Author Archive for Cynthia Prairie
Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor more than 40 years. Cynthia has worked at such publications as the Raleigh Times, the Baltimore News American, the Buffalo Courier Express, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Patuxent Publishing chain of community newspapers in Maryland, and has won numerous state awards for her reporting. As an editor, she has overseen her staffs to win many awards for indepth coverage. She and her family moved to Chester, Vermont in 2004.
Updated: Fire engulfs old Adams Funeral Home in Chester
UPDATED 2:45 p.m.: More photos, details from the fire scene, information from Fire Chief Matt Wilson. By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The home of the former Adams Funeral Home at 35 Depot St. went up in flames this morning as Chester firefighters and those from around the area battled to […]
Sen. McCormack: It’s demeaning to mascot somebody
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Sen. Dick McCormack speaks of his bill — now Act 152 of 2022 — with conviction. That bill now bans mascots at Vermont public schools that depict racial or ethnic individuals or groups or their customs to ensure a safe learning environment. Recent actions of the board of […]
Andover looks to solutions for possible FY 2023 shortfall
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LCC The Andover Select Board on Monday night discussed a possible shortfall to this fiscal year’s budget, which ends July 1. Member Richard Griswold said he had “done some figuring” and found that after taking out for scheduled payables through the end of the fiscal year, about $45,000 would […]
Yosemite Firehouse, S. Londonderry Library among recipients of historic preservation grants
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Yosemite Firehouse in Chester and the South Londonderry Free Library are among 20 historic buildings in six counties to receive restoration and rehabilitation grants from the state of Vermont. Gov. Phil Scott, the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and the Vermont Advisory Council on Historic Preservation announced […]
Andover board sends $1.066M budget to voters
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC As expected, the Andover Select Board on Monday night signed off on the town’s first $1.066 million spending plan with nary a complaint or dissent. Referring to the 2023-24 budget proposal, board member Robin Trask said, “There’s nothing frivolous here. It’s all about the trucks and the gas […]
Former Flood Brook teacher offered principalship at CAES
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Board of Directors of the Green Mountain Unified School District, during a special meeting on Wednesday night, voted to offer Joanne Blane, an instructional coach for the Bennington-Rutland Supervisory Union and former teacher at Flood Brook School in Londonderry, a one-year contract as principal of Chester-Andover Elementary […]
Chester-Andover Family Center plans expansion New storage- and sorting-room planned
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC The aftereffects of a lightning strike several years ago at the Chester-Andover Family Center has sparked a plan for expanding the building, located at 908 VT-103 in Chester, to accommodate more storage, sorting space for donations and added comfort for the all-volunteer staff. Nena Nanfeldt, a board member […]
Andover Board nears accepting its first million-dollar budget Discussion of regulating short-term rentals dominates, but board opts for slower deliberations
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC While the Andover Select Board on Monday night spent more time discussing a proposed bylaw addressing regulating the growing short-term rental industry, no action was taken on the issue — and seemingly won’t be in time for Town Meeting in March, when voters would have the earliest opportunity […]
Heel to toe: Wood carver Pinske nails a giant workboot
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester wood carver Barre Pinske — best known for his bears of many sizes — has been doing some sole-searching to create a gigantic workboot for a shoe and clothing shop in northern Massachusetts. His transition from bear carver to Paul Bunyan cobbler began when he was contacted […]
Green Mountain school officials, police address student threat
By Cynthia Prairie ©2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester Police were called to Green Mountain High School on Tuesday, Jan. 3 after school officials received word of a threat made during a social media conversation among five high-school students, apparently while they were away from the school. Chester Police Chief Tom Williams said that the school […]
Challenges in journalism hit small rural communities: Prairie, Williams on GNAT’s ‘Press Pass’
On Thursday, Dec. 16, Cynthia Prairie, editor and publisher of The Chester Telegraph, sat down with Terry Williams, president and chief operating office of The Keene (N.H.) Sentinel and GNAT-TV news director Andrew McKeever for a discussion on the current state and challenges of journalism for McKeever’s Press Pass program. We thought our readers would […]
Christmas season kicks off with a weekend of events
By Cynthia Prairie © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Good cheer and humor fill the season with warmth no matter how chilly it gets and how much snow falls. Londonderry residents helped kick the Christmas holiday into high gear on Friday night with a parade of lighted farm equipment ushering in Santa and the town’s annual […]
Sign up now for Dec. 10 Chester-Andover Senior Christmas dinner
Sign up now to reserve your spot or meal for the 46th annual Chester-Andover Senior Christmas Dinner, which will take place at noon on Saturday, Dec. 10 in the cafeteria at Green Mountain Union High School, 716 VT-103, Chester. As in years past, this full turkey dinner with all the fixings will be accompanied by […]
Chase beats Ryan in new Vermont House district
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Democrat Heather Chase has won the seat in the Vermont House of Representatives for the newly carved out Windsor-Windham District of Athens, Chester, Grafton and Windham. Chase handily beat Ryan 1,308 to 803, winning in comfortable margins in each town. Those town by town breakdowns were: 819 to […]
Competitive Chase-Ryan race yields local view of campaign financing
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC For the first time in many years, voters from this part of Southern Central Vermont are viewing a rare bird: a competitive “spending race” for the Vermont House of Representatives — in this case the new Windsor-Windham District that encompasses Athens, Chester, Grafton and Windham. The race to […]
Ryan-Chase forum sheds more light on State House candidates
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Like most candidate forums, the meetup in Grafton between Republican Eva Ryan and Democrat Heather Chase, candidates for the newly configured Windsor-Windham District of Athens, Chester, Grafton and Windham in the state House of Representatives, was a polite affair. No challenges, objections or name calling. The questions were […]
The gorilla in our midst? Thanks to state work, the granite 'Gassetts Gorilla' is born
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC New Hampshire lost its iconic Old Man in the Mountain to gravity in 2003, but four years ago, Vermont apparently gained the Gassetts Gorilla. The Gassetts Gorilla is more accessible than the Old Man was. The Old Man towered above us, looked away from us and seemed pleased […]
Forum for Windsor-Windham District House candidates set for Oct. 20 in Grafton
A forum between Republican Eva Ryan and Democrat Heather Chase, who are running to represent the Windsor-Windham District in the Vermont House of Representatives, will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20 at the Grafton School, 58 School St. in Grafton, and via Zoom. The new Vermont House Windsor-Windham District encompasses […]
Editorial: Regulate unhosted short-term rentals
By Cynthia Prairie ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The Chester Telegraph spent months looking into the housing crisis in the central tier of southern Vermont, trying to understand where it stands now and, if necessary, what can be done about it. Today’s article, Hollowed Community?, which you can read here, pinpoints several factors into the causes […]
Hollowed Community? Residents ring alarm over growth of unhosted short-term rentals
By Cara Philbin and Cynthia Prairie © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Housing in the rural central tier of southern Vermont always has been dependent upon single-family homes. While Chester – with a population of 3,005 – has two purpose-built, townhouse-style apartment complexes, they are rare in most villages. Instead, residents in this east-west corridor have […]
