Fall 2010
The Tuscan Sunflower Brightens up Bennington Even with autumn creeping into New England, there is one place in Bennington where sunflowers will always be in bloom – The Tuscan Sunflower. Owner and florist, Lynn Frost keeps the bright flowers in stock year round. With more than 30 years experience in floriculture, Frost prides herself on strong customer service and unique floral arrangements. Since opening the shop more than three years ago, Lynn has focused on making creative and funky floral designs for every occasion. She particularly enjoys working with natural materials, many of which she gathers from her home in Pownal. But Frost’s business plan also goes beyond the flowers. “Being an environmentally friendly business is very important to me, all of our green material is composted daily; we recycle all paper, packaging and shipping material and generate Owner and florist, Lynn Frost of Tuscan Sunflower very little actual waste,” said Lynn. “During the growing season in Vermont, we work with local growers to provide beautiful blooms and help support our neighbors.” In addition to her work as owner of the Tuscan Sunflower, Lynn always makes time for the community serving as Bennington County Coordinator for the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days and on the board of the Oak Hill Children’s Center.
Spooky Tricks Inside!
How to Make Your Halloween Festivities Extra Spooky (ARA) - Halloween is the second most decorated holiday, so it won’t be long until ghouls and goblins, witches and vampires, pumpkins and candy corn adornments begin appearing in advance of trick-or-treating and haunting celebrations. This year, instead of buying your decorations, why not brew a little imagination? Just stir in a few items you already have around the house and a couple of cans of spray paint to create bewitching, inexpensive pieces for your home and yard.
Spooky Party Servers Embellish your Halloween party buffet by transforming ordinary terra cotta pots into spooky party servers.
Here are three project ideas to inspire and help you easily put some extra spookiness in your Halloween trick-or-treating.
Ghoulish Gravestones Turn a couple of old boxes into a chilling graveyard to keep the goblins and vampires at bay. What you’ll need: Black granite textured “stone” spray paint, such as Krylon’s Make It Stone; spray adhesive; glow-in-the-dark paint; boxes (note: old shipping boxes work well); foam or wood letters; various Halloween decorations; hot or super glue; packing tape; newspaper; large nails or ground stakes; and scissors. How to do it: Set up a spray paint area in a well-ventilated area by covering a table with newspaper. Assemble a box and tape over folded seams leaving one end open, as that will serve as the bottom of your gravestone. Cut a name plaque to fit the box from the cardboard of another and affix with spray adhesive. Glue letters onto the plaque. Embellish the top of your gravestone with glued-on Halloween decorations, like a bat or skull. Paint the entire gravestone with two to three coats of “stone” spray paint, letting it dry between coats. Once it’s dry, highlight areas with glow-in-the-dark paint. Place a stake in the ground, prop up your box and enjoy scaring the neighbors with your ghoulishly gorgeous graveyard.
Ghostly Globes Add a spooky twist to your outside walkway on All Hallow’s Eve - without having to carve several messy pumpkins - by creating glowing ghostly globes.
A Hersam Acorn Newspapers Publication
Melissa Miller, page design Tri-State Pennysaver News 109 South Street, Bennington, VT 05201 802-447-3381 Renee Tassone, General Manager
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What you’ll need: Round glass votives; newspaper; one can each of white frosted glass, white and glow-in-the-dark spray paint, such as Krylon Glowz; and a black craft pen. How to do it: Cover your workspace with newspaper. Spray several light coats of white frosted glass paint on the lip of each votive and let dry. Next, add several light coats of white paint to the outside bottom of votives, blending the white seamlessly with the frosted glass. Let dry completely. Spray the entire exterior with glowin-the dark paint, which will allow your votives to shine even when not lit. Finally, draw facial features with a black paint pen.
What you’ll need: White primer; pumpkin orange, gloss white and gold glitter spray paint; black webbing spray from Krylon; brush-on black paint; repositionable adhesive; assorted terra cotta pots and saucers; metal or enamel bowl; glue; paper; pencil; scissors; and a small paint brush. How to do it: Wash the pots and saucers. Allow to dry. Spray all the terra cotta with white primer. Let dry and spray with gloss white. Once dry, turn pots upside down and glue the bottom of a saucer to the bottom of each pot. Draw ghosts, tombstones and other scary characters on paper. Cut the shapes out and spray one side with repositionable adhesive. Position the paper shapes randomly on the pots. Spray the outside of the bowl and terra cotta pieces with pumpkin orange paint. Once dry, spray all the pieces with black webbing spray, then lightly with gold glitter spray. When all the paint is dry, remove paper templates and add details, such as features on the ghosts and words on the tombstones, with black paint. Be sure to not to place unwrapped food on any painted surface. For more Halloween decorating inspiration, there are a plethora of arts and crafts web sites, such as yourholidaystyle.com, offering tips, tricks and inspiration to help you spook your family, guests and trick-or-treaters. Courtesy of ARAcontent
Downtown Bennington
Fall 2010
Wine Clubs Open Up Educational Opportunities (ARA) - Becoming a wine connoisseur has probably entered your mind once or twice during your lifetime. Being able to match the perfect wine with a delectable dinner, knowing exactly what to order for the table when going out to eat or just knowing what makes a quality wine are great tools to have at your disposal.
• By joining a wine club, you rely on the palate of the experts, who taste different wines daily. Kalemkiarian has been doing this for most of the 30 years his club has been in business, and he knows what makes a quality Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. You might discover you don’t like the taste of these particular types of wine, but at least you know that it’s not because of the quality of the product (everything is guaranteed anyway). • A wine club membership saves you time and potential money. Time because a membership provides you with an encyclopedia of information that could take you hours to research online or in the library. For example, the Wine of the Month Club’s newsletter discusses recipes to make around the wines, the wine steward’s thoughts on the wines highlighted that month, characteristics of the grapes, characteristics of the region where the grapes were grown and even the mechanical part of making wine. And you save money because you aren’t second-guessing whether the wine will be high quality. Which means you aren’t purchasing bottle after bottle to sort out different brands and seasons yourself.
Joining a wine club gives you the opportunity to learn about different kinds of wine, provides you with background information on the growing year highlighting how the weather for that vintage’s growing season changed the flavors of the grapes and also allows you to discover different wine varieties you may not ever consider sampling all on your own. It’s a great start to becoming a wine connoisseur. A wine club membership also provides you with these additional benefits: • You don’t have the risk of choosing a wine that doesn’t taste like it should because of poor wine making or bad grapes. For example, Paul Kalemkiarian, owner of Wine of the Month Club, samples thousands of wines from all around the country every year before determining which wines are quality and can be distributed to members of the club. So if a dry summer changed the flavor of the zinfandel grapes one season so that the resulting wine is more tart and lower quality, you won’t have to worry about that wine arriving in your mailbox.
Stephen Goodhue Captures Vermont With His Camera
A membership with the original Wine of the Month Club provides you with two bottles of wine every month, every other month or once every three months for a year, along with a copy of the monthly Wine Letter and newsletter. It’s the perfect start to increasing your wine knowledge so you will know which brand of Chardonnay will perfectly match the pork chops you plan to serve for a special dinner this weekend. For more information, visit www.wineofthemonthclub.com. Kalemkiarian recommends the Classic Series for wine beginners. If you are interested in trying a club, but hesitant to do so, use promo code “expert” and you will receive a free set of two beautiful crystal wine goblets.
Although he has a particular knack for weddings, he has taken a wide variety of shots over the years. His favorite, however, is senior portraits because he can spend hours taking photos and capturing the right image.
Ever since high school, Stephen Goodhue has enjoyed taking photos and ten years ago he decided to turn his passion into a business and Vermont Country Images was born. The timing was right, Goodhue says, with digital technology providing photographers lots of new options.
“I have offered sports photography for many years from youth to NCAA, weddings, portraits, family, events and even the occasional show-dog,” said Goodhue. “Some of the youth sports I shot years ago have turned into repeat customers for high school sports, senior portraits and even weddings.”
His specialty, in addition to just taking photos, is designing custom wedding albums. For each wedding he captures each bride and groom’s day through photos and design. He even offers this service to people who have their own wedding photos and wish to have a keepsake.
He and his daughter Anika work side by side at Vermont Country Images. Stephen says he enjoys being able to create images and share them with others.
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Fall 2010
Downtown Bennington
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The Alexandra Inn: Beautiful Views in a Luxurious Setting With views of Mount Anthony and the Bennington Battle Monument, the Alexandra Inn is well situated to show tourists (and locals alike) beautiful landscapes of Bennington from the comfort of their guest rooms. The home, originally built in 1859, is a cozy and inviting place for visitors. Innkeeper and owner of the Alexandra Inn, Daniel Tarquino, has worked at the inn since 1999 when he moved to the area from Columbia. Originally a housekeeper on weekends and during the summer while he completed his college degree, he bought the bed and breakfast in June 2004 when the previous owners wanted to retire. With 12 rooms spread between the main house and renovated barn, the inn welcomes thousands of guests throughout the year. Daniel said that while a majority of the guests are from the United States, he has seen guests from as far away as New Zealand and Hong Kong. “The most exciting thing is that you get to welcome people from throughout the world into your home,” said Tarquino. “I love listening and conversing with them.” It opened as an inn in the early 90s with 3 rooms and the barn was renovated into guest rooms in 1999. Each of the luxurious rooms has a modern and private bathroom. In addition to breakfast, the Alexandra Inn offers dinner to its guests, a reflection of Daniel’s passion for cooking. The inn is open year round and is located on historic route 7A.
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Three Simple Tips to Make a Big Difference at Your Local School (ARA) - While the back-to-school advertisements and school supply donation drives have faded from the airwaves, the need to do more as a nation to support our schools, our teachers and our students has not. The problem is, many of us want to help out, but we’re just not sure where to start. We’re not only unsure of where to start, but how much we can contribute financially. The economy has not only taken a toll on funding for public schools but on our wallets too, leaving some of us unsure how to pitch in without stretching our budgets too far. Well, you don’t have to sit on the sidelines anymore or let the economy get in your way of making a difference. Whether you can donate $5 or $50, or one to five hours, every little bit counts. Here are a few ways to contribute to your local school that will leave you thinking “Why didn’t I get involved sooner?” 1. Go online to get involved: from forums to local initiatives to national campaigns, the campaign to help public schools is going online. Bing’s Our School Needs campaign, at www.bing.com/education is a competition open to U.S. public schools, grades K-12, where students, teachers and parents can submit essays and videos explaining why their school needs funding. Visit www.bing.com/education to check out the videos and vote October 27 for your favorite entry in three categories: elementary, middle and high school. Once you vote, you’ll receive a donation code for DonorsChoose.org to help fund a classroom project of your choice. On November 9, visit www.bing.com/education to see which school won the grand prize. 2. Give what you can: You don’t have to donate a lot of money or time to make a big difference. Many classrooms are in need of the basics, from supplies to a helping hand. If you want to donate, schools need supplies such as: disinfectant wipes, paper towels, pens, liquid soap, garbage bags, pens and glue sticks. If you want to volunteer your time rather than donate, many teachers are in need of a helping hand due to overcrowded classrooms making it hard for teachers to give students undivided attention. You can pitch in by reading to a class, helping out with an art project, organizing a book fair or even hosting a show-and-tell about your career. To make volunteering and donating even easier, check out the Bing Education map application from Bing Maps, at www.bing.com/education which helps you locate schools that need funding, local and national volunteer opportunities as well as view the video submissions from the competition. 3. Join the PTA: PTAs can sometimes come across as a special club for select parents, causing you to shy away from getting involved. But, the PTA isn’t a special club. Rather, it’s a group of parents with the goal of supporting their school, fighting for funding, supporting teachers and organizing family events and fundraisers. If you’re looking to get more involved in your child’s school and make a difference too, the PTA may be right up your alley. How do you get involved? Just call your child’s school or visit the National PTA web site at www.pta.org to find out how to sign up.
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Downtown Bennington
Now you don’t have to sit on the sidelines anymore. Here’s to making a difference in your community. Fall 2010
Five Keys to Smooth Sales and Bargain Buys in a Slow Housing Market (ARA) - Not everyone who relocates has the luxury of doing it when school is out and the yard looks beautiful. If you’re forced to sell your house and/or buy a new one outside peak season, you might have to work a little harder and think creatively. Anyone who has bought or sold a home has heard the standard advice: Find a good agent, be aware of local home values, fix up the house you’re selling and research school districts and crime rates where you’re buying. “It’s all good advice, but it’s not always enough,” says Rich Novak, assistant vice president of Home Solutions, with USAA, a full-service financial services provider serving military personnel and their families. “Families who need to move quickly during a tough real estate market may need to go the extra mile to close a sale.”
closing costs or prepaid homeowner’s dues are common buyer incentives, but why not set yourself apart by offering a free trip to a beach resort? If you’re the one buying but can’t find the perfect house, ask your agent to look up houses that were recently taken off the market. You might be able to request a “one-time showing” and get a bargain price on a house the owners thought they couldn’t sell.
Keep these five themes in mind from the moment you start planning your next move: 1. Dig deeper: You probably already know to use neighboring home values as a comparison point for selling or buying. But in today’s market, some additional homework can pay off. If you need to sell quickly, for example, keep a close eye on what other houses are selling for in your neighborhood and stay ahead of the market by pricing yours lower. In the wake of the bursting real estate bubble, it’s also important to have a heightened awareness of foreclosures, both where you’re selling and buying. As unfair as it seems, any foreclosures on your street can put a dent in your home’s market value. And if foreclosures are still prevalent in the neighborhood you’re moving to, it could be a warning sign that values could continue to drop after you buy. 2. Be involved: Just because you’re working with a realtor doesn’t mean you can’t do some of your own legwork.
5. Remain flexible: According to the experts, buyers and sellers should keep their pride in check and be willing to make some concessions, especially in a tough market. That means not haggling over minor repairs or refusing to leave behind the chandelier your potential buyer loves. Factor in the cost of keeping up your home for several more months versus just accepting a lower selling price today. “Always think in terms of the bigger picture. Don’t lose a deal over $500,” says Jodi Van Wagner, a Coldwell Banker agent in the Pensacola, Florida area. Even in the most sluggish real estate market, an early start and an open mind are two of the best strategies to make your next move go smoothly. Courtesy of ARAcontent
“The first 10 days on the market are the most critical to selling a home because new listings tend to get the most attention from buyers,” says Brenda Wall, relocation director with ERA Colonial Real Estate in San Antonio, Texas. “Anything a seller can do to get their home ready to sell before putting it on the market would be helpful, including decluttering, cleaning, painting if needed and making the home look spacious and bright.” The Internet and social media have opened limitless new strategies to sell your home and find your next one. Try Craigslist, Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube. And don’t be shy, say real estate agents. When you’re selling, post pictures that show your home at its best and upload a narrated video tour - because that’s what you’d want to see as a buyer. At some real estate agencies, a video tour is becoming the new requirement for sellers. 3. Accept a helping hand: Take advantage of a wide range of services, beyond your local realtor’s, that could help you streamline the buying and selling process. Some cost money, such as home “staging” services that can help whip your house into selling shape. Others are free, such as relocation benefits offered by some employers, or the military’s Homeowners Assistance Program. One free service actually helps you while you are out and about looking for a place to live. For example, Home Circle from USAA provides free home search services on the Web and through an iPhone app that gives you access to the same comprehensive listing information real estate agents use, driving directions to the homes you’ve searched and organization of pictures taken to help you keep track of all the homes you’ve seen. Chances are you qualify for some type of assistance through an employer, the government, or an association you belong to - you just have to ask.
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4. Get creative: Sometimes it takes out-of-the-box ideas to seal a deal. If you know that a potential buyer is wavering on whether to make an offer on your house, buck convention by making a “reverse offer,” where you try to win the sale with an attractive price. Sellers might also sweeten the pot with extra incentives. Money toward
Fall 2010
Downtown Bennington
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Can You Use Junk to Keep Your Home Decor Fresh? (ARA) - As colder weather arrives, you are probably looking to freshen up your home decor. While it might be counterintuitive, a great way to do this is by using items you might not otherwise have a need for - or to put it bluntly, junk.
“Integrating junk in your home decor is not confined to flea market decorating,” says Whitney. “I love flea market shopping, but there are countless other spots sweet on junk. Salvage yards, used restaurant supply stores and farm sales are just a few of the many alternatives.”
You may have already heard about a growing trend called “junking,” which involves incorporating junk in your home decor. This allows for imaginative selfexpression, endless possibilities for original design, and the ability to make your interiors stylishly green. Another plus is that you’ll save a little green too, since you won’t be buying as many new items.
The right products and tools are essential for crafting unique junk projects. Hammers, nails and super glue are good essentials to start with in your junker’s toolbox. Gorilla Super Glue is the perfect adhesive if you are looking to embellish your finds with other objects. For creating projects and other project fixes, the original Gorilla Glue works well. As Whitney says, “Create your own style - one piece of junk at a time.” Here are a few of her suggestions on how to cozy up your cottage for the cool weather season: • A little repositioning of furniture and accessories, a change of accent color, and a few new junk acquisitions or
Sue Whitney knows a thing or two about breathing new life into things some would consider junk. She’s been leading the trend for the last decade, founding the premiere junking web site www.junkmarketstyle. com and appearing on NBC’s The Today Show as the junking expert. Whitney has also written three instructional books on the topic.
creative projects will take you down the transition highway quickly and easily. For example, tightening up your conversation pits will make your rooms seem cozier. You can achieve this by simply moving your furniture a bit closer and adding a few extra accessory junk pieces. When it’s cool outside, the closer, the better. • Vintage pillows and throws are staples in the junking world. Trade in your light and bright cotton throws for ones with autumnal colors and cozy wool. Accent pillows with contrasting vintage textiles on either side will take you directly from summer to fall with a single flip. • Thoughtfully combining colors and textures is a key element in cultivating good junk design. Trends for the season are all basic and neutrals. Galvanized metal, warm woods, whitewashed architectural salvage and weathered concrete pieces provide a stunning and timeless backdrop for your home. For projects and more creative junking ideas from Sue Whitney, visit www.gorillatough.com.
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Downtown Bennington
Fall 2010
Eat, Organize, Love ... Your Kitchen
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(ARA) - The days are getting shorter and seemingly busier with kids back in school, fall activities kicking off and - although it seems hard to believe the holidays on the horizon. The long, carefree laissez-faire days of summer have turned a bit more regimented with the change of seasons. Now is the time to get organized and back into a routine that is tailored to your lifestyle. Begin with an organized start to your day in the hub of all home activity: the kitchen.
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“With so much time spent in kitchens, there is a dichotomy that pulls at people when thinking about a kitchen fix-up,” says Cathy Hitz, brand manager for Diamond Cabinets. “Is it style over function or function over style? The truth is you don’t have to favor one over the other. Great kitchens can perform this balancing act when they are designed using innovative products and accessories that give you both.” Cabinetry manufacturers like Diamond have an assortment of door styles, expanded wood choices and finishes, decorative glass options and an array of architectural elements and customization products that fit all kitchens, tastes and budgets. The cherry on top is that inside the cabinets you can find smart and useful organization features.
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Downtown Bennington
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Downtown Bennington © Spectrum Design
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Downtown Bennington
Fall 2010