All Entries in the "Community and Arts Life" Category
Left in Andover: A short history of hitting the road
By Susan Leader ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC The only thing I really miss about my hitchhiking days in the late ‘60s and ‘70s was the space it offered to interact constantly with people of all different walks of life. Swapping stories face to face with the people who stopped to give me rides established a […]
Chester Chatter: Friendship takes wings
By Ruthie Douglas ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC My sister Marie and I became the best of friends with Willy, who I wrote about last week. When school began in late summer, Marie and I went off to school and Willy was left behind to wait for us to come home. Soon, our playtime changed. […]
Henry Homeyer: Bring it on! Spring flower edition
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC This year I went to my vegetable garden with a snow shovel, in late February. It was a warm, sunny day, and I was ready for spring. Now people say that old timers like me are more patient than young whipper-snappers, but I’m not sure that’s true. We […]
Ash tree ID training to be held March 10 to prep for emerald ash borer beetle infestation
From 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, a forestry representative from the state will be training people on how to take an inventory of ash trees in preparation for the infestation of the emerald ash borer beetle, which has already been found in Londonderry. The training will be held in the conference room […]
Left in Andover: The end of single-party politics
By Susan Leader ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Dad’s enormous wooden roll-top desk filled the northwest quadrant of the den at Popplewood Farm. He rescued it one winter in the late 1950s from the former Verd Mont Mills Co. factory in Ludlow. To get it into the house, we had to drag it on an old […]
Chester Chatter: Days of summer play
By Ruthie Douglas © 2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC When my sister Marie and I were very young, we met our neighbor Glen. He was a little younger than we were, but soon we became the best of friends. We called our new friend Willy as his last name was Williams. Each day we met to […]
Henry Homeyer: Staying sane, starting your seedlings
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Winter is long, and for a gardening guy like me, winter can be oppressive. I keep sane, in part, by starting seeds indoors. I am just now getting ready to start a few plants that need a long head start before they go outside. Starting plants now means […]
Chester Townscape holds tree, shrub sale; Tri-Mountain Lions food drive a success; Carbonetti show to benefit Springfield on the Move
Tree and shrub sale to benefit Chester Townscape To support its community beautification projects, Chester Townscape is selling decorative trees and shrubs. All are extremely hardy and adaptable plants with colorful blossoms and multi-season interest. These reliable, low-maintenance plants are nursery grown and good size. They are offered to the public at below regular retail […]
Chester girl wins Gold Medal at Magic, heads to U14 State Championships
Ava Anderson, 12, of Chester, a member of the Stratton Winter Sports Club team and recent U14 Gold Medal winner at Magic Mountain, will be racing in the Vermont Alpine Racing Association‘s U14 State Championships at Okemo Mountain, competing against young women from throughout Vermont. The U14 category is for those under the age of […]
Left in Andover: Hope in the Book of Job
By Susan Leader ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the biblical Book of Job, Satan bets that Job, the archetypal “billionaire” of his time, will not remain true to God in the face of misfortune. God gives Satan permission to visit any tribulation except death upon Job, to test him. Against all odds, in the face […]
Chester Chatter: Four Corners Club had the corner on friendship
By Ruthie Douglas © 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC The Chester Four Corners Women’s Club was in existence from the 1930s to not so very long ago. The club was formed so that women could be informed on topics that helped them run their homes. Keep in mind that this was in the days before TV […]
Henry Homeyer: When you enjoy it so much, it doesn’t feel like work
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Ruth Stout, born in Topeka, Kansas in 1884, lived to the ripe old age of 96. She was an early proponent of organic gardening and was also (as seen from her writing) a sweet, funny, intelligent and common-sense person. I recently read her book, Gardening without Work, from cover […]
Three young local snowboarders to compete in Burton Open Junior Jam
© 2020 Telegraph Publishing, LLC Snowboarders Sumner Orr of Weston, Connor Cavanagh of Windham and Tommy Okesson of Connecticut will be representing Southern Vermont as they head to Vail, Colo., next week to participate in the Burton U.S. Open Junior Jam. This is the first time the Junior Jam that three riders from Southern Vermont […]
Left in Andover: The carrot and the bun
By Susan Leader ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC March 2012, a historically warm month, I floor my gas pedal to climb the steep mountain road. High atop Finn Hill in Andover, my daughter, who is in her early 20s, has set up housekeeping in a rented apartment. I am on assignment, delivering a first batch of […]
Chester Chatter: Drawing friendship over tea
By Ruthie Douglas ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Eve Dawson came to Chester from New York City some time in the 1970s. Eve had bought the Grist Mill on North Street by the bridge, where she set up an art studio and gallery. I went there on assignment for the Springfield Reporter. Eve and I clicked. […]
Henry Homeyer: the global impact of your green thumb
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC There is much talk these days about global warming. It’s easy to feel hopeless and to think there is nothing we can do, but a few small steps can add up to a big difference. A gardener can do a lot to help the environment. Start by growing […]
Weston community offers free ‘pop-up university’
Several residents in the town of Weston have created what they are calling a “pop-up university” to entertain, bring the community together and offer learning opportunities to residents of the town and from throughout the area for the month of March. Classes, events and workshops will be led by people from the community – your […]
Left in Andover: Living simply in Gandhi’s shadow
By Susan Leader ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC While Dad had always managed to stash a certain amount of “junk” in the breezeway, in the tractor sheds and in our hayloft, when we got rid of our farm animals there was no holding him back from filling up the whole barn. As a by-product of our […]
Chester Chatter: Lifelong strength in small town friendships
By Ruthie Douglas ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC What is it about growing up in small town America? Making forever friends in our first years of school happened to many of us. Some 30 of us who started first grade at the same time often get together once a month for lunch. Over the years, many […]
Henry Homeyer: Spring birds signal seed orders
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Ground Hog Day has come and gone. The big, fat rodent has made their proclamation about the arrival of spring, and of course, I paid no attention. I think the birds are better about announcing spring, but so far the cardinals are not singing their spring songs, and […]
