All Entries in the "Community and Arts Life" Category
Left in Andover: From the pages of Northampton
By Susan Leader ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC My early morning marches along the dike overlooking the Connecticut River floodplain were a mortification for me on the coldest winter days. Not because I had to walk, but because the exertion caused my face to turn beet red. The unforgiving gauntlet of female eyes at morning assembly […]
Chester Chatter: Bird calls and backward shorts
By Ruthie Douglas ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC When school was out for the summer, the girls were ready for our annual two-week vacation. We usually planned those family trips for the immediate weeks following the end of school and we always went to some historic place. One time we visited Colonial Williamsburg. It was mighty […]
Henry Homeyer: Tea at 10 feet, garden parties amid a pandemic
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC In these times, garden parties are few and far between. But if you practice social distancing (tea at 10 feet) and wear masks as needed, you can still share your garden with others. And despite all the hoopla about how people are gardening more, we all still have […]
Left in Andover: Recovering lost family history
By Susan Leader ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Most of what I collect at thrift shops and recycling centers is strictly utilitarian. But last year while helping my daughter recycle in Winhall, I snapped up an ornate cast iron picture frame. My husband has two similar frames displaying portraits of his crusty German forbears. My heart […]
Chester Chatter: Feeling the burn
By Ruthie Douglas ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC My husband Don traveled for his company. He usually flew out of Logan in Boston when he going out of the country and Bradley Field when he was traveling in the states. His company usually drove him to the airport. However, one time everything got mixed up and […]
Henry Homeyer: Everything’s coming up clovers
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Let’s face it: most of us do not have a lawn that looks like the grass on a major league infield, and I for one, don’t want one that does. Most professional ballfields are doctored weekly with chemicals: fungicides, herbicides, fertilizers, insecticides. They are cut very short, and […]
Chester’s iconic Fall Festival cancelled
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Just before the end of the Chester Select Board meeting on Wednesday night, board member Leigh Dakin announced that the Chester Rotary and the Fall Festival Committee have decided that they will be unable to hold the 46th edition of the iconic festival scheduled for Sept. 19 […]
‘We are BR’ banners go up in Ludlow
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Late on Monday afternoon, Otis Nelson and Nick Miele were parked at Diamond Realty having just mounted the second set of banners on a light posts on the nearby bridge. Each of the 26 banners features the photo of a Black River graduate with the slogan “We […]
Neighborhood Connections names exec director; Derry Arts Society receives $5,000 grant
Neighborhood Connections names executive director Neighborhood Connections’ Board of Directors announces the appointment of Nicole Wengerd as executive director. Wengerd had been an original staff member when Gloria Dawson and Delores Barbeau opened Neighborhood Connections 11 years ago. She left the organization after two years as social worker to pursue a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies. […]
Left in Andover: The comforts of comfrey
By Susan Leader ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC My family knows better than to get up hope when I decide to bake cookies. By the time I grate a few carrots, grind up some oats and skip the dairy, gluten, fat and sweetener, the finished result is more likely to resemble a veggie burger than dessert. […]
Chester Chatter: Green Up Day going strong
By Ruthie Douglas ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Driving from Dallas, Texas, to Vermont in the late 1950s, we noticed that along the sides of the highway were a lot of rubbish. But once in Vermont we were not seeing so much of that mess. So it was no surprise that when Green Up Day began […]
Henry Homeyer: Dividing and conquering your flower garden
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC I spend a lot in plant nurseries. At $10 or more a pop, it is easy to spend a hundred dollars quick as a blink. But I’m also a firm believer in dividing my perennials so that I don’t have to spend so much. Once you have established […]
Family Center to host Drive-Thru fundraiser; Springfield Band cancels season
Family Center to host Drive-thru Empty Bowl Fundraiser The Chester-Andover Family Center will hold its 2nd annual Empty Bowl Fundraiser from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10 at the Country Girl Diner, 45 RT 103S in Chester. This year, the Family Center is collaborating with Jessica Holmes of the Country Girl Diner to […]
Electronics Collection in Derry; Plant sale in Cavendish; BRGN plans to reopen thrift store
May 30: Electronics Collection in Londonderry The Londonderry Solid Waste Group is sponsoring an Electronics Collection from 9 .m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 30 at Flood Brook School, 91 VT-11. Participants must wear a mask, stay in their vehicle and put all electronics in the trunk or way-back of their cars or beds […]
Whiting Library advocates for Green Up Day
Everyone is invited to participate in a fun-filled Green Up Day, happening on Saturday, May 30. Come by the front yard of the Whiting Library at 117 Main St. in Chester between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to get your official Green Up bag for litter collection. Raffle tickets for fun prizes will be available […]
VT & NH Rotary Clubs give $25,000 to food banks
Capitalizing on grant monies made available from Rotary International, Rotary District 7870 distributed $25,000 to New Hampshire and Vermont food banks in May. District 7870 consists of 60 Rotary Clubs in southern Vermont and southern New Hampshire, including those in Chester, Ludlow and Londonderry (Wantastiquet). The money – based on per capita calculations – amounted […]
Left in Andover: Finding home in Vermont
By Susan Leader ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Despite my third generation status as a “native” I have no nostalgia for the traditional Vermont in which I grew up. My outsider Jewish, vegetarian, socialist family’s connection was to the land rather than the local culture. Paradoxically, it took Vermont’s early 1970s “Hippie Invasion” and an influx […]
Chester Chatter: Enjoying home, inside and out
By Ruthie Douglas ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC For many of these past months have been like a step behind. However folks my age remember when everything was slower. Many folks are finding time to enjoy their homes. It has been a good time to turn of the television and read books. When was the last […]
Henry Homeyer: Uncommon veggies to become acquainted with
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC I don’t mean to sound like I’m bragging, but if it will grow in Cornish Flat, N.H., I’ve probably tried it. Scorzonera? Sure, once, but I was not enthralled by this long, thin root. Peanuts? Once, didn’t get many. Gilfeather turnips? You bet. Many of the things I […]
West River Farmers Market opens Saturday under new restrictions
By Shawn Cunningham © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The West River Farmers Market will begin its 26th season on Saturday in a totally new format – just like everything else these days. The market must adhere to state guidelines to address the Covid-19 pandemic, which means that the music and social aspects of the market […]
