Vermont’s country stores combine old-time charm with convenience
Soliloquies under the stars
Region’s theater companies take their shows outdoors
Nostalgic destinations If it was good enough in the 1800s, it’s good enough for us: New England fairs offer timeless fun
T 05255 802-362-2 200
5. Reluc tant Panther 9W Road, Manchester, V T 802-362-2568
6. Casablanca Motel 592 7 Main S t , Manchester Center, V T 05255 MANCHESTER, V T DROP LOCATIONS
1. Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce 180 Main S treet , Brattleboro, V T 05301 802-25 4 - 4565 2 Hempicurean
Marlboro Road, Unit 102 , West Brattleboro, V T 05301 802-246- 4 367 3. Brattleboro Food Coop 2 Main S treet , Brattleboro, V T 05301 4 L atchis Hotel 50 Main S treet , Brattleboro, V T 05301 802-25 4 -6300 5. Vermont Countr y Deli 4 36 Western Avenue, Brattleboro,
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Finding a sense of home at H.N. Williams
By Tim Wassberg
Explore Southern Vermont's popular country stores
By Bob Audette and Danielle M. Crosier
Summer camping at Merck Forest & Farmland Center
By Anne Archer
Fairs & Festivals
A festival filled with antioxidants
By Anne Archer
Berry season: Some places to pick your own
Dorset Theatre Festival mixes modern classics, world premieres By Telly Halkias
A list of Vermont's popular fairs, festivals
Living Room Theatre forges quality stagings by close-knit company By Telly Halkias
Shakespeare in the Woods hosts outdoor, modern retellings
By Gen Louise Mangiaratti
How to eat mindfully at the fairs
By Katharine A. Jameson
Grower offers reflections on a good cannabis harvest
By Alexander Belogour
Meet the woman behind Wicked Sniffer By Danielle M. Crosier
Plymouth rocks: A story of gold in Vermont
By Paul Heller
An underground glow-up in Brattleboro
By Chris Mays
Film column: TV shows that survived the leap to the big screen By Dan Tebo
Vermont Country Homes 11 21 23 24 28
Grace Cottage hosts Hospital Fair Day
By Lucia Coutermarsh
Journey through pollinator pathways
By Victor C. Capelli
President and Publisher
Jordan Brechenser jbrechenser@reformer.com
Editor
Gen Louise Mangiaratti gmangiaratti@reformer.com
Windham County
Sales Manager
Lylah Wright lwright@reformer.com
Account Executives
Richard Lolatte rlolatte@reformer.com
Richard Battista rbattista@reformer.com
Karli Knapp kknapp@reformer.com
Bennington County
Sales Manager
Susan Plaisance splaisance @benningtonbanner.com
Account Executives
Ahmad Yassir ayassir @benningtonbanner.com
Gabriel Schatz gschatz @manchesterjournal.com
Vermont Country magazine is a publication of
Photo by Kristopher Radder
The Marina Restaurant is at 28 Spring Tree Road, Brattleboro. See their ad on page 48.
ENJOY THE FLAVORS OF THAILAND AT TAAN CUISINE OF SIAM
CHEF JAIRYA DISHES UP AUTHENTICITY AT TAAN
Embark on a journey into the reimagined Taan Cuisine of Siam, a place where the rich heritage of Thai culinary tradition intertwines with a fresh, vibrant ambiance. Once known as Niramit and nestled within the warm embrace of the Shire Inn in Bennington, Vermont, Taan now beckons you to discover its revitalized spirit, guided by its passionate chefowner
The decision to rebrand as Taan was not just a change of name, but a deeprooted commitment to honor the very essence of Thai cuisine and create a space that welcomes all For Chef Jariya, this transformation is a testament to her unwavering dedication to authenticity and meticulous care in every dish served. During my recent visit, I was privileged to enter the bustling kitchen, where Chef Jariya generously shared her culinary secrets
“THE DECISION TO REBRAND AS TAAN WAS NOT JUST A CHANGE OF NAME, BUT A DEEPROOTED COMMITMENT TO HONOR THE VERY ESSENCE OF THAI CUISINE”
From the intricate steps of curry-making to selecting every ingredient, Chef Jariya emphasized the importance of quality and tradition For her, authenticity means using coconut milk instead of water to maintain true flavors and incorporating palm sugar to preserve the dish's authentic taste This dedication to craftsmanship and refusal to compromise on ingredients sets Taan apart, ensuring each bite is a delightful homage to Thailand's rich culinary heritage
“FROM THE INTRICATE STEPS OF CURRY-MAKING TO SELECTING EVERY INGREDIENT, CHEF JARIYA EMPHASIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY AND TRADITION.”
At Taan, every dish tells a story of passion and precision, inviting guests to savor the genuine flavors of Thailand with each visit Whether you're a connoisseur of Thai cuisine or simply seeking a memorable dining experience, Taan promises to deliver exceptional flavor and warmth that leaves a lasting impression.
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People of all ages stop by to experience the H.N. Williams Store in Dorset.
The original old house was rolled down on logs from Dorset Village in 1900. The family replaced the foundation before expanding the store in 2018.
A shopper grabs a sandwich from the popular open air "grab-and-go" cooler at H.N. Williams in Dorset.
Finding a sense of home through generations at H.N. Williams
By Tim Wassberg, Vermont Country
DORSET — H.N. Williams Store has been in the Brownlee family for generations. For Billy Brownlee, owner and operator of the country store in Dorset, it has always been about family, but also about moving the business forward without losing the charm of its inherent and lasting legacy.
Brownlee says he remembers coming in and working at the store when he was 12. His parents would go away on vacation and he would stay there with his grandmother Ada Rumney, whose great-grandfather William Williams
Photos by Tim Wassberg —Vermont Country
established the store in the 1840s. Brownlee relates that he has five siblings ("I'm the third oldest"). He would stay with his grandmother and go out and play baseball while his family was away. "So I had my own thing." Brownlee used to love jumping on the grain bags inside one of the barns where all the Vermont products were kept. "And I can remember as a kid jumping around on all the bags," he remembers. "And today out in the barn, I see my niece and my nephew come in and jump around on all the bags, too. It's like a rite of passage."
Brownlee grew up across the street from the store on Route 30. He went to Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester and then to the University of Vermont. He earned a degree in management of information systems. His brother, Gerritt, who is a partner in the business, got his degree in computer science. Billy's wife Blair, who is a teacher, will be shifting her focus this year to come over to the store full time.
"We're somewhat technically savvy for an old country store," Brownlee jokes. He says there are improvements from a technical standpoint that have been essential to recent growth, like inventory control and point of sale systems. Sometimes, though, he understands, it can be hard to change. His parents ran the store with his grandmother for nearly 40 years. It was simply three or four people running the store for a long time.
Brownlee says, when he became more active in the business, he started making proposals for improvements. "I'm like 'Let's do this!' And I am very thankful (my parents) had faith in me, and they trusted me." At the time, the store did not have a lot of debt. In that way, it became a leap of faith for the family to move forward on certain initiatives like adding onto the store. "They had to sign off and say, 'Okay, we're all in!'"
Growth also requires trust from the community. Brownlee says that relationship has evolved as well. "There's confidence that the community knows that not only are we giving back, but we're doing the right thing." This includes supporting community events like the farmers market or helping out their employees. Brownlee understands that when people visit H.N. Williams, it can be like a social event. "It's about that familiarity and (being on a) first-name basis," he says. "You don't get that when you live in metro areas."
The evolution to computer systems just in terms of buying and tracking what people are interested in was key. "Country stores — in general — there's usually not that willingness to change," continues Brownlee. He says it is much an anomaly that they are a sixth-generation going on seventh-generation store. "Because usually there is not the
we started doing tent sales during Columbus Day weekend." He said there was some pretty good success with that venture. Once his parents saw that his experiment had worked, they were open to doing more.
A big part of H.N. Williams' inventory control was paper statements, because they had house accounts (and still do). Brownlee's mother Ruth would write everything in. He remembers her saying "Well, what am I going to do if the computer is going to do it?" He simply told her to take care of the people coming through the door. They wanted to see her smiling face. That was the connection.
next generation with enough energy to take it on, or they don't move with the times." He says it pretty much came to that point in the early 2000s when he told his parents if they didn't put an inventory control system in, he would be out. "So that was the beginning of us scaling up."
He says that, even in 2000, they were busy. "But my grandmother, she really didn't (want to) change much." He said the way the store looked in 1985 didn't look much different from how it looked in 1940. His parents came into the business in the mid-1970s with both his father and mother taking on a lot of the work.
When Brownlee took a vested interest in the store, and wanted to prove his mettle to his parents, it was about creating results. "I remember even before I came back full time,
Also, at the same time, Brownlee admits, they didn't have a strong accounting system. "But with good financials, you can make better decisions." He says from a business standpoint, even though they were expanding in the two years before, the pandemic in 2020 changed everything for the store — he says for the better. "I never thought we were going to be as leveraged in groceries as we are," he explains. "And to be where we're at right now, and to be having the success we are having with (groceries), I'm pretty psyched."
H.N. Williams carries cheeses, dairy, produce, beer, wine and more. "We have hamburger. We have steaks. They are all vacuum-sealed so they have shelf life," he explains proudly. Brownlee says that they are going to ramp up in their next renovation to create even more freezer space as well as deli cooler space to carry more items.
The key, Brownlee says, is that they're trying to get people into a routine to buy their groceries. "Then all that other stuff ... the clothing, the daily things, it just kind of snowballs into the fact that this is a fun,
Vermont Country Stores
The front of the new build connecting to the original store at H.N. Williams in Dorset.
Billy Brownlee is the owner and operator and sixth-generation family member of H.N. Williams Store in Dorset.
Vermont Country Stores
good place to shop."
Brownlee says the store is very deceiving from the outside in actually how big it is. He says usually the first time people come in, "they are blown away a little bit." It also helps, he says, that the diversification of products they offer gives them some resiliency allowing them to weather changes.
Brownlee was also surprised, postCOVID, that they were selling much more animal feed. "Everyone now wants to grow their own food in their backyard," he explains. As a result, they are selling more lawn and garden products because everyone wants to be more self-sustaining.
As a business, he admits that H.N. Williams can withstand a lot. "We're not essentially a grocery store, but we have enough product categories that we can adjust and change pretty quickly without a lot of red tape," he explains. Brownlee says the store is naturally protected as a business because of the population that lives in the local area, and also benefits from a very busy road on Route 30. "It's almost busier than Route 7."
He says many people come through from Middletown Springs, Pawlet and even Granville, N.Y., on their way to Manchester, which he explains is the economic hub of the area.
Brownlee says that the locals are pretty proud of "their" store. "They come and show it off," he explains, smiling. "We get that a lot. People will come up to me and say, 'We're being tour guide today,' and they'll show (us off). It's unique."
Running a store like this is also about balancing the essence of the old with the new. Brownlee says the store does get some customers who occasionally say, "I kind of miss the way it was." He admits his grandmother would probably have kept the place the same, maybe as something simpler. "I think, deep down, she might have scoffed at some of the changes that were taking place." He says he can hear her voice saying, "Well, it worked for us ... why wouldn't it work for you?"
Brownlee says everything he is doing is preparing the store to have legs. He says that was an essential part of the conversation when he put the gas pumps in five years ago. He admits those might one day change to electric chargers.
That expansion, including the new front store as well as other upcoming improvements, started with the purchase of the front parcel of land from Brownlee's uncle in 2015. This is the space now occupied by the new addition and gas pumps. The addition, in his estimation, has vaulted up traffic even more.
The front area, which is a blend of new pallets and reclaimed wood, also fuels business, and was, in itself, a learning experience. Originally, there was table seating for the deli in the front area, which changed during the height of COVID because of distancing.
Brownlee says, after a couple of months in that situation, and once the pandemic settled down, "We were like, 'Well, let's just take the tables out for a little bit.'" He started testing merchandise there and added a new grab-and-go open air cooler with sandwiches and salads.
"That open air cooler has been awesome, just in the sense that it's just easy. It's visible. If it's in there, it's moving. We have very little spoilage." The sandwiches and salads are still country and homemade, so the feeling of home still remains.
Brownlee says that he and his family are very proud of where they have taken this business. "To have so many people on the property, and to hear the comments ... there's a lot of pride that goes along with that, from everybody," he says.
When he built the new front area, "I was literally ripping the pallets apart to reclaim wood to integrate with that construction." He and his brothers had to demo their uncle's former building to create the new one. "We essentially said, 'We're going to replace post and beams in the building, but we're going to leave everything else,'" says Brownlee proudly. "And then we're going to integrate everything else.' Brownlee and his brothers were literally ripping the siding off to reclaim the wood. "That little bit ... it adds character to the structure, because if it was all brand new, it wouldn't have the same look and feel."
Brownlee is also looking to expand the back entrance space and make it into a new climate-controlled area. It just requires the wait for the permit to begin construction.
"We've dealt with this before," he explains. Brownlee recollects when he had to do a dig underneath the old store to reset the foundation. "We were open the whole time. We had an access ramp in ... and you could literally hear the machines underneath while you were shopping."
The original building that the store was housed in (and that got the foundation upgrade) got moved to where it is now around 1900. Brownlee relates that the house itself was rolled down on logs from Dorset Village. When it was "popped down" on the land, the workers only likely placed some scatterings of marble down as a foundation. The original store used to be the old harness/leather house.
Across the yard on the side of the hill was the old sugar house. Brownlee's grandfather Austin Rumney used to be one of the larger maple syrup producers in the area in the 1960s and 1970s. By the time he died in 1992, in his 80s, that business had become very scaled back. "There was no one really there to pick up the pieces of his business at that time," Brownlee says.
Brownlee says H.N. Williams as a legacy helps support the Vermont brand, in its longevity and in that "It used to be two barns. Now it's three or four barns." He says he knows it is not a big box store, "but you have a lot of the same products that you can get there and yet it is very functional at the same time."
Brownlee says country stores, as a whole, haven't had it easy moving forward with the times. "It's tough." And Brownlee admits that the path has never been a straight line, even for H.N. Williams. But, in continuing to forge the journey as a family and as a business, Brownlee hopes to retain and enhance the H.N. Williams legacy for the next generation.~
Clothing available in the basement area of the old store at H.N. Williams in Dorset.
For weary travelers … Some of Southern Vermont's popular country stores
Kristopher Radder — Vermont Country Britni Christiansen, operator of Top Tier Bakery out of the Vermont Country Deli in Brattleboro, puts cupcakes into a display case at the Vermont Country Deli Market in January of this year.
By Bob Audette and Danielle M. Crosier
Vermont Country
Ever wanted to pretend you're on the Oregon Trail? Stop in at any of our favorite country stores and enjoy an old-fashioned, one-stop shopping experience.
BENNINGTON
Bennington Community Market
Bennington Community Market, at 239 Main St. in Bennington, has quickly become downtown Bennington’s one-stop shop, offering everything from quality, wholesome and nutritious foods to entertainment.
On any given Saturday, the Market is alive with music and vendors and, throughout the week, it is a hive of activity as a meeting spot for locals.
Walking into the space, visitors are greeted with a fully stocked grocery store to the right and a community gathering space and café to the left.
The newly installed bakery offers customers a vast array of sweet and savory pastries and danishes; bagels, donuts, and croissants; cupcakes, specialty cakes, fruit tarts and pies; brownies and cookies; and breads. With pizazzy names like the Better Than Brad Pitt Chocolate Cookie or the Battenkill Alligator — a flaky puff pastry with flavors of
Danielle M. Crosier — Vermont Country Sage, the Bennington Community Market barista, creates made to order wonders.
cardamom, vanilla, and maple pecan cream that is then sprinkled with pecans, maple sugar crystals, and a drizzle of white maple icing — the bakery is in full production during business hours.
The cafe’s full industrial kitchen offers customers everything from breakfast to dinner: hot foods, cold and grilled sandwiches, soups, salads, and meals-to-go. The Friday Hot Bar items include specials like roasted salmon, perch, flounder and cod on a bed of sautéed spinach and baby swiss chard; Indian korma chicken, or vegan Indian butter meatballs, with basmati rice and spiced cauliflower; roasted acorn squash with chickpeas, quinoa, eggplant, and asparagus; and roasted herbed chicken with apple fennel chutney and garlic kale basmati.
Behind the counter, a barista serves up specialty hot and cold beverages, including smoothies.
“The goal of the Bennington Community Market is to invest in the community,” says Natasha Gardner Littrell, manager of the Bennington Community Market.
BRATTLEBORO
Vermont Country Deli
There's really no telling how many faces have been lit up with smiles after taking their first bites of Vermont Country Deli's (436 Western Ave.) Vermont cheddar mac 'n' cheese topped with crispy golden mozzarella.
Kristopher Radder Vermont Country file photo Ali West, one of the owners of the Guilford Country Store, cooks fresh soup before the lunch crowd on the reopening day of the store in 2023.
It's a good bet, with more than 2 million pounds sold since the deli opened on Western Avenue in Brattleboro in 1986, there have been a lot of people smiling on the way to a ski area, in their cubicle at work, or around the dinner table.
"We sell 65,000 pounds a year for a reason," said Christine Meyer, store manager.
But it's not just the mac 'n' cheese that draws visitors and locals alike to the creakyfloored, post-and-beam country store.
Regular meal offerings include sesame chicken, pulled pork, vegan curry samosas and pot stickers. The deli offers soup specials every day and prepares custom-made sandwiches on fresh-made sourdough, sandwich rolls, wheat, multi-grain and marbled rye bread.
If those choices aren't enough to send a person into culinary euphoria, one glance at the pastry case might be enough to do the trick.
Do yourself and your family a favor and ask for a box to pack in slices of carrot cake, chocolate and maple eclairs, coconut macaroons or raspberry mousse cake, a cannoli and whoopie pie, brownies, cookies and tiramisu, all made in-house.
Bring a friend to help you carry more stuff, because the Vermont Country Deli carries products from around the Green Mountain State, including maple syrup from Highland Sugarworks, jams and jellies from Sidehill Farm, candy from Tom & Sally's, cheese
Vermont Country Stores
from Grafton Cheese Company and treats from Lake Champlain Chocolates.
The Vermont Country Deli also caters events and prepares dinner meals for 12 people, starting at $10 a person, with items including apple cider chicken, carne asada, tortellini primavera, and, of course, macaroni and cheese.
New items are appearing on the menu every day, said Meyer, with the recent addition of Chef Erika Schapp to oversee the kitchen and last year's addition of Brittani Christiansen's Top Tier cupcakes.
Next door, at the VCD Market, customers can find those cupcakes, as well as grocery items from local and regional suppliers.
The market carries all natural, hormone-free chicken, pork and beef from Black River Produce, local honey and produce, gluten-free baguettes, pizzas and rolls from Against the Grain Gourmet, and maple products from Robb family Farm.
GUILFORD
Guilford Country Store
It's been about 18 months since Ali West and Wayne Warwick took over the Guilford Country Store (475 Coolidge Highway) in the village of Algiers, and their success has been a bit overwhelming to them.
"We're a pretty big little business," said West, who said many of their employees are local high school students.
Warwick said he had only one explanation for their resounding success.
"Because people found out we're awesome," he said. "It's local community support. We have lots of regulars that are here every day for coffee and breakfast or to grab a lunch sandwich."
Popular food items include the breakfast burrito, yogurt parfait, the Green River Reuben, the State Line, store-cooked roast beef with gorgonzola-horseradish, potato salad, lasagna and a "Killer" kale salad.
The Guilford Country Store also offers prepared foods such as English Cottage Pie, house-made hummus, and a white bean and rosemary spread.
They offer daily soups such as Carpenter Hill Chili and the Great Gazpacho.
West said they wanted to create a welcoming cafe where everyone feels safe and at home.
"Everyone who comes in is really happy to be here," she said. "I'm here usually between 3:30 and 4 every morning and when I open the doors at 6 a.m., we have people waiting outside."
When they first took over the store, Warwick was working fulltime in IT. He has since traded in his keyboard for an apron and is working full time in the store.
"It was gratifying to know that they have embraced us," said West, who worked at Hamelman's Bakery in downtown Brattleboro and spent seven years as food service director for Windham Southeast Supervisory Union.
Warwick said about 90 percent of their customers are local, though
We offer much more than delicious smoked meat and local cheese! Come check ou t our maple produc t s and great Vermont made gift s and souvenirs .
Photo provided by Marketplace on Main
A young customer enjoys a Marketplace on Main special milkshake tower.
Vermont Country Stores
Vermont Country Stores
they often have people travel from afar just to stop in.
"We actually had a couple people come up from Hartford, because they worked at Bradley International, and there were some tourists that were leaving and they were raving about the Guilford Country Store," he said. "They drove up here just to check us out."
West said they are hosting events such as the monthly GCSWTF Club, or Guilford Country Store Wine Tasting Fridays, and they also hope to host cooking classes.
The Guilford Country Store also offers products from around the state, including mugs and other pottery, maple syrup, sweet delectables and souvenirs.
MANCHESTER
Marketplace on Main
Marketplace on Main (4919 Main St.) in downtown Manchester offers something for everyone: tourists and locals alike.
On the bottom of every receipt it reads, “Keeping Manchester Weird.” It seems apt.
“We have the World’s Best Cup of Coffee,” laughs owner Vedanta Dumas-Griffith, adding that the shop has its own brand of coffee named after a scene in the movie "Elf." The shop also has an insider secret: Visitors can get one free cup of the World’s Best Cup of Coffee daily because it’s on tap at the coffee bar in the back.
Marketplace on Main has something for everyone. They’ve got holiday products; custom-printed clothing like T-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies; mugs, trinkets, souvenirs and stickers; household decor items; soaps, lotions and candles; snacks, chips and crackers; jams and spreads, mustards, maple syrup products, bread mixes and honey; jewelry and other handmade crafts; a vast array of hot sauces, spices and seasoning blends; games; and champagnes, wines, beers and ciders. Nearly every item is Vermont-sourced.
The shop also hosts a waffle bar; a fudge shop; an ice cream parlor; and a full espresso, cappuccino and mocha bar. In the far back of the shop is a kitchen where sandwiches, soups, biscuits and other food-to-go items are prepared.
“We’ve got a summer-fare menu that includes chopped salad, pasta salad and wraps,” says Dumas-Griffith, but the shop typically also has soup year-round. “Our three most popular homemade soup recipes are chicken pot pie, sausage lasagna with cheese tortellini, and Hungarian mushroom. The mushrooms are sourced locally from Sole Connection Farm in Arlington, and delivered weekly.”
“My husband is also a potter, and all of the pottery — except the
brown sugar savers, cookie presses, and bread warmers — are his,” adds Dumas-Griffith, pointing to the array of crockery and bowls. “And, that retro candy wall is sourced by my husband Richard. He spends hours just sourcing this.”
Richard Griffith pokes his head around a corner. “I’m married to her. And, sometimes I’m married to this place more than I am to her,” he jokes, adding quickly, “In a good way.”
Besides the famous soups and the World’s Best Cup of Coffee, Marketplace on Main boasts just a few more claims to fame: a shaved ice cart out front in the summertime, freshly made bakery, charcuterie and dessert boards, and milkshake or sundae towers.
“We’re veteran-owned, family-owned. Yes, we get a ton of tourists,” adds Dumas-Griffith, “but our goal is to cater to locals because they’re the ones who live here. And, it’s like a little carnival in the summertime.”
NEWFANE
Newfane Store
The Newfane Store (596 VT-30) has been a mainstay in town for more than 200 years.
Of course, it has had many owners since then, but for the past three years, David Hull, who's lived in town for nearly 20 years, has been running the store.
Hull and his wife, Apple Gifford, had careers as teachers. Their decision to purchase the legacy store was simple.
"We just needed it to be new again," said Hull. "We were in a position to make that happen."
While Gifford continues to teach, their two children are pulling shifts at the store.
Hull said most days, working in the store is a lot of fun, but it can also be demanding.
"There's just a billion things to do, though none of them are all that hard," he said.
Most of the store's customers are locals, coming in for breakfast or lunch.
Hull called them "the lifeblood" of his store, and he works hard to provide them with what they need.
"I want this to be a convenience store for everyone, a general store, but I also do want to have some higher-end items that folks driving by are happy to buy for a gift."
Hull said he is in the process of cleaning up the backyard of the store so he can place some picnic tables back there. He also hopes to offer ice cream soon. Until then, there is plenty of space inside the store to relax with a cup of coffee and a pastry or to eat lunch while traffic passes by on Route 30.
Specials on the menu include macaroni and cheese, lobster rolls, hand pies, chicken wings, chicken with rice, and fish and chips.
If you're lucky, you can also get a strawberry rhubarb or triple berry pie straight out of the oven. Other pastries include oatmeal cream pies, rhubarb doughnuts, cookies and other delectables.
NORTH BENNINGTON
Powers Market
Open 10 to 6 p.m. daily, Powers Market is at 9 Main St. in North Bennington — but you can’t miss it. The shop is the beating heart of North Bennington.
Established in 1833, Powers Market has seen its share of stewards and caretakers over the past two centuries, but the establishment has maintained its focus on building community.
With its columned façade, 19th-century Greek Revival architecture, and marble slab entrance, the market is an imposing feature in the village. A fountain gurgles in the little park across the street that serves as the hub of the wheel of North Bennington. Around it, the spokes rotate: the McCullough Library, the Prospect Coffee House, the Pangaea Restaurant and Lounge, and Powers Market.
Chris Mays — Vermont Country file photo
David Hull, co-owner of The Newfane Store, has $2 bills and avocados ready for a Taco Tuesday event in 2021.
Serving as the unofficial welcome center to the wayward traveler, as well as a dynamic and integral presence to the economy, social and cultural life of the village, Powers Market offers a fun and quirky twist to the ordinary.
The atmosphere inside is bustling, bright, charming and quaintly Vermont: crates of blossoming flowers, newly harvested produce, fresh-from-the-oven breads and baked goods (regular and gluten-free), specialty items and handmade crafts, cured and uncured meats, snacks, beverages (local beers and ciders, fine wines, juices, spritzers, and more), ice creams, eggs from pasture-raised chickens, as well as honeys, jams, jellies and spreads, prepared foods, deli items and take-and-bake meals.
Greetings are called out across the store, as locals recognize one another or as newbies poke their curious heads inside the door. A self-serve coffee bar is next to the entranceway, a long main counter just behind it.
Behind the counter, staff jump in to prepare specialty beverages, make sandwiches and deli goods, pack up a dinner or party order, or assist customers as they navigate the offerings of the menus.
“Powers Market is the longest continually running grocery store in Vermont, and that is made possible by our incredible community, our steadfast farmers, and our enthusiastic and committed staff,” explains owner Lani DePonte-Disorda. “We want those coming into the market to feel like they’re coming home, whether it's for easy homemade grab-and-go meals, local farm produce, the perfect local gift, or just a friendly smile and a chat with a neighbor.”
TOWNSHEND
Harmonyville Store
One visitor to the Harmonyville Store (1412 VT-30) in Townshend once commented they had died and gone to sandwich heaven.
"The sandwich is easily large enough for two small people," they
wrote. "While you're waiting, be sure to get some of the homemade cookies available in a plethora of sizes and flavors. The convenience store itself has a good assortment of must-have items, and pricing is reasonable."
Donna and Chuck Moitoza, who moved to Townshend from Massachusetts, purchased the store in early 2022.
In addition to providing grab-and-go snacks and beer and wine, Harmonyville Store is the only liquor store and lottery retailer in the area.
The store offers coffee all day as well as an assortment of fresh baked goods made right on the premises.
The deli serves up a variety of sandwiches and soups and daily
Vermont Country Stores
Danielle M. Crosier — Vermont Country Max Perry and Will Thomas work the front counter at Powers Market.
Kristopher Radder — Vermont Country file photo
Sarah Bernard, owner and operator of Lawrence's Smoke Shop, in Townshend, arranges eggs and bacon in one of the coolers.
specials cooked on the premises.
The store borders Mill Brook. The location is home to Vermont's largest sycamore tree.
"We love the community and the people." said Donna Moitoza. "Townshend is a great place."
Moitoza said they have changed very little about the store, and still offer the same favorite meals.
"Folks really love the steak bomb," she said.
If you're in luck, you'll also get to meet Ollie, the store dog, a Bernese Mountain Dog.
Homemade cookies include bananaramas, chewy ginger, hopscotchies and peanut butter chippers.
Specialty wraps and sandwiches include their famous pulled pork, a Cuban, and maple ham, and prepared foods include meatballs and eggplant parmesan.
The Harmonyville store also offers local products and souvenirs.
Lawrence's Smoke Shop
A little more than five years ago, it seemed the end was near for Lawrence's Smoke Shop (653 VT-30), which was opened in 1964 by Merrill and Norma Lawrence.
In 2018, it was owned by Kit Miller, and Dollar General was making plans to tear down Lawrence's and build a store on the spot.
But the community rallied in opposition and a local businesswoman and her father took over the reins of the store.
Paul Bedortha, owner of River Bend Market, and his daughter, Sarah Bernard, operator of River Bend Farm Supply, took over in 2019, continuing a tradition of offering a variety of Vermont-made gifts and foods and Lawrence's own line of smoked meats.
"It's been a nice complimentary feature to the family business," said Bernard, who said they have plans to redo the exterior of the store.
Specialty items include sausages, bacon ends, ham steaks, Grafton Village Cheese and local maple syrup.
The walls of the store are also lined with Vermont-made goods, including mugs and coffee cups, socks and T-shirts, jams, chips and salsa, soaps and creams and incense.
Hoping to offer more than in the past, Bernard recently welcomed a food truck to the space, "The Old Guy Can Cook," and offers Kingdom Creamery ice cream in season.~
MARKETPLACE MARKETPLACE
Street
people
Below, people pick fresh strawberries from Dutton
Photos by Kristopher Radder Left, Sara Dunbar, of Putney, picks fresh blueberries at Green Mountain Orchard in Putney.
If you grow it, they will come
Some
options for pick-your-own berries and other fruit in Southern Vermont
Vermont Country
There is nothing quite like the dopamine-release of picking your own fruit, and Southern Vermont has plenty of opportunities to do that.
At Harlow’s Sugar House, a year-round sugarhouse that also hosts blueberryand apple-picking, owner and manager Todd Harlow is pleased so far with how his crops are shaping up. Pick-yourown blueberry season starts around the Fourth of July, and apple-picking season starts around the second or third week of September.
Above, Annabelle Horton from West Dover, grabs a big Honeycrisp apple while picking apples at Green Mountain Orchards, in Putney.
Below, people pick fresh blueberries at Boyd Family Farm in Wilmington.
near-constant rain spoiled the crops.
"But, we made it through and we're looking forward to a great season this year," Harlow said.
Visitors to Harlow's Sugar House, 556 Bellows Falls Road, Putney, can grab their pick-your-own buckets there, then head out to the picking fields. Don't forget to grab a maple creemee when you're done.
Caroline Bonnivier Snyder — Vermont Country file photo Strawberries wait to ripen and be picked at Clear Brook Farm in Shaftsbury during a past pick-your-own season.
"This year, we have a really great crop both of apples and blueberries. Everything seems to be looking really good. As long as the rain does its thing, then we should have a great crop," Harlow said. This is an improvement from last year, when a late frost and
Other local picking spots are: Terry's Orchard in Bennington, The Blueberry House in Bennington, Dwight Miller Orchard in Dummerston, Mad Tom Orchard in East Dorset, Dutton Berry Farm in Newfane, Green Mountain Orchards in Putney, Clear Brook Farm in Shaftsbury, Olallie Daylily Gardens in South Newfane, Harlow Farm in Westminster and Boyd Family Farm in Wilmington.
Be sure to check websites or social media pages for pick-your-own hours and crop conditions.~
Right,
pick fresh strawberries from Harlow Farm in Westminster in June.
Berry Farm in Newfane.
Been in business since 2000 Visit Magic Wings and marvel at the b eauty of nearly 4,000 butterflies, as they fly around you in our tropical indo or conservatory. Also home to lizards, tortoises, frogs, and Koi fish Op en 6 days a week year round. Closed on Mondays. 413 -
Cannabis has not been analyzed or approved by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). For use by individuals 21 years of age and older or registered qualifying patient only KEEP THIS PRODUCT AWAY FROM CHILDREN AND PETS. DO NOT USE IF PREGNANT OR BREASTFEEDING Possession or use of cannabis may carry significant legal penalties in some jurisdictions and under federal law
It may not be transported outside of the state of Vermont. The effects of edible cannabis may be delayed by two hours or more. Cannabis may be habit forming and can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. Persons 25 years and younger may be more likely to experience harm to the developing brain. It is against the law to drive or operate machinery when under the influence of this product. National Poison Control Center (800) 222-1222.
HAND CRAFTED SPIRITS & LIQUEURS
A rustic retreat
This is the west-facing view from Merck Farms.
Merck Forest & Farmland Center offers summer — and year-round — camping
Photo provided by Hadley
Stock
Ned’s Place is the perfect cabin for stargazing while roasting marshmallows over a campfire. Inside, you might find artwork left behind by previous campers.
By Anne Archer, Vermont Country correspondent
RUPERT — Inside the coziest of eight rustic cabins used for year-round camping at Merck Forest and Farmland Center in Rupert sits a medium-sized cooler, a wooden bunk, a table, a chair, a woodstove, a makeshift clothesline and art left behind by previous campers.
Outside, an outhouse, dry firewood — if you’re smart enough to know which pile to grab from — and unobstructed vistas of Haystack Mountain to the south and The Gallop to the east help you forget the uphill grind endured to reach a little piece of serenity.
Any time of year, regardless of the elements — rain, snow, sun, mud and wind be damned — Merck’s cabins (this one is called "Viewpoint") are available for rent. Getting to them requires a hike anywhere from 1 to 3 miles up Old Town Road, a passageway built in the 1700s that connects the north end of the 3,500-acre property to the south.
Old Town Road wanders over ridges and into hollows, acting as the main artery for 35 miles of hiking trails. Splintering off the artery, Barn Cabins, Clark’s Clearing,
Anne Archer — Vermont Country correspondent
Nenorod, Dunc’s Place, Spruce, Ridge, Ned’s Place and Viewpoint scatter, waiting to host campers in search of a rustic retreat free from modern amenities like electricity and indoor plumbing.
According to Rob Terry, executive director of Merck, the first cabin on the property was Clark’s Clearing, named after one of the original farmers in the landscape. It was constructed in 1967 by the Nation’s first all-girls youth conservation crew.
Initially, Clark’s, as well as some of the other cabins, began as a lean-to that housed Merck’s interns and summer volunteers, but by the mid-1970s, the use had transitioned into recreational lodging for visitors who pay a fee to enjoy a backcountry experience.
Terry explained the reason for the transition was “to connect people with the land,” a concept pharmaceutical executive George Merck and his wife Serena supported when they donated the property in 1950 to create Vermont Forest Foundation (renamed to Merck Forest and Farmland Center in 1966).
Merck’s eight cabins come with the same amenities — wooden bunks, a table, a chair or two, a woodstove, firewood for heating, a cooler for rodent-free storage of food, and a nearby outhouse — but they are all unique, offering different views, locations and sizes.
If you ask Mike Stock, Merck’s resource management coordinator, he’ll tell you his favorite is Nenorod because, “you have to work at getting here.”
Stock maintains the hiking trails and cabins with the help of local high school interns. The work involves: repairing leaking roofs and malfunctioning woodstoves, supplying wood bins with plenty of firewood, and cleaning up messes left behind
by inconsiderate campers. All of this is done with the enthusiasm of 100 trick-or-treaters on Halloween night.
“Smiles everywhere,” Stock said, greeting happy campers during his routine check-in.
In Spruce, a cabin roughly a mile from Joy Green’s Visitor Center, classical music piped out from a cluttered corner as a man finished cleaning up his breakfast dishes. A few books, a journal, a bottle of red wine and miscellaneous camping supplies filled the table.
The man said he’d been camping at Merck off and on for 35 years, first with his wife, then with his wife and children, and on this last stay, alone.
“We have devoted campers. Some came here with their parents when they were kids, and now, they bring their kids here. Multigenerational campers.”
Mike Stock
“We have devoted campers,” Stock said. “Some came here with their parents when they were kids, and now, they bring their kids here. Multigenerational campers.”
At Ridge, a secluded cabin with a view that leaves you feeling as if you’re the only person around for hundreds of miles, Stock introduced himself to a mom standing by the picnic table. She smiled, suggesting he stay away from the two barking dogs by her side. Her two young girls played in a creek about a quarter mile down the trail.
Crafts, water containers, bug spray and supplies sat on the window ledges, proving that little spaces are conducive to nesting.
Inside Ned’s Place, the perfect cabin for stargazing while roasting marshmallows over a campfire, Stock points out some artwork left behind by campers — a drawing of spruce trees with mountains in the background and a drawing of Ned’s Place on a smooth white mushroom that once grew on a tree.
Stock said he enjoys reading the logbooks that are kept in each cabin where campers leave friendly comments, helpful suggestions, poems and drawings. Others have built chairs, strung up a clothesline, or donated items like a percolator, frying pans, a handmade strainer and metal grates for cooking food over a fire.
With 3,500 acres to explore, there is more to camping at Merck than nesting in a cabin and crafting from nature.
Hiking abounds on 35 miles of trails, offering dramatic views and opportunities for birdwatching. And just off Old Towne Road, sit Birch and Beebe ponds, great spots to fish for little brook trout.
A 60-acre, ecologically sensitive working farm hosts horses and sheep grazing in fields, pigs resting in the shade, and chickens foraging on insects, grubs, vegetation and seeds. Nearby, blueberry and raspberry patches are ripe for picking during the summer months.
“What is cool about this place,” said Liz Ruffa, Merck’s advancement director, “is it’s still doing what it was originally intended to do.”
Regardless of if you are alone sleeping comfortably in Viewpoint, or if you are bonding with 15 family members or friends at Dunc’s Place, there are plenty of moments for self-reflection and exploration all year round at Merck Forest and Farmland Center.~
If you go …
Merck Forest and Farmland Center
3270 Vermont Route 315, Rupert, Vt.
Phone: 802-394-7836 Website: Merck.org
Cabins are available for rent year-round. Reservations are required. For booking information, must-knows and a helpful packing list, call or visit the website.
Photos by Anne Archer Vermont Country correspondent
This drawing was left behind by an artistic camper at Ned's Place.
Mike Stock, Merck’s resource management coordinator, checks on a wood stove at Ned's Place.
Fairs & Festivals
Photo by GLady from Pixabay
All things blueberry
Festival puts the antioxidant-rich berry on pizza, tacos and more
By Anne Archer, Vermont Country correspondent
Nothing honors a summer in Vermont like a blueberry pie-eating contest, a blueberry pancake breakfast, blueberry-themed floats in community parades on water and land, and 200 gallons of blueberry jello.
And no one knows how to celebrate the tasty, highly nutritious little fruit better than the communities of the Deerfield Valley during their annual Vermont Blueberry Festival, kicking off July 26.
Boyd Family Farm in Wilmington. The idea came to Boyd when she was looking to bring summer activities to the Deerfield Valley that would promote the region’s agricultural roots.
This year’s festivities begin in Jacksonville, where the Jacksonville Blues Band will be performing bluesy music while vendors sell wares, tasty treats and share green thumb wisdom at the Farm Market.
This year’s festivities begin in Jacksonville where the Jacksonville Blues Band will be performing bluesy music while vendors sell wares, tasty treats and share green thumb wisdom at the Farm Market.
The 10-day, two-weekend event is the brainchild of Janet Boyd of
The following day is jam-packed with activities, starting with the Blueberry Festival Parade featuring blueberry-themed floats and local marching bands playing along Route 100 in Dover.
After the parade, entertainment abounds with Brattleboro’s Nimble Arts circus act and Benning -
Photo provided by Sam Kondracki The Vermont Blueberry Festival features blueberry-themed floats in community parades on water and land.
ton’s Crossover Cloggers, who will be dancing their clogs off in the town’s gazebo while local artisans sell handcrafted products at the craft fair.
For the kids, Coffee Barn Café will host a Teddy Bear Picnic; Sugar Maple Inn will have bouncy houses, bubbles and cotton candy; and local trades people will be on hand for “Touch a Truck,” an up-close look at utility vehicles.
Along “music mile,” musicians will play in restaurants serving up all things blueberry — blueberry mint juleps and ribs with a blue berry barbecue sauce at Trail 87, blueberry pizza at Tony’s Pizza, blueberry chicken tacos and blueberry tres leches at Dover Bar and Grill, and themed chicken sandwiches and burgers at Snow Republic Brewery.
July 28, a Sunday, starts off with a blueberry pancake breakfast hosted by the Rotary of Deerfield Valley held at Twin Valley Ele mentary in North Wilmington.
Fueled by blueberries’ powerful antioxidants, take a paddle at the Blueberry Boat Extravaganza at Harriman Reservoir, aka Lake Whitingham. Decorate a family boat, a canoe, a kayak or a floatie and join the Blueberry Lake Float Brigade while local bands on pontoons play jamming tunes.
Throughout the week, Deerfield Valley businesses and libraries continue the festivities with “blue light specials” and family fun activities like a blueberry pajama party and story time, DIY projects, lawn games and pick-your-own blueberries at Boyd Family Farm.
On Aug. 2, the weekend officially begins at the Twin Valley Elementary School where Deerfield Valley Chamber of Commerce will be mixing up 200 gallons of blueberry jello for a giggly slipand-slide.
The Vermont Blueberry Festival concludes Aug. 3, with a Blue-
berry Block Party sponsored by the Town of Wilmington and Wilmington Works Downtown Business Alliances.
South Main Street in Wilmington closes at 5 p.m. for live music and dancing. There will be a blueberry pie eating contest, vendors selling crafts and blueberry-inspired food, cocktails and beers.
The fun doesn’t have to stop there, though. Blueberries will still be growing in Deerfield Valley (assuming they aren’t all eaten during the festival) and agricultural knowledge will still be at hand — you can never have too much of either.
For more information or to have a look at the Vermont Blueberry Festival schedule, visit vermontblueberryfestival.com.~
Photo provided by Sam Kondracki
Celebrating a life-saving resource
Grace Cottage to hold 74th annual Hospital Fair Day
By Lucia Coutermarsh
Vermont Country correspondent
TOWNSHEND — A tradition that goes back several decades, the 74th annual Grace Cottage Hospital Fair Day will be held from 9 to 3 p.m. Aug. 3 on the Townshend Common.
Since the first Fair Day in 1950, Grace Cottage has been offering community members a variety of fun attractions for the benefit of the local hospital.
Andrea Seaton, director of development, marketing and community relations, has been working at Grace Cottage for 27 years and said her favorite part of Fair Day is seeing the event bring the community together.
“People come out who haven't seen each other for a year and sit on the benches, watch the kids play in the fountain and have a wonderful time as they help to support their local hospital,” Seaton said.
The upcoming Fair Day will have live music, food and baked goods, a Birthday Parade honoring those who were born at Grace Cottage Hospital, face painting, a hole-in-one competition, a book booth and much more. Admission and parking are free for all.
Another well-known part of Fair Day is the auction, to which people can donate items including art, books, cars, furniture, jewelry, toys, sporting goods and more.
Seaton explained how volunteers are integral to the success of Fair Day, with 200 volunteers coming together to put on the event. Volunteer coordinators Connie and Helen Holt have participated in Fair Day festivities all their lives. Now as co-chairs, they hope to succeed in raising money for the hospital.
“To have a hospital in a small rural community has been life or death for my family because my father suffered from coronary
People take photos with the stork in the Birthday Parade during the 73nd annual Grace Cottage Hospital Fair Day in Townshend in August 2023. The Birthday Parade honors those who were born at Grace Cottage Hospital.
heart disease and Grace Cottage saved his life,” Connie Holt said, on what the event has meant to her. “For me to support this institution in our community is so crucial.”
“Most people have to drive quite a distance to get to a hospital,” Helen Holt said. “The fact that we are so far removed from the rest of the world up here in Townshend and we have them right there at the bottom of the hill is wonderful.”
“It wouldn’t happen without volunteers,” Seaton said. This year, the proceeds from the Hospital Fair Day will go toward the construction of the new primary care clinic building, which Seaton explains will improve efficiency.
“The clinic building will enable us to continue the same quality of high-quality care that we're providing, but right now we provide the care in houses built in the 1840s,” Seaton said. “We just can't continue to do that anymore. It's just too inefficient and it's not optimal conditions.”
As of early June, Grace Cottage had raised 45% of its fundraising goal for the primary care clinic. The proceeds from Fair Day will provide critical funds for the hospital.
“For the hospital, it means badly needed funds,” Seaton said. “Reimbursements don't come close to equaling our cost of care. And in terms of the community, it's a chance for people to get together and support the local community.”~
Kristopher Radder — Vermont Country Douglas DiVello, president of Grace Cottage Hospital, works the deep fryer during the 73rd Grace Cottage Hospital Fair Day in Townshend in August 2023.
Standing the test of time
Vermont's popular warm-weather festivals run the gamut, from pig races to Deadheads to opera
Vermont Country
What do we, in our techno-centric world, have in common with New Englanders of the 20th, 19th and even 18th centuries? We all like to celebrate the season with fairs and festivals.
Old timey fairs
Cheshire Fair
Started: 1935; When: Aug. 1 to 4
Where: Safford Park, 247 Monadnock Highway, Swanzey, N.H.
Where: Vermont State Fairgrounds, 175 South Main St., Rutland
Features: cowboys and cowgirls, art exhibits, culinary contests, cattle contests, horse and oxen pulls, toy displays, creative writing contest, live music (this year includes a 1980s-themed music event)
Tickets: prices vary depending on event
Website: vermontstatefair.org
Bondville Fair
Started: 1797 — known as the oldest continuously operating fair in Vermont
Features: amusement rides; face painting; photo booth; tractor, truck, horse and oxen pulls; quilt auction; chili and pie contests and other competitions; concert series
Tickets: prices change slightly, day to day, to the tune of $5 before 5 p.m. Friday and $15 after 5 p.m., $15 on Saturday and $10 on Sunday. Senior citizens age 65 and older are charged $5 throughout the weekend.
Features: horse show, dairy show, pig races, livestock, sheep shearing, living history exhibits, magician, dancers, live music, rides
Between time-honored traditions of pie contests and face paint- ing and live music and fair foods (though you may want to read Katharine A. Jameson's column for guidance), there is something for everyone looking to get off their phones.
Here is a list of some of the region's popular fairs and festivals:
Tickets: $10 to $20, $50 for season ticket; options for ride tickets and bracelets
Website: tunbridgeworldsfair.com
Food truck festivals
Bennington Vermont Food Truck Festival
Started: 2018; When: Aug. 17
Where: intersection of School and Main streets, Bennington
Features: food trucks, live music, vendors, beer garden
Tickets: free
Website: facebook.com/BennVtFoodTruckFest
New England Street
Food Festival
Started: 2017; When: Sept. 28
Where: Brattleboro Common, Park Place, Brattleboro
Features: food trucks, beer, live music, circus performers, bounce houses
Tickets: free
Website: facebook.com/ NewEnglandStreetFoodFest
Music, theater and more
Bandwagon Summer Series
Started: 2020; When: events now through Oct. 10
Where: organized by Next Stage Arts, at multiple venues: Cooper Field and The Putney Inn in Putney; New England Center for Circus Arts and West River Park in Brattleboro
Features: diverse and internationally flavored live music and entertainment series, refreshments, picnicking, dedicated play area for children
Tickets: varies per show, children under 12 always get in free; series pass and ticket pack options available
Website: nextstagearts.org/bandwagon-24.html
Manchester Music Festival
Started: 1974; When: July 11 to Aug. 8
Where: Arkell Pavilion at Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester Community Library and Northshire Bookstore in Manchester
Features: over 30 events — concerts, masterclasses, lectures and outreach programs — all focused on this year's theme, “The Romantic Journey”
Tickets: varies, subscription packages available Website: mmfvt.org
Dead of Summer Music Festival
Started: 2019; When: July 12 to 14
Where: Hunter Park at Northshire Civic Center, 410 Hunter Park Road, Manchester
Features: live music honoring the Grateful Dead’s impact on music and culture, food vendors, tie-dye, yoga, charity disc golf tournament
Tickets: $65 to $215 for festival, $5 to $35 for disc golf tournament
Website: deadofsummermusicfestival.com
Green Mountain Bluegrass and Roots Festival
Started: 2018; When: Aug. 15 to 18
Where: Hunter Park at Northshire Civic Center, 410 Hunter Park Road, Manchester
Features: live bluegrass, roots and Americana music, food trucks, craft beer and wine
Tickets: $30 to $400
Website: greenmountainbluegrass.com
Wagner in Vermont
Started: 2019;
When: Aug. 16 and 17, 23 and 24
Where: organized by TUNDI Productions at Latchis Theatre, 50 Main St., Brattleboro
Features: Wagner in Vermont returns with the beginning and the end of Richard Wagner’s "Ring" Cycle — a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Wagner. Festival events range from staged song cycles, lectures and lecture recitals, through to a full show of "Das Rheingold."
Tickets: $10 to $211
Website: wagnerinvermont.org
Puppets in the Green Mountains international festival
Started: 1997; When: Sept. 7 to 15
Where: organized by Sandglass Theater in Putney, with multiple venues in Putney and Brattleboro, including the New England Youth Theatre, Latchis Theatre, Hilltop Montessori School Theater, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, 118 Elliot, Next Stage Arts and Sandglass Theater
Features: puppet theater from around the world, welcoming thousands of participants. This year’s festival, with a theme of "Just Around the Bend," will include artists from Germany, Spain, Canada, Puerto Rico and across the United States, and a world premiere of a new Sandglass production.
Tickets: varies per show, $14 to $25
Website: puppetsinthegreenmountains.net
All information is from the respective events' websites and may change. Please check the websites for the most up-to-date information. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Have another event you're excited about? Send the info to editor Gen Louise Mangiaratti at gmangiaratti@reformer.com to have your event added to Vermont Country's online listings.
Dorset Theatre Festival continues ethos of new play development
Theater company mixes modern classics with world premieres
The Dorset Theatre Festival, currently in its 47th season, is a nationally renowned organization playing a crucial role in the greater ecosystem of the American theater.
By Telly Halkias, Vermont Country correspondent
DORSET — From June to September, audiences in and around Southern Vermont can see world-class theater in their own backyards. The Dorset Theatre Festival, currently in its 47th season, is a nationally renowned organization playing a crucial role in the greater ecosystem of the American theater.
With seasons comprised of new plays in conversation with celebrated staples from playwrights giants, the Festival is known to host Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe-winning actors at the historic Dorset Playhouse, starring in productions that have a history of transferring to Broadway and off-Broadway houses.
Dorset Theatre Festival was born June 1976, when John Nassivera and Jill Charles rented the historic Dorset Playhouse for the summer (still currently owned and operated by the Dorset Players Inc. since 1929) and presented a professional season under the name of Harlequin Ltd.
In 2018, American Theatre magazine celebrated the Festival for being one of the first stages to present the groundbreaking new play “Cry It Out” by Molly Smith Metzler.
joined by actor Amy Sedaris for an acclaimed off-Broadway premiere that garnered two Drama Desk award nominations in 2000. The Festival’s commitment to new plays gained momentum in 2009 when incoming artistic director, Dina Janis, teamed up with Theresa Rebeck, Broadway’s most-produced female playwright, to enhance the Festival’s commitment to new work. Spring 2010 marked the first season in which the Festival would host a playwriting retreat started by Rebeck and The Lark Playwriting Center in 2007, and the first season the Festival would produce a New Play Reading Series. In that same season, the Festival mounted the world première of Rebeck’s Pulitzer Prize finalist, “The Novelist.”
Since then, the Festival has established a commitment to present a summer season with both new plays and classics in tandem. Early works by playwrights like Beth Henley, Leslie Ayvasian and John Patrick Shanley made regional premieres at the Festival throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with successful world premieres or off-Broadway productions following. This gave the Festival’s rural audiences a feel for the industry’s pulse in New York.
In the 1990s, the Festival began to produce unpublished works as world premieres. A young Cynthia Nixon in 1992 starred in a new play called “The Country Club,” by Douglas Carter Beane. In 1999, it went on to its first production in New York, where Nixon was
This success attracted high-level talent to Dorset for both readings and Main Stage productions. In 2012, the Festival staged the world première of Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Cristofer’s “The Whore and Mr. Moore,” starring Oscar nominee Judd Hirsch. By 2015, playwright Martyna Majok held a reading of her brand-new play “The Cost of Living,” and just two years later, it played to audiences at New York City Center, followed by its 2018 Pulitzer Prize.
Increasingly, the summer season grew into a venue for new plays, and Rebeck became the Festival’s resident playwright. Rebeck’s “The Way of the World” premiered at Dorset in 2016, starring Obie Award-winner and Tony Nominee Kristine Nielsen. The Festival's 2017 world premiere of Rebeck's “Downstairs,” starring Tim and Tyne Daly, transferred to New York City the following fall, produced by Primary Stages.
In 2018, American Theatre magazine celebrated the Festival for being one of the first stages to present the groundbreaking new play
Photo provided by Joey Moro
provided by Joey Moro
The 2023 world premiere production of “Still” by Lia Romeo made its New York City premiere this spring in a production by Colt Coeur. Tony nominee Jayne Atkinson and Emmy nominee Tim Daly reprised their roles from the play's acclaimed run at Dorset.
“Cry It Out” by Molly Smith Metzler, before it became one of the most-produced plays in the country. The New Play Reading Series became the Pipeline Series, adding week-long retreats for each play featuring union actors and directors from NYC.
“Dig,” written and directed by Rebeck, saw its world premiere in 2019 at Dorset, winning an Edgerton New Play Award and the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association Award for Best New Play. This past August, it debuted off-Broadway at Primary Stages and became a New York Times Critics’ Pick and was nominated for the 2024 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Play. Originally workshopped in Dorset in 2022, “I Need That,” also by Rebeck and directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, ran on Broadway this past December at the Roundabout Theatre Company starring Danny DeVito, Lucy DeVito and Ray Anthony Thomas.
The 2023 world premiere production of “Still” by Lia Romeo made its New York City premiere this spring in a production by Colt Coeur. Tony nominee Jayne Atkinson and Emmy nominee Tim Daly reprised their roles from the play's acclaimed run at Dorset.
Entering its 47th Season, executive artistic director Will Rucker and managing creative director Ryan Koss are committed to keeping the Festival’s legacy and tradition of producing new plays alive. So the 2024 season will conclude with the world premiere of “True Art” by Jessica Provenz, directed by Michelle Joyner. Jayne Atkinson is slated to return this summer to lead the cast.
“Sometimes stars align,” Provenz said. “This favorite child of mine, ‘True Art,’ is being launched into the world by this gem of a theater under the helm of the savvy and bold Michelle Joyner. I couldn’t be more excited to see what happens at Dorset Theatre Festival this summer!"
Rucker added that world premieres remain the Festival’s passion: “We are so thrilled to welcome Jessica into the family and to share this new work with our home audience before it goes on to take the country by storm.”
The Festival also dedicates resources to developing plays for
If you go …
Dorset Theatre Festival is at 104 Chaney Road, Dorset. For tickets, visit dorsettheatrefestival.org, call 802-867-2223, or stop by the box office.
“Dig,” written and directed by Theresa Rebeck, saw its world premiere in 2019 at Dorset, winning an Edgerton New Play Award and the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association Award for Best New Play.
future productions, whether that be in Dorset or beyond. Sarah Gancher's play “Russian Troll Farm” won a special citation Obie award and was named one of the year’s 10 best productions of 2020 by the New York Times. She also enters her third summer in Vermont developing her epic bluegrass adaptation of “Eugene Onegin,” based on Pushkin’s novel-in-verse and Tchaikovsky’s opera of the same name.
“What’s most rewarding is being able to create world-class work with these professionals and share it with our community in Southern Vermont,” Rucker said. “We hope they feel as proud and honored as we do to have been part of the journey of so many great works and artists.”
Living Room Theatre to open summer play, continue culinary tradition
are scenes from past productions of Living Room Theatre, and communal meals of the cast and crew when housed together for rehearsals and shows.
Theater company known for intimate stagings and gourmet cuisine thrives in North Bennington
By Telly Halkias, Vermont Country correspondent
NORTH BENNINGTON — When William Shakespeare had Hamlet utter "the play's the thing," he couldn't have known how that simple phrase would be co-opted by centuries of future theater professionals, often to describe the singular focus of how everything in the industry is in support of the brief moments actors have on stage.
Or, as the case may be, in the kitchen and at the dining table.
For the denizens of Living Room Theatre (LRT), now in rehearsals for their one-show slate opening July 24, the professional
company's 12th season has evolved into a communal experience. The company members hone their performances through possession of a sixth sense of each other — right down to their meals. But more on food later.
The North Bennington troupe was co-founded by artistic director Randolyn Zinn and her husband, actor and director Allen McCullough.
The couple, based in Brooklyn, and both with long New York stage careers to their credit, began offering short summer seasons consisting of one or two plays, and have become a local fixture. Their productions have included, among others, works by Anton
Photos provided by Living Room Theatre
Pictured
Chekhov, George Bernard Shaw, as well as those of contemporary playwrights such as Lucas Hnath and Annie Baker — and Zinn's re-imagining of several classic works.
In fact, most recently, during the company's 2023 season, "Her Name Means Memory," Zinn's creative take of Euripides' "Trojan Women," garnered world premiere and new play nominations from the annual awards of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association, and consideration for honors from the prestigious Harold and Mimi Steinberg Award of the American Theatre Critics Association.
Such an impressive evolution did not happen overnight.
Staged on the grounds of the historic Park-McCullough Historic Governor's Mansion, the company's plays were presented both in the mansion's carriage house and outdoors around the estate. More recently, though, in keeping with the themes of development and progression, LRT has found its own innovative theater-in-the-round: the estate's abandoned swimming pool, where nightly audiences of 50 to 60 can realize the effects of an outdoor amphitheater-like fishbowl, while being almost right on top of the action.
The couple owns a farmhouse on the lands; McCullough is a direct descent of the eponymous former owners of the grand Victorian mansion museum.
This summer's offering
Indeed, this year's production, "Amor and Psyche: A Mythological Comedy," is written and directed by Zinn, and its run will be from July 24 to Aug. 4. The play itself has been in the works for awhile, according to Zinn, and she seemed delight-
ed to reveal that, reaching back millennia, she "followed Socrates' advice to write a comedy, next, and turned to one of my favorite tales, 'Cupid and Psyche.'"
"I've poured over the story (by Apuleius) for years, as Psyche is the only mortal woman in the Western mythological canon to take the hero's path," Zinn said. "Cleary, motifs from the story are familiar in many European fairytales, and continue to be refreshed in works of literature and music."
Zinn kept the major events and characters intact from the original work, she continued, while refreshing the story by finding equivalencies for references that audiences in the second century AD would have understood, that contemporary audiences might not.
"I've also employed assorted English language dictions to mash-up time periods as Psyche's quest transcends time, for an effect that is akin to holding up an ancient mirror wherein we recognize our contemporary world," Zinn said, "I find it remarkable that this ancient story emphasizes feminine independence and personal transformation as the necessary components for nurturing true and equal partnerships in love."
McCullough added that his wife's work has been produced at New Georges and other theaters in New York as well as the nearby Williamstown Theatre Festival, and that "Amor and Psyche" is a welltimed addition to LRT's evolution.
"Our mission has always been to produce new as well as classic plays," McCullough said. "I think right now is the time to hear the strong female voices, concerns and characters. Plus, it's very funny."
It takes a kitchen
While the LRT brain trust prides itself on the different types of plays it works to bring on stage, they also take a different tack from other professional acting companies in their methods.
To that end, a sense of community and communal living — centered on cast and crew meals — reverberates throughout sessions from Brooklyn to North Bennington. Zinn said the cast and crew investigate scripts "with joy and depth, accompanied by good food."
"With each new rehearsal period, we begin with a read-through and dinner with the cast at our home in Brooklyn," Zinn said. "We provide snacks in the studio, and sometimes improvisations will center around a meal or a picnic."
Then, Zinn continued, when the troupe
arrives in North Bennington for concentrated rehearsals and staging the play(s), they live together at the McCullough estate farmhouse and pull ingredients from the couple's organic garden, and others, and cook together.
Nearby community members and longtime LRT devotees also contribute farm-to-table offerings, a practice almost as sacred to locals as securing a highly sought-after ticket — a number of 2023's performances were standing-room-only.
The kitchen is where the LRT artists discuss their work, continuing for hours around the dinner table, and after performances when they still work on the plays, Zinn added. As the nicer weather of summer permits alfresco dining, the troupe continues its give-and-take begun in the kitchen, under blue Vermont skies.
"Kitchens are a lot like rehearsal rooms because both rooms balance creativity and generosity and end up nourishing everyone involved," Zinn said. "Audiences will feel the special camaraderie among our actors onstage."
"Amor & Psyche: A Mythological Comedy," will run from July 24 to Aug. 4 at Living Room Theatre, on the estate of the Park-McCullough Historic Governor's Mansion, 1 Park St., North Bennington. Performances are Wednesdays through Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Buy or reserve tickets at: 802-442-5322 or info@lrtvt.org
Modern retellings under a moonlit sky
Shakespeare in the Woods reinterprets
'Macbeth,' 'Twelfth Night'
By Gen Louise Mangiaratti, Vermont Country
MANCHESTER — When Jess Slaght saw a call for a director of a sapphic — an umbrella term for attraction or relationships between women — version of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," to be performed at an outdoor theater in Southern Vermont, the New York City resident thought, "I am the person. Sign me me up."
"As a queer person, I really appreciate that this company is making space for these stories to be central and making that a priority with casting and how we're putting this stuff together," Slaght said. "The ethos here is that we're making a story that wants to sit in the now, and wants to be reactive to current trends and things that we're witnessing. So, it feels like an exciting amalgamation of who's all here and what we're all trying to comment on."
Indeed, this is what Shakespeare in the Woods founding artistic director Katharine Maness intended when they started the theater company in their home state in 2019 — and, "hopefully, also, undo some of the traumatic, sophomore, 'we're reading Hamlet in English class, and I hate it, because this is how I'm being introduced to Shakespeare'" among theatergoers.
This summer season, the company's fourth (like many organizations, there was an unplanned break at the height of the coronavirus pandemic), will feature modern productions of "Macbeth" and "Twelfth Night, Or, What You Will," performed in repertory from Aug. 21 to Sept. 8 (preview performances Aug. 17 and
Photo provided by Abby Burris Shakespeare in the Woods performs “The Tempest" in a past season.
Photo provided by Marcus Lewis Shakespeare in the Woods performs "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in 2022.
Why in the woods?
On why the theater company stages its Shakespeare productions outdoors, Katharine Maness says:
"I wanted it that way from the get-go. It is just part of knowing that I wanted to do it in Vermont. I mean, we are so ridiculously spoiled by the natural world of the state.
"My intro to theater and Shakespeare, when I was 11 years old, was doing a summer camp in Dorset, outdoors. We were doing 'As You Like It.' And it just, it's a layer that makes sense. I think that Shakespeare — I think any theater thrives outdoors, but I think Shakespeare, especially, it just comes alive in a whole new way, especially because of the visuals in the language.
"There's really truly nothing like talking about nature in the text, because he uses a lot of natural references, and like, you're actually standing under the moonlit sky, or there's an incredible sunset happening. They just very effortlessly go together and complement each other so beautifully.
"And I am obsessed with spending as much time in nature and appreciating it as much as possible. I really look at it and really invite everyone coming into a season to look at the outdoors as another character, another collaborator, in the art that we're making. It's just the best — I mean, why wouldn't you want to make theater outdoors, if you could? That's my philosophy."
18), on the Taconic Lawn at The Equinox Resort & Spa, 3567 Main St., Manchester. Maness, of New York City, grew up in nearby Pawlet, and said Shakespeare in the Woods was born out of wanting to incorporate their love for theater with their love of their hometown and home state, and the belief that quality art and theater should not be restricted based on geographic location. As for their focus on Shakespeare, they said the Bard's writings, despite being centuries old, have always resonated.
"The themes and the dynamics and the humanity in all of the plays are so relevant and so accessible to a queer, Jewish, nonbinary person from Vermont," Maness said. "And I was like, 'Well, if it hits me this way, there's a throughline there to connect with every demographic.'"
Slaght will direct "Macbeth," and returning for a second summer is the company's collaborating producer, Roberto Di Donato, to direct "Twelfth Night, Or, What You Will." What keeps Di Donato coming
back is the freedom to experiment away from some of the Puritan sensibilities while holding true to the narratives.
"I want people who maybe have never seen a Shakespeare show, maybe traveling through Vermont, to stop in and be like, 'Oh, this show's funny,' or like, 'Wow, I've never knew that,'" Di Donato said.
Di Donato, of Ohio, is from the Southern states, and his family is from South America. Growing up in a multilingual home, he developed a love for poetic language, and the act of understanding became a priority. This desire for understanding, Di Donato said, drove him toward Shakespeare.
"The thing that I like about Shakespeare in the Woods is, it's actually true that you can reimagine the show," Di Donato said.
What makes Shakespeare in the Woods different from many theater companies, Maness said, is that the productions are informed by the identities and lived experiences of the artists involved. As a result, the plays become "an expression of life through many different lenses and experiences, through Shakespeare."
"I feel like that is something that is still kind of shied away (from) in doing Shakespeare. And definitely, in Vermont and New England, I think there's a real opportunity, with our mix on it, to bring something new and urgent and relatable to audiences who aren't necessarily familiar with Shakespeare," Maness said.
During the first season, in 2019, Maness learned that the company's interpretation of "Taming of the Shrew" inspired a conversation about misogyny and patriarchy — then in the wake of the #MeToo movement — among a mother and teens on their car ride home.
"The fact that a little Shakespeare play fueled that is why we do what we do,"
Maness said. "That is when the language pulls you in. That's when the poetry and the incredible beauty of Shakespeare's writing really gets you."
This season, "Macbeth" and "Twelfth Night, Or, What You Will," relate to a theme of "dichotomy and opposition," Maness said. "They have so much in common while being sort of shadow selves of each other," with "Macbeth" a tragic tale of political ambition and "Twelfth Night" a romantic comedy.
"It just lives up here," Maness said of the latter, gesturing upward, "and 'Macbeth' is moodier and darker. But they have this throughline that I'm really excited for us to explore and see the conversation, between alternating each night. And, hopefully, folks are coming to see both shows and they're like, 'Oh, I see; I see the conversation that we're having.'"~
If you go …
"Macbeth" and "Twelfth Night, Or, What You Will," are performed in repertory from Aug. 21 to Sept. 8 (preview performances Aug. 17 and 18), on the Taconic Lawn at The Equinox Resort & Spa, 3567 Main St., Manchester. Evening performances occur Wednesdays through Sundays at 7:30 p.m.
All performances are outdoors, rain or shine, and seating is provided. In the event of extreme weather, Shakespeare in the Woods will provide time-sensitive updates.
Tickets are available on a sliding scale, at tiered pricing. For a full schedule and ticket information, visit shakespeareinthewoods. org/2024-season
Photo provided by Mike Cutler
Shakespeare in the Woods performs "Hamlet" in 2023.
Katharine A. Jameson Vermont Country correspondent
Try your own baked "fried" dough next time you have a fair food craving.
Fair fare fears
How to eat mindfully while enjoying summer festivities
By Katharine A. Jameson, Vermont Country correspondent
The annual summer week of the Cheshire Fair is one of my favorite childhood memories. The fact that it falls during the week of my birthday doesn’t hurt, but it could also be because of the fried dough, memories of Bon Jovi piping through the loud speakers, my favorite ride, "The Scrambler," or Jesse Jean, the 15-year-old boy from Nashua, N.H., who ran his family’s concessions trailer. He was everything. Dreamy, in a boy band kind of way, he leaned out over the counter entertaining his audience, which was comprised of four or five innocent, energetic and enchanted young girls staring up at him in awe. He and I were meant to be. I knew it so emphatically that I still scanned each food truck for his aged face when I attended the fair a couple of years ago with my husband and young daughter. Sadly, I didn’t see him, but if you’re out there, Jesse Jean, call me!
Today, it’s not just fairs and carnivals that boast a bevy of nostalgic fare on their menus. Any sort of "experience," whether a local fair or an amusement park, features giant turkey legs, cotton candy, fried Oreos, candy apples and more. We had two hungry children at a pumpkin patch just last year. I surveyed each food option, opting for the peanut butter and jelly meal for each kid. At the pick-up window, we were given two individually wrapped, ready-made PB&Js by a popular brand name. These were simply a highly processed PB&J pie, complete with all the bad-ditives. I immediately returned them to their vendor. These were not edible in my book.
Rather than thinking through the calorie count of every item making your mouth water only to calculate just how much exercise you’ll have to do later, contemplate the quality of the food. Many articles I’ve come across discuss how many calories a turkey leg contains only to proclaim that cotton candy is a lower-calorie food. I always find this astounding — sugar is a better food than protein-rich lean meat?
Burn baby, burn
"Burning it off" seems to be a reasonable way in which to justify consuming extra portions or treats, but some preliminary findings suggest it might not be that easy. For decades, we have thought that weight maintenance was all about calories in, calories out. Dr. Chris Van Tulleken, author of “Ultra-Processed People,” not to mention an M.D., Ph.D., has brought to light research supporting that we all, in spite of our chosen (or default) professions, burn the same number of calories. That’s right — barring Olympians, participants in the Tour de France, or mountaineers, among others, we all burn the same number of calories to function. Dr. Van Tulleken argues that our bodies compensate for high levels of activity by cutting down on the energy expended on other activities, like immune and reproductive systems. This is bad news for anyone shopping for calories using exercise as currency.
One of the latest nutrition fads involves focusing on protein as our main source of nutrients. While it may not be apparent as to why, other than the fact that protein is known as the main build-
ing blocks for muscle, it also takes more energy to burn protein as we digest it. Picture a rocket powering a space shuttle out of the atmosphere. A large amount of its fuel is used to blast the shuttle out of our atmosphere (or perhaps all of it is spent doing so). I am no rocket scientist here; I leave that to my brother-in-law, but there seems to be a similar phenomenon in our bodies when we metabolize our fuel. A certain number of calories will be used to process the calories we take in. This phenomenon is called the thermal effect of food. When we break down fat, only two to three percent of the calories are used to process it — it’s fairly easy to break down, right? With protein, we use over a quarter of the calories we take in simply to process it (kind of like the thought that chewing the celery takes more calories than we take in with the actual celery).
This just goes to show that, while one calorie may indeed equal every other calorie on the planet mathematically, all calories are not, in fact, created equal.
Instead of lamenting your fair choices after the fact, try these
Ingredients
¼ cup warm water
Pinch of granulated sugar, plus ¼ cup granulated sugar, divided
2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
3¼ to 3½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg
3/4 cup whole milk, lightly warmed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
(room temperature) cut into chunks, plus two more for topping
Powdered sugar (to top)
Recipe: Baked fried dough
Method
Place a pinch of sugar and yeast in a small bowl. Add warm water.
Whisk until foamy, about three minutes.
Use a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook to combine remaining sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
In a small bowl, whisk together milk and egg and mix into yeast mixture. Add yeast mixture to dry ingredients and combine into a rough dough.
Add a little more milk if needed. Turn mixer on low, add butter until well combined and the mixture turns into a smooth dough. Cover and let stand 15 minutes.
Line two cookie sheets with parch-
pre-carnival moves to limit the long-term effects on your waist, not to mention your health.
Arrive happy, not hungry
Like grocery shopping when we’re hungry, we are willing and able to eat anything that comes into our path when we’re starving at a fair. Eating a light meal before we arrive will help us make informed decisions when ordering.
Pick protein
While the turkey leg at the fair may pack a punch calorically, it’s protein and is a better-quality food any day than a Twinkie or fried Oreo, no matter the calorie count. Focusing on leaner, more protein-rich choices will help keep you satisfied for longer, helping us pass up many of the other foods we may pass by.
Stay hydrated
Drinking water before we eat not only makes us fill up with the right amount of food, but leaves us less room to fill our tummies with junk. Grab a bottle when you arrive or bring one with you that you can keep refilling between rides and fun. Opting for water will eliminate additional sugar and calories from sodas and juices.
Don’t eat on the run
We can easily eat mindfully at the fair by setting aside a time to sit down with friends to eat, rather than grabbing something on the go. Set a meeting time and place, grab your fare and have a seat. It takes 20 minutes for us to feel full, whether we’re walking around or sitting down. While multitasking, we may just miss our cue.
BYOFF
Bringing your own fair fare might not sound as fun as sampling snacks from each food venue, but it will help to offset some of the effects of fair gluttony. Bring something healthy that you enjoy, like a sandwich, a bag of almonds or something else easy to cart around. Pair it with a treat or two to have your cake and eat it too, and you’ll be better off in the long run.
While it’s not healthy to overly focus on the numbers on the scale
ment paper and spray with olive oil. On floured work surface, with floured rolling pin, roll dough to a large square.
With floured knife, cut dough into five strips, then cut each strip into about five to six pieces.
Transfer dough to cookie sheets, placing about an inch apart.
Allow to rise for another 15 minutes or so before putting into the oven.
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Bake beignets for about 10 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven. While beignets are still warm, brush with melted butter and toss with generously with powdered sugar. Enjoy at home, or bring to the fair!
or package, paying more attention to the quality of the food we eat rather than the quantity can be most helpful at the end of the day. Or night.
Katharine A. Jameson, a certified nutrition counselor who grew up in Williamsville and Townshend, writes about food and health for Vermont News & Media. For more tricks, tips and hacks, find her on Instagram: @foodforthoughtwithkat
By Victor C. Capelli, Vermont Country Correspondent
Pollinator pathways, Vermont’s cornucopia and horn of plenty
As the heady lengthening days of the northern spring explode into the exuberant riotous green leaf summer extravaganza that is Vermont, and the dense forests and meadows quickly change into the life-giving tonic of wildflowers along with the delicate musky deep wood-scented air of soft moss, ferns and wetlands that accompany the quickly growing meadow carpets of sunflowers, daisies and goldenrod, we, too, can enjoy the returning birds and the butterflies and bees and all the natural world in yet another turn of the eternal seasonal wheel.
This sun-nurtured Vermont summer is nestled between the ancient crystalline, metamorphic and igneous spine of the billion-year-old Southern Green Mountains to the east and the almost equally old shale, slate and quartzite geology of the Taconic Mountain Range and the Champlain River Basin to the west. Vermont's 9,616 square miles (third in forest canopy cover after New Hampshire and Maine) is a key linchpin in the New England network of deciduous and coniferous forest of the Northern Appalachian-Acadian ecoregion that connects to the other forests of the other northeast states and Canada.
The biodiverse heart of the green mysterium within the winding Route 7A corridor leading northward toward Manchester and Rutland of Southern Vermont relies exclusively on the butterflies, honeybees, bumblebees, solitary bees, hornets, wasps, day flying and
night flying sphinx moths, beetles, and other insect pollinators (hummingbirds and bats too) alighting, from sun up to sun down, on the windblown undulating golden yellow, pink and red flowing swaths of goldenrod, milkweed, purple clover, daisies, black-eyed Susans, thistles, echinacea and New England asters in the unmown hay meadows and upland fields and backyard gardens of spring, summer and early fall.
A pollinator pathway consists of all the interdependent flowering elements of meadows, fields and woods that feed pollinating insects. The Route 7A insect pollinator highway of Southern Vermont is a vibrant living dynamo that invigorates and sustains the entire state ecology and agriculture. Fruit orchards, blueberry and strawberry fields, vegetable crops, backyard shrub and flower gardens growing Vermont Green is dependent on the pollinator insects keeping our bountiful food harvests overflowing onto our kitchen tables, full and rich with the cornucopia of sustainable Vermont agriculture.
Pollination enables fertilization without which we'd have no seeds nor fruits. Bumblebees are great pollinators. They have special baskets on their hind legs to collect pollen called corbiculae. They are like shopping baskets or panniers. When a bumblebee visits a flower, it grabs the pollen-full anthers (the male reproductive part) with its mouth and vibrates its wings, shaking off the pollen onto its leg pollen baskets, and in its travels from flower to flower, fertilizes the plant,
Photos provided by Zura Capelli Bumblebees — facing a decline — are great pollinators
thus forming fruit or seeds. This practice of sonication or "buzz pollination" is a highly efficient strategy to collect pollen from flowers. Buzz pollination of bumblebees ensures important fertilization of many berry and vegetable crops like blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and melons — 25 crops worldwide.
Sadly, but critical to our ecological and environmental awareness and understanding of Vermont's agriculture is that another primary insect pollinator species, providing vital pollination eco-services to agricultural sustainability, is now extinct in the state — the American Bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus). Extinct also in neighboring New Hampshire, Maine and five other states (North Dakota, Idaho, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wyoming), the American bumblebee is a candidate for inclusion on the Endangered Species List and has experienced a 90% decline across the country. Four other species are also close to extinction: the rusty patched bumblebee is a federally endangered species, close to extinction in Vermont and which has not been seen since 1999; the Ashton's cuckoo bumblebee, Fernald's cuckoo bumblebee, and the black and gold bumblebee are also functionally extinct in the state. Half of Vermont's 17 bumblebee species have diminished or are in serious decline.
Habitat loss, lethal pesticides like the neonicotinoid chemicals of chlorantraniliprole or imidacloprid (which adversely affects over 1,445 species of animals), Paraquat, fungicides and herbicides like Roundup, deforestation, urbanization and climate change have all contributed to an estimated 40% insect decline across the country and an "insect apocalypse" across the world.
The agricultural nexus of Vermont sheltering between those massive monoliths of Proterozoic and Paleozoic era stone consisting of more than 6,000 farms also requires the stewardship and protection of insect pollinators like the honeybee, with its 1,213 apiaries and 16,500 colonies helping to support the state's entire agriculture. The European Honeybee was designated as Vermont's state insect by the General Assembly in 1978 for its vital pollination eco services. Between 60 and 80 percent of flowering plants in Vermont are dependent on animals (like bees) for pollination services. As famed entomologist Doug Tallamy (author of "Nature's Best Hope" and "The Nature of Oaks") wrote, "40% of all animal species on earth are herbivorous insects and convert plants into food in the form of themselves and for all other species."
Unsung, tireless and often taken for granted, these myriad teeming billions of flying insect pollinator species include the yellow and black tiger swallowtail butterfly, bright orange fritillaries like the meadow fritillary, brown skippers like the dusky skipper, the yellow dogfaced sulphur (an important pollinator), cabbage butterfly, alfalfa butterfly, whites, tiny and shiny metallic coppers, viceroys, brush-footed butterflies, blazing little blues, woodland dwelling mourning cloaks, scarlet red and white admirals, camouflaged wood satyrs, wood nymphs, elusive hairstreaks and the famous migratory monarch. The monarch butterfly depends on the increasingly scarce milkweed plant (Asclepias) to sip nectar from, lay its eggs from which then hatches out into the innocuous looking black and green striped caterpillar feasting on the milkweed leaves and transformed, 10 to 14 days later, into the vibrant orange and black iconic butterfly (Vermont's state butterfly) crossing the immense North American continent in their spectacular flights every fall to their overwintering grounds in coastal California and Mexico. Those six-legged insect warriors feeding upon and pollinating the
burgeoning pollen- and nectar-filled blossoms on a yellow or white or purple meadow panorama are welcome wildflower spectacles detonating in an exuberant green ecological display like an aerial school of rainbow colored flying fish, in a fleeting transparent ballet, over a green terrestrial coral reef.
Delicate white rosettes of Queen Anne's lace, with its deep purple floret in the center (also called wild carrot because it's related to the true carrot), nod gently on long stalks in the breeze. Purple field thistles bring in bumbling groups of bumblebees, honeybees, wasps, flies and eager congregating fluttering flocks of butterflies. Meadow parsnips, golden Alexanders, ox-eye daisies and black-eyed Susans splash their white and yellow spots of color amongst the thick swords of grasses. Clumps of white bushy heath asters and panicled asters spread their exclamation points in the green labyrinth. Nearby, ubiquitous spotted knapweed and blue chicory (the ground roots make a coffee substitute) climb upward to the sun.
The huge botanical list of wildflowers in the fields includes sunflowers, coneflowers, spicy scented yarrow (a handy first aid plant for cuts or abrasions), boneset or Eupatorium, Joe-Pye weed, Daisy fleabane, pearly everlasting and goldenrod in the vast Compositae family numbering hundreds of species.
In late July and August, the many species of goldenrod literally attract swarms of flying pollinator insects as they follow the waving yellow fronds under a persistent breeze. Solidago is the botanical Latin name given to the genus of goldenrod and means "to heal or make well." Of the more than 28 species of goldenrod listed in Peterson's "Field Guide to Eastern Wildflowers," at least 12 are native in Vermont. All goldenrod species are insect pollinator attractors and provide a rich source of pollen and nectar.
The unfortunate seasonal association of goldenrod with ragweed has led many to believe that it causes hay fever. It does not. Ragweed is wind pollinated, whereas goldenrod's heavy, thick sticky pollen can only be transported by butterflies, bees, wasps, flies and other insect pollinators who also relish the sweet nectar. In fact, one goldenrod species, sweet goldenrod, makes an excellent tea out of its dried leaves and flowers that proves goldenrod is the good-guy wildflower in the meadows.
These wildflower meadows and fields of Vermont are the nurturing seas of life-giving nectar slowly lapping upward against the lower slopes of the Southern Green Mountains and the nearby Taconic Range like a slowly swelling photosynthetic green tide renewing the cold winter face of Vermont's hills and valleys.
That shimmering midsummer heat haze following spring hovers over the green meadows, with insect pollinators flitting through these blooms of gold and white, is a truly comforting sight carrying the future promise of sustainable food security for us now and for future generations to come.
But as the first auburn and reddish tinges of autumn leaf changing hints come in late August and September and the shortening cooler days put pressure on the almost frantic insect pollinator tribe to glean the very last nectar and pollen, Vermont's resulting bountiful harvest will be "their" legacy to last us into the cold, dark days of winter.
Victor C. Capelli is a retired environmental educator, environmental analyst and nature illustrator.
Making scents with Wicked Sniffer
Photos provided by Wicked Sniffer Lindsay Martin combines the ingredients for one of her soap products — a bestseller that has a scent reminiscent of cloudberry, something slightly bright and joyful and citrusy, and maybe with a squeeze of juicy guava and a pinch of youth and sunlight.
Entrepreneur balances science of smells, fledgling business, family
By Danielle M. Crosier, Vermont Country
BENNINGTON — Lindsay Martin bustles into the Community Market in Bennington, a bag over one arm, and a toddler in the other.
She isn’t harried or jumbled, although she is juggling a load — there’s a peace about her, a tranquility and an imperturbability.
Martin smiles, and pulls up a high chair. As she settles her young daughter into the seat, she explains that her oldest, Olivia, is in school at the moment.
“And, this is Violet,” she introduces, sliding a thick slab of pumpkin bread to the toddler, who is busy looking intently at her mother. “But, you’ve met.”
Violet and I have met — and the last time I saw Violet, not yet 2, she was lugging around a basket in front of Martin’s vendor table, Wicked Sniffer Aromatherapy.
Olivia, Martin’s oldest, can often be found coloring or writing or reading at the events, while her mom sells her handmade aromatherapy products and her little sister roams the floor — dad in tow. The business is also in its infancy, and Martin is just starting out.
“I made it official in June of 2019; I formed my LLC,” says Martin, as she joked about it being just in time for the massive COVID shutdown.
“Well, it was really my husband — like, he bought me my first little kit — it was beeswax and little containers — just some stuff to make a solid perfume. And, he was like, ‘Here you go. Go make your first product.’ And, it just started from that,” explains Martin, as she sets up a straw in a bottle of milk and slides it off to the side of the table.
“We then used to sit around watching soap-making videos together on YouTube,” she laughs, recalling how she and her husband spent time together during COVID. “So, you know, I could learn how to make it.”
Martin explains that this is all her thing — that her husband doesn’t make the product with her. Her husband’s name is Ricky Martin — like the Puerto Rican singer and songwriter, whom he resembles.
“Ricky,” Martin says, is her go-to when she is struggling with pretty much anything, “When I need someone to talk to, you know — if I need an opinion or advice or anything — I go to him. He’s just my biggest, biggest support.”
Starting the Wicked Sniffer business was not an easy thing, Martin recalls, especially in the beginning. Even now, having the sense to be adaptable and pivot is essential.
With a self-trained education and a retail background, it is obvious that Martin possesses a real entrepreneurial spirit. She knew she wanted to have a business — not a service business, but a business that produced products. And, she knew the name that she wanted her business to have.
That was the start.
“I went back and forth on a lot of things, but I knew that I wanted to do something with aromatherapy,” recalls Martin, adding that she began an aromatherapy certification back in 2020 — right before the onset of COVID.
Her education includes chemistry, anatomy, and business classes with both the Aromahead and Tisserand Institutes. Aromahead Institute is one of the few schools recognized by the Aromatherapy Registration Council’s Alliance of International Aromatherapists,
and the degree comes after more than 400 hours of study in preparation for certification.
“It’s important to know all this stuff about the body because the essential oils interact with your body, you know?” says Martin. “So, if I’m to be an aromatherapist, there’s things I need to know in order to keep people safe. For example, you could use a tiny bit of lavender and be fine, but if I was making a 10% dilution product for somebody — they could have an interaction with their medication — if they’re pregnant or nursing, it could affect them. And, you have to be careful.”
“What it comes down to, when you have an essential oil, is it’s made up of chemicals — and the chemicals are the reason why the essential oil helps you. And, each oil has a different concentration of different chemicals,” explains Martin.
She’s passionate and knowledgeable about this. Using lavender again as an example, she adds, “Lavender is really high in a chemical called linalool, which people can have a bad toxicity reaction to.”
Linalool is a terpene, with a distinctive sweet floral and woodsy scent — that also introduces something spicy — like a spicy citrus. According to Science Direct, linalool is a volatile oil that can be the main constituent of many essential oils — comprising up to 70% of their active makeup, and with a link to activity of the central nervous system.
With lavender’s high concentrations of linalool, Martin explains, it can aid in any number of ailments — with use as a sleep aid, as an antidepressant, as anti-inflammatory, as a painkiller, as an anticonvulsant, to reduce congestion, improve immunity, to promote circulation, and more — but only if its properties and applications are well understood.
Of this, Martin becomes adamant. Essential oils can help or they can injure — and understanding how they should be used, diluted, and mixed is essential to developing product safety standards.
Lavender, Martin adds, is not the only essential oil that contains linalool. The terpene can be found in oregano oil, sweet basil, neroli, ylang ylang, geranium, orange, frankincense, pines, the mints, rosemary, bergamot, rose and rosewood — just to name a few. These are all essential oils that Martin uses in her products.
Lavender essential oil is also medicinal, with applications ranging from antimicrobial and antibacterial to aiding in granulation therapy (i.e., the healing of open wounds). Additionally, it propels and deters parasites and pests.
Essential oils are fat-soluble, some essential oils help drain the lymphatic system, others increase or decrease blood pressure or heart rate — and understanding how dilution
“I don’t have a lot of time, and my first job is being a mom and a wife. And, my husband wants more. So — we’re just seeing where this goes.”
Lindsay Martin
and the rate of absorption go hand in hand is essential to quality control — and to the well-being of those who use products made with essential oils.
Essential oils, Martin explains, can be absorbed through hair follicles, pores, and sweat glands — but the rate of absorption is also dependent on the thickness of the stratum corneum (the outer layer of skin), which varies throughout the body.
“Learning all this stuff — it’s complicated. It’s really complicated,” Martin says. She glances over at Violet, who has been staring intently at her — and she takes Violet’s tiny hand in hers — just for a moment. It’s an intimate moment, like they are silently and gently conversing, and there is just the hint of a frown on Martin’s face.
Martin releases Violet’s hand, and Violet places it palm-down on the pumpkin bread, then curls her little fingers down and into the loaf. For now, they just stay there, exploring the sensation.
“There are no hair follicles on the soles of your feet,” Martin explains, but it is one of the places on the body where there are the largest pores and the most sweat glands. Therefore, you would think this would be a great place for absorption.
“The skin on the soles of your feet — it’s thicker though,” Martin says. “See? It’s complicated. That’s probably not a good place to put essential oils, if you’re trying to get a benefit from them. Now, if you put it on your scalp — that’s an absorbent place. And, the highest rate of absorption is through the mucosal lining.”
Breathing essential oils is an entirely different delivery method. You’re not just sniffing something that smells good; you’re introducing the compounds directly into the bloodstream. As the molecules of essential oil come into contact with the mucosal linings of the nasal passage, the respiratory system, and the olfactory glands — millions and millions of microscopic capillaries carry the components directly to the bloodstream.
“That’s very permeable, so that really does go into your bloodstream a lot faster,” Martin explains, smiling at Violet.
Hence, the nearly immediate effects experienced by scent — and, hence, the name — Wicked Sniffer.
“I don’t want to make the whole thing about essential oils, though, because my whole business isn’t just focused around that. I would like it to be more centered around aromatherapy, at some point,” she clarifies, “but it’s kind of like a sputtering thing now. I’m trying to get there, you know?”
On the idea of aromatherapy, Martin says she dreams of learning more about massage — and she dreams of possibly even teaching in the future.
“I don’t have a lot of time, and my first job is being a mom and a wife. And, my husband wants more. So — we’re just seeing where this goes.” She laughs out loud, grinning and turning her gaze from Violet, “It’s an empire I’m trying to build, you know what I mean?”
Admitting struggles seems to be somewhat humiliating, as if — despite that her husband works full time, and that she works and is a mother full time, and that together they never have a single day off — struggling in today's times is something to be ashamed of.
“You know, with the state of everything — everything’s so expensive — there’s nowhere to live. We have pets, and it's hard to find somewhere to live. So, we’ve just kind of been surviving through that, just trying our best,” says Martin. In the last year, her family lost their apartment and had to move into her parents' home. She and her husband are now renovating a camper to move into.
“It would be beneficial, if I could do classes, and do things to make more money so we can get out of our situation, but —” she shrugs, helplessly.
Martin unlooses a long and slow and heavy sigh. “We’d like to get some land. That was the idea — to get some land and, you know — start there. Live in the camper, and maybe build a house, you know? And, it’s obviously —” Martin stares out the window.
“It’s hard, the way that things are right now. It’s so hard. My husband works. My husband works his buns off — and it’s just hard. It’s — it feels like hard times. And, you know, he’s the only one working.”
The idea that Martin can make that statement — that her husband is “the only one working” — without a second thought is slightly perflexing, but it is understandable given how ingrained traditional societal norms are, and the conversation moves on without a beat.
As the primary income earner, Martin’s husband works at Mack Molding — a designer, manufacturer, and supplier of molded plastic and fabricated metal parts to the medical, industrial, transportation, energy, and technology fields.
The costs of Martin or Martin’s husband returning to school “to better their lives” are not realistic — and, how can either one of them afford the time or the monetary cost when they are working to support themselves
Danielle M. Crosier — Vermont Country
Most pop-up events occur on the weekends, and so Lindsay Martin’s family attends with her — to spend time together as a family and for convenience’s sake. Her husband, Ricky (left), finds a quiet place to hold the baby, Violet, during a nap. Her oldest daughter, Olivia (right), amuses herself at a table while she waits for the event to conclude.
and their family — especially when finding affordable housing is of a primary and rudimentary concern, Martin muses.
Educational options in Southern Vermont are seriously limited, and come with an economic burden and a time commitment that is not manageable. These constraints — combined with unreliable cell coverage, high costs for technology and internet, a general lack of affordable child care — pose an astronomical burden that young families (and many young individuals) cannot afford.
“That’s the thing — and, if you’re doing it to bolster yourself into a better economic position — you’re handicapping yourself. You’re going to be putting yourself in a backwards position for a long time to come because, if you’re young and you go to school, you get an education. And, that’s great — but, it’s also a liability. It’s not an asset for you until you pay off that debt. It’s like a crisis the way that student debt is these days,” explains Martin, who has seen what the crushing debt and interest rates have done to others, and expresses thanks that she is free of major debt in her late 30s.
Violet is gazing intently at her mother, and Martin looks down and tidies the pumpkin bread chunks and crumbs back onto the napkin. She frowns, then smiles down at Violet and the two share another nonverbal dialogue.
“She’s still nursing,” Martin reminds me, as she slides a lightweight cloth nursing apron from her bag. She takes a few moments to arrange herself, and get Violet situated before continuing.
Martin explains that she never went to college.
“I used to beat myself up about it, a lot,” explains Martin, who, as a teen, dreamed of
becoming a psychologist or a therapist. Pregnant and young, she began working at Dollar Tree and had her older daughter Olivia at 19.
Working her way up, Martin made a decent living, but felt hopeless and drained at the end of each day. She put in 12 years at Dollar Tree, as an assistant manager and then a store manager. “But, I worked myself to death — and I hated it,” says Martin, remembering. “And, it was just for the money. And, you have to factor in that you can’t just survive on money. Wanting to be a therapist wasn’t about the money.”
It was at this time — as a single mother of a young daughter, tired, burned out, and disenfranchised with the prospect of continuing to work for someone else — that Martin decided she needed to make a change in her life and, coincidentally, this was also around the time that she met her husband.
The two were married shortly after, and that was around the time Wicked Sniffer began to take form in Martin’s imagination.
Until their situation changes, the camper kitchen is where Martin works — and the place where the magic happens. This is where she builds the majority of her Wicked Sniffer concoctions.
They do smell really, really good. At the pop-up events that Martin sets up, the scent wafts through the space. It draws people in, and it is not long before her booth is surrounded by sniffers.
“People love my soaps,” Martin adds. “They really like the Scrubbie Bars — which is soap with pumice powder, you know? The Glowy Cheeks Facial Serum is a big seller — a blend of argan and rosehip seed oils, and rose and geranium essential oils. People love the Peppermint Eucalyptus Shower Steamers, although they are my least favorite thing to
make — due to their finicky nature, so it's a labor of love for my customers.”
Martin adds that one of the major sellers during her outdoor markets is the roll-on perfume oils, but she doesn’t really sell a lot of those at the indoor markets. She’s speculated again and again on why this might be, but isn’t entirely certain of the reason. She packs accordingly, bringing more of this and that to whatever type of event it will be.
“For my business,” Martin adds, looking up. “I’m pretty good at pivoting. Even if I’m attached to the product, if it’s not working or something, I’ll just be like, ‘Alright. It’s not working. I gotta scrap it for now.’ And, I try to really listen to my customers — to what they say, to what they want, to what they like. If I don’t, it’ll cost me.”
“Supplies,” Martin adds, “— they’re expensive, and I know better than that. And, the cost of everything just keeps going up and up.”
Martin peers in through the loose neck of the nursing apron and takes a few moments to connect with Violet. Violet appears to be finished and — as she emerges, peeking out from beneath the tent — she is all smiles.
Martin settles her back on her lap, tucking the nursing apron away in her bag.
“My biggest priority in life is my family. Each day, I have to make sure they're taken care of — and that comes first,” says Martin quietly, wiping crumbs from the table. She shifts Violet around on her lap, finding a place that is more comfortable. She looks down at Violet and Violet looks back, unblinking.
“I'd love to see my business in its own ‘make-space’ soon,” muses Martin, using a hand to mimic quotations. She is eyeing a larger client base, with more consistent sales, so she can start outsourcing some of the work, especially marketing tasks.
Violet is busy poking her index finger slowly through the pumpkin bread again, exploring her senses. She sniffs its aroma, her little nose lifting — and Martin is caught in a recollection.
“But, my sniffer — I've always been in love with good smells,” says Martin, reminiscing that even as a preteen she remembers writing in her journal and expressing gratitude for her strong sense of smell. “I've always sniffed things.”
That was why, years ago — when she thought of the name, Wicked Sniffer for a business — she just knew. “That was it. I was like, you’re doing this — this is it.”
Martin is excited about the possibilities — and she has already created her seasonal calendar of events, and posted it to her website.
To tickle your scent-sibilities with Wicked Sniffer, check out the website at wickedsniffer.com.
Plymouth rocks
A story of gold in Vermont
By Paul Heller Vermont Country correspondent
The town of Plymouth in Windsor County is famous as the birthplace of President Calvin Coolidge, but it has an equally noteworthy (if less savory) history as the site of Vermont’s gold rush.
Gold has always been on our minds. Investors in foregone times purchased the precious metal for its intrinsic value and as a measure of wealth. It captured the fancy of Vermonters almost from the founding of the state.
The first report of Vermont gold was in Southern Vermont, according to Edward Hitchcock, the State Geologist in the 1860s:
"The first gold of which we have any knowledge was a large lump in Newfane, in the year 1826. It was found in the valley of the West River, in the western part of the town. Its weight was 8½ ounces and its value was about $125. A portion of this nugget was exhibited in the Cabinet of General Martin Field, of Fayetteville, who believed it to be native gold. (It appears that the part of Newfane in which the Post Office was located was named Fayetteville in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette who visited Vermont in 1826.)"
Field published a letter in the Bellows Falls Intelligencer in which he stated that the specimen was found on the farm of Samuel Ingram of Newfane. He noted that "the specimen, when brought to me, had been beaten down with a hammer, in order to
Photo provided by the Vermont Historical Society
The Rooks Mining Company only lasted three years, and the area containing the mine is now Camp Plymouth State Park. Promotional material for this Vermont State Park encourages visitors to pan for gold.
ascertain the quality of the mineral." Field went on, "the lump is very pure gold. It has the metallic luster of virgin gold, but its color is a darker yellow than English guineas or American eagles."
While Field believed the large nugget was native gold, the prevailing opinion was that it was treasure lost by Captain Kidd or counterfeiters who were unaware that it had fallen from a stagecoach or saddlebag. The fever for buried treasure was epidemic in Vermont at that time and there were endless tales of misplaced riches that captured the imagination of the citizenry. There was also a family of notorious counterfeiters named Wheeler who lived in close proximity to where the large nugget was found, which lent credence to the alternate theory that the gold originally belonged to them. This notion became a common belief in the area, despite the unlikelihood of its being true and the fact was even mentioned in an official geological report.
Vermont’s greatest gold excitement occurred several years later when Matthew Kennedy, recently returned from the California Gold Rush, was fishing in Bridgewater and his practiced eye noticed some "color" in the rushing waters of Buffalo Brook. Hitchcock says it was "over the town line in Bridgewater where the brook which drains the Five-Corners area enters that township." In any case, Kennedy did not tell anyone about his discovery until he had secured the title to the surrounding acreage.
According to Hitchcock’s 1861 report:
"It was found that gold existed in three or four distinct veins of quartz, within the space of eighty rods; whereupon 'yellow fever' broke out in the community, and raged with unabated fury till a sale of the property was made to Ira A. Payson, Charles J. Kane, and Simeon M. Johnson in 1853.
"That gold exists in the quartz of Bridgewater, the recorded testimony of hundreds who have visited the site, as well as the exhibition of the specimens taken from thence, fully attest; but whether it occurs in quantities that will warrant an outlay of capital sufficient to carry on the work advantageously, is, in our opinion, a question that can only be settled by experiment."
The price of gold through the 1850s was $18.93 per troy ounce. Today, the same amount will cost approximately $2,000.
Hitchcock went on to explain that samples of native gold from Bridgewater were collected and archived in the State Cabinet in Montpelier.
By 1855, more 49ers had returned from the California gold fields and were amazed by the "similarity of the rock formations" in Bridgewater to what they had seen out west. They "commenced the work of prospecting in Vermont, and generally were able to ‘raise a color,’ and in some instances lumps of considerable size were found." Gold in Vermont is often referred to as placer gold — gold that has eroded from its original source and been deposited in river beds by the action of flowing water.
In Plymouth, Vermonter William Hanker-
son discovered gold about the same time as Kennedy near the "Five Corners" area where Kennedy had staked a claim. Hankerson was yet another returned 49er who had been prospecting in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. "He secured a claim and, in digging over a space less than two rods square, and not averaging five feet in depth, extracted therefrom over $400 worth of gold." Contemporary geologists estimated that the gold found in Plymouth was far purer than that mined in California.
Hankerson set up a "gold-washing" operation where, using a stream of water in a sluice, he was able to separate gold from the extraneous gravel in which it was found.
Hitchcock described the process:
"From a pond at the upper end of his claim Mr. Hankerson took out water in a sluice, and having conducted it over a water wheel to which was attached machinery for working the pumps to drain the mines, he caused it to pass through sluices into which the earth containing the gold was thrown. The sluices, made from sound boards, were from fifteen to twenty inches wide, and from six to ten inches deep, and elevated at the upped end sufficiently to induce the swiftness of the water to wash off all the fine and lighter material, and leave the pebbles and gold on the bottom."
While prospecting revealed traces of gold in other Vermont towns such as Worcester, Stowe and Granville, only the claims in Bridgewater, Plymouth and Worcester were deemed sufficient to launch a commercial mining operation.
Amos Pollard, a Plymouth farmer, had a brook running through his property and according to Beth Smith’s 1976 article in Vermont Life, the stream soon became known as "Gold Brook." Virgil Woodcock, another returnee from the California, persuaded Amos to let him dam up the stream and use the water for a sluice. "With a sluice a half-mile long, he achieved a 20-foot drop, and increased greatly the amount of gravel he could wash." As Pollard received 1/16 of Woodcock’s gross income, it is estimated that in a few years time he earned about $2,000, which is equivalent to about $70,000 today.
By 1860, according to the Bellows Falls Times, there were seven companies washing the gravel on Buffalo Brook, and by 1883, gold mining in Vermont took the next step
with the opening of the Rooks Mine in Plymouth.
The Rooks Mining Company, named for one of its principal partners, established a substantial physical plant with a mill for crushing ore, a boarding house for employees, a blacksmith shop and an assortment of other structures. In fact, it looked like a mining camp one might find in Colorado, Nevada or California. The company prospectus, dated 1884, described the main shaft. "The working entrance of the mine is a tunnel that extends 350 feet into the mountain where it intersects with a shaft sunk on the lode." The shaft to its junction with the main tunnel was 235 feet deep, 8 feet wide, "and follows the course of the lode toward the center of the earth." The prospectus was available to investors and paints a very pretty picture of the operation.
A more jaundiced view was published by the Springfield (Mass.) Republican in 1885:
"Plymouth, the gold-mining town of the Green Mountain State, is beginning to substitute the wild and absorbing dreams of the treasure-hunter for the hard, honest toil of the fathers. It has grown into a pretty play-ground for the stock-mining companies with their seductive titles, mysterious murmurings and gilt-edged reports."
There were claims of great wealth garnered in the Plymouth gold mines, but there were as many allegations of fraud. The industrialization was lamented by the editor of the Republican:
"The early settlers cleared up good farms and the children got rich from them. The grandchildren ran them down and loaded the town with debt. The next generation skipped away to the west, leaving the wornout or deserted farms and heavy debts to the few who were left behind … The town now possesses 1,000 inhabitants, two churches, half a dozen blacksmith shops and twice as many illicit distilleries."
It is interesting to consider that this was
the Plymouth in which Calvin Coolidge came of age, a far cry from the bucolic idyll usually associated with the 30th president’s younger years. In fact, this area had a long history of mining with an iron mine, an iron works and immigrant labor.
Henry Fox, from England, had joined the crew at the Rooks mine almost from the beginning. He was initially an assayer, but stayed on through the tribulations of the company until he was the only one left as the mining operations ceased. He assumed title of the property in lieu of unpaid wages and persisted in seeking a rich vein of ore. He finally went mad and died at the Brattleboro Retreat in 1919.
Today, it is difficult to determine whether or not the Rooks mine was a successful enterprise or a Ponzi scheme. But there was no mistaking the skepticism of the Springfield Republican:
"The company’s first annual report came out in magnificent full leather binding, gilt edges, thick book paper, profusely illustrated, but ‘with a meagerness and indefiniteness of information on some points that would be highly suspicious were the mine in some distant, inaccessible camp,’ says the Engineering and Mining Journal."
The Rooks Mining Company only lasted three years, and the area containing the mine is now Camp Plymouth State Park. Promotional material for this Vermont State Park encourages visitors to pan for gold. It also states:
"Rooks Mining Company claimed to have earned more than $13,000 in a 6-month period in 1884. Such profits were seldom validated, and most investors lost their fortunes.
"When the Rooks Mining Company went bankrupt in 1889, Henry Fox, the superintendent, bought the mine. He continued to search for gold for thirty more years until his death in 1919. Today, remains of the mine operations can be seen along the brook, and although most of the mines themselves are outside of park boundary, visitors should still stay away from all abandoned mines regardless of location. Most of the gold is known as 'placer' gold, deposited by glacial action."
Paul Heller, of Barre, is a retired librarian who writes historical features for various newspapers and magazines.
Photo provided by the Vermont Historical Society Miners pan for gold in Buffalo Brook.
Underground glow-up
was the first event of the series.
Immersive, interactive events take you to 'a different world'
By Chris Mays, Vermont Country
BRATTLEBORO — Immersive and interactive events, with live music and participatory art elements, are transforming the Latchis Pub and Underground Lounge into masquerade parties.
Mountain Life Music Entertainment is responsible for the move. Upon entering the underground lounge, company owner Greg Labshere said, the space becomes "a different world."
Employees dress and act in character. Attendees are strongly encouraged to get dressed up as well.
"All Glown Up" in June featured live artist Collette Aimee, guest DJs Deku and Speaker of the House, and UV-reactive cocktails. It
"The thing that made me the most happiest was everyone was painting their mask," Labshere said. "Everyone was having a good time. They were dancing. They were interacting with the artist. It couldn't have gone better."
Labshere said the turnout and support for the event meant a lot to him. He hopes that will continue so he can do "more intricate and interactive things."
In July, the schedule includes a disco party and a "One Piece" themed show to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the anime series. For August, the plan is to have a "roaring '20s electro swing party," with a dance class offered beforehand.
In the fall, Labshere wants to host a pirate-themed party. He would like to add a bar crawl element as well.
Mountain Life Music Entertainment began in 2017 when Labshere had been asked to book events for establishments in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. He named the company after what he called "the beautiful, mountainous area."
It was then that he realized he could fill a niche for helping people with their music and entertainment problems. He envisions doing "Bar Rescue" someday, but for live music.
Finding the target demographic and properly promoting events are part of his skillset. He's toured around the U.S. with the Garcia Project and learned about the industry.
"I'm just putting it all together down here," he said in the underground lounge. "I want the MLM brand to be a household name."
His hope also is to host outdoor events at another venue in the future. He organized concerts last summer at Saxtons Distillery.
Combining music, art and entertainment "is just where it's at," Labshere said.
"As community support grows, the more options, the more directions, I can help take this thing — so look out," he said. "I really love doing it. It's bringing people together."
Labshere said he can't draw and doesn't play music, so seeing a show running smoothly is his form of art. ~
Photos by Kelly Fletcher — Vermont Country correspondent At Latchis Bar and Underground Lounge, Michael "the Rainbow Man" Stern paints masks with glow paint during the All Glown Up party on June 8.
Latchis Pub and Underground Lounge hosts the All Glown Up party on June 8.
The film’s the thing 10 TV shows that survived the leap to the big screen
By Dan Tebo, Vermont Country correspondent
Regular readers of this column (if such individuals exist) may have noticed that there’s a lot of “middle-aged film critic talks about how different the movies were back in the olden days” going on. I’m happy to report that this month’s column offers more of the same. Because you see, folks — back in the day, it was considered a badge of honor to have your TV series adapted for the big screen. Television was always considered the lesser medium. The 1999 HBO debut of “The
The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983): Rod Serling’s eternally unnerving series arrived on the big screen in anthology form, with strong entries from filmmaking legends like Steven Spielberg and “Mad Max” creator George Miller. The less said about John Landis’ ill-fated segment, the better.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986): There’s a baker's dozen worth of feature-length “Star Trek” films out there and everyone knows that “Wrath of Kahn” is the best one. Science fiction-averse viewers like myself would be better served by this fish-out-of-water installment, which finds the crew from the USS Enterprise cooling their heels in 1980s San Francisco.
The Naked Gun (1988): Based on a little-seen 1982 sitcom that was canceled after six episodes, “The Naked Gun” is still the crown jewel of the spoof comedy genre. It provided a late-career renaissance for the great Leslie Nielsen and introduced the world to the comedic stylings of the less-great O.J. Simpson.
The Fugitive (1993): The working title of essayist Lindy West’s 2020 anthology of movie reviews was “The Fugitive is the Only Good Movie.” The reason for this is that “The Fugitive” is the only good movie. This 1993 Harrison Ford summer blockbuster is 130 minutes of pure perfection.
Sopranos” was a seismic event after which things would never be the same. Nowadays, we’re more likely to see vintage flicks turned into long-running streamer shows (“Karate Kid,” “Lethal Weapon,” etc.). Why shoehorn a story into a two-hour movie when you can let it unfold over 10 hour-long episodes? Still, there’s an undeniable thrill in seeing our small-screen friends at the multiplex.
Here’s a list of 10 of the best-ish TV-to-film adaptations from across the decades.
Mission: Impossible (1996): When Tom Cruise teamed up with erotic thriller auteur Brian De Palma to bring “Mission: Impossible” to cinemas, few would have predicted the film would have franchise potential. Hell, more people went to see “Twister” that summer. But here we are, 30 years later, and America’s favorite Scientologist is still sprinting around the globe looking for tall structures to leap from.
South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999): In the spring of 1999, politicians decided that R-rated movies were likely to blame for the Columbine massacre and should be strenuously hidden from children. Later that summer, I had to show three forms of ID with backup to see “Bigger, Longer & Uncut,” a musical comedy about people overreacting about the effects R-rated movies have on children.
Miami Vice (2006): Fans of “Miami Vice’s” 1980s neon energy, loud Phil Collins soundtrack and even louder wardrobe were duly perplexed by series creator Michal Mann’s decision to direct this dark (literally), brooding crime drama that’s similar in name only. The film does, however, teach us that go-fast boats go really fast … which is important.
Sex and the City (2008): The euphoric, sold-out crowd that I watched the big screen bow of SATC with screamed, laughed, cried and spilled pink cosmopolitan juice from their contraband cocktail shakers for two and a half hours straight. Unfortunately, the 2010 sequel was so
brain-bleedingly horrible, it sent the franchise into hibernation for more than a decade, only to return minus one entire Kim Cattrall.
Deadwood
(2019): We’ve heard the story before: Critically lauded series dies a premature death at the hands of callous network execs. Fans start clamoring for a feature-length adaptation that rarely comes to fruition (still waiting for that “Community” movie, folks). Not only did series creator David Milch repopulate the town of Deadwood with the same lovable cast of prospectors, prostitutes and ornery cusses, he did so after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. God bless that motherbleeper.
The Bob’s Burgers
Movie (2022): The Belcher family’s plans for a sunny-side-up summer go sideways when a sinkhole opens up in front of the restaurant. While Bob and Linda struggle to save the restaurant, the kids untangle a long-buried mystery in the bowels of Wonder Wharf. A predictably endearing musical that’s mercifully short on musical numbers for those who dislike musicals.
'The most important part is to have fun'
Vermontijuana CEO reflects on successful harvest methods
By Alexander Belogour GreenMountain Cannabis News
IRASBURG — Vermont encompasses a wide swath of hemp farmers, and no two farmers are completely alike in the Green Mountain state.
Eli Harrington, a longtime grower and CEO of Vermontijuana, typically plants on his farm in Irasburg. In the heart of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, Harrington operates under a tier-two outdoor cannabis cultivation license in which he cultivates 312 plants in native, living soil under full sunlight.
This year, however, Harrington says he won't be renewing his cultivation license due to a hip replacement. Instead, he plans on moving to wholesalers for the meantime while he recovers.
"I'm moving to more of a wholesaling licensing agreement, and I'm actually moving to a new location. I wasn't too sure about how things would go in the new location, and it'll definitely take some time to get the soil prepared there."
Nevertheless, Harrington did have some advice for growers, experienced and inexperienced alike, on how to have a successful harvest.
Harrington said a big part of farming takes location into consideration.
"Even in a small state like Vermont, where you are has a huge impact on when you can plant," says Harrington. "The hills and the valleys run on different kinds of agricultural schedules, so it really can change from property to property. Planting depends on the cultivator, the property, and what their setup looks like. People who grow in greenhouses might already have their beds growing right now. For me, somebody who is planting in the field with full exposure, I plant between May 20 and June 10."
Harrington said recent sporadic weather can cause planting to sometimes be a "roll of the dice."
"You might think that it's done being cold for the year, and then you get a cold stretch. You can only transport your plants once, so it's always a gamble, especially growing outside."
Despite the challenges, Harrington said cultivation is always about having fun. He also recommended that growing directly into the ground was one of the best, most environmentally friendly, agricultural practices.
"I always say that the more directly into the soil you can get, the more positive impact you'll have on the environment. Once you start bringing in bags of fertilizer or compost or turning on UV lights, you make an impact on your carbon footprint and the carbon equation. If people have a yard and
can prepare their beds, this is a good time to loosen soil or dig holes, but not everyone has that luxury, so fabric pots also work well," said Harrington.
Harrington also stressed that there is no big hurry when it comes to cultivation.
"You can easily plant up until July 1, and still have some success. The stronger and healthier your plants are, before they go into the ground, will make an impact on the results you'll have, too. Take your time, have nice, healthy plants, and make sure that if you're growing them outside, too, you'll have two weeks to harden them off as an adjustment period."
The most essential part of the entire cultivation process, notes Harrington, is to "have fun."
"The most important part is to have fun. The way that works for you in growing best in your environment is the best. For some, it may be with a small light, and for others, it may be in their backyard. You shouldn't be intimidated, either. Hemp is a hardy plant; it's forgiving, and it wants to grow, and seeds are relatively inexpensive."
This story previously ran in GreenMountain Cannabis News. Stay updated on Vermont Cannabis News by subscribing to the free weekly newsletter found at GreenMountainCannabisNews.com.
Photo provided by Vermontijuana
Vermontijuana founder and head cultivator Eli Harrington reflected on his own methods for a successful harvest — some things for new growers to keep in mind for next year.
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Christopher Long, Sales Associate Better Homes and Gardens, The Masiello Group
