Valley enjoying high temps while they last
WOONSOCKET – For many, a February school vacation day usually means a day spent inside the house and maybe even playing video games or watching movies on television. But was not the case this year as February seemed more like June and you could do just about anything you wanted to do outside in Wednesday’s record 70-degree temperature in the city.
Rob Thrul of Woonsocket had a full day planned with his kids, Kaylee, 10, Amanda, 12, and Nicholas, 8, that included a trip to Mystic, Conn., and the Mystic Aquarium there. By afternoon they were found in the empty parking lot of Woonsocket High School off Cass Avenue throwing footballs to each other.
“We were even going to visit Mystic Seaport but it was closed so we came home early,” Thrul said. That was actually wasn’t a big disappointment since they were getting some extra time outdoors without the burden of heavy winter coats.
“It’s school vacation week and we have been enjoying the summer
weather,” he said. “At least until tomorrow when it is supposed to get colder and sleet and rain,” Thrul said.
Kaylee and Amanda were throwing the football pretty well but their dad noted they are more into softball and dance.
Nicholas said he likes basketball, baseball and soccer but noted “soccer is my favorite.” As Nicholas tossed the football, his dad didn’t rule out he might also add football one day. “We are going to work on it some,” he said.
Joe Maurice of Woonsocket took advantage of the great weather to take his step-niece Jeannine Lamoureux of Florida to walk his dogs, Sully, a Chesapeake Bay retriever and Lilly, a Labrador hound, for a walk in the park.
“It’s a beautiful day to walk the dogs,” Maurice said of the surprisingly comfortable weather. Jeannine said it was cold when her family began driving up on their visit to the city but then found it getting warmer and warmer as their trip continued. “We’re surprised it was so warm and nice out,” she said of the weather in Woonsocket. “We thought it would be snowing,” she added.
On the bank of Cass Pond, Sean Reed of Woonsocket, a year round fisherman, had a line out for carp in the no longer ice topped waters. Reed typically ice fishes in the winter and can often be found at Olney Pond in Lincoln Woods State Park when the ice is solid and fishing is done through holes they cut to the water below.
“I was out fishing at Lincoln Woods earlier this winter and it was completely different then,” Reed said. Like Cass Pond on Wednesday, Olney Pond is no longer frozen, he noted. It’s waters are still extremely cold, however, and for safety, you would have to fish from the shore like Reed was doing in the city.
“There isn’t ice anywhere now, at least not in Rhode Island,” he said. “It only takes a couple of really warm days for it to go,” he added. Reed just likes the sport of fishing and releases the fish back into the water once they are hooked.
There is still fishing to be had through the end of the February when the freshwater season ends and it won’t start up again until opening day on the second Saturday of April.
Reed said it was nice to finish out the season on a warm note. “It’s a lot different than the last days last year,” he said. “It did start to warm up but more slowly. This year it was like someone switched the heat on,” Reed said.
Wednesday was also a day to make use of the snow and ice free parking lot at Cass Park as Raphael Oliveira of Woonsocket did while watching his boys, Ray, 2, and Lusca, 1, ride in a battery operated BMW I8 Spyder. “It’s awesome but it is not going to last,” Oliveira said. “Tomorrow is going to be colder and it is going to snow,” he said.