Thanks to the intrepid research of folks like Steve Hoffman and dozens of other contributors we cross the halfway mark in 2011 for the number of canes we have information on. We currently have updates on 361 of the 700 canes that were distributed over 100 years ago.
We recently discovered a second theft of a Boston Post Cane that occurred in 2009 inLeominster MA, just a few short years after they had recovered the cane. Money was raised to commission a replica cane because they valued the tradition for their community. It’s nice to see the spirit of honoring a town’s eldest citizen to be the core of the tradition and not the canes themselves.
In 2009, Somerset County, Maine, celebrated its bicentennial with a series of Boston Post Cane awards. We have the names of towns but no other news. If you know anything about the cane’s status in the towns of Athens, Cornville, Mercer, Norridgewock or Solon please let us know because we’re pretty sure they are continuing the tradition in some way.
We look forward to hearing from more corners of New England in 2012.