Stowe Guide & Magazine Winter/Spring 2024-25

T E SOW

One of a kind: Nancy Stead left a life behind to make Stowe her home. After nearly six decades here, she left behind a legacy of storytelling, friends, family, work, and fun. by Tommy Gardner

Oldest in the nation: Ski historian looks back on the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol and makes updates for the record. by Brian Lindner

Stick season Photographer Paul Rogers chronicles that time between bus tours and ski bums.

Aspire: Stowe Community Church—the people’s church— seeks to raise $1.65 million for repairs.

Vertical alignment: Micheline Lemay and Noah Dines set high bars for mountain sports.

& stone: Sculptor Chris Curtis’ life and work. by Aaron Calvin

Salute cucina: Stowe Italian restaurant—warm as a wood fire. by Aaron Calvin

Couple

10 Contributors

20 Rural route: Ann Dávila Cardinal • Chicanes

Steeplejacks

58 Outdoor primer: Snowmobiling

Snowshoeing • Cross country •Ice fishing •Skating

100 Shop, arts, explore: Events, exhibits

142 Sip, stay, sup, indulge: Nocturnal barbecue

Alpine Arrivals • Mexican takeout

Trapp family lore

Goings on: Events, exhibits

B-side: ‘Paper Route’

Roll model: Liana Hunt

History lesson: Town hall memories

Family affair: Music debut at Trapps

Star attraction: Cristina Escobedo

Stowe vibe: Stan Marc Wright

Found in Vermont: Shopping list

Lifestyle: Coleen

ON OUR COVER

On our cover this winter is “The Chin,” acrylic on canvas, 26"x34", by Vermont-based artist Brian Hewitt, whose work also appeared on the cover of our 2021 winter edition.

“I put enormous effort into the sky, and I think it sets the stage for the rest of the painting,” the self-taught artist says about his use of contrast, shadows, and vibrant colors. “I want my work to have impact and be noticed but not overwhelm a room.”

Hewitt’s technique requires several layers of paint to create depth: “Each piece takes weeks. I am not a plein air artist. I use photos and imagination and paint primarily in my studio.”

He was raised on a dairy farm, so Vermont’s landscapes are familiar, although he’s also spent time in the nation’s capital, the Big Apple, and San Francisco, and found inspiration while living in Maine.

See Hewitt’s work at Northwood Gallery in Stowe and Artisans’ Gallery in Waitsfield. More at brianhewittfineart.com.

Gregory J. Popa

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

Gregory J. Popa

Katerina Werth

Kate Carter and Tommy Gardner

Leslie Lafountain

Leslie Lafountain

Gordon Miller

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 Gardner, Robert Kiener, Brian Lindner, Peter Miller, Mike Mulhern, Amy Kolb Noyes, David Rocchio, Julia Shipley, Nancy Wolfe Stead, Kevin Walsh

Stowe Guide & Magazine & Stowe-Smugglers’ Guide & Magazine are published twice a year: Winter/Spring & Summer/Fall

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Best Niche Publication, New England Newspaper & Press Association 2010 through 2018, 2020-2023

BRIAN LINDNER

IN THIS ISSUE: Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol, p.76

AARON CALVIN

IN THIS ISSUE: Christopher Curtis, p.124

Behind the scenes: As a historian, I learned long ago never to revise history. On the other hand, as old files, documents, letters, and photographs come to light, we should update prior histories with newer and better facts as they are discovered. This article draws on several new primary sources there were not known or available when the first version appeared in this magazine. This isn’t revisionist history; this is an updated and more accurate one.

Currently: Brian is the historian for Stowe Mountain Resort. He continues to work on two books about World War II aviation, and serves on the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol. “This will be my 71st year on skis and my 51st year at the resort.”

KATE CARTER

IN THIS ISSUE: Liana Hunt, p.112

Behind the scenes: It’s not every day I get to interview a Broadway star. In fact, it was a first, and most likely my one and only. Liana Hunt, who grew up in Morrisville and Stowe, is a bonafide Broadway and she sure did shine in our interview. I could feel her sparking personality as we talked. She is thoughtful, engaging, and genuinely happy about her career, how she got there, and the support she got from friends, family, and mentors along the way. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and it was such a pleasure to speak with her that I’m booked on a trip to New York City to see her perform the “Triple Threat” on Broadway.

Currently: Kate is a freelance writer and photographer, and when she’s not researching stories, she’s photographing homes for real estate agents, builders, interior designers, concierges, and for this magazine. Contact her at vtrealestatephotos.com.

MARK AIKEN

IN THIS ISSUE: Stannard fare, p.198

Behind the scenes: Stowe sculptor Christopher Curtis is particularly drawn to places that, like his Duxbury studio, have a sense of history. A favorite lunch spot is the Ladder 1 Grill in the old firehouse not far from Curtis’ Barre studio, where he does all his stone cutting and works with steel workers at an industrial fabrication shop. It’s worth a stop for the Brody burgers alone, but the The Billy hot roast beef sandwich is something else.

Currently: Aaron Calvin is a writer and journalist in Vermont, and a staff writer for the Stowe Reporter and News and Citizen newspapers. His journalism has appeared in The Guardian, Vice, The Intercept, and more. His fiction has recently appeared in the journals Cotton Xenomorph, Arboreal, and others. More at aaroncalvin.com.

TOMMY GARDNER

IN THIS ISSUE: Nancy Stead: One of a kind, p.66.

Behind the scenes: I had my first legal beer at the Shed in 1997—when the Thursday night burger and beer special was $5—but I wasn’t around for any of the black-and-white photos that adorned the Mountain Road pub’s walls, showing Stowe social scenes from the 1960s and 1970s. Hosting a Zoom meeting with a bunch of Stoweites to recall the days and times of locally legendary writer Nancy Stead was like visiting a Stowe cocktail hour of yore.

Currently: Editor-in-training for the Vermont Community Newspaper Group. The training wheels come off in January.

Behind the scenes: While some Thanksgiving guests bring a side dish, one of my dinner guests last year brought something entirely different. My wife’s cousin from the Alaskan bush showed up with a raccoon skin he cut off a roadkill carcass on his way to dinner. We stashed the hide in our chest freezer before digging into turkey, squash, and potatoes. To learn about hide tanning, I took a class from Coleen Butler in nearby Stannard. The experience of fleshing rabbit pelts, treating them with natural materials, and smoking them was fascinating. I wanted to share that experience with readers, and I can’t wait to get that coonskin out of my freezer and get to work.

Currently: Mark is a freelance writer and longtime Stowe ski instructor. He lives in Richmond with his wife, kids, dog, cats, and 11 chickens. More at markaiken.com.

Nancy Stead savored life, every single moment

“I’ll tell a story if you promise not to print it.”

That comment in our remembrance of the enviable life of Stowe’s Nancy Wolfe Stead in this edition brought a smile to my face— frankly, a lot of Tommy Gardner’s beautifully written piece did—but that particular comment resonated.

I have a fun story—or three—I could tell you about Nancy, but like her dear friend, Paige Savage, only if you promise not to print it.

After Nancy and Jim Stead moved to Wake Robin in Shelburne several years back, Nancy stayed close to her old Stowe life, where she had built a life for more than 50 years among many cherished friends and family, but she also embraced her new life in Shelburne, surrounded by strangers.

“One of the very last times that I saw her, hospice was coming in, morphine and stuff, and I had a wonderful visit with her. I came out and there was somebody from Wake

Robin who I didn’t know, who wanted to visit with her. She’d only met Nancy at Wake Robin, and I don’t know for how long, but she just went on about what a difference Nancy had made in all their lives, so many of their lives, and how she took them on adventures.”

Boy, did she have adventures. Cruising the Nile. Snake handling in Vietnam. Hiking on Mt. Etna. Traveling the world on a monthslong tour, learning Bislama in Vanuatu. Close to home, more adventures: ski bum races, sailing, kayaking, SLIDE. (You’ll have to read the story.)

Nancy was the perfect writer for this magazine. She was well-connected, whip smart, possessed an amazing vocabulary and, most important, she was curious.

She wrote countless pieces for us, from House Beautiful features to historical lookbacks to pressing issues like the plight of the endangered Bicknell’s thrush on Mt. Mansfield. She deftly profiled sculptor David

Stromeyer before people knew they should even know about him, tracked down treehouse owners in Stowe (there were quite a few), dove into the story about Stowe’s last—and, perhaps—public spectacle in “The Exit of Eccentricity: Henry Hastings.” She shone a light on a local staircase builder and rediscovered the art and life of Verner Z. Reed.

What made Nancy’s life and work so inspiring, whether writing or selling real estate or skiing or making friends, was that she was present. On those all too rare instances when she and I met to chat about an assignment, or enjoy lunch and a libation, Nancy made you the focus. A rare gift. She truly was one of a kind.

— Greg Popa

CORRECTION

Julia Gill owns Evergreen Gardens in Waterbury Center, not Green Mountain Flowers as we reported last summer.

ESSAY / David Hatoff

There is something about your favorite ski hill that makes it extra special and memorable than all the others. It might not have the biggest acreage, vertical drop, or the steepest and most exposed runs. It may not have the most consistent snow, the fastest lifts, or the easiest accessibility.

What it does have is character, soul, and the ability to make lifetime memories.

You might have stumbled upon it yourself or with a group of friends or family. It could be the stranger that you met on the chairlift or the person who you saddled up next to at the bar afterwards for après ski. Maybe it was a lift attendant or ticket checker with the biggest smile, the best joke, or the most intriguing fact or trivia question of the day on the dry erase board at the base of the lift corral. Or maybe the bartender who always remembers your name and your drink.

It could be that grease stain on your favorite jacket that dripped down from the lift line one day, the lift ticket wicket that you refuse to take off your zipper. (Yes, there are still some ski areas that use them.) Whether it’s a person, place, or thing, that moment or experience is etched in your mind and keeps you coming back for more. It’s an emotional or physical connection that brings people together to share special moments and keeps them making plans to get together at the same mountain year after year.

••••

Every season is different. Some years the snow never seems to stop and some years it rains too much. Some years are well below zero and sometimes it’s warm and sunny enough to get a goggle tan. But you keep coming back regardless of what Mother Nature has in store—for a day, a vacation week, or all season long.

It’s a yearly tradition, a family legacy, or just a dream that becomes a reality one day.

Maybe you ski bummed at your favorite hill after college. Maybe it was the place where you first learned to ski. Maybe it was your first real destination that you first saw on a postcard or in a ski movie—Jackson Hole, Sun Valley, Aspen, Chamonix? Or it could be one of those mountains that is quite different than everywhere else, like Mad River Glen, Northeast Slopes, Alta, or Silverton.

For some it’s about the conditions they encountered one glorious day or a powder cycle they will never forget: the epic

powder storm of the season; the deepest snow that you ever skied; the day that you got inter-lodged at the mountain when all roads were shut down and the only people left to ski that next day where the ones who were actually up there. Bottomless powder, no crowds, and endless fresh tracks with no rush and no fuss.

It could be that steepest or most challenging run you ever skied, the one that you never thought you could actually do until the conditions lined up perfectly, when you were skiing in your best form and all of the stars aligned to stick that cliff drop or ski that zipper-line bump run under the lift hearing all the hoots and hollers from the chairs above.

It’s that photo that you have framed in your office or living room: the blower powder shot, big air, a tree line. Every time you look at that favorite shot, it stirs up memories and emotions. Are you still that same person or a shell of your old self?

Regardless of your current stature, or physical and mental shape, it all circles back to skiing in that place, at that time. The moment is vivid; it almost transports you back in time.

What draws me back to my favorite mountain is the familiarity of its trails, woods lines, and where and when to find the best snow.

Knowing the lay of the land and being one step ahead of the crowds on a powder day can be the difference between getting first tracks or skiing leftovers. It also helps to know what areas on a mountain hold the snow or are protected from the sun and wind. The more you ski there, the more you know.

Whether you are a local or just a seasoned skier, you have competitive advantage over everyone else on that favorite hill. This really comes into play when you head off trail into the woods where secret stashes lay waiting to be skied.

No matter what mountain is your favorite, there is one that hits home

for everyone. For me, it’s Stowe. I live and work here and this is my hometown. The mountain is accessible and easy to get to. It’s only a 20minute drive, door to door, from my house. With its powerful snowmaking, great grooming, great woods runs off every trail, and 2,000 vertical drop, this is true fall-line skiing. It’s tough to beat.

You can do hot laps off the Forerunner quad and, in a few hours, amass enough vertical to compete with most western resorts. Couple that with ample snowfall and a very long season—November to April—and above treeline skiing on the Chin, Smugglers Notch side country, and the vast backcountry of Nebraska and Sterling valleys, it’s a great all-around place to be. There is a reason many people still call Stowe the “Ski Capital of the East.” And personally, if you are going to be a ski bum on the East Coast, or just an avid skier who likes a great diversity of groomers, side country, and backcountry, Stowe is really the place to be. Not to mention, it has a real town full of restaurants, bars, shopping, and year-round events.

So, wherever you choose to lay your roots down, there is simply no wrong answer. What is right is being by a mountain, living that coveted mountain lifestyle, and becoming part of the local community. Whether you are a visitor or a local, it doesn’t really matter. Your favorite ski hill always draws you in, entices you to ski it, and creates or recreates lasting memories that keep you coming back for more. That why skiing is the lifetime sport that gets passed down from generation to generation and keeps families, friends, and newfound acquaintances circling back to the place that truly feels like home. n

David Hatoff is a skier, mountain biker, and dad living in Nebraska Valley in Stowe. He relishes being able to ski and ride right outside his door, and he enjoys how both sports have so many similarities with gravity, flow, and comradery.

“there was always some old woman dying in the back room when I was a child. These women were just an expected part of the décor, like a lamp or a coffee table.”

That’s the opening line of “A Storyteller’s Death,” a 2022 novel by Ann Dávila Cardinal, a Morrisville author whose writing draws both from cold, quiet, and rural Vermont climes and warm, rich Puerto Rican culture.

Cardinal has been a published author for five

years and, until now, has been releasing a book a year. In September, she dropped two new ones within a week of each other, appropriately being published just in time for National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Cardinal will be busy with both the release of her first work of nonfiction, a breezy, illustrated biography of Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, and a new adult novel, “We Need No Wings.” On the surface, the two books share little in common; underneath the surface, though, they are both redolent with Hispanic culture.

“Hispanic Star: Bad Bunny” shares a byline with Claudia Romo Edelman and is illustrated by Alexandra Beguez. It is aimed squarely at young readers, most of whom probably already know quite a lot about the Puerto Rican-born rapper and trap music artist—Cardinal notes he was the most streamed artist on Spotify twice, in 2020 and 2022.

“We Need No Wings” was released Sept. 10, and revisits one of Cardinal’s favorite genres, magical realism, a style oft-rooted in Hispanic culture—perhaps most famously incorporated by Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Cardinal is a Nuyorican who says she has now lived in Vermont longer than she lived in

STORY / TOMMY GARDNER

GORDON MILLER

PHOTOS

RURAL ROUTE

BOOK NOOK Ann Dávila Cardinal at Bear Pond Books in Stowe, where she works part-time, with the two books she released last summer, “We Need No Wings” and “Hispanic Star: Bad Bunny,” an illustrated biography of the popular rapper.

New York City. Although she fully embraces her blended Hispanic culture—she’s “white on both sides” but much of her mother’s family has roots in Puerto Rico and still lives there—so she is careful not to lay claim to a full-fledged Hispanic existence. She refers to herself instead as “gringa-Rican.”

This results in a blending of the Green Mountain State and Hispanic settings and characters. When asked if she sees ties between Vermont and Puerto Rico—rural, agrarian, community-based—Cardinal laughs.

“Have you been talking to my mother from beyond the grave?” she said. “She passed in ‘95 but she said that Vermont reminded her of Puerto Rico in the ‘50s, because the people at the bank knew her name, there was locally sourced food, and it was green and mountainous.”

“We Need No Wings” is a piece of magical realism about a 60-yearold Vermont woman, Tere Sanches, who mourns the death of her husband. One day, while tending to her garden, she inexplicably starts levitating, kicking off a pilgrimage to Spain, where an ancestor known for

her levitating skills lived, to seek answers.

Cardinal travels to Puerto Rico every winter for a month to spend time with family—her books are often set there and include Hispanic characters—but she keeps eight toes in Vermont and two in Puerto Rico.

“I’m in love with the island, and it is a way of holding on to my family,” she said. “However, I’m very careful, because I’ve never lived there more than a few months, and it’s not my story to tell, so I’m careful to tell stories about characters who are ‘halves.’”

She recalls an editor at Simon & Schuster, a woman in her 30s, saying she didn’t think one of Cardinal’s older characters was “authentic.”

“I’m thinking, maybe because she said ‘f—k’ and she had tattoos,” Cardinal said, noting that shouldn’t come as a surprise from a former New York City punk rocker. “As you get older, you don’t give a s—t what anybody thinks, even though, as women, we’re sort of programmed to care what everyone thinks.”

“Hispanic Star: Bad Bunny,” Ann Davila Cardinal and Claudia Romo Edelman, Roaring Brook Press

“We Need No Wings,” Ann Davila Cardinal, Sourcebooks Landmark, 304 pages

Chris Pocher

‘Everything I’ve learned about farming I learned at Trapps.’

Chris Pocher, aka Farmer Poach, works in a variety of capacities at Trapp Family Lodge, most of them outdoors. He is an autodidact and soaks up any information he can, especially if it’s related to farming, and he’s happy to chat with anyone who’s willing to engage. He and his wife, Meg, live on a 2-acre rural lot in Morristown, with an adorable puppy, Violet, several thousand bees, and 59 chickens. “We get about 45 eggs a day that we sell at Commodities Market under the name Pocher Farm. Look for the pink cartons! We proved that with a little ingenuity and some elbow grease, you can still live sustainably on a small chunk of land.”

Where did you grow up?

Cape May, N.J. I spent most of my time surfing, sailing, crabbing, clamming, and working on a schooner. I even went fishing off the continental shelf for tuna. Now I’m surrounded by trees, a pitchfork, and a sap bucket.

How did you end up in Vermont?

Meg and I dated for seven years and have been married for 20. When we lived in Cape May, we decided to go on a skiing road trip out West in a 1970 Suburban. The Suburban broke down in Idaho and that’s where we stayed, ski bumming for three years. When we returned to Cape May, I worked on a schooner, fishing boat, and in a tackle shop. Meg and I realized we couldn’t afford to buy a house in Cape May, so we came to Vermont in 2004 for the skiing and lower cost of housing, which doesn’t seem to exist anymore.

the intErviEw

How long have you been at Trapp Family Lodge?

I started in 2004 as a bellman. Once they asked me to help collect sap in the woods and I had no idea what they were talking about. Since then, I’ve done gardening, plowing, feeding cows, woods work, cooking at the cabin, trail grooming, pool attendant, spring sugaring, beekeeping. Now I’m the educational tour leader, staff naturalist, and von Trapp family historian. I take people on walking tours in the summer and snowshoe tours in the winter. We do cow tours where I talk about sustainable farming, a chapel tour, where I explain how Werner von Trapp spent seven years building the chapel by hand, and maple walking tours where we discuss the history of sugaring. We do the sugaring tours three times a week in all seasons. I’ve probably taken over a thousand people of all ages on that tour. I’ve even presented to deaf people alongside a signer, and I once had a teacher ask me where I got my master’s degree, which I thought was hilarious. I was a lousy student and everything I do now is self-taught. My mom was a historian, so I guess I got it from her. Plus, it helps to have the gift of gab.

How did you get into farming?

Everything I’ve learned about farming I learned at Trapps. When we decided to farm on our 2-acre lot, we borrowed land from our neighbors across the street to make it work, and created seven different pastures, all with three-strand electric run on solar power. But there wasn’t a water source, so every day when I came home from work, I’d fire up a lawn mower, hitch up a trailer, fill a dozen buckets of water, and was the weirdo tractoring down the road to hand carry 400 pounds of water over the electric fence. Eventually we sold our momma cow to Johannes von Trapp and harvested our steer. But the following spring, after missing raising large animals, we bought five pigs. We started rotationally grazing pigs around our front yard, destroying our lawn. We had a theory that we would use the pigs as rototillers and follow the rotation with grass seed for bovines and ruminants. The same day we sent the pigs off on their field trip, we brought home two belted Galloways (Oreo cookie cows). That began our foray into breeding Belties for beef. We’re taking a break at the moment and are down to chickens and bees.

GORDON MILLER

RURAL ROUTE

How did you get the name Farmer Poach?

My mom always called my dad Poach. Since I’ve gotten into farming, Farmer Poach seemed like a good Instagram handle. I now have about 5,000 organic followers worldwide. There’s a beekeeper in Nepal who follows me based on my posts about beekeeping. Most of my content comes from my time at Trapps. There are so many beautiful things on the property. All my posts are nature based.

What is it like to make maple syrup at Trapps?

I started gathering buckets 20 years ago and worked my way up to firefighter, getting the fire up to 1,200 degrees. I would stoke the fire every five minutes for four to five hours a shift. Then we got a reverse osmosis system that boils less, concentrates the sugar in the sap, and reduces the boiling time. Our sap process is part old school, part new. We have three sugarbushes and 2,000 taps. The crew includes me, Alex Femiak, Max Connolly, and sometimes two others. Last year we did a team-building trip to Mad River Distillery and bought two 25-gallon bourbon oak casks, brought them back to the lodge and filled them with maple syrup. Then we let it age for three months. The flavor has a hint of charred oak, a kiss of bourbon, and a background of Vermont maple syrup. It’s amazing. We only sell it and our regular maple syrup at Trapps.

How long is the sap season?

Every year it starts earlier and earlier. It used to start on Town Meeting Day at the beginning of March and go on through April. Last year we started on Jan. 31 and made almost 690 gallons that season. It was our third best season. The best season was during the pandemic. The only people working at Trapps were sugarmakers and brewers. That year we made 786 gallons.

What is your next personal project? Mushrooms. I’ve always been curious and have been studying how to grow them. I’ve arranged for a tree service to dump hardwood chips in my driveway, which I will mix with straw and mycelium, spread it out, cover it with a layer of chips, water and wait.

AFTER ONE YEAR, STOWE GM MOVES ON

Shannon Buhler, Stowe Mountain Resort’s vice president and general manager has departed after one year at the helm. She started in the same role at Keystone Resort in Colorado this fall.

“Shannon really made an impact, and even if it was shorter than she expected, or any of us expected her to be at Stowe, she made the most of it,” resort spokesperson Courtney Di-Fiore said.

For Buhler, returning to the West means going back home. She began her career with Vail Resorts nearly 20 years ago in sales at Breckenridge Mountain and has moved up the Vail food chain ever since, leading departments at Vail Mountain and Keystone before working as general manager at Snow Creek Ski Area in Missouri, her last stop before Stowe.

According to a Vail Resorts press release, Buhler is one of six female general managers at Vail-owned resorts.

DiFiore said Buhler, in her year at the top, leaned into the history of the resort. She spearheaded celebrations marking the 100-year anniversary of the Toll Road and the 90th anniversary of the ski patrol.

Just as this magazine was going to press, Vail named Mike Giorgio as the new general manager.

Giorgio previously led six Midwest resorts in the Vail Resorts portfolio as regional general manager based out of Mt. Brighton Resort in

Michigan. Before the new appointment, Tim Baker, Vail’s vice president and chief operating officer of the parent corporation’s eastern region, had been making the high-level decisions for Stowe. The region includes nearly two dozen Vail-owned resorts east of the Mississippi River.

In a way, though, DiFiore and her Northeast cohort are not sweating it. That’s because, for all the attention paid to the person at the top, and their comings and goings, the people who really keep things going are the legions of locals who have spent years or decades at their favorite hills—ski patrollers, ticket sellers, snowmaking crews, lift attendants, and ski instructors.

“The team, at every single level, is so strong and there’s so much intimate knowledge and so many years of experience that lend themselves to making sure we run the mountain to the best for our abilities,” she said. —Tommy Gardner

has the chicanery in Smugglers Notch come to an end?

After one summer, it would seem so.

It seems to be a truth universally acknowledged that, no matter what signs, fines, or impediments the Vermont Agency of Transportation may put against them, some tractor-trailer truck drivers will still end up stuck in the Notch.

But last May, the agency installed temporary chicanes on both the Stowe and Cambridge entrances to the Notch. The devices are low-height barriers that purposefully mimic the tight curves found at the summit of the road to ensure that the drivers who annually find themselves ensnared in the narrow passage, sometimes blocking the road for hours, would find themselves obstructed in an area where they can more easily turn around.

The chicanes didn’t have an auspicious start. Two days after the Notch Road opened for the season in May, a tractor-trailer truck driver—despite the chicanes, despite the signs warning them to turn back, despite the threat of hefty fines—drove past the new barriers from the Cambridge side onto a road forbidden to big rigs. How, you ask? By simply trying to drive around the chicane on the other side of the road.

Luckily, the truck didn’t get far before it was flagged down by Agency of Natural Resources employees who were on the mountain. Technically, the driver and his truck didn’t get stuck, and officials altered the chicanes after the incident.

“Our intent in this kind of a two-year-experimental mode is to use different barriers and construction materials that are movable and changeable, so if we discover the geometry is a little bit off, we can manipulate things and change things and measure the efficacy of it—does it work or does it not,” Todd Sears, an executive in the Vermont transportation agency’s operations and safety division, said.

So far, so good.

—Aaron Calvin

TOP: JESSE SCHLOFF; PAUL ROGERS

HOME AGAIN Bear with his people, Payton Moran and Eric Feather. Bear was missing for nearly three weeks but eventually turned up on Tansy Hill Road in Stowe. Inset: After 18 days in the wind, Bear’s normally white fur was a bit worse for wear.

‘BEAR’ IN THE WOODS

DOG FOUND SAFE AFTER 18 DAYS

A dog who ran off last Fourth of July was reunited with his owner 18 days after he disappeared into the night in Morristown.

And during that three-week span, he captured the hearts and concern of hundreds and hundreds of locals.

Fireworks scared Bear, a 10-month-old Samoyed, and he took off so suddenly that his owner, Payton Moran, said it was like he vanished into thin air.

“He didn’t make a sound,” she said. He was gone in “two seconds.”

Moran said Bear is a city dog and is used to many sounds—she and her fiancé, Eric Feather, live in New York City—but she thinks the proximity and sudden loud noises of the fireworks caused him to panic and bolt.

Moran and her family members took off in every direction, searching for hours by car and on foot.

When Bear didn’t turn up that night, or the next day, Moran began to worry in earnest. She and her family, including sister Grayson, contacted local police, veterinarians, and animal rescues in the area. Moran said she searched relentlessly, canvassing the area, and hoped for forgiveness for trespassing on private properties.

“I was going up to people’s Ring cameras, saying thank you and apologizing” for poking around yards and traipsing through woodlands.

How far a lost dog will roam depends on the circumstances of escape, breed and temperament, terrain, weather, and many other factors. Bear was in unfamiliar territory, but his breed is known for being friendly, gentle, and adaptable, according to the American Kennel Club.

Moran and Feather stayed as long as they could in Stowe, but eventually had to return to their home and work.

“We are going to have to rely on the community even more,” Grayson posted on social media on July 10. “Please help us bring him home. He’s just a baby.”

Bear hunting

Moran held out hope as the days went by, posting repeatedly on public forums including Facebook lost pet pages, netting hundreds of

shares and comments from concerned readers.

Suggestions ranged from putting up posters to consulting pet psychics, using clothing to spread the owners’ scent, and even cooking bacon outside on a grill in hopes of luring the surely hungry pup.

Moran contacted 2A Tactical Air Ops, a firearm and gear shop in Barrington, N.H., and owner Rob Russell flew a thermal drone three separate times over the weeks, searching for a sign of the missing Samoyed.

Sue Wear, a South Burlington resident, provided support as a “vigilante pet sleuth,” as she was deemed in a 2023 VTDigger article. Wear set up game cameras and food stations, and helped Moran plaster the area with posters.

“She’s been a sounding board to my thoughts,” Moran said.

On July 20, a wandering pooch matching Bear’s description was found on Elmore Road. A wave of joy washed through the Stowe missing-pet page comments, but the dog turned out not to be Bear.

“We fully braced ourselves to never see him again,” Moran said.

Moran did contact a pet psychic, who told her Bear was OK, thinking he was on a fun adventure, and would come out when he was ready. The seer said he would be found by a man, in 10 to 12 days.

Eleven days later, the prophecy came true.

Bear found

Steve Compagna was sitting at his table at home about 5 miles from where Bear originally disappeared. He was having an afternoon snack with his daughters when he saw a “white poof ball” streak past the window.

He said, “Girls, I think that might be the dog!” and opened his door and called out, “hey, buddy” to the fluffy animal that was now trotting around in his yard.

The pup came right up to the door and into the house.

“He seemed like he had a real pep in his step,” Compagna said of the dog, who had muddy paws and was a little dirty, but otherwise seemed friendly and healthy.

Compagna and the girls brought Bear to the Morristown Police Department.

Moran had been in Stowe just that day and had arrived back in New York City mere hours before the Bear sighting. Family friend Martin Werth picked up the pooch from the police station, transferring him to Moran’s mother, who came from Boston to acquire the precious cargo.

When Moran finally got her beloved Bear back, she said, “I genuinely don’t think I have tears in my body left to cry.”

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1. Laura, Benji, and Graham Pearsall of Lugano, Switzerland, stopped in Vermont—and Stowe—for a family visit this summer. “Faculty meetings began yesterday and school starts next Thursday, so I’m busy setting up my classroom. I’m happy to have such wonderful summer memories to reflect on to get me through these days,” Laura says. “This photo was taken in the little Alpine town of Tujetsch, Switzerland. We stayed at a familienhotel that had a playground, pool, and lots of other kid-friendly amenities so Benji had a blast!” 2. David Neiweem of Colchester says he read his copy of Stowe magazine on the last leg of a three-week tour of Maui and Hawai’i Island, and is seen here from the balcony of the New Otani boutique hotel overlooking Sans Souci Beach, Waikiki, and Honolulu. 3. Beth Liberman of Stowe was in Skokie, Ill., for the first seminar of a Jewish educators’ fellowship, and discovered the Baha’i House of Worship was just a few miles away in Wilmette. “It was a beautiful day to enjoy the stunning building, an historic and unique example of decorative concrete architecture, with lovely gardens. I appreciated learning more about a religion that is celebrated by some of our neighbors right here in Stowe.” (See more Globetrotters, p.32)

Do you have a photo of our magazine on some farflung island or rugged mountain peak? Send it along to 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.

1. Stowe architect Erika Dodge enjoyed a summer sojourn at Tahoe City in California with her daughter, Hadley, and son, Lowen, and took a minute to grab a shot of them with everyone’s favorite magazine. 2. Last summer, Steve and Barbara Malfitano of Harrison, N.Y., vacationed with their daughter, Amanda, and son-in-law, Giovanni D’Amico, of Greenwich, Conn., in Italy. Members of the Malfitano family have been coming to Stowe for almost three decades and Stowe has become their second home. “This picture was taken in Bologna with Amanda carrying not only a copy of Stowe magazine, but also Amanda and Giovanni’s daughter (and future skier), Liliana. 3. Ken Libby, longtime Stowe resident, real estate agent, and former Stowe police chief with “my Stowe Guide” at the Paris Olympic field hockey stadium on Aug. 4.

‘Midnight Garden’

ELISABETH VIILU PHOTOGRAPHY

Board members Rebecca Chase, Edee Simon, and Kristy Carlson with executive director of The Current, Rachel Moore, second from right.

The Current gala Spruce Peak at Stowe, April 6

Jason Rouse, Sasha Walsh, and Brian Kitchens.

Rosa Nissenbaum, board member Berenice Sarafzadeh, and Caroline Marhefka.

Drs. Leslie Abramson and Fred Rossman.

Ari Fishman, Molly Tonino, Matt Moore, and Jana Alperen.

Tom and Jenna Nagy, Kelley and Terry King, Devin Gleason, Courtney Pohlemus, Elizabeth and William Nutt, and Nancy Gleason. Megan and Bob Liljedahl, upper right.

Board member Sophie Bréchu-West and Antoine Bréchu.

Dr. Bob Arnot.

Bobby and Anne Roberts, Korbin and Macall Wayton, Jeff Herrmann and Jana Ross. David Neiweem, Nancy Pichiotino, and board member Greg Popa.

Michaela Quinlan and Mark Frier.

Tom and Julia Rogers.

Sarah and Nick Haggerty.

Copley Hospital

Art, Wine, & Food fundraiser

June 6 / Jewish Community of

Art Shinners and Carol Van Dyke.

Greater Stowe

John Merrill, Dean Pineles, Kristina Stahlbrand, and Millie Merrill.

Gail Shinners, Ed French, and Dr. Melissa Volansky.

Cam Page.

Trina Hosmer and Neil Van Dyke.

Jill Baker and Dr. Joseph Subasic.

Chris Towne, Brian and Margaret Dalton, Ed and Rikki French, Peter Bourne and Jaenna Babajane.

Rich Littlefield and Anne and Phil Bongiorno.

flashback

GONE FISHING Carroll Bedell and Gaylord “Charlie” Gale, two Stowe institutions, 1960s.

AMERICAN TREE SPARROW: HARDY WINTER VISITORS

Looking more closely, I’ve noticed buff-colored patches on the sides of their pale breasts, two white wingbars, and streaked brown backs. These birds are American tree sparrows (Spizelloides arborea), so named by European settlers who were reminded of Eurasian tree sparrows back home.

The name, however, is a misnomer, as these “tree” sparrows are actually ground birds, spending little time in trees. They are also known as winter sparrows, winter chippies, or snow chippies, for their resemblance to chipping sparrows, which are smaller and do not winter here.

American tree sparrows live throughout most of North America, except for the far South and Pacific Coast. They breed across northern Canada and Alaska and winter in the northern two-thirds of the U.S., including the Northeast. In winter, roving flocks of tree sparrows frequent wind-swept weedy fields, marshes, hedgerows, woodland edges, and backyards.

They forage mainly on the ground, scratching and pecking, hopping up toward bent weeds, and even flapping their wings against plants to dislodge seeds. These birds are almost exclusively vegetarian in winter, consuming grass, sedge, goldenrod, other seeds, and occasionally berries. They will also eat insect eggs and larvae.

When the ground is snow-covered, tree sparrows obtain water by eating snow. These hardy sparrows will continue foraging during blizzards. They stay in touch with other members of their flock with high, musical “see-weep” calls and fluff up their feathers so they appear quite plump. Tree sparrows have been observed roosting communally under the snow.

In March or April, flocks of tree sparrows depart for the long, sometimes perilous migration to their breeding grounds in northern Canada or Alaska. They travel 1,500 to 3,000 miles, usually at night. Upon reaching the northern treeline of the boreal forest at the edge of the tundra, flocks disperse, and individuals pair up. The male courts the female and defends his territory with song—a clear, high warble with a descending trend.

The female builds a nest on tussocks of tundra grass, or close to the ground among stunted spruce and birch or in alder or willow thickets. The nest is an open cup of grasses, bark strips, twigs, and moss, and is lined with fine grass and ptarmigan feathers. In it, the female lays four to six pale blue eggs with reddish speckles.

In summer, the tree sparrow changes its diet, feeding mostly on a wide variety of insects, spiders, and snails, and providing these protein-rich foods to its growing young. The parents must watch for predators such as hawks, owls, weasels, and red squirrels.

Although tree sparrows are still numerous throughout their range, annual Christmas Bird Count data show that winter populations have decreased significantly in the past 50 years. Partners in Flight, a global network of bird conservation organizations, includes the species on its list of common birds in steep decline.

Tree sparrows are generally undisturbed by humans on their remote northern nesting grounds and in winter seem to adjust easily to habitats near human settlements, so the reason for their decline is not clear.

One theory is that intensified agriculture in the Midwest and Plains States has eliminated much of the weedy and brushy habitat needed by wintering birds. In the Northeast, development and maturation of forests may have had a similar effect. Climate change could also be affecting their nesting habitat or reproductive success.

If you’d like to help wintering tree sparrows by feeding them, remember to clean feeders regularly and to keep cats indoors. These sparrows prefer platform and other tray feeders or ground feeding. They will come to black oil sunflower seed, thistle seed, cracked corn, peanut hearts, and millet.

Watch for these hardy visitors from the north in your yard this winter.

—Susan Shea

Susan Shea is a naturalist, writer, and conservationist based in Vermont. Illustration by Adelaide Murphy Tyrol. The Outside Story is assigned and edited by Northern Woodlands magazine and sponsored by the Wellborn Ecology Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, nhcf.org.

GROCER, CLOTHIER MOVE INTO NEW SPACE

commodities, the grocery store that specializes in organic and natural products, and Archery Close, a clothing store that specializes in unique boutique fashion, have expanded into new storefronts in the newly built Whiskers Village Center on Stowe’s Mountain Road.

Michael and Audra Hughes opened their market in a cramped location a little closer to the village nine years ago that reflected “the organic, natural sensibilities” of a store they had previously operated in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood, with an “emphasis on local products and produce.”

The Hugheses have built a loyal customer base in Stowe while developing a supply chain among local farmers. The new Stowe location will triple the store’s size and fix a longstanding parking problem.

“We will be adding in many new categories such as a full-service butcher counter, sliced meats, rotisserie chicken, fresh pressed juices, local flowers, pet food, freshly made sandwiches, breads, salads, and soups,” said Michael Hughes, adding that they’ll pay attention to customer wants. Local produce selections will also expand.

“The entire point of moving to this bigger location is to provide our customers with a more complete shopping experience in a comfortable location,” Michael said.

The new grocery is expected to be open in its new location by the time you read this new edition.

David Wolfgang, who owns and built the new mini mall next to his Pinnacle Ski and Sports, named his new building as an homage to Whiskers, a former popular Stowe restaurant that houses Wolfang’s sporting goods store.

Getting closer

Archery Close, which sells both men’s and women’s clothing and is run by the couple Taice and Chris Perrotti, quickly built a reputation on curating clothing from clothiers that produce high-quality products that are environmentally sustainable and will stand the test of time.

The couple, formerly separated by a staircase at their old Main Street locations—women downstairs, men on the second floor—have come together at their new store and have been working to meld their shops into one. They new store opened in August.

“We did really well in the village, and we outgrew the space pretty quickly,” Chris said. “Here, we can get people together, get husbands and wives and partners through the shop together in the same space, with better light, better traffic, better parking.”

The setup that’s brought the Perrottis together has also made for a better shopping experience for couples in general, who no longer need to climb the stairs to get that all-important second opinion.

—Aaron Calvin

Taice and Chris Perrotti at Archery Close.

GORDON

MILLER

RURAL ROUTE

STEEPLE CHASE Black netting and scaffolding briefly obscures Stowe Community Church while it undergoes restoration and repairs. One of the crew from Yankee Steeplejacks scales the mighty Stowe Community Church spire while undertaking recent repair work. The crew poses on scaffolding in front of the 160-year-old structure. Next page, from left, Jay Post, owner Tom Everts, crew chief Sean Starratt and Joe Smith. John Cardwell, TJ Sances, and Jake St. Cyr were missing from the photo.

long black veil obscured Stowe Community Church this past summer and fall, but the building wasn’t in mourning.

For one of the state’s most iconic churches, if not the most, Vermont’s harsh weather takes a toll, and church leaders have been hard at work raising

$1.65 million to fund much-needed repairs and maintenance. As Rev. Daniel Haugh told the Stowe Reporter in July, it’s the first major capital campaign conducted for the church, built in 1863, since 1958.

Much of the exterior work is being done by an outfit of specialized builders with an arcane skillset: steeplejacks. When you need construc-

tion expertise with workers unafraid to scale the ornate finials of New England’s many spired structures, who you gonna call?

Tom Everts, owner of Yankee Steeplejacks, that’s who. He first gave the Stowe church a new coat of paint in 1982.

Everts, 67, came to the unique trade as a young man in the 1970s after the bottom fell

STORY / AARON CALVIN PHOTOGRAPHS / GORDON MILLER

out of the dairy industry, which also torpedoed the silo construction business that previously employed him.

For decades now, various church elders have called in Everts and Yankee Steeplejacks for all their upkeep needs, and when embarking on their biggest restorative effort in over a half a century, it was clear who to call.

With maintenance and historical work not quite enough to keep the outfit busy, the business has evolved to the point where much of Everts’ business is now telecommunications related. In 2001, he installed a fixture now owned by T-Mobile in the Stowe church.

“When it comes to trying to sell the congregation on whether or not they should embrace

tracted with Everts.

Both are also experienced rock climbers, which has given them a taste for the high-flying work, and ease with the hardware required in scaling these structures.

St. Cyr saw an opportunity to work with the company after getting back from deployment with the U.S. Armed Forces.

“They were looking for people, and I’ve been a rock climber for eight years, so this appealed to me,” he said.

Each church is different, but also share similarities. St. Cyr described a lot of high steeples, many beautiful vistas and many pigeons that have needed removal from cramped attics. Though the Stowe church has no such resi-

the idea of having a telecommunications facility inside the steeple, we’ve always said that church steeples, historically, have always been a means of communication,” Everts said. “I always use the ‘one if by land, two if by sea’ story, Paul Revere in the Old North Church.”

Everts praised his employees, those who can be seen doing the actual steeplejacking and scaling the church this autumn, for their competence and skill. The trade requires not just experience in construction work, but also a comfort with heights and a willingness to scale structures that, like the Stowe church, have spires that pierce the heavens.

Both Sean Starratt, a veteran of Yankee Steeplejacks, and relative newcomer Jake St. Cyr, have a background in construction trades. St. Cyr grew up building houses for his family’s construction business while Starratt formerly worked as a mason for an outfit that con-

dents, a colony of wasps has taken up residence in the church belfry but are manageable as long as they aren’t bothered.

The steeplejacks worked off and on this fall to scrape and repaint, replacing rotting woodwork and cedar shingles, reinstalling the weathervane and the original hands on the church clock, which were removed at one point over the church’s long life. The rotten top of the steeple was also removed for a rebuild. The clock face will receive a new application of gold leaf, restoring the building like an expert restores an old painting.

“It’s going to look really nice once it’s done,” Starratt said. “Hopefully it won’t need anything for another 30-plus years.”

To read more about the church’s fundraising efforts, turn to p.86

HAIR WEAVING Little is known about Lovisa Raymond’s hair wreath, one of the many artifacts at the Stowe Historical Society.

Although little is known about former Stowe resident Lovisa Raymond beyond the fact that she was both “deaf and mute,” we do know that she created this memorial wreath made of human hair. Like other women during the Victorian era, Raymond fashioned these decorative wreaths as “fancy work,” or craftwork, during her spare time.

“While women learned to knit and crochet for practical reasons, hair weaving was more of an aesthetic or creative choice,” says Barbara Baraw. “It was a way to memorialize friends, especially those who had

passed on.” If you look closely at this 1863 wreath you can see the inscribed names of nine people whose hair is included in it.

Most likely a hair wreath such as this would have hung prominently in the Raymond family’s parlor where guests would have been received. The Stowe Historical Society museum features two other examples of hair wreaths, including one that hung for years in the now defunct Stafford Funeral Home. —Robert Kiener

STOWE HISTORICAL: Next to Stowe Free Library ••• Wednesday to Saturday, 1 - 4 p.m. ••• (802) 253-1518, stowehistoricalsociety.org

JEWELER WINS PRESTIGIOUS INDUSTRY AWARD

Julie Von Bargen Thom won the Cindy Edelstein Award at the annual Couture event in Las Vegas this year. She is co-owner of Von Bargen’s, a jewelry store her father founded in 1978. It now has locations in Stowe, Burlington, Quechee, and Lebanon, N.H.

“I have attended Couture every year for 21 years,” Thom said. “I was totally surprised and amazed. The people who have won in the past are incredible. My initial reaction was, ‘Oh no, I’m going to have to get up and give a speech,’ but thankfully it went well.”

The show is an exclusive occasion for professionals in the designer fine jewelry and timepiece market, and which caters “to an elite community of legacy brands, designer talent, and fine retailers from around the world.”

Couture also provides attendees an opportunity to meet emerging artists and view new designs and gorgeous jewelry.

Thom was recognized for her dedication to her company’s team, communities, and designers. In her acceptance speech, she said, “I thought we were flying under the radar in our small states, but clearly our small family business has had a profound impact on our industry.”

The Cindy Edelstein Award commemorates the life and spirit of Cindy Edelstein, described as “a fearless leader in the fine jewelry industry and passionate designer advocate.” Nominees must demonstrate a commitment to the Couture community and the industry at large, and “inspire others through an enthusiastic attitude and unabated vitality.”

“Julie was nominated by her team as well as several designers and brands from the Couture community who acknowledged the many ways in which she has carried on and enhanced her father’s legacy,” according to the show’s organizers.

GLENN CALLAHAN

SKI STOWE ON

Stowe’s two magnificent mountains, Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak, form a grand panorama defined by the rugged cliffs of Smugglers Notch. Stowe’s bounty of natural snow, its open glades, uninterrupted fall line, and the spectacular twin summits of Vermont’s highest peak were a magnet for the pioneers of skiing in America. Today, almost 100 years later, alpine, cross-country, and freestyle skiers—and snowboarders—continue to bring world fame to this proud mountain community. In fact, of all of America’s winter Olympic teams, few have failed to have a representative from Stowe.

Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak capture skiers’ and snowboarders’ interest because they boast a total of 2,360 feet of vertical on 485 acres, offering the longest average trail length in the East. Skiers and riders will find every type of terrain, from wide-open cruisers to narrow, winding trails and glades.

What makes Stowe so special? It starts with Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s highest mountain at 4,393 feet and home to the East’s greatest natural ski terrain. Stowe thrills with its famous double-diamond Front Four trails: National, Liftline, Starr, and Goat. The Front Four are the quintessential classic New England trails, with steeps and bumps that pump even the most accomplished skier’s adrenaline. They hold their place with the world’s great runs, and among skiers the world over they’re household words.

Long history of skiers

Its awesome and timeless beauty inevitably strikes first-time skiers at Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak. Gliding toward the top of Mansfield, one is embraced by the stillness of a panoramic bowl that stretches toward forbidding cliffs guarding the narrow pass known as Smugglers Notch. Many of the trails gracing the flanks of Vermont’s highest mountain can trace their history back to the birth of skiing in North America. Nathaniel Goodrich, a Dartmouth College librarian, made the first recorded descent in 1914. Others soon followed. By the 1930s, even before the first lift, skiers flocked to Stowe. These ski pioneers came here first for a simple reason: best mountain, best snow.

Areas of Stowe Mountain Resort marked outside of the ski area boundary on trail maps and with signage on the mountain itself, is hazardous backcountry terrain, containing unmarked hazards such as cliffs, thick, brushy terrain, riverbeds, stumps, rocks, avalanches. This area is not patrolled or maintained. Vermont law states that any person who uses ski area facilities to access terrain that is outside the open and designated trails shall be liable for any costs of rescue, medical, or other services. —stowe.com

Most of Stowe’s trails were cut in the first half of the 1900s, and without the benefit of bulldozers. The first ones were handcut by the Civilian Conservation Corps. in the 1940s. Charlie Lord, the architect of trails like Nose Dive, Goat, and Perry Merrill, had a natural sense of a mountain’s fall line. His trails flow down the mountain like poetry.

Those of you who like to follow the sun will find Stowe is laid out perfectly to ski around the mountain. In the morning, the Front Four bask in soft morning light. In the early afternoon, work your way to the right and ski off the gondola. And to catch that elusive afternoon warmth, head to Spruce, which gets magnificent afternoon sunshine. The forgiving terrain of Spruce Peak’s sunwashed slopes also provides a haven for the youngest or newest skiers.

On Mansfield, the 3.7-mile-long Toll Road is the perfect spot for beginners. The wonderful thing about the Toll Road is that it allows beginners to enjoy an experience that advanced skiers get all the time: seeing the whole mountain.

Intermediate skiers can test themselves on miles of groomed cruising runs. The broad expanses of Gondolier and Perry Merrill at the Gondola, or Sunrise and Standard, where the sun shines late on the shortest days of winter, are popular with skiers and riders of every ability. Skiers who like wide cruisers will be completely exhilarated after taking a few runs down Gondolier.

A favorite of many skiers is at the top, off the quad. Ridgeview, not quite as wide open as Gondolier, provides the perfect place to practice short-radius turns. Spruce Peak is also an intermediate skier’s paradise.

For those learning to tackle bumps, Gulch is covered with medium-sized moguls, so skiers can concentrate on technique without being tossed around.

For the adventurous, Mount Mansfield also has premier glade skiing. After a storm, when there’s a solid base of snow, advanced intermediates will want to head for the consummate off-piste experience.

Stowe Mountain Resort offers a number of gladed areas—all described on the ski area’s interactive trail map—including Tres Amigos, Sunrise, and Nose Dive glades. n

BOLTON VALLEY BRIGHTENS WINTER DARKNESS

“What’s tough in winter in Vermont besides the cold?” Bolton Valley Resort CEO Lindsay DesLauriers asks. “The dark!”

Indeed, working adults and schoolkids spend winter months heading to work and boarding the school bus in the dark only to return home in the same cheerless, oppressive gloom. “You wake up in the dark, you come home in the dark, and you’re just stuck in the house,” DesLauriers said, reciting almost a textbook definition of seasonal affective disorder. But she offers an antidote.

“Bolton’s night lights extend the day.”

Located just 15 miles as the crow flies from Stowe Mountain Resort, one might wonder what a low-budget, locally owned, earthy resort can offer that Stowe does not. Bolton has

it: night skiing.

It stands mentioning that Stowe does, in fact, have night lights. They line the Gondolier trail on Mansfield. But those lights have not been turned on regularly in nearly two decades, and even when Stowe did offer night skiing on a regular basis, it was on one trail once a week.

Bolton is open for nighttime skiing five days a week with lights illuminating three lifts and 12 trails.

Skiing visionary

DesLauriers’ father Ralph DesLauriers founded Bolton Valley in 1966. At that time, the culture of skiing in Vermont was a bit different than it is today. Skiing was something that happened in Vermont, but it was mainly out-of-staters

STORY / MARK AIKEN

who did it.

“Part of Ralph’s mission was to build a resort where Vermonters could ski,” DesLauriers said of her dad. And because most Vermonters worked during the day, from the beginning night skiing was a vital part of that mission.

DesLauriers described her father’s skiing ability level—he is now 89—as “blue collar skier,” and said he had two groups in mind when he set up night lights: working men and women and Vermont school kids. “He reached out to the school districts immediately, because teaching Vermont to ski meant starting with kids,” she said of her visionary father.

Literally thousands of northern and central Vermont school kids would most likely agree

NIGHT LIGHTS Bolton Valley Resort’s night lights extend the day and give people flexibility to work a day job, go to school, or, in extreme cases, to ski Stowe and then catch more turns after dark.

with her—this writer, who grew up in Colchester, participated in after school programs as a Malletts Bay School fourth and fifth grader, certainly does—and Ralph DesLauriers has a place in the Vermont ski hall of fame for these reasons.

Today Bolton’s affordability compared to neighbors like Stowe, Sugarbush, and even Smugglers’ Notch, keeps Vermonters skiing and riding. An adult night ticket costs just $25 if you buy online the day before.

Off the charts

Bolton’s hours give people flexibility to work a day job, go to school, or, in extreme cases, to ski Stowe and then catch more turns after dark.

“They come in waves,” Lisa Stanton, who has skied Bolton at night in many capacities, said.

A retired schoolteacher at Hinesburg Elementary, she got her night skiing start when she coordinated after school ski and ride groups with another teacher. “The day crowd starts to leave around 4 or 4:30,” said Stanton, who in addition to organizing the school groups, has raced in Bolton’s Thursday night race league, has been a part-time ski instructor, a part-time ski patroller, and a volunteer for Vermont Adaptive, which is based at Bolton.

“The buses come rumbling up the road bringing school kids—lots of them,” she said. For several hours, school groups have the run of the

place. The excitement level as kids climb the hill off the bus is off the charts. They hit the slopes, the cafeteria lines, and the tables. “Being outside at night in winter is not an experience all kids have,” Stanton said. “It’s a really cool experience for them to see the stars and be outside at night in winter.”

“For kids, there is nothing like it,” said DesLauriers, who would know: She grew up in a house in the neighborhood next to the resort, just three doors from her current home. From the age of 3, she explained, her parents let her roam the slopes unsupervised, day and night. Lest you think her parents were negligent, DesLauriers is quick to add one caveat: “I had to find a resort employee to help me ride up the lifts.”

Her take on “negligent” parenting? “There’s nothing like night skiing in terms of freedom hanging out with your friends, skiing fast, being in the lodge,” she said. “It feeds the soul. I’d say it would be negligent for parents not to expose their kids to it!”

Night versus day

Stanton said Bolton nights feel like a symphony that builds, then slows and then builds and slows again. There will be a crescendo of excitement, and then a temporary quiet will settle over the slopes as school groups disappear into the lodge to eat. Around 7 p.m., there’s another crescendo of activity as other night enthusiasts arrive—park riders, Ski-

LAST RUNS Bolton offers nighttime skiing five days a week with three lifts and 12 trails.

• Fly Fishing Adventures 1/2 & Full Day

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• Spin Fishing Gear

days get longer, and because Bolton faces west, it gets full sunset views of Lake Champlain and the setting sun offers an orange glow.

Mo athletes on Tuesday nights, racers on Thursdays—and school chaperones call for last runs. As quickly as they came, the kids pack up their gear, return rental equipment, and climb back aboard their buses.

Carson Foerster of West Bolton frequently night skis at Bolton with anywhere from one to three of his kids. “The kids almost feel like it’s their own mountain at night,” said Foerster, who appreciates the less crowded trails. Even though Bolton has upgraded its lights so there are fewer dark spots, Foerster’s kids sometimes turn on headlamps to duck into a side hit behind a tree on the side of the trail.

Said Foerster’s 9-year-old daughter, Elliott, “When all the lights are on and you’re going down really fast, it feels like a runway.” Her 7-yearold brother, Crosby, loves the lights, the jumps, and catching air at night. Eleven-year-old daughter Annie added: “When you ski the black diamond Spillway, it’s like you’re just slicing through the night.”

Golden Hour, Bolton vibe

By the time February and March come around, days begin to get longer, and another night skiing phenomenon occurs. Because Bolton faces west, it gets full sunset views of Lake Champlain. “There’s a window of time when the setting sun lights up in an orange glow,” Foerster said. “All of the surrounding hills turn pink.” Meanwhile, at this time of year, Bolton Ski Patrol leaves all trails open until true darkness begins to fall.

“It’s the Golden Hour,” Foerster said.

“I’ll take my skis off at the top and just watch the sun go down,” Stanton added.

One trail that typically closes at night, but that people get to ski in the late season evenings, is black diamond Hard Luck—a name that could

describe Bolton’s history. Ralph DesLauriers experienced bankruptcy and foreclosure in the 1990s; subsequent owner Mason Dwinell attempted to resurrect the resort but failed immediately thereafter, and the resort shuttered in 1998. Another investor group led by Ned Hamilton of Peter Glenn Ski Shops filed for bankruptcy in the early 2000s. Bob Fries took over in 2004 and was bought out by Burlington businessmen Larry Williams and Doug Nedde.

By 2017, the DesLauriers family re-purchased the resort. “We never expected this,” Lindsay DesLauriers said. “It has been surreal to have this come back into our family.”

While the DesLauriers’ Bolton 2.0 seems to have turned a corner with renovations and an addition to the Timberline Lodge, operating Bolton in the 2020s is far from easy. “We do not have unlimited resources,” DesLauriers said. “But we do have tons of spirit.”

It is perhaps this spirit in part that gives it a certain Bolton vibe.

“It’s friendly,” Stanton said. “Boot strappy.”

The vibe isn’t about marketing slogans. It’s not even the beautiful Vermont setting or the Golden Hour. It’s more a sense that worthwhile things don’t necessarily come easily, that sometimes you must scrap, toil, piece it together, and get your hands dirty.

“We are rootsy and down-to-earth,” DesLauriers said. “We’re not trying to be fancy, and there’s no need to pose. Our family has a connection that we share with so many Bolton skiers and riders, plus the added layer that our dad created it.

“Legacy, pride, and a sense of responsibility and caretaking. And, most of all, it’s home,” she said. n

GOLDEN HOUR In mid-winter,

OUTDOOR PRIMER

On skinny skis

Stowe boasts one of the most diverse cross-country trail systems in the United States. More than 150 kilometers of groomed and 100 kilometers of backcountry trails crisscross its landscape. One of those backcountry trails is the Catamount Trail, 300 miles of wilderness skiing over the spine of the Green Mountains from Massachusetts to Quebec. It connects 15 ski centers throughout the state, including those in Stowe. Trapp Family Lodge, the first commercial ski center in the U.S., is the heart of Stowe’s network with 60k of groomed trails and 100k of backcountry trails. Stowe Mountain Resort Cross-Country Ski Center’s accessibility to the downhill ski area creates an uncommon fusion of Nordic and alpine skiing. Stowe Mountain Resort’s 45k of groomed and 30k of backcountry trails are the highest in elevation in Stowe. Topnotch at Stowe Resort and Spa offers additional terrain. Over the mountain in Cambridge, the Smugglers’ Cross Country Center at Smugglers’ Resort offers 30k of trails dedicated to cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

Figure 8, anyone?

Public skating is offered daily at Stowe Arena. The arena has skate rentals. For public skating schedules, check out stowerec.org.

Winter fish tales

This may be the Ski Capital of the East, but don’t tell the fish that! Fish do not go dormant in the winter. Their metabolism slows, but they still need to eat. So if you enjoy eating—or just catching— fish, there’s nothing better than a mess of yellow perch out of Vermont’s frigid waters. Local outfitters will be thrilled to help you set your line.

Snowshoe heaven

The Stowe area is home to some of the most extensive and diverse hiking trails in the East, making it the perfect destination for snowshoeing. From the flat 5.3-mile Stowe Recreation Path to the challenging summit of Madonna Mountain, snowshoers go at their own pace and reap the benefits of safe, aerobic exercise. The Green Mountain Club, on Route 100 in Waterbury Center (green mountainclub.org), has compiled a list of favorite snowshoe hikes in the Stowe-Smugglers’ area. Stowe Land Trust (stowelandtrust.org) allows snowshoeing on many of its conserved properties.

It’s VAST out there

Imagine a 5,000-mile highway that suddenly appears every winter. One that goes through backcountry and snow-covered mountains, secluded valleys, and friendly villages. In Vermont, you don’t have to imagine it; it’s the winter world of snowmobiling. All riders in Vermont must belong to the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST), a non-profit, private group of over a hundred snowmobile clubs with tens of thousands of members. (See our list of local clubs at left.)

Maple mojo

Mid- to late-winter means maple time in Vermont, producer of the world’s best maple syrup. Many maple producers keep their sugarhouses open year round. It’s most fun during boiling time. A great resource is vermontmaple.org. n

DOWNHILL RACERS When the U.S. Alpine & International Championships were held at Mt. Mansfield in 1966, trail modifications were needed to meet FIS regulations, according to Stowe ski historian Mike Leach, paving the way to hold the downhill.

INTERNATIONAL RACES ON NOSE DIVE IN STOWE

Frank Springer of Stowe lent me a copy of the program for the 1960 American International Alpine Ski Races held in Stowe. The program was designed and edited by his grandfather, Frank Springer-Miller.

Springer-Miller arrived in New York City in the 1920s and got a job as a graphic artist for a major ad agency. While in New York, he would meet his wife, Louise, another German émigré. They would have two children, Fred and Madi.

The family loved to come to Vermont for hiking and skiing since it reminded them of their homes. Eventually the Springer-Millers bought a farmhouse on the Mountain Road and moved to Stowe.

Springer-Miller became very involved in the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club. He designed the current MMSC logo. His original logo actually included a ski pole but that was dropped in the 2002-2003 season as the club became more inclusive. Under the auspices of the MMSC, he also com-

piled and edited the first Stowe Guide in 1955.

The concept for the American International Races started in 1952 when Stowe was going to host the U.S. National Championships in March of that year. Stowe’s owner, C.V. Starr, and Sepp Ruschp, its president and general manager, wanted to host an international race where the best skiers in the world, not just competitors from the United States, would compete.

Ruschp felt that for the level of U.S. ski racing to improve, American skiers needed to race against international competition. To get international racers to come to the United States and Stowe to race, C.V. Starr offered to pay the travel expenses for all the medalists from the 1952 Olympics.

“They succeeded in getting three men who medaled, and at least one woman, Andrea Mead Lawrence,” ski club historian Mike Leach said.

RACE DAY

CORKSCREW Today, Nose Dive has three turns at the top, but when the trail was first cut, there were seven. This section was named the Corkscrew. Map of the courses for the 1960 American International Alpine Ski Races in Stowe.

The 1960 races were the fifth in the series and were held from March 11-13. Unlike the 1952 event, most of the competitors were from Europe, possibly because many had come over for the Olympics in Squaw Valley (now Palisades Tahoe) and stayed to race in Stowe. Some of the recognizable names included medalists from those games: Guy Perillat, Jean Vuarnet (yes, the sunglasses guy), Pepi Stiegler, Hias Leitner, and Traudl Hecher. For the U.S., fresh from their Olympic medal races, were Betsy Snite and Penny Pitou.

The downhills were held on Nose Dive with the men starting literally at the top of the Nose. The women started just below the Seven Turns. The Seven Turns were still there, and it must have been a challenge for the men, negotiating them after getting a running start from the Nose!

Thanks to Leach, I got the results for the event. Winner of the men’s downhill was Perillat of France in 1:50.8. Skiing for Middlebury, the top American was Gordy Eaton in 14th place. The women’s downhill winner was Hecher of Austria in 1:31.3. Joan Hannah was the first American, and she placed third.

In the other women’s events, Snite won the slalom and was second in the giant slalom. Austrian Marianne Jahn won the giant slalom. Perillat followed up his downhill win by winning the men’s slalom while Francois Bonlieu of France won the GS.

There was a combined result, which I was surprised to learn was a tabulation of all the events. Originally, the combined score was determined by the downhill and slalom results and even today that’s the concept, although it’s a dying event. The idea of combining all the events is a throwback to a time when competitors were expected to ski every event. Today, specialization is the norm and the number of men or women who ski all events can be counted on one hand.

But back to the event program. The program included many articles, from the history of the American International Races to the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol to the relatively new appearance of metal skis. There was also an article by Fred Springer-Miller (Frank Springer’s father) on teaching his wife to ski. Hint: It didn’t go well.

His advice was leave it to a professional ski instructor. By the way, Frank’s mother became a professional ski instructor. n

Greg Morrill is a retired computer programmer and professor. Read more at retro-skiing.com.

STOWE BEATS BEAVERS AT THEIR OWN GAME

While short-term rentals in Stowe have been a hot topic over the past year, that’s a blink of the eye compared to some of the town’s longest-tenured residents. Beavers have been here for about 10,000 years.

That’s according to Grafton wildlife management expert Skip Lisle, who last summer was out-busying Stowe’s beaver population, placing a series of apparatuses that he designed in various spots in and around Memorial Park. The hope is that Lisle’s “Beaver Deceivers” will stop the animals from damming up culverts and flooding out the busy village recreational area.

The town hired Lisle as an alternative to trapping the animals, an option that wildlife advocates call unnecessarily lethal.

Lisle said killing the beavers won’t solve the problem, but making the area less appealing to them might.

Long before Stowe Elementary School, baseball fields, pickleball courts, and the hockey arena were built in the area—along with several nearby homes—the land now occupied by all those places, bordered by Park and Depot streets, belonged to wetland-dwelling flora and fauna.

“All of this development was done in wetlands,” he said. “One of the reasons this is wetland is because beavers dam in the same places today as they did for 10,000 years before the fur trade.”

Lisle said he wagers the town has gone through “scores of kill cycles” over several

decades, but the beavers never really go away because they know good terrain when they see it, and new ones will just migrate downriver from the West Branch and make their ways to the wetlands surrounding Memorial Park.

Lisle’s Beaver Deceivers are trademarked “flow devices” meant to keep critters from accessing culverts and other manmade flood control infrastructure. He said his services are in demand and he is kept busy installing them, and he prefers to do it personally because he custom fits every device to a community’s developed and wild landscapes.

Like a house guest wearing out their welcome, eventually they’ll get the hint and leave, he said. n

—Tommy Gardner

BEAVER DECEIVER Skip Lisle, inventor and owner of Beaver Deceivers, installed some of his custom-made flow devices in Memorial Park and along Depot Street in Stowe.

Nancy Stead came to Stowe, never left, made her mark

‘ONE OF A K IND’

ON THE ROAD

After graduating from Smith with an art history degree, Nancy Stead worked at Polaroid in Boston. Next page, from top: Nancy, Trine Brink, and Kitty Coppock, regular Moscow Parade participants as part of the All Ladies Lawn Chair Drill Team, appearing here as synchronized swimmers. Nancy after a cross-country ski in Stowe in 2019. Nancy and Jodie Tomlinson sailing on Lake Champlain in the mid 2000s. Opening spread: Kitty Coppock hosted a sendoff party in December 1987 for Nancy and Paige Savage before they embarked on a world tour. Nancy with Jim Stead, Stu Baraw, and Al Coppock.

Who remembers those who do the remembering?

Nancy Wolfe Stead (1940-2024) chronicled life in Stowe for decades, capturing the spirit of the town through innumerable profiles that were sometimes heartfelt and poignant and sometimes biting and humorous, and always with a veracity that showcased the characters who made the town tick.

But like many of the best writers through history, Stead herself was a larger-than-life character, passionate about outdoor sports—skiing, sailing, swimming, tennis—and après sports.

She was a global traveler, spending a few years in the early 1990s in the South Pacific, where she married her second husband, Jim Stead.

Originally hailing from Schenectady, N.Y., she moved to Stowe in the early 1960s, almost by accident, when she was on assignment for the Polaroid company, where she worked after graduating from Smith College in 1962 with an art history degree—according to her obituary, she was one of only three employees who knew the entire formula for Polaroid’s color film.

On her trip to Stowe, she met Dick Carlson, who became her first husband, and with whom she had two children, Skip and Julia. She passed up a career with Polaroid and instead dove into Stowe life— pond parties and cocktails at her home, volunteer work on the town planning commission, and professional work as one of the founders of Carlson Real Estate, representing the Mt. Mansfield Company during the resort’s pre-AIG, pre-Vail expansion.

And Stead brought all her friends and loved ones into her orbit, adventuring with them, writing about them, growing old with them.

Stead died this past summer at the age of 83, when life caught up to her. But damn, did she outrun it until nearly the end.

Her words live on in her stories of other people. Her story lives on through the memories of others.

Long ago Stowe

In October, several of Stead’s friends hopped on a Zoom meeting to reminisce about her. Several more were invited but couldn’t make it, couldn’t figure out Zoom, had other stuff to do. The group, however, represented some of Stead’s most enduring friendships, including fellow charter members of Stowe’s most legendary all-women’s ski bum race team. They talked about meeting Stead in the 1960s, a very different era for Stowe.

Paige Savage: It was 1964. I can’t remember the name of the bar, but she was sitting on a bar stool with her braid down her back, sitting on the braid. It was so long. Nancy and I hit it off immediately.

Millie Merrill: I do not remember the specific time. She just became one of the people that I knew and saw, and we both were married, had kids.

Martha Economou: I think I knew about Nancy before I met Nancy.

Kitty Coppock: Nancy was the first friend I made. I met her in the fall of ’69 and then we skied together all the winter of ’70 and every other year henceforth.

Savage: She moved in with Dick and they lived in Sylvan Park in this funky little house. I remember going there for dinner (laughs), drugs, sex, and rock and roll.

John Merrill: We all kind of traveled in the same social circle, and there could have been any number of drunken parties or nights in the bar when I first encountered Nancy, and I certainly don’t remember, but she was just somebody who kind of got involved in our lives at that time and we got to know over the years. I am an old comer by many of your stakes. I didn’t show up in Stowe, fulltime anyway, until the early 1970s.

Janet Larson: I believe it was in the summer, and it was out around the pond. For years, we weren’t terribly close, we sort of went different ways. Then, a little after she and Dick divorced and she married Jim, we would go out and play tennis together at the Stowe Tennis Club.

SLIDE Opposite: Nancy Stead traveling up the Nile, 1988. Kitty Coppock, Paige Savage, Nancy, and Millie Merrill, or SLIDE, aka the Stowe Ladies International Downhill Experts, the team that won the Stowe Ski Bum races in 1973. “SLIDE was name we gave ourselves. We were good skiers. And fun!” Millie says. Here are three members of SLIDE filling the Smugglers’ Cup with a post-race libration after winning it all. Kitty is facing away from the camera, with Trine Brink, Nancy, and Millie.

Peggy Smith: ln ’74, ’75, I decided to go into the real estate business, and you needed to have five signatures from people to be able to apply. She said, ‘I’m going to sign it (your application), but I’m going to tell you that this is not a part-time job.’ It was probably the best advice that anybody ever gave me, because she was very serious about it, and I took that to heart.

Stead was an early, and dogged, feminist, from the days when that word was just catching on. She volunteered for Planned Parenthood and advocated for women’s rights in more patriarchal societies in the South Pacific.

Millie Merrill: I think of us as probably being ahead of the feminist movement. We were doing what we were supposed to do—find a man, get married, have children, be a mother. But I think both of us rather liked working.

Smith: Nancy paid all the bills, and she did all the finances and everything, so she would just sign Dick’s name if she needed to. One day, Dick needed some money, and he wrote a check, and he took it over to the bank, and they wouldn’t cash it because they didn’t recognize the signature.

Coppock: I’ve always had this theory that all the women who came to Stowe said, ‘I can do this on my own.’ All the men came to town because they didn’t want to deal with the real world.

Savage: In my experience of her over the years, I never had the thought that she would be said no to.

Coppock: I know how she would vote this vote this time around.

A way with words

Stead was a writer of prodigious output. In addition to her work in the Stowe Reporter and this magazine, she wrote for Sail Magazine and the travel sections of numerous national newspapers. She

revived the gossip column for the paper, “Scene Around the Mountain,” but also turned out heartfelt remembrances. She was a regular letter-writer and everyone who spoke said they still have at least one of her dispatches.

Economou: She was a master. She was a wordsmith, and when she wrote about people, you’d say, ‘Oh my gosh, she just nailed it.’

John Merrill: She was well known for her sharp wit and her sharper tongue. She had a way of skewering people with the most succinct comment that you can imagine. Some people got it and laughed. There are other people to this day who haven’t forgiven her for what she said about them.

Millie Merrill: When somebody died and there was an obituary, she could write about them that just captured them in a way that was absolutely beautiful.

Coppock: They were absolutely brilliant capsules of whoever she was writing about. Some, of course, were her dear friends.

Economou: There is a friendship among those women that is quite the adventure and should be written about. One of you should do it.

The Stowe of a half century ago had its archetypes, the recreationists and the socialites, the eccentrics and the townies, sometimes overlapping in Stowe’s historical vibrant bars and clubs and restaurants. There are similar groupings today, but the difference is Stead had a knack of capturing those everyday (and night) characters in the pages of the paper, during an era when the local community newspaper traded in hot goss you could only find if you could locate a copy of that week’s edition.

Savage: I’ll tell a story if you promise not to print it.

Millie Merrill: That whole era of Stowe had a lot of characters. I don’t know if Stowe still has the characters that we had then.

Larson: Maybe they think we’re the characters.

FEARLESS FOURSOME Previous page, from top left: Paige Savage and Nancy Stead masquerade as Egyptian men in jalabiyas while cruising up the Nile. “It was definitely not politically correct—it was verboten for women to wear this traditional male garb—but lots of fun,” Paige says. Three photos of SLIDE: Nancy, Millie Merrill, Kitty Coppock, and Paige before taking a ride down the Stowe Mountain Resort zipline; Kitty, Paige, Nancy, and Millie at a send-of f party for Paige and Nancy as they embarked on their tour around the world; and the SLIDE foursome relaxing on Happy Island on a reef in Union Island Harbor, St. Vincent & Grenadines, spring 2005. Nancy at the Moscow Parade during the rollerblade craze—”Rollerbladers from hell.” Below: Nancy and Kitty competed in the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club championship race in the early 1970s. They placed third and second, respectively. The gang at a Music in the Meadow concert in Stowe, from left, John and Millie Merrill, Joanne Barwick, Nancy and Jim Stead, and Paige.

Coppock: I don’t know whether I offended Marion Kellogg or Phoebe Sakash (then-matriarchs of two of Stowe’s well-known families).

Larson: Well, young people today may think that we’re like the Phoebe Sakashes and the Marion Kelloggs. When they see us coming, they head for the hills.

Stowe, once upon a time, was also just a small town with small-town antics, folks that Stead captured regularly in her writings, such as in a 2014 story in this magazine titled “The Exit of Eccentricity.”

John Merrill: I’m thinking of eccentrics like Henry Hastings and Carroll Brothers, Roger Elkins (all of whom were mentioned in Stead’s writings).

Smith: Who remembers Sweet Pea? He used to play the piano at the Baggy Knees with just a loincloth on, and then his knee would get bouncing up and down—and everything else with it.

Millie Merrill: When he wasn’t sitting at a piano, he was sitting on the steps of the Memorial Building (the town hall on Main Street) watching the cars go by, in loincloth.

Larson: And they were watching him.

There was the time Rogers Adams made a bet with the owners of Shaw’s general market, which, in the old days, had a grocery department, including a basket full of eggs.

Savage: He said to whichever Shaw generation was behind the counter, “Bet you anything I can jump into that basket and not break a single egg. I bet you a quarter.’ Everybody gathered around and said, ‘No way, no way,’ and he said, ‘Nope, I can do it.’ He went ahead and did it, and broke every single egg, put the quarter down, and left.

The Moscow area of town has seen its share of quirky characters, and their traditions helped shape the neighborhood’s annual July 4th parade. In addition to the All-Ladies Lawn Chair Drill Team, which sees women perform synchronized fold-unfold moves while marching and that Stead and Coppock helped found, there was the tradition of waiting until the night before to come up with a costume theme.

Coppock: My husband came out and said, ‘They let Leona Helmsley out of jail.’ Imelda Marcos had also been let out of jail, so we went as liberated women. Nancy had a trail of shoes behind her, all tied together, and I was wearing a gown and an ermine cape that I put together that afternoon.

Talk about “flatlanders” is by no means a new gripe when it comes to folks from the city moving to Vermont, and to Stowe. But then, as now, the flatlanders often become the new locals. Just give it time, maybe some cocktails, maybe a soliloquy or two at Town Meeting.

Larson: My neighbor, before we moved and built our house, was not happy. ‘There are too many flatlanders moving in up here.’ They thought we were ruining the area because all these people from down country were moving up. You know, that attitude hasn’t really changed much.

Millie Merrill: : But it wasn’t us-against-them. It was a very, very different feel. Everybody did things to work together to build the town.

A life of adventure

Stowe, being a ski resort town, has long seen relationships flourish over a love of the slopes, a love of adventure. Stead and her close group of friends participated from the early days of the Stowe Ski Bum races as a team that called itself SLIDE (Stowe Ladies International Downhill Experts).

Savage: We were one of the original ski bum teams. And we did win the cup that first year.

Millie Merrill: The parties after SLIDE, we got out together more than almost any other time.

Savage: The husbands were home taking care of the kids.

Coppock: She was a beautiful skier. She had this fabulous purple outfit and every time we stopped, somebody would say, ‘My God, Nancy, you are skiing so well. And that is the greatest outfit.’ Then, ‘Oh hi, Kitty.’

Millie Merrill: We call ourselves SLID, now.

WORLD TRAVELS This page: Nancy Stead’s daughter, Julia Aiken, says this was her mom’s favorite photo of she and her husband, Jim. Next page, from top: Jim peaks around Nancy on Mt. Etna in Sicily, fall of 2007. Nancy and Jim sign their marriage certificate in Vanuatu in 1992. Nancy sits on Santa’s lap, 1965, Stowe. Fearless Nancy and a new friend in Vietnam, fall 2005.

In the non-winter months, Stowe ski bums of yore would become serious tennis players, especially as they got a little older. Many of them have now taken up pickleball.

Economou: In our later years, when we played tennis together, all I have to say about that is that I wanted her as my partner and not as my opponent.

Coppock: I didn’t play tennis until much later, but the Monday afternoon group occasionally would run out of wine, and I lived right up the road, so Nancy would call up and say, ‘Kitty, could you bring down a bottle of wine?’ Then I would stay and have wine with everybody. When I finally started playing tennis and applied to the tennis club six months later, everybody thought I was a member.

Anne Dennis (a friend from Australia): My first contact with Nancy was when she rang me when we were both new to Port Vila, Vanuatu, announcing that she needed to learn Bislama (the lingua franca), and she needed to learn it fast. She’d heard I wanted to have classes too, but I wasn’t in the same rush. I thought, ‘Who is this American woman in such a hurry in this most unhurried of places?’ Time is a very different concept in the Pacific.

Millie Merrill: She studied the Melanesian culture when she was there (in the South Pacific while Jim was in the Peace Corps), and she was a wonderful guide when we visited.

Coppock: Her letters from Vanuatu are absolutely exceptional. I still have every single one.

Dennis: Nancy and Jim visited us in the Philippines in 2000. When we went to Boracay, Jim had to stay at Nigi Nigi Nu Noos ‘e’ Nu Nu Noos resort, simply because of the name. They were horrified but fascinated on a wild night out in Manila with American friends of ours (involving multiple venues, and large quantities of alcohol and cigars), when we went to a bar called the Hobbit House, run by little people.

Stead was also a regular, and fierce, competitor in the Lake Champlain Yacht Club’s annual “Champagne Race.”

Millie Merrill: Nancy was also one hell of a sailor. I don’t know that she was ever on the boat that got a five-minute head start for having a woman topless at the helm, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

Travels

The SLIDE posse became so tight that they often took their show on the road, both before Nancy and Jim moved abroad in the early 1990s for a bit. The good times still rolled, all around the world.

Economou: She took on anything she did with such gusto, and she had such a love of life that it was infectious.

Savage: December 1987 into ’88 she and I stayed abroad for about six months. We only had backpacks, and we would hitchhike, sleep on the floor of trains, and she was totally responsible all the time for getting us hooked up to something. I’m sort of an introvert, and she is such an extrovert that there wasn’t a time when she didn’t get us to join a party or to do whatever.

The latter years

Stead moved to the Shelburne senior living community, Wake Robin, with Jim in 2018. But an old folks’ home didn’t stop her from having fun, and making sure her new neighbors seized the day, too.

Coppock: Somebody said she was the best thing that ever happened to Wake Robin, because she was always planning something for everybody to go somewhere and do something.

Millie Merrill: One of the very last times that I saw her, hospice was coming in, morphine and stuff, and I had a wonderful visit with her. I came out and there was somebody from Wake Robin who I didn’t know, who wanted to visit with her. She’d only met Nancy at Wake Robin, and I don’t know for how long, but she just went on about what a difference Nancy had made in all their lives, so many of their lives, and how she took them on adventures.

Savage: Right to almost the end, if one of us went down to say, ‘Hey, do you want to go for lunch someplace? You want to go for a drive?’ She always was right on and would tell a story about some place we were passing, or she would just be totally enthusiastic and then she would say, ‘Now I have to hurry back because they’re going to some concert, and I want to be sure to do that.’ I mean, she never stopped.

John Merrill: Thirteen funerals I went to this summer. As Yogi (Berra) said, ‘I go to all of my friends’ funerals, because if I don’t, they won’t come to mine.’

Millie Merrill: Just thinking of her, she was a very, very special person. She was one of a kind and we all hold her very, very dear.

If Stead was watching over this Zoom conversation, what would she be thinking? Would she be laughing? Would she be mortified? Would she get a kick out of all the stories?

Coppock: She’s laughing and saying, ‘You haven’t told the good ones.’

Savage: She’d say, ‘You’re cutting into cocktail time!’ n

Stowe’s Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol oldest in the nation

With two exceptions, all U.S. ski areas other than Stowe have finally stopping claiming to be the home of America’s oldest ski patrol. One holdout in the west claims to have a patrol founded in 1936 and even sells its own logo wear showing “1936.”

But the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol at Stowe was formed two years earlier—on Jan. 9, 1934—and rests its assertion on the articles of incorporation for the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club recorded seven days later with the Vermont Secretary of State.

It’s in legal black and white.

The second holdout is in the East and claims to have “the world’s first ski patrol.”

But that resort didn’t even exist in 1934 and the private patrol on which it bases its claim ceased all operations many years before the resort was even planned.

And, that pesky “world’s first patrol” claim would flounder within nanoseconds if said aloud in Europe.

Stowe Mountain Resort has America’s oldest ski patrol.

You may have noticed the 90th anniversary celebrations held around Stowe Mountain Resort during the last ski season. Last August, dozens of current and former Stowe patrollers, going back to the 1950s, joined to celebrate the milestone. While so much has changed over the past nine decades, so much else has remained the same.

The level of medical care has little similarity to 90 years ago. On the other hand, the camaraderie and sense of humor among patrollers remain unchanged.

At left, Willis Barrows performs a telephone check at a toboggan cache on Mansfield. • Above, during the winter of 1952-53, Frank Smith adjusts the straps on the sled while an unidentified patrolman (Charlie Whitcomb or John King) lights the patient’s cigarette, considered appropriate first aid in its time. • Ski patrol director Erwin Lindner in the 1940s.

In 1934, if a skier collapsed from a heart attack the chance of survival would have been tiny. Today a skier would have a solid chance. In 2015, a skier collapsed on Gondolier about half-way down the mountain. Members of the Mansfield patrol defibrillated him in four minutes from the time of the call. The skier made a full recovery and still skis at Stowe. Even if you believe in miracles, the emergency medical care he received on the trail clearly helped him survive.

On that day, off-duty ski patrollers were manning the Stowe Rescue ambulance, and they transported him to the University of Vermont Medical Center where they were greeted by an emergency room nurse—an off-duty Stowe patroller. The patient was seen immediately by a thoracic surgeon, another off-duty Stowe patroller. The next morning the same surgeon repaired the skier’s heart valve. Members of the ski patrol run on local ambulances, staff backcountry rescue teams, and serve as doctors and nurses in their “day” jobs.

Below: A party at the Stone Hut in the 1950s. From left, back row, Charlie Lord, Chet Judge, George Wesson (light sweater), Abner Coleman (far back), Warren Warner (striped sweater). Front row, Dave Burt (hand on knee), Huntley Palmer, and Erwin Lindner. • At right, clockwise from top: The Patrol in the 1980s. • Rare photo of the patrol at an accident scene, on the West Slope in the mid-1960s. • Sears Raymond, Art Frez, Al Arey, and Erwin Lindner, 1946-47. • MMSP members in the winter of 1952-53 at junction of National, Liftline, and Lord. From left, Norman Barrett, Sears Raymond, Frank Smith, Robert Cochran, John King, Willis Barrows, and George Wesson.• Charlie Lord skiing on the original Chin Clip. The original trail was abandoned in 1940. • Frankie Harrison Sparks, 1944-45. • A newspaper ad showing the interior of Tuck’s Store, the supplier of the first MMSP patches. It was on College Street in Burlington.

Training exercise

To be a “counter” on the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol you must drive a loaded toboggan down Upper National—perfectly—at least four times in a row. Screw up once, you start all over again. I remember the morning

When Cort hit the first mogul, 100 feet or so down the National, one of his skis flew off and went twirling into the air. I watched as he coolly plucked it from mid-air with one hand while “driving” the sled with the other.

“recovering attorney” Cort Johnson took his test, and I volunteered to man the 150-foot safety rope tied to the tail of his toboggan. We were perched on the edge of Haychute looking down the pitch of Upper National knowing gravity would dictate the first 75-foot free fall. The test for Cort? Demonstrate toboggan skills that would escape Mr. Gravity’s clutches.

Cort looked at me and said, “I want this run to count so don’t hold any tension on that safety rope unless it looks like somebody is about to die.”

He moved to the edge and with patroller Steve Hill laying in the toboggan playing the part of patient, dropped off the safety of Haychute and onto National. I looped the rope around my back and assumed the standard belaying position to slow and stop the toboggan if things turned south. Enter Mr. Gravity.

In an instant, the rope around my back issued a high-pitched whine— just imagine the whistling sound of the cable on a crashing elevator.

By now the safety rope had melted several burn holes in my parka and I had to decide, “Is anyone going to die?” Nope—not yet. So, I let the line continue to play out at high speed. With 20 feet of rope left behind me I hollered, “OFF BELAY!” to warn Cort he was on his own.

Mr. Gravity wasn’t listening.

About 25 feet after the end of the rope, sliding at Mach 1 on one ski and holding the other, Cort managed to get himself, the toboggan, and the “patient” safely stopped. Nobody died. But the run didn’t count because he hadn’t maintained control during the long freefall.

So, it was back to square one for Mr. Johnson. He passed his next test.

Although women have been patrollers on the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol from its earliest days, they were never properly acknowledged or allowed to drive toboggans. The thinking in those times was that women simply couldn’t pass such a scary test. In 1976, that all changed when Vermont native Gayle Oberg convinced patrol director Hal “The Kaiser” Wilhelm to hire her as a full-time patroller. Wilhelm was a traditionalist in every way—did you catch his nickname? Oberg shattered that four-decades-old glass ceiling, but her battle wasn’t over.

Although treated as a member of the team in good standing, she was stonewalled when trying to get fully trained to drive toboggans and her testing was continually postponed. Oberg persisted and finally forced the issue. Wilhelm relented and ran the test himself. Oberg aced the test and in December 1976 became the first female to be fully certified to run toboggans on any terrain and at any time at Stowe.

Since that time, the patrol has not been able to operate without women. Every year they have proven to be completely equal (or better) than their male counterparts in every aspect of patrolling. Like the men, they run toboggans on skis, snowboards, and telemarks. From 1995 to 1998 Mary Bozack was patrol director and this season Karen Wagner returns as director following a year off.

Today several of the hill supervisor and trainer positions are also held by women.

Early days

What really happened that led to the creation of the MMSP in 1934? The lore goes back to a specific incident long presumed to involve insurance executive C. Minot “Minnie” Dole.

These were the days when skiers had to hike up Mansfield, perhaps for two runs per day at best. On a spring day in 1933, it was long thought to have been Dole who fell while skiing the Toll Road, breaking a bone in his ankle. Well after dark, word of his injury finally arrived down at Ranch Camp—a renovated lumber camp turned ski lodge and first home of the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club.

Ranch Camp was the literal epicenter of Stowe skiing in those early days. Although accounts vary widely, it was most likely Craig Burt Sr. and Frank Griffin who began a long slog up the mountain by the light of kerosene lanterns. They hauled the patient down the mountain on a piece of corrugated roofing tin, finally delivering him to the local doctor’s office in the middle of the night.

Below, Mrs. C. V. Starr presents a Cadillac ambulance to the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol. At Mrs. Starr's right is Lanou Hudson. • Previous page, clockwise from top left, Clarence Hayford demonstrates sled technique. • “Ski Patrolman in action at Stowe, Vt., tends the fractured wrist of a weekend skier, her only mishap in three years of skiing,” a caption read in this news photo. • Betty Ware at a toboggan cache in the 1940s. • Josh Lane in 2007. • Fritz Kramer in spring slush on the Nose Dive, 1940. From Mt. Mansfield Skiing, April 6, 1942: “How Fritz Kramer, anchor-man for the Mt. Mansfield patrol manages to keep so good natured is amazing. Despite having to lug around toboggans four times his size, and skiers four times his weight, he continues to remind us of a benevolent fieldmouse—until he is called to help a hysteric woman. Hysteric women are an anathema to Fritz. He doesn’t like them. But they like him.” • A former chicken coop from the Summit House that was repurposed into a patrol shack and warming hut, circa 1934. This stood on Toll Road well above the Nose Dive intersection. • Patrol Director George Wesson in the Octagon Patrol Room, winter of 1952-53. • Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol, 2008. • Seth Couto sled training in a snowstorm on a snowboard on Upper National, 2011-2012. • Inset, ski patrollers from the 1950s—Charlie Lord, Ab Coleman, Huntley Palmer, and Chet Judge—socializing on Rock Island near Panton, which was owned by Palmer.

Word quickly spread about the rescue. Suddenly, everyone realized that with the advent of ski trains from down country, coupled with more hikerskiers, more accidents and injuries were inevitable. That’s why, within the year, embedded in its articles of incorporation, the big guns at Stowe wanted to ensure the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club would take steps to make skiing safer.

Burt and Griffin both left written accounts of the rescue. (Griffin’s version vanished after being read decades ago but regrettably not copied by this writer.) Although both accounts never mentioned each other, they agreed on almost all key details. Neither account mentioned the patient’s name and newer research has determined it was not Dole. The name of the first injured skier on Mt. Mansfield has been lost to history. (Dole did suffer a similar injury near the same location and same circumstances but it was during the first days of January 1936—three years later.)

Inspired by Roland Palmedo, the early driving force of skiing at Stowe, the club’s initial response to this injury in the winter of 1934 was to appoint Griffin to create a working ski patrol. A committee formed to help him, and it included Palmedo, along with Stowe’s famous skier, trail designer, and historian Charlie Lord, Burt, Bill Mason (a local ski manufacturer), Abner Coleman, and likely others.

When asked by the Stowe Reporter in 1976 why that patrol was created, Lord, using his wellknown Vermont humor, said early patrollers wanted to “herd people around and keep them from killing themselves.”

During that same winter, Griffin and the others began to spread word that the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol was forming. Patches—simple triangles with crude lettering reading “Ski Patrol”—were designed by Lord and manufactured with volunteers picking them up at Griffin’s store (known as Turk’s) on College Street in Burlington.

Stowe ski patrol. This decision instantly shrank the size of the patrol and turned it into a far more professional operation almost overnight.

By the next year, state forester Al Gottlieb of Stowe had taken over as the MMSP director and set about to create a toboggan and first aid cache system, which was built in the following year. With the help of the Vermont Forest Service and the U.S. Civilian Conservation Corps, more than 30 well-stocked toboggan caches were built around Stowe, not just on Mt. Mansfield, and these held the first purpose-built ski patrol toboggans in America. At least three of these caches still exist on the mountainside.

(Both the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum in Stowe and the New England Ski Museum feature examples of Stowe’s first toboggans. Both were found in old caches still on the mountain in 1996.)

On Mt. Mansfield, Gottlieb then secured permission from state

These were probably the first official ski patrol patches in America.

In one of Burt’s later accounts, he mirrored Lord’s statement when he wrote “the principal duties of a patrolman then (1934) were to inform skiing guests of trails that were right to their individual ability.” Ninety years later, there isn’t a ski patrol on this planet that doesn’t still see this exact service as one of its primary duties.

In 1935, the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club authorized $50 to purchase corrugated metal roofing for toboggans, bandaging, and splints. By the end of the 1935-36 season, the club had volunteers, patches designating “ski patrollers,” and first aid supplies. Most surviving historical accounts make it clear that training was not much of a priority beyond knowledge of the mountain and rudimentary first aid.

During the 1936 season, the committee named Lord and Burt as the new patrol leaders. It was during this winter the two men obtained formal Red Cross first aid certification. They then created a new rule that only those who passed the Red Cross first aid course could be members of the

forestry officials to use fire phones to report ski emergencies. This may very well have been the first ski patrol emergency phone system in North America. In spring 2024, one of these original telephones was found near a collapsed toboggan cache, still in its cast-iron box on the Underhill side of Mt. Mansfield.

Race hill

In 1938, the National Downhill and Slalom races came to Stowe. Enter Griffin once again, as he and the ski club were instrumental in bringing such an important event to a mountain that still lacked a lift that could carry competitors to the racecourse.

By this time, Dole had recovered from his ankle fracture of New Year’s 1936, and then made himself the country’s number one expert on skiing injuries. In fact, several weeks after Dole was injured on the Toll Road, his close friend Frank Edson crashed at a race in Massachusetts and poor first aid led to his death. Dole was inspired to bring safety to skiing.

For Stowe’s forthcoming races, Griffin reached out to Dole, who had become a regular at Stowe, and asked him to use his wide skiing safety experience to help prepare a special patrol response for the National races.

Dole later wrote, “Dave (Parsons) and I went to Stowe ten days before the races. We worked closely with members of the Mt. Mansfield Patrol in laying out the stations for patrolmen and toboggans, so that each station would be within voice distance to the next. We established procedures for replacement of men and toboggans if one had to go down.”

During the race, in a conversation just above Shambles Corner (it’s still there) on Nose Dive, Dole spoke with Roger Langley, president of the National Ski Association. According to Dole, Langley said, “This patrol set-up you have here today is terrific. We ought to do this on a national basis, will you do it?”

Dole recalled: “Without the slightest idea of the chew I was biting off I said, ‘Sure.’”

And, out of that race’s impressively well-organized Mt Mansfield Ski Patrol, grew the seed that eventually resulted in the creation of the National Ski Patrol System, based on the MMSP, later in the same year.

The marriage between the National and Mt. Mansfield ski patrols lasted until 1959 when disagreements broke out. One sticking point arose over the specific use of the Thomas half-ring splint for femur fractures. Stowe and its medical advisors were in direct arguments with national headquarters.

There was also increasing friction that the national headquarters was issuing ill-conceived directives and guidelines, apparently by non-skiing administrators. The on-hill experience gained by the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol and advice from its own doctor-skiers were at odds with the national patrol’s policies. The organizations parted ways and did not reunite until 2017 when Vail Resorts purchased the skiing assets of Stowe Mountain Resort.

Vail now requires all volunteer patrollers to be members of the National Ski Patrol, and the renewed relationship has worked smoothly.

The Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol’s ties to Dole remained strong until his death. Having founded the famed 10th Mountain Division ski troops of World War II, Dole was undoubtedly pleased to have the patrol’s first paid patrolman, Fritz Kramer, an Austrian immigrant, become a member of the 10th.

Likewise, Erwin Lindner (my father) and George Wesson were both 10th Mountain veterans who later served as longtime patrol directors at Stowe. In addition, rank-and-file members of the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol, like Bob Cochran and Jack Colven, had also served with the 10th Mountain Division.

Lots of firsts

It took until 1940 for Stowe to finally acquire its first paid patroller. With the building of the single chair that year, everyone realized skier traffic was about to explode, and everyone realized a patrol presence was needed every hour the lift was in operation.

The problem was the resort simply didn’t have enough money to hire a patroller. Enter Perry Merrill, Vermont’s legendary commissioner of the forestry department. A huge promoter of skiing in Vermont, Merrill, too, recognized the problem. He offered to put a patroller on the state payroll so long as Lord would act as the patroller’s supervisor. Mt Mansfield is in the state forest, so this was a way for Merrill to protect his department.

Kramer was hired and spent the winter of 1940-41 patrolling from the Octagon and living in the Stone Hut at the top of the single chair. Once per week he came down for a shower and supplies.

Over the 90 years of its documented existence, the Mt. Mansfield Ski

Patrol has invented several first aid techniques and devices but never received full credit. With the direction of surgeons at Vermont’s largest hospital, the patrol invented and perfected the traction backboard. It also perfected the collapsible box splint for lower leg injuries.

World War II military surplus toboggans were field modified and virtually every ski patrol in the U.S. now uses modern ones that incorporate those early MMSP designs that use long handles and brakes for better control.

In 1960, an impressive first aid instructional movie was professionally filmed that provided 20 minutes of training scenarios on how the pros at the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol treated trauma injuries on the trails. It remains unclear how many other patrols learned some of their techniques from this film, but it was likely in the dozens.

Long-time ski patrol doctor Bish McGill served as the medical advisor and acted as the patient in several scenarios presented in the film.

No history would be complete without mentioning the Black Knights. Over the years, the patrol has worn uniforms in color from robin’s egg blue to red to sky blue to black. Of all these, the black uniforms are the best remembered by longtime skiers. It was during the black jacket years starting in the 1960s that the nickname “Black Knights” originated.

Decades of tradition

Today’s patrol carries on traditions that go back to the 1930s. The full attention and resolute professionalism required at every accident scene remains unchanged. The augmentation of full-time patrollers continues with equally (or even better) qualified volunteers.

One other feature that has never changed is the personality of the patrol. Since 1934, the members have not only come together as patrollers but also as close personal friends.

Tomlinson) because of what another patroller once did in Phil’s new Volvo; “Brain Dead” (Pat Parker) because of the stuff he tried to pull; “Brain Damaged,” because, well, you get the idea.

Over the years there have been several “Black Clouds.” These are the patrollers who seem to be giant magnets for accidents—first out the door, first on scene, or a track record of stumbling upon accidents.

It’s a badge of honor.

There once was a time when the attitude of the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol was, “We are the oldest and we are the best.”

That wasn’t arrogance, but it was authoritative. If you were caught on a closed trail, the patroller would take your ticket and subject you to a stern lecture, sprinkled with insults, at no extra charge. Today, the patrol is different. You’ll still lose the ticket, but the lecture will undoubtedly be kinder, gentler, and assuredly educational. Being professional is a strict requirement of patrolling at Stowe.

Today, the Vermont Division of Emergency Medical Services licenses the Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol as a first responder unit. Virtually the entire patrol is staffed by men and women with at least the Emergency Medical

Nearly the entire patrol—then and now—socializes throughout the year. The laughter in the patrol rooms is non-stop and nothing is considered sacred—until the “wreck phone” rings. When the dispatcher announces, “We have a wreck,” the room goes instantly silent as everyone prepares to respond as soon as the details are announced.

current Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol director, Karen Wagner. Mary-Scott Mason in skirt and ski boots at the Octagon 1940s. (Courtesy of the Mason family) Previous page, the Black Knights. Inset, A list from the 1940s showing patrollers and their National Ski Patrol numbers. Mason, the lone woman, is segregated from the list and shown at the top of the sheet—#6. The Mary Mason Glades at Stowe are named after her, one of only two Stowe trails named after a female. (Unless noted, photos courtesy of Brian Lindner)

Technician (EMT) level of certification. The patrol works closely with Stowe Rescue that provides ambulance service from the mountain’s base, and with the famous Stowe Mountain Rescue team.

And speaking of the dispatcher, it is a key position every moment, even before the resort is open in the morning. Every run by every patroller is documented with their times in and out and the purpose and results of the run. You may think the patrollers you see on the hill are just out playing. Not so. Patrollers are assigned a task for every run, which may involve watching for careless skiers, digging sign pads, marking objects, or just checking snow and trail conditions.

Since its first days, nicknames have been a virtual requirement for membership. Each patroller’s name was generated by their individual experience on the patrol. Names like “Mad Dog” (Bill Metzler) from his facial expressions while taking his toboggan test; “The Big Puke” (Phil

Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol can hang its claim as oldest ski patrol in the U.S. based on a multitude of official and unofficial documents, as well as first-hand accounts. It can also hang its claim on a specific written and signed statement by none other than C. Minot Dole, the founder of both the National Ski Patrol and the Army’s 10th Mountain Division.

Dole once wrote, “Having seen the Parsenn[e] Patrol [Switzerland] in action, he (Roland Palmedo) together with Charlie Lord, Craig Burt, Bill Mason, Ab Coleman, and others organized, I believe the first ski patrol in this country.”

If you can’t trust Minnie Dole, who can you trust? n

Above,

photographer chronicles ‘time of transition’

STICK SEASON STORIES

Skies were clear and temperatures seasonal on the afternoon of a certain mid-October day, more than a dozen years ago. I was exploring a seldomused backcountry hiking trail atop Worcester Ridge in Elmore, having fulfilled a commercial assignment by capturing beautiful Vermont views from a certain parcel of land.

Down in the valleys and along the slowmoving rivers of Lamoille County, peak foliage had come and gone, its rich autumn color fading. Higher up, hillside trees were scantily clad, though some color remained. But on that ridgeline at a couple thousand feet, trees were fully bare, fully transitioned.

The calendar indicated that we were still in mid-October, so I had not yet undertaken any late-autumn, photo treasure hunts. November would be the time for such journeys.

Being yet early in late autumn—and close to home—it hadn’t occurred to me that I could simply climb a bit and step into a local expression of stick season. So, I wasn’t intentionally pursuing photos that day to include in my on-going project of the same name.

Even so, I was about to stumble upon a subject I knew well. And I was about to make a photograph of importance to my project, one that would enrich a group of images that tells a story of Vermont between fall foliage and the onset of winter.

Leaving the trail to begin my trip back, I noticed a lone figure at the same viewpoint I had visited earlier: In a clearing nestled between birches and firs, he was perched on a remnant of weathered plywood, enjoying the grand eastern view of a landscape in transition. It didn’t take me long to identify him as Rusty DeWees.

My shout of “Russ?” earned his reply of “Paul!” He’d seen my Outback parked just below, reckoning that I was somewhere on the mountain. As his photographer for nearly 25 years, I’d known him as one of Vermont’s best-known entertainers. But I’d also known him since the third grade simply as a friend.

No longer 8 years old, we’d sometimes meet at his barn to chew the fat, his cigar at the ready for just the right moment. We would also run into each other at seemingly random places, as one does with friends, at grocery stores, fairs, or farm markets. Not surprising then that we might one day also meet on a mountaintop.

Quick with a smile and a kind word, Rusty was at rest, keeping his post-workout self warm with a Darn Tough cap. And he was about to light up a stogie.

Rusty likes a quality cigar. Years later I would buy him a cigar while on assignment in Cuba (legal during the Trump years).

Knowing that my five-dollar investment, even near the source, wouldn’t purchase a premium smoke, I’d later ask him, how was it? He’d pondered thoughtfully, genuinely, then tell me it was a good tractor cigar one to enjoy while doing chores. The answer would sit well with me.

Anyhow, up there on Worcester Ridge we chatted for a moment as I considered the photographic possibilities of the scene before me. Though not one to take advantage of friends with my camera, especially friends who are well known, I found the scene just too good to go unrecorded.

Subject obliging (as he always was) and camera at hand, my off-camera flash was also needed, because in a landscape that was bright toward the Woodbury Mountains in the southeast, my subject sat in the deep shadows of late afternoon. The hand-held strobe would bring light to that darkness, simulating direct sunlight if positioned away

from the camera and directed toward Rusty.

A little turn of the head by the experienced actor, a puff of smoke, and a few flashes of light were all it took. Pronto! A series of environmental portraits came into being … stick season portraits, as I now recognize them.

Four weeks later, in the heart of stick season, Rusty would be cigared-up once again. We were gathered with friends on the dark eve of his birthday, sitting a tolerable distance from bonfire flames that reached higher than a Vermont white pine. The blaze could be easily seen across the valley, such was the initial burn of that summer-long gathering of brush.

In fact, invitee Pete Wilder delayed his

arrival to photograph the spectacle from a couple of miles away. The bonfire would initiate enough emergency calls from helpful citizenry to warrant a courtesy visit from a representative of the local fire department, proper burn permit, and requisite pre-fire phone call to the sheriff notwithstanding.

That wouldn’t be the last Elmore bonfire I’d attend, nor the last photos of Rusty I’d make for my Stick Season Project. But looking at those 2012 ridgetop portraits in the rearview mirror has changed my perspective on late autumn photography, changed what I consider stick season opportunities.

No longer so concerned whether late-October branch-clinging leaves might disqualify my photos on philosophical grounds, or whether late-November ground-hugging snow might do the same, I continue to open myself to the photographic possibilities of this liminal time of year.

With or without a camera, I join my fellow Vermonters in enjoying the quietness and uniqueness of late autumn, when the demands of busier seasons are left behind and the rush of winter is not yet here. Through the chores and holidays, harvests, and hunting seasons, we reflect on the passing of seasons and gaze upon an unadorned landscape and its people.

Stick season is where we find it. n

Paul Rogers lives in Stowe.

ROCKY TOP Actor and entertainer Rusty DeWees up on the Worcester Range overlooking the Green Mountains during stick season.

aspire!

The people’s church seeks to raise $1.65 million

STORY : tommy gardner

stowe community church

ere’s the church. Here’s the steeple. To fix it up, the church needs some people. That, and $1.65 million.

The Stowe Community Church recently launched a major campaign to renovate the house of worship, which has been called the most photographed church in New England.

Nancy Jeffries-Dwyer, co-chair of The Stowe Steeple Society, which is running the capital campaign, said the church is for everyone, regardless of their religious affiliation, or lack of any. She moved here from Toronto 38 years ago, and it, along with the school, was where she met many of the people she still holds dear.

“When I walk through the doors, I feel still, I feel peace. This church—this church building, this church community—provides me with that sense of battery recharging,” she said. “I believe that people, whether they’re religious or they’re not religious, they walk through the door, and they will feel that same peace.”

COMMUNITY From musical programs, a breakfast for veterans, an annual presentation of “Messiah,” or weddings, Stowe Community Church is for everybody.

Planned upgrades

Gifts big and small

Rev. Daniel Haugh said some of the needed renovations are due to years of deferred maintenance. The building, which was constructed in 1863, last saw a major capital campaign in 1958, more than 100 years after its erection. Nearly seven decades later, some parts of the place are getting long in the tooth and need fixing.

Particularly expensive fixes include the steeple and its roof, as well as the church’s overall roof structure—about $365,000 combined. Exterior upgrades like windows and paint are pegged at $213,000.

Renovations to the parsonage building across the street, which predates the church by nearly 20 years, are expected to run $150,000.

Other renovations are included “because of our values,” Haugh said. For instance, churches are not required to adhere to Americans with Disabilities Act rules, but it runs contrary to the church’s mission to not have things like ADA-compliant restrooms and pews and an elevator.

“It’s about the dignity of people, and we want everyone, regardless of age or stage or mobility, to be able to feel like they’re welcome here and they can use the entire building,” Haugh said.

He said the renovations will also include upgrades to heating and air conditioning in both the sanctuary and fellowship hall.

Jeffries-Dwyer added the mission of accessibility extends to those who cannot be at the church in person, thus the plans to install a state-of-the-art video livestream system.

A $1.65 million ask is a significant goal for a small-town church. However, small-town Stowe also has some deep pockets, and a handful of big money donors have already taken care of the lion’s share of the donations, in exchange for naming rights.

Far and away the biggest donors are Chuck and Jann Perkins, who have already written two checks totaling $500,000. The Perkinses are perhaps best known as the couple who funded the creation of the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum, located in the heart of Stowe village.

Their name is already on that building. For their largesse toward the Stowe Community Church campaign, they’ll having naming rights to the steeple.

“Jann and I enjoy the Stowe Community Church so very much. It is one of the friendliest churches that we have ever attended, and

a church where we truly feel God and God’s spirit,” Chuck wrote in an email accompanying the couple’s donation.

Now, the campaign moves to the public, where everyday people can pitch in whatever they are comfortable with, no matter how small. Haugh feels this is just as important of a stage, and describes it as “different gifts, equal giving.”

He invoked the “Widow’s Offering” story from the New Testament, where Jesus sees a woman giving the equivalent of two pennies to the temple.

“Jesus said, ‘Look at her, I tell you she has by far given more than these others, because she gave, out of her poverty, the very last of her money. God sees and God blesses and rewards her,’” Haugh said. “There is great joy and a great blessing for people willing to give whatever they have.”

All about community

Haugh said Stowe Community Church is appropriately named. Aside from the religious services, the church marks nearly every stage of many residents’ lives, from baptisms through baccalaureates, and weddings through funerals and memorial services.

For Haugh, who came to Stowe from Connecticut in 2021, this is the fourth congregation he has served. He is struck by how important it is to both the faith-based sector of town and the public.

“I’ve never been part of a church that has been such a fabric of the local community,” he said.

The capital campaign is one of two brand new revenue sources for Stowe Community Church. The other is a $2 million endowment for the church’s future that was bequeathed by the estate of Patricia Means.

Jeffries-Dwyer said there hadn’t been an endowment before Haugh started as pastor, and that was one of his early goals for the church, so mission accomplished there.

The third revenue source is the annual stewardship campaign, provided by the members of the congregation, which last year brought in $275,000. That fund has increased markedly over the three years, and it goes out just as fast as it goes in, Haugh says.

That’s due to the spirit of tithing—the giving away of 10 percent of one’s income to the church—that Christians say is an integral part of their religion, spelled out in the book of Leviticus.

Haugh said he wants something of a reversal for Stowe Community Church, where 10 percent of the stewardship fund goes back to the community.

According to a report from the church’s Missions & Service Committee, last year the church made donations to 15 nonprofits, most of them local, some of them global. The local organizations include Lamoille County Food Share, Meals on Wheels, Clarina Howard Nichols Center, Lamoille Family Center, the Stowe School Emergency Fund and Lamoille Home Health and Hospice.

“As our membership grows and our finances grow, as the building gets renovated and fixed and updated and more accessible, we can do more together for the greater good,” Haugh said. n

To learn about the Stowe Steeple Society’s capital campaign or to donate, go to stowecommunitychurch.org/steeple.

flash Back

During Buddy Werner’s era, Stowe was an integral part of the ski-racing scene, hosting both national and international races. Buddy was a regular visitor to Stowe. At the American International Cup in 1955, Buddy won the downhill on Nose Dive, shattering the old record on the course by nine seconds. In the process, he beat all the favored Europeans.

Buddy would retire from ski racing after the 1964 Olympics only to be killed in an avalanche while making a ski film. He was 28. The mountain that hosts Steamboat Ski Resort was renamed Mount Werner. When you get off the lift, there’s a bronze bust of Buddy that skiers tap with their poles for luck.

I think every American downhiller should start their season by tapping that statue both for luck and to remember the first true American downhiller.

Wallace “Buddy” Werner was born Feb. 26, 1936, in Steamboat Springs, part of a skiing family. His older sister, Skeeter, was an alternate for the 1952 Olympics and was on the U.S. team in 1956. Buddy would ski in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics, only missing the 1960 Olympics due to a broken leg suffered in training. Buddy’s younger brother, Loris, was on the 1964 U.S. Olympic team as a ski jumper and the 1968 Olympics as an alpine skier.

Here, Buddy is seen taking a gate at Stowe in this undated Stowe News Bureau photograph.

— Greg Morrill

VERTICAL ALIGNMENT

Stowe athletes set high bars for mountain sports

Meet the new Stowe millionaires.

Somewhere in the southernmost Andes, one skier continues his daily ascents, months after shattering the record for the most vertical ascent in a year, biding his time until snow falls on Mt. Mansfield so he can finish his uphill assault on his home hill.

Meanwhile, a multi-sport athlete closes in on seven figures on Vermont’s highest peak, hoping to bring attention to the importance of being here now, despite cancer, despite injury, despite whatever weather gets tossed at you when you do something 365 days a year.

When last this magazine caught up with Noah Dines in late April on a hot, sunny, slushy Mt. Mansfield, the 29-year-old Stowe skier was more than a third of the way toward his goal of logging 3 million feet of human-powered uphill skiing vertical in a calendar year.

In the months since, that goal would take him to the furthest reaches of the Western Hemisphere in pursuit of never-ending winter. The goal has since changed—more about that in a bit—but that ambition also changed a friend’s outlook on her own endeavor.

PREVIOUS SPREAD Noah Dines after reaching over 2.5 vertical million feet at the Andean ski resort, El Colorado, in Chile. On Oct. 24, Noah would shatter the world record for the most human-powered vertical feet skied in one year—3 million. Micheline “Michy” Lemay on an ascent of Mt. Mansfield. The Stowe resident spent 2024 attempting to log 1 million feet of vertical solely on her home mountain, doing it on skis, on foot, and on a bike.

Stowe resident Michy Lemay has spent this entire year attempting to log 1 million feet of vert solely on her home mountain, doing it on skis, on foot, and on a bike.

Lemay fought breast cancer three years ago, but she has also pushed her 46-year-old body through other limits, too—“I’ve had five knee surgeries and, like, 16 dislocated shoulders”—and all of those have required lengthy recovery periods.

“Each one of those times got me to a place of extreme gratitude for the health of my body,” she said.

It also taught her the power of mindfulness, a leitmotif that runs through this entire year—she even presents it, through Instagram posts, as an extension of her website, “Michy’s Mindfulness Mission,” launched about a month after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, where she wrote about discovering it and what happened next.

“Everyone has their different way of getting to a mindful space or bringing peace into their life. For me, moving in nature is that place for me,” she said. “With each hurdle, I gained more gratitude and sort of curiosity around mindfulness and the acceptance of how powerful that can be.”

Lemay isn’t a stranger to tackling athletic goals. When she was going through her last round of chemotherapy, she biked every day in that last round, dubbing it the Sweaty Bald Eagle Chemo Bike Challenge.

And in 2022, she set a goal of logging 2,000 miles in a single mountain bike season solely on single-track trails, again sticking close to home, on the Stowe Trails Partnership network. With four days left in the season, she had 226 miles left. She did it.

“There were days that I was scared to drive to the trailhead, but I did anyway, and I biked, and it was the best I felt all day,” she wrote in a blog post.

The longest year

Dines started the year with a single goal: log 3 million vertical feet on skis; only uphill climbs count toward the tally.

Little by little, Dines started gaining more attention, first in the Stowe Reporter; then in pretty much every ski publication out there; then by ski and apparel companies eager to show Dines using their gear.

By “little by little,” we’re talking almost 60,000 feet a week, the equivalent of two weekly ascents of Mount Everest. From sea level.

On Labor Day, Dines broke the previous known record of 2.5 million feet, held by Aaron Rice, a fellow Stoweite who set the record in 2016. Rice had, in turn, eclipsed the

original person to throw down the gauntlet, Canadian skier Greg Hill, who climbed 2 million feet in 2010.

On Oct. 24, Dines got his 3-millionth foot.

“I just hit it. I’m so stoked. We did it,” he says in truncated, breathless exertion in a video selfie on one of his daily ascents of Corralco Ski Resort on the Lonquimay volcano in Chile. “What. A year. It’s been.”

What next? What about the whole goal of skiing every day for a year? That was, after all, Dines’ primary goal, just to see how far he could get. No worries, he had that covered. Next up, 1 million meters, which is just under 3.3 million feet. As of Nov. 9, he was at 3,096,544 feet, well ahead of the pace needed to hit his new milestone by year’s end.

“Soon this will all be over and you will miss it with every fiber of your being,” he posted on Instagram after hitting his 3-million mark. “This has been going through my head these past few weeks as the goal came into focus. Soaking it in. Relishing it. Basking.”

Lemay technically hit the 1-million mark on Oct. 20, but she had logged some of that on other mountains, and she still had 100,000 more feet to reach seven figures just on Mansfield. It was right around that time, though, that the Mt. Mansfield gondola closed for the season, which Lemay had ridden down roughly 150 times during 2024’s warm weather season.

For all her uphill ability, whether on skis, bike or foot, she has difficulty walking downhill, after five knee surgeries and “a strange muscle spasm issue.”

As she entered November, she had less than 50,000 feet left, and was relegated to smaller, less steep ascents to inch her way closer, itching for snow to fall so she could crush the rest. She got her wish the weekend before Thanksgiving—she crested

THINK PINK Previous, page, Michy bikes in Adams Camp on the Haulapalooza trail. This page, about two dozen women joined Michy, a cancer sur vivor, on Mansfield for a trek uphill on Oct. 4 during Breast Cancer Awareness Month to remind women to get their mammograms and preventative screenings. Michy on Mt. Mansfield last winter.

SETTING GOALS Noah Dines, center, and crew after Dines set a world record for the most vertical feet in a year—3 million feet. Michy celebrates with friends at a breast cancer awareness gathering on Mt. Mansfield in October. Noah on Mansfield last April.

the seven-digit mark on her beloved Mansfield, a place where, in an announcement of the feat, she said she “lives, works, plays, and finds her happiest moments connecting to nature, challenging her body, and calming her mind.”

Sometimes, for armchair folks casually scrolling through Instagram posts detailing the exploits of people like Lemay and Dines, it’s easy to just assume they are otherworldly beings attaining things that normal humans cannot do, zipping by on a combination of latent superhero powers and jubilant smiles.

But these are just two normal people who just happen to really—really, really—enjoy ascending mountains. And they can have bad days.

Lemay, for instance, expressed the difficulty in dragging herself back onto the hill on a particularly gross, rainy late spring day, long after the crowds had left the hill, but while there was still snow to make turns.

“It was definitely a bit of a struggle to get out here today. I was just tired,” she says in a video taken near the top of the Upper Nose Dive, rain dripping from her anorak hood. “Sometimes these challenges will have challenging days, and I’m trying to not look at this as work, but more joy, of course, because I love to do all these things anyways.”

parking lot to accompany Lemay for one of her ascents. Some of them had joined her for an earlier trek.

It was Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the day was popping with color as the small army of pink combined with a cloudless blue sky and the conflagration of peak foliage.

The group hike was just the most prominent bit of messaging from Lemay on the importance of reminding women to get their mammograms and preventative screenings. But it was also a few thousand vertical feet of pink joy, steadily ascending Vermont’s highest peak—a drop in the bucket of the million feet Lemay would do all year on that same mountain.

Even Dines, who turned 30 midway through the year—exactly, on June 30—clearly shows signs of wear and tear. His face is more weathered, his eyes a little sunken and darker than when he started. On one video from this fall where he is wearing sandals instead of ski boots, his ankle bones resemble golf balls.

Beating cancer, beating gravity

A group of two dozen women, all dressed in pink—tutus and tights, Tshirts, hats, and headbands—gathered Oct. 4 in Mansfield’s Midway

“I loved it so much that I was to be able to tie it in with my Mansfield mission,” she said.

Kristy Carlson spearheaded the October event, saying her regular hiking group wanted a reason to take a couple of laps with Lemay.

“She’s just Superwoman,” Carlson said. Indeed, Lemay was wearing a bright pink cape for the occasion. “She’s just so inspirational for everyone in this town, the way she pulls everyone together.”

Also on the hike was Ashley McAvey, a Shelburne woman who had also recently finished her own breast cancer regimen. The October trek was McAvey’s first rigorous outing since her treatments. She said when it comes to healing from trauma, few places can beat the beauty and community of Vermont.

“Having cancer is very scary, and then for folks who need chemotherapy and radiation, it’s so draining and all you need to do is just look out and just go for a walk outside like this, and just look at the blue sky, and it restores you and it rejuvenates you,” she said. “I think Michy is the poster child of that to the Nth degree. That inspires others to say, ‘Oh, you’re right, wait, let’s find joy here.” n

COURTESY

SHOP • ARTS • EXPLORE

THE CURRENT Center for contemporary art in Stowe

THE CURRENT

Exhibitions of acclaimed international and Vermont artists and public programs, adult and children’s art classes and private lessons, school tours, student shows, and summer art camps. The Current is made possible through the generous support of the town of Stowe, its members, and sponsors.

90 Pond St., Stowe Village. Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Free. Donations welcome. (802) 253-8358, thecurrentnow.org for monthly public events.

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

January 16 – April 10

Timothy Curtis: Two Hundred Years of Painting Curtis will explore the relationships between Pennsylvania Dutch stoneware of the 1860s in Philadelphia, 1960s graffiti writing in the same area, and his own artwork, highlighting

the thread of influence in one region over 200 years. View original stoneware and new paintings by Curtis, along with a special area dedicated to celebrating the lives and work of 1960s African American Philadelphia graffiti writers.

May

Student Art Show

Celebrating kindergarten to 12th-grade students from Stowe public schools and Green Mountain Career and Technology Center. Floor to ceiling artwork fills the galleries to celebrate the community’s youngest artists and their art instructors.

Ongoing

Exposed

Outdoor sculpture by nationally renowned artists Chakaia Booker and Woody De Othello are installed prominently on the grounds in front of The Current.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Spring gala

Tickets go fast for Stowe’s not-to-bemissed spring gala. Lodge at Spruce Peak. Date to be determined. Tickets: thecurrentnow.org. (See Party Pix, p.34)

MIDNIGHT GARDEN

At last year’s spring gala, a fund raiser for The Current. Above: a piece by sculptor Matt Necker at a recent “Exposed” outdoor sculpture exhibition.

GOINGS ON

SPRUCE PEAK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

122 Hourglass Drive. 802-760-4634. At Stowe Mountain Resort, Spruce Peak. sprucepeakarts.org.

December 12 to 24

“Charlie Brown Christmas” live in concert

Celebrate the holiday season with the timeless charm of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” which captures the spirit of Charles Schulz’s classic tale, complete with Vince Guaraldi’s iconic jazz score.

December 27 & 28

“Make Believe”

“Make Believe” reminds us why we fall in love with adventure in the first place. With jaw-dropping cinematography and inspiring stories, this Teton Gravity film is a celebration of nature’s raw beauty and the thrill of reaching beyond what’s comfortable.

December 27 & 28

“Beyond the Fantasy”

Teton Gravity’s “Beyond the Fantasy” is more than a film. Witness breathtaking feats of athleticism and creativity, from the world’s most stunning mountain landscapes to the joyous absurdities that make riding on snow a way of life.

January 10

Dar Williams

“Beyond the Fantasy.”

January 18 and March 1

Jazz with Pete Malinverni

Acclaimed pianist Pete Malinverni, known for his understanding and passion for jazz, guides audiences through the evolution of this quintessential American art form. With special guest Bruce Harris on trumpet, Jan. 21. With special guest Janis Siegel from Manhattan Transfer on March 1. 7 p.m.

February 14

Robin Spielberg

An intimate evening with folk singer-songwriter Dar Williams, known for her poignant lyrics and captivating melodies. 7 p.m.

January 16

Rachael & Vilray

Brooklyn-based duo featuring Rachael Price, lead singer of Lake Street Dive, and Vilray, a composer and performer, offer a unique blend of jazz-infused melodies and timeless vocal harmonies. 7 p.m.

January 26 & 27

Doktor Kaboom’s Under Pressure Equal parts interactive science, comedy, and personal empowerment, Doktor Kaboom returns with a new show. 3:30 p.m.

February 8

Brooklyn Rider

This innovative string quartet is known for its adventurous spirit and captivating performances, redefining the boundaries of chamber music. Johnny Gandelsman and Colin Jacobsen on violin, Nicholas Cords on viola and Michael Nicolas on cello. 7 p.m.

Pianist, composer, and recording artist Robin Spielberg is known for her expressive, lyrical performances that bring traditional, classic, original, and popular music to life. 7 p.m.

February 16

Big Head Todd and the Monsters

Known for their captivating blend of blues, rock, and soul. 7 p.m.

Fran Lebowitz.

GOINGS ON

ART WORLD “Coolidge Homestead,” Jim Westphalen, who exhibits his work at Front Four Gallery in Stowe. Inset: Little River Hotglass stoppered urn.

EXHIBITS & GALLERIES

ARTISAN GALLERY

20 Bridge St., Waitsfield. Daily 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. vtartisansgallery.com. Showcase of 150-plus Vermont artists.

BRYAN MEMORIAL GALLERY

180 Main Street, Jeffersonville. Call for hours. (802) 644-5100. bryangallery.org.

THE BRYAN—STOWE

Main Street. Wednesday – Sunday, 11 - 5.bryangallery.org.

THE CURRENT

90 Pond St., Stowe Village. Tuesday – Friday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Free, donations welcome. Visit thecurrentnow.org for monthly public events. (802) 253-8358.

See The Current, p102

FRONT FOUR GALLERY

Baggy Knees Shopping Center, 394 Mountain Rd., Stowe. frontfourgallery.com. Original paintings, sculpture, photography from dozens of noted artists.

HELLBROOK FINE ART GALLERY

82 Lower Main Street, Morrisville. hellbrookink.com. Variety of fine art artists. Monthly exhibits.

LITTLE RIVER HOTGLASS STUDIO

593 Moscow Rd., Moscow. littleriverhotglass.com. Michael Trimpol’s nationally recognized art glass studio.

LUKE IANNUZZI POTTERY

5711 E. Warren Road, Warren. lukeiannuzzipottery.com.

Functional and decorative pots handmade in Vermont.

MOOSEWALK STUDIOS & GALLERY

200 Orion Road, Warren. moosewalkstudios.com

Works by artist Gary Eckhart, fine art photography by Roarke Sharlo, and guest artists.

NORTHWOOD GALLERY

151 Main Street, Stowe. northwoodgallery.com.

Work by Vermont artisans: jewelry, fiber, wood, pottery, glass, sculpture, illustration, soaps, paintings, photography, more.

STEPHANIE GRACE CERAMICS

100 Mad River Green, Waitsfield. stephaniegraceceramics.com

Plates, bowls, vases, platters, more. n

and penguin Phil Roy, the singer-songwriter who goes by the name and penguin, has taken the leap and released his debut album, “Paper Route.”

NEWS FLASH! STOWE MUSICIAN RELEASES ALBUM

STORY / TOMMY GARDNER

WELL READ “Paper Route,” by Stowe musician and penguin, takes as its concept the passage of time as reflected in the pages of the local newspaper.

Phil Roy’s debut album is a real page turner.

“Paper Route” is a concept album that takes the local newspaper as its inspiration, as its framing device and as a leitmotif tying everything together.

“For me, there was no better symbol of maturity than a newspaper—the dad sitting with his coffee and newspaper before heading to work,” Roy said from his home and studio on Stagecoach Road in Stowe. “That’s me now.”

In Roy’s case, the newspapers of record are the Stowe Reporter and News & Citizen—those are the papers he grew up reading, and still reads. But it could be inspired by Anypaper in Anytown, U.S.A.

Roy composes and records under a moniker—and penguin. More on that name in a bit. The album’s 16 tracks roughly mirror the elements common in a local paper, bookended by short compositions “Birth Announcement” and “Obituary & Classifieds.”

Roy flits backs and forth between the universal and the personal, the familiar and the esoteric. There are hints to his musical inspirations, with passages evoking They Might Be Giants or the Flaming Lips, a dash of Phish-y Trey Anastasio shred on one track, a growling snatch of grunge that Queens of the Stone Age might rip. But it’s also clear that Roy has his own singular and penguin sound.

As the sole member of and penguin, Roy plays all the instruments, save for his brother Ben playing drums on six tracks. Some of the songs are layered and tracked so seamlessly—in particular, the stressful-sweet love song “Hit the Light” and the double-punch of “Metaphor in Public” and “Simile in Private”—that it feels like and penguin is a proper four-person band, complete with a dual-guitar depth.

About that band name, and penguin. It’s all lower-case. It’s not set off by quotation marks. It’s just and penguin. So, what gives?

“This was just a name I thought was cool in my early 20s that I kept alive,” Roy said in a follow-up email. “I like that it starts with a conjunction. Very few bands dare to go there. And then the noun is begging to be preceded by a definite or indefinite article and gets nothing. Almost like a zookeeper is appending their shopping list.”

Lisa Todd

Magnolia Pearl

John Denim

Raffaello Rossi | Lilla P | Margaret O’leary | White+Warren

Tolani

Ann Lightfoot

Origin story

When he was a kid, Roy’s younger brother Ben was his main bandmate, with Ben playing drums and Phil playing saxophone.

Roy thanks his parents for instilling in him more diverse tastes in music than could be found on Vermont FM radio at the time—say, WEZF, major emphasis on the EZ part.

“My dad could have made a turn toward hair metal or some sort of disaster,” he said. “But he was into the Police and Talking Heads, Violent Femmes, B-52s, just weirder stuff that wasn’t necessarily radio friendly. That’s just what we cut our teeth on.”

The Roy boys would hook up with other Lamoille County musician friends, many of them band kids at Lamoille Union High School.

In junior high, they formed a short-lived group called Foyl. The band’s high/low point may have come during one of its few live gigs at the school, when one of the players let loose some swear words, leading school administration to place a ban on all live performances, at least for the rest of Roy’s time there.

“But, you know, that’s how you expressed yourself in eighth grade,” he said.

During that period, Roy moved from sax to bass, guitar, and singing, finding the woodwind too limiting.

“I played it in elementary and middle school and then I realized you can only play one note with this thing at a time, so I moved to strings,” he said.

It was around that time when, collaborating with his brother and friends, he also started to find playing covers a bit limiting.

“That was really the start, when I realized how easy it was to write songs, how much more fun it is to experiment and challenge yourself,” he said.

He still collaborates extensively with his brother, even though Ben lives on the West Coast. The younger Roy is a better drummer and handles percussion on six of the 16 tracks on “Paper Route.” That’s part of the reason it took and penguin so long to finish the album.

“Over the past 10 years, I’ve been teaching myself drums, and it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks,” Roy said. “I’d get, like, one good take out of 40.”

Off-roading

“Paper Route,” and Roy’s artistic lifestyle in general, belies the idea that musicians are struggling artists constantly on the road from venue to venue, thriving on the energy from the crowds, gigging for their next meal, their next amp, their next big break.

Roy, 41, is a one-man show on his debut album, and although he would like to be able to play more with other people, like he did in his 20s, the idea of being part of a touring band isn’t realistic with the busy domestic and workaday life he’s got going on right now—a father of four, he works full-time in video editing, and owns a local video production company, Treeline Media.

“We all just grew up together and jamming together, so we sort of found a like-minded way to play together,” he said. “But everything changes when you have kids.”

Instead of being the sax-playing kid keeping his parents up, is Roy now the guitar-playing dad keeping his kids up?

“Exactly,” he said. “That was the whole process with this album. Wait until the house is quiet and then go down into the studio and see how much I can get done before I’d get too sleepy. As they get older, that also reverses, and now the quiet hours are in the morning and I’m waking up way earlier than them, because they’re teenagers.”

This summer marked a new chapter of creative productivity in the Roy household, as Ben saw the completion and release of “Paper Route,” and wife Priscilla Roy, along with her sister, opened Hellbrook Fine Art Gallery in Morrisville, maintaining their sibling-owned tattoo parlor of the same name out back.

At this point in his musical evolution, Roy is much more a composer than a performer. He said Priscilla asked if he wanted to play at the Hellbrook gallery opening, but he said he’s simply “not really in performance shape.”

“Maybe it’s my age, but the idea of a tour sounds terrible. You know, just seeing the road of America and just seeing the inside of bars at night?” he said.

Turning the page

“Paper Route” is separated into six distinct movements spanning a person’s life.

One section deals with the formation and augmentation of the ego and the ability to simultaneously remember “definitive versions” of oneself while also maintaining the “unchanged self” in the present.

Another, which contains the song “Graduation Announcement,” deals with the push and pull of one’s logical and creative sides. The song “Cowritten by Cortices” also tackles heady topics that teenagers—Roy has two of them—face, such as “mental health in a society fragmented by dueling narratives, and flush with antidepressants.”

As “Cortices” hints at, “Paper Route” is an album that gets more mature as it progresses, with deeper themes, lusher instrumentation, growling guitar and plaintive piano. And the themes in the final two meta-sections—one about falling in love and another about large-scale societal problems—reflect that more mature sound and make the second half of the album all the richer.

The structural conceit behind “Paper Route” also feeds its themes — how, as one gets older and gains more experience, different parts of the local paper take on more resonance. Some readers go right for police blotter to see if they know anyone there, while others turn directly to the obituaries, to see if they know anyone there.

“You can have a life well lived that has all these milestones recorded in your community with this local paper. But at the same time, it can be a life poorly lived, and it’s also recorded in the newspaper,” he said. “And you can sort of read between the lines.”

But the concept album strategy also served a pragmatic purpose, one that is well-known by the journalists who put together the newspaper week in and week out: self-editing. Roy said he has such a backlog of material that the idea of focusing the concept through the pages of the local paper was as much a way to build guardrails as it was to explore getting older.

“I like to say that this is my midlife crisis album,” the 41-year-old said. “It’s not really, though, because it’s been 15 years in the making. Slowly, slowly crafting it.” n

“Paper Route,” by Phil Roy, aka and penguin, is available on Bandcamp, at rb.gy/iqvwej.

STAGE DOOR Liana Hunt, who grew up in Morrisville, stars as Lorraine Baines McFly, Marty McFly’s mother, in the Broadway cast of “Back to the Future, The Musical,” shown here with actor Casey Likes and supporting cast.

LIANA HUNT DOES BROADWAY

She’s radiant, talented, articulate, enthusiastic, and infused with joy. She loves to sing, dance, and act—what they call the Triple Threat in the biz.

She is Liana Hunt, Broadway star, disciplined practitioner, performer extraordinaire, and Morrisville’s one and only.

When she was a child, Hunt always sang around the house, and her mother, Lisa Hussey Hunt, realizing she needed to broaden the scope of her youngster’s passion, enrolled her in the school choir and singing

lessons, and signed her up with a summer music camp at the Hyde Park Opera House.

“At camp, we had to write our own stories, make the sets, do everything. I loved it,” Hunt said. “No one in my family is in the arts or music at all. I came into the world loving all of it. Early on, I adored Disney musicals and performed them at home for anyone who would watch.”

Her mom took her to see her first Broadway show when she was 10, “Beauty and the Beast,” and it was life changing. “It became clear that

STORY / KATE CARTER

BROADWAY BOUND Last March, 15 Peoples Academy students and chaperones headed to New York City to see Peoples alumni Liana Hunt perform on Broadway in the cult classic, “Back to the Future.” Hunt met with the students after the show to talk about her life, work, success, and ambition.

I loved theater. I became obsessed, and I started doing community theater anywhere we could find it.”

She performed with the Stowe Theatre Guild and Lyric Theater in Burlington, and she learned to dance at Helena Sullivan’s Stowe Dance Academy.

After graduating from Peoples Academy in 2005, Hunt attended the Collaborative Arts Project 21 program at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. As a senior, she was freelancing and working with an agent, when, much to her shock, she landed the leading role as Sophie in the national tour of “Mamma Mia!”

“I graduated early in December and went on tour in January 2009. It was incredible, it changed my life. I had been prepared in school to expect to struggle. I wasn’t expecting to get shot out of the cannon right from the start,” Hunt admitted.

After touring the country with the show, Hunt, at 23, was brought to New York to make her Broadway debut as Sophie in “Mamma Mia!” That was over a decade ago. Now she’s a cast member in “Back to the Future, The Musical” on Broadway, starring as Lorraine Baines McFly, Marty McFly’s mother.

But it’s not all singing and dancing and acting. It’s work!

“Performing eight shows a week, with just Monday’s off, is incredibly rigorous. We’re like Olympic athletes in our field. There’s not a lot of down time, so I eat well, rest, and try to keep up with the schedule.

“The most challenging part of a long-running show is to always be present and fresh and interesting, and to tell the story to a new audience every night,” Hunt said. “There’s nothing like the magic of live theater. We get to tell stories, sing, and dance, and after every show we get to connect with the audience at the stage door and that’s magical, too.”

Hunt lives in Astoria, Queens, a quiet neighborhood where she can escape from city life. She returns to Vermont often to visit friends and family, but her home is on stage, on tour, and on Broadway, doing what she loves, what she was born to do. n

HISTORY LESSON

TOWN HALL HISTORY Stowe historian Barbara Baraw talks about the newly curated contents of a historical display case filled with artifacts of the Akeley Memorial Building’s long history.

STOWE’S MEMORIAL BUILDING MEMORIES

STORY / AARON CALVIN PHOTOGRAPHS / GORDON MILLER

A display case in Akeley Memorial Building has gotten a curatorial refresh by the Stowe Historical Society, serving anew as a reminder that the building was once the center of everything in the town, even more so than today.

The reimagining of the case was done by historical society volunteer Marjorie Andrus, with the help of Stowe historian Barbara Baraw, and chronicles the history of Stowe’s municipal building on Main Street, encapsulating all the many services that have been housed in the grand old building for more than a century.

“Each of these little vignettes has something to do with what was used or took place in this place, over time, until the historical society moved out,” Baraw said. The historical society was housed in Akeley until 2010.

The display is centered around a pair of commemorative plates made in Germany in 1903, the year the building opened.

Curiosities from the Department of Fish and Wildlife when the Lamoille County office operated from the building are on display above memorabilia from Stowe Theatre Guild performances in the third-floor Town Hall Theater.

A century-old town report with photos of a former town clerk, and an ornate ballot box with a triangular lid, scratched and worn from use, once collected paper ballots at town meetings of yore.

Artifacts from the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans’ group that presaged modern groups like the American Legion, are on display as well. The building, although it now contains commemorative aspects to veterans who served in many wars, was originally built to honor Stowe’s Civil War veterans.

Stowe’s library was also once located in Akeley, in the room that now contains the office of town manager Charles Safford.

Akeley was also once home to one of Stowe’s post offices. A picture in the case shows two former employees, Lester Oaks and Gaylord Gayle.

Along with everything else that once occupied space here, there was also a small prison cell for those jailed overnight or in need of a place to dry out. The jail operated until 1990, and the cell door still leans against the wall in the elevator alcove on the building’s lower floor. n

MY GENERATION From left, Annie Frame, Kristina von Trapp Frame, and Lynne von Trapp at this summer’s “Sound of Music: In Concert” in the Trapp Family Lodge concert meadow. The first-of-its-kind event was a collaboration between Lyric Theatre Company, Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Trapp Family Lodge, with support from The Flynn and Stowe Performing Arts.

FAMOUS SCORE PLAYS AT TRAPPS—FINALLY

You have heard it a million and one times, but it’s true: The hills are alive with “The Sound of Music” in Stowe. And this summer, for the first time, music from the popular Broadway show and Hollywood classic film was performed in concert at Trapp Family Lodge, owned by the family that inspired the play and film.

As the sun went to bed behind the Green Mountains, nestled in the splendor of Vermont’s Nebraska Valley, a crowd was able to experience the legendary music of Rodgers & Hammerstein courtesy of that unique collaboration of Vermont performance groups and Trapps.

Sadly, rain dampened the outdoor setting for several of the performances, but the last one was held on a glorious June evening in Stowe under the musical direction of VSO musical director and conductor Andrew Crust and hosted by Kerstin Anderson, a Vermont native and star of the celebrated 2015 “Sound of Music” national tour.

The rained-out performances took place at Burlington’s Flynn, not with a Green Mountain backdrop, but still amazing nonetheless, attendees attested. n —Staff report

STAR ATTRACTION

Cristina Escobedo in a production of Puccini’s opera, Suor Angelica, at the Teatro Pirandello in Lima, Peru, in 2022. Inset: a still from her Carnegie Hall debut with the Vincero Academy. She sang “Sul fil d’un soffio estesio” from Falstaff in addition to the duets “Sull’aria” and “Via restó servita” from Le Nozze do Fígaro.

‘BEAUTIFUL SINGING’

Last summer, Cristina Escobedo came back to Stowe to work in hospitality at Trapp Family Lodge and visit friends and family. While here, she performed a solo concert in Mozart Hall, singing arias from familiar operas. Let’s just say she made the hills embrace opera!

Escobedo grew up in Lima, Peru, and made it a point to travel and learn English. She first came to Vermont in 2021 to work at Trapps and study voice with Sara Cullins, director of Youth Opera Company, a division of Opera Company of Middlebury. That’s when she met her future husband, Austin Pearson, a born and bred Vermonter who also worked at Trapps. The two married in 2023.

Escobedo started singing at age 5. “I sang all the time around the house. I was constantly singing,” she said. “My parents were very supportive, and I was a member of the National Children’s Choir of Peru for eight years.

“I discovered opera while growing up, but I was conflicted. I wanted to be a veterinarian and work with pandas. So, I left my opera interests, but eventually came back. I missed it, and realized opera incorporates all the forms of the performing arts—acting dancing, singing—and I was attracted to that.”

When Escobedo turned 18, she decided to pursue a career in opera. She studied in Peru with Maria Eloisa Aguerre, who she describes as her mentor. This past summer, the Vermont Italian Cultural Association awarded her a grant to travel to Italy for a summer program, Classic Lyric Arts, where she studied the bel canto technique, which emphasizes beauty of sound and performance over dramatic expression. The term literally translates to “beautiful singing.”

“We did five concerts in the Emilia-Romagna region, close to Bologna,” Escobedo said. “It was amazing there, seeing all the sights, being exposed to Italian culture and, of course, singing and learning vocal technique from some of the best opera singers.”

Escobedo and her husband now live in Louisiana, where Escobedo attends Louisiana State University and studies opera under the tutelage of Robert Grayson, a leading tenor at the New York City Opera for a decade, and Paul Groves, who continues to be a premier leading tenor at the Metropolitan Opera.

“All my life I’ve wanted to earn a living by singing and performing. I think it’s a reasonable goal. It’s possible with a lot of courage and a lot of love of music.”

It’s hard to say what the future holds, but we can hope that she and her husband will eventually call Stowe home, and we’ll all be able to see and hear her make the mountains come alive once again. n

February 22

John Pizzarelli Trio’s “Stage & Screen”

Music from the Broadway stage and the silver screen featuring fresh versions of great standards with some newer Broadway songs thrown into the mix. 7 p.m.

February 23

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Chamber Music Society artistic directors David Finckel and Wu Han assemble a collection of works that reveal the joy and depth of the genre. With Chad Hoopes. 3 p.m.

March 7

Preservation Hall Jazz Band

March 19

“A Year with Frog and Toad”

A hit on Broadway, “A Year with Frog and Toad” features a jazzy, upbeat score by Robert and Willie Reale that bubbles with melody and wit for the whole family.

March 21

Sons of Mystro

Dynamic violin-playing brothers, Malcom and Umoja, have been hailed as “innovators of sound” and “masters of musical fusion.”

7 p.m.

March 22

Fran Lebowitz

Iconic New York writer and social commentator Fran Lebowitz and her sharp, sardonic humor and acerbic takes on modern life. 7 p.m.

March 29 – 31

December 21

Spruce Peak Lights Festival

Ice dancing performances at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. Photos with Santa, tree lighting, fireworks at 7 p.m.

December 31

New Year’s Eve Fire & Ice celebration

Ice dancing performances by Ice Dance International at 3:30 and 6 p.m. Food, family fun. Fireworks, torchlight parade at 6:40 p.m.

STOWE FREE LIBRARY

90 Pond Street. (802) 253-6145. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, noon - 7 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. See stowefreelibrary.org for information and monthly events.

Through December 16

“Americans and the Holocaust” traveling exhibition addresses Americans’ responses to refugees, war, and genocide in the 1930s and 1940s.

December and January

The library’s 2024 holiday theme is inspired by artist Yayoi Kusama’s signature polka dot aesthetic and philosophy of unity through art and the values of hope, community, curiosity, connection, and diversity.

February 11

Vermont garden expert Charlie Nardozzi returns for “Chocolates with Charlie.” Bring your gardening questions and get ready for an evening of practical wisdom, neighborly advice, and good old Vermont garden talk.

“Moon Mouse: A Space Odyssey” Lightwire Theater present this cosmic adventure about celebrating differences.

3 p.m.

March 30

Our Planet Live

A new natural history speaker series from Netflix. 4 p.m.

April 4

Boston Dance Theater

7 p.m.

April 5

Michael Feinstein tribute to Tony Bennett “Because of You: My Tribute to Tony Bennett” celebrates the legendary Bennett and his iconic songs. 7 p.m.

April 18

Steven Page

Steven Page, formerly of the Barenaked Ladies, is known for his iconic voice, witty lyrics, engaging stage presence, and unforgettable melodies. 7 p.m.

STOWE WINTER CARNIVAL

Events held throughout the town and village of Stowe. facebook.com/stowewintercarnival

January 22 - 26

Amy Armstrong.

WINTER PRIDE FESTIVAL

Stowe’s annual Pride celebration. winterrendezvous.com.

January 22 - 26

Opening party, Pride run on Mansfield, VIP cocktail party, wine dinner, LGBTQ ally Amy Armstrong, pool party, drag bingo.

STOWE DERBY

Check mmsca.org for event updates.

February

Ice carving competition, sports events, ski movies, kids carnival, and snow golf and snow volleyball tournaments.

SPRUCE PEAK AT STOWE

Spruce Peak Village Ice Rink, 5 - 8 p.m.

January 18, and February 15 & 22

Glow Skate Night

Each night will celebrate a different decade— 70s, 80s, and 90s—as a DJ spins the hits.

One of the oldest and most unique ski races in North America. Challenging 20K crosscountry ski course from Mansfield’s Toll Road to Stowe village. The course has a total vertical drop of almost 2,700 feet.

STOWE SUGAR SLALOM

Check mmsca.org for event updates.

April

Music, barbecue, fantastic ski racing and festive costumes. Maple syrup on snow, donuts, and pickles at the finish. n

SEAN MCGILL AND RICARDO RIVERA

Sue Schlom Career Coach Job Search Advisor Recruiter

Christopher Curtis’ life and work

STEEL STONE

STORY : aaron calvin | PHOTOGRAPHS : gordon miller

Opening spread: Stowe artist Christopher Curtis staged his 2022 sculpture, “That Place in the Stars” on a hill at Trapp Family Lodge before taking it across the country to a private buyer in Tulsa, Okla. Curtis uses a remote-operated crane mounted on his truck to unload a boulder at his studio in Barre.

I

Christopher Curtis thinks in geologic time.

“I’ve got a rock I’m gonna bring down to Barre today that’s got glacial striae on it, and it’s a demonstration of events that happened by glacial ice, which has been gone for at least 10,000 years, and it was probably present for 100,000 years before that,” Curtis said. “So that rock could have been in ice for that long, and the marks on it are evidence of this aging, but the rock itself is limestone, which speaks of yet another long reach back into history.”

A map of the correlated history of Earth hangs in the bathroom of the Stowe-based sculptor’s Duxbury studio. In a condensed barrage of color-coded layers and text, the many millennia that make up the history of the world are laid bare.

Between the eternal life of Planet Earth and the primacy of the man looking upon it lies a tension that can be found in almost all of Curtis’ work.

“From that perspective of the cosmos, of the 400 billion galaxies out there, we’re not even measurable, really. Tiny specks of nothing, we basically just don’t matter at all. But the weird dichotomy about that is, from my personal perspective, what could matter more than me? We have this self-preservation gene, otherwise we couldn’t have survived. Evolution would have eliminated us. On the other hand, then you have this cosmological stuff where you don’t really matter one tiny bit in the whole book of things,” Curtis said.

II

On Trapp hill in spring 2022, Curtis carefully assembled by crane his own piece of the cosmos.

The 24-foot steel sculpture “That Place in the Stars” (2022) is made of two sickle moons tapered to a razor-fine point. One arc is grounded on either end and big enough for a full-grown adult to walk beneath. The other arc shoots up from the ground, crossing its partner and soaring toward the heavens.

Its stainless-steel appendages gleamed in the cold sunlight that day. There is something beautiful and terrible, alien and celestial about the sculpture, like something just arrived from the coldest reaches of outer space, a machine with an unknowable purpose. The swoop of the blades suggest movement. It’s the color of mercury and casts a slight shadow, hazily reflecting the quartzite-colored sky, but otherwise the “visible absence of color” embodied by the white whale in “Moby Dick.”

Curtis has always been drawn to steel for the spline curves that can be coaxed from it, the way such inviolable material can be made to form a catenary shape like a loose-hanging chain. It’s a familiar refrain in his work, respecting the material by allowing the material to dictate what form the work takes.

The sculpture was briefly on display above the hills, assembled by Curtis and the crane attachment on his lilac-colored tractor-trailer truck—among the largest you can drive without a commercial driver’s license—before packing it all up again, loading it on the trailer, and driving it to its final destination in a private collection in Tulsa.

Along the way he would assemble and disassemble the sculpture with the truckmounted crane, with an old college friend for his lone companion and assistant. In Utica and Rochester, N.Y., in Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio, and in St. Louis before the final leg of the journey down I-44.

“Stars” was, if not a high point, a particular moment in Curtis’ long and varied career. Its construction pushed him to the limit of his capabilities as an artist as he found himself working not just with polished steel but negotiating its creation with a team of industrial machinists.

He took inspiration for its design from scattered shards of glass, but as its design took shape, he knew it had to be big.

“The reason it’s got to be big is because if it’s too small, the experience of the sculpture bumping into a head height would be awful, just aesthetically very unpleasing,” Curtis said.

III

Curtis spent his early childhood in an aerie, living and sleeping between the schist and the sky on Mt. Mansfield.

His father, Clem Curtis, was a downhill skier at a time when the sport was only just beginning to form in the United States. Recruited by Stowe’s skieur original Sepp Ruschp to Mt. Mansfield’s nascent ski school, the family spent summers as the final caretakers of the Summit House. Sited on the mountain’s long peak, Curtis grew among the rocks that shaped him as an artist, and that he has made an artistic career out of shaping.

and outcroppings. It was also where he first discovered its commercial potential. Curtis and his sister would hike out to the Lake of the Clouds or bring back ice from deep within the Cave of the Winds.

“We set up an old school desk on the Summit House’s expansive veranda and offered the granite and garnet pieces to guests for a few pennies each,” Altadonna said.

The Curtises departed the summit in 1959 when the hotel closed for good, and it was intentionally burned down in 1964.

It was here Curtis first became a “rock hound,” as his sister, Mary Skelton Altadonna, described him, communing with the boulders

IV

Despite being born among the steep stone walls of the Green Mountains, it was steel, according to Curtis, that was his first love as a sculptor.

Curtis’ steel-forward sculptures have a signature style. If not iterations on a theme, then they all rhyme, or must be related.

In “The Kiss” (2011), two still pillars that could be offspring of arcs that comprise “Stars” curl around each other, nearly touching but not quite, like God and man in Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam.”

Curtis won a competition to honor former

Champlain College president David F. Finney with a sculpture centered around the themes of education and leadership. “Audeamus” (2014)—Latin for “let us dare”—is made up of two human-sized pillars facing one another, turned toward each other, one slightly taller than the other. Both draw something human from cold steel constructs, not quite anthropomorphized but making the most of its subtle gestures. It was Curtis’ wife, the artist Tari Swenson, who suggested that the theme required two figures.

VCurtis is drawn to places where the history of the world is made visible.

He finished renovations on his Duxbury studio just last summer. The structure began its life as a mill, built in the 1820s, and remnants of that original foundation have survived multiple fires. It once served as a studio for Tourin Musica, which produced harpsichords, viols, and other 16th-century instruments. It was formerly the longtime studio of late Japanese American sculptor Nori Morimoto. Remnants of Morimoto still remain, in small pieces hung by the windows or in ceramic coffee cups that he had made.

A waterfall cascades down the hillside and settles in a pool next to the studio. When the rain comes heavy—as it did in July 2023,

Sculptor Chris Curtis in his Duxbury studio, and below, his Barre workshop. Anne and Clem Curtis with their children, Mary and Chris. Clem managed the mountaintop Summit House hotel atop Mt. Mansfield for eight years in the 1940s and 1950s, where the family spent idyllic summers.

December 2023, and again in July 2024—the falls become torrential, slamming through rock it has carved into a river over time with force great enough to leave a fine coating of stone dust that Curtis said he could taste in his mouth.

From the upper level of his studio, Curtis is able to witness one of nature’s great sculptors at work. On a coffee table in his studio, a dull gray rock the size of a dinosaur egg has been split open to reveal an azure interior. The rock was opened by a water jet exerting 80,000 pounds per-square inch of pressure upon its exterior, tearing through the stone like a concentrated waterfall.

“You don’t know what it’s going to look like on the inside until you open it,” Curtis said.

VI

It was Paul Aschenbach, Curtis’ mentor and professor in his undergraduate days at the University of Vermont, who told him it was time to learn stone.

“‘It’s time you got to doing stone,’” Curtis said Aschenbach told him.

“‘I just can’t do it. I know it’s not suited for me. I don’t know how to face it, it’s too slow,’” Curtis replied. “He chuckled at that and said, ‘You’ve got to learn to think glacially.’”

VII

Curtis has a second studio in Barre, where all stoneworkers in Vermont are inexorably drawn.

In the shed of a Consolidated Monuments building in the city’s industrial district, he leases a stone-cutting machine that allows him to slowly saw through boulders. Amid stone workers bringing in another load from the quarries and automatic blades like monstrous table saws peeling apart the blocks in thin sheafs, he wrestles with his machine.

The machine’s computer interface has the

Clockwise, top left, “Unlocked,” created in 2008 from of a Vermont granite boulder extracted from Groton, was installed on the grounds of the University of Vermont. As an alumnus, sculptor Chris Curtis is honored to have his work be part of the university’s permanent collection. Curtis and his wife, Tari Swenson, discuss his work at another public showing. Curtis gives a demonstration under the gazebo on career day at The Helen Day Art Center, now The Current, in April 1992. “Zipper,” one of Curtis’ puzzle piece sculptures. Curtis discusses his piece, “Thought Cage,” on Stowe’s Main Street during this year’s “Exposed!” sculpture exhibit, curated by The Current.

feel of something out of a bygone space age, and Curtis works with the machine to do work that he could easily pay someone to do instead, but his mentality goes back to Aschenbach, again.

“He pushed us to increase what he called our physical vocabulary,” Curtis said. “He wanted us to be very familiar with metal, but not just steel. Aluminum, stainless, copper. All these different things that require different ways of managing them. Wood, plaster, wax, stone, granite, marble. He wanted us to just know as much as you can about all these different media and the tools required, the techniques.”

But Aschenbach was not one to guide his students in the finer points of metallurgy, woodcarving, or stone work.

This turned out to be more of a challenge than a problem for Curtis, who said he had always been a “handy person.” After life at the Summit House, Clem Curtis got into construction. His son described him as generous with his tools and forgiving when they were mangled in pursuit of a sculpture, despite not being much of an art enthusiast himself.

Over half-a-century later, Curtis found himself in the bowels of Barre battling the machine, coaxing it through boulders at just the right angle. In the winter, the warehouse is dark and dank with granite dust. The workers move about in shadows, so ensconced in their winter wear that they become as obscured as the ghosts of the many long-gone laborers lost to machine accidents and silicosis.

“Bundled up, trying to work this machine, cold, damp, dark, dusty, hearing protection nightmare,” Curtis said. “It was just horrifying. It was like Michelangelo going into the catacombs.”

VIII

Curtis eschews assistants, preferring to do it all on his own, from the welding and cutting to the polishing and burnishing, and even transporting sculptures himself, with his purple big rig and crane.

This doesn’t mean he works alone or considers himself a loner. His personal credo on creativity is that something never comes from nothing. Swenson—his wife, frequent business partner, and collaborator—is also something of an emotional sounding board for Curtis.

Unburdened by any of the postmodern jargon and esoteric theory that occasionally weighs down contemporary artists, Curtis’ interest in abstraction over figurative work lies in his eternal quest to provoke the right emotional response from his audience, how a curve of steel or shorn stone can make someone laugh or smile or weep or fall silent.

Curtis is also always producing work within the boundaries of what he considers to be possible, both financially and physically, and is always working within the boundaries of time and money. He’s sensitive to what’s commercially possible, with a contractor’s attunement to what can be done with the resources available.

But he’s also committed to raising the

FINE ART GIFTS DECOR FURNITURE JEWELRY

waters for the sake of all boats. While he has a talent for marketing his own work, he has also long championed accessibility in the arts. At the West Branch Gallery, which Curtis and Swenson once operated on Stowe’s Mountain Road, he said he valued people’s emotional reaction to the work being shown, which was more important to him than sales.

With sales and showings across the country and internationally, Curtis said there was no question that he considered himself a Stowe artist, and he has had a lasting impact on the town’s art scene, beyond his former gallery and the countless homes and businesses that feature his sculptures.

His co-founding of the Vermont Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition in the late 1990s with Waitsfield sculptor John Matusz, which was rebranded to the annual “Exposed” exhibit that continues on the lawn of The Current art museum and stages art throughout Stowe village, is perhaps the most enduring symbol of his commitment to promote sculptors and sculpture in Vermont.

“He truly is an important and prominent member of our community whose impact will be his legacy,” Rachel Moore, director at The Current, said. “Without his vision, Stowe would likely not be as embracing of and well known for the arts as it is today.”

When Curtis was touring “That Place in the Stars,” he assembled it in Rochester’s storied Public Market. Amid the smell of freshly caught fish and artisanal cheese, a mother and her young daughter stopped to gaze in awe at the sculpture and talk with its creator. He was taken aback when she asked, “What’s it for?”

“I wasn’t really prepared for that kind of question from a 7-year-old, and I asked her, ‘Does it make you smile?’ When they were walking away, the mother said to her daughter: ‘That was cool, we saw and talked to a real artist.’ That could have been the first exposure to art for that kid, and possibly that exposure could have a big impact on a person’s appreciation of aesthetics for the rest of life.”

IX

Curtis may not need help in the studio, but his pursuit of large-scale sculptures like “That Place in the Stars” has required him to seek out some unlikely collaborators.

and so it’s artistic, and he’s got an eye for it,” Charlie Atwood, operations manager at DMS, said.

Curtis said he prefers to work with newer employees who are more eager to please and less set in their ways, but has also come to rely on a particularly skilled and experienced welder. He had to softly demand that the work be done to his expectations without pushing too hard and alienating them.

“These guys are experts, very highly skilled in industrial art,” Curtis said. “You have to get them to see your vision and then execute it.”

X

Death has been on Curtis’ mind since his mother explained the concept to him after the death of the family cat when he was 5 years old, but the subject looms ever larger in the 73-year-old’s life and work.

“I’m at a certain age now where my peers and friends are getting sick and dying, and that’s inevitable for all of us,” Curtis said. “When I was very young, my mother explained to me, the cat’s dead, and I was very upset about that. She said, ‘Everything dies,’ and I asked, ‘But you’re not going to die?’”

A stone’s throw away from the Consolidated Monuments warehouse is DMS Machining and Fabrication, a “meat and potatoes” industrial manufacturing shop that produces everything from scaffolding to workshop tables to snowplow shovels to the occasional Christopher Curtis piece.

Managing to get steel workers to produce an abstract sculpture has required Curtis to learn the language of computer-aided design and its software, and it also required him to engage in a social push and pull required to get technical experts to fulfill his vision.

“Chris is a picky individual, and he likes things done the right way,

Curtis’ mother, Anne, did die, just two weeks shy of 100, and just three days after his father Clem died at the age of 102.

At other times, death has entered Curtis’ life more suddenly. Don Post—his childhood friend with whom he skied, bouldered, and even opened a chimney sweeping business in the 1980s—died in a freak hang-gliding accident at Morrisville-Stowe Airport in 2018, despite the flying skills he had helped develop, at times, with Curtis.

Over the years, the headstones that Curtis has carved from his stones and hand-lettered by Swenson have proliferated in cemeteries. Many such boulders can be found in Riverbank Cemetery in Stowe, and each one represents a rock cast into eternity.

After all, these works will long outlast him.

“I’m cutting that quartz or picking that stone, and recognize this material is 300 million years old,” Curtis said. “What makes me think it doesn’t have a future like that? And I think, ‘Man, some of these things that I make, they’re going to last. Don’t screw it up.’” n

A piece in Curtis’ Duxbury studio that he bought back from the original buyer at an estate sale.

REDISCOVERING STOWE’S MOST PROLIFIC ARTIST

STORY / AARON CALVIN PHOTOGRAPHS / GORDON MILLER

Peigi Guerra couldn’t believe it when she picked up one of his portraits at a garage sale.

Stanley Marc Wright, an artist once well known in Stowe for his frequent art lessons in a blacksmith’s forgery-turned-studio on Moss Glen Falls Road, is not remembered as well as he once was.

The Stowe generation that knew him personally is ebbing away.

But Wright, along with a cadre of other artists, helped define the American art tradition through the latter half of the 20th century.

Born in Irvington, N.J., in 1911, he began his career as so many artists of his age did, with work supported by the Public Works of Art Project, a Great Depression initiative created to keep artists employed, following which he began to hone his own voice and found work as a niche portraitist to the Garden State Society. A man of the times, he even found nationwide recognition for paintings and drawings related to the Lindbergh kidnapping.

Wright even worked through World War II in the army’s camouflage unit, painting and illustrating fake soldiers and machinery that had to be real enough to fool the Germans during decoy invasions meant to distract from the allies’ actual D-Day operation.

“Activated on January 20, 1944, the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, known as the ‘Ghost Army,’ was the first mobile, multimedia, tactical deception unit in U.S. Army history. This unique and top-secret unit was capable of simulating two whole divisions—approximately 30,000 men—and used visual, sonic, and radio deception to fool German forces during World War II’s final year, according to the

The National World War II Museum’s newest special exhibit, “Ghost Army: The Combat Con Artists of World War II.”

After the war, Wright decamped to Stowe, where he married his wife, fellow artist Ki Wright.

Wright told the Stowe Reporter in 1974 that he was “laid low by the gorgeous scenery” in the area, and it took him many years before he felt he became a true “artistin-dialogue” with the Vermont landscape. He developed a realist style all his own, drawing from both Impressionism and the Ashcan School, while occasionally flirting with abstraction to cleanse his artistic palette.

A Corner Gallery exhibit on display at the Stowe Historical Society celebrates Wright, who died in 1996 after directly influencing countless Stowe students.

Guerra curated the exhibit, which includes exemplary works not just from Wright but landscapes from students Anne Curtis and Wendy Snow Parrish, who studied with Wright as a student at Stowe High School.

“It all came together because of finding all these pieces in the junk shop. I brought them in and donated the self portrait of Stan to the museum,” Guerra said.

Within a larger frame, several evocative portraits done by Wright, including one of Ki but the rest unknown, have been hung. Along with his self-portrait, reproductions of his portraits of Gov. George Aiken, Gov. Dean Davis and Lt. Gov. Consuela Bailey are also on view, and a stately portrait of the Baroness Maria von Trapp is on loan at the museum from Trapp Family Lodge.

A dusky scene of Mt. Mansfield from Edson Hill that hung in the Capitol Rotunda for the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial to represent work from Vermont is included in the exhibit and showcases Wright’s diversity of influence.

A horizontal portrait capturing several figures, including Wright himself, at a long-past Town Meeting Day is perhaps truer to the event that Norman Rockwell’s famous “Freedom of Speech” painting, with Wright’s figures quietly looking down at their annual reports in silence.

Though Wright traveled extensively throughout his life, Stowe remained in his home, and through his work he established himself firmly as a Stowe artist. This remembrance of Wright is just the first part of an ongoing effort on the part of Guerra’s to shine a light on the many painters that once lived in the hills surrounding the town that may have been accumulating a little too much dust as of late. n

Stowe Historical Society is in the old schoolhouse, 90 School St., right next door to Stowe Free Library and The Current contemporary art center, and is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

FOUND IN VERMONT

DO THE NITTY GRITTY

Yo bakers! Here’s a collection of certified organic, minimally processed grains grown right here in Vermont. Nitty Gritty Grain Company, located in Charlotte, is owned and operated by a seventh-generation farming family. It blends its grains in small batches to preserve the superior fresh flavor and nutrition of their cornmeal, cornmeal mixes, and flours. If you’re a home baker who supports sustainable, local Vermont agriculture, Nitty Gritty has the grains you need and will feel good about eating, plus, it’s a name you’ll never forget. So, get gritty and bake a loaf or two. Then, while the bread is still warm, spread some butter on it, take a bite, and swoon.

INFO: nittygrittygrain.com

GET SOME SKIS UNDERFOOT

Greet your ski friends when they walk through the front door with a fun, ski-themed rug. Chandler 4 Corners’ rugs are made in Manchester of hand-hooked New Zealand wool, a natural fiber that is easy to care for, environmentally friendly, and is suitable yearround. The company’s designs are created by renowned Vermont artists who specialize in landscape, wildlife, outdoor sports, and rural living compositions. Nordic skiers will reflect on a day of kicking-and-gliding across the Northwoods, while downhillers will be reminded of a fun day on the slopes. Place it in an entryway or next to the fireplace as a cozy spot to settle in with a glass of wine. Rugs measure 2-feet by 3-feet.

INFO: Available at Stowe Living or online at chandler4corners.com

WAVE A FLAG FOR THE OLE HOMETOWN

Felt pennants have a long and deep tradition in college football for fans to proudly display the team they support. Now, Stowe fans can proudly show their devotion to their favorite little ski town, with pennants that feature the town’s iconic attractions and landmarks. The handmade felt pennants are made exclusively by YoHo & Company for Tangerine & Olive, a curated gift shop inspired by mountain life and nature on the Mountain Road. Moose, a family of bears, the Gondola, the landmark Stowe Community Church, are made to be hung indoors and add a bit of cheerful pizzazz to any room. They are great souvenirs for visitors to take home, and if you’re a fan of Vermont in general, you can get Vermont pennants, too.

INFO: Tangerine & Olive

SKIN DEEP

Did you know that your skin is your largest organ, covering your entire body? So, why aren’t you treating your skin with the care and love it deserves. Because it’s doing a darned good job of taking care of you! Green Village Soap’s skin care and soap products are thoughtfully researched and made of food-grade organic ingredients, and each ingredient has its own specific benefits. From carrots to clay, cocoa butter to kelp, all its products result in gentle cleansing and soothing, and they are scented with pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils derived from plants. Green Village Soap even has a hair powder for when you don’t want to wash your hair and natural deodorants for when you start to stink. Made in Craftsbury.

INFO: Northwoods Gallery in Stowe and online at greenvillagesoap.com

SACRÉ SIROP

Lauded as the best non-alcoholic amaretto alternative by “The Spruce Eats” website, Sacré is made from fermented maple syrup and coffee on a 4,000-acre farm in Fairfield. The company that produces it, Woodnose, was founded by husband-andhusband team Justin and Roger Branon Rodriguez and was born out of their desire to take the qualities of maple syrup in an entirely different direction. Woodnose uses its own hand-crafted ingredients to create zero-proof beverages. Their process includes fermentation, and bourbon barrelaging the maple syrup before blending it with coffee and botanicals. Sacré is a daring non-alcoholic aperitif that will delight your tastebuds. n

INFO: woodnosedrinks.com

COURTESY PHOTOS

TWO MEXICAN TAKE-OUT SPOTS COME TO STOWE

Stowe is newly wealthy in Mexican cuisine, with two new take-out spots offering distinct approaches to tacos—The Avocado Pit and Arandas. Both happen to be local-to-Vermont chainlets pursuing their own economic strategies as particular to their business model as the food they serve.

AUTHENTIC MEXICAN Juan Pablo Sola, George Dominguez, and Armanda De Los Santos manning the kitchen at the newest Arandas location in Stowe.

EDIBLES

AVOCADO, ANYONE?

Lou Grove, center, runs the Avocado Pit franchise In Stowe with general manager Kristi Tatro, right, and chef Corey Collard.

The Avocado Pit, which opened last spring on the village green off Main Street, and splitting the space with a tasting room for Smugglers’ Notch Distillery formerly occupied by Piecemeal Pies, has quickly become a popular takeout operation in a town that could use a few more of those.

With pits in Manchester, Bennington, and now Stowe, the other locations feature a Chipotle-type line setup, where customers customize their orders based on personal preferences.

Because their choose-your-own-adventure-style menu offers a simple series of choices, and the company has an easy-to-use online ordering system, the Stowe location has flourished offering takeout.

The Pit even voluntarily supplied some benches for the nearby town green when their customers began dining outside this past summer.

Avocado Pit

EDIBLES

For those familiar with the newer fastcasual era of Mexican food, the menu should be imminently accessible. Choose a vessel— a pit bowl, or burrito bowl, a burrito, flour or corn tortilla tacos—and pick a protein.

Perhaps most compelling about Avocado Pit in a town like Stowe, where only a handful of eateries offer lunch options for under $15, are their prices. A burrito starts at $12; an individual pit taco is about $4, and a twotaco deal is just $9.

According to Grove, the prices don’t reflect any corner cutting when it comes to ingredients. Many of the ingredients are sourced locally, and those that aren’t are

PICK-ME-UP

shipped up from the Manchester mothership.

Though there may be multiple locations throughout Vermont, Grove wanted to make sure that his Avocado Pit is a community restaurant. A former chef at The Club at Spruce Peak, he’s a Stowe resident currently raising a family in town.

“We wanted it to be a restaurant for the people in the community who keep us going through the shoulder seasons,” he said. “My kids go to Stowe Elementary School. We wanted the teachers to be able to have a quick affordable place to go to. The employees at the town offices, the builders over here—we have regulars already.”

Kristi Tatro personalizes our photographer Gordon Miller’s takeout at the Avocado Pit in Stowe village

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FAMILY RECIPE

Arandas

In the lower village, a fourth location for Arandas has opened inside the Citgo gas station.

The Sola family came to Vermont five years ago from Mexico City and opened their first location serving authentic Mexican food at a farm and garden in Barre. That location was hugely successful, and they have expanded to Montpelier, Waterbury, and now Stowe, following a pattern of opening shop in gas stations where people are looking for a quick bite to eat.

While many Mexican restaurants in Vermont range from fast casual to dine-in, and seitan is a more frequently found ingredient than lengua, Arandas follows in a culinary tradition more often found in the taco trucks that line the streets of more densely populated areas of the United States.

One of the features of the menu is their line of tortas, that hallmark sandwich of Mexican American cuisine. The al pastor filling is everything it should be: savory and spicy if you go for the salsa verde.

There are, of course, burritos and tacos, but

George Dominguez prepares a take-out order. Arandas serves up authentic Mexican out of the Citgo gas station in the lower village.

also tamales, flautas, and empanadas.

The crispy chicken tacos are a highlight of the menu, as is the sampler platter, which allows customers to try it all.

“All the recipes are family recipes,” Juan Pablo Sola said. “All the recipes are from my mom and grandmother. They’re all family recipes that come straight from Mexico, and some employees have even been able to bring their own experiences and tastes from their own regions.” n

EDIBLES

A SOUTHERN SENSIBILITY

Nocturnal, the second outpost of a North Carolina brand, is serving up smoked meat, cast-iron cornbread and even catfish on Cottage Club Road in Stowe.

The new ownership has extensively renovated the former Sunset Grille, swapping out the taproom for lightwood tables and onyx walls and, to give it a sense of place, psychedelic posters advertising past Phish shows from across the globe.

Nocturnal Brewing Company opened in 2018 just across

Nocturnal renovated the old Sunset Grille, a longtime favorite local hangout, as an outlet for its southern comfort food.

the Georgia border by a group of Atlanta-based restaurateurs looking to get a little more straightforward after running a series of fusion-southern comfort eateries in Atown.

How did a North Carolina restaurant end up expanding with a second location a thousand miles away from the first? Ownership partners Mike Plummer and Mike Letter, a Vermont native, and his wife, Desiree Dubon, spend holidays at Smugglers’ Notch Resort, and when the former tav-

CAROLINA BARBECUE

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SOUTHERN COMFORT

Two sauces come with a table at Nocturnal—a mustardy Carolina-style one and a smokey Kansas City number.

ern went on the market, they scooped it up.

Plummer and Letter, who is from Vermont, met playing college basketball in North Carolina where the two became devoted Phans, the posters on the wall of Nocturnal representative a real commitment, not just pandering to the crowd.

What also shows real commitment is the food itself. The brisket—the tell-tale meat of any barbecue’s quality—is flavorful even without adornment, and, crucially, has a nice outer crust without any dryness.

“I judge people on their barbecue without putting any sauce on it,” Plummer said with a southern drawl. “If I go to your place, and you have a true smokehouse, you’ve got to see how it tastes in its true form, to see the quality, in my opinion.”

That said, the two sauces that come with a table at Nocturnal—a mustardy Carolina-style one and a smokey Kansas City number—are both perfectly complementary to the brisket, ribs, pulled pork, and spareribs.

All the main proteins, along with tofu for whatever vegetarian got dragged along with the group, are available in sandwich and taco itera-

tions. Nashville hot chicken is available, as it must be at many modern southern establishments, and a bounty of sides including collard greens, grits, mac and cheese, and more.

Nocturnal is all about southern comfort food. The cornbread will likely be gone as soon as it hits your table, and it might be one of a handful of places in Vermont where fried catfish can be ordered. The menu, according to Plummer, takes its inspiration from the classic southern meat-and-three, or a main with three sides.

Plummer said he and his business partners, accustomed to bringing unique cuisine to an area to set them apart from the competition, looked around and decided southern comfort was what the North Country was missing.

Nocturnal offers an extensive wine and craft beer list and brews its own batches locally in North Carolina, overseen by brewer David Grace, that is still in the process of getting shipped to Stowe. In the meantime, the restaurant’s proximity to The Alchemist brewery doesn’t hurt. There are also a variety of cocktails, everything from a classic old-fashioned to a trendy espresso martini that will keep you up well past your bedtime.

Plummer is the operating partner overseeing the restaurant, but he gets plenty of help from his wife, Amanda Averill, and manager TC McNeill.

With this team on hand, Nocturnal is hoping Stowe will embrace its southern-fried side with a cuisine local diners didn’t know they were missing. n

Your one stop shop for great food, unique treasures and affordable lodging! Our market has a great selection of antiques, furniture, gifts and more! The newly renovated guest rooms provide a comfortable place to rest following your Stowe adventures!

Breakfast and lunch served all day, every day!

SCAN for Guest Rooms

SCAN for Cafe Menu

Three generations of the von Trapp family, with Johannes and Lynne von Trapp, in the center.

The

REAL

von Trapp family

FACT OR FICTION?

FICTION: Seven von Trapp children, the offspring of Baron Georg Ludwig von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von Trapp. The children: Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta, and Gretl. FACT: Ten children. Seven children of Baron von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe; three children of the baron and Maria, one of whom, Johannes, was born in Germantown, Pa. The others were born in Austria.

The world fell in love with Julie Andrews and the singing von Trapp family in The Sound of Music

But in Austria—particularly the city of Salzburg, where the story unfolds—the musical has received the cold shoulder for half a century. If it has been accepted, it’s begrudgingly—as a source of tourism and traffic jams.

“Most people from Salzburg don’t know The Sound of Music unless they work with tourists,” explains the Web site visit-salzburg.net. “If they do, it is likely they hate the movie. So do we ...”

They hate the sweet, joyous The Sound of Music? In culturally high-minded Salzburg, a center of classical music and the birthplace of Mozart, The Sound of Music is dismissed as historically inaccurate American kitsch. That criticism disguises a deeper discomfort and guilt about Austria’s support for the Nazis during World War II, which is the musical’s central theme.

There has been “an unwillingness to accept what happened,” says Johannes von Trapp, head of Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe; he’s the youngest of Baron Georg and Maria von Trapp’s children, whose life story inspired the Hollywood and Broadway productions.

But time heals.

In October 2011, Salzburg hosted its first-ever production of the musical and, at the same time, opened its arms to the family that inspired it. Johannes von Trapp led a family delegation to Salzburg to attend the production.

Although the American von Trapps have returned to Austria and Salzburg many times since they fled in 1938, this visit was particularly sweet, a reconciliation of sorts. They were warmly welcomed, opening another chapter in the complex relationship between the von Trapps and the fictional account of their lives.

The musical is loosely based on a book by Maria von Trapp, published in 1949. Her romance with the baron, his singing children, their resistance to the Nazis, and their decision to flee German-occupied Austria inspired the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and later the film, starring Andrews as Maria and Christopher Plummer as the baron.

FICTION: The baron, a stern, authoritarian figure, rounds up his children with a boat captain’s whistle. FACT: The baron was neither stern nor authoritarian, and the whistle was used because the mansion was large and there were many children. It was, according to the von Trapp children, a useful and amusing way to summon the brood.

FICTION: Edelweiss is cast as the Austrian nation al song, if not its national anthem. FACT: Edelweiss is not the Austrian national anthem; it was com posed by Rodgers and Hammerstein for the Broadway musical. It is the last song Oscar Hammerstein composed before his death.

FICTION: The children were children when the Nazis occupied Austria and the family eventually “escaped.” The oldest child was a girl, Liesl; she is 16 in the movie. FACT: The children were not all children during the Nazi period. The oldest, Rupert, was in his 20s, studying medicine.

FICTION: The baron was a wealthy aristocrat, and Maria brought singing to the family. FACT: The family sang long before the arrival of Maria. By the 1930s, the von Trapps had lost much of their money in an Austrian bank collapse. The family rented out rooms in their mansion and performed concerts for the income.

After fleeing Nazi Austria, the real von Trapp story continued in Stowe, where the family bought a farm in the 1950s and built it into the Trapp Family Lodge, which thrives to this day.

On opening night in Salzburg, family members were called up to the stage to take a bow. The cast and the guests “sang Edelweiss. It was very emotional, lots of tears,” recalls Sam von Trapp, who runs the lodge with Johannes, his father. “It was an amazing night and an amazing visit. We were welcomed like returning royalty.”

—Biddle Duke

FICTION: Since the hugely successful movie was based on the elder Maria von Trapp’s book, you might get the impression that the von Trapps got rich. FACT: The von Trapps did not get rich on The Sound of Music movie. The movie is based on Maria’s book, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers; she sold the movie rights for $9,000 cash and no royalties.

FICTION: Maria von Trapp was the governess to all the children and introduced music to them. FACT: Maria was hired to be the tutor of the young Maria von Trapp, and the family sang and played music together long before her arrival.

FICTION: The von Trapp family escaped Nazi Austria by hiking over the mountains to Switzerland. FACT: You can’t hike over the mountains from Salzburg to Switzerland. Germany is actually across the mountains from Salzburg. The family “escaped”—left is more like it—by packing their bags and taking the train to Italy.

Salute cucina

STORY : aaron calvin | PHOTOGRAPHS : gordon miller

OPEN KITCHEN On the opening spread, Ash Carr pours a glass of white wine for a happy customer. Evelyn Salese, who runs Salute with her husband and chef, Franke Salese Jr., puts the finishing touches on a dish in the restaurant’s open kitchen. A group of friends enjoys the lively, yet intimate atmosphere in the main dining area.

When Franke Salese Jr. and his wife, Evelyn, opened the Stowe location in their collection of popular Junior’s restaurants in 2018, they uncovered a never-used, wood-fire oven.

“It was taped over,” Salese told the Stowe Reporter at that time.

The oven would become a core part of the restaurant’s identity. In 2020, just prior to the pandemic lockdown, the Saleses changed the name of the restaurant to Salute, emphasizing Italian fare and wood-fired pizza.

The wood-fire oven takes center stage in Salute’s cuisine. And it’s for more than the pizza—the lasagna and other dishes benefit as well.

The name was an intentional move to set their Stowe location apart from the others in Vermont, some of which, at the time of this writing, have either been closed by the couple or are under new ownership.

It became clear to the Saleses since opening the restaurant that the Stowe location was different. It had a different vibe, with the openair kitchen and outdoor seating in the summer and catered to a different clientele of loyal locals and a steady flock of tourists in the winter, summer, and fall.

“We started feeling like we have locals that turn into more than customers, like friends, like family,” Evelyn Salese said, a nod to the customers who keep the restaurant hopping in Stowe.

IL PRIMO Brussels sprouts benefit from a finish under the heat of the wood-fire oven. Spaghetti and meatballs, fresh seafood over pasta—mangia. Below: The Saleses in front of Salute in 2018, when it originally opened as part of their Junior’s restaurant chain.

Over the next four years, throughout the tumultuous era of pandemic uncertainty that saw some longtime Stowe restaurateurs hang up their aprons, Salute endured. When it replaced the third location of the beloved Gracie’s restaurant at the intersection of Edson Hill and the Mountain Road, it had big shoes to fill. It made the space its own.

During the fall and winter, Salute’s dining room and its long bar are cozy and inviting. In the summer, an outdoor patio allows diners to take in the all-too fleeting warmth or seek the cool darkness of the dining room.

It’s the kind of restaurant that pulls off the rare trick of being whatever the diner wants it to be. The service is friendly and straightforward, but not fussy. The neighborhood Italian restaurant—“the red sauce joint”—is deeply lodged in the American psyche as the restaurant equivalent of a familiar embrace. Salute wraps its arms around you.

I CUOCHI Sous chef Michael Knight, left, and chef Clay Kinard man the kitchen.

Wood Fired Neapolitan Pizza Home Made Pasta | Prime Wood Fired Steaks | Fresh Seafood

CIN CIN Happy customers crowd around the busy bar at Salute. Heath Eiden, Constancia Gomez, and a friend enjoy the bar scene— ”Where everybody knows your name.” What’s better than a classic gin martini, dry as a bone, up, with an olive? Inset: Jamie McCullough and Mollie McCullough enjoy dinner and some family time.

On a night in September, during prime leaf peeper season, a diverse crowd could be found. A very recognizable local businessman entertained family and friends at a long table. A young couple finally found time for a date night without the kids. An elderly Quebecois couple spoke quickly to one another in French over wide glasses of red wine. A regular at the bar chatted up the bartender. The atmosphere was conducive to all of this: romance, familiarity, fraternity.

Like most towns, Stowe is replete with pizza. This is for good reason: It’s popular but also easily scalable and easy to train people to make. There’s even a bit of competition amid the subgenre of wood-fired pizzas in town.

Salute’s pies hold their own. The fresh ingredients pop, particularly with the margherita pie, which, without sauce, depends entirely on the flavor of the tomatoes and basil. The heat can be tasted in the crust, which is warm and chewy. Pizza in the tradition of the slice shops that Salese cut his teeth in on Long Island it is not, and it fits the restaurant’s mood all the better for it.

Every Italian restaurant must hang its

hat on their sauce, of course, and Salese’s iteration hits all the right notes. Vibrant and not too sweet, Salese gets the balance right with a sauce that adorns and supports as opposed to weighing down or distracting. It brings everything together in Salute’s chicken parmigiana, providing a resting pool for a crisp pan-fried chicken smothered in cheese that pulls away with each bite, a highlight of an al forno section that includes wood-fired lasagna.

As should be expected, Salese knows how to best dress his pasta dishes, and the portions are generous. The alle vongole can be served with a white wine garlic sauce or a pomodoro. The wine sauce makes the little neck clams shine out of their shells.

While Salute features an ample wine list and an array of craft cocktails, something about the atmosphere and the food inspires a craving for the classics. Maybe a martini with extra olives and a gin that really leans into the juniper. Or an old fashioned, which maybe you haven’t had in years. Whatever helps best in slipping a little further into the mood. Salute n

PANE ITALIANO A meal at Salute is accompanied by bread cooked in the wood-fire oven. The signature wood-fired pizza is plated alongside the variety of pasta dishes on offer.

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THE PERFECT WELCOME TO STOWE

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHS / KATE CARTER

Rob Rozicki.

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Your family has rented a house in Stowe for a week of skiing and riding. You arrive after a long drive in a car full of boisterous, hungry kids. It’s dusk, the sunset is beautiful, the house is stunning, but oh no! The refrigerator is empty!

“This is a problem I’ve experienced myself,” said Rob Rozicki, owner of Alpine Arrivals, a new company in Stowe that provides a box filled with provisions that will get visitors through that first night and the following morning. “Personally, as a short-term renter, the pain was palpable, especially when you have hungry kids. If that doesn’t make you want to do something about it, nothing does.”

Rozicki calls this the “first-night problem.” A former marketing specialist, he realized that there was a niche in the short-term rental industry for stocking rental homes with provisions that would solve that dilemma.

Rozicki is from London, England, and his wife is a University of Vermont graduate who loves Vermont. They came to Stowe with their family during the pandemic.

“It was life changing for me and we decided to stay in Stowe and build a business that would address the first-night problem. Vermont has everything we need to be successful. There are so many small-batch artisans and food producers, and we can give them a platform for getting their goods to people beyond Vermont.”

EDIBLES

ARRIVAL PACKAGE

Alpine Arrivals packs its welcome boxes with lots of tastes of Vermont, from salami to marshmallows.

His vision was to procure products from various businesses with food that is shelf stable, such as pasta and Bove’s spaghetti sauce for dinner. For breakfast, there’s King Arthur pancake mix, which doesn’t require eggs, dairy, or butter, and a small jar of Runamok maple syrup to go with the cakes. Everything he acquires is available in local stores, so if renters find they are smitten with a product, they can shop for it locally. He works with property managers who deliver a welcome box full of goodies before check-in if the visitors sign up for it on their rental contract. He also works with individual homeowners.

“We offer a service that property managers don’t offer, but wish someone else would,” Rozicki said. “Instead of renters stressing about what they will do about dinner, a box of local authentic foods made in Vermont will be waiting for them.”

Alpine Arrival’s boxes come in four varieties. The Standard is a “welcome to Vermont” collection, while the Family box is for a family of four and leans toward kids. The Friends pack is oriented to active groups of four to six people, and the Couples box has a romantic getaway vibe.

Contents change seasonally, so things like hot chocolate are only

included in the fall and winter. Rozicki is always looking for new and interesting products to include that reflect Vermont’s authenticity so return visitors are surprised with something different each time they visit.

“It’s a joy to work with Vermont artisans. They are eager to work with us and we offer opportunities for everyone, including food producers, property owners and managers, and, of course, guests. We also have sustainability in mind; all the boxes and packaging can be recycled, so we’re not generating waste,” Rozicki said.

For now, Rozicki works from home. Plans are to expand into another space, develop relationships with more vendors, and possibly hire staff. He oversees marketing, sales, packing, and receiving, and delivers Alpine Arrivals boxes on arrival day.

Stowe is full of short-term rentals and visitors year-round, making it the perfect testing ground for Alpine Arrivals. That’s why Rozicki chose to live here. “If we are successful here, we can be successful anywhere.” n

ESSENTIALS: alpinearrivals.com.

REAL ESTATE LIFESTYLE &

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 vtcng.com) and News & Citizen (newsandcitizen.com)—are great community and real estate resources.

THREE VERY DIFFERENT HOMES IN STOWE’S HISTORIC CENTER

PLEASINGLY PLEASANT

/ $870,000

2,164 square feet • Built in 2001 • Taxes: $10,469 • Agency: Filomena Siner, Berkshire Hathaway Realty Group

This modular home is permitted for four bedrooms, and there are currently two bedrooms in the main house and one bedroom in the apartment. The central part of the home has an abundance of space, light, and potential. The open floor plan of kitchen, dining, and living rooms is perfect for gathering and entertaining. On the same floor are the primary bedroom, second bedroom, and full bath, along with laundry room and a half bath. The walk-out basement is plumbed and can be turned into anything the next owner desires: game room, studio, entertainment, or that fourth bedroom. The onebedroom and full-bath apartment is above the two-car garage and can be accessed through the garage or an exterior entrance. There’s also a private, spacious deck for relaxing and grilling. The location is awesome. The library and elementary school are a 5-minute walk, and fresh coffee and baked goods are even closer!

Outside: A steep trail up to Sunset Rock and the Stowe Rec Path are close by, as well as the shuttle bus to the ski resort, and everything Stowe Village has to offer.

LITTLE RIVER CONDO

/ $598,000

1,117 square feet • Built in 1982 • Taxes: $6,748 • Agency: Susan O’Rourke, Pall Spera Real Estate

Located just a few blocks south of Stowe Village, this one-bedroom plus loft, two-bath condo is surprisingly peaceful and private. The appealing 2.5-story condominium is remarkably convenient, with just a short walk to restaurants, Stowe Recreation Path, groceries, shopping, and all the year-round vibrancy found in Stowe Village. The unique loft space is ideal for additional living or an office. A spacious open floor plan for dining and living opens out to a deck overlooking the Little River. The kitchen has stainless appliances and plenty of counter and cupboard space. A detached one-car garage makes this property a worthy choice for year-round living or as a vacation getaway.

Outdoors: It’s a short walk on a sidewalk to the grocery store, shopping, rec path, coffee shops, restaurants, ski shuttle, Stowe library, Stowe Historical Society, and so much more.

ICONIC VILLAGE HOME

/ $2,990,000

4,427 square feet • Built in 1820 • Taxes: $36,702 • Agency: Meg Kaufman, LandVest

This memorable four-bedroom Stowe Village home is a skillful blend of modern aesthetic and classic Vermont village farmhouse. It has undergone many renovations over its impressive lifetime, and now boasts a state-of-the-art chef’s kitchen and spacious rooms that can handle large groups. There are also smaller spaces and nooks for reading or daydreaming by the fireplace. The upstairs has three en-suite bedrooms, including the quiet primary, situated at the back of the house. A classic wraparound porch in the front is both functional and architecturally delightful. A three-season screened-in porch with wood burning fireplace creates a mesmerizing ambiance. Well-maintained landscaping, garage, killer curb appeal, a patio with fire-pit and pizza oven, and far-reaching views of the Little River enhance this sublime Vermont home even more. The quintessential barn at the back of the house is a throwback to the past, yet inside is a spacious, well-appointed onebedroom apartment. A major investment was the installation of Tesla solar panels and two Tesla power walls. The residence is offered furnished.

Outside: A short walk on pavement to downtown Stowe, with its restaurants and shops, Stowe Rec Path, elementary school, library, coffee shops and cafes. The quiet path for canine companions is also just a few minutes away. n

MOUNTAIN LIVING

spend a short amount of time indoors before shifting to its central core value: “We go outside,” says school

PRESCHOOL EMPHASIZES FRESH AIR LEARNING

STORY / MARK AIKEN

CORE VALUES Mountain Village School students

director Sarah Tousignant.

Students ski four mornings a week at Cochran’s in Richmond where they mostly have the slopes to themselves.

prospective parents: If you are thinking about having kids in maybe two or three years, stop. Pick up your phone and call Sarah Tousignant, executive director and founder of Mountain Village School in Stowe. After all, the typical wait on the school’s wait list is exactly that—two to three years.

“Explaining this to parents is one of the biggest challenges of my job,” said Tousignant, who, to be clear, does not enjoy saying “no” to a family in need of child care.

Tousignant is well-aware of how difficult it is to find child care, or, as she calls her school, an “early education center.”

Having served in the Children’s Integrated Services arm of Vermont’s Department of Children and Families, her job was literally to visit preschools and child care centers in Grand Isle and Franklin counties.

“I realized that Vermont was struggling to meet families’ needs, so I decided to open a school,” she said.

Mountain Village School takes children from infants to 5 years old at its Thomas Lane location and also offers after-school care and summer camps at a Mountain Road location.

‘We go outside’

Mountain Village School opened in 2011 with three kids and one staff member—Tousignant. From the beginning, the school operated with a central core value. “We go outside,” she said.

In fact, new parents receive a four-page handout explaining this concept, including exactly what clothes are required for kids to be successful. If it rains, snows, hails, or blows, all the kids and teachers go outside.

“I love how much time they spend outside,” said Karalyn Burke of Morrisville, whose boys both attend the school—one a preschooler and the other a preschool graduate who now participates in the after-school program.

Harry Burke, 5, agrees that Mountain Village School kids spend most of their time outdoors. “First we spend a little time inside,” he said. “Then we go out to do our journal, after that we get to play outside until lunch but sometimes, we eat lunch outside too.

“Then naptime and outside again until pickup.”

Harry’s older brother Morgan, who’s now a first grader, added, “We were outside most of the time, unless it was thundering and lightning.”

DOWNHILL RACER

MOUNTAIN LIVING

INTO THE WOODS Regardless of the weather, Mountain Village School students go outside. Parents receive a packet explaining this concept, including exactly what clothes their kids need on a daily basis in order to thrive.

Burke also likes the level of responsibility and respect that teachers give kids, like how the kids are responsible for putting on their own snow pants, jackets, mittens, boots, and so on.

“Also, they don’t use sippy cups,” she said. Obviously, the easy way would be to put lids on cups to minimize messes. But Mountain Valley School staff believe kids can handle the responsibility. Certainly, mistakes (and messes) are made along the way, but kids can and do learn to manage open cups—and many other skills. The school isn’t afraid of messes or raindrops, as these are part of learning, according to Tousignant.

“So much growth happens in the first five years of life,” she said.

Child care challenges

The emphasis on outdoors time may set Mountain Valley School apart, but it doesn’t make finding staff easier. Finding and retaining staff is a challenge for any early education program. Part of this school’s unique challenge is finding teachers who share values around learning and going outdoors.

“It’s tricky,” Tousignant said.

From her experiences at Children’s Integrated Services, Tousignant was well-aware of the challenges. Rent, transportation, insurance, and

staffing are so monumentally challenging that it’s somewhat amazing any child care center survives. Meanwhile, salaries, wages, and benefits for teachers and staff come from tuition—and many Vermont families are already strapped.

Although some families qualify for state aid, the resulting funding doesn’t necessarily create more revenue for a school. Meanwhile, the state mandates staff-to-student ratios, so for an owner, operating becomes a game of trying to balance affordable programming for families, paying livable wages for staff, and somehow staying afloat.

Staff tenure ranges from several months to assistant director and lead infant teacher, Meghan Stapleton, who is in her ninth year.

“We are all generally managing a number of pieces all at once,” said Tousignant, who has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a master’s degree in education—both from the University of Vermont—and a certificate in early education leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is currently pursuing her master’s in clinical psychology at night at St. Michael’s College.

“In 13 years, I’ve seen that it’s another missing piece,” Tousignant said. “We need to focus on the mental health and well-being of teachers. Parents too.” Working, playing with, and supporting young children— although incredibly rewarding—can be exhausting.

MOUNTAIN LIVING

MATH CLASS Your money is no good here. But your acorn caps are!

“I am continually impressed by the level of commitment, and their level of caring, respect, and knowledge of how to deal with the social and emotional aspects of young children,” parent Karalyn Burke said. “Their job is harder than most jobs. They are so good at conflict resolution.”

Following mom’s footsteps

Mountain Village School isn’t Tousignant’s first foray into teaching or providing child care. She taught skiing at Stowe (mostly kids), and she worked at Laraway Youth and Family Services in Johnson. Also, her mom, Diane Tousignant, ran several schools and child cares around her hometown of Templeton, Mass.

“Sarah worked in pretty much every possible role when she worked for me,” Diane said. “From assistant teacher to teacher to assistant director.”

Diane said she was aware that Sarah had unique gifts when it came to nurturing, teaching, and leading young children. “I didn’t really think she’d go off to Vermont and open her own center though,” she said, noting how impressed she is with the Mountain Valley School program, parental bias notwithstanding.

“Unfortunately, her model is not the norm.”

gumbo with red beans. “Beets have been really popular this year,” Tousignant said.

Pre-K student Harry Burke said that this year’s pesto pasta has been top shelf.

Located in a ski town, it will come as no surprise that Mountain Valley School students ski. What may surprise some is the fact that they bus their 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds to Cochran’s in Richmond four days per week for five weeks in January and February.

According to Tousignant, Cochran’s is a nice setting for a program

Talk can be cheap when it comes to the importance of exposing young children to the natural world, choosing curriculum based on student interests, and the benefits of healthy food. Many programs leave lunches and snacks to families. Those that don’t often provide kid-friendly options like buttered noodles, chicken nuggets, and other easy-to-prepare, but not necessarily healthy, food.

“We want to help make parents’ lives easier,” Tousignant said. “We don’t want them to have to pack lunches every morning.” Besides, when she’s not controlling what food kids bring, her life and the lives of teachers are not necessarily better.

The menu is healthy, vegetarian, as organic as possible, and as local as possible, Tousignant said, often buying food from the Rogers Farm in Stowe, Long Winter Farm in Nebraska Valley, and Elmore Mountain Bread.

She treasures the partnership with Long Winter Farm. Kids visit the farm regularly and get much of their food from owners Andrew and Annie Paradee, whose children attend the school.

“It is an incredible opportunity to source so much of our produce from just a few miles away,” Tousignant said. “We are so thankful for not only the food but the educational opportunities our relationship with them has provided.”

Typical items on chef Ryan Aldrich’s menu include Shepard’s pie with kale, grain bowls with chickpeas, quinoa, and potatoes, and Cajun potato

teaching responsibility and independence because it has surface lifts instead of chairlifts—namely a Mighty Mite and a T-bar. That way, says Tousignant, young skiers can go at their own speed, build skills going up and downhill and, on the Mighty Mite, they can choose how far up the hill to go.

Also, because Cochran’s is closed to the public during the week, the school mostly has the run of the place.

“I like getting to ski around with my friends and when mom and dad come to visit my school there,” said Harry. Added his big brother, Morgan: “I liked riding in the basket of the snowcat”—a testament to the relationship Mountain River School has forged with resort management as a result of skiing there day after day after day.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of what happens at Mountain River School is the “can do” attitude while fulfilling a basic need and doing it well.

“I don’t think it can be understated how difficult it is to provide childcare and early childhood education in our life, in our state, and in our country,” Burke said. “We’re so lucky to have a place like this for our kids, but it should be the norm. We just need more places like Mountain Village School.” n

Ryan Bent Photography

RECESSION LEADS TO ‘BUSIEST GUY IN TOWN’

Tyler Mumley, a civil engineer based in Morrisville, works primarily in Morrisville and Stowe, with private homeowners, developers, mixed-use building owners, and civil municipalities. Mumley grew up in Alburgh, moved to Swanton for high school, and received his civil engineering degree in 2003 from Florida State University. He lives just north of Stowe in Brownsville with his wife, Ani, and their two daughters, 5 and 3, who are bot h in Stowe Elementary School. They have two dogs, a cat, eight chickens, five chicks, two goats, and maybe someday a small pony. The future holds the possibility of bringing to fruition their vision of starting a small farm they’ll call Moss Glen Farm.

How did you end up in Stowe?

I moved to Stowe in 2008 for a job as a utility engineer. I had been living in Florida doing civil engineering, but when the recession started, all the work stopped, and I needed a new job! I was lucky enough to find work in Stowe and haven’t left.

What made you want to be a civil engineer?

I took an oceanography class my freshman year at Florida State and decided I wanted to be a marine engineer. I worked to get my civil engineering degree, with expectations of getting a master's in marine engineering. But after graduation, I took a job with a civil construction company, building roads and utilities, and never stopped working to go back to school. I still think about marine engineering from time to time, but I am very happy doing the work that I do and am glad it all worked out the way it has.

What does a civil engineer do?

Whenever you take a vacant piece of land that can be built on, owners usually call a builder or an architect first. The first thing the builder or architect does is call an engineer. They provide project oversight from concept to completion, including building code and zoning research. They need to know local and state building codes and zoning ordinances, as well as the land’s layout. Most of our work is driven by water supply and wastewater management. Each owner needs a zoning permit from the town and a wastewater and water permit from the state. Having a civil engineer on board almost eliminates any chances of serious design, engineering, or construction flaws and building code violations.

When you’re consulting with someone, what do you do?

First, I walk the property with the landowners. It’s an iterative process. They think they know what they want, and my job is to help them understand the site—water runoff, driveway location, setbacks, ledge. The first site visit is about getting to know the layout. At that point we’re often working with surveyors, architects, and builders. We go back and forth with all players to see what makes the most sense. Generally, it’s pretty simple, but a lot of things go into it.

How did you end up in Morrisville?

I worked for Ruggiano Engineering in St. Albans and in 2018 I bought the business from my former boss, Sam Ruggiano. I kept that office and opened my first office in Morrisville next to the movie theater. Then my wife and I bought a house in Moss Glen Falls. It was the former house of the artist Stan Marc Wright. He had the old Brownsville schoolhouse moved to the property. I decided to relocate my office from downtown Morrisville to the schoolhouse. At that time, I had people working in the St. Albans Office and also in the Stowe-Morrisville area. We got so busy I decided to bring everyone together in Morrisville. Someday we might turn the old schoolhouse into a mother-in-law suite.

How many people are on your staff?

There are seven. Two senior engineers, a project engineer, two CAD techs, and an office manager and engineer assistant. One CAD tech works from home in Colchester, but all the others live close by. I’m lucky to have a really good crew of dedicated employes who work hard and do good work.

What is the scope of your work?

Most of our work is with development of single-family dwellings—new houses, additions, septic failure. Another aspect of the business is working for developers on apartment buildings, lodging facilities and mixed-use buildings, municipalities, and doing culvert and roadway projects for towns. Sometimes a real estate agent will call me because they have a client who is interested in a specific piece of land, and they want to know what they can do with it. I look at the zoning regulations, walk the property, analyze, and make recommendations. People want to know early on what the feasibility is of subdividing a piece of land or simply any restrictions they might run into to build a home.

What changes have you seen in the past few years?

The pandemic drove our business. When people started migrating to the area, there was a huge boom in single-home development and a lot of accessory apartments. And not just in Stowe. There are not many lots left in Stowe. Anyone in this business is busy and straight-out since 2020—surveyors, builders, architects, contractors, engineers, interior designers, plumbers, electricians.

Have you had any particularly challenging situations?

One fun and challenging project was a house on Route 100 that was on Stowe’s historic registry. We presented to Stowe’s Historic Preservation Commission, which had to approve the plans, and then we went through a historic design review. I helped with building placement, access, utilities, water supply, septic, and we also brought in a wetlands consultant. Challenges are often regulatory restrictions. In a place like Stowe, there are a lot of rules. A big part of my job is knowing the rules and attending latenight development review board meetings. The state is also very tough when it comes to water, wastewater, stormwater, wetlands, and Act 250. I was on Stowe’s development review board for five years. It’s difficult as you’re supposed to be very black and white. Does it adhere to rules or not? It’s often difficult for those board members to do their job.

What do you like most about your career?

On my end, things are not controversial. You don’t really see my work. I just help others visualize where a project will go, and make sure it’s done well and correctly. I really enjoy helping people achieve their goals and objectives and realize their dreams. n

VERMONT LIFESTYLE

HANDMADE, HOMEMADE Coleen Butler handmakes all of her products at her home using natural methods. Butler fleshes a sheepskin, which requires her to remove the flesh and fat from the skin before smoking it.

COLEEN BUTLER FOLLOWS PATH OF SELF-RELIANCE

STORY / MARK AIKEN PHOTOGRAPHS / GORDON MILLER

ALL FLESHED OUT A dry scraper, at left, helps the fleshing process. At right, Butler soaks a deerskin in the pond by her home, while rubbing rabbit pelts with a pumice stone helps to soften them.

Hide tanning is the ancient process of transforming raw flesh and skin into preserved fabric. For most people, hide tanning isn’t something we often think about even though humans throughout history have tanned hides.

“It was a survival skill of our ancestors,” Coleen Butler, a hide tanner from Stannard, said. “It’s a tradition that runs deep, deep in our bones.”

Butler realizes that just buying clothes at a store or online would be cheaper and easier, “but I would have no idea who made it, how they made it, what it’s made of, or how it was transported to me.”

Conversely, when she pulls on one of her handmade shirts or dresses, she knows everything about that piece of clothing. She calls it storied adornment—when the clothes you wear have their own unique stories.

“When I wear those clothes, I’m living in connection with those stories,” Butler said.

sheepskins. For those that don’t take her classes—“Some people have no desire to touch a skin until it’s preserved,” she says, laughing—she sells whole skins, clothing, accessories, and jewelry.

Through her business, Close to the Skin, she teaches hide tanning, working with everything from rabbit pelts to deerskins to

“Wearing clothing made from a skin brings us closer to our wild selves, and it connects us to the world around us,” Butler said.

Vermont products

She tans most animals that live in Vermont, she said, noting that she tanned over 100 hides this summer.

Her favorite is deerskin. (For those keeping score, the raw skin from a deer is known as a deerskin; the preserved product that emerges from the tanning process is called buckskin.)

KEEP WARM Butler wears one of her sheepskin vests at her home in Stannard. A close-up, below.

She sells her products—sheepskin rugs, collars, and vests, sheep and rabbit skin hats, and leather packs and lampshades, among others—at the General Store in Craftsbury, Wilson Herb Farm in Greensboro, Bread and Butter Farm Store in Shelburne, and others. She also sells them at her store online.

Butler tans her hides using ancient and natural techniques. With her own hands, she first removes any flesh or fat from the skin. With larger skins, she hangs them on racks and pounds them to soften them. She then treats them with fats and bark, depending on the type of skin.

For the past four years, Butler has become interested in hunting—it adds to her connection to her products and their stories.

“I can go into the woods and hunt a deer. I could kill that deer, bring it home, and have that food nourish me. Then I could tan that hide, maybe with a friend or family, and I could sew it into a dress.”

Whenever Butler wears that dress, she can remember the day and her hunt. She can think of the time spent tanning it with family or friends.

“I carry those stories with me,” she said. “They give me a deeper relationship with my life.”

Learning how

Butler’s hands-on workshops include sheepskin tanning, deerskin tanning, rabbit pelt tanning, sewing leather, and more. She teaches at her home and at gatherings like Roots Rendezvous in Bradford and Sloyd Skills Gathering in Stannard. She plans to add a class around animal skinning in the future.

“Her teaching style was inspiring,” Anna Couture, who took Butler’s sheepskin tanning workshop in August, said. “She had obvious experience and knowledge, but it was combined with humility and curiosity.”

A complete beginner, Couture found the process physically and mentally challenging.

VERMONT LIFESTYLE

“It was such a scientific and sensory experience, and I felt capable of doing it but still chewing on everything I learned. I left energized and inspired to get back to my daily grind.”

And Couture used her newfound skills: “I have five sheepskins hanging in my basement,” she said.

Why is it important to learn about methods and processes like hide tanning?

“So many reasons,” Butler explained. In addition to “storied adornment” and minimizing one’s impact on the Earth, being self-reliant is important to her. “I also value living a wild life,” drawing a parallel of a lion living in the wild versus in a zoo. “I’m willing to live in slightly less comfort—maybe not knowing exactly where my next meal will come from—but being less domesticated.”

Not created equal

Not all tanned hides are created equally.

“Most leather and fur-on products are industrially tanned using chemicals, plastics, or formaldehydes,” she says. Even industrial tanners that

use a method called “vegetable tanning” likely use a combination of chemicals and vegetables that speed the process.

However, smaller industrial tanners interested in returning to a more natural approach are beginning to emerge. “There are smaller hand-tanners like me,” Butler said.

Although her products and processes aren’t easy or convenient, she says they are meaningful, healthy, and fulfilling.

“The skin is the largest organ in the human body, and it’s permeable,” she said. “Wearing natural fibers affects the health of my body, my energetics and frequency, and it just feels different.”

Marketing campaigns and technology in the year 2024 bombard us with ease and convenience. For artisans like Coleen Butler, process and how it affects the larger world eclipse convenience.

“Animals in this world provide us with so much, with nourishment, with transformation, with ceremony, with sacredness,” she said. “Engaging with tanning allows me to go through my own transformation and my own ceremony and live in my own sacredness with them.” n

BACKYARD TANNER A professional hide tanner, Butler has tanned hundreds of hides and pelts by hand, always using natural methods.

Carpeting • Area Rugs • Stair Runners • Hardwood • Laminate • Luxury Vinyl

mountain modern

As we sat on the spacious deck, facing spectacular views of the Green Mountains from Bolton to Smugglers Notch, I asked the owners of their new house, “What is your favorite room?” The husband instantly replied. “Right here, right where we are! I could spend all my time out here. We had friends over to watch the solar eclipse, and when it went dark, we could hear the cheers from the top of Mansfield.”

The wife’s answer was different, although the deck came in a close second. “I love the kitchen. The tea bar makes me happy every morning, and it’s not only a functional chef’s kitchen, but it also has the amazing view and is large enough for entertaining many people.”

Text, p.226 Photographs, p.210

ROOM WITH A VIEW

GREAT ROOM

FAMILY TABLE

SLUMBERTIME

MOUNTAIN MODERN

UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS

SEPARATE QUARTERS

FITNESS ZONE

For Pete and Carrie Heintzelman, owners of Method Architecture Studio, this was their own dream home that they designed together. Pete describes it as “mountain modern,” with a long-spanning single-shed roof and organic interior finishes, with the juxtaposition of metal and wood as the starting point for the color palette. It’s the combined efforts of two people, wife and husband, parents and professionals, who both come from families with backgrounds in the building and carpentry trades.

“I still have the initial sketch of the house,” Carrie said. “It’s always interesting to see the evolution of a design process. We did four different plans before landing on a final design and we gave ourselves 18 months to complete the plan.”

“The design percolated for a long time,” Pete added. “We’d love to have it as a forever home, but we are dreamers and we’re flexible and always designing.”

Pete is the architect, and Carrie is the interior designer. They met at St. Lawrence College in Upstate New York, where Pete studied stage craft and lighting, as well as photography, while Carrie, also a fine arts major, focused on environmental psychology. After graduating, they moved to California where Pete worked for an architect and Carrie worked at an art gallery while honing her skills as a jewelry designer and silversmith.

Pete soon realized he wanted to form his own architectural company, so he enrolled in Boston Architectural College, and they moved to be near family in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Upon graduation and working as an architect for a time, in 2017 Pete took the next step and started Method. The couple, now married with two young boys, relocated to Stowe for the lifestyle, mountains, environment, schools, and community. The family spent many hours driving the backroads of Stowe, looking for the perfect piece of land where they would build their first home together. To their delight, they found it in 2018.

The parcel is on a western-facing slope with drop-dead views of Mansfield, just south of Stowe Village. They consulted with Stowe

engineer Tyler Mumley on how to best site the house in somewhat challenging conditions—a slope with water run-off to manage. Once they determined the best location, they hired Beacon Hill Builders to manage construction and subcontractors.

“The house is site-specific,” Pete said. “It’s a two-story home, technically one story, with a walk-out basement. They are separate environments. We live on the upper level where we can walk out to the backyard or onto the front deck. The walk-out ground-level basement is a play space for all of us, but mostly for our two boys.”

The main entrance is on the side of the basement level that has poured, polished, radiant-heated concrete flooring throughout and high ceilings. The entrance serves as a mudroom, where an iron staircase by Custom Metal Fabricators leads to the second floor. Also on the basement level are an entertainment room, climbing wall, skateboard halfpipe, and an extra bedroom and bath. It’s also where Pete’s office is, which has its own private entrance, separate from the house.

The entire second floor has an open floor plan that includes kitchen, dining area, family room, and homework “office” for the boys. Beyond the main living area are three bedrooms and two baths, separating private life from public life. The boys’ homework space is glassed in so their parents can keep an eye on them from the kitchen and living area. The flooring is radiant heat topped with white oak planks and area rugs.

The foundation walls are built of insulated concrete forms providing a continuous insulation layer that seamlessly connects with the building shell. New Energy Works in Farmington, N.Y., built the pre-panelized walls for the high-performance building enclosure. They were capped with structurally insulated panels as the roof system. The walls and roof arrived on site and the home’s structure was finished within a few days.

“Creating these systems off-site allows for a climate-controlled environment, reduction in material waste, and increase in accuracy and efficiency of enclosure production,” Pete said.

CELEBRATING 35 YEARS IN BUSINESS

Marking a significant milestone by expressing gratitude to customers, partners, and the community for their support over the years.

weathered texture of the Shou Sugi Ban larch siding. The siding uses an ancient technique of burning the top layer of the wood to make it weather resistant and then it is wire brushed for a modern look.

“We chose this process because we didn’t want to have ongoing upkeep over the years. The finish will weather gradually with soft gray tones,” Pete said.

Similarly, for the main deck, the couple went with Accoya 1x6 boards, using a vinegar immersion stain that penetrates the wood to the core and eliminates the need for any additional stains or finishes throughout its lifecycle.

“Pete brings experience of engineering structure, site planning, and space planning. I further analyze the space planning and come in with a different lens,” Carrie said. “I make flooring, tile, paint, trim, accent, and furniture decisions. It speaks to the symbiotic nature of our relationship.”

Carrie wanted their home’s finishes to feel organic, homey, and soft. Her inspiration comes from time-proven materials and aesthetics. “My passion is to create homes that are grounding and peaceful, a place to retreat to in a chaotic world, an environment where you are most at ease.”

Pete designed the cabinetry, built-ins, desks, shelving, doors, hardware, and flooring, and his father and brother helped with custom woodworking and installation. The couple chose a pocketed centaur sliding screen door that opens out to the deck and slides within the wall when opened, uniting the interior with the outdoors.

Pete also designed the house with energy efficiency in mind, starting with an air-tight building shell. “By creating an air-tight interior environment you can more easily size and calibrate your mechanical system to your building design, which in turn will create an extremely comfortable, energy efficient interior space,” he said.

Additional continuous wood-fiber insulation wraps the building and recycled cavity insulation material help keep the interior climate in check during the cold months, while the strategically placed operable windows and doors provide natural ventilation and cooling during warmer months.

“The goal of the design is to use less overall fossil fuel energy. The western windows provide additional heat from the sun in the winter months and the operable windows, ceiling fans, and large overhangs provide shade and cooling during the summer,” Pete noted.

It’s been two years since the family moved into their new, custom-design home that reflects their mutual aesthetics and lifestyle. They started construction in August 2021 and finished a year later, meeting their goal of completing their home in 18 months.

“We love our home,” Carrie said. “It was a fun collaborative process between the two of us and many people in the trades.” n

S TOWE MAGAZINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY

ANTIQUES

BITTNER ANTIQUES

Third-generation Vermont antique dealer Brian Bittner: broad experience with pocket and wristwatches, jewelry, silver, artwork, coins/paper money, historical/military, older collectibles, heirlooms. Free house visits. 2997 Shelburne Road, Shelburne. (802) 489-5210, bittnerantiques.com.

APOTHECARY

ROGUE HERBALIST

Bringing back the local apothecary. Handcrafted herbal teas, tinctures, supplements, and CBD products from organic, local, or wildcrafted ingredients. Follow us on Instagram @rogue_herbalist for news and upcoming events. 34 Pleasant St., Morrisville. (802) 505-3863, therogueherbalist@gmail.com.

ARCHITECTS

ANDREW VOLANSKY, AIA / VOLANSKY STUDIO ARCHITECTURE & PLANNING

The term studio speaks to an open process of collaborating with our clients and general contractors who execute our designs. This respectful approach has proven to contribute significantly to project success. (802) 793-4999, volanskystudio.com.

BROWN + DAVIS DESIGN

We are a small architecture firm dedicated to the belief that good design matters. We specialize in thoughtfully crafted and energy efficient residential design throughout Vermont. (802) 899-1155. brownanddavis.com.

ELD ARCHITECTURE

Creating thoughtful, site-specific designs in response to each client's unique goals. We provide the opportunity to experience your home three-dimensionally and are committed to creating enduring relationships with our clients. eldarchitecture.com. (802) 521-7101.

FLAVIN ARCHITECTS

An architecture firm focused on designing beautifully crafted, naturally modern homes. Our work is designed to tread lightly on the land. flavinarchitects.com, (617) 227-6717, Instagram: @flavinarchitects.

GOLDSMITH & DAVIS ARCHITECTS

Quality design and professional architectural services specializing in high-end residential development. Member Stowe Area. (800) 862-4053. goldsmithanddavis.com. Email: vt@jggarchitects.com.

HARRY HUNT ARCHITECTS

Helping clients design modern, low-carbon dream homes—true to the spirit of Vermont. Member American Institute of Architects. Certified passive house designer. harryhuntarchitects.com, (802) 253-2374.

KEVIN BROWNE ARCHITECTURE

We create timeless architecture inspired by the past, designed for the future. Our approach is always tailored to our clients and the region with a focus on sustainability and efficiency. kevinbrownearchitecture.com, (207) 837-3499.

LEE HUNTER ARCHITECT

Stowe-based architectural firm offering a personal approach to creative, elegant design. Residential, commercial, and renovations. leehunterarchitect.com. (802) 917-3381.

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. madmoosearchitecture.com. (802) 234-5720.

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. 259 Summit View Drive, Stowe. (802) 585-3161.

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.

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

CUSHMAN DESIGN GROUP

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

ART GALLERIES

ARTISANS’ GALLERY

A must-see collection of Vermont fine art and craft since 1995. Pottery, jewelry, photography, fiber, woodenware, greeting cards. Gifts for every occasion. 11-6 daily. Historic Bridge Street, Waitsfield. (802) 496-6256. vtartisansgallery.com.

BRYAN GALLERY

Vermont’s premier gallery for landscape artwork with over 200 regional artists displayed annually. One gallery, two locations, Jeffersonville and Stowe. Visit bryangallery.org for more information. (802) 644-5100.

THE CURRENT

A center for contemporary art and art education, established in 1981. Exhibitions of acclaimed artists. Art classes. Cultural events. Schedule: Monday-Friday 10-5, Saturday 10-3. 90 Pond St., Stowe. (802) 253-8358, thecurrentnow.org.

NORTHWOOD GALLERY

Gallery exclusively featuring Vermont artisans. Jewelry, pottery, prints, local photography, woodwork, cards, stained glass and more. 151 Main St., Stowe. (802) 760-6513. info.northwoodgallery@gmail.com.

FRONT FOUR GALLERY

An outstanding selection of original paintings, sculpture, and glass by locally, nationally, and internationally acclaimed artists. Celebrating 34 years. 394 Mountain Road, Baggy Knees Shopping Center, Stowe. frontfourgallery.com. (802) 253-7282.

SALT AND SAND STUDIOS

Glassblowing classes and experiences creating plates, beads, pumpkins, paperweights, and ornaments. It’s all right here in our Warren, Vt., barn and studio. Dedicated to the art and science of glasswork. saltandsandstudios.com, (802) 583-2559.

ART STUDIO & TATTOO SHOP

HELLBROOK FINE ART GALLERY AND TATTOO STUDIO

Hellbrook, a unique fine art gallery and tattoo studio in Morrisville village showcases original artwork, live demonstrations, Friday drawing sessions, and appointment-only tattoos, creating a welcoming and inspiring atmosphere. Visit today. hellbrookink@gmail.com.

MOOSEWALK STUDIOS

Award-winning oil and watercolor paintings by Gary Eckhart and fine art photography by Roark Sharlow are the focus of the charming and intimate gallery and studio. Frequent visiting artists. Warren, by appointment. moosewalkstudios.com, fineart@moosewalkstudios.com, and (802) 583-2224.

AWNINGS

OTTER CREEK AWNINGS

Expand your outdoor living space with the help of Otter Creek Awnings. Providing custom outdoor shading solutions since 1976. Free onsite estimates. Showroom at 19 Echo Place, Williston, or othercreekawnings.com. (802) 864-3009.

BAKERIES

BLACK CAP COFFEE & BAKERY OF VERMONT

Croissants, danishes, muffins, scones, tarts, cakes. Everything made in house. Glutenfree/vegan options. A fun place to work, meet, or hang out. Open daily. Stowe and Morrisville downtowns, Waterbury Train Station. blackcapvermont.com.

BIKE SHOPS & INSTRUCTION

HITCHHIKER BIKE SHOP

Stowe’s local bike shop. In our dedicated mountain and gravel shop find a vast selection of bikes, unique parts, clothing, helmets, accessories. Need a tune or a quick fix? We’re ready to get you back on the road, path, or trail. hitchhikerbikes.com. (802) 585-3344.

BOOKSTORES

INKLINGS CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Inklings Children’s Books features a diverse collection of children’s books from familiar classics to exciting new titles. Come explore our arts and crafts area. Mad River Green, Waitsfield, (802) 496-7280.

BREWERIES & CIDERIES

THE ALCHEMIST

A family owned and operated craft brewery specializing in fresh, unfiltered IPA. Open for retail sales and onsite consumption, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., 7 days a week. Order online at shop.alchemistbeer.com. 100 Cottage Club Road, stowe.alchemistbeer.com.

ROCK ART BREWERY

Visit us for a wonderful variety of our handcrafted beers. Enjoy a pint while you view the brewery or wander our art gallery, showing more than 60 Vermont artists. You could also enjoy a pint and pretzel on the porch with your dog. (802) 888-9400. rockartbrewery.com.

BUILDERS & CONTRACTORS

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, property services. (802) 888-3629, stowebuilder.com.

GYLLENBORG CONSTRUCTION

Recognized for high-quality craftsmanship. Our priority is to encourage and promote environmentally friendly living. Individualized customer service and attention to detail for custom homebuilding, renovations, and additions. Established 1995. gyllenborgconstruction.com. (802) 888-9288.

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.

NEW ENERGY WORKS

We design and build environmentally responsible, wood focused homes, and buildings across the Northeast. We specialize in timber framing, high-performance enclosures, fine woodworking, and reclaimed and sustainable wood products. newenergyworks.com.

PATTERSON & SMITH CONSTRUCTION, INC.

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. pattersonandsmith.com. (802) 253-3757.

RED HOUSE BUILDING

Full-service, employee-owned building company with an emphasis on timeless craftsmanship. Meeting the challenges of unique and demanding building projects, from contemporary mountain retreats to meticulously restored historic buildings and high-efficiency homes. (802) 655-0043. redhousebuilding.com.

SISLER BUILDERS INC.

Custom home building, remodeling, woodworking, home energy audits and retrofits, quality craftsmanship, resource efficient construction, modest additions to multi-million-dollar estates. 40 years in Stowe. References available. sislerbuilders.com. (802) 253-5672.

VERMONT FRAMES

Vermont Frames has been handcrafting traditional timber frame homes since 1976. We design, cut, and install our frames across the United States, and are proud to be a veteranowned company. vermontframes.com, (802) 453-3727.

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.

CLOSE TO HOME

Celebrating 25 years as Vermont’s only independently owned and operated luxury plumbing and architectural hardware showroom. From style selection to technical knowhow, our team offers guidance tailored to your wants and needs. closetohomevt.com. 257 Pine St., Burlington. (802) 861-3200.

LOEWEN WINDOW CENTER OF VT & NH

Beautifully crafted Douglas fir windows and doors for the discerning homeowner. Doubleand 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. Nine locations serving Vermont and western Massachusetts, including Stowe and Morrisville. rkmiles.com.

CANNABIS DISPENSARY

CRAFT CANNABIS COMPANY

Locally curated cannabis products, tested by us, for you. Deli-style bulk flower, high-end edibles, and great prices. Vinyl records, guitar accessories, glass, dab rigs, infused beverages and more. 46 Hutchins St., Morrisville. 21 and over only.

HIGHER ELEVATION LLC

Enjoy a private one-on-one experience with one of our budtenders. Friendly and knowledgeable staff will guide you through our very large selection of recreational Vermont cannabis products. Check out our up-to-date menu at higherelevationvt.com.

CAREER COACHING

THE TARGETED RESUME

Helping job seekers land their dream jobs in Vermont, New England, and beyond. Proven career coaching and job search, advising personalized to help you get the job you want. thetargetedresume.com.

CERAMICS

LUKE IANNUZZI POTTERY

A full-service studio and gallery featuring decorative, functional, and custom temporary ceramics in a beautiful mountain setting. Vacation pottery classes will make memories that will last a lifetime. Warren. (802) 839-9650. lukeiannuzzipottery.com.

STEPHANIE GRACE CERAMICS

Modern, handmade, one-of-a-kind porcelain vases, bowls and tableware to elevate your everyday living. Custom wedding registries available. Shop hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. stephaniegraceceramics.com.

CHURCHES & SYNAGOGUES

BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC CHURCH

Mass schedule: Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Sunday, 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. See bulletin for daily masses. Confession Saturday 3:30-4 p.m. Father John Schnobrich, Pastor. 728 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-7536.

JEWISH COMMUNITY OF GREATER STOWE

For information regarding services, holiday gatherings, classes, and workshops: JCOGS, Stowe, Vt. 05672. 1189 Cape Cod Road, Stowe. (802) 253-1800 or jcogs.org.

ST. JOHN’S IN THE MOUNTAINS EPISCOPAL

At the crossroads of Mountain and Luce Hill roads in Stowe. Holy Eucharist Sundays at 10 a.m., in person and online. St. John’s is wheelchair friendly, visitors and children welcome. Rev. Rick Swanson. stjohnsinthemountains.org. (802) 253-7578.

STOWE COMMUNITY CHURCH

The iconic church on Stowe’s Main Street is multi-denominational, inclusive, and welcoming. Services are held every Sunday at 9:30 a.m., in person and livestreamed, and the building is home to many public and private events, including weddings. Please join us. stowecommunitychurch.org or (802) 253-7257.

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP

Sunday services at 4:30 p.m., St. John’s in the Mountains Episcopal Church, Mountain and Luce Hill roads, Stowe. Weekly September to June. All welcome. For information: UU Fellowship of Stowe on Facebook.

S TOWE MAGAZINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY

WATERBURY CENTER COMMUNITY

Route 100 next to the Cider Mill. We warmly welcome visitors. (802) 244-6286. Sunday worship 10:30 a.m. Handicapped accessible. Church is a National Historic Place. Pastor Shirley Nolan.

CLOSETS & STORAGE SOLUTIONS

INSPIRED CLOSETS

Vermont’s largest and most experienced custom closet company. Our professional staff will help you design and install closet and storage solutions to transform any space in your home. Visit our showroom in Williston. (802) 658-0000, inspiredclosetsvt.com.

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

ARCHERY CLOSE

Clothing boutique with a curated collection of emerging designers, trend-setting styles, and cult brands. Men’s and women’s clothing. 1650 Mountain Road, Stowe. archeryclose.com, @archeryclose @archeryclosemens. (802) 242-0448.

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.

COCO GOOSE BY GREEN ENVY

On-trend luxe clothing, shoes, handbags, accessories. Veronica Beard, Ulla Johnson, Rag & Bone, Mother, Nili Lotan, Herno. Over 250 brands. Premium denim. 1800 Mountain Road and 2023 Mountain Road, Stowe. In Burlington and Manchester, and Providence, R.I. (802) 253-2661, shopcocogoose.com.

FORGET-ME-NOT-SHOP

Treasure hunt through our huge selection of famous label off price clothing for men, women, and teens at 60 to 80 percent off. Route 15 Johnson, just 1.5 miles west of Johnson Village. Open 10-7.

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 24 years. Specializing in personalized service and top designer labels. Come see what’s in. 10-5 daily. Sunday hours may vary. 344 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-4595. incompanyclothing.com, @incompanyclothing.

JOHNSON WOOLEN MILLS

Home of famous Johnson Woolen outerwear since 1842, featuring woolen blankets, and men’s, women’s and children’s wool and flannel clothing. Route 15, Johnson. (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.

PRODUCT • THINK • TANK

Local clothing brand mindfully creating products with aesthetic, social, and environmental goals. Natural fibers and family-owned suppliers combine to create timeless classics that can be worn again and again. Mad River Valley, Vermont. producttt.com.

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 Monday to Saturday. (802) 613-3902. roamvt.com.

SPORTIVE

Luxury skiwear and apparel since 1979. Largest Bogner selection in northern New England. Toni Sailer, Goldbergh, Kjus, Parajumpers, Kinross cashmere, Dale of Norway, Hestra gloves, Eisbar hats, Majestic, Amman. (802) 496-3272. Route 100, Waitsfield. sportiveinc.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. (802) 253-6077, wellheeledstowe.com.

YELLOW

TURTLE

Clothing, toys, and gifts for babies, kids, and teens. 1799 Mountain Road in Stowe. yellow-turtle.com, @yellowturtlevt.

COFFEE HOUSES

BLACK CAP COFFEE & BAKERY OF VERMONT

Locally roasted coffee. Lattes, smoothies, teas, chais. Fresh pastries, breakfast, lunch. Glutenfree/vegan options. A fun place to work, meet, or hang out. Open daily. Stowe Village, Morrisville downtown, Waterbury Train Station. blackcapvermont.com.

GIRAKOFI

Coffee your way. Locally roasted espresso and drip coffees. Customizable breakfast sandwiches and freshly baked pastries. Lunch options. Heated indoor and patio seating. Wi-Fi, knowledgeable staff, and Vermont gifts. 1880 Mountain Road, Stowe. girakofi.com, (802) 585-7710.

VERMONT ARTISAN COFFEE & TEA CO.

Stop by our state-of-the-art coffee roastery and coffee bar. Delicious coffee espresso drinks, whole bean coffees, and premium teas. 11 Cabin Lane, Waterbury Center, vtartisan.com.

DELICATESSEN

EDELWEISS MOUNTAIN DELI

Farm-to-table prepared foods. Delicious deli sandwiches, salads, baked goods. Craft beer, wine, and local spirits. Monday-Friday, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. 2251 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-4034. We are all about the local.

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.

SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH DISTILLERY

Come taste our award-winning spirits. Tasting rooms in Jeffersonville, Stowe, Waterbury Center, Burlington, Manchester, and Williston for samples, sales, and more. Daily. (802) 309-3077, smugglersnotchdistillery.com.

E-BIKE TOURS

LAMOILLE VALLEY BIKE TOURS

E-bike, regular, and gravel bike rentals for riding the 93-mile Lamoille Valley Rail Trail. Unique half-, full-, and multi-day bike tours. New and used e-bike sales and a new rail trail shuttle. In Johnson, 20 minutes from Stowe and Smugglers’. lamoillevalleybiketours.com.

EDUCATION & COLLEGES

ST. MICHAEL’S COLLEGE

Ranked a “Best Northeastern College” by the Princeton Review, St. Mike’s is home to 40plus majors, 23 varsity teams, an adventure sports center, an Institute for the Environment, and more. smcvt.edu.

ENGINEERS

MUMLEY ENGINEERING INC.

Civil engineering services for residential and commercial land development, including subdivisions, site plans, wastewater and water systems, and stormwater management. Permitting for local zoning, state, and Act 250. Contact tyler@mumleyinc.com, (802) 881-6314.

EXCAVATING

DALE E. PERCY, INC.

Excavating contractors, commercial and residential. Earth-moving equipment. Site work, trucking, stone, top soil, sand, gravel, soil, sewer, water, drainage systems, and supplies. Weeks Hill Road. (802) 253-8503.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

We’re a collective of over 1,000 individuals, families, and businesses dedicated to making a meaningful impact in the place we call home. Our funds and programs provide over $60 million a year in grants in Vermont and beyond. vermontcf.org.

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.

FLOORING

FLOORING AMERICA

Customize your home with flooring that compliments your space while honoring your style. Choose from our leading collection of hardwood, carpet, tile, laminate, vinyl, and rug selections. Williston, 802-448-4771, flooringamerica-vt.com.

FURNITURE

BURLINGTON FURNITURE

From modern and contemporary to classic and Vermont traditional, we are passionate about bringing the perfect style to your home. Sofas, dining, lighting, and rugs—our design team can help you pull your space together. Showroom: 747 Pine St., Burlington. burlingtonfurniture.us, (802) 862-5056.

STOWE LIVING

Welcome to your new favorite store. Unique home décor and take-home furniture for the entire home. Gourmet kitchenware, gadgets, specialty foods, bedding, bath, clothing, jewelry, gifts. Ship and deliver. 1813 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-8050. Shop online at stoweliving.net.

GIFT & SPECIALTY SHOPS

BLACK CAP COFFEE & BAKERY OF VERMONT

Fun selection of gifts and cards within Stowe’s favorite coffee shop and bakery. A fun place to work, meet, or hang out. Open daily. Stowe Village, Morrisville downtown, Waterbury Train Station. blackcapvermont.com.

THE BODY LOUNGE

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

A country store focused on all things maple. Shop a thoughtfully curated selection of celebrated local products including specialty cheeses, honey, jams, Vermont-made products, crafts, and gifts. (800) 899-6349, marvinscountrystore.com.

THE COLLECTION

It’s the Mad River Valley’s premiere shopping experience. Overflowing with intriguing gifts, creative toys and games, and fun decor to enlighten and delight you. Mad River Green Shops, Waitsfield. (802) 496-6055. vtcollection.com. @vt.collection. The Collection in Vermont on Facebook.

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 St. (802) 253-7653, countrystorevt.com.

GREEN MOUNTAIN DRY GOODS

A well-curated collection of Vermont-designed, Vermont-made, Vermont-inspired gifts for all ages. We’re the gateway to your Waterbury-Stowe Road shopping experience. 132 Waterbury-Stowe Road, Waterbury.

HIGHER ELEVATION LLC

Check out our extensive collection of hand-blown glass smoking accessories, as well as a great selection of CBD. Lots of Vermont products made for your skin, pets, and more. Our knowledgeable staff will assist you in finding just what you are looking for. Stop by today. higherelevationvt.com.

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.

NUSANTARA

Travel the world through our world marketplace. Explore a curated collection of handcrafted and artisanal goods from the esoteric to beautiful: jewelry, furniture, clothing, architectural salvage, accessories, deities and ephemera, books, and oddities. @nusantara_essex. 21 Essex Way, Essex.

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.

TANGERINE & OLIVE

Independent makers from across North America. Clothing, jewelry, letterpress cards and stationery, maple syrup, and inspired gifts for the outdoor lover. Downer Farm Shops, 232 Mountain Road. tangerineandolive.com, (802) 760-6692.

HEALTH CARE

COPLEY HOSPITAL

Nonprofit community hospital serving the area for 92 years. Services include 24-7 emergency, Mansfield Orthopaedics, general surgery, cardiology, neurology, diagnostic imaging, oncology, rehabilitation, Women’s Center., more. (802) 888-8888 or copleyvt.org to schedule an appointment.

HEALTH & FITNESS CLUBS

ELEVATE MOVEMENT COLLECTIVE

Multi-sport training facility promoting health and wellness through physical education and community engagement. Camps, classes, and open gyms for kids and adults to train parkour, trampoline, climbing, ninja warrior, and much more. Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 585-0579, elevatemovementcollective.com.

THE SWIMMING HOLE

Nonprofit community pool and fitness center. Olympic-sized lap pool, toddler pool, waterslide. Learn-to-swim classes, masters swimming, aqua-aerobics, personal training, group fitness classes, yoga. Memberships, day guests, and drop-ins. (802) 253-9229, theswimmingholestowe.com.

HEATING/AC & PLUMBING

FRED’S ENERGY

Experienced, licensed professionals. Quality heating/AC installation and service; heating oil, propane; generators; water heaters/softeners; air purifiers; central vac; sewer pumps; bathroom remodels; 24/7 emergency service. Morrisville, (802) 888-3827, callfreds.com.

INNS & RESORTS

AWOL STOWE

AWOL Stowe is your private alpine retreat featuring an outdoor sauna, cedar hot tubs, cold plunge pools, communal fire pits, an on-site librar y, and gear storage. Mountain Road, Stowe.

BLUEBIRD CADY HILL LODGE

Bluebird Cady Hill Lodge is your launch pad for Vermont adventure with indoor and outdoor pools, a playground, shuffleboard court, game room, and cozy bar and lounge. Mountain Road, Stowe.

EDSON HILL MANOR

Enjoy a tranquil escape at Edson Hill: 38 private acres with 22 individually inspired guest rooms. Experience our commitment to genuine service, casual luxury, and top-notch hospitality. edsonhill.com, 802-253-7371.

S TOWE MAGAZINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY

FIELD GUIDE LODGE

Field Guide Lodge is a stylish basecamp, centrally located in the heart of downtown Stowe, featuring pet-friendly rooms, an outdoor pool, hot tub, and onsite bar and tasting room.

GREEN MOUNTAIN INN

In the heart of Stowe village, over 104 accommodations featuring classic charm and modern comfort. Year-round outdoor pool and Jacuzzi, health club, sauna, firepits, Stowe Village Massage. Two restaurants, Whip Bar and Grill and 18 Main. (800) 253-7302. greenmountaininn.com.

INNSBRUCK INN AT STOWE

Stay close to adventure with complimentary breakfast, pickleball, pool, and sauna, just two miles from the mountain. The scenic Stowe Recreation Path begins right outside your door. (802) 308-4326, innsbruckinn.com.

TÄLTA LODGE, A BLUEBIRD BY LARK

Tälta Lodge is designed with the adventurer in mind. Featuring rooms, suites, and cabins, gear storage, a pump track, indoor pool, hot tub, sauna, and onsite bar and restaurant. Mountain Road, Stowe.

TOPNOTCH RESORT

Stowe’s only luxury boutique resort wows with contemporary rooms, suites, one-to-three-bedroom resort homes, an airy bar and restaurant, world-class spa and tennis center, and indoor/outdoor pools. topnotchresort.com.

INSURANCE

STOWE INSURANCE AGENCY, INC.

Stowe’s premier multi-line insurance agency since 1955. Our pricing and service are second to none. Glenn Mink, Robert Mink, Renee Davis, and Richard West. (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. Monday to Saturday, 10-5, Sunday, 12-5. 132 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 760-6499, brennabinteriors.com.

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.

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, cathy@lccvt.com, lccvt.com.

STOWE OUTPOST INTERIOR DESIGN

Boston-based interior designer Marc J. Langlois, captivated by Stowe, established his studio to design exceptional interiors, providing full-service solutions spanning from classic to contemporary styles. 4285 Mountain Road. (617) 959-1908, marcjlangloisinteriors.com, Instagram: @stoweoutpost, @marcjlanglois.

STUDIO BORGES

Full-service, New England-based interior design studio specializing in artful, adventurous, and creative homes. (617) 564-5673, borgesid.com @studioborgesid.

JEWELRY

PERRYWINKLE’S FINE JEWELRY

Perrywinkle’s proudly presents an evolution in fine, sustainable handcraft. The principles of fine art applied to fine jewelry. Discover the new Sculpture Garden Collection. Available now. 100 percent in North America. (802) 865-2624. perrywinkles.com.

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 @ferro_jewelers_stowe.

VERMONT BRACELET BY KIMET HAND

The original Vermont Bracelet since 1994. Kimet Hand’s design of Vermont’s VT reflects the unique character, beauty, and quality of Vermont. Available in Sterling silver and 14-carat gold. (802) 503-6333, vermontbracelet.com.

VON BARGEN’S JEWELRY

A second-generation family business with five locations in Vermont and New Hampshire, including a jewelry making studio. Specializing in ideal cut diamonds, fine handmade artisan jewelry, and custom jewelry creation. 802-882-8750. vonbargens.com.

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

KNAUF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

We transform landscapes into beautiful outdoor living spaces that ignite the senses and seamlessly connect inside and outside with balance and harmony. Member ASLA. (802) 522-0676. cynthiaknauf.com.

LANDSHAPES

Serving Vermont’s residential and commercial landscapes with design, installations, and property maintenance. Projects include unlimited varieties of stonework, gardens, water features, and installation of San Juan pools and spas. (802) 434-3500. landshapes.net.

SITEFORM STUDIO

Landscape architect who combines an understanding of people, place, and the environment to craft resilient, site-specific landscapes for projects throughout New England. Member ASLA. (617) 458-9915, siteformstudio.com.

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. Vermont, (802) 864-0010. Hudson Valley, New York, (518) 567-1791. wagnerhodgson.com.

LAWYERS

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.

DARBY KOLTER & ROBERTS, LLP

General civil practice: real estate (commercial and residential), business formation, family law, estate planning/probate administration, personal injury, worker’s compensation, and mediation services. Waterbury, main office: 89 S. Main St., (802) 244-7352. Stowe office, by appointment only: 166 S. Main St., (802) 253-7165.

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.

OLSON & SEABOLT, PLC

General law practice: commercial and residential real estate, business representation (formation, maintenance, and asset purchases/sales), estate planning and LGBTQ matters. 188 S. Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-7810, olsonplc.net.

MARKETS & GROCERIES

THE BUTCHERY

Butcher shop, fishmonger, fromagerie, sourcing prime beef, all-natural pork, free-range chicken and game. Artisan sandwiches, soups, and prepared foods. Local beer and wine. 504 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-1444. butcheryvt.com.

COMMODITIES NATURAL MARKET

One-stop grocery shopping featuring organic and local produce, groceries, artisanal cheeses, fresh bread, local meats, phenomenal beer and wines, gluten-free galore, wellness products, bulk section, more. Mountain Road, Stowe. Daily. (802) 253-4464. commoditiesnaturalmarket.com.

MASSAGE & BODYWORK

KATE GRAVES, CMT, BHS

Relaxation, deep tissue, moist heat, facilitated stretching, energy work (Brennan Healing Science graduate 2000), Stowe Sound Immersion. Practicing bodywork and teaching yoga over 40 years. Stowe Yoga Center, 515 Moscow Road. (802) 253-8427, stoweyoga.com, kgravesmt@gmail.com.

STOWE VILLAGE MASSAGE

Our registered professional massage therapists offer personalized treatments and massage services for a healthier, happier you. TripAdvisor rated No. 1 spa in Stowe. Book online or call (802) 253-6555. stowevillagemassage.com.

PERSONAL CHEF

SWEET & SAVORY PERSONAL CHEF SERVICES

Sweet & Savory’s goal is to prepare and deliver high-quality, healthy, and delicious meals to locals and visiting out-of-towners. Personal chef services, weekly meals, catering for all occasions. Easier than takeout. (802) 730-2792, sweetsavorystowe.com.

PICTURE FRAMING

AXEL’S FRAME SHOP & GALLERY

Providing quality picture framing and art sourcing to the central Vermont community for nearly 40 years. Affordable framing is just as important to us as providing incredible customer and design service. 5 Stowe St., Waterbury. (802) 244-7801. axelsgallery.com.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

RURAL RESOURCES

Comprehensive property and household management services. Full-service professional management team specializing in the details of preserving your investment. Concierge/ housekeeping, vendor management, design/remodels, much more. (802) 253-9496, admin@ruralresourcesvt.com.

REAL ESTATE & RENTALS

ALPINE ARRIVALS

Elevate your Stowe experience with curated Vermont provisions delivered to your vacation retreat. Savor local flavors from arrival to departure. Gourmet meal kits, artisanal treats, and essential amenities. Order online. alpinearrivals.com.

COLDWELL BANKER CARLSON REAL ESTATE

Real estate services representing Stowe and surrounding communities. Our talented team leads the industry in technology, innovation, and expertise. Located at 91 Main St., Stowe (802) 253-7358, and 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

Our Stowe office showcases the charm and allure of the town, known for its beauty and community. With diverse listings and expert agents, we unlock the door to your best life. fourseasonssir.com (802) 253-7267.

LANDVEST

LandVest, an exclusive Christie’s International Real Estate affiliate, is a leading provider of real estate services to clients in Vermont and beyond. Discover the LandVest difference: (802) 318-6034, mkauffman@landvest.com.

LOVE2LIVEINVT TEAM

Award-winning Realtors passionate about VT. Helping buyers open doors to the Vermont lifestyle and guiding sellers every step of the way. Let us help you navigate the market with ease. love2liveinvt.com. Brooke, (802) 696-2251, and Karen, (802) 793-2454.

STOWE COUNTRY HOMES

Locally owned and operated, we offer a curated collection of short-term and seasonal rental homes, unique for their individual character. Each home is privately owned, immaculately maintained, and well-stocked. stowecountryhomes.com, info@stowecountryhomes.com, (802) 253-8132.

STOWE RESORT HOMES

Luxury vacation homes for the savvy traveler. Book some of Stowe’s best resort homes— online. Well-appointed, tastefully decorated homes at Topnotch, Spruce Peak, and throughout Stowe. (802) 760-1157. stoweresorthomes.com.

RESTAURANTS & NIGHTCLUBS

ALADDIN

A taste of the Middle East. Sourcing traditional and original recipes to create the most diverse and authentic vegetarian dishes. The cuisine Stowe has been longing for. Catering available. 1880 Mountain Road. aladdinstowevt.com. (802) 760-6383.

ARANDAS MEXICAN CUISINE

Authentic Mexican food now in Stowe. Try our burritos, tacos, quesadillas, tortas, and more. We have takeout and delivery through DoorDash. 745 S. Main St. (802) 253-7249. arandasmexicancuisine.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 Rd., Stowe. benchvt.com or (802) 253-5100.

BLACK CAP COFFEE & BAKERY OF VERMONT

Serving breakfast and lunch. Breakfast burritos and sandwiches, quiches, lunch sandwiches. Gluten-free/vegan options. A fun place to work, meet, or hang out. Open daily. Stowe and Morrisville downtowns, Waterbury Train Station. blackcapvermont.com.

BLACK DIAMOND BARBEQUE

Located just five miles from Stowe. Craft beer and cocktails, indoor and outdoor dining. Open Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays, pickup/drop-off catering, full-service custom food and bar catering. blackdiamondbarbeque.com, (802) 888-2275.

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.

CAFÉ ON MAIN & CAFÉ ON MOSCOW

Two locations in Stowe. Savor our authentic Vermont breakfast and lunch menus along with baked goods and catering services. Check out Facebook page for daily specials. Café on Main: 802-253-0077. Café on Moscow: 802-585-1749.

THE DINING ROOM & TAVERN AT EDSON HILL

Edson Hill offers casual fine dining in an elegant setting and seasonal menus with locally sourced ingredients. Open Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations required. edsonhill.com/menu, 802-253-7371.

FARMHOUSE TAP & GRILL

Dine downtown Burlington at Farmhouse Tap & Grill, right off Church Street. Award-winning gastropub serving farm-to-table burgers and craft beers from Vermont and beyond. Reservations available. farmhousetg.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. Patio dining in summer and fall. 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.

MICHAEL’S ON THE HILL

Enjoy the ultimate Vermont dining experience in a relaxed, warm atmosphere with spectacular views from our 1820 farmhouse. Events. Wine spectator award. Dinner from 5-9 p.m. Closed Tuesdays. 5 minutes from Stowe. Route 100, Waterbury Center. (802) 244-7476. michaelsonthehill.com.

PIECASSO PIZZERIA & LOUNGE

New York-style pizza, eclectic music, great vibes. A local favorite. Creative entrees, craft beer, gluten-free menu, online ordering, takeout, delivery. (802) 253-4411, 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.

S TOWE MAGAZINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY

RIMROCKS MOUNTAIN TAVERN

Relax in our comfortable down-home sports bar. A Stowe staple for 20 years. Enjoy classic pub fare or seafood specials. The kids enjoy the arcade, you chill. (802) 253-9593, rimrocksmountaintavern.com.

THE ROOST AT TOPNOTCH RESORT

The Roost has long been one of Stowe’s best tables—whether inside or fireside—where the local food and drinks are as inspiring as our views of Mt. Mansfield. topnotchresort.com.

ROUND HEARTH CAFÉ & MARKETPLACE

Breakfast and lunch daily, with shopping while you wait. Check seasonal hours at roundhearth.com. Located at 39 Edson Hill Road, Stowe. (802) 253-7223.

SALUTE STOWE

Chef owned and operated. Scratch kitchen, authentic Italian cuisine. Homemade pasta, wood-fired Napoletana pizza, prime steak, fresh seafood, daily baked bread and specials, gluten free vegetarian options. Catering available. 18 Edson Hill Road, Stowe. (802) 253-5677, salutevt.com.

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE

Trapp Family Lodge offers diverse dining options: von Trapp Brewing Bierhall (Austrian cuisine, local beers), The Lounge and Dining Room (Vermont and Austrian-style meals), and Kaffeehaus Bakery and deli. trappfamily.com.

WHIP BAR & GRILL AND 18 MAIN

The Whip serves both lunch and dinner, offering hand-cut steaks, fresh seafood, soups, salads, and homemade desserts. 18 Main serves a delicious country inn breakfast daily. Dinner reservations recommended, (802) 253-6554. At the Green Mountain Inn, Stowe Village.

RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

WAKE ROBIN

A vibrant non-profit life-care community located on 136 acres just south of Burlington in Shelburne. Residents enjoy independent living in cottages and apartments and comprehensive, on-site health care for life. wakerobin.com, (802) 264-5100.

THE WOODLANDS AT STOWE

Come home to Stowe, where retirement living is easy. Spacious condos, fine dining, activities. Available for adults 55+. The Woodlands at Stowe, 125 Thomas Lane, Stowe. (802) 253-7200. woodlandsstowe.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.

SKI RESORTS

SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH RESORT, VERMONT

America’s Family Resort. Mountainside lodging. Award-winning kids’ programs. Three interconnected mountains, 2,610’ vertical. FunZone 2.0 entertainment complex. Summer: 8 pools, 4 waterslides, disc golf, mountain bike park. (888) 256-7623, smuggs.com/sg.

SKI & SNOWBOARD—Rentals, Demos, Retail

CLEARWATER SPORTS

Four-season outfitter. Snowshoes, tele, backcountry ski gear. Clothing and footwear. Guided snowshoe tours. Rentals and instruction. Canoes, kayaks and SUPs. Guided river trips. Camping and hiking gear. (802) 496-2708, clearwatersports.com.

MOUNTAINOPS

Mountainops is a full-service ski shop specializing in sales and rental of Alpine, AT, telemark, backcountry and Nordic gear. Best clothing in town tucked in a cozy 1895 barn. 4081 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-4531. mountainopsvt.com.

PINNACLE SKI & SPORTS

Voted No. 1 in customer service. All new rental and demo skis and snowboards. All major brands. Clothing from Marmot, Obermeyer, Fly Low, Helly Hansen, others. Accessories, tuning services. Open nightly till 8 p.m., 10 p.m. Friday, Saturday, holidays. (802) 253-7222. pinnacleskisports.com.

SPA

TOPNOTCH RESORT

Bring mind, body, and soul into better balance. Enjoy fitness classes, a selection of over 100 treatments, indoor/outdoor pools with a cascading waterfall, and men’s and women’s lounges. Memberships. Mountain Road, Stowe. topnotchresort.com.

SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS

COLD HOLLOW CIDER MILL

Experience Vermont. Independent, authentic, and charming. Uncover your inner Vermonter with family or friends. Visit our working cider mill, Route 100, Waterbury Center. (802) 244-8771, coldhollow.com.

LITTLE RIVER HOTGLASS STUDIO

Walk into the studio and experience the art of glassblowing up close. Adjacent gallery features work of resident artist Michael Trimpol. Thursday to Monday 10-5. (802) 253-0889. littleriverhotglass.com.

MONTPELIER ALIVE

American’s No. 1 small town for shopping is just a half an hour’s drive from Stowe village. Visit downtown Montpelier and experience the joy of shopping. Exit 8 off Interstate 89.

SPRUCE PEAK ARTS

The Stowe region’s premier, year-round presenter of professional performing arts including music, theater, dance, film, education, and family programs on stage, on screen, and across the community. (802) 760-4634. Visit sprucepeakarts.org for more information.

SPRUCE PEAK AT STOWE

From ice skating in the heart of the Spruce Peak village and endless outdoor adventures to cozy fireside s’mores, winter at Spruce Peak includes festive holiday events and the best après scene around. Enjoy the magic of the mountains all winter long. sprucepeak.com.

SPRUCE PEAK AT STOWE LIGHTS FESTIVAL

Celebrate winter and the festive holiday season with a day filled with beautiful ice dancing performances and family friendly activities, all capped with a tree and village lighting celebration and fireworks display. Saturday, Dec. 21. sprucepeak.com.

STOWE HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM

Preserving Stowe’s rich history. Museum at the West Branch and Bloody Brook Schoolhouses, next to Stowe Library. Wednesday to Saturday, 1-4 p.m., and when the flags are out. (802) 253-1518. stowehistoricalsociety.org, info@stowehistoricalsociety.org.

SPECIALTY FOODS

LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES—STOWE

Handcrafted chocolates made in Vermont using local ingredients and fair-trade certified chocolate, including truffles, caramels, clusters and more. Plus, hot chocolate, espresso drinks and award-winning house-made ice cream. lakechamplainchocolates.com, (802) 253-9591.

LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES—WATERBURY

Premium, handcrafted chocolates made in Vermont using local ingredients and fair-trade certified chocolate. Plus, a hot chocolate and espresso café, award-winning house-made ice cream and plenty of 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 at 89 Main St., in beautiful downtown Montpelier.

OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE & GEARX.COM

Vermont’s local, neighborhood gear shop since 1995—now in three locations. Excellent prices, service, and selection of gear for skiing, riding, biking, and climbing. Downtown Burlington. New, second location in Essex. Bike shop in Waitsfield. (888)-547-4327.

UMIAK OUTDOOR OUTFITTERS

Let the adventure begin with Umiak Outdoor Outfitters. We are a full-service outfitter offering sales, tours, and rentals for activities like snowshoeing, sledding, backcountry, and Nordic skiing. 849 S. Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-2317, umiak.com, info@umiak.com.

TENNIS

TOPNOTCH RESORT

Vermont’s premier tennis resort featuring over 30 tennis and pickleball programs perfect for aficionados, beginners, the young and young at heart. Six seasonal outdoor and four indoor hard courts, as well as a USPTA-certified international staff. Mountain Road, Stowe. topnotchresort.com.

TOYS & GAMES

ONCE UPON A TIME TOYS

Make every day a play day with Airfort®. Test your agility on a ninjaline. Traditional toys like Lego® to eclectic ones like loveable monsters. Vermont’s most exciting store for 47 years. Birthday? Get a free balloon. (802) 253-8319, fun@stowetoys.com, stowetoys.com.

TRANSPORTATION & TAXIS

GREEN MOUNTAIN TRANSIT MOUNTAIN ROAD SHUTTLE

Free seasonal bus service in Stowe—from condos, shops, and restaurants to Stowe Mountain Resort. The best way to get to the slopes. For schedules and more, ridegmt.com or (802) 223-7287.

TRAVEL & TOURS

SAVOR VERMONT

Savor Vermont has been bringing guests to taste beer, hard cider, wine, spirits, and foods. We’ll take you from one tasting to another or sightseeing to the area’s waterfalls, covered bridges, and more. (802) 917-6656, savorvermonttours.com.

WEDDING FACILITIES

EDSON HILL

Edson Hill offers an exclusive, quintessential Vermont estate on 38 acres with picturesque views, 22 luxurious guestrooms, and a talented culinary team to help create the wedding of your dreams. edsonhill.com, (802) 253-7371.

STOWE COMMUNITY CHURCH

Stowe Community Church is non-denominational, open, and affirming. All are welcome. 9:30 a.m. Sunday services are in-person and livestreamed. The iconic building hosts public and private events, including weddings, vow renewals, and memorial services. Visit us at stowecommunitychurch.org.

WINE, BEER, & SPIRITS

FINE WINE CELLARS

Fantastic wine selections from around the world. Great prices. From the rare to the exceptional value. Under $10-$100-plus. 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 CIDER

Keeping cider dry since 2013. We specialize in creative, innovative, dry hard ciders, handcrafted in Stowe. Home to Shakedown Street BBQ & Grill with house-smoked meats and full bar. stowecider.com, (802) 253-2065.

YOGA

PEAK YOGA

Peak Yoga classes help to build strength in body and mind. We provide grounding and uplifting classes for all levels in our beautiful and bright Stowe studio. Located in The Swimming Hole, 75 Weeks Hill Road, Stowe. Book a class at peakyogastowe.com. Follow us on Instagram: @peakyogastowe.

HOUSES OF WORSHIP

See more, page 233

Cambridge Christian Fellowship, Main St., (802) 335-2084

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Johnson, 635-2009

Church of the Nazarene, Johnson, 635-2988

Elmore United Methodist Church, Elmore, 888-7890

First Congregational Church of Christ, Morrisville, 888-2225

Grace Bible Church, Stowe, 585-3343

Grace Brethren, Morrisville, 888-3339

Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jeffersonville, 644-5322; Morrisville, 888-5610

Living Hope Wesleyan Church, Waterbury Center, 244-6345

Morrisville Baptist Church, 888-5276

Most Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, Morrisville, 888-3318

New Beginning Miracle Fellowship, Morrisville, 888-4730

United Community Church of Morrisville, 888-2225

Second Congregational Church, Hyde Park, 888-3636; Jeffersonville, 644-5533

Seventh-Day Adventist, Morrisville, 888-7884

St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Cambridge, 644-1909

Trinity Assembly of God, Hyde Park, 888-7326

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Stowe, (617) 835-5425

United Church of Johnson, 635-7249

Waterbury Alliance Church, 244-6463

Wesley United Methodist Church, Waterbury, 244-6677

Wolcott Mennonite Church, 888-5774

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS