Features
Over Easy: Celebrate National Today Day
By DAN MACKIE
Life is pretty much a day-to-day proposition, and sometimes it’s hard to distinguish one from another. So along comes a mysterious process in which a particular 24 hours are declared the likable National Strawberry Shortcake Day or the underrated...
Archeologists seek clues to the past at Ely Mine site in Vershire
By FRANCES MIZE
VERSHIRE — For much of the 19th century, plumes of sulfur dioxide settled over the community of workers living at Vershire’s Ely Mine. Heavier than air, the toxic smoke produced from copper mining sunk to the valley floor, withering vegetation and...
Fall festival draws a crowd in Windsor
By CHRISTINA DOLAN
Despite a gloomy forecast, Main Street was bustling in Windsor Friday evening.The Adam McMahon Trio opened the music stage with a rendition of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” A brief downpour caused a scramble for cover, but the rain soon let up and...
A CLOSING CHAPTER
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
ENFIELD — The wrought iron gates of the La Salette Cemetery are normally closed. But they were open one day last month, allowing a small group into an open area this is set apart by stone walls and lined with tall trees that filter in the mid-morning...
Vermont’s female farmers featured in new photo collection
By FRANCES MIZE
WOODSTOCK — Itinerant slaughterer and sheep-shearer Mary Lake came of age among images of Vermont agrarian life.Lake, who now lives in Tunbridge, grew up in South Hero, Vt., flipping through photo books like Peter Miller’s iconic 1990 “Vermont People”...
Out & About: Bethel author produces new chronicle of town’s history
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
BETHEL — Janet Hayward Burnham has written children’s books, romance novels and history books over her lifetime, but her most recent undertaking is perhaps her most ambitious.“20th Century Book: Bethel, Vermont,” which was published by the Bethel...
Over Easy: No place like Rome
By DAN MACKIE
Have you thought about ancient Rome today? That is an odd question, related to one of the oddest trend stories I’ve encountered on the internet.An online social influencer recently urged followers to ask the men in their life how often they think...
Out & About: Plainfield Fall Festival trades treats in light of apple shortage
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
PLAINFIELD — Those who have attended the Plainfield Community Church’s annual Fall Festival may come for the rummage sale, but they know they’re in for a sweet treat with its popular apple dumplings.But those who are stopping by the church this...
Upper Valley museums 2023
American Precision Museum in Windsor: Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., November through April; Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., May through October. Exhibits include “The Science and Technology of Measurement” and “Shaping America.” $5 to $10;...
Fall foliage is coming. But this summer’s rain makes peak color a bit less predictable.
By OLIVIA RICHARDSON
It’s been one of the wettest summers on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And Caitlin Hick Pries, a Dartmouth College professor who studies how ecosystems like forests adapt to climate change, said that excess...
Art Notes: In Thetford, from blank page to play in 24 hours
By ALEX HANSON
At 7 on Friday evening, a group of six would-be playwrights will receive writing prompts and then spend the night in the library at Thetford Academy, churning out short plays.At 5 the next morning, they’ll hand off their finished plays to directors,...
Art Notes: Western Terrestrials came home to record new album
By ALEX HANSON
The Western Terrestrials laid down the tracks for the band’s first two records in Nashville. That’s where country and Americana bands go to find the experts in their field.And those two records, “The Clearlake Conspiracy,” released in 2019, and “Back...
Game warden: Wild boar shot in Tunbridge believed to have escaped NH reserve
By FRANCES MIZE
TUNBRIDGE — Federal officials with the United States Department of Agriculture killed a feral swine in Tunbridge this summer, raising concerns about the presence of the highly destructive animals, which are rarely seen in Vermont.Officials are still...
The ‘addictive’ quest to find New Hampshire’s biggest trees
By HADLEY BARNDOLLAR
In this competition, those sparring for the title are judged by their circumference. Some are scaly, furrowed, warty. Others are smooth and papery. One of John Wallace’s favorite prizewinners resides deep in Epping conservation land: the state...
St. Mary in Claremont, state’s oldest Roman Catholic church celebrates 200 years
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
WEST CLAREMONT — Two hundred years ago, Virgil Barber decided to build a church down the street from where his father had been a pastor.This wouldn’t be unusual, except that Virgil Barber built a Catholic church and the one his father, Daniel Barber,...
Out & About: New history of Lebanon is city’s first in decades
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
LEBANON — As the curator for the Lebanon Historical Society, Nicole Ford Burley has spent a lot of time looking through — and organizing — the group’s archives.That familiarity, as well as her deep love of history, came in handy when Arcadia...
Central Vermont has received more than 20 inches of rain this summer. It’s the most in 75 years.
By ERIN PETENKO
Central Vermont has received upward of 20 inches of rain from June to August, putting it on track to have the rainiest summer since the National Weather Service began collecting data in the region.The Edward F. Knapp Airport in Berlin reported 22.7...
Art Notes: Family makes new home for art in Windsor
By ALEX HANSON
For a long time, Angie Follensbee-Hall carried in the back of her mind the idea of opening an art gallery with a studio attached.She saw it as a place where she could both make and show her art work, which consists of her own handmade paper combined...
FEMA maps showing full flood risk to Vermont communities could remain out of date for years
By ERIN PETENKO
On Tuesday, dozens of Montpelier residents gathered to discuss ideas for improving the city’s relationship with the three rivers that run inside its borders. The stakes were high. Just over a month earlier, Montpelier had been inundated with 4 to 6...
Maine's puffin colonies recovering in the face of climate change
By PATRICK WHITTLE
EASTERN EGG ROCK, Maine — On remote islands off the Maine coast, a unique bird held its own this year in the face of climate change.Atlantic puffins — clownish seabirds with colorful bills and waddling gaits — had their second consecutive rebound year...
