Author Archive for Ruthie Douglas
Ruthie Douglas is originally from Springfield but has called Chester her home for 58 years, and has been writing the Chester Chatter column for more than 40 of those years. Ruthie is also a longtime volunteer throughout the community.
Chester Chatter: The final chapter
By Donna Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Life has many chapters, the final chapter for our beloved mother, Ruthie Douglas, started with a bad fall. Our mother, Ruthie a.k.a Chester Chatter, had a bad fall one morning. This was the start of a new chapter for her. My sister Jean, who had been the primary […]
Chester Chatter: Taking some time off
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Due to a recent illness, Ruthie will be taking some time off. Please keep her in your thoughts.
Chester Chatter: My Irish eyes are smiling
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC When Irish eyes are smiling all the world is bright and gay.” Every year at this time we come to rely on the Irish to lift our spirits and consider the coming of spring. It does not matter if you are not Irish, everyone loves St. Patrick’s Day. […]
Chester Chatter: A welcome distraction knocks at the front door
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC When I lived on the farm on Green Mountain Turnpike, every couple of weeks a familiar vehicle would pull up in our driveway. It was the Rawleigh salesman, bearing a variety of products, ranging from lotions and medicated salves to spices, kitchen gadgets and vitamins. In those days, […]
Chester Chatter: The end of the dooryard call
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing The dooryard call seems to be a thing of the past. On the farm, someone was always home. There was no need to telephone to find out if someone was home because you could be sure there was. Friends and neighbors would drop in to meet the new cat, […]
Chester Chatter: When Town Meeting Day was a daylong affair
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC At one time, Town Meeting Day was almost like a holiday, where everyone planned to go for at least a portion of the day. With great respect to the farmer, our meeting would begin in the morning after milking was done. Folks gathered upstairs in the Town Hall, […]
Chester Chatter: Ushering in the rockin’ ‘50s
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC When my sister and I got home from grade school, we’d take off our clothes and hang them up before we put on play clothes. After a snack, out the door we went to play. We knew everyone in the neighborhood. Most of the fathers in the neighborhood […]
Chester Chatter: The beginnings of a writer
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Recently, while going through some old papers I came across a scrapbook of my early writings for the newspaper and recall the time in 1978 that I came to work for The Springfield Reporter. My dear friend Adoree Allen, who was a writer for The Springfield Reporter, asked […]
Chester Chatter: Time to spread some love
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Happy Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is certainly a man-made holiday, to benefit candymakers, florists and greeting card companies. But it’s a good reminder to make sure that at least once a year you let those you love know it. For years, I have saved little mementos that my […]
Chester Chatter: A little sunshine on a cold winter’s day
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC The ground hog has spoken. He says six more weeks of winter and then a warm spring. I have been sick of watching the weather out my window and reflecting upon my memories of times gone past. As a teenager, I listened to the radio and played records […]
Chester Chatter: The warm aromas of the kitchen
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing Co. The world as I once knew it has long passed. Perhaps it is because I am old, what is known as “elderly.” I also have had plenty of time to reflect on my past years. And this frigid winter has made me reflect on my childhood. On dark […]
Chester Chatter: Left on a right-sided farm
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC As a housewife and a farm hand, I was getting pretty darn tired of this new job. One day Don told me he was going to show me how to drive a tractor. He offered me a Ford tractor, which he called “the easiest one on the farm […]
Chester Chatter: Recuperating after surgery
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Ruthie is taking the week off as she recuperates from surgery. Look for her column next Monday.
Chester Chatter: Thank you for birthday greetings
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes over the past week on both Facebook and in The Chester Telegraph. They warmed my heart so very much. I have been busy in this little house packing up all my Christmas decorations. Seems like a lot of decorations for […]
Chester Chatter: Happy new year and a happy birthday!
By Ruthie Douglas ©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Wow a new year has begun and with it another birthday — my 81st! Where did all that time go? Sitting in my recliner, I am recalling more memories of my birthdays past, when I was so much younger. Most of the gifts I received for my birthday […]
Chester Chatter: The best Christmases ever
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing Co. It was the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a little nice mouse. And down the hall into the bedroom Ruthie Douglas lay on her bed, with memories of Christmases running through her head. It started way back when […]
Chester Chatter: Remembering Helene Douglas
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Helene Douglas was a wonderful woman. She became my mother-in-law when I married her son Don in 1957. We all lived together in a big farmhouse. For the first month or so I thought I was something special, floating down the staircase, ordering my breakfast like I was […]
Chester Chatter: The best Christmas tree
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Getting out my Christmas decorations this year, I pause a moment. As I hold an ornament in my hand, memories flow by as I recall how some came into my family to adorn our Christmas trees. We lost our home to a fire right after the Christmas of […]
Chester Chatter: The joy in our small business town
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Recently we set aside a time to honor small businesses. I have always known that our town’s small businesses and shops were important to us. We have few big box stores nearby. You can drive out of town and even out of state to purchase an item cheaper […]
Chester Chatter: Full of thanks for you all
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Thanksgiving is a time for me to pause and consider all the many things that I am thankful for. Of course, I’m thankful for my family. I am lucky to live in this wonderful town of Chester. I am so very grateful for my readers. And I am […]
