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: Date night at the Park Theater
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Once upon a time Chester had a movie theater. It was upstairs in the building where the Moon Dog Cafe was and where Meditrina Wine and Cheese now is. High long stairs led up to the theater, which held about 75 seats. Movies were shown Friday, Saturday and […]
Chester Chatter: A stroll along the Green
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Small business is the way to go. Folks have come to feel more comfortable in small shops rather than to push and shove and wait in long lines in large retail stores. Here in Chester, in our beautiful setting of downtown, along the Village Green are nestled quaint […]
Chester Chatter: Friends help cure Cabin Fever
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The time is upon us: the time of the year known as Cabin Fever. We natives have come up with ways to keep us happy and cheerful, mostly it depends on your age though. This year is very different for me as I have been in rehab for […]
Chester Chatter: Ideas sprout from seed catalogs
By Ruthie Douglas© 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Around this time of the year, the seed catalogs began to arrive at the farm house. After supper, we laid them out on the kitchen table and poured over the pages, studying all the different types of seeds on sale. Not only was it most important to order […]
Chester Chatter: To all our special Valentines
By Ruthie Douglas © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, is a great time to let those you love know you love them. Show your love in many ways, little or big — it does not matter. Large or small gifts, it does not matter. The handmade Valentine cards that the girls made […]
Chester Chatter: When we got a very poor reception
By Ruthie Douglas© 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Down on the farm, before we got a satellite dish, television reception was terrible. The antennae on our roof brought in — maybe on a good day — two channels. The the aluminum-sided St. Johnsbury trucks went by on Route 103, the television got all fuzzy until the […]
Chester Chatter: Winter was for outside play
By Ruthie Douglas© 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Once, a winter storm meant putting chains on your car tires to get up the South Street Hill in Springfield. After working a 10-hour day at Fellows Gear Shaper, my dad would do a lot of shoveling. He had to shovel out the spot under our huge clothes […]
Chester Chatter: Remembering Principal Perry
By Ruthie Douglas © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC This week I dedicate this column to my dear friend and former boss, Jack Perry, who died in December. Jack was principal of Chester-Andover Elementary School from 1979 until his retirement in 1990 and hired me as supervisor for the school’s hot lunch program in 1982. We […]
Chester Chatter: The versatile sand pit
By Ruthie Douglas © 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Around around my childhood neighborhood, we kids had favorite places to play, one of which was a big sand pit that was used by the town. In my box of shredded wheat puffs were cards with lessons from various famous American Indians. One such card explained how […]
Chester Chatter: When I didn’t make the grade
By Ruthie Douglas © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Here it is, another New Year. It has made be recall the years gone by. My growing-up years were mostly happy. And then I went to 1st Grade. That’s when I had to deal with being left-handed and following rules and directions, which I was not used […]
Chester Chatter: No such thing as scraps
By Ruthie Douglas © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC When you bought shoes from the shoe store on Main Street in Springfield, they would hand you shoes wrapped in tissue paper and in the covered box. Not only did my grandmother save the box, she saved the tissue paper as well. With a warm iron, she […]
Chester Chatter: Farewell to my Irish twin
By Ruthie Douglas © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC My sister Marie died on Saturday, Dec. 15 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., She and I were called “Irish twins.” She was born Jan. 19, 1940 and I was born the very last day of Dec. 31, of 1940. For a short time every year, we would be […]
Chester Chatter: A Christmas gift of ingenuity
By Ruthie Douglas © 2018 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Christmas is a family time. The gathering of family is made all the more special if young children are scampering about. To share the magic through the eyes of a child is great. Their excitement spreads over everyone. I recall my two little girls and holidays past. […]
Chester Chatter: Changes can be bad and good
By Ruthie Douglas © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Old times past were not always the safest. Take for instance the automobile. One had to use hand signals to let other drivers know where you were going, first rolling down the window manually. No seat belts, no airbags, no child seats for the safety of passengers. […]
Chester Chatter: A journey back to good health
By Ruthie Douglas © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC I never planned it this way, but here I have been for three months in the Springfield Rehab facility. What a journey I have been on! Since June 2nd, I have been laid up with a serious leg infection and then a dislocated hip. It all started […]
Chester Chatter: The smells of Thanksgiving
By Ruthie Douglas © 2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC When we remodeled the farmhouse’s big kitchen we had a chance to install many new items, one of which was a fan over the stove. I thought it was just great to get rid of the kitchen cooking smells. My husband Don however felt different. When he […]
Chester Chatter: Hunting camps meant a vacation
By Ruthie Douglas ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC The days of deer camps has slowly moved away. Many a Vermont man was excited to head out to camp for hunting in the woods. It was a time of camaraderie with the boys, games of cards, jokes and, of course, tall tales. Over the years, the deer […]
Chester Chatter: Remember our veterans
By Ruthie Douglas ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Our family was excited. World War II was over and my cousins were coming home at last. Right about lunch time the taxi pulled into the driveway. Out jumped my two cousins, the only two I have ever had, and the family went running to them. Such hugging […]
Chester Chatter: Our local heroes
By Ruthie Douglas ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Everyone needs a hero and my heroes have always been those fighting for peace and the veterans who once served. These days it is harder to find a hero. Once we looked to sports players and movie stars and folks in our own community. Here in our town […]
Chester Chatter: Autumn walks in the woods
By Ruthie Douglas ©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC Before deer hunting season got under way and, while it was still somewhat warm outside, we often would take walks in the woods. We would look for the most colorful autumn leaves and we picked bittersweet vines, which we sold to the local florist. On a clear, bright, […]
