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 first opening day at Magic
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC It was a step back in time as I entered the cafeteria at Magic Mountain. Closing my eyes, it was 1960, and opening day at the Base Lodge. I was the first ever food manager. I saw a young Bruce Meyer greeting folks and selling lift tickets. I […]
Chester Chatter: J.J. & the milk-run Christmas
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC We are in the Christmas season and I have been recalling Christmas from a time past. One of my favorite memories is from when I worked at the diner, and got to know all the regulars who came by every day. One truck driver we all liked was […]
Chester Chatter: A day at the beach
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The phone call came. Jerry’s hearing aids were ready and we needed to go to the V.A. in Manchester, N.H., to pick them up. Sitting in the car at the V.A. Hospital, as Jerry went inside to pick up his package, I spotted a sign that read “Hampton […]
Chester Chatter: The art of stone wall building
By Ruthie Douglas © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC When early settlers first came to Vermont and began to clear their land, they discovered plenty of rocks and stones. They then built stone walls to show their property lines. Stone walls are Vermont’s land markers as well as our trade mark. Building a stone wall has […]
Chester Chatter: The aromas of warmth, love
By Ruthie Douglas 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Thanksgiving Day is almost everyone’s favorite holiday. Perhaps it is because we get together with family and friends over some delicious food. Thanksgiving is not only a feeling in the air, it is the aromas coming from the kitchen, filling the house full of warmth and love. How […]
Chester Chatter: From trash to treasures
By Ruthie Douglas 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The best thing about Gerald Ford as president was when he allowed for hot lunch workers’ unemployment when school did not open for the summer. It was a great time for my daughter and I to have fun. It was a time when many had taken up the […]
Chester Chatter: Remembering holiday windows
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Store keepers in Springfield began to decorate their store fronts around this time for the Christmas season ahead. Remember Main Street allowed for strollers. Folks could stop by the window displays and get ideas for their gift lists. Up front, close to the store front windows were Christmas […]
Chester Chatter: Stacking up to wood stacking
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC At our farm house, we were warm and cozy with our oil-fired furnace. However, we had a fireplace in the kitchen as well as in the family room. We had a 15-acre wood lot up the hill. And every year, we cut about six cords of wood. Cutting […]
Chester Chatter: A step back in time
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Not too many years ago, cousin Donald died. My daughters and I headed out for his funeral in the Northeast Kingdom. Almost there, we still needed some driving directions. Stopping at a small general store for some help, those inside fell silent, as they gave us the once-over. […]
Chester Chatter: Welcome to a glorious fall
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The hills are alive with color. It is the season that Vermont is the place to be. Down here in the valley, all we have to do is look up. How my sisters could be happy living in Dallas and Miami, I could only wonder. They did admit […]
Chester Chatter: Grandpa’s toys create sunshine
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC A rainy gloomy day, like today, gets me recalling times of long ago. In my grandparents’ home, there was a large attic. My grandpa hung two swings in it for my sister and me. When we were bored with summer school vacation, my sister Marie and I often […]
Chester Chatter: A farm wife prepares for winter
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC On the farm, there was always something to be done. Come fall, it was time to button up for the winter ahead. Inside the farmhouse, the kitchen smelled of pickles and other canning of late vegetables, which was going on with the big pressure cooker making its noise. […]
Chester Chatter: In a stew over two tom turkeys
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC A chicken coop extended from the garage out back of our house. One year, Uncle Kenny decided to raise two tom turkeys. He named them Thanksgiving and Christmas. I liked to sneak into the shed to watch them. I felt sorry for Thanksgiving because he was getting larger […]
Chester Chatter: That clear beautiful tragic day
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC It was a beautiful clear day. Fall was on its way. The sky was blue dotted with fluffy white clouds. I was angry that I was sick and called into work that I would not be coming in. I wrapped up in a blanket, turned on the TV […]
Chester Chatter: Diary of a left-handed kid
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Picture what a first grade classroom looked like in 1946. Now you have an idea of what I had to deal with as a left-handed little girl. Students had to enter the desk from the right side and the inkwells were on the right side as well. There […]
Chester Chatter: When it was time to grow up
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Summer had come to an end. I was sad and yet excited to see my friends once again now that school had started. I had a couple of new outfits to wear as I was starting the 8th grade. The first day was a bit scary. I was […]
Chester Chatter: Begin each day with a song
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC What the world needs now, is love, sweet love. And plenty of hugs. Never have we ever needed kindness and smiles more. Over this past year, I came to realize how much it means. When the nurses and the LNAs offered me comfort and a gentle touch of […]
Chester Chatter: The benefits of eating slowly
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC My grandfather, who was born in Trois-Rivières in Quebec, Canada, and was bonded out to work at the age of 9, was a slow eater. The farmer that he worked for made sure Grandpa always had plenty to eat to keep him strong and healthy. Since it was […]
Chester Chatter: Our magical mystery tours
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC When my daughter Jeanie was a little girl, she did not care to go shunpiking with me on the backroads of Vermont and New Hampshire. She was afraid that we would get lost and be unable to find our way back home. Now, as an adult, all that […]
Chester Chatter: When neighbors are like family
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Moving to the farm on Green Mountain Turnpike in 1957, I was surprised to learn that our nearest neighbors lived three-quarters of a mile away. They were John and Elise Edwards. Nicer neighbors there never were. Our families blended. Many people thought we were related. We spent a […]
