Search Results for 'Chester Chatter'
Chester Chatter: On the loving grandparents next door
By Ruthie Douglas © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC I had only one set of grandparents — my father’s parents died before I was born. My grandparents lived right next door. They were my biggest fans, they supported me always and stood by me. They nurtured and helped form my character. They did this by sharing […]
Chester Chatter: New mown hay on a hot summer day
By Ruthie Douglas © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Oh the scent of new mown hay! Come summer and the hay was ready to cut and put in the barn for the winter months ahead. The entire family all helped with the job. Under the sun, it was a hot job, but once evening came around […]
Chester Chatter: The joys of an old hardware store
By Ruthie Douglas © 2017-Telegraph Publishing LLC I came to live in Chester in 1957 and I knew it was where I wanted to live and never move from. It was the simple things: Stepping into the hardware store. Opening the door, just the smell of the oil on the wide-plank floors, the floor made […]
Chester Chatter: Swimming in the music of summer
By Ruthie Douglas © 2017-Telegraph Publishing LLC Growing up, my family’s source of entertainment was simple and mostly inexpensive. Come summer, on warm evening, we went to the music concerts at Riverside, where the school in Springfield is now located. The band — the town band, played selections to suit everyone. Instead of clapping, you […]
Chester Chatter: Watching a grandchild grow up
By Ruthie Douglas © 2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC The call came. My new grandbaby had arrived. I rushed over to Springfield Hospital, hurried down the hall and turned into the room. It was a boy, in his father’s arms. Kissing him on the cheek I knew I would love this baby, named Ben, forever. Over […]
Chester Chatter: Lessons from one-room school houses
By Ruthie Douglas © 2017-Telegraph Publishing LLC Chester at one time operated more than 20 one-room school houses. Once those schools served an important part in our outlying areas in hamlets such as Gassetts, Popple Dungeon and Smokeshire. They offered education and a meeting place for social gatherings. The teachers of these schools opened the […]
Chester Chatter: A little saw kicks up a lot of trouble
By Ruthie Douglas ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC When my sister and I were teenagers with summer jobs as car hops at the local A&W, we no longer wanted to go up to camp every weekend with our parents. We were old enough to stay home and out of trouble — or so my mother thought. […]
Chester Chatter: Knee-deep in frogs
By Ruthie Douglas ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC Young’s furniture store was just down the street from where I grew up in Springfield. We neighborhood kids kept an eye out for when it received deliveries. New appliances and furniture came in slab wood crates with heavy card board. We looked over the rubbish area and selected […]
Chester Chatter: Lakeside retreats for family 4th of Julys
By Ruthie Douglas ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC My parents were married on the 4th of July. They took the Toonerville Trolley to Charlestown, N.H., and took the train up to Lake Winnipesaukee for a two-day honeymoon. As years went by, our family mostly celebrated their anniversary up at our camp on Cole Pond. We’d go […]
Chester Chatter: Town doctors a life-line in small communities
By Ruthie Douglas ©2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC The country doctor had an important role in small town America. Folks counted on him to fix their ailments. They counted on him for all sort of advice as well. In Springfield, where I grew up, we were lucky to have two such doctors — Dr. Griffith and […]
Chester Chatter: Memories of a devoted father
By Ruthie Douglas @2017 Telegraph Publishing LLC My father had a dream. His dream was that I would become the first woman governor of Vermont. Even though that dream did not come true, my father always believed in me and was there to support me in my often-times crazy ventures. Do you know what it […]
The Telegraph welcomes Ruthie Douglas and ‘Chester Chatter’
I am pleased to announce that Ruthie Douglas is bringing her Chester Chatter column to Chester Telegraph readers. Before the internet and bloggers, there were community columns such as Chester Chatter that gave readers a glimpse into life down the street or on the other side of town. Her column has been a fixture for […]
‘Chester Inn’ chargers donated to Fullerton, Historical Society Former owners' son presents engraved plates
Photos and text by Cynthia Prairie © 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC Warren Mackensen and his wife Patricia visited Chester on Tuesday from their home in Hampton, N.H., to lunch with old friends and serve two plates, but ones not bearing food. The historic copper plates were part of a set of 60 chargers that Mackensen’s […]
Ruthie Douglas, 81, longtime chronicler of Chester, friend to many
Ruth “Ruthie” F. Douglas, 81, of Chester, passed away on Sunday May 1, 2022 at the Jack Byrne Center in Lebanon, N.H. She was born Dec. 31, 1940 in Springfield, the daughter of Dwight E. and Vivian (Tatro) Foster. She attended Springfield schools. On Aug. 22, 1956, she married Donald W. Douglas. He predeceased her […]
Marconics gatherings spark Covid concerns in Chester Owners: We are Covid compliant, attention is a 'witch hunt'
By Cynthia Prairie & Shawn Cunningham ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC As many as 25 to 35 cars — most bearing out-of-state license plates — parked at the old Jiffy Mart and adjacent streets in downtown Chester last week alarmed members of the Chester community as Covid-19 cases continue to rise nationwide and as Vermont severely […]
A personal note: Our Ruthie Douglas dies
We lost our beloved Ruthie Douglas today. She was not only a writer for The Chester Telegraph, she was our friend. She leaves behind many loving family members and friends and uncounted loyal Chester Chatter readers who for 40-plus years looked forward to reading her latest column that recalled life in bygone days and her […]
Left in Andover: Local newspapers, social trust
By Susan Leader ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Mrs. Frieda Bergman is spending some time at the Herbert Leader home” in Andover. The deep winter time frame for my maternal grandmother’s visit was possible because she had taken a job teaching in a nearby one room school. “Seven little friends,” continued correspondent Estelle Bentley’s March 1952 […]
To the editor: A Valentine to Ruthie Douglas
On Feb. 14, 2016, a beloved family friend, Ruthie Douglas (Chester resident and Chester Chatter columnist), married Jim and I. Our marriage has been so blessed and we are fortunate to have such amazing people in our lives like Ruthie! Seven months later, Ruthie married my father-in-law, James Perry Sr., to his wife Paula Perry […]
GM board wrangles over approval of minutes from Hill appointment
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC At its first in-person monthly meeting in more than a year, the Green Mountain Unified School Board on June 17 continued its rumpus over the minutes taken during the meeting in which Keith Hill was named high school principal. For 45 minutes, the members wrangled over parliamentary […]
A single vote changes and GM board appoints Keith Hill principal
By Shawn Cunningham © 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC In an often contentious and confusing meeting on Thursday night, the Green Mountain Unified School District Board looked at a bleak prospect and voted 5-4 to rescind its recent vote to reject its superintendent’s recommendation for a new high school principal. With four members continuing to stand […]
