Photograph and interview
By Jason Johns

Exploring the diversity of experiences and circumstances in the Upper Valley, ZIP Codes appears weekly in the Sunday Valley News. If you have an idea you would like to share, email Jason Johns at jjohns@vnews.com.

Zip Code Archive
• 03743
Claremont, N.H.

• 03266
Dorchester, N.H.

• 05032
Bethel, Vt.

• 05077
Tunbridge, Vt.

• 05054
North Thetford, Vt.

• 03755
Hanover, N.H.

• 05047
Hartford, Vt.

• 03743
Claremont, N.H.

• 03240
Grafton, N.H.

• 05156
Weathersfield Bow, Vt.

• 03753
Grantham, N.H.

• 05039
Corinth, Vt.

• 03745
Cornish, N.H.

• 05048
Hartland, Vt.

• 05050
N. Springfield, Vt.

• 03603
Charlestown, N.H.

• 03741
Canaan, N.H.

• 03741
Canaan, N.H.

• 05001
White River Junction, Vt.

• 03784
West Lebanon, N.H.

• 03766
Lebanon, N.H.

• 03750
Etna, N.H.

• 05060
Randolph, Vt.

• 05071
South Woodstock, Vt.

• 03750
Etna, N.H.

• 05083
West Fairlee, Vt.

• 03745
Cornish, N.H.

• 03743
Claremont, N.H.

• 03740
Grafton, N.H.

• 05088
Wilder, Vt.

• 05077
Tunbridge, Vt.

• 05072
Strafford, Vt.

• 03755
Hanover, N.H.

• 05033
Bradford, Vt.

• 03766
Lebanon, N.H.

• 05051
Newbury, Vt.

• 05048
Hartland, Vt.

• 03755
Hanover, N.H.

• 03766
Lebanon, N.H.

• 05048
Hartland, Vt.

• 05075
Thetford Center, Vt.

• 03754
Guild, N.H.

• 05043
East Thetford, Vt.

• 05001
White River Jct., Vt.

• 03745
Cornish, N.H.

• 05062
Reading, Vt.

• 05079
Vershire, Vt.

• 03743
Claremont, N.H.

• 03779
Piermont, N.H.

• 05037
Brownsville, Vt.

• 05055
Norwich, Vt.

• 05038
Chelsea, Vt.

• 03784
West Lebanon, N.H.

• 03766
Lebanon, N.H.

• 05058
Post Mills, Vt.

• 03748
Enfield, N.H.

• 03766
Lebanon, N.H.

• 05048
Hartland, Vt.

• 05047
Hartford, Vt.

• 05068
Royalton, Vt.

• 03781
Plainfield, N.H.

• 03755
Hanover, N.H.

• 05077
Tunbridge, Vt.

• 05031
Barnard, Vt.

• 03781
Plainfield, N.H.

• 03784
West Lebanon, N.H.

• 05068
South Royalton, Vt.

• 05060
Randolph, Vt.

• 03773
Newport, N.H.

• 05085
W. Newbury, Vt.

• 03765
Haverhill, N.H.

• 05091
Woodstock, Vt.

• 03746
Cornish Flat, N.H.

• 05070
South Strafford, Vt.

• 03766
Lebanon, N.H.

• 03748
Enfield, N.H.

• 05072
Strafford, Vt.

• 03741
Orange, N.H.

• 05032
Bethel, Vt.

• 03768
Lyme, N.H.

• 05089
Windsor, Vt.

Zip Codes

03743 - Claremont, N.H.

Published November 1, 2009
Zip Codes
Cassie Carter, 18, brings Ralph “Swaz” Farnsworth his breakfast at Daddypop’s Tumble Inn Diner in Claremont. Farnsworth, a regular at the diner, was up late the previous night drumming in a hard-rock band. “Wakey, wakey, eggs and bac-ey,” Carter joked as she served the meal.

Cassie Carter works at Daddypop’s Tumble Inn Diner on Main Street in Claremont, owned by her mother, Debbie Kirby, for 13 years. The following is an edited interview.

My Grandpa Kenny owns a diner in Pennsylvania called Daddypop’s, so we called this Daddypop’s Tumble Inn Diner, because Tumble Inn’s what’s written on the side.

I was really excited; I remember, the day we first opened. It was in January, and we were selling hot chocolate out the window. I was 5 years old, but I felt like such a grown-up. It felt like it was my own place.

When I was younger, I’d stop in to get my breakfast on my way to school. Then, after school, I’d be right back in here doing my homework. I pretty much grew up on diner food. » Read more

03266 - Dorchester, N.H.

Published October 25, 2009
Zip Codes
Joe Vachon, 25, hammers recycled iron bars into fireplace tools in his smithy at D Acres, an organic farm and educational homestead in Dorchester.

Joe Vachon worked a variety of jobs — from being a busboy in restaurants, to working in a burial-supplies warehouse, to assembling semi-truck engines — before discovering blacksmithing. He moved from Peoria, Ill., to Dorchester two years ago to join the staff at D Acres, an organic farm. The following is an edited interview.

It’s all about recycling. That’s the function of blacksmithing nowadays. You can’t compete with industry, of course. But you can make useful and beautiful things from its waste.

I don’t buy new steel, ever. I don’t think it’s necessary. I get what I need from scrap yards and builders. Like the rebar that goes in concrete foundations, there’s lots of cut-offs lying around they don’t use. Generally, it just goes in the Dumpster or gets buried.

I’ve made everything from fireplace tools and barbecue forks to doorknockers, knives, cheese-cutters and hairpin. » Read more

05032 - Bethel, Vt.

Published October 18, 2009
Zip Codes
Carl Russell leads Ted, a 9-year-old Belgian-Percheron cross, out to pasture at his farm in Bethel. Since 1986, he has worked exclusively with animal power to selectively log about 125 acres of his 160-acre woodlot.

Carl Russell has operated Russell Forestry Services in Bethel since 1986, specializing in low-impact timber harvesting with draft animals. Along with his wife, Lisa McCrory, he is the organizer of the Northeast Animal Power Field Days, held this weekend at the Tunbridge Fairgrounds. The following is an edited interview.

People are convinced that they can’t make it without machinery, but I never really bought into the tractor thing. From the beginning, it’s been about sustainability and energy independence for me.

When I moved my horses out here, there were several older men in the community who had significant disdain for me because they’d given up horses 40 years ago. What the heck did I think I was going to be doing? I was wasting my time. So much of the modern farming enterprise is working in a market system that’s so much bigger than you and largely out of your control. If you’re not spending 100 hours a week in the dairy barn, if you’re not striving to earn that extra $10,000 a year just so you can pay off your equipment, that’s seen as a certain kind of failure. There’s this pride factor that either you’re a big-time farmer, or you’re no farmer at all. » Read more

05077 - Tunbridge, Vt.

Published October 11, 2009
Zip Codes
Lisa Cilley exercises her pigeons at her home in Tunbridge. She took in the flock about eight years ago, when the birds’ previous owner passed away unexpectedly. Cilley also owns two sheep, a dog, a horse, three cats and an emu. “I’d have a lot more animals if I could,” she said. “But it takes a lot of time to take care of the ones I have.”

Lisa Cilley owns a flock of about 60 homing pigeons, also called “white doves,” which she releases at weddings, funerals and Memorial Day events. The following is an edited interview.

I love to let them out in the morning. They’re so pretty. I just go sit in the chair by the house and watch them fly. If you get a beautiful day, white birds flying against a blue sky, they’re absolutely gorgeous.

Every morning, I come out, open up the trap door and say, “Everybody come out!” and they all go out and fly around. When they’re done, some of them sit on my rooftop for a while or play around on the ground — but I encourage them not to play around too much — then they go back in the trap door.

Of course, because of their color, they stand out, so we have to be careful with the hawks. I haven’t had a lot of trouble with hawks this year, but a couple years ago, as soon as I’d open the loft door, they’d hear me and start circling. » Read more