Stowe Guide & Magazine Summer/Fall 2019

SUMMER / FALL 2019 FREE

STOWE G U I D E & M AGA Z I N E

PEOPLE • ARTS & EVENTS • DINING • SHOPPING • OUTDOORS • LIFESTYLE • THINGS TO DO

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CONTENTS s u m m e r

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2 0 1 9

features

98

76

Darn Tough, darn right

by Robert Kiener

Cabot Hosiery Mills is a Made in U.S.A. success story.

Poised on the brink of bankruptcy, learn how the Cabots, Ric and Marc, pulled up their socks and got darn big.

82

WWII vet earns Congressional medal

by Caleigh Cross

Even at 94 Albert “Bulldog” Besser continues to distinguish himself. Now he’s been recognized for his wartime service with the OSS, precursor to the CIA.

84

The valedictorian

by Julia Shipley

John Dunbar rose to the top of his class at Craftsbury Academy, got a full ride to university, and had deep, enviable connections to his hometown.

Then it all started to unravel, in a story that cried out to be told.

84

92

Mountain parkway

by Mark Bushnell

For a time in the 1930s, with well-connected people as cheerleaders, it looked like Vermont might get a scenic highway along the flanks of the Green Mountains.

98

164

Bound for Glory

by Paul Rogers

Stowe photographer chronicles the rise of Agriculture, the new statue atop the Golden Dome in Montpelier.

126

Eye of the beholder

by Jasmine Bigelow

CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: GORDON MILLER; PAUL ROGERS; GLENN CALLAHAN; MILLER

Life and vision of experimental— and experiential—artist Kelly Holt, who likes to stretch social norms.

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164

126

Performance art: Food as fun in Stowe

by Kate Carter

A burst of flame. Flash of heat. Spinning knives. Gasps from the crowd. Then, a flying ... scallop? Laughter. It’s just another night at the teppanyaki table at Sushi Yoshi.

182

My favorite tree: An artist’s metaphor for life

by Robert Kiener

For 20 years, one artist paints the same tree on Tansy Hill in Stowe, discovering that nothing ever remains the same.

196

Call of the mountains

by Robert Kiener

Second homeowners’ desire for simple sustainability.

CONTENTS s u m m e r

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f a l l

2 0 1 9

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Contributors

12

From the editor

18

Goings on

24

Rural route

55

Getting Outdoors

62

FROM TOP LEFT: KEVIN WALSH; STEVE MERMELSTEIN: JOSEPH LLANES

essentials

Outdoor primer Hiking • Rec paths • Fishing Golf • Swimming • Biking

104

24

Galleries, arts, & entertainment Helen Day Art Center • Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center • Guides to exhibits, music, and mixed media

Rural Route

146

Edibles: Plate get new owners, MOCO, Fork & Gavel

departments 14

First person: Shark Tank

40

Party pix: The Stowe scene

56

History class: Smugglers Notch

60

Mountain adventure: Above the trees

64

Natural history: Smuggs naturalist

66

Trail journal: Kirchner Woods

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Cool runnings: Long Trail demons

72

Fish story: Teach a kid to fish

114

Road trip: At the Rokeby

118

Stowe Performing Arts: In the meadow

124

Coffee house: Spruce Peak folk fest

136

Found in Vermont: Shopping list

138

Cool places: Mountain Chapel

140

Past tense: Hyde Park Inn

142

On exhibit: Moveable feasts

190

Vermont lifestyle: Pass the chicken pie

192

Spotlight: Cynthia Knauf

220

Land conservation: Brownsville

220

ON OUR COVER Our cover painting this summer is titled, aptly, Stowe, Vermont, oil on canvas, 30"x40", by

artist Katerina Hrdlicka.

The Czechoslovakian-born artist drives by the Stowe Community Church nearly every day to and from work—she is head graphic designer and production manager at the Stowe Reporter—and has always been struck by the contrast of the church’s stark white steeple against the lush green of the mountains.

Her work is often, but not always, characterized by whimsical landscapes and mindscapes using vibrant colors flowing within animated bold outlines.

“I usually sketch what strikes me or take a photo, and then move to the canvas,” Hrdlicka says. “I like bold, vibrant colors, which is why I prefer oils,” but she paints in a variety of mediums.

Hrdlicka earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario, in London, studying visual arts, fine arts, and art history.

Her family emigrated to Canada, and she now lives in Morristown.

GETTING AROUND

6

Saving Brownsville

55

GETTING OUTDOORS

104

SHOPPING & GALLERIES

146

RESTAURANTS & LODGING

180

REAL ESTATE & HOMES

228

BUSINESSES & SERVICES

240

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

She is art director for the award-winning Stowe Weddings and Green Mountain Weddings magazines, and was named best designer in 2016 by the New England Newspaper and Press Association. She is also the illustrator for this magazine.

124

Shawn Colvin, Spruce Peak Folk Festival

“I really enjoy showing every year in the Members’ Art Show at the Helen Day Art Center and feel the community is so fortunate to have such a topnotch community art center,” said Hrdlicka. Her work can also be seen at Sushi Yoshi restaurant in Stowe, and at facebook.co/mreeoow.

CONTRIBUTORS GLENN CALLAHAN

JULIA SHIPLEY IN THIS ISSUE: The valedictorian, p.84 Behind the scenes: In November 2016, when a freelance

photographer and I met for drinks at a bar called the Road Kill Cafe, he asked me what story I would tackle if I knew its publication was guaranteed. So, I told him about my neighbor. My colleague got super excited: “You have to do this story!” I am so grateful for that kick in the pants, because within a month I started reporting. And kept reporting. And kept reporting. And here is that story.

Most memorable takeaway: Working on this piece showed me that extremes of kindness and hatefulness play out, day by day, all around us, even in quintessentially quaint places like Craftsbury and Greensboro, Vt. On the one hand there are the threatening expressions spray-painted onto a local barn, and then, conversely, there’s the compassionate card a coworker posts in an employee restroom.

Currently: Julia Shipley is a contributing editor for Yankee Magazine and contributing writer for Seven Days newspaper.

Her work can also be found in the Old Farmer’s Almanac, where she writes the monthly calendar columns, and the New Farmer’s Almanac. In October she will co-lead a workshop at

IN THIS ISSUE: Bound for glory, p.98.

Behind the scenes: I wanted to document the carving and

installation of the 14-foot-tall statue Agriculture destined for the top of Vermont’s state capitol building for my project Stick Season. My journey began with an email asking permission to photograph that process and my inquiry reached State Curator David Schütz just as he was looking for an additional photographer to document the statue’s creation. “The coincidence was scary,” he told me during our first conversation.

Schütz brought me onto his team for my photographic style and I covered all aspects of the sculpture’s final month. The resulting photographs became part of the state archives.

Most memorable takeaway: It was cool to be able to care-

fully handle and photograph the contents of the time capsule that would go inside the Agriculture statue. I got the job of refastening the lid onto the small, stainless steel cylinder before it was placed inside, under the careful eye of the curator.

Currently: Rogers resides in his childhood home on West

Hill in Stowe after spending years in the far south (Waterbury Center) and far north (Elmore). When not photographing art and artists, he wanders his home state for commercial clients and fine art photography, and occasionally travels abroad on assignment for faith-based nonprofits.

He is a frequent contributor to Stowe Guide & Magazine.

KATE CARTER IN THIS ISSUE: Morrisville co-op, p.154 and Performance art, p.164 Behind the scenes: Hearing Morrisville Co-op’s backstory was an eye-opener in

many ways. The community vision, commitment, and the amount of volunteer time and work it took to get a store like this up and running and to make it sustainable is a true testament to the—sorry—“It takes a village” cliche. I appreciate knowing where my food comes from and the co-op has stepped up to provide that information. And they have good food. Make sure to wander into the wine corner. They have several un-oaked Chardonnays!

Most memorable takeaway: My first experience at a hibachi table. Lucky for me, it was right here in Stowe, at Sushi Yoshi.

Currently: Kate is a freelance writer and photographer, and when she’s

not researching stories or sitting at her computer, she’s photographing real estate for Vermont Realtors, hiking with her dogs, and cultivating food and flowers in her and others’ gardens.

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ROB KIENER IN THIS ISSUE: Darn Tough, darn right, p.76.

Behind the scenes: Walking through the Northfield fac-

tory where three shifts of workers keep busy producing more than 27,000 pairs of Darn Tough socks each day, five days a week, it’s amazing to think back that Ric Cabot and his father Marc almost lost their sock business to foreign competitors some 15 years ago. The fatherand-son team have inspired many as they fought back and built their sock empire into a $60 million a year business. (Kiener also writes our house feature in this issue, as well as a profile of artist Douglas David.)

Most memorable takeaway: There is a sign that’s post-

ed throughout Cabot Hosiery Mills that gives a clue to Ric and Marc Cabot’s determination to keep alive their own company in the face of increasing competition from lowpriced suppliers abroad. It reads: “Nobody ever outsourced anything for quality.” That’s an inspirational message that more USA-based manufacturing companies should post on their own walls.

Currently: Kiener, a frequent contributor to the Stowe Guide & Magazine, has been an editor and staff writer with Reader’s Digest in Asia and Europe, and now writes

for the magazine and other publications from Stowe.

More at robertkiener.com.

DIANE ARMSTRONG

PAUL ROGERS

PAUL ROGERS

the Northern Woodlands Conference on writing about place.

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GUIDE & MAGAZINE

Robert M. Miller

Gregory J. Popa

Ed Brennan, Michael Duran, Lou Kiernan, Bryan Meszkat, and Lisa Stearns

Gregory J. Popa

Thomas Kearney, Kate Carter, Robert Kiener, Hannah Marshall, and Tommy Gardner

Leslie Lafountain

Mitzi Savage

Glenn Callahan & Gordon Miller

Katerina Hrdlicka, Kristen Braley, Bev Mullaney, and Joslyn Richardson

Stuart Bertland, Kate Carter, Orah Moore, Roger Murphy, Paul Rogers, Kevin Walsh

Mark Aiken, Kate Carter, Evan Chismark, Caleigh Cross, Nancy Crowe, Willy Dietrich, Elinor Earle, Tommy Gardner, Robert Kiener, Brian Lindner, Hannah Marshall, Andrew Martin, Peter Miller, Mike Mulhern, Roger Murphy, Julia Shipley, Nancy Wolfe Stead, Kevin Walsh

Stowe Guide & Magazine & Stowe-Smugglers’ Guide & Magazine are published twice a year:

Winter/Spring & Summer/Fall Stowe Reporter LLC P.O. Box 489, Stowe VT 05672 Website: stowetoday.com Editorial inquiries: gpopa@myfairpoint.net Ad submission: ads@stowereporter.com Phone: (802) 253-2101 Fax: (802) 253-8332 Copyright: Articles and photographs are protected by copyright and cannot be used without permission.

Editorial submissions are welcome: Stowe Reporter LLC P.O. Box 489, Stowe VT 05672 Publication is not guaranteed. Enclose SASE for return.

Subscriptions are $15 per year. Check or money order to Stowe Guide, P.O. Box 489, Stowe, 05672 Advertising inquiries are welcome.

Best Niche Publication, New England Newspaper & Press Association 2010 through 2018

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FROM THE EDITOR

On the right side of history When we ran the late Elinor Earl’s piece, “Restricted,” in the 2005-2006 winter/spring edition of Stowe Guide & Magazine, we received several angry complaints, and other, more indirect criticisms, mostly offhand remarks meant to cut off conversation rather than to start one, along the lines of “That is not the purpose of this magazine.”

That said, most people in Stowe truly understood the intent of the piece, to revisit a period in our history that we should all regret, and hope to never repeat. Those are the people among us who keep their minds and hearts open to the world and all of the different kinds of people it holds.

Those who can acknowledge the world as imperfect, even here, in our little slice of heaven.

Those objections arose because “Restricted” looked back at a time, not too long ago, when people of the Jewish faith were not always welcome. The title of the piece came from a winter lodging brochure that listed local places to stay as either restricted, meaning no Jews allowed, or those that rolled out the welcome mat.

In her piece, Earle reported: “In a 1944-1945 promotional winter brochure, ‘Where to Stay— Mount Mansfield, Stowe, Vermont,’ 12 of the 15 hotels, inns and ski lodges were restricted; two out of the seven farmhouses were restricted, and four of the 17 guest homes did not accept Jews.

It was well known that when a bus filled with tourists looking for rooms pulled up in front of Barnes Camp (‘Restricted Clientele, Gentiles Only’) … the (owner) would put his head inside and bellow, ‘If you’re a Jew, don’t bother to get out here!’ ” Ugly.

The world is not immune to such things, still today, not even in bucolic, welcoming places like Stowe and all of our neighboring communities. Last fall, a group of kids of color visiting here heard racial epithets hurled at them from car windows and described feeling unwelcome at several local establishments. Stowe middle schoolers reported that a swastika was “carved or drawn” on a table at the school. But unlike the 1940s, Stowe has rallied quickly to form the Morristown-Stowe

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Coalition to address racism and discrimination in the county. It’s not just Stowe, either. Up Route 100 in Morristown, someone spraypainted a swastika near the high school, and at Sterling College in Craftsbury, several disturbing incidents arose surrounding issues of race and sexual orientation. Someone hurled a beer can and shouted racist slurs at a student of color, while someone else vandalized a school building where a rainbow flag colorfully waved, and unknown cowards defiled a Black Lives Matter sign and left “a bloodied, dead black cat nearby.” At Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, long a summer haven for tony out-of-staters, someone scrawled a Nazi SS symbol, “#get out”, a swastika, and the Nword on the side of a barn.

Today, as gains made by gay people are rolled back, people of color are called “low IQ,” “animals,” and “rapists,” where white supremacists are characterized as good people, and so many stay silent and help to legitimize racist, homophobic, and transphobic language and actions, we remain hopeful, because of courageous people who live their truth, who overcome fear and risk of alienation because they are different, who show the rest of us the way forward.

Like the woman in our profile, “The valedictorian,” on p.84. —Greg Popa

FIRST PERSON

YES, I TOO ONCE BELIEVED THAT CANNED BEER IS ABSOLUTE SWILL AND IF YOU REALLY WANTED TO IMPRESS PEOPLE AT A PARTY, YOU BROUGHT BOTTLES. EVEN IF THOSE BOTTLES HAD THE LABEL: “BUD DRY.” BUT THIS IS STOWE, VERMONT, DURING THE CRAFT BEER GOLDEN AGE. THE BEST BEER COMES IN CANS NOW.

ESSAY BY

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/ Mike Mulhern

ILLUSTRATIONS

/ Katerina Hrdlicka

Stowe Resort Homes

TONIGHT ON ‘SHARK TANK’ Vermont man makes the sharks an offer they can’t refuse ...

Mike: Hello, sharks. My name is Mike Mulhern. I am the super-proud owner of Stowe, Vermont. I’m asking for $1 million in exchange for a stake in the beautiful town of Stowe.

Mr. Wonderful: Mr. Mulhern, you’re dead to me!

Mike: Already?

Mr. Wonderful: Yes. Though that’s mostly because you’re so pale you look like a corpse.

Mike: Well, I do live in Vermont, where winter lasts 11 months of the year.

Robert Herjavec: Mr. Mulhern, as the only sensible shark, I want to know, how can you possibly be the owner of a town?

Mike: Why not? It happens in bad sitcoms all the time. Besides, it’s Vermont, home of the town meeting, where anything can happen. So at the last meeting I bought Stowe for a set of two-year-old snow tires. Apparently, a guy on the board reeeeally needed them.

Mark Cuban: I bought the Dallas Mavericks the same way. So what assets does this town have?

Mike: Well, the main thing seems to be a gigantic mound of rocky earth. In winter, snow covers it, then people careen down on sticks at severe risk to their bodily persons.

Herjavec: You expect me to believe people willingly freeze their butts off and risk injury? Only lunatics would do such a thing!

Mike: And your point is?

Mr. Wonderful: Look, I don’t give a damn what they do, just tell me how I can make money off these insane people.

Mike: Well, most skiers are willing to take out third mortgages to buy lift tickets.

Mr. Wonderful: Wackos with big wallets—perfect. Now, what about summer?

Mike: The ski trails magically become bike trails in the summer, and the mountain bikers migrate back to town. Mountain bikers are basically skiers with broken clavicles.

Cuban: What’s a clavicle?

Mike: That’s a bone with no purpose other than to be broken when flying over handlebars.

Every mountain biker I’ve ever met has broken one and is extremely willing to spend hours telling me about it in graphic detail. They especially enjoy using the term “poking out.” Though bikers also drink tons of Stowe-made craft beer. Here, I brought cans for everybody!

Herjavec: Cans? People will never buy beer in cans!

Mike: Yes, I too once believed that canned beer is absolute swill and if you really wanted to impress people at a party, you brought bottles. Even if those bottles had the label: “Bud Dry.” But this is Stowe, Vermont, during the craft beer golden age. The best beer comes in cans now.

Herjavec: Fascinating. Stowe is like some bizarro world where cans are quality, freezing is fun, pain is pleasure, left is right, up is down. What else? >>

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FIRST PERSON Mike: Well, there are lots of cows.

Cuban: Do they produce anything of value?

Some sort of white liquid that can be made into tasty food products, perhaps?

Mike: Hahaha! Don’t be silly. The cows are used for photo-ops. You know, the picturesque view of cows munching grass on a sweeping field so people can yell Moooooo! out their car windows, take pictures and get splattered by pee. Though they do make lots of manure.

Herjavec: We can sell the manure as fertilizer?

Mike: Oh no. That’s used for mood-setting.

Ambiance. Believe me, there’s no more glorious time in Stowe than when the manure spreaders roam the fields, after first driving down every street in town at 5 mph. Then the wind wafts through town and everyone gets the sweet smell of good old-fashioned Stowe manure. I’ve already got a fragrance line planned: “Stowe-pourri.”

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield: Mr. Mulhern, we’re guest sharks and ice cream tycoons, Ben & Jerry. We already own most of Vermont. How can we make money from buying Stowe?

Mike: You know how in winter slush collects in your car’s wheel wells and freezes there?

Several burly men appear and whisk Mr. Wonderful away.

Well, I’ve been packaging that slush in a freezer as a new locally sourced ice cream flavor: “Stowe Salted Road Grit Crunch.”

Trump: God, I love this country. Now listen, Mulhern. I think Stowe is tremendous, absolutely tremendous. But we have to change everything. I’m thinking casinos. Luxury hotels 100 stories high. A 20-foot statue of me wearing nothing but a toupee. And, most importantly—chain restaurants.

Ben & Jerry: Sounds better than Chunky Monkey . Is it cruelty-free?

Mike: Nah. I kick the heck out of that stuff off my car all winter.

Ben & Jerry: We’re sold. We want Stowe, Mike.

Horrified shrieks are heard from the direction of Vermont ...

Mr. Wonderful: Forget those hippies, I want Stowe.

Trump: I want 100 percent of Stowe, Mulhern.

What do you say?

Herjavec: I want Stowe, and to remind everyone that I married a “Dancing With the Stars” dancer.

Mike: I say no way, Trump, you can’t flip this town like some zombie house in Florida with leaky plumbing and lizards infesting the walls.

This is Stowe. Freakin. Vermont. We have woodchucks infesting those walls. Yeah, we may do things a little differently there, but we do it our way. It may not be the popular way, the most profitable way, the smartest way, or even the cowboy way. But that’s the dream that is Stowe. And sure, we like to make a buck. But we will not sell our souls to the highest bidder.

Mystery Shark: Not so fast.

The mystery shark suddenly removes his mask.

The audience gasps.

Mr. Wonderful: Donald Trump? You can’t jump in now; I’m on the verge of a deal.

Trump: You’re fired.

Mr. Wonderful: That’s a different show!

Trump: No matter. I’ve declared “Shark Tank” a state of emergency, which allows me to fire anyone I like. And have them beaten up backstage by several burly men.

Trump: How about for a brand new set of snows?

Mike: Deal. Thank God ... I reeeeally need new snow tires. n

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FROM TOP: PAUL ROGERS; COURTESY PHOTO; GLENN CALLAHAN

GOINGS ON ONGOING

MAY THROUGH SEPTEMBER Free Fly Fishing Casting Clinics Wednesdays 4 - 5:30 p.m., Saturdays 9 10:30 a.m. Fly Rod Shop, Route 100 South, Stowe. Reserve a spot at (802) 253-7346.

JUNE – OCTOBER Club Racing at Stowe Yacht Club Watch Soling 1 Meter sailors in action. Monday and Wednesday afternoons, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m., weather permitting. Commodores Inn, Route 100 South, Stowe. stoweyachtclub.com.

JUNE 21 – AUGUST 30 Friday Artisan Markets Fridays, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. At Spruce Peak Village Center. sprucepeak.com

STARTING JUNE 20 Weekends on the Green Thursday through Sunday. Friday artisan markets, music, food , craft beer, lawn games.

Thursday – Saturday, noon - 9 p.m.; Sunday, noon - 6 p.m. Live music Fridays 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. and Saturdays 4 - 8 p.m. On the village green, Spruce Peak at Stowe. sprucepeak.com.

JULY 11 – AUGUST 22 Art on Park Artists and artisans—jewelers, potters, painters, fiber artists, food producers. Music, local food.

Park and Main streets and Village Green, downtown Stowe. Thursdays 5 - 8 p.m.; July 4 from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. stowevibrancy.com.

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JULY 4

S T O W E 4 T H O F J U LY JUNE 14

JUNE

THROUGH JUNE 30 Vermont Taste Community celebration of the area’s chefs, brewers, bakers, and creators. Events at restaurants, resorts, breweries throughout North Central Vermont. Participate in the Vermont Taste Dine Out, donations benefit Copley Hospital. Schedule/tickets at vermonttaste.org.

JUNE 6 – 7 J Class Green Mountain Regatta Region 1 Championships Watch beautiful remotecontrol sailboat races on Commodores Inn pond. Thursday 4 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Route 100 South, Stowe. stoweyachtclub.com.

JUNE 21 – 23

B3 Festival Block Party Kickoff the B3 Festival—a town-wide celebration of bikes, brews, beats—with a Stowe Village block party. Brews, beats, vendors, music. 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. Followed by Critical Mass Ride. Park Street. stowevibrancy.com.

JUNE 14 – 16 B3 Fest: Bikes, Bevs & Beats Festival Celebrating music, craft brews, and mountain biking. Stowe-wide event. An all-ages block party, family friendly events, food and drink, epic group rides, more. stoweb3fest.com.

Beg, Steal or Borrow.

JUNE 9 Stowe Triathlon 500-meter swim, 14-mile ride, and 5k run.

8:30 a.m. The Swimming Hole, Weeks Hill Road. Fee. theswimmingholestowe.com.

JUNE 22 Catamount Ultra Marathon 25k & 50k courses through highland pastures and hardwood forest. Trapp Family Lodge trails, Stowe. 7 a.m. start. catamountultra.com.

JUNE 22 – 23 Vermont Renaissance Faire Local craft vendors, fight demos, performance troupes, medieval encampment, Silver Knights Joust Team. Mayo Farm, Stowe. vtrennfaire.com.

JUNE 28 – 30 Stowe Brewers Festival Three tasting sessions. Food trucks, music.

Friday 5:30 - 9:30 p.m.; Saturday noon - 4 p.m. and 5:30 - 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Kick the Keg brunch. Mayo Farm Events Field, Weeks Hill Road. Fee. stowebrewersfestival.com.

JUNE 8 – 9 EC12 Green Mountain Regatta Watch remote-control sailboat races on Commodores Inn pond. Saturday 10 a.m.

- 4 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Route 100, Stowe. stoweyachtclub.com.

52nd Joe Kirkwood Memorial Golf Tournament Amateur event honoring Joe Kirkwood, worldfamous trick-shot artist who lived in Stowe.

Benefits Stowe junior golf. Stowe Country Club. kirkwoodgolftournament.com.

JUNE 29 JUNE 15 Rattling Brook Bluegrass Festival Regional bluegrass bands in all-day festival.

11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Admission. Belvidere Center stage, Route 109.

Not Quite Independence Day Traditional 4th celebration in Waterbury.

Parade, concert, games, contests, and fireworks. Rusty Parker Park. 2 p.m. Parade at 4.

EXHIBITS: p.104 • • • MIXED MEDIA: p.110 • • • MUSIC: p.118 • • • THEATER: p.122 18

PAUL ROGERS; AT LEFT: STOWE VIBRANCY

GOINGS ON

Charlie Nardozzi.

JUNE 30 Gardens of Stowe Self-guided tour sweeps through town’s most interesting gardens. Tea party reception with master gardener Charlie Nardozzi. Tickets at event or stowevibrancy.com. 12:30 - 5 p.m.

Stoweflake Resort on the Mountain Road and various venues around town.

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JULY 26-28

JULY

F I E L D D AY S

JULY 4

STUART BERTLAND

Moscow Parade World-famous shortest 4th of July parade.

Starts promptly at 10 a.m. in Moscow Village.

Stowe Old-fashioned Fourth of July Live music, food, entertainment, Art on Park artisan market, and other entertainment—all in Stowe Village. Bouncy house, dunk tank, pieeating contest, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Village festivities start after Moscow Parade. Village parade starts at 1 p.m. stowevibrancy.com.

Stowe Independence Day Celebration & Fireworks 6 p.m. start. Enjoy live music, face painting, balloons, carnival games, ice cream, bouncy house, hay rides, popcorn, cotton candy, more. Fireworks at dusk. Free, but food and gaming fees apply. Mayo Farm events field, Weeks Hill Road.

JULY 7 Music in the Meadow—Vermont Symphony Orchestra Summer Tour Gershwin, Joplin, Bernstein, Copland, and John Williams. Fireworks. 7:30 p.m. Trapp Family Lodge concert meadow, Trapp Hill Road, Stowe. stoweperformingarts.com.

JULY 7

Mansfield Double-Up Race across Vermont’s highest ridgeline.

11 miles, 5,000 vertical, 70 racers. Mount Mansfield. nativeendurance.com.

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Phlox Fest Dozens of varieties of phlox displayed at Perennial Pleasures. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. except Mondays. Brick House Road, East Hardwick, Vt. perennialpleasures.net.

JULY 9 – 28 Stowe Free Library Giant Book Sale Community book sale on the porch. New stock daily. Starts at 9 a.m. July 9, then dawn to dusk. Stowe Village. stowelibrary.org.

AUGUST 4 Music in the Meadow—Ruthie Foster Some folk, some blues, some soul, some rock, some gospel. 7 p.m. Trapp Family Lodge concert meadow, Trapp Hill Road, Stowe. stoweperformingarts.com.

JULY 5 – 7 Stoweflake Hot Air Balloon Festival Music, food, libations, balloon launches. 25 balloon experts launch Friday at sunset, Saturday (sunrise and sunset), Sunday at sunrise. $10. Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa, Mountain Road. stoweballoonfestival.com.

JULY 6 Spruce Peak at Stowe Independence Celebration Live music, entertainment, food, craft beer, fireworks. On the village green, Spruce Peak, 4 - 10 p.m. sprucepeak.com.

Stowe LAX Festival I & II Comprehensive lacrosse event. Great sport, music, special guests, non-stop fun for the entire family. On fields throughout Stowe. bitterlacrosse.com.

JULY 21 Music in the Meadow—Bumper Jacksons Reimagined roots music. 7 p.m. Trapp Family Lodge concert meadow, Trapp Hill Road, Stowe. stoweperformingarts.com.

JULY 26 – 28 Lamoille County Field Days Agricultural fair. Horse, pony, and ox pulling, draft horse show, gymkhana, midway, much more. Route 100C, Johnson. lamoillefielddays.com.

COURTESY PHOTO

JULY 13 49th Antiques & Uniques Festival 100 booths of antiques, woodcrafts, paintings, sculpture, flowers, garden accessories, quilts, more. Music, baked goods, and lunch. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. rain or shine. Craftsbury Common, Route 14.

AUGUST

JULY 28 – AUGUST 11

Stowe 8-miler & 5K Popular foot race. 8:30 a.m. Mayo Farm events field, Weeks Hill Road. Post-race party at Golden Eagle Resort. stowe8miler.com.

JULY 13 – 14 & JULY 20 – 21

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JULY 28

AUGUST 15 – 17 Stowe Tango Music Festival U.S.’s premier tango music festival. Worldrenowned tango musicians, festival orchestra, workshops, concerts, milongas, dance.

Concert Aug. 17, Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center. Free events, various locations around Stowe. stowetangomusicfestival.com.

AUGUST 17 100 on 100 Relay 100-mile team-based distance event along scenic Route 100. Fundraiser for youth charities. Starts at Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe.

100on100relay.com.

PAUL ROGERS; INSETS: COURTESY PHOTOS

GOINGS ON

SEPTEMBER 13-15

B R I T I S H I N VA S I O N AUGUST 17 – 18 CanAm Challenge Regatta Canada competes against U.S. team. Saturday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Commodores Inn, Stowe. stoweyachtclub.com.

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SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER

SEPTEMBER 6 – 8 Stowe Jazz Festival Over two dozen musical acts play at various venues around Stowe.

Afro-Cuban, Gypsy, and Brazilian jazz, big band, smooth, soul, swing, more. Festival main stage is The Alchemist, Cottage Club Road. stowejazzfestival.com.

SEPTEMBER 12 – 15 Tunbridge World’s Fair Old-fashioned Vermont country fair. Tractor pulls, midway, food, music, animals.

Tunbridge, Vt. tunbridgeworldsfair.com.

AUGUST 25 Race to the Top of Vermont A 4.3-mile hill climb up Mount Mansfield Toll Road in Stowe. Run, mountain bike, or hike to the summit—2,564 vertical feet. BBQ, music, prizes. rtttovt.com.

SEPTEMBER 13 British Invasion Block Party The British invade Main Street, Stowe. From 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. dance to Joey Leone’s Chop Shop and mingle among beautiful British cars.

Food court and beer garden. stowevibrancy.com.

September 12 - 15, 2019 22

SEPTEMBER 13 – 15 British Invasion Car Show North America’s largest British classic sports car and motorcycle event. Cultural activities, crafts, auto jumble, and the car corral. Over 600 cars on field. Stowe Events Field, Weeks Hill Road, Stowe. Admission. britishinvasion.com.

SEPTEMBER 21 10th Trapp Family Lodge Oktoberfest All things Austrian, all things Trapp! Trapp Family Lodge, Trapp Hill Road, Stowe. trappfamily.com.

SEPTEMBER 21 Fall Foliage Art on Park & Apple Pie Contest Autumn market celebrates local artist and artisans. Local food, live music with Cooie DiFrancesco. 11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Park Street, Stowe. (Rain date Sept. 22) stowevibrancy.com.

SEPTEMBER 22 Trapp Cabin 5k, 10k & Half Marathon Races to Trapp cabin. Return on single track or take a shorter but thrilling route. Party, prizes, bib raffle, food. Benefits Friends of Stowe Adaptive Sports. stoweadaptive.org.

SEPTEMBER 28 RocktoberFest All-day street festival featuring live music, food, games, No Strings Marionette shows, crafts, vendors, pumpkin bowling, face painting, more. Who let the dogs out? Fun and furry walk/run and parade. Morrisville Village. rocktoberfestvt.com.

SEPTEMBER 29 Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin’ Festival Send the pumpkins flying. Music, kids’ activities, 11 a.m.

- 4 p.m. Chili cook-off. $5, free for kids under 4. Stoweflake Resort, Mountain Road, Stowe. vtpumpkinchuckin.blogspot.com.

OCTOBER 3 Chicken Pie Supper Chicken pie supper with all the fixings.

Seatings noon, 5, and 6:30 p.m. Waterbury Center Community Church. Reservations (802) 244-8955.

OCTOBER 11 – 13 Stowe Foliage Arts Festival 150 artists—fine art, craft, cuisine. Wine tasting, music, craft demos. Vermont beer and sausage. Under heated Camelot-style tents.

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. $10. Topnotch field, Mountain Road. craftproducers.com.

OCTOBER 12 Chicken Pie Supper Chicken pie supper with all the fixings.

Seatings 5, 6, 7 p.m. Stowe Community Church, Main Street.

NOVEMBER 3 Vermont 10-miler Challenging run through Stowe countryside.

Benefits Stowe Land Trust. 10 a.m. Mayo Farm Events Field. vermont10miler.com. n

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RURAL ROUTE

Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air, And feather canyons everywhere, I’ve looked at clouds that way.

But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone.

So many things I would have done, but clouds got in my way.

Remember that song? “Both Sides Now,” written by Joni Mitchell in 1967. But Judy Collins recorded it first; it reached No. 8 on the singles chart and won a Grammy award for Best Vocal Performance.

Many others, including Mitchell, have recorded it, but it’s Collins’s voice you hear in your own head when you think about the song.

Collins is coming to Stowe July 20 for a show at the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center. She will perform solo, with her guitar and a backup pianist.

Collins, who’s 80 now, has been in the spotlight since the 1960s with her sublime vocals, insightful songwriting, personal experiences, and commitment to social activism. She has produced 50 albums, several of which have gone gold or platinum. Her recording of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, and Sondheim won a Grammy for Song of the Year.

Collins is a Renaissance woman—an accomplished painter, filmmaker, record label head, musical mentor, and an in-demand keynote speaker for mental health and suicide prevention.

“Judy Collins has been inspiring audiences for decades and continues to be an amazing performer. We expect tickets to sell out,” said Hope Sullivan, executive director at Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center.

—Kate Carter

HELEN DAY ART CENTER

ESSENTIALS: July 20, 7 p.m. •••• Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center •••• $35 - $55, sprucepeakarts.org

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Art lovers pause in front of artist David Stromeyer’s sculpture, “Slice Rock.” The piece was featured as part of the Helen Day Art Center's “Exposed” exhibit, part of the Stowe Arts and Culture Council’s 2018 STOWE ARTS WEEK, a celebration of Stowe's rich community of art and artists. The event returns July 20 – 29. Events take place all over town, encouraging patrons to sample the vibrant arts of Stowe, while moving across the canvas of summer. ESSENTIALS: stoweartsandculture.org, see our calendars on pages 18, 104, 110, 118, and 122 for art, theater, music, and other events.

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RURAL ROUTE

When private conversations were ... private!

KEVIN WALSH

the phone box Step into the Green Mountain Inn’s basement-floor telephone booth, close the folding door, sit on the wooden seat, and experience the somewhat claustrophobic experience of making a public phone booth call when Theodore Roosevelt was president.

Whether this old phone booth is an actual relic or a re-creation is not certain, but it still feels like a step back in time.

Ken Biedermann, the inn’s unofficial historian, said the booth is at least 40 years old, based on the memory of one longtime employee. (Their working phone is more current.) Beyond that, Biedermann said, “We don’t know where it came from.”

According to Molly Patterson, who works at Columbus Architectural Salvage, an antiques and artifacts dealer in Columbus, Ohio, the inn should assume that the booth is an antique. Patterson’s firm is currently offering a similar antique phone booth in its showroom for $3,500. “Indoor wooden phone booths started popping up in the United States in the early 1900s, and they were fairly prolific by the 1930s,” she said.

For some, say any smart-phone user under the age of 15, this booth offers a glimpse of telephone history they’ve likely never seen before—a step-in, doored room for private phone calls where no one has to hear what you’re saying! — Kevin M. Walsh

That lilty, little breeze; those crispy leaves whisper, like the murmured prayers in a small country parish; The trees sway, scream across the yard to each other: “He cut four of us down today! Then he hacked them into pieces!”

That is what they say about me, as I sway back/forth in my hammock, midway between both sides of the yard, remorseful, in a dreamy little way, that I am not more monastic, or follow the teachings CSI: My Backyard of that Or, How My Karma Has Been Buddhist Forever Altered monk who says … “cutting down trees, picking flowers, or plucking anything off of anything, suggests that suspected perpetrator suffers from the three poisons: aggression, passion and ignorance.”

the POEM

Like a piece of dust lifted from the grave of my childhood and placed upon the future grave of my adulthood, I am now, no matter how much empathy I show to children, dogs, and mountains, for the duration of my life and beyond, forever, a member of that vast nation of annihilators.

Gene Arthur, June 2015, Stowe

STOWE GUIDE & MAGAZINE won Best Niche publication for the 9th consecutive year in the 2018 New England Newspaper & Press Association’s Better Newspaper Competition. The award considers publishing strategy, content mix, audience and advertiser appeal, plus quality of writing, design, and production. JUDGES SAID: “Gorgeous and beautifully produced. WINNER!” Other firsts for the magazine included Paul Rogers in three categories—pictorial photo, photo story, and photo series; and HANNAH MARSHALL NORMANDEAU, human interest feature story, for her piece “Outstanding in the Field.” Judges wrote: “This is an example of terrific storytelling. The writer artfully describes a dinner for 150 people on a Vermont farm, taking the reader on a lovely journey.” STOWE & GREEN MOUNTAIN WEDDING magazines took third in the niche publication category. The judges said: “BEAUTIFUL DESIGN and good mix of content.” Overall, the STOWE REPORTER weekly newspaper, which publishes both magazines, won 35 awards in the contest, including second place in general excellence in its circulation class. One of its reporters, ANDREW MARTIN, was named Reporter of the Year.

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1 I P U P H S B Q I T

B S F

B S D I J U F D U V S B M

S F O E F S J O H T

B O E

M J L F O F T T

P O M Z

RURAL ROUTE

KEVIN WALSH

AGAINST ALL ODDS John Rubino’s sculpture, “Wait for Me,” on the campus of Peoples Academy high school in Morristown.

nyone with a younger sibling has heard it countless times.

“Wait for me! Wait for me!”

An outdoor sculpture in front of Morrisville’s Peoples Academy gives this oft-repeated plea an entirely new meaning.

Created in 2005, “Wait for Me” is a unique, 23-piece sculpture of human forms made from fabricated metal. Created by artist John Rubino, with significant help from local teenagers Michael Gibson, Kyle Kizer, Case Lambert, and Eric Benjamin, the artwork depicts children holding hands as they run through the schoolyard. The last, unconnected child in the line is trying to catch up to the others.

A plaque sums up the sculpture’s message: “Dedicated to all the kids that strive to succeed against the odds.”

Rubino said the six-week sculpture project was unique in various ways. First, the metal was recycled from excavated underground oil and fuel tanks.

Second, while Rubino has always enjoyed teaching, this collaborative effort with the students, who were involved in all facets of the work, proved to be a life-changing experience for the kids and taught them they could accomplish anything they set out to do.

ESSENTIALS: Peoples Academy, 202 Copley Ave., Morristown.

COURTESY PHOTO

a

Rubino is especially proud of the sculpture, and said the students felt both empowered by doing something different and difficult, and a sense of accomplishment and self-worth.

The sculpture looms large at the school.

“People comment on the sculpture all the time and appreciate its aesthetic value,” said Peoples principal Philip Grant. “What has most impressed me about the sculpture is that it was a collaboration between students and the artist. It represents the students’ voice, as well as the artist’s vision.”

—Kevin M. Walsh

More than 25 people of all ages created a mosaic mural, measuring 5 feet by 4 feet, commissioned by the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe.

Two years in the making, the mosaic finally came together over a twoday workshop led by Waitsfield artist Bette Ann Libby. Composed of mirror strips and ceramic shards, the mural presents the image of a world of loving kindness.

It will hang permanently in the foyer of the Jewish community center.

Betty Ann Libby, near right, leads a mural workshop.

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The bike guy: Rick Sokoloff ‘I don’t want to push a pencil.’

An early convert to mountain biking and a longtime ski instructor at Stowe Mountain Resort, Rick Sokoloff recognized similarities between teaching the two sports so he started exploring ways to share his riding knowledge. In 2014 he opened a summer mountain biking program at Smugglers’ Notch Resort, and soon after, with some experience under his bike seat, he founded Four Points Mountain Bike School & Guide Service in Stowe.

Sokoloff lives in Moscow with his wife Marina Meerburg.

They have two grown children, Katarina, 24, a hair stylist at the Lodge at Spruce Peak, and Nick, 22, a mechanical engineering student at UVM.

Was opening a mountain biking school and guide service a long-time dream for you?

If you told me seven years ago that I should be teaching mountain biking I would have told you it’s just riding a bike.

Now I think everybody should do it, and beginners especially should take lessons.

the intErviEw

How did you get started?

After opening the program at Smugglers’ Notch, I realized this was something I could do on my own. I got certified by IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association) and opened 4 Points. I had 176 clients my first year. Now I average about 300 for lessons and tours.

I offer beginner clinics, multi-week courses for locals, clinics for more advanced riders, IMBA-certification courses, guided mountain bike tours, and beer tours.

Why did you decide to add beer tours?

I like beer! I felt that with the explosion of new breweries it was a natural fit. I drive and the guests have fun. The tours are going gangbusters. I do bachelor and bachelorette parties, reunions, friends, and corporate groups. I’m the beer-vangelist, purveyor of local knowledge, and designated driver. On a brewery tour, guests get to hear the back story, spend time with the brewery owners, and try great beer.

GOR

DON

MILL

ER

Where is your base camp?

I have an arrangement with Trapp Family Lodge, where I hold clinics. They have the best easy trails in the area and all our skill work is done in a flat meadow. I mostly teach beginner riders and those who have never ridden a mountain bike before. I start with the basics—braking, body position, proper gearing, smooth shifting, all things that seem like they should be intuitive, but aren’t.

Who are your clientele?

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED & COMPILED BY KATE CARTER

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For lessons and clinics it’s mostly newer riders who want to get into the sport. Mountain biking is exploding, but starting out can be intimidating. For the tours, it’s all kinds of people, most with experience.

RURAL ROUTE

What is a spectacular day like?

Ride in the morning, either a clinic or a guided tour. Then get changed and go for lunch, usually at Trapps Brewery or Idletyme. After lunch, go on the beer tour. The day starts out quietly, but everyone is amped up, and by afternoon everyone is having a blast.

What is it you like about biking?

It’s a fun, healthy activity that anyone can do.

It’s a great way to enjoy solitude, be with friends and family, be outdoors.

Do you feel the same way about skiing?

Yes, they have a lot of similarities.

Better at skiing or riding?

Skiing. I’ve been skiing most of my life and am a level-three certified PSIA instructor. When it comes to mountain biking, my engine is getting old, so if I get clients who want to ride hard, I might give them a younger instructor.

What do you like about teaching?

I enjoy seeing people having the euphoric learning moment, and I enjoy having a positive impact on their lives.

Are you involved with Stowe Trails Partnership?

I was the co-founder with Hardy Avery of Stowe Mountain Bike Club and was the club’s president for 12 years. Now it’s called Stowe Trails Partnership. I saw the sport grow in the Stowe area from no legal trails to over 50 legal miles on both public and private land. The club now has over 1,000 members and a full-time executive director. A lot of my tours are on trails the club built and maintains.

Build it.

Don’t just dream it.

Any plans to expand 4 Points?

I don’t want to push a pencil. I want to be with people and enjoy them.

What do you do in your spare time?

Right now I’m reading “Lionheart,” a novel about King Richard by Sharon Kay Penman. I love to travel. I’ve traveled around the world, been to Japan a few times, Europe a lot. I met Marina in the Austrian Alps. She’s from Sweden.

It was the first time I led a trip, and the last thing I was looking for was a girlfriend, let alone a wife. You could say we’ve come full circle and are leading tours again. Now we’re planning a trip to Machu Picchu, and I have to say, you can’t do it without a guide. n

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RURAL ROUTE

① ②

Do you have a photo of our magazine on some far-flung island or rugged peak? Send a high-rez copy to ads@stowereporter.com, with Stowe Magazine in the subject line.

We’ll pick the best ones and run them in a future edition.

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③

1. Calvin Bensch and son Logan on a cruise-ship stop overlooking the port of Nassau, Bahamas. “It was great to read the winter/spring edition of Stowe Guide & Magazine from our balcony overlooking the crystal blue water. But we have to admit, we missed the snow and mountains of our favorite Vermont destination—Stowe—which we visit every year at the end of January. In our minds, that’s the true paradise,” said Calvin. With his wife Kristin, the family lives in Simsbury, Conn. “We absolutely love Stowe. If we are not at Trapp Family Lodge, we stay at different B&Bs or inns in town. We hope to come back and see our beloved village some time again soon.” 2. On a trip to Latvia last September to check in with some friends, Karin Gottlieb and Jack Sabon visit the cultural center in Ogre, about 30 miles from Riga. Gottlieb grew up in Stowe and she returned with Jack in 2001. “School Street,” a painting by Jack, who is an artist, graced our cover in the summer of 2013. 3. Capt. Austin Anderson at Bagram Air Force base in Afghanistan, the site of his recent deployment with the U.S. Air Force. He was thrilled to arrive back home, on Friday Jan. 31, in time for Super Bowl 2019. Austin grew up in Stowe, starting in the first grade. He joined the Air Force in August 2014. Austin was involved in both the Stowe fire and rescue departments as a teenager, and now works multiple careers as an Air Force officer flight nurse at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, Mass., and as a flight nurse with Life Flight of Maine.

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RURAL ROUTE

① ②

Do you have a photo of our magazine on some far-flung island or rugged peak? Send a high-rez copy to ads@stowereporter.com, with Stowe Magazine in the subject line.

We’ll pick the best ones and run them in a future edition.

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③

1. Every summer sisters MaryEllen and Catherine Caruso, both from the Boston area, embark on a new adventure. While their travels may take them far from home, they always bring a bit of Stowe with them wherever they go. This year they traveled to the Czech Republic where they took a leisurely cruise down the Vltava River past the Charles Bridge in Prague. During their visit they enjoyed Prague's tradition of over 800 years of beer brewing. With it’s own surge in craft brewing, Stowe can’t be far behind. The sisters frequent Stowe to hike and ski and stay with their family at their place at the Village Green. 2. Jane and Terry Shaw, who own Visions of Vermont Gallery in Jeffersonville, just a short jaunt over the mountain through Smugglers Notch, traveled to Sri Lanka this winter, where a friend and Buddhist monk took an interest in our latest issue. 3. With Mount Everest in the background are Joan Holcombe, DiDi Kearsley, and Carrie Damp. Damp is a Stowe resident and partner to longtime Stoweite Larry Heath, who was with the group on the trip to Nepal but is not pictured. After installing a library in Koshidekha in central Nepal with funds from the Stowe Rotary Club, the foursome trekked to Everest Base Camp.

RURAL ROUTE ASH CLOUD Aerial view of the caldera of Mount Tambora at the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia, formed during the colossal 1815 eruption.

Inset: Rendering depicts frosted crops in the summer of 1816.

THAT YEAR WITH NO SUMMER

JIALIANG GAO, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; INSET: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

What would you think if, following a long, cold, snowy winter, summer was a repeat performance of snow in June, frigid temperatures in July, and a killer frost in August?

Is it the apocalypse, or the end to global warming?

During the summer of 1816, millions of people in Europe and North America, and especially New England, experienced these very conditions. It became known as the year without a summer.

People survived the gloom and doom of the sunless months, but their crops didn’t, and the food shortage led to near-famine conditions. Disease broke out and so did religious revivals, as frightened people tried to find a reason for the sudden weather change.

Of course, back then the world did not have satellites and meteorologists providing minute-byminute analysis. The study of volcanic eruptions and how they affect the climate is relatively new, and it wasn’t until the 1960s that scientists confirmed the link between volcanic eruptions and temporary global cooling.

In 1816, there was no way for New Englanders to know that the cause of this tumultuous weather was the biggest volcanic eruption in human history, and it had occurred on the other side of the world. Indonesia’s Mount Tambora had blown its lid.

On April 10, 1815, Tambora started to rumble and eventually spew millions of tons of volcanic dust, ash, and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. The death toll exceeded 71,000 people, with up to 12,000 killed immediately.

It took over a year for the rest of the world to feel the volcano’s effects.

According to the National Center for Atmospheric Research, when an eruption is strong enough, it shoots sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, more than 10 miles above Earth’s surface. Up there, sulfur dioxide reacts with water vapor to form sulfate aerosols. The aerosols float above the altitude of rain, so they don’t get washed out. Instead they linger, reflecting sunlight and cooling the Earth’s surface, which is why the Tambora’s eruption still affected the atmosphere a year later.

Heavy snow fell in northern New England June 7-8, 1816. Frozen birds dropped dead in the streets of Montreal, and lambs died from exposure in Vermont, according to the New England Historical Society, while in Maine, frost killed vegetables on their vines. Ice covered lakes and rivers as far south as Pennsylvania, according to Weather Underground.

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Europe also suffered, but not from snow.

Theirs was a cold and wet summer that caused famine and food riots and the worst typhus epidemic in history. Food was scarce and prices climbed. It was more expensive for people to feed their horses, and since horses were the main method of transportation, the cost of travel increased. These may have been among the factors that inspired Karl Drais of Germany to invent the bicycle.

The gloomy summer weather also inspired writers. Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein,” a horror novel set in a stormy environment, and poet Lord Byron wrote “Darkness,” which begins, “I had a dream, which was not all a dream. The bright sun was extinguish’d.”

British artist J.M.W. Turner was inspired by the colorful skies from Tambora’s epic blast to create his most spectacular sunset paintings.

Could it happen again?

The U.S. Geological Survey ranked the Tambora’s eruption as a seven on its eight-level volcanic explosivity index. Eruptions the scale of Tambora’s, 100 times stronger than that of Mount St. Helen’s in 2008, occur once every 1,000 years on average, but smaller eruptions can affect the climate.

With global temperatures at record highs, a massive eruption today could halt manmade climate change. But the effect would be temporary.

Warming would pick up where it left off once all the stratospheric dust settled out, a process that could take a few years or up to a decade.

Chances are slim to none that we will experience another year without a summer. At least not in our lifetime. It’s far more likely that global warming will bring an end of the world as we know it.

—Kate Carter

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RURAL ROUTE

CALEIGH CROSS

Marshall Faye was interrupted three separate times at the Stowe Dunkin’ Donuts about how he got his black eye. He was trying to get into his barn, but the door wouldn’t open. So he hauled away with a shoulder, and the door collapsed.

Faye hit the ground hard.

“My head thinks I’m 20. My body thinks I’m 75,” he said, laughing.

Actually, Faye is 73, and he emphasized to the three different friends he’s fine. He still hunts and fishes passionately, and made his annual pilgrimage to his deer camp in Maidstone this year, accompanied by his son Josh, and while the pair didn’t get any deer, they sure did see a few worth writing home about.

Faye is something of a Stowe institution. Since he moved here in 1966, he’s managed the Stowe Boy Scouts of America troop, raised/fostered 56 children, baked and oversaw pastries and desserts at Trapp Family Lodge for 33 years, and watched the town grow and change.

Faye grew up in St. Johnsbury, the son of a father who both fought fires and owned a garage. He graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy in 1963 and assumed he’d take over his dad’s garage, but at 72, his father decided to close up the shop instead.

So Faye got a maintenance job at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, N.H., which worked out great until he was in the kitchen fixing a gas leak and a cook quit on the spot.

38

The head chef, infuriated, threw an apron at Faye, who was closest by, and demanded he finish out the night in the cook’s place. And the foundation for the rest of his life was laid, just like that.

Faye had been a camp cook as a Boy Scout and “kind of knew my way around a kitchen,” and by the time he’d finished out the night, the head chef had calmed down and asked if he’d like to switch to kitchen work for $200 per month more.

“I just blurted out, ‘You got yourself a cook!’ ” Faye moved to Stowe in 1966 and began working for an inn, often frequented by Johannes and Maria von Trapp. They liked his cooking so much that Maria “came to the kitchen and tried to hire me in front of my boss,” Faye said. “I was kind of embarrassed, and said ‘No.’ ” Faye left eventually, and took a job directing food and beverage for National Life Insurance Co. in Montpelier. But after a company shakeup, he came back to Stowe and started a restaurant, Stanchion, with a partner.

As Faye tells it, things were fine until his partner left abruptly with a large sum of money, and Stanchion closed.

Johannes von Trapp offered him a choice—he could be a chef at Trapp Family Lodge if a new hire didn’t work out, or he could take a job right then as a pastry chef.

And that’s how Faye started crafting pastries for the von Trapp family and their guests at Trapp Family Lodge, for more than 30 years.

He was there for the fire in 1980 that burned down the lodge. In his book, “Now That’s a Linzertorte,” Faye described it as “the worst night that anyone can remember.”

Faye said he felt like part of the family while he worked there. Maria von Trapp of “Sound of Music” fame asked everyone to call her “Mother,” he said, and around the holidays, she’d ask staff members what they wanted for Christmas. Sure enough, they’d find their wishes, wrapped under a Christmas tree. “Christmas was a true celebration,” Faye said.

The title of his book stems from a search with Maria von Trapp to craft a linzertorte, a fruity tart from Austria that would remind her of home. The duo tried recipe after recipe, trying to track down that elusive taste of home, until Faye hit upon a secret ingredient.

“Now that’s a linzertorte,” von Trapp exclaimed, overjoyed.

Faye went on to make 2,500 of them for a TV shopping channel, and they all sold out in six minutes. (Oh, and that secret linzertorte ingredient? Red currant jelly.)

It took about 10 years for Faye and his wife, Bonnie, who died in 2000 from a heart aneurysm, to have their two biological children, Tori and Josh.

In the meantime, short on cash, the couple decided to take advantage of a parenting class being offered by the state in exchange for $2.75 per hour, to encourage good parenting.

Shortly after taking the class, someone from the Vermont Department for Children and Families asked if the Fayes would be willing to take in a little girl, Angela, and her brother, John.

“A weekend turned into 10 years,” Faye said.

He and Bonnie adopted Angela and John, and Faye has four children today.

But he and Bonnie fostered about 52 more, he reckoned. “Before you knew it, I put an addition on the house and filled it with kids.” He and Bonnie were recognized as foster parents of the year in both Chittenden and Lamoille counties, and represented Vermont at a nationwide foster parenting convention before Bonnie’s death.

“We never used the word ‘foster’ in our house,” Faye said; the children who lived with them were their kids, period.

—Caleigh Cross

Gala co-chair Diane Arnold.

Helen Day Art Center Gala “The Future of Space,� Spruce Peak at Stowe, Saturday, April 6

Lodge at Spruce Peak ballroom.

Glenn Sautter and David Morrill.

Barbara Bull, Vincent Moeyersoms, and Dean Goodermote.

Terrence King and Ethan Carlson.

Diane Arnold and Lance Violette.

Eduardo Rovetto.

George Gay, Rachel Moore, and Lisa Hagerty.

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Evan Chismark, Jennifer Macdonald, Melissa Volansky, Shap Smith Jr., McKee Macdonald, and Peggy and Shapleigh Smith.

Jill Zborovancik and Caren Merson.

West Branch Gallery:

Opening of “JOY,” Saturday, March 23

Kim Radochia.

Jessie Stark and Stephanie Gueldner.

Gala co-chair Rebecca Chase.

Yu-Wen Wu and Carleton Aird.

Bob Maynard, Tari Swenson, Chris Colter, and Cindy Maynard.

ALL PHOTOS BY GORDON MILLER

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Après Chic at the Peak: Spruce Peak Arts fundraiser, Saturday, January 12

Alicia Abad and John Hayes.

Dean Goodermote.

Elizabeth and William Nutt.

David and Emily Bradbury.

Master of ceremonies Porter Thorndike.

Dianne Brown, Walter Frame, Laurie Sasko, and Joseph Subasic.

Ellen Thorndike and Ed Izzo.

Paige Hinkson, Sophie Hoder, and Kerry Glanz.

Elaine Davida Sklar and Jeff Fuller.

Anne Roberts, Paul Lanz, Bobby Roberts, and Chris Hagerty.

Sponsors Tad and Maura Davis.

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Lisa Hagerty.

Mike Layug, Jill Zborovancik, Jana Ross, and Jeffrey Herrmann.

KEVIN WALSH; BELOW: GLENN CALLAHAN

RURAL ROUTE

Next to a pond in an open field off of Route 100 in Morristown sit two weathered brown, 16-foot-high chairs that look like misplaced lifeguard stands.

But the chairs are actually the whimsical creations of Todd Shonio, owner of Stowe Home Care Maintenance, Inc. Three years ago, while cooped up in his garage during a cold, but fair-

ly snowless winter, Shonio decided it would be fun to replicate the large roadside chairs he’d seen in California.

Using a lot of pressure-treated wood, Shonio built these huge chairs and that spring carted them one at a time down to the pond with a bucket loader.

Shonio said his “cool attraction” delights many a passing motorist, who stop to take

roadsidE seat

snapshots. Birthday celebrants and brides and grooms have used them as backdrops, too.

Although the chairs sit on private property and Shonio frowns on climbers, he welcomes visitors as long as they first ask permission.

While perhaps not as dramatic as the world’s largest ball of twine or the Wawa goose, North America’s list of unusual roadside attractions now has a new member.

Two, in fact.

—Kevin M. Walsh

STOWE LIBRARY HOLDS 35TH BOOK SALE

s

towe Free Library’s 35th book sale begins July 9.

Sponsored by the Friends of Stowe Free Library, the sale is held daily, dawn to dusk, through Sunday, July 28. It will be held on the porch and grounds of the Stowe Free Library, 90 Pond St., in the heart of the Stowe village.

There will be over 25 well marked categories of books available, including collectibles, antique books, coffee table items, and historical editions, as well as classics, history, travel, cooking, art, biography, gardening, and parenting and selfhelp. There will also be a selection of large print books, music CDs, audio books, and DVDs. The sale includes a separate area with children’s books, audio books, music CDs, and DVDs. The book selection is restocked continuously, so be sure to visit the sale several times to find treasures that were missed or not on display the first or second time around.

The sale begins at 9 a.m. on July 9 and is open to the public during Stowe Free Library hours.

Over 10,000 books are donated annually, and all proceeds benefit the Friends of Stowe Free Library to support library resources, activities, and programs.

ESSENTIALS: stowelibrary.org/friends.

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RURAL ROUTE

GREEN MOUNTAIN BYWAY The Green Mountain Byway has expanded and the 71-mile corridor now includes all of Waterbury, Stowe, Morristown, Hyde Park, Johnson, and Cambridge.

The byway runs along Route 100 from Waterbury to Morristown; Route 15 in Morristown, Hyde Park, Johnson, and Cambridge; Route 15A in Morristown; Route 100C in Hyde Park and Johnson; and Route 108 in Cambridge and Stowe, which includes the Smugglers Notch Scenic Highway.

The Green Mountain Byway links historic villages, lush river valleys, working landscapes, popular parks, and recreational attractions. The byway has long been recognized as a scenic corridor that attracts visitors from all over the world.

Extraordinary landmarks, attractions, and cultural, historic, recreational, natural, and scenic resources lie along the route. Open spaces along the byway corridor provide stunning views of open meadows, farmlands, and forests, all with the mountain backdrop. Visitors can easily spot spectacular fall colors, reach ski areas, and enjoy summer attractions.

Historic homes, farms, villages, and mill sites are all easily accessible.

The six byway communities maintain a vibrant cultural identity rooted in the tradition of rural Vermont, flavored with an eclectic blend of cultures. Those characteristics are evident in diverse local arts, products, festivals, and other activities.

Stowe has historic districts in Moscow, Stowe village and lower village, and Mountain Road.

There are also historic districts in Waterbury village, Colbyville, Waterbury Center; Cambridge and Jeffersonville; Hyde Park; Johnson; and Morrisville. All these population centers are on the Vermont State Historic Register in recognition of their people, events, architecture, history, and recreation.

SCENIC BACKDROP Clockwise from top: The route of the Green Mountain Byway. The meandering Lamoille River, which follows Route 15, part of the expanded scenic highway. Waterbury Arts Festival, this year on July 12-13.

Stowe Village from Sunset Rock.

STOWE: PAUL ROGERS; OTHERS: COURTESY PHOTOS

One Spruce Peak, a six-story, 112,000-square-foot building with 27 residential units, will soon go up next to Spruce Peak Base Camp at Stowe Mountain Resort.

But not everybody was happy when the Stowe Development Review Board was asked to sign off on the plans.

“I continue to question whether the architecture of this building fits within what has been built there,” said board member Paco Aumand. “It just seems to me that the quest in building up there was to produce some subdued buildings of design that fit almost in a muted way in the entire project. I just don’t know that we’re there with the design of this building.”

The building’s roof raised issues. The jagged roofline at One Spruce Peak was inspired by Mount Mansfield and is intended to resemble the skyline looking at the mountain, with lots of gabled peaks, said John Ashworth, principal of Bull Stockwell Allen, the architecture firm that designed it.

Board Chair Doug White says the board’s job does not include design; instead, it interprets town zoning rules. But “character” often comes up.

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Rendering of One Spruce Peak, a six-story building with 27 high-end housing units.

For Stowe Mountain Resort, the board has had to craft an ever-evolving definition of what it means to be a ski resort in Stowe.

Ultimately, it’s “a place that has a big, sprawling parking lot at the base of the hill with buildings to support eating and resting. You can park people who want to go skiing, feed them and house them. That’s a ski area,” and it could mean bigger construction in that area than in the rest of town, White said.

Said Ashworth: “We think the next step for Spruce Peak is to really capture the power of the mountain, the Notch, the power of the profile, and to really capture that in a way that is really going to feel like it belongs here and no other place.”

GORDON MILLER

RURAL ROUTE

The Stowe Police Department’s weekly logs are a chronicle of police department run-ins with the confusing, the infuriating, the unjust, the tragic, and the drunken. Every week, the Stowe Reporter logs what Stowe police have been up to. Here are our picks for the most “unusual’ reports of 2018.

June 7 at 9:42 a.m., sheep grazing bucolically on a neighbor’s field on Maple Street wasn’t the pretty picture it looked like—they weren’t supposed to be there. The owner went to retrieve them.

June 13 at 3:52 p.m., a man agreed not to speak to his sister for the foreseeable future after police had to talk to him about not fighting with her.

Jan. 20 at 6:34 p.m., police headed to the Golden Eagle Resort for a report of a crash, but June 17 at 12:40 a.m., a drunken man ran into when they got there, they learned the driver had the woods near Trapp Family Lodge and hid. merely pinched her finger while getting out of the car. Ouch.

THE GIRLS ARE OUT! Looks like herding cows can be just as tricky

Jan. 31 at 2:43 p.m., a as herding cats, sometimes. Stowe farmer Ryan Percy rounded up a few woman was reported members of his herd in October 2018. Percy farms on several fields in “acting strange” while Stowe and Waterbury, including three of the Mayo fields, which he walking on Mountain and his father, Paul, lease from the town of Stowe.

Road. No crime was committed, police say; nothing wrong with being weird.

Morristown Police Department’s K9 unit had to ferret him out, at which time Stowe officers released Feb. 6 at 5:06 p.m., perhaps in an attempt to him into the care of a few responsible parties. avoid exercise, a person was driving a car very slowly while holding his or her dog on a leash; it was walking near the vehicle on Cotton Brook Road.

Feb. 26 at 8:57 a.m., a pig was apparently the reason for a traffic backup on Stowe Hollow Road, but police couldn’t find the swine.

June 2 at 6:47 a.m., a graffiti artist’s debut under a bridge at Spruce Peak village wasn’t well received. Police don’t know what the artwork said.

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July 4 at 5:32 p.m., a man thought by a caller to be drunk was, in fact, just looking for work.

July 18 at 7:13 a.m., trash in a Maple Street dumpster had never belonged to the person who owned it—someone had trashed and dashed.

July 24 at 12:27 a.m., one car passed another on Stagecoach Road and, apparently, a passenger in the overtaking car hurled a milkshake missile at the slower car. Police are investigating the dessertas-ordinance ordeal.

Aug. 15 at 8:33 a.m., some young doubting Thomases yelled something like “Jesus wasn’t real” at a woman holding a church service on Main Street. Biblically speaking, they’ll probably do it twice more.

Aug. 22 at 4:55 p.m., a man begging for money was out of gas, and needed to get home, so he’d resorted to begging on Maple Street. After chatting with him, the officer on call gave him a twenty.

Aug. 23 at 6:36 p.m., officers had to remind a woman of her manners: It is not acceptable to yell in public, as she was doing at Stowe Inn. She left.

Sept. 14 at 9:04 p.m., a homeless man looking to get to Barre flagged an officer, who bought him a sandwich and called a family member, who got a taxi for the man.

Sept. 29 at 4:57 p.m., a “concerned citizen” took home a goat found on Trapp Hill Road after police couldn’t find its owner. They don’t know whether the owner has been found.

Dec. 2 at 4:47 p.m., one person grabbed another’s laundry by accident at Stowe Laundry, but returned it later without an issue. It’s unknown whether it had been folded.

Dec. 14 at 11:15 a.m., a woman’s ex-husband “bumped into her” at an event. She didn’t know if he did it on purpose, but she wanted police to know about it.

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RURAL ROUTE

 MAIL BAG A PLEASED PALMEDO To the editor: Kate Carter did such a thoughtful, creative job on her piece about my father (“A Life of Adventure and Enterprise: Roland Palmedo,” Winter/ Spring 2018-19). It was excellent, and I wanted to thank you, too. It’s very rewarding to appear accurately in such a finely produced publication devoted to a region and enterprise that meant so much to my father.

Philip Palmedo, St. James, N.Y.

EPIC FAIL ON SKI TUNING PIECE To the editor: I read the feature (“Fine Tuned,” Stowe Guide & Magazine, Winter / Spring 2018-2019) and I am completely disappointed in the angle that was taken writing the story I was interviewed for. I did not think it was supposed to be a piece about the worst, most burnt-out ski-tech in town.

As I understood it, the feature was supposed to be about ski techs in the area and what they do at their respective shops and I feel, for our part, the story was turned on the fact that I told Tommy Gardner I was once “the worst ski tuner in the shop” (I never said I was the worst ski tuner “in town,” as it was written). I was misquoted and misrepresented and feel like I was made out to be some cliché, crusty, burnt-out, alcoholic ski-tech, which, obviously, I am not.

Consequently, your reporting led to a misrepresentation of our shop, as well. I feel as if Tommy felt like being clever, funny, and “cool” took precedence over writing an accurate, informative, and complimentary piece. I have heard that others featured in this piece felt misrepresented and disrespected as well.

In my opinion it was in poor taste, inaccurate, and disrespectful. We are proud of our shop, MountainOps in Stowe, love helping people, take immense pride in our work, and have fun doing it. The piece hardly, if at all, reflects that sentiment.

This is a small town. A community paper is supposed to reflect small-town community journalism. The paper should be here to bring people up, not tear them down. Not all, but most of what was written about me and the shop was not helpful, complimentary, accurate, or relevant. I could completely dissect the piece and call out the misquotes and the inaccuracies that were written about my character and “habits” but I won’t. I have a feeling you’ll reread it and immediately understand what I’m talking about.

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In my opinion, the piece was borderline slanderous and should have been vetted much better. As a former editor of a newspaper, I can tell you this story would have been cut lastminute or sent back for a full rewrite. Even the caption for the lead picture of the article is egregiously incorrect. If the reporter had been paying closer attention, he would have known I was cutting a pair of skins, not “tuning a ski.”

We talked about a lot of good stuff our shop does, and most of it didn’t make it into the story. I know others featured in the piece feel the same way.

It was most certainly a missed opportunity.

Jason Michaelides MountainOps, Stowe

ways with the South by foot. As challenging as the walk was for me, I couldn’t imagine doing it as a 10 year old without my mother or father.

I don’t think some Americans recognize the desperation in (Ned Dallas’ mother) Mary’s heart to ask a stranger to take her child to some place they’ve never been to on the belief that any place was better than the South.

On my next trip to Stowe, I plan to visit Mr. Dallas’s gravestone and place flowers on it so his spirit is reminded that he is not forgotten.

God bless you for your writing abilities and bringing Ned Dallas’s story to life.

Ken Johnston, Amherst, Mass.

NED DALLAS BROUGHT TO LIFE To the editor: I enjoyed reading Julie Shipley’s recent article about Ned Dallas in Stowe Guide & Magazine (Summer / Fall 2018).

As an African American reader from western Massachusetts, I was deeply touched by the meaning you gave Mr. Dallas’s life within the broader historical context of the Stowe region. We all didn’t arrive in New England on a boat from some distant European shore with the ability to blend in to the general population. As you shared with readers interested in New England history, some of us arrived without shoes on our feet, fleeing bigotry, hatred, violence, and oppression.

I wonder if other readers will draw the parallels in your story with the great migration occurring today as young adults flee Central America for freedom north of their own border.

Many of them, like Mr. Dallas, are just children walking hundreds of miles to find safety.

Earlier this year I walked 400 miles from Selma to Montgomery and onward to Birmingham and Memphis to speak out about civil rights and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination. But it was also to discover what the long road ahead looked like for the enslaved parting

UPDATES & FIXES

A collaboration of our readers helped us to identify the “mystery woman” in a photograph we published of Olympic skiers Betsy Snite and Penny Pitou (Stowe Guide & Magazine, Winter / Spring 2018-19).

Larry Heath, with deep connections to the Stowe community—his family used to own Edson Hill Manor—sent the picture to Steve Berry, who forwarded it along to Pitou, who IDed the young woman as Joanie Hannah, who competed in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics.

She’s also the daughter of Selden Hannah, one of the industry’s most noted ski area designers.

“Hannah won a bronze in the 1962 FIS,” Pitou wrote. “She lives in Franconia. She was the most sought-after ski guide in Vail for 25 years, too.”

In his note, Berry added: “Maybe you knew

who it was, but if not, here is your answer.”

We did not, so thank you Steve, Larry, Penny—and Greg Morrill, a Stowe Reporter ski writer whose piece on Snite we reprinted and who served as the final conduit in this daisy chain of information.

Steve, for your information, is a longtime Stowe skier who took his first run down the Toll Road in 1946. He’s also a friend and college fraternity brother of Heath, a friend and skiing and hiking client of Pitou, and a “fan of Greg’s columns in the Stowe Reporter.”

We’ve got friends!

•••• We have several corrections to make for our interview with Mike Leach, the unofficial historian of the Mount Mansfield Ski Club (Stowe Guide & Magazine, Winter / Spring 2018-2019). We incorrectly reported that Leach raced against Olympian Billy Kidd. In fact, Kidd retired several years before Leach started to ski race.

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OLYMPIANS ALL Olympian Betsy Snite, left, with fellow Olympians Penny Pitou, right, who won two silver medals at the Squaw Valley Olympics, and Joanie Hannah. Snite took home the silver in slalom. Hannah’s best Olympic finish was 15th in the downhill at the 1964 Innsbruck Games.

While Roland Palmedo was instrumental in getting the single chair built on Mount Mansfield, he was not its owner, as we reported.

Finally, we reported that “in 1938, the club held the first U.S. Nationals on Nose Dive …

The men raced one week and the women raced the next.” We should have written this was the first U.S. Nationals for women. The men raced March 4-5, and the women raced April 9-10, not back-to-back weekends.

•••• Not really a correction, but while we were in the final throes of putting together last winter’s edition, we learned of some impending changes in the World of Stowe Chefs, some of whom we profiled in our piece, “Life of a Stowe chef.”

Alas, it was too late for us to do anything about it.

So here goes ... former Black Diamond Barbeque chef Aaron Martin, whom we profiled, bought Plate on Stowe’s Main Street with his wife, displacing Mike Boomhower, who had been the chef at Plate until the sale.

(See our story on Plate, p.148.) n

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RURAL ROUTE GET PEAKED! The peaks of the Green Mountains. Below: The south-facing view from the Chin on Mount Mansfield, the highest point in Vermont at 4,393 feet, offers a majestic vista of the Green Mountain Range. Bolton, Camel’s Hump, Mt. Ethan Allen, and other peaks are visible. Inset: The carved relief of the Greens can be found at the Green Mountain Club in Waterbury Center, along with tons of information about the Long Trail.

A PLETHORA OF PEAKS TO PONDER, CLIMB, HIKE

GREENS

Mount Mansfield, 4,393 feet

The highest point (the Chin) is technically in Underhill, and the mountain extends into Stowe and Cambridge. There are about 200 acres of alpine tundra on Mansfield, which means it’s too cold and windy for trees to grow, so there is some unique vegetation to be seen there. The Toll Road is a great foliage trip, the steep road traversing from the Base Lodge to the Nose of the mountain.

Before snow falls, drivers can cross through Smugglers Notch/Route 108, the winding mountain pass that separates Mansfield from Spruce Peak (known as Sterling Mountain on the other side), to get to Smugglers’ Notch Resort.

To the north

• Smugglers’ Notch Resort in Jeffersonville consists of three mountains: Morse (3,376 feet), Madonna (3,640 feet), and Sterling (3,714 feet). The name harkens back to the Prohibition era, when actual smugglers used the dense forest and caverns along the trail to transport illegal goods to and from Canada.

• Heading north, Prospect Rock in Johnson offers panoramic views of the mountains and the Lamoille River Valley. It’s a short (about 3 miles) but steep journey up, with a very pretty payout. Nearby are Laraway Mountain (about 2,790 feet) and Butternut Mountain (2,165 feet).

STORY BY

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• Before you hit Jay Peak (3,968 feet), other Green peaks include Bowen (2,126 feet), Belvidere (3,360 feet), Haystack (3,445), and Buchanan (2,940 feet).

MARINA KNIGHT

Mount Mansfield could be considered the face of Vermont—it’s the state’s highest peak at 4,393 feet, plus its topography resembles the profile of a man in repose. It’s pretty easy to pick out of a lineup, but what about the other mountains in our area?

Here’s a rundown of some of the peaks (and valleys) you might spot while out for a drive, hike, or road bike ride.

The Green Mountain State gets its nickname from the many mountains in Vermont, including the eponymous range that runs south to north, from Massachusetts to Canada.

The state’s name literally means “green mountains”—verts monts, en Francais—but it’s just as beautiful in multicolored autumn splendor or blanketed in white in the winter.

The Long Trail, Vermont’s 272-mile “footpath in the wilderness,” follows the main ridge of the Green Mountains from border to border, crossing Vermont’s highest peaks. It was built by the Green Mountain Club in the first few decades of the 1900s, and inspired the creation of the Appalachian Trail, which coincides with the Long Trail in the southern part of Vermont.

The Green Mountain range (part of the Appalachian Mountains) also extends about 250 miles into Massachusetts and Connecticut, where it’s known as the Berkshires, and into Quebec, called Monts Sutton.

Stowe is home to the highest peak on the range (and in the state), so here’s a look to the north and to the south from Mansfield.

/ Hannah Marshall Normandeau

To the south

• Bolton Mountain—to the left of Mansfield, if you’re on the Stowe side; to the right if you’re looking at the range from, say, the drive on Interstate 89 from Burlington—stands about 3,700 feet, and the resort, Bolton Valley, notes that it has the highest base elevation among Vermont ski areas.

• Camel's Hump (4,083 feet), located in Huntington/Duxbury, is easily recognizable due to its distinctive and majestically lumpy shape, which was carved by the movement of glacial ice. The Geographic Names Information System lists 12 variant names, including Camel’s Rump, Catamountain, and Couching Lion. There’s no ski resort on this peak, but there is some epic hiking to be had. From the summit, see Mansfield, Bolton, the Worcester Range, Jay Peak, Lincoln Peak, Mount Ethan Allen, Molly Stark and, on a clear day, all the way to Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

• Mount Ellen (4,083 feet) and Lincoln Peak (3,975 feet) are the two peaks of Sugarbush Resort. Camel’s Hump is considered the third-highest mountain in Vermont, but Mount Ellen, with a comparable elevation, boasts Vermont’s highest chairlift.

The nearby Mad River Glen, on the backbone of the Green Mountains, has a top elevation of 3,637 feet.

• Mount Abraham (4,017 feet), or the colloquial Mount Abe, is the fifth-highest peak in the state. About six miles from Sugarbush, it can be climbed in the same day if your legs are feeling strong. The mountain, like Lincoln, is also named after the country’s 16th president, but in the 1880s it was known as Potato Hill.

• Keep going south and you’ll find the rest of the Presidential Range—Abraham and Lincoln, plus Nancy Hanks peak (after the president’s mother); Mount Grant (3,661 feet), Mount Cleveland (3,500 feet), Mount Roosevelt (3,580 feet), and Mount Wilson (3,756 feet). Unlike Mansfield or Rushmore, though, there are no faces to be seen.

•••• Editor’s note: The exact heights of mountains are reported differently by various sources, but for Mount Mansfield, we go with the U.S. Geological Survey’s verdict of 4,393 feet.

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GLENN CALLAHAN

GETTING OUTDOORS

HIKING, BIKING, GOLF, FISHING, AND MORE IN THE STOWE-SMUGGLERS REGION—FOR ALL AGES AND ABILITIES.

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HISTORY CLASS ROCK PALACE Cars pass through Smugglers Notch in the shadow of its high rock cliffs. A stone stairway leads hikers from the Notch road to the Long Trail.

OVER THE TOP From smugglers to day trippers, the Notch always delivers

Y

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ou drive through it, hike up it, climb on its boulders, and take photos of it. Thousands of photos.

But how much do you really know about Smugglers Notch, the impressive geologic wonder that separates Stowe from Cambridge?

Smugglers Notch is a 2,160-foot-high pass between Mt. Mansfield and Spruce Peak. But 400 million years ago, the area was totally underwater in a shallow sea.

Over time, sand and sea creatures fell to the sea’s bottom, eventually becoming compressed to form the shale-type rock now so common in the Notch’s cliffs. It took hundreds of millions of years, but eventually geologic forces pushed the land up and up and formed this range of mountains.

Geologists theorize that, at some point, a river flowed through the area, creating

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHS

/ KEVIN M. WALSH

the deep crevice, or notch, in the mountains. The area’s remoteness and formidable conditions kept it fairly secluded until money created the needed incentive to tackle and utilize the Notch.

In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed an embargo act preventing trade with Great Britain and Canada. But because nearby Montreal was a large market for northern Vermonters, trade continued illegally, and the Notch provided the perfect trade route, as well as caves for hiding cattle and goods.

Later in the 1800s, illicit activity in the Notch continued, as the trail through the mountains provided a great escape route for so-called fugitive slaves heading north to freedom in Canada.

Rum runners followed suit during the 1920s Prohibition era, using this secretive route to smuggle liquor between northern New England and Canada.

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HISTORY CLASS

MOUNTAIN PASSAGE The cliffs of Smugglers Notch.

The Man and His Dog, one of the anthropomorphic rock formations in the Notch.

Even the most jaded visitor or local still marvel at the sheer majesty of the place.

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Eventually, the rough road built through the Notch in 1894 was improved in the early 1900s, though the final 1.4 miles of the road at the top were not paved until 1963.

For the first few decades of the 1900s, tourism brought most people to—and through—the Notch. For years, the Notch area’s then-private owners marketed the cool, fresh waters of Big Spring to fuel Vermonters’ fascination with mineral waters. The spring’s waters were corralled into a pool where people could fish and have their catch cooked minutes later at a restaurant built near the spring.

Others bathed in its mineral-filled waters, claiming great physical and mental benefits.

In 1940, the state of Vermont bought the land surrounding the Notch and let it return to its natural state. Today, thousands of people and cars traverse the Notch each day.

Visitors use the area as a staging area for hiking—Vermont’s 272-mile Long Trail cuts through here—picnics, rock climbing up shear 1,000-foot cliffs, and viewing anthropomorphic rock formations such as The Old Man and His Dog.

It’s views are so impressive that the road is now a Vermont-designated scenic byway.

Smugglers Notch also serves as a stateprotected home for peregrine falcons and several rare alpine plant species, including the butterwort, whose sticky leaves trap and digest insects.

The Notch road is closed from late fall to early May. But, when open, don’t let the road’s steep, nearly 18-percent incline and sharp switchbacks convince you to take the long route around the mountains. If rum runners and illegal traders were able to navigate the Notch, you can too. n //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// GETTING THERE: It’s easy. Just follow Stowe’s Mountain Road (Route 108) past the Stowe ski area. If you’re in Jeffersonville, do the same: follow 108 past Smugglers’ Notch ski area.

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MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE

ABOVE THE TREES Zip down Mount Mansfield, suspended in air

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Imagine hanging from a cable and hurtling through the sky 180 feet or more above the Green Mountain State Forest.

In a unique Stowe-area experience, this treetop flight can happen only at Stowe Mountain Resort’s Zip Tour.

Traveling faster than the legal speed for vehicles on many Vermont roads, riders on the zip tour start at the top end of the Mount Mansfield gondola and “enjoy the thrill of flying down three of the world’s longest zip spans,” says Jeff Wise, a senior manager at the resort.

STORY & PHOTOGRAPH / KEVIN M. WALSH The 4,462-foot-long zip tour is built in three sections, interrupted only by some judiciously placed treetop platforms.

“You can see and experience the mountain canopy in ways never imagined before now,” Wise says. “Our zip tour is one of the world’s fastest and most exhilarating zip line experiences.”

“I was freaking out in the back of my mind, up until the moment they released me down the line,” said rider Michael Correia, who dislikes heights. But “as soon as I got moving, all the nervousness I had slipped away as I flew down the mountain. The view from the line was amazing.”

Although the ride might sound a little intimidating to some people, safety is a key feature of the experience. Riders are fully harnessed and connected

to a trolley system. After watching a safety video, riders then practice how to use the zip trolley’s braking system on a 150-foot-long line at the base of the mountain.

This braking system allows riders to control their own speed, and they must actively control it. If they don’t, the trolley slows and eventually stops.

The zip tour also provides a unique setting for important events. One fellow proposed marriage to his girlfriend while riding next to her on the ride’s parallel cables. Some families use the tour as a multigenerational family gathering spot, while corporate types sometimes ride the line as part of unusual team-building outings.

The zip-tour ride time varies, depending on each rider’s desired speed.

Most riders, however, take one to two hours to complete the trip.

This one-of-a-kind Stowe experience cannot be fully understood unless you actually hop on for a ride down the mountain. “It is,” said one rider, “a rush feeling.”

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Certain age, height, weight, and health restrictions govern admission to the tour. Wear sturdy footwear. Check in at the gondola base at Stowe Mountain Resort. Details at stowe.com.

159 Catamount Drive Milton, Vermont 05468 Phone: 802-893-1003 Fax: 802-893-0151

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② ③

①

④ ① MTB & ROAD BIKE EVENTS JUNE 14 – 16: Bikes, Bevs, & Beats Rides for all ages, abilities. Music, food, and family fun. Block Party June 14 at 4:30 p.m., Stowe Village. Various venues around Stowe. stowetrails.org.

JULY 20: Raid Lamoille Long and short rides. Craftsbury Outdoor Center. raidlamoille.com.

AUGUST 25: Race to the Top of Vermont 4.3-mile hill climb, bike or run up Mansfield’s Toll Road, 2,564 vertical. rtttovt.com.

SEPTEMBER 14: Mad River Riders Fall Classic Lift-serviced rides down the mountain. Sugarbush Resort, all day. vmba.com.

GOLF: DON LANDWEHRLE. HIKING: KATE CARTER. FISHING: PAUL ROGERS. OTHERS: GLENN CALLAHAN.

⑥

⑤

OUTDOOR PRIMER Golf More than a dozen courses are within an hour’s drive, but two of the state’s most spectacular are the 6,213-yard, 18-hole Stowe Country Club, and Stowe Mountain Club, both operated by Stowe Mountain Resort. Stoweflake Resort features a 9-hole, par-3 course, professional putting greens, and a 350-yard driving range. Don’t have time for a full 18? Try Stowe Golf Park, an 18-hole putting course that simulates a real golf course.

Bike in the woods Whether you want a gentle ride along the 5.3-mile award-winning Stowe bike path with its views of Mount Mansfield or a teeth-chattering, lung-burning trip through Adams Camp trails, strap on your helmet and get riding. Varied terrain and hundreds of miles of trails make the region a perfect biking destination. To get started, stop into a local bike shop or go to stowetrails.org.

Adventure mountain The Gondola at Stowe Mountain Resort takes skiers up Mt. Mansfield in winter to some of the best ski slopes in the East. In summer, it takes passengers to just below the summit of Mount Mansfield for some of the best views around, and serves as a starting point to the rocky summit of Vermont’s highest peak. Or try the Auto Toll Road, which winds 3.7 miles through cool, green tunnels of vegetation and past sweeping vistas to the top of Mansfield. A thrilling zip line course down the mountain and an adventure park round out the offerings. Access the Long Trail and the extensive trail network from the summit area, or just enjoy a relaxing picnic and the views of Vermont’s Green Mountains, the White Mountains, Lake Champlain, and the Adirondacks.

Paddle sports Local outfitters offer river trips on the Lamoille and Winooski rivers, where you can canoe past dairy farms and through quintessential Vermont villages, all the while soaking in sweeping views. Or if you prefer, launch a kayak on Lake Eden, Lake Elmore, Caspian Lake, Wolcott Pond, or Waterbury Reservoir. Canoes and paddleboards are welcome everywhere, such as Long Pond in Eden, Green River Reservoir in Hyde Park, and Little Elmore Pond.

Swimming holes Innumerable mountain streams meander through the Green Mountains, serving up a Vermont-style swimming experience and a unique kind of solitude. Some are a cinch to find: A walk up the Stowe Recreation Path to a spot on the West Branch River, or the well-known Foster’s swimming hole. Better yet, find your own!

Stowe Recreation Path & Rail Trail Stowe’s nationally recognized 5.3-mile walking and hiking greenway starts in the village behind the Stowe Community Church. While never far from civilization, the path offers scenic views of the West Branch River and Mt. Mansfield. Other access points are on Weeks Hill Road, Luce Hill Road, on the Mountain Road across from Well Heeled, and at the path’s end on Brook Road. The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail meanders through several of the towns north of Stowe—it’s a great biking, running, and walking path. lvrt.org.

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63

NATURAL HISTORY

THE FOREST FOR THE TREES Smuggs naturalist helps hikers dig into the details STORY & PHOTOGRAPHS

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Matt Spadoni teaches people how to put their eyes on.

As a naturalist with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, Spadoni spent the beginning of last summer helping kids and adults see the forest for the trees.

“Basically,” he said, “trying to get them to see nature as more than a great green blob.”

When I met up with Spadoni in late September, that blob was changing colors, but his mission remained the same.

Ahead of the full-on foliage color changeover, the red-haired and

/ TOMMY GARDNER

freckled Spadoni was easily the most colorful thing in the cleft of open sky at the top of Smugglers Notch, sitting casually on the back of his small orange pickup with an orange New York vanity license plate sporting his nickname, “Spud.”

He was wearing a well-worn flannel jacket that used to be his dad’s; nearly every available inch of the non-sleeve parts was filled with all manner and color of patches showing the various mountain peaks he’s bagged, areas he’s explored, and organizations he supports.

Sitting next to him on the tailgate was a copy of “The Natural Navigator” by Tristan Gooley.

He chatted up a pair of older couples who were enjoying the break in the hot temperatures and Spadoni’s attentive ear and helpful advice.

In his first “real job,” and in his first season in Vermont, Spadoni is based at Smugglers Notch State Park. He grew up in Latham, N.Y., near Albany, attended Paul Smith’s College, and worked as a landscaper before taking the naturalist job.

He doesn’t guide people up the trails on the Sterling side of the Notch, or through the caves and cliffs on the Mount Mansfield side.

But he dispenses advice on how to look at the various trees and plants, rocks and moss, and how to look for nature’s changes as you ascend and return on the trails.

“The other day, I had kids identify the difference between the trees at the bottom and the top, and come back and tell me about it,” he said.

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ON A MISSION Matthew Spadoni, a naturalist with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, talks with people about what to look for on their hikes in Smugglers Notch. He asks hikers to collect colorful leaves, which he presses, and encourages them to take ones other hikers leave behind.

4081 MOUNTAIN ROAD, STOWE, VT 802-253-4531 • MOUNTAINOPSVT.COM

Last fall a mother-daughter hiking duo from Clarkston, Wash., Sarah Berg and Hannah Datsun, descended from the Sterling Pond trail. They said Vermont forests are quite different from the peaks they’re used to in the Pacific Northwest.

“We were talking about how crowded it is here, because you can’t see through the trees,” Berg said.

Each of them had a handful of colorful leaves.

“Oooh, those are nice ones. Come on over here,” Spadoni said to them, bringing them over to a table scattered with flattened leaves protected in plastic.

He has a leaf press right there at the information booth, and for every pretty leaf you bring for him to press, you can take one of the finished products. Not only is the leaf exchange a nifty idea for getting people to look closely at the nature around them, but in a way, it allows them to see nature through other people’s eyes.

“You’re not taking away what you brought down,” Spadoni said. “You get to take what someone else felt was special.” n

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TRAIL JOURNAL

KIRCHNER WOODS Stowe Land Trust lands offer accessible forest sanctuaries Rime Line and Frost Heave are apropos for these two trails open only for winter use. And then there’s the curiously named Electrolux, a nod to “Jerry” Kirchner, who was known around the Stowe area for selling and repairing Electrolux vacuum cleaners. Jerry’s Trail leads from the parking lot to the defunct sugar house, where stacks of sap buckets are all that remain of the sugaring operation that once stood here.

Gerard “Jerry” Kirchner was an integral part of the Stowe community. He was an advocate for preserving open spaces and a member of the Stowe Land Trust board of directors for nearly a decade. He owned the property now called Kirchner Woods for more than 50 years, and managed it until his death in 2008. Stowe Land Trust acquired this parcel from his estate.

Overall the trails are moderate to easy, and a go-to place for trail runners and dog walkers. The kiosk at the small parking lot is well equipped with maps and information, as well as doggie poop bags, so if you’re with your pooches, grab a bag, pick up their poop, and pack it out.

In the spring, ephemeral wildflowers are abundant; an astute observer could easily count over a dozen species. Summer is generally warm and the streams tend to dry out. In fall, the maple trees put on a stunning show of yellows and reds before dropping to the ground, and in winter, the trails are packed firm by snowshoers.

More SLT Trails

The June morning is cool and tranquil. A gentle breeze stirs the leaves on the maple trees and the scent of damp earth lingers in the air. A wide path leads to a foot bridge that crosses a shallow, slow-moving brook, and the path climbs gradually through several switchbacks and soon comes to the remains of a fallen sugar house, where several trails converge.

The only sound is a robin tweeting in the distance as she pecks at the ground for worms. A colony of spring beauties sprinkled with dew drops sparkles in the morning sun. It’s about as peaceful as a walk in the woods can be, and it’s just a short distance from Stowe Village on Tabor Hill Road.

STORY / KATE CARTER Stowe Land Trust in 2009 opened the 75-acre Kirchner Woods and its nearly 4 miles of trails to the public. The protected land showcases sustainably built trails for walkers, runners, and bikers. The trails wind and flow through a 100-year-old sugar woods, gradually gaining elevation to a rocky tree-covered summit at 1,635 feet.

The trails have thought-provoking names that leave you contemplating their origins. Lower and Upper Bucket Trails refer to the sweet syrup gathered in buckets every spring when the sap starts to flow. A few buckets are still scattered throughout the property. One remains attached to the “Sipping Tree,” and from a distance it does indeed look like a face taking a sip of sap.

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FOREST OASIS Walkers enjoy a warm fall day at Kirchner Woods, just minutes from Stowe Village. Jerry Kirchner, a strong proponent of land conversation, owned and managed this 75 magical acres for five decades.

A cabin on the Mill Trail property.

Adams Camp: 513 acres in Ranch Valley.

Many miles of trails that connect to the Trapp Family Lodge property and Mount Mansfield State Forest. Primary access is via Ranch Brook Road or the Haul Road.

Used heavily in the summer by walkers and mountain bikers.

Cady Hills Forest: 258 acres of sustainably built trails close to town. Access is from the parking area on the Mountain Road across from the Town and Country Resort and behind Iride across from the Baggy Knees Shopping Plaza on the Mountain Road. A mountain biking mecca.

Mill Trail: An historically significant trail that parallels the West Branch of the Waterbury River and passes by the former Orlando Turner Saw Mill and Tub Factory. Access is six-tenths of a mile up Notchbrook Road.

Wiessner Woods: 78 acres with a network of forested trails popular with dog walkers. Access is on Edson Hill Road, just past the Stowehof Inn.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: To reach Kirchner Woods from downtown Stowe, turn onto School Street and travel one-fourth mile to the fork with Taber Hill Road and Stowe Hollow Road. Go left on Taber Hill Road for 1.5 miles and look for the well-marked parking lot on the left. Trail map at stowelandtrust.org.

PHOTOS: STOWE LAND TRUST

The Stowe Land Trust has conserved 33 properties, including Kirchner Woods and the four listed below, which have well-maintained trails open to the public for non-motorized recreational use.

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COOL RUNNINGS

COURTESY PHOTO

DIEHARD RJ Thompson of Stowe trains to break the Long Trail speed record, in this photo from 2014.

BREAKING TRAIL Vermont’s Long Trail an athlete’s ultimate challenge

H

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iking 272 miles through Vermont’s wilderness, along the spine of the Green Mountains between Massachusetts and Canada, isn’t exactly a quick outing.

Yet, plenty of people aim for speed.

The Long Trail, the nation’s oldest long-distance trail, has attracted end-to-enders of all stripes, from people who hike the entire thing in stages over a period of decades to runners who finish the whole thing in less than a week.

It takes the average person about a month to do it in one go.

Septuagenarians have hiked it and high school cross-country runners have jogged it. People have done the whole thing with only the supplies they started with, while some have arranged for a host of supporters at various trailheads to provide food, new shoes and socks, and inspiration.

Somewhere in between lies the majority of those who try to go the distance.

According to Mike DeBonis, executive director of the Green Mountain Club, traffic on the trail has STORY / TOMMY GARDNER & CALEIGH CROSS risen 30 percent in recent years, based on data gleaned from caretakers at lodges along the trail, along with people checking in at trailhead sign-in books.

“It’s hard to pinpoint just how much increased usage there is, but it is certainly more mainstream,” DeBonis said of hiking the Long Trail. “Access to advice and gear and support has increased. So, it’s made it more attainable for folks. It’s a way to get back to the land and kind of connect with the natural world.”

Still, of the scores of NOBOs and SOBOs—common trail-speak for northbound and southbound end-to-enders—who finish the trail each year, there are some who see the 272-mile trail as a racecourse. One of the hardest in the country.

‘Hardest of them all’

Runner’s World magazine in 2011 ran a series on FKTs, the fastest known times, along some of America’s most grueling trails. It profiled these unofficial speed records that, thanks to blogs and social media, have quickly become the standard to set, and to break.

Forget the Colorado Trail, the Appalachian Trail, and the Grand Canyon double-crossing.

The magazine called the Long Trail the hardest of them all.

Jonathan Basham holds the record for Long Trail through-hikes—although at 4 days, 12 hours, 46 minutes, “hike” is probably the wrong term. When he set the record in 2009, Basham averaged just over 60 miles a day.

He told Runner’s World the Long Trail “simply destroys the human body at that pace.”

Basham didn’t do it by himself. His record is the fastest supported hike, meaning people stood by at trailheads and shelters with food and water and other supplies, so he didn’t have to carry anything. He had people pacing him and keeping him safe and awake. He slept about four or five hours total in those four and a half days.

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COOL RUNNINGS

PAUL ROGERS

SCENIC ROUTE The Long Trail skirts Sterling Pond in the Cambridge-Stowe area. Inset: Jonathan Basham holds the record for Long Trail through-hikes.

Six days, unsupported

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One member of Basham’s support crew has perhaps the more impressive Long Trail record. A year after Basham’s FKT, Coloradoan Travis Wildeboer did the entire trail in 6 days, 17 hours, 25 minutes, but he did it all by himself.

The rules for unsupported throughhike records say you have to rely on everything you carry in with you the moment you hit the trail. You can drink water and you might find some berries along the way, but mostly you find yourself rationing Ramen noodles and energy bars.

Wildeboer’s hike is even more remarkable, in that it cut the previous unsupported hiking record nearly in half. He wrote a detailed account of his hike, available at bit.ly/wildeboerhike.

The website fastestknowntime.com lists records for numerous hikes, including the Long Trail.

Jennifer Pharr-Davis holds the women’s selfsupported record—meaning she was able to stash or mail supplies ahead of time and pick them up herself along the trail, but didn’t have any help from anyone else. In 2007, she did the Long Trail in 7 days, 15 hours, 40 minutes.

Ultra-marathoner Nikki Kimball is less than a day behind Basham’s supported record. She did the trail in 5 days, 7 hours, 42 minutes in August 2012.

Kimball is the subject of a documentary, “Finding Traction,” which features lots of excellent shots of the Long Trail and the grueling

motions these record-seekers put themselves through. The film streamed on Netflix.

Blisters, hallucinations, hunger, fatigue, all manner of mental and physical breakdowns are on display in “Finding Traction,” along with a good representation of what makes the Long Trail so hard.

Ultra runner Alicia Hudelson described it as a trail “where even the downhills are uphill,” a sentiment surely shared by hikers who have cried out in exasperation encountering one of the Green Mountain’s false summits.

Maybe next time

For some, the gnarly, thick and deep roots along the Long Trail should be admired at length; for those trying for a Long Trail speed record, like Stowe’s RJ Thompson, those rocks and roots are speed bumps.

Thompson tried for a Long Trail speed record in 2014 and planned to try again in 2017, but an injured hamstring held him back.

Thompson’s love affair with the Long Trail began in college. He attended the University of Vermont and “became pretty fascinated with the end-to-end pursuit,” he said.

After some time in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Thompson took up distance running, and after running the Vermont 50 Ultra Run, a race that includes reaching the summit of Mount Ascutney, the Long Trail “felt like maybe the next step. I really enjoy solo pursuits, and the opportunity to kind of be in the wild. I just wanted to see if I could do it, really. There was nothing more to it than that, kind of setting a goal and trying to meet it.”

In 2014, Thompson began training in back-to-back distance days. He’d do four days in a row—15 miles the first day, two 45-mile days, and a final 20-mile day.

“I wanted to simulate as much as possible what the actual attempts would be like,” Thompson said. He wasn’t sure if his injured hamstring would hold him back in 2017 until he started trying to train the same way.

“I was only able to ever get up to two 30-mile days back to back before the injury really started to hold me back,” Thompson said.

He walked off the trail, just like he did in 2014, after a different injury cut short his prior speed attempt after four days on the trail.

“It rained, basically for two and a half days,” Thompson said. “It just totally changes the nature of the game when it’s wet and muddy. Coming downhill, I did a couple of flips here and there. I just made a decision that I was moving too slowly to set the record, even though at the time I was ahead of pace. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep going without potentially risking more injury.”

Thompson plans to make another attempt in summer 2020, “if all goes well.”

The biggest challenge for a speed-hiker? The trail itself, knowing how it’s affected by weather conditions and injuries, Thompson said. Another challenge? Yourself. The logistics of food and supplies can be easily coordinated, but getting your body ready for the attempt—and knowing when to quit—is the toughest part. n

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71

FISH STORY

CAST OFF The writer’s kids with the catch of the day.

TEACH A KID TO FISH Create a future angler. Don’t forget the fun!

Take a kid fishing.

How often have you heard that? As a Vermont fishing guide of 23 years, I have been fortunate to have enjoyed many a day on the water with young people. Sure, kids can sometimes try your patience, but it is an extremely gratifying experience. So here are a few tips on introducing young anglers to the world of fishing.

First, it is most important that kids have fun and walk away from the experience feeling positive. Of course, catching a fish or two ensures that positive, fun experience.

Don’t take the outing too seriously, except for some basic safety rules. Hooks have sharp STORY & PHOTOGRAPHS / WILLY DIETRICH points, rods are not light sabers, and waders get really heavy when filled with water. Always remember to discuss basic water safety.

Keep them engaged. Fish don’t bite on every cast. So mix it up. Look for animal tracks on sandbars, catch crawfish, watch a beaver cruise by—look for opportunities to enhance the experience. Emphasize that there is more to fishing than just casting and catching fish.

72

Two- to three-hour increments are perfect for young anglers. The moment they show boredom, wrap it up. My children like to play in the water after catching a few fish. Keeping it simple goes a long way.

Remember, the fishing is about the kids and not your own catch. Stay upbeat. Tangles, snarls, missed fish, and general silliness are part of the experience.

Location is determined by experience.

First-timers should start on the bank of a lake, pond, or gentle river.

Bank fishing is the perfect place for a new angler. Standing on dry ground in an wide open space is great for learning to cast and retrieve without anyone getting pierced. Float and bottom fishing provides obvious visual clues when a fish bites.

74

Teaching the hook set can be challenging.

Practicing the sweep of the rod upwards is helpful. Luckily, many species hook themselves if given enough time to nibble on the bait.

Remove barbs from hooks to reduce mortality.

Pan fish such as pumpkinseed and yellow perch are user friendly. Just use a simple rig with a piece of worm under a float or a set on the bottom. I liked Wonder Bread balls as a kid.

Young kids don’t care what they catch, they just want to catch something.

For the more experienced or older kids, river fishing steps up the game. Safety becomes more of a factor, but teaching young people how to read a river is a great skill for a lifetime.

Equipment should be easy to use. I started with a Zebco 33, with a simple push button rod/reel combination. As skill improves try an open face spinning reel and rod.

Fly fishing is also an option, but every young person needs to become comfortable with spinning equipment before picking up a fly rod.

Catching fish on the fly is never guaranteed, and the last thing you want is to discourage your aspiring angler.

Be patient with equipment snafus. Bring an extra rod to hand off while you fix a tangled mess. Remember, fishing is supposed to be fun and relaxing.

Taking a young person on fishing outing helps to build an appreciation for the outdoor world. Kids learn about various ecosystems and the environment in a fun and positive fashion.

So, no more wishing, just take your kid fishing.

•••• Willy Dietrich has operated Catamount Fishing Adventures for past 22 years. He is the father of two aspiring anglers.

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DARN TOUGH DARN RIGHT How Ric Cabot breathed new life into his failing company

STORY

76

: robert kiener P H O T O G R A P H S : gordon miller

Ric Cabot at his company’s factory in Northfield.

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COURTESY PHOTO

F

rom the moment you walk into the Northfield, Vt., headquarters of Darn Tough socks, the company whose riches-to-rags-to-riches business saga has been covered by everyone from the Wall Street Journal to Inc. Magazine to The New York Times, the secrets of its success are in plain view. Literally.

A sign in the reception area entitled “Our Values” reads: “We are direct, straightforward and truthful. We value honesty and a hard day’s work ... We are authentic.” It ends with, “We have yet to produce our best sock.” On another wall is the slogan, coined by the firm’s third generation sock maker and presentday president and CEO of Cabot Hosiery Mills Ric Cabot, “Nobody ever outsourced anything for quality.”

And, best of all, there’s Ric Cabot himself, the energetic—he’s been dubbed “evangelist-in-chief”—54-year-old mastermind behind what the Boston Globe has called “one of U.S. manufacturing’s rare success stories.”

“Hey,” says the five-foot-ten Cabot as he shakes my hand, “Welcome to Northfield, the sock capital of the world!”

“The world?”

“Well,” he answers with a broad smile as he leads us into the conference room, “We’re the ‘selfproclaimed’ sock capital of the world.” He pauses. “For us it’s not about size, it’s about quality.”

With that, Cabot is on a roll and begins giving me a crash course in his favorite topic: socks, socks, and more socks.

78

Marc Cabot, Cabot Hosiery Mills founder, and Ric Cabot, Darn Tough Vermont president, CEO, and founder. Socks, socks, and more socks make up the Darn Tough brand.

s Cabot talks, it’s clear he is deeply passionate about everything that goes into the making of what he, and many others, call the best performance outdoor sock in the world. There’s the high stitch count that’s used in every Darn Tough sock—approximately 1,441 stitches per square inch. “That helps the sock form to the foot,” he explains. “It also gives us density without bulk.”

And there’s the mill’s seamless technology, thanks to its 236 hightech, computer controlled, Italian-made 168-needle knitting machines, which does away with that uncomfortable ridge at the toe of the sock. Every one to five minutes, depending on size and complexity, a machine spits out a finished sock. And the high-quality Merino wool makes for a super soft, durable, and long-lasting sock.

How long-lasting? Cabot tosses me a package of Darn Tough socks and points to the guarantee on the label. “We guarantee every pair of Darn Tough socks for life,” he explains. “No strings. No conditions. If our socks are not the most comfortable, durable, and best-fitting socks you have ever owned, return them for another pair.”

There’s a reason other sock makers are reluctant to offer this kind of unconditional guarantee, says Cabot. “It’s because while they may claim their socks are designed in the USA, they are outsourced and made abroad, often in China or Vietnam. The quality just isn’t there and they can’t afford to guarantee them. Ours are made right here, in the U.S.A.” Returns are minimal. According to Cabot only 0.03 percent of the mills’ socks are sent back. “And we inspect every sock that we get back to see if we can learn anything that will improve it,” he says. Holes are rare. Recently a user sent the firm a note explaining that his dog had eaten one of his Darn Tough socks and included a picture to prove it. The picture was of a half-digested Darn Tough sock in the Golden Retriever’s poop.

Cabot laughed. “We sent him a new pair.”

Other users write in simply to praise the socks, which over time have achieved something like cult status among sockaholics.

One fan wrote, “I used to think the best thing about Vermont was Bernie Sanders. But now I have your John Henry Boot socks. …

Bernie is a national treasure, but he never made my feet feel like this.”

From another: “These socks (if socks can be called blissful) are freakin’ blissful.” Another claimed, “Last weekend, I fell through the ice on the shoreline of Lake Michigan …The skin on my legs was numb and red but my feet were perfectly fine. Darn Tough socks had insulated them so well …Without your socks, I might have fewer toes.”

Cabot smiles as he explains how often Darn Tough sock lovers have written him, praising his product and thanking him. “We are very lucky to have such faithful, enthusiastic customers.”

Letters are nice but it’s the company’s skyrocketing sales figures that really tell the Darn Tough story. Ever since the brand was launched in 2004, annual sales have grown steadily. By 2010 the company was selling more than four million pairs of socks annually. Cabot expects to sell more than six million pairs of socks this year. “Over the last five years sales have grown 20 to 25 percent annually,” he says.

The company’s sales figures are impressive, but, as Ric Cabot is quick to point out, “This wasn’t always the case. Far from it.”

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t was 1989, just two years after he graduated from the University of Colorado with a journalism degree that Ric Cabot moved with his wife Alison to Stowe and joined his father Marc’s hosiery mill in Northfield. For just over a decade Cabot Hosiery had been a successful company, producing private label socks for retail companies such as Banana Republic, Gap, Eddie Bauer, Brooks Brothers, and others. Ric pitched in with sales and learned the sock business from the factory floor up. Times were good.

But during the late 1990s and early 2000s the business changed. One after another Cabot’s customers came to Marc and Ric with a warning: Lower your prices or we’ll have to take our business to China. “It was the start of that giant sucking sound you hear about all the time today; losing jobs to China and elsewhere, jobs going overshore,” says Cabot. “There was no way we could compete with companies in Asia that were paying their workers $15—or less—a month.”

The Cabots lost customer after customer, which forced layoffs. Both took massive pay cuts and trimmed production from five days a week to three. They dropped their health insurance and said goodbye to their 401k plans. Both took out second mortgages on their homes to keep the banks, who were worried about millions of dollars in loans, at bay.

But sales kept freefalling. Cabot Hosiery was forced to default on its loans and sank deeper into debt. Ric and Alison had a baby, their first, on the way. “Those were,” says Cabot without a hint of a smile, “darn tough times.”

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Then, as if this were a Hollywood movie script, Ric Cabot had his “Aha!” moment. “One day it just dawned on me. My grandfather, my father, and I have made great socks for three generations.

We have the know-how; socks are in our blood. We have great employees, some of the world’s best sockmakers, working for us here in Northfield. If we cannot make the world’s best sock, nobody can.”

Emboldened, and perhaps a bit scared by the prospect of having to declare Chapter 11, Cabot designed a sock that would appeal to outdoor enthusiasts. He recognized that there was a need for a durable, comfortable, well-fitting outdoor sock. He christened his new brand, the firm’s first, “Darn Tough.” Explains Cabot, “The brand name worked on many levels. It described the times we were facing, the durability of the sock itself, and its Vermont heritage.”

The Cabots begged for another loan from their long-suffering bankers, added a third mortgage to both their homes and got to work. The Darn Tough 1488 running sock was born. Ric Cabot began filling his car trunk with the new socks and schlepping them to retailers, trying to convince them to take on the comparatively high-priced ($20) socks. He remembers visiting his first potential customer, Onion River Sports in Montpelier, with an armful of socks. “They had so little room for them that I laid them out on the floor and gave my sales pitch. They took them. We were so broke that I

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think we made our first display racks out of tree twigs. Then someone walked in the sport shop’s front door and asked if we needed a sales rep for our new socks. I hired him on the spot.”

Cabot also donated 3,500 pairs of Darn Tough 1488s to runners taking part in the 2004 Vermont City Marathon in Burlington.

“Runners loved the socks and they flooded our new website with great reviews. People went crazy for the socks,” he remembers. “That’s how all of this started.”

Cabot was almost evangelical about telling the Darn Tough story. He “pulled the curtain back” and invited retailers and wholesalers into the mill, to see first hand what went into the making of his new socks. “No one was talking then about stitching, needles, microns, and machinery. But I did. I also wanted them to experience Vermont and see where we developed and tested our new socks and why we called them darn tough,” he says.

Sales grew as the socks caught on and word spread. Darn Tough’s unconditional guarantee, plus its Vermont-based narrative (akin to Ben & Jerry’s) helped it gain attention. Even better, the U.S military eventually placed several huge orders and Cabot Hosiery was able to pay off its debts. Distribution deals with retail giants such as REI and L.L. Bean followed.

“We were off and running,” says Cabot.

Today the once nearly-bankrupt Cabot Hosiery Mills is a $60 million business. More than 2,000 retail outlets now carry Darn Tough socks and demand shows no sign of slowing down. Cabot Hosiery Mills employs close to 300 people (compared to 35 in 2004) and runs around the clock, 24 hours a day, five days a week with three shifts. Each day the mill produces some 27,000 pairs of Darn Tough socks.

No wonder Vermont’s Times-Argus newspaper headlined a story about Cabot’s company, “Darn Tough is getting darn big.”

oday, as he relaxes on his couch in his comfortable Stowe home on a blustery Saturday afternoon in late April, Cabot seems far removed from the stressful days that were filled with cancelled orders, massive debts, and layoffs. While he is proud of the work that his father, employees, and he have done to turn around a company in an industry that’s been so battered and beaten, he looks back on those “lean, old times” as both “scary and challenging.”

However, as Cabot often tells people who have asked him what he’s learned by going through such a baptism of fire, there’s a plus side. “I often say everybody should almost go out of business,” he says. “Nothing concentrates the mind, makes you focus on what’s possible, teaches you how to survive, like that does. It reminds me of the old saying: ‘From the hottest of fires comes the strongest of steels’.” n

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WWII vet earns Congressional gold

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local veteran got the surprise of his life when he learned that an event for World War II veterans was actually a ceremony honoring him with the Congressional Gold Medal.

Albert “Bulldog” Besser, 94, who lives on Stagecoach Road in Morrisville, received the award in January at Montpelier City Hall for his years of service in World War II. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor Congress can award to a civilian, said Congressman Peter Welch, who presented the award.

Besser’s wife, Gretchen, kept the award a secret until he arrived.

“When we got there, and I first walked in, I saw all the people from Stowe, and I said, ‘I didn’t realize there were so many World War II veterans in Stowe.’ Then I realized they were all friends of mine or ours, and finally it dawned on me that she had pulled something off like this,” Besser said.

At first, he was embarrassed, but then, “I was really surprised and flattered when Peter Welch walked in.”

Welch said that when he walked in, Besser asked him, “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

Gretchen said she’d read a story about another member of the Office of Strategic Services, where Besser served, receiving a Congressional Gold Medal, and reached out to Welch’s office to see if her husband qualified.

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was established in 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Gen. William “Wild Bill” Donovan.

The agency employed about 13,000 civilian and service men and women at its peak, coordinating intelligence and espionage operations for the U.S. Armed Forces, and was a precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency.

The OSS was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in December of 2016; today, there are around 100 living OSS veterans.

Welch and Besser have known each other for about 15 years, and Welch praised Besser’s dedication to helping his country during the war and afterward. “Al, throughout his life, has been very generous, active in community affairs, very modest. He’s proud of his service, but from his perspective, it’s just what you do. When (veterans) come home, it’s really important that we honor them, because all of us who don’t serve benefit from those who do.”

War service Besser enlisted in the Army Reserve Corps when he was 16 and working on his bachelor’s degree at Yale University. At 18, he began serving. After basic training in Fort Benning, Ga., Besser said he was “chagrined” to find himself assigned to the Army Specialized Training Program, designed to turn intelligent recruits into engineers.

“I was very unhappy,” said Besser. He wasn’t an engineer at heart, and hated the assignment.

“I tried to get out of it and I was stymied by the usual Army-knows-best routine.”

So Besser, then 19, took matters into his own hands when he learned another group of Army Specialized Training Program recruits was learning a different topic—languages—in which he was much more adept and interested.

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/ GORDON MILLER

“I scooted away from my training platoon.

They went one way and I scooted away from them and went over to where they were giving these tests, and I started to explain my story about how the Army had made a big mistake sending me to the engineering program,” Besser said.

One of the Army leaders was about to punish Besser for being absent without leave when a superior asked what language he spoke.

“Having had two years of high school French, I said, ‘French,’ ” Besser said. “He said, ‘You go in there and you report to the officer there in French and tell them we said to take the language test.’”

Besser passed, and was transferred to the language program, where he learned to speak Mandarin Chinese in nine months.

While there, an OSS member interviewed Besser and asked if he’d be willing to volunteer for hazardous duty. “I said yes, being a young kid.”

He found himself training on Catalina Island six weeks later, and then was sent to Shanghai, China. While there, Besser had some unofficial, non-Army-related business to conduct, too. Before he was dispatched to China, he was asked by Jewish friends of his mother to find their family, who escaped Nazi Germany and made it to Japan before being shunted off to China.

“I carried this little piece of paper in my wallet (with the family name) all these years, and when we got to Shanghai, we got into the district and found this whole group of Jews crammed in,” Besser said.

Sure enough, the family was there.

“There was great cheers and tears,” he said.

So enthralled by Chinese culture was Besser that he decided to stay in Shanghai after the war ended. He got a job teaching economics, and moved back to the U.S. in 1946, when he met Gretchen, who was his sister’s roommate at the time.

The couple celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary in December.

In 1949, Besser earned a law degree from Yale Law School and practiced law for about 50 years, mostly in New Jersey, before moving to Vermont. n

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At 6 o’clock on June 18, 2010, a lone keyboardist strikes the majestic first chords to “Pomp and Circumstance,” a signal to members of the public school’s 181st graduating class to make their way across the grass, through the aisle of folding chairs filled with relatives, and mount the makeshift stage placed beside the gazebo on the town common. Yet, before even the first full round of the melody is complete, the graduates of Craftsbury Academy arrive on stage—all seven of them.

The young men and women face the crowd composed of their teachers, parents, siblings, and neighbors. Three of the students slouch; one sits straight as a pillar. Their valedictorian, neither tense nor relaxed, perches impassively in his seat, as if he might be waiting to see a doctor instead of waiting to deliver a speech.

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hysically, the valedictorian is head and shoulders above his classmates—at six feet, he looks rugged, even covered by his gown. Academically, he stands out as well—he’s the recipient of the Green and Gold Scholarship, which provides free tuition to the University of Vermont for the student with the highest GPA. Over the years, anyone driving the town’s dirt roads would have seen this broad-shouldered teen dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt as he ambled to and from the town’s hilltop school. From a distance, he always appeared serious and focused, often wearing headphones over the short, mahogany brown hair framing his broad, open face.

Now, his AP government teacher stands and introduces John Dunbar, and summarizes what he’s like in person. “If I could describe John in a word? Mellow. He’s kind … easygoing, never angry, always polite.”

“Well, I guess we made it through high school,” John begins his valedictory speech. But his address to fellow classmates quickly becomes a confession of his personal dilemma—a conflict relevant to anyone sitting in a black cap and gown, facing the end of high school: Stay close to home? Go far away?

John enumerates his reasons to stay, describing his close-knit community of 1,100—a rural town with two convenience stores, two libraries, and two gas stations. John’s family has been an intrinsic part of the community for over a century. His father is a 10th-generation dairy farmer. And his mom, born in California and raised in Connecticut, has been teaching art at the Academy for two decades.

Back in 1990, after becoming the town’s new art teacher, Tulle Fogg joined the volunteer fire department as one of its first female members.

She’d served for almost a year when, one spring day, a fellow firefighter who’d never before spoken to her asked her out to a movie. They married that October.

John was born the following year.

Now, John tells the audience, he feels as if he could knock on anyone’s door, anytime of the day or night, if he needed help. Perhaps that’s because he was also raised to offer it. John reminisces about his boyhood days— how he’d be plugged into his iPod, listening to music, when suddenly he’d be summoned to scoop grain or shovel manure in the barn.

But John’s decision, to stay or go, is more complicated, as it also involves the future of his family’s farm.

“I really love doing chores, while I don’t see myself farming,” he says about his expected legacy. “I don’t see myself in a cubicle either.”

John feels ambivalence about his fellow graduates as well, telling the audience, “Sometimes I find myself at odds with my classmates.”

What John doesn’t say is that, for most of his life, he’s also felt at odds with his own body. What he knows, but doesn’t say, is that there are certain things for which he can’t ask anyone for help.

At least not yet.

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••• That September, John begins college in Burlington, 60 miles from the farm. But by November, an overwhelming depression takes hold. John routinely finds himself having thoughts such as, “I could take that handgun. I could put it to my head.”

One afternoon before Thanksgiving, John calls home, sobbing uncontrollably. John’s mother tries to console his uncharacteristic behavior on the telephone. She encourages him to seek out the school’s mental health services.

“You need to find help,” she urges her son.

Then one night, after contemplating using the internet cord as a noose, John dials a suicide hotline. Meetings with a mental health counselor at the college follow, as do a prescription for antidepressants. By spring, John drops out of college and moves back to the farm.

As a child, John always helped his dad. Feeding the cows, finding the cows. By middle school, John was operating heavy equipment—tractors and bucket loaders. Around 16, he hayed the fields, making labor-intensive square bales. There was always work to do, so much, in fact, that it distracted John—almost—from longing for a different body, kept him from thinking about how he was just pretending to be male.

After John moves back in with his parents, he tells his father: I don’t mind helping, but I don’t want to take over the farm. Two years later, in the spring of 2013, John’s father sells their Jersey herd.

Soon after, John begins working at a nearby cheese cellar.

Jasper Hill is the first large-scale cheese cave in the U.S. Built into the hillside of a farm along a dirt road in Greensboro, a town with a winter population of 400, the business employs 100 people who work in the fields, milk cows, and make, age, and ship cheese. The cellars, composed of seven vaults, radiate like fingers off a palm. Each vault is a tunnel, reminiscent of a movie theater’s depth, but narrower, and as unadorned as a war bunker. Pairs of fluorescent lights hang from the curved ceiling. Carts of cheeses line one side, each at a different stage of its life as they age.

Workers often tend the cheeses in pairs. Standing in the front of the cave, John and a coworker—both clad in hairnets, pristine rubber boots, immaculate white lab coats, and slick rubber aprons—work in synchrony, methodically brushing the cheeses (which look like little cakes dusted in

••• Five years after John’s move back to his parents’ house, in early February 2016, John and a friend hop in the car and make a run to McDonald’s—the closest fast-food franchise within 20 miles. As they cruise the winding road paralleling the Wildbranch’s eroded riverbanks, John’s friend asks, “So, if you had a superpower, what would it be?” John knows instantly what he’d say. He would have a compact with a little mirror—the kind rouge comes in—and he would open it, look in the mirror, and instantly become whichever gender he wished.

The men buy fries and bacon cheeseburgers and drive the dark road home.

The next morning, John gets up, dresses, and heads over to the caves.

He’s working by himself in the narrowest cave—Vault 2—washing and flipping 18-pound wheels of Alpha Tolman, an Alpine-style cheese made

powdered sugar) so they develop beautiful natural rinds. Each palms a cheese and briskly brushes it in a circular motion—whisk, whisk one way—and then, turning it over, whisk, whisk the other way. When the last cheese has been attended, without so much as a word, together they move the tray of newly brushed cheeses onto a stacking cart. Until all of the unbrushed cheeses are done.

with raw milk. As he listens to Kanye West on his iPod, he thinks: “Somehow, someway, something is fundamentally wrong with me.”

Then, suddenly, in that humid, 56-degree windowless cave, John feels as if he’s taken a blow to the head. He understands. He’s a woman.

OPAL SAVOY IN THE CHEESE CAVE at Jasper Hill in Greensboro, where she works. In September 2019, Opal will use a rider on the Green and Gold Scholarship she received to attend Northern Vermont University in Johnson to begin work on her masters in psychology. The annual scholarship provides free tuition to the University of Vermont for the student with the highest GPA in the state. Previous spread: On her grandfather’s farm in Craftsbury. Her father, a 10th generation dairy farmer, sold his Jersey herd a few years after Opal announced she wasn’t going to take over the farm.

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••• After his revelation, and at a friend’s suggestion, John drives three hours round-trip to attend a meeting at the Pride Center in Burlington. There, over several meetings, she discovers that transgenderism has its own spectrum and that for her, as far as knowing the gender of her soul, she has it easy. For example, one person at the meeting has a full beard and braided pigtails and thigh-high boots and seems to signal neither gender exclusively, and thus both.

In the days following her realization, John asks her sister, Lily, out to breakfast and talk.

Lily has a flashing thought: “Oh my gosh, he wants to be a woman.” But her brother is a manly guy—silly and goofy, always looking for a laugh, the kind of guy who fixes things, who works a chainsaw. She dismisses the thought.

Lily and John drive 30 minutes to the Charlmont in Morrisville for breakfast, where they eat and talk about easy things and then head back.

As they rattle down Cemetery Road, minutes from the family farm, Lily says, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Did I just lose my friend? John wonders.

A day later Evan asks, “Wait, are you serious?”

“I’m a lady living in a man’s body.”

For a few weeks, Evan continues to have doubts, wondering if John is choosing this because he wants some kind of change in his life. Will he regret this years from now? But for now, Evan honors what his friend has shared and asks, “Have you chosen a name?”

••• When I first reach out to Opal to ask if I can write about what it’s like to be a transgender person in a tiny New England community, she writes back, “I would be more than happy to sit down with you.”

However, after our initial meeting, when I ask if I may tag along on her visit to the endocrinologist, where she will receive her first prescription for estrogen, she writes back: “I am not opposed to having company on my trip.

••• A week later, John sits with his mother and his father at the square table after dinner, trying to figure out how to tell them. Finally John breaks it to them: “One of you gave me the wrong chromosome.”

John’s parents remain silent. For Tulle, this is the last thing she expects.

When she was growing up, her father was in the Air Force. As the family relocated from coast to coast, she didn’t know any gay people, much less transgender ones. She is shell-shocked. Then sad, hurt, as if somehow she is losing, or has lost, her son.

She knew how that felt, because when John was 10 months old, she thought he was going to die. She’d taken him to Florida to meet her parents. While they were there, John had trouble breathing, so Tulle rushed her baby to a local clinic where they put him in a helicopter and flew him to a pediatric emergency room in Orlando. Tulle had to drive two-and-a-half hours to the hospital where her son was hooked up to a respirator. Thinking this could be the end, she called her husband, who was milking the cows back in Vermont. They raided their savings so John’s father could fly down to say goodbye. After he landed, they discovered that John had croup.

Now John is telling her parents that she is their daughter. Not only that, John is changing her name, even her last name … their longstanding family name. They sit around the table and let the information sink in. The cows are gone, the farming way of life is done. And, now, their son isn’t even—or was never?—their son.

Tulle racks her mind for signs she missed along the way and she remembers how John had always relished an opal necklace. John’s father is quiet. But a few days later he goes to the computer and Googles “Therapists for trans people in Vermont.”

••• Back at work in the cheese vault, John prepares to tell Evan, a coworker and close friend. They are on the Skyjack turning cheeses. They’ve logged hundreds of hours together, washing and turning wheels of cheese, some as heavy as kettlebells. They share a brash humor and salty vocabulary. In the cave, the ammonia fumes are intense.

As the two work side by side, Evan kills a podcast on his iPhone—a series about the Roman Empire—telling John, “It’s too dry.” John replies, “Well, I’ve got something interesting I could share.”

He turns to Evan and says, “I’m going to be a woman.” Evan doesn’t respond because John says outrageous things all the time.

I just want to ask what you are maybe hoping to get out of it? It’s just a personal thing and I’m not sure how the appointment or aftermath might go.”

Transgenderism, as Opal knows, is an invasive topic by nature. “Are you going to cut off your dick?” Evan asks her. Later, “So what do the hormones do?”

I tell Opal that my intention for this story is to illustrate what it’s like to be trans in a rural community and, through portraying it honestly, offer courage to likeminded individuals and offer points of connection for those friends and family members who aren’t sure what this all means.

In many ways, you are a pioneer in new territory, I tell her, and because of the steps you are taking, it may be easier for those who come after you.

OPAL AT HER APARTMENT, which is about a mile from the family farm where she grew up and a 10-minute commute to Jasper Hill.

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••• At the time, a Vermonter who wished to transition had to engage in counseling with a gender dysphoria specialist and wait a minimum of six months before receiving the referral needed to meet with an endocrinologist and begin receiving hormone therapy.

Every month for over a year, John Dunbar, who now identifies as Opal Toussaint Savoy, travels 126 miles round trip to visit a licensed counselor who specializes in transgendered patients. And now, having completed the mandated sessions and meeting with the endocrinologist at a hospital 180 miles in another direction, Opal has one more thing to consider before beginning hormone therapy: Should she want to save her sperm, known as fertility storage, she will have to pay $1,500 to do so.

Since that winter day in the cheese cave, there have been a thousand unique moments for which none of her schooling has prepared her. For instance, in human sexuality class, she was taught there are two genders

stayed in the area anyway, getting a job working behind the counter of the Village Store, where locals buy gas, homemade macaroni salad, potato chips, and cigarettes. When she first met John, she was standing behind the counter and in comes this big, brown-eyed guy with a bouquet of freshly picked flowers. “These are to welcome you to the community,” he said.

For Paige, those flowers were more than a welcome offering to a newcomer; they confirmed she belonged here. Upon seeing Opal’s online update, Paige realized she had something to offer back. Soon the two were sitting at the kitchen table where Paige helped Opal apply foundation to cover her 5 o’clock shadow. Opal studied her face in the compact’s mirror: She saw the gender she had always been, despite her anatomy.

When Opal tries to express what it’s like to be a female whose body is male, she compares her mind to a computer with too many windows open, too many simultaneous functions. Now, as she takes progressive steps to become thoroughly female, she’s been untraining the masculinity she mas-

and two potential sexual preferences (gay and straight.) “You put the condom on the banana and that’s it,” recalled Opal, summing up her preparation for sexual maturity.

Does she want gender reassignment surgery? Right now, no. Opal has something less than deep appreciation for her penis, but “it pees when I need to pee; it does the sex thing when I need to do that; it’s not my choice instrument.”

In the meantime, she keeps taking steps toward her transition, such as updating her Facebook page. When one of her friends, Paige, notices the change, she sends an email saying, “Hey! I used to be a beauty consultant.

I can teach you a few things.” Paige moved to town from the Midwest around the same time as John’s graduation from Craftsbury Academy.

When Paige’s AmeriCorps position at a nearby farm fell through, Paige

tered as a means of survival. It starts when she opens her eyes in the morning—she needs to move like a woman. So, she reminds herself, how does a female amble to the bathroom, versus a male?

This translation between her birth gender and soul gender continues throughout the day. She tells herself to walk with her elbows in close to the body versus the masculine posture of having them stick out; she coaches herself to pull her shoulders back, to open her chest. She stays conscious of her body as she sits down in a chair; she modulates her voice when she speaks. She wants to sound like a woman. “You are a woman,” she tells herself despite the face in the mirror, the face that she shaves with a razor.

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At work, she can’t signal her femininity—makeup is prohibited for sanitation reasons and everybody wears gender-neutral cheese handling uniforms. But on the weekends, she likes to get in “her regalia,” and be what she calls “in full Opal mode.”

••• On the day Opal receives her first hormone therapy, she steers the car into the lot at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. As she strides toward the entrance, people headed in the opposite direction pretend not to notice her, but some swivel. Opal’s strapping figure is sheathed in a snug, short dress with padding in the breast area. Even though it’s a chilly day in late winter, her legs are bare and she’s wearing beige boots with 2-inch heels.

She’s got on smoky eye shadow, accentuating her doe-like eyes.

Her chin-length hair is glossy black and peeks out from under a flapper-era felt cap.

The waiting room of the endocrinology department is packed with patients in their 60 and 70s wearing turtlenecks, sweatshirts, and jackets. Opal is easily half their age and knows they’re dealing with potentially lifethreatening illnesses, a situation she views as distinctly different from her purpose in being here.

Nevertheless, her body’s war with itself is exhausting. And today a doctor will offer her treatment.

When the receptionist asks for a name, Opal says John because it’s the name listed on her mother’s health insurance.

Is there a name you prefer to be called? the receptionist asks.

In spite of her answer, 10 minutes later a nurse emerges and calls out, John?

As the nurse scans the full waiting room, perhaps expecting an elderly man in blue jeans, all eyes follow Opal as she stands, pats her skirt and follows the nurse.

Opal remerges 40 minutes later and heads to another department in the hospital for additional blood work. Opal’s doctor will analyze her blood and call in a prescription to the local Rite Aid. “It’s exciting, but it’s not,” Opal says.

The doctor needs to calibrate the right dosage of hormones so it won’t overtax Opal’s liver, the organ that processes medicine. This isn’t a onetime prescription. It’s not like getting antibiotics for an infection. This is the beginning of a daily, lifelong habit of providing her body with the chemical that will void her ability to father biological children. It will not

only depress her natural muscle strength, soften the features of her face, and reduce the production of body hair, but it will cause mood swings and intense feelings.

Opal returns from giving blood and remarks, “I think I was making the people in the waiting room feel kinda uncomfortable.”

••• As the automatic doors open, Opal leaves the hospital and thinks she understands what those looks in the waiting room meant. “This is where everybody comes to get bad news. And I just got my life’s wish granted today.”

SITTING WITH HER MOTHER, Tulle Fogg, Opal holds a photo of the two of them when she was John.

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Opal straps herself into her Honda and steers the vehicle north, 91 miles, to the local pharmacy. As she drives the interstate, Opal tallies the things she wants to do now that she’s about to begin taking hormones. Top of the list? Hair removal. So she’s going to make an electrolysis appointment. She’s going to go to the county courthouse and have her name officially changed. She’s going to get a new Social Security number, new bank account, and new driver’s license. She’s also going to cut back on carbs to drop a few pounds. “I know this might sound silly or frivolous or shallow, but hips. I just want hips.”

••• Billy Joel’s emphatic “Tell Her About It” is playing over the pharmacy sound system as Opal browses the beverages and magazines in Rite Aid, waiting for her prescription. In the months leading up to this moment, Opal has asked herself, “Do I need to save my sperm?” While the urge to be herself is stronger than the need to have biological children, if she begins taking the hormones that the pharmacist is counting out and pouring into a plastic bottle, she knows that 15 years from now that decision could come back to “bite her in the ass.” But her limited finances, coupled with her desire to be completely female, supersede her desire to have children that carry her genes.

“Sign here, click ‘yes’ and then you’re done,” the pharmacist says.

Opal immediately opens the white paper bag. Back in the car, she cradles the bottles in her broad palm, the palm she’s used to fit the inflation tubes on the teats of milk cows, to steer tractor, to shovel manure. The same hands she’s clamped on hefty wheels of cheese.

She examines the bottles, studying them one at a time.

The first bottle contains pills to reduce body hair growth and water retention. The other is estrogen, a light dosage that will increase incrementally over the months and years and decades.

Opal feels like she’s holding her life in these two little bottles. It’s a very different feeling from when she filled a prescription for antidepressants. She stopped taking those medications because they made her feel ill, even if they also made her somewhat numb to her powerful sadness.

As she steers back onto Route 14, she keeps the pills in her lap, where she can clasp them with a free hand. And yet, as she accelerates into the final 12 miles back to the family farm, she knows this event that means so much will register differently with her parents. “They’re not going to congratulate me,” Opal predicts.

••• One weekend, a few months after beginning hormones, Opal plans to run some errands. Deciding whether to leave the house in full Opal regalia, or in something more conservative, is something she thinks about carefully. For instance, she will not go to the Village Store—where Paige used to work as a cashier—unless she can pass as male. If she’s overly cautious, she knows there won’t be any issues. She feels like in today’s world, meaning in today’s Northeast Kingdom, it’s socially acceptable to be gay, but not transgender.

The bucolic town of Craftsbury hasn’t been immune to incidences of racist and anti-gay sentiment in the last few years. In 2017, someone took a can of black spray paint and, using a white fabric-sided barn as a canvas, wrote and drew hateful terms and symbols for different races, religions, and

sexual preferences. Coincidentally, or perhaps deliberately, the barn was on a property belonging to Jasper Hill (though it was not located at the cellar’s main campus), whose staff comprises this diverse spectrum of people.

No one has been charged in this or a few similar occurrences in the area. Is Opal concerned about the graffiti? She chalks it up to ignorance. A dumb hillbilly redneck, she says, who enjoys wallowing in his ignorance.

Women—meaning “cis-gendered,” or a biologically born woman— scare her more. She feels there’s an underlying prejudice, contempt, or discounting by some women toward transgendered females, along the lines of “you’re not a real woman.”

Tulle, Opal’s mother, has worked to understand her son, now her daughter. She knows that she is smart, methodical, careful. The way Tulle sees it, there is no way her eldest daughter can know what it’s like to get your period once a month for 40 years, but here’s what she would tell other parents who have just discovered their son or daughter is transgendered: “Just be 100 percent supportive. Love your kid.”

As for Evan—his friend is still his friend, despite the change of gender.

“Opal has the same sense of humor and demeanor—morose and melancholy, and then again sparkly as hell.” And as for which bathroom to use at work, Opal receives an official “Welcome” to the ladies room with a card that reads: “I admire your courage … I can’t imagine how much more difficult (embodying one’s true self) … must be in a low population density, where support and kinship might be harder to find.”

••• Eight years after graduation, and only a few days after turning 26, Opal wakes up in her bedroom in Barre, a city of 9,000, about a 45-minute commute from the cheese caves. She has recently moved out of her parents’ house and into this bungalow she rents with a friend. She tugs on her skinny black jeans and brushes her shoulder-length ebony hair. She applies some eye makeup because she’s headed to the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew her license. She’d like to be pretty in the photo even if these pictures never fulfill this wish.

This morning Opal doesn’t need to shave—she’s had laser hair removal and her cheeks are luminous. In the year and a half since she began taking hormones, she’s also legally changed her name and Social Security number. “John doesn’t exist anymore.”

Her name now matches the name covered by her mother’s health insurance and the title to her vehicle. Other situations defy solutions. For instance, she did not go hunting with her father last fall, because although John passed the requisite hunter safety class, the game warden has no record for a hunter named Opal. She also notices she’s miserable only once every couple of months now, instead of every single day.

When Opal arrives at the DMV around 9:15 a.m., there’s already a room full of people. She takes a number, L422, and, glancing at the board, sees that they are currently serving L12. Finally, an electronic voice announces her number and directs her to counter six. At the counter, a woman looks at Opal’s documentation and comments, “Oh, I see your address has changed.” Then the woman snaps Opal’s picture for the license and tells her to take a seat. They’ll summon her when the license is ready.

Lately, to her happiness and relief, Opal has been “passing” as female.

The other day, when she was having lunch with a friend, the waitress came over and said, “So what can I get for you ladies?”

Finally, one of the DMV staff calls her name across the waiting room: “Opal? Opal Savoy.” n

RESOURCES: pridecentervt.org and t-vox.org/about.

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MOUNTAIN

A view of Camel’s Hump and the spine of mountains that make up the Greens. The proposed Green Mountain Parkway would have run along the flanks, not peaks, of the Green Mountains, from the border with Massachusetts 260 miles to Canada.

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PARKWAY When Vermont considered building a highway through the Greens

STORY

: Mark Bushnell

COVER

PHOTO

: Paul Rogers

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Atop Mount Mansfield, looking west toward Underhill and Lake Champlain. The Green Mountain Parkway would have graced the lower flank of Mount Mansfield, but on the Underhill, not Stowe, side.

Insets: Project proponents James P. Taylor, father of the Long Trail and Green Mountain Club, and Col. William Wilgus, a civil engineer who envisioned a highway running along the flanks of Vermont’s Green Mountains. Next page: A map of the Stowe section of the Green Mountain Parkway, noted in green.

C

ol. William Wilgus must have enviTaylor, father of the Long Trail and the Green Mountain Club. Taylor’s sioned it as the ambitious project that backing would help blunt claims that the road would despoil Vermont. would cap his illustrious career.

Taylor and the other founders of the Green Mountain Club modeled it As a civil engineer, Wilgus had after the Sierra Club, which was launched by renowned naturalist John helped design the new Grand Central Muir. But Taylor was no John Muir. Whereas Muir was an ardent enviTerminal and the Holland Tunnel in ronmentalist, Taylor was a promoter of whatever he thought would New York City, had run the U.S. Army increase the vitality of his state, whether it involved its nature or its transportation service in France during economy, which made him as enthusiastic about roads as he was about the Great War (which would later become known as trails. Indeed, after helping start the Green the First World War), and had even righted some of Mountain Club, he became secretary of the the columns of the Parthenon in Athens.

Greater Vermont Association, which later Now, having retired to Vermont, Wilgus looked out became the state Chamber of Commerce. at the Green Mountains and imagined a highway runTogether, Taylor and Wilgus began ralning along their flanks. In his vision, this road, soon to lying public support for the parkway. In be dubbed the Green Mountain Parkway, would cover June 1932, Taylor took a group of 260 miles, from the Massachusetts line to the Canadian Vermont business leaders to meet with border. It would employ thousands of Vermonters who planners from Westchester County, outside had been left jobless by the Depression, bring countless New York City. Describing the meeting in visitors to the state and, best of all, cost Vermont a press release to newspapers, Taylor James P. Taylor and Col. William Wilgus. almost nothing. This was the 1930s and the federal wrote that the group had studied the area’s government, through its New Deal economic recovery roadways and heard planners offer such plan, was spending millions on public works programs. insights as “It’s shrubbery that makes a city.”

The project seemed unstoppable. Vermont’s share of the $18 million The group, Taylor wrote, came away with “the conviction that the project would be a scant $500,000. That money would buy rights of more Vermonters study Westchester County, the better for Vermont.” way (amounting to roughly 50,000 acres) along the route. The state Taylor clearly believed that Vermont should be more like the suburbs would then deed that land to the federal government, which would desto its south. Writing to another state chamber official, Taylor stated that ignate it a national park. if Vermonters examined the communities and parkways of Westchester Wilgus had influential allies, among them legislative leaders, former County, “there will seep into the Vermont consciousness more and more governors, and famed author Dorothy Canfield Fisher of Arlington. the ideas and tastes and desires that we need to inculcate in order to Most importantly, though, he had an indefatigable ally in James P. keep things going along the way in which they have been started.”

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Helping promote the parkway were some newspapers in northern and central Vermont.

The Burlington Free Press editorialized strongly in favor of the road. And, according to Taylor’s notes, the Waterbury Record wrote in August 1933 that “when a man of the experience (and) knowledge that (the) Colonel possesses figures that it is a good thing for Vermont to do, (the) right thing to do, it just behooves the average person to fall into line, (and) go through with this man who is trying to do so much for Vermont.”

Part of the reason the parkway’s supporters pushed so hard for it was that the road had many opponents. Chief among them was the Green Mountain Club itself. In 1933, GMC trustees declared the organization “unalterably opposed to the construction of such a highway.” The parkway would cause “the abandonment of the Long Trail of the Green Mountain Club and would commercialize a section of the State that has so far been unspoiled but has been opened up by the Green Mountain Club’s Trails to lovers of the outdoors in its natural state,” the trustees wrote.

If an environmental argument didn’t win people over, trustees added that maintenance of the road could become a financial burden to the state. Furthermore, some argued, there was no guarantee that, once started, the federal government would ever finish the road.

Among the club’s most influential members were Rep. Mortimer Proctor (soon to be speaker of the House and later governor) and Henry Field, publisher of the Rutland Herald, at the time the most state’s influential paper.

The parkway’s opponents relied on arguments that the road would scar the state’s beloved Green Mountains, invite development into the wilderness, physically divide the state east and west, as it had always been divided politically; make it impossible to drive across Vermont without crossing federal land, draw tourists away from the villages, which needed their business; and attract a “flood of undesirable visitors.” To some observers, this fear of “undesirable” types smacked of elitism and perhaps also racism and anti-semitism.

The distrust of outsiders extended to suspicion of the promoters themselves. Here, parkway opponents argued, was a pair of non-native Vermonters (Wilgus and Taylor were both from upstate New York) inviting the federal government in to make mischief.

Parkway supporters, for their part, couldn’t understand why opponents would reject the blessings of modernity and the economic benefits this state-of-the-art parkway would bring.

Wilgus assured Vermonters that the road’s landscaping and layout would block it from the ears and eyes of hikers. He also attacked

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those who worried about “undesirable visitors.” “As if we wished to remain a ‘hermit kingdom’ for all time,” Wilgus wrote emphatically, “just because an occasional visitor via the parkway may not be all that is to be desired.” Privately, he called people who worried about newcomers “snobs” and complained about the Herald’s “poisonous activities.”

By 1934, supporters seemed to have the upper hand. The state and federal government were treating the project as if it were a done deal. A team of surveyors, engineers, and architects began laying out the road, plotting how it would run along the flanks of Glastonbury Mountain, Killington Peak, Camels Hump and Mount Mansfield before ending at the Canadian border in a national park surrounding Jay Peak.

Even GMC’s trustees began to view it as inevitable, and worked to minimize its impact. The club proposed running the parkway through the state’s valleys to protect the mountains and keep visitors in the villages, where their business was needed.

The Vermont Legislature finally voted on the Green Mountain Parkway in early 1935. The proposal easily passed the Senate, 19-11. But supporters were shocked when the House narrowly defeated it, 126-111. A shift of eight votes would have given Parkway backers their highway.

Wilgus was stung. He wrote Taylor that summer: “It is really too bad that Vermonters have so deliberately turned their back on their great opportunity, thus alienating the powers at Washington in whose hands lies the expenditure of fifteen to twenty million dollars of Vermont’s own money!”

Taylor wrote back, offering Wilgus hope. “Well, it’s a process to which we are more or less accustomed, this mental measles before projects are accepted here in Vermont, as well as everywhere else. It took years to sell the Long Trail idea some places in Vermont.”

Of the House’s defeat of the proposal, he wrote, “There was a lot of personal and political pathology in it all. It is easier to analyze a situation than to change it, but here’s hoping we can gradually change it.”

Clockwise, this page: A cross-section of the parkway on Bromley Mountain. The Green Mountain Parkway survey. Parkway engineers Col. William J. Wilgus, Henry Holt, Jr., John Nolen, Hubert E. Sargent, H. J. Spelman, George Z. Thompson, Thomas C. Vint, L. H. Schwartz, and L. D. Cox. The same photo (next page) illustrated the April 5, 1934 edition of the Burlington Free Press and Times, marking the start of engineering work on the roadway. The front page of the March 3, 1936 Barre-Montpelier Times Argus on the day of the parkway vote, noting lots of reasons to vote “No,” and no reason to vote “Yes.”(Images courtesy of the Vermont Historical Society.)

The vote was so tight, and feelings on both sides so intense, that Vermont legislators decided to reconvene that December to reconsider the issue. They ultimately decided to put the parkway’s fate before the people. Under the state Constitution, Vermont has no public referendum system— only the Legislature can set law. But legislators wanted the public to make this difficult decision, so they found a clever workaround. In their special session, lawmakers approved funding for the parkway with two enactment dates—one in 1936, the other in 1941.

It was essentially a yes-or-no vote on the highway. The Legislature informed the public that if they picked 1936, the road was a go. If they chose 1941, lawmakers promised to repeal the funding.

On Town Meeting Day 1936, Vermonters finally got a chance to weigh in on the debate and crowded town halls to vote. They were far less divided than their representatives, defeating the parkway 42,318 to 30,897, or by a margin of 58 percent to 42.

Politicians and scholars have debated the meaning of the vote ever since. Some argue it was the victory of southern Vermonters, who feared tourists would zoom right past them, over northern Vermonters, who thought they’d snare that business. Others say it was victory of those who feared modernity over those who embraced it. Or it was the triumph of conservationists over capitalists. Or Republicans overwhelming Democrats. Or native Vermont conservatism defeating the big, federal government.

Whatever it signified, the public’s vote meant one thing for sure: the Green Mountain Parkway was dead. n

Mark Bushnell is a Vermont journalist and historian. He is the author of “Hidden History of Vermont” and “It Happened in Vermont.”

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Goddess of Agriculture

BOUND FOR GLORY In an expansive, former granite shed in Barre, Vt., Calais-based woodcarver Chris Miller brought his 14-foot-tall commissioned statue upright for the first time. The Statehouse-destined carving, having reclined for months while being hewn, stood with the help of a ceiling crane and custom steel armature.

Its creator gazed in rapt attention upon his work-in-progress, one rough hand covering his bearded face. “Wow! It is so large,” came his almost-whispered exclamations. Viewing the statue from a distance in its destined position was much different than seeing it in repose at close range. His 3,500 pound sculpted lady with a 160-year ancestry, made of long-lasting tropical mahogany, was coming to life.

The first statue to adorn the top of Vermont’s Statehouse dome was made in 1858, an allegorical representation of agriculture carved from white pine. Officially titled Agriculture, it was said to have been nicknamed Ceres after the Roman goddess of agriculture by 1900. It was replaced by a rough, “folk-art” version named Ceres II after 80 years of Vermont weather, and 80 years after that—in 2018—a third was being formed.

This most recent statue was based on the earliest drawings and photographs of the original. Designed and modeled by sculptor Jerry Williams of Johnson, the final carving was undertaken by Miller throughout the summer and fall of 2018 in the historic Vermont Granite Museum building. The artist patiently answered questions from visitors during public viewing hours as he chiseled, sanded, painted, and gilded his way to a late-November deadline.

Williams and Miller saw the fruit of their labor, once again officially named Agriculture, ascend to our Capitol’s golden dome after a public ceremony at the Statehouse in Montpelier.

They were awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts for their project.

Photographer Paul Rogers, a native of Stowe, photographed the creation and installation of the Agriculture statue for his Stick Season documentary project, in conjunction with the office of the Vermont state curator.

E S S AY

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& PHOTOGRAPHS

| PAUL ROGERS

HOMEWARD BOUND Woodcarver Chris Miller lays his sculpture down for transport after completing it at the Vermont Granite Museum in Barre. Miller spent four months working on the statue, which now sits atop the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier.

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LABOR OF LOVE Sculptor and woodworker Chris Miller spent four months carving his 14-foot tall version of the Goddess of Agriculture out of mahogany, which is resistant to rot and insects. The wood’s lack of knots and light weight also make it easier to carve. It took four months, working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, to complete the statue for its eventual placement atop the Vermont Statehouse dome. From top left: Using a one-quarter-scale replica crafted by sculptor Jerry Williams, Miller chisels the sculpture into shape. Williams, state curator David Schütz, and Miller. Detail of the statue’s foot. Miller applies gold leaf to a star on the figure’s forehead. Carving the intricate sheaf of wheat. Next page: Nicknamed Ceres, the finished piece makes her way to the top of the Golden Dome with the help of a computer-programmed crane and custom steel armature.

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ALLEGORY OF AGRICULTURE Chris Miller puts the finishing touches to Ceres. A crowd gathers at the Vermont Granite Museum in Barre to admire the finished statue. Next page: The sculpted replica upon which Miller based his carving. Here, Miller and a friend gaze at his work-in progress, in its upright position for the first time.

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GORDON MILLER

SHOPPING & GALLERIES

t

Five contemporary artists interpret JOY, a recent exhibit at the West Branch Gallery in Stowe. Shown is Kim Radochia’s Sparkspine 1, paper and red nylon cord.

Inset: Jeffersonville Against Purple Mountain, detail, by Mary Bryan, Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville.

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EXHIBITS & OPENINGS BREAD & PUPPET MUSEUM

COURTESY PHOTO

HE HELEN DAY ART CENTER OCCUPIES THE CENTRAL PLACE IN STOWE’S ART scene, both literally and figuratively.

Since taking over the top floor of the old Stowe High School building at the head of School Street in 1981, the Helen Day has provided Stowe with world-class exhibits, community programs, art education, and outreach to tens of thousands of schoolchildren. Notable artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Wolf Kahn, have shared the space with local artists such as Stan Marc Wright, Rett Sturman, and Walton Blodgett, and with countless others from throughout Vermont, the region, and the world.

On the other side of the mountain, the Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville is named for Jeffersonville artists Mary and Alden Bryan. Mary Bryan died in 1978 and her husband, also now deceased, built and opened the nonprofit gallery in her memory in 1984.

753 Heights Rd., Route 122, Glover. (802) 525-3031.

Daily June to Nov. 1, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Museum tours: 1:30 p.m. Sundays and 6:30 p.m. Fridays, July and August.

June 2 Museum Open House, 2 - 5 p.m. Bread & Puppet show, Paper Maché Cathedral, 4 p.m.

Suggested donation $10; no one turned away.

June 9 – 30 Diagonal Life: Theory and Praxis, Paper Maché Cathedral, 3 p.m.

BRYAN MEMORIAL GALLERY 180 Main Street, Jeffersonville. Spring and fall: Thursday - Sunday, 11 - 4; Summer, daily, 11 - 5. (802) 644-5100. bryangallery.org.

Year round 2019 Legacy Collection Through June 23 Ebb and Flow, Mary & Alden Seaside June 27 – September 2 Then & Now and More Then & Now September 5 – November 35 Land and Light and Water and Air and Mary & Alden Vermont November 7 – December 22 2019 GEMS & Giants and Mary & Alden Tropics

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COURTESY PHOTOS; BECAUSE OF JOHN: SABIN GRATZ

EXHIBITS & OPENINGS

HELEN DAY ART CENTER THE HELEN DAY ART CENTER and the Stowe Free Library share a beautifully restored 1863 Greek Revival building in the heart of picturesque Stowe Village. The center, with a focus on contemporary art, offers exhibitions of local, national, and international artists. Art classes and workshops, lectures, and children’s programs are offered throughout the year.

HELEN DAY ART CENTER 90 Pond St., Stowe Village. Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Free; donations welcome. helenday.com.

(802) 253-8358.

June 22 – August 24 Dusty Boynton: Reliefs

A series of Boynton’s reliefs, painted and cut figures on wood. The sophistication and emotional intelligence that pours through her gestural figures is powerfully resonating. Opening, June 22, 5 - 7 p.m.

Curated by Rachel Moore.

June 22 – August 24 Suzy Spence: On the Hunt

Paintings in On the Hunt are executed in Spence’s lucid gestural hand. East Gallery. Opening, June 22, 5 - 7 p.m. Curated by Amy Rahn.

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June 22 – August 24 Composing Form

Group exhibition of contemporary ceramics that is both poetic and humorous, referencing human history, intervention, and experience.

Opening, June 22, 5 - 7 p.m.

Curated by Rachel Moore.

July 20 – October 19 Exposed

28th outdoor sculpture exhibition.

Sculptural, site-specific, and participatory work from regional and national artists exhibited around the art center. Opening, July 20, 4 p.m.

September 20 – November 9 Fall Exhibition Exhibition on cultural identity and social justice.

November 26 – January 4 The Members’ Art Show & Festival of Trees & Light

Community celebrates the season through decorated evergreens, a Hanukkah display, and more than 100 members’ artwork. Opening celebration: December 6, 5 - 7 p.m.

January 24 – April 11 2020 Winter Exhibition From top: Suzy Spence, Ophelia in Spurs (2), Early spring 2020 2018, flashe on paper, 13.5"x17". Dusty Boynton, Helen Day’s popular spring gala. Lodge at Because of John, 2011-2012, structured relief, Spruce Peak. Tickets: helenday.com. n

67"x 47". Members’ art show.

EXHIBITS

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2019 EXHIBITIONS GRACE OLD FIREHOUSE

Johnny Swing: Design Sense

The art of Grass Roots Art & Community Effort.

59 Mill St., Hardwick. (802) 472-6857, Tuesday – Thursday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. graceart.org.

FEBRUARY 2–JUNE 2

Prototypes and finished products illuminate the creative process of the Vermont-based studio furniture maker and lighting designer.

Through April 11 EXPLORE Instructors Through June 13 Permanent collection June 13 – September 12 Invited Artists (iPhone photography) September 12 – November 13

Harold Weston: Freedom in the Wilds

Gayleen Aiken

MARCH 23–AUGUST 25 Gayleen Aiken, detail, The Raimbilli Children showing off at their kitchen table on their farm.

Early Adirondack paintings, selections from Weston’s Stone Series, and ephemera connect the human spirit and nature.

William Wegman: Outside In JUNE 22–OCTOBER 20

A comprehensive exhibition intimately exploring over four decades of the internationally renowned artist’s sustained relationship and playful engagement with the natural world.

William Wegman, Handstanding, 2011. Pigment print, 22 x 17 in. Courtesy of the artist and Sperone, Westwater, New York.

Visit shelburnemuseum.org for hours, admission rates, and events.

6000 Shelburne Rd., Shelburne, VT 05482 (802) 985.3346

GREEN MOUNTAIN FINE ART GALLERY 64 S. Main St., Stowe Village. (802) 253-1818. greenmountainfineart.com.

Traditional and contemporary works by Vermont and regional artists.

HELEN DAY ART CENTER Stowe Village, Stowe. (802) 253-8358. Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. helenday.com.

See exhibits, page 106.

LITTLE RIVER HOTGLASS STUDIO 593 Moscow Rd., Moscow. littleriverhotglass.com.

(802) 253-0889. Nationally recognized art glass studio, features Stowe artist Michael Trimpol’s studio.

MONTSHIRE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE 1 Montshire Rd., Norwich, Vt. (802) 649-2200. montshire.org. Daily 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Exhibits include Destination: Space!, Making Music, Science Discover Lab, Discovering the Natural World, and more. Nature trails.

NORTHWOOD GALLERY 151 Main Street, Stowe. (802) 760-6513. northwoodgallery.com. Work by Vermont artisans: jewelry, fiber, wood, pottery, glass, sculpture, illustration, soaps, paintings, photography, more.

Rotating demonstrations.

RIVER ARTS CENTER 74 Pleasant St., Morrisville. (802) 888-1261. Fees, registration, materials: riverartsvt.org.

July – September Morrisville Mosaics & Undercover: Figurative

work. Reception July 11, 5 - 7 p.m.

ROBERT PAUL GALLERIES COMPANY STORE | RT 100, WATERBURY CENTER ( 10 minutes from Stowe Village)

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LakeChamplainChocolates .com

Baggy Knees Shopping Center, 394 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-7282. robertpaulgalleries.com.

Original paintings, sculpture, and photography from dozens of noted artists. >>224

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Jim Westphalen

Thank you, Stowe, for over 20 years of supporting contemporary fine artists from our region and beyond

Julia Jensen

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Kevin Kearns

John Joseph Hanright

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COURTESY PHOTOS; ACROBATS: BRITTANY APP

MIXED MEDIA

Ana Padron and Diego Blanco, Stowe Tango Music Festival; Francesca Blanchard; Peking Acrobats; and Jefferson Starship.

SPRUCE PEAK ARTS CENTER SPRUCE PEAK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 122 Hourglass Drive, Spruce Peak at Stowe Mountain Resort. sprucepeakarts.org.

(802) 760-4634. Subject to change.

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June 13

July 5

ArtSmart: Ballet and the Carmen Suite Marya Carmolli of Vermont Farm to Ballet moderates a pre-film conversation for Bolshoi Ballet Carmen Suite / Petrushka. Noon.

June 13 The Bolshoi Ballet—Carmen Suite / Petrushka Passionate one-act ballet originally conceived for legendary Bolshoi prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, plus “Petrushka,” a new creation by contemporary choreographer Edward Clug. The soul of Russian ballet. 1 p.m.

June 23 Jefferson Starship The classic rock band featuring original members David Freiberg and Donny Baldwin, along with new members, anchored by vocalist Cathy Richardson in the Grace Slick slot. 7 p.m.

June 26 ArtSmart: Dialogues des Carmelites Join Kevin Ginter, a classically trained opera professional, and learn about the story and history Dialogues des Carmelites. Noon.

June 26 The Met Opera: Dialogues des Carmelites Poulenc’s devastatingly modern masterpiece of faith and martyrdom.

Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard is the young Blanche de La Force, opposite Met legend Karita Mattila as the First Prioress. 1 p.m.

Peking Acrobats Daring Chinese acrobats perform maneuvers atop a precarious pagoda of chairs and display their technical prowess at such arts as trick-cycling, precision tumbling, juggling, somersaulting, and gymnastics. 3 and 7 p.m.

July 15 – 19 Fractured Fairy Tales Camp Campers learn improv, acting, singing, play-building. 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

July 20 Judy Collins Award-winning singer-songwriter esteemed for her imaginative interpretations of traditional and contemporary folk standards and her own poetically poignant original compositions. 7 p.m.

August 2 Natalie Merchant Alternative rock singer-songwriter and solo artist, formerly of the band 10,000 Maniacs. 7 p.m.

August 10 – 11 Spruce Peak Folk Festival A wonderland of traditional and cutting-edge Americana, bluegrass, and folk with Francesca Blanchard, Mipso, The Milk Carton Kids, Lowell Thompson, Parsonsfield, and Shawn Colvin. On the green at Spruce Peak. 3:30 start both days.

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MIXED MEDIA

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SATURDAY CINEMA ON THE LAWN

Jazz, Scat, Spoken Poetry Camp!

Campers explore their jazz “voice” during a fun-filled, creative, and multi-disciplinary week.

9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. (Ages 8 to 14) August 17 Stowe Tango Music Festival Concert Led by Argentine bandoneon virtuoso Hector Del Curto, the concert features tango legends, acclaimed dancers, 30-piece orchestra.

4 and 8 p.m.

September 17 & 18 Margaret Atwood: Live in Cinemas HD Live from the London stage, an intimate event with Atwood, spotlighting her signature insight, humor, and intellect and a first look into her new book, “The Testaments,” the followup to “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Tuesday, 7 p.m., Wednesday, 1 p.m.

Dave Keller.

August 10 Favorite Things lawn party and The Sound of Music.

SPRUCE PEAK FOLK FESTIVAL On the village green, Spruce Peak at Stowe. sprucepeak.com.

August 10 – 11 Live performances, food, local brews. See

June 21 – August 30 Fridays, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

On the village green, Spruce Peak at Stowe. sprucepeak.com.

STOWE & MAD RIVER DANCE ACADEMIES Dibden Center for the Arts, Johnson State College.

Tickets: stowedance.com or 435-222-2TIX.

October 20 Heady Trotter 4-miler, post-race party, music and libations. Lawn game zone with cornhole and beer pong, food trucks. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

May 31 – June 2 Peter Pan & An Evening of Dance: 6 - 9 p.m.

CHOCOLATE DIPPING DEMOS Laughing Moon Chocolates, 78 Main St., Stowe.

Free. Daily at 2 p.m.

FAMILY NIGHT IN THE PARK Memorial Park, Stowe. $5 adult, $3 youth and seniors. stowerec.org.

July 27 Celebrate Parks and Recreation Month, family fun, watch “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.” 8 - 10 p.m.

JEFFERSONVILLE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS Main Street, Jeffersonville. Park at Cambridge Elementary. cambridgeartsvt.org, (802) 644-1418.

August 10 Dozens of regional artists display work. Music, children’s activities, food. Free. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

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June 20 – Fall Thursday through Sunday. Friday artisan markets, music, food, craft beer, lawn games.

Thursday – Saturday, noon - 9 p.m. ; Sunday, noon - 6 p.m. Live music Fridays 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. and Saturdays 4 - 8 p.m.

ALCHEMIST BREWERY MUSIC & BEER FEST

July 20 – 29 Sculpture exhibit walkabout, music, Art on Park, film, exhibits, theater at Town Hall, and much more.

Faerie House.

Spruce Peak at Stowe. On the village green. sprucepeak.com.

SPRUCE PEAK WEEKENDS ON THE GREEN

Arts Week features events from a wide variety of local Stowe arts and cultural organizations. Various venues. stoweartsandculture.org.

Family Fun Day Action painting, nature exploration, group games, BBQ, more. 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Linthilhac Park, behind Stowe Community Church.

SPRUCE PEAK FRIDAY ARTISAN MARKETS

July 6 Live music, entertainment, food, craft beer, 4 p.m. Fireworks.

ARTS WEEK 2019

June 8

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Spruce Peak Village Center, Stowe. sprucepeak.com.

Emergency 1st Responders Soul & Blues Bash Dave Keller’s Soul Revue and John Fusco and the X-Road Riders, featuring special guest Seth Yacovone. Night of music, food, and fun to celebrate region’s emergency 1st responders.

6 Sunset St. stowelandtrust.org.

July 27 Day of the Dead fiesta and Disney film Coco.

SPRUCE PEAK INDEPENDENCE DAY

November 23

STOWE LAND TRUST

Free movies on the lawn, Stowe Free Library, Park and Pond streets, Stowe Village. Dusk. Subject to change. stowevibrancy.com.

STOWE LAND TRUST

August 12 – 16

June 2, 1 p.m.

STOWE FREE LIBRARY Pre-registration required for most events. 90 Pond St. (802) 253-6145 or stop by the library. stowelibrary.org.

Summer Storytimes Mondays, June 24 – Aug. 9, 10:15 a.m., ages 2 - 4; Fridays, June 24 – Aug. 9, 10:15 a.m., babies & toddlers.

June 20 Explore the many ways that the sun powers our planet. 4 & up.10:30 a.m.

June 27 VINS presents Animals in Myth and Legend. Meet live animals and hear their stories. 4 & up.10:30 a.m.

July 3 Storyteller presents “Jack and the Beanstalk,” stories, puppet show. 10:30 a.m.

July 10 Science experiments demonstrate that air, although invisible, does occupy space. 4 & up.10:30 a.m.

July 18 “So You Want to Be an Astronaut” escape room. Middle school and up. 6 p.m.

July 24 Musical Munchkins and Starship Shake-up. Sing and dance around the earth, moon, and stars. All ages. 10:30 a.m.

August 5 Magic show with Ed Popielarczyck.

With Stowe rec department. 4 & up. 1 p.m.

July 13

Family Faerie House Building Mill Trail Cabin, Notchbrook Road.10 a.m. noon. Free, but register.

August 11 Checking on the Heifers Meet the cows and take a walk around Burnham Farm with farmer Ryan Percy. Free.

9:30 a.m.

STOWE MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center. sprucepeakarts.org.

October 25 – 26 Adventure packed, culturally rich, and incredibly inspiring documentary short films.

STOWE TANGO MUSIC FESTIVAL World-renowned tango musicians, orchestra, concerts, milongas. Various venues. stowetangomusicfestival.com.

August 15 Tango Jam! Bring your dancing shoes and jam. 7:30 - 11 p.m. Location TBD. Free.

August 16 Tango Trail: Mini milongas around town (3:30 p.m.), Tango talk (4:30 p.m.), showcase concert (5:30 p.m.). Locations TBD. Free.

August 17 Festival concert: Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center. 4 & 8 p.m. Ticketed event. After-concert milonga, 9:45 to 11:55 p.m.

VERMONT TASTE Various venues around Stowe. Full list of participants, schedule, and tickets at vermonttaste.org.

May 4 – June 30 Community celebration of the area’s chefs, brewers, bakers, and creators. Events at restaurants, resorts, breweries, roasteries throughout North Central Vermont. Participate in the Vermont Taste Dine Out and donations benefit Copley Hospital.

VINS RAPTOR ENCOUNTER Stowe High School Auditorium, Barrows Road.

1 p.m. $5. stowerec.org.

July 11 Live falcons, hawks, and owls provide the lens through which we examine food webs, predator-prey relationships, and the interdependence of the systems that support life. n

ROAD TRIP

INTERIORS: LINDSAY RAYMONDJACK

ROBINSON FAMILY HISTORY A cupboard in the Rokeby Museum, stocked with linens and dinnerware from the Robinson family, who opened their home in Ferrisburgh to fugitives from slavery. A view of the front hall from the kitchen. The Rokeby Museum, house and outbuildings.

AT THE ROKEBY Museum educates about African American history, abolitionist movement At a time when issues of race and bias are receiving more and more scrutiny and news coverage, it helps that places like Rokeby Museum are here to educate people about African American history. Located in Ferrisburgh, about 50 miles from Stowe, Rokeby Museum presents the stories of four generations of the Robinson family, Quakers who lived and worked at Rokeby as farmers, abolitionists, artists, writers, and active members of the community from 1793 to 1961.

Visitors can learn what it meant to oppose slavery, what it was like to be a fugitive from slavery and find safe harbor in Vermont, and what it STORY / KATE CARTER was like to be a self-emancipated slave who stayed at Rokeby.

Rokeby brings context to the African American experience in rural Vermont amid slavery, the Civil War, and the abolitionist movement.

“I believe that Rokeby Museum has the potential for inspiring positive change,” said Catherine Brooks, the museum’s director. “Four generations of a Vermont farm family lived here. Each generation had its challenges and each generation produced individuals who found a way to succeed.

“Today, the Robinson family’s home is a National Historic Landmark, designated for its exceptional Underground Railroad history.”

The museum is also a major site on Vermont’s African American Heritage Trail. An award-winning multimedia exhibit called “Free & Safe: the Underground Railroad in Vermont” tells the sto-

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ries of slavery fugitives who lived and worked at Rokeby, and the Robinson family’s connections with the national abolitionist movement and Underground Railroad.

Rowland and Rachel Robinson (1796-1879 and 1799-1862) believed slavery had to come to an immediate end. They boycotted slaveproduced goods and opened their home to fugitives from slavery, openly offering safe haven and employment at Rokeby.

As farmers, they and future generations took risks to reinvent the farm as the need for products waxed and waned. Later, family members yearned to be professional artists, and each, through hard work and training, found a market for their work in New York City. >>

AMAZING TOYS AND GIFTS FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES

ROAD TRIP FREE AND SAFE A group tours the museum’s exhibit funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Free & Safe: The Underground Railroad in Vermont, “chronicles the stories of Simon and Jesse, two fugitives from slavery who found shelter at Rokeby in the 1830s.”

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One, when his eyesight became compromised, turned to writing about what he saw, and became one of Vermont’s most beloved writers at the close of the 19th century. All cared about family and their community.

Rokeby tells these stories, and connects them to current events, in exhibits and a roster of school and public programs exploring topics related to social justice, the environment, and art.

The historic house, built in the 1780s, remains furnished with the family’s original possessions, and offers a rare look at life during that era.

Eight historic farm buildings are preserved on the 90-acre property, set in a peaceful landscape dotted with old wells, stone walls, and old orchards. The outbuildings provide a glimpse into Vermont’s role in agricultural development, as well as the Robinson family’s role in the fight against slavery.

Walking trails cover more than 50 acres of the grounds. The property was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 for its association with Rowland T. Robinson, whose extensive correspondence has been preserved and provides insight into the practices of abolitionists and the operations of the Underground Railroad.

Each season, a special exhibit ties into the museum’s collection of art, furniture, and extensive historic documents and letters.

As Brooks notes, “Museums can provide visitors the opportunity to slow down, see new things, and think new thoughts. That’s

why we are here, and we hope that what we do makes a difference.” n ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Route 7, Ferrisburgh. Daily, 10 to 5, from mid-May to late October.

Admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, and $8 for students, and free for children under age 5. House open by guided tour, Friday through Monday, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and by appointment. rokeby.org.

CJ HILD

S TOWE PERFORMING ARTS

ON STOWE PERFORMING ARTS’ LINEUP THIS SUMMER Clockwise from top: Bumper Jacksons. Alon Goldstein. Ruthie Foster.

MUSIC IN THE MEADOW

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Stowe Performing Arts presents another stellar lineup of music this summer in the incomparable Trapp Family Lodge concert meadow, kicking off its season July 7 with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra in a program entitled, “Strike Up the Orchestra!” The evening, as is tradition, ends with fireworks, Tchaikovsky’s famous “1812 Overture” and the beloved marches of John Philip Sousa.

On July 21, get ready for the hot and sweet Bumper Jacksons, who explore America’s roots, from the streets of New Orleans to Appalachian hollers. Next up is the transcendent Ruthie Foster—August 4— who effortlessly blends folk, blues, soul, rock, and gospel.” Amen.

As always, midsummer sees the return of Tuesday evening free gazebo concerts on the lawn of Stowe Free Library and Helen Day Art Center in Stowe Village.

STOWE PERFORMING ARTS MUSIC IN THE MEADOW

STOWE PERFORMING ARTS GAZEBO CONCERTS

Trapp Family Lodge Concert Meadow, Trapp Hill Road, Stowe. stoweperformingarts.com for times and tickets. Meadow opens two hours prior to concert.

Tuesdays on the lawn of the Helen Day Art Center/Stowe Free Library. Free. 6 - 7 p.m. Rainsite: Stowe Community Church.

July 7 “Strike Up the Orchestra!”: Vermont Symphony Orchestra 2019 Summer Festival, with dazzling fireworks display and Tchaikovsky’s famous 1812 Overture.

7:30 p.m.

July 21 Bumper Jacksons: bursting at the seams with some of the richest threads of old America., 7 p.m.

August 4 Ruthie Foster: some folk, some blues, some soul, some rock, some gospel. 7 p.m.

July 23

The Ukululus: multi-generational sing-along

July 30

Stowe Tango Festival musicians Hector Del Curto, Jisoo Ok, and Santiago Del Curto

August 6

Morrisville Military and Waterbury Community Combined band

August 13 Young Traditions Vermont: fiddling and step-dancing

PIANIST ALON GOLDSTEIN IN RECITAL Presented by Stowe Performing Arts. Stowe Community Church, 137 Main St. Tickets: stoweperformingarts.com.

June 8 Pianist Alon Goldstein’s program includes Scarlatti sonatas, Beethoven’s “Moonlight” sonata, Schumann’s “Scenes from Childhood,” Bernstein’s “The Masque,” more. 7:30 p.m.

Raffi

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Lilla P

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Margaret O’leary

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ART ON PARK Thursdays, 5 - 8 p.m. Artists, artisans, live music, local food. stowevibrancy.com.

July 4 July 11 July 18 July 25 August 1 August 8 August 15 August 22

Stowe 4th celebration, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Skeleton Keys Vermont’s Easy Street Scott Forrest Josh Panda The Blue Diamonds Lloyd Tyler Band Cooie and Sal DiFrancesco

STOWE JAZZ FESTIVAL Festival main stage is The Alchemist, Cottage Club Road. stowejazzfestival.com.

September 6 – 8 Dozens of musical acts play at various venues around Stowe. Afro-Cuban, Gypsy, and Brazilian jazz, big band, smooth, soul, swing, more.

VERMONT MOZART FESTIVAL Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe. Concerts outdoors in the Meadow, indoors in the Mozart Room. 7 p.m. vermontmozartfestival.org.

July 17

Mozart Magic in the Mozart Room Horn Quintet in E-flat, K.407, Flute Quartet in A, K.298, Nonetto, K.452 July 19

Mozart in the Trapp Family Concert Meadow Symphony No.35, K.385, Violin Concerto No.3, K.216, Symphony No.39, K.543.

July 24

Mozart Magic in the Mozart Room Bach Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G, Mozart String Quintet in c minor, George Enescu Dixtuor for Wind Instruments, Opus 14 July 26

Mozart in the Trapp Family Concert Meadow Haydn Symphony No.93 in D, Mozart Rondo for Horn and Orchestra, K.371, Beethoven Symphony No.7 in A, Opus 92 July 31

Mozart Magic in the Mozart Room Flute Quartet in D major, K.285, Clarinet Quintet in A major, K.581, Serenade for Winds in E-flat major, K.375 August 2

Mozart in the Trapp Family Concert Meadow Symphony No.40, K.550, Clarinet Concerto, K.622, Symphony No.41, K.551

ADAMANT MUSIC SCHOOL Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m., Fridays, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday afternoons, 3 p.m. Admission. adamant.org.

July 14 – August 2 Piano concerts in Waterside Hall.

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BLUEGRASS BANDSTAND BLOWOUT On Craftsbury Common, North Craftsbury Road. craftsburychamber players.org.

July 7 Bluegrass blowout with Kenji Bunch and friends, 7 p.m.

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MUSIC CRAFTSBURY CHAMBER PLAYERS World-class musicians with music director Frances Rowell. Wednesdays, Elley-Long Music Center, St. Michael’s College, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Hardwick Town House, 7:30 p.m. $25; students $10; 12 & under free. craftsburychamberplayers.org.

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July 8 Timeless treasures, old and new standards. Taryn Noelle, Joe Davidian, Don Schabner, Rob Morse.

Donation. On Craftsbury Common. 7 p.m.

July 10 & 11 Nouveau Classics/Neoclassics: Sousa, Burleigh, Dvorak, Gershwin, & Bartok July 17 & 18 American Voices: Ives, Bunch, Barber, and Price July 24 & 25 The Natural World: Beethoven, Biber, Adams, Puccini, and Piazzolla July 31 & August 1 Franz Schubert: String Trio in B-flat, Lieder, and the “Trout” Quintet August 7 & 8 Some Favorites: Mozart, Britten, and Brahms August 14 & 15 Mary Anthony Cox’s Musical Lineage: Schumann, Beethoven, Boulanger, Casadesus

CRAFTSBURY CHAMBER MINI CONCERTS FOR CHILDREN July 10, 17, 24, 31 & August 7, 14 Elly-Long Music Center, 4 p.m.

July 11 & 18, August 1 Hardwick Town House, Hardwick, 2 p.m.

July 25 Heartbeet Community Center and Sophia Hall, Hardwick, 2 p.m.

August 8 & 15 Greensboro United Church of Christ Fellowship Hall, 2 p.m.

HIGHLAND CENTER FOR THE ARTS 2875 Hardwick St., Greensboro. Admission.

(802) 533-9075. highlandartsvt.org.

June 22 June 28 July 5 July 13 July 30 Aug. 3 Aug. 12

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Aug. 19 Aug. 24 Sept. 13 Sept. 27

Cary Morin: roots music, 7:30 p.m.

Stephane Wrembel: virtuoso guitarist, 7:30 p.m.

Barbra Lica: Canadian vocalist and songwriter, 7:30 p.m.

Electrolads Dance Party, 8 p.m.

Chris Brubeck’s Triple Play: folk, blues, jazz, classical, 7:30 p.m.

Show tunes, jazz, folk, pop. Taryn Noelle and Joe Davidian, 7:30 p.m.

Caspian Chamber music, 7:30 p.m.

Caspian Chamber music, 7:30 p.m.

Le Vent du Nord: Francophone folk, 7:30 p.m.

Catherine MacLellan: acoustic singer/songwriter, 7 p.m.

Patti Casey & the Wicked Fine Players, 7 p.m.

JAY PEAK MUSIC SERIES Stateside amphitheater, Jay Peak Resort, Jay. (800) 451-4449, jaypeakresort.com.

July 20 Jeezum Crow Festival: Balkun Brothers, The Suitcase Junket, Aqueous, The Elovators, The Motet, Lettuce. 1 p.m. All day.

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August 3 Greensky Bluegrass. 6:30 p.m.

August 9 – 10 Strangefolk: Garden of Eden Festival. 6 p.m.

OXBOW MUSIC FESTIVAL Oxbow Park, downtown Morrisville.

August 24 Big lineup of bands. 2 - 11 p.m. Fee.

RATTLING BROOK BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Admission. Belvidere Center stage, Route 109.

June 15

Regional bluegrass bands.

ROCKTOBERFEST Portland Street, downtown Morrisville. Most events free. maccvt.org September 28 All-day street festival featuring live music, food, games, No Strings Marionette shows, crafts, vendors, pumpkin bowling, face painting, more. Who let the dogs out? Fun and furry walk/run and parade.

Mellow Yellow.

RUSTY PARKER PARK CONCERTS Waterbury Rotary Club concerts, Rusty Parker Park, Main Street, Waterbury. Free, Thursdays 6 p.m.

June 6 June 13 June 20 June 27 July 4 July 11 July 18 July 25 August 1 August 8 August 15

Mellow Yellow BOGO Boys Barbie-N-Bones Starline Rhythm Boys Al’s Pals John Lackard Radio Rangers The Grift Still Kickin Band X Preyden

WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE AT THE OXBOW Oxbow Park, downtown Morrisville.

June 12 June 19 June 26 July 10 July 17 July 24 July 31 August 7 August 14 August 21

Starline Rhythm Boys Spider Roulette Shellhouse John Lackard Blues Band Lesley Grant Solstice Cookies Hot Club Take 5 Jazz Ensemble The Brevity Thing Marty Project/free corn roast n

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ADAM SILVERMAN

S U M M E R T H E AT E R

From a 2017 Stowe Theatre Guild production of Dogfight.

SUMMER STOCK STOWE THEATRE GUILD

Town Hall Theatre, Main Street, Stowe.

Wednesdays – Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets $14/$18/$20.

(802) 253-3961, stowetheatre.com.

June 12 – 15, June 19 – 22, June 26 – 29 Godspell

A musical of parables performed through song, dance, and tomfoolery

by Jesus and his comedic, energetic team of followers.

July 17 – 20, July 24 – 27, & July 31 – August 3 The Diary of Anne Frank

The stage adaptation of the book The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

August 21 – 24, August 28 – Sept. 1, & September 4 – 7 Mamma Mia!

While her mother prepares her daughter Sophie’s wedding the bride hatches a plan. She secretly invites three men from her mother’s past in hopes of meeting her real father.

September 25 – 28, October 2 – 5, & October 9 – 12 A Few Good Men

A drama centering around the trial of two Marines complicit in the death of a fellow Marine.

LAMOILLE COUNTY PLAYERS Hyde Park Opera House, 85 Main Street.

Adults $18, seniors/students $12.

Thursday through Saturday, 7 p.m.; Sunday matinees, 2 p.m. (802) 888-4507. llcplayers.com.

July 18 – 21 & July 25 – 28 Into the Woods

A modern twist on Brothers Grimm fairy tales in a musical format.

October 4 – 6 & October 11 – 13 Arsenic & Old Lace

Sweet little old ladies ladle out arsenicspiced blackberry wine to lonely and elderly boarders. Insanity, fear, word play and dramatic irony, and oodles of bodies buried in the basement.

November 8 – 10 & 15 – 17 Boeing Boeing

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The exploits of French bachelor Bernard and three flight attendants, from three different countries who all believe they’re engaged to Bernard.

HIGHLAND CENTER FOR THE ARTS

September 5, 13 – 14, & September 7 – 8

2875 Hardwick St., Greensboro. Admission.

(802) 533-9075. highlandartsvt.org.

G. Richard Ames Sent Him Mental, part 3

June 15 – 16 Under Milk Wood: Dylan Thomas play.

Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday 3 p.m.

of Ames’ original autobiographical work 7:30 p.m., Sept. 7 - 8, 2 p.m.

September 6 – 7, 12 & 14 – 15 A Room of One’s Own, Elizabeth Wilcox

July 12 The Doctor and the Dowry: An original Molière

as Virginia Woolf. Sept. 14 - 15, 2 p.m.

adaptation, 7:30 p.m.

July 20 – 21 Constellations: Spellbinding and romantic journey of being in love. Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday 3 p.m.

August 4 The Cashore Marionettes, 3 p.m.

The Case of the Curious Corpse, Saturday

October 5 – 6 & October 12 – 13

2 p.m. and 5 p.m., Sunday 2 p.m.

BREAD & PUPPET THEATER Route 122, Glover. Shape Note Sings: Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m. (Start dates subject to change.) Suggested donation $10.

QUARRYWORKS THEATER

June 9– 30 Diagonal Life: Theory and Praxis in the Papermaché Cathedral: Sundays, 3 p.m.

Quarry Road, Adamant. Unless noted: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. Free. (802) 229-6978, quarryworks.org.

July & August Shape Note/Sacred Harp Sings: Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m. Paper Maché Cathedral.

July 11 – 14 & July 18 – 21 Wildcat … A Musical

July 5 – August 23 Paper Maché Cathedral. Fridays, 7:30 p.m

July 27 – 28 & August 3 – 4 The Reluctant Dragon

July 7 – August 25 Diagonal Life Circus & Pageant: Sundays, 3 p.m. Dingdongs at 2:30 p.m. in circus field.

Saturdays 2 and 5 p.m., Sunday 2 p.m August 8 – 11 & August 15 – 18 Dress Rehearsal for Murder, an original mystery.

September 29 Political Leaf Peeping n

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Shawn Colvin. The Milk Carton Kids.

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SPRUCE PEAK FOLK FESTIVAL

he 2019 Spruce Peak Folk Festival is star studded.

The Grammy-nominated indie-folk duo The Milk Carton Kids and singer, songwriter, and author Shawn Colvin headline the twoday event, Aug. 10 - 11.

Held outdoors on the village green at Spruce Peak, music begins at 3:30 both days, but gates open earlier, with food and beverage vendors, games for kids, and lounging on the lawn. The venue is intimate, with good acoustics and mountain views.

“This year’s line-up is terrific and absolutely brimming with the brightest talent,” said Hope Sullivan, executive director of the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center.

Saturday’s main acts begin with singer-songwriter-guitarist Francesca Blanchard of Burlington, Vt. Jazz Weekly wrote, “… Francesca Blanchard sounds like a throwback to the old days of folk singers that came from Laurel Canyon in the 70s.” Her notoriety mushroomed when her single “Free” was featured in a pivotal closing scene on the ABC TV series “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Following Blanchard is Mipso, a North Carolina quartet formed in Chapel Hill, known for combining traditional strings with close harmony.

Headliner The Milk Carton Kids take the stage at 7 p.m. Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale garnered rave reviews and their second Grammy

nomination, Best American Roots Performance, for “The City of Our Lady” in 2016. In 2014 The Milk Carton Kids were named the Americana Music Association's Duo/Group of the Year.

Sunday’s opening act is another Vermonter, Lowell Thompson of Burlington. He has sung with the likes of Page McConnel of Phish and Grace Potter, and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of Americana mixed with punk rock.

Up next is Parsonsfield, a five-piece Connecticut-based Americana band that will, according to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, “blow away any preconception of what you think banjos and mandolins should sound like.”

Winding up the weekend is Shawn Colvin, who won her first Grammy in 1990 for Best Contemporary Folk Album with her debut album, “Steady On.” She has long been a mainstay of the singer-songwriter genre, releasing 12 albums and establishing herself as one of America’s greatest live performers.

Colvin will perform long-time favorites as well as songs from her latest release, “The Starlighter,” a mix of traditional numbers and children’s standards. n —Kate Carter

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2019 PERSPECTIVES SERIES Perspectives 1: Archival digital photo mixed media collage on panel, 18"x18" Perspectives 3: Archival digital photo mixed media collage on panel, 18"x18" Perspectives 5: Archival digital photo mixed media collage on panel, 18"x18"

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eye of the beholder ARTIST KELLY HOLT

STORY

: jasmine bigelow

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PORTRAITS

: gordon miller |

WORKS

: kelly holt and don hanson 127

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H

ave you ever looked at a piece of art and not actually seen the art, but instead, been instantly pulled into the story it’s telling? You’re standing there thinking about what the story could be because it’s not obvious. And then you realize that this experience you’re having with the piece is actually the genius of it. The artist’s meticulous depiction of the subject is secondary to the motion and emotion of the subject.

That’s what happened to Stowe artist Kelly Holt many years ago at MOMA in New York City when she saw a retrospective exhibit of works by Gerhard Richter, a German photographic painter.

She stood in front of his 1965 painting “Motor Boat” (shown on p.130) and found her true artistic inspiration. “He does these brush strokes that create a blurriness and a sense that something is about to happen. It’s mysterious and uncomfortable. There is a story there that’s not really spelled out. I continue to be inspired by it, and spend a lot of time looking at it, still.”

Now, Holt’s own work has that effect: the content and creation are equally significant.

•••

Holt, who grew up in Melrose, Mass., the oldest of four siblings in a big Italian and Irish family—and the only red head—moved to Stowe 15 years ago. After studying studio art and liberal arts at Boston College, she worked in the creative side of advertising for a decade. For years, she came to Stowe on weekends and thought, “Someday …”

Then one day turned into someday and she just moved here. She got her masters in art education from Johnson State College, and has enjoyed a career as an independent artist, community arts teacher, and gallery curator.

3093 Shelburne Rd, Shelburne VT 05482 802.497.3342 | www.ardesh.com

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2018 - AutoBiography Series l Photo documentation of AutoBiography – A Car Opera in Five Acts, Directed by Erika Senft Miller Marketplace Garage, Burlington, Nov. 4, 2018

Motorboat, Gerhard Richter m

1965, oil on canvas, 170cm x 170cm

She met her partner Don Hanson, an experimental filmmaker and artist, while curating his work for a local gallery; the two live and work from their home on Sugar House Hill. “Don is an inspiration and also my toughest critic,” she said. “He pushes me to always be stretching and to take a concept further than what I’m comfortable with.”

While there were no other artists or major art influencers in her family, she describes her family as being very close, and it was her brother who introduced her to Germany. He lived there, she visited often, and urban Germany became her muse.

“I love Vermont, and my heart is in the landscape. But my inspiration for my work is in urban environments,” Holt said with a laugh.

“I’m not really sure what that says about me!”

Like her life, her art has moved from one place to another, with influential visits to new arenas along the way. A retrospective exhibit of Holt works would start with figurative paintings, move to abstract paintings, collage featuring pieces of “failed” paintings, painted sandpaper, stencils, photography printed on carrier sheets, and videography. It would include gesso-covered canvases, Japanese Kozo paper, oil and acrylic paint, specialty magazines, digital files, and if we were lucky, her many, many sketchbooks. Holt sketches every day. Her sketchbooks are art pieces themselves, a portal directly into the workspace of an artist’s mind.

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2017 - Urban Stories Series Urban Stories 1 – 6” x 6” mixed media: photography, aluminum, acrylic and spray paint on panel.

Urban Stories 5 – 6” x 6” mixed media: photography, acrylic and spray paint on panel.

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Holt describes photography collage as a way for her to “crash images into each other to create a tension and a story.” Like Richter’s brush strokes, Holt’s shutter speed and production technique create a lot of blurring, adding to the movement and mystery.

That is one of the most magnetic things about her work.

She’s not creating art for visual beauty. The intent is not for you to say, “Wow, look at how beautiful that is, and how talented she is because she can make that look so beautiful.” Instead, she’s creating a visual story to inspire you to get lost in the story, whatever that story becomes for you. That’s the beauty of it, and that’s her talent. The story is in the eye of every beholder.

A lot of her work is centered in Berlin. Last year, she spent four months in Germany, timing an intensive artistic pilgrimage with the opening of Urban Nation, the first graffiti art museum in the world. While there, she lived in hostels and focused on capturing the raw materials for her work— images, video, and inspiration.

Exemplifying her exploratory nature, Holt works in series rather than in pieces. She doesn’t name individual pieces within a series, they are all part of one artistic exploration— a family of art.

Also indicative of her experimental drive is that Holt finds fun in artistic challenges and stretching social norms. While in Germany, her obsession with trains and train stations gained her some notoriety. “It’s really sketchy lying on the train tracks to get a shot.” Even more so if she was getting sound for video, as some of that equipment looks criminal.

TM Nichols

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Kelly Holt in her Stowe studio.

And, while teaching a public art and mural painting class to kids, she was inspired to start experimenting with spray paint in some of her own work. But, she said, “Spray painting with large groups of kids can get exiting … and dangerous.”

Holt is hugely influenced by the world around her. In a series of paintings from 2010, called The Lost Tree Series, she was capturing the mourning of the loss of the trees being clearcut in her Stowe neighborhood. Her recent photographic Leaving Traces series looks at new citizens in Europe. In her travels, she found the welcoming environment and services offered to immigrants in Europe to be very hopeful, and the series explores what traces they are going to bring to their new home.

She is influenced by Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, and David Bowie, and inspired by street art, particularly works by JR and Shepard Fairey. “Fairey takes responsibility as an artist to have a message and to use his work to deliver a message,” she said. “I’m inspired to be more mindful and to figure out what my responsibility should be as an artist.”

One of the responsibilities Holt has taken on as an artist is documenting other artists’ work. She collaborates with artists to record what they are doing, and in doing so, creates an art piece out of it. “I learn so much from collaborating with others, so I’m always growing and stretching.”

In a recent collaboration called “AutoBiography,” a performance installation by several artists in a Burlington parking garage, Holt captured the experience of the performance on film.

As a curator, she takes on a similar responsibility to artists and galleries: creating a presentation and cohesiveness to an exhibit. Sometimes she’s looking for themes and sometimes she has an assignment and is searching for the best artist to carry out the vision of the show. As such, Holt does a lot of studio visits and consults with artists on content. She thrives as a curator, collaborator, teacher, and artist, because she is genuinely curious, kind, and supportive—and also because she is wildly unassuming and driven to explore life’s themes and potential.

“A lot of my pieces fail me,” she said. “Some of it is so experimental it may not make it to the finish line. But that’s all part of it, sometimes it’s more important than the finished piece.” Like her content, her creativity is in motion. On point, she is currently working on a series called “Looking at Looking,” blurred figures of people looking at art. n

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ESSENTIALS: • AutoBiography book publication: April/May 2019.

• AutoBiography: group exhibition at Karma Bird House Gallery, Burlington, May 2019.

• Publication of a zine in collaboration with artist Erika Senft Miller, Summer 2019.

• kellyholtart.com, @kellyholtart

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FOUND IN VERMONT POWER OF THE FLOWER Got an ache or pain? Many active Stowe locals with aches and pains caused by overuse, strains, sprains, and the ever-present osteoarthritis get relief from arnica, a homeopathic remedy that’s been used for ages to reduce pain and inflammation. The Body Lounge in Stowe makes its own proprietary topical arnica products, available in creams, lotions, oils, salts, and stick formulas. The shop sources Arnica Montana, an alpine flower and main ingredient, from California. The shop infuses it into organic sunflower oil and blends it with nine other essential oils.

INFO: The Body Lounge in Stowe.

SAY CHEESE, PLEASE Whoever thought cheese and blueberries would go together was onto something quite delicious.

Thank Vermont Farmstead Cheese Company.

They added whole, wild blueberries to their WindsorDale, a Wensleydale-style cheese from the rolling hills of Yorkshire, England. Vermont Farmstead’s WindsorDale is a raw-milk cheese, firm and flaky, with a hint of tart apple. Add blueberries and you’ve got a new spin on blueberry cheesecake. (There’s also a cranberry variety.) Blueberry WindsorDale is made in its namesake, Windsor, Vt., and the company is based nearby, on an 18-acre dairy farm in South Woodstock. Vermont Farmstead is the first community-owned artisan cheese and dairy facility in the state.

PRETTY IN PASTEL According to the late Lilly Pulitzer, “It’s always summer somewhere.” That sentiment is artfully and boldly reflected in her colorful line of women and girl’s warm-weather clothing. With fabric names like Bali Blue, Sirens and Spirits, and Sunshine State of Mind, it’s hard not to think about beach time, summer sunsets, and outdoor dining. Lilly Pulitzer prints look like Van Gogh gone mango, with sweeping, swooshy, brush strokes in glorious pastels. So, if you’re feeling a little blue, go with Pulitzer.

INFO: Exclusively at Pink Colony in Stowe.

INFO: Harvest Market in Stowe. vermontfarmstead.com.

NOT YOUR MOTHER’S MAPLE It’s mind-boggling how many uses there are for maple tree sap—marinades, cocktails, granola … let your imagination go. Butternut Mountain Farm does. The farm produces pure maple syrup in a wide range of products, and now they’re infusing their syrups with some daring ingredients. Imagine how cardamom and ginger-infused maple syrup could enhance grilled eggplant. Or how about adding a splash of Sweet Heat Maple Syrup infused with habanero to your famous baked beans? Bring some zing to that boring bowl of oatmeal with Sweet Thai syrup, or jazz up salmon with Sweet Ginger.

Come on, spice up your life. You’ll never look at maple syrup the same way again.

INFO: Available at various purveyors in Stowe, the Butternut Mountain store in nearby Johnson village, and butternutmountainfarm.com.

COURTESY PHOTOS; DOG PHOTO: KATE CARTER

ROCKIN’ DOG LEASHES Every pooch needs a special leash, and whatever style or color best compliments your pup, Rocket Dog of Vermont has you covered. The company’s leash inventory includes round braid, flat braid, martingale slip leads, convertible leads, and long lines. The convertible leads convert from a traditional clip lead to a slip lead by simply clipping the snap hook to the floating ring and adjusting the leather slide accordingly. All leads are hand sewn in Burlington, and trimmed with leather. Rocket Dog also makes slip collars and two-dog couplers. Be sure to check out their Bonker Balls and Wolley Balls for dogs and—gasp!— —Kate Carter cats. Woof woof!

INFO: Bonker Balls are available at Stowe Kitchen, Bath & Linens. rocketdogofvt.com.

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Have a product you’d like us to feature? Send us, not your sales rep, a two-sentence description of why our readers need to know to kate_carter@comcast.net. No phone calls please, and no tweets, por favor, Mr. Trump.

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COOL PLACES

PHOTOS BY GORDON MILLER

GOD’S HOUSE Resident chaplain, the Rev. David Ransom, leads this year’s Mountain Day of Remembrance at Stowe’s Mountain Chapel. Inset: The Chapel.

MOUNTAIN CHAPEL An interfaith gathering place on Mansfield’s Toll Road It’s pretty unusual, the Mountain Chapel. It’s about two miles up the Toll Road on Mount Mansfield, with a ski-in, ski-out option.

Or, you can just walk up.

In its fourth decade, the Mountain Chapel has become a destination for summertime hikers and winter’s skiers and snowboarders— anyone who loves the outSTORY / JOSH O’GORMAN doors—and it continues to offer a religious worship experience to visitors of all faiths.

On June 10, 1983, the Mountain Chapel was officially dedicated at a ceremony that included then-Gov. Richard Snelling and about 160 others.

While the chapel has been a place of celebration—from weddings to bar mitzvahs—its 138

origin was borne out of loss. Its inspiration was Mary “Polly” Keiffer, a frequent visitor to Mount Mansfield. In 1977, she died of leukemia.

“Polly was all about giggles,” said the Rev. David Ransom, resident chaplain at Mountain Chapel. “She was a fun person to be around.

When Polly came down the Toll Road, she would be giggling all the way.”

After Polly died, her family held a memorial service on the mountain, at the chapel’s present site. After the service, the Rev. Marcus B. Hall, then vicar of St. John’s in the Mountains Episcopal Church, shared his vision of a chapel with Polly’s father, William Keiffer.

William Keiffer served as chairman of the chapel’s board of directors, and the Kieffer family was instrumental in forming the corporation that would raise the $50,000 needed for the chapel’s construction, and secured a renewable 50-year-lease from the Mount Mansfield Co., which then owned Stowe Mountain Resort.

Among the clergy at the groundbreaking ceremony was the Rev. John Nutting, who dis-

cussed the chapel in a column published in the Stowe Reporter in 1986. Nutting noted the choice of location, writing, “Instead of trying to perch on the summit of Mount Mansfield and make an obtrusive statement of some kind,” the chapel sits about halfway up the mountain.

And while the location doesn’t alter the mountain’s skyline, the chapel is visually impressive to the first-time visitor. “The two roof lines point skyward, causing the eye to lift up, and because the approach is from below, the chapel has a gently soaring grandeur to it, which comes as a surprise when one realizes its actual size,” Nutting wrote.

The chapel itself is quite modest, 24 feet in diameter and made of stones gathered by local Boy Scouts and put in place by masons Marten and Barry Shonio. Within, the chapel is bare of any adornment that would indicate a particular faith.

“The whole idea that John (Nutting) proposed was for people to get up and appreciate the mountain,” Ransom said. “The chapel serves that purpose.” n

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PAS T TENSE

HYDE PARK INN New future opens for shiretown landmark / TOMMY GARDNER

The 1891 building in Hyde Park had been the P.H. Edwards furniture store since the early 1950s. Before that, it was the Hyde Park Inn and Hotel Phoenix. A passage from the 1904 book “Successful Vermonters” by William H. Jeffrey mentions Hotel Phoenix.

Now it’s vacant, waiting for the next chapter in its 128-year existence.

The sprawling red building at 183 Main St. has been purchased by Garret Hirchak, owner of Manufacturing Solutions in Morrisville; he owns numerous properties in the Lamoille County area.

“I’ve always liked big, old buildings like that,” Hirchak said—and at nearly 12,000 square feet over at least three floors, it certainly qualifies as big. “We’ll put a little love into it and hopefully people will help us decide what it should be.”

“Not the least of the many advantages of the village and town of Hyde Park is the possession of an elegant, commodious, well-kept hotel,” Jeffrey wrote in his 1904 book. “A good hotel emphasizes and gives full effect to many other local attractions, among which we may mention the semiannual sessions of the county court.”

Jeffrey wrote that the hotel was built for about $13,000 and was originally heated with steam and lit with electric lights. It accommodated up to 50 guests.

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Hirchak bought the building from Susan Wickart, a real estate agent, and her sister Debora, co-owner of Mount Mansfield Creamery. He paid $265,000 for the property, which the town of Hyde Park has appraised at $310,700.

ROOM AT THE INN From top: Pictured in the mid-20th century, the building, built in 1891, The Wickarts remember, partly with fondness and partly was most recently home to P.H. Edwards furniture store. One of the building’s former ownwith exasperation, their parents’ and grandparents’ experiers, Susan Wickart, talks about its history. As the Hotel Phoenix. ence with running a furniture store since the 1950s.

“Father died 25 years ago and Mom wasn’t really into furniture sales herself,” Susan Wickart said.

Park hasn’t had since the old Courtside Café occupied space in the Ken-Gar P.H. Edwards also used to sell appliances and did carpet and linoleum Building, now home to the county prosecutor’s office. sales. Country Home Center in Morrisville started selling appliances in the Hirchak said there will be “some work out of the gate” to get the mid-1990s, taking a chunk of that business. More competition arrived when Edwards building up to snuff, and pointed to the overhauls of two other the discount store Big Lots! came to Morrisville with its inventory of inexiconic Hyde Park buildings—the courthouse and elementary school—as pensive furniture. improvements in an already pretty village.

Hirchak said Hyde Park village is a candidate for newfound vibrancy, “I would hope the new owner could keep the integrity of the buildpointing to work that John Decker—who owns the Stowe Public House and coaches the Stowe High boys basketball team—did to turn the former Hyde ing,” Susan Wickart said. “Hopefully bring more life back into it.”

Park Village Market into a restaurant, Fork and Gavel, something Hyde “It’s kind of a relic,” Debora Wickart added. n

GORDON MILLER

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MOVEABLE FEASTS

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Stowe Historical Society takes a trip through Stowe’s eateries

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I was sitting at the bar in the Stowe McDonald’s the other day, enjoying some free General Tso’s chicken wings with a Scottish red ale while waiting for a couple of inside-out rolls to arrive.

Wait. Wrong place.

Or actually, right place, but the wrong time. A very unscientific poll—me and some wings and beers, and anyone who has a moment to listen—suggests that not many people know that, about 20 years ago, Sushi Yoshi on Mountain Road used to be Mickey D’s.

And, what with Stowe’s zoning laws, even back in the 1990s, it wasn’t your typical McDonalds. No golden arches outside other than a hand-carved wooden sign with a small, stylized M. Etched glass inside with 1980s images of skiers separating the ordering area from the dining area. The whole exterior was painted cornflower blue.

That’s where you ate then.

This is a conversation that you could bring up just about anywhere in Stowe.

What you might have eaten a decade, a generation, a century ago, when you were sitting right where you are now.

That conversation could be made a lot easier by a new exhibit at the Stowe Historical Society, “Where We Ate: Past to Present, Stowe’s Romance with Food.”

The exhibit maps out 102 street addresses in Stowe that, between now and 1940, housed some sort of eatery, whether it be a restau-

STORY

/ TOMMY GARDNER

rant or tavern, snack bar or deli. There are some exceptions, like the Green Mountain Inn, which is still one of the most popular places in Stowe.

“They have been serving the public, my gosh, since 1850,” Barbara Baraw, historical society president, said at the exhibit’s premiere last fall.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is a wall-height road map of Stowe, as far west as Moscow and far east as the snack bar—now Mountainview, previously The Shack, and Snow’s Frosty before that—and along Mountain Road, where a whirlwind of rotating restaurants have been conceived, grew up and died off, all the way to nearly the very summit of Vermont’s highest peak, where the Octagon and Cliff House are still perched and accessible only by lift or boots.

The historical society, with help from the community, over the past nine months was able to come up with 320 named places to eat or drink on that list of 102 places.

Places come and go

Some places have been restaurants for as long as just about anyone can remember.

For instance, 128 Main St., across from the iconic Stowe Community Church, has been home to eight restaurants. Stowe Village Inn begat Yankee Tavern, followed by Swiss Chocolate Pot, the Swisspot and a string of places under the same landlord: Frida’s, Mi Casa, Grazers, and Butler’s Pantry.

Some former hotspots are veritable food deserts nowadays. In the small shopping plaza at 1056 Mountain Road, nearly two dozen places have served the hungry and thirsty, from The Rail and Jack Straws in the old days, through places as diverse as upscale Le Chateaubriand and dressed-down Ladies Invited, with its pool table, moose head and post-game rugby players. Now, Stowe Bee Bakery, which opened last year, is the only place to eat there.

Fires have helped shaped Stowe’s eating and drinking scene, too, like when the Rusty Nail burned down at its old location at Gale Farm Center and reopened at 1190 Mountain Rd., where it eventually burned again and was rebuilt.

COURTESY PHOTOS

PLACE SETTINGS Clockwise from top left: Boardman’s Cafe on Stowe’s main drag, 1920s.

Dining room at the Lodge at Smugglers’ Notch, 1960s. The Green Mountain Inn. Shed menu, 1979. A group gathers at Stowe Historical Society to check out the list of hundreds of restaurants, bars, and other eateries that have operated in Stowe. Next page: a drawing of the “Smuggler” used on printed materials for The Lodge.

And while most people think of the Nail when it comes to nightclubbing, plenty of people remember fondly when there were two of them, practically side by side on Mountain Road— Sister Kate’s and Baggy Knees.

The New York Times, in February 1975, wrote that Baggy Knees “continues to make the old kitchen utensils and farm tools on its walls and ceilings jump with its boogie woogie.”

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Different memories

As new people check out the exhibit, new memories need to be added to the list.

For instance, at the opening reception, there was a question if there was ever a restaurant at a Mountain Road location now home to, well, someone’s home. Tom Hamilton, one of the historical society’s directors, said it used to be the original Baggy Knees. Hamilton said it was initially a tea-room, started by a woman and her friends who came up to visit Stowe, probably in the late 30s, early 40s.

There was also some debate as to the years of operation for the Alpenhorn, which used to be located in the old Rusty Nail, when it was at Gale Farm Center— that Nail burned to the ground in 1994, and a new Nail emerged a bit further down Mountain Road. >>

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Some thought the Alpenhorn was a hot spot in the late 1980s and early 90s. But one woman at the reception is sure it was earlier.

“It was the late 70s, early 80s, because I may have spent some time there,” she laughed.

Personal restaurant journey

Volunteering at the Stowe Historical Society, Kris Knight may be the perfect person to talk about this exhibit when people come in. The 41year-old Stowe native started working in this town’s restaurants when he was 14, in the banquet kitchen at Topnotch for a few summers.

“I remember, it was the summer of ’93, because I traded a work shift to go see Jethro Tull,” he said, referring to a run of summers in the early 1990s when major bands played at the base of Spruce Peak, before the noise became a major headache for vocal locals.

Knight’s mother ran the kitchen, and he has restaurant recollection that far precedes his time in earth’s kitchens. His day care was located in the basement of a restaurant.

Knight’s teenage and early adult life unfolds like a menu.

There was a stint at Miguel’s StoweAway: “That was a great place to learn that when you cut peppers, you ought to have gloves on,” he said.

He worked at Edson Hill for a bit: “I got the trash truck stuck.”

Asiago: “I was in art class at the time, and me and some friends painted their bathrooms.”

There was also work at McCarthy’s, Inn at Little River, the Commodores Inn, a place called Honey for the Bears, Blue Moon Bistro, and Charlie B’s, where “I impaled my finger on a finishing nail and had to get a tetanus shot and broke out in hives.”

Knight’s stories may come from behind the scenes at many of Stowe’s storied dining establishments. For countless others who dined, drank, flirted, argued, laughed, cried, and did things they regretted in the morning, they have their own memories.

At least that’s what I said to the person next to me, slurping up noodles at the bar in Stowe’s Kentucky Fried Chicken.

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GLENN CALLAHAN; CALLAHAN; GORDON MILLER

DINING & LODGING

The Stowe area boasts a variety of cuisines and dining atmospheres, from swanky bistros that embrace the local food movement to fine-dining establishments featuring award-winning chefs and busy pubs with the latest microbrews—and everything in between! Check out the area’s great places to stay, as well, from full-service resorts to quaint country inns. Our guide to dining and lodging outlines the myriad choices from which to choose, and perfectly complements the Stowe Area Association’s menu and dining book.

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EDIBLES

A FAMILY AFFAIR Jennifer and Aaron Martin, new owners of Plate restaurant on Stowe’s Main Street.

COMING HOME From Chez Panisse to Stowe’s Main Street ... and back again When Alice Waters started the world-renowned farm-to-table haven Chez Panisse in 1971 in Berkeley, Calif., she was essentially a home cook, and found a home for the restaurant in a simple house—a former plumber’s shop.

When chef-owner Aaron Martin opened his first restaurant early last winter on Main Street in Stowe—a former funeral home—it was certainly a homecoming. He was the opening chef for the restaurant STORY / Hannah Normandeau when it debuted in 2014, and PHOTOGRAPHS / Gordon Miller four years and some change later, he came back to buy Plate.

“There are days when it feels like we never left,” Martin said. “It feels like home.”

Martin, 35, bought the restaurant with his wife of more than a dozen years, Jennifer, who heads up the beverage side of the menu, among countless other duties. Their kids, now 11 and 8, hang out in house, reminding Martin of growing up with a mother and father who ran the front and back of the Green Mountain Inn, which he can see out Plate’s

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front window. Apparently unable to endure a morsel of spare time, he also coaches baseball, helps with the school ski program—as his parents did—and is an avid mountain biker.

The young couple worked at The Alchemist when it was just a brewpub in Waterbury; she stayed with the brewing company as it transitioned to making just beer, while Martin had become a sous chef but felt he needed to learn more, so he went to work—at Hen of the Wood, Topnotch Resort, where he accompanied chef Mark Timms to cook at the James Beard House in NYC, and Stowe Mountain Resort, among others.

In 2014, Los Angeles natives Jamie Persky and Mark Rosman, already known in Stowe for their former café, Jamie’s on Main, hired Martin to establish Plate’s new kitchen, which he helped design from scratch in the historic building.

Martin had recently returned from his first working internship at Chez Panisse—he’s since cooked there several times, and last summer treated himself to a meal at the chef’s table in the kitchen, where he was by pure chance joined by Waters herself—so his fresh inspiration was a perfect match for Persky and Rosman’s California-meets-Vermont vision.

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EDIBLES SIZZLE! Plate’s chef/owner Aaron Martin in the kitchen.

Inset: The casual, yet elegant, light-filled dining room at Plate.

Martin was the chef for three years before he went to work with chef-owner Jason Pacioni at Black Diamond Barbeque, a truly delicious house of notjust-barbecue and catering at Morristown Corners.

“It was important that I had all these pieces that sort of built my career,” Martin said. “I wouldn’t have had the skill set to do Plate without all the things that came before it.”

Farm to Plate Martin’s cuisine is inventive yet simple, with a definite focus on local ingredients and producers. He sources as much as possible locally, but notes that it’s sometimes difficult for even a small restaurant to acquire enough product from a very small farm, or many farmers are growing the same crops.

So this year he’s partnered with farmer Ryan Demarest and gardener Genica Breitenbeck, who cultivate 30 football fields’ worth of Hyde Park soil at Naked Acre Farm (just 11 miles from the restaurant), and who he’ll buy a majority of his produce from. They locked in some details before the growing season started, and even grow some specialty veggies for Plate.

“I don’t have to spend four hours on the phone every Monday chasing down local product. And it’s less time for him; he doesn’t have to make

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all those calls and deliver to 15 different restaurants,” Martin said.

Diners might find a tangle of baby greens atop perfectly seasoned beef tartare in a chilled handmade bowl, served with a quail egg and thin-sliced yet sturdy salt and vinegar chips; a large, pillowy soufflé swimming in pools of liquid gold—locally grown saffron and lemon-thyme sauce; a bright, zingy vegan beet soup with coconut and ginger, warm and intensely satisfying on a brisk evening.

The veggie burger, a staple since the days of Jamie, is practically a town celebrity in its own right; omnivores can chow down on the houseground and smoked chuck burger.

And it would be a crime not to mention the banana pudding, a delightfully and almost obscenely large glass jar of silky, not-too-sweet

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EDIBLES INTO THE PAN Lobster, cognac lobster cream, and fresh peas—yum!—to go over housemade bucatini.

custard studded with Nilla wafers and swirls of cream, a recipe developed from the early days of Plate and inspired by Martin’s matriarchs.

He and Jennifer have made some changes to the formerly industrial aesthetic—“We turned a turnkey into a project,” Martin joked last November—with colorful mismatched water glasses and plates, a window bar so diners can look out into the village, some soft touches to muffle echoes in the open atmosphere. On the walls are menus Martin’s cooked at Chez Panisse, and artwork by Aryk Tomlinson, who’s also the garde manger cook.

“I’m trying to drop little pieces of my history around the room,” Martin said.

As Waters touts “learning by doing”— knowing the value of work and why it’s critical, what it really means to clean a restaurant, how much those people should be paid—it’s obvious that Martin, too, has learned the value of sweat equity.

He loves that his family is right there with him; his cooks and staff are part of that family, too. When his high-school dishwasher had to curtail his work schedule because track had started in the spring, Martin often stepped in to fill the vital post himself.

“The passion, I think, comes from mom and dad, from growing up around that; from traveling, and eating good food, and knowing the difference,” he said. “Now that we’re settled in for one season, it’s time to start getting more futuristic in our thinking, because we’re here for the long haul now.” n /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: 91 Main St., Stowe. Wednesday through Sunday for dinner, and Sunday brunch. (802) 253-2691. platestowe.com.

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EDIBLES MOCO CREW Mark Andrews, part-time sub; Mike Hauser, general manager; Ann Bowen, produce and bulk food buyer, front-end clerk; Nancy Betz, front-end clerk; Edward Flynn, front-end clerk, sub; Jennifer Stein, buyer, administration, front-end clerk; Elizabeth Casparian, marketing, events, buyer, café manager; Stacey Schaaf, administration; Susan Aikman, bookkeeping, administration.

DRIVEN BY COMMUNITY Morrisville food co-op supports local farmers, offers healthy food options Problem: Downtowns languish in many small Vermont communities.

Solution: Find ways to draw more people into downtown.

Enter the Morrisville Food Co-op, a community-owned natural foods market. The idea for it was conceived in 2011, at the suggestion of the Vermont Council for Rural Development.

“We saw the co-op as an anchor business, espeSTORY & PHOTOGRAPHS / Kate Carter cially for foot traffic in downtown Morrisville,” said Susan Titterton, a member of the founding board established in 2013. “The Tegu Market had closed 20 years prior, and Morrisville didn’t have a grocery store in the village. We also thought it was important to support local farmers and provide healthy food to people in the community.”

The idea may have been great, but a store needs a building. When one became available at 46 Pleasant St., near River Arts, Susan and husband Bob Titterton were in a position to buy it and lease it to the co-op.

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“The location is good and there is plenty of parking in the municipal lot across the street,” Susan said. “Bob and I really wanted to help in any way we could.”

Renovations began to the building, board members started selling coop memberships, vendors were contacted, staff members were hired, and many fundraisers, including a kickstarter campaign for a walk-in cooler, were held. Six years after the idea was conceived, the co-op opened in September 2017.

“It’s a community-driven store,” said the general manager, Mike Hauser. “In time, the community will decide if we’re here for the long term. We are still being discovered by everyone in town. Our biggest challenge now is broadening the local base.”

The food co-op has more than 1,000 members, but only about half shop there regularly.

The others are involved because they support the concept and want the co-op to succeed. A good percentage of members are part-time residents of the town.

EDIBLES HYPERLOCAL Produce buyer Ann Bowen meets with farmers Tony Lehouillier of Footebrook Farm in Johnson and Angus Baldwin of West Farm in Jeffersonville.

“If all 1,000 members shopped here, we’d be in a much stronger position,” Hauser said. “It’s great to have members in direct contact with us to provide feedback. That’s hard to match.”

Nevertheless, things are going well. “We are young, so we’re still figuring things out,” said Hauser, who was a manager for three years at Hunger Mountain Co-op in Montpelier. “Our business plan was finalized in April 2017 and we are meeting or exceeding some expectations, including revenues, while others need re-evaluation. We still have a way to go.”

Morrisville already has two supermarkets—Hannaford and Price Chopper—located in the commercial area north of the village.

So what makes a co-op different from big chain grocery stores?

A focus on the community.

Hauser explains: “We are here to support the local farmers and producers as much as possible by providing an outlet for their goods, and we provide great customer service. We have a staff of six full-time and six part-time and we know our products and can engage with our customers and help them fulfill their culinary needs.”

Not all the food is organic, but whenever possible, organic comes first.

A lot of the co-op’s products are grown organically but are not certified.

None have artificial flavoring, additives, or coloring, and a majority of the produce is grown within 10 miles of the store.

“We have a buying code as to the types of products we carry,” Hauser said. “We’re trying to provide affordable pricing so everyone can have access to good food.

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“It’s fun to be rubbing elbows with the farmers and having direct contact with the people who are producing our food. There is minimal overlap and the diversity is great. The farmers are very supportive of each other and non-competitive.”

The co-op also carries local meats, artisan cheeses, a good variety of local breads and beers, a small selection of CBD-infused products, and price-point wine you can’t find in the other grocery stores.

EDIBLES Elizabeth Casparian bakes, cooks, and runs the Morrisville food co-op café.

“A lot of people have commented that we have the best wine selection in town,” Hauser said.

The co-op stakes out its market position this way: “MoCo has different offerings from other area grocery stores. Larger chain stores’ emphasis is on price, volume, and variety.

MoCo’s inventory emphasizes locally produced products with the intended support of local producers and stimulation of the local economy.

MoCo also emphasizes naturally produced and organic products raised thoughtfully and carefully. Additionally, MoCo offers educational opportunities that allow for shoppers to make more informed and more healthful choices.

But is that enough? Will it succeed?

A co-op has to be more than just a store. It has to be a community support network that involves both food producers and consumers; people have to be engaged and involved.

A lot of work has gone into getting the Morrisville Co-op to where it is today. Now, the future is up to the community. n /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Morrisville Food Co-op, 46 Pleasant St., Morrisville. Open daily, hours vary. (802) 888-2255, morrisvillecoop.com.

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awesome food. over 100 beers.

1,000 records. lots of fish stories.

serving dinner every night and lunch friday - monday.

802 760 6066 docponds.com @docponds

GORDON MILLER

TIDBITS

Outstanding feast comes to Stowe Stowe has plenty of opportunities to dine al fresco during the warmer months, and this August a unique, moveable feast rolls in for just one enchanted evening at Sage Farm Goat Dairy on West Hill Road.

Outstanding in the Field, the brainchild of artist and former chef Jim Denevan, sets up the longest tables you’ve ever seen in gorgeous outdoor locales across the continent (and a handful in Europe) as hundreds of guests sit down to dine on lavish menus of locally grown and produced food and drink.

Denevan leads the traveling caravan in his 1953 red, white, and chrome Flxible bus, and diners also hear from the farmers and producers and take a tour of the grounds.

Sage Farm is a family operation led by sisters Molly and Katie Pindell, who craft awardwinning cheeses from the milk of their small herd of Alpine goats.

Chef Eric Warnstedt (Hen of the Wood and Doc Ponds) will helm the culinary team for his ninth Oustanding service, this year on Aug. 22.

Tickets are $265 per person at outstanding inthefield.com.

— Hannah Normandeau

Holding court at Fork & Gavel in Hyde Park It’s been a while since a restaurant graced the village of Hyde Park, but Fork & Gavel has given people a new place to hold court for breakfast and lunch.

The restaurant in the old Hyde Park Village Market quietly hung its open flag one day in late March. By the next morning, the secret was out and the place was packed for lunch.

Husband and wife John and Jenna Decker bought the building last year and made extensive renovations. For now, Jenna will handle the dining room while John does most of the cooking.

Decker also owns Stowe Public House, which sells beer, cider, and wine—mostly beer!—on Stowe’s Main Street.

As Hyde Park is the county’s shire town, >>

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CALEIGH CROSS

TIDBITS

John and Jenna Decker.

Dinner Monday-Saturday

Main Street houses all kinds of governmental and nonprofit law-and-order offices. Gavel in the restaurant name is a nod to the county courthouse.

The current menu features a variety of breakfast plates, lunch sandwiches and wraps, salads and soups—just about everything under $10. There’s also a kids’ menu, with a charmingly named Char-CUTE-erie plate of cheeses, crackers, and grapes.

Beer, cheese stars The 2018 U.S. Open Beer Championship awarded von Trapp Brewing of Stowe a gold medal in the German Kölsch category and a bronze medal in its Bock category.

The competition in Oxford, Ohio, drew more than 6,300 beer entries and more than 110 different beer styles. The competition is the only one in the world to include beers from both professional breweries and home-brewers.

“We’re honored by this latest round of medals, and I am proud of our brewing team and my father Johannes’ vision,” said Sam von Trapp of von Trapp Brewing.

••• The 2018 Amercian Cheese Society competition saw 13 Vermont cheesemakers awarded 36 ribbons, including two best of show winners from Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro.

Jasper’s Harbison, a soft ripened cheese, took first-place honors, while Calderwood won second place.

The event, titled “Forged in Cheese,” took place in Pittsburgh. Other Vermont winners included Cabot Creamery Cooperative, Cabot: Old School Cheddar, 3rd place; and Cate Hill Orchard, Craftsbury Common: Wild Mountain Tomme, 3rd place.

••• Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro was named the best brewery in the world for the fifth straight year by RateBeer. The Northeast Kingdom brewery beat out more than 34,000 breweries to win the 2018 title. n

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PERFORMANCE ART Hibachi chefs light a fire at Sushi Yoshi Story by KATE CARTER

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Photography by GORDON MILLER

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burst of flames, a flash of heat. The audience gasps, then applauds. A sharp knife and a shiny spatula both twirl like mallets in the hands of a drummer. Suddenly a scallop flies through the air and lands in a man’s mouth. The chef shrieks. More applause, lots of laughter. Another scallop takes flight, but this time a woman ducks.

The chef laughs and moves on to his next victim.

Everyone is having a blast watching the white-coated teppanyaki chef, who looks taller than he is in his toque blanche, prepare their meals. He grins as he scoops up a salmon filet, flips it in the air, and yells something in a foreign language as it lands, dead center, raw side down, on the sizzling hot grill.

More applause. More laughter. More cheering.

This is dinner—and a show—at the large, square, wrap-around teppanyaki tables at Sushi Yoshi Chinese Gourmet and Hibachi Steakhouse in Stowe. Teppanyaki, often called hibachi or Japanese steakhouse, is a mixture of cookery and performance art. The chef prepares the food, but also juggles utensils, tosses eggs with his spatula, stacks onion rings into a volcano and sets it afire, and flings food at unsuspecting diners—just to see if they can catch the flying tidbits in their mouths.

A A diner gets ready to catch a flying scallop, tossed by one of Sushi Yoshi’s six Hibachi chefs at one of the restaurant’s wrap-around teppanyaki tables. A traditional Hibachi dinner includes salmon, filet, chicken, scallop, shrimp, veggies, rice and noodles.

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•••• It’s a Friday in January and Sushi Yoshi’s three hibachi tables are booked. It’s hopping. The entire restaurant is packed and servers are hustling. In the background, people sing “Happy Birthday” at the sushi bar.

Eighteen patrons who never met before face each other at each hibachi table as six chefs, two per station, entertain them. Everyone is entranced as their own personal chef checks their orders and prepares their meals to individual specifications, while performing tricks with his tools of the trade. He’s not just stirring the food with a wooden spoon. He’s honoring a long-held tradition of Japanese performance food art.

A sous chef back in the kitchen prepares the protein, noodles or rice, and vegetables and rolls them out to the tables in huge serving trays. Some guests chose seafood—salmon, scallops, or shrimp—while others picked beef or poultry or the vegan option. Then it’s funtime as the chef transfers the food to the grill and begins his flashy routine.

By now, the hungry patrons are drooling in anticipation. When the chef determines their food is ready, he shovels it onto their plate and yells bon appetit! Then he does the same for the next and the next and next … eating with strangers has never been so much fun.

•••• Nate Freund, along with two partners, head chef Devon Zheng, and Howard Smith, opened Sushi Yoshi in Stowe in 2014. It wasn’t the first restaurant for Freund, who grew up in nearby Middlesex.

He opened his first Sushi Yoshi in Killington in 2000, and his second in Lake George in 2005.

“I had just turned 21 when I had an opportunity to take over a business in Killington. It was a take-out Chinese restaurant with a four-seat sushi bar,” Freund said. “I was familiar with working in Asian restaurants, and when this opportunity came up, I decided to buy it and grow it. There were no other Asian restaurants in Killington.” >>

91 Main Street, Stowe | platestowe.com | Chef Owned

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Japanese performance food art! The show is as good as the meal.

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Freund, who majored in business and marketing in Castleton State College, lives in Castleton with his family. The Sushi Yoshi restaurant in Killington was mostly a winter business, so Freund looked into opening a second Sushi Yoshi in Lake George. That location was mostly a summer business so the two complemented each other. Now they are both open year-round.

When Stowe’s former Asian eatery, Japanese-Thai fusion Kobe, moved to Burlington, Freund saw a way to return to his roots. “The hibachi tables were already there, so it made perfect sense to open a third Sushi Yoshi location,” he said. Having worked a bit for his nowretired parents, who owned Squash Valley Produce, Freund was familiar with the major players in town, and he realized Stowe could use an ethnic food restaurant.

Opening Stowe’s Sushi Yoshi in 2014 was an extension of what Freund was already doing, but gaining the trust and loyalty of the locals was a challenge. “I have a community-driven mindset. I don’t want to be here if I can’t support and be involved with the local community while providing a service. I’m hyper-focused on that. I want to be here, to enjoy Vermont, bike, ski, and be around good people.”

Freund realized the restaurant’s location on Mountain Road, adjacent to the rec path, was ideal. “We could create a place where locals would be comfortable and, in return, we would be welcome. We wanted to achieve an authentic culinary experience in a casual atmosphere, where all guests could wear jeans and have a great time, or they could arrive on a bicycle in their riding shorts and feel at home.”

Sushi Yoshi seats 120 people. In addition to the hibachi menu, there’s a typically extensive and complex Asian-fusion menu, a sushi bar, and a cocktail bar where you can hang out and enjoy free wings from 3 - 6 p.m. daily. Chef Devon Zheng created a unique recipe for their General Tso chicken wings, and surprisingly, they sell more wings than they give away.

•••• Sushi Yoshi Stowe has 12 Asian chefs, six of whom are trained teppanyaki chefs. Some are first generation citizens, while others have naturalized after moving to the U.S. Many are from the Fujian province in China, and most grew up on farms and enjoy the rural aspects of living in Stowe. Several have ski passes and ride mountain bikes. >>

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Besides its Hibachi steakhouse menu, Sushi Yoshi offers an expansive sushi menu—hence the name!— plus an array of Asian fusion and Japanese offerings. At top: In addition to the teppanyaki stations, the restaurant offers restaurant seating, a lounge and bar, and several separate Japanese-style rooms.

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“We rarely have to recruit new people,” Freund explains. “Head Chef Devon Zheng is responsible for the kitchen staff. He brings in people from the metro areas of New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia and trains them.”

Freund first met Kevin Zheng, Devon’s brother, when the two worked together at a restaurant in Delaware. When Freund opened Sushi Yoshi in Killington, he hired Devon to run the kitchen. Devon’s Chinese name is unpronounceable for most, and a server decided that if his brother was Kevin, he should be Devon. It stuck.

Now 41, Devon is a master sushi chef from the Fujian province. He came to the U.S. in 2001 and moved to Stowe in 2014 to help open the third Sushi Yoshi.

He trains his staff to his high standards, especially when it comes to the sushi bar, and recruits chefs who are already trained in the teppanyaki method. He works six or seven days a week in Stowe, but will sometimes travel to Killington and Lake George if they need help.

Once or twice a month he travels to New York to be with his wife and two kids for a few days.

“Devon is the most consistent and talented sushi chef around,” Freund says. “He has a top work ethic and always strives for perfection. He makes all our sauces, using proprietary techniques and ingredients and his consistency is amazing.”

Devon’s English is limited, but he was able to convey the important message that the spicy tuna, California, and Cady’s Falls hosomaki (house rolls) are the best sellers at the sushi bar.

•••• In 2017, Freund teamed up with Evan Chismark and Howard Smith to open another restaurant in Stowe’s Mountain Road, in the old Santos location. Ranch Camp offers pub fare and a mostly microbrew beer list to complement its Mexican-influenced food. Oh, and a bike shop.

The location borders Cady Hill Forest and its network of mountain bike trails. “We have everything Kingdom Trails has, but in one place.

Much to our surprise, Ranch Camp is turning out to be 80 percent about bikes and 20 percent about food,” Freund says.

The addition of Ranch Camp to Freund’s quiver of restaurants increased his number of employees to over 100. He provides his full-

time employees with benefits, such as health insurance, retirement savings, and some paid time off. “I’d better have something nice to offer them for working hard hours. We want them to feel valued and to stay with us.”

Freund feels the same way about his customers and the community, and tries to be involved in local events. “You can’t expect people to always give; you also have to give to be part of the community. You have to support people who support you. I always say yes if it’s a good cause.

A lot of people in this town do a lot for others and are super generous.”

•••• As the business landscape changes in Stowe, Freund says it’s necessary to stay relevant and do things the right way. “It’s important that >>

#NotJustBBQ blackdiamondbbq.com

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Head chef Devon Zhang and Nate Freund, two of three partners in Sushi Yoshi in Stowe.

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we are conscious of what people need and want, but it’s most important that we feel good all the time.”

Freund is looking forward to surviving his 40s and spending time with his family. Right now, with four restaurants in three distant locations, he puts in a lot of windshield time. He spends two days a week in Stowe, two in Killington, and two in Lake George, returning home every night to Castleton, where his kids go to school. The family also has a condo at Killington, a central location where they often converge for skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, and family time together.

However, Freund is an opportunist. “If something presented itself, I’d look at it. It’s in my blood to try new stuff, but for now, I want to ride more and get fit. I lost 50 pounds since moving here, thanks to all the great mountain bike riding and all the other riders who keep me motivated.”

•••• While guests finish eating at the hibachi tables, the six teppanyaki chefs clean the grills, sweep bits of scallops off the floor, and retreat

to the kitchen, where they sharpen their knives and get ready for the next show.

The atmosphere at the tables has settled.

Everyone is pleasantly sated. A few linger for an after-dinner cocktail, as a new crop of patrons begin to arrive for the second seating, waiting at the bar in anticipation. Some are repeat customers, others new. The unsuspecting first-timers are in for a treat. They will soon learn that there’s no better place for dinner and a show in Stowe.

In fact, there’s no other place in Stowe to enjoy a show with dinner. n

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Sushi Yoshi offers Hibachi, sushi, Japanese, and Asian fusion menu selections. 1128 Mountain Rd., Stowe. Daily 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday til 11 p.m. (802) 253-4135. sushistowe.com.

Coffee, espresso, tea, lattes, fresh baked goods, and the best grilled cheese in town.

Join us for the treats; stay for the conversation.

1880 MOUNTAIN ROAD, STOWE 802.760.6151 | PKCOFFEE.COM

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EDIBLES

TWICE BAKED GORDON MILLER

Morrisville bakeries rise on both sides of Main

ComeVisit Us! Come enjoy fresh from the roaster brewed coffee, espresso, cappuccinos, whole bean coffees and more at our new state-of-the-art, European Coffee Bar & Roastery.

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Two new eateries on Morrisville’s Lower Main Street are raking in the dough.

Last fall, Thompson’s Flour Shop, a Main Street mainstay for a quarter-century, moved across the street into a newly renovated space, more than doubling its size and adding beer, wine, and more lunch and breakfast items.

Thompson’s former home wasn’t empty very long; North Country Cakes moved in, offering a changing selection of pastries— doughnuts, scones, custom cakes—early every morning.

For both businesses, space opened up a new frontier. Keith Thompson says his larger space opens a new chapter for his company, one he hopes his offspring will continue.

North Country Cakes owner Nicole Maddox moved into the former Thompson’s space from her home kitchen.

Thompson still loves getting up at 4:30 every morning and making things, and now there’s more to make. “Some days I just feed from it, and other days it’s like a punch to the mouth, in a way,” Thompson said of the extra business. “The size of the other place was controllable. This place can sometimes get a little out of hand. But, hey, it’s what we love to do.”

Maddox said running a business in her home kitchen “was, like, doughnut under-

ground over there. It was super crazy. People would show up at my house every Saturday and get doughnuts there, so we got to meet a lot of people and get a following.”

Keith Thompson and his ex-wife Kathy also worked out of their home initially, then moved into the small confines on Lower Main Street in 1994. When the couple split, the bakery did, too, with separate locations in Morrisville and Stowe.

Kathy and Keith had opened a store in 1996 in Stowe village, which Kathy moved to the Mountain Road from 2004 to 2012.

Back in Morrisville, Keith stayed put in the diminutive spot on Lower Main Street. Into the first few years of the 2000s, Thompson’s was it for food in that part of town. Then Bee’s Knees moved in across the street in 2003, and a Lower Main business boomlet began. It continues to this day. Although the Bee’s Knees ended its run in 2015, Mexican restaurant El Toro soon moved in.

And the customers keep coming. Woe be unto the man who goes to Thompson’s at 9:15 on a Saturday morning to fetch some honey-oat bread for a brunch, and watches the two women in front of him grab the last three loaves. n —Tommy Gardner

North Country Cakes owner Nicole Maddox.

Thompson’s Flour Shop on Morrisville’s Main Street.

For BREAKFAST, LUNCH and CATERING! Open daily from 6:30 a.m. www.mccarthysrestaurantstowe.com

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GORDON MILLER

EDIBLES

Come Visit Our Tasting Room & VT Gift Shop Open Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

632 LaPorte Rd., Morrisville, VT 802.888.9400 rockartbrewery.com

GROWTH SPURT Noted local chef adds fourth locale The owners of Hen of the Wood restaurants have added a new beast to their barnyard.

Eric Warnstedt, who along with William McNeil owns Hen of the Wood restaurants in Waterbury and Burlington, and Doc Ponds in Stowe, bought Prohibition Pig restaurant and brewery in Waterbury at the end of 2018.

No major changes to the restaurant or brewery are currently planned, Warnstedt said.

“The goal is really to get to know everyone … loop in our value system and the way we like to do business, and set it up for success.”

Prohibition Pig opened in 2012, giving new life to the space formerly occupied by The Alchemist Pub and Brewery, which was destroyed by flooding in 2011 during Tropical Storm Irene. The restaurant soon became a hot spot to cozy up to the bar for a craft cocktail or local brew, or to get a taste of some Southern comfort with a Vermont twist in the form of smoked whole-hog and brisket barbecue, breaded chicken, hush puppies and deepfried cheese.

“I was born and raised in the South, so (the former owner) and I really connected” on the cuisine, Warnstedt said.

In 2014 the Pig expanded backwards into another historic building on Elm Street, adding a craft brewing operation, an outdoor patio, and some much-needed storage space.

Diners and drinkers can still order their favorite duck-fat fries, pickled veggies, baconloaded mac and cheese, and a vast selection of draught beers and creative cocktails.

The first Hen of the Wood restaurant opened in 2005 on Stowe Street in Waterbury, where it remains one of the top fine-dining restaurants in the state, known for its locally sourced ingredients, imaginative seasonal menus, and service. Warnstedt and McNeil opened a second Hen in Burlington in 2013, and launched Doc Ponds, a beer bar with more casual food, in Stowe in 2015.

“There’s an opportunity to do a lot more with the town,” Warnstedt said, and Prohibition Pig can serve as kind of a “command center” for fundraising and other community efforts.

“I’m excited to put more eggs into Waterbury,” said Warnstedt, who lives in Waterbury Center, between Waterbury and Stowe. “This is where my life is.” n —Hannah Normandeau

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EDIBLES

RANCH CAMP Restaurant serves as food, MTB hub

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Come on in, feel comfy, have a beer, relax. That’s the idea behind Ranch Camp, a Stowe restaurant that doubles as a top-of-the-line mountain bike shop.

Somehow, the vibe isn’t all about mountain bikes. The Ranch Camp goal is to make everyone feel welcome.

“We wanted it to be a hub for the community. A place to gather and sample the culture,” said co-founder Evan Chismark, former head of the Stowe Trails Partnership, the premier local mountainbike organization. His partners are Nate Freund, owner of Sushi Yoshi, and Ryan Thibault of Mountain Bike Vermont.

The three had talked extensively about opening a mountain bike shop, then added a bar and an eatery, based in part on their own experiences as mountain bikers.

“Bikes, beer, and food” is how Chismark sums it up.

Ranch Camp is on the Mountain Road, with its own private access to the Cady Hill trail network. Mountain bike gear doubles as decoration. If your bike needs work, turn left into the repair shop, then head down the hall for lunch.

Why Ranch Camp? The name is part of Stowe’s history, and sounds like a place you can end your ride, or start it. The original Ranch Camp was actually a camp, home base of the Civilian Conservation Corps workers who cut trails on Mount Mansfield in the Ranch Valley in the 1930s.

Ranch Camp, the bike shop/pub, usually has six craft beers on tap, plus plenty of options for non-beer drinkers. An open layout, rough-hewn architecture, plenty of natural light, and scenic views of Route 108 create a homey, pleasant ambiance.

Even the table settings add to the atmosphere. Each of the high-tops near the bar has a small potted plant with flat rocks offering written life tips, from “Call your mom” to “Floss your teeth.”

Ranch Camp’s slogan is “Bikes, burritos, beers.”

Why burritos?

“We wanted to bridge the gap between healthy and comfort food,” Chismark said. Quick, healthy options to help people recharge their batteries, relying heavily on local food.

GORDON MILLER

BEER, BIKES, BURRITOS Diners enjoy the casual, comfy vibe at Ranch Camp.

The goal: “A menu we as mountain bikers all want, and one that would resonate with people locally,” Chismark said.

Ranch Camp has compostable to-go packaging for anyone headed back out immediately, and the clearly marked compost bins for the dine-in types are part of the business’s mission to “be as clean and lean as possible,” Chismark said. “Business has been really, really good,” he added, augmented by rides, events, and promotions, “Ranch Camp is open to anyone,” Chismark said. n —Andrew Martin

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: 311 Mountain Road, Stowe. Daily 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. (802) 253-2753. ranchcampvt.com.

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R E A L E S TAT E & H O M E S Are you searching for the perfect home or vacation getaway? Looking to update your 1970s kitchen, add a great room, or find a stone mason to redo your uneven terrace? Well, the search is over.

Our guide to real estate and homes is your one-stop shop to find a new home or connect with the finest architects, interior designers, builders, and other craftsmen and suppliers for everything home-related. Our websitesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;stowetoday.com, stowereporter.com, newsandcitizen.com and waterburyrecord.comâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;are great real estate resources.

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PERSONALITIES

Summer Sun, 48"x30"

MY FAVORITE TREE Artist Douglas David explores his ‘metaphor for life’ STORY

A

/ ROBERT KIENER

mild fog hangs over Tansy Hill, a quiet, leafy, dead-end road just north of Stowe. The moody, mid-morning fog blankets, and softens, the surrounding farmland like a rumpled white quilt that’s been tossed over the landscape.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it,” says nationally known artist Douglas David on a late June morning as he paints what he’s long described as “my favorite tree.”

As he unloads his oil paints, brushes, a paint-spattered easel, and a pristine 30- by 48-inch canvas from his pickup truck, he points to a majestic apple tree growing in a farmer’s field just off the roadside. “That’s it,” he says as he tightens the bolts on his five-foot high easel. >>

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PERSONALITIES

A Day at My Favorite Place, 20"x10". My Favorite Tree, 12"x6".

David, a well-known and successful Indiana-based artist, has come to Stowe almost every summer for the last 20 years. He was first lured here to study with the legendary en plein air painter and teacher Frank Mason, and has returned most every June, even after Mason died in 2009, to paint with “the Maestro’s” students.

In addition to painting with Mason’s acolytes, he also returns to Stowe to paint this Tansy Road apple tree that he first painted in 1997. It’s become a sort of “right of passage” for the 61-year-old oil painter. “For the last two decades it was the first thing I painted when I got to Stowe in early June and the last thing I painted by the end of the month,” he says as he secures his canvas onto his easel.

“It’s become a symbol of my arrival and departure. But there’s more to it than that.”

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••• Using a two-inch-wide natural bristle brush he works quickly and efficiently to cover the canvas with a thin background color, or underpainting, of muted cadmium red.

It will act as a base for more colors and show through the finished painting to give it a faint, subtle glow.

As a summer chorus of chickadees, warblers, and sparrows sings and chirps all around us, David tells me that he has painted this tree over 40 times. He sets down his brush for a moment and explains, “I fell in love with this tree in 1997 when I discovered it with Frank and his students.

And, as I have painted it over the years, I have come to see it as a metaphor for life. You know, it’s never the same two years in row. It grows and changes and gets more interesting with age.”

Story continues on p188, photos on p.186 >>

PERSONALITIES

My Favorite Day, 48"x30".

Misty Tree, 30"x24".

Artist Douglas David painting en plein air in Stowe, as heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done for over two decades.

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PERSONALITIES He pauses a moment and adds, “Like we all should.”

“And there’s another thing,” he says. “Each year when I first paint the tree it makes me look back on all the things I have done over the last year and ask myself what am I going to do in the future. It’s my touchstone. A few years ago I had a cancer scare. Painting this tree that year helped remind me that it’s wrong to take anything for granted. It also reminded me to examine where I was in my life and career.”

David usually compares the two apple tree paintings he does every summer. “I look at them together and can see my growth. I see how much more artistically comfortable I got throughout the month, how much freer and looser I painted. That always interests me.” He confesses that he’s always trying to create a work that is fresh and spontaneous. “I don’t like paintings that are overworked.”

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••• By now, less than half an hour after he started, the painting has taken shape. David has sketched or roughed in the tree’s branches and is working quickly to add some clouds.

“There, that really makes the tree pop out. I like that,” he says as he adds blues and violets to the sky.

The fog is also beginning to lift. “That makes me work faster and prevents me from fussing too much,” he explains. “I prefer to focus on distance and depth, more than detail.

I want my work to be free, as if it just fell off the brush.”

“A lot of people ask me how I can paint the same tree over and over,” says David as he steps back to examine his composition. “Needs a bit more shadowing, right there,” he says as he dabs on paint. “I explain that the tree is always changing but it also often teaches me a lesson. For example, one year I went back home to Indiana after June, thinking I wasn’t too jazzed by the tree. It had too much dead wood in it. But then I realized, ‘Hey maybe that was me. Not the tree.’ It got me thinking.”

“Another time a painter asked me if I’d seen my tree recently. He said he had and didn’t think it was as interesting as it used to be. I didn’t say anything but I thought to myself, “Maybe it’s us. Not the tree. Maybe we have to look a little harder. So there’s a lesson there.”

Some 45 minutes after he began, David steps back from his painting and pronounces it finished. As he packs away the canvas and his gear he begins to chuckle. “I am always coming back, year after year, and studying this tree, seeing how it has grown and changed, and how I have grown and changed. I often wonder if it sees me and says to itself, ‘That crazy guy is back and is painting me again!

Wonder what he’s up to now?’ ” n

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: douglasdavid.com.

VERMONT LIFESTYLE

‘PASS THE CHICKEN PIE, PLEASE’ There’s nothing more Vermont-y than a church supper Walking into a chicken pie supper is like stepping into a kitchen full of friends, with the meal already waiting. Hot, hearty chicken pie, squash, potatoes, coleslaw, and pie are staples at chicken pie suppers, a Vermont tradition going back generations.

“It’s Vermont. It’s very New England,” said Marcia Johannesen, who organizes Stowe Community Church’s annual supper; this year set for Saturday, Oct. 12, with seatings at 5, 6, and 7 p.m. The Waterbury Center Community Church will also hold a chicken pie supper on Thursday, Oct. 3 with seatings at noon, 5, and 6:30 p.m.

Vermont’s chicken pie suppers have a few things in common— they’re fundraisers, typically to support a church, and they draw hundreds of people. They also require almost a week’s worth of preparation and plenty of people to help serve, all volunteer.

Johannesen said Stowe’s supper has been going on at least 25 years.

“Before I knew it, I was running it, but I don’t like to tell people that because then no one will take my job,” she chuckled. She acknowledges that one day she’ll have to retire, but has no doubt someone else will pick up the mantle.

“We came up from New Jersey and we didn’t have them there. It is such a New England thing. … I think it’s great for the community. It raises money for our church. It brings the community together. People sit at the table and talk to each other. They may be locals and they may be visitors. It gives a good, friendly impression of the area and the town,” Johannesen said. n —Caleigh Cross

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Here’s a recipe for the biscuits served each October at the Stowe Community Church’s Chicken Pie Supper. This recipe, and others, can be found in “Cooking for Joy,” the Stowe Community Church cookbook.

It can be purchased for $15 from Stowe Community Church. Proceeds go to the building and maintenance fund.

Lillian Ricketson’s Chicken Pie Supper Biscuits 4 c flour 1 tsp salt 8 tsp baking powder 8 Tbsp of Crisco Milk In a bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add Crisco. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the flour and Crisco until it is a fine consistency. This mixture can be made ahead and stored for several months.

In a bowl, add biscuit mix and enough milk to make a sticky dough.

Combine together and place dough on a floured surface. Pat down and roll out to about one-half to 1-inch thick.

Cut out biscuits to desired size and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Serve warm with lots of butter, jam, or honey!

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KATE CARTER

SPOTLIGHT

ALL MY LANDSCAPES Cynthia Knauf likes it when projects turn out just as she imagined Projects for Cynthia Knauf, a landscape architect based in Colchester, range from small residential homes to large complex commercial ventures involving architects, civil engineers, builders, and hardscape contractors. She grew up in Eastern Pennsylvania, in the Poconos, and attended Moravian College in Bethlehem, where she earned an undergraduate degree in journalism. Her first job out of college was five years as an editor and proofreader at Rodale Press. “I worked with copywriters, editors, and photographers on presentations. I am so glad I have that experience. I use it all the time for proposals and presentations, where I have to be a good editor and proofreader.”

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Why did you leave Rodale?

I’m an outdoors person and I wanted to be outside. I took a sabbatical from Rodale and worked for the Appalachian Mountain Club at Pinkham Notch base camp as a naturalist and guide. I did that for two years while I tried to figure out what to do next. Then I learned about landscape architecture, which I had never >>

heard about. It required creativity, working outdoors, working with a team, and was detail oriented. I realized it involved a lot of skills and passions I already had, and that I could transfer to a more outdoor-oriented career.

Did you go back to school?

I went to Conway School of Ecological Design and Planning in Northampton, Mass., for my master of arts in landscape design.

What do you like about landscape architecture?

The process. It requires visual imagination. I start with a bird’s-eye view and imagine it in real perspective. You’re dealing with the future and what something is going to look like—what are the angles, patterns, textures? Do they reflect what’s inside the building as well as outside? I start with the building and what the client wants, then what the land dictates, and then marry that with the surroundings in a functional composition. Sometimes a client will look at my presentation and think it’s perfect, other times it requires massaging. Then, after the installation, I see that, oh my, it really looks like what I’d imagined.

Where does your inspiration come from?

A lot of places, but certainly nature. Both of my parents were educators and passionate about making nature, conservation, and environmentalism an important part of their students’ curriculum. As a family, we spent much of our free time in forests and meadows, where we learned names of the local birds and flora and fauna and how to read the landscape to understand the underlying natural conditions.

Describe your design passion.

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Part of my passion for landscape architecture is creating beautiful, inspiring outdoor places that bring people close to nature. I think that is where we are all most comfortable, whether we know it or not. Most everybody who finds a beautiful place in nature likes being there.

What I find really exciting is how to integrate the building with the land. I like to see how I can draw lines and angles out from the building into the hardscape, then soften it with plants. It’s a style I’m passionate about. To me, that is beauty—drawing a building out into the landscape.

How do clients find you?

Mostly word of mouth from former clients, architects, and civil engineers with whom I’ve collaborated, and my website.

Do you work alone?

I have two employees. One is a CAD draftsperson and the other is a financial manager.

What are your go-to plants?

In general I like plants with as much year-round interest as possible. I like a garden to have trees and shrubs for structure, plus perennials. I try to use native plants and absolutely no invasives. It’s great to satisfy all the senses if you can. I always try to work in plants for the pollinators. We all need to be responsible for that.

What changes in the industry have you seen?

Outdoor spaces are becoming a lot more elaborate—pools, spas, dining tables, outdoor kitchens, interesting lighting. People are duplicating outside what’s on the inside. They want to stay outdoors as long as they can. People are talking more about what’s best for the environment— stormwater runoff, pollinators, carbon footprint, anything that affects the environment.

How did you end up in Vermont?

What are you working on now?

My first job out of college was in Stowe, in 1989, with Charlie Burnham, a land planner and landscape architect. Then I started working on my own and stayed in Stowe until 2001, when I moved to Montpelier, and then to Burlington 10 years later.

A master plan for a couple who own a sliver of land along the Tyler Branch River in Enosburg Falls. The property has a beautiful old grist mill and the miller’s house, both of which have been restored. They wish to create a welcoming driveway approach and add flower and pollinator gardens, a vegetable garden, an outdoor garden room with a pergola, and stairs down to the roaring river.

What is a favorite Stowe project you worked on?

I get such a kick out of all of them. Every project is unique. Every one is a brand new puzzle. I recently finished an amazing job in Sterling Valley with Donnie Blake and Travis Cutler of Donald P. Blake Jr., Inc. The site was one of the highest elevations in Stowe, built in

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a rocky ledge. I worked on a terrace of different levels. The first level has a spa and fire bowls, then you go down a few steps to another level with a firepit and plunge pool. It was a total renovation of an existing structure and took about three years from start to finish.

Another was a collaboration with Sarah Susanka, award-winning architect and author of the “Not So Big House” book series, in 1994, on a new home for a couple who just purchased a large parcel of meadow and woodlands in Elmore. The house design was a blend of the owners’ passion for arts and crafts and Japanese styles. The landscape design reflected those styles and integrated the home into the sloping topography and natural surroundings. The resulting outdoor spaces and gardens became extensions of the indoor rooms, with a Japanese flare using local stone and plants. The new owners, who have roots in China, contacted me in 2018 to renovate overgrown parts of the landscape and to incorporate Chinese elements, including a moon gate and lotus pond.

What do you do when you’re not working?

Hike, bike, cross-country ski, be outdoors. I’m also studying tai chi and I like to travel to stay —Kate Carter inspired. n

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“Energy efficient. Sustainable. Modern.

Simple. Elegant.”

As Stowe-based architect Ernie Ruskey remembers, these were some of the adjectives on his clients’ wish list for the house they hoped to build in Stowe. The Concord, Mass., couple fell in love with Stowe after numerous holiday visits with their two young children and finally decided to build their own second home here. “They knew I admired—and had designed—the type of house they were after and we really hit it off,” said Ruskey. “From day one we were on the same page.”

Builder Steve Sisler, a frequent Ruskey collaborator, was also involved from the project’s beginnings. story, p.214

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“We’re very interested in building energy efficient homes and looked forward to the challenge of helping the clients meet their desire for a sustainable house with a clean, modern aesthetic,” he said.

The owners were excited with their choice of architect and builder. “It was a meeting of the minds from the day we met,” said the wife. “Both Ernie and Steve really understood the kind of cozy but accommodating house we were after. It was so helpful that we all spoke the same language.”

With a sloping, south-facing lot that offers dramatic, nearly unobstructed views of the nearby Worcester Range and more distant southerly peaks of Camel’s Hump and Mount Ellen, locating the house on the 5.3-acre lot was straightforward. “We walked the lot several times with Ernie to make sure we were maximizing our views,” explained the wife. >>

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Ruskey also factored in seasonal changes in light and sun when he positioned the home.

Aware that this was going to be the only modern-style house in the neighborhood, the team decided to set it back from the road to help it nestle into the hemlocks and pines near the rear portion of the wooded lot. “It was important to us that our home looked as if it were rooted into the land and landscape as opposed to being merely plopped onto it,” said the wife.

Although the house is large, at three stories and 4,500 square feet, Ruskey took full advantage of the lot’s sloping meadow and built it into the gentle rise. “This helps lessen the mass of the house,” he said, “and makes it more a part of the landscape.” To help the home blend in with its surroundings even more, Ruskey and the owners decided to use locally-sourced wood (especially walnut and ash), stone and other natural, renewable elements.

Because the husband was “very keen” on building as energy efficient a structure as possible, Ruskey and Sisler agreed that the first step was to design a well-insulated and air-tight exterior shell. “We wanted to exceed Vermont residential building code requirements and we did just that by choosing hightech insulation and building as tight a structure as possible,” said Sisler.

Geothermal wells help supply heat and cooling and roof-mounted solar panels supply about a third of the home’s annual electrical demand. “We set out to build a Net Zero house, meaning it could be 100 percent energy independent and self-sufficient.”

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he family members are year-round sports enthusiasts, so a large first-floor mudroom, with spacious cubbies for each family member and guests, was a major requirement. “In fact, I’d have been happy if the biggest room in the home was the mudroom,” said the wife. “We have so much stuff and it’s a blessing to put it all away.”

The family also entertains a lot so while the master bedroom is on the main floor, there are guest rooms on the lower and upper levels along with the children’s rooms, including a bunkroom. “We wanted to keep the bedrooms simple,” said the wife. She laughs as she explains, “I didn’t want to be like Martha Stewart having to clean up for hours and hours after guests left after a weekend visit. So the simpler, the better.”

Because the couple stressed that they wanted an open, casual feel to their home, Ruskey opted for a first-floor great room concept that included contiguous kitchen, dining, and living room areas. A long bank of 12foot-high, triple-ply windows assured that the great room would offer drop-dead views of the Worcester Range as well as fill the space with available light. The room’s color palette is neutral and muted, with grays and wood tones. “We took our cues from the views >>

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and the home’s setting,” said the wife. “We all wanted to bring the outside in.”

The concrete radiant-heated floors complete the clean, simple aesthetic. “We were worried that the concrete floor might look too industrial but we’re happy with the clean, lightly-colored look,” said the wife. Another bonus: the winter sun helps heat up the floors. The kitchen’s concrete countertops and island counter, custom-made by the Montpelier-based design and fabrication company, Anomal, are flanked by a blue tempered glass backsplash—one of the home’s few color accents. “I love the way the lively colored glass ‘pops’ out,” said the wife.

Kitchen cabinets were crafted by Sisler Builders’ custom woodworking team.

In keeping with the owners’ desire for an open, light-filled home, Ruskey designed a huge, open-riser, three-story steel supported staircase that greets visitors as soon as they pass through the home’s sturdy, deeplygrained ash side door. A large window allows light to pour in here, lighting up the stairway and the interior of the house. The entrance hall, one of the first things visitors to the house see, features a curved wall, the only such wall in the angular, modern home. “I curved this wall as an inviting aspect; it’s meant to ‘welcome’ visitors to the home,” said Ruskey.

“We love that,” said the wife. “It’s a small detail of Ernie’s that makes such a big difference. It softens everything.”

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harp-eyed visitors may also notice that there is very little wood framing, trim, or baseboards inside the home. Instead, Ruskey chose a “zero reveal” approach, where drywall butts up right against a doorjamb or floor. The technique gives the home a more modern look—“clean and crisp, without fussiness,” said Sisler—but demands exacting craftsmanship. “There’s no wiggle room with this technique. Because there is no trim used to cover the joins between drywall and jambs, the framing and finishing work has to be exact. It was a challenge but one that our guys enjoyed.”

While some may say this home is minimally decorated, the owners explain they are taking their time to add pieces. “This is still our second home and we’re in no hurry to fill it up,” said the wife. “We’re still in the ‘less is more’ state of mind. We asked for simple and elegant and we like to think we got exactly that.”

When asked if she has a favorite feature of the house, she answered quickly. “Imagine it’s sunrise. The sun is about to break over the Worcester Range. It creates what I call a siren call; it’s as if the mountains are calling to us. Right after I wake up, I grab a cup of tea and, no matter what time of year it is, I walk out onto the deck and watch the sunrise.

It is beautiful, simple, and elegant. Just like our house.” n

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L A N D C O N S E R VAT I O N

COURTESY PHOTOS

ETHEREAL CATHEDRAL A hiker winds his way through the 750-acre Brownsville forest.

BROWNSVILLE Big gift lifts push to save a key Stowe forest The largest unprotected tract of private forest in Stowe may soon be conserved forever for the public.

Stowe Land Trust is moving to buy the 750-acre parcel at the end of Brownsville Road, which is bordered by thousands of acres of state forest and is part of the foothills of the 45,000-acre Worcester Range.

The effort got a $5 million boost from an anonymous donor, enough to put the land trust 90 percent of the way toward the purchase, enough to put the forest under contract.

“We have an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to conserve this outstanding property for our community,” said Kristen Sharpless, the land trust executive director. “This is the last conservation project of its kind that could happen in our town.” >>

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L A N D C O N S E R VAT I O N FAMILY LEGACY The Brownsville Forest is 750 acres and its preservation will open access to thousands of acres of state forest lands. (Map courtesy of Stowe Land Trust and E. Fenn.)

The land trust will transfer the Brownsville Road property to the state government, adding to the adjacent C.C. Putnam State Forest. It will be open and available to the public for non-motorized recreation.

The land has been used for hunting, horseback riding, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, hiking and walking, and more. There’s a lot you can do on 750 acres that bumps up against thousands more. Two miles of Class 4 roads pass through the property, connecting to the VAST trail and providing access to all that state land.

Stowe Select Board member Neil Van Dyke said he used to go backcountry skiing on and around the property. “I believe the Story property purchase will go down as one of Stowe’s most exciting and important land conservation projects,” Van Dyke said.

HOW YOU CAN HELP? Stowe Land Trust is asking the Stowe community to help raise $75,000 toward the project. If the land trust can secure 750 donations by July, a group of supporters has committed to donate an additional $75,000, doubling the financial impact of the community campaign.

Make a donation at stowelandtrust.org, or mail a check made out to Stowe Land Trust, with Brownsville in the memo line, to PO Box 284, Stowe VT 05672.

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The Worcesters, which line the east side of Route 100, are perhaps Vermont’s wildest and least protected mountain range, with popular hiking destinations such as The Pinnacle, Mount Hunger, and Elmore Mountain.

The Brownsville Road property is owned by the niece and nephews of the late Genevieve Story, whose husband, Christopher, bought the property for her as a gift in 1950. The niece, Nancy Hughes, said that, “after my aunt passed away in 2011, it has been our family’s hope to keep the land as is for the future and to honor our aunt’s and grandmother’s legacies. It has been a very difficult decision to sell, but now it is our family’s wish for others to enjoy it as much as we have.”

The property was listed at just under $10 million, but the land trust negotiated a deal to buy it for $5.75 million. The purchase will be the Stowe Land Trust’s largest—in both acreage and cost—since it was founded in 1987.

Other major forest acquisitions in Stowe include the 10,000 acres of Burt Lumber Co. land transferred to the Mount Mansfield and C.C. Putnam state forests in 1979, the town’s purchase of the 1,000-acre Sterling Forest in 1995, and Stowe Land Trust’s own protection of Cady Hill Forest in 2012.

Sharpless said conserving the Brownsville forest is part of the land trust’s Keep the Worcesters Wild initiative. It aims to raise $10 million and protect 3,000 acres of forest in Stowe, Middlesex and Worcester, including the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor that straddles the Waterbury/Stowe town line. n —Tommy Gardner

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4663 Route 2, E. Montpelier, VT 802.229.7770 WinterwoodTimberFrames.com

Building Excellence Exceptional Homes Professional Project Oversight 588 S. MAIN ST. | STOWE, VT | 802.777.0283 | timmeehanbuilders.com 223

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SHELBURNE MUSEUM 6000 Shelburne Rd., Shelburne. (802) 985-3346. shelburnemuseum.org for hours, admission rates, and events.

Through June 2 Johnny Swing: Design Sense: Vermont-based studio furniture maker and lighting designer.

Through August 25 Harold Weston: Freedom in the Wilds: Early Adirondack paintings, selections from Weston’s Stone Series, and ephemera connect the human spirit and nature.

June 22 – October 20 William Wegman: Outside In: Renowned artist’s sustained relationship and playful engagement with the natural world.

STOWE CRAFT REMARKABLE THINGS 55 Mountain Road and 34 S. Main St., Stowe.

(802) 253-4693. stowecraft.com.

Art and craft gallery, fine crafts, art, sculpture, jewelry, more.

VERMONT ARTISANS’ GALLERY 20 Bridge St., Waitsfield. Daily 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

(802) 496-6256. vtartisansgallery.com.

Artists’ cooperative filled with juried handcrafted work of Vermont artists. Paintings, quilts, silk art, photographs, jewelry, pottery, hand-painted wooden bowls, stained glass, and more.

CERAMIC • GLASS • NATURAL STONE • CARPET HARDWOOD • AREA RUGS • GRANITE COUNTERTOPS Countertops are Manufactured in Our State of the Art Facility here in South Barre, Vermont

VERMONT SKI & SNOWBOARD MUSEUM One S. Main St., Stowe. Wednesdays – Sundays 12 - 5 p.m. Handicap accessible. Suggested donation $5. (802) 253-9911. vtssm.com. Ongoing ski/snowboard related exhibits, past and present.

Through October Peak to Peak: 10th Mountain Division Then and Now, Shred Vermont—Iconic Snowboard Photography 1980-2000

VISIONS OF VERMONT GALLERY Main Street, Jeffersonville. visionsofvermont.com.

(802) 644-8183. 20 master painters displayed in three historic buildings. Exhibits change monthly.

Ongoing Master Russian Impressionists: American landscape painters past and present. Aldro Hibbard, Emile Gruppe, TM Nicholas, Eric Tobin, Stapleton Kearns, more.

889 South Barre Road - Rt. 14

802.476.0912 • barretile.com 224

June 2 – July 7 Northern Vermont Artist’s Association 88th Juried Show: Opening, June 2, with 50 artists on display and Vermont Fiddle Orchestra. >>226

Lee Grutchfield, AIA

802.658.2775 • BURLINGTON, VT • TRUEXCULLINS.COM

cocoplumappliances.com 27 Park St. Essex Junction, VT 05452 (802) 878-6868 1300 Putney Rd. Brattleboro, VT 05301 (802) 254-9104 540 Main St. Keene, NH 03431 (603) 355-8200

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Commercial refrigeration refined for the home, envied in the industry, and crafted â&#x20AC;&#x201D; gorgeously â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in America.

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Seed Glass, Paul Schwieder; Helen Shulman, Brimstone, oil and cold wax on panel, 24"x36".

cocoplumappliances.com 27 Park St. Essex Junction, VT 05452 (802) 878-6868 1300 Putney Rd. Brattleboro, VT 05301 (802) 254-9104 540 Main St. Keene, NH 03431 (603) 355-8200

WEST BRANCH GALLERY & SCULPTURE PARK Indoor gallery, outdoor sculpture park, promoting contemporary art in varied media styles by regional, national, and international artists. One mile from the village on the Mountain Road, Stowe.

(802) 825-5683. westbranchgallery.com.

Ongoing Sculpture Park: Works in stone, steel, bronze

by Jonathan Prince, David Stromeyer, Chris Curtis, John Matusz, Richard Erdman, Claude Millette, Chris Miller, more.

June 8 - August 3 Within Sight / With Insight

New paintings by Helen Shulman and Kevin Kearns, Central Gallery Of Land and Light

more home than office

Photographs by Jim Westphalen, Parkside Gallery July 6 Summer gala, 5 - 7 p.m.

July 6 - August 3 Justin Hoekstra

Contemporary non-objective abstraction; and recent works by gallery artists in four indoor gallery spaces.

August 10 - October 13 Duncan Johnson and Claire Kelly

800.800.0505 | 802.465.4655 | tailoredliving.com 226

Two solo exhibitions of new works in twodimensional wood assemblages and glass sculpture n

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Anderson & Associates A General Practice Law Firm Serving individuals and businesses throughout Vermont for more than 25 years.

Civil Litigation • Family Law Business Transactions • Commercial Law Child Custody & Support • Probate Proceedings Peter G. Anderson, Esq. & Jennifer E. Neyenhouse, Esq. Anderson & Associates prides itself on providing quality legal services responsive to the individual needs of each client.

STOWE-SMUGGLERS AIR TAXI MANSFIELD HELIFLIGHT Mansfield Heliflight is an aircraft sales and service center in Milton, offering Part 61 flight training, sightseeing, and air taxi/charter services. We also offer Part 141 flight training through Green Mountain Flight Academy. (802) 893-1003, mansfieldheliflight.com.

AIRPORT & AVIATION STOWE AVIATION Stowe Aviation at the Morrisville-Stowe State Airport (KMVL) enables effortless access to Stowe from cities such as Boston and New York, with scheduled flights from Westchester Airport and non-stop flights on demand, 24 hours a day. (802) 253-2332. (855) FLY STOWE. stoweaviation.com.

AMERICAN CRAFT GALLERIES REMARKABLE THINGS—STOWE CRAFT Come explore our collection of unique handcrafted treasures direct from talented American artists and craftspeople.

Established 1983. It’s quite remarkable, isn’t it? 55 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-4693, stowecraft.com.

ANTIQUES ANDERSON & ASSOCIATES 954 South Main Street P.O. Box 566 Stowe, Vermont 05672 802-253-4011 | andersonlawvt.com pga@pgalaw.net | jen@pgalaw.net

ARDESH Over 10,000 square feet of unique antiques, furniture, and finds to complement a wide range of decorating styles. With a constantly changing inventory no two visits are ever the same. 3093 Shelburne Rd., Shelburne. (802) 497-3342, ardesh.com.

APPLIANCES COCOPLUM APPLIANCES Fastest growing kitchen appliance dealer in the area.

Carrying most major brands and providing sales, installation, and service for everything we sell. Jenn-Air, True, Dacor, Miele, more. Locally owned and operated since 1985. (888) 412-1222, appliancedistributors.com.

ARCHITECTS CIVIL ENGINEERS – LAND USE PLANNERS Land Development Projects

Subdivisions & Site Plan Design Residential & Commercial

Local, State, and Act 250 Permitting Water & Wastewater Systems Stormwater Drainage Design Structural & Environmental

454 MOUNTAIN ROAD STOWE, VT 05672 802-881-6314 tyler@mumleyinc.com www.mumleyengineering.com 228

ECK MACNEELY ARCHITECTS Home is a place where comfort is found and given. Since 1976, we have considered every design detail an opportunity to create the spirit of home. 560 Harrison Ave., Suite 403, Boston 02118. (617) 367-9696. eckmacneely.com.

ELIZABETH HERRMANN ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN EHA+D is an award-winning residential architecture firm based in Central Vermont. We specialize in designing exceptionally beautiful, well-crafted, energy-efficient homes.

(802) 453-6401, eharchitect.com.

FLAVIN ARCHITECTS A modern architecture firm focused on contemporary home design. Our designs relate beautifully to their surroundings with sculpted lines and timeless materials. (617) 227-6717. flavinarchitects.com, instagram: @flavinarchitects.

HARRY HUNT ARCHITECTS Modern green homes—true to the spirit of Vermont. Member American Institute of Architects. Certified passive house designer. (802) 253-2374, harryhuntarchitects.com.

J. GRAHAM GOLDSMITH, ARCHITECTS Quality design and professional architectural services specializing in residential, hotel, restaurant, retail, and resort development. Member Stowe Area. (800) 862-4053. jggarchitects.com. Email: vt@jggarchitects.com.

LEE HUNTER ARCHITECT, AIA Stowe-based architectural firm offering a personal approach to creative, elegant design. Residential, commercial, and renovations. (802) 253-9928. leehunterarchitect.com.

BUSINESS DIRECTORY MAD MOOSE ARCHITECTURE Mad Moose Architecture was founded on a commitment to provide a more thoughtful way of designing shelter, with reverence for the environment and respect for the earth and its inhabitants. (802) 234-5720, madmoosearchitecture.com.

MEYER & MEYER ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIORS Our homes are like no other, because they are uniquely conceived with inspiration from the owners’ preferences. Each home is designed to be cherished for generations and last for centuries. meyerandmeyerarchitects.com.

PAUL ROBERT ROUSSELLE, ARCHITECT AIA Architectural services offering creative design approach for environmentally responsible homes true to their surroundings. We create spaces that move clients functionally, aesthetically, and emotionally with exquisitely detailed, beautifully built, inspiring designs. (802) 253-2110.

SAM SCOFIELD, ARCHITECT, AIA Professional architectural services for all phases of design and construction. Residential and commercial. Carlson Building, Main Street, Stowe. samscofieldarchitect.com.

(802) 253-9948.

True Triple Sealed Units with LowE surface coatings for maximum performance.

Our standard 1/8” (3mm) double strength glass offers greater strength and clarity over thinner glass, making our products more insulative, more soundproof, more resistant to impact and stresses caused by fluctuations in temperature.

TEKTONIKA STUDIO ARCHITECTS Dedicated to the craft and composition of sustainable, siteinspired design. Emphasis on a collaborative design process to meet our client’s vision and budget. Located in Lower Stowe Village. (802) 253-2020. tektonikavt.com.

TRUEXCULLINS ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN Designing luxury-custom homes that connect with their natural setting and meet the desires of our clients. View our homes at truexcullins.com. (802) 658-2775.

LOEWEN WINDOW CENTER OF VERMONT & NEW HAMPSHIRE

loewenvtnh.com • 52 Bridge Street, White River Jct., VT 05001 800.505.1892 802.295.6555 • info@loewenvtnh.com Project image: Nelson Cabin - courtesy Stefan Hampden of CAST architecture

VOLANSKY STUDIO ARCHITECTURE & PLANNING Andrew Volansky, AIA. The term studio in the firm name refers to a process of collaborating with individuals and goes well beyond the walls of the studio. volanskystudio.com.

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN CUSHMAN DESIGN GROUP Architectural, interior, and landscape design featuring beauty, craftsmanship, and excellent energy efficiency. Creative, intuitive, functional, efficient. (802) 253-2169. cushmandesign.com.

ARTS & CRAFTS LITTLE RIVER HOTGLASS STUDIO Walk into the studio and experience the art of glassblowing up close. Adjacent gallery features works of resident artist Michael Trimpol. Thurs. – Mon. 10-5. (802) 253-0889. littleriverhotglass.com.

ART GALLERIES THE ARTISANS’ GALLERY An inspired collection of fine art and craft from Vermont’s established and emerging artists. A must-see destination.

Gifts and cards for every occasion. 11-6 daily. Historic Bridge Street, Waitsfield 05674. (802) 496-6256. vtartisansgallery.com.

BRYAN MEMORIAL GALLERY Vermont’s premier gallery for landscape painting features over 200 artists in a year-round exhibition schedule. Open Thurs. – Sun. 11-4 through June 25. Daily 11-5 June 27 – Oct 8, and by appointment. Closed January. 180 Main St., Jeffersonville. (802) 644-5100. bryangallery.org.

GREEN MOUNTAIN FINE ART GALLERY In the heart of the village. Displaying Stowe’s most diverse collection of traditional and contemporary works by regional artists. Open daily 11-6, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. 64 South Main. (802) 253-1818.

More art galleries l greenmountainfineart.com.

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S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUSINESS DIRECTORY HELEN DAY ART CENTER Center for contemporary art and art education, established in 1981. Local, national, and international exhibitors. Art classes. Cultural events. Schedule: Tuesday-Saturday 10-5. 90 Pond St., Stowe. (802) 253-8358, helenday.com.

MOUNTAINOPS High-quality bikes and best location guarantee—exclusive access to the Stowe Recreation Path across from Topnotch Resort. Hiking information, trail maps and accessories, extensive line of camping gear. Daily at 9 a.m. (802) 253-4531. mountainops.com.

NORTHWOOD GALLERY Gallery featuring exclusively Vermont artisans. Come explore the talent that Vermont has to offer. We host artist workshops, live demonstrations, and provide custom woodwork. 151 Main St., Stowe. (802) 760-6513. northwoodgallery.com.

ROBERT PAUL GALLERIES An outstanding selection of original paintings, sculpture, and fine art glass by locally, nationally, and internationally acclaimed artists. Celebrating 29 years. Open daily. 394 Mountain Road, Baggy Knees Shopping Center, Stowe. robertpaulgalleries.com. (802) 253-7282.

VISIONS OF VERMONT We feature Eric Tobin, the Winslows, Thomas Curtin, Emile Gruppe, and many more. A century of painting history is made on the Jeffersonville side of Smugglers Notch.

(802) 644-8183. visionsofvermont.org.

Central Vermont’s premiere contemporary fine art, sculpture, and private event space exhibiting work by over 50 nationally and internationally recognized artists. For more information, visit westbranchgallery.com.

AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR 253 AUTO Fast, friendly, and reliable service on all makes and models.

Tire sales, mount and balance, all repairs, Vermont state inspections, computer diagnostics, Intoxalock installation and service. 745 S. Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-9979.

BAKERIES AUSTRIAN TEA & TAP ROOM Offering a variety of baked goods, soups, salads, sandwiches, daily specials, and our Trapp lagers. Open daily 8 a.m.2;30 p.m. Hours vary seasonally. (802) 253-5705. trappfamily.com.

BLACK CAP COFFEE & BEER Freshly made pastries and tasty treats, light breakfast, lunch options. Fresh coffee, espresso, lattes. Carefully curated beers from Vermont, U.S., around the world. Free wi-fi. Open daily.

144 Main St., Stowe, and 63 Lower Main St., Morrisville.

See us on Facebook.

HARVEST MARKET Homemade muffins, cookies, tarts, pies, cakes, and other luscious treats. Incredible breads, including our own French country bread baked in traditional wood-fired ovens. Fine coffees and espresso. Daily 7-5:30 (in season). (802) 253-3800. harvestatstowe.com.

BIKES & BIKE INSTRUCTION 4POINTS MOUNTAIN BIKE SCHOOL & GUIDES Trained instructors will introduce you to mountain biking in a step by step process or help you further your skills for more advanced riding. Call Rick at (802) 793-9246, 4pointsvt.com.

BIKE RENTALS & SALES AJ’S SKI & SPORTS Outdoor clothing and footwear. High-quality bike repairs, on the spot repairs. Bike clothing, helmets, tools, parts and accessories. Mountain, road, hybrid, and kid’s bike rentals.

Specialized, Kona, Felt, and Cannondale. 350 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-4593. stowesports.com.

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Peregrine Design Build specializes in remodeling and building custom homes and teams with Vermont architects and designers as their builder of choice. To see our range of work, visit peregrinedesignbuild.com.

RED HOUSE BUILDING

BOOKSTORES BEAR POND BOOKS Complete family bookstore. NY Times bestsellers and new releases. Children and adult hardcovers, paperbacks, Vermont authors, daily papers, puzzles, greeting cards. Open daily. Depot Building, Main Street, Stowe. (802) 253-8236.

BREWERIES THE ALCHEMIST A family owned and operated craft brewery specializing in fresh, unfiltered IPA. You can visit our tasting room and retail shop Monday - Saturday 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 100 Cottage Club Rd., Stowe. alchemistbeer.com.

ROCK ART BREWERY WEST BRANCH GALLERY & SCULPTURE PARK

PEREGRINE DESIGN BUILD

Brewing beers we love for you to enjoy. Visit our tasting room and gift shop Mon.-Sat. 10-6. Grab bombers, cans, and growlers, as well as local art and food. (802) 888-9400. rockartbrewery.com.

TRAPP BREWING & BIERHALL Von Trapp Brewing offers a selection of authentic Austrian lagers. Stop by for a pint and enjoy our mountaintop views in our Bierhall, lounge, or dining room. (802) 253-5705. trappfamily.com.

BUILDERS & CONTRACTORS AARON FLINT BUILDERS Creating inspiring spaces in Central Vermont for over 20 years. (802) 882-7060, aaronflintbuilders.com.

DONALD P. BLAKE JR INC. Handcrafted quality in building, offering experienced and reliable contracting services since 1985. Specializing in custom home new construction, renovations, commercial construction, construction management, and property management services. (802) 888-3629, stowebuilder.com.

Full-service, employee-owned building company. Emphasis on timeless craftsmanship. Meeting the challenges of unique and demanding building projects, from contemporary mountain retreats, meticulously restored historic buildings to high-efficiency homes. (802) 655-0043. redhousebuilding.com.

SISLER BUILDERS INC. Custom home building, remodeling, woodworking, home energy audits and retrofits, quality craftsmanship, resource efficient construction, modest additions to multi-million dollar estates. 30 years in Stowe. References available. sislerbuilders.com. (802) 253-5672.

STEEL CONSTRUCTION, INC. Steel Construction, Inc., has consistently proven to be one of Vermont’s finest custom homebuilders. We have three decades of proven experience and a long list of satisfied homeowners. (802) 253-4572. steelconstructionvt.com.

TIM MEEHAN BUILDERS Building excellence, exceptional homes, professional project management creative remodeling. 30 years plus in Stowe.

Tim Meehan, (802) 777-0283. timmeehanbuilders.com.

YANKEE BARN HOMES For more than 45 years, Yankee Barn Homes has been designing and prefabricating custom post-and-beam homes built with the finest materials for durability, weather protection, and energy conservation. yankeebarnhomes.com, (800) 258-9786.

BUILDERS—TIMBERFRAME WINTERWOOD TIMBER FRAMES, LLC Hand-crafted, custom-designed timber-frame structures and woodwork, SIPs insulation, sourcing local timber and fine hardwoods, building in the Vermont vernacular. Cabinetry, flooring, butcher-block tops, and staircases. (802) 229-7770. winterwoodtimberframes.com.

GEOBARNS Geobarns is an environmentally conscious, minimal waste builder, specializing in artistic barns using modified post-andbeam structures with diagonal framing to achieve a combination of strength, versatility, and beauty at reasonable prices.

(802) 295-9687. geobarns.com.

GORDON DIXON CONSTRUCTION, INC. Fine craftsmanship, attention to detail, integrity, and dependable workmanship. 30 years of award-winning experience.

Custom homes, additions, renovations, design/build, project management. Stop in at 626 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

(802) 253-9367 or visit gordondixonconstruction.com.

GRISTMILL BUILDERS Incorporated company 25 years, Gristmill Builders specializes in unique details and net-zero construction. You dream it, we can build it. (802) 279-2000. gristmillbuilders.com.

MOUNTAIN LOGWORKS, LLC Handcrafted log homes. Specializing in Scandinavian Full Scribe and Adirondack-style log structures with log diameters up to 30 inches. In-house design service available.

(802) 748-5929. mountainlogworks.com

PATTERSON & SMITH CONSTRUCTION, INC. A custom builder, remodeling firm, and general contractor in Stowe. Our mission is to provide each customer and their designer/architect with the highest degree of customer service, management, and craftsmanship. (802) 253-3757. pattersonandsmith.com.

BUILDING MATERIALS BARRE TILE Your total flooring service, Barre Tile is your No. 1 choice for all residential, commercial, and industrial floor covering needs. We offer carpet, tile, hardwood, exterior stone, and are experts in granite countertops. barretile.com, (802) 479-5572.

CAMARA SLATE National supplier of roofing slate, slate flooring, flagstone, countertops, and other structural components. Committed to delivering a standard beyond our competitors’ abilities with excellent service and quality-valued products. Fair Haven, Vt. (802) 265-3200, camaraslate.com, info@camaraslate.com.

LOEWEN WINDOW CENTER OF VT & NH Beautifully crafted Douglas fir windows and doors for the discerning homeowner. Double- and triple-glazed options available in aluminum, copper, and bronze clad. Style Inspired By You. loewenvtnh.com, (802) 295-6555, info@loewenvtnh.com.

RK MILES Founded in 1940, rk Miles is a family-owned company providing services and materials for all types of building and design.

Six locations serving Vermont and western Massachusetts, including Stowe and Morrisville. rkmiles.com.

CAKES & CATERING BEN & JERRY’S ICE CREAM Two of your favorite flavors sandwiched between brownies or cookies topped with your message written in hot fudge.

Varying sizes serve 1-36 people and are ready-to-go or custom ordered. Online at benjerry.com/waterbury or (802) 882-2034. Ice cream catering call (802) 222-1665.

STOWE SANDWICH Casual catering for fun events. American, Italian, and Mexican fare, as well as sandwich platters, salads, and homemade hot/cold soups. Vegan, vegetarian and glutenfree options. stowesandwich.com or (802) 253-7300.

CANOES, KAYAKS & SUP TOURS BERT’S BOATS & TRANSPORTATION Daily tours, self-guided or guided, customized to your schedule and wishes. Lessons, leases, and repairs. Transportation service for weddings, business groups, or airport shuttles.

24/7. (802) 730-2216. bertsboats.com.

CHIROPRACTORS STOWE CHIROPRACTIC 21st-century natural health care, utilizing functional neurology, upper cervical and full spine chiropractic, biohacking, nutrition, exercise and lifestyle. Our passion is your health.

Creating healthy individuals and families for 40 years. Pond Street, Stowe. (802) 253-6955. stowechiro.com.

CHURCHES & SYNAGOGUES BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC CHURCH Mass schedule: Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Sunday, 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. See bulletin for daily masses. Confession Saturday 3:30-4 p.m. Monsignor Peter A. Routhier, Pastor.

728 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-7536.

HUNGER MOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLY Route 100, Waterbury Center. Sunday worship service at 10 a.m. (802) 244-5921.

JEWISH COMMUNITY OF GREATER STOWE For information regarding services, holiday gatherings, classes, and workshops: JCOGS, P.O. Box 253, Stowe, Vt. 05672. 1189 Cape Cod Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-1800 or jcogs.org.

THE MOUNTAIN CHAPEL At the halfway point on the Mt. Mansfield Toll Road. A place for meditation, prayer and praise for skiers, hikers, and tourists. Seasonal Sunday service 2 p.m. The Rev. Dr. David P. Ransom. (802) 644-8144.

ST. JOHN’S IN THE MOUNTAINS EPISCOPAL At the crossroads of Mountain Road and Luce Hill Road in Stowe. Holy Eucharist celebrated every Sunday at 10 a.m.

The Rev. Rick Swanson, rector. St. John’s is wheelchair friendly; visitors and children welcome. Office open Tuesday, Thursday. (802) 253-7578. stjohnsinthemountains.org.

Enjoy the Stowe Life,

RURAL STYLE Full Service Property and Household Management for the Vacation Home Owner.

With meticulous attention to detail our experienced team of professionals will preserve your investment and make your time in Stowe enjoyable.

SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH Located in Hyde Park. Sunday worship services begin at 10:15 a.m. Sunday school is held at the same time September through June. Handicapped accessible. All are welcome. (802) 888-3636 or check us out on Facebook.

STOWE COMMUNITY CHURCH Adult bible study: Sundays at 8:30 a.m. Traditional service with children’s program: Sundays at 9:30 a.m.

Contemporary service: Sundays at 4:30 p.m. The Rev. Will More churches l Vaus. (802) 253-7257.

admin@ruralresourcesvt.com

802.253.9496

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S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUSINESS DIRECTORY UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP Sunday services at 4:30 p.m., St. John’s in the Mountains Episcopal Church, Mountain and Luce Hill roads, Stowe.

Weekly from Sept. 1 to June 1. All welcome. (802) 253-8291, UU Fellowship of Stowe on Facebook, or bit.ly/stoweuu.

WATERBURY CENTER COMMUNITY Route 100 next to the Cider Mill. We warmly welcome visitors. (802) 244-6286. Sunday worship 10:45 a.m.

Handicapped accessible. Church is a National Historic Place.

Pastor John Lucy.

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES BOUTIQUE AT STOWE MERCANTILE Fabulous contemporary fashion for women. From casual to professional, Boutique can make you feel beautiful any time.

Lingerie, dresses, skirts, tops, jeans, sweaters, more. We’ll dress you for any occasion. Depot Building, Main Street, Stowe. (802) 253-3712.

BUNYABUNYA An on-trend boutique curated with apparel, jewelry, shoes, and gifts inspired by the West Coast. Think California bungalow, bohemian lifestyle. 1799 Mountain Rd., Red Barn Shops, Stowe. (802) 585-3699.

FORGET-ME-NOT-SHOP Treasure hunt through our huge selection of famous label off price clothing for men, women, and teens at 60%-80% off. Route 15 Johnson, 1.5 miles west of Johnson Village.

Open 10-7.

GREEN ENVY Boutique with an eye for contemporary style. Vince, rag & bone, Paige, Tata Harper, Longchamp. Showcasing fashion, jewelry, shoes, accessories from over 300 designers. Best source for premium denim in New England. Open daily.

1800 Mountain Rd., Stowe. 3 Main St., Burlington.

(802) 253-2661, vermontenvy.com.

IN COMPANY CLOTHING Celebrating 20 years. Specializing in personalized service and top designer labels. Come see what’s in. 10 - 5:30 daily, 10 - 5 Sunday. 344 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-4595. incompanyclothing.com, @incompanyclothing.

JOHNSON FARM, GARDEN, HARDWARE & RENTAL Quality brands for the whole family. Casual, workwear, rainwear. Patagonia, Carhartt, Prana, Toad & Co, Columbia, Kuhl. Huge selection of footwear, hiking and camping, gardening. You name it, we got it. Route 15, Johnson.

(802) 635-7282, jhrvt.com.

JOHNSON WOOLEN MILLS Home of famous Johnson Woolen Outerwear and headquarters for Carhartt, Filson, Pendleton, Woolrich, woolen blankets, fine men’s and ladies sportswear, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, socks. Since 1842. Johnson, Vt. (802) 635-2271. johnsonwoolenmills.com.

ROAM VERMONT Adventurous footwear and apparel for men and women.

Explore in style with Patagonia, Kuhl, Prana, Dansko, and Blundstone. Located on historic Langdon Street in downtown Montpelier. Open daily. (802) 613-3902. roamvt.com.

COFFEE HOUSES

EDUCATION & COLLEGES

BLACK CAP COFFEE & BEER

COLORADO MOUNTAIN COLLEGE

Fresh coffee, espresso and lattes in an inviting atmosphere.

Free wi-fi. House-baked pastries, light breakfast, lunch options.

Open daily. 144 Main St., across from Stowe’s classic church, and 63 Lower Main St., Morrisville. See us on Facebook.

HARVEST MARKET Homemade muffins, cookies, tarts, pies, cakes, and other luscious treats. Incredible breads, including our French country bread baked in traditional wood-fired ovens. Fine coffees and espresso. Daily 7-5:30 (in season). (802) 253-3800. harvestatstowe.com.

PK COFFEE Coffee, espresso, tea, lattes, fresh baked goods, and the bestgrilled cheese in town. Join us for the treats; stay for the conversation. 1880 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 760-6151, pkcoffee.com.

VERMONT ARTISAN COFFEE Come visit our state-of-the-art coffee roaster and coffee bar.

Delicious coffee espresso drinks and whole bean coffees.

11 Cabin Lane, Waterbury Center, vtartisan.com.

DELICATESSEN THE BAGEL Bagels boiled and baked daily. Breakfast and lunch sandwiches, baked goods. Gluten-free options available. Seasonal specialties. 394 Mountain Rd, Stowe. (802) 253-9943. 6:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. daily.

EDELWEISS MOUNTAIN DELI Stowe’s #1 deli featuring delicious sandwiches, fresh chili, soups, salads and baked goods. Specialty foods store. Come taste Vermont’s finest spirits. Barr Hill gin and vodka. Great beer and wine selection. Daily 6:30-6. 2251 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-4034.

DENTISTRY JEFFREY R. MCKECHNIE, DMD, & CHRISTOPHER P. ALTADONNA, DDS (802) 253-7932. stowedentalassociates.com. stowedentist@gmail.com.

STOWE FAMILY DENTISTRY Creating beautiful smiles for over 40 years. Always welcoming new patients. 1593 Pucker St., Stowe. (802) 253-4157.

DISTILLERIES

YELLOW TURTLE Clothing, gear, and accessories for kids 2-16 years. 1799 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-4434, yellow-turtle.com.

YELLOW TURTLE BABY Clothing, gifts, and crib rentals for baby 0-24 months. 1880 Mountain Rd., Stowe (802) 917-2229, yellow-turtle.com/ rentals.

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NORTHERN VERMONT UNIVERSITY One university, two unique campuses. With our Lyndon and Johnson campuses, NVU combines the best of our nationally recognized liberal arts and professional programs. northernvermont.edu.

THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT The University of Vermont offers bachelor’s through doctoral degree programs in nearly every field, taught by world-class faculty in an extraordinary setting. Explore uvm.edu and follow along: universityofvermont on Instagram.

ENGINEERS MUMLEY ENGINEERING, INC. Civil engineering services for residential and commercial land development projects. Planning and design for subdivisions; site plans; water, wastewater and stormwater systems; construction oversight, and more. Local zoning, state, and Act 250 permitting. (802) 881-6314, mumleyengineering.com.

VERMONT TESTING & CONSULTING CORP. Engineering, structural, geotechnical. Laboratory and field-testing and inspection, consulting. vermonttesting.com.

(802) 244-6131.

EQUIPMENT RENTALS JOHNSON FARM, GARDEN, HARDWARE & RENTAL Equipment rentals for every residential and commercial jobs.

Excavators, bobcats, lifts, tractors, rototillers, chippers, log splitters, road fabric, culverts and pipe. Best service in the business; ever-expanding rental fleet. Delivery. Route 15 Johnson, (802) 635-7282, jhrvt.com.

EXCAVATING DALE E. PERCY, INC. Excavating contractors, commercial and residential. Earthmoving equipment. Site work, trucking, sand, gravel, soil, sewer, water, drainage systems, and supplies. Snow removal, salting, sanding. Weeks Hill Road. (802) 253-8503.

GREEN MOUNTAIN DISTILLERY Vermont’s No. 1 organic distillery. Vodkas, gin, maple liqueur, and small-batch whiskey. 171 Whiskey Run, (Route 100 between Stowe and Morrisville; turn on Goeltz Road).

(802) 253-0064, greendistillers.com.

SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH DISTILLERY Come taste our award-winning vodkas, gins, rum, bourbon, maple bourbon, and wheat whiskey. Tasting rooms in Jeffersonville, Waterbury Center, and Burlington for samples and more. Daily. (802) 309-3077, smugglersnotchdistillery.com.

WELL HEELED Sophisticated collection of shoes, boots, clothing, and accessories for an effortlessly chic lifestyle. Stylish interior combined with personalized service and by appointment shopping available—a #mustdoinstowe. Daily 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

(802) 253-6077. wellheeledstowe.com.

Learn at 11 of the most stunning mountain communities in Colorado. Choose from two-year career training, bachelor's degrees, and transfer degrees. Small classes, dedicated faculty. coloradomtn.edu.

WHISTLEPIG WHISKEY Located between Ben & Jerry’s factory and the ski and brewery hub of Stowe, Vermont Artisan Coffee & Tea Co. is now fully equipped with a WhistlePig tasting room. Enjoy the ultimate in innovation and craft beverages in a beautiful setting. whistlepigwhiskey.com.

DRY CLEANING & LAUNDRY STOWE LAUNDRY CO. Full-service Laundromat and dry cleaners. Drop-off washand-dry and fold, same-day service, and alterations.

Professional dry cleaning and shirt service. 44 Park Place, Stowe Village. Open 7 days. (802) 253-9332.

FABRIC & YARN STOWE FABRIC & YARN Stop in and browse our beautiful yarns, fine fabric, quilts, and Vermont-made gifts. 37 Depot St. Stowe. (802) 253-6740. stowefabricandyarn@gmail.com.

FARMERS MARKET SPRUCE PEAK WEEKENDS ON THE GREEN Enjoy weekends on the Village Green at Spruce Peak, featuring Friday Artisan Markets and live music, lawn games, craft beer garden, Old Mozo’s taco truck, and fun for all.

Thursdays – Sundays, starting June 20. sprucepeak.com.

FIREPLACES & WOODSTOVES GREEN MOUNTAIN FIREPLACES Offering the finest in heart products for home or business. We will take your project from concept to design to installation.

800 Marshall Ave., Williston, (802) 862-8311. greenmountainfireplaces.com

PERENNIAL PLEASURES

FISHING & HUNTING CATAMOUNT FISHING ADVENTURES Guided fly-fishing, spin-fishing, ice-fishing adventures. River wading, canoe, drift boat, motorboat fishing. Guiding Vermont since 1994. Equipment provided. All abilities. Willy, owner/guide, (802) 253-8500. Federation of Fly Fishers certified. Licensed, insured. catamountfishing.com.

NURSERY & TEA GARDEN

“Come spend a pleasant day!”

FLY ROD SHOP Vermont's most experienced guide service. Drift boat and wading trips for spin and fly fishing. Family fishing trips. Spin tackle, fly tying department, thousands of flies. Stowe historical walking tours and made in Vermont tours. Route 100 South, Stowe. (802) 253-7346. flyrodshop.com.

FITNESS EQUIPMENT TOTAL FITNESS EQUIPMENT Vermont’s premier specialty fitness equipment company has just opened its second location in South Burlington. Visit our huge showroom to see the latest treadmills, ellipticals, rowers, indoor cycler gyms and more. (802) 860-1030. totalfitnessequipment.com.

FLOORING FLOOR COVERINGS INTERNATIONAL Largest inventory of ceramic tile, hardwood floors, and carpets in Vermont. Seven in-house crews do expert service and installation. Visit our showroom and speak with our designers.

31 Adams Dr., Williston. (802) 891-9264, vermontfci.com.

FLOORING AMERICA Customize your home with flooring that compliments your space while honoring your style. Choose from our leading collection of hardwood, carpet, tile, laminate, vinyl, and rug selections. Williston, (802) 862-5757, flooringamerica-vt.com.

Since 1980, specializing in heirloom and unusual flowers and herbs.

Enjoy a stroll through our extensive display gardens.

ENGLISH CREAM TEAS Served in a beautiful garden setting or greenhouse.

Tea is 12-4 daily except Mondays, Memorial Day to Labor Day. Reservations for tea recommended.

IN OUR GIFT SHOP: A well-chosen collection of useful, unusual and just

plain gorgeous items, including scarves, jewelry, teapots and gardening goods.

Summer and garden hats are a specialty!

Join us for our 17TH

ANNUAL PHLOX FEST, July 28 to Aug. 11

www.perennialpleasures.net 63 BRICK HOUSE ROAD, EAST HARDWICK, VT • 1-802-472-5104

Open 10-5 daily except Mondays, May 4 to Sept. 22 • Free Garden Tours, Sundays at 12 A scenic 40-minute drive from Stowe

PLANET HARDWOOD Vermont business specializing in green materials, with an emphasis on wood flooring. Our 6,000-square-foot showroom is the best place to really see wood as well as fabulous green products. (802) 482-4404, planethardwood.com.

FUEL BOURNES ENERGY Propane, wood pellets, bioheat, biodiesel, heating, cooling, plumbing, auto-delivery, remote heat monitoring, expert service. Bourne’s Energy—Fueling the Future. (800) 326-8763. bournesenergy.com.

FURNITURE ALL DECKED OUT One of the largest selections of casual furniture in Northern New England. Teak, wicker, aluminum, wrought iron, and envirowood. Best selection for dining, entertaining, and lazing. Delivery. (802) 296-6714. alldeckedoutcasual.com.

BURLINGTON FURNITURE We are Vermont’s destination for furniture, interior design services, and lighting. Come see why we were voted Best Furniture Store nine years in a row. Locally owned, connected to the community, and to sustaining the environment. 747 Pine St. (802) 862-5056, burlingtonfurniture.us.

THE FURNITURE SHOP AT DESIGN STUDIO OF STOWE Great service and pricing. Century Furniture, Century Trading Co. leather, Monarch, many others for immediate shipment. Custom seating. Hundreds of fabrics, leathers.

Lighting, accessories, custom windows, more. 9-4 MondayFriday; appointment. 626 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-9600, dsofstowe@stowevt.net, centuryfurniture.com.

MATTRESS & SOFA WAREHOUSE Dining room, living room, and bedroom furniture by Ashley, Lazy Boy, Coaster. Mattresses by Simmons, Beauty Rest, Tempurpedic. Fine home furnishings at affordable prices.

Delivery available. (802) 888-3979.

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S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUSINESS DIRECTORY GIFT & SPECIALTY SHOPS BUTTERNUT MOUNTAIN FARM & MARVIN’S COUNTRY STORE Country store focused on all things maple—a carefully curated selection of our favorite products. Specialty cheeses, honey, jams, Vermont-made products, crafts, and gifts.

(800) 899-6349, marvinscountrystore.com.

STOWE HARDWARE & DRY GOODS Unique hardware store providing North Country necessities and quality products. Craftsman tools, Cabot Stain, complete selection of fasteners, housewares, home-care products. Open 8-5:30 Mon.-Sat., Sundays 9-3:30. 430 Mountain Rd. Established since 1829. (802) 253-7205.

HEALTH CARE

THE COUNTRY STORE ON MAIN

ICE CREAM STOWE SWEETS Ice cream and treats. Serving up the yummiest ice cream and more. Stop in while riding the Stowe bike path. See the white church steeple? We’re right next door. 109 Main St., Stowe. stowesweets.com.

INNS & RESORTS

COPLEY HOSPITAL Luxury bedding, dreamy candles, kitchen gadgets, children’s items, pet goods, rugs, frames, clocks, greeting cards, and more. Located in the former Lackey Building next to Stowe Community Church. 109 Main Street, (802) 253-7653, countrystorevt.com.

STOWE MERCANTILE Fabulous old country store, Vermont specialty foods, penny candy, clothing, bath and body, wine, craft beer and cider, gift baskets, and toys. Play a game of checkers or a tune on our piano. Depot Building, Main Street. (802) 253-4554. stowemercantile.com.

STOWE KITCHEN BATH & LINENS More than just a kitchen store. Two floors of accessories, gifts, and food for the entire home. Gourmet kitchenware, bedding, shower curtains, lotions, gels. Tons of unique clothing and gifts. 1813 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-8050. stowekitchen.net.

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE SPORT & GIFTS Trapp Family Lodge books, music, clothing, and food.

Austrian specialty gifts and gourmet products. Vermont-made products and maple syrup. Visit our two locations. Shop online: trappfamily.com. (802) 253-8511.

GLASS ACME GLASS Your source for everything glass. New construction, remodel and service for residential and commercial homes and businesses. Windows, doors, glass shower enclosures, mirrors, insulated glass, screen porches, much more. info@acmeglassvt.com, (802) 658-1400.

GOLF STOWE COUNTRY CLUB An impeccably conditioned championship course with stunning views of the Green Mountains. Join us for Craft Beer Tuesdays all season long. Open to the public. 744 Cape Cod Rd., Stowe. stowevtgolf.com, (802) 760-4653.

HAIR SALONS HARMONI HAIRSTYLES A boutique salon specializing in organic, chemical-free treatments, Harmoni offers unmatched personal consultations and impeccable cutting services with master stylist, Moni Liberman. 591 S. Main St., Stowe, (802) 505-3756, bit.ly/harmoniVT.

SALON SALON World-class Aveda concept salon for men and women.

Haircuts, highlighting, coloring, straightening, manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing, body treatments, massage, shellac, lash/hair extensions, teeth whitening, wedding services.

Downer Farm Shops, 232 Mountain Rd. By appt.

(802) 253-7378, salonsalonvt.com.

HARDWARE JOHNSON HARDWARE & RENTAL, FARM & GARDEN Largest Milwaukee dealer in the Northeast; authorized Milwaukee repair shop. Cabot, Valspar, Vermont Natural stain. Fully outfitted hardware store, Echo tools, large selection of growing/gardening supplies, soil, mulch, grain, pet supplies. Route 15 Johnson, (802) 635-7282, jhrvt.com.

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Exceptional care. Community focused. 24-hour emergency services, The Women’s Center, Mansfield Orthopaedics, general surgery, cardiology, diagnostic imaging, oncology, and rehabilitation. Morrisville. (802) 888-8888, copleyvt.org.

COMMODORES INN Spacious rooms, 3-1/2 acre lake, kayaks, row boats, fireside living room, indoor and outdoor pool, Jacuzzis, and saunas, restaurant, popular sports bar, kids free, pets welcome. Route 100, Lower Village. commodoresinn.com. (802) 253-7131.

STOWE FAMILY PRACTICE Stowe Family Practice provides routine and urgent medical care and treats sports injuries. (802) 253-4853. chslv.org.

HEALTH & FITNESS CLUBS RIDE Gorgeous state-of-the-art studio with indoor cycling and fitness classes that leave you feeling empowered and exhilarated.

Enjoy the smooth bikes with live time data, incredible instructors and music, and welcoming community Memberships, packages, and drop-in rates. rideindoorcycling.com.

(802) 279-0845.

GREY FOX INN & RESORT Under new ownership, Grey Fox boasts 34 beautifully renovated rooms, indoor/outdoor pools, and expansive greenspace. Ideally located on the recreation path, between Mt. Mansfield and the village. 990 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

(802) 253-8921, greyfoxinn.com.

JAY PEAK RESORT Let the mountain move you with our indoor waterpark and climbing gym, outdoor pools and hot tubs, hiking trails, championship golf course, tournament ready athletic fields, summer music series, and Vermont’s only aerial tram. jaypeakresort.com.

SWIMMING HOLE Stowe’s premier family fitness and recreation center. 25-meter lap pool, children’s pool, waterslide, group exercise classes, personal training, masters swimming, swim lessons. State-ofthe-art facility. Day passes, memberships available.

(802) 253-9229. theswimmingholestowe.com.

HEATING, AC & PLUMBING FRED’S ENERGY Experienced, licensed, friendly professionals. Quality plumbing, heating, AC installation and service; water heaters/softeners; sewer pumps; generators; kitchen/bath remodels; 24/7 emergency service. Morrisville: (802) 888-3827, Derby: (802) 766-4949, Lyndonville: (802) 626-4588. callfreds.com.

HOME ENTERTAINMENT & SMART HOMES SYSTEM INTEGRATORS Since 2003, System Integrators has delivered for clients throughout Vermont. Success rooted in mastering key deliverables: system design focusing on ease of use, reliability, and performance; rapid response—24/7; timely, accurate execution; professional staff. (802) 735-1400, info@sivermont.com.

VERMONT ELECTRONICS Providing local support for custom design and installation of home theater, whole house audio, lighting control, shade control, thermostat control, home automation, and your security needs. (802) 253-6509. info@vermontelectronics.biz.

HORSEBACK RIDING VERMONT ICELANDIC HORSE FARM Offering trail rides year round. 1-hour rides, half-day rides, full-day rides and multiple day packages, including meals and lodging. (802) 496-7141. icelandichorses.com; horses@icelandichorses.com.

HOT TUBS GREEN MOUNTAIN HOT TUBS Full-service Caldera dealer. Now selling Hydropool, the selfcleaning swim spa. Train your swimming at home. Ask about trade ins. greenmountainhottubs.com, (802) 448-3405.

SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH RESORT, VERMONT America’s Family Resort. Mountainside lodging. Award-winning kids’ programs. Zipline canopy tours. Summer: 8 pools, 4 waterslides, disc golf, mountain bike park. Winter: Three interconnected mountains, 2,610 vertical. FunZone 2.0 entertainment complex. (888) 256-7623, smuggs.com/sg.

STOWEFLAKE MOUNTAIN RESORT & SPA Nestled in the heart of Stowe, surrounded by over 30 shops, restaurants and attractions. Casual yet elegant rooms and townhouses with multiple on-site activities. World-renowned spa, award-winning restaurant, snowshoeing, dogsledding.

AAA Four-Diamond rated. On Mountain Road Shuttle Route.

(802) 253-7355, stoweflake.com.

TOPNOTCH RESORT & SPA Stowe’s only luxury boutique resort wows with contemporary rooms, suites, and 2-3 bedroom resort homes, airy bar and restaurant, top-ranked bistro, world-class spa and tennis center, indoor/outdoor pools. (802) 253-8585. topnotchresort.com.

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE Mountain resort in the European tradition. 96-rooms and suites with spectacular mountain views. European-style cuisine, music, fitness center, indoor pool, climbing wall, yoga, crosscountry and backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, von Trapp history tours. (802) 253-8511. trappfamily.com.

VILLAGE GREEN AT STOWE Fully furnished condominiums at the center of all Stowe has to offer. Fireplaces, indoor pool, sauna, Jacuzzi. Affordable.

(802) 253-9705 or (800) 451-3297. thevillagegreen-stowe.com.

INSURANCE HICKOK & BOARDMAN, INC. Providing superior service and innovative solutions for all your insurance needs. Home, auto, and business insurance since 1821. “Here when you need us.” 618 S. Main St., Stowe.

(802) 253-9707.

STOWE INSURANCE AGENCY, INC. Stowe’s premier multi-line insurance agency since 1955. Our pricing and service is second to none. Glenn Mink, Teela Leach, Robert Mink, and Renee Davis. (802) 253-4855.

INTERIOR DESIGN AMBER HODGINS DESIGN Full-service interior architecture and design. Specializing in décor, renovations and new construction for residential and commercial projects. (802) 585-5544. amberhodgins.com.

ANICHINI COMPANY STORE & DESIGN CENTER One and only outlet store and design center for Anichini’s luxury textiles and home furnishings. Open daily 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. 6931 Woodstock Rd., Quechee, Vt. (802) 698-8813. anichinicompanystore.com.

COCOPLUM Fastest growing kitchen appliance dealer in the area.

Carrying most major brands and providing sales, installation, and service for everything we sell. Jenn-Air, True, Dacor, Miele, more. Locally owned and operated since 1985.

(888) 412-1222, appliancedistributors.com.

CLOSE TO HOME Locally owned and operated since 1999, we have the finest selection of bath fixtures and vanities, kitchen sinks and faucets, door/cabinet hardware, and more. A culture of customer service. 10 Farrell St., S. Burlington. (802) 861-3200. closetohomevt.com.

CUSTOM COVERS Custom Covers at the Grist Mill is a full-service shop. Designer fabrics, trims, wallpaper, custom-made slipcovers, upholstery, window treatments. By appointment. (802) 324-2123.

92 Stowe Street, Waterbury.

DESIGN STUDIO OF STOWE Creating beautiful interiors from classic to modern with respect to client’s taste, property, budget, deadline. New construction, renovations, and updates to existing spaces.

Residential to light commercial projects. Allied Member ASID. 626 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-9600. designstudiovt.com.

REMARKABLE HOME—STOWE CRAFT Voted best interior design service in 2018 regional 4393 awards. Susan Bayer-Fishman combines project management, art, craft, and interior design to create spaces just for you.

34 South Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-7677, stowecraft.com.

SELDOM SCENE INTERIORS INC. All aspects of interior design. Stowe and Boston. Full architectural services, design build, and project management. Large comprehensive portfolio. By appointment only. 2038 Mountain Rd.. (802) 253-3770. seldomsceneinteriors.com.

STOWE KITCHEN BATH AND LINENS Interior design and stylist always available. We have an enormous furniture selection at every price point. Specializing in bedding, rugs, furniture, lighting, right down to all your kitchen needs. Free consultations. (802) 253-8050. 1813 Mountain Rd., Stowe. kate@stowekitchen.net.

TAILORED LIVING Offering an extensive product portfolio featuring in-home and garage storage solutions. Let us design and build a custom solution to simplify your busy life. Call us at (802) 465-4655.

INTERNET SERVICES STOWE CABLE Providing reliable high-speed internet, cable television, and phone service throughout Stowe and Jeffersonville for over 30 years. Located at 172 Thomas Lane, Stowe.

(802) 253-9282, stowecable.com.

COUNTRY HOME CENTER Our kitchen and bath department offers many types of custom cabinets, solid surface countertops, custom tile showers, energy efficient fixtures, and green products for today’s Vermont lifestyle. 85 Center Rd., Morrisville. (802) 888-3177. countryhomecenter.net.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN AMBLER DESIGN Full-service landscape architecture and construction company in Stowe. Working with plants, water, stone, and earth, we create unique, exceptional, and beautiful outdoor spaces.

(802) 253-4536. amblerdesign.com.

KNAUF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE We transform landscapes into beautiful outdoor living spaces that ignite the senses and seamlessly connect inside and out, with balance and harmony. Member ASLA. (802) 655-0552. cynthiaknauf.com.

LANDSHAPES Serving Vermont’s residential and commercial landscapes with design, installations, and property maintenance. Projects include unlimited varieties of stonework, gardens, water features, and installation of San Juan pools and spas.

(802) 434-3500. landshapes.net.

WAGNER HODGSON LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE The process of uniting program, context, form and materials provides the basis for our work, crafting modern sculptural landscapes expressing the essential inherent beauty of natural materials. (802) 864-0010. wagnerhodgson.com.

• • • • •

Housewares Cabot stains Painting supplies Electrical supplies Ice and snow removal • Cleaning supplies • Minwax stains • Best selection of fasteners

LAWYERS ANDERSON & ASSOCIATES A general practice of law: civil, family, and criminal litigation, probate and estate planning, business law, and transactions.

954 South Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-4011. andersonlawvt.com.

BARR LAW GROUP

JEWELRY FERRO ESTATE & CUSTOM JEWELERS Stowe’s premier full-service jeweler since 2006. We specialize in estate jewelry, fine diamonds, custom design, jewelry repair, and appraisals. In-house repair studio. American Gem Society. 91 Main St. (802) 253-3033. ferrojewelers.com/stowe.

Specializing in complex litigation and commercial transactions, including class actions, securities litigation, EB-5 fraud, arbitrations, trials, appeals, criminal defense, corporate mergers/ acquisitions, Native American/tribal matters, real estate, aviation, personal injury/wrongful death, estates, and other matters.

Licensed in Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts. Offices at 125 Mountain Rd., Stowe, and 100 Park Ave., New York, N.Y. barrlaw.com. (802) 253-6272 or (212) 486-3910.

VON BARGEN’S JEWELRY A Vermont family business with five locations. We specialize in distinctive artisan jewelry, fine, ideal cut diamonds, and custom jewelry. Stowe Village. Monday-Friday 10-5, Saturday 10-5, Sunday noon-5. (802) 253-2942. vonbargens.com.

KITCHENS & BATHS A&N STONEWORKS Custom, natural stone fabrication facility. We are fourth generation artisans and craftspeople. We provide our customers with the best quality materials, whether granite, marble, soapstone, slate, limestone, or caesarstone. anstoneworks.com.

DARBY KOLTER & NORDLE, LLP General civil practice: commercial and residential, real estate, environmental, estate planning/administration, personal injury & worker’s comp, mediation services, business formation, family law. Stowe: 996 Main St., Unit 1A, (802) 253-7165; Waterbury: 89 S. Main St., (802) 244-7352.

HORSLEY LAJOIE GOLDFINE, LLC General practice including civil litigation, personal injury, real estate, corporate, estate planning/administration. Located in Stowe village at 166 S. Main St. (802) 760-6480.

More lawyers l hlgattorneys.com.

430 Mountain Road, Stowe

Mon-Sat 8-5:30 • Sun 9-3:30

253-7205

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S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUSINESS DIRECTORY OLSON & ASSOCIATES, PLC General law practice: commercial and residential real estate, estate planning and probate administration, business formation and maintenance, general litigation, family law, mediation services. 188 S. Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-7810, olsonplc.net.

MATTRESSES BURLINGTON MATTRESS We’re here to help you get a better night’s sleep. Mattresses, bedroom furniture, lifestyle bases, and futons. Trusted brands covering the bases from bed in a box to luxury mattresses.

747 Pine St. (802) 862-7167, burlingtonmattress.us.

STACKPOLE AND FRENCH Litigation, real estate, corporate, utility, wills, and estate administration. 255 Maple St., Stowe. (802) 253-7339. stackpolefrench.com.

STEVENS LAW OFFICE Residential and commercial real estate, criminal and family law, civil litigation, personal injury, estate planning, and business formation. 30+ years experience. Stowe, Derby offices.

(802) 253-8547 or (866) 786-9530. stowelawyers.com.

MAD RIVER ANTLER Handcrafted one-of-a-kind antler creations in the form of chandeliers, sconces, table lamps, floor lamps, and custom creations using naturally shed antler from moose, deer, and elk.

(802) 496-9290, madriverantler.com.

MARKETS THE BUTCHERY Butcher shop, fishmonger, fromagerie, sourcing prime beef, all-natural pork, free-range chicken and game, domestic and international sauces and spices. Artisan sandwiches, housemade soups, prepared foods. Catering, concierge services.

504 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-1444. butcheryvt.com.

COMMODITIES NATURAL MARKET Best market 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. One-stop grocery shopping featuring organic produce, groceries, artisanal cheeses, bread, local meats, craft beer and wine, bulk, glutenfree, wellness, CBD products. Open daily. (802) 253-4464. commoditiesnaturalmarket.com.

HARVEST MARKET Stowe’s one-stop gourmet store. Grab and go section, premade sandwiches and salads prepared by our own chefs and bakers. Vermont cheeses and charcuterie. Farm fresh produce. Vermont microbrews and wines. Daily 7-5:30 (in season). (802) 253-3800. harvestatstowe.com.

MASSAGE & BODYWORK

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE OUTDOOR CENTER Over 25 miles of mountain biking trails in woodlands and meadows with spectacular mountain views. Trails to von Trapp Bierhall. Private, group instruction, rentals, retail shop. trappfamily.com, (802) 253-8511.

MOVIE THEATERS First-run movies, all new 7.1 Digital Surround EX and 5.1 digital sound with silver screens and RealD 3D. Full bar. Fresh popcorn, real butter, full concession. Conventional seating too. 454 Mountain Rd. Movie phone (802) 253-4678; stowecinema.com; or Facebook.

KATE GRAVES, CMT, BHS Relaxation, deep tissue, moist heat, facilitated stretching, hot stones, Thai, energy work (Brennan Healing Science graduate 2000). In practice over 35 years. Competitive rates.

Stowe Yoga Center, 515 Moscow Rd. kgravesmt@gmail.com, stoweyoga.com. (802) 253-8427.

STOWE VILLAGE MASSAGE Massage center offers exceptional bodywork services from relaxation to injury recovery. Certified practitioners in a casual atmosphere. 60-minute massages starting from $80. Daily from 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. 49 Depot St., Stowe. Book online at stowevillagemassage.com. (802) 253-6555.

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE FITNESS CENTER Massage therapists use a blend of techniques to address needs including Swedish, deep tissue, acupressure, and Shiatsu. Other treatments include reflexology, salt glows, and hot stone therapy. Appointments available daily.

(802) 253-5722.

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Custom painting company in Stowe, specializing in high-end interior and exterior painting, staining and wall-coverings for homes, decks, barns, commercial businesses in the Lamoille Valley. dan@lamoillevalleypainters.com. (802) 730-2776.

PERSONAL CHEF SWEET & SAVORY PERSONAL CHEF SERVICES Sweet & Savory’s goal is to prepare and deliver high-quality, healthy, and delicious meals to locals and visiting out-of-towners. Personal chef services, weekly meals, catering for all occasions. Easier than takeout. (802) 730-2792, sweetsavorystowe.com.

PHOTOGRAPHY PAUL ROGERS PHOTOGRAPHY Since 1982, offering quality photographic services to Vermont businesses. Creative images of people, products, and locations. Photography of artwork. Private photographic instruction. RIT photo graduate. paulrogersphotography.com.

MUSIC & PERFORMING ARTS

PHYSICAL THERAPY

FLYNN THEATER

COPLEY REHABILITATION SERVICES

Featuring world-class music, Broadway, theater, dance, and family performances on the MainStage, with additional touring shows added throughout the year. 153 Main St., Burlington. Box office (802) 86-FLYNN, (802) 863-5966. flynntix.org.

SPRUCE PEAK FOLK FESTIVAL Join us Aug. 10 – 11 for the Spruce Peak Folk Festival. Enjoy great music in a beautiful outdoor setting. Performances by Shawn Colvin, The Milk Carton Kids, Lowell Thompson, Mipso, and more. sprucepeak.com.

SPRUCE PEAK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER The Stowe region’s premier, year-round presenter of music, theater, dance, film, educational, and family programs on stage, on screen, and across the community.

(802) 760-4634. Visit sprucepeakarts.org for more info.

NATURAL REMEDIES ELEVATED STATE VT A full-spectrum CBD shop. CBD for everyone with information to help you determine what is best for you, your pet, family, and friends. 407 Mountain Rd., Stowe. elevatedstatevt.com.

BRAD HIGHBERGER, LMT, RCST Specializing in chronic pain and injuries of the neck, shoulder, jaw, arms, hands and feet. Thirty-five years of experience working with neuromuscular therapy, myofascial release and biodynamic cranio-sacral therapy in Stowe. (802) 730-4955.

& EXTERIOR LAMOILLE VALLEY PAINTERS, LLC

MOUNTAIN BIKING

STOWE CINEMA 3-PLEX

LIGHTING

PAINTERS—INTERIOR

NEEDLEWORK

Therapies include physical, occupational, hand, speech, aquatic, pediatric, cardiac, and pulmonary, work conditioning and other comprehensive rehab services. Clinics in Hardwick and Morrisville (Mansfield Orthopaedics and Copley Hospital). (802) 888-8303, copleyvt.org.

PINNACLE PHYSICAL THERAPY Skilled physical therapy for orthopedic and neuromuscular conditions, sports, family wellness, pre- and post-surgery.

Personal, professional care: 1878 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

Appointment within 24 hours, M-F. (802) 253-2273. info@pinnacleptvermont.com or pinnacleptvermont.com.

UVMHN CVMC REHABILITATION SERVICES Physical, occupational, and speech therapies. Specialized service: Parkinson’s disease, urinary incontinence, vertigo, concussions, and more. Clinic in Waterbury. Get evaluated within 48 hours at Rehab Express in Berlin. cvmc.org/rehab.

(802) 371-4242.

PHYSICIANS ADAM KUNIN, MD, CARDIOLOGIST Personalized cardiac care. Board-certified in cardiology, nuclear cardiology and internal medicine. Providing general cardiology, advanced cardiac tests, and imaging. Morrisville.

(802) 888-8372, copleyvt.org.

THE WOODEN NEEDLE Charming needle arts shop in heart of Stowe Village.

Counted cross-stitch and needlepoint featured. Specializing in linens, hand-painted canvases, Paternayan wool, Weeks Dye Works, Gentle Art cottons, fun fibers. Park and Pond Streets.

(802) 253-3086, wooden-needle.com.

NURSERIES PERENNIAL PLEASURES NURSERY & TEA GARDEN Stroll through beautiful display gardens, shop for flowers and herbs. Enjoy tea or light lunches in the tea room, browse for hats in the gift shop. Free Sunday garden tours at noon. East Hardwick. (802) 472-5104. perennialpleasures.net.

ORIENTAL RUGS VINCENT J. FERNANDEZ ORIENTAL RUGS In the Oriental rug business since 1973. Apprenticed for a Lebanese rug expert, certified appraiser with Oriental Rug Retailers of America, and past board member. We buy good antique Orientals. Expert cleaning and restoration. Custom search and acquisition. orientalrugsvt.com.

DAVID BISBEE, MD—PRIMARY CARE Access to your personal physician 24/7, longer appointments, house calls, and personalized medical care. Annual membership fee. Limited enrollment. Board certified in family medicine. (802) 253-5020. davidbisbeemd.com.

DONALD DUPUIS, MD, AND COURTNEY OLMSTED, MD, GENERAL SURGEONS Board-certified general surgeons. Specializing in advanced laparoscopic procedures. Providing a wide spectrum of inpatient and outpatient surgical care. Morrisville.

(802) 888-8372, copleyvt.org.

MANSFIELD ORTHOPAEDICS Comprehensive orthopedic care. Nicholas Antell, MD; Brian Aros, MD; Bryan Huber, MD; John Macy, MD; Joseph McLaughlin, MD; and Bryan Monier, MD. Morrisville and Waterbury. (802) 888-8405, mansfieldorthopaedics.com.

THE WOMEN’S CENTER OBGYN Board-certified specialist William Ellis, MD, and certified nurse midwives Kipp Bovey, Jackie Bromley, Marge Kelso, and Jennifer Tramantana. Comprehensive gynecological care. The Women’s Center, (802) 888-8100, copleyvt.org.

PICTURE FRAMING AXEL’S FRAME SHOP & GALLERY Providing quality picture framing to the Central Vermont community for 35 years. Keeping custom picture framing affordable is just as important to us as providing incredible customer and design service. 5 Stowe St., Waterbury.

(802) 244-7801. axelsgallery.com.

PRINTING THE UPS STORE From blueprints and banners to business cards and brochures, we print it. Shipping, scanning, and every other business service you can think of, we are your locally owned business partner. 112 S. Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-2233. store2614@theupsstore.com.

THE X PRESS Custom business and personal print, copy, and design services.

Brochures, letterhead, business cards, forms, labels, invitations, banners, specialty products for over 30 years. Office supplies, shipping, scanning/fax. (802) 253-7883 (fax). Stowe Village, M-F, 8-4:30. (802) 253-9788. thexpressink.com.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT RURAL RESOURCES Comprehensive property and household management services. Full-service professional management team specializing in the details of preserving your investment. Concierge/housekeeping, vendor management, design/remodels, much more.

(802) 253-9496, admin@ruralresourcesvt.com.

STOWE COUNTRY HOMES Property management, maintenance, repair, and renovations specialists. Lawn and garden care, landscaping, trash removal, etc. Renovations large and small. Quality work guaranteed—on budget and schedule. (802) 253-8132, ext. 102, or jeanette@stowecountryhomes.com. stowecountryhomes.com.

STOWE RESORT HOMES Personalized management for Stowe’s vacation homes. Home checks, personal shopping, remodeling project management, maintenance coordination, more. We also offer marketing and rental agent services for select vacation homes.

(802) 760-1157. stoweresorthomes.com.

REAL ESTATE & RENTALS

RED BARN REALTY OF VERMONT An office of dynamic professionals, each with a unique love of Vermont. We look forward to helping you fulfill your real estate sales and rental needs. 1878 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

(802) 253-4994. redbarnvt.com.

STOWE COUNTRY HOMES Vacation homes and condos for short- or long-term rental.

Professionally and locally managed. Luxury slopeside properties, secluded private homes, affordable condos—we have what you want, meeting all budgets. 253-8132. stowecountryhomes.com.

STOWE MOUNTAIN RENTALS Premier vacation rental company specializing in Lodge at Spruce Peak rentals. Stay in privately owned units, enjoy lower prices than booking direct. Slope-side rooms include all lodge amenities: spa, heated pool, hot tub, free car/ski valets, to name a few. stowemountainrentals.com.

STOWE RESORT HOMES Luxury vacation homes for the savvy traveler. Book some of Stowe’s best resort homes—online. Well-appointed, tastefully decorated homes at Topnotch, Spruce Peak, and throughout Stowe. (802) 760-1157. stoweresorthomes.com.

RESTAURANTS BENCH Unique to Stowe, wood-fired comfort food including pizza.

Local ingredients in a relaxed, rustic modern Vermont atmosphere. Enjoy après ski or dinner with family and friends. 28 taps, craft beer, cocktails, and extensive wine list. Daily. 492 Mountain Rd., Stowe. benchvt.com or (802) 253-5100.

THE BISTRO AT TEN ACRES Simply great, handmade, flavorful food. Craft beers, delicious wines, fresh-pressed cocktails. 1820s Vermont Farmhouse with bar seating, elegant dining rooms, fireside lounge, outside dining and beautiful views. Barrows and Luce Hill Roads, Stowe. tenacreslodge.com. (802) 253-6838.

BLACK DIAMOND BARBEQUE We only use quality meats prepared with homemade rubs and marinades, then slowly smoke using native hardwoods. Our bar features craft beer and cocktails. blackdiamondbbq.com.

CHARLIE B’S PUB & RESTAURANT COLDWELL BANKER CARLSON REAL ESTATE Real estate sales and rentals, representing Stowe and surrounding communities. Our talented team leads the industry in technology, innovation, and passion. 25 Main Street, Stowe, (802) 253-7358; 74 Portland St., Morrisville, (802) 521-7962. stowevermontrealestate.com.

FOUR SEASONS SOTHEBY’S INT’L REALTY Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty strives everyday to exceed our clients’ expectations. To learn how we can put the power of our brand to work for you, visit us at fourseasonssir.com or (802) 253-7267.

LITTLE RIVER REALTY Your trusted real estate advisors representing buyers, sellers ad rentals. Your goals are our priority. We are full-time realtors who appreciate the importance of your real estate decisions. (802) 253-1553, info@lrrvermont.com and lrrvermont.com.

Charlie B’s is a true Stowe tradition featuring upscale pub fare and an award-winning wine list with Vermont craft brews on tap. Enjoy fireside or deck dining. (802) 760-1096, charliebspub.com.

DOC PONDS Eat and drink. Many beers from 24 rotating taps to 50 different bottles and cans, craft cocktails, natural wine, updated bar food. Two turntables with 1,000 records. Bar, lounge, dining room. 294 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 760-6066. No reservations. docponds.com.

HARRISON’S RESTAURANT & BAR Located in historic Stowe Village serving elevated takes on American dishes with wine, craft beers and cocktails in a unique, parlorlike space. Reservations accepted.

(802) 253-7773, harrisonsstowe.com.

HOB KNOB BAR & LOUNGE NEW ENGLAND LANDMARK REALTY Stowe, Vermont real estate. Professional real estate sales.

Beautiful Stowe homes and land. You’re going to love our Stowe lifestyle. Call today. (866) 324-2427.

(802) 253-4711. nelandmark.com.

PALL SPERA COMPANY REALTORS Stowe and Lamoille County’s leading real-estate company serving Central and Northern Vermont from 3 offices and 24 hours a day at pallspera.com. Mountain Road, Stowe (802) 253-9771, Stowe Village (802) 253-1806, Morrisville (802) 888-1102.

Enjoy a drink in or lounge and some comfort food from our kitchen Thursday-Saturday, put your feet up sit by the fire.

Bring the family, play some games and enjoy. hobknobinn.com. (802) 253-8549.

IDLETYME BREWING COMPANY Small-batch craft lagers and ales. Lunch and dinner daily from 11:30 a.m. Innovative cocktails, extensive wine list, family friendly, fireplace dining. Outdoor patio. Perfect for special events. Beer to go. 1859 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

(802) 253-4765, idletymebrewing.com.

KIRKWOOD’S PUB Experience the best patio in Stowe. Enjoy a craft beer and delicious pub fare over looking the mountains and the 18th green. Lunch and dinner, seasonally. (802) 760-4653. 744 Cape Cod Rd., Stowe.

THE KITCHEN Casual catering for fun events. American, Italian, and Mexican fare, as well as sandwich platters, salads, and homemade hot/cold soups. Vegan, vegetarian and glutenfree options. stowesandwich.com or (802) 253-7300.

MCCARTHY’S RESTAURANT & CATERING Delicious breakfasts and lunches. Soups, daily specials. Kids’ menu, low-calorie, low-carb offerings. Homemade muffins, pies etc. Gluten free bread, gluten free muffins, cappuccino, milkshakes, smoothies. 6:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-8626.

MICHAEL’S ON THE HILL Farm-to-table cuisine. Swiss chef owned. Restaurateur & Chef of the Year, Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, Best Chefs America, certified green restaurant. Bar, lounge, groups.

5:30-9, closed Tuesdays. 5 minutes from Stowe. Route 100, Waterbury Center. (802) 244-7476. michaelsonthehill.com.

PIECASSO PIZZERIA & LOUNGE Traditional, hand-tossed New York style pizza with modern style, eclectic music, and great vibes. A local favorite, voted a “Top 11 Slice in the Country” by travelandleisure.com.

Creative entrees, craft beer, gluten-free menu, online ordering, takeout, delivery. (802) 253-4411, piecasso.com.

PLATE Winner of Best New Restaurant Daisies award 2014.

California flavor meets Vermont style. Full bar, open kitchen.

From serious meat eaters to healthy vegetarians, everything is homemade, locally sourced. Wednesday – Saturday 5-close and Sunday brunch 10-2. 91 Main St., (802) 253-2691. platestowe.com.

RANCH CAMP Stowe’s mountain bike base lodge. Full-service bike shop with Stowe’s best demo fleet. Fast casual eatery, craft beers on tap, and smiles for days. ranchcampvt.com, (802) 253-2753.

THE RESERVOIR RESTAURANT In the heart of downtown Waterbury. We specialize in local Vermont based comfort food and some of the best beers available. Private second floor events space for up to 50. Dinner daily, lunch Saturday and Sunday. (802) 244-7827, waterburyreservoir.com.

SALUTE STOWE Chef owned and operated. Authentic Italian cuisine.

Homemade pasta and mozzarella, fresh seafood, lasagna and veal parmigiana, fresh baked bread, desserts, daily chef specials. Outdoor sitting. 18 Edson Hill Rd., Stowe.

(802) 253-5677, salutevt.com.

SOLSTICE Focusing on local flavors and farm-fresh ingredients, Solstice provides an upscale yet casual atmosphere. Ask about our Chef’s Table for an omakase-style dinner at the best seats in the house. (802) 760-4735, 7412 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

STOWE BOWL Stowe’s coolest hotspot. Come bowl in a swanky setting with a state-of-the-art visual experience, a full bar, tasty food, and fireplace lounge. Casual entertainment, parties, and events. stowebowl.com.

STOWE SANDWICH COMPANY Soups, salads, sandwiches, and more. Visit us on Mountain Road for eat-in or take-out. Check our website for full menu and catering options. stowesandwich.com, (802) 253-7300.

SUNSET GRILLE & TAP ROOM Northern-style southern barbecue with a side of sports. Craft beers and cocktails. Patio dining, family friendly. NFL Sunday ticket. 30 TVs. Just off the beaten path. Cottage Club Road, More dining l Stowe. (802) 253-9281. sunsetgrillevt.com.

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S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUSINESS DIRECTORY SUSHI YOSHI Experience the best in Chinese and Japanese cuisine. Eclectic menu with something for everyone. The entire family will enjoy our gourmet hibachi steakhouse. Daily outdoor seating in summer. Call for free shuttle. 1128 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

(802) 253-4135. sushistowe.com.

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE—LOUNGE & DINING ROOM Seasonal menus reflecting both Austrian and Vermont traditions. Open daily. Dining room: breakfast 7:30-10:30 a.m.; dinner 5-9 p.m. Reservations: (802) 253-5733. Lounge: lunch 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; tea 3:30-4:30 p.m.; dinner 5-9 p.m.; bar nightly until 11 p.m.; (802) 253-5734.

SPA & WELLNESS CENTER AT STOWEFLAKE MOUNTAIN RESORT World-class spa integrates natural surroundings, luxurious amenities, over 120 treatments. Bingham Hydrotherapy waterfall, Hungarian soaking mineral pool, men’s and women’s lounges, steam, sauna, hot tub, Jacuzzi, yoga, Pilates, fitness classes. Open to public. (802) 760-1083, spaatstoweflake.com.

THE SPA AT SPRUCE PEAK Harness the goodness of nature and experience serious relaxation with signature treatments, such as our famous Stowe Cider scrub or CBD facial, then unwind in our soothing sanctuary lounge. (802) 760-4782, 7412 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

TRES AMIGOS Authentic Mexican fare highlighting fresh produce and local meats and cheeses; tequilas and mezcals, margarita and cocktail menu, 24 drafts focusing on Vermont and Mexicanstyle craft beers. Intimate music space with upper level viewing. 1190 Mountain Rd., (802) 253-6245. tresamigosvt.com.

WHIP BAR & GRILL Friendly, casual newly renovated atmosphere with open grill and fireplace dining. Fresh seafood, hand-cut steaks, vegetarian specialties, children’s menu. Serving lunch and dinner daily, Sunday brunch. Located at the Green Mountain Inn. (802) 253-4400, x615, for reservations. thewhip.com.

ZENBARN Beautifully renovated dairy barn serves up great craft beer, globally inspired fare, local spirits, and world-class live music.

Families, groups or date night. Outdoor patio dining, lawn games, wellness classes in upstairs studio. A must-see destination. 179 Guptil Rd., Waterbury. zenbarnvt.com, (802) 244-8134.

RETIREMENT COMMUNITY COPLEY WOODLANDS Come home to Stowe, where retirement living is easy.

Spacious condos, fine dining, activities. Available for adults 55+. Copley Woodlands, 125 Thomas Lane, Stowe.

(802) 253-7200, copleywoodlands.com.

MAYO HEALTHCARE Residential care assisted living at Mayo means joining a vibrant, welcoming community—and letting your worries go. Get back to living your life, knowing that supportive nursing care is here 24/7. Northfield, Vt. (802-485-3161), mayohc.org.

WAKE ROBIN Vibrant non-profit life-care community located on 136 acres just south of Burlington in Shelburne, Vt. Residents enjoy independent living in cottages and apartments and comprehensive, on-site health care for life. wakerobin.com, (802) 264-5100.

SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS ARBORTREK CANOPY ADVENTURES AT SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH Family-friendly, year-round treetop adventures including an award-winning zip line canopy tour, treetop obstacle course, and climbing adventure. Adventures from serene to extreme.

Ages 4+; Good to moderate health. Reservations recommended. (802) 644-9300. arbortrek.com.

BRAGG FARM SUGARHOUSE & GIFTS 8th generation sugarhouse, using traditional sugaring methods. Free daily tours, walk through 2,000-acre maple woods.

World’s best maple creemees. Farm animals. Route 14N, East Montpelier. Near Cabot Creamery and Grandview Winery.

(802) 223-5757.

CABOT CREAMERY VISITORS CENTER Come see where the “Best Cheddar in the World” begins.

Nibble Cabot cheddars, Vermont specialty foods, weekly specials. Fun, delicious, and educational. January-May 19: Mon.Sat. 10-4; May 20-October: 9-5 daily; Nov.-Dec.: 10-4 daily.

ADA accessible.

CABOT FARMERS’ STORE Sample Cabot’s entire selection of award-winning cheeses and dairy products. Great selection of Vermont specialty foods, cheeses, Vermont wines and microbrews. Danforth Pewter, Lake Champlain Chocolates, Smugglers’ Notch Distillery, more. Waterbury. Daily 9-6 p.m. ADA accessible.

FAIRBANKS MUSEUM & PLANETARIUM Filled with animals and artifacts, shells and tools, minerals and mosaics from around the world. Family-friendly interactive exploration stations and Vermont’s only public planetarium invite discovery. Main Street, St. Johnsbury. fairbanksmuseum.org.

GREEN MOUNTAIN RAILROAD

SHOE STORES JOHNSON FARM, GARDEN, HARDWARE & RENTAL Quality footwear and clothing for every lifestyle. Shoes for work, hiking, running, casual and dress. Keen, Timberland, Chippewa, Muck, Bogs, Columbia, Salomon, Blundstone, Dansko, Birkenstock, Merrell, Sorel, more. Route 15 Johnson, (802) 635-7282, jhrvt.com.

WELL HEELED Unique collection of shoes, boots, handbags, belts, clothing, and jewelry in a chicly updated Vermont farmhouse halfway up Stowe’s Mountain Road. Shoes are our specialty and effortlessly chic our motto. Daily 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

(802) 253-6077. wellheeledstowe.com.

SPA SKIN BLISS Skin Bliss offers customized facials, hydra-facials, waxing services and skin-care products in a soothing environment located on the waterfront in Burlington. skinblissvt.com, (802) 373-8755.

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Unique and memorable, operating a variety of seasonal train rides from the Champlain Valley dinner train to murder mysteries, Rail & Sail, exclusive Lounge 91 experience, fall foliage excursions, more. Private charters for weddings, reunions, corporate events. trainridesvt.com.

MONTSHIRE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE Award-winning science center known for its interactive exhibits, outstanding programs, science park and water features, and woodland garden. Daily 10-5. Norwich, Vt. montshire.org.

QUECHEE STORE Sample Cabot’s entire selection of award-winning cheeses and dairy products. Great selection of Vermont specialty foods, cheeses, Vermont wines, ciders, and microbrews.

Putney Mountain Winery, Vermont Spot, Vermont Spirits, Antique Mall, Whisper Hill, and more. Daily 9:30-5:30 p.m.

ADA accessible.

SHELBURNE MUSEUM Forty-five acres, 39 buildings, 22 gardens, over 100,000 items in the collection. A steamboat, carousel, locomotive, special exhibitions, paintings by Impressionist masters and American artists like Wyeth, Homer, and more. 6000 Shelburne Rd. (802) 985-3346, shelburnemuseum.org.

SPRUCE PEAK INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATION Join us on the Spruce Peak Village Green on Saturday, July 6 for an Independence Day celebration, featuring live music performances, entertainment, food, craft beer, fireworks, and family fun. sprucepeak.com.

SPRUCE PEAK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Presenting artists from around the world and right next door in an intimate setting with the best in music, dance, comedy, theater, and film, presented each week, year round.

(802) 760-4634 or sprucepeakarts.org.

STOWE GOLF PARK Miniaturized golf course that strives to simulate a real golf environment, on Stowe’s Mountain Road along the recreation path. Avoid natural obstacles, fairway hazards, sand traps.

May through October, 10 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. (802) 253-9951.

STOWE HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM Preserving Stowe’s rich history. Museum at the West Branch and Bloody Brook Schoolhouses, next to Stowe Library.

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, noon-3 p.m., and when the flags are out. (802) 253-1518. stowehistoricalsociety.org, info@stowehistoricalsociety.org.

STOWE MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL Don’t miss the Stowe Mountain Film Festival, Oct. 25 and 26.

Screening adventure-packed, culturally rich, and incredibly inspiring documentary short films. For passes, tickets, and festival info visit sprucepeakarts.org.

STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT Experience Vermont at its peak this summer at Stowe Mountain Resort. Enjoy breathtaking views as you ascend Mount Mansfield on our Gondola Sky Ride or Auto Toll Road. stowe.com.

STOWE PERFORMING ARTS Founded in 1976, Stowe Performing Arts presents great music—classical, blues, jazz, swing, pop, bluegrass, country— in dramatic settings throughout the community. Noon Music in May and Music in the Meadow. (802) 253-7792 or stoweperformingarts.com.

GREENSBORO, VERMONT STOWE THEATRE GUILD Visit beautiful Greensboro on Caspian Lake. Scenic 30-mile drive from Stowe, with shopping, swimming, sightseeing, arts, and events. Willey’s Store, Miller’s Thumb Gallery, Highland Center of the Arts, Greensboro Garage and Highland Lodge.

LAUGHING MOON CHOCOLATES Handmade Laughing Moon Chocolates open 9-6 daily. 78 South Main St., Stowe Village. Chocolate dipping demonstrations and sampling at 2 p.m. daily. (802) 253-9591. laughingmoonchocolates.com.

LITTLE RIVER HOTGLASS STUDIO Walk into the studio and experience the art of glassblowing up close. Adjacent gallery features works of resident artist Michael Trimpol. Thurs. – Mon. 10-5. (802) 253-0889. littleriverhotglass.com.

Presenting two energetic musicals and two dramatic straight plays. Shows June 12-Oct. 12. “Godspell,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “Mamma Mia!”, and “A Few Good Men.” Tickets at stowetheatre.com or (802) 253-3961.

STOWE VIBRANCY Dedicated to boosting social, recreational, and cultural activities in Stowe Village, and strengthening the town’s economic and physical characteristics, this non-profit produces/co-produces eight events and series annually. stowevibrancy.com.

TUNBRIDGE WORLD’S FAIR Dedicated to family farm traditions and current rends all four days. Livestock shows, Antique Hill Museum, midway, entertainment. Located in the beautiful First Branch of the White River valley. Sept. 12-15. Tunbridge, Vt. tunbridgeworldsfair.com.

VERMONT GRANITE MUSEUM Explore history, art, science, technology, and people of Vermont’s granite industry. Create a clay sculpture, climbing wall, pedal cars to explore the grounds. Through October, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 7 Jones Brothers Way, Barre. (802) 476-4605. vtgranitemuseum.org.

VERMONT TEDDY BEAR FACTORY TOURS One of the most popular Vermont activities. Come and experience our store, take a factory tour and make your own bear. 6655 Shelburne Rd., just south of Shelburne Village.

(802) 985-3001. vermontteddybear.com.

SPECIALTY FOODS

TOYS & GAMES

WINE, BEER, & SPIRITS

JOHNSON FARM, GARDEN, HARDWARE & RENTAL

BLACK CAP COFFEE & BEER

Sports equipment, Legos, arts and crafts, outdoor games, board games, puzzles. Trucks, tractors, science and stem kits, much more. Schleich, Hape, Schylling, Ravensburger, Bruder, Plan Toys, Mindware, Crayola. Route 15 Johnson, (802) 635-7282, jhrvt.com.

ONCE UPON A TIME TOYS Test your agility on a ninjaline. Try wiggly rabbit years. From traditional toys like Lego to eclectic ones like Russian nesting dolls, Vermont’s most exciting store for 43 years. Birthday?

Come get your free balloon. 1799 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-8319. stowetoys.com.

ALLA VITA Highest quality olive oils, balsamic vinegars, made-to-order salads, pestos, marinades, and more, along with unique wines to take home and enjoy for dinner and social gatherings. 27 State St., Montpelier, allavitavermont.com.

HARVEST MARKET Balsamic, olive oils, Italian pastas, and other gourmet specialties. Fresh food to go made fresh daily by our chefs and bakers. Party platters and specialty dinners available to order.

Daily 7-5:30 (in season). (802) 253-3800. harvestatstowe.com.

LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES What the New York Times calls “some of the best chocolate in the country.” Made from fair-trade certified chocolate, Vermont cream, other natural ingredients. Caramels, truffles, creamy fudge, hot chocolate, factory seconds.

(802) 241-4150. lakechamplainchocolates.com.

SPORTING GOODS OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE & GEARX.COM Locally owned since 1995, offering the area’s best prices, service, and selection of gear and clothing for camping, hiking, climbing, paddling, and a life lived outdoors. Open 7 days. Burlington. (802) 860-0190.

POWER PLAY SPORTS Everything to help you live life’s adventures. Full-service bike shop, new and used. Trek and Giant bikes, service rentals, accessories. All team sports including lacrosse, baseball, soccer and more. Open daily. 35 Portland St. (802) 888-6557. powerplaysportsvt.com.

WATERBURY SPORTS Recreation destination conveniently located in the heart of north central Vermont. Specializing in selling, servicing, and renting bikes of all kinds. Wide selection of team sports equipment, camping gear, footwear, apparel. 46 S. Main St., (802) 882-8595. waterburysportvt.com.

TRANSPORTATION & TAXIS FLEET TRANSPORTATION, LLC A premier provider of luxury sedans, SUVs, Mercedes Sprinters, minibuses, buses, limousines, and shuttle transportation services. Fleet provides luxury transportation services throughout Vermont. 1878 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

(802) 735-0515. fleettransportation.com.

PEG’S PICK UP/STOWE TAXI For all your transportation needs. Airport, bus, train.

(Burlington, Boston, Montréal, New York). Errands and deliveries. Daily courier runs to Burlington. Full taxi service.

(802) 253-9490, (800) 370-9490, (800) 293-PEGS.

TRAVEL & TOURS 4 POINTS BREWERY TOURS Vermont is home to some great microbreweries and several are close by. We pick up in the local area, make five stops and guarantee a good time. Call Rick at (802) 793-9246, 4pointsvt.com.

WEDDING FACILITIES EDSON HILL Edson Hill offers you an exclusive, quintessential Vermont country estate with picturesque views, 23 luxurious guestrooms, and a talented culinary team to help create the wedding of your dreams. edsonhill.com, (802) 253-7371.

STOWEFLAKE MOUNTAIN RESORT & SPA Leave the planning to us. Perfect wedding location in the heart of Stowe in any season. Indoor and outdoor spaces for weddings, receptions, or rehearsals. Spa bridal services from hair to make-up. (802) 253-7355, stoweflake.com.

Surveying, mapping. Boundary, subdivision and topographic surveys. Site plans, FEMA elevation certificates and LOMA’s.

Forestry services available. Large document copying, scanning, reducing. (802) 253-8214, littleriversurveyvt.com.

TATTOOS WORLD FAMOUS MONKEY HOUSE CUSTOMS Stowe’s premier tattoo studio. Custom tattoos, art, permanent cosmetics, local artisan goods, ear piercing, and more.

Quality tattoos in a clean, fun, and professional atmosphere.

8+ years experience. Walk-ins welcome. (802) 760-6829, monkeyhousecustoms.com.

BOYDEN VALLEY WINERY & SPIRITS Vermont’s award-winning winery, cidery, and distillery.

Tastings, free tours, gourmet cheese and chocolate boards, Maple Creme liqueur milkshake cocktails. Just 7 miles from Smuggler’s Notch at 64 VT Route 104, Cambridge, VT 05444. (802) 644-8151. boydenvalley.com.

FINE WINE CELLARS Fantastic wine selections from around the world. Great prices.

From the rare to the exceptional value. Under $10-$100+ we’re nuts about wine. Please see our ad on page 2.

(802) 253-2630. finewinecellars.us.

HARVEST MARKET Fine wines, weekly deals, Vermont microbrews, and hard ciders. Cabernet to Vermentino, Harvest Market has you covered. Case discounts. Daily 7-5:30 (in season).

(802) 253-3800. harvestatstowe.com.

SHELBURNE VINEYARD Come visit, then stay awhile to taste, tour, and share our adventure growing grapes and making fine wines in Vermont’s cold climate. We’ll make you feel welcome and surprise your palate. Open all year. (802) 985-8222. shelburnevineyard.com.

STOWE BEVERAGE Full-service wine, beer, liquor, mixers, snacks. Stowe’s best wine and beer selection. Best price in town on Vermont maple syrup. Cigars. Free local paper with wine purchases. 9-9 Monday through Saturday; Sunday 11-6. (802) 253-4525.

STOWE PUBLIC HOUSE 700-plus highly rated and local craft beer, wine, cider, Vermont cheese and specialty foods. Gifts, gadgets, books, and accessories. Bar open daily. 109 Main St., Stowe Village. (802) 585-5785, stowepublichouse.com.

WOODSTOVES WITTUS—FIRE BY DESIGN For over 40 years, finest selection of European contemporary fireplaces, stoves, and accessories with sophisticated design, the latest in technology, and environmentally clean burning systems. (914) 764-5679, wittus.com.

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE From intimate ceremonies in our lodge to grand receptions under a tent with spectacular mountain views, we tailor to individual tastes and budgets. European-style cuisine, accommodations. (800) 826-7000, (802) 253-8511. trappfamily.com.

SURVEYORS LITTLE RIVER SURVEY COMPANY

Carefully curated beer selection of Vermont, American and imported craft beers. Regular tastings. Assortment of wines and sparkling wines. Fresh coffee, espresso, lattes, housebaked pastries, breakfast, sandwiches. Open daily. 144 Main St., Stowe, and 63 Lower Main St., downtown Morrisville. Facebook.

WINDOWS & DOORS ACME GLASS Your source for everything glass. New construction, remodel and service for residential and commercial homes and businesses. Windows, doors, glass shower enclosures, mirrors, insulated glass, screen porches, much more. (802) 658-1400, info@acmeglassvt.com.

WINDOW TREATMENTS TINA’S HOME DESIGNS Hunter Douglas Blinds, shades, and shutters at discount prices. Draperies, over 1000 area rugs, stair runners, custom cushions, unique home furnishings. Free measuring, installation, and in-home consultation. 21 Church St., Burlington.

(802) 862-6701, tinashomedesigns@aol.com.

YARN YARN Yarn offers a wide selection of yarns from near and far as well as needles, accessories, gifts, inspiration, classes, and a friendly fiber community. 80 S. Main St., Suite 3, Waterbury.

(802) 241-2244. yarnvt.com.

YOGA & PILATES STOWE YOGA CENTER Practice yoga in a beautiful space. Brightly lit carpeted studio with high ceilings. Weekly schedule online. Special series: chakra yoga, prenatal, chair yoga, meditation. Private classes available. Kate Graves, 515 Moscow Rd. stoweyoga.com, kgravesmt@gmail.com, (802) 253-8427.

YOGA BARN AT WELL HEELED A serene studio offering a full range of classes from vigorous flow to restorative practices. Talented instructors at our peaceful barn studio offer something for everyone. Privates, groups, retreats available. 2850 Mountain Rd., Stowe. theyogabarnstowe.com for schedule.

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INDEX A&N STONEWORKS INC. 211 AARON FLINT BUILDERS 194 ACME GLASS 203 AJ’S SKI & SPORTS 63 ALCHEMIST BREWERY 153 ALLA VITA 71, 173 ALL DECKED OUT 221 ANDERSON & ASSOCIATES 228 ANICHINI 135 ARBORTREK CANOPY ADVENTURES 5 ARDESH FINDS & FURNISHINGS 129 ARTISANS’ GALLERY 134 253 AUTO 233 AXEL’S FRAME SHOP & GALLERY 141 BAGEL, THE 176 BARRE TILE 224 BENCH 147 BEN & JERRY’S CATERING 172 BERT’S BOATS 57 BIERHALL AT TRAPP FAMILY LODGE 155 BIRDS BE SAFE 227 BISTRO AT TEN ACRES 169 BLACK CAP COFFEE 17 BLACK DIAMOND BARBECUE 171 BOURNE’S ENERGY 185 BOUTIQUE 135 BOYDEN VALLEY WINERY & SPIRITS 157 BRAD HIGHBERGER 54 BRAGG FARM SUGARHOUSE 67 BRYAN MEMORIAL GALLERY 139 BUNYABUNYA 120 BURLINGTON FURNITURE CO. 43 BURLINGTON MATTRESS 189 BUTCHERY, THE 25 BUTTERNUT MOUNTAIN FARM 145 CABOT FARMERS’ STORE 137 CAMARA SLATE PRODUCTS 229 CATAMOUNT FISHING ADVENTURES 63 CLOSE TO HOME 219 COCOPLUM APPLIANCES 218, 225, 226 COLDWELL BANKER CARLSON RE INSIDE FRONT COLORADO MOUNTAIN COLLEGE 75 COMMODITIES NATURAL MARKET 176 COMMODORES INN 173 COPLEY WOODLANDS 16 COUNTRY HOME CENTER 214 COUNTRY STORE ON MAIN 139 CUSHMAN DESIGN GROUP 180 DESIGN STUDIO OF STOWE 221 DOC PONDS 159 DONALD P BLAKE JR BUILDER 213 ECK MACNEELY ARCHITECTS 215 EDELWEISS DELI 7 EDSON HILL MANOR 149 ELEVATED STATE 69 ELIZABETH HERRMANN ARCHITECTURE/DESIGN 207 EXPRESS CARE 10 FAIRBANKS MUSEUM & PLANETARIUM 141 FERRO ESTATE & CUSTOM JEWELERS 2 FINE WINE CELLARS 2 FLEET TRANSPORTATION 71 FLOOR COVERINGS INTERNATIONAL 195 FLOORING AMERICA 187 FLAVIN ARCHITECTS 183 FLYNN CENTER 115 FLY ROD SHOP 45 FORGET-ME-NOT-SHOP 145 FORK & GAVEL 161 FOUR SEASONS SOTHEBY’S RE 181 FRED’S ENERGY 214 GEOBARNS 227 GORDON DIXON CONSTRUCTION 188 GREEN ENVY BOUTIQUE 113 GREEN MOUNTAIN DISTILLERS 158 GREEN MOUNTAIN FINE ART GALLERY 105

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TO

ADVERTISERS

GREEN MOUNTAIN FIREPLACES GREEN MOUNTAIN HOT TUBS GREENSBORO GARAGE GREY FOX INN & RESORT GRISTMILL BUILDERS LTD HARMONI HAIRSTYLING HARRISON’S RESTAURANT HARRY HUNT ARCHITECTS HARVEST MARKET HIGHLAND CENTER FOR THE ARTS HIGHLAND LODGE HOB KNOB INN BAR & LOUNGE IDLETYME BREWING CO. IN COMPANY CLOTHING J. GRAHAM GOLDSMITH ARCHITECTS JAY PEAK VERMONT JOHNSON HARDWARE RENTAL, FARM & GARDEN JOHNSON WOOLEN MILLS KATHERINE GRAVES MASSAGE KITCHEN, THE KNAUF LANDSCAPE DESIGN LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES LANDSCAPES LAUGHING MOON CHOCOLATES LITTLE RIVER HOTGLASS STUDIO & GALLERY LITTLE RIVER REALTY LOEWEN WINDOW CENTER OF VT & NH MAD MOOSE ARCHITECTURE MAD RIVER ANTLER MANSFIELD HELIFLIGHT MATTRESS & SOFA WAREHOUSE MAYO RESIDENTIAL CARE MCCARTHY’S RESTAURANT & CATERING MCKENZIE COUNTRY CLASSICS MEYER & MEYER ARCHITECTURE & INTERIORS MICHAEL’S ON THE HILL MILLER’S THUMB GALLERY MONKEY HOUSE CUSTOMS MONTSHIRE MUSEUM MOUNTAIN LOGWORKS MOUNTAINOPS OUTDOOR GEAR MOUNTAINOPS MTB DEMO CENTER MUMLEY ENGINEERING NORTHERN VERMONT UNIVERSITY NORTHWOOD GALLERY ONCE UPON A TIME TOYS OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE & GEARX.COM PATTERSON & SMITH CONSTRUCTION PALL SPERA CO. REALTORS PAUL ROBERT ROUSSELLE ARCHITECT PAUL ROGERS PHOTOGRAPHY PEREGRINE DESIGN/BUILD PERENNIAL PLEASURES NURSERY PIECASSO PIZZERIA & LOUNGE PINNACLE PHYSICAL THERAPY PK COFFEE PLANET HARDWOOD PLATE RANCH CAMP RED BARN REALTY OF VERMONT RED HOUSE FINE HOMEBUILDING RESERVOIR RESTAURANT & TAPROOM RIDE RK MILES ROAM ROBERT PAUL GALLERIES ROCK ART BREWERY RURAL RESOURCES SALON SALON SALUTE SELDOM SCENE INTERIORS SHELBURNE MUSEUM SHELBURNE VINEYARD SISLER BUILDERS SKIN BLISS

191 191 123 146 31 125 162 216 162 123 123 152 167 119 211 39 33 144 51 174 216 108 203 141 111 207 229 193 139 61 219 69 175 73 209 151 123 74 137 213 9 65 228 47 125 116 71 201 27 221 54 217 233 163 54 173 194 167 175 223 215 147 54 227 141 117 177 231 51 169 3 108 177 218 74

SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH DISTILLERY 152 SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH RESORT 11 SPA AT SPRUCE PEAK 67 SPRUCE PEAK AT STOWE 23 SPRUCE PEAK FOLK FESTIVAL 31 SPRUCE PEAK ARTS 107 STOWE BEVERAGE & LIQUOR STORE 160 STOWEBOWL 35 STOWE COUNTRY CLUB 65 STOWE COUNTRY HOMES 224 STOWE CRAFT REMARKABLE THINGS 121 STOWE FABRIC & YARN 144 STOWE FAMILY DENTISTRY 53 STOWE FAMILY PRACTICE 49 STOWEFLAKE MOUNTAIN RESORT INSIDE BACK STOWE GOLF PARK 35 STOWE HARDWARE & DRY GOODS 235 STOWE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 143 STOWE KITCHEN BATH & LINENS 120, 223 STOWE MERCANTILE 131 STOWE MOUNTAIN RENTALS 49 STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT 1 STOWE PERFORMING ARTS 19 STOWE PUBLIC HOUSE 161 STOWE RESORT HOMES 15 STOWE SANDWICH CO. 158 STOWE SWEETS 178 STOWE THEATRE GUILD 22 STOWE VIBRANCY 21 STOWE VILLAGE MASSAGE 52 STOWE YOGA CENTER 51 SUNSET GRILLE & TAP ROOM 178 SUSHI YOSHI 163 SWEET & SAVORY PERSONAL CHEF 176 SWIMMING HOLE 59 SYSTEM INTEGRATORS 225 TAILORED LIVING 226 TEKTONIKA STUDIO ARCHITECTS 188 TIM MEEHAN BUILDERS 223 TINA’S HOME DESIGNS 231 TOPNOTCH RESORT & SPA 13 TOTAL FITNESS 69 TRAIN RIDES VERMONT 61 TRAPP FAMILY LODGE 155 TRES AMIGOS MEXICAN 147 TRUEXCULLINS ARCHITECTURE & INTERIORS 225 TUNBRIDGE WORLD’S FAIR 22 UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT 59 VERMONT ARTISAN COFFEE & TEA 174 VERMONT ELECTRONICS 74 VERMONT GRANITE MUSEUM 143 VERMONT ICELANDIC ADVENTURES 67 VERMONT TEDDY BEAR 69 VILLAGE GREEN AT STOWE BACK COVER VINCENT FERNANDEZ ORIENTAL RUGS 144 VISIONS OF VERMONT 133 VOLANSKY STUDIO 205 VON BARGEN’S JEWELRY 37 WAGNER HODGSON LANDSCAPE ARCH 209 WAKE ROBIN 75 WELL HEELED 29 WEST BRANCH GALLERY & SCULPTURE PARK 109 WHIP BAR & GRILL 160 WHISTLEPIG WHISKEY 171 WILLEY’S STORE 123 WINTERWOOD TIMBER FRAMES 223 WITTUS FIRE BY DESIGN 217 WOODEN NEEDLE 144 YANKEE BARN HOMES 205 YARN 116 YELLOW TURTLE 133 YELLOW TURTLE BABY 133 YOGA BARN 29 ZENBARN 179

33rd Annual Hot Air Balloon Festival July 5-7, 2019

THE VILLAGE GREEN AT STOWE A Condominium Resort For All Seasons Offering affordable rentals for 2 nights or more

Our Town Homes Provide • Spacious 2 & 3 bedroom accommodations • Fully equipped kitchens • Fireplace • Cable TV • Majestic views from 40 acres of beautiful land, surrounded by the Stowe Country Club and Golf Course and Stowe’s award winning recreation path.

Amenities • 2 Pools (1 indoor) • Whirlpool Spa • Sauna • 2 Outdoor Tennis Courts • Recreation Center • Video Games • Ping Pong, Air Hockey and Pool Tables

1003 CAPE COD ROAD, STOWE, VERMONT 05672

802-253-9705 • 800-451-3297 Visit our website at www.vgasstowe.com for more info and rates