Stowe Guide & Magazine Summer/Fall 2021 by Stowe Guide & Magazine

SUMMER / FALL 2021 FREE

STOWE

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

91 MAIN STREET, STOWE VILLAGE 802.253.3033 ~ STOWE@FERROJEWELERS.COM WWW.FERROJEWELERS.COM/STOWE LIKE US ON FACEBOOK.COM/FERRO.JEWELERS

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features

Flatbed Logger: Rusty Dewees takes to the road by Tommy Gardner

Lamoille County’s most famous lumbersexual got himself a rig, a Mack truck to be exact, to take his wildly popular Logger franchise on the road, flatbed-style.

‘Respectfully submitted’: Barb Allaire dies at 91 by Tommy Gardner

A town-hall fixture for decades, the most faithful of public servants, and a self-admitted “lover of hugs,” Allaire left an indelible mark on Stowe.

The Lamoille by Kevin M. Walsh

Swimmers ply secret stashes, kayakers shoot its spring rapids, farmers plow its fertile bottomlands, iconic covered bridges span it—The Lamoille, lifeblood of a county.

Mushrooms by Paul Rogers

Photographer Paul Rogers takes a pictorial journey of the forest floor and its most fleeting denizens.

Verner Z. Reed: Life and times by Nancy Wolfe Stead

Renaissance man Verner Reed lets his stunning body of photographic work speak for itself on a journey back to a Stowe—and New England—of the 1950s and 1960s.

106 Homegrown: Adele Taplin RUSTY DEWEES, LAMOILLE RIVER, MUSHROOMS: PAUL ROGERS; HOUSE: KATE CARTER; ALL OTHERS: COURTESY

by Avalon Styles-Ashley

Wanderlust takes her away at times, but Mansfield always draws this Stowe native—nine generations, and counting—back home.

138

Art of the can by Kate Carter

Which came first, the craft brew or its eye-catching label? Drink in the secrets behind the art of five iconic, local breweries.

176 Ski-in, ski-out:

Spruce living

by Robert Kiener

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Contributors

From the editor

Rural route: Elmore saves store, art center rebrands, best of the blotter

Getting outdoors: Fly fishing with Bob Shannon, getting lines on Wheeler, Mozo on Mansfield

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

Shopping and galleries

128

Edibles: PK reopens, Woodstock Farmers’ Market

Fish story

departments 12

First person: Marianne Goodson

Stowe Performing Arts

Fish story: Bob Shannon

Recreation trail: On the flats

Peak endurance: Double tough

Road trip: Wheeler Mountain

Contemporary art: Meloko Mokgosi

Vermont artisan: Cubby’s critters

102

Innovators: SheFly pants

114

At the Grange: Snowflake man

122

Found in Vermont: Shopping list

124

Vanishing Vermont: Willey’s Store

160

Stowe people: Paul Sakash

168

Spotlight: Chapman Smith

172

Real estate: Condo-rific

GETTING OUTDOORS

SHOPPING & GALLERIES

128

RESTAURANTS & LODGING

158

REAL ESTATE & HOMES

200

BUSINESSES & SERVICES

208

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

Cubby’s critters

ON OUR COVER

Stowe native Adele Taplin is our cover artist this summer, with Pinnacle Barn, a digital, vector-based painting. It’s Taplin’s second foray on our cover. Her first, Early Lift Service, in 2018, proved to be one of our most popular.

GETTING AROUND 41

FROM TOP LEFT: GORDON MILLER; KATE CARTER; COURTESY PHOTOS

essentials

At the time, Taplin told us that her work typically begins with a rough pencil sketch on paper, where she tweaks the composition to get it just right. “Creating art on a computer is no different than any other medium. It’s just a tool, with the screen as your canvas. The mouse is my pen and brush. I create a palette, just as a painter mixes a palette.”

Rural Route

Taplin, a 9th generation member of the Moody family, the second family to settle in Stowe, now lives in Philadelphia. See her work at adeletaplin.myportfolio.com and on Etsy. And, read our profile on p.106.

Black Cap Coffee & Beer of Vermont Craft Beer Store Espresso / Lattes Locally Roasted Coffee Breakfast/Lunch House-made Pastries Fine Arts and Gifts 144 Main Street STOWE Across from Stowe Community Church 53 Lower Main Street MORRISVILLE 42 Church Street BURLINGTON Open Daily • blackcapvermont.com • see us on facebook xx

CONTRIBUTORS

GUIDE & MAGAZINE

Robert M. Miller

Gregory J. Popa

Bryan Meszkat, Patrick Immordino, Judy Kearns, Wendy Ewing, and Michael Kitchen

Gregory J. Popa

Kate Carter, Robert Kiener, and Tommy Gardner

Leslie Lafountain

Gordon Miller

Katerina Hrdlicka, Kristen Braley

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

Mark Aiken, Avalon Styles-Ashley, Kate Carter, Nancy Crowe, Willy Dietrich, Biddle Duke, Elinor Earle, Tommy

AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY

TOMMY GARDNER

IN THIS ISSUE: Homegrown: Adele Taplin, p.106

IN THIS ISSUE: Flatbed Logger, p.60

Peter Miller, Mike Mulhern, David Rocchio, Julia Shipley,

Most memorable takeaway: I didn’t expect Adele

Behind the scenes: So, I’m sitting at the Fly Rod

Nancy Wolfe Stead, Kevin Walsh

to also be an adept pet portraitist. As we were chatting over a video call, Stella—Adele’s small fluffy mutt—peeked her snout into view. Stella is “very shy and very nervous,” according to Adele. But to her, animals and mountains are more forgiving to paint than people.

Shop in Stowe on a sunny and unseasonably hot April morning, interviewing the owner about the selfwrought challenges of catching a fish without live bait and Rusty Dewees rolls up in his new Mack truck, hops down from the cab and takes his shirt off, changing into a tank top. Just a normal Saturday in storyteller land.

Currently: Avalon is a staff writer at the Vermont

Gardner, Robert Kiener, Brian Lindner, Scooter MacMillan,

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

Community Newspaper Group and a contributor to Green Mountain Weddings Magazine. On an average Sunday afternoon, you might find the Californianative hiking, sewing, or singing to her quick climbing sugar snap peas.

Currently: Tommy is a writer living in Morristown.

Winter/Spring & Summer/Fall

He has written about the people and places in this area for most of his life. You should really check out his fourth grade story about a robot dog, sadly now out of print.

Vermont Community Newspaper Group LLC P.O. Box 489, Stowe VT 05672

KATE CARTER

ROB KIENER

Ad submission: ads@stowereporter.com

IN THIS ISSUE: Art of the can, p.138

IN THIS ISSUE: Ski-in, ski-out, p.176

Phone: (802) 253-2101 Fax: (802) 253-8332

Behind the scenes: I had no idea that beer label art

Most memorable takeaway: The owner of the

is a thing, until I started interviewing the artists behind the labels of the local beer we love so much. The importance of distinctive labels is now nearly as important as the beer. Not only do brewers want their products to grab your attention so you grab their four-pack, they want a visual representation of what the beer tastes like—and that requires a lot of creativity. Each of the five beer label artists I interviewed has his own unique style, and all were thrilled to have the opportunity to create labels that speak to beer fans.

Spruce Peak house we feature in this issue is a wildly successful businessman, so it’s no surprise that he followed his own well-earned advice when he began planning his new home: “Put together the best team, from designers to builders to craftspeople, you can find. Explain to them what you want. Then sit back, don’t get in their way, and let them do their own thing.”

Website: stowetoday.com, vtcng.com Editorial inquiries: gpopa@myfairpoint.net

Currently: Kate is a freelance writer and photogra-

pher, and she photographs real estate for Vermont real estate agents, builders, interior designers, and concierges. vtrealestatephotos.com.

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

Canada, and now writes for the magazine and other publications from his base in Stowe. robertkiener.com.

Copyright: Articles and photographs are protected by copyright and cannot be used without permission. Editorial submissions are welcome: Vermont Community Newspaper Group 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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COURTESY PHOTOS

FIRST PERSON

BORN IN CALGARY, ALBERTA, IN 1929, ONE OF SIX CHILDREN, MARIANNE IDENTIFIED AS A TRUE COWGIRL AT HEART, AND SHE WAS—A GLAMOROUS ONE AT THAT.

ESSAY BY

/ Nancy Wolfe Stead

Stowe Resort Homes ELEGANT! Marianne Goodson makes a toast. Next page: Bill and Marianne Goodson at one of their parties at their home in Stowe Hollow.

STOWE HOSTESS EXTRAORDINAIRE Memorable Marianne Birchall Goodson No event evokes memories of Marianne Goodson like New Year’s Eve. That was the night of her annual soiree, when guests slipped gladly into evening finery to celebrate in style. The dining room table, with all leaves in place, sagged under the burden of rare roasted beast, holiday fish and fowl, unique Quebec cheeses, an entire, perfectly ripe Stilton. Old-timers knew to hustle to the adjoining room for oysters on the half-shell, shrimp, and an immense copper pan of escargot. If you liked escargot, beating Dr. Bish McGill to the pot was essential. Beyond, in a quieter spot in front of the living room fireplace, was the consummate host, Bill Goodson, always interested, always observant and, with good judgment, the makings to top off your drink. Widely known as a gracious hostess of renowned parties and elaborate picnics, she was the light of any gathering. Marianne, 91, died peacefully at home of natural causes, just before Christmas 2020, surrounded by soft music, love, and family. We became Stowe Hollow neighbors with the Goodsons in the late 1960s when we moved into our new home next door and started our family. Marianne and their three young kids, Gregg, Derek and Lynnie, escaped Montreal in summer, bringing dogs, occasionally a horse, always world-class tutoring in family fun. Skip was a wobbly toddler and Julie not yet on the scene when Marianne introduced me to her summer ritual for young children: picnics at Sterling Brook. Seeing a glorious day, she would throw life vests, beach umbrellas, towels, hibachi, hot dogs and all their trimmings and a freezer pack with ice cream into the car for picnics—brookside. Later on, there were endless swims in our ponds, with Gregg preoccupied by salamanders, frogs, crayfish, and crawly things while Derek, the entrepreneur in training, captured tadpoles to sell to his city friends back home. Lynnie was always barefoot and ready for play. Marianne kept every toy their kids had ever possessed in the playroom off the kitchen and declared it “open 24 hours a day, no invitation necessary.” An equal opportunity hostess, she invited our Shetland pony with the sweet name, April, but truly nasty disposition, into her kitchen to breakfast with their houseguests from Toronto. The high point of Stowe Hollow summers was the July 4th sunrise hike to Stowe Pinnacle. Attendance varied with the years, but Marianne was always integral to the production. The hardcore males, Bill Nelson and sons, Midge Tozloski, Arthur Schein, the Millers, and more would meet in the dark to start up with campstoves, mounds of gear, champagne, orange juice, cutlery, and huge bowls of whipped cream. The casual athletes followed, bearing toddlers in backpacks, crepe batter and fresh strawberries, with arrival timed to greet the sunrise with mimosa in hand. While Marianne had her agenda of events supporting music and the arts in both Stowe and Montreal, it was Marianne the Mom and Hostess I relished. When all of our children were young we had a sensational era of late night cooking sprees. With Bill in Montreal on weekdays as publisher of The Montreal Star, and both Marianne and I night owls, after my crew was fast asleep I would slip through the hedge to become kitchen lackey to the chef.

FIRST PERSON She had an enormous kitchen garden and pickled, canned or froze its bounty, but late night was mostly for fancier immediate needs—dessert pastries with one or two for the coming meal and ditto for the freezer, marinades and stews, complex vegetable dishes, sauces, tourtière. She favored traditional menus and loved the antique Rumtopf crock poised for eternal duty on the basement stairs. Rumtopf, a favorite German dessert, is made by layering fresh fruits of the summer months to brighten winter meals. From June to October appropriate fruits are laid in, each layer covered with sugar and topped with high-proof dark rum. It is aged until Christmas day, when it is opened, a panacea for the dark months. We talked a lot, laughed more, sliced and diced and occasionally vanquished a culinary fiasco with a sip of cognac. I learned so much about cooking. She taught me so much more about mothering. It was my honor to raise a New Year’s toast to Marianne.

Nancy Wolfe Stead is an occasional columnist at The Stowe Reporter, and contributor to the Stowe Guide & Magazine. She now lives at Wake Robin in Shelburne.

About Marianne Born in Calgary, Alberta, in 1929, one of six children, Marianne identified as a true cowgirl at heart, and she was—a glamorous one at that. In 1949, she was honored with the title of princess in the world-famous Calgary Stampede, riding in the parade on horseback in a fabulous, fringed outfit, and adopted as an honorary member of the Siksiska (Blackfoot) Nation. She moved to Toronto to pursue a successful modeling career, met and married Bill. Marianne volunteered at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and coordinated popular trans-Canada train tours as fundraisers for the museum. She was on the board of directors of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Vermont Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Vermont Mozart Festival, and served on the committee for the National Endowment Fund for the George Bishop Lane Series, and was involved with special events for the Robert Hull Fleming Museum, both associated with the University of Vermont. In Stowe, she was named to the board of directors of Stowe Performing Arts and later elected president of the board. She was also co-founder and mem-

ber of the board of directors of the Helen Day Art Center. Despite these accomplishments, when asked what gave her the greatest pleasure in life, she readily answered friends and family. She also loved her porch with its view of her pond, wildlife, and the mountains beyond. n

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NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Dreamland This photograph, Men at Cattle Auction, Morrisville, Vermont, 1953, hung in the Stowe Reporter office for the longest time, tacked to the wall. It fascinated me in its depiction of a time in Vermont I’d missed, the remnants of which were quickly disappearing. It wasn’t until 10 years or so after signing on at the paper that a chance conversation with then-publisher Trow Elliman revealed the photographer’s name, Verner Z. Reed,

whose photos littered our archives. For about 20 years, even before the publication of his lovely book, “A Changing World: New England in the Photographs of Verner Reed, 1950-1972,” a profile of Reed languished on the story budget, that is until late this spring when I finally convinced Nancy Wolfe Stead to take up the assignment. Her wonderful story, accompanied by some of Reed’s stunning photographs, starts on p.86. —Greg Popa

RURAL ROUTE

BEAUTY SPOT Gov. Phil Scott, who grew up in Lake Elmore, made a nostalgic visit to the Elmore Store in 2018; now, preservationists will buy the store and keep it going.

STOWE LAND TRUST

The Elmore Store is saved. The Elmore Community Trust has signed an agreement to purchase the store and will become the landlord for a new proprietor, who will take over operations in 2022. With guidance and support from Preservation Trust Vermont, donations from the community, and historic preservation grant funds, the Elmore Community Trust will ensure the continued operation of store as a community hub for generations to come. The trust was founded in January 2020 by a group of residents in response to the impending retirement of the current owners and concerns over its future.

Warren and Kathy Miller purchased the Elmore Store 37 years ago and turned it into the fixture in the community. The business has grown and changed over the years to include relationships with many local food producers, including Fire Tower Pizza, which is now operating out of the store’s kitchen. Warren Miller died last year. As the only commercial business in the village of Elmore, which doubles as a post office, the store functions as the town’s hub. It is the only place where residents can run into a neighbor while picking up the mail or grab a coffee in the morning. “Without the store, the Town of Elmore would lose its heart, and the broader community would lose an essential stopping point between the capital and the Northeast Kingdom or Morrisville and Stowe,” said Julie Bomengen of Elmore Community Trust.

ESSENTIALS: Want to be the next proprietor? elmorecommunitytrust.org.

CHECKING ON THE HEIFERS is back! Meet the cows and learn about the Percy family’s Stowe dairy operation. Enjoy a beautiful walk around Raven Ridge Forest on the H.D. Burnham Farm, a STOWE LAND TRUST conserved property, before or after you meet the cows. ESSENTIALS: Sunday, Aug. 8, 9 - 11 a.m., in 30-minute slots to keep group sizes small and give humans and heifers space to breath. Meet at the trailhead at the corner of Stowe Hollow and Dewey Hill roads. OTHER EVENTS this summer: Mill Trail open house, May 29, June 26, July 31, and Aug. 28; Family Gnome Walk, June 12; and Big Boulder Hike, July 17. COVID-19 protocols in place. stowelandtrust.org.

Meleko Mokgosi: Scripto-visual

June 17 — November 13 2021

@TheCurrentExhibitions 90 Pond Street Stowe, Vermont Visit our website for gallery hours: thecurrentnow.org

The Current is our community-based, non-profit, center for contemporary art. Exhibitions, education, and programs exist with the generous support of our members and sponsors.

RURAL ROUTE KATERINA HRDLICHA

art, iconically

Bryan Gallery exhibits showcase Vermont Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville celebrates Vermont this summer with two exhibitions, “Iconic Vermont” and “Made in Vermont.” For “Iconic Vermont,” the gallery invited 20 landscape artists to visit 12 quintessential Vermont locations—Stowe’s Main Street, Lake Willoughby, Mt. Mansfield, Camel’s Hump—and provide the gallery with a painting of one or more of those scenes. Artists, including contemporary artists, were invited to participate. Other locations include Hilldene, President Lincoln’s family home, Jay Peak ski area, Montpelier, Vermont’s capital, Arlington—home to Samuel Adams, Vermont’s first governor, Dorothy Canfield Fisher and, most notably, Norman Rockwell—the lovely Woodstock Green, and others. “Made in Vermont,” a juried show, will include the working landscape of Vermont as the predominant theme, and how it appears today—the urban landscape, working farms, sugarhouses, breweries, covered bridges, forest, and more. Both exhibits will be open to the public Thursday, June 24, to Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6.

BEAUTY SPOTS Phil Laughlin, “Richmond Round Church,” oil; Tom Adkins, “Stowe, October,” oil; and Mary S. Martin, “Jay Peak,” oil.

ESSENTIALS: June 24 – Sept. 6, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., daily. Bryan Memorial Gallery, 180 Main St., Jeffersonville, (802) 644-5100, bryangallery.org

There are more butterflies gathering here than usual, fluttering, as we all are; elders, adults, and the young ones, pull chairs around, the round copper firepit. We sit. We quiet. Deep silence. Then; the eldest speaks to us: “Here is our legacy: three generations The Gathering Circle of striving to learn and love; continue the strive, with integrity, with empathy. Now, humbly invite the fire into our circle tonight to light the way to a path that connects all circles.”

the poem

And, the eldest says to all of us; “Let’s now find kindling branches; and if you find a branch two feet long, before you snap it in half, tell the branch you are grateful for the bright light it will shower on us tonight; and then say to the branch just as you break it, “… forgive me for breaking.” The eldest then says; it easy; listen deep, within your kind hearts, hear the trees, the shrubs, the plants; they are rustled noisy by a warm zephyr breeze. The fireflies are aglow with a whispering vibration to tell us something; after listening, focus on the one, live thing who spoke to you: ask that spirit: ‘what do you have ... to teach me tonight?’ ” And, the eldest says to all of us; “Sit quietly; hear again the tender zephyr breeze as it sifts through the valley, shimmering green everything it brushes; watch the wind cover everything; thank the wind for bringing the spirit energy to our gathering tonight; thank it for the seven fragrances saturating our senses tonight.” — Gene Arthur, 2020

Coffee mogul: Laura Vilalta ‘Three shops in three busy locations’ Laura Vilalta, owner of Black Cap Coffee & Beer in Stowe, Morrisville, and Burlington, was born in Barcelona, Spain, and speaks six languages. Vilata has a master’s in business administration as well as a degree in engineering, both of which she attributes to her success as a small business owner. She and her family moved to Stowe in 2010 so her three children could immerse themselves in English and skiing. Her children are now grown and Vilata lives in Stowe with her husband, Wilson Ring.

Why did you stay in Stowe? The plan was to stay for one year. Then two years. Then I wanted to stay indefinitely, but I needed a visa and I was running out of time. So I bought a coffee shop, which allowed me to get a visa. It was a long process that took two years.

the interview

When did you buy Black Cap?

In 2012. I spent the first few years figuring out the business. In 2015 I hired my manager, Danielle Dolisie, and we are an awesome team. I immediately started to build a good team of really capable women. Over the years we’ve built a strong and devoted all-women team. You hire people and some don’t work out, but others really stick. We have a fabulous baker, Ashia Messier, who leads in-house baking. She went to New England Culinary Institute. All our pastries are made in house. Our croissants are fabulous.

Where does the name Black Cap come from? The previous owners named it that. We used to sell take-out coffee with black caps, but we found out the black caps aren’t recyclable, which is heartbreaking, so we don’t do it anymore, but we kept the name.

DON GOR

MILL

Why did you add beer and wine to your offerings? There was a lot of unused space in the Stowe location, so I started to grow the small business into a larger one by putting in as much retail inventory as I could. Gifts, cards, wine, beer, and art on the walls. Our best sellers are cows. We also improved the kitchen and I have the best espresso machine in the area. We now have a system that allows us to make a lot, and we can make custom sandwiches to order. I’ve refined the model over the years, increasing volume and quality. It’s not gas station food. You can have whatever you want.

When did you open the Morrisville location? Morrisville opened in 2017. It’s taken awhile to get going, but it’s going really well now. The past summer the Stowe location was closed because the property owner was doing renovations to the building. I was able to keep my awesome staff employed by sending them to Morrisville. We put our energy there for the summer.

How were you able to survive COVID-19? The main reason is my financial situation is healthy and my employees were able to get financial support from me and from the government.

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED & COMPILED BY KATE CARTER

RURAL ROUTE

Why did you decide to open a third location in Burlington? While all this was going on with the pandemic, construction, and sending my employees to Morrisville, I was offered 42 Church Street in Burlington. I could not resist. It’s ideal for the kind of business I do—pedestrian traffic. I’ve developed a business model that has coffee, tea, chai, pastries, more sophisticated cakes, breakfasts and lunches, all made with local ingredients and suitable for pedestrian traffic. The team was excited about the challenge of opening in Burlington and the opportunity to move up within the company. Danielle is now the supervisor and we are still refining the team there. With COVID, we just started slowly and are getting up to speed. Now I have three shops in three busy locations.

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What are your strengths as a business owner? I have a business brain. I love numbers and am the bookkeeper. Also, I am older and wiser and don’t get upset. I’m a patient businessperson. My age has given me experience and it’s amazing what I’ve learned.

Are you a risk taker? Not much. I’m very conservative. Risk is not good, business-wise. I don’t want to lose any money!

What do you attribute your success to? Our service and products are very well received, our name is recognized, and we have great teams in all three locations. I’m very grateful. I never thought I’d be a business owner.

What do you like best about Vermont? The dress code!

What do you do in your spare time? When I first moved to Stowe I tried everything. Remember, I am Spanish, and I had never heard of women playing ice hockey. So I tried it. I didn’t really like it. I also tried cross-country skiing, downhill skiing and running. I used to do a lot of spinning. Now I barely have a minute of spare time. At night I enjoy relaxing and streaming movies. Also, I love history and I find this period in time very interesting. n

RURAL ROUTE CONTEMPORARY ART From earlier shows at The Current: Andy Warhol in Drag,” Andy Warhol and Christopher Makos, 1982; Margaret Bowland, The Artist, 2010, oil on canvas; Suzy Spence, Ophelia in Spurs (2), 2018, flashe on paper, 13.5"x17".

The building at 90 Pond St. in Stowe is now the art center formerly known as Helen Day. Better yet, call it by its new name: The Current. After nearly a decade of pondering whether to keep a contemporary art gallery, workshop, and educational center named after Helen Day Montanari, a woman with a problematic anti-Jewish past, the art center’s leadership has rebranded the place, leaving history in the past and looking ahead. According to The Current’s executive director Rachel Moore, an art center located in Stowe that serves the greater community for arts education, but draws people from all over the world, ought to have a more universal appeal. A more universal name is a good place to start. “That’s why this name stuck so much, because it has this multiplicity of meanings,” Moore said. The Current, she said, could mean current events or current trends. It could also invoke movement, from wind, air or electricity. “I kind of lump those into this energy that is pulsating through this organization,” she said. “We want to encourage our audience to interpret the name in the way that inspires them the most.” The Current continues with the mission Helen Day Art Center has been on

for the past decade or so, expanding from a gallery space for carefully curated exhibits that either fit a theme or a particular aesthetic. “We are a resource and we are free and open to the public, and even our classes that are tuitionbased are on sliding scale,” Moore said. “So, you pay as you can, and if you can pay it forward and help someone else, you can do that, too.” Institution naming often stems from one of three branches—after people, places or ideas, Moore said. The Current draws from the latter, eschewing a location- or personbased identity in pursuit of something more universal. “Everybody can use the space,” Moore said. —Tommy Gardner ESSENTIALS: Meet The Current at thecurrentnow.org. More about Helen Day Montanari at bit.ly/3b6iH0p. To read about this summer’s show, turn to p.88

Three musical clergy, including local Rabbi David Fainsilber of the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe, have launched a new album, “Hashkiveinu,” a collection of original liturgical pieces.

Arielle Lekach-Rosenberg of Minneapolis, Micah Shapiro of Philadelphia, and Fainsilber of Morrisville began their musical collaboration in Listen at jcogs.org/rabbi.html rabbinical school. Since then, they have encouraged and inspired each other in their musical pursuits, including the culmination of this album release. The album was recorded prior to the pandemic in the sanctuary of the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe, with JCOGS musicians alongside the clergy. It is now available to listen to on many major streaming platforms.

“The album name is based on one of the album’s tracks,” said Fainsilber. “Set to the ancient words of the Jewish prayer ‘Hashkiveinu,’ a prayer of protection that even names safety against plagues, we want to use this power of petition to pray for everyone’s safety through this pandemic and the other ills that plague our society.”

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RURAL ROUTE Stowe Police Department’s weekly logs are a chronicle of police department run-ins with the confusing, the infuriating, the unjust, the tragic, the drunken, and the maskless. Every week, the Stowe Reporter logs what Stowe police have been up to. Here are our picks for the most unusual reports of 2020, the most unusual of years.

Aug. 7 at 1:20 p.m., a strange Samaritan on Mountain and Cape Cod roads reported that a fellow driver pulled up alongside them to yell at them for not stopping for pedestrians in a crosswalk. Sept. 5, 11:23 a.m., “excuse me, you forgot this …” a handgun was found on Trapp Hill Road after a guest had checked out of the room. The gun will be returned. Sept. 8, 4:36 p.m., No news is good news? Someone called from Mountain Road to see if any complaints about them had been received. None yet.

the April 1 at 1:56 p.m., someone reported that a tree had been cut down along the Stowe Recreation Path, but police determined it was a beaver’s work. May 31 at 6:15 p.m., police fielded questions about the encouraging signs depicting hearts around town. April 8 at 11:11 p.m., “TRUMP” was spray-painted on a utility pole on Moss Glen Falls Road.

Sept. 9, 2:43 p.m., wrong-way drivers were seen on the current one-way School Street. It wasn’t Stowe Reporter staff … we think. Sept. 14, 12:35 p.m., emotional fireworks— someone was yelling at a fellow rec path goer to put their dogs on a leash. Sept. 14, 3:19 p.m., someone was spray painting in port-o-lets at the Chase Park parking area. A crappy decision, no doubt.

Oct. 9, 11:38 p.m., more mediation, this time at a business whose employee is said to have poured syrup on a coworker’s vehicle windows. Oct. 11, 12:10 a.m., now, now… a driver on Mountain Road was reported to be honking at and “flipping off” cyclists on Mountain Road. Oct. 28 at 8:51 a.m., police were asked to referee a territorial dispute over the parking spot next to the air pump at the Maplefields gas station. Nov. 15 at 5:23 p.m., the answer, my friend, is the traffic barrels set up at the elementary school were blown over in the wind. Nov. 17 at 11:53 a.m., police deemed an issue regarding the moving of outdoor furniture in the Baggy Knees center a civil matter, not a criminal one. Nov. 19 at 9:52 a.m., a car was egged on Thomas Lane, but appeared undamaged by the yolking. Nov. 21 at 5:07 p.m., there was some discord over the price expected on a load of firewood.

April 20 at 10:43 a.m., one man threatened to hit another with a shovel if he didn’t move the car blocking a driveway. Police arrived and the car was moved without further incident. May 6 at 11:36 a.m., a Scribner Road resident told police that he could see on camera that people were on his property. The roofer had been hired to do work on the property. May 23 at 6:25 p.m., a suspicious person dragging a kayak through a yard on Mountain Road. June 4 at 3:45 p.m., 30 to 40 pounds of packaged meat was dumped on a Spring Trail Road property. June 26 at 10:27 a.m., a Lindhaus Lane resident found a dead duck in the second-story hallway of her home. She asked police to remove it and they obliged.

SERIOUS BUSINESS Our police blotters can be light and fun, but police work is often serious business. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured in this tractor-trailor rollover.

July 1 at 8:08 a.m., concerns about the upcoming lacrosse tournament during the pandemic. July 2 at 11:43 a.m., a caller reported a social media post about the upcoming lacrosse tournament that contained threats. July 12 at 11:03 a.m., complaint about some New Yorkers not quarantining. Police didn’t get involved. July 25 at 4:02 p.m., police fielded a question about how to bear-proof a Dumpster. Aug. 2 at 7:08 a.m., dogs killed some chickens at a Fox Hill Road home, a caller said. Police cleared the canines. Aug. 5 at 5:54 p.m., someone smelled electric lettuce and reported it. When officers arrived, there were no marijuana tokers.

Sept. 19, 11:18 p.m., Tinder nightmare? A diner on Mountain Road paid the bill, expecting to be reimbursed for half. They seemed to have worked it out. A second date might be unlikely?

Nov. 23 at 2:12 a.m., despite the hour when police calls are seldom good news, the 911 call was a mistake, police say.

Oct. 2, 6:18 p.m., guests at the Lodge at Spruce Peak refused to wear masks, so their reservation was cancelled. They left the property and weren’t found.

Nov. 24 at 7:42 a.m., a person was seen stopping his truck near the intersection of Mountain Road and Meadow Lane and walking into the woods with a rifle. It was rifle season. Police checked the area, finding nothing amiss.

Oct. 6, 12:11 p.m., chickens were reported crossing Tabor Hill Road. No information was given as to why they did it.

Nov. 25 at 4:55 p.m., a person dropped a dime on a neighbor thought to be flouting COVID-19 guidelines.

Oct. 7, 8:13 p.m., they’ll never learn … officers helped State Police after a tractor-trailer got stuck in the Notch.

Dec. 6 at 12:44 p.m., Epic fail at Stowe Mountain Resort, as a would-be shredder was busted trying to use a bogus pass.

A FAR CRY July 11, 6 pm The self-conducted orchestra is a democracy in which decisions are made collectively and leadership rotates among the players, leading to consistently thoughtful, innovative, and unpredictable programming.

A Big Band for the World. —WALL STREET JOURNAL

THE HOT SARDINES July 25, 7 pm Music first made famous decades ago comes alive through brassy horn arrangements, rollicking piano melodies, and vocals. Simply phenomenal. —THE TIMES (LONDON)

RED BARAAT August 8, 7 pm Red Baraat is a pioneering band from Brooklyn, New York. Conceived by dhol player Sunny Jain, the group has drawn worldwide praise for its singular sound, a merging of hard driving North Indian bhangra with elements of hip-hop, jazz and raw punk energy.

Their infectious rhythms roll over the audience like a hurricane and let the audience breathe only in a short ballad pause. — RHEIN MAIN PRESS (GERMANY)

We look forward to seeing you this summer! Tickets and concert information | stoweperformingarts.com

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From Summer 2009: With travel so up in the air during COVID-19, we haven’t received any submissions for Globetrotters, one of our most popular reader features. Here’s one of our firsts, with Martin Allen, 11, and Fiona Allen, 15, both of Montpelier, with a copy of the magazine at the house their family rented in the Umbria region of Italy. From Winter 2011-2012: Jim Rice, of Bakersfield, Vt., in Kukui’haele, Hawai’i, who lugged the magazine down into the Waipi’o Valley, known as the Valley of the Kings as it was once home to many of the rulers of old Hawai’i. Waipi’o is a mile wide and almost 6 miles deep, and features a black sand beach. A deadly tsunami in 1946 forced a sizeable population out of the valley; today only a few hardy souls and two herds of wild horses remain. From the same issue: Toby Merk, (left), of the Stowe area, traveled with Meg Cossaboon of Clarksboro, N.J., to the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands, and Iceland on an expedition on the National Geographic Explorer. During the trip, Toby celebrated her birthday, and met up with Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell, an extra worldly globetrotter, who was also on the voyage.

Do you have a photo of our magazine on some far-flung island or rugged mountain peak? Send it along to us at ads@stowereporter.com, with Stowe Magazine in the subject line. We’ll pick the best one—or two!—and run it in the next edition.

RURAL ROUTE ‘PEOPLE COME FIRST’ Inset: Denise Marcoux, noted for her caring, gentle demeanor, but even more so for her fastidious adherence to the traditional nurse’s uniform, retired in 2020 from Copley Hospital after 50 years of nursing. Staff dons creatively decorated paper caps in honor of Marcoux. The hats! CEO Joe Woodin presents a going-away bouquet of flowers.

COPLEY HOSPITAL RN HANGS UP HER HAT AFTER 50 YEARS

GOODNIGHT White cap, white coat, white pants, white sneakers. Denise Marcoux, a registered nurse at Copley Hospital, wore the same outfit to her last day of work in December that she did nearly half a century ago, on her first day of work as a professional nurse. The only thing different about her uniform these past months has been the mask— that just means her caring, gentle smile comes through from her caring, gentle eyes. “My cap and my uniform represents a goal that I reached through hard work,” she said. “And it identifies me as to who I am, that I’m a nurse. And it reminds me that people come first.” She adorns her cap with two different colored bands, representing the institutions where she studied—baby blue for Fanny Allen where she first studied nursing, and black for the University of Vermont, where she got her RN diploma. She also wears her school pin neatly attached to her neatly pressed lapel. She has gone through a handful of nurse’s caps in her time at Copley, and she kept them clean and starched, but they are harder to find these days. She jokes that’s a sign it’s time to hang it up.

“This was perfect timing,” she said. “This was my last one. They don’t make them anymore.” When asked her age, Marcoux just answered with a laugh and said she’s legally at retirement age. Jill Baker, the head of community relations for Copley, said she and others did a little research to see if they could find any other Vermont nurses still sporting the cap, and couldn’t. Copley CEO Joe Woodin, who has worked in hospitals in Vermont, Martha’s Vineyard, and Alaska, said he only knew of one other nurse who wore the traditional uniform and that was back in 1999, when he was at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph. At a staff going-away gathering in the Copley cafeteria, Woodin said when he first started in late 2019, he noticed Marcoux's style immediately. “Don’t take offense, those who aren’t wearing whites today,” Woodin said—no problem there—“but to have somebody dress that professionally, and to be proud of it, and to consistently

STORY BY

/ Tommy Gardner

PHOTOGRAPHS BY

feel like she wants to put forth that image, it’s meant to help the patients and all of us.” Baker added: “There’s just something about the utmost respect. She’s the true vision of a nurse.”

Early start

Marcoux started at the hospital in 1970, a year before she graduated from Lamoille Union High School in Hyde Park, the town in which she grew up. She would get rides to Copley to work as a nurse’s aide for another of her mentors, Inga Paine, RN. But, before that, at age 15, she volunteered at the hospital with the American Red Cross “gray ladies,” so named for the gray uniforms they wore. Her desire to become a nurse goes back even further, when the late Dr. Edward French would tap Marcoux for help with small tasks when he checked on her grandparents, steadying their arms for blood pressure measurements or holding the stethoscope while he took a listen. She said she didn’t want to become a housewife or a teacher—one of the other vocations typically available to women at the time. French encouraged her to follow her dream. She did, and she’s been working at the Morrisville hospital ever since. She never really had the desire to go to a bigger place. “I’m proud of the way we provide the care for our patients in a small community hospital. And I never would have had these opportunities that I've had here, if I went to a bigger hospital

/ Gordon Miller

because they have more resources,” she said. “Here, we have to rely on each other.” Baker said Marcoux also taught other nurses and staff the importance of small comforting touches—a hand on a patient’s forearm, a pat on the head of a child. She said when kids would come in, stressed out, for pre-op, she would bring them into her office, and let them dress up in her outfits, or play with her stethoscope. Baker said people have just come to expect to see Marcoux when they come to Copley, even if they aren’t coming in for a pre-op. “Copley may be made of bricks and mortar, or cinder blocks, and it’s going to be here forever, and Denise’s legacy that she’s leaving is going to be here forever, too,” Baker said.

Lasting legacy

Marcoux’s garb has been out of fashion in hospitals for most of the time she’s been a registered nurse, around 1978-1980, she estimates. Nurses wanted to be more individual, and less regimented. “They started wearing scrubs, and they were all different colors,” Marcoux said. “Yes, some of my peers think that I’m antiquated, but I feel that it really represents who I am.” Individuality was the norm at Marcoux’s fête. Those present wore their personalities on their sleeves with brightly colored scrubs, and it seemed everyone in the hospital had donned white paper nurse’s caps in honor of Marcoux and decorated them with well wishes to her. A small group of operating room nurses in blue scrubs, some who have worked at Copley for decades, all learned under Marcoux’s tutelage. “If success is measured by finding your true calling, you’re about the most successful person I’ve worked with in my 30-plus years in health care,” nurse Karen Cavender said. Fran Roy, another of Marcoux’s disciples, said the most important thing Marcoux taught her was to remember that people, when they come to the hospital, especially for pre-op, are often at their worst. “She said, ‘Don’t ever judge them, because you don’t know really who they are, and if you give them the benefit of the doubt, they will prove to you that they’re a lot better than you think they are,’ ” Roy said. Marcoux said she’ll stay in touch with her Copley family, and Woodin said the hospital is always on the lookout for quality per-diem work. “I always wanted to take care of the people in my community and give back to my community,” she said. “It’s pretty cool, being able to see someone out on the street. People aren’t just a number here, you know, and they recognize you as having taken care of them.” n

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RURAL ROUTE Let’s not do that again! After last year’s COVID-19-induced hiatus, Sunday night Music in the Meadow returns this summer. Phew! Stowe Performing Arts presents another stellar lineup of music at the incomparable Trapp Family Lodge concert meadow, kicking off its season July 11 with A Far Cry, which Boston Musical Intelligencer sums up this way: “This conductor-free ensemble has earned and sustained a reputation for top-drawer playing, engrossing programming, and outstanding guest artists.” On July 25, the Hot Sardines are ready to connect—with you, the audience. “That’s where we feel most at home,” says Elizabeth Bougerol, co-leader of these mischief makers of hot jazz. The eightpiece band—seven, with a tap dancer—has toured more than 250 cities throughout the world, a long way from their start playing underground neo-speakeasies in Brooklyn. Next up, on August 8, is Red Baraat, a fusion of funk, jazz, punk and hard-driving North Indian bhangra, “fueled by master rhythm makers, the muscles of horns, a raucous guitar, and a booming sousaphone,” all conceived by dhol player Sunny Jain. As always, midsummer sees the return of Tuesday evening free gazebo concerts on the lawn of the art center and library in Stowe Village. See calendar at right.

STOWE PERFORMING ARTS MUSIC IN THE MEADOW Sunday evenings. Trapp Family Lodge Concert Meadow, Trapp Hill Road, Stowe. stoweperformingarts.com for times and tickets. July 11 A Far Cry, 6 p.m. July 21 The Hot Sardines, 7 p.m. August 8 Red Baraat, 7 p.m.

STOWE PERFORMING ARTS GAZEBO CONCERTS Tuesdays on the lawn of Stowe Free Library. Free. 6 - 7 p.m. July 20

The Peter Greenfogel Jazz Group

July 27

The Revenants

August 3

Morrisville Military & Waterbury Community Combined band

August 10 Alice Howe and Freebo

SPECIAL EVENT WITH SPRUCE PEAK PERFORMING ARTS Pinnacle Ski & Sports lawn, Mountain Road. Free. 6 - 7 p.m. July 14

Vermont Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet

SUMMER SIZZLE Clockwise from left: Red Baraat, Aiden Grant with the Hot Sardines, and the Far Cry orchestra. COURTESY PHOTOS

Spruce Peak Cares, a philanthropic program within Spruce Peak, has distributed over $100,000 to local charities. The donation has been divided equally between Vermont Foodbank, Meals on Wheels, Clarina Howard Nichols Center, United Way of Lamoille County, The Current, and North Country Animal League. “This has been an incredibly difficult period for many philanthropic organizations in Vermont,” says Kendal Daiger, director of marketing at Spruce Peak. “We created the Spruce Peak Cares initiative to help these important institutions continue to serve our community.” Said Rachel Moore, executive director of The Current: “This generous support allows us to keep our doors open during this challenging time, pivoting quickly to continue to be the resource this community counts on. Funds will directly support operations and our education program, allowing us to replenish our scholarship fund and continue to offer free access to our exhibitions and public programs. All of the groups will use the funds to support their missions and to continue to offer services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sam Gaines, president of Mt. Mansfield Company, at the presentation last fall.

“The funds will be used to support the operation of our emergency shelter, our legal advocacy services, and our 24-hour hotline,” said Becky Gonyea, executive director of the Clarina Howard Nichols Center. “These funds are especially important during this pandemic, given the uncertainty about continued state and federal funding and limitations on other fundraising efforts.” Spruce Peak committed 20 percent of special lodge packages and gift card sales to this effort. Over $30,000 in ticket sales from the Spruce Peak Community Concerts for a Cause also went directly to the Spruce Peak Cares initiative.

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“Once upon a time there was a girl who wanted to be a nun,” begins one of the many family narratives sprinkled throughout the book with the impossibly long title: “The World of the Von Trapp Family From Austria to Vermont with the Legendary Family who Inspired ‘The Sound of Music.’ ” This narrative by Maria von Trapp ends, “To make a long story short, I fell in love with the children and married their father; I got used to the father and we were very happy.” In between is a story more remarkable than the musical “The Sound of Music,” based upon perhaps the world’s most famous nun, the man she married, Capt. Georg von Trapp, and the family she joined. “The World of the Von Trapp Family” by William Anderson, originally published in 1998, has been revised and reprinted with additional photos and updated text. The book is full of luscious photos and heartwarming stories from a century of the family’s history in Austria, on concert tours around the world and from Stowe—the town they adopted and which adopted them. During the height of the COVID quarantine, Anderson decided the original book, which was called “The World of the Trapp Family,” needed an update, which turned into a year-long project. “It turned out to be a completely new, re-written, enlarged edition,” Anderson said. “In this version I tried to frame the family story in the context of the history they lived through: two world wars, their immigration to the USA, their cultural stamp on their adopted country through their music, Vermont tourism, and cross-country skiing.”

STORY

Sam von Trapp, the grandson of Maria, considers the book to be the definitive one out of the 20 or more written on his family. “It’s been the bestselling book at the lodge,” Sam said. As a child, Anderson’s family came from Michigan to vacation at Trapp Family Lodge. When he was a budding journalist, Maria gave him an interview, and in 1984, Anderson covered the reopening of Trapp Family Lodge for several magazines after the original lodge burned in 1980, a blaze blamed on a faulty oil burner. One person died. Because of interest in the von Trapps, a publisher in Japan encouraged him to write a book about the family. After it was published, Johannes von Trapp, Maria’s son, urged him to write an American version of the book, Anderson said. “I included the family’s voices and memories in the new book as much as possible,” said Anderson, who has written, edited, and ghostwritten 30 books, mostly on biography, history, and travel. His writing has also appeared in over 100 magazines. The von Trapps decided to settle near Stowe after visiting here in 1942 and being reminded of their native Austria. The family bought a 660-acre farm on Luce Hill, three miles above the town with 360degree views. While their parents slept in the remnants of an old farmhouse, early on many of the children slept in tents or the hayloft when they returned from a concert tours. The family literally built by hand the home that would become the original lodge. Performing as the Trapp Family Singers, the ensemble toured the world for 20 years. The von Trapps were world-class performers, lauded by critics and loved by audiences. Their repertoire included sacred works, baroque and chamber music, and folk songs—not the songs from the musical based on their life, Anderson said. “The Sound of Music,” released 10 years after the family stopped tour-

/ Scooter MacMillan

The Stowe Free Library acknowledges its responsibility to preserve local materials that document the history of Stowe and to make these materials available to researchers and to the general public. The library holds a dedicated space in its uuu Reading Room for the local collection. Now open to the public by appointment, everyone is welcome during regular library hours to browse the collection, which includes the following titles.

BOOK/ MOBILE

Three Score and Ten Union Society: Being Autobiographical Accounts of the Experiences by Some Early Residents of Stowe, Vermont, 1874-1875 : This collection of person-

COAST TO COAST The last portrait of the von Trapps, at home in Stowe, 1946, before the family’s patriarch died in 1947. From left, Lorli, Agathe, Johanna, Mother, Johannes, Father, and Rosmarie. In back, Werner, Martina, Rupert, Hedwig, and Maria. The von Trapps on tour in San Francisco in 1946. The bus became a home on wheels for the family. By 1941, they had performed coast to coast. Insets: William Anderson’s updated book about Stowe’s von Trapp family, published in February. Maria von Trapp.

ing, became the biggest grossing musical movie in history, bringing in a billion dollars, adjusted for today’s dollars, according to Anderson. The movie has always proved problematic for the von Trapps. The family agrees the portrayal of their father, who died in 1947, was inaccurate. He was a not a harsh, distant man; he was a doting parent who loved and frequently interacted with his children. “As I wrote about him, I realized he had many modern qualities as a parent. After his naval career ended, he was a stay-at-home dad and husband,” Anderson said. “He also adapted to a new life in America as backstage manager on the family’s concert tours. He embraced Vermont life, farming, sugaring, and assisting with his family’s music camp.” The von Trapps traveled from Austria to Italy by train, just before the borders shut down, not on foot under cover of night over the mountains. In one of Maria’s remembrances that appear in the book, as she watched the movie she didn’t even notice Hollywood plopped a mountain in the middle of Salzburg. “As we went up one side during our flight from the Nazis, we were in Austria; on the other side we descended into Switzerland, singing ‘Climb Every Mountain’ at the top of our lungs,” she wrote. “When you flee, you must do it quietly, I thought. But we must allow Hollywood to do a little Hollywooding.” ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: trappfamily.com.

al stories was edited by Patricia L. Haslam and published by the Stowe Historical Society in 1993. The stories are comprised of the written recollections of 47 men and women depicting general life in Stowe in the 1870s. The topics include types of dwellings, work habits, social events, and family connections, and is a wonderful piece to “view” life as it was. The Stowe I’ve Grown to Know :

by Chuck Dudley, 2017, was also published by the Stowe Historical Society. It is a written history of Stowe with accompanying photographs that depict Stowe neighborhoods, people and architectural structures. The author did not grow up in Stowe, but settled here after his retirement. He took an interest in local history and consequently conducted research regarding passage of time in Stowe and the provenance of local dwellings. One Hundred Years at Lake Mansfield: An Account of the History of Lake Mansfield Trout Club, 1899-1999 : An historical

account of the history of a local gem and the families that made it what it is today, although the preface of the book states that one should view the book as memorabilia not historical fact. Regardless, it is a beautiful book chock-full of illustrations, photographs, and descriptions of a time gone by. Stowe: Classic New England : by Peter Oliver is a large, coffee table-like publication dedicated to famous Stowe skiers: Charlie Lord, Roland Palmedo, Sepp Ruschp, and C.V. Starr. The book is a loving testimony to the mountain, the Town of Stowe, and those who work, play, and live in this extraordinary New England community. Cindy Weber is director of Stowe Free Library.

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flashback

Between Mount Mansfield and Sterling Mountain lies what is known as Smugglers Notch. A gorge with walls over a thousand feet high, with caves and interesting rock formations, this area has been a must-see for tourists visiting Stowe since the mid l800s.

W.H.H. Bingham, after acquiring the Green Mountain Inn and beginning his hotel expansion up the mountain, looked to this area for his next hotel. In 1862 he induced the Town of Stowe to appropriate some of the money to build a carriage road into the notch. Eventually a road was constructed to the “big spring” located partially up the notch.

Notch House, 1862

From here there was only a trail up the rest of the notch and down in to the Town of Cambridge on the other side. At the big spring at the end of the carriage road, in 1862, Mr. Bingham constructed a “hotel” that was known as the Notch House. It once advertised “accommodations for man and beast” and became part of the holdings of Bingham’s Mount Mansfield Hotel Company, which

by the late l860s consisted of the Mount Mansfield Hotel (Big Hotel), the Livery, the Brick Hotel (now the Green Mountain Inn), the Summit House, the Half Way House and the Notch House. However, the Notch House’s existence was short and only operated seven years before being abandoned. But interest in the notch never waned.

In 1894 a carriage road up the very steep inclines to the crest of the notch and down into Cambridge was completed. In 1918 the state of Vermont appropriated $20,000 and work began to rebuild the road, which when it opened officially in 1921, allowed automobiles to drive up the steep slopes and around the huge boulders that litter the notch. Ignoring warning signs, every year buses and tractor trailers still get stuck among these steep turns and boulders. (Adapted from the collection of the Green Mountain Inn, where hallways are filled with historical photographs and vignettes of Stowe’s fascinating history.)

RURAL ROUTE

GORDON MILLER

MAJOR MILESTONE Florilla Ames turned 110 on March 17. Family photos and mementos in her Waterbury Center home. Inset: Florilla as a young woman.

WATERBURY CENTER’S FLORILLA AMES CELEBRATES 110

PANDEMIC On a chilly, bright March morning, Betty Jones, 84, raps on the door of an old shingled farmhouse on Barnes Hill Road in Waterbury Center, a cheerily wrapped bundle under her arm. Her errand is to drop in on her old friend Florilla Ames and convey birthday wishes from the Waterbury Center Community Church, of which both women are longtime members. The next day, March 17, Florilla would celebrate her 110th birthday, making her Waterbury Center’s oldest resident. Florilla, who had received the first of two COVID-19 vaccination shots, sits in her recliner facing a large picture window that looks out to the Green Mountains and the ski slopes of Mount Mansfield. Her visitors take seats spaced out across the room. Although masks pose an additional challenge to her failing vision and hearing, Florilla leans forward attentively when someone speaks. For the next 45 minutes, she ambles through the decades of memory lane with her visitors, telling one story or another. Born to Arthur and Ida Perkins in 1911, Florilla grew up on the family farm on Barnes Hill. As a girl, she learned to sew, joined other children on sleigh rides to school in winter, and paid a dime to ride the electric trolley between Waterbury and Stowe. When the 1918 flu pandemic came to Waterbury, everyone in the house, except for Florilla’s oldest brother, got sick at the same time. “People died here in Waterbury. It was terrible. A whole family died next door to us, but we came through it,” she said.

A neighbor at the foot of the hill came and did the chores for the family while they were all ill. “Luckily, my dad had a milking machine, so one man could do it,” she explained. “Otherwise, I don’t know what would have happened. That man never had it (the flu) at all. He used to come in the house and take care of the fires for us.” Florilla reflected that the current pandemic is worse than the first one because people now have enough information to know better. “They were taken by surprise” when the flu broke out, adding, “They had nothing to compare it with. They knew nothing about it. They didn’t have the things to work with they’ve got now. Nothing. Nothing.” Florilla earned a teaching certificate from Lyndon Institute, and her first two years of teaching were at the one-room schoolhouse on Loomis Hill in Waterbury Center. She taught another eight years in Derby Line. “I’ve never worked so hard in my life,” Florilla recalled. The Great Depression didn’t touch her life in the same way as other significant events of the 20th century. “Farmers weren’t hurt too much because they raised everything they needed anyway,” she explained. “It would be different now. There would be a lot of people who would go hungry.” While teaching in Derby Line in 1938, Florilla met Darryl Ames, who she would marry later that year. The pair were married for 70 years, until his death at 94 in 2008. At one point during her reminiscences, Florilla’s landline rings loudly, causing all of the room’s captivated occupants to jump. After listening for a moment, Florilla replies, “I’m busy right now. I’ll have to call you back.” When the caller tries again 20 minutes later, they are met with the centenarian’s quick retort: “Yeah, well, I’m still busy. Call back!”

Although her vision, and hearing are failing and “very painful arthritis” plagues her legs and feet, Florilla remains sharp as a tack. She spends much of her time enjoying her many geranium plants—“I couldn’t live without them”—and listening to audiobooks delivered regularly by the ABLE Library, part of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. Florilla has lived through enough history for several lifetimes, including 20 U.S. presidents, the invention of arguably three of the most significant communication media in human history—radio, television, and the Internet—economic crises, floods, epidemics, two world wars, a Cold War, and the monumental changes that time has wrought upon her beloved Waterbury community. “I’m living in a different world,” she said, in reference to her family and friends who have gone before her. For her birthday on St. Patrick’s Day, Florilla requested a meal of corned beef and cabbage. Her housekeeper also stashed a cake away in the refrigerator. The gift Jones delivered was a Jeanne Alix watercolor portrait of the Waterbury Center Community Church where Ames has been a member for 98 years. Until last year, Florilla would host an open house for her birthday, but “we got word of this disease coming in, and so the party didn’t materialize,” she explained. A sign on the door went up declaring no visitors. Party or not, what is Florilla’s secret to living so long? “I take my time,” she quipped. —Cheryl Casey Cheryl Casey, who lives in Waterbury Center, is an associate professor of communication at Champlain College. This story was first printed at waterburyroundabout.org.

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FISH STORY

COURTESY PHOTO

GOING BUGGY Fly fishing is the evolution of the angler, says Bob Shannon Somewhere out there, right now, someone is playing a guitar. Plucking the strings, forming a few rudimentary chords, because all you need is a few of them to make music. Somewhere out there, right now, someone is casting a line into a lake. Baiting a hook with a squirming nightcrawler and flicking it, a bzzzzzzzz of the reel unreeling, and a single plop as hook and worm enter the water. Somewhere else, right now, someone is taking guitar lessons, maybe once a week, and learning the basic vocabulary of chords and the foundational fingerings and time signatures of STORY

blues, jazz, flamenco, country bluegrass, heavy metal, rockabilly. Somewhere else, right now, someone is mimicking a fly. Bob Shannon sees a lot of similarities between guitar playing and fishing, particularly the importance of learning from other people. “When you’re playing by yourself, you reach a plateau, where you can make a C chord and a D chord, and you can kind of make some noise,” he said. “Fly fishing is the same thing. You hit these levels of self-taught trial and error and then, eventually, you get to the point

/ TOMMY GARDNER

PHOTOGRAPHS

where you’re at a plateau, and you can’t crack the code any further.” Shannon is a fly fishing guide with more than 35 years of experience, and owns Stowe’s Fly Rod Shop, which is marking its 50th anniversary this year. He ought to know the importance of getting better through instruction: as an adjunct professor, he teaches fly fishing at Northern Vermont University. “Fortunately, for us, you need a mentor to take you out and walk you through the challenges you’re going to encounter in learning how to fly fish,” he said.

/ GORDON MILLER

PASSION FOR FISH Peter Shea and Bob Shannon on the river during the writing of their book, “Vermont Trout Streams: A Fly Angler's Guide to the Best.” Shannon discusses the Fly Rod Shop’s long history with a reporter as some of his crew helps a customer in the background.

Ski patrol to fishing pole Shannon went to Paul Smith’s College in New York’s Adirondacks region and “became basically addicted” to fly fishing and skiing. He moved to Stowe in the winter of 1982 and went to work with the Mount Mansfield Ski Patrol. He remembers, “And one of the guys on the mountain said to me one day, ‘Why don’t you spend the summer here? It’s awesome.’” Up for some awesome, Shannon stayed, tending bar at Topnotch Resort. In those days, lodging facilities didn’t really offer the same

concierge guest services they do now. Then, one of the lodge’s corporate sales guys approached Shannon. “He knew how passionate I was about fishing and fly fishing,” he remembers. “He said, ‘Can you offer some fishing tours for the guests for the trip?’ and basically, that started the guide service.” At that time, the Fly Rod Shop was the retail outlet owned by Bill Alley, an engineer who made fly rods under the Diamondback brand. Alley’s grandson Sam used to work at the shop, instructing people how to cast in the pond

next to the shop. On a visit home from Cornell University to shop and chat recently, he said his grandfather Bill was more interested in making the fly rods than actually using them. “The funny thing about him is he really doesn’t like to fish,” Sam laughed. Shannon went to work for Alley and immediately tried to sell him on incorporating expeditions and instruction into the store. “One of his comments was, well, this isn’t Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It’s not a fly fishing destination.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, but it’s still Vermont, and it’s pretty sweet.”

FISH STORY

CASTING CLINIC From top left: Bob Shannon ties a knot, a very important skill for the fly fisherman. Educating a would-be fly caster at a clinic on the pond behind Shannon’s shop on Route 100 in Stowe. Inset: Shannon with Karin Allen on the Salmon River in New York.

Alley wasn’t sold on a tandem business model, but he liked the idea of Shannon doing his guide business and bringing clients to the shop to check out the gear, do some casting on the practice pond, and take them to the river. If they liked it, they were going to need gear. That arrangement lasted a couple of years, until Shannon’s business, which he called Fly Fish Vermont, got so busy he was able to open his own small retail shop on the outskirts of Stowe village. In 2001, when the Fly Rod Shop came up for sale, Shannon bought it and moved back. He recently wrote a book. Working with Vermont angling author Peter Shea—who wrote eight other books on trout fishing in Vermont— Shannon, in 2019, published “Vermont Trout Streams: A Fly Angler’s Guide to the Best.” The book breaks the state down into different watershed areas and includes hand-drawn maps to sweet spots—the ones he feels com-

fortable sharing, anyway—fly patterns and local intel. Sales of the book have been great during the pandemic, as more people sought the fresh outdoor air and bought up all the gear they could get—bikes, kayaks, snowboards, fishing equipment. That translated to a bumper year at the Fly Rod Shop, too, enough so that Shannon and his manager Parker Wright doubled up on a lot of their preseason orders this year, in anticipation of another busy summer. Fly fishing isn’t that popular, not even among anglers—about 85 to 90 percent of people who fish use a spin rod, Shannon estimates. “But the fly fishing community is passionate about it,” he said.

From worms to flies

“Here’s the evolution of the angler,” Shannon says. “A person starts out with a bucket of worms and a bobber. And they go to the lake, and they catch a ton of fish, because live bait works.”

FISH STORY PASSION FOR FISH Bob Shannon watches Sam Alley, grandson of the Fly Rod Shop’s founder Bill Alley, cast. Sam used to work at the shop, instructing people on the pond out back, and said his grandfather was more interested in making fly rods than actually using them: “He really doesn’t like to fish!” Inset: A dead bug in a vial Shannon uses to fashion his hand-tied flies.

“At that point,” Shannon says, “you’ve eliminated one of the main triggers of their feeding mechanism, which is the smell of food. So, the sport becomes more challenging but, at the same time, more rewarding.” Fly fishing is the next step, and the evolving angler says, “I’d rather figure out what they’re feeding patterns are, and try to make a fly and have them eat it.” For those unfamiliar with fly fishing, the flies aren’t real. They’re made from an assortment of feathers and fur, both natural and synthetic, concealing a metal hook for the fish to swallow. Nor are they simply the annoying (“or delicious,” retorts a trout somewhere right now) buzzing insects you see around your garbage. Shannon pulls out a tackle box containing several glass vials, each containing a real, dead bug, all different. These are the things he fashions his flies after.

He pulls out a vial containing a black stonefly, a big bug that, he says, “to a fish, is filet mignon.” Places like the Fly Rod Shop are part gear shop and part arts and crafts store, with a dizzying array of materials to create a facsimile of life around a barbed hook. Having created the bug, now the angler just has to make it act like one. “Fish feed by sight, smell, and vibration,” Shannon said. “You’re hopefully imparting a realistic look to the fly, but you still have to make it act real.”

Riffle, run, pool

Mimicking the food source is only one part of getting into the mind of a fish. An angler also has

to figure out what it’s like to be a river. It’s what Shannon calls “covering the water,” mentally putting a grid over the area and surmising what’s going on beneath the surface of each grid block. “The anatomy of the trout stream is riffle, run, pool,” he says. “Riffle, run, pool. The trout live in it all.” The riffle is the choppy, shallow sections where the water runs fast and turbulent over rocks. The run is the deeper part, fast moving but smooth sailing. The pools are the relatively still areas bounded by impassible things like banks and boulders and logs. When guides take new clients out, they have the burgeoning anglers try out all three types of water, to give them a sense of how to cover the water. In colder weather, the fish tend to hang out in the pools, because that’s where the most oxygen is. As it gets warmer, they move toward the more riffly sections, where there’s more food and oxygen.

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FISH STORY GUIDE SERVICE Guides Lachlan Francis and Spencer Kelley with Shannon this spring after a casting clinic on the practice pond. Inset: Shannon with a trophy rainbow.

“It’s like sitting in your attic in the summer instead of your basement,” he said. The trick to figuring out which fly to use is figuring out which food source is prevalent in the stream being fished. To do that, one has to turn over some rocks. That’s where Shannon got his black stonefly and many of the others that aid in inspiration for his fly inventory. And that’s where he starts looking for inspiration on which one to choose. “When we get them down to the river for that initial experience, the first thing we’ll do is turn over some rocks and I’ll show them what is under them,” he said. “When people first learn to fly fish, one of the biggest mistakes they make is they don’t turn over rocks.” n

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Fly Rod Shop, 2703 Waterbury Road. (802) 253-7346, flyrodshop.com.

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① MTB & GRAVEL BIKE EVENTS STOWE TRAILS PARTNERSHIP The outfit you want to join for all things MTB in Stowe. Rides, events, trails, more. stowetrails.org. JULY 17: Raid Lamoille Long and short rides. Craftsbury Outdoor Center. grvl.net/raid-lamoille. JULY 30 – AUGUST 1: Flow State: Vermont MTB Festival Ascutney Outdoor Center, Brownsville, weekend of rides, family fun. vmba.com. AUGUST 29: Race to the Top of Vermont 4.3-mile hill climb, bike or run up Mansfield’s Toll Road, 2,564 vertical. rtttovt.com. GOLF: DON LANDWEHRLE. HIKING: KATE CARTER. FISHING: PAUL ROGERS. OTHERS: GLENN CALLAHAN.

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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 the private Stowe Mountain Club. Other courses options abound, from Copley Country Club in Morrisville, to options in the Mad River Valley, Burlington and beyond. Adventure mountains Hiking options abound in the Greens. Access the Long Trail from the top of Mansfield and the extensive trail network from the summit area. Routes up Vermont’s highest peak come from all directions— Nebraska Valley, Ranch Camp, Smugglers Notch, and even Underhill, on the mountain’s backside. In addition to Mansfield, the mountain trails around Stowe are too numerous to list, from the Sterling Pond Trail in the Notch to Belivdere Mountain. A good place to get oriented is at the Green Mountain Club headquarters in Waterbury Center. Looking for an adventure? ArborTrek on the Cambridge side of Smugglers Notch offers ziplining, a treetop obstacle course, and more. 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! 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 Cady Forest or Adams Camp, 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. 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.

FROM TOP LEFT: LOCALMOTION.ORG; PAUL ROGERS; COURTESY PHOTO; COURTESY; NEXT PAGE: ELIOT ROSEWATER

RECREATION TRAIL

ON THE FLATS Rail trails, bike paths offer more casual outdoor experience

Hiking to the top of Vermont’s highest peaks is exhilarating, and you’re always rewarded for your efforts with great views and a sense of euphoria. But peak bagging isn’t for everyone. Some people want a casual walk, a flat run, or a place to push the baby jogger. Good news for them. Vermont has rejuvenated rail trails and rec paths throughout the state perfect for the more casual outdoors person, and four of them are located in or near Stowe. The rail trails have crushed stone gravel surfaces while the rec paths are paved. Check websites for interactive maps, access points, and amenities to keep you refreshed along the way. This summer, make it a goal to do them all!

Lamoille Valley Rail Trail / Length: 93 miles (33 currently open)

The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail extends across some of Northern Vermont’s most beautiful landscapes. The trail spans the width of the state, from the Connecticut River Valley to within two miles of Lake Champlain. Thirty-three miles are open, and in 2020 the Vermont Legislature authorized STORY / KATE CARTER funding to complete the trail by 2023. The section of trail closest to Stowe, from Morrisville to Jeffersonville, is complete and ready for you to enjoy. It runs parallel to the Lamoille River and has mountain and farmland views. A fun outing is to start at Lost Nation Brewery and head to Jeffersonville. At any

PEDAL POWER Previous page, from top left: The Island Line Trail offers views to die for of Lake Champlain. One of several iron bridges that cross the West Branch of the Little River along Stowe Recreation Path. A sweeping vista of the Lamoille River valley along the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail. The old Enosburg train depot on the Missisquoi Valley trail. Inset: Cow crossing along the Missisquoi trail.

point you can return to the brewery for lunch and a flight of their craft beers. Jeffersonville also has several restaurants, as well as a bike shop and Smugglers’ Notch Distillery. The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail is a project of Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, in partnership with the state, which owns the rail line and is responsible for building the remaining miles of the trail. VAST is responsibility for maintenance and upkeep, and snowmobiles are allowed to use the route in winter. MORE INFO: lvrt.org.

Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail /

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Length: 26.4 miles

This crushed-stone rail trail is one of the longer and more scenic in the state, passing through the heartland of dairy farms and cornfields of northwestern Vermont, from St. Albans to the Canadian border. It follows the railbed of Central Vermont Railroad’s Richford Branch, starting on the north side of Saint Albans and heading northeast to the terminus in Richford. Shortly after departing St. Albans, the trail passes through villages, cornfields, dairy farms, bridges, and a lot of red barns. The trail skirts numerous towns, including Enosburg Falls, historically the center of the dairy industry in the area. The last 10 miles before reaching Richford is mostly cornfields and pastureland, with views of Jay Peak. You can start at either end, or pick up the trail at one of many access where it crosses roads and passes through towns. For a full day in the saddle, ride the entire trail from St. Albans to Richford, enjoy a picnic lunch or stop by one of the handful of restaurants along the way.

MORE INFO: mvrailtrail.org.

Stowe Rec Path / Length: 5.3 miles

The Stowe Recreation Path is an award-winning, internationally recognized greenway stretching from Stowe Village to Topnotch Resort on the Mountain Road, with numerous access points along the way. The path crosses the West Branch of Little River several times on long, arching bridges designed specifically for the path. Views of Mount Mansfield are common, especially from the northern end. Access to restaurants, lodges, and local businesses make the bike path one of the most popular recreation assets in Stowe. In the spring of 2017, bike maintenance stations were installed at Lintilhac Park and Chase Park. They have all the tools necessary to perform basic maintenance, from changing a flat to adjusting brakes and derailleurs. You will also find memorial benches and water fountains along the path. Courtesy rules are posted at access points, and include guidelines on passing others, leashing and cleaning up after pets, and other instructions. This path can be busy at times, so plan to share the trail with others. No motorized vehicles or horses are allowed. MORE INFO: stowerec.org.

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If you’re keen on variety, this trail has a lot to offer, including one novel segment, the Colchester Causeway. It’s one of the more unusual “trails” in Vermont, extending three miles into Lake Champlain, where the scenery is spectacularly aquatic. The Island Line Trail was once the Central Vermont Railway, which was converted to a rec path in the 1970s. It’s an easy trail that passes by beaches, parks, and backyards, and offers great views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. Starting on the waterfront in Burlington, the trail heads north, skirting Lake Champlain, eventually reaching the aforementioned causeway. At the end of the causeway you can take Local Motion’s Island Line Bike Ferry (seasonal) to cross “The Cut,” a 200-foot gap in the causeway, with South Hero on its far side. ■

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PEAK ENDURANCE

DOUBLE TOUGH Ultra-technical Mozo Double Up is back! Climb Vermont’s highest peak. Traverse. Descend. Repeat. It’s the repeat part that truly separates, and puts the “double” in, the Mozo Double Up—a backcountry running race on Mount Mansfield. Starting at Stowe Mountain Resort, the Double Up course climbs to the Mansfield ridgeline on the Haselton Trail and the steep pitch of the black diamond ski trail Nose Dive, descends the other side on the rocky Maple Ridge Trail, traverses the base of the mountain on the nearly century-old CCC road, re-climbs Mansfield on the Sunset Ridge Trail, traverses the ridgeline on the STORY / MARK AIKEN Long Trail and the treacherous and scrambly Canyon and Canyon Extension trails, before finally descending Cliff Trail, with its anchored chains and handholds, and the resort’s ski trails. The Mozo Double Up, although not Vermont’s longest running race, is the most technical, and most back-to-basic, race in the state. Started by RJ Thompson in 2016 following the peak of the running boom—according to “Running USA” there were over 52 million finishes in American running races between 2013 and 2015—the Double Up flies in the face of the sorts of running events that were popular at that time: Runs where participants were sprayed with colorful powders, rock ‘n’ roll races with bands at every street corner, and human-contrived, obstacle-filled Tough Mudders and Spartan events.

“I created the Double Up for people who wanted to be in the mountains,” RJ says. “It came out of a desire to hold onto something a little more pure.” To be sure, even in non-pandemic times, there are no bands at this event or gimmicks of any kind. The event is small—there’s a 70-person cap—and runners go out in waves to minimize impact on the backwoods route. “You don’t know your standing until you’re done,” says Jim Dang, who has run all four Double Ups. “During the race, the only thought you have is, ‘I will survive!’ ” “The race is 10 miles on Mansfield,” says RJ. “Really, it’s closer to 11.” The course is steep, technical, and rocky with areas of very loose gravel. When the course isn’t going straight up, it’s goes straight down— which poses another set of challenges. When it finally mellows out on the ski trail Rimrock, says RJ,

ROCKY SCRAMBLE Mansfield’s terrain—and the Mozo Double Up route—is varied, and can be dangerous. Inset: On the podium at an earlier event.

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PEAK ENDURANCE

COURTESY PHOTO

SURE-FOOTED Navigating Mansfield: On a mossy, rock-strewn forest trail and on a gravelly uphill and a chance to take a breath.

there are still problems—that section always seems to be full of shoe-stealing muck and mud. “The course really beats you down mentally and physically.” “I have a few mantras to keep from getting demoralized,” says Jenn Wilcox, a three-time participant from Fairfield. “I also sing as I keep telling myself, ‘This is fun, this is fun.’ ” Jenn, who really does believe the event is fun, wanted to compete a fourth time. But pregnant at the time, she opted out because she didn’t want to risk falling on the exposed rocky scrambles that truly carry the potential for consequential falls. First-time finishers often react with surprise. “They say they didn’t know we had this sort of terrain in Vermont,” RJ says. Formerly called the Mansfield Double Up, the decision to rename the event to Mozo—short for Mozodepowadso, the Abenaki word for Moosehead Mountain, what Indigenous people called Mansfield prior to the arrival of European settlers, reflects exactly how authentic and back-tobasics the event is. The 2021 Mozo Double Up will be the fifth running of the event, because, like most events, including Tokyo Summer Olympics, RJ canceled in 2020. This summer’s event will also be the first with a new race director, Will Robbens, who directs other local trail races like the Trapp Lodge Mountain Marathon and the Catamount Ultra. “We talked it through,” says RJ, noting that with vaccinations, guidance from the state and nation-

al levels, and the general trajectory of the world in times of pandemic, he’s confident the Double Up can run safely and in accordance with protocols. The Double Up is already small by running event standards, and it already spreads runners over the course because of the fragile terrain. The event partners with the Green Mountain Club, the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, Underhill State Park, and Stowe Mountain Rescue. Although runners must qualify to participate, RJ describes the vibe as low-key. A grueling course, a beautiful mountain, and a sense of accomplishment. “There are some great runners. But everyone is in the same zone mentally. Everyone appreciates what they all go through to finish.” ■

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Scheduled for July 25. More at nativeendurance.com.

ROAD TRIP

AT LEFT: NANCY KOENIG PECKHAM; TRAVIS PECKHAM; VERMONTROCK.COM

ROCK SOLID Travis Peckham on a line at Wheeler Mountain. Bridget Croke takes a different route on a peak foliage day.

WHEELER MOUNTAIN Knocking off routes of thin friction, pocketed seams

I shouldered my pack, the merry jingle-jangle of climbing gear kicking off a daylong playlist of familiar songs—the soundtrack of the crag. June, my climbing partner, and I had caught a glimpse of Wheeler Mountain on the road leading out, but before long the thick trees of eastern Vermont reclaimed the view. A slight breeze knocked freshly-fallen raindrops from the leaves, and fast-moving clouds—the color of a dark bruise—only furthered my certainty that we were heading into a shutdown. Nonetheless, June—pack packed and buckles buckled—chirped an enthusiastic “Let’s go!” and ambled down the trail. Eyes up, but expectations in check, I followed. STORY / ZAK KEENE The hour-long drive to Wheeler that morning was spent in what Vermont meteorologist Mark Breen would call, “Scattered rain showers over most of the listening area.” We had already driven through a few of those showers, and were convinced that the rock would be drenched by the time we arrived. Still, neither of us was ready to just turn tail and head home. Despite our misgivings, we decided to at least do the approach of Wheeler Mountain, abiding that age-old proverb “You never know ’til you go.” That was something my dad, Bud Keene, always said. When I was a lad, my father loved to take me out rock-climbing all around the Northeast—all of North America for that matter. From

our home base in cozy Stowe, we used to run laps around the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Adirondacks of New York. As nearly everyone knows, the northeastern United States is subject to constantly changing weather conditions: One day might call for rain, but then never show so much as a single drop. On the other hand, Breen-types might forecast sun all week only to find it hiding behind thick clouds the entire time. When the weather inevitably threatened our plans, my father would shrug and say, “Sometimes, you just need to go for it and hope for the best. You might get there and decide that it’s best to come back another day. Or, you may get lucky. If nothing else, you get to go on a hike and take a look!”

Wheeler Mountain The first recorded technical ascent of Wheeler Mountain was done in 1947 by members of both the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Harvard Mountaineering Club. James C. Maxwell and John C. Hurd Jr. tackled the left side of the huge, detached block near the center of the cliff, placing two pitons en route and topping out in about three hours. Shortly after their first ascent—later that same day, in fact—a second variation, The Metropolitan, was established by Harvard Club members Graham Matthews, W. Lawrence Miner Jr., and Andrew Griscom. This second route received its name when an unnamed member of the party took a 120-foot fall while down-climbing the route, shaken but amazingly unharmed on the ground below. The “rough and rapid transit” down the slab reminded those first climbers of the Boston Metropolitan Transit Authority—now called “The T”— which was also known to give its passengers an unpleasantly rough ride. Despite its early discovery, the 400-foot granite dome of Wheeler Mountain remained almost entirely off the climbing map for nearly 50 years. In that time, various parties visited the cliff and a few routes were done, perhaps most notably the first ascent and first free ascent of The Great Corner in the 1980s. But, on a relative scale, nothing happened until the 1990s when Randy Garcia and the first generation of Wheeler regulars began exploring new lines. Over the past two decades steady development of the cliff has resulted in scores of excellent new routes. —cragvt.org

And wouldn’t you know it? After trudging through intermittent rain and low expectations, June and I nevertheless arrived at the base of Wheeler and were rewarded with a beautiful blue sky. The rock completely dried out within minutes of our arrival, and the rest of the afternoon was spent moving gleefully along Wheeler’s remarkably solid granite, knocking off route after route of thin friction and pocketed seams. Just goes to show, as dad’s sage advice proves, “You never know ‘til you go.” n

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: vermontrock.com and cragvt.org.

FLATBED LOGGER Rusty Dewees takes his one-man show to the road

iding shotgun with Rusty Dewees as he wrestles his new 18-gear Mack tractor trailer truck is a lot like attending one of his comedy and variety shows, which are “rated SC for Some Cussin’.” “Alright, now I forgot what f—kin’ gear I’m in again,” he mutters as he wrangles the trailer-less truck into Vermont Artisan Coffee, a hard turn off Route 100 and down a dirt driveway. “Yeah, I came in a little f—kin hot.” Truck driver is a familiar reincarnation for Dewees, who has appeared in more than 25 motion pictures, numerous stage plays and countless commercials and radio spots, written a few books and many newspaper columns, jammed on guitar with regional talent, but who is most famous for his alter ego and comedy act The Logger. Now, Dewees is taking The Logger on the road in a bare-bones one-man traveling show wherein the backwoods wise guy makes his way to the people, pandemic-hungry for a laugh and unsure if it’s yet safe for them to travel and get it. He refers to the show as the “The Logger: Tres en vogue.” (Find show tour information in the caption at right.) But, for the newly minted owner of a 2003 Mack CH613 with 10 wheels and 460 horses, an Air Ride Cab and twin 95-gallon tanks, it’s also the culmination of a truck obsession he formed when he was in junior high—he’s wearing the Mack logo belt buckle he got when he was 12 years old. He’s watched reruns of “Movin’ On,” the short-lived 1970s TV show starring Claude Akins and Frank Converse. He’s watched “Convoy,” the Sam Peckinpah classic with Kris Kristofferson. “I was truck crazy,” he said. He noticed that when the camera was on Kristofferson’s character Rubber Duck, the audience could see the actor’s booted foot moving up and down, working the clutch.

Toward the end of Dewees’s decade-long New York City residency in the 1990s, he wore a pair of his work boots to an audition for “Black Dog,” a 1998 trucker action movie starring Patrick Swayze, along with his Mack belt buckle and matching ball cap he purchased from a convenience store clerk at one point. “And that, I really felt, set me apart from the other New York-y theaterati-type actors,” he said. “I would stand there, and one of these high muckety-mucks would go, ‘I really love that hat.’ ” “Black Dog,” which also starred musical superstars Randy Travis and Meatloaf, didn’t do great at the box office, certainly not among the “theaterati” types. But it has since gained cult status, and is one of the last films from an era where car—and truck—chases and explosions were done without fancy computer imagery, where things actually blew up and people actually drove the vehicles. Dewees even got his Kristofferson moment, with the camera capturing him pumping the clutch, actually driving the big rig, unlike other actors who just pretend to. Dewees’s dad, Bill, drove a Greyhound bus when the family lived in Philadelphia, and after their move to Stowe, Rusty also found work behind the wheel after graduating from Stowe High School, driving school bus for the local Percy family and dump truck for Walker Construction, where he worked “because I wanted to get rugged” enough to play basketball at Champlain College. In those days, one didn’t always need a commercial driver’s license to get behind the wheel. These days, you do. And Dewees is now the proud owner of a CDL, the same piece of paper that allowed his dad to make a living. His dad died in 2005, and Rusty knows he’d get a kick out of riding shotgun with his boy. “He would be going nuts sitting in that truck,” he said. “He would just be going crazy for that. He would just enjoy the hell out of it.” STORY

: tommy gardner P H O T O G R A P H S : paul rogers

MACK TRUCK TOUR Rusty Dewees drives by the Keith Farm near his home in Elmore, top left, and strums the guitar in his massive barn, his new Mack truck in the background. Dewees is taking his popular Logger show on the road this summer using the truck bed as stage. TOUR INFO: Mack Truck Comedy and Music Tour. There are no tickets. Just put what you can—or want to—in the jar on the flatbed. For tour sites, dates, and times, go to thelogger.com, rusty.dewees on Instagram, or call him at (802) 793-1901.

‘Acting ain’t hard’

When you’re traveling the 13 miles back and forth between Dewees’s favorite coffee shop and his home in a slow-to-accelerate tractor trailer truck, and spending some time at either end, three hours is a fill-in-theblanks thing, far removed from a 90-minute show. This allows for some time to drill into the artist’s head, as he’s working the gear shift, drinking his protein-enhanced coffee, or showing off his estate high on Worcester Ridge in Elmore. Where does The Logger end and Rusty Dewees begin? When Dewees sleeps, does he dream his dreams or The Logger’s? “I don’t dream in the Logger because I’m dreaming in me,” he said. “That’s interesting you ask, because I’m a lucid dreamer. I go to bed and I say, ‘Now my day begins.’ ” In waking life, it turns out that there is no clear line. On the one hand, the real Dewees is a sensitive, thoughtful, humble man and the Logger is a bombastic, winking, bicep-flexing guy. On the other hand, Dewees wears The Logger just as comfortably as he wears a pair of untied boots and stained jeans. The people who populate The Logger’s tales are dirty-nailed and

grease-stained and sometimes smell of fertilizer. Dewees likes the smell of fertilizer, and he’s not alone, by the way. There are two types of early spring runners and cyclists: those who welcome the smell of fresh cow shit spread on a roadside field and those who deal with it. “I got out of my truck the other day, and the Pikes had been spreading manure on all those fields, and I smelled and said, ‘Son of a bitch, that smells like spring,’ ” he said. “Rebirth, spring newness, the snow is gone. The dandy-lions are gonna be coming up.” He said when he lived in New York City for the 1990s, after a stint with the Vermont Repertory Theatre, he learned plenty about character development and accents and blocking and the other skills involved in acting. But he is equally enamored with the skills that a mechanic might employ to fix a piece of farm machinery. “Tell me how you can get those frickin’ bolts off there with a torch and how you’re going to move that thing,” he said. “It’ s f—king hard! Acting? That ain’t hard!”

LUMBERSEXUALITY Rusty Dewees as The Logger, his popular stage persona. Top right: Dewees uses beefcake to sell the Logger brand. Above: In The Barn, dictating thoughts and notes into his iPhone.

In real-life, those hard-working folks are often the ones who participate in local town government, whether serving on the selectboard or planning and zoning boards; or working for the town road crew, electric department, sewer plant, fire or EMS squads; standing up during the annual town meeting and offering an aphorism about property taxes, usually a negative one. Dewees is immune to all of that. Once, the local Republican Party tried to recruit him to run for office. He researched it a bit, even talked about getting together with former Gov. Jim Douglas, another of those types famous for remembering your name if he met you once. “The plain and simple answer to that question is it was never in this being to be politically interested or active,” Dewees said. “There are people in the world whose minds operate along those lines, right? I don’t have one of those minds. Or desires. I also just don’t complain.” That’s true. During three hours of an early April Saturday talking about everything, very little comes out of Dewees’s mouth that isn’t optimistic or grateful, curious and introspective, even if it’s peppered with snark and spicy language. Of course, it’s easy to not complain when you’ve managed to carve out a life where your alter egos entertain people and you can retire to a hillside abode that looks out at every sunset over the Green Mountains. “I'm working on new material right now,” he said. “The premise is, very simply, ‘Hey, don’t complain about the rich flatlanders moving in here, because the more rich flatlanders move into these towns, the bigger the grader.’ ” It takes a second to catch the wordplay on that last bit—did he say “bigger the greater?” No, he’s saying that when wealthy people move onto dirt roads, they demand the town come out and smooth out those bumps. So, while The Logger might take current events and turn them into a bit, Dewees is more likely to just nod and yup his way through a discussion about politics at the national level, and engage more heartily with topics like How’ve you been? How’s the family? How’s your dad? How’s the leg? Still got that tractor? He reads the local Stowe Reporter newspaper every week, and at least a small reason for that is because his mother, Marilyn, worked at the paper for many years as the business manager. He stopped paying attention to cable news long ago, and is sheepish when he points to the small swivel-mounted television in his spacious and airy bathroom, noting he hasn’t watched it in years. Why would he when he can look out at Mount Mansfield? “That’s not how I spend my time, watching TV,” he said. “I respect anyone else that wants to, but that’s not for me, because my lifetime, it is goddamned limited time.”

Body and mind

Dewees is a healthy man. At 60, he strips torso bare in the parking lot in order to switch to a white sleeveless T-shirt, the back of which reads “#EllieRStrong” and the front of which declares “Though she be but little she is fierce.” It’s a tribute to a little girl with cancer for whom he once did a fundraiser. Because, despite the cussin’, Dewees has far more soft spots than rough ones. Dewees walks with a little bit of stiffness in the joints—he’ll have that rust, so to speak, knocked off before he gets back into show-time mode. He doesn’t run anymore, but works out most mornings before heading to Artisan. He absentmindedly does squats while talking about himself and draining his coffee mug. Caffeine is a relatively new vice for Dewees, who eats clean food, exercises daily and reads books with a philosophical bent to them instead

of watching TV, and doesn’t do drugs or drink, save for the occasional glass of Scotch and the occasional cigar. Dewees was 52 when he first got into the hard stuff. “I had never had coffee, before. Ever,” he said. “Ev.er!” Now he spends a part of most days at Artisan, bringing with him a little plastic container of collagen protein to throw into his iced maple latte. Coffee bar manager Tom Alario is manning the espresso machine when Dewees rolls in, and he and every other employee—and most of the other patrons—gush when he enters. He asks after Lyndall Heyer, a Stowe native and former U.S. Ski Team member who is temporarily laid up on crutches. Alario says, “Rusty’s one of our best customers.” “Well, he’s one of our most frequent customers,” a barista named Anna interjects with the friendly laugh of a 1980s-era diner waitress reserved for giving a regular a good-natured ribbing.

basin. Original artwork adorns the home, and he knows many of the artists, many of them denizens of these Green Mountains. There is also The Barn, situated a few hundred feet from the home, which is where Dewees hosts get-togethers and where he’ll do dry runs of his shows for people. He’s planning on a soft opening of sorts for his truck tour there, and he’ll have his permanent marker ready for anyone who hasn’t signed their name to the barn walls, which are already adorned with countless tags. He ruminated a few days after our truck ride that the barn is, in a way, his actual television set. “You know, one of the old huge 60’s or 70’s cabinet TVs,” he emailed. “It’s where I go end-of-day, to watch things (animals, trees, the mountain range), out the big barn doors, and also let images flow through the air in my head.”

The modern Logger

How does The Logger fit in during the Black Lives Matter and MeToo eras? Racial diversity is something The Logger would like to talk about in a show, but Dewees is still woodshedding that one. He’s working on a bit about rich white people and their affinity for skiing and lack of gluten. But he wonders how relevant good-natured jabs at white folks are these days, if it might be seen as playing up white privilege rather than skewering it. The shows also have less sexual innuendo. Dewees says the show 20 years ago, when he was just entering his 40s as a lusty, lithe man, was a bawdier affair. He used his lumbersexuality to his advantage, for both comedic effect and profitability, stripping and flexing on stage and in calendars that always had one month in which he appeared without a stitch of clothes, the rated-R bits covered up with a prop, or a duct tape Speedo. He had a running bit that involved a thong, and there was a joke about how women are like tractors because every time a man gets off a tractor he wishes it was bigger. “It was more overt, and I was, you know, holding up the thong,” he said. “But now, I’m 60. I’m not thirtyf—king-seven.” He’s been known over the years as something of a flirt, but he also comes across as shy when it comes to talk about love and relationships. For a ladies’ man, Dewees is humble and respectful when talking about women. He’s had girlfriends here and there, and murmurs something about “the one” and taps his chest above his heart with four fingers in the same deliberate way a child may point to a body part when a parent asks where it hurts. Right now, he maintains a meticulous nouveau rustic home with his cat, Mikaela. His home has all the modern amenities and a creative room upstairs with guitars and a drum kit, a recording suite and an outhouse brought indoors, fitted with high-quality Kohler fixtures and a sap-bucket wash

MANY FACES OF RUSTY Dewees manages his public image well, shown here in a series of headshots. Stirring the firepit at his mountain home.

When Dewees got the part of Junior in “Black Dog,” it was his first “quote,” the first big gig for which he was able to negotiate a paycheck. At the same time, it was on the set of that movie that he started creating his alter ego, the thing that would bring him home to Vermont and his family. Dewees is a shrewd business man, who has managed to carve out a life for himself where creativity and commerce are one in the same, which allows him the life he wants. “Almost every move I’ve made in entertainment within my life was the move I wanted to make. And it was as valuable to my personal life and those around me as it was to my business,” he said. So, is the Logger aspirational? Or is Dewees what the Logger wants to be? “Obviously, I’m not The Logger. But there are parts of what The Logger says in me,” he said. “The Logger, the character, tries to be what we’ve just been talking about here. He wants to love everyone. And he wants to not have anger. Or, he wants to have anger but know how to deal with it. He’s like an uncle. He wants to be that little girl’s uncle right there and the little girl’s mother’s uncle and that person’s uncle and that person’s uncle. That’s what The Logger wants to be.” n

‘RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED’:

Barbara Allaire dies at 91

hough she didn’t write the book on Stowe government, she contributed countless pages to it. Neatly bound in the town clerk’s vault, her meeting minutes ended, “respectfully submitted by Barbara Allaire.” Allaire died Saturday, Feb. 13, at the age of 91. Half her life was spent working out of her beloved Akeley Soldiers Memorial Building on Stowe’s Main Street, home to the municipal offices and dedicated to those from Stowe who lost their lives in war. Service to country and service to community: they are hallmarks of a woman who loved that building, and the town around it, so much that her 90th birthday party was held there. “That’s a lady that a lot of people are going to miss,” Drew Clymer said a few days after Allaire’s death. “She touched a lot of people here in town.”

Minute by minute

Clymer is the chair of the town’s development review board, and as such sat at the table for years with Allaire. She took minutes for the board for nearly 40 years since Clymer was in elementary school, and she was a pinnacle of professionalism who made everyone in the room know their decisions would be important for generations to come. “And God forbid you sit down at the DRB and keep your hat on,” Clymer laughed. “It’s hard to convey this in the age of Zoom meetings, but, with her sitting there, it kind of elevated the whole board.” As someone who spent all but two of her 91 years in Stowe, Allaire had plenty of thoughts about how the town had changed over nearly a century—and she wasn’t shy about expressing her opinion on those topics, or anything else, really, including what might have been in the previous week’s Stowe Reporter—but she wasn’t stuck in the good old days, Clymer said. “When she had something to say, it was thoughtful, it was pragmatic, it was fact-based,” he said. “She wasn’t pining for the old days, but she had a unique perspective on how the town has grown. The town always came first.” She was deeply skeptical when Stowe moved to a town manager form of government in 2007, according to Charles Safford, who stepped into the role and still holds the spot. “However, she was curious enough to stop by and introduce herself,” Safford wrote in a tribute in the newspaper. “Little did I know at the time that she would stop by nearly every day from that point forward for many years to come until her body grew too tired to do so. She would also become one of my biggest supporters, both on the job and as a source of personal strength, as we faced the trials and tribulations that life inevitably brings.” “Barbara likes to laugh, and she’s a lot of fun to get with, and she likes things that have a little spice to them,” Safford said at her 90th, chuckling and acknowledging some of his favorite stories about his most senior employee aren’t fit for the public. “She finds great joy in humor,” he said. “Once she gets laughing, she’ll keep going, and then she starts making you laugh even harder.” Allaire’s meeting minutes detail nearly half a century of development—and then some. She was the scribe for groups including the planning, parks and recreation, historic preservation, and cemetery commissions. At her 90th birthday party, town planner Tom Jackman said, “I don’t remember a single time when I’ve researched old board of adjustment minutes from decades ago that they weren’t signed ‘Respectfully submitted by Barbara Allaire.’ She may be the most prolific author in the history of Stowe.”

Honoring the past

Allaire particularly loved the cemetery commission, and was quite proud to point out, when the Stowe Reporter ran a story about vacancies at various town cemeteries, that she had long ago reserved her spot in the West Branch Cemetery on Cottage Club Road. She’ll be one of the last ones buried there—all the lots have been purchased. “She had a real soft spot for the West Branch,” Donna Adams said this week. Adams served with Allaire on the cemetery commission, a surprisingly interesting board that takes a lot of pride in maintaining seven town cemeteries. Allaire was a boon to the commission, because she

STORY

/ TOMMY GARDNER

knew the names of the old families in town—her roots go back to the Gale family, namesake of the farm that now has a shopping plaza on it. “Her brain was full of all kinds of information that nobody else had, and if I needed to know anything, whether it was related to a cemetery, or not, I could ask her,” Adams said. “Trying to replace that is impossible. She is one of the old Vermonters that we’re losing, and we’re never going to have them again.” Those ties to the old days dovetailed with Allaire’s reverence for military veterans, the names of whom are enshrined in Akeley through the Vietnam War. According to Terrie Wehse, Allaire was the driving force behind a relatively new tradition: the annual Veterans’ Day breakfast. Started in 2014 by Allaire and Stef Clymer—Drew’s wife—Wehse quickly made the duo a trio. The breakfast’s uniqueness comes from the way it bridges gaps between the generations. Local high schoolers prepare the meal and serve the veterans, venturing out of the kitchen and sit down to chat with them. “Every teenager needs to have service credits, but to have them connect with this generation, not knowing what their lives were like, was eyeopening,” Wehse said. “And for the gray-haired people to say, ‘I don’t feel invisible to these kids, I actually feel real,’ they just enjoyed each other so mutually.”

Young at heart

Adams said Allaire was also one of the old Vermonters who kept close ties with the town’s ever-growing youth, watching kids grow up and turn into adults, keeping an eye on the high school sports teams, catching games whenever she could. Stowe may be a small town, but it was endlessly interesting for Allaire. Clymer was actually concerned for her mental well-being during the pandemic, not being able to go out and talk to people. After all, she may have said it best herself at her 90th birthday: “I love hugs.” Adams said she was so involved with every aspect of town, past, present and future, that she was always finding something to do. “She was never bored. She’d tell me, ‘I don’t know why people are sobbing in their soup, I never get bored,’ ” Adams said. “Even when she couldn’t get out much, she still remained interested in everybody.” “I just miss her so much, I am so grateful I had a chance to be her friend,” Adams said. n

COURTESY PHOTO; INSET: GORDON MILLER

ONE OF A KIND Barbara Allaire in a recent photograph at home. Inset: With friends at her 90th birthday party at Stowe’s town hall.

STORY

: kevin m. walsh |

PHOTOGRAPHS

: paul rogers and kevin m. walsh

EVEN VERMONT’S STICK SEASON does not dim the beauty of the Lamoille River in this often-dangerous section of it, west of Johnson village and before Ithiel Falls. (Paul Rogers) Dog Head Falls in Johnson. (Kevin M. Walsh)

The Lamoille River is like that proverbial elephant in the room. There, in plain view, for all to see, but often not fully seen, really, or appreciated. But, as the river meanders through the Vermont countryside— from Wolcott to Morristown and Johnson, and through Waterville, Cambridge, and beyond—it serves a vital role in each community through which it flows, including those in the county that takes its name, Lamoille. Legend, at least according to Google, says “early French settlers named the river La Mouette, meaning the seagull, but that a cartographer forgot to cross the t’s, which led people to begin calling it La Moulle. Over time, this became Lamoille, elided in speaking.” 71

I 72

ts beauty is sublime, edged by rich bottomland, where the corn grows tall and hay is so thick it chokes out the weeds, as willows and other riverbank trees cast long summer shadows over mostly placid waters, save for the occasional rapids and natural waterfalls. Mostly, though, the Lamoille meanders and one section takes its place name, appropriately, from the Ten Bends along its circuitous route. In Morristown, it generates power. Between Johnson and Cambridge, throngs of kayakers and canoeists ply its placid waters. In Waterville, the annual Ithiel Falls camp meeting takes place on its banks for two weeks in August, while the historic Fisher Covered Bridge—the last covered bridge to carry railroad traffic in Vermont— spans 100-feet of the river in Wolcott, the easternmost of the county’s 10 towns. At about 85 miles long, the Lamoille River is the third longest of Vermont’s 40 major rivers. The river initially flows southwest, but then strangely backtracks, moving northwest through Lamoille County until it finally empties into Lake Champlain, descending about 1,200 feet in elevation from its headwaters in the northeast corner of Wheelock.

THE MIGHTY LAMOILLE RIVER has its humble beginning as a small brook that trickles out of Horse Pond along Route 16 between the towns of Greensboro and Wheelock in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. The river flows peacefully through a wooded area in Cambridge. The Cambridge Junction Covered Bridge provides a shortcut for vehicles over the Lamoille River, but it’s closed in the winter. (Kevin M. Walsh)

Every river starts someplace, but ask people in the Northeast Kingdom where the Lamoille River begins and you’ll get a few different answers. According to Cedric Alexander, a wildlife biologist with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, that first trickle of the Lamoille starts at Horse Pond along Route 16 near the town lines of Greensboro and Wheelock. As water leaves Horse Pond, it’s barely the size of a brook as it joins two other small brooks to form the Lamoille. In this very rural area, the small river is nothing like it appears once it reaches the broad valley of Lamoille County, so here, in this heavily forested area north of Hardwick, paddlers and other river enthusiasts will find a more intimate Lamoille, a busy wildlife corridor for many species, including moose, and the headwaters offer the best spots for the serious fly fisherman.

As the Lamoille River flows through various villages in Lamoille County, it becomes part of the fabric of each, and like the blood that flows through the human form, the river serves as each town’s lifeblood and defines each one’s landscape. Fertile bottomlands grow rich with crops; anglers cast a fly into the cold waters of its tributaries; deer and other wildlife drink from it; tubers enjoy peaceful floats and kayakers shoot spring rapids; locals enjoy secret swimming holes on hot summer days—ones they might even share with you; artists use it as a canvas fodder, delighting in the iconic covered bridges that span over it; and the occasional dam generates power for the communities it flows through.

LOOKING DOWN FROM PROSPECT ROCK in Johnson, as Route 15, like the river itself, courses toward the town of Cambridge. (Paul Rogers)

In a Diner Above the Lamoille River The rocks below on the river trail foam fins as if they swim upstream along with the salmon returning to their spawning grounds, leaping falls, freshets, the ancient anonymous struggle. The fish age instantly to mottled old-timers, dying in the nursing pools of their birth waters. —— Greg Delanty, poet, from Dædalus

“The river is just there. It is part of our community,” says Larry Wyckoff, chair of the Cambridge Selectboard, simply. Despite occasional flooding, which poses a mostly minor inconvenience, “the river does its own thing, and we just come to terms with it.” Largely silent, but always stalwart, the Lamoille River flows out the western end of Lamoille County, transporting water from the region’s 706 square-mile watershed to its delta in Milton. There, the Lamoille flows into Champlain and helps create and sustain the 1,000acre Sand Bar Wildlife Refuge and State Park, where a large sand bar created by river sediment creates a smooth, shallow, sandy lake bottom ideal for swimming, while also attracting myriad species of birds and other wildlife. “The Lamoille River is a very dynamic river and has moved across its valley over time,” says Staci Pomeroy, a river resource scientist with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.

ometimes, the meandering Lamoille can turn angry, overflowing its banks, flooding villages, damaging and destroying homes and businesses, and eroding roadways. “The Lamoille River is a huge part of Wolcott’s identity as a town,” says Deborah Klein, a lister for the town. “But, being located right alongside Route 15, the only major road in the town, the river and its tributaries can cause flooding that damages town roads and which challenges Wolcott’s small, annual budget.”

AUTUMN COLORS EMERGE along the Lamoille River in Hardwick. A multitude of mountain streams and larger branches feed the Lamoille watershed, such as this scene of Old Mill along the North Branch of the Lamoille River, Waterville. Inset: Cambridge Covered Bridge swing, Cambridge Junction. (Paul Rogers)

In recent years, says Tasha Wallis, executive director of the Lamoille County Planning Commission, state and regional agencies have tried to mitigate problem flooding. Bridge work in Jeffersonville, for example, utilized new engineering designs to improve water flow and to hopefully stem persistent flooding where the Lamoille and Brewster rivers meet. In other parts of the watershed, the commission has conducted geomorphic assessments to study how water and earth physically change over time in the river. The results will help regional planners create river corridor plans that will “describe the river’s history, use, ecological, and geological setting.” The plan also identifies locations “where restoration and conservation projects can promote river stability. Restoration projects include a variety of activities, such as river corridor protection, floodplain restoration, streambank plantings, bridge and culvert upgrades, and stormwater mitigation.” Local residents also provide feedback to make the Lamoille River and its feeder rivers and streams less prone to seasonal instability, and getting more people, especially visitors to the region, to appreciate the many ways the river benefits the people of northern Vermont, and Lamoille County in particular, is the desired goal. As more and more people make a

personal connection to the Lamoille—a 17-mile section of the 93-mile Lamoille Valley Rail Trail from Morristown through Hyde Park and Johnson to Cambridge is now open through the river’s wide valley—they better understand that a healthy river benefits the economic, agricultural, recreational, and wildlife interests of everyone. n

MUSHROOMS a pictorial journey of the forest floor Perspectives high tender

no just view

of ground-borne gems whose beauty

intrinsic or beheld

is better sought

at levels lower, levels small.

But ants and mice to whom

belong such glimpses fair just pass them by

without a pause

without a care—

and wonder why a camera’d man

with poorer sight

would second-glance such earthly grace PHOTOGRAPHS

: Paul Rogers

at all.

—Paul Rogers

“Mushrooms were the roses in the garden of that unseen world ... what most people called a mushroom—was just a brief apparition. A cloud flower.” —Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood

“Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom.” —Thomas Carlyle

the life & times

VERNER ZEVOLA REED III

STORY

: nancy wolfe stead |

PHOTOGRAPHS

: verner z. reed III

ne of the accidents of Stowe’s history is its emergence in the 1930s and 1940s from a rural outpost of loggers and subsistence farms to the beginnings of a major resort. Summer pleasures for the East Coast affluent urbanite were aplenty—polo, sailing and yachting, sunbathing, hiking and garden parties—but the tony set was starved for winter sport. As the Great Depression wore thin and another world war loomed, Vermont’s mountains began to attract a few charismatic European skiing entrepreneurs who, with the backing of New England’s rich and powerful, planted the seeds for the seemingly overnight sweep of alpine skiing in New England. New York’s social lion Roland Palmedo put together the New York Ski Club and Boston’s bluestockings formed the Hochgebirgers. As skiers and conveniences improved—ski trains, ski lodges, and the wondrous invention of the ski tow—turned Stowe’s attraction as a quiet, private oasis away from city life into a magnet for young adventurous souls with Beacon Hill and Beekman Place addresses. High on this list was the multi-talented, multi-faceted Verner Z. Reed, a giant in the arts as furniture maker, sculptor, jeweler, and photographer.

Reed was born in 1923 in Denver, grandson of a tycoon who had made a fortune in mining operations, and whose estate at the time of his death in 1919 totaled $300 million, in today’s dollars. Our Verner’s early years were spent in New York, Boston, and Stowe, where his father had built Edson Hill Manor as a wedding present for his wife. Following World War II and a stint in the U.S. Army Air Corps in Burma, China, and India, he became a builder of fine, handcrafted furniture. Marketing his product introduced him to the camera, and photography quickly became his passion. A chance meeting with a LIFE bureau chief at a 1953 rally in Boston before the impending execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg opened an immense new arena for Verner. He became a freelance photographer for LIFE and, as his skills and interests deepened, he added Fortune, Paris Match, Time, and regional publications such as Vermont Life and various newspapers to his roster. He always worked freelance, refusing to be tied down, and he chose his subjects, exploring and exalting in the streets, neighborhoods, celebrations, losses, and people of his world. In his 2004 artist’s statement that accompanied the stunning book, “A Changing World, New England in the Photographs of Verner Reed, 1950-1972,” he writes: “A photograph should speak for itself ... I tried

VERMONT LIFE “A photograph should speak for itself,” says Reed in the artist’s statement of his book, “A Changing World: New England in the Photographs of Verner Reed, 1950-1972.” Saturday Afternoon, Stowe, 1952: Two young girls scope out Main Street in front of the old Lackey’s building. DAR, Newbury, 1953: Can you just picture these women assigning social acceptance or hell on earth to the other women in town? On the opening spread: A portrait of Verner Z. Reed III, photographer unknown. Dreamland, Tunbridge, 1963. In one graphic, photographic image at the Tunbridge Fair Reed transmits the desolation, unholy despair, and hopelessness of rural poverty. His photos have the genius of multiple levels, leaving nothing whatsoever unsaid.

to be invisible taking pictures. I rarely posed people. I never used artificial light. I tried to be true to the feeling of the moment and when I took the picture I could usually see the final print in my mind.” Reed’s photos are riveting; you don’t leaf lightly through them. Each one is an acknowledgement. Carl R. Nold, president of Historic New England, noted, “While all photographs provide a record, only some of them achieve the level of art. Verner Reed’s photography is equally important as historical record and as artistic vision of this region and its people.” hose who remember Verner recall him in bold type. He was good looking, lithe, with dark brown wavy hair. Atop a horse, decked out in full equestrian regalia as master of the Stowe Hunt, he was a knockout. He did not suffer fools gladly—I was more intimidated than comfortable around him—but ever grateful to have his photo series of our kids. My husband Jim and I walk by his “Dreamland, Tunbridge, 1963” in our hall every day and every sighting is as powerful a jab to the gut as the first, the personification of rural poverty, the loss of hope, lack of opportunity, vision. Verner’s transitions from one art form to another were lengthy, sometimes taking years. He would announce, “the muse has left me,” and enter a period of mayhem, fun, and outlandish enterprise. He and Dale Percy, a self-taught Stowe engineer of amazing aptitude, built tiny go-karts and staged races down the Little River during the summer. When that palled, he cut trails through the woods of Sterling Valley, and for several winters, Jim Jackson, of Peterson Brook Farm, and he bought trail groomers. When the snow was deep and the moon

high, one might call the other, fill a flask and charge through the woods for a round of brutal Groomer Tag. For a time, he was Stowe’s garbage man, and when the Stowe Dump caught fire and burned—for what seemed like months and months—his friend, Stowe Reporter owner and publisher Trow Elliman ran letter after letter and photo after photo of the smoldering dump. His one-time neighbor, Gar Anderson, recalled after Verner’s death, “My most vivid memory at the time was Verner’s war with the Stowe selectmen over our continually burning dump. Reading Verner’s letters of that era, one might consider Verner to be Stowe’s first environmental activist.” In a classic Verner moment, one fine summer morning Tom Watson, chairman of IBM, stepped outside to enjoy the garden at his Spruce Peak home. A workman emerged from behind the house, two full-sized garbage cans over each shoulder, and grunted, “Morning, Tom.” “Do I know you?” came the icy patrician retort. “Yup. Met you last night. Cocktails on the lawn, Ida Lewis Yacht Club.” The Ida Lewis, in Newport, R.I., playground of the upper crust, was also home to the Reed family’s famous oceanfront estate, Seafair, built in 1936 by Verner’s father, Verner Z. Reed Jr. Watson and Reed later became co-conspirators in an elaborate scheme. Over the decades, there have been many disappointments with the management of the Mt. Mansfield Company. Offers to buy were not uncommon and never successful. The ski area was AIG mogul Cornelius Vander Starr’s personal playground. Watson, who’d purchased Smugglers’ Notch Skiways in 1962, focused his eyes on building a much larger Stowe resort. One day he hoped to connect Smugglers’ and Stowe through a series of lifts into Sterling Valley. In 1966, Verner served as frontman for Watson, buying 2,134 acres in the

ARTISTIC VISION Tunbridge Fair Burlesque, Tunbridge, 1963: The annual fair was a cherished delicatessen of photo essays for Reed. He returned often for his vignettes of life in rural Vermont, including the raunchy girlie shows that were a major attraction. Rosenberg Vigil III, Boston, 1953: Reed took many photographs of the 1953 treason trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. He shot both those who wanted them sent to the electric chair and those who pleaded for their freedom. Here the ennui of the aging To Death! protestors is mocked by the procession of Black infantrymen overhead. Sen. and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, Hyannisport, 1955: Reed treasured his years as freelance photographer for Life. This photo of the couple catches them in the early years of his political career, before Camelot. “To me,” says the author, Nancy Stead, “Jackie sees their future. He sees her part in it.” Reed shot portraits of many people, some famous—the artist Al Duca, Tasha Tudor, Robert Frost, Vermont Sen. George Aiken, President Dwight D. Eisenhower—and many, many others who were not so famous.

upper valley. In a hushed plan, the parcel was designed with possible connections to Spruce Peak and a township at its foot. If annexed to Smugglers’, it was thought, in time the plum of Stowe would fall into their hands. erner was a unique collection of energy, skills, and talents. Women loved him and, during his Stowe years, he collected four wives. He was attentive to his two children, but transitions often proved volatile. While in the Stowe Community Church marrying third wife Trentje, Boston North Shore’s Pansy Prince, a contender for the throne, performed screeching wheelies down Main Street on her purple Indian motorcycle, then stalked down the aisle dressed in black, her face highlighted with pure white pancake makeup, and sat in the front row glaring at the marital kiss. Reed ultimately capped his Stowe years in 1973 with another marriage, a move to Pemaquid Harbor, Maine, and the birth of two daughters, with Deborah Spring, who worked at the Stowe Reporter. The move, to a sheep and saltwater farm, calmed him. Toward the end of his life Verner did a lot of TV interviews. When

asked, “What do you think makes a happy marriage?” he said, “Debbie is the person who gave me the home I always longed for.” They had 35 loving years together. Verner continued with sculpture in Maine and found great pleasure creating exquisite jewelry, but never abandoned photography. Failing eyesight limited work in his later years, and he and Debbie spent several years before his death at 82 in 2006 editing his photo collections. To their relief and great pleasure, their selection of 26,000 negatives found safe harbor with Historic New England, the oldest and largest regional heritage organization in the nation. Verner, and his handsome 2004 book, have been celebrated in numerous shows of his work. •••• While few are left to remember Verner Z. Reed during his years in Stowe, his lovely book ensures his legacy. But one symbol remains as a testament to the ingenuity and creativity of a very special man: his magnificent waterwheel in Sterling Valley. n

POSSIBILITIES Horses, on the border of Vermont and Quebec, 1958. Evening Chores, 1955: This one sweet photograph captures rural Vermont farming at that moment in time. You can smell cow milk and manure, savor mom’s sweetness, and question what will be the boy’s future. Waterwheel: For a lark, Reed constructed this magnificent full-sized waterwheel at his home at the entrance to Sterling Valley. What more could possibly be said about “frozen” in Vermont? The wheel still exists and has been enjoyed by a series of subsequent owners.

C O N T E M P O R A R Y ART

Meleko Mokgosi, “The Social Revolution of Our Time Cannot Take Its Poetry from the Past but Only from the Poetry of the Future, 2,” 2019, oil on canvas, photo transfer on canvas, 92"x144"x2". ©Meleko Mokgosi, courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

MELEKO MOKGOSI: SCRIPTO-VISUAL Botswana-born artist explores themes of authorship, colonialism, feminism

STORY

Representation and its relationship to power is at the center of artist Meleko Mokgosi’s new exhibit premiering at The Current in Stowe this summer. By pairing painting with text, the Botswana-born artist depicts how various forms of literacy control representation. The series, “Scripto-visual,” will feature small and large works coupled with a variety of texts, from poetry to theoretical works that deal with topics ranging from history to the daily lived experiences of people in the United States and in southern Africa. “For one to read, one has to have access to forms of literacy that allow one / AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY to be able to make sense of and benefit from any given form of representation,” said Mokgosi. The texts will be drawn exclusively from African American or African writers “whose voices have and still to an extent remain in the margins,” explained Rachel Moore, executive director at The Current, who became a fan of Mokgosi when they met in 2019. As a history painter, he lifts the lid on the historical impact of European painting as an authoritative practice, exposing “its failure” and giving voice “to those it has historically marginalized,” said Moore. “I love the combination of text and image, the reappropriation of history, and the sensitivity that Meleko brings to his subjects.” Moore also praised Mokgosi’s “exceptional talent” for conveying important issues such as authorship, colonialism, and feminism. >>

C O N T E M P O R A R Y ART

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Previous page, from top: Meleko Mokgosi, “The

Social Revolution of Our Time Cannot Take Its Poetry from the Past but Only from the Poetry of the Future, 7,” 2019, oil on canvas, inkjet on canvas, 92"x126"x2". ©Meleko Mokgosi, courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Meleko Mokgosi, “The Social Revolution of Our Time Cannot Take Its Poetry from the Past but Only from the Poetry of the Future, 5,” 2019, oil on canvas, inkjet on canvas, 92"x116"x2". ©Meleko Mokgosi, courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

“His artwork relates so well to the current issues we are grappling with as a state and country that is predominantly white. Rural communities often have less exposure and access to education, and racial and cultural diversity,” said Moore. “This is precisely why bringing work from different perspectives and experiences to this area is so incredibly important.“ Based in New York and born in Botswana, Mokgosi also works as an associate professor at the Yale School of Art, and is co-director of the interdisciplinary art and theory program, which he cofounded. His work has been shown in exhibits in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Baltimore, Boston, Cape Town, Johannesburg, and beyond. n //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Scripto-visual will be on view at The Current, 90 Pond St., June 17 to Nov. 13. COVID-19 safety guidelines in place; limited capacity in the gallery or by appointment at thecurrentnow.org. THE CURRENT AND 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, as COVID-19 allows.

UPCOMING 90 Pond St., Stowe Village. Free; donations welcome. May Student Art Show 2021 June 17 – November 13 Meleko Mokgosi: Scripto-visual

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VERMONT ARTISAN SPIRIT ANIMAL Cubby Momsen with a few of her needle-felted creations.

CUBBY’S CRITTERS Accidental artist discovers dry felting with whimsically realistic results What does a longtime real estate agent do when she decides to retire? Well, Cubby Momsen channeled her inner creativity. Scrolling through Pinterest, she came across some adorable mood-boosting needle-felted animals created by a Russian artist who had more than 333,000 followers. “I love her work and it inspired me to try needle felting. I figured out what I needed and taught myself,” Cubby said. She now has an inventory of cute needle-felted animals that would fill Noah’s Ark. She shows her critters STORY & PHOTOGRAPHS / KATE CARTER at Artisan Gallery in Waitsfield, where they are available to purchase, and also on Etsy. Needle felting, also called dry felting, is the process of intertwining individual raw fleece fibers using special barbed needles. Poking the needles in and out through layers of wool causes them to entwine and form a matted piece of fabric. You can make this happen with a single needle or with a tool that holds multiple needles. By wrapping layers of wool roving—pieces of wool that have been combed, drawn into a clump, and then twisted slightly to hold the fibers together—around a form, you can build and shape the fiber it into anything you want.

Cubby uses wire armature that comes in different weights to form a frame, the building foundation of each project. She wraps layer after layer of wool roving on to the armature and anchors it with a felting needle. It’s incredibly time consuming and the crafter must have infinite patience to build up the wool layers, intertwining various colors to replicate the fur patterns of different animals. Cubby uses wax for beaks and feet, and creates props from ceramics, metal, wood— anything she finds that fits the bill. She is quick to note that the animals are not toys and should be handled with care. Her critters caught the eye of a co-owner of Artisan Gallery, who convinced Cubby to sell her critters at the gallery. “I never intended >>

VERMONT ARTISAN MENAGERIE Some of Cubby Momsen’s creations: An adorable felted frog, a wise old owl, and lacy bear. Momsen pays particular attention to the eyes when creating one of her felted creatures. Inset: The Momsen family dog, Tweed, and his miniature replica.

to make a business of it,” Cubby said. “It’s labor intensive and the retail cost could be exorbitant. My price range is about $35 for a small bird or animal to $65 for a 5-inch cat, and on up. My sleigh and reindeer holiday decoration is $250. I like to make what I feel like making, but don’t have a business attitude about it.” Nevertheless, her critters sell at the gallery, and Cubby continues to create more—frogs, owls, birds, chipmunks, dogs, cats, whatever strikes her fancy. “A lot of people have owl or chipmunk fetishes and buy them to add to their collections.” A popular request is needle-felted reproductions of beloved pets. Working from photographs, Cubby will replicate a dog, cat, bird, iguana, whatever the client wants. Miniatures make fun Christmas tree decorations.

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Cubby’s objective is to create animals that are part whimsical, part realistic, and says the aspect of the process she enjoys most is making the faces. “Eyes are important. You want to get the light reflecting off the iris so they look like eyes, not dark holes in the head.”

An unexpected consequence of all the interest in her critters is that she’s accumulating quite a collection, one that has led her down another creative vein: a children’s book. “My daughter is having a baby, the third of three girls,” Cubby explains. “The older sisters are eager to meet their new sister, and patience is drawing thin.” The book, “Little Sister,” which Cubby wrote, illustrated, and self-published is about having patience when you’re waiting for something special to happen. The characters in the book are Cubby’s endearing needle-felted critters, who converse among themselves about the virtues of patience. “Little Sister,” will be available soon on Amazon. n ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: vtartisansgallery.com

I N N O VAT O R S

COURTESY PHOTOS

ZIP IT! Georgia Grace Edwards and Bianca Gonzalez on Mt. Mansfield with the pants they created for women and nonbinary people to be able to answer nature’s call outdoors, safely and privately. Next page: In action.

SHEFLY SMASHES PATRIARCHY OF PANTS College students create inclusive outdoor apparel Georgia Grace Edwards was sitting in the attic of her childhood friend’s home the first time she ripped out the crotch of a pair of old ski pants and sewed in a zipper. The idea dawned on her in 2016, after spending a summer as a glacier guide in Alaska. While her male colleagues could easily unzip and relieve their bladders whenever, wherever, Edwards found herself hiking across crevasses—and undressing multiple clothing layers in sub-zero temperaSTORY / AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY tures—to pee. She began cutting her water intake to mitigate bathroom breaks and often stayed cold for hours afterwards. But her body wasn’t the problem; it was the pants. That need sparked the SheFly mission: to create inclusive outdoor apparel by deconstructing the pant patriarchy. SheFly pants offer a multizipper technology that allows women and nonbinary folks in the outdoors to answer nature’s call safely and privately—without exposing their bums.

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“This is an intersectional issue,” said Edwards, who founded the company with fellow Middlebury College alum Bianca Gonzalez and Charlotte Massey in 2018. “It’s not just about clothing, it is about who we have as examples in the outdoors. A lot of people are not represented in the outdoor narrative and in entrepreneurship.” In March, SheFly won a contest for the Moosejaw Outdoor Accelerator by popular vote out of more than 100 applicants. “The SheFly family has shown up time and time and time again. It’s really special, I’ve never felt something like that before,” said Edwards. The accelerator program hosted by Moosejaw, an outdoor recreation apparel and gear company, brings together an outdoor “dream team,” according to Moosejaw CEO Eoin Comerford, to offer business mentoring, a focused curriculum, free legal services, public relations, and more. Moosejaw will launch a line of SheFly pants as part of the accelerator. SheFly’s win comes at the perfect time, following the rollercoaster year of COVID-19 which halted, then collapsed, pant manufacturing last spring.

Almost a year ago to the day, the team learned that their zero-waste, fair-trade manufacturer in India had closed temporarily. When temporary became permanent, they jumped into finding a new manufacturer that could accommodate them as a small business and provide ethical production—a difficult task on which they’re still working through the details. But despite having halted preorders and production, Edwards said many of the positive comments and messages of support the team has received came from people who do not have a pair of SheFly pants. “We get a lot of messages from parents say-

ing, ‘I’m so happy my kids are growing up in a world where these exist,’ ” Edwards said. She’s also heard from people in niche activities and jobs like fly fishing, sailing, horseback riding, and biking. One woman the team recently met is a bridge inspector, who spends weeks dangling in a harness for her job. “She’s always been one of the only women on an all-male team,” said Edwards. Going to the bathroom could take up to two hours, as she had to be hoisted up, return across the bridge and off the highway to pee— something none of her colleagues had to do. “There’s so many facets to this problem,” said Edwards. “Not only is there a lack of privacy, but it can be a safety issue” and make you question the value of your own work. “She always felt like everyone was working harder than her,” Edwards said. Lucy Holmes, of Burlington, said she wears her SheFly pants every day in the woods as an instructor for Outward Bound. She’s worn them backpacking, hiking, rock climbing, >>

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I N N O VAT O R S NATURE’S CALL Founding SheFly team Bianca Gonzalez, Georgia Grace Edwards and Charlotte Massey won the FreshTracks Peak Pitch contest at Sugarbush, while wearing zippered ski pants. Inset: Massey and Edwards at a 2018 TedX Talk in Stowe.

mountaineering, sailing, and backcountry skiing. Although Holmes calls her SheFlys a great outer layer, she added, “If they make a zippered long john, I’d buy 10 of them.” Long underwear and snow pants are on the dream to-do list, noted Edwards, but first they have to get back up and running.

Wee idea makes a splash Edwards brought that first prototype, hacked together in her friend’s attic, to the first day of January term for her Middlebury entrepreneurs course. “I remember standing on the first day of class, holding this terrible, ugly pair of pants, trying to explain why this is important,” said Edwards. She felt horribly embarrassed explaining the idea to her male professor, and thought, “This is ridiculous, this is why the problem exists.” Since that moment, she and the founding team have shaped their pitch to use humor to their advantage. Poking fun at serious issues can bring more people into the conversation who wouldn’t necessarily take part in it, Edwards said. For example, she recalled feeling uncertain as she, Gonzalez and Massey pulled up to the FreshTracks Road Pitch contest in Barre when the business was in its early days, glancing around at a pack of motorcycle-riding investors and entrepreneurs—not their usual clientele. But SheFly won the pitch contest. “We thought, wow, this isn’t neces-

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sarily our audience, but this resonated with them,” Edwards recalled. The company’s cheeky marketing—pun intended—also works to destigmatize talking about bodies and bodily functions. In 2018, Edwards and Massey gave a talk at Stowe TedX where Edwards said, “I’m going to let you in on a not-so-secret little secret: we all pee.” The audience laughed. “Even us, who knew,” she continued. “So, here’s the question: How can we fix the bathroom problem so that people of all anatomies and all identities can push their limits and find connection in the outdoors?” David Bradbury, of Stowe, president at Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies and teacher of the Middlebury Entrepreneurs course, calls the SheFly team “rock stars,” with a solid business plan and team dynamic. “Georgia Grace worked really hard to take a personal experience that was frustrating and didn’t need to happen, and translated that into a product and a business,” he said. n ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: sheflyapparel.com.

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE

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homegrown ARTIST ADELE TAPLIN

ninth-generation stoweite finds resilience in art

STORY

: avalon styles-ashley

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: gordon miller |

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Alex Mill Arizona Love

ver one hundred years of snow, ice, and rain have worn down the painted siding and metal roof of the Red Covered Bridge in Sterling Valley. Aside from its age, the bridge doesn’t seem exceptional compared to the state’s other hundred covered bridges. But to Adele Taplin, the rickety red relic is the kissing bridge. As a child growing up in Stowe, Taplin and her family would drive over the bridge on their way to Lake Eden to escape the summer humidity blanketing the upper valley in a layer of drowsy heat. “Every time we would go through the bridge, we would stop,” Taplin recalled, and her mother would kiss her and her siblings. She’s not sure where the tradition came from, or if it began with her mom, but when Taplin grew older and had her own kids, she still stopped halfway across the bridge and filled the car with kisses. Now a Philadelphia-based artist, Taplin finds herself returning home again and again through her artwork. From graphic design to illustration to photography, her portfolio is peppered with familiar Vermont peaks, bridges, woods, and steeples. One of her most popular prints, “Summer Bridge,” is inspired by her favorite red relic, although it’s not meant to represent any specific bridge. Taplin loves hearing from fellow Vermonters who recognize their own memories in the picture. “It could be anywhere in Vermont. That’s kind of the idea,” she said. Half of the inspiration is about finding beauty in unexpected places; the other half is about the story behind the picture. “Vermont is home to me. That will always be home to me,” said Taplin. But she didn’t always feel that way. Once, she moved over 800 miles away to escape. A ninth-generation Vermonter, Taplin hails from the Moody clan, one of the oldest families in Stowe, dating back to 1793. Her maternal grandmother was descended from Clement Moody, the second white European settler to make his home in what would one day become Stowe. The old house Clement built in the South Village now houses a chiropractor and wellness center, said Taplin, and his barn is home to an oral surgery office. The abandoned farmhouse where Taplin and her two younger siblings grew up—the farmhouse that her father moved from one

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side of Maple Run Lane to the other and rebuilt—still stands. It was part of his salary as a worker on the Percy dairy farm down the road. “The last stop where the bus turned around,” Taplin recalled. She grew up a Brownie girl, showing cows in 4-H, and racing on the Stowe High School Nordic and alpine ski teams. The old lace-up ski boots and the Morning Gondola; Winter in Stowe, Vermont l wire bindings with the metal edge she still remembers vividly. As a young man her father often took his family from Burlington to Stowe to carve up the slopes, and Taplin learned tricks from her aunt, an accomplished ski racer who married an Austrian ski instructor. She grew up dreaming of becoming an artist. Art always seemed part of her life, from photography to painting and beyond, she said, and as a little girl, she hoped to spend her life as an artist—or a veterinarian. The story aspect of art engaged Taplin, leading her to spend some teenage years working at Bear Pond Books on Stowe’s Main Street. Now, she browses bookstores and collects antique tomes, saving them in stacks around her house until they announce their purpose. She searches for the spines and covers that speak to her, for the scent of the antique paper and the feel of the pages. “I don’t always know what they’re going to be for. I might just keep them on my shelf for a while for when they need to be re-homed,” said Taplin. “They get a new life.” One of her favorites is an old copy of “Winnie the Pooh.” “It’s traveled and moved with me along the way,” she said. “It’s near and dear to my heart, I think it was my father’s.” Still, she grew up itching to explore beyond her small hometown. At the same time the Green Mountain state seemed to shrink. When college applications rolled around, she knew she wanted a change. “There’s something about everyone knowing everything about you when you live in a small town,” she explained. So, she applied to the largest college she could find, Michigan State, and packed her bags.

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Pet portrait, commissioned

“I definitely believe that things in life kind of lay themselves out for you and you make a decision, and then you see where that decision takes you. Things in life give you some direction, but they’re often not part of the plan,” said Taplin. It wasn’t in her plan to transfer midway through college, but she ended up rebuilding her art portfolio and transferring to the Massachusetts College of Art and Design where she later graduated with a BFA in graphic design. She fell in love with the emerging art world available via technology and has spent the following years building her style in digital vector-based art. Today her pieces resemble silkscreen-style prints, featuring a handful of pure colors marked by clean lines. “It’s really about keeping the shapes very simple,” she said. Starting with a color palette centered around a feeling, and finding a relatable focus in subject matter helps her connect to the piece. Artists like Georgia O’Keeffe and Frida Kahlo inspire her, both for their visions and their stories. Wisconsin-born O’Keeffe was also the daughter of dairy farmers. As an artist, she broke away from prescribed notions of nature art to pioneer American modernism. And Kahlo, a young Mexican artist who poured all of her feelings, fears, love, and pain into her work, specifically addressed issues such as colonialism, race, and gender. “A lot of it has to do with the stories for me,” said Taplin. “I think more than anything, it’s about the process. It’s about getting your feelings and emotions out into some form of art, whether it’s music, song, drawing, whatever it may be.” It wasn’t in her plan to move back to Stowe but an agency in the area hired her and she ended up raising her kids in her hometown. Both of her children graduated from Stowe High School and some of Taplin’s proudest accomplishments happened in the years following her return.

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Red Covered Bridge l

“You don’t really appreciate how wonderful Vermont is until you’ve gone away,” she said. She volunteered in the community as a youth hockey coach and as part of Stowe Vibrancy, where she launched the Art on Park Summer Series—a local artisan market featuring live music and food. The gathering created a space for creativity, community, and empowerment for local artists, said Taplin. After starting her own company, she worked for years in partnership with Stowe Mountain Resort, designing graphics, marketing materials, and an annual print for season passholders. When her children finished high school, Taplin moved to Colorado and then to Philadelphia for a job with Ikea. It wasn’t in her plan to lose that job amid the global pandemic, so, last fall she pivoted again, rededicating herself to art and applying to graduate school for marketing. Taplin plans to dive back into her art and take on more projects (such as pet portraits), in addition to “being a crazy student,” she said, laughing.

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What she has learned over the years, that sometimes the best surprises happen when the boat capsizes, seems to be reflected in her art. “Inspiration is literally all around us. It’s there all the time. In the ugliest building that’s falling down,” she sees beauty in shape and light, she said. “It’s just about taking the time to stop and realize that there is inspiration and beauty in everything.”

Coming home

A bright orange sunset kisses the snow-dusted peak of Mount Mansfield. Twilight casts long shadows across the rock face, below which snowy trees and a lone moose quietly await dark. Taplin’s digital illustration, “Winter on Mount Mansfield,” depicts one of her favorite places in Vermont. “It’s just such an overall view of what Stowe is to me. Every time I’m home, whether I’m hiking or skiing, I always try to make a trip up to the top of Mount Mansfield,” she said. Taplin has journeyed away from her hometown and returned, left and returned. But no matter where the Vermonter ventures next, Mansfield will always call her home. n

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Find Adele Taplin’s art at Bear Pond Books in Stowe, at etsy.com/shop/stowenative, and her website, adeletaplin.myportfolio.com.

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A T T H E GRANGE

‘SNOWFLAKE MAN’ Hardwick Grange turned movie set, puppet theater STORY

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/ Scooter MacMillan

PHOTOGRAPHS

/ Gordon Miller

MAKING THE GRANGE Sarah Frechette performs her one-person puppetry performance of her original play, “The Snowflake Man,” in the East Hardwick Grange, as Jason Thibodeaux, above, films her performance.

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A T T H E GRANGE SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY With her puppets in the foreground, Sarah Frechette holds some snowflake photos her grandfather purchased from Snowflake Bentley in 1917.

The East Hardwick Grange—officially the Caledonia #9 Grange—has been transformed into a movie set for the filming of an iconic Vermont story. Puppeteer Sarah Frechette, originally of Georgia, dressed in flapper’s garb with music from the era playing in the background, steps onto the stage of the Grange, opens a trunk to reveal a popup book whose pages become a stage for her original rod puppets to tell the story of Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley. Frechette is performing her one-person puppetry performance of her original play “The Snowflake Man” and her partner Jason Thibodeaux is filming it. Filming wrapped up in time for a March 1 premiere sponsored by the Sandglass Theater in Putney. “The Snowflake Man” tells the story of Bentley of Jericho, the first person to photograph single snowflakes and who popularized the truism that no two snowflakes are alike. After COVID-19 halted touring, Frechette decided to take her show to the screen. “Everything just shut down and I’ve been trying to figure out how to continue doing some of what I do. We’re joining forces to make this film of the production so that it can still carry on,

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until I can get back into the theater safely,” Frechette said this winter. She tells the story with traditional Czech puppets, performed on a tabletop. The setting is a pop-up book painted by children’s illustrator Bruce Lee, another Vermonter, fine artist and children’s book illustrator from Williston. Frechette said everything takes place on a pop-book stage inside an antique trunk. She “shrinks” to puppet size to play all of the characters and travels back in time to tell Bentley’s story. The story follows Bentley’s life—how his parents took all of their savings to buy him a camera and a microscope because of their faith in their self-taught scientist son and his conviction that he could photograph snowflakes. It was quite a feat to get a picture of a snowflake before it melted. “I call it ‘edutainment’ because it’s entertaining and educational and I’m hoping as the audience sits there with me, they will learn this new information,” Frechette said.

Getting grand at the Grange

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She grew up with the story of Snowflake Bentley. Her grandfather bought some of Bentley’s photographs in 1917 and was always happy to share his photos and stories about the man behind them. She created the show about 10 years ago with a grant from the Vermont Arts Council shortly after her grandfather died. “It was kind of one way to create a love letter to my grandpa,” Frechette said. She uses some of the photos her grandfather bought from Bentley in the show. Bentley lived from 1865-1931. He died from pneumonia caught while walking in a blizzard. How’d the show end up at the historic grange building? The credit for that goes to

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fellow puppeteer Rose Friedman of East Hardwick. The two met through “Puppets: World on a String,” which featured Frechette’s work alongside the likes of Jim Henson and Andy Warhol. “We’re trying to bring the Grange back into the community’s life and make it a space that people can use in the way that Sarah is using it,” Friedman said. Frechette was scouting for a historical space to film her story—and the building fit the bill. The Caledonia #9 Grange is one of the oldest continuously performing Granges in the state, Friedman said. The Grange movement started as a way to get farming back on its feet after the Civil War by having farmers join together to negotiate prices and share farming tips. “The Grange organization’s place in culture has shifted quite a lot. It once was a union organization for small farmers,” said Friedman, who hopes to help revitalize her town’s Grange by growing its use as a performance space. “People walk in and are amazed that this gem is here.”

Bringing the Outdoors Indoors for Over 14 Years

A hit for all ages

Thibodeaux worked for 10 years for Laika Studios in Portland, Ore., painting puppets for stop-motion movies including “Boxtrolls,” “Kubo and the Two Strings,” “Coraline,” and “ParaNorman.” He directed the original version of “The Snowflake Man” and has watched it evolve over the last decade. “It’s kind of been a hit,” Thibodeaux said. “The audience, no matter what age, enjoys it. It has a very universal quality.” He said it was a revelation for him to work on a show like this because his personal film projects tend to be darker. “ ‘The Snowflake Man’ comes from Sarah’s heart. It’s proof that I can do something more mainstream, and it works, too,” he said. n

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: For more on Sarah Frechette and “The Snowflake Man,” puppetkabob.com.

802-496-9290

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FOUND IN VERMONT

COURTESY PHOTOS

HERE’S MUD ON YOUR FACE What do you do when you find a deposit of pure bentonite clay our your property? Dig it up, sterilize it, and make mud masks! Cleansing and stimulating, these mud masks will leave your face feeling smooth, refreshed, and healthy. Green Mountain Mud Masks come in five flavors, but don’t eat them! Hunker down and exfoliate. Say goodbye to dead skin cells. Slather the mud on your face, relax, and soak up the wonders of Mother Earth through your facial pores. Choose from Lavender and Aloe, Rosewater and Calendula, Coconut Oil, Clove and Maracuja Oil, Lemon Oil and Aloe. Each one has different healing properties and will change the way you look and the way you feel. INFO: Green Mountain Mud Masks on Facebook

CARAMEL SAUCES, TO DIE FOR! OK you dairy lovers, check this out. Combine rich, creamy goat’s milk with pure cane sugar and you’ve got Fat Toad Farm’s unbelievably delicious goat’s milk caramel sauces. Based on the Mexican confection, cajeta, Fat Toad Farm’s sauces are meticulously hand-stirred for five hours to velvety perfection in traditional copper kettles. The result is a rich and creamy, not-too-sweet caramel that delivers an irresistibly complex flavor. Swirl it on top of ice cream, mix it into your coffee, pair it with a soft cheese, drizzle it on fresh fruit, or just dig in and eat it straight out of the jar. Available in plain, salted bourbon, vanilla bean, Vermont maple, cold brew coffee, spicy dark chocolate, Irish whiskey cream, and cinnamon. Do we have your attention?

TREE REVIVAL Vermont Wood Company is known for its gorgeous knife handles, and now they are creating one-of-a-kind earrings sourced from locally felled trees. Some of the earrings are wood only, made from carefully selected sections of maple. Others are a blend of wood and resin, and come in a rainbow of colors. They are perfect for a modest, yet modern, look. At once classic and bold, they make a statement of their own, no matter what they’re paired with. Hand-crafted in Montgomery. INFO: Vermont Wood Co. on Facebook

INFO: fattoadfarm.com

TAKE THIS, TICKS!

POWERED BY BAROMETRIC PRESSURE Predict the weather, entertain your friends, teach kids about weather science, all with a weather stick. It seems too simple to be true, but these old-time, balsam wood weather sticks are remarkably effective barometers. Nail it outdoors to a tree, wall, or post and watch it move. When it points up, fair weather is expected; when it points down, foul weather approaches. Changes in barometric pressure set it moving! Who needs a weather app when you’ve got a stick? INFO: The original Davis Hill Weather Stick available online and at select Vermont retailers

Now that it’s tick season, it’s time to stock up on Green Mountain Tick Repellent. Made in Dorset, with all-natural essential oils, including rose geranium, lemongrass, and cedarwood, it’s sure to scare away those nasty buggers that latch onto anything with blood. The essential oils are an alternative to conventional, veterinarian-prescribed methods of repelling ticks from both humans and canines. Kitties, too! If ticks have left you at wits’ end, give Green Mountain Tick Repellent a try. You’ll end up tick free and smelling good, all from a 4-oz. spray bottle. INFO: gmtick.com

COMPILED BY KATE CARTER

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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 news@stowereporter.com.

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VA N I S H I N G V E R M O N T SINCE 1900 Greensboro’s general store remains a popular community hub. Every Vermont town used to have at least one—often two, three, or more—such stores.

WILLEY’S STORE Greensboro’s old-time country store combines past, present STORY & PHOTOGRAPHS

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Once an ubiquitous sight across Vermont, old-time country stores have sadly become yet one more casualty of progress. Country stores are a throwback to simpler, less-hectic times, when the country store served as a community hub—many towns, even those with the tiniest populations, boasted two, three, or more different stores. Gone, now, from the local scene: Moscow General Store, Cambridge Village Store, Morristown Corners Store, Center General Store in Waterbury Center, to name just a few. Still, there are a few of these traditional, iconic places left, and one of the oldest is Willey’s Store in nearby rural Greensboro, just a stone’s throw from Caspian Lake. Willey’s is the kind of store, well, where you can shop for tonight’s dinner and buy the kitchenware and gadgets to cook it. There are garden supplies, fresh baked goods for next morning’s breakfast, worms for tomorrow’s

fishing trip, and the license, rod, and reel and gear to go with it, maps to favorite fishing spots, lunch to go—in case you don’t catch a fish—and portable chairs to sit on while casting into some nearby pond. In fact, you’ll find everything you might need for that fishing trip; actually, anything you might want or need. For anything. Heck, Willey’s is even a place where you

/ KEVIN M. WALSH

can later regale willing listeners about that fish that got away. You get the picture. You want it, Willey’s likely has it some place in its rambling, multi-floor building on Breezy Avenue that’s been home for more than 120 years. A family-owned store for all of those years, the place exudes a sense of hometown, family and friends, and rural living. And once someone hires on to work at Willey’s, they often never leave. Consider Steven Collier, Willey’s grocery manager, now going on 30 years. And there is Alyssa Wheeler, a lifelong Greensboro resident for whom Willey’s has been a regular part of her life long before she signed on to work.

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The current manager, Robert (Robbie) Hurst, son of an owner by the same name, values his family’s long ownership tradition, believing that since “all of our customers are special” Willey’s should cater to what all of its customers want, each nook and corner filled with all sorts of items that many folks didn’t know they needed.

Community puzzle

Every week, a group of Greensboro residents come and go at the store to collectively solve the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle. Store customers wander in and work a few clues, then leave the unfinished parts for others to complete. The puzzle eventually gets completed, and there it sits as still others stop in to see the finished product. Until next week. A local coffee shop-like atmosphere encourages folks to hang around and share the news of the day with both other customers and the store’s staff. While the verbal exchange of news at Willey’s is important for community cohesiveness, every now and then some fact checking is in order. Hurst relates one story of the town’s “newshound,” who was at the store talking to Hurst’s father about a recent death, when the color drained from his face mid-sentence. Calm down, there’s no need to call an ambulance, as the newshound’s white-as-a-ghost appearance was only because the “dead” person had just walked through the store’s front door! Willey’s also prides itself on serving both the area’s longtime residents and summer folks, many of whom own lake houses, some going back generations, and by valuing relationships with local food producers and purveyors. Sometimes that close-knittedness results in humor, and pranks are known to occasionally happen. Hurst recalled the day his dad, Ernie, was talking to a customer about his “black beret.” Just at that moment, an old woodsman walked by and informed the two that blackberries would not be ripe until August. Another time, the hardware supplier gave the store a life-sized cardboard cutout of its public spokesperson, where one day it ended up in the front seat of the game warden’s vehicle, much to the warden’s consternation as he looked out the store’s front window. Another time Hurst put the cutout into the store’s downstairs cooler as a joke on a store employee. Instead, Hurst’s father opened the cooler door. The cutout was never seen or heard from again. For the fortunate folks of Greensboro, population of around 700, Willey’s Store keeps its community connected, in ways many small Vermont towns have lost. You’ll never know what you might find for sale or who you’ll see—Greta Garbo visited friends in her later years,

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FAMILY VALUES The needs of anglers, hunters, and hikers alike are well supplied and cared for at Willey’s. Look in any direction in Willey’s and you will find all you could need or want. Dedicated employee and life-long Greensboro resident, Alyssa Wheeler, bags freshly made doughnuts.

while Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Stegner, and Alfred Barr, the first director of the Museum of Modern Art, spent summers on the lake. So stop by, grab a cup of Joe, a bagel, maybe a quart of oil, a pomegranate, some Pete’s Greens, a bolt of yarn, a solar light kit, a buck knife, and wave hello. n ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: 7 Breezy Ave, Greensboro.

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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.

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M I C H A E L'S ON THE HILL Farm to Table Cuisine Vermont’s First Certified Green Restaurant #1 Most Romantic Restaurant in Vermont - TripAdvisor, MSN.com & Delish.com Best Restaurant, Best Steak & Best Wine List in Stowe - Forbes Traveler Wine Spectator Award of Excellence Best Chefs America Best Farm-to-Table Dining Experience - Vermont 2020 - Lux Life Restaurant & Bar Awards Rehearsal Dinners | Weddings | Special Events Dinner from 5-9 pm 4182 Waterbury-Stowe Road Route 100 North, Waterbury Center, Vermont 5 Minutes from Stowe & I-89

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EDIBLES

A CUP OF JOE Niels Musschoot, Elle Anderson and Tena, all of Stowe, stop by PK Coffee’s new location.

COFFEE WARS PK Coffee returns to Stowe, along with a host of other Joes PK Coffee in Stowe is back! The popular coffee shop—yes, those fabulous breakfast burritos are back—is now located at 1940 Mountain Road, across from Piecasso. It was forced to move from its original location in August 2020, and has been looking for a place to land ever since. Oh, and there was that little thing known as a global pandemic, too. PK Coffee’s flagship cafe in Stowe—there is a second location in Waterbury—opened in 2016. The business was named in honor of owner Katrina Veerman’s great uncle, Pierre Ketellapper, a serial entrepreneur, and inspired by her father, longtime Stowe resident Les Peer. Veerman took the former Wendy’s Closet clothing store and completely transformed it with the help of Tania Kratt, adding a kitchen, installing new custom cabinets and Danby marble countertops, and

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expanding the store to include a covered porch where coffee-drinkers could enjoy their favorite treats. “I always wanted a place that would be a neighborhood oasis of community, connection, conversation, well-crafted food, and exceptional coffee,” she said. PK uses Counter Culture Coffee, A Durham, N.C., based company that collaborates directly with sustainable coffee growers and farmers, and its house-made baked goods use locally sourced products when possible, such as Stowe’s Mansfield Dairy, Elmore Mountain Flour, the Rooney farm in Mud City, Vermont cheeses, and more. “PK also has a variety of milk alternatives, including house-made almond milk,” said Veerman. “We also feature other fabulous roasters from time-to-time like Vivid, Broadsheet and Brio.”

EDIBLES COURTESY PHOTO

FINDING AN EDGE The shop took over the space that formerly housed Edgewise ski tuning.

The PK team has witnessed first dates, business deals, real estate transactions, and political debates, and watched baby bumps become small humans and non-coffee drinkers become cortado fanatics. It has served over 170,000 espresso drinks, 10,000 breakfast burritos, and 35,000 cups of tea since its inception. Veerman thought PK would be at its Gale Farm location for many years, but last summer the center’s owner told her he would not extend the lease and they would have to vacate the store by the end of August. “It broke my heart to move. I dug deep as we dismantled PK and connected to why I opened the business to begin with,” she said. Customers will recognize many of the same elements in PK’s new spot—marble countertops, La Marzocco Espresso Machine, and bakery and cafe. All baked goods, and the breakfast burritos, are made in-house. PK Coffee’s Waterbury location, which closed in March 2020 due to COVID, reopened in October. “I always knew we’d reopen Waterbury,” said Veerman. “Now barely

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six months after closing our doors, PK Stowe is open, too—for me, our employees, our suppliers and our great community. We couldn’t be happier with our new home.”

Coffee wars Joining PK in the Stowe coffee biz is, of course, Stowe’s venerable mainstay, Black Cap Coffee on Main Street (see p.20); Veerman’s former business partner, Matt Carrell, opened Woodland Baking & Coffee in the Baggy Knees Shopping Center in May, while both Dedalus and Stowe Bee Bakery—across the street from each other on Mountain Road— boast loyal coffee followers every morning. Then, as staffers around our office say, even the gas stations around these parts serve pretty darn good Joe—Dunkin’, if that’s how you roll, or Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Rumor has it, too, that the owner of Yellow Turtle and Red Barn Ice Cream is opening a coffee joint, Girakofi, in the old PK location at Gale Farm Center. That’s a lot of beans. — Stowe Magazine

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EDIBLES FOOD FEAST! Shoppers mill about Woodstock Farmers Market, as shown in these pre-pandemic photographs. The Woodstock-based food purveyor opened a second location in Waterbury before COVID-19, but months later found itself shuttered. The market reopened this winter.

WOODSTOCK FARMERS’ MARKET Shuttered by COVID, popular produce purveyor thrilled to be open again Walking into Woodstock Farmers’ Market is like entering a miniZabars. The aroma of spices and baked goods, the sight of local cheeses, colorful fruit, fresh veggies, and deli meats overwhelm the senses. It’s a foodies’ heaven just down the road in Waterbury Center. This summer, the market, after being closed for nearly a year due to COVID-19, is back open. When Woodstock Farmers’ Market bought the Route 100 building that formerly housed Pete’s Greens, there was already a connection. Both coowners, Patrick Crowl and Amelia Rappaport, had preSTORY / Kate Carter viously worked as retail PHOTOGRAPHS / Gordon Miller consultants for Pete's Greens and knew the produce business well. “Having moved into the former Pete’s Greens location, with so many similarities to what we do, has been helpful. Waterbury is right up our alley in terms of progressiveness. I feel really good about being here,” Crowl said. The Woodstock Farmers’ Market in Waterbury opened its doors in

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September 2019. It’s a scaled-down version of the wildly popular store in Woodstock, which Crowl’s father opened in 1992 as a year-round market with a handful of employees. Crowl had been living and working elsewhere, and came to Vermont to help his father. He eventually took over the business. Nearly 30 years later, he opened the second location. Woodstock Farmers’ Market in Waterbury offers fresh produce; cheeses and deli provisions; fresh meats; prepared foods; specialty and everyday grocery products; baked goods; coffee and tea; and wine and beer. Their small, on-site kitchen team keeps the deli case filled with grab-and-go sandwiches, garden salads, and cold entrees. A selection of house-made baked goods, including their awardwinning pies, are shuttled up from their Woodstock location several times a week. The owners look forward to offering a more robust bakery menu as demand grows and COVID-related staffing challenges are resolved.

EDIBLES

Crowl, whose strength is retail management, sits on the board of the Vermont Specialty Food Association, the leading information resource for all specialty food and beverage producers, service providers, and industry professionals in Vermont. The market is also a member of the Good Food Merchants Alliance, whose mission is to support the local food industry. “We pay attention to the food chain and where our food comes from,” Crowl said. “We try to carry Vermont products whenever we can. We support local farmers, dairy, and meat producers, but also products from beyond Vermont. If it’s something really special, we want to make it available here. “We have a great vibe. Our team likes to make everyone feel welcome, no matter what they’re here for. Everyone likes to eat good food,” he said. “We try to make the recipe work for everybody.” n //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: 2802 Waterbury Stowe Road, Waterbury Center. Check for current hours. (802) 241-2400, woodstockfarmersmarket.com.

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HYPERLOCAL Woodstock Farmers’ Market employees Maggie Twitchell, kitchen associate, Pam Gaines, grocery manager, and Andy Landry, general manager.

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Art of the Can Vermont’s explosion of craft breweries has triggered a whole new art form. Beer labels. With so many different beers and breweries popping up, companies find themselves partnering with graphic artists to make their beer stand out in the plethora of cans and bottles lining shelves and coolers. While some beer lovers already know what they like and remain loyal to a brand, others like to branch out and try what’s new. Bold, eye-catching, well-designed labels help. In the Stowe area, brewers have created strong brand identities, not only through making great craft beers, but through art. Label art. Here’s a look at the artists behind those cans.

Alchemist Brewery’s Holy Moley, with label designed by Dan Blakeslee.

Story: KATE CARTER | Opening photograph: SHANE RUMRILL

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DAN BLAKESLEE Alchemist Brewery, 100 Cottage Club Road, Stowe

alchemistbeer.com / danblakeslee.com

Chance encounters A fortuitous encounter at a café in Burlington brought Dan Blakeslee and Alchemist owner John Kimmich together. Blakeslee, a singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Providence, R.I., was in town for a gig. He’s been performing for 25 years, and art is his second vocation. His music writing style is American country. “I write about the true stories in life,” he said.

What is your art background? When I was a little kid my parents got me art lessons from a neighbor. I was really knocked out that they did that for me. They recognized my talent and nurtured it. Many years later I went to Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. I loved it. I miss the wild and crazy times.

What other art do you do? I do a lot of silk screening—posters for my shows and T-shirts. I’ve also done the occasional mural.

Describe how you and Kimmich met. I was at Muddy Waters in Burlington, sipping coffee and working on a poster for an upcoming show. John was there with his daughter. I sensed him looking over my shoulder at what I was drawing. He said he liked what I was doing and we started chatting. My first project for the Alchemist was a coaster. Then I did the Heady Topper label.

What is the design process like? John and Jen Kimmich have amazing vision. John is specific with brilliant, wellthought-out ideas. For Heady he wanted a guy drinking from a can of beer with his brain exploding with hops. For Focal Banger he wanted a guy wearing goggles, holding a beer pint glass. It’s based off the original coaster character I did for them. John gives me general direction, but also wants me to do my thing. Everything I do is hand-drawn pen and ink. I’ve always done pen and ink, no computer-based artwork. We usually have several sketches before pinning down a design. Then the design team at the Alchemist makes it seamlessly can-friendly. ICONIC ART Dan Blakeslee designed the labels for two of Vermont’s most popular—and likely most famous—beers: Heady Topper and Focal Banger, along with two others for Stowe’s Alchemist Brewery, Rapture and Holy Moley, pictured on the opening spread.

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How many can labels have you done? Four that are on the shelf, plus a few specialty off-shoot labels. >>

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TUMBLEWEED & TWO GUITARS Dan Blakeslee is a musician. Original sketch for Focal Banger.

What was the most challenging? Focal Banger because of the picture within a picture within a picture. I kept having to redraw the beer can smaller and smaller.

Where does your inspiration come from? I have a gallery of different beer cans by other artists whom I respect and I really like (American painter) Rockwell Kent’s work.

Is beer can label design a competitive niche? I don’t think it is. A friend of mine does a podcast called “16oz. Canvas—the Art of Craft Beer.” He interviews beer label artists. He held an event that I attended, The Art of the Beer Can. About 300 people from all over came and we vibed off of each other’s art. It’s an inspiring gathering, no competition.

Were you interviewed for the podcast? Yes. You can check it out at 16ozcanvas.com.

Do you like beer? I like root beer. I’ve never had a beer in my life. It’s funny, one of the fringe benefits of designing labels for the Alchemist is free beer, and I’ve never had one. It’s just by choice. I’ve never had the desire. For me it’s Moxie, Sarsaparilla, and root beer.

Does a great label help sell beer? Yes! Everyone in the craft beer world is getting zanier and zanier. Sometimes they just want to get the beer with the coolest label. The beer might not taste good, but so what, the label is a knockout. n

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COURTESY PHOTO; BELOW: GORDON MILLER

CHRIS WEBSTER

SUPER LINEUP Select Design designers Andrew Dernavich and Chris Webster. At top, the Lawson’s Finest Liquids rainbow of delight, with Sip of Sunshine, a particular favorite, front and center.

Lawson’s Finest Liquids, 155 Carroll Road, Waitsfield lawsonsfinest.com / selectdesign.com

Color me yellow Chris Webster is a senior designer and creative director at Select Design in Burlington. He’s been with the company since 1995, developing brand imagery for international companies, including Ben & Jerry’s in the U.S. and Nokian Tyres in Finland. “We’ve been designing labels for Lawson’s Finest for the past 10 years. Craft beer has been an amazing industry to watch, it has grown so much.”

What is your design background? I took design courses when I was in college at the University of Denver, where I earned a degree in art, design, and mass media. I’ve been in the brand design business for 30 years and done everything from apparel, merchandise, and packaging to brand development.

How did you land the gig with Lawson’s? They reached out to us with a request for proposal. They knew they wanted to make a change, elevate their look and feel. We responded with information on how we’d approach it and how we work. We’ve done packaging for big global brands, such as Pepsi and Mountain Dew, as well as local packaging, including the state’s syrup packaging for the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association. We worked with Phish for many years doing tour T-shirts.

What role did you play when designing Lawson’s labels? At the initiation of the project I served as creative director and led the process, along with senior designer Andrew Dernavich. Our roles evolved in different ways over the course of our relationship with Lawson’s, with me focusing on creative direction, as well as getting hands on in the design of certain labels. Andrew focused on the development of the overall line look and feel, and establishing the illustration and typography approach along with other elements. Andrew played a key role in the development of the visual identity and packaging.

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What is the design process? When we started working together, we felt that while the image they already had was iconic, we didn’t feel it was as good as it could be. We didn’t want to change the core, just polish, elevate, and modernize the look without losing the unique Lawson’s vibe. The first thing we tackled was color. We loved owners Sean and Karen’s ideas on color and we wanted to leverage it. We wanted something juicy and fresh. When they are introducing a new beer, we have a kick-off meeting. They talk about the intrinsic qualities of the beer—hops and flavor. We always try to have a meaning behind the label. Knock-Out Blond is a nod to Karen driving a convertible with her hair flying back and hops coming out of the back of the car. Even if you don’t know the backstory, you’ll be drawn in to try it. Everything is hand done. We start with sketching ideas of how we can represent the name of the beer. It’s an organic process and Sean and Karen are great to work with and always have a vision and ideas. It goes from a sketch to color. What color will be the starting point? We created the typography and it’s on all of Lawson’s packaging. >>156

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DYLAN NADEAU Rock Art Brewery, 632 Laporte Road, Morristown

BEA WEBSTER

rockartbrewery.com / dylannadeau.com

All in the family Dylan Nadeau began creating labels for the family business, Rock Art Brewery, in 2017, as a college freshman. His mother, Renee, said, “His perspective is offbeat, bright, fun, inquisitive, explorative. I love all of that. It’s very much who he is.”

How did you get started designing beer can labels? The first thing I did was for a beer distribution company that asked me to design a collage of different kinds of beers for a new delivery truck. It was a huge undertaking, but people loved the truck! Then I started doing labels, which are so much easier.

How much designing do you do for Rock Art? Mostly just beer can labels, but some designs go on T-shirts and apparel. Last summer I did my first mural. I took a hops character from the Dance Party label and did a nine-panel mural that covers a tractor trailer behind the Rock Art brewery. You can see it from the Morrisville bypass.

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Where do you get your inspiration? The natural world. I spend a lot of time outdoors. I’m into foraging and natural science. Also, I’m inspired by comic books, graphic novels, animated movies. I love Disney Pixar films. It’s mind-blowing what they do. I’ve been taking a class in animation and it’s so much fun seeing my pictures move.

How did you get into graphic design? I went to Lamoille Union High School in Hyde Park and took digital arts and learned about Adobe programs. Then I took an independent study course in graphics. It was the best class I took at Lamoille Union. In my senior year I went to Green Mountain Technical and Career Center and learned all the basics, from film to photography and the entire scope of creative media. It set me up with a portfolio for college. >>156

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ARYK TOMLINSON Ten Bends Beer, 590 E. Main Street, Hyde Park tenbendsbeer.com / @aryktomlinson, dfom.studio

Keeping it local

Born and raised in Vermont, Aryk Tomlinson lives in Johnson and attended Johnson State College (now Northern Vermont University–Johnson). He graduated with a degree in business management and then traveled west for a year. But Vermont called, he answered, and now he’s making art for Ten Bends. “A big part is knowing people. I’ve been thankful this past year to be able to make art for Ten Bends. It’s kept me afloat.”

COURTESY PHOTOS

Where do you get your inspiration for labels? When the owners, Mike Scarlata and Jason Powell, give me the name of a new beer, I first taste it and get a feel for the beer. Beer style is my first and main inspiration. We try to attach the label design to the type of beer. We draw from Vermont’s natural elements and tie the label to Vermont as best we can, unless it doesn’t make sense. For example, Northern Heights is a play on Northern Lights, a double IPA. (See label on the next page) The lower part of the can is a mountain scape, while the upper part is colors that seem to glow on a black background. Mike and Jason are really clever with the beer names and I build on that. One of their IPAs, Green Fountains, has a label that shows a spouting fountain of green hops. I like to use color as well as I can. I’m always experimenting with different colors to make the label stand out, while making sense for the beer.

What is the process like? Mike and Jason tell me the beer name and their initial ideas and describe the flavor. I take it from there. I don’t sketch, I design the whole label digitally in Adobe Illustrator. When it’s nearly done, I put it on a can digitally to get a good visual representation. They give me feedback, which is usually minor. >>

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GORDON MILLER

Keeping it local How long have you been designing labels? Two years. I’ve designed about two dozen. Half are specialty seasonal labels and a few are one-offs.

Which one was the most challenging? When I first started the gig, figuring out the flow and what the owners needed from me and what they were looking for. We worked it out together. I really wanted this kind of job and was excited to give them what they deserve for really good beer.

Why are you suited for this gig? I have a background in sign and label designing. I like product design, marketing, and putting it all together. I also do photography and shoot photos for Ten Bends’ website. I do their ads, product photos, and social media. Whenever they launch a new beer I try hard to promote it. I enjoy their beer and drank it before I started designing their labels. The owners appreciated what I was doing and took me along for the ride.

Does a great label sell beer? Most definitely. There are so many different beers on the shelf these days. A unique label stands out. We try to do something different that will stand out in a crowd of beers. If someone buys it once and enjoys it, they will probably buy it again. I try to put emphasis on NOT following trends. If everyone follows trends, the labels all look the same. I try to find a different angle and perspective.

What’s your favorite label? I like the Northern Heights label, the first one I did in that series. Cream Puff War is nice, too. The colors work well together and it has a 3D look.

What other art do you do? I enjoy doing murals. I’m sort of new at it and starting small. I also do acrylic painting. I enjoy art. It makes sense to me. n

Aryk Tomlinson.

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COURTESY PHOTOS

Collaboration is everything

SCOTT HAJDUK Lost Nation Brewing, 87 Creamery Road, Morrisville lostnationbrewing.com / hidukedesign.com Scott Hajduk (say Hi Duke) is a graphic designer and visual artist based out of Portland, Maine. His design aesthetic is vast, from clean and modern to vintage and funky. Having designed labels for other craft brewers, he understands how quickly the craft beer scene changes with new beers and styles. “It’s important for established breweries to remain relevant,” he said.

How did you connect with Lost Nation Brewing? In 2017 met co-owner Jamie Griffith in Portland when I was designing labels for Bunker Brewery. Craft breweries often collaborate and meet up to formulate and brew together. They become social events. After we met we started working together on their design needs. >>

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What was your first Lost Nation label?

Why are you suited for this gig?

It was a collaboration between Lost Nation and Bunker Brewery. The two beers were Cryer Days and Settle Down. For Lost Nation it was an augmentation of previous designs to keep their brand consistent. My first solo creation was Dog Lager, a collaboration with a mobile food truck called Lager Dogs. The design was a hot dog running. It wasn’t really my style, but it was fun to create. After that we did Lokal Resident, a Czech pale lager that Jamie and I worked on together. It was truly original and new. From that aesthetic we went on to create other labels in that vein. Jamie had visited Czechoslovakia and was impressed with their beers. He had photos from the trip that he sent to me. I played off those patterns and from there created labels that were a nod to more classic Czech- and European-style beers.

I have a lot of experience. Prior to working for myself I was an in-house designer for the beer industry. I worked for years with Bunker Brewing and other clients. I understand the technical and legal aspects, which are not glamorous, but are important for production. Because we had done some previous collaboration, I knew what Jamie was trying to achieve with his brand.

What is the creative process like? Every client is different. All of mine are remote, even pre-COVID. First Jamie and co-owner Allen Van Anda talk about a concept. Jamie likes to talk it out and we chat on the phone about their visions while I take notes. He’ll send visuals and sometimes he’ll mention colors he’d like to see, as well as initial talking points. Then it’s free rein. I’ll send proofs to see if I’m going in the right direction. Usually he’s pretty stoked and only has minor edits. A lot times his edits are technical things, like title fonts.

Do you sketch or work on a computer? For most I use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

What was the most challenging design? The first few, because I was working from other designers’ artwork and had to create something new. Plus being the first round I had to learn Lost Nation’s style. There were more technical aspects than creative ones.

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Do you like beer? I like craft beer. It’s not necessary for my work to like beer, but it definitely helps the creative juices get flowing. It fuels the creative process.

Do you taste the beer before creating the label? Not always, but when we talk we discuss flavors. Many are classic-style beers and tasting isn’t as important, but research is. I’ll take a page from what has been designed for those types of beers in the past. But sometimes I don’t get to try the beer until it’s in the can.

Is it necessary to have a great label? It certainly doesn’t hurt. Every brand has its own aesthetic. You have to find the one that best represents your brand. It’s important because the craft beer industry is constantly growing. Design is constantly evolving. It’s becoming more minimal, which I appreciate. At the end of the day, discerning craft beer drinkers know what’s good and the beer is most important. The label is to attract newcomers and be an image for a style of beer. Imagery definitely helps sell a product. n

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COURTESY PHOTOS

Lawson’ Finest Liquids What is your favorite label? I love how Hopzilla came out. It’s so much fun. I’m a fan of those monster movies, so it was really fun for me. It’s one of my favorites, along with Sip of Sunshine.

Is beer label art a competitive niche? Yes. I’m a giant music fan and being able to work on Phish T-shirts is something any designer would clammer for. Similarly, as a beer lover, I’ve been honored and humbled to work on this brand. The vast majority of designers would love to have this gig.

Does a great label help sell beer? For sure! We live in a visual world, where if you connect with something emotionally, you gravitate to it. The beer shelves are packed with a wall of art. There are so many different personalities and aesthetics. Your product needs to stand out. n

Rock Art Brewery

15, T 20 2016

VOTED 19! B 0 2

CAL MA T LO R S E

Where are you attending college? Maine College of Art in Portland. I’m studying pottery and graphic design. I’m a senior and moving back to Vermont after I graduate in May.

How collaborative is the creative process for labels? Usually my dad Matt sends an email with information about the next beer he’s developing: name, can info, and the flavor description, which is most helpful. Then I start sketching. Fruity flavors are more colorful and bolder; smoky beer with bourbon notes are darker, heavier, cozier. I’ll do a couple of sketches, email them, and he’ll let me know what’s working.

, 20 017 18 & ,2

How many labels have you done? Oh man, I haven’t counted. Probably about 10 beer labels and 5 seltzer labels.

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Which has been the most challenging? The first one in 2017. Since then the process has streamlined.

Which is your favorite? Magnamus. I love the color palate and abstract design and the fern pattern in the background.

Do you like beer? Yeah! Now that I’m 21 I have a taste for it. When I first started I was underage and winging it. I had no idea the range of flavor that can be achieved when brewing beer. It blew my mind how different each one is. Dance Party and Ginger Beer are totally different, and it’s all because of the hops. Learning about the different flavors you can get from hops has really opened my eyes. It’s like the movie “Ratatouille,” a comedy about art and food and rats in Paris.

802.253.4525 1880 Mountain Rd. Stowe, VT 05672 Mon.-Sat. 10-7 Sun. 11-6

Does a label help sell beer? Absolutely. Some people start with the label and then find out what’s inside. Some retailers buy by the label. The beer is important, and some people by for the beer. It’s about equal.

Is designing beer can labels competitive? It is, but I lucked out. It wasn’t a job I had to apply for! Now I know how competitive it is. I’m grateful to be able to design for my family’s brewery and build my portfolio. Now that I’m done with college I’ll be reaching out to other businesses. n

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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 newspapers and websites—Stowe Reporter (stowetoday.com and stowereporter.com) and News & Citizen (newsandcitizen.com)—are great community and real estate resources.

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STOWE PEOPLE Paul Sakash is a fixture in Smugglers Notch, where he regularly walks and picks up other people’s trash.

WALKING PAUL Stowe native is on a mission to clean up this town

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHS

/ TOMMY GARDNER

aul Sakash gets out of his Volkswagen in the parking lot of Barnes Camp, the Route 108 entry to the steep and twisty turns of Smugglers Notch, puts on his work gloves, his bright orange vest, and pulls out his tools: a neon orange Kinney Drugs bag and his trusty Grip’n Grab tool, breath visible in the chilly 7:30 morning air, two days before the clocks will insist it is 6:30.

And then, he walks to the top of the Notch and back, stopping every time his sharp eyes see a bit of trash, using his Grip’n Grab to grip and grab it and put it in his bag. Like he did a couple of days before, like he’s done just about every day on Stowe’s roads since last spring. Three days later, the Election Day storm closed the Notch road, but temperatures soon returned to the 60s, so the walks continued. >>

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STOWE PEOPLE

Paul Sakash uses a Grip’n Grab tool to pick up trash in Smugglers Notch in November, before snowfall closed the mountain pass.

And the bags of trash continue to get filled, because if there’s one truism about human beings, even in Vermont, it’s their propensity to trash their surroundings. “I’m not saving the world or anything like that,” he said more than once on our walk. “I’m just doing my part.” Sakash went for his walks around Stowe— either the 4-mile up and back from Barnes Camp or a 3-mile loop from his home at the base of Brush Hill, through the village and back, or both—more than 200 days in 2020. He had a streak of more than 180 days somewhere in there. His burly beard and long curly hair, combined with an orange vest and trash bag sometimes get him confused with, well, other hirsute people with orange vests picking up trash on the side of the road. That is, unless you grew up in Stowe, like Sakash did. “He makes me smile every time I see him,” said Mary Skelton, who lives on Pleasant Street. She was in school with Sakash’s older sister Debbie. She saw him as she and some friends were prettying up the Peace Park, that triangle slice of green formed by Pleasant and Maple streets, across from the church. She’s just one of the people who called or emailed the newspaper and said, “You know, there’s this fellow …”

Familiar figure

Sakash is an easy conversationalist and only once do politics come up during our 4-miler, despite it being just a few days before an Election Day. And even then, the politics are about the power lines being buried in town. He doesn’t think the town should have borrowed $3 million for them, that’s all. There is plenty of pontificating on the sociological observations gleaned from picking up other people’s castoffs. The top three alcohol containers are Twisted Tea and Mike’s Harder in various sugary concoctions, followed by trusty old blue Bud Light 24-ouncers. But those spiked seltzers are starting to catch up. There was a diaper once. He picked that up. But dog poop in bags? C’mon, people. “Luckily, I’ve only found one syringe,” he said. “I ended up putting that in a bottle.” After a few years of these walks, Sakash started picking up cigarette butts, which are

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even more ubiquitous than Twisted Teas and harder to see than Mike’s Harder. Unless, that is, you walk by a place where a road-work stop-sign flagger had posted up for a previous day’s job. It’s like the scattering of sunflower seeds around a Major League Baseball manager. Sakash sees cigarette butts the same way a forager will see morels. On our cold Friday, some of the butts are frozen and stuck to the road. He uses his gadget to make a couple grabs at them, but lets them be when they prove too stubborn. “Up here in the Notch, I’ll pick up 20 to 50 a day. In my village loop, I’ll see 100 to 300 a day,” he said. Maggie Morrissey, who also grew up in Stowe, hanging out with her friend Heidi Scheuermann, another Stowe native and the

town’s representative in the Vermont House, said Sakash told her recently about his relatively recent attention to cigarette butts. “That’s amazingly gross,” Morrissey said. “The fact that people don’t think that’s littering.” He doesn’t get angry about it much— although he amicably rants about whomever left the 12-pack of Corona empties off the side of the road and a bit over an embankment. There’s something very 2020 about that find. “I’m past being pissed off about it. I just get a little depressed,” he said. “There’s so much up here, and people just don’t think twice about it.” To many people driving through Stowe, whether via Route 100 from Morristown or Waterbury, or up and over the Notch on Route 108, Sakash has become a fixture on Stowe’s highways. >>

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STOWE PEOPLE Paul Sakash, back at his car at Barnes Camp on Route 108 at the base of Smugglers Notch, with his haul.

To many others, Sakash has been a fixture in town all his life. Sakash’s friend Rusty Dewees—known around these parts as Rusty, but around the rest of Vermont and beyond as The Logger— said of Sakash and his siblings, “You could call them old Vermonterish in that they are very, very, very steady.” Dewees said when it comes to folks like Eric Adams, or recently-departed Stoweites like Dale Percy, Ken Strong, or David Stackpole, he’d know where to find them during the day if he wanted to drop in and chat. He said Sakash is like that. Now, if you want to find Sakash, just go for a ride through Stowe, and you’re likely to see him. Dewees thinks he could keep it up for decades if he wanted. “If everyone had a little bit of Paul Sakash in them, there might be little more community action. He’s a Stowe guy and he’s always been a Stowe guy. It’s the old, ‘I’m not gonna complain about it, jeezum, I could do something about it.’ ” Sakash exhibits that aw-shucks attitude during our walk, waffling between being too modest to be interviewed for a story in his hometown newspaper to being, alright, maybe a little pleased about being in his hometown newspaper, the Stowe Reporter, where this story originally appeared.

Keep on walking

In November, Sakash hadn’t seen his girlfriend Lucie since the pandemic was declared. She lives in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, and when the border closed, they were stuck on their respective sides. Lucie’s not fond of all the hair, which he started growing out last November, aiming to do it for one year as a way of marking his entry into retirement. (It’s since seen a trim.) She can’t surreptitiously trim it while he’s sleeping, as she is wont to do, so it grows as it will. They communicate on Zoom. >>

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Mark Vandenberg Photo

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STOWE PEOPLE He leaves unanswered a question about whether that’s why he fills his days with seven miles of walking, if he’s restless or lonely. But Sakash doesn’t cut a fidgety figure. He’s just steady. He started his daily walks as many other people do, to lose some weight and get in shape. He’s not tall and he’s not slim, but he’s lost 30 pounds and he motors along with steadiness, geniality, and modesty. He’s a bit like a hobbit, and that’s a compliment. Larry Lackey, another Stowe longtimer— his parents owned the village variety store with the same name for decades—has joined Sakash on his walks through the Notch. A runner and cyclist, Lackey once rode his bike up Mountain Road and saw Sakash walking, plopped his bike in the woods, joined on the walk, and rode back home. Lackey has been friends with Sakash since junior high, playing basketball together. Lackey likes exercise, but he marvels at Sakash’s consistency, and the bonus trash removal that goes along with it. “If it were me, I think I’d be so frustrated, to pick up trash one day and there’s more right behind it,” Lackey said. “And the Notch? That’s something.” That’s true. Sakash managed to nearly fill two grocery bags on the day we walked; his trusty orange Kinney bag was near overflowing halfway back down from the top of the Notch. This is only a couple of days after he did the same thing, after he did the same thing a couple of days before that, and the day before that, and before that, and so on. Trash, it seems, is never ending.

Making a difference

When Sakash started his village loop this year, he couldn’t even make it all the way from his house at the base of Brush Hill to midway down Maple Street before filling a bag. The next trip, he made it further, but still didn’t finish the loop. Eventually, he was able to do a whole village loop without running out of bag space. When he modestly says “I’m not saving the world or anything like that,” he’s technically telling the truth. But, it’s pointed out to him, he has made a discernible dent in the amount of roadside trash in Stowe village. What was once an insurmountable quantity of motorized humanity’s castoffs is now manageable, and that’s because Sakash keeps walking. “I guess so,” he said. “Maybe it’ll inspire people to do it, too, maybe adopt a little stretch of road somewhere else,” Lackey said. “I think a lot of people think picking up trash is something you only do on Green Up day, but litter always happens.” n

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SPOTLIGHT

ALL IN THE FAMILY Chapman Smith helms construction company founded by his dad STORY & PHOTOGRAPH

/ KATE CARTER

Chapman Smith is president of Patterson and Smith Construction, a general contracting company his father, Shapleigh, and partner Cleveland Patterson, started in 1991. Chapman grew up in Morrisville, attended Peoples Academy, and graduated from Stowe High in 1992. After four years at Vermont Technical College he received a bachelor’s in architectural engineering technology. Chapman joined the company in 2003 and spent the next six years learning all aspects of the business, and bought the company in 2009. Chapman lives in Stowe Village and has two grown sons, Gunnar and Larson.

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GLENN CALLAHAN; POOL HOUSE, JIM WESTPHALEN

SPOTLIGHT

BUILDING RESUME Clockwise from top: Patterson and Smith built this stunning pool house, in close collaboration with Wagner Hodgson on landscape design. A Stowe couple had a dramatic site with heart-stopping views and a vision—a timberframe building with open floor plan that seamlessly incorporated the indoors and outdoors, shown here inside and out. A dramatic entryway.

What do you like about the construction industry? I’ve been in the building trade my entire life. I like the challenges of getting a project built. There are so many components—design, architect, subcontractors, materials—that go into building a house. There’s a lot going on a daily basis. I’m a detail person and I enjoy putting the puzzle together.

What are your strengths? I have good organization skills, a good eye for design and what looks good. I think I’m good with my clients. I’m an introvert by nature and this work draws me out.

What have you learned working with clients? You have to be a good listener and be able to follow through on clients’ expectations. A big part of the job is managing everyone’s expectations. It all trickles up to the client. You have to understand what the client is looking for and follow up. We have a lot of clients who are very smart and know exactly what they want.

Are either of your sons in construction? Yes, my son Gunnar started a year ago as a carpenter apprentice with us. He’s really excited about it.

What has surprised you about the construction business? I’ve always thought I worked very hard and now I’m working harder. The attention to detail is so high and if you want to do a great job you have to be incredibly focused. What has surprised me is I’m good at it. It’s a passion and I’m excited to be a part of it.

What is a favorite house you’ve built? Mine. But seriously, I’m not sure. I’ve done a lot of great projects.

What is the company’s scope of work?

What is your community involvement?

We do houses, additions, renovations, kitchens, bathrooms. It’s a mixed bag. We do all the carpentry work ourselves. We have two cabinet shops and painters on staff. We subcontract the rest of the work—concrete, electrical, plumbing, drywall—but we put it all together. We work primarily in Stowe, Morrisville, and Waterbury. The logistics of going beyond that radius just doesn’t work for us.

We donate to numerous charities. The two big ones are Helen Day Art Center (now named The Current), which my father was very involved with for a number of years, and LACiNg Up for Cancer, a running event in Morrisville.

How many employees? There are 25 on the payroll; 4 in the office and 21 in the field.

What changes have you seen in the construction industry? One big change since I started is how much information and how many products are available on the internet. Some products are being sourced by our clients. We can find the exact product or match it from a photo. The amount of information available has changed a lot and owners have much more input in the building process. Another change is labor. Our labor pool is getting older. I’m guessing the average age of my team is in their 50s. It’s hard to find younger people coming into the trades, and instead of working

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for an established company, I’m seeing younger people starting their own businesses. I’m not sure what the future brings. We’ve been lucky and haven’t had to look for help because the longevity of our employees is good.

How did COVID-19 affect your business? March through May 2020 was incredibly stressful, the most stressful time of my life. I was happy when the governor closed down the state, because then we knew what we could or could not do. As soon as we could reopen, we started again. We were very fortunate to not have projects go away. We’ve had good clients throughout. Once we got going there were some material supply snafus, but nothing that bad. Now prices of lumber, plumbing, and electrical have skyrocketed. Some materials are getting delayed. There’s no rhyme or reason to it and not knowing what’s happening can be unnerving.

What do you do for fun? I do a lot of running and spending time with my kids. I grew up cross-country skiing and snowboarding, but didn’t get out much this past year. Running has been a big part of my life. n

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R E A L E S TAT E

CONDO-RIFIC Along the Route 100 corridor, Morrisville to Waterbury TEXT & PHOTOS BY / KATE CARTER

STOWE

$275,000

Village Green condo, built in 1984, great central location 1,100 sq. ft. Taxes: $4,980 Agent: Rick Carrick, Pall Spera Company

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illage Green is a full-service resort condominium village, centrally located on Route 108, halfway between Stowe Village and the ski resort. It affords easy access to the area’s many recreational opportunities, and is adjacent to Stowe Country Club’s 18-hole golf course. This two-floor condo has two-bedroom and twobaths and comes fully furnished. A propane fireplace in the main living area is a warming addition and sliding glass doors open out to a patio and views. Condominium amenities include indoor and outdoor pools, tennis courts, game rooms, hot tub, and onsite management. HOA fees are $805/month and include interior and exterior maintenance and utilities. Outside: Landscaped country setting, with mountain views, easy access to the Stowe Rec Path, biking and hiking trails, and close to the ski resort. >>

Stowe Vermont

Residential Commercial

Custom Homes • Remodeling • Additions • Kitchens Tucker Fossiano Office: 802-244-6767 tucker@beaconhillvt.com

Cell: 802-238-0260 www.beaconhillvt.com

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MORRISTOWN /

$470,000

Well-maintained duplex built in 2005, close to downtown Morrisville 2,938 sq. ft. Taxes: $5,749 Agent: Sharon Bateman, Pall Spera Company Easy access to everything makes this 3-bedroom, 2-bath duplex especially appealing, as do reliable water, high-speed internet, and plowed paved roads. The location is great: 5 minutes to Morrisville, 5 minutes to Copley Hospital, 5 minutes to the Stowe/Morrisville airport, 5 minutes to golf, and just a few more minutes to hiking, mountain bike, and snowmobile trails. The main floor has three bedrooms, including the primary en suite, first floor laundry, and a shared full bath for the other two bedrooms. The finished walk-out basement has a large family room and plenty of daylight with windows and a door to the backyard. Outside: Covered porch, landscaping, quiet neighborhood, great views.

WATERBURY / $153,000 End-unit condo, built in 1981 in the crossroads of Vermont 800 sq. ft. Taxes: $2,662 Agent: Mike Bishop, Century 21 The One If proximity to Interstate access is high on your list, you can’t get much closer than this 2-bedroom, 1.5-bath condo, located within walking distance to Waterbury Village and literally a stone’s throw to I-89, exit 10. This end unit has many new upgrades, including an all-new kitchen with new appliances and all-new flooring on the main level. The finished basement has a half-bath and laundry room. The second floor has an upgraded bath and new flooring. There is plenty of natural sunlight, closets, and storage space, and a deck out back. Homeowner association dues are $125/month. Outside: Paved parking, walking distance to restaurants and shopping, and close to hiking trails and Waterbury Reservoir.

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STORY

: robert kiener |

OPENER

: kate carter |

PHOTOGRAPHS

: kate carter & erica allen

Classic shingle-style mountain home offers to-die-for views

SKI-IN, SKI-OUT

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As he sits at his custom-made, hexagonal, birch-trimmed kitchen table and sips a cup of strong, black coffee, the homeowner looks out his expansive bay window and explains, “That view! It’s a killer!” He pauses, takes another sip and adds, “I can never get enough of it. It’s breathtaking. Isn’t it?” He’s right. It is.

The views from this classic shingle-style, five-bedroom, 7,500square foot, ski-in, ski-out mountain lodge at Spruce Peak are some of the best in Stowe. There are views of the ski mountain’s famous Front Four ski trails—National, Goat, Starr, and Liftline—as well as a panorama of picture-postcard scenes from Mount Mansfield almost to Camel’s Hump and, closer to home, The Lodge and the ever-expanding Spruce Peak village.

While the views from the three-story home are knockout, its design and craftsmanship have also won rave reviews, described by one visitor as “nothing short of a masterpiece.” Although the owner, a Massachusetts-based private equity manager, is quick to praise the collaborative efforts of his design and construction team, it’s clear that he has played a major role in the home’s creation. “I own several houses and I really get a kick out of being involved in design and watching a vision take shape,” he explains.

He purchased the lot on the side of Spruce Peak in 2006, but wasn’t ready to build until 2018. “That gave me plenty of time to think about what I wanted in the house and how I wanted it to look,” says the owner, a skier and avid snowboarder. He explains that he wanted a home that fit in with the area’s other mountain cabins and that he favors an Adirondack or Rocky Mountain style. “Think of a house that Ralph Lauren would like to live in,” he says. “That’s my aesthetic.” story, p.183

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ALL PHOTOS KATE CARTER; POOLROOM: ERICA ALLEN

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shingled On his must-have list: five bedrooms, a great room, a game room, an eat-in kitchen, and a garage. He wanted to take full advantage of the relatively small, half-acre sloping lot and planned on building a three-level home. “The size of the home was limited to 7,500 square feet and I wanted to build every square foot I could to maximize the value of the property,” he says. He discovered the Connecticut-based architectural firm of Shope Reno Wharton and fell in love with their classic, shingle-style aesthetic. Stowe’s Sisler Builders came on board, as did the Burlington-based landscape architecture firm of Wagner Hodgson. Interior design duties went to Martha Vineyard’s Tracker Home Decor, who the owner has worked with before on several other homes. The small, sloping lot presented challenges to the design team. “When we visited the location, we immediately saw that the best views would come from the great room and kitchen and the bedrooms on the upper floors,” remembers architect John Gassett. “So we drew up a plan that made the most of those incredible views.”

It’s all about the details.

• Custom home builders • renovations • Additions • custom cabinetry & woodworking • Painting - Exterior and interior • Professional project management

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PATTERSON & SMITH Construction Building Homes. Building Long Term Relationships.

Stowe, VT (802) 253-3757 www.pattersonandsmith.com 183

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BRENNA

inspired

INTERIORS

boutique retail interior design — Open Daily 10-5 — 132 mountain road, stowe 802.760.6499 brennabinteriors.com

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KATE CARTER

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ERICA ALLEN; INSET: KATE CARTER

The Furniture Shop & Design Studio of Stowe Kathleen Dever, Allied ASID | 626 Mountain Road | 802-253-9600 designstudiovt.com designstudiovt

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KATE CARTER

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802.434.3500 | SHAPING NEW ENGLAND’S LANDSCAPE FOR 25 YEARS | LANDSHAPES.NET

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FINE HOMES, ADDITIONS & RENOVATIONS FOR OVER 30 YEARS

GDC CUSTOM BUILDERS 626 Mountain Road, Stowe | 802.253.9367 gordondixonconstruction.com

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The team created an entry hall on the lower level, which included a mud room, ski room, and a bunk room. Visitors then walk up a custom-made oak-and-birch staircase, crafted by Stowe’s Sterling Staircase and Handrail Co., to the home’s second floor that brings them to a two-story, timber-framed great room boasting the home’s most spectacular mountain and village views. “We wanted visitors to turn the corner into the high-ceilinged great room and be surprised—bowled over—by the spectacular ski slope views,” says Gassett. “We hoped it would be an aha moment that blew people’s minds.” Says the owner, “The most frequent comment I hear from visitors when they first enter the great room and see the view is ‘Oh my god! What a view!’ ” Visitors also invariably comment on the liberal use of wood throughout the home’s interior. “The owner wanted the home’s interior to reflect the exterior,” says Gassett. “He wanted wood, wood, and more wood.” The designers delivered. Indeed, there is no drywall or plaster anywhere in the house. Explains interior designer John Murphy, “The owner is allergic to drywall!” The floors are reclaimed “original face antique oak,” salvaged and restored from beams in a 140-year old Pennsylvania barn. Much of the wall and black-painted ceiling paneling is white oak and 11-inch-square tim-

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Traditional Vermont Homes and Outbuildings

Local Vermont Timber Energy-Efficient Construction

4663 Route 2, E. Montpelier, VT 802.229.7770 WinterwoodTimberFrames.com

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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

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bers in the great room are Douglas fir. Each of the home’s three floor-to-ceiling fireplaces is crafted with Vermont-sourced Woodbury granite, the same stone that is used to anchor the home’s exterior to the ground. “I like using locally-sourced materials,” says the owner. “I don’t think it makes any sense to build a house in the mountains of Vermont and import granite from Spain.” Using so much wood in the home’s interior could be dark or forbidding, so designers Murphy and Kalani Gonzalez added red- or neutral-colored curtains and treatments to some windows to “soften and warm up” the rooms. “We were also careful not to compete with the home’s spectacular exterior views,” says Murphy. For example, they chose lowbacked sofas that would not block views or used open-legged chairs to preserve a feeling of openness. Inspired by the owner’s admiration for Ralph Lauren’s timeless design aesthetic, they included several of his furniture pieces and opted for a mix of traditional and modern. “We really took our cue from the vernacular of the house and went with a design palette consisting of rich tones,” explains Gonzalez. Artwork includes paintings and photographs by regional and local artists such as Vermont photographer Jim Westphalen and painter Sheel Anand. There is plenty of evidence of the attention to detail and craftsmanship throughout this house that make this project so special. The three-story staircase features an uninterrupted 60-foot-long run of handrail and speciallysourced birch balusters. In the master bedroom and bath Sisler carpenters Bob Schue and Chad Roy spent months intricately mitering wall paneling and matching grains on eaves, angles, and corners. They also created dozens of custom cabinets and doors as well as delicately curved soffits and pilasters on the home’s exterior. The driveway is comprised of reclaimed cobblestone. Even the garage is special. Its doors are custom designed and the floor is comprised of brick inlaid in an elegant herringbone pattern. “I wanted the garage to be as nice as the rest of the house,” says the owner. “But it’s so nice that I regret every time I have to drive into it.” The landscapers took their cue from the home’s classic shingle style. “The house has a lot of texture so we wanted our landscape to also have a lot of texture,” explains landscape architect Keith Wagner. “But it also had to be subservient to the house and not look overly ornate or compete with the view.” The landscapers saved some existing mature trees and also added layers of birch, hemlock and dogwood to provide screening and privacy. How does the owner feel about his mountain home? “Every time I come here I find something new, some detail that excites me,” he says. “I had a great team and they hit it out of the park. I got all that I hoped for, and so much more.” n

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STOWE GUIDE & MAGAZINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY ALL THINGS STOWE GO STOWE TRIP PLANNING RESOURCES Go Stowe has all the resources to plan and book your trip to Stowe, Vermont. Reserve lodging, plan activities, and find dining and shopping. Visit gostowe.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 nonstop flights on demand, 24 hours a day. (802) 253-2332. stoweaviation.com.

ARCHITECTS 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 3N, Boston 02118. (617) 367-9696. eckmacneely.com.

ELD ARCHITECTURE Creating thoughtful design inspired by place. We utilize sophisticated three-dimensional technology to accurately model our buildings, allowing both architect and client to envision the project as it develops. (802) 521-7101. eldarchitecture.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.

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.

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.

METHOD ARCHITECTURE STUDIO PLLC A Stowe-based architectural studio specializing in energy efficient, modern timber frame, custom home designs. View our process, portfolio, and client stories at methodarch.com. 1799 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 585-3121. methodarch.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.

SHOPE RENO WHARTON Shope Reno Wharton (SRW) is a nationally acclaimed architectural firm, known for designing beautiful, functional, and enduring homes that enrich the lives of their residents. Each design is guided by unique sensibilities derived from a true love of building and craft. shoperenowharton.com.

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.

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN ALAN GUAZZONI DESIGN I look forward to working with you in designing your home or light commercial building, to create a comfortable, healthy, and inspiring space, while respecting your budget. Stowe. Please call (802) 253-6664. guazzonidesign.com.

CUSHMAN DESIGN GROUP Architectural, interior, and landscape design featuring beauty, craftsmanship, and excellent energy efficiency. Creative, intuitive, functional, efficient. (802) 253-2169. cushmandesign.com.

ART GALLERIES THE ARTISANS’ GALLERY An inspired collection of fine art and craft from Vermont’s established and emerging artists. Celebrating 25 years. 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. Thurs.Sun. 11-4 through June 24. Daily 11-5 June 25-Oct. 11, and by appointment. Closed January and February. 180 Main St., Jeffersonville. (802) 644-5100. bryangallery.org.

THE CURRENT 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, thecurrentnow.org.

NORTHWOOD GALLERY Gallery exclusively featuring Vermont artisans. Jewelry, pottery, prints, and more. We host artist workshops, live demonstrations, and provide custom woodwork. 151 Main St., Stowe. (802) 760-6513. info.northwoodgallery@gmail.com.

ROBERT PAUL GALLERIES An outstanding selection of original paintings, sculpture, and fine art glass by locally, nationally, and internationally acclaimed artists. Celebrating 30 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.

AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR 253 AUTO

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.

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Fast, friendly, reliable service on all makes and makes and models. Tire sales, mount/balance, repairs, Vermont state inspections, computer diagnostics, Intoxalock installation and service. Give me a call and we’ll give you the cost. 745 S. Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-9979.

BAKERIES BLACK CAP COFFEE & BEER Full bakery, light breakfast, lunch. All local, all fresh. Locally roasted coffee, espresso, lattes. Beers and wines from Vermont, U.S., around the world. Wi-Fi. Daily. 144 Main St., Stowe; 63 Lower Main St., Morrisville; 42 Church St., Burlington. blackcapvermont.com.

BIKES & BIKE INSTRUCTION 4 POINTS VERMONT MOUNTAIN BIKE SCHOOL & GUIDES Trained instructors will introduce you to mountain biking in a step-by-step process to help you further your skills for safer and more advanced riding. Call Rick at (802) 793-9246, 4pointsvt.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.

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. Open for curbside sales 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., 7 days a week. Order online at alchemistbeer.com. 100 Cottage Club Road, Stowe.

LAWSON’S FINEST LIQUIDS Award-winning brewery, stunning timberframe taproom and retail store featuring world-class beers and light fare of the highest quality. Open daily. 155 Carroll Rd., Waitsfield. (802) 496-HOPS. lawsonsfinest.com.

ROCK ART BREWERY Brewing beers we love for you to enjoy. Visit our brewery tasting room and Vermont artisan gallery. Relax on the porch with your samples and grab cans to go. (802) 888-9400. rockartbrewery.com.

TEN BENDS BEER A culmination of creative discernment and raw perseverance, resulting in some of the most sought-after ales in the Northeast. Pickup at the brewery or select Vermont retailers. 590 E. Main St., Hyde Park. (802) 521-7139, tenbendsbeer.com.

BUILDERS & CONTRACTORS ALLAIRE CONSTRUCTION Providing professional, personalized quality renovation/remodeling services for 34 years. Our trustworthy team has extensive knowledge in planning, design, and construction for all of your individualized kitchen and bath needs. Brent: (802) 793-2675, bda77@comcast.net.

BEACON HILL BUILDERS A family owned and operated custom-home building company. Over 30+ years of experience building and managing fine custom homes, additions, remodels, and energy efficient upgrades in Stowe and beyond. (802) 244-6767. beaconhillvt.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 services. (802) 888-3629, stowebuilder.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.

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.

RED HOUSE BUILDING Full-service, employee-owned building and construction management company specializing in highly crafted homes, from custom contemporary mountain retreats to meticulously restored historic buildings and unique commercial fit-ups. (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. Over 35 years in Stowe. References available. sislerbuilders.com. (802) 253-5672.

TIM MEEHAN BUILDERS Building excellence, exceptional homes, professional project management, and creative remodeling. 30 years plus in Stowe. Tim Meehan, (802) 777-0283. timmeehanbuilders.com.

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.

BUILDING MATERIALS 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. Ten locations serving Vermont and western Massachusetts, including Stowe and Morrisville. rkmiles.com.

CHIROPRACTORS STOWE CHIROPRACTIC Nutritional, lifestyle, and neurological protocols to help chronic health problems such as inflammatory bowel issues, anxiety, auto-immune issues, brian fog, fatigue, and chronic pain. Vacationers welcome. 68 Central Drive, Stowe. (802) 253-6955. stowechiro.com.

CLOSETS LAKE CHAMPLAIN CLOSETS Stay organized and save time with custom closets and storage spaces designed specifically for your needs. Discover your perfect storage solution with Lake Champlain Closets. 68 Randall St., South Burlington, (802) 999-8113, lccvt.com.

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 Road, Red Barn Shops, Stowe. (435) 640-1259.

CHAMMOMILE Clothing, shoes, accessories, clean beauty. Specializing in emerging designers and family owned brands from the U.S. and Europe. Largest selection of Clean Beauty skin care and cosmetics in northern New England. Closed Mondays. 25 Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-5005. @chammomilestowe, chammomile.com.

FORGET-ME-NOT-SHOP Treasure hunt through our huge selection of famous label off price clothing for men, women, and teens at 60-80 percent off. Route 15 Johnson, just 1.5 miles west of Johnson Village. Open 10-7.

GREEN ENVY

• • • • •

Housewares Cabot stains Painting supplies Electrical supplies Ice and snow removal • Cleaning supplies • Minwax stains • Best selection of fasteners

Boutique for the discerning woman. Nili Lotan, Rag & Bone, Tata Harper, Golden Goose, Levi’s, Mother, Herno. On-trend luxe clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories, homegoods. Over 300 designers. Unparalleled selection of premium denim. 1800 Mountain Road, Stowe. 3 Main St., Burlington. (802) 253-2661, vermontenvy.com.

HELLY HANSEN BURLINGTON Making professional-grade gear to help people stay and feel alive for more than 140 years. Come in to shop our latest selection of hiking, sailing, ski, and mountain lifestyle apparel. 66 Church St., Burlington. (802) 651-7010.

IN COMPANY CLOTHING Celebrating 21 years. Specializing in personalized service and top designer labels. Come see what’s in. 10-5 MondaySaturday, noon-5 Sunday. 344 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-4595. incompanyclothing.com, @incompanyclothing.

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.

MOUNTAIN ROAD OUTFITTERS / MALOJA (MAH-LOW-YA) FLAGSHIP STORE Made for the mountains. A European outdoor sport, lifestyle, apparel, and accessories brand. Winter: Nordic and alpine ski. Summer: mountain and road bike. 409 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 760-6605. mountainroadoutfitters.com. More clothing l

430 Mountain Road, Stowe

253-7205

Mon-Sat 8-4 • Sun 9-3:30

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STOWE GUIDE & MAGAZINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY ROAM VERMONT Adventurous footwear and apparel for men and women. Explore in style with Patagonia, Kuhl, Birkenstock, Prana, Dansko, and Blundstone. Located on historic Langdon Street in downtown Montpelier. Open daily. (802) 613-3902. roamvt.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 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. and private appointments. (802) 253-6077. wellheeledstowe.com.

YELLOW TURTLE Clothing, toys, baby rentals and gifts for your baby, kids, and teens. 1799 Mountain Road, Stowe. yellow-turtle.com.

E-BIKES & BOATS

GIFT & SPECIALTY SHOPS

VERMONT CANOE & KAYAK / LAMOILLE VALLEY BIKE TOURS

THE BODY LOUNGE

Pedal the rail trail then paddle the river on Vermont Canoe & Kayak and Lamoille Valley Bike Tour’s combined Vermont adventure. lamoillevalleybiketours.com and vtcanoeandkayak.com. (802) 730-0161 or (802) 644-8336.

EDUCATION & COLLEGES CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE ONLINE Champlain College Online offers affordable, accredited, career-focused online degree programs and certificates designed for busy adult learners. Choose from 60-plus programs in business, cybersecurity, IT, and healthcare. Learn more: online.champlain.edu.

NORTHERN VERMONT UNIVERSITY

COFFEE HOUSES BLACK CAP COFFEE & BEER Fresh coffee, espresso, lattes in inviting atmosphere. Full Bakery, light breakfast, lunch. All local, all fresh. Wi-Fi. Daily. 144 Main St., Stowe; 63 Lower Main St., Morrisville; 42 Church St., Burlington. blackcapvermont.com. Facebook.

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. Check website for hours. thebagelstowe.com.

EDELWEISS MOUNTAIN DELI Stowe’s #1 deli featuring delicious sandwiches, fresh chili, soups, salads and baked goods. Specialty foods store. Great beer and wine selection. Daily 6:30-6. 2251 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-4034.

DENTISTRY STOWE DENTAL ASSOCIATES Christopher P. Altadonna, DDS, and Jeffrey R. McKechnie, DMD. (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 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.

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.

UVM GROSSMAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Acclaimed, rigorous academic program. World-class faculty conducts cutting-edge research while mentoring and teaching. At the University of Vermont, Burlington. (802) 656-3131, uvm.edu.

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.

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.

FARMERS MARKET STOWE FARMERS MARKET Every Sunday, May through October, 10:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Enjoy breakfast, lunch, live music on the field. Take home local produce, meat, cheese, herbal products, crafts, and jewelry. 2043 Mountain Road. stowefarmersmarket.com.

FISHING & HUNTING FLY ROD SHOP Vermont’s most experienced guide service. Guided fly fishing, ice fishing and family tours. Weekly Taste of Vermont Tours. Fly Tackle, fly tying supplies, spin and ice fishing tackle. Route 100 South, Stowe. flyrodshop.com, (802) 253-7346.

FITNESS EQUIPMENT

SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH DISTILLERY TOTAL FITNESS EQUIPMENT 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.

DRY CLEANING & LAUNDRY

FLOORING

STOWE LAUNDRY COMPANY

FLOORING AMERICA

Full-service laundromat and dry cleaner. Drop-off wash-anddry and fold, same-day service, and alterations. Professional dry cleaning and shirt service. 44 Park Place, Stowe Village. Open 7 days. (802) 253-9332.

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Vermont’s premier specialty fitness equipment company. Visit our huge showrooms in South Burlington, Brattleboro, and Manchester to see the latest treadmills, ellipticals, rowers, indoor cycler gyms, and more. (802) 860-1030. totalfitnessequipment.com.

A natural body and bath shop with an additionally large selection of whimsical gifts, cards, beautiful artisan jewelry and local art. Red Barn Shops, 1799 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-7333. bodyloungevt.com.

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.

THE COUNTRY STORE ON MAIN Luxury bedding, dreamy candles, kitchen gadgets, children’s items, pet goods, rugs, frames, clocks, greeting cards, and more. Located in the former Lackey’s building next to Stowe Community Church. 109 Main Street, (802) 253-7653, countrystorevt.com.

GET YOURS A store adults and smokers. Come check us out. Get Yours is open daily 11 a.m.-8 p.m. on Route 100 in Waterbury, Main Street in Johnson, and on Route 302 in Barre.

MOSS BOUTIQUE Artist-owned boutique featuring contemporary Vermont oil paintings by Jennifer Hubbard alongside crafts by other independent designers, as well as beautiful and unique home furnishings, decor, gifts, and jewelry. Portland Street, downtown Morrisville. (802) 851-8461, mossboutiquevt.com.

STOWE KITCHEN BATH & LINENS More than a kitchen store. Two floors of home decor and furniture for entire home at great prices. Gourmet kitchenware, gadgets, specialty foods, bedding, bath accessories, candles, spa, clothing, jewelry, more. 1813 Mountain Road. (802) 253-8050. stowekitchen.net.

STOWE MERCANTILE Fabulous old country store, Vermont specialty foods, penny candy, clothing, bath and body, wine, craft beer and cider, and toys. Play a game of checkers or a tune on our piano. Depot Building, Main Street. (802) 253-4554. stowemercantile.com.

STOWE STREET CAFÉ Discover our community-oriented cafe featuring local coffee, food, and art, including breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch. Shop our unique collection of art and gifts made in Vermont and beyond. 29 Stowe St., Waterbury. stowestreetcafe.com.

TANGERINE & OLIVE Independent makers from across America. Clothing, jewelry, soy candles, letterpress cards and stationery, gorgeous houseplants, gifts for all outdoor lovers, and more. 232 Mountain Road. (802) 760-6692. tangerineandolive.com.

GOLF STOWE COUNTRY CLUB An impeccably conditioned championship course with stunning views of the Green Mountains. Join us for Tuesday concerts and cookouts starting June 15. Open to the public. stowecountryclub.com, (802) 760-4653. 744 Cape Cod Road, Stowe.

HARDWARE 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.

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 8-4 Mon.-Sat., Sundays 9-3:30. 430 Mountain Rd. Established since 1829. (802) 253-7205.

HEALTH CARE COPLEY HOSPITAL Exceptional care. Community focused. 24-hour emergency services, The Women’s Center, Mansfield Orthopaedics, general surgery, cardiology, neurology, diagnostic imaging, oncology, pulmonary and sleep disorders, tele-health services, and rehabilitation. Morrisville. (802) 888-8888, copleyvt.org.

LAMOILLE HEALTH FAMILY MEDICINE, STOWE Providing routine and urgent medical care for all ages. Walk-ins welcome and Saturday hours for your convenience. (802) 253-4853. lamoillehealthpartners.org.

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MANSFIELD ORTHOPAEDICS Orthopaedic surgeons and podiatrist. Comprehensive orthopedic care, sports medicine, foot care. Nicholas Antell, MD; Brian Aros, MD; Ciara Hollister, DPM; John Macy, MD; Joseph McLaughlin, MD; and Bryan Monier, MD. Morrisville and Waterbury. (802) 888-8405, mansfieldorthopaedics.com.

HEATING, AC & PLUMBING FRED’S ENERGY Experienced, licensed professionals. Quality plumbing, heating, AC installation/service; heating oil; propane; water heaters/softeners; sewer pumps; generators; bathroom remodels; 24/7 emergency service. Morrisville: (802) 888-3827, Derby: (802) 766-4949, Lyndonville: (802) 626-4588. callfreds.com.

HOME ENTERTAINMENT & SMART HOMES

Harold B. Stevens, Esq.

• Estate Planning • Business Formation & Sales • Collection Banking & Financial Law • Personal Injury

• Real Estate ~ • Residential and Commercial • Environmental Zoning • Civil Litigation • Criminal Defense ~ John F. Pellizzari, Esq. • DUI • Personal Injury • Assault • Auto Accidents • Family Law ~ • Wrongful Death • Divorce • ATV and Snowmobile • Child Custody & Visitation Accidents • Modification of Orders • Child Support • Free Initial Consultation

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.

HOME FURNISHINGS NOVELLO FURNITURE The area’s largest selection of beautiful furniture and mattresses, combined with professional home design and decorating services to give your home that special touch. 1021 Route 302, Berlin. (802) 476-7900. novellofurniture.com.

ICE CREAM RED BARN ICE CREAM SHOP Ice Cream, creemees, ice cream sandwiches, shakes, blizzards, sundaes, desserts, chocolates, snacks, candies, cookies, desserts, coffee, cold beverages and a selection of other Vermont products. Open year round. 1799 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 760-6425, redbarnicecreamshops.com.

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 SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH RESORT, VERMONT America’s Family Resort. Mountainside lodging. Award-winning kids’ programs. Zipline tours. Summer: 8 pools, 2 hot tubs, 4 waterslides, disc golf, mountain bike park. Winter: Three interconnected mountains, 2,610 vertical. FunZone 2.0 entertainment complex. (888) 256-7623, More inns l smuggs.com/sg.

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STOWE GUIDE & MAGAZINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY THE STOWEHOF & FRITZ BAR + RESTAURANT Classic alpine hotel on 26 acres. Fritz Bar + Restaurant open daily. Mountain views, fabulous outdoor pool with poolside dining, living room with 180-degree views. Outdoor firepit every evening. 434 Edson Hill Rd., (802) 253-9722, thestowehof.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.

VILLAGE GREEN AT STOWE Fully furnished condominiums at the center of all Stowe has to offer. Fireplaces, indoor pool, sauna, Jacuzzi. Affordable. thevillagegreen-stowe.com. (802) 253-9705 or (800) 451-3297.

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.

BRENNA B INTERIORS Our mission is to help transform your space into one you can’t wait to get home to. Bringing client inspirations into functional, comfortable, and beautiful interior design. 132 Mountain Road, Stowe. brennabinteriors.com, (802) 760-6499.

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.

VON BARGEN’S JEWELRY A second-generation family business with five locations in Vermont and New Hampshire, including a jewelry making studio. Von Bargen’s specializes in ideal-cut diamonds, fine handmade artisan jewelry, and custom creations. Stowe Village. (802) 253-2942. vonbargens.com.

SLATE Interior design and retail lifestyle store in Burlington. Clean, curated, functional, and timeless designs. Accessory packages to full-home design. (802) 540-6850. slatehome.com.

INTERNET SERVICES STOWE CABLE Providing reliable high-speed internet, streaming TV, cable television, and phone service throughout Stowe and Jeffersonville for over 30 years. Located at 172 Thomas Lane, Stowe. (802) 253-9282, stowecable.com.

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.

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Full service: We provide over 30-plus years of experience and in-depth representation in real estate, estate planning, family and criminal law, and business formation. Stowe, Derby offices. (802) 253-8547 or (866) 786-9530. stowelawyers.com.

KITCHENS & BATHS

LIGHTING

CLOSE TO HOME

BARRE ELECTRIC & LIGHTING SUPPLY, INC.

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. 257 Pine St., Burlington. (802) 861-3200. closetohomevt.com.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN 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) 522-0676. cynthiaknauf.com.

LANDSHAPES Serving Vermont’s residential and commercial customers with design, installation, and property maintenance. Expertise in complete landscape renovations, stonework, pool and spa installation, plantings, and maintenance. (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.

LAWYERS ANDERSON & ASSOCIATES A general practice of law: civil, family, child custody, probate, business law, and transactions. 954 South Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-4011. andersonlawvt.com.

BARR LAW GROUP 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. Licensed in Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts. Offices at 125 Mountain Road, Stowe, (802) 253-6272; 100 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y., (212) 486-3910. barrlaw.com.

HOME LIFE BY ROSE ANN HUMPHREY Home Life by Rose Ann Humphrey is a full-service interior design studio delivering quality and value to our clientele. We are committed to clients “loving how they live.” home-life.com, (617) 360-1008.

STEVENS LAW OFFICE

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.

LAJOIE GOLDFINE, LLC General practice including family law, civil litigation, personal injury, real estate, corporate, estate planning/estate and trust administration. Located in Stowe’s lower village, 638 S. Main St. (802) 760-6480. lglawvt.com.

Indoor and outdoor lighting, fans and home accents. The supplier of choice for area electricians and builders. Come visit our 3,000-square foot showroom featuring working displays for kitchen and bath lighting. Route 302, Barre. (802) 476-0280. barreelectric.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 2015-2019. One-stop grocery shopping featuring organic produce, groceries, artisanal cheeses, bread, local meats, craft beer and wine, bulk, gluten-free, wellness, CBD products. Open daily. (802) 253-4464. commoditiesnaturalmarket.com.

MORRISVILLE FOOD CO-OP & CAFÉ Committed to the health and well-being of people and community featuring local, organic produce, meats, fresh breads, groceries, artisan cheeses, bulk, craft beer, cider, and wine. Open daily. (802) 888-2255. morrisvillecoop.com.

MASSAGE & BODYWORK BRAD HIGHBERGER, LMT, RCST Specializing in chronic pain and injuries. Twenty-five plus years of experience working with neuromuscular therapy, myofascial release, and biodynamic cranio-sacral therapy in Stowe. vtpaintreatment.com. (802) 730-4955.

MULTI-SPECIALTY CLINIC 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.

DONALD DUPUIS, MD, & COURTNEY OLMSTEAD, 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.

OLSON & ASSOCIATES, PLC General law practice: commercial and residential real estate, contracts, 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.

STACKPOLE AND FRENCH Litigation: plaintiff and defendant representation, real estate, timeshares, corporate, utility, trust and estate planning and administration, probate, and general counsel services. Offices in Stowe, Jeffersonville, and Waterbury. (802) 253-7339. stackpolefrench.com.

JEANMARIE PRUNTY, MD, NEUROLOGY Board certified through the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Prunty offers comprehensive, compassionate care for patients with neurological disorders and diseases. Morrisville, (802) 888-8260.

THE WOMEN’S CENTER (OB/GYN) Board-certified specialist William Ellis, MD, and certified nurse midwives Kipp Bovey, Rebecca Gloss, Erinn Mandeville, and Jennifer Walters. Specialists in women’s health. Comprehensive gynecological care and obstetrics. Morrisville, (802) 888-8100, copleyvt.org.

Detailed Remodeling, Design & Construction

NURSERIES SUMMERSWEET GARDENS AT PERENNIAL PLEASURES NURSERY 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 1 p.m. East Hardwick. (802) 472-5104. summersweetgardens.com.

Kitchens ¦ Bathrooms ¦ Flooring ¦ Drywall ¦ Painting

PAINTERS—INTERIOR & EXTERIOR LAMOILLE VALLEY PAINTERS, LLC 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-oftowners. Personal chef services, weekly meals, catering for all occasions. Easier than takeout. (802) 730-2792, sweetsavorystowe.com.

Protect Your Investment by Hiring Allaire Construction: 34 Years of Professional, Reliable Workmanship RRP Certified, Licensed, Insured & Locally Owned/Operated

PHYSICAL THERAPY COPLEY REHABILITATION SERVICES

ALLAIRE CONSTRUCTION

Therapies include physical, occupational, hand, speech, aquatic, pediatric, cardiac, and pulmonary, work conditioning, concussion program, other comprehensive rehab services. Clinics in Hardwick and Morrisville (Mansfield Orthopaedics, Tamarack Family Medicine and Copley Hospital). (802) 888-8303, copleyvt.org.

Brent Allaire ¦ 802-793-2675 ¦ bda77@comcast.net

PINNACLE PHYSICAL THERAPY Skilled physical therapy for orthopedic and neuromuscular conditions, sports, family wellness, pre- and post-surgery. Personal, professional care: 1878 Mountain Road, Stowe. Appointment within 24 hours, M-F. (802) 253-2273. info@pinnacleptvermont.com or pinnacleptvermont.com.

PHYSICIANS VERMONT REGENERATIVE MEDICINE Only Regenexx clinic in New England, offering non-surgical procedures using a patient’s own cells for treatment of joint, tendon, and ligament problems, instead of surgery. Jonathan E. Fenton DO. Winooski, Vt. (802) 859-0000, vermontregenerativemedicine.com.

PICTURE FRAMING

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.

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Custom picture framing, mirror framing, plaque lamination and canvas stretching. Vermont’s largest selection of frames with locations in Burlington, South Burlington, and now Stowe. (802) 760-6699, vermontframegame.com.

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Providing quality picture framing to the Central Vermont community for almost 40 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.

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AXEL’S FRAME SHOP & GALLERY

We Service Foreign and Domestic Vehicles

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Repairs, Diagnostics, VT State Inspections and Intoxalock® Ignition Interlock Devices

745 S Main Street, Stowe

802-253-9979

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STOWE GUIDE & MAGAZINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY 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 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.

WILLIAM RAVEIS STOWE REALTY We combine the marketing and technology of one of the largest brokerages in the U.S. with the local knowledge and community focus of a Vermont family business. You can count on our family to be there for yours. (802) 253-8484, raveis.com.

RESTAURANTS 10 RAILROAD STREET & STOWE CANTINA

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.

PUBS BURT’S IRISH PUB Stowe’s local Irish pub for over 45 years. Come enjoy our popular brunch specials out on the lawn every Sunday or stop in any time for a cold drink and a quick bite to eat. Luce Hill Road, Stowe. (802) 253-6071.

REAL ESTATE & RENTALS COLDWELL BANKER CARLSON REAL ESTATE Real estate services representing Stowe and surrounding communities. Our talented team leads the industry in technology, innovation, and expertise. 91 Main St., Stowe, (802) 2537358. 74 Portland St., Morrisville, (802) 521-7962. cbcarlsonrealestate.com.

ELEMENT REAL ESTATE Element Real Estate is a boutique firm out to transform the real estate experience from one of sales to one of service, one transaction at a time. Please visit us on Stowe’s Mountain Road, at realestatevt.com, or call us at (802) 253-1553.

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.

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.

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 Road, Stowe. (802) 253-4994. redbarnvt.com.

STOWE AREA REALTY GROUP AT KW VERMONT–STOWE Our dedicated team can help you with residential, vacation, investment, and commercial real estate sales and marketing. KW Vermont’s extensive resources and innovative technology will give you a distinctive advantage. 1056 Mountain Road, Suite 1, Stowe. (802) 760-3100. stowearearealty.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. (802) 253-8132. stowecountryhomes.com.

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10 Railroad Street offers the hungry traveler American comfort food and drink with a twist. Morrisville, 10railroadstreet.com, (802) 888-2277. Stowe Cantina serves up traditional Mexican food, beers, and cocktails, including our famous margaritas. 2160 Mountain Road, stowecantina.com.

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 Road, Stowe. benchvt.com or (802) 253-5100.

BLACK DIAMOND BARBEQUE Full-service restaurant, craft cocktail and beer bar, outdoor seating, and full-service catering available. (802) 888-2275, blackdiamondbbq.com.

HARRISON’S RESTAURANT Located in historic Stowe Village serving elevated takes on American dishes with wine, craft beers and cocktails in a unique, parlor-like space. Summer/fall patio dining. Reservations accepted. (802) 253-7773, harrisonsstowe.com.

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 Road, Stowe. (802) 253-4765, idletymebrewing.com.

SUNSET GRILLE & TAP ROOM Northern-style southern barbecue, burgers and wings. Craft beers and cocktails. Sports bar, family friendly. NFL Sunday ticket. 30 TVs. Just off the beaten path. Cottage Club Road, Stowe. (802) 253-9281. sunsetgrillevt.com.

TRES AMIGOS Mexican fare highlighting fresh produce and local meats and cheeses; tequilas and mezcals, margarita and cocktail menu, 24 drafts focusing on Vermont and Mexican-style craft beers. 1190 Mountain Road, (802) 253-6245. tresamigosvt.com.

THE WHISTLEPIG PAVILION The WhistlePig Pavilion brings its famous après-ski flair to the spacious Spruce Peak village green this summer with the new Spruce Pit BBQ. Open 7 days a week.

WILDFLOWER Nestled within the Grey Fox Inn, this farm-to-table experience is accentuated by Asian and Latin Caribbean flavors, and complimented by a seasonally crafted cocktail menu. Reservations accepted. 990 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 760-6044. wildflowervt.com.

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.

WAKE ROBIN A 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.

MICHAEL’S ON THE HILL Farm-to-table cuisine. Swiss chef owned. Green Restaurant/Wine Spectator/Best Chefs America. Most Romantic Restaurant in Vermont: TripAdvisor, msn.com, delish.com. Best European Inspired Farm-to-Table Restaurant, Vermont: Lux Life Restaurant & Bar Awards. 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, great vibes. 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) 253-5247, piecasso.com.

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 people. Dinner daily, lunch Saturday and Sunday. (802) 244-7827, waterburyreservoir.com.

SALUTE STOWE Chef owned and operated. Authentic Italian cuisine. Homemade pasta and mozzarella, prime wood-fired steaks, fresh seafood, lasagna and veal parmigiana, fresh baked bread, desserts, daily specials. Outdoor sitting. Catering. 18 Edson Hill Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-5677, salutevt.com.

THE SKINNY PANCAKE Locally sourced sweet and savory crepes, coffee and espresso, burgers, beer and wine. Takeout and dine-in. 454 Mountain Road, Stowe. skinnypancake.com.

SHOE STORES 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 11 to 5 and private appointments. Insta: wellheeledstowe. (802) 253-6077, wellheeledstowe.com.

SPA MIRROR MIRROR Your premiere destinations for luxury beauty, wellness, and home accessories, with stores and day spas in Burlington and now in Stowe. (802) 585-7713. mirrormirrorvt.com.

THE SPA AT SPRUCE PEAK Experience a complete wellness journey included with every spa or salon treatment—including access to our outdoor pool, guided fitness classes, and more. (802) 760-4782, 7412 Mountain Road, Stowe.

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 and tastings, walk the maple trail. World’s best maple creemees, farm animals, large gift shop, mail order. 1005 Route 14N, East Montpelier. (802) 223-5757, (800) 376-5757.

LAUGHING MOON CHOCOLATES Handmade chocolates and specialties in the heart of Stowe Village. Laughing Moon Chocolates is located at 78 South Main St., Stowe Village. (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.

SPRUCE PEAK FARM TABLE DINNERS A culinary feast under the stars on Spruce Peak village green. Chefs partner with local food producers to create four courses of seasonally inspired cuisine. Beautiful setting, music, and a memorable dining experience. For details, visit sprucepeak.com/farmtable.

SPRUCE PEAK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER The Stowe region’s premier, year-round presenter of music, theater, dance, film, education, and family programs on stage, on screen, and across the community. (802) 760-4634. Visit sprucepeakarts.org for more info.

VERMONT SKI & SNOWBOARD MUSEUM Collecting, preserving, and celebrating Vermont’s rich ski and snowboarding history. Free Admission. Explore our exhibits and visit the gift shop. Friday-Saturday noon-5 pm. 1 Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-9911, vtssm.org.

SPECIALTY FOODS 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, clusters, hot chocolate, factory seconds. (802) 241-4150. lakechamplainchocolates.com.

SPORTING GOODS ONION RIVER OUTDOORS Gear, clothing, and expert advice for all your outdoor adventures. Friendly, knowledgeable sales and service of bikes, skis, and car racks. Visit onionriver.com or find us on Langdon Street in beautiful, downtown Montpelier.

STOWE HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM Preserving Stowe’s rich history. Museum at the West Branch and Bloody Brook Schoolhouses, next to Stowe Library. Tuesday and Saturday, noon-3 p.m., Thursday 9 a.m.-noon, and when the flags are out. (802) 253-1518. stowehistoricalsociety.org, info@stowehistoricalsociety.org.

STOWE PERFORMING ARTS Stowe Performing Arts presents great music—classical, blues, jazz, swing, pop, bluegrass, country—in dramatic settings throughout the community. Noon Music in May, Gazebo concerts, and Music in the Meadow. (802) 253-7792 or stoweperformingarts.com.

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.

WINE, BEER, & SPIRITS BLACK CAP COFFEE & BEER Carefully curated beer selection of Vermont, American and imported craft beers. Wines and sparkling wines. Coffee, espresso, lattes, pastries, breakfast, sandwiches. Daily. 144 Main St., Stowe; 63 Lower Main St., Morrisville; 42 Church St., Burlington. blackcapvermont.com. Facebook.

DEDALUS WINE SHOP, MARKET, & WINE BAR One of the country’s best indie wine shops, featuring smallproduction wine, a full-service cheese counter, housemade charcuterie, and a lively wine bar and restaurant. Outdoor seating available. 1031 Mountain Road, Stowe. dedaluswine.com. (802) 585-7717.

FINE WINE CELLARS 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. 888-547-4327.

SURVEYORS LITTLE RIVER SURVEY COMPANY / HOLT GILMOUR SURVEY ASSOCIATES 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.

TOYS & GAMES

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.

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. Monday through Saturday, 10-7; Sunday 11-6. (802) 253-4525.

STOWE PUBLIC HOUSE Over 700 craft beers, cider, mead and wine. Mix and match in any quantity. Curated selection of Vermont cheeses and specialty foods. Bar open daily. 109 Main St., Stowe. (802) 585-5785, stowepublichouse.com.

ONCE UPON A TIME TOYS Make every day play day with Airfort®. Test your agility on a ninjaline. Unlock the mysteries of shape-shifting Sashibos. Legos® to Russian nesting dolls. Our 44th year. Birthday? Get a free balloon. (802) 253-8319, fun@stowetoys.com, stowetoys.com, 57 Mountain Road, Stowe.

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.

TRAVEL & TOURS

YOGA & PILATES

4 POINTS VERMONT BREWERY TOURS

YOGA BARN

STOWE THEATRE GUILD Stowe Theatre Guild is working on bringing two entertaining events to the community. Currently, the intimate powerful play, “The Last Five Years,” is available for streaming. For information on tickets and what’s coming, go to stowetheatre.com.

EDSON HILL

OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE & GEARX.COM

SPRUCE PEAK SUMMER ON THE GREEN The village green comes to life at Spruce Peak. From artisan markets, live music, and movies to festive concerts with world-famous headliners, there’s something to look forward to every week this summer. Visit sprucepeak.com/summer for details.

WEDDING FACILITIES

Vermont is home to some great microbreweries and our tours bring you to some of the best. We pick up in the local area, and guarantee a good time. Call Rick at (802) 793-9246, 4pointsvt.com.

Livestream classes from the Yoga Barn setting daily. In-person classes, daily, as permitted. Individual and small-group privates. Customized yoga retreats, as permitted. Check our website at theyogabarnstowe.com.

207

INDEX

ADVERTISERS

253 AUTO

205

HARRISON’S RESTAURANT

153

SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH DISTILLERY

ALCHEMIST BREWERY

131

HARRY HUNT ARCHITECTS

191

SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH RESORT

ALLAIRE CONSTRUCTION

205

HELLY HANSEN

SPA AT SPRUCE PEAK

149

ANDERSON & ASSOCIATES

HOME LIFE INTERIORS

164

SPRUCE PEAK FARM TABLE DINNERS

ARBORTREK CANOPY ADVENTURES

IDLETYME BREWING CO.

137

SPRUCE PEAK SUMMER ON THE GREEN

119

IN COMPANY CLOTHING

AXEL’S FRAME SHOP & GALLERY

121

J. GRAHAM GOLDSMITH ARCHITECTS

165

STEVENS LAW OFFICE

203

BAGEL, THE

156

JOHNSON WOOLEN MILLS

120

STOWE AREA REALTY KW VERMONT

163

KNAUF LANDSCAPE DESIGN

197

STOWE BEVERAGE & LIQUOR STORE

157

STOWE CANTINA

133

ARTISANS’ GALLERY

BARRE ELECTRIC BEACON HILL BUILDERS

173

LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES

151

BENCH

135

LAKE CHAMPLAIN CLOSETS

184

LAMOILLE HEALTH PARTNERS

BLACK CAP COFFEE

BLACK DIAMOND BARBECUE

145

LAMOILLE VALLEY BIKE TOURS

BODY LOUNGE

115

LANDSCAPES

151 37

SPRUCE PEAK PERFORMING ARTS

INSIDE BACK

STOWE COUNTRY CLUB

STOWE COUNTRY HOMES

195

STOWE FAMILY DENTISTRY

47 189 STOWE FARMERS MARKET

BOUTIQUE BRAGG FARM SUGARHOUSE BRENNA B INTERIORS

101 53 185

LAUGHING MOON CHOCOLATES

155

LAWSON’S FINEST LIQUIDS

153

LITTLE RIVER HOTGLASS STUDIO & GALLERY

123

STOWE HARDWARE & DRY GOODS

201

STOWE KITCHEN BATH & LINENS

117

STOWE MERCANTILE BRYAN MEMORIAL GALLERY BUNYABUNYA BURT’S PUB BUTCHERY, THE

118 115 153 11

LOEWEN WINDOW CENTER OF VT & NH MAD MOOSE ARCHITECTURE

193

MAD RIVER ANTLER

121

MARVIN’S COUNTRY STORE

155

STOWE PERFORMING ARTS

13 23

155

METHOD ARCHITECTURE STUDIO

158

CAMARA SLATE PRODUCTS

195

MICHAEL’S ON THE HILL

129

STOWE SWEETS

CHAMMOMILE

109

MIRROR MIRROR

125

STOWE THEATRE GUILD

CLOSE TO HOME COLDWELL BANKER CARLSON RE COMMODITIES NATURAL MARKET COPLEY WOODLANDS

159 INSIDE FRONT 156 14

MORRISVILLE FOOD COOP

125

SUNSET GRILLE & TAP ROOM

MOUNTAIN LOGWORKS

184

SWEET & SAVORY PERSONAL CHEF

31 141 40 142

MOUNTAINOPS OUTDOOR GEAR

TANGERINE & OLIVE

127

MOUNTAINOPS MTB DEMO CENTER

TEKTONIKA STUDIO ARCHITECTS

189

127

MOUNTAIN ROAD OUTFITTERS

CUSHMAN DESIGN GROUP

171

MUMLEY ENGINEERING

DEDALUS WINE SHOP & MARKET

141

NORTHERN VERMONT UNIVERSITY

DESIGN STUDIO OF STOWE

187

NORTHWOOD GALLERY

DONALD P BLAKE JR BUILDER

165

ECK MACNEELY ARCHITECTS

175 3

41 198 39

TEN BENDS BEER

151

TEN RAILROAD STREET

133

THE CURRENT

103

TIM MEEHAN BUILDERS

199

NOVELLO FURNITURE

167

TOPNOTCH RESORT & SPA

147

ONCE UPON A TIME TOYS

125

TOTAL FITNESS EQUIPMENT

ONION RIVER OUTDOORS

45 59

EDSON HILL MANOR

143

OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE & GEARX.COM

ELD ARCHITECTURE

187

PATTERSON & SMITH CONSTRUCTION

183

ELEMENT REAL ESTATE VERMONT

8-9

PAUL ROBERT ROUSSELLE ARCHITECT

198

ELIZABETH HERRMANN ARCHITECTURE/DESIGN 185

149

STOWEHOF RESORT

MOSS BOUTIQUE

COUNTRY STORE ON MAIN

EDELWEISS DELI

149

STOWE RESORT HOMES

BUTTERNUT MOUNTAIN FARM

STOWE PUBLIC HOUSE

STOWE STREET CAFE

CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE ONLINE

175

PAUL ROGERS PHOTOGRAPHY

TRES AMIGOS MEXICAN

135

TWIN GOATS CLOTHING

113

TRUEXCULLINS ARCHITECTURE & INTERIORS

196

UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT

40 VERMONT ARTISAN COFFEE & TEA

FERRO ESTATE & CUSTOM JEWELERS

PERENNIAL PLEASURES NURSERY

203

FINE WINE CELLARS

PIECASSO PIZZERIA & LOUNGE

143

FLOORING AMERICA

168

PINNACLE PHYSICAL THERAPY

155

VERMONT CANOE & KAYAK

VERMONT ELECTRONICS

40 VERMONT REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

FLY ROD SHOP

RED BARN ICE CREAM

145 VERMONT SKI & SNOWBOARD MUSEUM

FORGET-ME-NOT-SHOP

118

RED BARN REALTY OF VERMONT

166

RED HOUSE FINE HOMEBUILDING

193

VILLAGE GREEN AT STOWE FOUR POINTS VERMONT FOUR SEASONS SOTHEBY’S RE

161

RESERVOIR RESTAURANT & TAPROOM

135

VON BARGEN’S JEWELRY

123 21

113

RK MILES

FRED’S ENERGY

199

ROAM

119

WAGNER HODGSON LANDSCAPE ARCH

171

FRITZ BAR & RESTAURANT

141

ROBERT PAUL GALLERIES

105

WAKE ROBIN

199

FURNITURE SHOP, THE

187

ROCK ART BREWERY

155

WELL HEELED

GET YOURS

116

RURAL RESOURCES

164

WHISTLEPIG PAVILION & VILLAGE GREEN

137

GORDON DIXON CONSTRUCTION

191

SALUTE

147

WILDFLOWER RESTAURANT

128

GOSTOWE.COM

120

SISLER BUILDERS

196

WILLIAM RAVEIS REAL ESTATE

173

SHOPE RENO WHARTON

197

WINTERWOOD TIMBER FRAMES

197

166

BACK COVER

VISIONS OF VERMONT

FRAME GAME

GREEN ENVY BOUTIQUE

208

127

GREEN MOUNTAIN DISTILLERS

157

SKINNY PANCAKE

YARN

119

GREY FOX INN & RESORT

128

SLATE LIFESTYLE / HOME

YELLOW TURTLE

113

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