Here at the Norwich Historical Society during the colder months, we go through the cold cases of Norwich listserv. This is the second part of “The Case of the NorWitch Appearance.” Read the first part HERE.
Last week, we introduced the NorWitch appearing overnight where a sign had once been, and provided the context for what appeared to be a person or group of people bent on de-signing Norwich. The welcome sign – stolen, twice in a year’s time – was the cause of much ado in the NorWitch listserv; both times making it all the way to the top of the Upper Valley news chain, the Valley News’s OpEd section. In 2008, after the “Welcome to Norwich” and crosswalk signs were taken, even NHS got in on the action, after their new sandwich board went missing.
[norwich] Norwich Historical Society new sandwich board stolen!
From: Nancy.B.Hoggson@VALLEY.NET (Nancy B Hoggson*)
To: norwich@lists.valley.net
Subject: [norwich] Norwich Historical Society new sandwich board stolen!
Date: 07 Dec 2008 20:33:25
It is a sad commentary that there are those who feel the need to steal and destroy signs! First, the ‘Welcome to Norwich’ sign and now the Historical Society’s brand-new sandwich board.
The sandwich board, announcing NHS community programs and activities, was stolen over Thanksgiving weekend from the island in front of the Norwich Gateway, where it had stood advertising the First Wednesdays lectures series, NHS is co-sponsoring with the Norwich Library. It is our hope that whoever took our brand-new sandwich board will return it (no questions asked) to the Lewis House (corner of Main and Elm Streets).
Andy Hodgdon, Norwich’s Director of Public Works tells me that the town spends about $4,000 annually replacing signs that are stolen or damaged. What a waste of money and time for the taxpayers and the road crew in having to replace signs. We can only hope that those who are responsible will think twice before doing this again. The destruction of property by those who have nothing better to do with their time is something about which we should all be concerned.
Nancy Hoggson
Norwich Historical Society
Nancy Hoggson
128 Turnpike Road
Norwich, VT 05055
(802) 649-5740
[norwich] Norwich Historical Society sign is found!
From: Nancy.B.Hoggson@valley.net (Nancy B Hoggson)
To: norwich@lists.valley.net
Subject: [norwich] Norwich Historical Society sign is found!
Date: 18 Dec 2008 09:26:16
My letter to the Valley News about the disappearance of the Historical Society’s sign produced results! The culprit was VTrans, and the fault was ours as the sign was in the right-of-way. It was removed by VTrans and taken to the Thetford Garage. All is now well, and the sign has been returned to us.
Nancy Hoggson
128 Turnpike Road
Norwich, VT 05055
(802) 649-5740
*We appreciate our readers and the name “corrections” they sent us. In Part 2, we were going to change the names of everyone like “Rob Douginson” in Part 1, however, as you’ll see below, there were too many posts on the listserv to copy all of the text and change names. Since we will be sharing screenshots and linking to the listserv archive search, the names will stay the same. Apologies for our inconsistency. It was the witches.
And then in the summer of 2009, the sign was stolen again. With its fraught history with signage, the town of Norwich was pure pandemonium and took to the lists. People started throwing out accusations, suggested punishments, rewards to catch the culprits, moral edicts and platitudes, and lots of jokes – lots of terrible puns and absurd ideas. Even the great opiner, Jim Kenyon, jumped into the fray with commentary about Norwich in his weekly VNews column, which fueled the listserv even more, with people suggesting a mud wrestling battle royale.
Below are screenshots of the listserv for a few weeks after the welcome sign theft. You can click on the images to expand them. If you want to read the full posts, you can see more of the listserv search HERE.
Like all three-part stories, this second part is a lot of set up – lighting up the runway for the witch’s arrival. Read next week’s conclusion to the three-part Case of the NorWitch Appearance.