All Entries in the "Community and Arts Life" Category
Left in Andover: Building a utopia from ‘abandoned’ Vermont lands
By Susan Leader ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC In 1941, Alfred and Norma Jacob, Quaker Relief Service volunteers during the Spanish Civil War, purchased the last standing farmhouse on West Hill in Jamaica, Vt. During the post-American Civil War era, a mere 70 years earlier, an astounding 28 farms had thrived on that very same hill. […]
Chester Chatter: Joys of being a farmer’s wife
By Ruthie Douglas ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Lately, I look out my big window above the hospital parking lot. It has looked more like spring than the dead of winter. The birds are chirping and hopping about. Looking back in time, now is the time we spread our seed catalogs out on the kitchen table, […]
Henry Homeyer: tips for making winter arrangements
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Finding things to place in vases, now, in winter, is not easy. It takes some imagination, but there really are some nice stems available. Before the snow flew I went outside and picked stems of pachysandra, a green vine that is mostly used in shade, though also grows […]
Chester Rescue Squad holds holiday party for local kids
Chester Volunteer Rescue Squad, the local Dollar General and generous shoppers teamed up to help area families with gifts for the holidays. Leading up to the holidays, the Dollar General gathered the names of families in need. Then shoppers would buy gifts at the Dollar General and donate them in a box at the store. […]
Left in Andover: A potter turns toward reality
By Susan Leader ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC This is Part II of a two-part story on my journeys with pottery. Last week: Pottery as a spiritual pursuit My original plan to take the Hippie Trail home across India through Afghanistan to the Middle East and thence back to the USA lost its appeal after my […]
Chester Chatter: A time for new beginnings
By Ruthie Douglas ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Here we are in the new year, 2020, and a time for new beginnings. I’ve decided I am going to be more grateful and a little bit nicer in the year ahead. Last year was a real test for me. I battled for my life. I also lost […]
Henry Homeyer: Time to nestle in with a good book
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC It’s cold outside, and nothing is happening in my garden. Well, I guess deep beneath the soil surface there are microbes and worms and moles alive and doing whatever they do in winter. But I am doing nothing in the garden, so this is a time to read […]
Whiting Library to unveil new trove of children’s books
The Whiting Library, 117 Main St. in Chester, is inviting the public to attend the unveiling of a new collection of 95 children’s books at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 8. The collection is made possible by a grant from the Children’s Book Project, awarded by the Pilcrow Foundation, which supports rural public libraries and […]
Left in Andover: Pottery as a spiritual pursuit
By Susan Leader ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC I divide my 51 years as a potter into several different stages. What started out as a spiritual experience for me at age 17 morphed into a much more mundane, “of this earth-ly world” career. This is Part I of a two-part story. Next week, Part II: On […]
Chester Chatter: Recuperating into the New Year
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC My column will be returning in just a short time as my recuperation continues on course! I look forward to writing for you once again, and thank you for all the good wishes.
Henry Homeyer: Looking back at 2019
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC This past year was, overall, a good one in the garden. It started off cold and wet in early summer, but then turned hot and dry. Most vegetables and perennial flowers did fine for me. I finally splurged and got an Itoh hybrid peony, one called ‘Garden Treasure’ […]
Cookie Tour presents $800 to Family Center
The 2019 Chester Holiday Cookie Tour presented a check for $800 on Friday, Dec. 21, to the Chester-Andover Family Center to help them in their mission of aiding local individuals and families in need. Present for the occasion was organizer Cynthia Prairie, Family Center past President Nena Nanfeldt and several of the nine families who […]
Chester Elementary collects gifts, food for area families
The students and staff of Chester-Andover Elementary School collected gifts and bags of food for Chester and Andover families for the holiday season. Every year, the school sets up a Mitten Tree, where students can pick a mitten with a gift idea for a specific child. This year, children from 25 families will receive those […]
Left in Andover: The canopy over his head
By Susan Leader ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC The box containing Dad’s cremated remains sat under the eaves at Popplewood for two whole years before we figured out what to do with them His instructions to “dump me on the compost pile” seemed crude if not illegal. But Dad’s opposition to the funeral industry left few […]
Chester Chatter: Happy, restful holidays
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC I’ll be taking some time off to take care of a health issue. I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah and holiday season with lots of love and good will.
Henry Homeyer: Reflections on a gardener’s life
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC During the holidays I try to take time from the humdrum of festivities to sit quietly and reflect on how happy and grateful I am for my life here in rural New England. Much of what I appreciate is linked to a life that allows me to spend […]
Left in Andover: Steering toward the good life
By Susan Leader ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC I treasure Simple Food for the Good Life, the 1982 non-cookbook by Helen Nearing (1904-1995), not for its recipes, but as a reminder of how fortunate I am to live in an era when women have the freedom to choose how much of their lives to invest in […]
Chester Chatter: The first opening day at Magic
By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC It was a step back in time as I entered the cafeteria at Magic Mountain. Closing my eyes, it was 1960, and opening day at the Base Lodge. I was the first ever food manager. I saw a young Bruce Meyer greeting folks and selling lift tickets. I […]
Henry Homeyer: It’s time to plant acorns
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC You may think that the planting season is over. Not for me. I recently planted 8 giant red oaks. Or, I should say, potentially giant oaks. I planted eight acorns. I’m hoping that at least one will begin growing next spring, and that it will eventually provide shade, […]
Left in Andover: A whipping to end whippings
By Susan Leader ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Compiling her “Vermont Historical Gazetteer,” Abby Maria Hemenway (1828-1890) enlisted the elders of each Vermont town and city to provide historical material, which she then edited and published from 1861 until her death. The section titled “The Local History of ANDOVER, VT.” (1886) includes a primary source contribution […]
