All Entries in the "Community and Arts Life" Category
Left in Andover: Our thriving crafts industry
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC I forsook the craft fair circuit decades ago to go all-out for farmers markets. They are casual, fun, delicious and aesthetically pleasing. I feel at home exhibiting my wares among fresh picked produce and flowers. Craftspeople have much to offer the markets in return. The weekly farmers markets […]
Chester Chatter: Yes, a dump brings people together
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC For some time Chester had a community landfill dump. It was located below our home on the Green Mountain Turnpike, the road that lead to Bartonsville. The landfill was large but became much smaller once the spring rains washed much of the rubbish downstream in the Williams River, […]
Henry Homeyer: Do you deserve a medal?
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC As I walked around the garden recently with my wife, Cindy Heath, she turned to me and said, “Anybody whose gardens looks great at this time of year deserves a medal.” I allowed that we did not deserve a medal. Wanna get the medal? Here are some tips […]
In the Rough to perform at West River Market on Saturday
This Saturday, Sept. 4 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (rain or shine) the West River Farmers Market will host In the Rough, a vocal trio featuring Broadway veteran and Andover resident Susan Haefner, with multi-instrumentalists and Katonah, N.Y. , natives Lisa and Lori Brigantino. Susan, Lisa and Lori have been singing together since their […]
Chester Scouts honored for building trail shelter
Pinnacle Association trustees, the Chester Boy Scout Troop and their families gathered at the Ledge Road trailhead in Grafton on Saturday, Aug. 19, then hiked to the shelter on the Athens Dome Summit trail. The event was held to install a brass plaque in honor of the Chester troop, which built the shelter in 2017. […]
Left in Andover: ‘Hippie invasion’ irritated, but ultimately benefited Vermont
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Last week I had the opportunity to sit down to dinner with Joyce Bressler. A leading member of the radical 1970s era Vermont Media Collective, Bressler arrived on the Burlington scene in 1971, a member of Gov. Deane Davis’ mythic “hippie invasion.” The seeds for her exodus from […]
Chester Chatter: Remembering Irene on its 10th anniversary
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Rain, rain and more rain. In two days the rains had turned the yard around my house into a swamp. Water ran down the street, turning it into a river. It was late August 2011 and Hurricane Irene had turned into a tropical storm that blanketed the state. […]
Henry Homeyer: Starting wildflowers from seed
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC I recently visited the Nasami Farm in Whately, Mass. This is the plant production facility for the Native Plants Trust, formerly the New England Wildflower Society. I met with Alexis Doshas, their nursery manager. The 75–acre farm produces perennials, grasses and some woody plants – mainly from seed. […]
CANCELLED: Grace Cottage resumes in-person classes
Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital’s Community Wellness classes have been cancelled after initially working toward resuming in September. The class lineup is as follows: Alzheimer’s Caregiver Support Group – 1st Thursday of every month, 11a.m.-noon, Heins Room 1, begins Sept. 2. Facilitated group focused on the challenges of caring for people with dementia/Alzheimer’s. Led […]
Left in Andover: Auctions, both poignant and lighthearted
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Auctions were a form of family entertainment when I was a kid. There seemed to be two types of auctions. The poignant kind was held on a farm where people were still living. Often they would be just selling off livestock. But sometimes it would be the whole […]
Chester Chatter: Square dancing was not for me
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC On days of bad weather or during the winter months, gym classes were held inside. But what to do when you had boys’ and girls’ gym classes to deal with at the same time? The teachers decided to teach the young people square dancing. I was not very […]
Henry Homeyer: Plan your visit to Bedrock Gardens in Lee, N.H.
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC I recently visited Bedrock Garden in Lee, N.H., and came away feeling refreshed and enlightened. This 37-acre public garden was created on the premises of a 1700s farm that was purchased in 1980 by artist and garden designer Jill Nooney and her husband Bob Munger. Jill Nooney is […]
Whiting Library to hold Book Sale during Chester Festival, seeks volunteers for 2-day event
Whiting Library’s Annual Book Sale will take place on the library lawn at 117 Main St. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept.18 and Sunday, Sept. 19 or until all the books are sold. The Book Sale will take place in collaboration with the Chester Festival on the Green, making this event an incredible […]
Hard-driving ‘Ring of Fire’ burns brightly on Weston stage
By Bob Behr ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston Playhouse’s latest offering is a musical roller-coaster, a rollicking, hard-driving and soulful portrait of country music icon Johnny Cash. Adapted from the Broadway production conceived by William Meade and created by Richard Maltby Jr., Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash is a unique animal. It’s […]
Two Chester quilters win 1st Place People’s Choice Awards at Billings’ 35th Quilt Exhibit
WOODSTOCK Two Chester residents have won first place in the Billings Farm & Museum 2021 People’s Choice Awards for the 35th Annual Quilt Exhibition, which is being held through Aug. 22. More than 10,000 visitors have viewed the exhibition to date and 1,100 ballots were cast for favorites in the large and small quilt categories. […]
Left in Andover: Our town’s heritage of originality
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Dated Aug. 26, 1961, Andover’s bicentennial proclamation seems contemporary in its challenge to town residents to be original in envisioning the future. The framed scroll is enshrined on the north wall of our Town Hall. It stops time for me with its alphabetized roll call of all the […]
Chester Chatter: State Fair fills the senses
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The first day of school in Chester used to start after the State Fair in Rutland was finished in September. Every farmers’ kids would be up there showing their livestock. In rural Vermont, most folks looked forward to the country fairs. Farm children often belonged to 4-H. Our […]
Henry Homeyer: Becoming a true plant collector
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC I have always been a gardener – or at least for as far back as I can remember. More recently, say the last 20 years or so, I’ve been a plant collector. If I fall in love with a plant, I want to grow other plants related to […]
Workshop on understanding new gender language
With the proliferation of new and reclaimed language describing a broad and nuanced spectrum of gender, sexual and romantic experience, it can be challenging to know which words to use in what context. In this workshop, Hunter Kirschner (he/him/his), coordinator of LGBTQ+ student support at Keene State College in Keene, N.H., helps attendees gain a […]
Left in Andover: Mulch ado about gardening
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC No matter how many times I pass it by, I still get a charge out of my favorite sign. It reads “Home Groan Vegetables.” Keep an eye out for it going north on Route 5 out of Hartland. As a child I spent many miserable summers toiling in […]
