Stowe Guide & Magazine Winter/Spring 2020-21

WINTER / SPRING 2020-2021 FREE

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

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

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CONTENTS w i n t e r

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features

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On being a ski parent

by Biddle Duke

Learn how to help your kids find joy in the sport of competitive skiing, where victory is so painfully elusive, with Chip Knight, Barbara Ann Cochran, Dave Gavett, and the author—parents all.

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Flashback: Nathaniel Goodrich tames the Toll Road

by Kim Brown

Remembering the outdoor-loving Dartmouth College librarian who made the first descent of Mansfield on skis.

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School’s in session: Mt. Mansfield Ski Club & Academy

by Mark Aiken

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Two venerable Stowe institutions merge to create the Ski Capital of the East’s first ski academy offering a yearlong academic calendar.

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Queen bums

by Tommy Gardner

Marion Baraw and Kitty Coppock and half a century of Tuesday races, aka Stowe Ski Bum series.

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Marion Post Wolcott shoots Stowe

CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: COURTESY MARY SKELTON; GORDON MILLER; MARINA KNIGHT; MARION POST WOLCOTT

by Rob Kiener

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Depression-era photographer captures beauty of America— glorious landscapes, civic scenes, and evocative photographs of family life—during the harshest of times.

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Dining in the age of COVID

by Kate Carter

Panic. Stress and worry. Fear. COVID messes with everything, but restaurants were particularly hard hit. Here’s how five owners and managers weathered the storm and won round one.

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Memories on a mountain

by Mary Curtis Skelton

Remembering Summit House summers spent atop Mansfield.

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Less is more: Mountain modern

by Rob Kiener

Massachusetts couple embraces minimalist-style of living.

CONTENTS /

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PEACE PUPS: KATE CARTER; OTHERS: COURTESY

w i n t e r

Buddy Werner

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‘I’ve got a rash’

departments 8

Contributors

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A look ahead

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First person: David Sequist DVM

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Rural route

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Ski legend: Buddy Werner

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Ski Stowe: On the mountain

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Ski dispatch: Bob’s Rash

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On mountain: First-chair Davis

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Q&A: Peace Pups

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Artist spotlight: Jeanne Alix

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Found in Vermont: Shopping list

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Stowe people: Notes from the North

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Edibles: Skinny Pancake

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Spotlight: Architect Harry Hunt

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Real estate: What $1 million buys

ON OUR COVER

Our cover painting this winter is The Top of Nose Dive, oil, 24"x36", by Barton, N.Y., artist Kevin Fahey, the full canvas shown above.

Here’s how Fahey, who lived in Vermont for several decades, characterizes his work: “Originally trained in drawing, design, and commercial art, I have made oil painting the vehicle for my artistic ideas. I am inspired by the power and beauty of nature, usually expressed in landscapes and figurative work. My paintings evolve from site visits, oil sketches, photography, imagination, dreams, and experiences.”

GETTING AROUND

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GETTING OUTDOORS

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SHOPPING & GALLERIES

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RESTAURANTS & LODGING

112

REAL ESTATE & HOMES

152

BUSINESSES & SERVICES

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INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

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Ronnie Vuolo, who reviewed Fahey’s 2019 solo show, “Full Circle,” at the Tioga Arts Council, Owego, N.Y., said, “The most dramatic light in nature occurs in early morning and late afternoon when shadows are at their deepest. .... It is a time of peace, a time exquisitely portrayed by Kevin Fahey in many of his paintings.”

Peace Pups

See Fahey’s work at Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville, or Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery in Shelburne. kevinfahey.fineartstudioonline.com.

CONTRIBUTORS

GUIDE & MAGAZINE

Robert M. Miller

Gregory J. Popa

Judy Kearns, Wendy Ewing, Lou Kiernan, Bryan Meszkat, and Lisa Stearns

Gregory J. Popa

Kate Carter, Robert Kiener, and Tommy Gardner

Leslie Lafountain

Tonya West

Gordon Miller

Katerina Hrdlicka, Kristen Braley

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

Mark Aiken, Kate Carter, Evan Chismark, Caleigh Cross,

MARK AIKEN

KATE CARTER

Nancy Crowe, Willy Dietrich, Elinor Earle, Tommy Gardner,

IN THIS ISSUE: Mansfield ski academy, p.54

IN THIS ISSUE: Restaurants in COVID, p.92

Robert Kiener, Brian Lindner, Hannah Normandeau,

Behind the scenes: The two largest season-long pro-

Behind the scenes: Stowe restaurants are doing it

Andrew Martin, Peter Miller, Mike Mulhern, David Rocchio,

grams at Stowe are the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club & Academy and Stowebuster program. Having managed Busters for over a decade, I rode lifts and shared hill space with academy/club groups and coaches for years. So I thoroughly enjoyed donning my reporter’s hat to sit with Igor Vanovac and his team, in appropriately distanced lawn chairs, behind the academy’s clubhouse looking up at the ski trails.

It was also a wonderful experience to interview Mackenzie Arnot, a recent graduate, who was a Minibuster when she was 6 years old.

right, trying to both stay afloat during COVID and keeping everyone as safe as possible. Restaurant owners and their staff are going the distance in protecting everyone, while finding ways to stay open, even though they’re operating at a loss. If you want to support them, there are options: dine in person, order take-out, buy a gift certificate, or just send them a note of thanks with a check enclosed.

Julia Shipley, Nancy Wolfe Stead, Kevin Walsh

Currently: Mark, a freelance writer and Stowe ski instructor, lives in Richmond with his wife, an endurance runner. Together, they participate in the ultimate adventure sport—parenting. markaiken.com.

TOMMY GARDNER IN THIS ISSUE: Marion & Kitty, p.62 Behind the scenes: I remember the first time sitting

at a Stowe bar on a Tuesday afternoon when the dinged-up metal Smugglers Bowl trophy entered, hoisted aloft in the proud hands of whatever team had won that week’s Stowe ski bum race. The bartender filled it with a margarita that would intimidate Jimmy Buffett, and it was passed around until everyone in the room, skier or not, was able to take a solid swig. It didn’t seem to hurt anyone once upon a time, but it is tough to do that while masked up and 6 feet apart.

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

Winter/Spring & Summer/Fall Take-away: Your actions impact others. Always.

Wear a mask in public.

Currently: Kate is a freelance writer and photog-

rapher, and she photographs real estate for Vermont Realtors, builders, interior designers, and concierges. vtrealestatephotos.com.

Vermont Community Newspaper Group LLC P.O. Box 489, Stowe VT 05672 Website: stowetoday.com, vtcng.com Editorial inquiries: gpopa@myfairpoint.net Ad submission: ads@stowereporter.com

ROB KIENER IN THIS ISSUE: Marion Post Wolcott, p.70 Most memorable takeaway: The photographs of

Marion Post Wolcott, a former Farm Security Administration photographer who came to Stowe in 1940, have a timeless quality. As the International Center for Photography said, “Her body of work provides a view into another side of the 1930s in America, among that small percentage of people who could afford to escape the damaging effects of the Depression.”

Currently: Rob, a frequent contributor to the Stowe

Currently: News editor for five community newspa-

Guide & Magazine, has been an editor and staff writer with Reader’s Digest in Asia, Europe, and

pers, whose best news tips often come from a barstool.

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

Phone: (802) 253-2101 Fax: (802) 253-8332 Copyright: Articles and photographs are protected by copyright and cannot be used without permission.

Editorial submissions are welcome: Vermont Community Newspaper Group P.O. Box 489, Stowe VT 05672 Publication is not guaranteed. Enclose SASE for return.

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

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

GORDON MILLER

A LOOK AHEAD

A THOUSAND WORDS ... As they say. 2020 brought us a lot, much of not very good. One thing, however, will pay dividends long after this year of COVID is over—Stowe finally buried the power lines in the village, one of the most photographed and beautiful villages in New England. It’s an amazing transformation, one completed just weeks before publication as pole workers from Stowe Electric, using chainsaws and cherry pickers, removed the wooden posts that held myriad wires aloft for 115 years. “As exciting as it was in 1905 to see the poles go up, we’re just as excited today to see the poles come down,” said Ken Biedermann, general manager of the Green Mountain Inn, showing an old black-and-white photo of those first poles in a celebratory video released by local officials during a virtual ribbon cutting that marked the end of the two-year utility line replacement project. For many visitors, snapping a picture of the oft-photographed Stowe Community Church meant hopping quickly into the middle of the street, like a touristy version of “Frogger.” No more. Stowe Selectboard chair Lisa Hagerty called the utility line burial a “once in a lifetime chance,” with the scheduled paving of Route 100 through town and north to Morrisville. The paving also offered the opportunity to replace about 15,000 feet of sidewalk. Percy Construction headed up the project, a local company with a longtime local name. “We’ve heard so many times during the process that it was so helpful to have somebody local who understood,” said Hagerty. “It is a breathtakingly beautiful town and project, one I think that we should all be really proud of.”

— Tommy Gardner

Correction Not a hunter among us, it seems. In a mini profile of artist Linda Mirabile, who painted several of the images on Vermont’s conservation license plates, we incorrectly identified one of those images as an elk—what, what, what! There are no elk in Vermont. Clearly, it was a deer, er, buck.

Mirabile also painted the loon, but not the trout, which we incorrectly credited her for.

See her art at saatchiart.com/mirabile.

ELAINE | KIM | CALLEEN CORDERO | RAQUEL ALLEGRA | COCLICO | AQUATALIA | POMME D’OR | LAMBERTO LOSANI | CLARE V | CHAN LUU GRENN PILOT | FRANK & EILEEN | HALMANERA | BITTE KAI RAND | JULIE MILES | J BRAND | LA CANADIENNE | AMMAN OF SWITZERLAND

A LOCAL LIVESTREAM STUDIO - PRIVATES AND CLASSES DAILY

COURTESY PHOTOS

FIRST PERSON

FAMILY MAN Clockwise, from top: David Sequist on a call to treat a Holstein suffering from peroneal paralysis, a condition typically seen in cows after calving. Family photo, from left, David, Lars Sequist (holding Logan, his brother Tom’s daughter), Jane Sequist (holding granddaugher Maisie Jane Schnee), John Schnee, Hannah Sequist (holding Georgia Bea Schnee, who shares her granddad’s middle name), and Sam Sequist and Tom Sequist (Sam holds their daughter, Mallory). The photo was taken at Tom’s house, Stowe, circa 2012. David and Jane at the Lake Mansfield Trout Club in Stowe two years ago. A family fishing trip to Wyoming with David, Lars, Hannah, and Tom, 1996. Next page: a William Jaspersohn photo of the Sequist clan from his book about David, “A Day in the Life of a Veterinarian.”

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WILLIAM JASPERSOHN

Stowe Resort Homes

DAVID SEQUIST DVM ‘A man who needed little to be happy’ I met with the Sequist family to pay my respects and have a wonderful conversation about David, the shining center of their loving family. David died Sept. 17.

The kids marvel at the extraordinary focus of their dad. “When he wanted to do something,” son Tom says, “he was in, all in.”

In his college years he was captain of the UVM football team and star New England player. Football was the sport he was built for, excelled in, and loved whole-heartedly.

But when he was offered a position on a professional team, he turned it down. He had known from childhood he wanted to work with animals. To be a vet.

So, he applied to Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.

When listening to the family talk, there is no distinction between work and family.

Sequist Animal Hospital and the Sequist family are linked.

Jane is mom, of course, but she was also for decades the nerve center of the family/clinic communication system in rural northern Vermont, where “communication” meant a wall phone in her kitchen and a squawky two-way radio in David’s truck.

She tracked and relayed his calls, monitored his schedule, anticipated his needs.

She was his night driver when called out in emergency, even when blizzards raged, so the doctor could catch a nap before opening the clinic in the morning. David could sleep anywhere—at the clinic when surgery was finished and he wanted to be accessible when the animal in his care came out of anesthesia, a dicey time; in his truck; on a hay bale during one of his daughter Hannah’s horse shows.

Hannah worked in the clinic for decades, loving it and learning so much.

“He was very empathetic, very kind, very steady and calming,” she says of her dad.

“He knew just what to do. He worked harder than anyone I have ever known. But he relished his work, his family, his community. That was why he spent so much time with his people, and was so generous with his knowledge and teaching.”

David’s practice ranged over all of northern Vermont. Often one of his boys was with him.

Lars recalls, “He loved being on the road. He knew every back road, every diner, and general store. Being invited into a farmhouse after taking care of an animal for supper or some pie was so special. He cared deeply about the dairy farmers and, as their business diminished, his generosity grew.” >>

ESSAY BY

/ Nancy Wolfe Stead

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FIRST PERSON He was an outdoorsman who loved the Vermont landscape but his interests and accomplishments were wide. He brought computerized systems into the business and installed sophisticated implements and a special table for equine surgery so operations no longer had to be performed out in a field. He took photos of diseases and wounds for educational talks, and tried the patience of family and friends in the years-long invention process of his finally-marketed ManePuller, a device created to address the problems that result from using a pulling comb: cut fingers, hurt wrists, and stressed-out horses.

“Best of all,” says Hannah, “he never missed one of our events. He was always there.”

Years ago a close friend—I no longer remember who—referred to David as “such a gentle giant. He is the person you go to when your dog has to be put down.”

That description is so perfect I have never forgotten it. Or the memory of his taking me and my adored yellow lab outside the clinic, settling us under a maple on a beautiful summer day, and sending Ben on his journey with such meaningful kindness. n

Nancy Wolfe Stead is a former columnist at The Stowe Reporter. She now lives at Wake Robin in Shelburne.

A shortened version of Sequist’s obituary from the Stowe Reporter ...

David Bea Sequist, DVM, of Stowe, was born April 19, 1941, and died Sept. 17, 2020, at the University of Vermont Medical Center.

A football and track star at East Hartford High School in Connecticut, he attended the University of Vermont where he played football for the Catamounts on a full athletic scholarship, and met his wife, Jane.

There, his accomplishments on the football field were impressive. He was named first-team All-East as a guard, captained the UVM football team, and was one of only two conference players named to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division North Team.

He was also named to the All-New England and All-State teams.

In 1963, he was presented with the Wasson Athletic Prize, “awarded to the male and female members of the senior class who have maintained the highest standard of academic scholarship and athletic attainment.”

In 1985, he was named to the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame and called “one of the strongest linemen to play for a Catamount football squad.” Incredibly athletic, fast and dynamic, he also competed for the Vermont track and field teams.

He went on to attend Cornell University and in 1967 received his doctorate in veterinary medicine.

Since childhood David knew he wanted to be a veterinarian. In 1977 he built Sequist Animal Hospital in Morrisville, where he had one of the first large-animal surgical facilities in the state.

Here he spent the bulk of his 51-year career before selling the practice to focus his last 13 years on large animal medicine and starting Sequist Large Animal Veterinary Service.

With his quick smile and kind soul he helped many animals and their owners. David was the epitome of a country vet, becoming the subject of a book written by William Jaspersohn called “A Day in the Life of a Veterinarian.” (Little Brown, 1978) He had a unique combination of strength, passion, curiosity, creativity, and empathy, which made him exceptional not only at his work, but also as a man.

He listened more than he talked and soaked up everything he read and heard.

He found success in the things that matter— love for his family, love for his work, and love for his community.

He was a man who needed little to be happy.

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RURAL ROUTE

‘ T H E M O U N TA I N D O G S ’ KRISTEN BRALEY

One of the dogs known to hikers on one of Stowe’s most popular mountain trails as the Pinnacle Pups has died.

Baylor, a 12-year-old golden retriever, and his brother Sampson have made the trip from their owners’ house nearly every day for most of the past decade, by themselves, bells on their collars a tell-tale sign to Pinnacle hikers that they’re about to have company. Now, Sampson hikes alone.

The owners, the Schafer family, live on land that borders Putnam State Forest, which encompasses thousands of acres of forest in Stowe, Elmore, and Worcester.

Massachusetts filmmaker Aynsley Floyd released a 15-minute documentary this year titled “The Mountain Dogs,” which chronicles the dogs’ story.

“They kind of just wandered through the woods,” Maria Schafer says in the documentary. “And they just found the trail, and they saw people, and they got excited.”

Floyd captures several people reciprocating those emotions, faces beaming with smiles as Sampson and Baylor come jingling along and sit patiently for pets and pictures.

Two women all but pulsate at the encounter, one of them exclaiming, “I’m overwhelmed with joy! What is this? Every day, they walk themselves up.”

Not everyone has been enthusiastic about encountering unleashed dogs in the wilderness without their human anywhere to be seen, especially those who bring their own dogs hiking or are just fearful of dogs.

Perry Schafer acknowledges as much in the documentary, but also said that the dogs, over the years, figured out how to open the doors in the house and just let themselves out and take their near-daily hike to the top of the Pinnacle.

“I hate that they run off, and I know some people see it as irresponsible dog ownership,” Schafer told the Burlington Free Press in 2016. “They are just outdoor dogs. If they had a twinge of viciousness, I would be more concerned.”

But, judging from the Pinnacle Pups’ celebrity on social media, they have their fans, and the Schafers have gotten many condolences on Baylor’s death.

Said one woman on Facebook, “Thank you for sharing your boys with the world. I had the pleasure of meeting them in October. Baylor sat down beside me like we were old friends and Sampson quickly nudged his way in for kisses.

They were the highlight of my trip. I can’t imagine the loss you are feeling.

Thinking of your family, and Sampson during this difficult time.”

—Tommy Gardner

A DOG’S LIFE Baylor and Sampson join two hikers on a winter trek up Stowe’s Pinnacle. The two labs made the journey nearly every day by themselves.

WATCH THE FLICK! Massachusetts filmmaker Aynsley Floyd released a 15-minute documentary about Stowe “Pinnacle Pups” Baylor and Sampson this year •••• “The Mountain Dogs” can be viewed online at newenglandfilm.com/festival_film/2020/the-mountain-dogs

THE STREAK ENDS! Stowe Guide & Magazine has won Best Niche publication for nine consecutive years in the New England Newspaper & Press Association’s BETTER NEWSPAPER COMPETITION, but had to settle for third in 2019. RECOUNT! Judges said, “Gorgeous publication ... We enjoyed all of the content but really like the departments.” Other firsts for the magazine included Rob Kiener’s story about skiing legend Billy Kidd, “THE KIDD FROM STOWE.” “Bright writing and skillful juxtaposition of Kidd in his heyday and today make this a can’t-put-down profile—even if you’ve never strapped on skis.”

PHOTOGRAPHER PAUL ROGERS won the top award in the photo story category for “Agricultural Goddess.” (He also took second in the same category for “Light & Shadow.”) JULIA SHIPLEY took second for her social issues feature story, “The Valedictorian.” Overall, the VERMONT COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER GROUP, which publishes five weeklies and two magazines, won 35 awards. First-place winners for the Stowe Reporter included Beverly Mullaney, with three first-place advertising design awards, and KRISTEN BRALEY, for online ad design. Braley and Hannah Normandeau won for best newsletter, while the staff took first in the contests category for its annual 4393 Readers’ Choice awards. TOMMY GARDNER’S story, “Look out! 160 stuck on a lift, rescued,” was first in its class in the spot news category. Judges said the story provided readers “a unique analysis of a high-altitude rescue situation while never straying far from the element of human drama.”

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PAT H enis Bryer got his first haircut by Art Hamel when he was a junior in high school. He liked it and decided to get Hamel to cut his hair again.

And again.

And again.

That first haircut was in the early 1970s, in St. Johnsbury.

When Hamel moved home to cut hair in Morrisville in 1978, Bryer came with him, making the drive to get his ears lowered for almost 50 years.

It’s a drive Bryer will make no more. Hamel closed Arts Barbershop on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

“This is more about the chairs than me,” Hamel said, approaching his final days of service.

d

After almost 43 years of cutting hair in Morrisville, Hamel decided to throw in the towel. And the scissors, clippers, brushes, and all the other accoutrements of a life in barbering.

When Hamel was in high school in the late 1960s, he heard guys in his class complain that they couldn’t get their hair cut long. Barbers cut their hair too short.

He saw a money-making opportunity.

Hamel went to school to learn haircutting and started barbering in St. Johnsbury before moving to Morrisville.

He’s seen lots of styles come and go over the years. After the 60s long-hair phase, in the 70s and 80s men started styling their hair. “Now, we’re back to the 50s. Short on the sides and flat tops.”

When he started, he charged $1.50. Now a haircut costs $15.

He called attention to the two chairs that have been with him since he bought Reds Barber Shop from Red Reynolds.

For a year, it continued as Reds Barber Shop.

“People started calling me Red,” Hamel said, so after a year, he knew it was time to either change his name or change the name of the barber shop.

It became Arts Barber Shop.

“This chair here has been in continuous use in Morrisville since the 1920s,” Hamel said. Almost 100 years of supporting the town’s menfolk get clean-cut.

Hamel is pretty sure the older barber chair was there when Al Melendy bought the business in the 1930s.

Mother and daughter Kim and Jenny Tilton, of Waterville, bought the shop from Hamel. It will now be known as Downtown Barbers, and the Tiltons made sure they got the barber chairs in the sale.

Hamel joked that when he bought the barber shop, he got the barber chairs—and a barber. Jim Russell was cutting for Reynolds and he’s cut for Hamel since. He may continue to cut at Downtown Barbers, too.

Many days the six chairs that line the walls and a chair in the hallway outside the shop are filled, serving as a repository for the shaggy, waiting their turn for a trim, Hamel said.

And, as hair was cut stories roiled around the room. “I’ve always tried to make it more about the experience than the

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END OF AN ERA Morristown barber Art Hamel retires his shears after 43 years of barbering.

He sold his shop, Arts Barber Shop, this fall.

haircut,” he said. Besides getting a good haircut, a lot of the experience is the conversations you hear at the barbershop.

When Hamel made the decision to retire, he spent six weeks winding down and saying goodbye. After parting conversations—pun intended—Hamel said he appreciated being able to have an individual conversation with each of his customers— three generations worth.

Ernie Patnoe got his first haircut from Hamel when he was 8 years old. He got his last cut just recently.

“That was a pretty emotional day,” Patnoe said “Art is a genuinely good man.”

As a boy Patnoe like being able to hear the men talk about hunting and fishing.

“Sometimes they’d slip in the occasional colorful word,” he said.

He must not have heard too many colorful words because when his own son was old enough Arts Barber Shop is where he brought him to get his haircut.

—Scooter MacMillan

 MAIL BAG

Artist thrilled over story, cover To the editor: I picked up some copies of the new Stowe Guide & Magazine yesterday. I am so happy with how the article turned out (“Casting a brush with David Pound,” Summer / Fall 2020).

Thank you also for putting my painting on the cover. I am still in a state of disbelief when I see it … it is such an honor.

The write-up and layout really is superb. I will always treasure this magazine.

Thanks again, and to Kate Carter and Gordon Miller, too.

David Pound, Stowe

SCOOTER MACMILLAN

RURAL ROUTE

RURAL ROUTE

TIM GRIFFIN

FITTING TRIBUTE Kiki Rose takes a photo at the Mountain Chapel of current and former Stowe Mountain hosts on a Sunday morning ski run to celebrate a life well lived by former host Bud Kassel, who died on Christmas 2019 at 91. Inset: Bud on a bluebird day.

‘ELEGANT SKIER, TRUE GENTLEMAN We lost a true retro-skier Christmas Day 2019: Bud Kassel died at 91.

Bud and I worked as Stowe Hosts together at Stowe Mountain Resort and I had the pleasure of getting to know Bud over the past 24 years.

I say I got to know him, but I don’t think I knew Bud’s full name until I read the obituary. He was always just Bud. Joseph Lewis Kassel was born July 4, 1928.

His mother gave him the nickname Buddy, which morphed into Bud as he grew older.

Bud was a skier. He told the story of how as a teenager his family went on a ski trip to Pico. Pico was the first ski area in the United States to have a T-bar, and when Bud approached it for the first time the lift operator asked if Bud had ever ridden one before.

Bud said “no” so the lift operator called to a young girl nearby. “Andy, come show this fellow how to ride the T-bar.” Andy was 14-year-old Andrea Mead, who would be the first American to win multiple Olympic gold medals in alpine skiing.

Bud skied Aspen when it was still a skiers’ mountain. He told me about après-ski at the Red Onion in the 1960s. He preferred that venue to the Hotel Jerome, where the “martini crowd” hung out.

In later life he took his whole extended family to Alta. During dinner at the Goldminer’s Daughter, he informed them that this was how he was spending their inheritance. Some years later, I was looking through old

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lift tickets I’ve collected and found one from Alta with the message: “Those Kassels Sure Love Devil’s Castle.”

Back in the days of paper tickets, Alta would add unique text to each day’s lift ticket. Apparently I had been at Alta during one of the Kassel family visits. I believe I gave Bud that ticket.

Bud was a technically smooth skier, which allowed him to ski until he was 90. In his golden years, Bud had a lot of parts replaced. His doctors tended to discourage him from skiing, but Bud kept going. Quite a few years ago, I remember Bud mentioning that he shouldn’t ski moguls anymore. That spring I was skiing the bumps on Goat and who do I come across? Yup, Bud. Not that Bud always ignored doctors’ orders. More recently, Bud asked me to ski Upper Goat with one of his sons. Bud wisely met us at the bottom.

Bud was the consummate skiing host. Anyone who met him immediately liked him. Guests trusted his opinions and wanted to spend time with him. I’m betting he got more free coffees and lunches than any other host on the mountain.

Bud Kassel was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I always looked forward to seeing and being with him, and really enjoyed skiing with him. I will miss him.

—Greg Morrill

Greg Morrill is a retired computer programmer, college professor, and author of the book, “Retro-Ski: A Nostalgic Look Back at Skiing!” Available locally at Bear Pond Books and the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum.

Read his blog at retro-skiing.com.

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Stellar rep: Heidi Scheuermann ‘Growing up, service was a huge part of our lives’ Born and raised in Stowe, Heidi Scheuermann is a Republican who serves in the Vermont House of Representatives, representing the Lamoille-1 district. She still lives in Stowe and owns and manages Allegro Property Management & Development, which includes two long-term affordable residential housing properties for seniors, disabled families, and mainstream residents, as well as two commercial properties. “My office is in the West Branch Apartments, which my dad built in 1979,” Scheuermann said.

What was it like growing up in Stowe?

Stowe was a wonderful place to grow up. I grew up in the village with five siblings, so the world was my oyster. When not working around the house, which we did often, I spent all of my time outside riding my bike, playing basketball or tennis, ice skating, sledding down Marshall Hill, or just spending time with my sisters, brothers, and friends. Our house was even the home of Stowe’s wiffle-ball field, complete with a real home-run fence. So our backyard was where kids from all over Stowe came to play games and tournaments. All in all, I consider myself very fortunate to have grown up in this great town.

the intErviEw

What did your parents do?

Dad was an architect and developer in Stowe and he was also in the Air Guard. My mother worked for dad for a while, then went back to being a golf pro at The Farm (now Ryder Brook) and Stoweflake. They moved to Charlottesville, N.C., and opened a golf practice facility, where mom was the director of golf and one of the pros. Now they are retired in South Pines and my sister Gretchen took over the golf business. She was a field hockey player on a national team, then switched to golf. She’s quite an athlete. Sister Kristen was also a great athlete. She played Division I basketball. We have another sister, Rebecca, whom my parents adopted. She was from the Philippines and is now in Miami, and my brothers are in New York City. Kurt is an actor and Eric is in private equity.

GORDO

N MILLE R

How and why did you get into politics?

I always knew service would be my destination. I went to Saint Louis University and earned my bachelor’s degree in education, and then joined the Peace Corp and went to Poland to teach English as a second language. At that time there were significant changes happening in Poland as a result of the fallout from a post-communist government. I got to see the changes firsthand. I decided to return to the U.S. and go to school in Washington, D.C., for foreign service, but instead, I got a job with U.S. Rep. Jim Jeffords of Vermont and started to enjoy public and domestic policy. Then I was given the opportunity to come back to Vermont as Jeffords’ campaign manager for the 2000 elections. I later served as his liaison to the Vermont Legislature from 2003 to 2007, when he retired. I ran for office and was first elected in 2006. I’m now serving my eighth term in the House.

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED & COMPILED BY KATE CARTER

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Who influenced you most in politics?

Jim Jeffords and his staff. His philosophy was to surround himself with smart people with varying points of views. He believed public policy is best when it is thoughtfully done and takes into consideration quality legislation. When I was in D.C., Bill Clinton was president and Trent Lott was Senate Majority Leader, and with hard work we were able to get a lot done. In the early 2000s, it started to get harder for people to agree. Things are successful when there are relationships and people can come to consensus.

Has anyone in Stowe influenced you?

I started elective office when I served on Stowe’s select board. What a learning experience! Dick Marron was a big influence. He served the Stowe community as a member of the select board and as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives. He gave me a lot of insight on how to get things done. I eventually replaced him in the Legislature. Also, Ted Teffner, who was on Stowe’s Zoning Board of Adjustment, the select board, and the Stowe Electric Commission from 2006 until he died. He was a great mentor. My first eight months on the select board he told me to just listen. After eight months he told me I could talk. Listen and learn first was his advice. Also Tom Crowley, who was Vermont’s transportation chair for 20 years. I’ll never forget two things he told me: “You have two eyes, two ears, one mouth. Use them proportionally,” and “Be careful of the toes you step on today, because they may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow.”

lematic. To be successful you need to be able to work with everyone, and it is not easy. It’s relationship building, especially with social media. If people could actually meet, sit down, put a face and voice with the person, it would be so much better.

What do you love about serving in the Legislature?

First and foremost is constituent service. That came from Jim Jeffords. When people call, their problems might seem ridiculous to some, but it’s the most important thing on their minds. When people call their representative it’s always a last resort. When I’m able to connect people to whatever it is they need and try to help get things accomplished, that hands-down is the best part of my job. Also, having influence on good policy. And I work hard on ethics. Perception is reality. We were a state with no ethics rules and I helped develop them.

How do you feel about the current political strife?

I’m optimistic by nature and with everything going on I am still very hopeful, and I believe in the people in my state. It is one of the reasons I love what I do. I want to serve the state and be a part of solutions. I just try to listen and let people be angry and frustrated. I don’t take it personally. I try to let the anger go and focus on the underlying issues.

What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to deal with?

Same-sex marriage. A lot of people I was close to did not like what I did, which was to vote for same-sex marriage and against the governor’s veto.

What is your political focus?

Since being elected I have been on five different committees, which is unusual.

I like to think it’s because I have a wide array of experiences and I can work with a lot of different people regardless of their party affiliation.

Since being elected I have been on five different committees, which is unusual. I like to think it’s because I have a wide array of experiences and I can work with a lot of different people regardless of their party affiliation. I have worked on various committees with various agendas and goals. Stowe has an engaged constituency, especially about education. My goal is to educate people about the education funding system, which is a high priority for Stowe residents. I don’t like the topdown approach to education. I would like to change that, along with funding. Economic development policy is also important to me and it is critical for the future of Vermont. I encourage investment in entrepreneurial ventures, reward their success, and protect good businesses in Vermont and ensure continued success into the future. Economic development is hard work and it is not sexy. It’s hard to advance these kinds of things, but we want to ensure better jobs and wages, and it takes a long-term strategic plan. State spending and budgeting is critical. It has improved over the last few years and the House has taken it seriously. There has been give and take. Our current situation with COVID will put that all to a test.

What makes a good politician?

Hard work is number one, and you have to be committed and understand your constituency. It takes empathy. You really have to hear people, especially when they don’t agree with you. You have to be able to communicate well, even on social media. The expectations of people have changed significantly in the past 10 years. I try very hard to keep my communication sound, appropriate, and often. There is so much divisiveness these days, even here in Vermont. You need to be able to communicate and work with people across the spectrum. The ideological side is prob-

Some were disappointed in me, which hurt. We’d go have coffee and I’d explain my decisions. Most understood, didn’t agree, but appreciated that I took the time to meet with them. It’s important to be open to difficult discussions.

How did your childhood influence your political career?

With five siblings I learned how to relate to different personalities. Service was a huge part of our lives, volunteering, giving back, being part of the community, helping elders. In college I joined Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed fraternity focused on community service. My experience with the Peace Corps in Poland was service focused. Serving others has always been a part of my life.

Do you have any higher political aspirations?

For awhile I thought I could bring something worthwhile to a higher office.

Six years ago I considered running for governor, but it’s not on my radar now. I’m happy doing what I’m doing right here in Stowe.

What do you do for fun?

Golf! I haven’t played much this year because of COVID and everything else going on, but I’m going to try to get out soon. I enjoy it very much. It’s my thing. Mostly I like to play by myself. I walk and carry my bag and bring a notepad with me in case I think of something important I want to remember. I just enjoy walking the course and hitting the ball. ■

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RURAL ROUTE

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

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flashback

With COVID that means we’re not going anywhere either. So here are a few flashbacks from previous Globetrotters. From 2015: Peigi Guerra and Diane McCarthy, both of Stowe, having craic (fun!) at the Cliffs of Moher in September 2014. Standing 214 meters (702 feet) at their highest point, the cliffs stretch for 8 kilometers (5 miles) along the Atlantic coast of County Clare in the west of Ireland. O’Brien’s Tower stands near the highest point and has served as a viewing point for visitors for hundreds of years. From 2011-2012: Chris and Bela Johnson of Vallecitos, N.M., enjoy the Stowe Guide & Magazine from a cliff overlooking the Waipi’o Valley and Hamakua coastline on the Big Island of Hawai’i. From 2008: We went to Birmingham, England, with longtime Stowe resident Adi Barnett, pictured here with her grandson, Scott Gibson. They’re sitting in Victoria Square next to a statue by noted sculptor Dhruva Mistry, which is part of a group installation called “The River.” Adi tells us that the Birmingham British have affectionately renamed the piece and it is now referred to as the “Floozy in the Jacuzzi.”

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Snowboarder Acy Craig likes to compete.

It’s genetic.

She gets her need for speed from dad, Alan Craig, and her strength and power from mom, Piquette DiPiazza.

Combine those qualities with Acy’s focus and determination and you’ve got a rider destined for the Olympics.

Acy started snowboarding at 4, learning from dad, an avid rider and coach. She joined a team at 8 and began attending small competitions.

“As I got older, I loved going really fast. It’s my thing. Not big jumps and twisting and turning in the air or flips and spins. I just love going straight and going fast, and that’s why I love boardercross,” she said.

“My dad and uncles were snowboarders and I got in the habit of not turning.

Going headon straight gave me an adrenaline rush. That’s what I run off of, even when I’m freeriding and not training.”

When Acy’s talents became apparent in junior high school, she left Stowe Middle School to pursue her athletic trajectory at Carrabassett Valley Academy in Sugarloaf, Maine. By age 13 she had five gold- and silver-medal finishes, three firsts and two seconds, at the USA Snowboard Association national championships.

By 17 she was one of the U.S.’s top two riders in her discipline and qualified to compete in boardercross at the 2020 Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland. She finished in the middle of the pack in the overall standings—14th out of 27 racers from 16 countries.

The placing was especially rewarding because it was her first big race after crashing during a training run in late 2018. She was sidelined with a broken back and broken wrist for all of the 2018-2019 season.

Acy had accumulated enough points to attend the Youth Olympics, and thanks to an intense rehab program, she was in shape to ride. “It took two months for a full recovery of my wrist, and six months for my back. I didn’t do much during recovery. The only thing I could do for my injuries was rest.”

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The rest paid off.

Her success at the Youth Olympics set her up for a good experience at the Junior World Championships in spring 2020, but that event was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.

Acy returned home to Stowe, and her family put in a home gym so she could workout safely. Then she started training at PHIT, where social distancing was possible.

This past fall, Acy returned for her senior year at Carrabassett Valley, where her favorite academic subjects are English and contemporary history. “With everything happening in the world, contemporary history has been very interesting.”

She’s been improving her strength in the gym and hammering out a wide range of dryland training outdoors, both of which can be done at a distance from others.

SPEED DEMON Previous page: Acy Craig decked out in her U.S. Youth Olympic Team garb, and in Switzerland (No. 12) with the team. Below: At a Speed Nation event.

“In dryland training we work on reaction time and knowing or sensing when others are around you, which is really important in boardercross,” she noted.

“I’m very aware of my surroundings.

You need that in boardercross, because someone else could be right next to you in a race.”

Life for Acy these days is pretty routine. “Either I’m snowboarding or working out in the gym. I loved lacrosse at Stowe Middle School, but it’s one of the things I’ve had to leave behind,” she said. “I feel like I have no hobbies.” That is, if you ignore her time wake surfing, paddle boarding, or golfing.

With the race schedule on hold for the upcoming season, Acy’s snowboarding future is uncertain. So, she’s applying to college at the University of Connecticut, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Fairfield University in Connecticut.

“The only dilemma I have for going to college is they don’t have a snowboarding program, but a lot will let you defer for a sports year. My plan is to apply to defer so I can continue on my snowboarding trajectory for now.

After that? “Right now I’m thinking of going into nursing or athletic training.”

But with any luck Acy will compete at the top level this year, and once again bring home the gold.

—Kate Carter

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ALLAN THOMPSON

RURAL ROUTE

Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor from Mt. Hunger.

A vital tract of forestland was protected this year in the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor, which lies between the Green Mountains and Worcester Range and serves as one of the most important wildlife regions in Vermont.

Whitney Blauvelt, whose family has been long-time owners of the property, sold a conservation easement significantly below its appraised value. In all, 111 acres were protected.

The property abuts Route 100 along a highpriority wildlife crossing—a focus for conservation organizations in the area.

“I’m a tree hugger. Forests, and the wildlife therein, need to be protected,” said Blauvelt of Waterbury.

The protection of the Blauvelt parcel adds to the over-450 acres in this same corridor that have been conserved since 2018 by Stowe Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, and Vermont Land Trust. In partnership with community members, they have raised over $500,000 as part of an ongoing effort to protect this ecologically significant habitat connection.

The Shutesville Wildlife Corridor Partnership consists of a variety of groups, including the Stowe Conservation Commission, Stowe Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, and many community volunteers. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: stayingconnectedinitiative.org.

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STOWE STATS ■ ■

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Mount Mansfield summit elevation: 4,393 feet (USGS) More mile-long lifts than any other resort in the East. One inter-mountain transfer gondola, 1 high-speed summit gondola, 4 quads, 2 triples, 2 doubles, and 2 surface lifts Highest skiing elevation: 3,625 feet Vertical drop: 2,360 feet Average annual snowfall: 314 inches Total number of trails: 116 Skiable acres: 485 Total miles: 40 Percentages: beginner 16%, intermediate 55%, expert 29% Snowmaking coverage: 83% Total lifts: 12 Total hourly lift capacity: 15,516 Source: stowe.com passengers

NSAA SKIER / SNOWBOARDER CODE* Always stay in control.

People ahead of you have the right of way.

■ Stop in a safe place for you and others.

■ Whenever starting downhill or merging, look uphill and yield.

■ Use devices to help prevent runaway equipment.

■ Observe signs and warnings, and keep off closed trails.

■ Know how to use the lifts safely.

Be safety conscious and know the code. It’s your responsibility.

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* This is a partial list. Source: National Ski Areas Association

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OLYMPIC GOLD ELUDES SKI GREAT BUDDY WERNER

THE In March 1955 the Mount Mansfield Ski Club hosted the second American International ski races at Stowe. The event attracted some of the top European racers with 25 of the 100 competitors coming from outside the U.S. For the Americans, the races carried extra meaning since they were one of two events that would determine the 1956 U.S. Olympic Team. On the women’s side, Andrea Mead Lawrence would win both the slalom and GS and tie for first in the downhill, demonstrating that she would be ready to defend her 1952 gold medals.

Austrian Anderl Molterer would win both slalom and GS for the men. Stowe staged the men’s third race, the downhill, on Nose Dive, which still had its famous seven turns. The pre-race favorite was Martin Strolz of Austria, who had finished second in the downhill at the World Championships the previous year.

But a 19-year-old from Steamboat Springs, Colo., served notice to the Europeans that he was a American contender on the international ski scene.

Wallace “Buddy” Werner won the downhill, beating Strolz by 4.7 seconds and beating the previous record time by 9.2 seconds.

Werner would make the 1956 Olympic team and have very respectable, if not winning performances, finishing 11th in the GS and 21st in the downhill. In 1958, at the World Championships he placed fourth in slalom and fifth in GS. By then he had gained fans in Europe due to his gofor-broke style.

Billy Kidd, another Olympian who grew up in Stowe, said, “Buddy was one of the few Americans who could beat the Europeans and do it not just once and awhile by luck, but often enough so that the Europeans really loved him. They loved his style of taking chances.”

Werner, born Feb. 26, 1936, was part of a skiing family. His older sister, Skeeter, was an alternate STORY BY

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/ Greg Morrill

for the 1952 Olympics and was on the U.S. team in 1956. His younger brother, Loris, was on the 1964 U.S. Olympic team as a ski jumper and the 1968 Olympics as an alpine skier.

Makes sense, right, since they grew up in a ski resort town. But Steamboat would not become a destination resort until the 1960s.

The Werners all honed their skills on Howelsen Hill, a small-town ski hill.

Buddy first drew national attention at the 1952 Junior National Alpine Championships, where he finished first in the downhill, second in the slalom, and first for the combined. This feat landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Buddy was named to the U.S. FIS ski team at age 17. In that first season competing on the international stage, Buddy gave notice to the world by winning the Holmenkollen downhill in 1954. He’d go on to win that downhill three times.

In 1959, Werner would become the first nonEuropean to win the Hahnenkamm downhill.

The only other U.S. skier to achieve that would be Daron Rahlves in 2003—and that was on a shortened course due to fog.

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MAN WITH NO LUCK Insets: Buddy Werner graces the March 14, 1955, Sports Illustrated cover. Glamour shot of the handsome Werner.

A slalom at Winter Park, Colo., 1960s.

Press photo, March 20, 1955, Stowe: “DOWNHILL SKI CHAMPIONS—Buddy Werner, 19-yearold University of Denver freshman who won the International Downhill race down Mt. Mansfield today is flanked by tie winners of women’s race.

Andrea Mead Lawrence, 22, (left) of Parshall, Colo., U.S. double Olympic champion, and Madeleine Berthod, 24, of Switzerland, tied at 2:08.7 for the 1.2 mile course. Werner topped American and European champions for time of 2:07.5 for 1¾ mile course.

A great story about Werner’s life can be found in the Steamboat Pilot: bit.ly/3q631QC.

After the Hahnenkamm, Werner told a reporter: “Boy, was this ever a fun track. I could go down it every day.” Not many racers say that about the Streif, one of the most challenging downhill slopes in the world.

Werner was a favorite to win the first Olympic medal for an American men at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics. But eight weeks before the Olympics he broke his leg during training and missed possibly his best chance for Olympic fame. Sports Illustrated titled their article him, “The Man with No Luck.”

The 1964 Innsbruck Olympics would be Werner’s last chance to win a medal, since he planned to retire from ski racing at the end of the season.

Bob McKee of Stowe said that Werner was one of those rare people who was both an intense competitor and a nice guy that everyone liked. Even the Europeans were rooting for Werner to win a medal. But Werner placed 17th in the downhill and was disqualified in the GS. After the 1964 racing season ended, Willy Bogner recruited Werner for a bigtime ski movie he was making called “SkiFascination.” On April 12, 1964, Bogner, Werner, and German Olympic medalist Barbi Henneberger were skiing and filming near St. Moritz.

Henneberger and Werner got caught in an avalanche but skied out, but then were swept up in another and killed.

Werner’s hometown of Steamboat Springs renamed the primary ski mountain at Steamboat from Storm Mountain to Mount Werner. If you ski there, you’ll find a run named after him, Buddy’s Run. When you get off the lift, there’s a bronze bust of Werner that skiers tap with their poles for luck.

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O N M O U N TA I N

SKI STOWE

S

towe’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. (For details about COVID and ski restrictions, go to stowe.com.)

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.

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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

STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT

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

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S K I D I S PAT C H

‘I’VE GOT A RASH!’ How an inside joke fed a memorial, started new Mansfield ski route

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Bacardi Bob Koechlin died on Nov. 24, 2012, something that his friend Matt Henderson marked in a text message on opening day at Stowe Mountain Resort this year: “FYI. It was 8 years ago yesterday when he passed.”

Henderson and some of his and Koechlin’s other friends spread Koechlin’s ashes on Mount Mansfield and posted a sign that is equal parts inside joke STORY / TOMMY GARDNER and lasting legacy: Bob’s Rash.

Henderson and Koechlin met in the mid-90s in Boston, when Henderson was dating a woman who went to UMass, and was skiing maybe once a year.

Koechlin worked for the Bacardi liquor company at the time, and wore a lot of clothes sporting the Bacardi logo. The group called him Bacardi Bob. Eventually, they got a group together and would rent a place in Stowe for the winter and drive up from Boston as often as they could—they got 50 days on

BACARDI BOB Clockwise from top left: Matt Henderson says goodbye to his friend, Bob Koechlin, scattering his ashes on Mansfield and naming a run after him— Bob’s Rash. Bob being his best Tom Cruise.

At the Matterhorn in Stowe, from left, Bacardi Bob Koechlin, Steve Davis, Matt Henderson, Eric Santini, and Jeff “Flipper” Filipov.

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They got better at skiing Mansfield, but in the beginning, they were just getting down it as best they could.

One day, the group was skiing down Chin Clip, a favorite early-day run on a powder day that gets bumped out quickly, making it one of those black diamond trails that get blacker as the day goes along.

“I was on giant skis trying to ski bumps, and we were just getting destroyed,” Henderson said. “That’s how we both learned to ski, by just doing it. They called it tough love.”

They got down a stretch and looked back, and Koechlin was at the top of the pitch, on the ground, covered in snow, yelling “I’ve got a rash! I’ve got a rash!” The crew cracked up, wondering what sort of irritant Koechlin was complaining about.

“And he finally skis down to us and he’s saying, ‘I’ve got to rest. I’ve got to rest,’” Henderson said.

I didn’t matter what he was actually saying. To his friends it was Bob >>

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S K I D I S PAT C H ‘VERY MUCH BOB’ Matt Henderson, left, and Bob Koechlin, center, take a break on Chin Clip, right next to Bob’s Rash. Bob and Matt on one of many ski trips to Tahoe, and the weekend Bob met his wife Nilufer, mother of his daughter Kiana.

yelling about having a rash, an itch his friends would scratch again years later.

Henderson and Koechlin each moved to California at the end of the 1990s, Koechlin in the southern part of the state, and Henderson in the north.

Henderson would help organize an all-guys trip every year for most of the past 20, but a Koechlin appearance was a rarity. As Henderson moved to Stowe full-time and he and his wife raised their family, Koechlin moved to San Francisco and got into the tech sector.

STORY & PHOTOGRAPH

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/ KATE CARTER

Then, Koechlin died in Truckee, Calif., while riding his bike through a traffic rotary and getting run over by a truck. After he died, his wife Nilufer asked Henderson to spread his ashes on Mansfield.

The natural location was that place on Chin Clip, right before the steep pitch, where Koechlin had made his friends laugh about that nonexistent rash.

Thus, Bob’s Rash was entered into the storied lore of inside jokes, heartfelt memorials, and knowing winks that unofficially mark points of

interest on ski mountains everywhere. As another inside joke, Henderson made the sign pink.

“He was a Florida kid, and he had no gear.

So, he was coming up from Boston and we were looking through things and we found one coat,” Henderson said. It was a bright pink, a throwback from the 80s. “It was ridiculous and it was very much Bob.” One group of friends’ inside joke, though, has turned into something else: an actual trail.

To Henderson’s knowledge, it wasn’t a place most people dipped into the woods, but the year after the ash-spreading ceremony, slowly, people starting seeing the sign and doing just that.

“I heard a couple of guys next to me on the gondola saying, ‘Let’s do Bob’s Rash,’ and that tripped me out, for real,” Henderson said. “It’s such a Bacardi Bob ending to it.” n

COURTESY PHOTO

O N M O U N TA I N

WANNA GET 101 FIRST CHAIRS? Then get up wicked, wicked early

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It takes dedication for a skier to get 60 days on the mountain in one season, and it takes devotion to get 100. But a Stowe man managed to get first chair 101 times last winter—and that’s nuts.

If there was an award for ski bum for the winter of 2019-20, the obvious winner would be Thadeus Davis. He spent his nights working as a bar-back at Doc Ponds and worked at Stowe Mountain Resort during the winter for a free pass, all the while doing private outdoor guiding— summer and winter—for his company Lets Get Outdoors.

But, as soon as snow blanketed Mansfield and the lifts at Stowe Mountain Resort ran, you could find Davis at the base in a camp chair, STORY / MIKE VERILLO drinking his coffee and waiting for the lift to take him to the top.

He set a goal to get first chair 100 times, and he met it March 11, four days before shutdown for the season.

“It’s just a routine. After you do it for a couple of weeks, it’s just what life is like,” Davis said.

The year before, he managed to get 100 days on the mountain.

It helps that he lives just six minutes from the ski area.

“Last year, I really wanted to see how many days I could get,” he said. Once he hit 100, he

thought of a way to surpass that achievement—be the first person to the top at least 100 times.

“It’s just silly goals, I call it a negative intelligence test,” Davis said.

“When I was texting my friend, she said there was no way I could do this,” he said. “I just thought it would be ridiculous. It’s not that difficult to do if you don’t work too much and skip a lot of sleep.”

For the last two years, Davis tried to get the first chair of the season and was beaten by the same four people. This year, he showed up at 4:30 a.m., two and a half hours before the lift started loading.

ORTHOPEDICS

REGENERATIVE NON-SURGICAL NEGATIVE INTELLIGENCE Thadeus Davis got the first chair 101 times last winter—just because he could.

“It was basically the same lineup except for the guy I bumped. He was pretty bummed. I think he said he’s had first chair for over a decade,” Davis said.

After that, it was a matter of getting there an hour before opening. He made a ritual of it, setting up his chair and anticipating that run on untouched snow. While waiting, he would post a picture on social media and give a brief report on conditions. That would help fellow skiers decide whether the trip to Stowe was worth it, but Davis enjoyed the ride regardless.

“If you show up first thing, you’re probably going to get the best run possible. So snow days, you’ve got to be there early,” he said.

He gave a shoutout to the groomers at Stowe, saying that even when the mountain froze overnight, their work made each day fun to ski.

“The crap days, it’s not very inspiring to show up early, but you get the best conditions,” Davis said. “If it’s a powder day or not, it doesn’t matter.

He made the best of each visit, averaging 10 runs each day.

He wasn’t always such an avid skier. He didn’t start skiing until 2011, after breaking his leg snowboarding a decade earlier.

“When I first started skiing, I was really timid because of the broken leg,” he said. “The first year I skied three days, then six days and 12 days.” And it snowballed from there.

“I’ve been working in ski shops since the day I moved here, and living in a ski town, it gradually started to grow on me,” Davis said.

The season wasn’t all glorious. Davis said his knee was in bad shape for almost half the days he was on the hill.

“Because I was going out so much, there was a lot of potential for injury,” he said.

Early in the season, he fell on one of his ski poles so hard it bent in half, so he ditched those. And in February, his knee banged into a tree when he was skiing in the glades. “And just to make sure my knee was not good, I took another run,” he said.

But he kept going, still showing up early in the morning and getting his runs in. He took it easy and stuck to the groomed trails, still having a good time.

“Aside from not doing as much woods as I’d like to, I started doing a lot of things I didn’t really do before,” Davis said. “Sure, it held me back, but my skiing still progressed.”

After the season ended, he was happy to be able to sleep in. And, as for next season, is he looking at another major achievement?

“A lot of people are asking me what I’m going to do next year and I say I really don’t know. We’ll see.” n

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QUESTION & ANSWER

THIS PAGE: KATE CARTER; NEXT PAGE: NATALIE SIEBERS

DOG TEAM Ken Haggett at home with a handful of his Serbian huskies. Next page, the team readies for a ride. Inset, one of Haggett’s stained glass pieces.

PULLING FOR PEACE Dog sledder gives winter visitors a howling diversion Ken Haggett lives on a small sustainable farm in Elmore with his wife, Lisa LaPorte, and their 18 dogs. That would be 18 Siberian huskies, to be specific. Those 18 friendly, fluffy, fur-faces are members of Peace Pups, Haggett’s sled dog business that he started in 2005. Living with 18 dogs on the property and in the home sounds incredibly chaotic, but Haggett has it under control. All the dogs have their own kennels, they all get along, and the only crazy times STORY / KATE CARTER are when someone comes to visit, it’s time to hook up to a sled, or dinner is being served.

Then the energy level escalates and the excited barking and howling is electrifying. Something good is about to happen and no dog wants to be left out!

How did you get started with a dog sled team?

Lisa and I went to watch a New England Sled Dog Race and saw skijoring and thought we’d like to try it. We got our first Siberian husky, Jake, from North Country Animal League. Jake didn’t have a lot of drive, but we learned skijoring together. Then we got a second dog so Lisa could go, too.

We decided to get two more, that way we each had two dogs to ski with.

With four dogs, I realized they could pull a sled, so I got a sled and we had a four-dog team.

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Did you grow up in Vermont?

I was born in Lebanon, N.H., and my family moved to Ferrisburg when I was a year old. I grew up on a dairy farm on Little Chicago Road. My parents sold the farm when I was 14 and we moved away for a while. I returned to Northfield, and then to Elmore, where Lisa and I have lived for 19 years.

What made you decide to start Peace Pups?

By the time I started the business in 2005 we had nine dogs. I wanted to do something socially responsible, and initially I wanted to do something that promotes world peace. Our T-shirts say “Pulling for Peace.” I’ve donated 10 percent of my profits, about $1,500 to $1,800 yearly, to a variety of organizations for the past 15 years—Earth Rights International, Democracy Now, Vermont Special Olympics, and for the last five years to Bikes Not Bombs. Early on I worked with musher Bruce Linton, who had an established business. When he moved to Alaska he referred all his inquiries to me and I was busy right off the bat.

How many teams do you run?

I run two eight-dog teams on two sleds. I often borrow dogs to round out teams. My business model is to stay at the two-sled level and sustain what I have. I’ve done every tour that has gone out in the past 16 years. I have a second driver, but still always go out.

Where do you run the tours?

How do you decide where to position the dogs on the team?

For many years I ran on land owned by the Vermont Land Trust, but it was sold to be logged, so I relocated to Sonny Demars’ 1,000 acres in Elmore, but he put it into conservation. Now I run tours at Kate Simmons’ place on Bliss Hill Road in Morrisville. She does field trials with Labs and is into the working dog scene. She owns over 500 acres and her trails are perfect, wide and sweeping.

There are a lot of personality considerations when putting a team together.

The two dogs in the front are called double lead. Their qualifications are to listen well, have forward focus, desire to charge ahead on the trail, and be selfmotivated to keep things moving forward. They don’t have to pull as much, just keep the team moving. The next two pair are the swing dogs and the last two are wheel dogs. A lot of terms come from horse teams.

The best place to have power is right in front of the sled, so I put my bigger dogs there.

How long is your season?

A good season is 16 weeks. Last winter it was only eight weeks, partly due to getting a late snow start, and partly because of the pandemic.

What is a typical sled dog tour like?

If it snowed, I first plow the parking area and groom the trails with a snowmobile, checking for downed trees and drifting snow. Then I get the dogs, load them into the truck, and take them to the trails. I unload and put harnesses on them, and attach them to the truck, while people start to arrive. While the dogs are tethered to the truck, I get the people settled into the sleds, then hook up the dogs, and off we go. I usually do about a 5-mile run, which is 45 to 60 minutes. The most exciting part is hooking up the team. The adrenaline level and excitement is very high. Once we take off and the dogs settle down and run, it’s very peaceful, so there’s really no point in going longer than an hour. I always encourage people to interact with the dogs before we take off. The dogs are all hooked up to the truck and can’t jump up.

Where do you get your dogs?

They are all Siberian huskies and we have adopted them from all over.

Right now my youngest is seven. We bred one litter ourselves and the four puppies were born on the last day of the Tour de France. I’m a cyclist, so we gave them Tour names: Fignon, Merckx, Coppi, Froome. It’s worth noting my dogs all run clean.

Where do most of your clients come from?

Eighty percent are people on ski vacations and they like to take a day off and do something different. I’ve had guests from all over the world. A lot of people come from Florida for a white Christmas. I don’t get many Vermonters.

How much food do they eat in a year?

Siberians have a low metabolism, so don’t eat as much as some dogs. We go through about three tons a year and buy direct from Inukshuk Professional Dog Food. They sell their kibble in one-ton pallets to mushers and hunters. It’s a high-calorie diet.

What do you do in the off season?

We do some dog-cart tours from our home starting in early October. The dogs run a few times a week to get in condition for the winter. I’ve been involved in cycling for a long time and I like to get out on the trails. I was a woodworker for 30 years and still do some woodworking. I recently started a stained-glass business, which I hope will carry me through retirement.

Among other things, I have done 14 stained-glass dog portraits for people who want a nice way to remember their best friends. ■ ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: peacepupsdogsledding.com.

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on being

A SKI PARENT STORY

: biddle duke

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At right: Chip Knight, the U.S. Ski Association’s national alpine development director, who also grew up in Stowe, with his sons, Forest, 6, and Cedar, 9, at Mt. Brighton ski resort in Utah in 2020. Inset: Angie Duke in the Beaver Creek World Cup giant slalom, November 2017. Previous page: Angie, with his parents Idoline and Biddle Duke, the arti-

cle’s author, at Angie’s last Middlebury Carnival giant slalom in February 2019. He finished 12th.

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remember watching other parents at my kids’ first races, searching for clues on how to be a ski-race parent. How to handle the confusing mix of pride and terror as our 8- and 9-year olds came into view over the icy knoll on Stowe’s Slalom Hill, small, wobbly, and by the looks of most of them, out of control.

Many of the parents shouted cheers and whoops of encouragement. I joined in, but my voice belied an anxiety I felt every race day right through to our son’s final collegiate race.

My own two kids weren’t accustomed to hearing me raise my voice. If I shouted at them on the side of that mountain, would my 8-year-old daughter look over, startled, and veer off course?

“Why’s dad shouting? What’s he shouting about?”

Once, as she barreled her way down the course, she heard me calling out, “Go, Ellie!” She called back, between GS turns, “I’m going!”

How to behave as a ski-race parent was never obvious to me. Over 20 years, race days were generally tension filled. Where to stand and watch? How to properly encourage or congratulate without sounding like this was really nothing more than expensive thrills and fun?

What to do when they fall or miss a gate? Can I offer help? How to check the scoreboard nonchalantly so as not to appear too interested, too keen?

Most questions revolved around one central question: how to help my kids find joy in this sport, where victory is so painfully elusive?

“How’d Tyler do?” I’d ask a fellow dad and friend about his son, once my own son’s chief rival.

“Third loser,” he’d reply, jokingly, or some version of that. Meaning Tyler had finished fourth. Tyler Mullin ended up racing—and winning—through high school but the sport took hold of him in more profound ways.

Like so many ski racers he will forever be one of the best skiers anywhere he goes. >>

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MARINA KNIGHT; INSET: GEPA PICTURES; PREVIOUS PAGE: COURTESY PHOTO

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At right: Longtime Green Mountain Valley School headmaster and coach Dave Gavett with Erik Arvidsson, Tim Gavett, and, sitting on the Ski-doo, Michel Macedo, in Stelvio on the Italian-Swiss border. Inset: Chip Knight and son Forest make a slopeside pit stop at Mt. Brighton, 2020.

n reflecting on my years as a ski-race parent I went looking for answers, and the kind of perspective I wished I’d sought when I was starting out.

What if every race season began with a required meeting for new parents entering the sport? When my kids started racing in 2000, there was a parents meeting, but it was more logistical than directive. I would have loved to have heard from a parent who knew what I know now.

To be able to ask questions like, “What should I do if my kid falls in a race and I’m standing right there? How should I talk to my kid on the car ride home after a tough loss, or even a great success?”

Gatherings where such questions are possible are more commonplace now. But “it’s been missing and there’s a need for that from the very beginning,” Eileen Shiffrin, mother of one of the greatest of all time, Mikaela Shiffrin, told me. “The right kind of parental involvement from the start is essential, I’ve always stressed that.”

How parents engage in any youth sport is a matter of endless discussion and debate—and increasingly, rules. But most rules for parents are self-evident: don’t be a jerk. Our kids need us to not be jerks, but they also need us in other ways, ways that are more nuanced and often unspoken. As parents we can be the most influential people in our child’s development. Or, we can’t. It depends on how we go about it.

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Many of skiing’s champions—Henrik Kristoffersen, Marc Girardelli, Shiffrin, Ivica and Janica Kostelić, Lindsey Vonn—were coached or managed, or both, by their parents at some point in their careers, and most at the top have exceptionally close and sometimes complicated parental relationships. But what works for Mikaela Shiffrin, who for years was coached and managed by her mom, is not necessarily what’s right for Ted Ligety, whose parents mostly cheered from the sidelines. Few of us have Eileen Shiffrin’s or Ante Kostelić’s or Helmut Girardelli’s experience or knowledge.

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o, how about the rest of us?

“Your main job is to provide unconditional love, period, full stop,” said longtime Green Mountain Valley School headmaster and coach Dave Gavett.

Seems easy enough. But it’s not.

Boundaries get blurry in sports, and as parents our egos get wrapped up in our children’s athletic dreams. That’s where the trouble starts.

Gavett groomed dozens of U.S. Ski Team athletes at GMVS. He saw all sorts of ski parents.

Many struggled with their kids, he said, crushing their spirits, hurting their relationships, instilling the wrong values. Every coach can tick off the telltale signs of parents who are emotionally suffocating their children.

“You can celebrate success and share in the joy, but parents shouldn’t live vicariously through their kids. Those are the parents who say ‘we had a great race today.’ ” “‘We?’ ” Gavett said, rhetorically. “There is no ‘we’ here.”

“Children are so intuitive. They understand when they’re driving the bus and when dad or mom is driving the bus. Kids want it to be their thing. If you allow the child that space it is going to happen. You can’t manufacture that in a child.”

Parents have no choice but to be hyper involved at the beginning of the ski-racing journey—from early morning wake ups and providing meals to transportation and morale boosting. But always check your enthusiasm.

“A parent’s drive and passion can overwhelm kids,” Chip Knight, the United States Ski Association’s national alpine development director, told me in a conversation last season. “At a certain point it’s important that children realize that the passion comes from within, so that it’s intrinsic to them, not the parents.”

Ski racing is a minefield of disappointments.

Which, it took me years to grasp, is why it’s a great teacher. It knocks you down again and again, forcing youngsters to search for confidence and strength to keep at it. Most kids race for clubs and teams but ultimately how you feel about yourself and the sport is all up to you.

And success is often painfully subtle and utterly meaningless, except to the racers themselves. Nothing else in my children’s young lives taught them to find the emotional strength that ski racing did.

“How’d it go today?” the conversation might have gone with my son.

“I fell.”

“Bummer.”

“I’m OK. I had a great first run.” >>

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COURTESY PHOTO; INSET: MARINA KNIGHT

COURTESY PHOTOS

Sometimes my son Angie would tell me he was satisfied because he’d skied well for a few turns in a race. A few turns. To be clear, he was squeezing the joy he needed out of about 10 seconds of an entire day, a day that had been the focus of years of training, tuning, travel, frostbite, bad ski-area food, to say nothing of missing out on all the fun stuff he might have done as a teenager. Ten seconds. That was enough to keep going.

“Failure should be celebrated,” is Dave Gavett’s advice. “So many parents are just looking for success when really 80 percent of the learning takes place in the failure. As Henry Ford said, ‘Failure is just an opportunity to begin again in a new way.’ ” “When the moment is right, just ask questions and let them try to find the answers,” Gavett said of dealing with a disappointing day of training or race, or an injury, or a conflict with a coach. “When the moment is right. Just ask ‘do you want to talk about it?’ Don’t lecture. Just try to elicit thoughts, to help them work through it.”

That, Gavett stressed, is how young athletes will learn from failure. No amount of parental wisdom—or information—can learn it for them.

“Never lie,” cautioned Barbara Ann Cochran, an alpine skiing gold medalist, a former U.S. ski teamer, and sports therapist.

Lie? “Never tell your children they skied well when they didn’t. They’re smarter than that, they’ll see right through you, your credibility will be shot, and they’ll never listen to you. Just find something positive to say, like ‘you had a solid start.’ ” “As an athlete you always need to feel there are things you are doing well, and that the skills you have will help you succeed,” said Cochran, whose son, Ryan Cochran-Siegle finished last season 20th overall on the World Cup as a member of the U.S. Ski Team, his best season ever.

Barbara Ann shared a story from her own racing career. She’d finished eleventh in the first run in the world championships in Val Gardena in 1970. Her dad, Mickey Cochran, ordinarily didn’t have the money or the time to go to most of his kids’ races in Europe—he raised four ski champions—but he was there on that day, as a spectator, as a parent.

The first run, on an unrelentingly steep pitch, icy and unforgiving, had gotten the best of Barbara Ann. Her sister Marilyn, also in the race, had finished ahead of her.

Biding her time between runs, “I was nervous,” Barbara Ann recalled. “Really nervous.”

“I knew Dad was at the top of the course behind the ropes with the other spectators,” she said.

“So before my second run I went to find him. I told him I was really nervous.”

An impish grin appeared on Mickey Cochran’s face.

“Nervous?” Barbara Ann recalled him saying. “I always thought you were the cool cucumber in the family.”

That was it. No advice. Nothing more than a small, sweet compliment.

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hat cooled my nerves right down.”

Barbara Ann went on to win the silver medal, overtaking her sister.

Giggling, she added, “I don’t think Marilyn talked to Dad between her runs.”

I chortled recently when Dan Leever, publisher of the online magazine Ski Racing, reported in his Fall Line column that his magazine’s research found that few, if any, parents felt regrets about their journeys through the sport.

No regrets? Absurd costs, huge time commitments, families sent into funks by children stewing through grueling race days, the total subordination of everything else—all other activities, pastimes, and possibilities—to one single goal.

I can’t be the only parent who frequently would ask himself, after doing my volunteer race day in sub-zero temperatures or trying to soothe my broken-hearted child after watching him fall at the first gate: “Is this supposed to be fun? Is this worth it?”

But I can see why most parents told Leever’s researchers how much they loved the sport and what it had given them and their families. In the end, for me, despite the many doubts and questions over the years, and a few regrets, the answer also is yes, it is absolutely worth it.

My daughter coached last season at Taos, N.M., after living away from the mountains for a number of years.

I watched her with her U10s, guiding them through drills and their preferred activity, ripping through ancient stands of fir, pine, and spruce. It snowed and snowed over the holidays and the skiing was quiet, effortless, and perfect.

“I’d forgotten how good I am at this, how it makes me so happy,” Ellie beamed, as she played pied piper.

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From left: Ryan Cochran-Siegle, his mom Barbara Ann Cochran, and Michael Ankeny at Stowe NorAms. Lindy Cochran Kelley, Barbara

Ann, and MaryEllen Ford at the 2017 St. Moritz World Championships to watch Ryan ski. The skiing Cochran family: Ginny, Lindy, Barbara Ann, Mickey, Marilyn, and Bob. Ryan and Barbara Ann at the U.S. Alpine Speed Championships, Sugarloaf, Maine, 2017.

At some point along the way I became a hindrance. My children surpassed any knowledge and any skills I might have had when they got to the age of about 14. And the joy and thrill I derived from my children’s journey in the sport could get in their way. My role faded. I became a spectator.

Letting go was painful—and thrilling. They were on their own, which really means they found the people they needed to keep going.

“What’s really critical is that athletes learn to find support and coaching and advice from all the different sources around them,” said U.S. Ski Team’s Knight.

“Our sport really takes a network,” the three-time U.S. Olympian said. “And learning how to use that network is a great skill that they’ll have forever.”

“It’s also important that they can coach and take care of themselves. If parents are too heavily involved it can get in the way of building that valuable resiliency in the athlete.”

asked my son recently how I’d done as a ski parent. He raced from the age of 7 through college, and spent a season racing in Europe for the ski team of Argentina, where he was born. He’s 25 now, and will ski only a handful of days this winter.

There’s a last-man-standing aspect to skiing. You don’t have to be Bode Miller to find your way onto a college squad. You have to be good, sure, and you have to stick with it. This was my son’s story. He stayed the course, and it paid off, racing four years at Middlebury College.

Angie had dark days. Long stretches where he wasn’t finishing races, illnesses and injuries, failed attempts to reach goals, 16 years of training and more training, of travel, and some awful encounters with difficult people. But memory—his and mine—doesn’t go there.

“When I look back, I don’t think about the results, the really tough parts,” he said. “I just think about how much fun it was.”

I often go back to chairlift rides in the sun, my kids silently beaming, in their element, a few sparkling snowflakes.

While he reminisced, I ran through the years in my mind. I made all the mistakes. I cared too much. I lied, complimenting him when he knew very well that a compliment was undeserved, mistakenly believing that’s what love required. I ran to the scoreboard after his finishes. I hung out too close to the start houses. I stalked him on live timing, cursing when the clock would run long—had he fallen? Was he OK?. My wife and I never knew what to do when he was racing far away. Call, clumsily, after races?

“How’re you doing?”

“Fine.”

“Do you want to talk?”

“Not really.”

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ecently, Angie recalled a weeklong trip we’d taken to races in Europe, father and son. He’d had a tough season over there. Poor snow, few finishes. But he was surprisingly upbeat when we met up in France that spring. Off we went, no coach, no tech, in a crammed station wagon, to six races across the Alps.

The start lists were all Europeans. We bunked up together in tiny hotels, every meal just the two of us, and sleuthed out nooks where he could tune his skis. He needed me, but I played it down. He skied well, but continued to struggle with finishing. What he remembers is us being together.

“That was a great trip. The mountains, the races, hanging out the two of us.”

I pressed him further.

“You weren’t perfect, who is? ... You were great,” he laughed, using “great” almost as a substitute for “why are we having this conversation?” and “thanks.”

I can remember times when I was not great.

Like when I was scolded by one of his coaches for overexuberance when he skied onto his first podium at a major race.

“You’re making the other kids uncomfortable,” the coach told me.

I asked Angie about that day. He doesn’t mention the cringe-worthy moment.

Whether that’s rosy hindsight or fuzzy memory doesn’t matter.

All that comes to mind is that it was a day when he was at his very best. n

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Nathaniel Goodrich tames the Toll Road Story

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s the Toll Road on Mt. Mansfield America’s oldest continuously skied trail, as once suggested in a story published by the International Skiing History Association? Evidence suggests otherwise, but it is indisputable that skiers have enjoyed the Toll Road, first built in 1855 as a road to the Summit House Hotel near the top of Vermont’s highest peak, as a ski trail for more than a century.

The story of Mt. Mansfield’s Toll Road as ski trail begins with an unlikely hero, an outdoor-loving librarian named Nathaniel Goodrich, who made the first known descent of the trail on Feb. 1, 1914.

The seeds of Nathaniel Goodrich’s lifelong love of the mountains were sown in the Waterville Valley of New Hampshire’s White Mountains, where he summered with his family. An Amherst College graduate, Goodrich worked in West Virginia and Texas before becoming a librarian at Dartmouth College in 1911.

It was a job that would change his life forever.

At Dartmouth Goodrich saw a few students enjoying the snow on long boards and it appealed to him immediately. “There were no ski instructors in those days and we had to teach ourselves from a book or by watching students,” he told Abner Coleman in an interview published in a 1943 Mt. Mansfield Ski Club bulletin. “I think at that time I had not got beyond a snowplow and a rudimentary telemark which I could not execute at any great speed. I felt like tackling something more interesting than the pasture hills around Hanover. Mt. Washington Road had been skied but that to a complete novice seemed alarming. Also I wanted to try something which apparently had not been done before.

My friend, Charles Blood, came up from Boston for a weekend and we decided to see what could be done with the Mt. Mansfield carriage road. Mr. Blood did not ski but decided to go along on snowshoes.”

The two adventurers took a sleigh to the base of the Toll Road on a cloudy wet day. A long trek up brought them to the Summit House, just a few hundred feet below Mansfield’s 4,393-foot summit. As he told Coleman: “It was not exactly snowing or raining but a sort of hail was falling which had deposited on top of a firm base two or three inches of icy pellets. For an expert these would have made an ideal running surface but to me they were altogether too much like ball bearings, and even on that gentle slope I got up a speed which was beyond my ability to handle.”

That first descent, while entertaining, was also humbling. “My stops— voluntary and otherwise—were frequent. I reached the foot of the mountain somewhat weary but definitely pleased with myself at least until Mr. Blood hove into view a few minutes later. Steady plodding on snowshoes.

So, although this may have been one of the first descents of the Toll Road on skis, it was certainly nothing to boast about as ski running.”

As far as Stowe skiers go, Goodrich quickly faded from public view, as little was known about him except for that ski club bulletin interview.

/ Kim Brown

Yet Goodrich led a long and interesting life in which his love of skiing and mountaineering played a prominent role.

After serving as a captain in military intelligence during World War I, he returned to Dartmouth. An early member of the Appalachian Mountain Club—he edited its newsletter from 1934-1940, formative years in the ski world—Goodrich liked to explore the woods and open meadows rather than spend an afternoon riding a ski tow.

He was an enthusiastic trail cutter, involved with the creation of famous wilderness trails still in existence, like the Garfield Trail near Franconia, N.H. Describing a day spent on Garfield at age 69, he said, “While people were lined up at Cannon … we had Garfield all to ourselves, six miles of powder snow and a three-mile run down.”

Along with another Dartmouth climber John Holden, Goodrich is credited with the first ascent of the Central Gully on Mt. Washington in 1927. He climbed 65 peaks over 4,000 feet in elevation in New Hampshire as well as 24 more in Maine, Vermont, and New York, and was a charter member of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Four Thousand Footer Club.

He climbed and skied in places ranging from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of southwest Colorado to the Alps, but never lost his love of the East. “Skiing in the East is fun and that’s what I think skiing should be,” he said in “Yankee Mountaineer,” a story in a 1951 Ski Magazine. “I don’t belittle the Alps or California or the Canadian Rockies. I have pleasant memories of them all, and of other places. But no more so than my memories of New Hampshire and Vermont.”

Perhaps his greatest legacy can be found in the libraries of Dartmouth, where he served for 38 years.

The library is filled with a wonderful collection of stories and photographs from the early days of skiing due, in part, to his enthusiasm for skiing and climbing. In June 1941 his alma mater, Amherst College, awarded him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his outstanding service in the world of college libraries.

After retirement he continued to climb and ski. While his skills were still limited to the telemark turn, it suited him well in the deep powder he loved. Goodrich died in 1957 at age 77, but here in Stowe, almost six decades after that first known ski run down Mt. Mansfield, he leaves a legacy that should never be forgotten. ■ This story first appeared in the Stowe Guide & Magazine, Winter / Spring 2014-2015.

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Nathaniel Goodrich on Mt. Mansfield in 1920.

(Dartmouth College archives)

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Mount Mansfield Ski Club & Academy

SCHOOL’S

IN SESSION

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Campus of the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club & Academy on Stowe’s Mountain Road.

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Mt. Mansfield Ski Club & Academy head of school, Lori Furrer, and executive director Igor Vanovac.

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inth grader Maxi Holder wears a facial covering each morning when he arrives at school. Then he waits for the next steps in the protocol, the COVID-19 protocol.

“They shoot us with a laser gun to take our temperatures, and we sign a form certifying we haven’t been out of state or been mingling

with infected or exposed people,” Maxi explains. “We honestly don’t think too much about it at this point; we just want to be in school.”

These precautions are part of the new normal for students everywhere. But for Maxi and his classmates at Mt. Mansfield Ski Club and Academy, for teachers, staff, parents, board members, and ski coaches there’s another new normal: Mt. Mansfield Ski Club and the Mt. Mansfield Winter Academy, two venerable and storied Stowe institutions that have worked together in partnership for 26 years, merged in 2019 to become Mt. Mansfield Ski Club and Academy.

For Maxi, it boils down to this: “I’m here for the full school year,” he said. After last year’s shutdown of all Vermont schools in March, it comes as no surprise that a full school year would be cause for excitement. But for Winter Academy students, a full academic year has never been an option—until now.

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STORY

: mark aiken P H O T O G R A P H S : gordon miller 57

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he history of these organizations is important,” said Igor Vanovac, executive director of the school and ski academy. “But I always like to look ahead.” Igor is a hands-on leader who will be found on skis pretty much every day in the winter, setting courses and adjusting miles of protective netting and fencing. He came to Vermont from his native war-torn Yugoslavia via Monaco, Australia, and California, and considers the current pandemic situation with perspective.

The pandemic adds unimaginable layers of complexity to every aspect of programming—the school, the ski program, the race events, the travel (“Yes, we travel the world in search of snow,” Igor said)—but he focuses on the positive. “It is so good to be here in Vermont. We are in Stowe, the greatest place on earth.”

Stowe’s uniqueness is intertwined with its natural surroundings, Maxi Holder. the community’s passion for the outdoors, and local history. And both the club and academy, now one organization, bring their own histories, both born from a passion for skiing. The club, one of the oldest ski racing clubs in the country, officially incorporated in 1934 when Civilian Conservation Corps crews began cutting the original Mount Mansfield ski trails.

But according to Mike Leach, a ski academy race coach since 1989 and unofficial keeper of artifacts, newsletters, and anything connected with Mt. Mansfield Ski Club history, some believe the club was organizing ski events closer to Stowe Village as early as 1921.

Mackenzie Arnot.

While the club’s inception may be a matter of debate, the interconnectedness of the club, Stowe history, and snowsports history is well-documented. Charlie Lord and Abner Coleman, two early Mt. Mansfield Ski Club presidents, were friends with Vermont state forester Perry Merrill. “The club served as the central planning agency for Mount Mansfield,” said Mike, noting that it originally brought Sepp Ruschp to Stowe where he went on to meet C.V. Starr and begin the partnership that shaped the modern Stowe ski resort.

The club laid out iconic trails like Nose Dive and others, provided lodging, provided ski patrol and ski school services, organized

race events and festivals, and marketed Stowe skiing. When it comes to truly getting Mansfield set up for skiing and promoting the sport, said Mike, “The club was instrumental.”

Ruschp and Starr consolidated resort facilities under the Mount Mansfield Company and, said Mike, Stowe locals initially viewed the new guy Starr with a certain wariness, not unlike the uncertainty many felt 70 years later when Vail acquired the resort.

The club adapted to changing times by specializing. Mike pulls up a club newsletter from 1951 that announces that after several meetings the club decided to start a program for juniors. It became the beginning of the Stowe Friday ski program, with local public schools, and the club’s youth racing development program, both of which remain vibrant and vital parts of the Stowe community to this day.

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n the 1990s, families whose kids participated in the club began to express interest in taking their commitment to ski racing to the next level. The problem is that training for skiing at the highest levels and attending traditional school are pretty incompatible. The reason? Simply, lack of daylight. If you’re in school all day, it’s hard to train on snow in the dark.

Two scrappy and young Mt. Mansfield Ski Club coaches came up with the solution: start a ski academy that provides high-level academics while working around the training and racing calendar of committed student-athletes. Lori Furrer and Tiana Adams founded Mt. Mansfield Winter Academy in 1993.

“That first winter we taught classes in a hallway and stairwell in Stowe High School,” said Lori, who was academy’s executive director and still serves as head of school.

“We were both coaching at the club,” said Lori. “We both had 2-year-olds, and we were both pregnant.” And they somehow made it work as the fledgling academy bounced from one location to the next. A church served as headquarters one year and a condemned building in another. Finally, in 2005, they found a forever home, the Two Dog Lodge on the Mountain Road. This property still houses academy student-athletes, some of whom have skied at the highest levels and most of whom excel academically.

“They are hard-working and inspirational kids,” Igor said. “We all love working with them.”

The academy’s premise was to target passionate racers who also wanted to stay connected to their home schools. Lori offered the winter semester—November to February—and staff helped students keep up with assignments and curricula back home. “There was a lot of back and forth with my teachers at my home school,” explains Maxi. “When I went back to school from the academy, I’d generally be ahead.”

The shift to the full academic calendar is a significant change, one that Lori had to embrace slowly. Having done it one way for two-and-a-half decades, it’s an adjustment that she decided she was willing to make for one reason. “I love this job and interacting with the kids,” she said.

Meanwhile, she and her staff of qualified teachers—there are eight teachers for 13 full-year students; these numbers will jump to 22 teachers and 50 students for the winter term—have had a year to tailor their own curriculum after decades of working with many other schools.

Getting ready for the first full academic school year, Lori had plenty to balance: COVID precautions in accordance with state guidelines and tailored to their unique situation; new curriculum; and an evolving number of students, which eventually turned out to be double original expectations.

A week before classes opened this year, Lori held an orientation.

She asked the group, “Who’s nervous?”

“As it turns out, I was the only one,” she laughs. >>

A fun Halloween competition to see which pair of students could produce the best mummy wrap.

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The fall term report card seems to be a passing grade. “It has been great so far,” said Maxi. Doing the full semester gives both him and his teachers more flexibility to plan. He said that while he is getting dryland training in now, he’s doing more schoolwork and learning in the fall in anticipation of the ramp-up of ski training commitments and actual time on the hill when the snow flies. These options weren’t available to him when he did just the winter term.

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or 26 years, it’s been two organizations, two tax filings, two boards of directors, all with one goal: academic and athletic success. Still, operating separately was unwieldy. Igor had long been interested in joining forces.

Denise Gutstein served as president of the club’s board of directors, while her two sons attended the academy and skied with the club. Meanwhile, her husband Adam was president of the academy’s board.

“These two organizations—the club and the academy—were the two things that were most pivotal for our family,” Denise said. But although the two organizations interfaced well and worked toward common goals, some efforts were inevitably

The academic building certainly makes physical distancing easier than the old buildings; it includes spacious and well-lit classrooms, study areas, and common spaces.

“It’s clean, organized, there’s water, and the teachers have put up decorations,” said Maxi. “It’s a building you would want to stay and hang out in.”

Likewise, more than the physical structures and dollar amounts, Igor and his team stress learning, growth, and relationships.

Mackenzie Arnot graduated last year after attending the academy for six years. After one more post-graduate year with the combined ski club and academy, she plans to go to Bates College.

“These will be my friends for life,” she said, adding that her relationships with ski coaches and classroom teachers have been equally meaningful. “Lori would do anything for us. Igor is like a second dad.”

The new Mt. Mansfield Ski Club and Academy combines two Stowe pillars that have long been tied to the personality of the community. Running school programs, ski programs, holding events, and traveling with young people is never easy—let alone

Art teacher Juliet O’Neil in the classroom. Popping a wheelie while out on a mountain bike workout/ride.

duplicated. “Coming together as one organization simplifies everything,” she said.

“This also streamlines our operations and our fund raising,” said Igor.

Igor is an ardent goal-setter and big-picture person. “I like building things,” he said. During his tenure with the ski club, he was involved in the development of Main Street on Spruce, one of the premier alpine racing venues in the U.S., an $800,000 club building, a $250,000 tuning and equipment center, and a $700,000 athletic center on the academy campus (complete with weights, bikes, volleyball, basketball, and a climbing wall) that opened in 2018.

Although the improvements to infrastructure have been significant, Igor is careful not to go overboard. “We aren’t building outrageous buildings,” he said. “We operate within our means.”

On top of the list of capital projects is the newly finished academic building, a $2.5 million addition. “It’s wonderful,” said Lori, remembering years with more modest facilities. “We can say don’t run in the halls because now we have halls.”

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during a global pandemic. Add to the mix an extreme sport where everyone involved is pushing envelopes, expanding personal limits, and competing.

“It is a delicate balance,” said Igor, whose own kids race and whose wife Micheline Lemay directs the junior program. He stresses and recognizes what’s truly important. “Families and spirit,” he said. “Camaraderie and competition. We have such a community, and everyone pulls on the same rope.”

Igor, no stranger to adversity, knows there will be challenges this year. What’s the biggest challenge facing the organization in this most difficult of years? He thinks for a moment, no doubt going over state mandates, testing protocols, travel restrictions, and then he laughs. “I adore every aspect of it. As long as we’re advancing and enjoying ourselves, I think we’re going to be OK.” n More at mmsca.org.

The ski club and academy’s $700,000 athletic center, complete with weights, bikes, volleyball, basketball, and a climbing wall. It opened in 2018.

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QUEEN BUMS Marion, Kitty and half a century of Tuesday races

S T O R Y : Tommy Gardner

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P H O T O G R A P H S : Gordon Miller

Marion Baraw and Kitty Coppock, both of Stowe, sat down for an interview in Spruce Camp at Stowe Mountain Resort last February on race day of the Stowe Ski Bum series. Bob Burley, an “oldie, but goodie,” stopped by. Both women’s involvement with the races goes back to the first one, Jan. 6, 1971.

half century ago, two groups of skiers decided to have a race down Spruce Peak, with a keg of beer on the line. From those lowly origins sprang the weekly Ski Bum race series, held every Tuesday on Stowe Mountain Resort since 1971.

Marion Baraw and Kitty Coppock have been there for the whole ride, as competitors, cheerleaders, announcers, organizers, and revelers.

“You’re looking at the fulcrum of recreational racing in Stowe, Vermont,” said Bob Burley—whom Baraw and Coppock referred to with affection as “an oldie, but goodie” —as he caught up with Baraw and Coppock before a ski bum race last February, and chatted them up. “They are the foremost practitioners of the studies of Archimedes.”

He’s the one who famously said if you give him a lever and a place to stand, he could move the earth.

Baraw and Coppock are far too modest for that, but there is something to planning and organizing and keeping things running smoothly. And they play a big part in bridging a wide age gap, with people in their 80s and people in their late teens competing each week and hanging out afterward.

“One of the cool things about the ski bum races, and I say this all the time, is that we really truly have a huge cross section of ages. We have 20-something-year-olds racing. And, as you can see, here comes another oldie but goodie,” Baraw said as Bud McKeon, bib number 80, walks by and waves at the ladies.

McKeon was one of the co-founders of the races, along with Stu Baraw, Marion’s husband.

Their names are still on the weekly results page, and with the handicap system in place, they are

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essentially continuing to race against themselves, even as younger racers like Dustin Martin recently went three seasons undefeated by all comers.

Kim Brown, a building designer in Waterbury who has been racing on Tuesdays since 1979—“I haven’t missed a season yet,” he said—and chronicling the local ski scene in a Stowe Reporter column since the late 1980s, said Baraw is “incredibly passionate and ethical when it comes to organizing the races.”

Some people refer to her as Maid Marion, he said.

“She could be seen by some as the mother of the ski bum race,” Brown said. “She herself isn’t competitive, but she’s always taken the races very seriously.”

But not too seriously.

Baraw is the voice that everyone who skis or rides in the Bum races hears as they come down the twin courses on Spruce Peak’s Slalom Hill—they compete mainly against the clock, but you can knock out two people at a time this way, plus it’s just more fun to watch. Baraw maintains a steady pace on the microphone >>

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in the booth, announcing the racers as they head out of the gate, and dropping tidbits of biography as they come over the knoll and into sight of crowds below.

She announces each racer’s time, but frequently a skier who didn’t hear it will pop his or her head into the booth and ask for their time, or just say hello. Then Maid Marion is fluidly onto the next skier, and the next.

“She has a very familiar voice,” said Martin, who grew up in Stowe. “Anytime anyone comes over the knoll, she’s always saying something about them. She’s been around the ski bum races so long, she just knows everybody.”

Martin, now 29 years old, is perhaps the best ski bum racer in recent years. After his first race in 2015 didn’t go so well—he was told he ought to tank his run to help his handicap, and he says he foolishly listened—he went three seasons without a loss. And then he decided to take up telemark skiing. And he decided to do that on the big stage, in a ski bum race.

Martin was used to times of sub-26 seconds on his race skis. On teles, it took him about five times that long. And, naturally, Baraw had fun with that.

“My first time on tele skis was right at the top, and I just jumped on the course,” Martin said.

“Marion was right there on the microphone, and I’m, like, a minute twenty coming down the course, and she was right on it the whole time.”

At left: Marion Baraw announces the racers—and

offers commentary—at Stowe’s weekly ski bum races, put on by the Mount Mansfield Ski Club & Academy. She’s in the booth with Kitty Coppock, and John Elkins, who runs the computer handicapping and seeding system, which Baraw used to do with paper and pencil.

Below: Baraw brings in the bibs for the final time after the last race of the 1973 series. Marion and Stu Baraw ham it up at an event from year’s past.

Amateur hour

January 6, 1971. At the top of the women’s standings is Lyndall Heyer, finishing in 45.96, just under half a second faster than second place, Millie Bryant. Coppock is on the list, too—although then she was Kitty Ross—sitting in 8th place.

But Heyer’s name isn’t there throughout the decades on ski bum results like Coppock’s or Burley’s or McKeon’s, or any number of long timers who are still racing after decades. That’s because in 1971 Heyer was 14 years old and only a handful of years removed from a 10-year career as a World Cup racer on the U.S. Ski Team.

The thing about the ski bum races is they are fiercely amateur. Brown said Baraw has always worked hard “to keeping them citizen races.”

“Of course, defining a citizen racer in Stowe is tough,” he said. The line between amateur and elite can be pretty thin, what with the field of talent in town, and the World Cup and Olympic athletes who cut their teeth on the slopes of Mansfield and Spruce Peak.

“For Marion, it has always been about separating out the ski bums from those who aren’t,” Brown said. “The tricky part with her was you really had to set aside your career and say, ‘OK, now I’m a ski bum. Once she was convinced, you were a ski bum for life.”

Said Baraw, “Since the very, very beginning, we have been trying to make this strictly amateur competition.”

Heyer said people tried to get her, post-racing career, to join the Tuesday tradition, but she just didn’t feel as good as she used to be when she was with the World Cup. North central Vermont skiing is just that good, but not everyone can make a go at world-class level.

“The ski bum races are a lot more fun for people who are really excited about competing, who didn’t get a chance to,” Heyer said. “I would go to these races, and you feel just as fast.”

Marion said it was her husband Stu who suggested the handicap system, basing it off the International Ski Federation (FIS) point system, and custom-fitting it over the years.

Up until four years ago, Marion did all the results and the handicaps by hand, pencil and paper. >>

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That would take her the better part of a whole day, coming up with seedings, and then getting the results out. These days, a racer, John Elkins, volunteers to run the computer handicapping and seeding system.

“I always call it ‘the old Marion system,’ ” she said of the pencil and paper method. “If it weren’t for the handicap system, this would have died out years ago, because, really, you’re skiing against yourself.”

Heyer said Baraw’s handicap system is “just genius,” because it makes it possible for someone who is just starting to race able to improve all year long, and help their team.

“Dustin may be the fastest one out there, but it’s the guy who’s number four for his team that might be the most valuable person on that team,” Heyer said.

Rivalries and revelry

Here’s the thing about Marion Baraw: for all of the maternal, organizational, and collegial aspects she brings to carrying out and announcing the races every Tuesday, she doesn’t really ski.

“I was never a big-time racer,” she said. “Stu used to say I stopped for lunch at the knoll.”

After a while, she pretty much hung up the skis.

“I realized I still loved the ski bum races, but I just don’t like skiing,” she said, laughing.

Coppock, though, is very competitive, and the only reason she didn’t race in 2020 was because she was out of commission after having knee replacement surgery.

Above: Kitty Coppock, “Ski Bum of the Week” in

2014, at Spruce Peak. Coppock has raced in every ski bum season since its inception in 1971, except 2020, when she had a knee replacement. Coppock skied for two teams, in 1980 and 1981, that won the Ski Club Challenge race, sponsored by Grand Marnier. When Jeep revived the challenge in 1990, she again joined the winning club team, along with Dan Susslin, LeeLee Goodson, David Wells, Gail LeBaron, and Kim Brown.

At right: A Stowe Reporter newspaper clipping from April 5, 1973, about the season’s end to the 3rd Smugglers Bowl, aka Stowe Ski Bum races.

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“It was the first year since 1971 that I haven’t raced,” Coppock said.

But she was still there with Baraw before the penultimate race of the coronavirus-shortened season on Feb. 25. She checked racers in, handing out their bibs, seeming to know everyone, seeming to be known by everyone.

When reached for a check-in in late November, Coppock was back to “dry land training,” and had just gotten back from a four-mile hike.

“Kitty would disappear at some point, and you’d find out she was skiing out in Sun Valley.

Marion would disappear and the word was that she was down in the Caribbean,” Brown said.

Coppock is modest about her abilities, even though her name appears on results sheets going back nearly half a century. The current iteration of the metal Smugglers Bowl trophy that the winning team gets to keep for a week and take to the after party has her name on it.

“On the very bottom is a little plaque that says, this bowl was donated by Kitty Coppock, because it’s the only way she’ll ever get her name on it,” she said.

The early parties were always held at Sister Kate’s, where Rock King, another of those original racers, played piano and told stories for the crowds. But at first, Baraw said, there were no after parties, except for one to end the season. Just race, come back for the final and go home.

The after party eventually started rotating around town, with different bars hosting it, providing a spread of food and drink specials. Local merchants chipped in with prizes—good ones, too—for the winners.

“You know what the coolest thing about the ski bum races is, really, truly, other than the actual races? How much the town has gotten behind these,” Baraw said. >>

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At right: Marion Baraw and Kitty Coppock at Spruce Peak en route to their weekly gig in the announcer’s booth for the Tuesday Races, aka Stowe Ski Bum races, whose return this year depends on COVID. Inset: Ski bums hang at the bot-

tom of the Slalom Hill at Spruce as other racers make their way through the gates.

Brown said Baraw’s spirit hasn’t dissipated from the weekly event, especially when it comes to the parties. But things are far tamer in Stowe than they were in the wild and wooly 1970s and 80s.

When the two were being inducted into the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club hall of fame in 2006, Nancy Wolfe Stead remembered, “Once a year, for the final ski bum race, Marion puts on her double friedegg T-shirt and lets someone else handle the innuendos at the mike.”

“The social scene was the hot tub scene,” Brown said, “and Marion was likely to be in the tub.”

“Naked in the hot tub at the Matterhorn,” Baraw said laughing. “We used to do a lot of things.”

Brown said Kitty’s husband, Al Coppock, was in charge of fireworks during the Stowe Winter Carnival, and Brown and company “would just get hammered,” and set off big boomers.

Those days are long gone, something a quick glance at the weekly DUI arrests in the Stowe Reporter police blotter will attest to.

“I won’t say the cops looked the other way, but there was a sense that you just let Tuesdays play out,” Brown said.

One thing that hasn’t changed: the skiers and riders at the post-race parties come hungry. Heyer said there’s a little bit of Mountain Road cred to when you show up—you show up to the party early and it looks like you didn’t race or pregame; show up too late and all the food will be gone.

“The ski bums will just come and wolf it all down,” Heyer said.

“What they created, Marion and Kitty and all those people, it gets all the restaurants and the bars involved, and all the teams with the crazy names,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anything quite like it in all of Vermont.”

The history

The races, which were originally on Wednesdays, came about from a good old-fashioned rivalry.

McKeon, who was with popular nightclub Sister Kate’s, and Stu Baraw, with Stoweflake, decided to pit the two institutions against each other with a keg of beer on the line. In those days, it probably wasn’t a hop-forward IPA from a local brewer, unless you were from Milwaukee.

The ski bum races were canceled in 2020 after the first Tuesday in March, which is also Vermont’s Town Meeting Day. At that point, coronavirus was a real thing, and the country and the state were just waiting for leaders to make it official.

It’s possible to make it happen. Coppock, Brown, and Baraw all have ideas on how to pull it off—minimal personnel on the course, and no milling about at the bottom to cheer everyone on, everyone just racing the clock and getting their runs in when they can. The parties are most likely off the table for 2021, unless something happens and the situation improves and Gov. Phil Scott lifts restrictions on bars. Would anyone ever feel comfortable drinking out of a communal, dinged-up metal bowl that has been passed around more times over the decade than can be counted?

“I don’t know,” Baraw said. “I think everyone is holding their breath.”

Coppock said there is an idea floating around that a racer would be assigned a bib number and keep it all year instead of picking a new one every Tuesday. “But, let’s say you’re number 6. You get to go down sixth,” Coppock said. “But if you’re number 96? The snow isn’t that great at that point. Although, some people like it that way, I don’t know why.”

One thing’s sure, though—if the races are still on, Coppock will be there, with mask and anything else to protect her and others.

“I’ll be wrapped up like a mummy, but I’ll give it a try,” she said. n

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Marion Post Wolcott 1910-1990

FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION PHOTOGRAPHER CAPTURES STOWE, CIRCA 1940

■ ”Skiers relaxing in the sun during noon hour outside of forest ranger’s hut near the top of Mount Mansfield, Smugglers Notch, near Stowe, Vermont”; Next page, “Untitled negative showing Marion Post Wolcott standing in snow with cameras,” location unknown

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STORY

: robert kiener

|

WORKS

: marion post wolcott |

PORTRAIT

: unknown

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lthough she never became as famous as her fellow photographers at the Farm Security Administration, such as Walker Evans or Dorothea Lange, Marion Post Wolcott made a name for herself during the four years (19381942) she worked for the agency, producing more than 9,000 images.

While other FSA photographers concentrated on documenting the plight of impoverished rural Americans after the Depression, Wolcott produced thousands of pictures that depicted America’s stronger, more hopeful side, such as its glorious landscapes, civic scenes, and evocative photographs of family life.

As one writer has observed, what sets Wolcott’s photographs apart from the work of other Farm Security Administration photographers “is the profoundly touching and personal quality of her pictures. She seems to have gone beyond the harsh realities of the time to embrace and illumine the life she saw.”

Vermont writer Nancy Graff, author of “Looking Back at Vermont: Farm Security Administration Photographs 1936-1942,” notes that Wolcott came to the administration at a time when it wanted to produce more positive pictures of the country. It was a perfect match.

Graff writes that Wolcott “had established herself as a photographer who took both sensitive pictures of people and evocative pictures of the land. She took some ribbing for taking ‘beautiful pictures of the photographs continue, p.74; story, p.80

■ “Untitled, possibly related to: Skiers during noon hour outside of toll house at foot of Mount Mansfield, Smugglers Notch. Near Stowe, Vermont”

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CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE

■ “The Lodge, ski home near Mount Mansfield. Stowe, Vermont”

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■ “Forest ranger bringing in supplies which he has carried up the mountain on skis to his hut, which is also used by skiers in the winter. About half an hour later on his next trip down the mountain on skis for more supplies he broke his leg.

Near the top of Mount Mansfield, Smugglers Notch, near Stowe, Vermont, 1939-40”

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Bath ~ Bedding ~ Gifts ~ Kids ~ Baby ~ Pets ~ Kitchen ~ Home

Kitchen ~ Home ~ Bath ~ Bedding ~ Gifts ~ Kids ~ Baby ~ Pets ~ Kitchen

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Marion Post Wolcott ■ “Snow-covered trees and ski trail on top of Mount Mansfield, Smugglers Notch. Near Stowe, Vermont” “Skiers eating lunch in tollhouse at foot of Mount Mansfield. Smugglers Notch.

Near Stowe, Vermont” “Skis in the sun outside the tollhouse during lunch hours at foot of Mount Mansfield, Smugglers Notch. Near Stowe, Vermont”

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■ Clockwise, top left, “Town of Stowe, Vermont”; “Snow fence near Stowe, Vermont”; “Looking northeast from the top of Mount Mansfield.

Smugglers Notch near Stowe, Vermont”; and “Farm and Green Mountains on road near Stowe, Vermont”

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good earth’—she herself referred to the pictures as ‘FSA cheesecake’—but her passion for the land’s beauty was genuine. So was her interest in trying to portray New England in winter.”

Wolcott believed that winter was an ideal season to capture New England’s special character. As she once wrote, “Winter is the only time to photograph farms and towns, really locating them in their relation to the land and mountains.”

The 30-year-old photographer came to Vermont in 1940 and crisscrossed the state, including a stop in Stowe during March where she produced a series of pictures that offer tantalizing glimpses of Stowe’s early days as New England’s ski capital.

There are striking landscape pictures, evocative images of skiers on Stowe’s uncrowded ski trails, documentary-style photographs of skiers relaxing atop Mt. Mansfield and dining in the Toll House, as well as panoramic shots from the summit of Vermont’s highest peak.

She also captured classic Stowe scenes, such as snowbound dairy barns and deeply-rutted, muddy dirt roads. However, according to Graff, the pic-

tures of skiers relaxing at the lodge, “... perhaps more than any of her other photographs of skiing, capture the budding glamour of the sport, particularly as it would blossom in resort towns such as Stowe and Woodstock.”

Wolcott is now recognized as one of the earliest photographers to capture the harsh beauty of Vermont’s often stark winters.

While she has counted her winter assignment in Vermont as one of her favorite assignments, Wolcott, who died in 1990 at 80, did admit she found the climate challenging.

Said Graff, “Because of our cold weather, Marion often was forced to innovate. For example, her camera frequently froze up and she would place it atop her car’s engine to help it defrost.” After her tripod kept sinking into the snow, she put ski pole baskets on its legs to stabilize it.

But Vermont’s demanding conditions never dimmed Wolcott’s determination to produce memorable photographs. Nor did it diminish her sense of humor. During an especially frigid time in Vermont, she sent a wry telegram to her Farm Security Administration bosses, saying, “What really ruins my disposition are the icy cold toilet seats.” ■

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ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN Artist Jeanne Alix preserves images of the past Jeanne Alix has an eye for things that others might miss.

For the past 18 years, the artist—who prefers to be referred to by her last name—has explored and re-created the architectural beauty found in and around Waterbury.

“People will say to me, ‘I’ve lived here my whole life and I never noticed that building, or that bridge,’ but the beauty, the uniqueness of this region just jumps out at me and I have to paint it,” Alix said from her studio in Waterbury Center.

She offers her wares—which include paintings, notecards, calendars, and jewelry—under the banner of “Art by Alix,” and is a familiar face to anyone who visits the Waterbury Farmers Market.

STORY / JOSH O’GORMAN “For 30 years, I had businesses in Connecticut, and it was PHOTOGRAPHS / GORDON MILLER ‘Expressions by Alix’ and ‘Designs by Alix,’ so ‘Art by Alix’ seemed like a natural fit,” she said, while taking a break from making a pair of earrings.

“Making earrings, it’s not my big thing, it’s what I do to relax,” she said. “There are times when things flow, and times when you have a quiet time and you have to have faith that things will happen again.”

Alix recalled the inspiration for her current painting endeavor.

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“I was coming home on a beautiful, snowy day, and all of these beautiful houses began to just stand out for me and I knew I had to paint them,” Alix said. “I called it ‘Faces of Waterbury.’ ” With a camera in hand, Alix travels the back roads and main thoroughfares of the region, taking snapshots that she uses as models when she returns to her studio to paint.

In addition to capturing the beauty that draws so many visitors to the area, Alix is creating a historical record of sorts.

“When someone opens a new business, I like to do a portrait of their building,” she said.

Her portraits also serve as a record of times gone by, of buildings that did not stand the test

BEFORE & AFTER From top left: “Cloverdale Farm.” Jeanne Alix makes earrings too. “Wallace Farm.” Alix sells her work at a local farmers market.

of time for one reason or another. When John and Val Vincent closed Vincent’s Drug & Variety in 2009—a family-owned store with nearly a century of history in Waterbury—Alix made sure to paint a portrait.

In another example of historical preservation by way of art, following a devastating fire that destroyed the Wallace farm on Blush Hill Road in Waterbury in April 2018, Alix tracked down photos of the farm before the fire and painted a portrait that serves as a memory of happier times.

Alix also documented the before-and-after of the Main Street Fire Station in Waterbury, which was torn down in 2010 and rebuilt in 2011.

Art collectors and history buffs can enjoy single prints of her work, each of which includes a short history of the building on its back, or see a year’s worth of art in her calendars, which she finds quite popular with tourists.

“I’ve met people I’ve never expected to meet,” Alix said. “I meet people from literally all over the world, and they take my calendars home and they take a piece of Vermont with them.”

After nearly two decades of painting the many faces of Waterbury, Alix said she needs to hunt a little bit harder to find new subjects.

“I’m running out of places to paint,” she said. “Sometimes, people ask me if I’ll do their homes and it will take me to a new place, or other people will say, ‘Have you seen this barn?’ But I’m starting to run out of places.”

Alix welcomes solicitations from people who wish to have their home or business rendered in the form of a portrait. Her studio is also open by appointment.

At over 80 years old, Alix said she has no plans to retire from painting.

“I think I will go out of this world with a brush in my hand,” she said. ■ //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: artbyalix@aol.com.

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FOUND IN VERMONT

COURTESY PHOTOS

HANDY SANITIZERS, DISTILLERY-STYLE TAKE A NOTE, MRS. WIGGINS If you like to write by hand, whether a novel or a grocery list, then treat yourself to the beauty and tactile satisfaction of a Vermont Hardwood pen. Owner Jim Cunningham turns outs these elegant hardwood pens in his studio in Bristol—thousands of pens since he began crafting them 20 years ago. He makes three different styles from a dozen wood species and all are compatible with either Cross or Parker refills. Prices are $25 and $35, depending on the style. For an extra $5 you can have your pen stabilized with a heat-cured resin used to harden and stabilize porous material, especially wood. These pens will last a lifetime, just long enough to write your memoir.

When stores sold out of hand sanitizer at the beginning of COVID-19, Vermont’s distilleries sprang into action, distilling high-proof spirit alcohol to make batches of sanitizer. Many local distillers jumped on board immediately, with their own unique blends. Green Mountain Distillers combines theirs with an organic aloe gel, and some batches contain an organic lemon extract. Smugglers’ Notch Distillery’s are available in single 4-oz. containers or in 12-pack cases. All these sanitizers are made following World Health Organization guidelines, and are available at the distilleries, as well as online. (Some distilleries may require you to bring your own containers, so call first.)

INFO: Visit each company’s website for more info.

INFO: vermonthardwoodpens.com.

‘SUDDENLY YOU ARE NOBODY’

TOY JOY What kid doesn’t love toys, and what can be better for a child than toys crafted by wood?

Forget the plastic and electronic junk of the modern age and think of the pleasure you derived playing with Lincoln Logs. Your kids and their kids can experience that same pleasure with Vermont Wooden Toys. Located in Norwich, the company makes 125 varieties of wooden toys, from cars, trains, boats, and planes to building blocks and rocking horses.

There are toys to pull, toys to rock, and toys to ride, and all are designed to be durable and safe in the play space. They are beautifully crafted and all are sanded extra smooth.

Kids will adore these toys, creating their own games while developing their little brains.

INFO: vermontwoodentoys.com.

HANG IN STYLE Made of naturally rot-resistant Vermont white cedar, Vermont Clotheslines are strong enough to bear the weight of a full load of laundry, all the while looking stylish in the yard. The Summer Breeze clothesline is suitable for large yards and large loads of laundry and has nine parallel drying lines suspended between two Y-shaped support beams. Clotheslines are a simple way to lower energy costs and reduce your carbon footprint. And there’s nothing like the smell of laundry that’s been dried on the line.

Jared Gange is known in New England for authoring a plethora of hiking guidebooks. He has stepped out of his wheelhouse with a book that profiles 30 refugees who found new homes in Vermont. “Suddenly You Are Nobody, Vermont Refugees Tell Their Stories,” is organized by the countries they fled from, and is filled with stunning and often heartbreaking photos from those countries, as well as lovely, spirited portraits of the refugees after they settled here. Gange gives us a glimpse of the hardship and struggles refuges endure as they seek better lives in a different country, and the hope that sustains them through their ordeals.

In a time when immigration is a highly divisive topic, Gange shows the human side of immigration and puts faces to individuals who suddenly became nobody. It’s a beautiful and inspiring read.

INFO: Available at bookstores throughout Vermont.

INFO: smartdrying.com

Compiled by Kate Carter. Have a product you’d like us to feature? Send us, not your sales rep, a two-sentence description of why our readers need to know to kate_carter@comcast.net.

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STOWE PEOPLE BUSINESS PLAN Oralee and Selah Barrett, at home in Stowe, with products they sell through their online company, Notes from the North. Inset: A charcuterie box comes in several sizes.

THE BARRETTS OF STOWE, VERMONT COURTESY PHOTO

Soccer siblings kick off online business

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During the most severe isolation of spring quarantine, Stowe’s Barrett siblings still had each other.

And during those months of familial seclusion, they remembered they had something else—a great idea for a business.

So two months into COVID, four of the seven Barretts bore down on turning that long-simmering idea into a reality and started an online company selling Vermont products.

Notes from the North offers Vermont-made foods such as STORY / SCOOTER MACMILLAN syrup, bacon, cheese, chocolate, PHOTOGRAPHS / GORDAN MILLER and marshmallows. They also sell locally produced lifestyle products for the bath, beauty supplies, and home goods.

Oralee Barrett, a sophomore at Stowe High School, said one of their most popular items is curated boxes, a collection of items around a theme. For example, the small Green Mountain curated box—it comes in three sizes— includes extra sharp cheddar from Shelburne Farms, raspberry-elderflower soda from savouré in Bristol, maple syrup from Rugged Ridge Forest in Worcester, raspberry redcurrant geranium jam from V Smiley Preserves in New Haven, and cranberry pistachio crisps from Jan’s Farmhouse Crisps, >>

Located at 5 Stowe Street in downtown Waterbury Open Tuesday - Friday 10-6, Saturday 10-4

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Art Sourcing & Curating

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ROUTE 15 • JOHNSON, VERMONT (11⁄2 miles west of the village)

Open 7 days a week: 10AM – 7PM

Famous Label, OFF PRICE Clothing for Men, Women & Teens 87

STOWE PEOPLE

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dark chocolate from Laughing Moon Chocolates, and granola from Mitzi’s Fresh Mountain Foods, all from Stowe.

Notes from the North also has various sizes of charcuterie, s’mores, breakfast, and campfirecurated boxes.

Selah Barrett, a senior at Groton School, a boarding school in Massachusetts, said they are building their product line, reaching out to businesses in the Northeast, but are trying to stick primarily to Vermont.

The Barretts say they are proud of their friendships and connections to Stowe, but they are also gratified to be starting a Black-owned company in a state with few African-American businesses.

“We’d like to bring more diversity to the business world,” said their brother Ethan. “When we started this summer, we found that less than 1 percent of businesses in Vermont are Black-owned.

My siblings and I found that unacceptable.”

Still, Vermont—and Stowe—is home. “I don’t think I can ever express how much this place means to me. Definitely going away has made me realize how much it means,” he added.

The Barretts have been amazed at the progress their fledging company has made in such a short time. Shipments go out every week, each with a personalized note from the north and a photo.

Oralee Barrett oversees most of the shipping and note writing, in addition to the lion’s share of social media and product photography, while three of her siblings in the venture are away at school.

The idea for Notes from the North was inspired by the Barretts’ former nanny, Ruby Wilson, who came with the family when they moved to Stowe eight years ago from Centerville, Md. In 2017, Wilson suggested the idea of sending out packages with a personalized note.

So, the name of their company is more than alliterative.

Since the Barretts moved to Stowe, they’ve made their mark on local sports. All of the siblings, except Maya, played soccer for Stowe High School.

Ethan was part of three state championship teams before he went to Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, N.H., and then to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. He’s continued to play soccer in college.

Maya played field hockey and she believes the time playing team sports is helping with their company.

“It’s taught us how to work with other people and how to have constructive conversations,” she said.

Although the company is a for-profit, there is a nonprofit component to the effort. Notes from the North is selling African print masks from Blue Leopard, an African women’s cooperative in Zambia. All of the proceeds from these sales go to the nonprofit.

Since 2008, the Barrett kids have raised money for the United Nations World Food Programme after their mother showed them pictures of children suffering from famine in Ethiopia.

There’s more than one pandemic, Ethan said.

“Hunger is a worldwide pandemic. Fifty cents will feed a child for a day. If people realized that, they would take a step back and realize the loose change in their pocket can really save and change lives.” ■ //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: notesfromthenorth.net

COURTESY PHOTO

SCORE! Celebrating a score by Selah, who played on the Stowe High School girls soccer team, 2018.

Selah at the Stowe Veterans Day breakfast in the same year. Inset: Heady Topper goat’s milk soap from Elmore Mountain Farm.

Johnson Woolen Mills Factory Store Quality Woolen Garments for the Entire Family SINCE 1842

Quality Woolens Fabrics by the Yard Hudson Bay Point Blankets

Main Street, Johnson, Vermont (15 minutes from Stowe, 40 minutes from Jay) Open Mon-Sat 9-5 & Sun 10-4 • 802-635-2271 • 877-635-WOOL (9665)

www.johnsonwoolenmills.com 89

GLENN CALLAHAN; CALLAHAN; GORDON MILLER

DINING & LODGING

The Stowe area boasts a variety of cuisines and dining atmospheres, from swanky bistros that embrace the local food movement to fine-dining establishments featuring award-winning chefs and busy pubs with the latest microbrews—and everything in between! Check out the area’s great places to stay, as well, from full-service resorts to quaint country inns. Our guide to dining and lodging outlines the myriad choices from which to choose, and perfectly complements the Stowe Area Association’s menu and dining book.

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COVID

messes with everything.

It’s not been kind to anyone, particularly small businesses. One of the hardest hit sectors? The restaurant industry. Restaurant owners are reinventing the way they do business and finding creative ways to stay open and keep their crews working.

Since March, when the pandemic shutdown was announced, owners scrambled to keep cooking for their clients, while adhering to the state’s safety rules.

It hasn’t been easy, and in the back of every restaurant owner’s and worker’s mind has been the possibility of closing up for good.

Thanks to grants, loans, unemployment compensation, and a lot of determination, perseverance, and grit, most have been able to remain open. For now. Here’s how they did it.

STORY:

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Kate Carter | P H O T O G R A P H S : Gordon Miller

MARK FRIER AND CHAD FRY.

MARK FRIER & CHAD FRY BENCH, TRES AMIGOS, THE RESERVOIR

How did the staff react?

What was your first reaction to the news?

We had all this food inventory, so we let the staff come in and take what they wanted and we froze what we could. Then we tried to cut costs and help our 130 employees get unemployment. Chad and I went on unemployment, too.

A lot were afraid for their safety and what this would mean for their future. We didn’t reduce wages and the $600/week unemployment plan really helped them weather the storm. We were also concerned about mental health. We did a fundraiser for the staff with beer we had canned and gave the money we raised to employees. We rehired everyone who wanted to return and were able to bring back about 80 percent, but not food runners and bussers.

Did you apply for state and federal aid?

How did the summer go?

Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) announced ways to handle the slowdown and offered loans, but the way it was structured we had eight weeks to spend the money. Mostly we gave it to the employees. PPP really did not work for our industry. The program was designed on loans that needed to be paid back in eight weeks, which didn’t help us. We tried to not spend money we shouldn’t spend, not knowing how to pay it back. It would have been crippling dept. I still don’t know if we will end up with forgiveness or debt.

It was good. The weather on weekends really helped. Tres Amigos did well because it has a lot of outdoor seating next to the bike path.

Overall sales are off 20 to 40 percent, which means we’re running at a loss.

Panic. It was terrifying. We were concerned for the safety of the staff, and watching other states shut down their restaurants was scary and stressful. Then we watched the other restaurants in town shut down before the state required them to. Restaurants don’t typically speak as one voice, but we started to come together by email, and hundreds across the state joined.

How did you go about closing?

What are your plans for winter?

When did you reopen and what did you do to reopen?

We staggered our reopenings. It would have been suicide to open all three restaurants at once. We started with The Bench at the end of June and by July we got all three going. Mostly we focused on our floorplans and how to space out tables, and we thought about how we would protect our staff. Some were afraid to interact with customers. Then we simplified the menu. We struggled with take-out because our point-of-sale computer was outdated and we got put in a queue for updating. It was totally new to us and it’s highly technical on the website. Now we have a system in place and I think it will help in the future. That’s one thing we are excited about.

Were there other difficulties?

The supply chain was a problem. We had a hard time finding food. We also couldn’t find outdoor furniture for outdoor seating. Everyone was buying it for their own personal patios.

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At The Bench we will be going from 110 seats to 55 and no bar seating. At Tres Amigos we are fortunate to be able to expand seating into the Rusty Nail and the arcade room. There will be no live music at the Rusty Nail. The Reservoir is similar. We are able to expand into the upstairs party room. We recommend that customers make reservations, and we take their name and call-back information in case there’s a case for contact tracing, and our employees have their temperatures taken every day. I’m glad to see that the ski resort will open. If they didn’t, we would definitely have to shut down.

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“I’m a nervous Nelly and I experienced a lot of stress and anxiety. We had been in control of our destiny and then suddenly we were not.”

— Kathy Kneale

ANDREW & KATHY KNEALE HARRISON’S RESTAURANT

What were you’re thoughts when COVID first hit?

Our mindset was that next week we’ll be open. We kept saying that and eventually we realized it wasn’t going to happen any time soon. The unknown was very scary. We had just come off our best year ever and suddenly everything shut down. It was very frustrating to have no control over our own business. Everyone was in the same boat, trying to figure it out.

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Did you feel doomed?

Just for a second. Then it was one foot in front of the other. For us, it was about survival. We discussed what else we could do for a livelihood and the answer was nothing, so we just went to Plan B: fight and move forward. “COVID really rocked my world, so I couldn’t even fathom when we would open again. I did a lot of cleaning and I found it was therapeutic,” Kathy said.

“I’m a nervous Nelly and I experienced a lot of stress and anxiety. We had been in control of our destiny and then suddenly we were not.”

How did your employees do?

Your Craft Beer Destination from Vermont and beyond...

We were very impressed with how quickly they were able to adjust. They were onboard with reduced hours, sanitizing, regulations, masks. Many have been with us for 10 years and everyone was a trouper. They just rolled with all the changes. It helped tremendously. We have about 20 employees and we didn’t lose any. They were able to collect unemployment and the $600 stimulus. When they came back they were still able to get partial unemployment. They were on top of it and proactive.

When did you reopen?

We started with limited take-out at the end of May and we opened four nights a week at the beginning of June with indoor and outdoor seating. We were able to add four additional outdoor tables at TD Bank’s drive-through after banking hours. That was incredibly helpful. We already had five outdoor tables with flower pots, an awning, and heaters; it was like a little bistro spot. People really liked it.

How did the summer go?

The warm weather saved everybody and the town was packed for fall foliage, but we only did half the business from summer 2019, and it’s twice the work for half the people, with sanitizing, setting up the patio, handling take-out orders. We had done very little take-out over the years. It was about 3 percent of our business. Now it’s 30 percent. Some nights it’s all we do. Our menu is typically dining and we had to create a take-out menu, as well as a whole new system for online reservations. We use Toast, a point-of-sale software program that offered three months for free. There were a lot of logistics of working out the kitchen, front-of-house, and pick-up. It took two full nights to figure out the new system.

Did you take advantage of state and federal financial aid programs?

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We did PPP for payroll and received two grants from the state. It took a lot of time to research everything. We got the PPP loan right away, but then we had no income to pay it back within the eight weeks we were closed, but that got changed to six months. We had to constantly monitor deadlines and changes in programs. It was fortunate we got the funds or we would be closed. We are trying not to use any loan money that has to be paid back. We use what we got in grants.

What were other challenges?

The food chain was a problem. We had to change our menu regularly, based on what was available, and there were a lot of extra expenses—sanitizing supplies, masks, take-out paper goods, plexiglass, and outdoor heaters.

What are your plans for winter?

That’s the million-dollar question. We have plans and goals. We only have 14 tables and bar seating. Now we only have seven tables, the bar has Plexiglas and seating, and we will continue to do takeout.

Has anything positive come from this experience?

It added a new dimension to be more flexible. COVID brought restaurant owners together to share information and we were looking out for each other. If COVID didn’t happen we would never have expanded take-out. It made us look at everything. “I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do, which is why we’re fighting so hard to stay open,” Kathy said. “We’re not unrealistic, but we’re positive. We understand the reality, but negativity is a bad culture and I truly believe we will make it through this.”

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Open Tuesday - Saturday 4pm - 10pm | Sunday 11am - 7pm 2160 Mountain Road, Stowe | 802.253.9333

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JOHN NEVILLE IDLETYME BREWING COMPANY How long have you been at Idletyme?

I moved my family here in April 2019 when I accepted the job, so we were only in Stowe for a year when the pandemic hit. Most disconcerting was the fear I felt for my family, myself, and my team, and the ability for everyone to keep making a living. Could they pay their bills, feed their families, maintain every day life?

There was no immediate government funding and the hardship of getting unemployment was very real.

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Wood Fired Neapolitan Pizza Home Made Pasta | Prime Wood Fired Steaks | Fresh Seafood

CHEF OWNED CUCINA

18 Edson Hill Road Stowe, Vermont 802.253.5677 | salutevt.com 101

“We started a COVID pay-forward fund for the employees, to help others who were out of work. All gratuities went into the fund and we now have $7,000 in case there’s an emergency.”

— John Neville

How did you move forward?

We made the decision quickly that we would not close doors and went straight to curbside to-go dining on March 18. It’s a very different business model of ordering on the phone, packaging everything to go, taking it out to the car. After three weeks we partnered with Stowe To Go for delivery service. They supplied the delivery driver and people could order through them and pay with a credit card. It helped people who did not want to leave home. On holidays we did special menus, packaging them so people could pick them up. It was so successful we decided to do the same thing on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

When did you open for dining?

Mid-May, as soon as the governor gave permission. We had 36 hours to get ready. It was a scramble to get the kitchen and front of house staffed without knowing what level of business we were coming back to.

How was your summer business?

Good, because of social distancing. We removed all the games in the beer garden area and added tables to that space so we could keep people spread out. We followed the governor’s guidelines and expanded as he allowed. We never quite got to our maximum of allowable seats, which was 150. We wanted people to feel safe and dine comfortably and not feel others were too close.

Did you receive financial aid?

We received a PPP loan, which really helped when we didn’t have enough business to sustain the staff. We could keep going and not shut the doors. The staff went on unemployment as quickly as possible, since there was no way we could maintain a full team.

How did your employees feel about coming back?

The team had trepidations, but we put many protocols in place to keep them safe. It was difficult because the tables were so spread out. Our staff was logging 15,000 steps per shift. Once we were back to a sustainable amount of guests, we were able to bring back the staff quickly. Our outdoor beer garden kept us going. From the beginning when we had bare-bones staff, we started a COVID pay-forward fund for the employees, to help others who were out of work. All gratuities went into the fund and we now have $7,000 in case there’s an emergency.

How did you keep guests safe?

We recognized that people were not necessarily comfortable, so we stepped up the hospitality game by installing sanitization stations and plexiglass shields, and having everything visible so guests could see what we were doing to keep us all safe.

How was your summer business?

The gorgeous weather really helped. At first people could not come to town, and we saw a great response from locals. When lodging numbers increased was when we hit our summer stride. If we benefitted anything from this it was reconnecting with locals.

What about fall foliage season?

People were willing to sit outside in the cold. We bought more outdoor space heaters and we saw a lot of flannel. Now people are less afraid to be inside, as long as tables are spaced out. We have a big space so we can separate tables easily and people can experience normalcy. We also invested in a HEPA air-filtering system. We continue to monitor our level of business, follow guidelines, and do the right thing to make sure guests and the team are safe.

What are your winter plans?

Keep doing what we’re doing. There are a lot of unknowns. What the ski resort does will effect what we do. Nothing will change in safety checks, and we plan to continue our to-go business.

Has anything good come from this ordeal?

The benefit of re-establishing ourselves within the community and not just be a tourist stop is huge. Also, we were able to bring in a lot of young workers to be a part of the support staff. That has gone a long way in us being part of the community again. We are excited to have people come and we want to provide a safe and comfortable place for a good meal and cold beer. We want to keep that going and some day this will all be a distant memory.

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NANCY & RICH HAAB SUNSET GRILLE & TAP ROOM How has COVID changed your business?

We have been in business for 32 years as a barbecue restaurant and sports bar. Food and sports are our biggest draw. People would watch TV while they ate. Now the sports bar is gone. The bar is open, but it’s not what it used to be. We can’t have 30 people watching TV in the bar, so we put TVs outside, which made everyone happy. They bundle up and watch the game outside. A really big loss this past summer was the backyard barbecue. People would rent the backyard and we’d set up buffet and barbecue. It was a huge draw for large parties and sports teams. The volleyball league still played on Monday nights, but it was a shorter, smaller season.

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breakfast all day lunch • dinner dessert 454 mountain road stowe, vermont

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How did you react to the shutdown?

We didn’t know it would be so long. It was shocking to be shut down and we got more and more nervous as it kept going on and on. We thought it would be three weeks, but it was three months. We did deep cleaning and some remodeling, including a new bar system, new flooring, interior and exterior painting. We were never closed that long in 32 years and we didn’t want this to be our ending.

How did your employees do?

We have a small staff, most of whom have been with us a long time. We paid them the first few weeks and then unemployment kicked in. When we reopened every one of our staff came back.

It’s been a challenge for them, facing the public every day, and a challenge for them in the heat and wearing a mask all the time. Some of the staff have taken COVID very hard and some didn’t want to work but had to.

When did you reopen?

June 4. We opened with to-go and outdoor dining. We have a huge backyard and were able to spread everyone out, but we did not open the outdoor bar. We had a limited menu and menus had to be disposable. Before, we had a large menu, but without the numbers we had to cut back on our offerings.

What did you change?

We always offered to-go, but when the pandemic hit, to-go was a whole new ball game, and it’s continuing that way, and it’s an improved aspect of our business. Restaurants in general have always sanitized, but we’ve upped the game, constantly reminding staff to wash hands. Really just small changes as we were pretty sanitized to begin with. Now there is no walking in. People have to call for a reservation, and some even call from the parking lot. We don’t do online reservations, so we had to create an extra front-of-house position. The phone was non-stop for reservations and take-out. Take-out used to be 5 percent of our business, now it’s 30 percent.

Hopefully that will keep up. It’s harder on the kitchen, but easier on front-of-house.

What are your winter plans?

When we first opened 32 years ago, January through March were our busiest months. Now it’s July and August, and we lost a significant amount of business from all those summer sports events that were cancelled. If foliage season is any indication, people will keep coming to Stowe, especially if they’re skiers. This winter we’ll serve indoors, with 50 percent of our normal seating. It’s all we can do. There are a lot of unknowns for winter and there will be a lot of lastminute decisions. We will do what we can, take it week by week, keep the entire staff employed, and hopefully business will continue. If we can last through next summer we will be fine.

What is a positive take-away you’ve experienced from COVID? We’ve learned we have a great staff that is incredibly loyal to us, and the locals are the same.

They supported us and kept us going. We hope it never happens again, but you never know what will come down the road. Save your pennies!

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Jason Pacioni, left, with some of his staff.

What was your first reaction when you heard about the pandemic?

15, T 20 2016

VOTED 19!

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CAL MA T LO R S E

I remember very clearly. As soon as closure was announced we spent two days planning a course of action. I was really worried about the catering. It has always outsold the restaurant. Large gatherings were the focus of our catering business and we already had 42 events booked. Who knows when we will be able to do that again. It’s been one of the most stressful times of my life. Our catering business was devastated.

What was the most difficult challenge?

, 20 017 18 & ,2

All our events were cancelled and that left us sitting on food and alcohol. I’m an economics person and after coming up with a method, we addressed the supply chain and bought everything we could buy. By the fourth week we could only find one type of beef cut and prices were insane. By week five we couldn’t find chicken wings. Costs more than doubled. Every single thing has gone up in price. I would spend an entire day on the phone finding food, and when I

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found it I bought it. Once I bought 950 pounds of wings and had to find freezer space. Any time we could get frozen food I bought it by the pallet. Once I got local frozen ribs and had to rent freezer space. Paper products were also a problem. They because scarce and expensive.

JASON PACIONI BLACK DIAMOND BARBEQUE

What was your course of action to stay open?

We never closed. We went straight to curbside pickup and deliveries.

Within 21 days we completely changed from a catering company and full-service bar and restaurant to a curbside business. Our menu changes daily based on what we could get. We used to do upscale dining and switched to what people couldn’t do at home, like barbecue-oriented food. Nashville Hot Chicken became our best seller. It’s still our No. 1 item coming off the smoker. I totally increased my advertising and put the menu in the local newspapers every week. I also became fluent in Instagram and posted a lot about curbside practices.

How are your employees faring?

I only had to lay off the catering staff. Fortunately, all of my main staff is still here. In the restaurant, our employees never lost a shift, and they are working more than normal. We added an extra day, and when everyone else shut down we were busier than ever. We had to create another oneand-a-half positions. We needed someone to double check orders as they came in and went out. We do online ordering in 15-minute increments so we can control volume going into the kitchen and not everyone coming at once for pickup.

Did you receive any financial assistance?

I got PPP and a loan, but I didn’t qualify for grants because we didn’t lose 50 percent of business. We did anything we could think of to make money. We even started selling groceries over the phone. If I didn’t care about my employees and keeping them working, I could have qualified for a lot of money.

What are your plans for winter?

We’re just trying to stay afloat and so far it’s going well. We will continue curbside and are focusing on providing food to private parties based on curbside pickup. Right now we are exploring opening up the second floor for indoor seating. After COVID we will convert it to a catered space to rent for groups. But that’s still in the planning stages. n

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EDIBLES

COURTESY PHOTOS

CREPES, STOWE-STYLE From left: Skinny Pancake opened its latest location on Stowe’s Mountain Road.

A Skinny specialty—crepes!

Beef & Bleu sandwich.

SKINNY COMES TO TOWN Popular Vermont crêperie opens location in old McCarthy’s spot Nothing inspires creativity like sheer necessity, and no one knows that better than restaurant owners. Like never before, with the coronavirus pandemic, restaurateurs have had to reinvent themselves in ways never imagined, just to keep the doors open.

Despite COVID, Skinny Pancake went forward with its expansion plans and opened in the former location of McCarthy’s, a much-loved breakfast joint in Stowe, making it the seventh Skinny in the restaurant chain. In addition, Skinny Pancake has figured out ways to keep their businesses alive STORY / KATE CARTER during these unexpected times.

“It was an unusual opening for us, not much fanfare,” said Michael Cyr, marketing and brand director for Skinny Pancake. “It happened at the beginning of COVID, so we have only been doing outdoor seating and take-out. We had felt a need in Stowe for a quick to-go and eat-out food place, but because of the pandemic, it’s a slower pace. This summer we have a host who checks visitors status, takes their orders, and seats them outside or brings their takeout to them, so it’s a bit slower than our normal pace.”

Breakfast is served all day at the restaurant. “Breakfast has been strong,” Cyr said. “We get a lot of former McCarthy clients. Brittany

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Kistner was the kitchen manager for McCarthy’s. When they closed, she started working at our Spruce Peak location, then rolled into our new Stowe location as general manager.”

“We’re inheriting the iconic Stowe diner,” Cyr said. “We’d like to not only appeal to their audience but to our audience, as well.”

That includes making happy the regulars who went there every March 17 for St. Patrick’s Day. Although Skinny Pancake is more French at heart than Irish, the old restaurant was famous for going green all day every year.

Said Cyr, “We’ll find a way to keep the St. Patty’s day tradition going.”

The Stowe menu is similar to the other six Skinny menus, with the addition of three new items launched in Stowe: Bbo Bbo, Harissa Explains it All, and Beef & Bleu.

Bbo Bbo is a roast beef crepe, with locally made kimchi, and creamy Korean-inspired barbecue sauce, served with a cilantro-soy dipping sauce.

Harissa Explains it All is a roasted chicken crepe, with sauteed kale, crispy chickpeas, roasted cauliflower, and harissa sauce, and a side of

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yogurt dill dipping sauce.

Beef & Bleu is a sandwich made with local roast beef and comes with onion and thyme jam, arugula, and Bayley Hazen blue cheese, served on sourdough.

All orders can be placed ahead of time, online, for take-out or dining indoors.

At press time, the Skinny was considering a to-go winter food truck that will take into account all new COVID protocols and precautions, including obtaining personal information for contact tracing. Plans are to have seating outdoors this winter, with propane heaters to keep customers warm, as well as seating inside.

Skinny Pancake at Spruce Peak is expected to open for the ski season, with all the necessary COVID precautions in place. â–

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R E A L E S TAT E & H O M E S Are you searching for the perfect home or vacation getaway? Looking to update your 1970s kitchen, add a great room, or find a stone mason to redo your uneven terrace? Well, the search is over.

Our guide to real estate and homes is your one-stop shop to find a new home or connect with the finest architects, interior designers, builders, and other craftsmen and suppliers for everything home-related. Our websites—stowetoday.com, stowereporter.com, newsandcitizen.com and vtcng.com—are great resources for real estate and the Vermont lifestyle.

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MEMORIES ON A MOUNTAIN Remembering summers spent atop Mansfield STORY

L

/ MARY CURTIS SKELTON

ong before Stowe became known as the Ski Capital of the East, it was a popular summer resort for the wealthy, from as far away as Boston and New York City, seeking clean mountain air. During the mid-1800s, the Summit House atop Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak, accommodated them in the fine style they were accustomed to.

Clem Curtis, my father, was the resident general manager and postmaster at the Summit House from 1948 to 1956, and those summers of my early childhood have left me with fond and vivid memories.

The four-mile dirt carriage road, the Toll Road, still twists and turns its way to the peak, just at the base of the Nose.

(Mount Mansfield unmistakably resembles a man’s profile—Forehead, Nose, Upper Lip, Lower Lip, Chin, and Adam’s Apple. The entire profile is several miles long.)

It is here, at the base of the Nose, that this grand old hotel once stood. >>

An old linen postcard of Mansfield. The Summit House sits just under the Nose. Right, Anne and Clem Curtis with their children, Mary and Chris. Clem managed the mountaintop hotel for eight years in the 1940s and 1950s, where the family spent idyllic summers at their cottage.

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Weathered brown shingles wrapped the building protectively, and massive wire cables anchored its oversized roof securely to the solid rock ledge on which it was built. Still, on any night when the wind whistled angrily over the mountain, the rustic hotel creaked and groaned as it strained against the gale-force winds. Those record-breaking winds have left brave and unprotected trees and shrubs stunted and deformed, like a forest of so many overgrown bonsai.

From the parking area, 13 wide steps led to the hotel lobby. To their right stretched the long veranda, which offered a spectacular view. My younger brother Chris and I loved to run the length of the veranda, hoping to see rabbits below in the underbrush. We left carrots for them, and were often rewarded by a fleeting glimpse of a jackrabbit or porcupine, startled by our noise.

To the left of the stairs were three giant steps, the Toasting Rack, where guests could gossip, doze in the sun, or listen to the mournful call

of the white-throated sparrow. One of the few wind-protected places, the Rack became very hot, and the yearly coat of shiny gray paint blistered and popped under the pressure of our small poking fingers.

Inside the heavily paneled and squeaky double doors, the lobby welcomed all. Multi-paned windows let in the warm glow of mountain sunlight, cleaner and brighter than anywhere else, it seemed. A cracking fire in the huge fieldstone fireplace was a frequent and welcome source of heat. Oiled hardwood floors, worn and buckled from nearly a century of use, added a unique aroma.

Along one wall stood several sentinels—small desks whose onceglistening coats of black paint were chipped and scarred, reminders of the countless postcards originating here. A glass display case held treasures for sale, from cedar boxes with “Mount Mansfield, Stowe, Vermont” printed on them to Indian maiden dolls dressed in leather and beads, and maple sugar candy in all shapes and sizes. Imported >>

From top, Summit House hostess Mary Sweet. Sweet with Albert Vanasse and Per Quintard. Quintard made both Mary and her brother Chris a “Wampahoofus,”

a unicorn of birch logs, complete with saddle and bridle.

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drinking water stood nearby in an inverted glass jug, which sent up a jolly burp of air if we drank enough.

My father’s little office was next to the lobby. Sometimes, perched on a stool, I was allowed to hand-cancel some of the postcards. I couldn’t know then, as an adult, I would collect them and delight in the messages sent to friends far and wide, dating as far back as 1909.

To the right, lovely French glass doors with a delicate brass clasp led to the dining room. These doors were opened only at meal times by Mary Sweet, the gracious hostess, or by my mother, Anne Curtis.

The east and west walls of the dining room featured banks of windows with little panes draped gracefully with crisp, white ruffled curtains, which danced in the open windows to the constant tinkling of wind chimes. The remaining walls were creamy yellow, and small, intimate, linen-topped tables and solid pillars graced with gas lights added to the room’s charm.

Beyond the dining room, swinging doors led to the huge kitchen and work-storage area. Here, the oiled floors were dotted with fascinating, securely nailed squares of tin, designed to cover holes gnawed each year by winter-hungry porcupines from the ledge below. An ancient green

wringer-washer clanked away in a far corner, near the waitress station.

The shiny aluminum serving trays hung in a rack on a wall. The names printed on their rims in bright red nail polish changed every year.

The names in the guest register, however, were repeated summer after summer. Irene and Paul Moller, from New York, would declare how big we’d grown and give us each a dollar. The Lambs, from New Jersey, would bring bushels of grapefruit-sized peaches. The Coltons brought their own children, who, although much older, would play with us patiently for hours.

Nana Kraus always brought her loom. I still have a lovely shawl she made for my mother, and several of her crocheted potholders. Mrs. Jones used a cane when we hiked out to the Forehead. I followed her along the single lane path, keeping an eye out for the rubber tip of her cane that would invariably come off in the mud.

Mr. Quintard loved to build toys. He made us each a “Wampahoofus,” a unicorn of birch logs, complete with saddle and bridle. Another treasure was a lovely miniature ocean liner, about three feet long.

Beautifully crafted, painted red, white, and black, it even floated, and we sailed it for many years. Its name was painted on the side—The Mary C. Uncle Lew had a bristly white mustache, and a trademark pipe. He >>

Two views of the Summit House.

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and many of the other returning guests formed a rather elite group called the Six-O-Clock Club. I was never allowed to attend the meetings, usually held at our little cottage.

Uncle Lew would chase us outside with his cheerful order, “Outside, bums!”

Our cottage was just behind the hotel. Every year on July 4 my father would mark our heights on the closet door posts. I can remember curling up my toes and straining for that extra fraction of an inch. When we left the mountain for the last time, we removed them and took them with us.

My mother also retrieved a ceramic hand-painted lemon juicer. The handle had broken, but I use it, still.

Chris and I had a sitter nearly every day. If it was nice, we’d walk the half mile down to the Octagon and ride the single chairlift down and back up again. It wasn’t unusual to see rabbits, porcupines, even deer on the ski trail below. We’d stop at the Chicken Coop, a long abandoned tiny building with names and dates scratched into the walls. At the Frog

Pond we’d stop and holler up at the vertical cliff of the Nose to hear our echo. More than once we came home hoarse.

My favorite hike was out to the Forehead in August when the ground was covered with ripe blueberries. Uncle Paul named the biggest, most abundant section of low growing plants Paul’s Patch. There were two elderly sisters who used to fill four large pails with blueberries every other day and give them to the cook. Later, in the dining room, we would feast on unforgettable blueberry pancakes, muffins, shortcakes, and pies.

Each day was filled with adventure and discovery. Before the first television antenna was built, we used a mirror to peer into the deep hole drilled to support it. We watched the WCAX television transmission station being built. Nearby, the never-completed March of Dimes monument, with a stone from each of the 48 states, commemorated the first polio patient in Vermont. It has since been moved to Stowe’s Mayo farm, restored, and completed. >>

From top, Lew Evans, “Uncle Lew,” in front of the Toasting Rack, where guests gossiped, dozed in the sun, or listened to the sounds of the mountain. Enjoying the

view to the west from the Rack. Uncle Lew and other returning guests formed a rather elite group, called the Six-O-Clock Club, seen here meeting on the rocks.

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Once a year we hiked way out to the Lake of the Clouds or Cave of the Winds, and brought back ice from deep inside, a real treat in the heat of the summer, stopping to check out the cairns, huge piles of stones, along the way. It is considered bad luck if you didn’t add a stone to each pile you passed.

Many wildflowers grow near the top of the mountain, above the tree line. It is believed that the seeds for many of these perennial plants came to the top of Vermont in the droppings of the horses that hauled passengers, water, food, and supplies before the automobile. For this reason, all plants are protected under state law.

My mother was mortified when I once brought her a bouquet of a forbidden flower, which blooms only each seventh year.

On special nights, the word would spread, “Great sunset tonight!” We would bundle up in blankets and climb halfway up the Nose and watch in awe and silence as the most spectacular sunsets expanded to fill the sky over Lake Champlain and all around us. In the lingering twilight afterwards, I went happily off to bed believing I’d seen the better part of a miracle.

Standing at the base of the Nose now, 65 years later, it’s hard to believe that wonderful old hotel ever existed. No trace of it remains.

Its doors closed to guests in 1959, when new and modern hotels with swimming pools and televisions proved to be magnetic attractions and keen competitors for the tourist trade.

After several years as a potential fire hazard, it was burned to the ground in 1964.

But the Nose still looms high overhead. The Chin still beckons in the distance. The rock piles still stand. Visitors from around the world still enjoy the drive or hike to the top, and the scenic vista that greets them is still spectacular.

And there is a wide groove in the rock near my feet close to where the Toasting Rack used to be. Chris and I used it as a cradle, and were dismayed to find it became smaller each year until we outgrew it completely.

The Summit House lives on in the minds of those who were most impressed by its existence. And as a child, growing up under its influence, with its wonderful guests, its water cooler, its sunsets, its wildlife, its tin-patched floors, its Mary C., a gentle pang reminds me that as often as I come here, I can never really go back.

But when the annual Six-O-Clock Club reunions convened locally for years after the hotel closed, I was there. And my own children were the ones to scamper outside at the familiar command, “Outside, Bums!” n

memories

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SPOTLIGHT

Harry Hunt at his home in Moscow, a hamlet in Stowe.

HARRY HUNT Architect Harry Hunt specializes in sustainable residential architecture design, and is a certified passive house designer with the Passive House Institute. He grew up in Burlington, coming to Stowe on weekends to ski race with the Mount Mansfield Ski Club until he graduated from high school in 1981. Twenty-five years later he returned to Vermont, and now lives in Moscow with his two children, Alaena, 16, and Tucker, 13, who both go to school in Stowe. >>

STORY

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& P H O T O G R A P H : Kate Carter

• SEPTIC SYSTEMS • DRIVEWAYS/ROADS • FOUNDATIONS • PONDS • UNDERGROUND UTILITY INSTALLATION • DRAINAGE ISSUES • DANGEROUS TREE REMOVAL

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What inspired you to become an architect?

My parents had a farm in Bakersfield and we spent our summers there. My first exposure to architectural structures was at 14, building a barn and a house with Dick Maynard, a Bakersfield neighbor and barn builder. After college, I lived in Munich and was exposed to great architectural design. I worked for Siemens, the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe, and I was on the road a lot. In Italy, where they all live outdoors as much as possible, my eyes were opened to the power of architectural design and how it can affect people’s lives. Vermonters, as a sub-culture, know we are not separate from nature, but are a part of it, and that to me is inspiration for design.

What’s your educational background?

I went to UVM for electrical engineering before going to Germany. When I came back to the U.S. I moved to Vail to be a ski bum for a winter and ended up staying in Colorado from 1986 to 2005. I coached skiing in the winter and built houses in the summer. I was a framer, which contributed to my understanding of what I’m proposing as an architect and how it gets built. I have a connection to a drawing, having spent time in the building industry. The buildings in Vail were a real hodgepodge; it’s international there and somewhat psycho-frenetic. It motivated me to go back to school. In 1994 I graduated with a masters of architecture from University of Colorado in Denver.

What are your strengths as an architect?

Constructibility, practicality, efficiency, simplicity, integrity, frugality, environmental consciousness, all attributes based on core Vermont values. In firms I worked for I was always the CAD guru. The computer is a go-to tool for me.

Where was your first job as an architect?

What is a current project?

I worked for 11 years in Colorado, first in Boulder for Barrett’s Studio Architects, an eco-architectural firm with an interest in solar design. Then I joined Harry Teague Architects in Aspen, where I was the project architect for the Center of Arts in Jackson Hole, a beautiful building in downtown Jackson. I completed phase one with them before moving back to Stowe and building a house in Moscow.

A net-zero house on Covered Bridge Road in Stowe. It implements a lot of design principles, a culmination of my experience building my own passive house. The Covered Bridge Road house is very similar in size, mass, and detail to mine. Colin Linburg of Shelterwood Construction in Moretown is building it.

Why return to Vermont?

Primarily to be closer to family. It was a challenge for them to visit us in Vail, and because my former wife owned the house in Moscow that is now my office.

What is your architectural focus?

Efficient, high-performance, net-zero homes. Initially I did a wide range of things, including urban design in Newport, a health center in Enosburg, mixed-use development such as the Brattleboro Food Co-op, which has affordable housing above the co-op. On that project I worked with Gossens Bachman Architects. There is also an engineering component to my work and I design houses that are inspiring to live in as well as sustainable. One of the things you can do to effect climate change is build an efficient home.

Forty percent of carbon emissions come from homes, which is much more than motor vehicles. If you want to lower your carbon footprint, an efficient home is the most viable strategy for individuals.

What if you already own a house?

Improving the weatherization is the way to go. A deep-energy retrofit is even more sustaining because you’re using an existing resource, but it’s a significant investment that you won’t get returns on for 30 to 40 years. That said, the benefits are great, especially in the realm of comfort and highquality indoor air. Older homes have terrible indoor air quality.

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Some of the projects of Stowe architect Harry Hunt.

What is your house like?

I describe it as a modern, two-story farmhouse. The design incorporates traditional Vermont values, including simplicity, integrity, and environmental awareness, while also integrating the opportunities and constraints inherent in today’s green home design. The open interiors and ample use of large, energy efficient windows make the house feel much larger than its actual 2,750 square feet. Like most houses I design, mine follows passive house principles, so it uses very little energy and maintains comfortable temperatures throughout the year. I used green and locally-sourced materials throughout—including Galvalume finished steel, rough-sawn pine siding, spruce ceilings, Vermont slate countertops, polished concrete floors, and zero VOC finishes.

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?

I love skiing. I’ve skied my entire life, at resorts and backcountry. I live close to Cady Hill Forest and enjoy mountain biking there. I can access the trails right from my house. I also enjoy raising my two kids, playing tennis with them, and vegetable gardening. ■

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more is less Massachusetts couple embraces minimalist-style of living STORY

: robert kiener |

PHOTOGRAPHS

: kate carter

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to play

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It’s all about

H

ow’s this for impulsive? A Massachusettsbased couple and their three young sons came to Stowe to ski during Christmas in 2017. Like many other visitors, they fell in love with the area. “Big time!” says the husband. “We’re an outdoors family and this part of Vermont really speaks to us.”

By a twist of fate, the couple rented a new cottage owned and built by Morrisville builder Sean Gyllenborg.

“My wife and I both have design backgrounds and admired his property’s clean, minimal design. It inspired us; it got us thinking about having our own ski-vacation home,” says the husband.

Long story short: They met Gyllenborg and clicked. “He spoke our language and shared our design aesthetic,” says the husband. The next day Gyllenborg showed them several lots for sale.

By March they closed on a partiallywooded 36-acre hillside lot with expansive, picture-postcard views north of Stowe and enlisted the help of Stowe architect Andrew Volansky.

“Impulsive ... Yes, that’s a good word,” he says. “We were on our way.”

From the beginning, all involved said the design and building of this home was a “model collaborative effort.”

“All of us were on the same page from day one,” says Volansky. For example, the husband and wife’s design backgrounds helped them rough out the layout and design of the fourbedroom house. After conferring with both Volansky and Gyllenborg, who helped modify and flesh out their ideas, the couple produced detailed sketches.

They identified several “must haves” in their initial design plan. First, they wanted an interior that reflected a minimalist design aesthetic. The husband explains, “We like the Scandinavian, story, p.144

photographs, p.132

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Susan Teare Photo

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to cleanse

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‘less is more’ look. We elected for a design palette that consisted of mostly neutral colors and used natural materials like concrete, wood, and stone.”

Adds the wife, “We didn’t want the interior to fight with the exterior because the outside views are so colorful and spectacular.”

Massive windows throughout the house, as well as a second story “get-away room” take full advantage of the long-distance views.

The owners also wanted a distinct separation between the private and public side of the house.

Says Volansky, “We designed the house as a collection of pods that guaranteed privacy between the master bedroom, the children’s three bedrooms, and the open-plan, expansive great room.” The couple also wanted all the rooms to have direct access to the outdoors—via sliders— and asked that the children’s bedrooms be designed minimally. “That’s because we want the kids to be outdoors, as opposed to being cooped up in their rooms or watching television,” says the husband. “The whole idea of this home is to be outside as much as possible.”

Siting the house was another collaborative effort. The husband, Volansky and Gyllenborg met several times to walk the sloping site and find just the right position for the home. “We had several objectives,” explains Volansky.

“We wanted to site the home to take full advantage of the views and also wanted to do as little grading as possible. Instead of plopping the home on the site, we wanted it to look settled in or nested—more of the site than on the site.”

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Another request: a low-maintenance, minimalist exterior. Landscaping was also kept to a minimum. “Because this was our second home, I didn’t want to be bothered by a lot of weeding, gardening, mulching, and mowing,” explains the husband. “I spent enough time doing that at our South Shore home.”

Construction began in the summer of 2018 and the 2,400-square foot house was completed by October 2019. Everything went pretty much according to plan and the owners decided, after spending time on the site in the spring and summer, to add a pool to the outdoor space that also features a patio and fire-pit made of pre-cast concrete. And, a hot tub. The husband got his outdoor shower, explaining, “I love using it even into November. It’s chilly but it makes me feel part of nature.”

It is inside the home that the trio’s collaborative efforts are especially visible. Much of the interior was inspired by the minimalist design of Gyllenborg’s rental cottage. Details matter. For example, there is much less wood trim used around the windows, doors, and walls than what is typically used in traditional home design. This is a testament to the skilled craftsmanship of Gyllenborg’s team.

“When you cut back on details like trim, you force the framers to think like finish carpenters,” says Volansky. “Everything has to be precise.

There’s no covering up gaps; no room for error.”

Adds Gyllenborg, “Simple details can take a lot of planning and forethought to make them work.” >>

FINE HOMES, ADDITIONS & RENOVATIONS FOR OVER 30 YEARS

626 Mountain Road, Stowe | 802.253.9367 | gordondixonconstruction.com 145

BUILDING & DESIGN UNDER ONE ROOF

Move seamlessly from design to construction with our combined Builder & Design Team!

SCHEDULE YOUR PROJECTS TODAY!

Custom Home Building & Remodeling beaconhillvt.com | 802-244-6767

6576 Waterbury-Stowe Rd, Waterbury Center, VT interiorcreationsvt.com | 802.479.7909

Luxury Kitchens & Baths ~ Design ~ Construction ~ Finish Selections

Another detail is a custom-designed retractable dog door/fence that helps separate the public and private areas of the home and disappears into the wall when not in use. The floors are mostly cast-in-place concrete. Look closely and imprints of leaves can be seen in floors throughout the home. “Some leaves blew onto the concrete as it was being poured and instead of smoothing them out, we left their impressions in place,” says the husband.

The team kept to its promise of minimalist interior design, including the color palette.

“We tried to keep the overall design very subtle and experimented with many shades of white,” explains the wife. Some wood walls, mostly maple, helped warm up the decor.

Volansky describes the style or look of the home as “Vermont Mountain Modern.”

“What I mean by that is we work to let the beauty of the natural building materials, from the concrete floors to the maple walls, remain undecorated to be what they are,” he says.

“They themselves add to the richness of the design and add a connection to the outside.”

On a surprisingly warm November afternoon, the couple sit on their patio and admire stunning, distant views to the east.

“When the leaves are gone and the skies are clear, we can see as far as Mount Washington,” says the husband, who has recently finished clearing a bike path through his wooded lot and added a mini downhill ski run.

When asked if their new vacation home is everything they hoped for, both break into broad smiles. Says the husband, “This was supposed to be our vacation home. But the more we stayed here, the harder it was to leave. We came up in March planning to stay for several weeks, thanks to COVID-19.”

He explains that like many people, they both discovered they could work comfortably from home. He adds, “The longer we were here, the harder and harder it was to think of going back to our Massachusetts home. The gravitational pull here was so strong.”

He pauses for a beat, then says, “So we put it up for sale. It sold in a day. We are now fulltime Vermonters!” n

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Lighting for the way you live

An eclectic collection of lighting to choose from Chandeliers • Sconces • Lamps Lamp Repair

856 US Rt. 302, Barre, VT Mon-Fri 7-5, Sat 9-2 802-476-0280 • BarreElectric.com 147

R E A L E S TAT E

WHAT A MILLION BUYS Along the Route 100 corridor, Morrisville to Waterbury TEXT & PHOTOS BY / KATE CARTER

STOWE

/

$950,000

Stately Colonial close to Stowe Mountain Resort 4,876 square feet, 6.3 acres Taxes: $17,437

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his 4-bedroom, 3.5-bath home is perfect for hosting all your skier friends and family. The great room has a fireplace and views, and a staircase that heads down to a game room. A formal dining room off the kitchen is suitable for large holiday meals. For everyday dining, an eat-in kitchen offers views of a pond. Just off the kitchen is a den with wet bar, woodstove, and sliding doors opening to the great outdoors. Bedrooms are large and sunny. The property includes a private, spacious, one-bedroom open floorplan apartment above the 3-car garage.

Outside: Established landscaping, front yard full of giant white pines, swimming pond, fieldstone patio, and stone walls. Cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, hiking, and mountain biking are close by. >>

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R E A L E S TAT E

WATERBURY

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$875,000

Contemporary built in 2001, with 180-degree views 3,262 square feet, 2.5 acres Taxes: $13,975 An abundance of views, from Sugarbush to Camel’s Hump to Mt. Mansfield, is the big draw for this architecturally designed 3-bedroom, 3.5-bath house. The house is awesome, too! An extended deck comes with remote retractable awnings, so you can relax and enjoy the vast views and amazing mountain sunsets. The house’s outstanding features include a cathedral ceiling, a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, and floor-to-ceiling windows, all in an open floorplan. The chef’s kitchen and dining area have stainless appliances, hardwood floors, and a luxurious walk-in pantry. Each bedroom has its own private en-suite bathroom and the master comes with fabulous views.

Outside: Magnificent views, landscaped gardens, rock walls, a pond, and a waterfall. Hiking and mountain biking trails are close by.

ELMORE / $850,000 Classic Vermont country estate 3,396 square feet, 16.1 acres Taxes: $17,741 Built in 1832, this 5-bedroom, 4-bath post-andbeam Cape-style farmhouse is situated on a newly subdivided 16.1-acre lot. It has retained its Vermont country charm with original floors and exposed beams. The main floor has an en-suite bedroom, a fireplace in the living room, and a crowd-sized dining room just off the kitchen that opens onto a 3-season room, where you’ll spend most of your time. Upstairs are 4 more spacious bedrooms, pine flooring, and a bonus room with a staircase to the family room below. The entire house has meadow, pond, and mountain views that span from Elmore Mountain to Sterling Mountain to Mt. Mansfield.

Outside: A large deck overlooking a pond and stunning views. Located on a lightly traveled dirt road and close to hiking trails.

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Traditional Vermont Homes and Outbuildings

Local Vermont Timber Energy-Efficient Construction

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

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S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUSINESS DIRECTORY AIRPORT & AVIATION STOWE AVIATION Stowe Aviation at the Morrisville-Stowe State Airport, 6.5 miles to downtown Stowe, allows for effortless access to the Stowe region from major cities in the Northeast like NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. Inquire about ondemand charter and scheduled service. stoweaviation.com, (802) 253-2332.

ARCHITECTS ANDREW VOLANSKY, AIA / VOLANSKY STUDIO ARCHITECTURE & PLANNING

TRUEXCULLINS ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN Designing luxury-custom homes that connect with their natural setting and meet the desires of our clients. View our homes at truexcullins.com. (802) 658-2775.

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN ALAN GUAZZONI DESIGN I look forward to working with you in designing your home or light commercial building, to create a comfortable, healthy, and inspiring space, while respecting your budget. Stowe.

Please call (802) 253-6664. guazzonidesign.com.

CUSHMAN DESIGN GROUP The term studio in the firm’s name speaks to an open process of collaborating with our clients and the individuals who execute our designs. This approach has proven to contribute to project success. 1815 Mountain Road, Stowe.

(802) 793-4999, volanskystudio.com.

HARRY HUNT ARCHITECTS Modern green homes—true to the spirit of Vermont. Member American Institute of Architects. Certified passive house designer. (802) 253-2374, harryhuntarchitects.com.

J. GRAHAM GOLDSMITH, ARCHITECTS Quality design and professional architectural services specializing in residential, hotel, restaurant, retail, and resort development. Member Stowe Area. (800) 862-4053. jggarchitects.com. Email: VT@jggarchitects.com.

LEE HUNTER ARCHITECT, AIA Stowe-based architectural firm offering a personal approach to creative, elegant design. Residential, commercial, and renovations. (802) 253-9928. leehunterarchitect.com.

MAD MOOSE ARCHITECTURE Mad Moose Architecture was founded on a commitment to provide a more thoughtful way of designing shelter, with reverence for the environment and respect for the earth and its inhabitants. (802) 234-5720, madmoosearchitecture.com.

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

1799 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 585-3121. methodarch.com.

MARCUS GLEYSTEEN ARCHITECTS Our goal is to create architecture that is personally and culturally useful, giving form and purpose to built space. We look beyond stylistic preferences and are committed to the thoughtful use of our clients’ resources. mgaarchitects.com.

(617) 542-6060.

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

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.

TEKTONIKA STUDIO ARCHITECTS Dedicated to the craft and composition of sustainable, siteinspired design. Emphasis on a collaborative design process to meet our client’s vision and budget. Located in Lower Stowe Village. (802) 253-2020. tektonikavt.com.

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THE ALCHEMIST A family owned and operated craft brewery specializing in fresh, unfiltered IPA. Open for curbside sales 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., 7 days a week. Order online at alchemistbeer.com.

100 Cottage Club Road, Stowe.

LAWSON’S FINEST LIQUIDS Award-winning brewery, stunning timberframe taproom and retail store featuring world-class beers and light fare of the highest quality. Open daily. 155 Carroll Road, Waitsfield.

(802) 496-HOPS. lawsonsfinest.com.

TEN BENDS BEER A culmination of creative discernment and raw perseverance, resulting in some of the most sought-after ales in the Northeast. Pickup at the brewery or select Vermont retailers.

590 E. Main St., Hyde Park. (802) 521-7139, tenbendsbeer.com.

ART GALLERIES THE ARTISANS’ GALLERY An inspired collection of fine art and craft from Vermont’s established and emerging artists. A must-see destination.

Gifts and cards for every occasion. 11-6 daily. Historic Bridge Street, Waitsfield 05674. (802) 496-6256. vtartisansgallery.com.

HELEN DAY ART CENTER Center for contemporary art and art education, established in 1981. Local, national, and international exhibitors. Art classes. Cultural events. Schedule: Tuesday-Saturday 10-5. 90 Pond St., Stowe. (802) 253-8358, helenday.com.

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

BUILDERS & CONTRACTORS CA MONSELL AND COMPANY Quality builder from Portland, Maine, relocating to Stowe and bringing 35 years of experience in homebuilding and renovations. Quality craftsmanship, integrity, customer service, and attention to every detail along the way.

(802) 696-8723.

DONALD P. BLAKE JR INC. Handcrafted quality in building, offering experienced and reliable contracting services since 1985. Specializing in custom home new construction, renovations, commercial construction, construction management, and property services.

(802) 888-3629, stowebuilder.com.

GEOBARNS ROBERT PAUL GALLERIES An outstanding selection of original paintings, sculpture, and fine art glass by locally, nationally, and internationally acclaimed artists. Celebrating 30 years. Open daily. 394 Mountain Road, Baggy Knees Shopping Center, Stowe. robertpaulgalleries.com. (802) 253-7282.

Geobarns is an environmentally conscious, minimal waste builder, specializing in artistic barns using modified post-andbeam structures with diagonal framing to achieve a combination of strength, versatility, and beauty at reasonable prices.

603-359-1912. geobarns.com.

GORDON DIXON CONSTRUCTION, INC.

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

PAUL ROBERT ROUSSELLE, ARCHITECT AIA Architectural services offering creative design approach for environmentally responsible homes true to their surroundings.

We create spaces that move clients functionally, aesthetically, and emotionally with exquisitely detailed, beautifully built, inspiring designs. (802) 253-2110.

BREWERIES

BAKERIES

Fine craftsmanship, attention to detail, integrity, and dependable workmanship. 30 years of award-winning experience.

Custom homes, additions, renovations, design/build, project management. Stop in at 626 Mountain Road, Stowe.

(802) 253-9367 or visit gordondixonconstruction.com.

MOUNTAIN LOGWORKS, LLC Handcrafted log homes. Specializing in Scandinavian Full Scribe and Adirondack-style log structures with log diameters up to 30 inches. In-house design service available.

(802) 748-5929. mountainlogworks.com.

BLACK CAP COFFEE & BEER Freshly made pastries, light breakfast, lunch. Locally roasted coffee, espresso, lattes. Beers and wines from Vermont, U.S., around the world. Wi-Fi. Daily. 144 Main St., Stowe; 63 Lower Main St., Morrisville; 42 Church St., Burlington.

Facebook.

BOOKSTORES BEAR POND BOOKS Complete family bookstore. NY Times bestsellers and new releases. Children and adult hardcovers, paperbacks, Vermont authors, daily papers, puzzles, greeting cards. Open daily. Depot Building, Main Street, Stowe. (802) 253-8236.

PATTERSON & SMITH CONSTRUCTION, INC. A custom builder, remodeling firm, and general contractor in Stowe. Our mission is to provide each customer and their designer/architect with the highest degree of customer service, management, and craftsmanship. (802) 253-3757. pattersonandsmith.com.

RED HOUSE BUILDING Full-service, employee-owned building company. Emphasis on timeless craftsmanship. Meeting the challenges of unique and demanding building projects, from contemporary mountain retreats, meticulously restored historic buildings to high-efficiency homes. (802) 655-0009. redhousebuilding.com.

SISLER BUILDERS INC. Custom home-building, remodeling, woodworking, home energy audits and retrofits, quality craftsmanship, resource efficient construction, modest additions to multi-million dollar estates. Over 30 years in Stowe. References available. sislerbuilders.com. (802) 253-5672.

TIM MEEHAN BUILDERS Building excellence, exceptional homes, professional project management creative remodeling. 30 years plus in Stowe.

Tim Meehan, (802) 777-0283. timmeehanbuilders.com.

WINTERWOOD TIMBER FRAMES, LLC Hand-crafted, custom-designed timber-frame structures and woodwork, SIPs insulation, sourcing local timber and fine hardwoods, building in the Vermont vernacular. Cabinetry, flooring, butcher-block tops, and staircases.

(802) 229-7770. winterwoodtimberframes.com.

BUILDING MATERIALS CAMARA SLATE National supplier of roofing slate, slate flooring, flagstone, countertops, and other structural components. Committed to delivering a standard beyond our competitors’ abilities with excellent service and quality-valued products.

Fair Haven, Vt. (802) 265-3200, camaraslate.com, info@camaraslate.com.

LOEWEN WINDOW CENTER OF VT & NH Beautifully crafted Douglas fir windows and doors for the discerning homeowner. Double- and triple-glazed options available in aluminum, copper, and bronze clad. Style Inspired By You. loewenvtnh.com, (802) 295-6555, info@loewenvtnh.com.

RK MILES Founded in 1940, rk Miles is a family-owned company providing services and materials for all types of building and design. With six locations serving Vermont and western Massachusetts, including Stowe and Morrisville. rkmiles.com.

CAKES & CATERING BEN & JERRY’S ICE CREAM Scoop shop open daily. Ready-to-go or custom-ordered icecream cakes for 1-36 servings. Drop-off catering. Call (802) 882-2034.

CBD PRODUCTS ELEVATED STATE VT A full-spectrum CBD shop. CBD for everyone with information to help you determine what is best for you, your pet, family, and friends. 407 Mountain Road, Stowe. elevatedstatevt.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.

HUNGER MOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLY Route 100, Waterbury Center. Sunday worship service at 10 a.m. (802) 244-5921.

CIVIL ENGINEERS – LAND USE PLANNERS Land Development Projects

Subdivisions & Site Plan Design Residential & Commercial

Local, State, and Act 250 Permitting Water & Wastewater Systems Stormwater Drainage Design Structural & Environmental

11 MOSS GLEN FALLS ROAD STOWE, VT 05672 802-881-6314 tyler@mumleyinc.com www.mumleyengineering.com 153

S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUSINESS DIRECTORY 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.

THE MOUNTAIN CHAPEL At the halfway point on the Mt. Mansfield Toll Road. A place for meditation, prayer and praise for skiers, hikers, and tourists. Seasonal Sunday service 2 p.m.

ST. JOHN’S IN THE MOUNTAINS EPISCOPAL At the crossroads of Mountain and Luce Hill roads in Stowe.

Winter COVID online worship, Sundays at 10 a.m. See the website for more information, stjohnsinthemountains.org.

Visitors and children welcome. Rev. Rick Swanson, rector.

For information, call Fr. Rick, (802) 760-7787, rick@stjohnsinthemountains.org.

SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH Located in Hyde Park. Sunday worship services begin at 10:15 a.m. Sunday school is held at the same time September through June. Handicapped accessible. All are welcome. (802) 888-3636 or check us out on Facebook.

STOWE COMMUNITY CHURCH Adult bible study: Sundays at 8:30 a.m. Traditional service with children’s program: Sundays at 9:30 a.m.

Contemporary service: Sundays at 4:30 p.m.

(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 from Sept. 1 to June 1. All welcome. For information: (802) 253-8291, UU Fellowship of Stowe on Facebook, or bit.ly/stoweuu.

WATERBURY CENTER COMMUNITY Route 100 next to the Cider Mill. We warmly welcome visitors. (802) 244-6286. Sunday worship 10:45 a.m.

Handicapped accessible. Church is a National Historic Place. Pastor Shirley Nolan.

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES BOUTIQUE AT STOWE MERCANTILE Fabulous contemporary fashion for women. From casual to professional, Boutique can make you feel beautiful any time.

Lingerie, dresses, skirts, tops, jeans, sweaters, more. We’ll dress you for any occasion. Depot Building, Main Street, Stowe. (802) 253-3712.

GREEN ENVY Boutique for the discerning woman. Nili Lotan, Rag & Bone, Tata Harper, Golden Goose, Levi’s, Mother, Herno. On-trend luxe clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories, homegoods. Over 300 designers. Unparalleled selection of premium denim.

1800 Mountain Road, Stowe. 3 Main St., Burlington.

(802) 253-2661 vermontenvy.com.

IN COMPANY CLOTHING Celebrating 21 years. Specializing in personalized service and top designer labels in women’s fashion. Come see what’s in. 10 - 5:30 daily, 10 - 5 Sunday. 344 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-4595. incompanyclothing.com, @incompanyclothing.

JOHNSON WOOLEN MILLS Home of famous Johnson Woolen Outerwear and headquarters for Carhartt, Filson, Pendleton, Woolrich, woolen blankets, fine men’s and ladies sportswear, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, socks. Since 1842. Johnson, Vt. (802) 635-2271. johnsonwoolenmills.com.

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

ROAM VERMONT Adventurous footwear and apparel for men and women.

Explore in style with Patagonia, Kuhl, Prana, Dansko, and Blundstone. Located on historic Langdon Street in downtown Montpelier. Open daily. (802) 613-3902. roamvt.com.

SPORTIVE Largest Bogner selection in northern New England. Toni Sailer, Sportalm of Kitzbuhel, Kjus, Parajumpers, Kinross Cashmere, Repeat Cashmere, White + Warren, Hestra gloves, Eisbar hat, Pajar, Alpen Rock, more.

(802) 496-3272. Route 100, Waitsfield. sportiveinc.com.

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

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, insta: wellheeledstowe. (802) 253-6077, wellheeledstowe.com.

Daily 11 to 5.

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

COFFEE HOUSES BLACK CAP COFFEE & BEER Fresh coffee, espresso, lattes in inviting atmosphere. Housebaked pastries, light breakfast, lunch. All local, all fresh. WiFi. Daily. 144 Main St., across from Stowe’s classic church; 63 Lower Main St., Morrisville; 42 Church St., Burlington.

Facebook.

Treasure hunt through our huge selection of famous label off price clothing for men, women, and teens at 60%-80% off.

Route 15 Johnson, just 1.5 miles west of Johnson Village.

Open 10-7.

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DENTISTRY HARDWICK DENTAL GROUP Community focused dental group. Specializing in general and preventative services, and restorative and cosmetic services. Dr. Katie Piet and Dr. Priya Vasa. (802) 472-5005.

49 West Church St., Hardwick 05843. hardwickdentalgroup.com.

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.

EDUCATION & COLLEGES NORTHERN VERMONT UNIVERSITY One university, two unique campuses. With our Lyndon and Johnson campuses, NVU combines the best of our nationally recognized liberal arts and professional programs. northernvermont.edu.

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

ENGINEERS MUMLEY ENGINEERING INC. Civil engineering services for residential and commercial land development projects. Planning and design for subdivisions; site plans; water, wastewater and stormwater systems; construction oversight, and more. Local zoning, state, and Act 250 permitting. (802) 881-6314, mumleyengineering.com.

EXCAVATING DALE E. PERCY, INC. Excavating contractors, commercial and residential. Earthmoving equipment. Site work, trucking, sand, gravel, soil, sewer, water, drainage systems, and supplies. Snow removal, salting, sanding. Weeks Hill Road. (802) 253-8503.

DELICATESSEN THE BAGEL

FORGET-ME-NOT-SHOP

Stowe’s #1 deli featuring delicious sandwiches, fresh chili, soups, salads and baked goods. Specialty foods store. Come taste Vermont’s finest spirits. Great beer and wine selection.

Daily 6:30-6. 2251 Mountain Road (802) 253-4034.

UVM GROSSMAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS WELL HEELED

BUNYABUNYA An on-trend boutique curated with apparel, jewelry, shoes, and gifts inspired by the West Coast. Think California bungalow, bohemian lifestyle. 1799 Mountain Road, Red Barn Shops, Stowe. (435) 640-1259.

EDELWEISS MOUNTAIN DELI

Bagels boiled and baked daily. Breakfast and lunch sandwiches, baked goods. Gluten-free options available.

Seasonal specialties. 394 Mountain Rd, Stowe.

(802) 253-9943. Check website for hours. thebagelstowe.com.

FISHING & HUNTING FLY ROD SHOP Vermont’s most experienced guide service. Guided fly fishing, ice fishing and family tours. Weekly Taste of Vermont Tours.

Fly Tackle, fly tying supplies, spin and ice fishing tackle. Route 100 South, Stowe. flyrodshop.com, (802) 253-7346.

FITNESS EQUIPMENT

THE COUNTRY STORE ON MAIN Luxury bedding, dreamy candles, kitchen gadgets, children’s

TOTAL FITNESS EQUIPMENT

items, pet goods, rugs, frames, clocks, greeting cards, more.

Vermont’s premier specialty fitness equipment company has

Located in the former Lackey Building next to Stowe

just opened its second location in South Burlington. Visit our

Community Church. 109 Main St., (802) 253-7653,

huge showroom to see the latest treadmills, ellipticals, rowers,

countrystorevt.com.

indoor cycler gyms and more. (802) 860-1030. totalfitnessequipment.com.

STOWE KITCHEN BATH & LINENS More than a kitchen store. Two floors of home decor and

FLOORING

furniture for entire home at great prices. Gourmet kitchen-

FLOORING AMERICA

candles, spa, clothing, jewelry, more. 1813 Mountain Road.

Customize your home with flooring that compliments your space while honoring your style. Choose from our leading

ware, gadgets, specialty foods, bedding, bath accessories, (802) 253-8050. stowekitchen.net.

STOWE MERCANTILE

collection of hardwood, carpet, tile, laminate, vinyl, and rug Fabulous old country store, Vermont specialty foods, penny selections. Williston, (802) 862-5757, candy, clothing, bath and body, wine, craft beer and cider, flooringamerica-vt.com. and toys. Play a game of checkers or a tune on our piano.

Depot Building, Main Street. (802) 253-4554.

GIFT & SPECIALTY SHOPS BUTTERNUT MOUNTAIN FARM & MARVIN’S COUNTRY STORE

stowemercantile.com.

TANGERINE AND OLIVE Independent makers from across America. Clothing, jewel-

Country store focused on all things maple—a carefully curat-

ry, letterpress cards and stationery, puzzles, Vermont maple

ed selection of our favorite products. Specialty cheeses,

syrup, gifts for the outdoor lover, and more. Downer Farm

honey, jams, Vermont-made products, crafts, and gifts. (800)

Shops, 232 Mountain Road. (802) 760-6692.

899-6349, marvinscountrystore.com.

tangerineandolive.com.

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

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

745 S Main Street, Stowe

802-253-9979

430 Mountain Road, Stowe Mon-Sat 8-4 • Sun 9-3:30

253-7205

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S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUSINESS DIRECTORY HARDWARE STOWE HARDWARE & DRY GOODS Unique hardware store providing North Country necessities and quality products. Craftsman tools, Cabot Stain, complete selection of fasteners, housewares, home-care products. Open 8-4 Mon.-Sat., Sundays 9-3:30. 430 Mountain Road Established since 1829. (802) 253-7205

VILLAGE GREEN AT STOWE Fully furnished condominiums at the center of all Stowe has to offer. Fireplaces, indoor pool, sauna, Jacuzzi.

Affordable. (802) 253-9705 or (800) 451-3297. thevillagegreen-stowe.com.

INSURANCE HICKOK & BOARDMAN, INC.

HEALTH CARE COPLEY HOSPITAL Exceptional care. Community focused. 24-hour emergency services, The Women’s Center, Mansfield Orthopaedics, general surgery, cardiology, diagnostic imaging, oncology, pulmonary and sleep disorders, tele-health and rehabilitation.

Morrisville. (802) 888-8888, copleyvt.org.

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

STOWE FAMILY PRACTICE Providing routine and urgent medical care for all ages. Walkins welcome and Saturday hours for your convenience.

(802) 253-4853. chslv.org.

HEATING/PLUMBING & AIR CONDITIONING

Providing superior service and innovative solutions for all your insurance needs. Home, auto, and business insurance since 1821. “Here when you need us.” 618 S. Main St., Stowe.

(802) 253-9707.

STOWE INSURANCE AGENCY, INC. Stowe’s premier multi-line insurance agency since 1955. Our pricing and service is second to none. Glenn Mink, Teela Leach, Robert Mink, and Renee Davis. (802) 253-4855.

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

HOME ENTERTAINMENT & SMART HOMES VERMONT ELECTRONICS Providing local support for custom design and installation of home theater, whole house audio, lighting control, shade control, thermostat control, home automation, and your security needs. (802) 253-6509. info@vermontelectronics.biz.

INNS & RESORTS THE LODGE AT SPRUCE PEAK Steps from the slopes, in the heart of it all. Luxury ski-in/ski-out lodging featuring heated outdoor pool, world-class spa, and a variety of on-property dining and retail options.

(866) 976-7940, sprucepeak.com.

THE STOWEHOF Classic alpine hotel on 26 acres. Fritz Bar + Restaurant open daily. Mountain views, x-country skiing, indoor pool, hot-tub, cozy living room with two fireplaces. 434 Edson Hill Road, (802) 253-9722, thestowehof.com.

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE Mountain resort in the European tradition. 96 rooms and suites, panoramic mountain views and over 28 miles of biking/hiking trails. European-style cuisine, shops, fitness center, pool, climbing wall, yoga, von Trapp family history tours.

(800) 826-7000. trappfamily.com.

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CLOSE TO HOME Locally owned and operated since 1999, we have the finest selection of bath fixtures and vanities, kitchen sinks and faucets, door/cabinet hardware, and more. A culture of customer service. 257 Pine St., Burlington. (802) 861-3200. closetohomevt.com.

COUNTRY HOME CENTER Our kitchen and bath department offers cabinet lines from mid-range to custom. Quartz, granite, and solid surface countertops. Tile showers. Tile, solid wood, engineered, LVT and laminate flooring for today’s Vermont lifestyle. 85 Center Road, Morrisville. (802) 888-3177. countryhomecenter.net.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN AMBLER DESIGN

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.

CUSTOM COVERS Custom Covers at the Grist Mill is a full-service shop. Designer fabrics, trims, wallpaper, custom-made slipcovers, upholstery, window treatments. By appointment. (802) 324-2123.

92 Stowe St., Waterbury.

INTERIOR CREATIONS FRED’S ENERGY

KITCHENS & BATHS

Full-service kitchen and bath showroom. Providing custom cabinetry, countertops, stone tile, plumbing accessories, and more for remodel and new construction projects. Open Monday through Friday 8-4. Appointments recommended.

(802) 479-7909. creations7909@gmail.com.

STOWE KITCHEN BATH AND LINENS Complimentary interior design with in-home consultations.

Enormous furniture selection at every price point and style.

Specializing in bedding, rugs, furniture, lighting, all of your kitchen needs. (802) 253-8050. 1813 Mountain Road, Stowe. kate@stowekitchen.net.

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

JEWELRY FERRO ESTATE & CUSTOM JEWELERS Stowe’s premier full-service jeweler since 2006. We specialize in estate jewelry, fine diamonds, custom design, jewelry repair, and appraisals. In-house repair studio. American Gem Society. 91 Main St. (802) 253-3033. ferrojewelers.com/stowe.

VON BARGEN’S JEWELRY A Vermont family business with four stores and a jewelry studio in Vermont and New Hampshire. Specializing in artisan jewelry, fine diamonds, and custom jewelry. Stowe Village.

Monday-Saturday 10-5, Sunday 12-5. (802) 253-2942. vonbargens.com.

Full-service landscape architecture and construction company in Stowe. Working with plants, water, stone, and earth, we create unique, exceptional, and beautiful outdoor spaces. (802) 253-4536. amblerdesign.com.

KNAUF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE We transform landscapes into beautiful outdoor living spaces that ignite the senses and seamlessly connect inside and out, with balance and harmony. Member ASLA. (802) 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.

WAGNER HODGSON LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE The process of uniting program, context, form and materials provides the basis for our work, crafting modern sculptural landscapes expressing the essential inherent beauty of natural materials. (802) 864-0010. wagnerhodgson.com.

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

BARR LAW GROUP Complex litigation and commercial transactions, including class actions, securities litigation, EB-5 fraud, arbitrations, trials, appeals, criminal defense, corporate mergers/acquisitions, Native American/tribal matters, real estate, aviation, personal injury/wrongful death. Licensed in Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, and California. Offices at 125 Mountain Road, Stowe, (802) 253-6272; 100 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y., (212) 486-3910; and 501 W. Broadway, San Diego, Calif., (619) 400-4966. barrlaw.com.

DARBY KOLTER & NORDLE, LLP General civil practice: commercial and residential, real estate, environmental, estate planning/administration, personal injury & worker’s comp, mediation services, business formation, family law. Stowe: 996 Main St., Unit 1A, (802) 253-7165; Waterbury: 89 S. Main St., (802) 244-7352.

OLSON & ASSOCIATES, PLC General law practice: commercial and residential real estate, contracts, estate planning and probate administration, business formation and maintenance, general litigation, family law, mediation services. 188 S. Main St., Stowe.

(802) 253-7810, olsonplc.net.

STACKPOLE AND FRENCH Litigation, real estate, corporate, utility, wills, and estate administration. 255 Maple St., Stowe. (802) 253-7339. stackpolefrench.com.

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

PERSONAL CHEF SWEET & SAVORY PERSONAL CHEF SERVICES Sweet & Savory’s goal is to prepare and deliver high-quality, healthy, and delicious meals to locals and visiting out-oftowners. Personal chef services, weekly meals, catering for all occasions. Easier than takeout. (802) 730-2792, sweetsavorystowe.com.

STOWE COUNTRY HOMES Property management, maintenance, repair, and renovations specialists. Lawn and garden care, landscaping, trash removal, etc. Renovations large and small. Quality work guaranteed—on budget and schedule. (802) 253-8132, ext. 102, or jeanette@stowecountryhomes.com. stowecountryhomes.com.

STOWE RESORT HOMES

PHOTOGRAPHY PAUL ROGERS PHOTOGRAPHY Since 1982, offering quality photographic services to Vermont businesses. Creative images of people, products, and locations. Photography of artwork. Private photographic instruction. RIT photo graduate. paulrogersphotography.com.

Personalized management for Stowe’s vacation homes. Home checks, personal shopping, remodeling project management, maintenance coordination, more. We also offer marketing and rental agent services for select vacation homes.

(802) 760-1157. stoweresorthomes.com.

REAL ESTATE & RENTALS COLDWELL BANKER CARLSON REAL ESTATE

LIGHTING

PHYSICAL THERAPY

BARRE ELECTRIC & LIGHTING SUPPLY, INC.

COPLEY REHABILITATION SERVICES

Indoor and outdoor lighting, fans, home accents. Supplier of choice for area electricians and builders. 3,000-square foot showroom featuring working displays for kitchen and bath lighting. Route 302, Barre. (802) 476-0280. barreelectric.com.

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

MAD RIVER ANTLER Handcrafted one-of-a-kind antler creations in the form of chandeliers, sconces, table lamps, floor lamps, and custom creations using naturally shed antler from moose, deer, and elk.

(802) 496-9290, madriverantler.com.

PINNACLE PHYSICAL THERAPY Skilled physical therapy for orthopedic and neuromuscular conditions, sports, family wellness, pre- and post-surgery.

Personal, professional care: 1878 Mountain Road, Stowe.

Appointment within 24 hours, M-F. (802) 253-2273. info@pinnacleptvermont.com or pinnacleptvermont.com.

MARKETS COMMODITIES NATURAL MARKET Best market 2015-2019. One-stop grocery shopping featuring organic produce, groceries, artisanal cheeses, bread, local meats, craft beer and wine, bulk, gluten-free, wellness, CBD products. Open daily. (802) 253-4464. commoditiesnaturalmarket.com.

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

MULTI-SPECIALTY CLINIC

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

PICTURE FRAMING AXEL’S FRAME SHOP & GALLERY Providing quality picture framing to the Central Vermont community for almost 40 years. Keeping custom picture framing affordable is just as important to us as providing incredible customer and design service. 5 Stowe St., Waterbury.

(802) 244-7801. axelsgallery.com.

ADAM KUNIN, MD, CARDIOLOGIST Personalized cardiac care. Board-certified in cardiology, nuclear cardiology and internal medicine. Providing general cardiology, advanced cardiac tests, and imaging.

Morrisville, (802) 888-8372. copleyvt.org.

DONALD DUPUIS MD & COURTNEY OLMSTEAD MD, GENERAL SURGEONS Board-certified general surgeons. Specializing in advanced laparoscopic procedures. Providing a wide spectrum of inpatient and outpatient surgical care. Morrisville, (802) 888-8372. copleyvt.org.

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

PRINTING THE UPS STORE From blueprints and banners to business cards and brochures, we print it. Shipping, scanning, and every other business service you can think of, we are your locally owned business partner. 112 S. Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-2233. store2614@theupsstore.com.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

Real estate sales and rentals, representing Stowe and surrounding communities. Our talented team leads the industry in technology, innovation, and passion. 91 Main St., Stowe, (802) 253-7358; 74 Portland St., Morrisville, (802) 521-7962. stowevermontrealestate.com.

FOUR SEASONS SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty strives everyday to exceed our clients’ expectations. To learn how we can put the power of our brand to work for you, visit us at fourseasonssir.com or (802) 253-7267.

LITTLE RIVER REALTY Your trusted real estate advisors representing buyers and sellers. Your goals are our priority. We are full-time realtors who appreciate the importance of your real estate decisions.

(802) 253-1553, info@lrrvermont.com and lrrvermont.com.

PALL SPERA COMPANY REALTORS Stowe and Lamoille County’s leading real-estate company serving Central and Northern Vermont from 3 offices and 24 hours a day at pallspera.com. Mountain Road, Stowe (802) 253-9771, Stowe Village (802) 253-1806, Morrisville (802) 888-1102.

RED BARN REALTY OF VERMONT An office of dynamic professionals, each with a unique love of Vermont. We look forward to helping you fulfill your real estate sales and rental needs. 1878 Mountain Road, Stowe.

(802) 253-4994. redbarnvt.com.

STOWE AREA REALTY GROUP AT KW VERMONT–STOWE Our dedicated team can help you with residential, vacation, investment, and commercial real estate sales and marketing.

KW Vermont’s extensive resources and innovative technology will give you a distinctive advantage. 1056 Mountain Road, Suite 1, Stowe. (802) 760-3100. stowearearealty.com.

STOWE COUNTRY HOMES Vacation homes and condos for short- or long-term rental.

Professionally and locally managed. Luxury slopeside properties, secluded private homes, affordable condos—we have what you want, meeting all budgets. 253-8132. stowecountryhomes.com.

RURAL RESOURCES Comprehensive property and household management services. Full-service professional management team specializing in the details of preserving your investment. Concierge/housekeeping, vendor management, design/remodels, much more.

(802) 253-9496, admin@ruralresourcesvt.com.

STOWE 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.

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

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

TRES AMIGOS

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

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

Unique to Stowe, wood-fired comfort food including pizza.

Local ingredients in a relaxed, rustic modern Vermont atmosphere. Enjoy après ski or dinner with family and friends. 28 taps, craft beer, cocktails, and extensive wine list. Daily.

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

HARRISON’S RESTAURANT & BAR Located in historic Stowe Village serving elevated takes on American dishes with wine, craft beers and cocktails in a unique, parlorlike space. Reservations accepted.

(802) 253-7773, harrisonsstowe.com.

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.

PIECASSO PIZZERIA & LOUNGE Traditional, hand-tossed New York style pizza with modern style, eclectic music, great vibes. Local favorite, voted a “Top 11 Slice in the Country” by travelandleisure.com.

Creative entrees, craft beer, gluten-free menu, online ordering, takeout, delivery. Call ahead for reservations, (802) 253-5247, piecasso.com.

RANCH CAMP Stowe’s mountain bike base lodge. Full-service bike shop with Stowe’s best demo fleet, and winter backcountry demo center. Fast casual eatery, craft beers on tap. ranchcampvt.com, (802) 253-2753.

Come home to Stowe, where retirement living is easy.

Spacious condos, fine dining, activities. Available for adults 55+. Copley Woodlands, 125 Thomas Lane, Stowe.

(802) 253-7200, copleywoodlands.com.

SALUTE STOWE Chef owned and operated. Authentic Italian cuisine.

Homemade pasta, prime wood fired steaks, fresh seafood, fresh baked bread, and daily specials. Catering available. 18 Edson Hill Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-5677 salutevt.com.

A vibrant non-profit life-care community located on 136 acres just south of Burlington in Shelburne, Vt. Residents enjoy independent living in cottages and apartments and comprehensive, on-site health care for life. wakerobin.com, (802) 264-5100.

STOWE SANDWICH COMPANY Open for breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Soups, salads, sandwiches and sides for lunch, including grab-and-go. Plenty of parking, online ordering available. Check us out, including catering, at stowesandwich.com. 1880 Mountain Road, (802) 253-7300.

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THE SPA AT SPRUCE PEAK Harness the goodness of nature and experience serious relaxation with signature treatments such as our Stowe cider scrub or CBD facial. Featuring the only cryotherapy available in Stowe. (802) 760-4782. 7412 Mountain Road, Stowe. sprucepeak.com.

SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS DISCOVER WATERBURY Ample spaces, outdoor places—skip the crowds, visit historic downtown Waterbury. Shop, dine, and play where Vermont’s beer culture was born. Fun is afoot in Waterbury’s lively downtown. discoverwaterbury.com.

LITTLE RIVER HOTGLASS STUDIO Walk into the studio and experience the art of glassblowing up close. Adjacent gallery features works of resident artist Michael Trimpol. Thurs. – Mon. 10-5. (802) 253-0889. littleriverhotglass.com.

RED BARN ICE CREAM

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. Insta: wellheeledstowe.

(802) 253-6077, wellheeledstowe.com. Daily 11 to 5.

SKI RESORTS SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH RESORT, VERMONT America’s Family Resort. Mountainside lodging. Award-winning kids’ programs. Zipline canopy tours. Winter: 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 SHOPS—Rentals & Demos PINNACLE SKI & SPORTS Voted No. 1 rental demo shop six years running. All new rental and demo skis and snowboards. Atomic, Blizzard, Burton, Dynastar, Fischer, Head, K2, Kastle, Nordica, Rossignol, Salomon, Volkl. Open nightly till 8 p.m., 10 p.m.

Fri., Sat. and holidays. (802) 253-7222. pinnacleskisports.com.

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

SPA

WAKE ROBIN

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.

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

RETIREMENT COMMUNITY COPLEY WOODLANDS

BENCH

ONION RIVER OUTDOORS

SKI & SNOWBOARD SHOPS—Retail 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 Road, Stowe. (802) 253-4531. mountainopsvt.com.

Ice cream, creemees, shakes, blizzards, sundaes, cakes.

Chocolates, candies, cookies, fudge, desserts. Soups, hot chocolate, coffee, cider, cold beverages. Year round.

Call for hours and reservations. 1799 Mountain Road, Red Barn Shops, Stowe. (802) 760-6425. redbarnicecreamshop.com.

SPRUCE PEAK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER The Stowe region’s premier, year-round presenter of music, theater, dance, film, educational, and family programs on stage, on screen, and across the community.

(802) 760-4634. Visit sprucepeakarts.org to be entertained.

VERMONT SKI & SNOWBOARD MUSEUM Collecting, preserving, and celebrating Vermont’s rich skiing and snowboarding history. Free admission. Explore our exhibits and visit the gift shop. Friday-Sunday, noon – 5 p.m.

1 Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-9911, vtssm.org.

SPECIALTY FOODS LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES What the New York Times calls “some of the best chocolate in the country.” Made from fair-trade certified chocolate, Vermont cream, other natural ingredients. Caramels, truffles, clusters, hot chocolate, factory seconds. (802) 241-4150. lakechamplainchocolates.com.

SPORTING GOODS OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE & GEARX.COM Locally owned since 1995, offering the area’s best prices, service, and selection of gear and clothing for camping, hiking, climbing, paddling, and a life lived outdoors. Open 7 days. Burlington. (802) 860-0190.

SURVEYORS LITTLE RIVER SURVEY COMPANY Surveying, mapping. Boundary, subdivision and topographic surveys. Site plans, FEMA elevation certificates and LOMA’s.

Forestry services available. Large document copying, scanning, reducing. (802) 253-8214, littleriversurveyvt.com.

LOCAL CHURCHES & SYNAGOGUES TOYS & GAMES ONCE UPON A TIME TOYS Test your agility on a ninjaline, unlock the mysteries of shape-shifting Sashibos, delve into the world of peapod babies. Traditional toys like Lego® to eclectic ones like Russian nesting dolls. 44 years. Birthday? Get a free balloon. (802) 253-8319, stowetoys.com.

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

Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Stowe, 253-7536 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 Cornerstone Foursquare Church, Morrisville, 888-5683 Elmore United Methodist Church, Elmore, 888-3247 First Congregational Church of Christ, Morrisville, 888-2225 Grace Bible Church, Stowe, 253-4731 Hunger Mountain Christian Assembly, Waterbury Center, 244-5921

FINE WINE CELLARS Fantastic wine selections from around the world. Great prices. From the rare to the exceptional value. Under $10$100+ we’re nuts about wine. Please see our ad on page 2. (802) 253-2630. finewinecellars.us.

STOWE BEVERAGE Full-service wine, beer, liquor, mixers, snacks. Stowe’s best wine and beer selection. Best price in town on Vermont maple syrup. Cigars. Free local paper with wine purchases.

Monday through Saturday, 10-7; Sunday 11-6.

(802) 253-4525.

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

(802) 585-5785, stowepublichouse.com.

THE WINE VAULT Our diverse selection is handpicked to highlight the best, small-batch producers from around the world. Getting married? Register with us. We ship. Waterbury, (802) 244-1111. thewinevaultvt.com, @thewinevaultvt, IG: the_wine_vault_waterbury.

YARN YARN Yarn offers a wide selection of yarns from near and far as well as needles, accessories, gifts, inspiration, classes, and a friendly fiber community. 80 S. Main St., Suite 3, Waterbury.

(802) 241-2244. yarnvt.com.

YOGA—LIVESTREAM & LIVE CLASSES THE YOGA BARN

Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jeffersonville, 644-5322; Morrisville, 888-5610 Jewish Community of Greater Stowe, 253-1800 Living Hope Wesleyan Church, Waterbury Center, 244-6345 Morrisville Baptist Church, 888-5276 Most Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, Morrisville, 888-3318 Mountain Chapel, Stowe, 644-8144 New Beginning Miracle Fellowship, Morrisville, 888-4730 Puffer United Methodist Church, Morrisville, 888-2225 Second Congregational Church, Hyde Park, 888-3636; Jeffersonville, 644-5533 Seventh-Day Adventist, Morrisville, 888-7884 St. John’s in the Mountains Episcopal, Stowe, 253-7578 St. John’s the Apostles Church, Johnson, 635-7817 St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Cambridge, 644-1909 St. Teresa’s Parish Center, Morrisville, 888-2761 Stowe Community Church, 253-7257 Trinity Assembly of God, Hyde Park, 888-7326 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Stowe, 326-2098 United Church of Johnson, 635-7249 Waterbury Alliance Church, 244-6463 Waterbury Center Community Church, 244-6286 Wesley United Methodist Church, Waterbury, 244-6677

A serene studio offering a full range of classes from vigorous flow to restorative practices. Privates, groups, retreats available. theyogabarnstowe.com for schedule.

Find us online at stowetoday.com

INDEX ALCHEMIST BREWERY ANDERSON & ASSOCIATES ARTISANS’ GALLERY AXEL’S FRAME SHOP & GALLERY BAGEL BARRE ELECTRIC & LIGHTING SUPPLY BEN & JERRY’S CATERING BENCH, THE BLACK CAP COFFEE BOUTIQUE BUNYABUNYA BUTTERNUT MOUNTAIN FARM CAMARA SLATE PRODUCTS CA MONSELL AND COMPANY CHAMMOMILE CLOSE TO HOME COLDWELL BANKER CARLSON RE COMMODITIES NATURAL MARKET COPLEY WOODLANDS COUNTRY HOME CENTER COUNTRY STORE ON MAIN CUSHMAN DESIGN GROUP DONALD P BLAKE JR BUILDER EDELWEISS DELI ELEVATED STATE VT FERRO ESTATE & CUSTOM JEWELERS FINE WINE CELLARS FLOORING AMERICA FLY ROD SHOP FORGET-ME-NOT-SHOP FOUR SEASONS SOTHEBY’S RE FRED’S ENERGY FRITZ BAR AND RESTAURANT GEOBARNS GORDON DIXON CONSTRUCTION GREEN ENVY BOUTIQUE GREEN MOUNTAIN DISTILLERS HARDWICK DENTAL GROUP HARRY HUNT ARCHITECTS IDLETYME BREWING CO. IN COMPANY CLOTHING INTERIOR CREATIONS J. GRAHAM GOLDSMITH ARCHITECTS JOHNSON WOOLEN MILLS KNAUF LANDSCAPE DESIGN KW VERMONT / STOWE REALTY GROUP LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES LANDSCAPES LAWSON’S FINEST LITTLE RIVER HOTGLASS STUDIO & GALLERY LITTLE RIVER REALTY LODGE AT SPRUCE PEAK LOEWEN WINDOW CENTER OF VT & NH MAD MOOSE ARCHITECTURE MAD RIVER ANTLER MARTIN WERTH LANDSCAPING & EXCAVATING MARVIN COUNTRY STORE METHOD ARCHITECTURE STUDIO MOUNTAIN LOGWORKS MOUNTAINOPS OUTDOOR GEAR MOUNTAIN ROAD OUTFITTERS MUMLEY ENGINEERING NORTHERN VERMONT UNIVERSITY NORTHWOOD GALLERY ONCE UPON A TIME TOYS ONION RIVER OUTDOORS OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE PALL SPERA CO. REALTORS PATTERSON & SMITH CONSTRUCTION

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91 32 88 87 108 147 106 97 15 39 77 107 122 149 14 121 INSIDE FRONT 108 29 137 77 141 141 3 87 2 2 123 21 87 113 151 95 122 145 27 105 41 145 90 31 146 139 89 144 119 111 117 103 89 127 101 143 143 81 125 107 112 135 7 33 153 17 83 81 75 35 133 131

PAUL ROBERT ROUSSELLE ARCHITECT 153 PIECASSO PIZZERIA & LOUNGE 95 PINNACLE PHYSICAL THERAPY 32 PINNACLE SKI & SPORTS 1 RED BARN ICE CREAM 85 RED BARN REALTY OF VERMONT 147 RED HOUSE FINE HOMEBUILDING 147 RESERVOIR RESTAURANT 97 RK MILES 144 ROAM 81 ROBERT PAUL GALLERIES 73 RURAL RESOURCES 146 SALUTE 101 SISLER BUILDERS 125 SKIESSENTIALS.COM 1 SKINNY PANCAKE 105 SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH RESORT 25 SPA AT SPRUCE PEAK 35 SPORTIVE 9 SPRUCE PEAK ARTS INSIDE BACK COVER STEVENS LAW OFFICE 32 STOWE BEVERAGE & LIQUOR STORE 37, 111 STOWE CANTINA 99 STOWE COUNTRY HOMES 151 STOWE FAMILY DENTISTRY 37 STOWE FAMILY PRACTICE 29 STOWE HARDWARE & DRY GOODS 155 STOWEHOF 95 STOWE KITCHEN BATH & LINENS 38 STOWE MERCANTILE 79 STOWE PUBLIC HOUSE 98 STOWE RESORT HOMES 13 STOWE SANDWICH COMPANY 103 STOWE SWEETS 77 SUNSET GRILLE & TAP ROOM 32, 105 SWEET & SAVORY PERSONAL CHEF 103 TANGERINE & OLIVE 87 TEN BENDS BEER 102 TEKTONIKA STUDIO ARCHITECTS 149 10 RAILROAD RESTAURANT 99 TIM MEEHAN BUILDERS 149 TOTAL FITNESS 37 TRAPP FAMILY LODGE 5 TRES AMIGOS 97 TRUEX CULLINS ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN 151 253 AUTO 155 UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT GROSSMAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS 19 VERMONT ELECTRONICS 111, 137 VERMONT REGENERATIVE MEDICINE 41 VERMONT SKI & SNOWBOARD MUSEUM 77, 107 VILLAGE GREEN AT STOWE BACK COVER VOLANSKY STUDIO ARCHITECTURE & PLANNING 135 VON BARGEN’S 75 VON TRAPP BREWING & BIERHALL AT TRAPP FAMILY LODGE 5 WAGNER HODGSON LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE 127 WAKE ROBIN 125 WELL HEELED 11 WILLIAM RAVEIS REAL ESTATE 139 WINE VAULT 107 WINTERWOOD TIMBER FRAMES 151 YARN 81 YELLOW TURTLE 85 YOGA BARN 11

THE VILLAGE GREEN AT STOWE A Condominium Resort For All Seasons Offering affordable rentals for 2 nights or more

Our Town Homes Provide

Amenities 2 pools (1 indoor) * whirlpool * sauna * 2 outdoor tennis courts * recreation center * video games * ping pong * pool table

*spacious 2 & 3 bedroom accommodations * fully equipped kitchens * fireplace * cable TV

Other Special Features Include * Majestic views from 40 acres of beautiful property * Direct access to Stowe’s award winning recreation path * Surrounded by the Stowe Country Club & golf course * Discounted rates for midweek, weekly or monthly stays

1003 CAPE COD ROAD, STOWE, VERMONT 05672 802-253-9705 • 800-451-3297 Visit our website at www.vgasstowe.com for more info and rates