All Entries in the "Community and Arts Life" Category
LIFE IN WATERCOLORS: Winston painting sale evokes memories of the Chester Art Guild
By Cynthia Prairie Galen Pinkham is a large man with a ready smile, a welcoming laugh and a wealth of stories. He navigates this Grafton home with the ease of someone who grew up among the books, the record albums, the furniture and, especially, the many paintings that hang from just about every wall. Many […]
Bryan Ballinger is trying to raise a STINK!
By Shawn Cunningham With an Aug. 8 deadline approaching on his Kickstarter funding campaign, former Chester resident Bryan “Breadwig” Ballinger is optimistic that he will raise the $20,000 needed to publish his “scratch and sniff” children’s book, Animal Gas. At press time, his appeal to help produce the allegory on how we perceive our ourselves […]
A bit of Mexico meets Maine in spicy shrimp tostadas
By Jim Bailey theyankeechef.blogspot.com Most shrimp we eyeball in supermarkets is farm-raised “across the pond” or in Latin America. It is then frozen and shipped around the world, being brought back to its thawed stage by the stores that sell it. Wild Maine shrimp (Pandalus borealis), as well as other Maine shellfish, is almost always […]
Bluegrass music in Chester; author Halpern and her therapy pup-partner at Misty Valley; TARPS announces photo contest winners; music in Rutland, Brattleboro; & ‘Mockingbird’ documentary in Ludlow
Chester Family Medicine, part of Springfield Medical Care Systems, brings bluesgrass band Big Spike to Chester from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 25, on the lawn of the Academy Building across from the Green on Main Street. With impeccable vocal harmonies, a powerful stage presence, a sense of humor and mastery of their […]
Halibut stands up to chorizo and corn sauce
By Jim Bailey theyankeechef.blogspot.com I remember my first attempt at cooking at my fathers restaurant in Maine. I had just gotten home from school and went directly into his kitchen, as I did every day. He would go home and take a nap for a couple of hours during the slow afternoon. A party of […]
‘Next to Normal’ a next-to-perfect production that should not be missed
By Karen Zuppinger Weston Playhouse opened its second main stage production of the season with the 2010 Pulitzer Prize and 2009 Tony award winning musical Next to Normal. The story centers around Diana (played by Heidi Blickenstaff), her 18-year struggle with mental illness and its impact on her family. The production is next to perfect, […]
Busy week of music, musicals, authors, movies, turtles and toads!
July 18: Starline Rhythm Boys The Chester Summer Music Series welcomes once again bring the Starline Rhythm Boys back to Chester from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 18. The “Boys” evoke the spirited country and juke joint sounds that echoed out of the Tennessee Hills and Texas Honkytonks of the 1940s and ’50s. They’ll […]
Pre-diabetes, diabetes, mental health, childbirth & CPR classes offered
Springfield Medical Care Systems is sponsoring free health education programs in August and September. All programs are open to the public. Register now for any of the following classes: August’s Pre-Diabetes Education class will convene 6:30 to 7:30 p.m, Wednesday, Aug. 7 at Springfield Hospital Meeting House on the hill at 25 Ridgewood Road. The […]
Gypsy Reel kicks off Chester Music Series; ‘Next to Normal’ premieres at Weston; gun show set for September
Chester’s Summer Music Series kicks off its 2013 season with Gypsy Reel, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 11. The 90-minute concert will take place on the lawn of the Academy Building across from the Green. Gypsy Reel is an acoustic band rooted in Celtic tradition. Its music is a synthesis of world rhythms and influences […]
Grilled angel food cake makes a great platform for pickled watermelon rind
By Jim Bailey theyankeechef.blogspot.com Here is a great hot weather indulgence that encompasses several tastes that simply go perfectly together. Mix it up by using flavored pound cake if desired, but I find the lightness and perfect sweetness of angel food cake is just, well, perfect with the accompaniments below. Charred angel food cake with […]
Mary Bittner: making strides to fight leukemia
By Karen Zuppinger Mary Bittner is looking for a fight. Running along the Green Mountain Turnpike, the Chester resident is in training, preparing to battle a grueling half marathon in the fall on the hilly streets of San Francisco. But her fight isn’t with the streets of San Francisco. It’s with leukemia, a blood cancer […]
Vacation reading spans the globe and sends us to the Moon
By John Hoover It’s a beautiful summer day and you’re on vacation. Perhaps you’re at the beach or the lake or camping in the woods. Maybe you’ve taken a “staycation” this year and find yourself at home. Wherever you are, the pace of your busy life has slowed and you find yourself able to relax […]
A great pasta, some wild salmon and lemon sauce equal heaven
By Jim Bailey theyankeechef.blogspot.com Recently, I was asked to give my impression by a PR firm in New York City to give my impression of several products made by Giovanni Rana, an Italian pasta maker for more than 50 years. Among the packages I received was some plain and spinach fettuccine called paglia e fieno, […]
Weston Playhouse announces London Theatre Tour; Jersey Girls cafe opens; aviation career day camp for boys and girls at Hartness
The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company is sponsoring its 12th annual London Theatre Tour, Nov. 5 to 14. An informational reception will be held in the Weston Playhouse living room at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 3. Weston producing director Steve Stettler and London tour director Giles Ramsay will review the itinerary and answer questions. Registration deadline […]
‘Educating Rita’ doesn’t quite make the grade
By David Lampe-Wilson Freelance theater reviewer Weston Playhouse Theatre opened its 77th season with Willy Russell’s Educating Rita, the story of the relationship of a working-class woman attempting to better herself with the jaded tutor who becomes her mentor. This modern twist on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion should be cool refreshment for a hot summer’s […]
Chester Summer Concert Series begins; Okemo hosts music fest; Springfield Rotary scholarship winners
Chester’s 2013 Summer Concert Series returns to the Academy Building lawn in downtown Chester with five Thursday night concerts from 6:30-8 p.m. starting July 11. The concerts are free and attendees are invited to bring blankets and lawn chairs for seating. Kicking off the series on July 11 is Gypsy Reel with music rooted in […]
In the battle of the wings, can New England beat Buffalo?
By Jim Bailey theyankeechef.blogspot.com Buffalo vs. New England Ahhhh, that long-time rival. In my home, my oldest boy (15 years old) loves to walk against traffic. He has always liked Buffalo even though he is a 12th generation Yankee. Well, at least football food will still keep us together regardless of who we root for. […]
Depression author at Misty Valley; temporary digs for Rockingham Library; Weston opening & Cavendish Music Series.
Brattleboro author David Blistein will talk about his book, David’s Inferno, My Journey through the Dark Wood of Depression, at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 23 at Misty Valley Books, 58 the Common, followed by a reception and book signing. With a forward by Ken Burns, David’s Inferno combines intensely personal reminiscences of the author’s two-year nervous […]
Count on this Yankee Monte Cristo to satisfy
By Jim Bailey theyankeechef.blogspot.com I love taking classics and revamping them in totally unexpected ways. Although Swiss cheese and ham on bread that had been dunked in egg before grilling is delicious on its own, I found that by substituting a New England-flavored batter for the stand-by egg coating created a beautifully textured and deliciously […]
A sinking ship rises to the top at Alumni Day Parade
Chester’s annual Alumni Day Parade kicked off on Saturday morning under threatening skies that dissipated as the musicians, floats and vehicles kicked off and headed down Main Street. This year’s theme was The Movies, and the classes did not disappoint. First Place went to the Class of 1984 1983 for its sinking and floating rendition […]
