Chester Chatter: A porch makes a home

By Ruthie Douglas
©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Every house should have a porch because that is what make a house a home. A porch is a place to step outside under a roof. Although a deck is nice, it can’t take the place of a porch. Put a roof on it.

My family had a porch. Come a hot summer night, we would stay outside, sitting on the porch and waiting for it to cool down. Outside we could watch the fireflies and bats flying under the streetlights to capture their night supper and listen to the special music of the crickets.

We stayed out on the porch for some time because we did not have air conditioning.

The Douglas farmhouse had a wide, wraparound porch, built in 1908 out of redwood and rosewood for Great-Grandma Douglas who was crippled terribly with rheumatoid arthritis. She would sit out there for hours getting fresh air.

We always knew when the train was coming and we were some of the best wavers, and we always got a few free rides.

I loved that porch. Don built two gates on it so that our two daughters could play out there for hours without wandering away.

It came to an end when Stevie Wright came down the street to open the gates and let the girls out.

Scene and heard

Bud Ingalls has died.  Bud grew up in Chester and graduated from high school here as well. Marlene, his wife, is a dear friend, and I and all your friends are thinking of you.

I dearly missed volunteering at the Town Hall during the voting on Tuesday. So many voters used absentee ballots that I was  not needed.

Donna Douglas, her daughter Ivy and grandchildren Willow, Hendrix and Cassius spent a few days in Maine recently.

Congratulations to Darren Perron, my favorite newscaster at WCAX, on his 25 years of giving us Vermont news.  He’s also got family in Chester.

Congratulations to Kevin and Abby Hill on the birth of their daughter, who has been named Lucy. Lucy was born on Aug. 9. Best wishes to the new family.

I hope someone else saw the night sky earlier last week for the Perseid meteor shower.

I am sad to say goodbye to Kevin Baker of Andover, who died this past weekend. His sister, Sharon, owns Sharon’s on the Common. Our sympathies to Sharon and Kevin’s family.