Betty's Critters - & History Views

    The Ash Wednesday Storm smacked the islands of Assateague and Chincoteague with a vengeance, ruining homes, livelihoods, and dreams. It killed the plans of another Ocean City-like resort on the northern end of Assateague; 48 houses out of 100s planned had been built, only 10 survived.    On 12 March 1962, The Daily Register  of Red Bank, New Jersey had an article on page 11 that read:  145 Ponies Die  -  Chincoteague Toll  -  Chincoteague, Va. (AP) -  The most famous Chincoteague pony of them all foaled a filly even as a count showed 145 ponies died in last week's savage coastal storm.    Misty, the storied 16-year-old pony who was evacuated from this ravaged island when the floods struck, gave birth to a third offspring at Pocomoke City, Md., yesterday. [She was removed after the flooding subsided, on Friday, 9 March.]    But that was about the only bright news to reach pony-owners and fanciers on Chincotea...

   My grandfather had a bathroom built onto his house on Peterson Street on Chinchoteague in the fall of 1961, with monetary assistance from his children, so that we grandkids wouldn't have to go out to the out house during the day, or use the "slop jar" at night.  Immediately after the Ash Wednesday Storm, my 5-year-old mind wondered if having a bathroom at Pop-Pop's house had caused the flood.  -  I realized a couple of years later that was ridiculous, but I remember asking Mom and Dad, if the indoor toilet had caused the flood. (The odd thinking of children!)    The Weather Bureau did not anticipate the murderous capacity of the different pressure systems that converged over the Eastern Seaboard beginning on Monday, March 5th, and breaking up on Friday, March 9th.  The Weather Bureau also overlooked the fact that the storm was happening during the Perigean Spring Tide, when the sun and moon were aligned, and the moon was at it's closest point t...

  Pony Penning in 1961 took place on  July 26, 27 and 28th.  The swim was on the 26th; the Auction on Thursday; and the Swim Back on the 18th.   That was also the year that 20th-Century Fox released the movie "Misty" with Pam Smith, David Ladd, Arthur O'Connor and Anne Seymour. (I still wince when the actors try to say Chincoteague!) Shooting a scene from the "Misty" movie in October 1960. Anyway, in the days before Pony Penning 1961, the newspapers reported that at least 175 ponies would be brought in, and there were two different average prices quoted: that each pony is usually sold for between "$70 and $180" or "$80 and $200." The morning after the Pony Swim, newspapers reported three crowd sizes on the shore for the swim - 18,000; 30,000; and 50,000 people. It stated there was only one "incident" during the swim - that a pony had become entangled with an anchor rope and the rope was cut, allowing the pony to swim safely to...

 This year's Annual Pony Auction will be conducted on-line, as it was last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Restrictions were lifted too late for the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company to develop plans for an in-person auction this year at the CVFC Carnival Grounds on Main Street.  Next year's sale - on Thursday, 28 July - will take place on Chincoteague Island, as usual.    This year's  Auction  will start on July 22nd at 7:00 pm EDT. It will end on July 29th at 7:00 pm EDT. The auction is being held by sporthorseauctions.com and you must register with them to place a bid or purchase a foal. After the auction is complete, I will post one photo of each foal and the price paid for it - on Saturday, 31 July. Foals 52 through 76 will be sold at this time, but due to their young age and recent birth, they cannot go home with the new owners until mid-October, when the CVFC will hold the Fall Round-Up. If you purchase foal numbers 58 through 76 (...