All Entries in the "Community and Arts Life" Category
Chester Chatter: A short-order cook stands tall
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the late 1950s, my husband Don bought a pair of Morgan draft pulling horses. The matched pair were strictly for showing. On the country fair circuit, they won many awards and appeared on television at the Eastern States Fair — the Big E — in Massachusetts. We […]
Henry Homeyer: Let’s fine prune those fruit trees
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC When I was a boy I loved to climb trees. I had no fear of heights, and loved the unique perspective I got looking down from the top of a tall pine or maple tree. Now that I’m all grown up, I no longer climb trees – unless […]
Winter goods sale at Family Center; deadline nears for Townscape plant purchase
Family Center Thrift Shop holding winter merchandise sale It is time for the Chester-Andover Family Center Thrift Shop to clear winter merchandise and get ready for spring. That means it is bag sale time. For four days on two consecutive weekends, March 19-20 and March 26-27, all clothing and accessories will be on sale. Fill […]
Left in Andover: The many paths to becoming
an independent woman
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC I was 14 years old when Lydia Ratcliff bought Lovejoy Brook Farm on East Hill. It was 1965, and back then, single female farm owners were not a thing. Like everyone else in Andover, I wondered how long she would last. By that age I was on the […]
Chester Chatter: Honoring Helene for Women’s History Month
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC This is the month of the woman, Women’s History Month. Who is the woman you honor? My mother-in-law, Helene Douglas, meant a lot to me. It started when I married her son and moved into their farmhouse. I was 16 and didn’t know how to run a vacuum […]
Henry Homeyer: Starting seeds – it’s time!
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC I love starting seedlings indoors when it’s still cold and raw outside. It makes me dream of summer and the first red tomato. For me, it is still too early to plant most things, and I certainly don’t want to have to baby my seedlings along for 12 […]
Cavendish (and more) turns out for Jim Hasson’s 95th
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The coronavirus pandemic has been tough on an active nonagenarian, keeping him in his rural home. But family, friends and neighbors conspired to give Jim Hasson of Cavendish a 95th birthday to remember with a parade on Sunday. As Hasson sat in a folding chair on Main […]
VeggieVanGo comes to Townshend March 10
The next VeggieVanGo free food event, hosted by Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital of Townshend and organized by the Vermont Foodbank, will be held on Wednesday, March 10. This VeggieVanGo event takes place on the second Wednesday of the month, from noon to 1 p.m., in front of Leland & Gray Union Middle High […]
Left in Andover: Found in translation
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Growing up, I never suspected my extended family of any deep secrets. Boy was I mistaken. Now I yearn to recreate the kitchen and Popplewood porch gatherings of my childhood, to sift for evidence. At that age, I was focused on my aunts’ cooking rather than on their […]
Chester Chatter: After WWI, Johnnie Walker finds home in Vermont
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Johnnie Walker fished the Williams River in front of my farmhouse and many times would seek a ride back up to town. That gave me a chance to really get to know Johnnie. At one point, my editor — I believe it was at the Black River Tribune […]
Henry Homeyer: Grand dreams of tomorrow’s trees
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC I was recently thumbing through my first book, Notes from the Garden, looking for an inspiration for yet another winter article. In it I read that I had planted my ‘Merrill’ magnolia in 2001. I had forgotten that I planted it just 20 years ago this spring – […]
Springfield Rotary aiding vaccine clinics, masking efforts
The Springfield Rotary Club continues to provide assistance to regional efforts related to the Covid-19 pandemic, including providing masks as well as volunteer participation with the operation of vaccine clinics in the community. Rotarians are serving as parking staff and greeters for the vaccine clinic operated by Springfield Hospital at the Adult Day facility on […]
Young artist brings the inside out while challenging norms
By Jasmin Gomez 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC When Chester resident John Garoutte isn’t snowboarding or skateboarding, you will most likely find him creating art. And the 24-year-old artist’s work, which can be found on shirts, snowboards and skateboard decks, sets him apart from what you may think a typical Vermont artist would create. It continuously […]
Left in Andover: Wrestling with electrical power
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Project Independence, President Richard Nixon’s response to the energy crisis created by OPEC’s 1973 oil embargo, called for blanketing America with 1,000 nuclear power plants by the end of the 20th century. Although the theoretical advantages of nuclear power were great, NIMBY-style resistance proved even greater. Communities across […]
Chester Chatter: Kindness abounds in our community
by Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Here I go again. Do you realize how lucky we are to be living here? I am now very familiar with the emergency room, hospital and rehab facilities nearby. Working in these facilities are the staffs. Those folks are some sweet people. The kindness they show their patients […]
Henry Homeyer: Building your garden library
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC I know that many people, especially gardeners under the age of 40, use the internet to find the answers to their questions. That is fine, but the internet is full of “fake news” and spurious assertions. I do use the web, but if I want to learn about […]
Weston’s free ‘Pop-Up University’ restarts; Free screening of ‘Coded Bias’ on facial recognition
Pop-Up University restarts for classes in March The Weston Pop-Up University is returning in March with four weeks of classes, events and workshops led by local residents, all held virtually because of Covid-19 pandemic rules. This year’s Pop-Up schedule includes nine on-line classes and workshops offering a wide variety of topics from Italian cooking lessons […]
Left in Andover: Home Dem meetings were
a lifeline for rural women in the 1950s
By Susan Leader ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC When I was a child, my mother looked forward to Andover “Home Dem,”or Friendly Club meetings. Open to all, they were held at a different member’s home each month. Each meeting included a practical educational topic of discussion as well as time to socialize. The Home Demonstration movement […]
Chester Chatter: Rewarding friendship spans age
By Ruthie Douglas ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC A house in our neighborhood in Springfield stood vacant for some time. Then one summer day, a moving truck backed up. We kids crept near behind some bushes to see: Would there be any kids to play with? No, it turns out. Just two old people, Henry and […]
Henry Homeyer: mid-winter care for your houseplants
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Are you suffering from the mid-winter blahs? More importantly, are your houseplants? We can’t be in our gardens outside now – except for a few stalwarts who are pruning, I suppose – but we can take good care of our houseplants. Although I have not the passion for […]
