All Entries in the "Community and Arts Life" Category
Left in Andover: Wiggle room for college grads
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC My grade school history textbooks featured scary descriptions of indentured servitude in early America. But in our times, bankruptcy protection is available and we no longer risk jail for non-payment of financial obligations. Nevertheless, 43 million young Americans are hamstrung by a whopping one and a half trillion […]
Chester Chatter: Fireworks for the Fourth
By Ruthie Douglas © Telegraph Publishing LLC Celebrating the Fourth of July, Chester did not always have a display of fireworks. In fact our town streets were empty and not many people were around during the holiday. Most had gone to family gatherings or went to the local lakesides to enjoy a day of cookouts […]
Henry Homeyer: It’s time to prune your trees and shrubs
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC By now your rhododendrons, lilacs and other spring bloomers have bloomed, and are ready to prune. By pruning now, you will not damage buds that will form later this summer and bloom next spring. This is also a good time to prune evergreens like pines and hemlocks if […]
Story ballet ‘Thumbelina’ sparkles on Cobleigh Field
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC On a perfect early summer evening, 11 local dancers marched on to Chester’s Cobleigh Field to premiere a new “story ballet” choreographed by Ashley Hensel-Browning and set to Vermont composer Evan Premo’s Thumbelina. The cast danced to a recording of Premo’s original musical setting of Hans Christian […]
Green Mt. Gardeners hosts Garden Walks July 17
Green Mountain Gardeners’ Mountain Garden Walks will take place on Saturday, July 17, to benefit the Lib Thieme Scholarship Fund. Ethan Lareau, current scholarship recipient, says, “This scholarship allows me to worry less about the financial obligations of college and to focus more on my studies. I very much appreciate the support of this award […]
Left in Andover: A jumpstart on a year of renewal
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC While Covid-19 has devastated us humans, it has proved modestly beneficial for the environment and wildlife. Estimates are that greenhouse gas emissions were down almost 10 percent worldwide over the past year, the result of decreases in travel and manufacturing. The pandemic has handed us an unwilling jumpstart […]
Chester Chatter: On the horse-pulling circuit
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC For a few summers, Don and I traveled up and down the state of Vermont with our pulling horses. Tink and Toby were beautiful Morgan horses. With pulling horses, we had the opportunity to meet some very interesting people. The owners of most pulling horses were farmers and […]
Henry Homeyer: Here’s what you can do with a dead tree
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that I kill plants (just like you probably do). Houseplants, annuals, flowers in the ground, and yes, even trees. Although some oaks live 400 years, most plants naturally have a much shorter life span. And although some […]
After pandemic year, music returns Saturday
to West River Farmers Market in Londonderry
Listen to the music of The Poor Cousins, performing at the West River Farmers Market on Saturday. For the first time in more than a year, music is returning to the West River Farmers Market on Saturday, June 26. The market will be hosting musicians The Poor Cousins, playing Celtic and classical tunes between […]
Wilder Library kicks off family reading challenge
Wilder Memorial Library, 24 Lawrence Hill Road in Weston, invites families to participate in summer reading via Beanstack and win prizes. Beanstack makes it easy and fun to track summer reading. Here’s how to join: Signup at Vermont Beanstack by clicking here. Select Wilder Memorial Pick your challenge(s), and Log your reading, participate in activities, […]
Heritage Deli hosts Heritage Cares music event to benefit Chester-Andover Family Center
From noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 26, the Heritage Deli & Bakery in collaboration with Chester-Andover Family Center, will kick off Heritage Cares Outdoor Music Series featuring Lucky Soul, a high energy, seven-piece horn band playing classical soul, funk and R&B music. The event will take place on the grounds of the Heritage […]
Grace Cottage 16th Tour de Grace bike rally Saturday
Come join the fun—sign up for Grace Cottage’s 16th Annual Tour de Grace bike rally, to be held Saturday, June 26, rain or shine. Start and end any time between 8 and 10 a.m., at Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital, 185 Grafton Road, Townshend. The event is a loop of approximately 17 miles on […]
Free tickets available to ‘Thumbelina’ ballet in Springfield, Chester
Come revel in a magical family-friendly production of Thumbelina set outdoors in early summer in Vermont. These performances are the premiere of a brand-new story ballet choreographed by Ashley Hensel-Browning set to Vermont composer Evan Premo’s Thumbelina, an original musical setting of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of a tiny girl who goes on a big […]
Left in Andover: A love for ‘Park-a-Lene’ food
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC In a world gone mad for pets, I am a proud but cat-free “cat person.” I got my cat Park-a-Lene in the early 1980s when we were living in our cabin in Andover. She was from a friend’s long line of fine-tempered tortoise shell beauties. Park-a-Lene was my […]
Chester Chatter: The goodness of my father
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC My father was a quiet person. He made little noise. Actually, he was shy. But what I loved about my dad was that he stepped up to support what he believed in. I could always count on his help whenever I found myself in trouble, which was often. […]
Henry Homeyer: Summer chores in your veggie garden
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC As the song goes, it’s “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy!” Well, not really. Yes, I’ve planted my 53 tomato plants, 200 onions and more, but there is still plenty to do. Let’s look at a few chores you might want to do this weekend. Your tomatoes need […]
Derry Lions collect 290 lbs. of food; Composting workshop in Cavendish on June 24
Londonderry Area Tri -Mtn Lions Pam Nichols and Pat Glabach are smiling over the 290 pounds of non-perishable foods and personal hygiene products and $475 monetary donations collected at the Food From the Heart drive on Saturday, May 22. Tri-Mtn Lions Gail Wyman and Randee Keith helped set up the collection area in front of […]
Left in Andover: A devout vegetarian savors Andover farm wives’ doughnuts
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC My dad’s zeitgeist was not an easy fit with the culture of 1950s Andover. But one local custom that he was bullish on was doughnuts. Doughnuts may have qualified as his favorite food. Andover’s farm wives were famous for them. My mother’s refusal to bake with white sugar […]
Chester Chatter: The joy in haying
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC It was haying time once again on the family farm. That meant that everyone in the family had a job to do. My favorite thing about this season was the smell of the newly mown hay. In the morning sunshine the grass was mowed down to dry. It […]
Henry Homeyer: Answering your questions on peonies
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC If you don’t have a peony, I’m surprised. If you don’t have three, you should. They are blooming now, and this is a great time to buy them. Go to your local garden center or family-run plant nursery and buy some more, no matter how many you have. […]
