Calendar: Fall festivals
River Valley Kids Fair Brattleboro Common http://www.windhamchildcare.org Sept 15, 11a-3p: Fun family events: Entertainers, games, bouncy houses, face painting, and more. Sponsored by River Valley Credit Union. Chester Fall Festival on the Green Chester, On the green http://www.chesterfallfestival.org Sept 15-16, 10a-4p: Chester Village Green comes to life at this annual celebration of Vermont’s gifted artisans, Chester’s unique...
Upfront
Putney Food Co-op expands The Putney Food Coop (Putneycoop.com) broke ground on Aug. 6 for a nearly $1 million expansion. Robyn O’Brien, the general manager of the Co-op, reports, “We’ve been looking forward to this time for what feels like forever and we’re all thrilled that our success means we’ve run out of space. When construction is completed on the Deli in early December, we’ll have a vastly expanded cafe area, completely new...
Worth a visit: Off the beaten places
Visitors to Southern Vermont have no shortage of worthwhile destinations as the leaves change color. Scenic foliage drives, apple picking, farm tours, corn maze walks—the season is chock full of activities. For those tourists looking for something to do that’s off the beaten path, maybe even a bit unusual, well, the region’s got you covered there too. The following list of locations have one similarity: they all make fantastic stories...
Letter to the Editor: We are unlikely to retire in Vermont
To the editor: About two years about my family purchased a small house in the Wilmington area primarily to use as a gathering place that would enable us to take advantage of the winter and summer activities in Southern Vermont. We try spend at least a weekend a month there and have enjoyed what the area has to offer. During our last visit we happened to pick up a copy of SO Vermont Arts & Living. It was with interest that we read...
Calendar: Music, theatre, puppetry and circus
Puppets in the Green Mountains Festival For more information, visit http://www.puppetsinthegreenmountains.com Since 1997, the Puppets in the Green Mountains festival has become deeply embedded in the local community. With consistent, world-class programming, Sandglass Theater has partnered with local schools, social justice organizations and community businesses. This festival also connects our guest artists to the local population...
Calendar: Fairs, festivals, open studios and events
Historical Society of Windham County & Moore Free Library Union Hall, Newfane Sept 13, 7p: In his book “The Hurricane of ’38,” author Steve Long chronicles how the hurricane of 1938 transformed New England, bringing about social and ecological changes that can still be observed these many decades later. On the 80th anniversary of the Hurricane of ’38, Newfane brings this timely program featuring author Long, founder and 17-year...
Art & Couples: Chard and Liz deNiord on What Works
By Joyce Marcel “We don’t collaborate,” insists Vermont’s Poet Laureate Chard deNiord, speaking about the working relationship he shares with his wife, the gifted abstract colorist Liz Hawkes deNiord. “We work separately. Liz will sometimes ask for my opinion, but I’m clueless about making paintings.” And yet. A visit to the deNiords’ art- and light-filled home, deep in the Westminster West woods, raises the questions: can you draw a...
Springtime bounty: Finding mushrooms and wild foods in Southern Vermont
By Laurie Merrigan As the canopy of leaves darkens and grows, so grows the abundance of what we can harvest just outside our door. There are tasty early leaves of dandelion greens (Taraxacum officinale) and wood sorrel (oxalis). If you have gloves you can take home versatile stinging nettles (Ursa diotica). Cook this spinach substitute well to denature the nasty sting. Nettles are abundant, rich in nutrients, make a good cleansing...
Expect the extraordinary: A new generation of farmers at The Bunker Farm
By Laurie Merrigan What a story: Helen O’Donnell and Jen O’Donnell, two gals from Maine, marry two guys from Vermont and they move to a working farm with piglets, pastured beef and poultry, flower and vegetable greenhouses, and a maple bush. It’s also an agricultural educational center for students and the community and an emerging event space. Hard work, but for some it’s the only way to live. In addition to beautiful children, a...
Smart Pad: WheelPad keeps families together
By Katherine P. Cox Joseph Cincotta and Julie Lineberger, the husband and wife team behind LineSync Architecture in Wilmington, prove design can serve a greater good. Their latest innovative venture, Wheel Pad, a 200-square-foot eco-friendly accessible bedroom and bathroom unit on wheels, can attach to a home temporarily. It’s changing lives for the better. Wheel Pad is a huge boon to people with mobility issues, as it lets them...
Welcoming Waterways: Enjoying the Connecticut River and its tributaries
By David L. Deen I am interested and involved in all things wet, whether it’s the Connecticut River as river steward, public policy as chairman of the Natural Resources, Fish, and Wildlife Committee in the Vermont House, or on a watershed river as a guide. I have been living here since 1972. That’s 46 years. How I arrived goes this way: I left Pennsylvania in junior high school for Connecticut, where I stayed through undergraduate...
Wild Women of Food: Southern Vermont’s women chefs
By Nicole Colson Most of us don’t consider who’s preparing our meal when we dine out. If we were paying attention, though, we might be surprised to learn that only 20 percent of chefs in this country are women and that they earn nearly 30 percent less in base pay than their male counterparts. And only 7 percent of those women chefs are head chefs. These statistics come from RestaurantHER, an initiative food-delivery service Grubhub...
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