green Mountain National. The temperature was around 78 degrees, with a light wind and beautiful sunshine. Just perfect.

The course was set up nicely this morning, as this is the first day of the Ladies club championship at Green Mountain. The pins were generally in very receptive positions, with nice feed lines for approach shots. Of course, that did not help the game all that much, but it made the course a lot more fun to play.

If you can get away to Vermont for a few days this summer... with the weather we have had the last few days... now is the time!

Teddy Arbo rolls in an 8 foot par Putt
on the 18th hole at Green Mountain
while playing partners Ted Olencki
and Doc Humphries look on. 

Over the last 2 beautiful Vermont August days, the mens club championship played out at Green Mountain National golf course. For the second year in a row, Brian Albertazzi took the honors. Brian posted a 2 over par 174 from the tips, carding a 1 under 70 today during the final day of play. Congratulations Brian!

In the tournament fodder division of the event, I teamed up with Andy Reid on a little side match versus the two Ted's - Arbo and Olencki. I am happy to report that we had a great match, with Andy and I prevailing. Andy carded an 84 today. Teddy, the "Mayor" Arbo went around the links in 88. I finished at 94 (three horrendous holes on the back nine), and Ted Olencki, while providing moral support to "The Mayor", could not repeat yesterday's 88.

Overall, it was a great two day event. Special thanks to tournament organizer "Bobby" Peterson who set the course up for the tournament, and handled all of the scoring.

The ladies club championship at Green Mountain tee's off this Wednesday and Thursday. Carolyn Barbieri is the defending champion in the ladies event.

Killington Peak on a crisp summer day. 

A week in August in Killington can be a whole season in some parts of the planet. Last week when I was posting, we were very hot and humid. Now, although I am still wearing shorts, Mary has broken out the long pants and sweat shirts.

Over the last couple of days, the air has changed at Killington. This morning at 6:30 AM as she was preparing to go for her morning bike ride, Mary said that the temperature at the inn was 41 degrees. As she was biking by Woodward Reservoir, fog was rising from the water, the temperature difference was so great. For an even better perspective, compare today's picture versus the one taken for August 2nd. The difference in the haze on the mountain is just incredible. Today is just a bright, sunny, crisp August day. And that can only mean one thing.....

Fall is just around the corner.

Highline at Killington
Making it wider on skiers right. 

Another nice day to be in Vermont. Especially with everything else going on in the world today.

Mary and I took a little drive around town in the early afternoon. The most visible item on the horizon was a large plume of white smoke coming from just above the K1 base lodge up on the mountain. All jokes aside about Killington proclaiming a new pope (the smoke was very white), it turns out that it originated at a burn pile on the Highline ski trail.

As you can see from todays picture, the ski resort has been doing a fair amount of work on skiers right on Highline. Some trees have been cut down and the whole area has been graded out. It is now covered with straw to control erosion.

In addition, equipment was working on Highline in the area of the small trail, Interceptor, that runs behind the Killington Ski Club. In ski seasons past, access to this trail was very limited, as there was significant growth at the trail entrance on Highline. It looks like the resort is cleaning out this area to provide better access. We'll know this winter.

Room 3 - Shaker Room
Birch Ridge Inn 

Just a gorgeous, lazy summer day at Killington today. Temperatures got into the low 50's at the inn last night. Today, temps are in the high 70's this morning with a bright blue sky and low humidity. Just a beautiful day.

Yesterday, I had a chance to go out and play my normal Tuesday golf game. I did not do well, as my left ankle (the one I sprained early last winter) has been acting up. I have been going to physical therapy for about 6 weeks to strengthen the ankle. It now appears that as the muscles have been getting stronger, they are now causing some bone shifting in the ankle, giving me some (minor) mobility problems. The therapist taped up the ankle yesterday afternoon to try to adjust the bone and retrain it to it's correct position. This is one time that life is actually simpler in the winter. A ski boot immobilizes the ankle... where as a golf shoe is almost like walking barefoot by comparison.

Our summer projects around the inn are continuing. Mary has just finished redecorating room 3 at the inn, also know as the "Shaker" room. We added a small air conditioner to the room earlier in the summer. For this make over, the room has been totally repainted and a new ceiling border has been installed. It really came out nice.

One follow up from a story that ran earlier on the blog. Last Friday I reported that Peter Lynch had graduated at Green Mountain National and played the blue tees. In other news from the golf world, one from one of our past bartenders, Billy Mac, reported that our friend, Katharine Sweeney shot a legitimate 99 last Friday from the red tees at Rye Golf Club. This is her first sub 100 score at a legitimate golf course. Congratulations Katherine!