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Everything's coming up roses at Chester Flowers

Everything’s coming up roses at Chester Flowers

Aflorist shop on Valentine’s Day can be a mix of artists’ studio, take-out restaurant, couples counselor and NASA mission control. Few retail settings perform such hire wire acts of timing and aesthetics. And tomorrow Diane Stocker and Cheryl LeClair of Chester Flowers will be working to make a lot of sweethearts happy. Their small shop […]

Act 250 hearing for Dollar General continues Thursday

Act 250 hearing for Dollar General continues Thursday

Planning commission offers alternative plans The District 2 Environmental Commission has set Thursday, Jan. 17 to reconvene its Act 250 hearing on the proposed Dollar General project for a 1.37 acre parcel of land on Main Street across from the Country Girl Diner in Chester. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on the 2nd […]

People’s Bank awards Chester-Andover Family Center $500

People’s United Bank announced today that they have made a $500 donation to the Chester-Andover Family Center The funding will be used to provide more then 60 monthly food packages to families and individuals in need. In addition, the funding will support programs that provide financial assistance for utilities, rent and transportation. “We are pleased […]

Sage Jewelry teams with Polish Pottery in bigger location

Sage Jewelry teams with Polish Pottery in bigger location

It was a chilly Saturday evening with snow, salt and sand still on the ground. But the move had to be done. Sage Jewelry, which for two years has sat snuggly inside the Moon Dog Cafe, on Main Street right off the Green in Chester, needed larger digs. Jeweler and owner Michele Bargfrede was teaming […]

Business in Brief: Federal aid for Irene available; nursing students honored

SPRINGFIELD The Vermont Community Development Program has awarded a $1 million Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery to two southeastern Vermont regional development corporations. Brattleboro Development Credit Corp. is partnering with Springfield Regional Development Corp. to provide funding for Irene flood-impacted businesses throughout Windham and southern Windsor counties. “While it is discouraging that some […]

Tis the Season: Unusual holiday gifts for every budget and everyone

Tis the Season: Unusual holiday gifts for every budget and everyone

By Cynthia Prairie There are few reasons to leave Chester to shop for that very special holiday gift for that very special person. Chester abounds with interesting items in all price ranges — if you know where to look. Whether the recipient is your spouse or lover, a child, your pets or friends who love […]

Family Center Thrift Shop formally opens

Family Center Thrift Shop formally opens

The Chester-Andover Family Center’s Thrift Shop officially opened its new doors last Tuesday, Nov. 20 to the cheers of the many volunteers who had spent the last few months readying the building, which in its lifetime had housed three restaurants — Putney Pasta, Azteca and Curtis’ BBQ — before being purchased by the charitable organization […]

Backgrounder: Act 250, the Land Use and Development Act

Passed in the spring of 1970, Act 250 was the result of development pressures brought on by the opening of I-91 and I-89. The governor and state legislature were among those concerned that greater access would result in environmental problems, traffic congestion and over development among other problems that would combine to be a burden […]

Act 250 Commission hears Dollar General proposal, residents' concerns

Act 250 Commission hears Dollar General proposal, residents’ concerns

By Cynthia Prairie Emotion tinged the afternoon testimony of many of the 13 people who spoke against the proposed Dollar General store on Friday, Nov. 9 before an audience at Chester Town Hall that at one point numbering more than 50. One by one, Chester business owners, residents and a second homeowner — who had […]

Backgrounder: The Dollar General project

The 9,100-square-foot project, being developed by the Zaremba Group of Ohio, received an approval in October 2011 from the Chester Development Review Board for a subdivision, since it is currently part of property owned by Ted Zachary, who ran a pizza house adjacent to the parcel he is hoping to sell to Dollar General. The […]

Giving thanks ... to the chef

Giving thanks … to the chef

By Becki Trudell The Thanksgiving holiday is centered around a huge meal and, of course, family. But with the big meal comes hours of preparation — and a great, big mess. Peeling potatoes, chopping onions, basting a turkey and the inevitable dirty pans and soiled tablecloths are not likely to put a damper on your […]

7th graders fundraise to aid Hurricane Sandy victims

7th graders fundraise to aid Hurricane Sandy victims

The 7th grade class of Green Mountain Middle School is holding a “Every Penny Counts” fundraiser to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic Hurricane on record that tore through the East Coast in late October. The “superstorm” killed more than 100 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and left millions without power. The […]

Family center volunteers open new pantry doors, thrift shop to open Nov. 20

Family center volunteers open new pantry doors, thrift shop to open Nov. 20

UPDATE: The Thrift Shop will open officially at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 20.  After weeks of hard work by eager volunteers from all over the area, the Chester-Andover Family Center has finally opened the doors to customers of its food pantry and moved most of its thrift shop goods into its new site at 908 […]

UPDATE: 'Preliminary party status' granted to 28 in Dollar General case

UPDATE: ‘Preliminary party status’ granted to 28 in Dollar General case

28 seek ‘party status’ in opposition to Dollar General Bulletin: Early Friday evening, the District Environmental Commission #2  sent out notice that “preliminary party status” has been granted to the 28 Chester residents and second-homeowners who are objecting to the construction of a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General store on Main Street. Preliminary party status will allow […]

Dollar General's Act 250 hearing set, public invited to seek 'party status'

Dollar General’s Act 250 hearing set, public invited to seek ‘party status’

After five months of quiet, Zaremba Group LLC – the developer of a proposed 9,100-square-foot Dollar General store on Main Street across from the Country Girl Diner – has filed an application for the Act 250 permit (project No. 2S0699-3) it needs to proceed with its plans. The District 2 Environmental Commission, headquartered in Springfield, […]

Chester to seek Village Center Designation

Chester to seek Village Center Designation

By Cynthia Prairie Leanne Tingay, coordinator of the Vermont Downtown Program, came before the Chester Select Board on Wednesday Oct. 3 to urge the board to get behind efforts within the town to achieve a state Village Center Designation. And from the enthusiasm that the board expressed following her presentation, it appears that the town […]

Changes in store for Lisai's Chester Market

Changes in store for Lisai’s Chester Market

With Photo Gallery and Story Below By Cynthia Prairie I t’s obvious. Just look at the grocery carts. Most of the full-sized, difficult-to-turn models have been replaced by shiny sub-compact, double-decker ones that save energy as customers easily maneuver them through the aisles at Lisai’s. And there has been and will be more. Change that is. […]

Business startup workshop in Chester; blended families for professionals

Vermont Small Business Development Center is offering a three-hour workshop on how to start your own business and write a business plan. The course will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon on Friday Oct. 5th in the conference room of the TD Bank, 44 Main St. in Chester. The seminar is designed for individuals […]

Alternative wellness businesses

Acupuncture, Herbs & Energy Medicine Laura Thomas Licensed Acupuncturist The Hugging Bear Inn 244 Main St. 802-875-2339 or 802-289-4341 laura_m_thomas@hotmail.com Chester Community Acupuncture Tracy LaCreta, Licensed Acupuncturist 287 Main St.Unit 1C 802-875-3100 tracy@chestercommunityacupuncture.comAimee Knauff, Naturopathic Doctor 802-518-0208 info@drknauff.com The Healing Experience Wendy Schwarz, Owner 240 Depot St.802-875-2402 wigetsch@yahoo.com Massage & Zero Balancing Kelley Kehoe, Owner […]

A healthy wellness community grows in Chester

A healthy wellness community grows in Chester

By Jade Dunn Ten years ago, few would have thought that Chester could become a Mecca for holistic, naturopathic and alternative medicines. But with more than nine practitioners – in acupuncture, massage and acupressure as well as some of the more controversial fields such as Reiki – this town of more than 3,000 is well […]