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Chester Chatter: When neighbors are like family

Chester Chatter: When neighbors are like family

By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Moving to the farm on Green Mountain Turnpike in 1957, I was surprised to learn that our nearest neighbors lived three-quarters of a mile away. They were John and Elise Edwards. Nicer neighbors there never were.  Our families blended. Many people thought we were related. We spent a […]

Henry Homeyer: some of my favorite picks for pots

Henry Homeyer: some of my favorite picks for pots

By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Each summer I fill a big window box with annual flowers and vines to welcome all who approach the house. Some years it is bodacious, other years it verges on ho-hum. This year it is a delight: in the center is a black-leafed sweet potato vine that is […]

Left in Andover: Bewitching water in the 1980s

Left in Andover: Bewitching water in the 1980s

By Susan Leader ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Hard by the original cellar hole on the West Place – as our deed identifies the southern section of my family’s Popplewood Farm – is where my husband John Specker and I decided to build a “real” house, in 1988. We had dithered through the decade living in […]

Chester Chatter: Taking the roads less traveled

Chester Chatter: Taking the roads less traveled

By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC In the sweet old Vermont countryside, it is time for shunpiking — a time to hit the back roads of rural Vermont, a time to kick up dust, gravel, stones and some rocks all to take in the beauty of the green, very green foliage, the hillside views […]

4-year-old coloring whiz donates winnings to Chester Recreation Dept.

4-year-old coloring whiz donates winnings to Chester Recreation Dept.

Four-year-old Zander Hamilton of Chester has won a coloring contest held in June and sponsored by the Savings Bank of Walpole. For his efforts, Zander was recently awarded a check for $250 that he could donate to any non-profit organization that he wished. His choice?  The Chester Recreation Dept. Danielle Ruffo, Walpole Bank’s community engagement […]

Community & Arts events: Aug. 3 - Aug. 7, 2019

Community & Arts events: Aug. 3 – Aug. 7, 2019

For a full listing of upcoming events, click here for The Chester Telegraph Calendar. To find out how to become a Calendar Partner, email or call Cynthia Prairie at cprairie@chestertelegraph.org or 802-875-2703. To be included in events briefs, email Susan Lampe-Wilson at calendar@chestertelegraph.org. Photos welcome. No PDFs, please. Notices must be received by noon on […]

Henry Homeyer: July beauties in bloom

Henry Homeyer: July beauties in bloom

By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Every day in the warm months I take time to wander through my garden, often with camera in hand. I am always greeted by flowers in bloom that make my heart sing. Here are some blooming for me now, including a few you might not grow – or […]

Sicilian caponata elevates burgers

Sicilian caponata elevates burgers

By Jim Bailey theyankeechef.blogspot.com Here is a great summertime burger I believe you will be making over and over again. Sicilian caponata is generally prepared with what culinary experts call Sicilian aubergine. But being a Yankee, it is simply eggplant. Sicilian preparation methods introduce a sweet and sour sauce as well, but I think that […]

Community & Arts events: July 26-July 28, 2019

Community & Arts events: July 26-July 28, 2019

For a full listing of upcoming events, click here for The Chester Telegraph Calendar. To find out how to become a Calendar Partner, email or call Cynthia Prairie at cprairie@chestertelegraph.org or 802-875-2703. To be included in events briefs, email Susan Lampe-Wilson at calendar@chestertelegraph.org. Photos welcome. No PDFs, please. Notices must be received by noon on […]

New 'Oklahoma!' saved from quaint old self

New ‘Oklahoma!’ saved from quaint old self

By David Lampe-Wilson ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first musical together was Oklahoma!, a celebration of America as seen through the transformation of the Oklahoma Territory into our 46th state. As staged at Weston Playhouse, Oklahoma!, is less an historic marker than a call for inclusion in our current socially fractured times. This […]

Left in Andover: Big house, little house, book barn

Left in Andover: Big house, little house, book barn

By Susan Leader ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Until I came across Thomas C. Hubka’s transformational book Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn, I assumed that the purpose of our Popplewood Farm “little house,” as we called the honey room, and breezeway was just to make it easy to get to the barn in the […]

Chester Chatter: Cherished hand-written notes

Chester Chatter: Cherished hand-written notes

By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC In this world of electronic devices I have found myself out of the loop. I am perhaps one of the few you might know who does not have a computer, a cellphone or a GPS. I will speak my own mind without hiding behind a text message or […]

Henry Homeyer: Weeds – one farmer's perspective

Henry Homeyer: Weeds – one farmer’s perspective

By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Irecently went to Cochranville, Pa., to visit relatives, and they brought me to visit a successful farm-to-table farmer. I learned some new and interesting ways of looking at gardening, and I think they are worth sharing with you. For the past 40 years or so Glenn Brendle has […]

Nature Museum hires new exec director

Nature Museum hires new exec director

©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC As it embarks on celebrating its 30th anniversary — and with eyes toward a new phase of program and facility expansion — the Nature Museum announces the appointment of  Vanessa Stern as its new executive director. The museum is located at 186 Townshend Road in Grafton, and is open 10 a.m. to […]

Left in Andover: Living off of and for the land

Left in Andover: Living off of and for the land

By Susan Leader ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC In 1979, my parents gifted me two cabins and some land, the one-time ‘back forty’ of our Popplewood Farm in Andover. I have lived there ever since. This head start made it possible for me to pursue my “impractical” life-long career as a potter, and my husband, his […]

Chester Chatter: When owning a car was a luxury

Chester Chatter: When owning a car was a luxury

By Ruthie Douglas ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC My father though himself mighty lucky to have gotten a job at the Fellows Gear Shaper during the early 1940s. He had five daughters to support. His pay did not stretch far enough to allow him to purchase a car and he instead walked to work each day. […]

Bringing the garden and orchard to the table

Bringing the garden and orchard to the table

By Jim Bailey theyankeechef.blogspot.com Such a simple and surprisingly different pasta dish that reminds you of Florida. The crisp flavor of orange juice cuts into the chicken broth perfectly. If you use fat free chicken broth, you have dramatically altered the fat content of this dish, which only enhances the allure of this great summertime […]

Community & Arts events: July 20-July 24

Community & Arts events: July 20-July 24

For a full listing of upcoming events, click here for The Chester Telegraph Calendar. To find out how to become a Calendar Partner, email or call Cynthia Prairie at cprairie@chestertelegraph.org or 802-875-2703. To be included in events briefs, email Susan Lampe-Wilson at calendar@chestertelegraph.org. Photos welcome. No PDFs, please. Notices must be received by noon on […]

Henry Homeyer: garden thugs to love or hate

Henry Homeyer: garden thugs to love or hate

By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC I’ve never subscribed to the old saying that “Children should be seen and not heard.” So it shouldn’t surprise you that I don’t insist that all the flowers in my garden stay in place each year, and that those that do wander are not necessarily disciplined with a […]

Curious hearts, complicated lives come alive in 'I and You'

Curious hearts, complicated lives come alive in ‘I and You’

By Bob Behr ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Weston Playhouse’s newest offering, Lauren Gunderson’s I and You, is a beautifully written — and beautifully presented — story of two young people at a critical moment. If you go (and you should), your first impression will be scenic designer Tim Mackabee’s spectacular stage set, which remains in […]