Seasoned talent: Chef Chris Bonnivier of the Hermitage Club
By Nicole Colson Chef Chris Bonnivier serves fried chicken on the menu at the White House Inn in Wilmington. Before you go thinking this is just any fried chicken, you should know the recipe takes three days before it’s ready to serve. First, the heirloom variety birds, purchased from Ephraim Mountain Farm in Springfield, are broken down. The legs and thighs sit in a pale ale brine for 24 hours before going into a blend of high-fat...
The piece and its soul: The art of Carolyn Enz Hack
By Meg Brazill Carolyn Enz Hack grew up on her family’s farm in New Jersey and first found inspiration in the natural world. Since 2001, she and her husband, Garrett Hack, have lived on a farm in Thetford Center (along with a Belgian horse, cows, chickens, and a cat.) Carolyn is a painter and sculptor, a thinker and a maker. Garrett is a furniture maker, teacher, designer, and writer. They each have a studio on their farm and talk...
You know what you want: Customers drive Windham Wines
By Marty Ramsburg We live in a great area—it’s natural and untamed yet sophisticated and cultivated; rural, yet with so many cultural benefits that we can never get to all the events that we would like; breathtakingly beautiful, with light that rivals Provence or in contrast, days of low clouds that shroud the Green Mountains. This place has attracted what Frank and I have observed over our 10 years as the most rewarding element of...
Limitless adaptations: How Unity Homes leads next-gen home building
See intro: When a region roars back: Green building builds Southern Vermont’s economy By Katherine P. Cox Unity Homes in Walpole has been in business for just four years, but it’s already leading the next generation of home building. That’s not surprising, considering it’s an offshoot of Bensonwood, a pioneer in reviving timber frame building more than 40 years ago. Unity Homes has put Bensonwood’s vast experience, knowledge, and...
Ironwood’s Eli Gould builds houses that become ‘something more”
See intro: When a region roars back: Green building builds Southern Vermont’s economy By Katherine P. Cox Eli Gould, a former Bensonwood associate, has become a local legend around Brattleboro. Gould is a child of the 1970s-era back-to-the-land movement. He was raised on a Vermont commune and built his first dwelling, a timber-frame cabin, when he was 19. He won a full scholarship to Yale University and excelled in Yale’s first dual...
Destined for romance: A Southern Vermont wedding rings true
Before the peal of the bells, there’s planning… Given the charm of our historic villages, the warmth and coziness of our country inns, and the breathtaking beauty of our area generally, couples travel from all over the world to celebrate their nuptials in Southern Vermont. The gentle, rolling hills of the Green Mountains; fields carpeted in wildflowers; babbling brooks; rustic old barns and covered bridges; and, of course, our...
Taste of place: The terroirs of Vermont maple syrup
So you think you know maple syrup? It’s possible you’ve just scratched the surface of what makes this state staple so deliciously unique. In a recent project backed by a $45,000 grant from the U.S. Agriculture Department, a team of researchers, sugarmakers, and sensory panelists worked to describe the terroir, or taste of place, of Vermont maple syrup. Just as the world of wine has long offered its aficionados readings in terroir, it...
Spotlight: NECCA Circus Spectacular
March 4-5 Latchis Theater, downtown Brattleboro http://www.necenterforcircusarts.org New England Center for Circus Arts’ 7th Annual Dazzling Fundraiser, held live, is an amazing evening of circus acts presented by guest performers from all over the world. All proceeds from this event support outreach programming by the New England Center for Circus Arts. NECCA offers free and discounted programming with many collaborators for at-risk...
Spotlight: Harris Hill Ski Jump
Some of the world’s best up-and-coming ski jumpers are set to fly at New England’s only Olympic-size venue during the annual Harris Hill tournament in Brattleboro. The nearly century-old competition will feature athletes from North America and Europe leaping off a 90-meter hill that’s one of just six of its size in the country. Since its start in 1922, the event attracts several thousand spectators who watch jumpers shoot at speeds of...
Music & Theater
Vermont Arts Exchange Masonic Temple, 504 Main St., Bennington http://www.vtartxchange.org, 802 442-5549 Ongoing (dates TBD): Basement Music Series. From late fall through April each year, the Basement Music Series (BMS) brings in bands from as far away as Virginia, Cuba, and Tuva, and from the music hub of Brooklyn, N.Y. Offering a huge range of music, from Grammy Award-nominated Omar Sosa to BMS favorite Howard Fishman and the Tuvan...
Workshops
Extension Master Gardener Course http://www.uvm.edu/mastergardener, 802 656-3131 Feb. 7-May 16: Learn the keys to a healthy and sustainable home landscape from your home computer as University of Vermont faculty and other experts provide live, interactive webinars on gardening in Vermont. This 13-week, non-credit course covers a wide variety of horticultural topics: fruit and vegetable production, flower gardening, botany basics,...
At the museums
Bennington Center for the Arts 44 Gypsy Lane, Bennington 10a to 5p, Mon-Sun (Closed Mon) http://www.thebennington.org, 802 442-7158 Ongoing: Exhibitions by many of the country’s most prestigious groups, along with artists chosen to participate in shows that we annually curate, have given The Bennington a reputation for exhibiting only world-class art in an elegant, state-of-the-art facility. At the Covered Bridge Museum, discover the...
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