Stowe Guide & Magazine Winter/Spring 2017-18

STOWE WINTER / SPRING 2017-2018 FREE

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

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PHOTO BY JIM WESTPHALEN

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Wendy Valliere – Principal Designer All Aspects of Interior Design STOWE

BOSTON

2038 Mountain Road, Stowe 05672 www.seldomsceneinteriors.com

802.253.3770

CONTENTS w i n t e r

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s p r i n g

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features

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Powered by Vail: Who’s who at the Mountain

by Caleigh Cross

With Vail at the helm of Stowe ski operations, here’s a handy guide to the visionaries who will now guide your experience on the Hill.

84

Den daze: Hanging at the base, old-school style

by Tommy Gardner

Mansfield’s original dive bar still warms up skiers.

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Make them laugh: Tom Murphy

by Rob Kiener

While the world reveres and applauds him classically-trained clown and physical comedian Tom Murphy is often a prophet without honor in his own hometown.

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Pictorial Much to our delight, the Stowe Historical Society celebrates 30-plus years of cover art on the Stowe Guide & Magazine.

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Learning from the masters

by Kate Carter

Students find their groove at the Vermont Woodworking School in Fairfax.

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CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: GLENN CALLAHAN; GLENN CALLAHAN; COURTESY PHOTO; GLENN CALLAHAN

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Stowe’s server stars

by Kate Carter

What do a former pro snowboarder, a psychologist, a hippie, a Johnson kid, a life coach, and a grandmother have in common? You’ll just have to read to find out!

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A lost culture

by Peter Miller

Peter Miller’s new book gives voice to “Vanishing Vermonters.”

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Welcome to paradise

by Robert Kiener

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California couple finds slice of heaven in a place called Eden.

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CONTENTS w i n t e r

Contributors

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Welcome to Stowe

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Goings on

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Rural route

53

On mountain

60

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First person: A hack’s guide

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Party pix: The Stowe scene

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Trail journal: Hut-to-hut

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Cool things: Skimo

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Q&A: Sue Horton

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Mountain ops: Science of Stowefall

104

History lesson: 10th Mountain Division

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Made in Vermont: “Farm Boy”

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Good works: Joyful Heart Foundation

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History lesson: Stowe’s bunny club

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On exhibit: Spruce Peak art

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Found in Vermont: Shopping list

She created the digital illustration to commemorate the 80th anniversary of lift service in Stowe, celebrated at Stowe Mountain Resort in February 2017. The 11"x17" vector-based drawing was done in Adobe Illustrator. (See story, p.44)

Outdoor primer

“I am inspired by beauty,” said Taplin.

“Beauty is everywhere, we simply need to look ... I am influenced by the colors and simplicity achieved from traditional printmaking. Vermont artist Sabra Field has always been an inspiration.

Galleries, arts, & entertainment

Edibles: Local food & bar scene

“I love the simplicity of this piece, the shapes and color palette. I also feel connected to it, as I do with most of my illustrations. It’s often a place I know and love. I can put myself in that exact spot. I hope that the viewer can feel the same way.”

GETTING AROUND

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53

ON MOUNTAIN

102

SHOPPING & GALLERIES

142

RESTAURANTS & LODGING

180

REAL ESTATE & LIFESTYLE

228

BUSINESSES & SERVICES

240

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

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Our cover this winter is “Early Lift Service” by artist, illustrator, and photographer Adele Taplin.

Helen Day Art Center • Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center • Guides to exhibits, music, and mixed media 142

10th Mountain

ON OUR COVER

Cross-country • Ice skating Snowshoeing • Snowmobiling 102

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departments

essentials 8

s p r i n g

FROM LEFT: PATRICK MCCORMACK; KEVIN WALSH; COURTESY PHOTO

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Rural Route

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

She graduated from Massachusetts College of Art, with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in graphic design, but has continued her education, most recently at Art Student League of Denver.

Stowe Performing Arts

Taplin, a 9th generation member of the Moody family, the second settlers in Stowe, now lives in Philadelphia. See her work at adeletaplin.myportfolio.com.”

LAUREN STAGNITTI

CONTRIBUTORS

KATE CARTER IN THIS ISSUE: Stowe’s super servers p.162.

Behind the scenes: It sure was fun meeting the six people who bring wholesome and deli-

cious food to hungry diners in Stowe. They are fully committed to their jobs, incredibly intelligent, engaging, and genuinely happy to be serving locals and visitors alike. Their positive attitudes remind me that no matter what you do, if you find pleasure in your occupation it will affect others around you. There is nothing better than being in the company of happy people, especially when they are bringing cocktails and food to you!

Currently: Kate is a freelance writer and photographer, and when she’s not researching sto-

ries or sitting at her computer, she’s photographing real estate for Vermont Realtors, hiking with her dogs, and digging in her and others’ gardens.

HANNAH MARSHALL IN THIS ISSUE: Tres Amigos, p.144.

Behind the scenes: I’ve experienced the Rusty Nail in just about every iteration since my nascency in the late ‘80s, and the latest version is sublime. I’ve eaten many a wing at The Reservoir in Waterbury and wolfed down wood-fired pizzas and poutine at The Bench in Stowe, and it’s clear that Mark Frier and Chad Fry really know their way around restaurants.

But it takes more than just great food and drink to make a place pop: Frier and Fry know how to have a good time, and their businesses are awash in good vibes.

Most memorable takeaway: Never say no to chips and salsa.

Currently: Managing editor for the Stowe Reporter, Waterbury Record, and News & Citizen, plus Green Mountain Weddings. Obsessed with Christmas—holiday season, food, lights,

music, salsa.

ROB KIENER IN THIS ISSUE: Tom Murphy, p.90.

Behind the scenes: Although I had heard of longtime Stowe/Waterbury Center resident

Tom Murphy and his several-decades career as a performance artist, I had no idea that he is perhaps even better known throughout much of Europe than he is in his own hometown.

Indeed, as I soon discovered, Murphy is in much demand throughout Europe where he spends several months each year playing to international audiences.

Most memorable takeaway: Offstage he is charming, soft-spoken, and thoughtful, but on

stage he instantly transforms himself into Everyman, an accident-prone, self-deprecating bumbler who also just happens to be an immensely skilled acrobat and physical comedian.

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

and other publications from his home in Stowe. More at robertkiener.com.

TOMMY GARDNER IN THIS ISSUE: The Den, p.84.

Behind the scenes: Stowe Mountain Resort is one of the oldest places to go skiing in the country, so it’s refreshing to find a little hideaway amid all the glitz and glamour that still feels cozy among the duct-tape-on-their-bindings and flannel-under-their-anoraks set. The Den is the place where those in the 40-and-under crowd remember hanging out, drinking cocoa while their then-30s parents commiserated after runs down the Front Four. Sometimes you wanna go where at least someone knows your name.

Currently: News editor for the Stowe Reporter, Waterbury Record, and News & Citizen, and

a snowboarder whose uncle Bob Snow used to make snow at Stowe.

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Robert M. Miller Gregory J. Popa Thomas Kearney Gregory J. Popa Kate Carter, Tommy Gardner, Robert Kiener, and Hannah Marshall Leslie Lafountain Ed Brennan, Michael Duran, Lou Kiernan, Irene Nuzzo, and Lisa Stearns Mitzi Savage Glenn Callahan & Gordon Miller Katerina Hrdlicka, Kristen Braley, Bev Mullaney, and Joslyn Richardson Stuart Bertland, Kate Carter, Orah Moore, Roger Murphy, Paul Rogers, Kevin Walsh Mark Aiken, Kate Carter, Evan Chismark, Caleigh Cross, Nancy Crowe, Willy Dietrich, Elinor Earle, Tommy Gardner, Robert Kiener, Brian Lindner, Hannah Marshall, Andrew Martin, Peter Miller, Mike Mulhern, Roger Murphy, Nancy Wolfe Stead, Molly Triffin, Kevin Walsh

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

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

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

Subscriptions are $12 per year. Check or money order to Stowe Guide, P.O. Box 489, Stowe, 05672 Advertising inquiries are welcome.

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Best Niche Publication, New England Newspaper & Press Association 2010 through 2016

WELCOME TO STOWE

Millions of bursts of light. Contributing photographer Paul Rogers captures the aurora borealis over Smugglers Notch.

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"Life's a party. Dress like it!" —Lilly Pulitzer Vermont's largest selection of Lilly Pulitzer.

Luxury styles for the sun and the slopes.

Offering women's and children's clothing, accessories and shoes!

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FIRST PERSON

ESSAY BY / Mike Mulhern ILLUSTRATION BY / Katerina Hrdlicka

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Stowe Resort

Homes

WHATEVER DO YOU DO? TAKE A MINUTE TO STOP THE CAR, SAFELY EXIT THE

LUXURY VACATION HOMES FOR THE SAVVY TRAVELER

VEHICLE, AND KNOCK THE ICE OFF? OF COURSE NOT. THIS IS VERMONT. GETTING OUT OF THE CAR FOR ANY WEATHER-RELATED REASON IS A TESTAMENT TO FAILURE THAT WILL MAKE YOU THE LAUGHINGSTOCK OF ANY “REAL” VERMONTERS. (YOU’LL KNOW A “REAL” VERMONTER BY THE HUNDREDS OF DENTS IN THEIR CAR.)

Stowe Resort Homes offer:

A HACK’S GUIDE TO WINTER ... and other survival tips This is the Stowe Guide & Magazine winter edition. So if you’re reading this, you’re likely in Stowe. Unless, of course, someone has ripped out these pages, sealed them in a bottle and thrown that bottle in the ocean, in which case you may just be stranded on a deserted island, starving, going bat-spit crazy, with only a volleyball to keep you company. God, I envy you.

Because if you’re reading this it’s also likely winter, in which case you’re probably under 27 layers of clothing, shivering, shoveling snow, and wondering whether this guide would be more useful crumpled up and insulating your boots or as fuel for a fire. (Hint: use it for insulation. Burning glossy pages will only make you start hallucinating about being on a deserted island.)

See? That’s exactly the kind of winter expertise I bring to the table! For I’ve spent the last nine years surviving Stowe winters and I have developed a series of winter “hacks” to get me through. Though I’m not entirely sure what the term “hack” really means. Doesn’t it involve computers? Like Matthew Broderick hacking into his school computer to change his grades? Which, as I recall, he did in two different 1980s movies, before the internet even existed. Now that’s hackin’.

Otherwise, “hack” means you are either

slashing something to pieces with a machete like a serial killer or you are a terrible writer. Either way, I’m an expert. So read on, freezing people of Stowe. My favorite winter hacks await.

Ski for free, kinda

Tired of having to sell one of your children for lift tickets? Instead, ride the roof avalanche.

As I have discovered, every rooftop in Stowe has been meticulously engineered to slide tons of snow onto passersby at random intervals.

So take advantage. Whether you ride the snowslide down to the street or just stand there and let it pummel you, it provides a low-cost alternative that still packs the full skiing experience—right down to the concussion protocol.

And the cost savings.

DIY fashion

Tired of having to sell the other child you actually like for skiwear? Instead, with a simple roll of black electrical tape and some cans of Krylon, you can tape and spray your boring old ski jacket into a look that is apparently the height of skiing fashion.

It also acts as perfect camouflage if >>

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All names and trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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FIRST PERSON you’re standing in front of the Partridge Family bus.

Ice, ice baby!

So you’re driving along during a snowstorm in Vermont, because there is always a snowstorm in Vermont, and you notice ice buildup on your windshield wipers.

Whatever do you do? Take a minute to stop the car, safely exit the vehicle, and knock the ice off? Of course not. This is Vermont.

Getting out of the car for any weather-related reason is a testament to failure that will make you the laughingstock of any “real” Vermonters. (You’ll know a “real” Vermonter by the hundreds of dents in their car.)

Instead, the preferred Vermont method of ice removal is to continue driving, open the driver’s window, lunge forward at the precise moment the wiper hits the leftmost point, and yank the wiper up to let it smack against the windshield, thus removing the ice.

There is a 50 percent chance this will cause the wiper to fly off and boomerang a pedestrian in the noggin, but winter in Vermont always has collateral damage. Speaking of driving …

Uphill climb

So you’re driving up a hill in Vermont, because

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there is always a hill in Vermont, and you notice that your wheels are slipping in the snow. Whatever do you do? If you’re asking this question, it’s already too late for you. Turn down the hill and go back to Florida, snowbird.

See, the trick that nobody ever mentions about hills is that you must mooooove! Gun it.

Momentum is the secret ingredient to hill climbing, much like the secret ingredient in mom’s brownies when I was a kid was love. (And a moderate dose of Ritalin, as I later discovered.)

Though, when careening uphill, you should always watch out for turns, as momentum has the occasional side effect of rolling the car over and taking it off the road. Just try not to roll over on the guy you hit with the wiper, he’s had a rough day already.

Let there be light

One of the worst things about winter is the lack of light. No more does that beautiful morning light flow into your bedroom, causing you to wake up refreshed and serene. This can have tragic consequences, such as depression, suicidal tendencies, and sleeping through early football games.

Fortunately, I found the perfect remedy: A gradual light alarm clock. This is a ginormous glass orb that gradually brightens and bright-

ens, simulating the sunrise. It also gradually increases the volume of computer-generated bird-calls, guaranteed to wake you up like nothing else.

Doorway to survival

Now there are times when you might be faced with an actual winter emergency. Stranded along a roadside or lost in the woods in the bitter cold. Fortunately, I have the perfect winter survival strategy: Get on a door.

Hey, I watched “Titanic.” I know that the difference between a ghastly frozen death and a long productive life of horse-riding and airplane flying, so get up on a door. Seriously, didn’t anyone else on the Titanic think of that?

They had thousands of doors.

I would have saved everybody on that ship.

Except Leo, of course, who deserved to die for his haircut alone. Anyway, always remember: if stranded in the woods in winter, just break off a door from some cabin, lie down on it and merrily wait for the lifeboats to arrive. Check your pockets for diamonds too. I’m fairly sure that’s important.

So take my advice, Stoweites. And follow close behind me as I “hack” us right through another winter. Just watch out for my backswing. n

GOINGS ON

TRAPP XC CENTER CELEBRATES 50! n

January 19 - 26

DECEMBER

DECEMBER 1 Sweet Pea & Friends Reading Authors of the popular book series. A furry friend will joins the fun. 3:45 p.m., Stowe Free Library, Pond and School streets.

DECEMBER 1 – 30 Festival of Trees and Light & Members’ Art Show Work by art center members and community-decorated Christmas trees. Opening reception, Dec. 1, 5 p.m. Helen Day Art Center, Stowe Village.

(802) 253-8358. helenday.com.

DECEMBER 2 Stowe Community Church Christmas Fair Needlecrafts, baked goods, collectibles, wreaths, Pocket Lady, Stowe afghans. Quilt raffle. 9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. Stowe Community Church, Main Street. (802) 253-7257. stowechurch.org.

DECEMBER 2 Morrisville Festival of Lights Santa, shows, treats, crafts, a parade. maccvt.org.

DECEMBER 6 Wildlife on the Move: Protect Critical Links & Corridors Learn about the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor Partnership and hear inspiring stories from the Cold Hollow to Canada project from manager and Bird Diva Bridget Butler. 7 - 8:30 p.m. Green Mountain Club Visitor Center. stowelandtrust.org.

DECEMBER 9 23rd BrewFest Part 1 Sample local and regional craft beers. Music, food. 6 - 10 p.m., 21 and older. $20. Meeting House, Smugglers’ Notch Resort. smuggs.com.

DECEMBER 16 – 17 Artisan Craft Show at Spruce Peak Area’s best artisans. Photos with Santa. Saturday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sunday noon - 5 p.m. Pavilion building, Spruce Plaza. Stowe Mountain Resort. stowe.com.

DECEMBER 18 Handel’s Messiah Community Sing-In Dan Bruce conducts. 7 p.m.; doors open 6:30 p.m. $8/person. Stowe Community Church, Main Street.

DECEMBER 31

GLENN CALLAHAN

DECEMBER 31 Jay Peak New Year’s Eve Party & Fireworks Fireworks on Tramside. Josh Panda concert, Foeger Ballroom. jaypeakresort.com.

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JANUARY

FEBRUARY

FEBRUARY 2 – 4 UVM Winter Carnival Downhill Division 1 college ski teams compete. Stowe Mountain Resort. stowe.com.

FEBRUARY 4

JANUARY 13 Ladies Nordic Ski Expo All-day expo for women in classic, skating, telemark/BC. Ripton Nordic Center, Ripton. catamounttrail.org.

JANUARY 13 – 27 Stowe Winter Carnival See Event Spotlight, page 20.

JANUARY 17 – 21

USASA Slopestyle Northern Vermont Series. Best of the best compete.

Stowe Mountain Resort. stowe.com.

Winter Rendezvous Five days of wintery fun with the largest contingent of gay skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast.

Fun events all weekend, open to the public. winterrendezvous.com.

JANUARY 19 – 26 Trapp Family Touring Center at 50 North America’s first cross-country skiing center turns 50. Group ski on antique skis, torchlight ski, champions dinner, groups skis, demo days, reception at Vermont Ski Museum. trappfamily.com.

JANUARY 26 – 27 Saint Michael’s College Winter Carnival Top NCAA slalom and GS compete. Smugglers’ Notch Resort, Jeffersonville. smuggs.com.

JANUARY 26 – 28 Smuggs’ Ice Bash Gear demos, clinics, dry tooling competition, raffles, fun. Smugglers Notch, Jeffersonville. smuggsicebash.com.

Stowe Mountain Fireworks & Torchlight Parade Stowe Mountain Resort comes alive with spectacle of light. Spruce Camp. stowe.com.

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GLENN CALLAHAN

COURTESY PHOTO

DECEMBER 1 – 3 A Traditional Christmas in Stowe Main Street lantern parade with carols, tree lighting, visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus, Root7 a capella group, reindeer, wagon rides, Festival of Trees & Light, Stowe Free Library children's author reading, and much more. stowevibrancy.com.

EXHIBITS: p.102

•••

FEBRUARY 10 Morrisville Rotary Polar Splash Dip yourself in frigid Lake Elmore and raise money for the North Central Vermont Recovery Center.

Registration starts at 9:30 a.m., jumping at 11 a.m. maccvt.org.

FEBRUARY 13 – 16 Men’s NorAm Stowe Mountain Resort. teammmsc.org.

FEBRUARY 17 MoVolley Match Winter volleyball tournament begins at the Oxbow Park. Noon. maccvt.org.

MUSIC & MIXED MEDIA: p.108

PHOTOS BY PAUL ROGERS

GOINGS ON FEBRUARY 17 Taylor Lodge Snowshoe Snowshoe hike from Lake Mansfield to Taylor Lodge on the Long Trail, 9 - 11 a.m. stowelandtrust.org.

FEBRUARY 25 Stowe Derby Oldest downhill cross-country race starts at the top of Mount Mansfield and winds its way 16k to the village. Stowe Mountain Resort. stowederby.com.

FEBRUARY 28 Taste of The Kingdom Sample small plates prepared by region’s top chefs. Desserts, wine, craft beer, and cider. Silent auction and live music. 6 - 10 p.m. Foeger Ballroom. Jay Peak Resort. jaypeakresort.com.

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Snowgolf competition. Inset: Ice carving.

MARCH

MARCH 1 FIS Open GS Men’s races. Stowe Mountain Resort. teammmsc.org.

S T O W E W I N T E R C A R N I VA L

Januar y 13 – 27

MARCH 3 Skim East Randonne Race All day. Jay Peak Resort, jaypeakresort.com.

SATURDAY, JAN. 13

MARCH 3

Kids Carnival Chaos Costumed characters, games, music, bouncy house. 1 - 3 p.m. Stowe Elementary School gym.

Ben & Jerry’s Winter Festival Free tours, 2018 flavors, games, giveaways, music, free tours, sugar on snow, gift shop sale, local food samples. 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Free.

Waterbury factory, Route 100. benjerry.com.

MARCH 3 – 4 Extreme Skiing Challenge Junior and adult freeskiers show their stuff on Smugglers’ most difficult terrain. 8:30 - 11:30 a.m. Courses: Saturday, Sterling Mountain; Sunday: Madonna headwall. Smugglers’ Notch Resort. smuggs.com.

SUNDAY, JAN. 14 Warren Miller’s Movie Night Warren Miller’s 2018 film “Line of Descent.”

7 p.m. Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center.

Snowgolf Tournament Costumed teams meet at Rimrocks, then off to Stowe Country Club Course for 11 holes of wacky golf. Aprés golf, Rimrocks. 10:30 a.m.

MARCH 3 – 4

TUESDAY, JAN. 16

Hope on The Slopes Fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Relay For Life Nordic Race on Saturday, with vertical challenge race Sunday. Jay Peak Resort. jaypeakresort.com.

Stowe’s Own Karaoke Mimic your favorite recording artist. Entry fee, great prizes. 9 p.m. Piecasso.

MARCH 8 – 13 U16 Eastern Championships Slalom, GS, Super G, men and women. Stowe Mountain Resort. teammmsc.org.

MARCH 11 Molly Fund Benefit Rail Jam Supports families with children undergoing cancer treatment. Music, giveaways, raffle. 9 a.m.; jam starts at 11 a.m. Zone Terrain Park. Smugglers’ Notch Resort.

MARCH 17 Banked Slalom Stowe Mountain Resort. stowe.com.

MARCH 17 – 18 Ski The East Extreme Comp Finals East Coast's heaviest hitters battle it out on Jay’s black diamonds. Jay Peak Resort. jaypeakresort.com.

MARCH 17 – 18

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Opening Celebration Door prizes, live music. 4 p.m. Matterhorn.

George Tormey Challenge U12 and U14 event. Dual GS and slalom.

Smugglers’ Notch Resort. smuggs.com.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 17 Pub-style Trivia Challenge 7 - 9 p.m. Piecasso.

THURSDAY, JAN. 18

SATURDAY, JAN. 20 18th Nationally Sanctioned Ice Carving Competition Watch as ice carvers turn ice into creative masterpieces. Noon - 4 p.m. Alchemist Brewery NICA Ice Carver’s Apres Awards Congratulate the winners. 7 p.m. Stowe Inn.

Stowe Squares Revival Zany adult version of “Hollywood Squares” featuring famous politically incorrect celebrities.

Prizes. 8 p.m. Tres Amigos/Rusty Nail Stage.

Ice Carvers Meltdown Party Live music. 9 p.m. Matterhorn

Vermont Brew Night Doc Ponds.

FRIDAY, JAN. 19

Moonlight Cabin Snowshoe Tour Meet at Umiak Outfitters. Cost includes rental, beverages and hors ’d oeuvres.

Register at 253- 2317.

Ice Carving Demo Day Pro ice carvers carve their masterpieces all around Stowe. 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Live Music Dance Parties At the Matterhorn and Tres Amigos/Rusty Nail Stage.

Ice Carving Stroll Enjoying food and drink at restaurants, shopping. 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Main Street; 1 - 6 p.m. Upper Mountain Road.

N.I.C.A. Ice Carver’s Welcoming Party Meet and greet ice carvers. 7 p.m. Sunset Grille & Tap Room.

Live Music Dance Parties 9 p.m., Matterhorn; 9 p.m., Tres Amigos/Rusty Nail Stage.

FRIDAY, JAN. 26

SATURDAY, JAN. 27 Heady Topper Snowvolleyball Tourney Six-person teams. Dig, set, and spike. 10 a.m.

- 4 p.m. Alchemist Brewery. Awards: Sunset Grille.

Closing Ceremonies Live music at Matterhorn and Tres Amigos/Rusty Nail Stage.

LIFE OUTDOORS getting people up and down since 1995

freeride sidecountry backountry telemark skimountaineering skimo race avy gear

Quality Rentals and Demos

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

MARCH 18

APRIL 1

Family Sugaring Come celebrate and learn about maple sugaring from Stowe’s own sugarmakers. Sugarhouse tour, sap gathering, and samples. 2 p.m. Location TBA. stowelandtrust.org.

Easter Sunrise & Easter Egg Hunt at Jay Peak jaypeakresort.com.

MARCH 18 NVC U8/10 Duals Stowe Mountain Resort. teammmsc.org.

Eastern Cup Finals Men and women slalom and GS. Stowe Mountain Resort. teammmsc.org.

APRIL 7

MARCH 23 – 24 TRIP Dance Company Dozens of dancers perform ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, tap, and hip-hop. Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, 7 p.m. sprucepeaksarts.org.

MARCH 24 – 25 1980s Weekend Celebrate spring and the 1980s. Stowe Mountain Resort. stowe.com.

Spring Big Air Stowe Mountain Resort. stowe.com.

APRIL 7 Pond Skimming & Chillin' & Grillin' Tailgate Party Elvis, a gorilla, guys in bikinis — you’ll see it all.

Zone Terrain Park. Registration 10 a.m., noon start. Followed by tailgate party. Smugglers’ Notch Resort.

APRIL 7 – 8 Sugar Slalom One of the oldest ski races in the U.S. Shoot the gates, enjoy sugar on snow at the finish. Stowe Mountain Resort. teammmsc.org.

MARCH 31 Vermont Specialty Food Day Stowe Mountain Resort. stowe.com.

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APRIL 2 – 5

GLENN CALLAHAN

GOINGS ON

APRIL 11

APRIL & MAY

APRIL 1 Stowe Easter Sunrise Service & Easter Egg Hunt Service atop Mt. Mansfield. Free gondola rides starting before sunrise. Ski or ride down. Easter egg hunt, Spruce Peak Village Center, 9 a.m. stowe.com.

23rd Annual BrewFest Part 2 Sample Vermont and regional beers and more. 6 10 p.m. $20. Mountain Grille, Smugglers’ Notch Resort, Jeffersonville. smuggs.com.

APRIL 14 New England Pond Skimming Championships Judged on costume, distance, and style. Awards.

Benefits High Fives Foundation. Stowe Mountain Resort. stowe.com.

APRIL 14 Pond Skimming at Jay Peak Classic season-ender. Costumes encouraged. jaypeakresort.com.

MAY 4 – 6 Stowe Weekend of Hope Celebration of life and learning for people with cancer and those who love them. Various locations throughout Stowe. stowehope.org. n

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For the pet who has everything!

PHOTOS: PATRICK MCCORMACK

Love the President or hate him, your dog is sure to have fun with a Trump doll pet toy. Designed to withstand rough play, dogs can carry around a Trump doll, cuddle it, or disembowel it. They can gnaw on its plush orange hair, or fling it up in the air.

“The joke is to entertain the humans.

Functionality is second, so the dogs can enjoy tearing Trump to pieces while the humans watch,” said Sarah-Lee Terrat of Waterbury Center, a well-known Vermont artist and muralist. She designed the line of political pet toys, which include Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, along with Fuzzu business partners Ann and John Lika and their daughter Katherine.

Fuzzu came into being during the last presidential election. Terrat designed products for Fat Cat, a pet toy company owned by Ann Lika.

When Lika sold Fat Cat, the two began designing for other pet toy companies, but found they had little control over the final product. So they started Fuzzu. The presidential campaign provided great fodder, inadvertently helping to launch the business, with a little help from Kickstarter.

“After the election, Hillary dolls fell to the wayside, but people

READY, SET, CHEW! Fuzzu’s Trump doll.

Company founders surrounded by their toys and pets.

continue to buy Bernie dolls to put on the shelf and Trump dolls so they could watch their pets destroy them,” said Terrat. The 18inch Trump dolls are their bestsellers, and due to popular demand Fuzzu recently introduced a 12-inch Trump doll for smaller dogs. They even have lighter-weight 8-inch Trump doll for kitties.

“Our focus is on creative design. Humor is in everything we do,” said Terrat from the company’s headquarters in Williston.

The dolls cartoonish features depict the candidates to a T, with messages like “push to inflate head” on the Trump doll and “push to activate the revolution” on the Bernie doll. Other products include a Rootin’ Tootin’ Putin doll, described as “rockin’ some furry chaps and snazzy cowboy boots, he’s a one-man pistol-packin’ pardner on the prairie!”

Satire at its finest.

—Kate Carter

ESSENTIALS: Fuzzu pet toys available at Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Waterbury Center •••• Online at fuzzu.com

VAIL CEO, WIFE DONATE 100 GRAND TO STOWE LAND TRUST Caitrin Maloney fielded a $100,000 phone call this summer. Maloney, executive director of Stowe Land Trust, picked up the phone as usual, but the call was anything but typical. The voice on the other end of the line told her Stowe Land Trust was being given a $100,000 lump sum by Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts, and his wife, Elana Amsterdam, a best-selling cookbook author and founder of Elana’s Pantry. •••• “It was a complete surprise,” Maloney said. “It was a wonderful phone call. I don’t get those phone calls often.” •••• Vail Resorts bought the Stowe ski resort in June. •••• Nicky DeFord, director of community engagement for Vail Resorts, said the gift is just the beginning of the partnerships Vail Resorts hopes to form with the Stowe community. The company gives about $8.6 million per year to its resort communities. •••• The land trust will use $30,000 to fund its youth naturalist program. The rest will be used to conserve more land.

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BLACK KATE CARTER; INSET: COURTESY PHOTO

STOWE COWBOY’S MOUNT RIDES TO GREENER PASTURES You may know him from the front of the Moscow Fourth of July parade or from headlining the Oktoberfest parade.

Those who observe Memorial Day in Randolph at the Vermont Veterans Memorial Cemetery might recall him proudly bare-saddled, a pair of black boots facing backward in his stirrups, carrying the invisible fallen veteran who represents all who have been lost to war.

The Stowe community has known its iconic black horse, Black Jack, for 16 years, as the friendly giant who would let children sit atop his back and offer short rides at the Stowe Farmers Market.

Black Jack’s human keeper, Gerry Scott, known as the Stowe Cowboy, could be seen having picnics in fields, cowboy hat on, horse grazing nearby.

Black Jack died July 19 at 22 years old.

When Scott talks about Black Jack, it’s in fits and starts. “I just had a crying moment there,” he says, remembering the horse that was the steed beneath his seat for almost two decades.

When Scott met Black Jack, the horse was six years old and bold, his black hide glossy and rippling. He’d been born and bred in North Carolina, and had been trained by Michael Plumb, a U.S. Olympic

equestrian whose past glitters with silver and gold medals.

Black Jack was Scott’s dream come true.

Scott lives on Mountain Road in Stowe, and after he retired his horse Independence, he was looking for a new partner in crime.

Black Jack cost Scott $20,000. At 17 hands high—that’s almost 6 feet tall—and weighing almost 1,300 pounds, Black Jack was “the nicest horse I’ve ever ridden,” Scott said.

To build a relationship with the newly arrived Black Jack, Scott took him for five- or six-mile runs through the woods, full tilt—not riding him, “side by side, just you and the horse,” Scott said. “And that’s an extraordinary way to connect with the horse. You’re on their level at that point.

Scott loved to share Black Jack with the Stowe community.

“There was a woman who lived in Stowe who had an incredibly handicapped son,” Scott recalled. “Her son would basically spend the whole week talking about going to the farmers market on Sunday to see Black Jack. It was the highlight of his week. He was probably 10. He’s a grown man now,” Scott said.

He doesn’t know all the names of the people whose lives Black Jack touched, because there were so many. Black Jack led the Fourth of July parade in Moscow for at least 12 years, and the Oktoberfest parade eight or nine times.

Despite Black Jack’s size, no one was scared to approach him, Scott said. “He was a really, really sweet horse. Just very kind.”

Black Jack’s death was unexpected, Scott said. He was being pastured in Newport, and was found dead on the morning of July 19.

He had already been buried by the time Scott arrived in Newport, where Black Jack now rests.

“I have another horse buried in Stowe. He’d be buried here as well, but that’s not where he died. It’s awkward transporting a dead horse. You can’t wait long,” Scott said.

Scott’s two other horses, both half Clydesdale, have been supporting him through his grief. One, named Cherie, was particularly close to Black Jack.

“I’ve been wondering what she’s been thinking. I just drape her with affection when I see her,” he said.

—Caleigh Cross

Longtime Stowe marketing guru Mike Colbourn named SnoCountry prez Ski industry veteran and former Stowe Mountain Resort VP of marketing Mike Colbourn is now president of SnoCountry, Inc., a not-for-profit winter resort trade association best known for disseminating daily snow condition reports.

He takes over for Tom Cottrill who retired after 22 years. Colbourn is only the third president in SnoCountry’s nearly 50 years of existence, following Cottrill and founder Phil Camp.

The organization started as the New England Ski Areas Council in the late 1960s and grew into the world’s largest snow condition reporting platform.

SnoCountry reports are carried on a network of more than 800 radio stations, and it also feeds several television networks and websites.

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Colbourn was a customer of SnoCountry’s during his time as vice president of marketing, sales, and communications at Stowe Mountain Resort, where he spent 22 years. He started as a ski instructor at Smugglers’ Notch in 1978, taught at Mad River Glen for 10 years, followed by stints with Rossignol and Warren Miller Films. Colbourn said he is excited about his new job. “It’s still in

the industry that I love and grew up with, yet it’s completely different than what I’ve been doing, so that was really exciting to me.”

Colbourn said he has no plans to change SnoCountry’s focus on broadcast communications because it’s so powerful and unique.

In his new role, Colbourn said so much is different but some things remain the same: “In this industry, I’ve never really considered it work—it’s a lifestyle. And I see this new opportunity the same exact way.”

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Helen Day’s Rachel Moore “The art center gives meaning to the place where we live.”

Rachel Moore is an independent mixed media artist, a freelance gallery curator, and the executive director of Helen Day Art Center, as well as its director of gallery exhibitions. She received her masters of fine arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her bachelor’s in fine arts from Alfred University, where she met her husband, James Knittle. They have two children, Lucy, 8, and Emmett, 4.

How did you and your family end up in Stowe, and you at Helen Day Art Center?

I was on a Fulbright Fellowship and James and I were living in Greece for a year in 2009. When the project was over I was looking for the next step, the next thing to do. We had lived in big cities and wanted to take a break from urban life. James grew up in Stowe and Morrisville, so we decided to try Stowe. I immediately met Nathan Suter, the former director of Helen Day, and he hired me to be an independent curator for “Exposed” and Habitat for Artists projects. Then he hired me to be the assistant director and gallery curator. I’d been organizing a lot of community-based public art projects, so it was a good fit for me. When Nathan stepped down I became executive director.

the interview

Where did you grow up?

I was born in St. Louis and then my family moved to Chicago for a few years. When I was six, we moved to Lancaster, Pa., where my father, a copywriter, worked for an ad agency. That’s where I spent most of my adolescence.

When did you start being artistically creative?

When I lived in Lancaster I took lessons from a woman in her house. It was four kids, sitting around drawing and painting, experimenting with oils, pastels, batik.

In high school I became interested in ceramics. I grew up going to museums with my dad. I always loved the feeling of being in a museum surrounded by art, created by people who were expressing the way they looked at the world.

Artists are witnesses to their time, and it’s reflected in the work they do. I went to Rhode Island School of Design for a pre-college summer program in ceramics and then attended Alfred University in Upstate New York. Their school of art and design is one of the best in the country for ceramics. Then I went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I got my masters of fine arts degree.

LLAHAN GLENN CA

Are you still doing ceramics?

Now I mostly do sculpture and drawings. I also love history and my artwork is informed by a theme, and is often research based. A theme I’ve been working on recently is climate change. I think a lot about things related to climate change, such as scientific indicators. For example, drifter buoys that measure changes in temperature, current, and sea levels and which are used to track climate change. I recently had a solo exhibit at Burlington City Arts, where the theme was water. The installation was hanging glass drifter buoys that I made with the help of a glass-blower friend in Greensboro, Devin Burgess. I created a giant map that covered one wall, with push pins indicating where the hanging buoys were located.

What does art mean to you?

It’s a way of communicating and describing and living in this world, a way of feeling and being. It’s an umbrella that allows me to do anything. If I’m interested in a geographic area I can research it and learn about

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INTERVIEW CONDUCTED & COMPILED BY KATE CARTER

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it and use my art to describe it. I can be the historian or the scientist or the environmentalist and use art as a tool to share knowledge and experience about that area. I really like work that is a catalyst for change. My work isn’t always a catalyst, but it brings attention to things people might not know about, and that makes it more personal. Art has the power to get to peoples’ emotions … it has the ability to change our state of mind and being.

Why is art important?

As human beings, we are creative, which separates us from other mammals. Art is a way to be politically active. Mark di Suvero, an artist in this year’s “Exposed” exhibition, talks about art as exploration.

He says, “If we can think and act together we can change the world.” That is how I look at art.

How do you like being at Helen Day Art Center?

Helen Day is a special place. I love it, because I can be in the Stowe community and be working with people and making a difference in their lives.

I have the flexibility and ability to present exhibitions at the level of the best galleries in the world.

It’s important that we present the highest-level artists and emerging artists that we can, and to present art that is beautiful and conceptually challenging. It’s a great resource for creativity. We do so many classes, workshops, and education programs. We’re trying to create artistic literacy.

Studies have shown that kids do better in all other classes when art is in their lives. We bring people together in a lot of ways. We are generous and sharing, thanks to our donors and supporters. It gives meaning to the place where we live.

Build it.

Don’t just dream it.

What does the future hold for Helen Day? We are working with local organizations to make Stowe a destination town for the arts.

We’d love to expand and have a presence on Main Street, and we will continue to support artists and increase our educational programs.

Are your kids and husband artists?

My eight-year-old loves art and took a photography class at Helen Day this past summer, but she has a lot of different interests. My four-yearold wakes up and starts drawing and never stops. I met my husband at Alfred University. He does large outdoor metal sculptures.

What else do you do?

I love to mountain bike, play tennis, travel, and we have a huge veggie garden. n

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①

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1. Meg Cossaboon, our favorite repeat globetrotter, at Mont St. Michel in France. “I remember spotting a similar view of this church-spiretopped island in my 5th grade geography book and always hoped to get there,” said Cossaboon. “Although we are lucky to travel frequently, we come to Stowe every summer, stay at Trapps, and enjoy visiting the shops, trying new (and old favorite) restaurants, enjoying local events, and exploring. Stowe feels like home. We always read Stowe Magazine cover to cover.

We always discover interesting places to visit, learn about the history of the area, and find out new places to shop and eat.” 2. Mary Skelton and Wendyll Behrend, both of Stowe, in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris last April. “I love the magazine and put it all the bedrooms of my B&B, Hobble Inn,” said Skelton. “I always read it cover to cover, sometimes before I’ve even put the groceries away! The colorful photos and the interesting articles are top-notch.

Keep up the great work.” 3. From Stowe to Sorrento ... Sisters MaryEllen and Catherine Caruso take a break from sight-seeing on the streets of Sorrento, Italy, to show off Stowe Magazine to curious locals. As nice as Sorrento is, MaryEllen and Catherine can't wait to get back to their parents’ vacation condo at Village Green in Stowe for some hiking, biking, swimming, and skiing.

Do you have a photo of our magazine on some farflung island or rugged peak? Send a high-res copy to ads@stowereporter.com, with Stowe Magazine in the subject line. We’ll pick the best ones and run them in a future edition.

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SKI

Sure you’ve skied all of your life, but do you know what all these old ski terms mean? Go ahead, test your knowledge.

The skier “stems” the lower ski, instead of the uphill ski, to make a turn. No abstaining required!

ABSTEM

Similar to a gymnast’s split, but on skis. While traversing a slope, the skier assumes a position where his crotch is low to the ground. When ready to turn, he unweights, and turns the uphill, or outside, ski toward the fall line. Meanwhile his weight remains on the inside ski, and as the outside ski drifts off, the legs become further and further apart. The key here is to not do a full split. Once a change in direction is achieved, the skier resumes a normal skiing posture. That’s the goal. Good luck.

DEEP-CROTCH CHRISTIE

The sitzmark, a butt-print in the snow, is still a current term. The flying sitzmark, however, is another thing altogether. It’s initiated with some speed, then the skier launches himself from between both poles, thrusts his skis forward and upward, forming a V-shape with skis and body, and lands in the snow, butt first.

Former Stowe ski school instructor, the late Roman Wickart, demonstrates.

Warren Witherell and George Tormey.

FLYING SITZMARK

This would make more sense if it were related to holiday decorating. It’s an old teaching exercise used to help skiers learn to unweight and edge their skis, which are alternately stemmed downhill and traversed, without the skier making an actual turn.

GARLAND

There’s power in sprunging. Using both poles, the skier initiates a mighty jump off a bump, often spreading the skis mid-air. Now called a spread eagle.

GELANDESPRUNG

For frequent flyers only. The skier sets an edge and uses the resulting force on his legs to shoot, or jet, his feet forward. Free champagne included in this flight.

JET TURN

Also called a flying christie and named for the freestyle pioneer Fritz Reuel (say royal). While traversing, the skier picks up the lower ski and angles it downhill toward the fall line so that the turn is done with the weight entirely on the uphill ski. The skier then raises the unweighted downhill ski into some sort of achievable position, such as a T-position or back-scratcher. Very impressive when performed on the fly.

REUEL CHRISTIE

A skidded beginner turn, best done when gin is added.

SCHWUPS

A continuous series of short-radius turns, interrupted with short check-stops as the skier zooms down the fall line.

SHORT SWING

At a slow speed, a skier, while headed straight down the fall line, lies back on her skis, rolls over like a worm, then stands up and continues downhill. It is entirely unclear why anyone would do this.

WORM TURN

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CHALLENGE eorge Tormey was a well-known ski racer in northern Vermont. While attending Johnson State College he led the alpine team to a top-three finish at the National Collegiate Ski Championships in Vail, Colo., and his ski racing accomplishments landed him a spot in the Johnson State College Hall of Fame.

After graduating he became head coach for the Mount Mansfield Ski Club from 1979 to 1987 and also served on its board.

In 1987 he went to work for the K2 ski company as a ski rep. Tormey died at age 44 in a motorcycle accident at his home in Stowe on July 4, 2000.

While at K2, Tormey persuaded the company to sponsor a ski race for young racers who were members of the Northern Vermont Council, a division of the Vermont Alpine Racing Association. The council is made up of eight northern Vermont ski clubs.

The event held at Smugglers’ Notch Resort, was called the K2 Challenge. When Tormey died, the name was changed to the George Tormey Challenge.

“The Smugglers’ Notch Ski & Snowboard Club has continued to host the race because the philosophy of the event meshes with our club’s mission,” said Ryan Sheredy, alpine director and head coach for the club. “Tormey didn’t have any direct connection to SNSC as far as I know, except that much of the coaching staff was friends with him or grew up skiing with him.”

The race’s objectives are to put the focus on the athletes who do not stand on the podium every week during the regular season.

“This was George Tormey’s philosophy of ski racing with young athletes,” Sheredy said. “He wanted to keep the focus on all the athletes, not just the fastest who qualify for postseason events.”

G

ESSENTIALS: 2018 George Tormey Challenge, March 17 – 18. snscvt.com.

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flashback Broadcaster Lowell Thomas (second from left) was a frequent Stowe visitor starting in the early 1930s, often broadcasting his popular news and commentary program from the basement of the Green Mountain Inn. Thomas rose to fame after dramatizing the story of Lawrence of Arabia. Starting in 1930, he became the first person to broadcast a national news program, on the only two networks at that time, CBS and NBC. In an interview with Vermont author David Goodman, filmmaker and Lowell Thomas expert Rick Moulton revealed some details about Thomas’s relationship to Stowe. “He used to do his broadcasts from remote locations and he was an avid skier, starting first from Lake Placid where he could take a train right from New York City to Lake Placid, which was very convenient for him in the late 1920s.

When Stowe really became an important skiing center, even before there were lifts and after the CCC cut the Ranch Camp trails and the Nose Dive, Lowell would go up and stay at the Green Mountain Inn. He would get a direct line to New York City so he could do his broadcasts from the basement, right there in the Whip.

“There are pictures of Lowell with some of the notable figures of Stowe surrounding him while broadcasting, and by putting Stowe front and center—‘Here ‘I am in Stowe, Vermont, at the Whip’— it really publicized the town and helped it take off.”

Thomas was also an early investor in the single chair that opened in Stowe Nov. 17, 1940. “He was a big part of ski development across the country, but in Stowe in particular,” Moulton said.

Thomas was also credited with dubbing lumber giant and one of Vermont’s ski pioneers, Craig Burt, “The Maharaja of Stowe,” a nickname that always embarrassed the modest Burt, and for convincing champion golfer and trick-shot artist Joe Kirkwood to become the first golf pro at Stowe Country Club.

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Stuart Bertland loved Stowe, loved photography, and loved photographing Stowe.

Bertland, who died May 8 at the age of 70, lived in Charlotte, N.C., but spent his summers in Stowe for four decades. Early on, he’d pop into the Stowe Reporter office and pick up a roll or two of Tri-X black-and-white film and come back a week later with shots of flowers, local events, church suppers—you name it. If it was happening in Stowe, Bertland was usually there. Later, when photography went digital, he’s show up with a memory card packed with scenic photos tucked into an envelope with scribbled notes about what the card held.

Over the years he took thousands of photos of Stowe’s classic scenes, and every new memory card or roll of film brought him delight. “Great color on this one,” he’d say, and he was right.

What he loved was Stowe’s beauty and he wanted to capture that in his photos. The lush gardens at Trapp Family Lodge were a favorite haunt.

Towering sunflowers. Bright orange pumpkins.

Mount Mansfield at sunset. Concerts in the meadow at Trapp Family Lodge. The Stoweflake hot-air balloon festival. The antique car show. The meandering river intertwined with the Stowe Recreation Path.

Stowe was Stuart Bertland’s summer playground, and he never tired of it.

Neither did we.

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Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum Hall of Fame Ceremony, Stowe, Oct. 21.

Suzanne Trudeau, Bob Cochran, and Rick and Melinda Moulton.

Bill McCollom, Rob Apple, and Mitzi McInnis.

Lillian Coppola and Denis Lambert.

Bill Briggs and Mary Brown.

Lance and Vanessa Violette.

John Fredericks.

John and Millie Merrill.

Jim Fredericks and JoAnn Hanowski.

38 38

Tina and Herb Heath.

Lin White and Barbara Cochran.

Jack Wallace and Jess Friedman.

Iron Chef at Sushi Yoshi

Stowe Education Fund Benefit, April 12.

Peter Miller and Bob Cochran.

Chuck and Jann Perkins.

Peg and Rick Hamlin.

Susan Dorn and Ken Burrill.

Carrie Nourjian, Sascha Ayad, Disa Clarner, Ann Battelle, and Anabel Ayad.

Sandra Heath, Scott Noble, and Al Besser.

Kathy and Jay Provencher.

Derek Graddock.

Dickie Hall, David Goodman, and Sue Minter.

The Cochran family.

Jim Fredericks and Poppy Gall.

VERMONT SKI MUSEUM PHOTOS: GORDON MILLER TRAPP CONCERT: MICHELLE BISCEGLIA

John and Millie Merrill, Joanne Barwick, Nancy and Jim Stead, and Paige Savage.

Debbie Kehoe and Michelle Bisceglia.

Count Basie Orchestra Stowe Performing Arts, Music in the Meadow concert, Trapp Family Lodge, August 20.

Benny Wax.

CarolLynne Kirch and Marian Baraw.

Megan and Jeff Goss.

Tom and Mary Brock.

Michelle Bisceglia, Jo Sabel Courtney, and Christy Patt.

Bob Simeone, Gayle Oberg, and Jim and Deb Baum.

Stu Baraw, Peter Monsen, and Bob Kirch.

Paula Helmken and Donna Baraw Wheeler.

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Chris Curtis and Tari Swenson.

Pall and Susan Spera.

Jasmine Bigelow and Eric Santini.

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Stowe, Vermont, is not the only town in the world named Stowe. Across the pond there’s a civil parish and former village with the same name. It’s located in Buckingham, England, about 75 miles northwest of London. Both are eminent towns in their respective countries, but how much do they have in common beyond a name? Well, let’s see how the two Stowes compare.

england

vermont

stowe

stowe POPULATION 4,314 (2010 Census)

POPULATION 886 (2011 Census)

COUNTY Lamoille

COUNTY Buckinghamshire

LATITUDE 44.4654° N

LATITUDE 52.0330° N

ELEVATION 968 feet

ELEVATION 385 feet

ESTABLISHED: 1763

Stowe Mountain Resort.

REPUTATION One of the nation’s first ski towns and Ski Capital of the East.

FLICKS “The Four Seasons” with Alan Alda. The winter scenes were filmed at Stowehof Inn and Baggy Knees.

SCHOOLS Mount Mansfield Winter Academy, a coed high school ski academy founded in 1993; North American Hockey Academy, a girls’ hockey academy founded in 1998; Stowe elementary, middle, and high schools.

HOTELS Innumerable hotels, motels, and private rentals.

RESTAURANTS Approximately 48 STROLLING Has the world-famous 5.3-mile Stowe Recreation Path that parallels the Mountain Road and has 10 bridges that cross the West Branch of the Little River.

ICONS Stowe Community Church, located on Main Street in Stowe Village, is one of the most photographed churches in the United States.

Stowe Recreation Path.

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Photo credits: England, from top: National Church Trust, National Trust, and Stowe School.

Vermont: Glenn Callahan, Stowe Mountain Resort, Glenn Callahan.

ESTABLISHED: circa 1086

Stowe House.

REPUTATION Home to Stowe House and Stowe Landscape Gardens, one of England’s first landscape gardens.

FLICKS Because of its picturesque surroundings Stowe has been the setting for many films, including “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” the Bollywood film “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham,” “Proof of Life,” “Stardust” (2007), and “The World Is Not Enough” in the James Bond series.

SCHOOLS Stowe School, a public school, founded in 1923, with 99 schoolboys. Now a coed school, it has approximately 550 boys and 220 girls. The school has been based since its beginnings at Stowe House, formerly the county seat of the dukes of Buckingham and Chandos.

HOTELS About 22 in nearby Buckingham.

RESTAURANTS 1 STROLLING Winding paths and lakeside walks in a timeless landscape, reflecting the changing seasons.

Landscape gardens at Stowe

ICONS Stowe Parish Church, circa 1270, is situated in the midst of the Stowe Estate.

It’s intentionally hidden by evergreens, planted by Lord Cobham to conceal the church from the mansion, and is all that is left of the medieval village that stood there.

—Kate Carter

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STOWE’S FIRST LIFT The year was 1936. Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Berlin, the Rural Electrification Act went into effect, bringing electricity to the more remote parts of the country, aviator Beryl Markham became the first woman to complete a non-stop transatlantic flight, and President Roosevelt won a second term on the heels of the Great Depression.

Amid all this worldly news, up north in Stowe, Vt., downhill skiers were experiencing the birth of modern skiing. The area’s first ski lift, a rope tow, was installed on Mount Mansfield. It was located behind the Toll House, and everyone called it the Toll House rope tow.

Notes from Charlie Lord, Old Stowe postcard, circa 1930s/1940s. the father of Stowe skiing and chronicler of Stowe ski history, pinpoint the beginning of modern lift skiing here as Feb. 7, 1937.

Stowe ski historian Brian Lindner’s research into Lord’s notes revealed that Wesley Pope of Jeffersonville sold the rope tow to Craig O. Burt Jr in the fall of 1936. Pope and Burt, plus a pair of horses and a driver, installed the tow. It was 1,000 feet long and powered by a used 1927 Cadillac motor.

Over time, that rope rubbed thousands of gloves smooth as it slipped through skiers’ hands while pulling them to the top of the gentle Toll House slopes. One ride on the rope tow cost 10 cents. A full-day ticket was a dollar and a season’s pass was five dollars.

After 20 years, in 1956, the Toll House rope tow was replaced with a T-bar, which was

MMSC MAKES GOLD CLUB

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The Mount Mansfield Ski Club is now gold-certified, the highest ranking a club can achieve by the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association.

As one of 20 gold-certified clubs in the nation (seven in the East), MMSC was recognized for organizational and programming excellence, which requires a rigorous assessment and review of best principles and practices in eight areas of organizational performance, including leadership and governance, finance and funding, fostering club culture, public relations, communications and marketing, human resources, child-athlete protection, USSA club programming, and USSA club logistics.

MMSC is one of the oldest skiing-focused clubs—founded in 1920 and incorporated in 1934—and currently has among the largest membership and alumni base in the country.

“This certification reflects the remarkable commitment of many to advancing MMSC’s mission—developing the whole athlete and providing support for passion and pursuit of excellence in athletics, academics, and life,” said Igor Vanovac, executive director of the club.

Vanovac said MMSC continues to enhance the experience it provides, including athlete programming, coach education, physical resources, a ski service center, and a new gym scheduled to open this spring.

—Phil Schoepke

eventually replaced by a chairlift. The rope from the tow resurfaced in 2014 when construction workers found it in Barnes Camp as it was undergoing renovation into a visitors’ center for Smugglers Notch.

—Kate Carter

Editor’s note: Our cover art, by artist and illustrator Adele Taplin, depicts Stowe’s famous rope tow. See artist bio, p.6.

It doesn’t have a snazzy name—Bridge 68—but the span over the Lamoille River in Cambridge Junction is being replaced, one of the last local sections of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail that needs an overhaul.

But what’s even better is that a change in state funding could speed up completion of the 93-mile trail between St. Johnsbury and Swanton, which travels through the nearby towns of Hyde Park, Morrisville, Johnson, and Cambridge.

For the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, which oversees the rail trail project, that change now means an 80/20 match, so for every $2 VAST raises, it will get $8 from the state’s bike-ped program.

Next up is reconstruction of 11.6 miles of trail between Sheldon Junction and Swanton, including a tie-in with the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail.

Other work on the trail, between Sheldon and Cambridge and between Morrisville and Greensboro Bend could also get underway soon.

About a third of the trail—17 miles between Morrisville and Cambridge Junction and 12 miles between St. Johnsbury and Danville—is open for use.

To raise its matching funds, VAST launched a capital campaign at lvrt.org.

—Andrew Martin

rail

trail

CALEIGH CROSS

RURAL ROUTE

Hope Sullivan, Spruce Peak Arts’ new director.

ope Sullivan celebrated her 47th birthday the weekend she started her new gig as executive director of Stowe’s Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center.

Sullivan, from Pittsfield, Mass., spent a dozen years as executive director of IS183 Art School of the Berkshires, a place for people of all ages to enrich visual art skills and passions. A longtime Stowe visitor with friends in the area, she’d been looking for an opportunity to move here when she learned Lance Olson was leaving as executive director of the nonprofit arts center.

So far the community has embraced Sullivan and her 7-year-old daughter Elke.

“I went to the bank and set up an account and got a thank-you card from the woman who worked with me,” she said. “The entire culture of Vermont is really open and welcoming, and that’s something I saw as a visitor, but I’ve been astounded at the depth of it as somebody who’s now moving in here. The nuts and bolts and tedium of moving and settling in a new place has been lifted and elevated. I think that’s so core to what Stowe is and to what Vermont is.

“I’ve been so impressed to learn about the talent of the region, the Vermont artists that are pre-

h

Poverty and a lack of social awareness are the root cause of human trafficking in India, and local photographer Benjamin Grunow journeyed this spring to Darjeeling on a quest to make a difference. Grunow, of Elmore Mountain Photography in Elmore, was in India for three weeks, traveling with a local trekking agency and Mankind in Action for Rural Growth, a small nongovernmental organization campaigning to stop the trade. •••• The organization’s human Stop Human Trafficking team worked to create both videos and photos to help spread awareness among young people, police, teachers, and taxi drivers. •••• Grunow helped to document a contest among schools for the best pamphlet or poster that warns of the dangers of sex traffickers in a pictorial way that doesn’t require literacy. The posters were created by about a dozen students ages 12 to 17 at eight schools around Darjeeling, and across the border in Nepal. •••• Nearly 80,000 children are taken every year in India, and that number is constantly rising. “It’s just hard to put into words what I saw in these villages,” Grunow said.

touch 46

sent here and that are performing on this stage and across this community,” she said.

Vermont, and Stowe in particular, has “really rich and broad talent,” and she’s “thrilled to dive into the vibrant arts community” with organizations such as the Helen Day Art Center and Stowe Performing Arts.

For Sullivan, the value of organizations like the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center is in making connections among artists, their work, and the larger community. Art presented at Spruce Peak, or any arts center, has to resonate with the people who patronize it and who make it part of their lives.

—Caleigh Cross

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RURAL ROUTE

Dr. Bob Arnot.

GLENN CALLAHAN

“Improve your brain! Extend your life! Enhance your health! Drop those extra pounds!”

So reads the inside jacket flap of Dr. Bob Arnot’s second diet book, three years in the making. His first book, “The Aztec Diet,” featured the benefits of chia seeds. This one, which promises to change your life, is about … wait for it… coffee!

“I’ve always been captivated by food that makes you healthy,” said Arnot, a television medical correspondent, award-winning journalist, avid athlete, and part-time Stowe resident.

“But food is slow to process in your body, so I looked at beverages, which your body processes more quickly, and discovered the healthiest thing you can drink is coffee. I was shocked, because I always thought coffee was bad for you and a marker for bad behavior, eating bad food, and unhealthy lifestyle habits.”

“The Coffee Lover’s Diet” debunks the bad rap coffee reaps. Arnot discovered that coffee beans grown at high elevations in stressful weather conditions contained unusu-

 MAIL BAG

HEY, I’M ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE!

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To the editor: Whenever I travel I always pick up the local magazines and so often read about local artists and photographers and think how wonderful it must be to live and work in such gorgeous locations.

Now I’m one of those people. (“Artist and photographer Kent Shaw,” Stowe Guide & Magazine, Summer/Fall 2017) Kate Carter’s writing is excellent. She faithfully captured my approach, the photos were printed with accurate color reproduction, and you selected some of my favorite images. In short, wow. I’ll be walking on air for the rest of the summer (and long after).

Thank you so much for featuring me in your magazine. I’m truly honored.

Kent Shaw, Elmore

CHICKEN KILLING, REALLY?

To the editor: I was initially pleased to find the most recent Stowe Guide & Magazine (Summer/Fall 2017) available to send to family, friends, and clients for their visits to Vermont. From the cover art to articles on local athletes, restaurants, and great upcoming events, it would have been the perfect piece to send out to them.

However, as I skimmed through the magazine I came upon the article on “Jupiter Farm,” which I know of and admire for its “mission of allowing people with mental and physical disabilities to spend time at the farm, planting, weeding etc.,” that the owner started after her son suffered traumatic brain damage in an ATV accident.

However, the pictures that accompanied the article included a sizeable number depicting the slaughtering of chickens. The majority of the article was excellent, until the end. I am not a vegetarian by any means, but the part of the arti-

cle that discussed the butchering of chickens— along with the pictures—was uncalled for.

The Stowe Guide & Magazine, from what I have seen over the years, has been published to entice tourists to visit and to let family members and friends coming to Stowe know about all the great things here that take them away from the insanity they left behind.

With the internet so easily available, if someone wants to know how to “process a chicken,” they can find out how to with a few keystrokes, or they can ask a farmer directly.

It doesn’t need to be via pictures in a magazine that children of all ages may look at. There is enough violence for children to deal with.

So when people are on vacation or visiting family or friends, let the mountains wrap their arms around them and give them a break from the insanity that they unfortunately have to face in these times, even if for just a brief moment.

Susan Russo Morrisville

ally high levels of polyphenols—the antioxidants found in some fruits, vegetables, teas, red wine, chocolate, and extra virgin olive oil—that help reduce inflammation and improve overall health.

After three years of extensive scientific research and sourcing thousands of beans from all over the world, Arnot, with the help of Dr. David Nieman of North Carolina Research Campus, proved that high-elevation coffee beans do, indeed, improve your vascular system and mood.

In terms of terroir, the best coffee comes from high-altitude regions near the equator that are stressed by weather fluctuations. The three countries where coffees grow in these conditions are Kenya, Ethiopia, and Columbia.

But there’s more to it than great beans. You also have to factor the grind, brewing machine, filter, water, and roast, which must be very light.

It also matters how much you need to drink to garner coffee’s antioxidant benefits. “If you metabolize caffeine slowly, we recommend four to six cups a day,” said Arnot. Yowza!

Fortunately, high-elevation coffees feature less caffeine, so if you actually drink four to six cups a day you probably won’t get the shakes. If you want all the benefits of the polyphenols but no caffeine, decaffeinated high-elevation beans have the same amount of polyphenols as the high test.

High-elevation coffee beans are not exactly easy to find around town, but Dr. Arnot offers a few buying tips.

—Kate Carter

ESSENTIALS: Available locally at Bear Pond Books, Stowe, and Bridgeside Books, Waterbury.

STORY CAPTURED ESSENCE OF OUR HOME

To the editor: My sincere thanks to all of you for the tremendous article in the Stowe Guide & Magazine (“A home of one’s own,” Summer/Fall 2017) about our house. I was completely impressed by the excellent quality of Glenn Callahan’s photos and the flow and candor of Rob Kiener’s narrative.

As I kept turning the pages one after the other I couldn’t believe the extent and comprehensive aspect of it. You really captured the essence of the house.

This is a very nice bit of publicity for both my architectural firm and myself, which I truly appreciate.

Ernest Ruskey, AIA Tektonika Studio Architects

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RURAL ROUTE

ou’ve heard it plenty of times: they don’t make ’em like they used to.

That is, unless you’re talking about lean-tos, camps, bridges, bunk beds, sheds, staircases, ladders, patios, firepits, roads, and the culverts that go under them.

The hundreds of women and men who work every summer for the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps do, in fact, make all that, and more, in much the same way their forebears did all around the country more than 75 years ago.

And the Green Mountain Club has its own

Earlier in the summer, they installed red-worm composting privies—toilets around the Waterbury Reservoir. After Mount Mansfield, the group installed 300-pound bear-proof food storage lockers around nearby Green River Reservoir, hauling them in by canoe.

Paul van Apeldoorn, a master carpenter with a mix of Australia and Cape Cod in his softspoken voice, is on hand during the summer to teach the crew members technical skills. Most of them don’t start their summers with carpentry experience. Many can barely swing a hammer straight, coming from urban childhoods or from college.

Much of Vermont’s infrastructure was made possible by nearly 41,000 of the three million GORDON MILLER

Y

ture to the Stone Hut, which was built 81 years ago by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The new woodshed is a hearty piece of work, bolstered by a frame made of raw foot-wide maple logs that should stand up nicely to all manner of brutality Mansfield’s weather patterns can toss at it. Fittingly frugal, much of the building material is leftover timber from the Stone Hut rebuild last year—a fire gutted the place at the end of 2015 after campers stacked frozen hunks of firewood against the hut’s woodstove to dry out, hence the practical necessity for a new shed to keep the firewood dry.

During a lunch break, the five-person crew of young 20-somethings sat in a cluster on the ski lift landing ramp, overlooking a quarter of

The original Stone Hut, built in 1935. Paul van Apeldoorn and John Medose oversee the Mansfield project. Mike Anderson takes a break with his VYCC crew.

army of workers who keep the 272-mile Long Trail, cut between 1910 and 1930 before FDR established his tree army (more on that later), and its attendant shelters functional and cozy.

“Taking a sledgehammer and crushing rocks to fill a wet spot in the trail is the same technique as it’s always been,” said Mike DeBonis, executive director of the Green Mountain Club.

“A lot of the work is still done with a strong back and sweat equity.”

This summer, a five-member work crew with the Vermont corps was on top of Mount Mansfield, constructing a new companion struc-

who’s

who

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Vermont and the outskirts of New Hampshire, eating pretzels and drinking water.

Maddie Shropshire, a corps member from Quechee, has been soaking up the views on work breaks the whole time: “We were putting the rafters in last Friday. And you’re just standing there, on top of this building that you put up, and you get to look out over those mountains. I can’t imagine a better place.”

This Vermont Youth Conservation Corps crew came to Mansfield after a stint in the northeastern corner of the state, fixing more than a dozen lean-tos in Maidstone State Park.

men who joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, on which the youth corps is patterned, during its decade-long existence, from 1933 to 1942.

Crews built three dams in Vermont following the 1927 flood, including the 2,000-foot Waterbury dam. They built fire lookout towers and cut some of Mount Mansfield’s most famous trails, such as Perry Merrill, Lord, and Nosedive.

And there’s a reason some people referred to the CCC as “Roosevelt’s Tree Army.” They planted about a million trees in Vermont, out of some 1.25 billion nationwide. —Tommy Gardner

The who’s who of the ski and snowboarding world gathered at Stoweflake Mountain Resort in Stowe in October to honor the 2017 inductees into the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum Hall of Fame. Inductees included: Williston native Ann Battelle, a world champion mogul skier; Waitsfield’s Dickie Hall, the godfather of telemark skiing in the U.S.; Underhill’s Jim Fredericks, who set in place some of Vermont’s strongest Nordic programs; and Chuck and Jann Perkins of Stowe and Burlington, who founded Burlington’s Alpine Shop.

The couple has been integral in creating and preserving ski culture and history in Vermont. The building that houses the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum bears their name. •••• The Paul Robbins award for journalism went to legendary Vermont photographer and author Peter Miller of Colbyville. •••• Snowboarder Kevin Pearce, who was expected to compete in the 2010 Olympics before he crashed and suffered a traumatic brain injury, received the new First Tracks Award, honoring exceptional and ongoing contributions to the sport in Vermont by someone under age 35. The award was given in memory of Ian Graddock, a Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum board member, lifelong skier, and ski racer who died in 2016 at age 35. •••• “Pearce exemplifies the spirit that Ian Graddock lived by,” said museum co-chair Poppy Gall. “Hard-charging, thoughtful, and dedicated—after surviving a horrific snowboarding accident, Kevin turned his talents to helping others in a way that makes him a unique role model.” Info:vtssm.com.

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SKI STOWE

STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT

O N M O U N TA I N

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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, over 90 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 2,160 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 guests 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. >>54

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O N M O U N TA I N

PHOTOS: STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT

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.

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 sun-washed 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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Spring ski party at Stowe.

Want to head uphill? That’s fine—in fact, Vail Resorts, which acquired the Stowe ski area this summer, wants to encourage it. Details were still being finalized at press time, but Bobby Murphy, Stowe Mountain Resort’s new vice president and GM, said, “We will have multiple routes up the Mansfield side in the morning, and we will have multiple routes up in the afternoon, one on the Mansfield side and one on the Spruce Peak side for afternoon skinning and uphill access.”

During the day, access up Easy Mile will be open. “If somebody wanted to get a quick skin up, we have committed that area,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do, because the community is asking for it.”

Seven ski resorts hold long-term leases with the state Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, and the sale of Stowe provided a rare chance to reopen one of those agreements and revisit its uphill ski policy.

Mountain news: Mike Snyder, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, oversaw the negotiations between Vail and the state this spring. He said it was an opportunity to clean up some portions of Stowe’s lease and add some new conditions.

Most significantly, that means an actual uphill ski policy, something locals have long been clamoring for. Stowe didn’t really have one, other than new restrictions last year that forbade uphill skiers from being on certain parts of the mountain at certain times.

Snyder wasn’t a fan, especially in a year when the Stone Hut, the fabled overnight structure near the top of Mansfield, was rebuilt after fire gutted it. The state owns the Stone Hut and would prefer more unfettered access to it—the last chair up is at 4:30 p.m., but Stowe’s policy outlaws uphill access on that portion of the mountain from 5 to midnight.

“I was, like, OK, now you’re (ticking) me off because you’re affecting my business at the Stone Hut,” Snyder said of those new uphill restrictions.

Vail is accustomed to people skinning or hiking up its slopes to get some runs in before or after the lifts close, and many Vail-owned resorts have uphill policies, some more generous than others. Vail and Beaver Creek in Colorado, for instance, allow skinning and hiking access even during the day, when lifts are running.

“We have uphill policies that are transparent,” Murphy said. “We’re working on how we’re going to communicate it to the community.”

—Tommy Gardner & Caleigh Cross

UPHILL SKI RETURNS

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TRAIL JOURNAL

CABIN FEVER Going hut-to-hut with RJ Thompson STORY

/ ROGER MURPHY / GORDON MILLER

PORTRAIT

Running through a dark forest in the rain by the light of a headlamp may not be your idea of fun, but for the Vermont Huts Association’s executive director, RJ Thompson, it’s part of the allure of his current goal—to break the Long Trail unsupported speed record of 6 days, 17 hours, and 25 minutes set in 2010 by Travis Wildeboer.

The 272-mile Long Trail extends from the Massachusetts border to Canada, running the length of Vermont, and usually takes people three to four weeks to complete. For Thompson, a Stowe resident and longtime distance runner, speed is the draw, and it will take days of covering 35 to 45 miles to break that record. This involves months of training, remarkable mental strength, and a quest to stay injury-free.

Weather and injuries are what have kept him from breaking the record the last two times he tried. The first time it rained incessantly, making the trail a dangerous, wet conglomeration of mud, roots, and rocks. The second time, a hamstring injury brought him off the trail, but Thompson plans on making another attempt in the near future.

What makes this goal even more impressive is the unsupported nature of it—Thompson needs to carry all his own food and supplies and cannot receive assistance anywhere along the trail.

These attempts are not purely to achieve the unsupported Long Trail FKT (“fastest known time” in speed hiking lingo), but also an opportunity to raise awareness for groups associated with youth and the outdoors.

“My first attempt, I raised money for the Children and Nature Network,” he said. “It’s an international organization designed to ensure that youth have safe access to the outdoors.” >>

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SKI IN, SKI OUT RJ Thompson, director of the Vermont Huts Association.

RJ THOMPSON; INSET: YESTERMORROW DESIGN/BUILD SCHOOL

IN TRAINING RJ Thompson climbs The Chin on Mount Mansfield. He wants to break the Long Trail unsupported speed record of 6 days, 17 hours, and 25 minutes set in 2010 by Travis Wildeboer. Inset: Yestermorrow Design/Build School’s design of the Vermont Huts Association’s first structure.

For his second attempt, he took a “local focus and raised money and awareness for the Richmond-based Vermont Youth Conservation Corps,” the group responsible for completing many trail projects throughout the state, including work on the Long Trail.

For Thompson, an avid runner, hiker, mountain biker, and backcountry skier, this focus on bringing people into the outdoors and eagerness to be a part of a community effort to make that happen led to his job as executive director of the Stowe-based Vermont Huts Association.

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It has long been a dream of many Vermonters to have a system of huts available for long tours, similar to ones like the 10th Mountain hut system in Colorado or the Maine Huts and Trails Association. With startup money from both the Lintilhac and the Windham foundations, Vermont Huts was created to develop a system of huts 10 to 15 miles apart along skiing, hiking, and mountain biking corridors throughout the state on already existing trail systems.

Thompson and his partners—among them the Vermont Backcountry Alliance, Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont Forests, Parks and Recreation, Catamount Trail Association, Green Mountain Club, and the Vermont Mountain Bike Association—hope to “strategically locate a hut or find a structure nearby.”

Imagine skiing through a sublime hardwood forest with only food and a sleeping bag in your pack and arriving at a hut complete with bunks for eight to 15 people and a propane or woodstove.

Vermont Huts hopes to be “self-sustaining in five years,” Thompson said, with funding coming primarily through memberships and hut reservations.

The first hut, now being built on Yestermorrow Design’s campus in Waitsfield, is set to open in the fall of 2018.

After that, the focus will be on connecting the Killington-to-Stowe corridor, because Thompson says that “the mountain bike chapters in that part of the state are excited to be involved, and the existing trails present the most probable opportunity for connectivity.”

It’s also important to remember that Vermont Huts will not only benefit from existing trails, but

will help to support them by awarding grants to trail organizations and giving a portion of each hut reservation fee to the group responsible for maintaining the trails that lead to it.

The only real shame in this endeavor is that Thompson himself, when sprinting through the woods in his next attempt at the Long Trail speed record in the rain, feeling hungry, cold, and tired, may have to pass within sight of one of the comfortable, warm and dry huts that he helped to construct.

Like Odysseus, though, he will have to resist the Siren call, and refocus his headlamp beam on the trail ahead. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: vermonthuts.org

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Ø Æ SNOWMOBILE CLUBS: EDEN: Gihon Trak Packers / Facebook MORRISVILLE: Morrisville Snow Riders & Packers / Facebook JEFFERSONVILLE: Smugglers’ Notch Snowmobile Club / Facebook JOHNSON: Sterling Snow Riders / Facebook STOWE: Stowe Snowmobile Club / stowesnowmobile.org WATERBURY: Green Mountain Roamers / greenmtnroamers.com

PHOTOS: GLENN CALLAHAN

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∞

OUTDOOR PRIMER On skinny skis

Stowe boasts one of the most diverse cross-country trail systems in the United States. More than 150 kilometers of groomed and 100 kilometers of backcountry trails crisscross its landscape. One of those backcountry trails is the Catamount Trail, 300 miles of wilderness skiing over the spine of the Green Mountains from Massachusetts to Quebec.

It connects 15 ski centers throughout the state, including those in Stowe. Trapp Family Lodge, the first commercial ski center in the U.S., is the heart of Stowe’s network with 60k of groomed trails and 100k of backcountry trails. Stowe Mountain Resort Cross-Country Ski Center’s accessibility to the downhill ski area creates an uncommon fusion of Nordic and alpine skiing. Stowe Mountain Resort’s 45k of groomed and 30k of backcountry trails are the highest in elevation in Stowe.

Topnotch at Stowe Resort and Spa offers additional terrain. Over the mountain in Cambridge, the Smugglers’ Cross Country Center at Smugglers’ Resort offers 30k of trails dedicated to cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

Figure 8, anyone?

Public skating is offered daily at Stowe Arena.

The arena has skate rentals. For public skating schedules, check out: bit.ly/2eg1Kmo.

Winter fish tales

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

Snowshoe heaven

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

Stowe Land Trust (stowelandtrust.org) allows snowshoeing on many of its conserved properties.

It’s VAST out there

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

(See our list of local clubs at left.)

Maple mojo

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

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STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT

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ore and smoother parking. Better bus service to the lifts. More open uphill policies. More stuff for kids. Greater emphasis on making skiers and riders feel welcome. And everything will be Epic.

These are among the ways to tell that Vail Resorts bought Stowe Mountain Resort’s ski operations from a subsidiary of American International Group for $41 million earlier this year.

Vail got all the assets related to mountain operations— lifts, snowmaking, maintenance—as well as base area skier services such as food and beverage, retail and rental, ticket office and ski school.

AIG, the resort’s longtime owner, retained ownership of most of the real estate, including Stowe Mountain Lodge, two golf courses, and areas where more development is planned. That means AIG will continue to play a major role in Stowe, as it has since the 1930s, when company founder C.V. Starr began taking ski lessons at Stowe under Sepp Ruschp, the resort’s first ski instructor.

Vail has taken over the Adventure Center, which acts as the base of operations for many of the summertime activities that Vail now runs—the zipline, treetop adventure course, and the indoor climbing wall— and is at the center of the action during ski season.

AIG has subcontracted the hospitality side of operations to Destination Hotels, which has high-end operations in Vail, Aspen, Snowmass—in all, about 40 locations in the U.S. and Mexico. Vail Resorts already has 10 well-known destinations, all in the West; with Stowe, it now has a major presence in the East.

Vail has brought Stowe into its Epic Pass group, with season passes starting in the $859-$899 range that provide access to all Vail-owned resorts. But you had to buy early; sales closed Nov. 19, and now all the business is in day passes. Bought online 48 hours in advance, adult day tickets are $99 during peak season, children’s tickets are $84 and senior tickets for the 64-and-up set are $92. Ticket window and day-of prices will be slightly higher.

The new crew in charge hopes that parking and resort access will improve this year, after investments in parking infrastructure and parking attendants, and an emphasis on public transit. Two parking lots adjacent to the Midway Lodge add a total of 140 spaces to the resort’s roster.

Vail Resorts is also working with Green Mountain Transit to improve bus service up Mountain Road—a step toward getting more skiers and riders up the hill faster.

The shuttle service runs from Stowe village to the resort, making stops along the way. This year, the shuttle will have 15 more fixed stops, and will avoid side routes and ondemand bus stops that can make bus timing unpredictable.

Bus service starts at 6:30 a.m. The last trip leaves from Mansfield Base at 9:30 p.m.

—Caleigh Cross & Tommy Gardner

sold!

VAIL BUYS STOWE

IT’S EPIC! Stowe officially became a member of the Vail family of ski resorts in June. Inset: Resort president Bobby Murphy.

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NEWSROOM rom the nuts and bolts file ...

Stowe’s FourRunner Quad will open daily at 8 a.m., and at 7:30 a.m. on holidays and weekends The Gondola, Meadows Quad, and Meadows Carpet will open at 8:30 a.m., with the rest of the lifts at 9 a.m.

Stowe Mountain Resort officials hope to alleviate some of last winter’s parking woes with investments in parking infrastructure and parking attendants, and an emphasis on public transit.

“The importance of improving access is the key,” said resort general manager Bobby Murphy. Two new lots next to the Midway Lodge will add 140 spaces.

The resort is also waiting on a state land use permit to extend a gravel parking lot at the cross-country center to add another 200 spaces, to increase staff parking to 425 spots. “That will increase guest parking as well, because it enables us to move more of the staff cars,” said Jeff Wise, marketing director at Stowe.

Expect more people to help you put your car where it needs to be, too. The resort plans to hire more parking attendants, and give them better training. Wise said being able to park cars “in a more orderly fashion” will help the resort pack more cars into the parking lots.

Strategic snow removal should help as well. “You remove snow from the lot so that the existing parking spots that we have don’t get taken up by snow load,” Murphy said.

Despite parking pass pricing reportedly increasing at other Vail-owned resorts, parking at Stowe will stay free.

Here’s an insider’s tip: You’ll still need an Evolution Stowe card this year, in addition to your Epic Pass or day ticket, since the card readers that work at Vail-owned resorts haven’t arrived in Stowe yet. Vail Resorts is waiving the $5 fee; your Evolution Stowe card will be free, as well as your first replacement (don’t go losing more than two, though, or you’ll have to pony up). Vail Resorts is also mailing cards to people within a certain geographic distance who have bought Epic passes.

f

nuts &bolts WHAT’S NEW?

What’s new around the region

Bolton Valley upgraded its snowmaking system to allow more water to be pushed uphill more quickly. The resort also expanded the number of snowguns and hoses for better, faster snowmaking coverage.

Jay Peak Resort will open a new 142-seat movie theater and Clip ‘n Climb climbing facility in the 15,000-square foot Clips and Reels recreation center opening at Stateside.

The resort will open 12 new mountain cottages dedicated to employee housing. The cottages, along with Jay Peak’s renovation of its Inglenook Lodge, will provide the resort with the ability to house up to 150 employees.

Smugglers’ Notch Resort completed its FunZone 2.0 with activities like a multi-course Smugglers’ Warrior Challenge, massive laser tag arena, mountain rally races slot car track, arcade, and transparent climbing tower.

Trapp Family Lodge, North America’s first cross-country skiing center, turns 50 this winter with a weeklong celebration Jan. 19-26.

who was stan?

Editor’s note: Found while cleaning out our WTF file at the Stowe Reporter office, just like the file-cleaning editor of yore. (See below) It’s most likely a snippet from an old Mount Mansfield Ski Club newsletter, late-late 1930s or 1940s. We were willing to search the archives to pin down the exact issue, but alas, the ski club took down the old newsletters from its site. Hopefully just a temporary condition; history is important guys!

To Stan—My Hero!

The Nose Dive and the S-Five-Three, The Lift—I’ve skied them all; But it had to be the practice slope, Where I took one hell of a fall.

There I was in great distress, A vision of despair; When suddenly a Ski Patrol Knight, Came schussing through the air.

A gallant Casanova, He slid me down the hill; And like a doc he prodded my leg, Thank God he sent no bill.

So thanks, dear Stan, a hell of a lot, For getting me out of that hole; And here’s to a future of skis and poles, And the great Mount Mansfield Patrol.

—Anonymous We found this gusher, which must have been written when Knighthood was in flower, in cleaning out an old file. We don’t know the author and fail to recall Stan. It may indicate that we had our admirers in the old days, or it may be simply an expression of relief that the patrolman did not whip out a pistol and dispatch the lady right on the spot, the same as he would have done had the old mare splintered a “gam” back on the farm. —Editor

The Epic Pass is here. A keystone of Vail Resorts, the pass offers skiers and riders a deal on season passes that can be used at any Vail resort, including Stowe, which Vail purchased this summer. ••• The Epic Pass cuts Stowe’s season-pass prices in half. The actual price of the pass varies, however, depending on when you buy it and if you’re willing to accept some restrictions. In addition to the Epic Pass, Stowe offers an Epic Pass for locals, 4- and 7-day passes, and a college pass. ••• The cutoff date this fall was Nov. 19. For information, go to epicpass.com.

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GORDON MILLER

COOL THINGS

UPHILL, DOWNHILL A skimo race at Stowe last winter.

So what the heck is...

SKIMO?

Skimo is alpine ski touring on steroids.

Alpine touring uses backcountry ski equipment—skis and boots similar to alpine gear, except the boots have a walk mode. The bindings allow the heel to come up, as on cross-country or telemark skis, which is crucial when going uphill. Climbing skins fitted onto the base of the skis give grip on the snow walking, or “skinning,” uphill, and the boots’ walk mode makes the climb a lot easier.

At the top, you take your skins off, put your boots into downhill mode, adjust the heelpiece of the binding into downhill mode, and clip the heels into the binding (which locks the heel down) and you’ve more or less converted yourself to an alpine skier and can carve turns, ski the woods, go off jumps, etc.

Alpine touring is not only a great workout, it takes you to terrain and fresh snow that are out of reach for most alpine skiers. The gear typically can also handle a fair amount of lift-served skiing, so it’s quite versatile.

And then there’s skimo.

Skimo is short for ski mountaineering racing. Think of it as the racecar version of alpine touring.

If alpine touring gear is the heavy SUV, skimo racing gear is a nimble and lightweight all-wheeldrive rally car. It’s almost like alpine touring people couldn’t control their competitiveness, so they created this sport to race each other up and down the mountains.

And it’s a real sport. At the international level, there is a World Cup and even a movement afoot to get skimo into the Winter Olympics.

This sport welcomes all levels of skiers, but when it comes to races, skimo tests the full abilities of skiers. The best racers are very well rounded.

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At skimo events, athletes typically race a course that has multiple uphill and downhill segments, maybe even summiting the mountain multiple times. That requires some bootpacking (hiking in your boots with skis on pack). In uphill-to-downhill transition zones, skiers take skins off and put their gear into downhill mode. In downhill-to-uphill transition zones, skiers snap their gear into uphill mode and put skins on skis. In between may be stretches of skins-to-bootpack or bootpack-to-skins.

The races test athletes’ uphill skinning technique and fitness—they’re running or speed-hiking uphill as fast as they can—as well as their transition and alpine skiing skills.

Sometimes skimo races have technical descents on double black diamond trails through trees, moguls, rock bands, and ice. Good skimo racers are a total package and good in all areas (skinning, bootpacking, transitions, and descents).

For alpine skiers who are also endurance athletes, skimo is absolutely one of the best sports out there.

It builds fitness like no other sport, since skinning relies heavily on muscular endurance (think running

STORY

/ JOHN SPINNEY

uphill or grinding a big gear on the bike uphill).

The upper body gets a solid workout while descents create the kind of agility and strengthtype fitness that good alpine skiers have.

Skimo race gear can get you up and down the mountain very fast if your fitness is good.

The skimo race team athletes for MountainOps in Stowe, for instance, can skin up Gondolier to the top of the gondola and back to the lodge in about 35 minutes at full race pace.

Bolton Valley Ski Resort hosts one of best skimo practice race series in the country, run by the Catamount Trail Association. These races are low-key (no bootpack sections) and are a loop style where you skin up, transition and descend, then repeat—you do as many laps as you can in one hour. Neither the uphill nor downhill segments are very technical and they take place on beginner and intermediate ski terrain. n Spinney is as a coach for QT2 Systems LLC, an endurance sports coaching company, and the postsecondary transition coordinator for the Vermont Agency of Education.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Find skimo gear at Stowe’s MountainOps ski shop and Outdoor Gear Exchange in Burlington. Go to skimoeast.com for more about skimo races in the Northeast.

QUESTION & ANSWER

UNDERGROUND Sue Horton, Stowe Mountain Club valet supervisor.

IT’S ALL IN THE VALET Sue Horton manages the traffic flow

Sue Horton is the valet supervisor at Stowe Mountain Club, a seasonal position she has held for five years. Once the ski season winds down, she swaps cars for carts at the Stowe Country Club, where she’s a golf pro. A native Vermonter, Horton grew up in Essex and graduated from Essex Junction High School. She played golf for Texas Christian University and later competed on the LPGA’s Futures Tour. After returning to Vermont, Horton hired on as assistant golf coach at Stowe Mountain Club. “The opportunity for the valet position opened up and I decided to take it because I wanted to stay with the club and STORY / KATE CARTER get to know the members. Now they are like my second family. I’ve had a lot of the children in golf camp over the years, and some of PORTRAIT / GLENN CALLAHAN them are now taller than I am.”

What is a typical day like for a valet attendant?

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It starts with coffee. I get to work by 6:30 and am usually the first person in. I turn on all the lights and get ready for the day. During the week there is just one of us on the floor as there are only about 10 families staying at the club, so we are not too busy. But the weekends are very busy. At this point there are 215 family members and club membership keeps growing. In all, about 900 people. Most families come from Boston and arrive early Saturday morning. The garage fills up with double- and triple-parked cars. There is a lot of coming and going from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Then there’s a lull, so we might help out in other areas in the club. The next rush is from 2 to 3:30 p.m., when people leave. Basically we help them unload their

gear and park their cars. We always keep the key so they don’t have to worry about it.

What is the best car you’ve driven on the job?

I’m a big fan of the Mercedes S Class, but I have to say my favorite is the Buick Encore. It’s a zippy little car that’s easy to get in and out of parking spots and it’s a lot of fun to drive. Some cars we get are total mysteries. We can’t figure out how to turn them on or back up. It takes a lot of trust to let a stranger park your car. Most of the vehicles here are huge and the parking spots are small.

What do you drive, and what would you trade it for?

I drive a Tacoma. I’ve always wanted a truck, and even after driving all these cars, I wouldn’t swap it.

What is the best part of your job?

The people are awesome. They are the nicest group of people I have met and are the reason I work here. I enjoy going to work every day. I grew up in Essex and had always heard stories about Stowe, and it turns out they were all wrong.

The resort has been my favorite place to work.

And I like the 40-hour work week. In the summer I work over 60 hours a week, so 40 is easy.

What are the more challenging aspects of your job?

It can be difficult when you are trying to park a big Suburban and there’s a dog in the car and you’re trying to back up and he’s licking your face. Also, we used to work outside, parking cars in the Marsh lot. It’s nice to be out of the wind in the new underground parking garage, but it’s tough to find employees who are willing to work underground all day and not see the sun all winter long.

Do you have some frequently asked questions?

I get a lot of golf questions. We talk a lot of golf and have a countdown to the Masters. The Masters is all about golf tradition. It’s been in Atlanta, Ga., nearly forever. Tickets are by lottery. Last year I took off from work and watched the whole thing on TV. Right now I’m working on my PGA certification so I can go watch in person for free. It’s always the second week in April, so the ski season is pretty much over. And here’s a tip: The back nine on Sunday of Masters is the best golf you will watch all year!

Does the valet job require any special training?

You have to have a driver’s license and be 21.

And there are a few rules. Number 1 is to never put the key in your pocket. It has happened!

Thankfully the key was discovered and returned before the owner needed it. The Number 2 rule is to never forget number one. But most important it’s about getting to know the people. My former boss, Ron Philo, taught me the most about being in the club business and understanding what this place is about. It’s a place for families to come, enjoy themselves, and get away from their crazy work life and feel like they are part of a community. There is no need to hand them a valet ticket. We know who they are and we have a relationship.

Do you ski or ride?

I ski a little bit. My goal is to go 20 times a year. I’m a cruise control skier. Sunrise is one of my favorite runs. People always ask me why I don’t go south to teach golf. But I had traveled so much as a golf pro that I just want to stay put in winter. I like the winter and the four seasons. I could make a lot more money teaching golf, but I like it here. n

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MOUNTAIN OPS

SCIENCE OF STOWEFALL Honesty is the policy for Stowe Mountain Resortâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s snow reports STORY & PHOTOGRAPHS

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/ CALEIGH CROSS

Last winter was epic.

Of course, if you live in Stowe, you already know that, but Scott Braaten, snow reporter, resort photographer, and social media supervisor for Stowe Mountain Resort, said the numbers back up the enthusiasm of the skiers and riders who came to town.

Braaten works with Andre Blais, a part-time snow reporter at the resort, to craft snow reports that prepare skiers and riders for the day.

During the 2016-17 ski season, 375 inches of snow fell at Stowe Mountain Resort.

Snowfall numbers hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been that high since the winter of 2000-01, when 432 inches descended from the heavens. People still talk about that winter, Braaten said.

The 375-inch snowfall total was more than double the anxiety-inducing 153 inches over the winter of 2015-16.

The first thing Braaten does when he gets to work at 5:15 a.m. is check the base snow stake in the woods behind Barnes Camp, across Mountain Road from the Stowe Mountain Resort parking lot.

INCH COUNT Scott Braaten in his office at Stowe Mountain Resort. Braaten gets to work at 5:15 a.m., and the first thing he does is check the base snow stake in the woods behind Barnes Camp.

After he notes the measurement, he brushes off the stake to let Mother Nature start fresh; he’s interested in measuring new snow.

When he heads home in the afternoon, Braaten or Blais will take a second measurement—how much fell during the day?—and brush it off again.

Skiers are mostly interested in what awaits them since they took the last lift the day before, Braaten said. By brushing off the stake twice a day, he can add the two numbers together to come up with the total 24-hour snowfall.

Stowe Mountain Resort’s other snow >>

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stake, at 3,000 feet, near the intersection of the Perry Merrill and High Road trails, is about two-thirds of the way up the mountain.

The summit ridge isn’t the best place for a snow stake for Braaten’s purposes because high winds blow the snow around, making it hard to ensure accuracy.

Braaten’s reports give snowfall in a range, from the base snowfall to the upper stake.

The reports come out at 6 a.m. every day and include a brief narrative detailing the conditions, events at the resort, and changes in usual operations.

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Braaten is something of a snow geek. He started working at Stowe Mountain Resort after meeting Mike Colbourn—the resort’s former vice president of marketing, sales, and communication—by chance on the FourRunner Quad. During their seven-minute ride, the pair discussed snow and the weather conditions that lead to dream-feeding powder.

An internship ensued where Braaten worked on a survey of Stowe skiers and riders and what they want from their snow reports.

The answer?

“Honesty,” Braaten said.

Since the snow reports are put out by the marketing department, it’s easy for skiers and riders to get disillusioned and see positive reports as propaganda intended to lure them to the mountain, and since overblown reports can be called out easily on social media, it’s more important than ever not to lead skiers and riders down a primrose path.

With Braaten, they’re in good hands. He’s been passionate about weather since he was a kid.

His uncle, an atmospheric science professor in Kansas, gave him textbooks as gifts and young Braaten devoured them. Over time, he taught himself to recognize weather patterns and their impact on what was going on outside his window.

Braaten earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Vermont in 2007. While at school, his self-taught weather tracking skills came in handy—he became known as something of a snow prophet, telling other students and even professors which weekends might be best on the mountains.

It was in-demand knowledge. Braaten found that “a lot of good forecasts don’t apply to the mountains,” he said. Most of them were based on valley forecasts.

He started a ski-report blog in his spare time that was picked up by television and radio stations. He blogged at a television station for two years before his fateful encounter with Colbourn on the Quad.

Back to snow reporting. Braaten is loath to tell his audience the skiing is great when, really, they’d be better off coming another day.

People pay high lift-ticket rates and they don’t like to be led astray about the conditions. n

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POWERED BY VAIL Stowe skiers and riders are preparing to enter the post-Vail Resort age. Stowe Mountain Resort’s ski operations sold for $41 million in June, and while things at the resort sound like they will bear a strong resemblance to the Stowe ski hill of old—just, hopefully, with easier access to parking—here’s a guide to the folks who will help craft your experience on the hill.

STORY

: caleigh cross |

PORTRAITS

: glenn callahan 75

76 OPENING SPREAD: COURTESY STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT

BOBBY MURPHY GENERAL MANAGER & VICE PRESIDENT Murphy, general manager and vice president at Stowe Mountain Resort, hails from Chicago, and started working as a ski instructor for Vail Resorts while attending the University of Iowa. As a child, he’d set his sights on living and working in a small ski town like Stowe, and when Vail Resorts bought the Stowe Mountain Resort ski ops, he seized his chance. His family, including two daughters and wife Jenny, relocated to Stowe earlier this year.

Their initial interaction with the staff. That could be the parking attendants when they arrive at the resort, or the ticket seller as they’re buying their pass. It could even be someone in town who they come across when they first drive into Stowe. At the end of the day, we all represent the mountain experience—even folks in town—and I think when you’re visiting Stowe you look at everybody as being part of the guest experience. The most crucial is that first impression that we make as employees and locals in the community.

What makes or breaks the resort experience for skiers and riders?

What do you think Stowe Mountain Resort gets right, and what is an improvement you’d like to see?

We hire people with great attitudes and experience, and we are very fortunate to have employees who are engaged. Also, the culture of what it’s like to work and be a part of Stowe, and again, it comes from the employees. That’s what I’ve seen this summer. It’s hard to describe the winter, because I haven’t been through a winter. From what I’ve heard, reputation-wise, the snowmaking and the mountain experience are what we’re getting right, as well as hiring the right employees and creating that culture of service for our guests.

For an improvement I would wrap this all into one big bucket of access. Improving the parking experience with better efficiencies, more available spots, reimagining how we park vehicles and welcome folks to the resort around parking. Under that umbrella of access, the bus and shuttle service up Mountain Road will be improved and expanded. Also, working with the town of Stowe and the police department to help provide that hot-spot plowing, sanding, and road maintenance to help support state efforts on Route 108.

I wrap it all into skiing. Fundamentally, customer service and the guest experience are crucial.

I would say a very, very close second is how we create, through guest services, the experience of a lifetime. It’s engagement, it’s owning your engagement as an employee. It’s eye contact, smiling, being engaged, and being comfortable and excited about interacting with the guests. Our host program is a great example of how we focus on customer service. At the same time, guest service isn’t a department within our company. It’s everyone’s responsibility. That approachability and connectivity that we have in welcoming folks to the resort is a big part of that and is ultimately what people remember—their interactions. Experiences of a lifetime happen throughout your stay.

This could be that the snowmaking was spot-on ... or the piece of Vermont chocolate you get from one of our guest-service mountain hosts. All of those small touches add up to an experience of a lifetime.

Besides ski operations, what’s the most valuable part of the ski resort experience?

What are the differences in expectations between western skiers and those who ski the East?

The expectations are very similar—that we have a well-oiled machine, meaning all of the basic, fundamental expectations of great onmountain experience around the skiing, the grooming, the snowmaking, the lift access, all of those are running well. There’s that level of exceptional service. I know that’s something that both Vail Mountain and Stowe have a reputation for. It’s always important to raise our game and reimagine how we provide those services in Stowe and in Vail.

What are you most looking forward to this ski season?

Skiing the Front Four. I’ve seen them during the summer, and they’ve got a great reputation. All of my friends who have grown up skiing on the East Coast have given me some things to think about when it comes to Stowe, and one of those things is the Front Four. I can’t wait to experience the mountain, and I’ve had many people around the community offer a tour-guiding service, and I’m excited about taking some folks up on that.

What role does lodging play in the ski resort experience?

Our partnership with the lodging community and working together closely is critical to our success. Although we don’t own any lodging, we take a lot of pride in the entire experience, and it’s one thing that we commit to as a member of the Stowe Area Association.

If you could say one thing to someone headed to Stowe this season, what would it be?

It’s going to be a great season. We’re ready for you, and can’t wait to put together a great product and welcome you.

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JEFF WISE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Jeff Wise has been a fixture at Stowe Mountain Resort for almost a quarter-century. He moved here in 1993, after a trip in a friend’s single-propeller Piper Cherokee landed them unexpectedly at the Morrisville-Stowe Airport. Wise fell in love. He started as a snowboard instructor, but with his background in advertising, it wasn’t long before he moved into communications for the resort.

After years as the No. 2 guy, he’s now communications director, but still finds time to get his board out as often as he can. His favorite trails include Hayride and Perry Merrill.

From my perspective, we really focus on the overall experience. What really matters to our guests is having a complete experience that’s just as high quality on the snow as it is off the snow—the food, the service, the amenities—the overall vibe that not only Stowe, but Vermont, delivers in a very sincere way.

What makes or breaks the resort experience for skiers and riders?

What do you think Stowe Mountain Resort gets right, and what is an improvement you’d like to see?

Stowe Mountain Resort does really well focusing on the guests, all across the resort. From our front-line staff to our support staff behind the scenes to all the touch points where guests first arrive. We’re very focused on having friendly, competent service. We also make better snow surfaces than almost anyone in the industry. We invested in the equipment. That was a long-term investment, which other resorts in the East are just catching up to. If I could improve one thing by snapping my fingers, it would be to better transition people from their cars to their on-snow experience. That’s something that we have initiatives to improve, from the organization of the boots on the ground—parking attendants—to our processes of deciphering who needs to park where and getting people into the spot that’s most appropriate.

When it comes to setting the tone and delivering an unforgettable experience to our guests, it’s all on the staff. Mother Nature and snow conditions, those are all really secondary to how well the staff is invested in providing for our guests. It’s been a major focus of the resort. Now that we’re part of Vail Resorts, there’s an opportunity to take that to the next level, because Vail Resorts offers one of the industry’s leading professional development programs for staff that are all centered around delivering unforgettable guest experiences.

Besides ski operations, what’s the most valuable part of the ski resort experience?

The duration of stay for eastern skiers’ is much shorter than skiers in the West. We have a lot of people who just come up to ski for the day. I know the West has that type of business too, but on average, people who go to ski for a vacation out West stay longer. In the East, skiers and riders try to pack more things into a shorter amount of time. Personally, as a snowboarder, my expectation when I go out West is that I’m going to have really great, fresh snow conditions. Based on my own experiences, more often than not, the conditions aren’t what I expected. Call it unlucky. I don’t get powder days every time I go out there. In the East, I think people’s expectations on the snow surfaces are lower, and that’s where Stowe Mountain Resort really over-delivers. I definitely think people come here with lower expectations than at a western resort, and I know in Stowe, people leave really happy, because the snow surface is better than they expected.

What are the differences in expectations between western skiers and those who ski the East?

What are you most looking forward to this ski season?

I’m looking forward to the Winter Olympics.

Every four years when the Winter Olympics are held, there’s always a spike in the popularity of skiing and snowboarding. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the needle moves in terms of the Epic Pass and welcoming new guests who are coming to the resort and discovering Stowe for the first time because of the pass. That is going to be beyond exciting for a lot of people who are invested as business people here in town. It will be somewhat of a momentous winter.

What role does lodging play in the ski resort experience?

Certainly providing really convenient ski-in, ski-out access on the mountain eight or nine years ago was huge for Stowe. It opened up markets and customers who really only choose ski-in, ski-out. That helped grow the business.

One of the other reasons people choose Stowe is that we have such a great variety of lodging.

Whether you really want that country bed-andbreakfast with the owners serving you and meeting other guests in a really small, intimate environment or places like Topnotch and Stoweflake, Stowe’s great because it really offers something for everyone. When you’re skiing and snowboarding all day, you definitely want a comfortable place to rest.

If you could say one thing to someone headed to Stowe this season, what would it be?

Set aside plenty of time to explore. Spend lots of time on the mountain, and spend lots of time off the mountain. All throughout town, our big differentiator is our sense of place.

Stowe Mountain Resort isn’t just a ski mountain in the winter; it’s a complete quintessential New England experience.

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ROB APPLE PLANNING DIRECTOR Rob Apple is planning director at Spruce Peak Realty, but before Vail Resorts took over ski ops, he was behind the planning of the Spruce Peak Adventure Center, the skating rink at the village green, and the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of real estate at the top of the hill. Apple says he feels pride when he walks around what he helped bring to the mountain over his 23-year career there. And when he’s not walking or planning, he’s skiing.

I would say it’s the overall experience at Stowe Mountain Resort—the real estate world of having high-quality, well-designed, aesthetically pleasing real estate at Spruce Peak, the on-mountain experience, whether it’s the quality of snowmaking, the friendliness of the staff, the ease of food services, and the off-mountain experience.

What makes or breaks the resort experience for skiers and riders?

What do you think Stowe Mountain Resort does right, and what is an improvement you’d like to see?

Providing a world-class experience of the highest quality, both on and off mountain. Snow surface and facilities. The mountain experience. The skiing, the food, the services, and equally important are the lodging opportunities and the homeownership opportunities that are in place now for visitors to the mountain. For an improvement? Parking.

The authenticity of a resort and a town that are genuine, that have been developed in a way that is authentic and respectful to the natural environment and the real experience of a Vermont community.

Besides ski operations, what’s the most valuable part of the ski resort experience?

Probably the expectations are the same for what they want to have—good service and excellent snow.

Obviously, when you ski out West you get longer ski trails, wider terrain, perhaps more diverse surfaces where you’re skiing big bowls as opposed to narrow eastern trails. Often, you get, on a more regular basis, better powder days, and because the resorts are bigger, the powder doesn’t get skied off quite as quickly. Here in the East, it’s gone within the first hour. In Stowe, a lot of the guests have discovered the joy of skiing in the woods, where the fresh snow often lasts a little longer.

What are the differences in expectations between western skiers and those who ski the East?

Another tremendous snow year, and to experience the new ownership of the mountain, but I don’t think that will change the skier experience from what it was before. I think the reason Vail purchased Stowe is the fact that they knew the facilities were in place, had been well planned, well developed, and well taken care of.

What are you most looking forward to this ski season?

I think it’s equal to the ski experience. The Spruce development, which I’ve been part of prior to its inception, is offering second-to-none experiences, whether it’s at Stowe Mountain Lodge or the product that’s been for sale that can equal or exceed what exists anywhere else in the country, if not the world. On-mountain lodging, which didn’t exist before, is offering something that was missing at Stowe for many years. Stowe Mountain Lodge and the real estate product has brought new skiers and visitors to Stowe that weren’t otherwise coming. Before we began the master build-out project at Stowe, a lot of guests were choosing not to come to Stowe; they were going elsewhere.

What role does lodging play in the ski resort experience?

All of us who work at Stowe and ski Stowe recognize that it has the greatest top-to-bottom skiing offered in the East, tremendous diversity of terrain, and tremendous challenge of terrain. The combination of the Spruce development area—which has a lot of the best of the western experience—and one of the best, if not the best, mountains in the East, will ensure you have a world-class experience.

If you could say one thing to someone headed to Stowe this season, what would it be?

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DAVE MERRIAM DIRECTOR OF MOUNTAIN RECREATION Dave Merriam is director of mountain recreation at Stowe Mountain Resort. He’s been there almost 30 years, and started his career as a ski instructor. He became head of instructional programs in 1995, and in 2010, he was honored with the Einar Aas Award from the Professional Ski Instructors of America.

In my opinion, it’s our staff and their interaction with them.

What makes or breaks the resort experience for skiers and riders?

We have really good staff, so that makes the time here for our guests, as opposed to breaking it. Sometimes the weather’s not so great and everything doesn’t go well, but if you have really talented people who can own a situation, they can personalize it for the guests and elevate the experience. They really can save the day. When it’s good, it’s good. When it’s not so good, they need someone who can rescue it. We are definitely working on our arrival, departure, transportation, and logistics, in terms of getting people in and out of the resort, and we’re very focused on that.

What do you think Stowe Mountain Resort gets right, and what is an improvement you’d like to see?

Even though we’re somewhat from the inside looking out, there are two separate organizations up here. From the guest perspective, looking in, it’s really cool, because we have a quintessential New England town, with a church steeple, great places to eat and drink beer, coupled with a really awesome ski hill, restaurants, and great shopping. We offer a very multidimensional experience. If you’re not a rider or a skier and you’re tagging along, there are some really fun things to do up here—the spa, a good collection of places to shop, and great food. Then add our performing arts center. It’s a really highend, really nice ski town, overall.

Besides ski operations, what’s the most valuable part of the ski resort experience?

The one that comes first will be weather. East Coast weather is higher humidity. That can have implications in terms of snow and snow surfaces. There are a lot more sunny days out West, plain and simple. But the flip side of it is the altitude.

This is anecdotal, but I’ve heard of people losing a significant number of their vacation days when they travel out West. The higher elevations do take a toll, particularly if you’re an eastern skier headed West.

What are the differences in expectations between western skiers and those who ski the East?

Skiing. I can’t wait. I really look forward to reconnecting with the reason that I signed up for this job in the beginning, which is to have fairly regular access to skiing. One of my favorite things to do is get on the lift with patrol, or the 7:30 lifts that we do on weekends or holidays, and just be up there as the sun’s coming up. You’re just alone on the mountain, zipping down.

What are you most looking forward to this ski season?

When people plan a vacation, the first thing they do is scout lodging. Even though we might not control it, it’s absolutely critical that we’re part of that. In our most immediate past, we weren’t playing as part of the community, and I think Vail Resorts really believes in that connection between community, town, lodging, and the mountain operations side of it. It is the gateway, if you will. I think people do their lodging first and then start talking about lift tickets.

What role does lodging play in the ski resort experience?

Call us in advance. Don’t just show up. We have highly skilled reservationists/vacation planners who can help you weave together your vacation experience. The sport has some hassles: the gear, the logistics, getting there, unloading, it’s cold— now it’s raining, now it’s snowing—and if the logistics and the hassles outweigh the buzz you get from participating, you’ll be a short-timer. We do staff our advanced sales area with people, so you can have a conversation about your dream vacation and make sure that we can help it come to pass. n

If you could say one thing to someone headed to Stowe this season, what would it be?

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STORY

: tommy gardner |

PHOTOGRAPHS

: glenn callahan

DEN DAZE

Mansfieldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original dive bar still warms up skiers

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t’s almost time for, I dunno, the 12,000th happy hour at The Den, the cozy, few-frills saloon at the base of Mount Mansfield. Seth Yacovone and his band are setting up and one of them loops an amp wire over a hook.

Yacovone has played with just about everyone in the state in the past 25 years— not bad for a guy who just turned 40. He points to the large hook screwed into a wall beam about eight feet above the floor. It was there when local blues/Grateful Dead godfather Mr. Charlie was setting up equipment in the ’60s.

“I guess whoever put it there knew what they were doing, because it’s in the right spot, and hasn’t moved in 50 years,” Yacovone says.

Hell, some of the gray-hairs seated at the end of the bar probably haven’t moved in 50 years, either. End of the bar is a prime spot, a little extra elbow room on your right, where the bartenders enter and exit and take the odd opportunity to lean back, drink some water, nibble a quick bite, exchange some pleasantries with the patrons.

Veteran patron Tom Scarf rubs his knee and nurses an IPA. He might get back on the hill for another run, but, you know, he might not. After decades of canvasing the slopes, his not-20-anymore body knows when enough is enough.

“I may just hang out with Willy and talk fishing,” he says.

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That would be Willy Dietrich, the main bartender at The Den, a throwback hangout at the base of Mount Mansfield. He leads fly-fishing tours during the summer, and his winter gig behind the bar helps him attract some clients, get them excited as the snow on the mountain starts to melt. Willy’s sidekick is Brant Slayton, a local guy who also makes summertime cash in the realm of recreation, as director of golf at Copley Country Club in Morrisville.

They are Sam Malone and Woody Boyd catering to their flanneled and fit Norms and Cliffs. During the winter, they make sure people get their liquids, and make sure they don’t get too many if they’re heading back up the chairlift.

It’s a good day for Theo, a food and beverage employee who’s celebrating both his birthday and his last day of work. He and his friends take shots of Jaegermeister and chase them with PBR pounders, that ever-integral part of a ski bum’s balanced diet.

Opposite page: The perfect martini, gin not vodka, dry, stirred, olives. Willy Dietrich pours a drink at The Den bar, where heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a fixture since 1999. This page: Alone with your phone.

The door that leads to the magic, inside The Den. Music completes the vibe.

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Willy and Brant keep a close eye on things. Done for the day? Sure, grab a couple shots and beers. Going up for a few more turns? Maybe get your next run in before your next drink.

You won’t find Heady Topper or Lawson’s Finest or 14th Star’s Tribute on draft or in cans at The Den. Too much alcohol in those big beers, Brant says.

“We’re sending people back out to do something inherently dangerous. We want you to have fun, but we don’t want you to be stupid,” he says.

The Den has an appropriate name, all cozy and tight and old-looking, with rough-hewn boards that have never been sanded, lengths of log that have been smoothed down over years of people leaning up against them, and a no-fuss brick fireplace. Its flames are dancing and the hearth smells like feet, as the socks, laid out for drying, steam.

Black-and-white photos adorn the walls, showing skiers from 50, 75, 80-something years ago who probably spent a few bucks in The Den, in one of its incarnations. Winters always seemed colder back in the day, and The Den always seemed warmer.

Things are changing at Stowe, with Vail buying the ski resort operations this year, and with more than a decade of development on the Spruce Peak side of the resort. The Den is an oasis of old-time coziness in an increasingly fancy world.

If you don’t know Stowe Mountain Resort, here’s a primer. Route 108 bisects the resort into two different mountains. Mount Mansfield is on the west side, with the famed Front Four trails and the gondola, the Stone Hut, and the Chin, Vermont’s highest point.

Spruce is on the east side, Stowe Mountain Lodge and the ever-expanding village sometimes mask the fact that, yes, Spruce Peak also has some really good terrain.

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The watering holes and restaurants on the Spruce Peak side are undeniably beautiful works of architecture. Big as the place may be, the developers have admirably managed to make sure it’s not gaudy. Super luxurious, with sweeping, vaulting ceilings and impossibly large windows.

The Den, well, it’s old. And it’s staying put.

According to Michael Snyder, Vermont’s commissioner of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, before Vail could sign off on its acquisition of Stowe, it had to agree to some revised lease terms. The state owns almost all the land on the Mansfield side, plus the Mansfield base lodge. That includes The Den. The leases are very long term, 80 to 100 years, which means Vail or any other developers can’t even think about touching the old place until at least the mid 2050s. When asked if the revised leases stipulate that The Den has to keep the price of Pabst Blue Ribbon at $3 until then, Snyder laughs. That’s a liquor department thing.

He says, “We did, however, try to stipulate that Willy can’t leave for the duration of the lease.” n

Opposite page: Heading into The Den in the Mount Mansfield Base Lodge. This page, clockwise from historical photos: The original Den was located in a

building on the site of the current parking lot across from Bingham Falls on Route 108. The building and its rental cabins were probably removed in the late 1930s or 1940s. Mrs. Jessie A. Houghton was proprietor and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s likely the reason why the trail just uphill from The Den is called the Houghton Trail. The sign for The Den and a few cabins are clearly visible. The Den then moved to a building on the site of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lodge Condominiums parking lot. This was part of The Lodge complex that burned around 1969 when it was being used as a dorm for ski area employees. The Den was located on the first floor. The bar vanished until some time in the 1990s when it reappeared in the State Shelter, also known as the Mansfield Base Lodge.

Sign above the fireplace. Two Den mainstays: helmets and beer. Cold ones help when checking the trail map.

Thank you to Brian Lindner for the historical info and photos.

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THEM LAUGH

Although much of the world reveres and applauds him classically-trained clown and physical comedian Tom Murphy is often a prophet without honor in his own hometown.

STORY

: robert kiener |

BARN

PORTRAITS

: glenn callahan 91

om Murphy waits for his cue to take the stage at a corporate gig in the cavernous Emerald Ballroom at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel.

Murphy, a tightly wound, 5-foot, 8-inch, 175-pound, blue-eyed package of muscle, sinew, and energy, smiles nervously as he and I listen to the speaker drone on and on and on.

“Tough crowd, huh?” I ask.

“He’s running long,” says Murphy, as the speaker talks about “energy coefficients,” “bottom lines,” and other snooze-inducing topics. “Not good.”

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In fact, the speaker is anesthetizing the audience. Once he finishes, it will be Murphy’s challenge to not only wake them up but get them hooting and—he hopes—hollering. Happily, Murphy, 65, is up to that challenge. For the last four decades, this Waterbury Center resident has cracked up audiences in Vermont, across the U.S., and in more than 30 countries around the world, with his award-winning shows of slapstick, acrobatic comedy.

He’s been compared to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin and may be best described as “a combination stand-up and fall-down comedian.”

He’s as accomplished with the heavy-on-the-corn one-liners as he is with tumbling, juggling, unicycling, and pantomime.

Murphy has taught clowning at Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Clown College and the Ecole Nationale Du Cirque in Paris, and has been in much demand—and honored—across Europe for his clowning. The New York Times described his one-man show on Broadway as “a sure fire cure for the blahs.” onight, however, the entertainer’s hands are full. After the final speaker ends his monologue, only moments before Murphy is set to begin, an emcee grabs the microphone and asks the audience to “go to the back of the room and make a bid on our silent auction items.” In an instant, Murphy’s audience dribbles away as nearly everyone heads for the back of the ballroom to look over items on auction. It is a performer’s worst nightmare.

As his audience dissipates, Murphy seems caught off guard. Suddenly, with a hint of desperation in his voice, he shouts into his amplified headset, “Can I have your attention? Please? Can I have ... Can I have your...” No one hears him.

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So he wolf whistles. This gets some people’s attention. “Everyone, please! Listen to me!” he implores the crowd. “Sign up for the auction and then come have a seat... You need to sit down because I’m going to begin.” One or two people return to their seats but most ignore his requests as they chatter away while poring over items up for bid.

It is like herding cats.

Now truly frazzled, Murphy shouts, “I’m starting in 35 seconds. I’m serious, COME SIT DOWN!” The jabbering continues. No one makes a move.

He cues the soundman to start his circus-like music but the attendees won’t budge. The soundman finally announces, “The show is about to start,” but the diaspora refuses to return.

Murphy turns self-deprecatingly desperate: “Folks, I am begging you.

I have no pride left. I draw wide crowds in Europe, but I can’t seem to get anybody here to come sit down.” Then at the top of his lungs, he shouts, “DON’T IGNORE ME. PLEASE.” Nothing.

He tries a joke to lighten the mood: “If you have to leave in the middle of the show don’t worry, I won’t make fun of you.” Another: “I am a miracle worker, but I need an audience!”

Finally, heads turn and mild laughter ripples through the room as people begin to return to their seats. Murphy quickly hops onto center stage and introduces himself, “Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give a big round of applause for all the way from Waterbury Center via Paris, France, and Frankfurt, Germany, and Amsterdam … put your hands together for Tommmmmm Murphy!”

At last, applause. Well, a smattering of applause. Tough crowd.

Although this Burlington audience seems initially unaware of Tom Murphy’s award-winning comedic and acrobatic talents, the rest of the world has taken notice. After moving to Stowe in the 1970s and working as a waiter and acrobatic skier, he honed his craft at small venues, became a street performer, played the college circuit, and graduated to theaters, fairs, and corporate gigs across the country. “I got bitten by the performing bug in my twenties,” he said.

“I’ve never looked back.”

Ever since winning an award for his comedic performance at Europe’s prestigious Internationale Kulturbörse Freiburg entertainment trade fair in 1995, he has been in almost constant demand throughout Europe. Every year he performs for several months on a vaudeville-type circuit throughout Western Europe. “The variety arts are alive and well in Europe and I’m thrilled there’s such a demand for me,” he explained.

He averages 150 shows a year on the Continent. Indeed, just three weeks earlier Murphy had taken his one-man show to Germany, where he played to sold-out crowds. The following week he returned to play packed music halls in Frankfurt. As a German critic once noted, “Murph playfully pairs the wonders of the European circus world with the parodies and nonsense of American stand-up comedy ... [he] conquers the stage by storm, but also the hearts of his enthusiastic audience.”

“Tom Murphy is a real rarity and it’s interesting that he’s not as well known in the States as he is in Europe,” said Lance Olson, former executive director of the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center in Stowe. “He has an extraordinary understanding of the role of a clown. I’m not talking big shoes, scary face. A clown is someone who can walk out in front of a thousand people, size them up and talk to them, one person at a time, as if there were no one else in the room. Tom knows how to make that emotional connection almost instantaneously.”

Murphy cavorts around on a unicycle after he scoops up an audience member on his shoulders and the two ride around the stage to the disbelief of the audience. Opposite page: Murphy in his barn with his unicycle collection.

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Murphy’s onstage character is Everyman, an accident-prone, self-deprecating bumbler who also just happens to be an immensely skilled acrobat and physical comedian. On stage he will throw himself against a folding chair, tip the chair over, knock it off the stage, get tangled in the middle of it, but somehow manage to land safely and get back on his feet. “Then he’s not saying ‘I’m OK,’ explained Olson, “but he’s saying, ‘You’re OK.’ We are terrified when he falls, but we both survive. There’s a lesson for us that it’s OK to fall off but you have to come back.”

Murphy explained that his error-prone persona is a way of letting the audience into his act. “I want them to see things from my point of view,” he said. “My show is a very ‘we’ thing, not an ‘I’ thing. My goal is to get everyone to forget about politics and everything else for an hour.”

he Burlington audience is laughing. Using every trick in his streetperformer handbook, Murphy barks the audience back into their seats, turns on the charm, and is making them laugh at what he calls the “crazy idea” of a 65-year-old acrobat.

“Forget the acrobatics, I’m too old for that so I’ll do my stand-up.”

He starts with a real groaner: “This horse walks into a bar and the bartender says, ‘Why the long face?’“ Nothing.

“OK, OK … this mother buffalo sending her child off to school in the morning says, ‘Bye, son’.” Light laughter. “OK, well,” says Murphy, as he bounces around the stage, “We’re warming up! Thank you for staying.”

The audience seems to be getting Murphy’s “aren’t these jokes horrible” shtick and he continues: “Two cannibals are sitting around a fire eating a clown. One says, ‘Does this taste funny to you?’ ” A mixture of groans and laughter.

“All right, all right,” says Murphy, “I realize this isn’t working.” But it is; the audience is with him, groaning and laughing.

He shows a video that is a “best of” reel of his remarkable acrobatic stunts—everything from back flips to summersaults to pratfalls—from the last four decades. He announces he will try to duplicate some of those spine-threatening stunts and suddenly leaps into his “diving into the chair” routine. Gasps, followed by laughter from the audience when he picks himself off the floor and mock-dusts himself off.

Now he’s going at full throttle. Another pratfall, but this time into an audience member’s lap. A balloon animal explodes in his mouth. “Okay, not so good was it?” asks Murphy, as he scurries across the stage and

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hurries into another joke: “Same two cannibals. One says. ‘I hate my mother-in-law.’ Other one says, ‘Why don’t you try the potatoes?”

I’ve got 30 more of those cannibal jokes, folks,” says Murphy to another laugh. Then, “Hey, come on, these are much funnier in German!”

As he sat on the porch of his Waterbury Center home, which he largely built himself, Murphy made a startling confession. “I command respect in Germany and Europe for my skills much more than I do here.

Sometimes I wish my friends here could see my shows in Europe because most of them haven’t seen me at the top of my form in a European showcase.”

Longtime Stowe resident Ben Wax, who has known Murphy since the 1970s, has watched his performances evolve from pure physical comedy to today’s show that is leavened with humor. “Murph’s so much more than a clown, he’s a worldfamous entertainer,” said Wax. Wax once introduced his friend to someone at a party by saying, “Tom’s a clown, but he stopped me and said, ‘No, I’m an entertainer,’ ” remembered Wax. “And he’s right. What he does is so much more all-encompassing than the clown with the painted face, the big shoes.”

Murphy smiled when reminded of the moment. “I’ve never wanted to hide behind the big shoes or the painted face or the green hair.

All that makes you an anonymous non-person.

Where’s the fun—or the connection—in that?”

After injuring his neck during a performance in 2011 Murphy was forced to take several months off to recuperate. “I also used that time to think about my future,” he said.

“I suddenly realized I was no longer indestructible. I began asking myself how much longer could I keep throwing myself around the stage without killing myself.” While he’s toned down some of the more dangerous pratfalls, he is still defying time.

“I know performers who are only as half as old as Tom who are already talking about retiring from physical comedy because of the damage it’s doing to their bodies,” said local entertainer and friend Rusty Dewees. “But Murph is still pushing himself. He’s just so darn intense and in a class of his own. He’s amazing.”

lthough he’s no spring chicken, Murphy pulls out all the stops for this initially hard-to-please audience. His ladder bit, where he clumsily (but expertly) climbs atop a six-foot ladder and pretends to nearly fall head-first into the audience, kills. He works the audience like a seasoned pro, pulls up several audience members onstage where he gently picks on them. When an audience member shouts out the finish to one of his lamer one-liners, Murphy shoots back, “Hey, it’s my show!”

The crowd loves it.

When he spots an audience member meekly ducking out early, he stops the show to single her out and ask, “Do you have to go to the bathroom?” She smiles, mimes back that she has to drive and the audience howls. Says Murphy, “I feel the love here.”

He cavorts around on two unicycles, a regular sized one and his “6foot cycle of death.” Somehow he scoops up an audience member on his shoulders and the two ride around the stage to the disbelief of the audience. “This is a hell of a lot easier when you are 25 than when you are 65,” he says as he helps the woman gracefully dismount, then rubs his neck. “I have to give this crap up.”

After another acrobatic stunt and a couple of not-so-lame jokes, Murphy thanks the audience. The ballroom gives him a standing ovation.

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Turns out to be not such a tough a crowd after all. For a pro like Tom Murphy. n

Tom Murphy in the doorway of Murphyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Barn at his Waterbury Center home. The sleepwalk routine, with unicycle. A publicity still. Opposite page: Murphy gets the audience involved in this routine that combines juggling, a ladder, and his amazing acrobatic skills.

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One of our most popular, and controversial, covers was by Norwegian illustrator Johan Bull, who had a brief Stowe connection. Some felt its blatant sexism made it a poor choice for a cover.

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Stowe Historical Society hosts year-long exhibit

STOWE GUIDE COVERS

A pictorial journey through the last 30 years

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the exhibit "Stowe Guide & Magazine Covers, 1984 – 2017” runs through June 2018. The Stowe Historical Society is located next to the Stowe Free Library on the corner of School and Pond streets in the village. It’s open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from noon - 3 p.m., by appointment, or anytime the flag is flying. stowehistoricalsociety.org.

These pages: The Stowe Guide became the Stowe Guide & Magazine in 1994 when the Stowe Reporter combined the guide with its sister publication, Stowe Magazine. Before becoming a standard magazine size, The Guide measured 6 inches by 9 inches, as shown above. Here are a few versions of the smaller format, with covers by noted Jeffersonville artist Mary Bryan, whose artist husband Alden created the Bryan Gallery in her honor (top center); Rett Sturman (bottom right); and a few graphic covers created by artist Marsha Tebbets, who worked at the newspaper for many years. At left, Stowe artist Jack Sabon’s whimsical art graced the front in the summer of 2013.

Previous pages: A few of our favorite covers. This Stowe ski poster (upper left) proved to be one of our most popular covers. Noted Italian-American artist Luigi Lucioni, who painted in the Stowe area, captured this early- to mid-20th-century view of Stowe Village (lower left). Stowe artist Walton Blodgett appeared on the cover more than any other artist. His humorous take on finding the perfect Christmas tree in a ski town was a crowd pleaser, as was his colorful fall scene of Stowe Village. Charles Movalli, a noted member of the Cape Ann art community, captured a Stowe lift line (top left, right-hand page), while Margot Saeger, a graphic artist at the Stowe Reporter in the 1990s and early 2000s, painted this imaginative canvas of farmland, Holsteins, and sunflowers just for us.

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SHOPPING & GALLERIES

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

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

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

EXHIBITS & OPENINGS BRYAN MEMORIAL GALLERY 180 Main Street, Jeffersonville. Thursday – Sunday, 11 - 4, or by appointment. (802) 644-5100. Over 200 artists exhibit, focus on landscape painting. bryangallery.org.

Through December 23 Fantastical Landscapes and Imaginary Places, Main Gallery; GEMS, Middle Room; 2017 Legacy Collection,

COURTESY PHOTOS

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Art of the Selfie exhibit at the Helen Day Art Center in Stowe. William Barkin, Walnut Street Snow Storm, Bryan Gallery in Jeffersonville.

East Gallery.

December 24 – February 2 The Gallery is closed for its winter hiatus.

February 3 – April 1 The 2017 – 2018 Legacy Collection, Main Gallery.

Legends of Legacy, Middle Room; Pop Up Gallery of Artworks by Guest Artists, East Gallery. Friday – Sunday 11 - 4.

EDGEWATER GALLERY 151 Main Street, Stowe. (802) 760-6785. edgewatergallery.co.

December 8 Grand opening to benefit United Way: Music, raffle of art from Homer Wells, Matt Brown and Joe Bolger to benefit United Way of Lamoille County. 5 - 7 p.m.

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

Diverse collection of traditional and contemporary works by a variety of Vermont and regional artists.

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HIS TORY LESSON

SKI WARRIORS

DAY AT THE MUSEUM The 10th Mountain Division exhibit at the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum shows a tent and other artifacts used by soldiers. Medals earned by a 10th Mountain Division soldier now on display at the museum in downtown Stowe.

10th Mountain Division does the impossible STORY & PHOTOGRAPHS / KEVIN WALSH

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Toward the end of World War II, German artillery rounds pounded U.S. soldiers from high atop a 1,500-foot-high ridgeline called Riva Ridge. Two prior unsuccessful attempts had been made to dislodge the Germans from this area in the Italian mountains.

In a daring nighttime vertical ascent during brutally cold weather, soldiers from the Army’s 10th Mountain Division did what the Germans thought was impossible. With each soldier carrying over 60 pounds of weapons and supplies, they scaled the ridge and defeated the surprised German soldiers.

Formed by Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole, then president of the National Ski Patrol, the 10th Mountain Division became the only military group founded by a civilian.

Gathering a bunch of skiing enthusiasts, including more than 260 from Vermont, Dole helped to create a group of young men who trained to be soldiers on skis, and who learned to fight in challenging and brutally cold mountain regions.

After the Riva Ridge battle, the 10th Division’s soldiers made more successful, though costly, assaults in Italy’s Apennine Mountains, and after several months the German forces in Italy surrendered in May 1945.

The 10th Mountain Division soldiers’ exploits are honored and described in multiple interesting and well-documented exhibits housed at the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum, located in downtown Stowe in the 1818 former town hall. And in 2003, the Museum inducted into the Vermont Ski Hall of Fame the over 260 Vermonters, some from the Stowe area, who were members of the original 10th Mountain Division.

In addition to tremendous achievements in battle, after the war, these skiing soldiers developed the ski industry in Vermont and across the country. Fifteen 10th Division veterans helped create the Mount Mansfield Co. and Stowe Mountain Resort.

According to Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum research, “In Vermont, these men started lodges, shops, ski schools, ski patrols; they became ski coaches; they opened ski areas; they formed and supported ski

resources: Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum, vtssm.com 10th Mountain Division Resource Center, denverlibrary.org Colorado Historical Society, historycolorado.org National Association of the 10th Mountain Division, Inc., 10thmtdivassoc.org

SENTINEL A 13-foot-high bronze statue of a 10th Mountain Division soldier dressed in camouflage gear before being moved to its permanent home at Spruce Peak in Stowe.

“Snowy Woodland Stream” oil by Thomas Curtin, in the Legacy Collection

Awarded Editor’s Choice by Yankee Magazine, Best of Vermont Local Arts. Come see why.

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31 Lower Main Street in Johnson, VT (802) 635-7483 | (800) 899-6349 marvinscountrystore.com 106

organizations such as (the) Vermont Alpine Racing Association; they instigated technological innovations; they inspired the formation of the Mountain Warfare School and Battalion in Jericho, Vt.; and they (created) another generation of skiers.”

Although the 10th Mountain Division is now based at Fort Drum, N.Y., the division still honors its Vermont roots.

For example, soldiers train every year in mountain warfare at 11,000-acre Camp Ethan Allen, located on the back side of Mount Mansfield in Jericho.

Reminders of the skills and sacrifices of the division’s Vermont soldiers are still evident in the Stowe area. A fixture on Mountain Road for many years was a 13-foot-high bronze statue of a 10th Mountain Division soldier dressed in his white camouflage uniform and carrying his skis and rifle. This statue had been stationed in the front of Chuck and Jann Perkins’ Stowe house at 3681 Mountain Road, but has since been moved to a spot near the lifts on Spruce Peak at Stowe Mountain Resort.

Also, travelers on Route 100 in Waterbury and Stowe will see road signs containing the 10th Mountain Division’s insignia, another form of tribute to these brave soldiers.

While time has done to most of these mountain warriors what the German Army could not do, the 10th Division soldiers’ unique fighting skills, matched with their indestructible spirit, remain the hallmark of a group of young men who combined their love of skiing with their love of country. n

COURTESY PHOTOS

MIXED MEDIA

STAR POWER Some of this winter’s acts at Spruce Peak. (Clockwise from above): Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time, Barika, Dweezil Zappa, Sleeping Beauty, The Great Gatsby, and Bruce Cockburn. Inset: Patti Casey.

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

(802) 760-4634. Subject to change.

Saturday, December 2 Ian Ethan & the Earth Suite Orchestra

Instrumental compositions fusing virtuosic finger-style guitar and modern electronics with musical traditions from around the globe. 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 16 An Irish Christmas with the McLean Avenue Band

Musicians and dancers masterfully combine traditional Irish tunes and ballads with elements of rock, pop, and R&B. 7 p.m.

Saturday, December 30 Green Mountain Mahler Festival

Conductor Daniel Bruce, orchestra and chorus expertly bring Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to life. 7 p.m.

Saturday, January 13 Chad Hollister Band

Pacific recording artist Chad Hollister and his Large Band returns to Spruce Peak for their fifth sell-out season. 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 20 Barika

Six-piece funky, dubbed out, psychedelic West African flavored band from Burlington. 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 27 Sleeping Beauty 50 dancers of State Ballet Theatre of Russia return to a Stowe stage with this favorite musical fairy tale. 7 p.m.

Saturday, February 3 Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time

Olivier Messiaen composed and premiered this groundbreaking piece in January 1941, performing with his fellow prisoners in Stalag VIIIA, Görlitz, Germany. With musicians from the VSO and others. 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 17 Martin Sexton

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A soulful singer and guitarist, Sexton is reminiscent of singers like Van Morrison, Al Green, Aaron Neville, and Otis Redding. 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 24 Between Hills Briefly Green, Music of Vermont Composers

Ten-piece APEX is a horn-driven musical experience that blends funk, rock, fusion, jazz, and chamber music. 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 3 Patti Casey & the Wicked Fine Players

Vermont singer-songwriter Patti Casey is joined by Vermont’s hottest pickers for an evening of songs and stories. 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 10 Qyrq Qyz (“Kerr-Keys”)

Seven compelling female bards tell the Central Asian epic tale of a girl who gathers a group of women to secure her clan’s freedom. 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 17 St. Patrick’s Day with Pete’s Posse

Pete Sutherland, his talented protege Oliver Scanlon, and the uberdynamic Tristan Henderson. Twin fiddles in tight, wild harmony over high-powered guitar and pounding footwork with mandolin, clawhammer banjo, bodhran, jawharp, and rocking keyboards. 7:30 p.m.

Friday & Saturday, March 23 & 24 TRIP Dance Company Annual Fundraiser

See entry page 110.

Sunday, April 22 Symphony No. 2—Resurrection and Green Mountain Mahler Festival Vocal soloists, festival musicians, the Burlington Civic Symphony Orchestra, the Champlain Philharmonic Orchestra, and the South Burlington Community Chorus. 3 p.m.

Saturday, April 14 Dweezil Zappa

Guitarist Dweezil Zappa hand-picks his favorite tracks from father Frank Zappa's catalogue and brings his legacy to life on stage. 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, April 29 An Evening with Bruce Cockburn

Canadian musical legend captures in song the essence of human experience. 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 8 The Great Gatsby National Players production of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, adapted for the stage by Simon Levy. 7 p.m. >>110

MIXED MEDIA SPRUCE PEAK AT STOWE Spruce Peak Village Center, Stowe Mountain Resort, , unless noted. Subject to change. Subject to change based on conditions. sprucepeak.com.

Ongoing • Free hot cocoa and s’mores every Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 26 – April 9. Daily Dec. 26 – Jan. 1 and Feb. 18 – 26. 2 - 4 p.m., Pavilion building, Spruce Peak Village Center.

• Broom Ball League, Thursdays, January through March, 6 - 9 p.m. Ice rink. For team inquiries, email dhatoff@sprucepeak.com • Free public skating, Monday – Friday noon - 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday noon - 9 p.m.; holidays noon - 9 p.m.

<<108

JAY PEAK MUSIC SERIES

STOWE LAND TRUST

The Foeger Ballroom. 9 p.m. (802) 327-2596, jaypeakresort.com.

Stowe’s premier land conservation organization. stowelandtrust.org.

December 31 Josh Panda New Year’s Eve Celebration— Fireworks, then music. 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. $10.

January 27 Pink Talking Fish—hybrid tribute fusion act, music from Pink Floyd, The Talking Heads, and Phish. 8 - 12 p.m. $25 and $50.

February 24 Lotus Land—Rush tribute band. 9 - 12 p.m. $25 and $50.

December 6 Wildlife on the Move: Protect Critical Links & Corridors

JSC DIBDEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS

December 16 – 17

7-8:30 p.m. Green Mountain Club Visitor Center.

February 17 Taylor Lodge Snowshoe Snowshoe hike from Lake Mansfield to Taylor Lodge on the Long Trail, 9 - 11 a.m.

March 18 Family Sugaring Sugarhouse tour, sap gathering, and samples.

2 p.m. Location TBA.

COURTESY PHOTO

Johnson State College. (802) 635-1476. Most events Artisan Craft Show & Free Photos with Santa: TRAPP FAMILY TOURING CENTER AT 50 free. 7 p.m. (unless noted) jsc.edu/dibden.

Pavilion building. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

January 19 – 26 December 26 – North America’s first crossJanuary 1 country skiing center turns • Ice slide in the 50. Torchlight ski, champiTRIP dancers, March 23 — 24, Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, Stowe. ons’ dinner, group skis, Spruce Peak demo days, reception at Village Center Vermont Ski Museum.

• Ice carving: trappfamily.com. dates TBD based on weather.

TRIP DANCE COMPANY • Free family FUNDRAISER photos with Jesse Spruce Peak Performing Arts Schloff Center, 1 Hourglass Lane, December 31 Spruce Peak.

Spruce Peak sprucepeaksarts.org.

Fireworks & March 23 – 24 Torchlight Parade

TRIP Dance Company

Spruce Camp Base Lodge.

February 17 – 25 • Olympic video wall and ice bar • Family photos with Jesse Schloff April 1 Sunrise Service & Easter Celebration

Top of Mount Mansfield. Easter Egg Hunt at Spruce Peak Village Plaza.

A TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS IN STOWE December 1 – 3 Main Street lantern parade with carols, tree lighting, visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus, Root7 a capella group, reindeer, wagon rides, Festival of Trees & Light, children's author reading, and more. stowevibrancy.com.

BEN & JERRY’S WINTER FESTIVAL March 3 Free tours, games, give-aways, music, sugar on snow, local food samples. 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Waterbury factory, Route 100. benjerry.com.

HIGHLAND CENTER FOR THE ARTS 2875 Hardwick St., Greensboro. (802) 533-9075. highlandartsvt.org.

December 7 Fishhead: Unique renditions of classic oldies, blues, folk, rock, and R&B. 6 - 8 p.m.

December 9 The Nutcracker Suite with Ballet Wolcott:

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Tchaikovsky’s classic score. 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.

December 21 Home for Christmas: Vocalist Elisabeth von Trapp, cellist Erich Kory, and Hazen Union High School Chorus, 7 - 9 p.m.

Dozens of dancers perform ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, tap, and hip-hop.

7 p.m.

WARREN MILLER’S LINE OF DESCENT

December 15 Worlds of Music

JSC Concert Band Performance. 7 - 10 p.m.

December 17 Holiday Gala: Student singers and instrumentalists celebrate winter. 4 - 7 p.m.

December 13 Small Ensembles Concert: Jazz and funk fusion. 7 - 9 p.m.

STOWE COMMUNITY CHURCH Main Street, Stowe. (802) 253-7257. stowechurch.org.

December 2 Stowe Community Church Christmas Fair

Needlecrafts, baked goods, collectibles, wreaths, Pocket Lady, Quilt raffle. 9:30 a.m. 2 p.m.

December 13 Christmas Carol Sing

Well-known religious and secular music selections. 7 p.m.

December 18 Handel’s Messiah Community Sing-In

Sing the choruses and celebrate winter solstice and holiday season. 7 p.m.; doors open 6:30 p.m. $8 per person.

Warren Miller Entertainment's 68th fulllength feature film explores the ties that bind ski culture, from a new generation of skiers and riders who push their sport to new extremes. 7 p.m.

Wednesday, December 27 Friday, December 29 Saturday, January 6 Sunday, January 14 Monday, February 19

WATERBURY WINTERFEST Locations throughout Waterbury. waterburywinterfest.com.

January 26 – February 4 Broomball, dance, cross-country skiing, Christmas tree bonfire, human bowling, moonlight snowshoe, open mic, hockey, more.

ZENBARN 179 Guptil Rd., Waterbury Center. (802) 244-8134.

Check website for complete schedule. zenbarnvt.com.

Thursday Night Live Music Series—Local and regional musicians.

Friday Reggae Nights—First Friday of the month. Local DJs play reggae, dancehall, and conscious roots music.

Tuesday Jazz Jams—Second Tuesday of the month. Listen or jam with the house band.

Tuesday Studio Sessions—Third Tuesday of the month through April. National touring musicians n

GORDON MILLER

MADE IN VERMONT

FARM BOY George Woodard’s new film explores a slice of Vermont life, history

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George Woodard sheds layer after layer, humming continuously, as he moves around The film is set in the 1940s. The first half the set of his latest film, “The Farm Boy.” takes place on a rural farm, following main character Calvin Dillard, who drives a milk He started the day in a plaid flannel shirt. As the actors and Woodard’s helpers arrived on delivery truck for a local creamery. Calvin scene, he shed the shirt for a long-sleeved green tee. By the time the scene was underway, falls in love with Mary Small at a barn dance, Woodard was down to a plain white T-shirt. It’s not warm in the hayloft, but Woodard hasn’t but before they can continue their stopped moving for several hours. relationship, he’s drafted into Woodard and his cast and crew were in the hayloft of the dairy barn on the STORY / CALEIGH CROSS World War II. Calvin marries over 200-acre property on Loomis Hill Road that’s been in Woodard’s family for Mary two days before he heads to France. over a century. Twenty-five dairy cows, a mixture of breeds Woodard himself can’t nail down, moo Today, Woodard is filming the scene where happily beneath the loft, just far enough to escape being captured by the crew’s sound equipment.

Calvin is injured after falling off a truck he is “You’re about to find out exactly how boring it is” to film a movie, Woodard said. But it’s driving in France. He’s found by two French obvious that Woodard himself is anything but bored. In fact, he can’t sit still. Before the actors sisters, Renee and Madeleine, out looking for arrive, Woodard, 65, buzzes about the loft, checking connections, moving the lighting, and supplies for their family. The sisters decide to plugging in innumerable cords and cables, talking to himself and Joan O’Neal, his partner of four years and the producer of “The Farm Boy.” bring Calvin into their family’s barn.

CALEIGH CROSS PHOTOS

PASSION PLAY Actors talk about a scene in the Woodard barn. Inset: Props and script on the movie set.

That’s where Woodard’s hayloft comes in.

Coco O’Connor, who’s from Fayston, is playing Renee, while Madeleine is played by 7-year-old Solenne Marineau. Since the lines for the scene are all in French, it’s lucky for Solenne that her mother, a high school French teacher, is on hand to help.

Calvin is played primarily by Woodard’s son, Henry Woodard, but today, since Calvin, who’s unconscious for the entirety of the scene, has no lines, he’s being portrayed by a stand-in—Dakotah Senesac. For the next four or so hours, Senesac will be dressed in a period-accurate khaki uniform, covered in stage snow, flat on his back on a sled Solenne and O’Connor will pull him on.

That’s a struggle in and of itself—Senesac is too heavy at first for O’Connor and Solenne to pull.

The crew has to work together, but after a few trial runs, they learn the sled will go if there’s enough hay beneath its runners—and if Senesac helps by pushing against the floor as the actresses pull.

Before he’s hauled in on the vintage sled, Senesac needs to be periodically re-sprinkled with fake snow, a task in which Woodard finds childlike delight.

“You’re playing God, George,” O’Neal can be heard saying, as Woodard sprinkles the snow.

“Yeah, I missed my calling. I should have been a snowman,” he said with a laugh.

The actors go through the scene too many times to count. They work for part of the morning and a good chunk of the afternoon, repeating the lines, hauling Senesac back and forth in the little sled.

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“The Farm Boy” is loosely based on the story of Woodard’s parents, George Woodard Sr. and Teresa Woodard. They really did meet at a barn dance in Waterbury, and Woodard’s father served in World War II.

“It’s an idea I’ve had for a long time, and it seemed like now was the time to possibly put it into motion,” Woodard said. “It’s an interesting story of both my parents and their families, too.”

The film was written purely from Woodard’s mind, but O’Neal was instrumental in getting it on paper. She said Woodard would act out the dialogue off the cuff while she wrote it down.

“The dialogue out of this guy,” she said admiringly, “I don’t know where it comes from. His brain is always going. … George is pretty much a one-man show.”

What would his parents think of Woodard’s dramatization of their love story? He can’t say, but he’d have liked for them to see it.

“My parents were great,” he said. “They were real people. Not real funny people, but they were an awful good audience.”

Woodard’s not giving out any spoilers, but he said “The Farm Boy” has a happy ending. He’s planning to wrap up filming by late 2018. n

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GOOD WORKS

COURTESY PHOTOS

GUITAR MAN Chuck Sanzone at home with the custom guitar he made for the Joyful Heart Foundation gala auction. Sanzone with Mariska Hartigay, star of “Law & Order: SVU,” and founder and president of Joyful Heart.

A JOYFUL HEART

Stowe guitar auctioned for star’s charity

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“In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In “She told us about who she was and what New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an she did, and the horror stories of what has elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.” been happening in our system,” Deirdre said.

Best known as Detective Olivia Benson on the NBC series “Law & Order: SVU,” Emmy “I honestly had no idea. It’s infuriating to hear, Award-winning actress and activist Mariska Hargitay works equally hard on television and in real to say the least.” life to help survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse.

After returning home, Deirdre STORY / HANNAH MARSHALL Established in 2004, Hargitay’s Joyful Heart Foundation has raised more than immediately reached out to $33 million toward ending domestic violence, and has served thousands of surKatus and offered Chuck’s craftsvivors through healing experiences, education, and advocacy, including support for testing the manship to make a custom guitar to be aucvast backlog of rape kits. (joyfulheartfoundation.org) tioned off at a Joyful Heart gala event.

When a chance meeting brought Hargitay’s charity to the attention of Stowe couple Deirdre and Chuck, who crafts his instruments using Chuck Sanzone, they leaped at the opportunity to craft a unique donation. hand tools, wooden molds, and centuries-old A musician and craftsman, Chuck makes and repairs guitars and mandolins from his home and techniques, made a beautiful guitar, which they workshop in Stowe. Last fall, he was commissioned to make a guitar for the 25th anniversary celebrought to New York for the gala last spring. bration of a New York City jeweler, who inlaid the instrument with gold. The Sanzones attended the The guitar fetched $13,000. n event and were seated with Karoline Katus, the development officer of the Joyful Heart Foundation.

<<102 ERICA ALLEN

EXHIBITS

live

Helen Day’s annual Spring Gala.

HELEN DAY ART CENTER 90 Pond St., Stowe. (802) 253-8358. Tuesday – Saturday, Noon - 5 p.m. Donations welcome. helenday.com.

December 1 – December 30 Members' Art Show & Festival of Trees & Light

Opening Friday, December 1, 5 - 7 p.m.

January 19 – April 14 International Juried Photography Exhibition,

Main Gallery. Opening January 19, 5 - 7 p.m.

January 19 – February 24 Solo exhibition by regional artist, East Gallery. Opening January 19, 5 - 7 p.m.

March 9 – April 14 Solo exhibition by regional artist, East Gallery. Opening March 9, 5 - 7 p.m.

April 7 Spring Gala, Stowe Mountain Lodge, 5 p.m.

with

INSIDE OUT GALLERY 299 Mountain Road, Stowe. insideoutgalleryvt.com.

(802) 253-6945.

Ongoing exhibit of paintings and photos by Vermont artists Robin Nuse, Fiona Cooper, and others.

art

JULIAN SCOTT MEMORIAL GALLERY Dibden Center for Arts, Johnson State, (802) 6351469. Tuesday– Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Through December 15 Kris Brown, Dusty Gonyea, and Lucas Sisko Opening reception December 7, 4 - 6 p.m.

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

(802) 253-0889.

Nationally recognized art glass studio features resident artist Michael Trimpol’s studio.

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

Exhibits include Light and Sight, Earth and Astronomy, Water and How it Moves, Native Plants and the Environment, more.

Nature trails, museum store.

NORTHWOOD GALLERY 151 Main Street, Stowe. (802) 760-6513. northwoodgallery.com.

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

Woodworking bench demos daily.

Artist owned and curated.

Contemporary and unexpected designs realized in jewelry, artwork, photography and functional home decor. Unique custom furnishings, lighting, rugs and interior design services. Landmark village buildings: 55 Mountain Road & 34 So. Main Street, Stowe.

1- 877- I LOVEVT

stowecraft.com

RED MILL GALLERY Vermont Studio Center, Pearl Street, Johnson.

(802) 635-2727. vermontstudiocenter.org.

Rotating artists in two gallery spaces. >>118

The Art of Creative Living

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EXHIBITS RIVER ARTS 74 Pleasant St., Morrisville. riverartsvt.org, (802) 888-1261.

Through December 29 Magic in the Landscape, Cindy Griffith Iceland in May, Liz Nelson

ROBERT PAUL GALLERIES

COURTESY PHOTO

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

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

STOWE CRAFT & DESIGN 55 Mountain Road and 34 S. Main St., Stowe.

(802) 253-4693. stowecraft.com. Fine crafts, furniture, sculpture, representing artists Homer Wells, Sabra Field, and more.

Through January 31 Randy Adams—Wire tree sculptures Through February 28 Bilodeau + Hornbeck—Wall sculptures and paintings made with reclaimed barn wood and roofing slate.

February 20 – April 30 William Hays’ linocut prints

Exquisite Yarns & Superior Service since 2004

VERMONT SKI & SNOWBOARD MUSEUM One S. Main St., Stowe. Open daily except Monday, 12 - 5 p.m. Handicap accessible.

Suggestion donation $5. (802) 253-9911. vtssm.com.

December 1 Curious & Cool

Unusual and seldom-scene objects from the museum’s eclectic collection. Opening Dec. 1, 7 - 9 p.m.

VERMONT STUDIO CENTER LECTURE SERIES 112 Main Street Montpelier, Vermont

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802-229-2444 www.yarnvt.com

VSC Lecture Hall, Main Street, Johnson. 8 p.m. Free, confirm day of the event, (802) 635-2727. vermontstudiocenter.org.

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VISIONS OF VERMONT GALLERY Main Street, Jeffersonville. visionsofvermont.com.

(802) 644-8183. 20 master painters from the Jeffersonville area, in three historic buildings.

Ongoing Karen and Jack Winslow, local classical masters, and TM Nicholas (Victorian house); Eric Tobin, plein aire painter (Carriage house).

Helen Shulman, At Long Last.

WEST BRANCH GALLERY & SCULPTURE PARK One mile from the village on the Mountain Road, Stowe. westbranchgallery.com. (802) 253-8943.

Indoor gallery / outdoor sculpture park, promoting contemporary art in varied media and styles by regional, national, and international artists.

Ongoing Sculpture park: Works in stone, steel, bronze

by Jonathan Prince, David Stromeyer, Karen Petersen, Chris Curtis, Jeffrey Laudenslager, John Matusz, Richard Erdman, more.

December 9 Helen Shulman Workshop Technical and aesthetic possibilities of painting with cold wax. Registration required.

Through January Jim Westphalen—Dynamic winter landscapes shot using an adapted vintage camera that blurs the line between photography and painting. Central Gallery.

Through February Dave Laro and John Joseph Hanright—Mixedmedia artists repurpose vintage ephemera and found objects to create pop-inspired assemblages and collage-based paintings.

Upstairs Gallery.

Krista Harris—Gestural abstract paintings in bold palettes. North Gallery.

Jim Westphalen, Chicken Coop.

March 2018 Charlie Hunter and Jim Westphalen—Plein-air painter and photographer explore vanishing icons of Vermont's industrial and agricultural past. Central Gallery. Reception March 24 May 2018 Mohamad Hafez, Arghavan Kohsravi, and others address global and homegrown conversations surrounding polarizing issues of immigration and national security. n

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HIS TORY LESSON

HIPPITY-HOP The true story of how Stowe got a Bunny Club

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STORY / BARBARA BARAW

Stu and Margaret Ireland came to Stowe in 1962 from Watch Hill, R.I., and bought 6.2 acres along Smugglers Notch Road, today known as Mountain Road, from Frank and Louisa Springer-Miller. They immediately went to work to build the Town & Country Lodge.

In the summer of 1964, the gambrel-roofed club was built with an indoor swimming pool on the first floor and nightclub on the second floor. The opening of the nightclub, to be called Bunny Club, was planned for Christmas Week.

To staff the club in Stowe, Stu placed an advertisement in the New York Times and 64 young ladies responded. Seven were chosen, the boss bunny being Eileen O’Connor of Miami. Others came from South Florida, Long Island, New York City, and Connecticut.

When the plane on which the bunny waitresses arrived from New York, the young ladies emerged in their bunny outfits into the winter cold and were welcomed by photographers from the Burlington Free Press, along with Stu. Joe Heaney’s Saturday, Dec. 26, 1964 Free Press article, introduced the bunnies to Vermont.

The work uniform was a one-piece strapless bathing-suit-styled garment, puffy tail included, and a headband adorned with bunny ears. Each girl had at least three or four costumes. The contrast between their costumes and customers’ sweaters and corduroys was really noticeable. Stu made a point that this was not the “Playboy Club,” although both had bunnies. At the Stowe club, he said, “The girls don’t dance, drink, or sit down with customers.” >>

At least the first year, the Bunny Club was a key club. How a key was obtained is a question unanswered by longtime locals who remember going there. Typical answers went like this: “It was back in the 1960s shortly after I arrived and I didn’t spend time there.” One person said it was not the “go-to place” because Stu was always at his table with his friends, who included Gov. Tom Salmon. “Under supervision” seemed to be the sense of the room. Others remembered a “hopping, go-to place, a great hangout with dancing.” One longtime resident called it a place of “hopes and aspiration.”

Nancy Stead of Stowe told a great story of a wedding reception at the Bunny Club. A full-size cardboard replica of the bride, “Annie,” decked out in bunny costume, ears and tail, was brought into the reception by friends of the groom, “Barry.” As one can imagine, the groom’s friends thought it a roaringly funny gift. For the parents of the bride, not so much; their displeasure was extremely evident. However, the band played on; no fisticuffs ensued.

Tom Hamilton recalled a bartender who was part of the long line of “Stowe characters”—Ronnie “Bip Bip” Perkins. Ron had his own definition of bip bip. I can’t translate, but can imagine his ability to engage the clients seated at his bar.

Situations and circumstances change with time, which is represented in the advertisements for full-time waitresses that began in June 1965 and in 1968 read: “Cocktail—waitresses New Psychedelic Bunny Club, Entertainment Capital of Vermont, Stowe, next to the Town and Country Motor Lodge,” with a Burlington phone number. The name, lighting, and music changed in 1968.

Dull moments were not common at the Bunny Club. Several people said that when the Bunny Club was open, Stu Ireland was served a cease-and-desist letter from Mr. Playboy himself, Hugh Hefner. Yet, Stu

did not stop employing waitresses in bunny costumes, nor did his club shut down. It will be left to speculation how all that happened.

Then there was the “ski-bum pass episode.” There was a season when Stu’s employees were not eligible for ski-bum passes—deep-discounted ski passes purchased by Stowe-area businesses and given as complimentary benefits to seasonal employees so that they could ski. Discussion ensued. There was no changing Sepp Ruschp’s mind.

(Sepp founded the Stowe resort’s ski school.) So Stu built “Mount Ireland” in the backyard of the Stowe Bunny Club, where the pond and tennis courts are currently. It must be said Stu’s first love was moving land, crushing rock, and selling concrete; bringing in lots of dirt to create a ski hill was no problem. On Mount Ireland, he put up towers to hold the cables for the T-bars and ran his own (possibly) 100-foot ski area. Supposedly, Stu hired several ski instructors away from the Sepp Ruschp Ski School. This was long before snowmaking and at a time when “January thaw” was just that, above-freezing warm weather in late January. One winter snow melted, the wind blew, and the towers tipped to the extent the T-bar couldn’t ascend the hill. That venture ended quickly, and the Stowe Bunny Club bunnies ceased to receive ski lessons.

The T-bars were given to the town recreation commission and stored for several years until the Marshall Hill ski lift was built, but that is another story.

It probably is not much of a mystery where Mount Ireland went— probably somewhere in Chittenden County to fill a big hole. However, it is unlikely the sign went with it. If anyone stumbles over a Stowe Bunny Club sign, the Stowe Historical Society will gratefully accept it as a donation. n (If this set of recollections brings stories to mind, please share them with the Stowe Historical Society. stowehistoricalsociety.org.)

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The Landscape Painter Vermont Preserved...

One Painting at a time

On the north side of Smugglers Notch from Stowe lies the Village of Jeffersonville where the beauty of the landscapes have been put to canvas for over 100 years. Step back in time, stroll through room after room where beauty and history meet. Visions of Vermont Fine Arts Galleries, features Master Painters, past and present who continue the century old painting tradition.

Fine Art Gallery 100 Main St Jeffersonville, VT Open Tues. - Sun. | 10:00 - 5:00 (802)644-8183 | visionsofvermont.com

Karen Winslow

Eric Tobin

100 Main Street

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ON EXHIBIT

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SPRUCE PEAK DEVELOPMENT Giving local artists a boost

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/ MARK AIKEN / GLENN CALLAHAN

STORY PHOTOGRAPHS

very summer, artists and craftspeople join local farmers and food producers at a weekly farmers market on the green at Spruce Peak—a venue that wouldn’t have been available before the development of that side of Route 108. Wandering among the various tables and pop-up tents, one can’t help but notice the less-than-a-decade-old buildings that surround the market—the giant Adventure Center and Alpine Clubhouse beneath several stories of luxury condominium units and the Stowe Mountain Lodge, home to hotel rooms, suites, a spa, and the exclusive Front Four Club.

Farther uphill, but still within view of the market, mountain cabins line the Inspiration ski trail beyond the latest development project—the Village Townhomes.

As locals peddled their goods at the farmers market, I wondered whether the development at Spruce Peak has made a difference for local artists.

One of the first artists whose artwork found permanent resting places at Spruce Peak was Craig Mooney. Mooney’s oil paintings of landscapes, outdoor (and often snowy) scenes, and other subjects are in West Branch Gallery on the Mountain Road and Green Mountain Fine Art in Stowe village, as well as in galleries nationwide and in Europe. >>

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PROFILE IN WOOD Asked to come up with a way to conceal a concrete-block retaining wall along the Marsh parking lot in front of Stowe Mountain Lodge, Martin Laporte got creative. His 80-foot-long wall traces the profile of the Mansfield ridgeline.

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ART EXPLOSION Art adorns the walls of Hourglass restaurant at Stowe Mountain Lodge. A carved bear guards the area around the ice rink at Spruce Peak. Art is everywhere, like this small alcove in a lodge common area.

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“Ten years ago, when AIG put in the Stowe Mountain Lodge, one of their designers found me through Green Mountain Fine Art,” Mooney said.

Over the next seven years, as construction and expansion of the hotel continued, Mooney sold more paintings. In fact, there were plans for Mooney originals to adorn every hotel room.

However, when financial realities set in, artist and benefactor struck a deal. As a rule, Mooney doesn’t make prints of his paintings. “I’m not Picasso,” he said, and added that he doesn’t make prints out of respect for those who buy his originals and probably wouldn’t want to see a

replica for sale in a shop. In this case, however, he allowed Stowe Mountain Lodge to buy some paintings and make prints to display in its rooms.

“It’s really the only example of me having allowed prints of my work to be made,” Mooney said.

Although some local artists have worked directly with the mountain companies over the years, development at Spruce has opened other doors, said Tari Swenson, co-founder of the West Branch Gallery on the Mountain Road. >>

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“When the mountain development ramped up around a decade ago, we found ourselves meeting a lot of homeowners, going up there and showing work, and often placing work,” Swenson said.

What sort of artwork do owners at Spruce want? “I could really give you as many answers as there are individuals looking for artwork,” Swenson said. She added, however, that many of the homes at Spruce Peak are second or third homes.

“Often, owners from, say, Boston, New York, or elsewhere, want Vermont art in their Vermont homes,” she said, and there seems to be a very localvore attitude among people looking to decorate their ski houses.

“Just as they look for high-quality local food to eat, they look to support local artists in their local homes,” she said.

The relationship between Spruce Peak and the arts doesn’t stop with artwork hanging on walls or standing on end tables. “A small portion of every property transfer and room rental goes toward the community and events— including the arts,” said Sam Gaines, president of Spruce Peak Realty. The fund has supported programs at Helen Day Art Center, including an artist-in-residence project at Spruce Peak.

It is really no surprise that the arts are prevalent in this mountain community; you don’t have to be an artist to feel inspired at the foot of Mount Mansfield and the gateway to Smugglers Notch. Just ask Martin Laporte, a carpenter and jack-of-all-trades (who admit-

NOOKS AND CRANNIES Paintings and ceramics line an alcove at Stowe Mountain Lodge.

tedly hopes to someday “graduate” to being an artist).

Tasked with constructing a wooden fence to cover a concrete-block retaining wall along the Marsh parking lot in front of Stowe Mountain Lodge, Laporte got creative.

Laporte’s 80-foot-long wall, made of roughcut 2x8s, is fastened to the concrete wall so that it floats 2 inches above the ground. He used hockey pucks as shims to fill gaps between the walls and the uneven blocks.

Instead of merely cutting the top of the 2x8s to make the fence flat and even, Laporte decided to trace the profile of the Mansfield ridgeline.

“I marked a few key points and just connected the dots,” said Laporte. Then he cut the 80-foot-long profile using his Skil Saw and a router.

The Mansfield profile wasn’t originally in the plan for the fence. “He just sort of did it and then asked, ‘Do you like it?” said Gaines.

In a rush of creativity, a project to merely cover an eyesore became a work of art.

Has the development at Spruce Peak been a boon for local artists? No matter how much things change, the mountain environment will always challenge the imagination and stir creativity. And in some cases it can mean new jobs and increased sales. n

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Catherine Emil works on the bottom drawer of a hanging cabinet that she designed.

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LEARNING FROM THE MASTERS Vermont Woodworking School students find their groove Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. Catherine Emil is hunched over her workbench, planing a small piece of mahogany by hand.

She held it against a rectangular box, made a pencil mark, continued planing. After two more strokes, she stopped, checked it against the box, and returned to her workbench. Scrape. Scrape.

Finally, the small piece of wood fit the front of the box perfectly.

The box was the bottom drawer of a hanging cabinet that Emil had designed. The small piece of planed mahogany was the drawer’s face.

She had fashioned it so that a subtle concave area left just enough room for fingers to slip under and slide the drawer out, no knobs needed.

Emil was in her second semester of an immersion course at Vermont Woodworking School in Fairfax, where she was learning the craft of fine furniture making. She had completed Foundations I, where she learned to make a mission-style end table with a fitted dovetail drawer, a small table, and other useful items.

“I wasn’t sure when I started the first semester if this was right for me, but once I got going, I knew I’d come back, and now I plan to do all four semesters,” Emil said.

STORY

: kate carter

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: glenn callahan

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SKILL SETS Oscar Martinez works on a project. Using a backcut saw. Shaemus French takes a precise measurement.

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n Foundations II, the assignment was to design and produce the mahogany wallmounted cabinet Emil was working on.

Design requirements included a hinged door and fitted drawer. She passed with flying colors and will continue into the third semester, where she will make a chest with dovetailed drawers, and other small projects of her own designs. In the final semester, she will make a chair with complex joinery.

Emil, a graduate of Dartmouth College, had been working office jobs in the arts, but realized she wanted to be the artist.

“I wanted to be a furniture designer for as long as I can remember,” she said.

“Now I’m living my dream. It’s amazing here. I decided to come because I want to start my own furniture company in the Hudson Valley or the Catskills or southern Vermont. Somewhere a little closer to New York City, where I’m from. I knew if I completed all four semesters at Vermont Woodworking School, I could hit the ground running.”

Woodworking schools that specialize in fine furniture making are sprinkled across the country, and Vermont Woodworking School is one of three in New England.

“Vermont is rich in hardwood forests and fine furniture makers,” said Executive Director Carina Driscoll, the daughter of former Burlington College president Jane Sanders, and step-daughter of Sen. Bernie Sanders. “A lot of what

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A FINE POINT School gallery showcases student work. Instructor Brian Bright explains the nuances of a dovetail joint. Bright has been with the school for nine years.

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sets us apart from other woodworking schools is that we are rooted in Vermont traditions. We are known for turning out craftsmen and women who will continue those traditions.

“Students come to us from all over the country and the world, including Israel, India, Korea, and Mongolia. We are becoming well known for our competitive design and fine woodworking program.”

Vermont Woodworking School has a big presence in Vermont, but not many people know about it. A trio of furniture makers— Driscoll and her husband, Blake Ewoldsen, the school’s operations director, and the late Robert Fletcher, a woodworker well known in New England for his reproduction furni-

ture—founded the school in 2007. Fletcher was the owner of Robert Fletcher Furniture Design Co. in Cambridge, Vt., and he had a huge influence on the school’s curriculum and focus.

“We wanted to create a way for aging furniture makers to pass down their knowledge and skills,” said Driscoll, who inherited her love of woodworking from her father. She grew up catching wood off the table saw when he was working on projects. Then she caught the woodworking bug, and attended a community workshop in Colchester, where she met Fletcher, who was the shop supervisor.

“We knew there was a need for a way for future woodworkers to learn from the masters, and opportunities were rare,” she said.

Understanding the importance of education, Driscoll, Ewoldsen, and Fletcher created an apprentice program, took over rent and equity from the community workshop, and moved operations to Fairfax.

They rented a large, historic, three-story red barn from Burt Steen of Swanton, who has invested energy and passion in the school, and is often seen on campus making building improvements.

The proximity to Johnson State College enables the woodworking school to offer classes

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IN THE CLASSROOM Tools of the trade: a Japanese saw and router bits. Students at work in their classroom. Stickered wood allows for more even drying.

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through the college, in addition to the total immersion program and intensive workshops for serious hobby woodworkers.

Students enrolled in Johnson State College’s bachelor of fine arts or associate of arts in fine woodworking and furniture design study in the same classes and with the same faculty as Vermont Woodworking School’s immersion students.

The school receives many more applicants than it can accept. Admission criteria include personal goals of self-employment or working in a small woodworking shop, as well as strong evidence of artistic skills.

“Applicants must be driven, and demonstrate commitment and forward motion. Committed,

passionate students are successful and pull each other along,” Driscoll said. The faculty, staff, and students have created an environment where they are dedicated to improvement. Some flourish, because they step up to the plate. They find their voice, style, and technique.

rian Bright has been the woodworking school’s lead faculty member for nine years. He develops the curriculum and also teaches Solid Works, the 3D modeling software that allows users to create full designs.

“For me, design is the most important aspect. An original and creative design will set you apart from everyone else,” he said.

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Bright has a master’s degree from Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Crafts, and his goal has always been to teach.

While showing his work at a fine furniture show in Woodstock, Vt., he met Fletcher and

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ON THE FARM The school is housed in a former dairy barn along Route 104 in Fairfax. Part of the school’s residential housing for students is in these restored silos.

His focus now is on teaching. “We will take any age students, and they can stay for four days or four years and everything in between,” he said. “Every student has different goals.

Some want to get a college degree, some want to get basic skills. Most important is to gain confidence. I like to see the transformation in a student. It gives them confidence that they can take to other aspects of their life.” he 15,000-square-foot barn-turnedmodern-woodworking-facility is situated conspicuously close to Route 104, and looks out to farm fields to the north.

Inside, on the top floor, is a gallery of furniture designed and made by Vermont Woodworking School students, a computer lab, meeting area, library, photography studio, and offices.

Downstairs is where the dust flies and the aroma of cut wood, with overtones of mahogany and maple, hits your nostrils like the scent of a freshly lit pine candle.

Students are assigned their own bench in the bench room, where they settle in to their individual projects. Hand tools, table saws, lathes and the like line walls, take up floor space, and hang from the ceiling. A sanding room, milling

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Driscoll. They liked his style and the fact that he was a passionate teacher, and invited him to join their staff.

Bright says there are many types of woodworking avenues within the field, and many ways to make a living. Before joining the woodworking school, he worked for a furniture company in the South. He also created and sold his own high-end pieces.

room, and finish room complete the floor plan, and a high-tech ventilation system keeps the air clear of dust and unhealthy particles.

Students who come from afar need housing, and next door is a dorm where up to 26 students can stay. The school has also partnered with apartment owners in nearby Jeffersonville for additional housing.

About 40 students attend Vermont Woodworking School per semester. Those enrolled at Johnson State College live in college dorms.

The woodworking school’s curriculum supports an individual’s foundation skills and pairs students with mentors. All classes are taught by master furniture makers. In addition, students design and build their own projects and are critiqued by the instructors and their peers.

Design, business, and marketing are infused throughout the curriculum.

Students can progress through just one or two or all four certificate levels, just as Catherine Emil is doing.

“I chose wood because I like that it’s a natural material, and I do like that it is a traditional art form,” Emil said. “I’m used to city life, so it’s been an adjustment, but it’s amazing here. I’m living my dream.” n

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BEST CHAIR EVER Pacific Green, a custom furniture-making company in Australia, patterns its designs after the world’s cultures. Take the Egyptian Valley of the Kings chair, which looks like an Adirondack-style lawn chair on steroids. The flared back and flat-top arm rests are typical of ADK chairs, but Pacific Green uses leather and cast bronze, bound to coconut palmwood, with leather-wrapped wire built on a metal frame. Pacific Green studied high-end car seats before designing its own support mechanisms. The result? As more than one customer says, “This is more comfortable than my Herman Miller ergo chair.” Oh, and way more attractive.

INFO: Exclusive Vermont dealer, Inside Out Gallery, Mountain Road, Stowe, (802) 253-6945, insideoutgalleryvt.com.

WEAR YOUR INNER MEANING Alex and Ani is a humanitarian company that designs meaningful, eco-conscious jewelry. Creator Carolyn Rafaelian’s designs originate from a deep reverence for sacred symbols that inspire empowerment.

The signature products—expandable and stackable wire bracelets—are adorned with symbols that have meaning to the wearer.

The Path of Life charm bangle bracelet represents life as a journey and “captures the essence of life’s odyssey and, with its knotted design, reminds us that we are all connected.”

Alex and Ani, which started as a hippie jewelry company, has become wildly popular and Rafaelian is now known as the bangle billionaire. But one question remains: Who are Alex and Ani? INFO: Available at Green Envy on Stowe’s Mountain Road; alexandani.com.

SKIDA, SKIDA, SKIDA Why are Skida hats so popular? Maybe it’s the vibrant colors, lightness, functionality, or just the fact that every Skida hat, headband, neck warmer, and scarf is made in Burlington. Visit a Vermont touring center and you’ll see a Skida hat on nearly every head. The Nordic hat is lightweight, breathable, and the poly-lycra fabric stretches four ways. It’s the original Skida hat, designed for breaking a sweat in the cold. The Alpine products are the same poly-lycra blend, lined with a cozy mid-weight fleece.

Middlebury resident and downhill ski racer Corinne Prevot started Skida in 2007 while attending Burke Mountain Academy.

She made hats for the ultimate critics—her teammates and friends. INFO: skida.com.

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Have a product you’d like us to feature? Send us, not your sales rep, a two-sentence description of why our readers need to know to kate_carter@comcast.net. No phone calls please, and no tweets, por favor, Mr. Trump.

BY KATE CARTER

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YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE Ceramicist Tabbatha Henry creates porcelain luminaries and lanterns. Her designs, inspired by nature, fuse evening skies and earthly elements, such as stars, birch bark, and grasses. Every piece is handmade by a small team of artists at Henry’s studio in the Grist Mill on Stowe Street in Waterbury. The luminaries plug in, while votive candles light the lanterns.

Holes in the cylindrical, simple shapes let out just enough light so that each piece seems to glow, bringing a sense of pleasure to any room.

INFO: Available at Henry’s Waterbury location, Stowe Craft Gallery, and tabbathahenry.com.

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GLENN CALLAHAN

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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Fresh. Sweet and zesty. Woody. Soft smoke.

Tasting notes on the tequila menu at Tres Amigos could also describe the revamped interior of the former Rusty Nail nightclub, now awash in natural wood and dusky hues with a big, vibrant sugar skull grinning a greeting at the door.

There isn’t a plethora of piñatas, but one wall is hung with a pastiche of vanity license plates—a throwback to the Nail’s original décor.

The building at 1190 Mountain Road that housed Stowe’s iconic nightspot was sold in May to Chad Fry and Mark Frier, the duo behind Waterbury’s Reservoir Restaurant & Taproom and The Bench in Stowe. The pair picked up the space, which measures just over 9,000 square feet, for a cool $1.5 million.

The red-topped, Rec Path-adjacent building was constructed by Bobby Roberts, who owned the Rusty Nail for over 25 years before he sold it in 2005. The nightclub has burned down, it’s changed hands, it’s been shuttered, and it’s been on the auction block.

It’s seen parties featuring sand all over the floor, mud

SOUTH OF THE BORDER! Tres Amigos bar staff mixes drinks at a spot that quickly became popular with the locals. Inset: Tonight’s tap list.

STORY / Hannah Marshall & Caleigh Cross PHOTOGRAPHS / Gordon Miller

drag races outside, and countless rides on the legendary mechanical bull.

Its stage has been danced all over by feet belonging to the likes of Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Buckwheat Zydeco, and rapper Vanilla Ice on his 21st birthday.

And now, the huge building, as well as the howling, honky-tonking, husky ghosts on its stage, belongs to Frier and Fry. “We’ve known this space; we both have a love for live music,” Frier said. “This is our chance to save a lot of what was awesome about the Nail.”

Now, Tres Amigos serves up Mexican-inspired cuisine with a Vermont twist, and the Rusty Nail Stage—about half the size of its predecessor—turns out tunes, with a mezzanine level, stocked bar and plenty of space still on the dance floor.

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At about 150 seats, the restaurant is on par with the size of the Rez and The Bench, a proven size for Frier and Fry. In the kitchen, chef Paul Moran’s moved over from The Bench to fire up South-of-theBorder favorites—all the o’s you could want (nach-, tac-, burrit-, ques-) plus salads, grilled and smoked meats and seafood, and shareable apps of ceviche, empanadas, tamales, and street corn.

“It’s not going to be too far outside the box.

We’re not going to try and Americanize it,” Frier said.

Prices are moderate, with appetizers and salads averaging at $9, burritos very worth the $12, tacos a little caro at $4 to $5 each, and bigger entrées topping off at $20.

“We want people to feel they got their money’s worth,” Frier said.

Don’t hesitate on the chips and salsa, either—for a fiver, you get a sizable bucket of tortilla chips, perfectly salty with a kiss of sugar, and “Christmas style” roja and verde sauces.

To drink, there’s classic horchata and hibiscus agua fresca, a creative cocktail menu, a handful of wines and Citizen Cider. There’s thirst-quenching Tecate and Corona, and a large selection of beers from Vermont and beyond on tap, of course, but try the tequila (it’s like beer)—there are about five dozen offerings to sip (Del Maguey Chichicapa, $23 for 2 ounces), shoot (Espolon blanco or reposado, $10 each) or splurge (Gran Patron Burdeos reserve, $70). n ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Open daily at 4 p.m. Music events: tresamigosvt.com, fb.com/rustynailvt.

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ALL ABUZZ! Sweet treats ready for customers. Lisa and Dan Griffin. Inset: A delectable selection of cookies.

STOWE BEE BAKERY Creative recipes, local ingredients, that Stowe hospitality Lisa Griffin and her husband Dan had visited Stowe for years when one day they looked at each other and thought, “Why are we sitting in traffic four hours a day?”

So the New York City dwellers in August 2016 moved to their second home in Stowe, just in time for their two children to start school.

A year later the couple realized a second dream with the opening of Stowe Bee Bakery on the Mountain Road. Griffin, educated as a pastry chef at the Culinary Institute of America, had moved away from her culinary background and into event manSTORY / Caleigh Cross agement after getting married in 1999. Pastry chef hours just PHOTOGRAPHS / Gordon Miller weren’t conducive to raising children.

But she missed the kitchen.

To Griffin, Stowe Bee Bakery is the perfect marriage of both of her earlier careers. She’s back to baking, but still gets to interact with people.

From the beginning, one of the bakery’s most requested items are the rosemary and olive oil cookies. The cookie is sweet and thin, slightly crunchy and buttery, with a rosemary finish. Griffin’s apricot-walnut rugelach, a traditional Jewish pastry popular in New York City, has also proven popular. She also makes rugelach with chocolate, raspberry chocolate, and cinnamon sugar.

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The pastry menu offers more than 60 flavors of cupcakes, both individual and fullsized cheesecakes, custom cakes and cookies, and cake by the slice.

Dan oversees the lunch options. In summer, lunch includes salads and wraps; in the fall and winter, Stowe Bee Bakery will offer soup.

Paninis are served year round.

If you’re dry, or just need a caffeine jolt, the bakery serves espresso drinks, lattes, and cappuccinos, iced coffee, frozen hot chocolate, and smoothies. Griffin took a three-day barista course in New York City where she learned how to properly steam milk and make espresso, among other things.

Griffin aims to use as many local and organic ingredients as she can—Backcountry Coffee from Montgomery Center, Cabot Creamery butter and cheese, Mansfield Dairy milk and cream.

Degrees in art history and studio art explain the intricate, detailed custom work on her cookies and cupcakes, and she spends a lot of time doing research and development, combining different ingredients to craft unique recipes, like her cranberry pistachio cookie. Griffin uses orange sugar to add a zesty citrus spark.

“I just call it having fun,” she said.

So what about the Bee? It’s a nod to the amount of honey Griffin uses in her baking. n ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Daily 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. 1190 Mountain Rd., Stowe. stowebeebakery.com.

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FARM AND SEA! Italian stuffed pork loin with sweet Roman sausage, taleggio cheese, baby arugula on crusty ciabatta.

Inset: Wild striped bass and wild Alaskan sockeye salmon.

THE BUTCHERY OPENS IN STOWE Fresh meats, fish, seafood, homemade sausages ... oh my!

STORY

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/ Hannah Marshall

Milk, eggs, sugar … dayboat scallops … glazed pork belly … duck rillettes … grocery runs in Stowe are about to get a little more exciting.

Got a craving for fresh sausage made with locally brewed ale, decadent rolls of house-made porchetta or pickle-brined and smoked organic chicken? How about huge Berkshire pork chops, Australian lamb racks, or prime Angus strip steaks and ribeyes?

The Butchery, which opened its first storefront on Bridge Street in Waitsfield in 2012, then jumped across Route 100 to a bigger spot in 2015, will open a second location on the Mountain Road in Stowe in December.

“We already have an extremely strong customer base from the Stowe area that drive 40 minutes to the (Mad River) Valley to shop with us, so it makes us very happy to be able to finally bring the experience of shopping with us to their doorstep,” said owner Jeffrey Lynn.

Lynn certainly knows his way around kitchens, from training at the New England Culinary Institute to running the show at the former Sweetwood Bar & Grill in Warren, selling and writing about wine and beer, eating his way through Italy—his love of good food shines through the creative and classic choices on his menus.

EDIBLES

STOWE BEVERAGE & LIQUOR STORE

LIQUOR • BEER •WINE 154

Tel. 253-4525 1880 Mountain Road, Stowe. Open 9-9 M-S • 11-6 Sunday

Stowe’s Butchery, which moved into the space formerly occupied by Stowe Seafood, offers Lynn and his team a bigger location— just under 2,000 square feet—to process and serve a variety of meat, fish, beverages and accoutrements.

Supplying the seafood will be Ethan Wood of Wood Mountain Fish, a Mad River Valley staple who’s known for bringing super-fresh and hard-to-get offerings to the landlocked state of Vermont.

“It’s worth paying the premium,” said general manager Karl Bauer, “and that’s what we want.”

Bauer, a Fayston native, said he’s proud of The Butchery’s commitment to quality and its ability to order what patrons want, keeping waste down and keeping the customer satisfied.

Bauer’s keen to find out what cuts of meat will float the boat of Stowe locals and tourists, talking about the shop’s new walk-in coolers and bandsaw like a kid on Christmas.

“We’re smoking meats every week, doing everything. The whole nine yards,” Bauer said.

Local proteins will include organic chicken and turkey from David’s Organics in Middlesex, ground beef and whey-fed pork from von Trapp Farmstead in Waitsfield, and hopefully more, Bauer says, once more connections are established with local farmers.

Kansas-based Creekstone Farms supplies most of the beef, with Black Angus cuts ranging from crowd-pleasing filet mignon to bonein roasts.

Bauer said custom orders of meat and seafood—anybody need 10 pounds of sweetbreads?—are especially welcome.

Customers can round out their dinner plans on-site with craft beer and fine wines, with three large wine racks bearing hundreds of bottles.

“I hope we have a good winter,” Bauer said. “Everybody needs that.”

The Butchery is on track to open in early December, with hours to be determined. n

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: 504 Mountain Rd., Stowe. butcheryvt.com

COURTESY PHOTOS

EDIBLES

SPREAD ‘EM! Tracy and George Chaleff sell their products at a show. Vermont Homestead Gourmet’s bruschetta goes great on a toasted baguette.

VERMONT HOMESTEAD GOURMET Tomato crop turns into bruschetta gold

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When Tracy and George Chaleff first moved to Johnson, Tracy did what every flatlander does. She planted a garden.

Then August arrived and she learned what every gardening flatlander finds out—she had more tomatoes than she could possibly use or give away!

So Tracey started roasting those tomatoes and experimenting with bruschetta recipes. The concoction she came up with was so delicious that George decided the couple had to sell it.

Vermont Homestead Gourmet quickly outgrew its kitchen oven and production moved to the Food Venture Center in Hardwick, a center for an agricultural economy. They only use domestic produce with no chemicals or preservatives. The bruschetta explodes with summer sweetness, yet there are no added sweeteners. The flavor comes from the roasted cherry and Roma tomatoes and a few proprietary seasonings.

“The trick is to roast for a long time at about 450 degrees,” said George. “It caramelizes the natural sugars in the tomatoes and brings out the incredible flavor.”

One cooking cycle produces about 40 cases of 100-percent vegan bruschetta—12 jars per case—or 580 8-ounce jars. The couple sells them at about 50 stores throughout Vermont, as well as fairs, farmers markets, and festivals.

STORY

/ Kate Carter

Vermont Homestead Gourmet also produces two goat cheese spreads: cranberry maple and garlic olive. Both are made from the milk of locally raised goats, and are naturally gluten free and vegetarian. Both are great on a cracker or baguette, or use them to stuff a chicken breast. n

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Available in Stowe at Harvest Market and Commodities, in Morrisville at the Morrisville Food Coop, and at many other locations in Vermont and New Hampshire. vermonthomesteadgourmet.com.

COURTESY PHOTO

EDIBLES

A S’mores crepe.

SKINNY PANCAKE

The Grey Fox Inn is under new ownership and is newly & extensively renovated new pillow top beds · new linens · 4K smart TVs · new fiber network

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990 Mountain Road, Stowe | 802.253.8921 | www.greyfoxinn.com

The Skinny Pancake first came to Spruce Peak Village at Stowe Mountain Resort three years ago as a pop-up, with limited hours and a modest menu. It was so well received that by the following winter the popular Vermont-based restaurant chain improved the seating layout and upgraded the kitchen’s ventilation system.

Now skiers and riders can get a breakfast or lunch of sweet and savory paper-thin pancakes, group munchies, and local craft beer.

“We took our all-star heavy-hitter menu items and brought them to Stowe,” said Benjy Adler, who co-owns, with his brother Jonny Adler, the eight Skinny Pancake locations in Vermont and New Hampshire. “We don’t have a fryer at Spruce Peak, so there are no fried foods, but we have unique crepes, salads, paninis, and a fantastic, tastefully stocked bar.”

Adler says the arrival of the Skinny at Spruce was a long time coming. “It was years in the making. We opened at Sugarbush Resort, which went well. Conversations ensued with Stowe Mountain Resort and they have been wonderfully collaborative. It’s exciting to be at the base of an iconic Vermont ski area and be able to converse with customers about sourcing food locally.”

Seventy-five percent of the Skinny’s raw and value-added ingredients come from local farms and breweries, and they strive to keep their prices affordable. “Everything we do we try to be as local and sustainable as possible, while still running a healthy business that brings people together to enjoy great food,” says Adler, who adheres to the acronym SCENE—security, community, environment, nutrition, economy.

Vail’s purchase of the ski area will indirectly affect the Skinny Pancake in a positive way. “Our impression is that, with the Epic pass and lower price point for the full season pass, there will be more skier visits and more business for us.” n ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ESSENTIALS: Spruce Peak Village at Stowe Mountain Resort. skinnypancake.com.

COURTESY PHOTO

EDIBLES

“Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.”

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Snug Valley piggies.

SNUG VALLEY FARM Ben Nottermann has grown and sold pumpkins since he was in first grade, and even paid for a substantial chunk of his education at the University of Maine with his gourd-gotten greenbacks.

He’s also been raising pigs on the family farm for about five years, and his swine is served in restaurants all over Central and Northern Vermont.

Guess what the pigs eat?

“We feed them any of the uglies,” Nottermann said about mealtime at Snug Valley Farm in East Hardwick. “They’re very happy in the fall.”

Ben’s Pumpkins—now there’s a name thought up by a first-grader—come from a 5-acre patch at Snug Valley that yields 6,000 to 10,000 gourds of varying sizes and shapes.

Most are for decorative use, but there are also some edible ones for pies and the like.

For about 25 years, he’s seen plenty of ebbs and flows at harvest time. “The story, as best as I can remember it,” is: He had his mom buy him a bunch of pumpkins, which he brought back to the family farm. His dad, Helmut— he’s the Frozen Butcher, a farmers market fixture in these parts, selling cuts of grass-fed East Hardwick beef—suggested the 6-year-old learn to grow his own.

“My dad said, ‘We have 150 acres here; why do you need to go buy pumpkins?’ ” Snug Valley jumped whole hog into the pork business around 2012, and now a couple of hundred pigs roam the farm at any time.

Nottermann gets 30 to 40 piglets a month from sows at Northwind Farm in Walden, and raises them antibiotic-free. He pays his piglet providers, but keeps the pumpkin scraps for his own animals. “Our pigs would be pretty upset if we gave their favorite food away,” he said.

All this keeps the animals at Snug Valley as happy as pigs in, well, you know. n —Tommy Gardner

FAMILY RESTAURANT & SPORTS BAR

Over 25 years of Food, Fun & Friends Stop by for dinner and see why we’re one of Stowe’s favorite spots for more than 25 years!

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s ’ e w sto

SERVER S TA R S Q. What do a former pro snowboarder, a psychologist, a hippie, a Johnson kid, a life coach, and a grandmother have in common?

A. They are Stowe Super Servers!

With nearly 50 restaurants in Stowe, great servers are a driving force in the local economy. Servers—some of us still call them waiters and waitresses—are the face of the restaurant, the ones with whom the hungry public interacts the most. They can make or break a dining-out experience.

Waiting on tables isn’t easy. Servers juggle orders, strange requests, and questions galore—about the food, snow conditions, when the rain is going to stop—all the while making sure their customers are happy, comfortable, and sated. And one thing is for sure, the customer is always right, even when they aren’t. Here we feature six super servers, who are passionate about their jobs and who are pretty darn interesting, and who have surprising reasons for why they love to serve. (See pages 164-179)

Story by KATE CARTER

|

Photographs by GORDON MILLER

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RICKY KLINGERT THE BISTRO AT 10 ACRES When Ricky was growing up in New Jersey he wanted to be a professional snowboarder. By age 15 he was sponsored by Burton and was their number-one rider. In his first amateur contest at Mountain Creek, N.J., he beat future Olympic gold medalist Shaun White (Shaun was 11 at the time). “My first restaurant job was a busser. I was 16. Then I started waiting tables to pay for snowboarding. My parents didn’t believe in my dreams, so I paid my own way.” Ricky’s snowboarding career was successful, but brief, due to injuries and other hurdles, but his passion for providing good food service lives on.

I came from San Diego, where I was a beach bum in a surf town. I decided to try being a ski bum and chose Stowe because of its rich heritage. I came in 2007 when they first started building Stowe Mountain Lodge. I knew there would be growth and potential here. I had an associate degree in business and marketing from Stockton University. I wanted to move to Vermont and own a small business doing literally anything, because that’s what everyone does in Stowe.

Why Stowe?

My first job in Stowe was cleaning toilets at the Octagon.

I went from cleaning urinal cakes to waiting tables at Frida’s Taqueria + Grill, where I worked for three years.

When Frida’s closed I went to Ye Olde England Inn, where owner Chris Francis turned me into a savage finedining server at Pickwick’s Pub. When that closed I went to Cactus Café.

Then it closed. I’ve been up and down the Mountain Road and worked at all the restaurants that are now closed. I heard the Bistro at 10 Acres needed help and they brought me on as headwaiter.

Working with Chef Gary Jacobson was the best. He believed in himself and trusted his instincts. He never strayed from his vision and produced solid, quality comfort food. He was such a gem. He went out on top. (Jacobson died of cancer in July 2017.)

Restaurant resume

Someone who wants to come in, relax, and let me take control of the situation. That’s the smart customer. The ideal clientele is someone who comes with no expectations and is ready to have a good time.

Best customers

Those with fake allergies. One time I made four trips to the kitchen to verify there was no wheat in the ingredients. Then the customer ordered chocolate cake for dessert and I said, “Wait, you can’t eat that. It has flour.” And she said, “It’s a cheat day.”

Worst customers

When women get too drunk and invite me home. Once a woman invited me to her hot tub. It’s tough when people have had too many drinks. It’s an occupational hazard.

Strangest customer

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I’ve come in second so many times. When you do something you love you will be successful at it. Waiting tables is my passion. I love going to work. I’m an entertainer and I like creating memories for people. It’s super fulfilling when people come back a year later and remember me. (stowetoday.com/4393awards)

4393 nominations

I wear old man shoes with memory foam.

On-the-job footwear

I’m a heavy machine operator for Five Star Landscaping. I’ve logged 2,000 hours running heavy machinery. Between both jobs I work 60 hours a week. We have a slow season here in Stowe and you have to adapt. I have a progress-or-die attitude. I like to keep moving forward.

Life is about progression. I’m a Taurus. I’m very passionate. If you want to survive in Vermont you have to be able to adapt to your surroundings.

Moonlighting

Last year I snowboarded 82 days. I try to hit 100. On powder days I get the first chair every time. In the summer I play volleyball on Mondays, and was two-time champion when I played for Cactus Café. On Tuesdays I golf, usually at Ryder Brook, where I’m a two-time member/guest champion, once with my dad and once with my brother, Casey Klingert, a pro golfer.

Spare time

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LINDA ANTHONY BUTLER’S PANTRY Linda was born at Copley Hospital and grew up in Morrisville, where she still lives. She started waiting tables in 1986, and has been a server ever since, except for a brief stint selling insurance. She has two grown children and is raising her grandson. As soon as he’s on the school bus she heads to work in downtown Stowe. “The breakfast shift works for me. People in this town don’t eat a late breakfast.

They are usually here by 10 a.m. Then the stragglers walk in. I’m usually done by 1:30 and then I get a short nap in before my grandson comes home.”

I started at Pizza Hut in Barre. I walked in and they hired me. I knew it was not for me, but I was there for three years.

First serving job

After Pizza Hut I went to the Whip, from 1989-1997. I also did day shifts at McCarthy’s. Then I took a break and sold insurance, but didn’t like it and took a night job at Chelsea Grill, where Junior’s is now. I’ve also done private parties for individuals. I could have made a full-time living at that, but it’s very hard and now I have to be home for my grandson. When Chelsea Grill closed I went to the Dutch Pancake for 15 years. I was the dining room manager and a server. On my 60th birthday I decided I’d had enough and took some time off. That’s when I found the best job ever, at Butler’s Pantry. Chef Zoe Biron and her dad Paul, who owns the place, are wonderful to work for and the food is out of this world.

Serving history

When I was at Pizza Hut I brought some bread sticks to a table and the sauce slid off my tray and all over a woman’s white blouse. After all the pleasantries were exchanged, it turned out she was my son’s best friend’s mother. Pizza Hut bought her dinner and a blouse.

Strange encounters

The people I meet and the relationships I’ve made with people and families are what keep me going. I like building relationships. People have followed me to Butler’s Pantry, or found me here. One family has a map, where they’ve put a star at every place they’ve found me working. Another family that has a home in Stowe were looking for me. They spotted me serving on the patio and came in for a meal. One at a time they come through the door and say, “There you are!” This kind of work has made my life complete.

I’ve met so many people.

Reason to work

Footwear is so important. I wear anything low to the floor and ready to move. I used to do Danskos, but twisted my ankle too much.

Footwear

I make really good money. I don’t go to work with a number in my head of what I’m going to make that day. I just go as myself. It’s not so much about the tip as how they leave. If they are happy, I know they are coming back and I’ll do well.

Tipping

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Observing and curious about the area. I can give a piece of myself because Stowe is my history. When I walk up to the table I’m already opened up to the comfort. I try to let them know who I am from the start.

Best customer

Yelp reviews and Trip Advisor are huge. So many people find us on Yelp. For awhile I didn’t pay attention to them. Now it’s huge and we pay a lot of attention, especially to Yelp. If people aren’t happy they will say so, and if something is wrong we want to know why.

Changes

While at the Chelsea Grill, I got $234, which was about the amount of the check itself. It was from the band Phish. They were wonderful.

Best tip

Yes. Customers come to relax and be served and if servers don’t do a good job, well, we won’t have a job. I’m kind by nature, and will always be kind to the people I serve.

Is the customer always right?

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SARA JACOBSEN PIECASSO PIZZERIA & LOUNGE Another local, Sara went through the Stowe school system and then attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., where she earned a degree in psychology. She returned to Vermont to take a job as a shift supervisor at Lund, an in-patient facility for pregnant women and young mothers working on sobriety and mental health issues. After three years, she realized she was headed for burnout. “My heart was in it, but it was way too sad and the hours made it difficult to find time to take care of myself. I was young, 24, and it took a lot out of me. I knew it was time to make a change.”

When I was in high school I worked at Lucky King, a Chinese buffet-style restaurant in Montpelier. I mostly brought out plates and sodas. Then I worked at Cubs, the daycare at the mountain. One of my kiddo’s mother was director of conferences and catering. She offered me a job. I’d work 7:30 to 3:30 at Cubs, then walk across the street and do catering. I learned a lot of great skills: how to present myself as a server, appropriate tableside manner, how to work quickly, and how to interact with guests without being invasive. I’m grateful for both restaurant experiences.

Serving history

When I had my job at Lund, I got a last-minute call from a friend working at Piecasso, wanting to know if I could fill in. I said sure and soon I was working one night a week as a hostess. I realized I looked forward to coming to work at Piecasso. I liked my coworkers, my boss, and the guests.

That’s when I realized it was time to leave Lund. I felt supported by everyone at Piecasso when I decided to make the change. It was empowering to make the decision, and within a few weeks I was a full-time server. I’ve been there since 2013.

The Piecasso experience

Who I work with and who I work for keeps me inspired. Piecasso has a real family dynamic.

Everyone will cover your back. It’s a lot of fun and I get to share my love of the town with guests.

I love being with my friends who work here and I love the business and being part of people’s experience in Stowe. I am passionate about the community, I like people, and I love Stowe.

Inspiration

I like taking care of large groups. Group management is my strength and skill set. Big parties are really fun. It’s easy to build a rapport. I might be the only server in town who likes having the lacrosse event every summer.

Favorite customer

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I like the warmth that comes from interacting with people, so those who don’t want to interact are a disappointment. I have a lot of knowledge about the area that I’m happy to share, but some people are just not interested.

Least favorite

Customers might not always be right, but you can make them feel right. You can disagree agreeably.

Is the customer always right?

Early in my serving career I was taking an order at one table and realized that an older man at another of my tables was choking, and no one was doing anything. I am first aid and CPR-certified, so I excused myself from taking the order and went to help him. I tried doing the Heimlich maneuver, but I am >>

Bad experience

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1500 Edson Hill Road

Stowe Vermont

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small and he was big, so I quickly taught his son to do it. Everything turned out fine, and they were thankful, but they didn’t tip well, and the woman whose table I left was not happy.

They certainly tip differently. Europeans and folks from Quebec expect service closer to fine dining. A huge influx of Canadians might not be culturally averse in what is appropriate, and it can take a toll on your income. When I’ve worked hard, it’s frustrating to get a small tip. People not familiar with American tipping culture tip differently, but recently I’ve noticed that’s changing. Stowe is a tourist town, so it’s inevitable. We have a policy of adding the tip to a large group’s bill, and I always make sure the customer is aware in advance.

European tipping

Est. 1992

I’m a snowboarder and my pass is important to me. Last year I went to the mountain 64 days. I spend every moment I can being outside. I love hiking and trail running. I have a four-month-old rescue pup who is my best friend, and she will be going on long outings with me when she’s older.

Spare time ■

frappes / milkshakes ■ ■

■

egg cream

children’s menu ■

delicious sundaes ■

ice cream sodas ■

malts

burgers

■ ■

salads

homemade soups ■

take-out

Yes! We have fresh, local VT beef burgers!

Call for hours - lunch & dinner

253-4269 • 57 DEPOT STREET One block off main street

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I work three shifts at Piecasso. I also work at Laughing Moon Chocolates and I sometimes help Nancy Dwyer of NJoy Event Planning with weddings in Stowe. I really believe that over the years I’ve worked for three or four of the best business owners in town. They are personally invested in me and they make it possible for me to stay in this community where I grew up. I feel really lucky to have them.

Moonlighting

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Come Visit Our Tasting Room & VT Gift Shop Open Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

We opened the Bistro at Ten Acres in 2012, and Chef Gary Jacobson was with us from the start. Gary had a flair for multicultural cuisine, a wonderful palate for seafood, and a great following within the community and beyond. Sadly, Gary died this past July, and we continue to miss his presence in our kitchen and the way he influenced our menu.

Fortunately we found Chef Chris Stephens, who brings his own unique style to the Bistro. Chris’s tastes are modern, he is always searching for perfection, and he enjoys introducing flavor profiles from around the world. We are thrilled to let him put his signature on his own dishes.

Chef Chris’s menu will be inspired by the seasons, and the Seafood Epiphany will change weekly. He has already introduced his own unique dishes, such as a Greek and Mediterranean-influenced Seared Salmon with Falafel, Tuna Poke, Duck Confit, and Chicken Caprese. Chris believes a meal starts with the eyes, and all of his dishes are visually attractive. Then he delivers to the taste buds, and oh my, what a delivery!

In memory of Gary we have left a few of his specialties on the menu.

We love that Chef Chris has joined us and is expressing himself through his food. We hope you will come and find out for yourself that, although our chef and our menu have changed, our vision remains the same: to serve delicious, heart-and-soul-warming food, always made from scratch.

—Linda Hunter and Mark Fucile

632 LaPorte Rd., Morrisville, VT 802.888.9400 rockartbrewery.com

14 Barrows Road, Stowe, VT |

(802) 253-6838 | tenacreslodge.com

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CHIP HAGGERTY IDLETYME BREWING COMPANY A hippie at heart, Haggerty came to Stowe from Long Island in 1976, not for the skiing, but for Vermont’s natural beauty. His wife, Amy Weller, is the logistics coordinator at Ben & Jerry’s. Together they raised five children, four boys and one girl, ages 19-36. “Stowe is a great town for raising kids, as everyone who lives here knows. Growing up, all of our kids did skiing and riding with Mountain Adventures, but we’re actually a hockey family.”

I worked in the kitchen at the Yodler, which had a famous Saturday night buffet and was famous in ads for being “First on the Mountain Road in Stowe,” which is pretty much how I got the job. It was first place I went into. Then I went to Trapps in 1980, the year the old lodge burned down.

I was doing split shifts, so I’d go home late and come in early. That morning I came in and there were four chimneys standing. That was all.

It was a tragic scene.

First restaurant job

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Inn at the Mountain, the Whip, and Gracie’s. I was at Gracie’s for 25 years, in all their locations. That was my restaurant home. I did the lunch and dinner shifts, but they stopped doing lunch, so I picked up a shift at The Shed, which closed, then opened as Crop, which closed, then opened as Idletyme. When Gracie’s closed I picked up the dinner shift at Idletyme, and I’ve been there for five years. Already I’m an old timer.

Restaurant resume

I went to St. Paul’s School, a prep school in Concord, N.H. Then I tried three colleges: Boston University, Bennington College, and Hofstra University in Long Island. I studied French and Spanish and linguistics.

I got into Georgetown University for linguistics, but decided to bail on college. Americans should speak more languages, but we take it for granted that everyone else speaks English. >>

Education

18 Edson Hill Road, Stowe VT www.juniorsatstowe.com â&#x20AC;¢ (802) 253 5677 OWNER - CHEF CATERING 173

I’ve never been career driven, so waiting tables wasn’t a career or money decision. It’s a good living, good enough, anyway. One thing I like about Vermont is you’re not defined by your job like you are in big cities. Over the years waiting tables has worked out well for me and my family. I would watch the kids during the day while Amy worked, and she would watch them at night while I worked. There was a lot of juggling, it was crazy, but we did it. Also, I’m a bit of a hermit, and waiting tables gives me human contact. I’m working with great, interesting, diverse people. We’re all in this thing together, doing it as well as we can. As a server, you’re helping the business. It might not be my dream, but it’s someone’s, so let’s make it work for everyone.

Table attraction

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One of my off-season gigs was making dinner for the late Maria von Trapp. Maria was living with her friend, Mrs. Johnson, and I would swing by and heat things up, so to speak, and serve them dinner. It was very up close and personal. It wasn’t celebrity cheffing, but it was interesting and different. Back then I was a pretty crunchy hippie, and another of my offseason jobs was making granola for Suzanne Smith at the old Food for Thought natural foods market. I painted apartments at what is now West Branch Apartments senior living. You did whatever you had to get through the off-season.

Off season

Yes. The customer who pays everyone’s salary is always right. That’s the bottom line.

Is the customer always right?

Countries have different tipping customs. Some people learn what the local custom is, and some tip what they’re used to. I just try be nice, give good service to everyone, and let the tips fall where they may. I just do my thing. I’m not flamboyant or trying to entertain. A recent customer said I was attentive, which I liked. When you start out you think a good tip is a reward for good service, but that is not really the case. You get over tippers and under tippers. It averages out and that’s human nature.

About tipping

Going from note pads to computers has been the biggest change. And the word “server.” I still say waiters and waitresses, and most of the time it’s waitress, because in this town it’s mostly women.

I’m going on 40 years in the business and I’ve worked with some great people and there have been some fun times. Restaurant people are funny. It’s a certain type of person. You get some real characters. When you’re in a busy restaurant it’s a crazy place, challenging in its own way.

Changing times

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Stowe

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SETH BURBANK HARRISON’S A local boy, Seth grew up in Johnson and has worked a variety of jobs in Stowe for 20 years. He lives in Elmore with his wife, Julia Beauregard, and their two boys, ages 8 and 6.

In 2017, Seth won “Best Server” by a landslide in the Stowe Reporter’s readers’ picks 4393 Awards. “I love the recognition. I’m just doing my job and it’s great to get the call-out.

It’s a bit of a popularity contest and I’ll be hearing about it for another year.” This is not the only contest Seth has won. In 2010 he and his wife entered a video of their son in “America’s Funniest Videos” and won $10,000. “He was getting ready for a bath and dropped the toilet seat on his thumb. The expression on his face and the sound he made were funny, and the judges thought he was hilarious.” Not bad for a 16-second video!

I work the 3-to-11 shift at Harrison’s and my wife works 9 to 5, so it requires a lot of planning and structuring. We use a family planner app called Cozi. It keeps everyone’s activities and appointments in one place. It’s been really helpful.

Family management

I started bussing and running bread and butter at Whiskers. That’s where I first met Matthew LeBlanc, who’s now the head chef at Harrison’s. We were both at the beginning of our restaurant careers. I also met my wife there. She was waiting tables.

First restaurant job

I was cooking at Pickwick’s Pub and a pal kicked me out of the kitchen and made me go out front. That was how I got started serving.

Then I had a brief stint at the Hard Rock Café in Taos, N.M., when I went out to help a friend get settled. But I had just met Julie and I could not stand being away from her, so I came back to Vermont. I also worked on Cape Cod one summer making pizza at Fairway Restaurant and Pizzeria in Eastham. I was throwing dough, which I really enjoyed. When I came back to Vermont I had stints making pizza at the mountain and at Piecasso. Now I work four days a week at Harrison’s and I’ve been there for 10 years.

Restaurant resume

Harrison’s is a full-time job, year-round, and it’s very busy. I don’t have to do anything else,

Moonlighting 176

and when we do close for two weeks in the spring and fall, I usually do a staycation and work on projects around the house. I work four days a week and do 65 to 70 dinners a night. I’m running the whole time. I’ve worn a pedometer and logged 12 miles. I also wear a buzzer on my waist so the cooks can buzz me when food is ready. That way I can control the timing for who gets served what and when. I love the job and the money is good.

I love food and have great attention to detail, and I’m smiling and welcoming. I like taking care of people. In my book, everyone gets the same service: be presentable at the table and talk to the clients about the food. It’s all about the customer experience. Nobody gets left behind. Growing up here I know a lot about the area, and can share a lot of local information, because I do a lot of the same things people come here to do.

The makings of a 4393 winner

It’s a touchy subject. I won’t chase after someone who doesn’t leave a tip, but I will if they leave a credit card behind. People tip according to the customs they are used to. I’m more concerned about getting a non-English speaker through the menu. You can’t let a poor tip bother you. I’m a positive person and I don’t like to dwell on things I can’t change. In my book tipping is a perk. You leave your shift with cash. I really appreciate not having to live from paycheck to paycheck.

International tipping

Regulars who I know very well, and firsttimers who have heard about the restaurant and want to dive in.

Favorite customers

Computers. We use a restaurant program called Aloha. It’s a great system, but if the computer goes down we are screwed. It’s as bad as having the power go out in the kitchen.

Also, Trip Advisor and Yelp. Harrison’s is a casual family dining spot with no dress requirements. A lot of people are hard on us in reviews because we’re often in the numberone spot and they’re expecting a white-tablecloth experience. It’s fine to get constructive criticism, but another to get ripped apart. It gives people an outlet to get nitpicky after the fact. It’s a pedestal for people who can have a resounding effect that can have unfortunate consequences.

Changing times

I’m a snowboarder. I’ve been riding since I was 13. I don’t go up to the mountain anymore, but my kids do. I go cross-country skiing.

Coffee, espresso, tea, lattes, fresh baked goods, and the best grilled cheese in town.

Join us for the treats; stay for the conversation.

Ski bum

Absolutely! If something’s not right we’ll make it right. I want everyone to leave happy, and get a handshake when they leave. I love that.

Is the customer always right?

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NOELLE HOPKINS FLANNEL AT TOPNOTCH RESORT A server at Topnotch for 10 years, Noelle was there when it was owned by the Cummings family, when Flannel was Norma’s, named for Norma Cummings. “I was present for Steve Cummings’ exit speech. They really took care of us and we wanted to do a good job for them. They really were amazing.” Norma’s is where Noelle met her husband, Lucas Hopkins, a longtime breakfast chef still flipping cakes at Flannel. They live in Hyde Park and have an Akita named Lola.

I was born in Vermont and grew up in New Jersey. I returned to Vermont to attend Johnson State College, where I got an undergraduate degree in business and a master’s in counseling.

Then I went back to school for a certificate as a life coach from World Coach Institute. I did all my schooling while waiting tables at Topnotch.

Roots

Early on I wanted to be in the restaurant business and my first job as a teen was in a restaurant.

When I turned 18 I wanted to do more than bussing; I wanted to be a server. When I turned 20 I was the food and beverage manager at The Whip at the Green Mountain Inn, which I enjoyed, but it took me away from interacting with guests. I started at Topnotch 10 years ago and it’s become my second home.

Serving history

The ones who are so happy to be there and give you a lot of love and you give it back. I also like those who are grumpy and having a bad day.

The lightbulb goes off and I say, “Challenge accepted!” I give them a little drop of sunshine and turn their day around. When I make a difference like that is when it matters the most.

Favorite customer

The people who are so set on having a bad time I can’t turn their day around. When they leave and are still unhappy I take it personally. I want everyone to leave happy.

Least favorite

I once got a $1,000 tip. Then they came back the next night and gave me a $500 tip. I’ll never forget that. It was a group, and when they came back they said they were only coming if I’d be serving them. Another time, someone gave me a certificate for a massage. Her husband gave it to her and she didn’t want it and gave it to me.

Most memorable customer

Sometimes I do room service and see things I don’t want to see.

Strangest customer 178

I really like interacting with so many different people. I thrive on the energy exchange. Everyone has a story and I’ve met people from all walks of life. At Topnotch I see repeat guests year after year, and we look forward to seeing each other. I get the opportunity to be part of something really special. One couple I’ve known from dating to engagement, all at Topnotch. They eventually got married and I got to meet all of their family.

Why serve?

I used to think so. Recently I had a manager who said, “The customer isn’t always right, and I fired him.” I don’t think I’ve ever fired a customer, but I try to do my best for the majority of the people involved, and to accommodate whenever possible.

Is the customer always right?

Usually they’re not very good, but I’m the optimist looking for the silver lining. They probably haven’t bothered to ask about American tipping customs. At the very least, if people are nice, I know a poor tip is not reflective of my service.

Foreign tippers

Build a long fuse so you have lots of patience. Do a lot of self-care and things you enjoy. It’s easy to forget you are important, too. As a server your entire work is doing for others. If you take care of yourself you can bring the sunshine. n

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BOOK EXCERPT

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A CULTURE LOST

Peter Miller’s new book gives voice to ‘Vanishing Vermonters’

fter a year of work, a bout of pneumonia, and a Kickstarter campaign, noted author and photographer Peter Miller has finished his latest book, “Vanishing Vermonters.”

“Some people have said that this is my most important book,” said Miller, 83. “We’re losing a culture, as people are leaving because they can’t afford Vermont. I hope this book will be a wakeup call to my people—people who don’t work here for the money, but work because they love it here.”

With 30 pages of black-and-white photographs in the 160-page book, “Vanishing Vermonters … Loss of a Rural Culture” shows Vermont’s abandoned homes, unique roadside signs, barns standing in fields, wind turbines on mountaintops, and solar fields planted on former farmland.

Miller self-published his first coffee-table book, “Vermont People,” in 1990 after 13 publishers in New England turned it down, and Vermont Life told him he wouldn’t sell over 2,000 books in 10 years. But Miller was determined. He borrowed against his home to cover publishing costs and sold out the first print run of 3,000 in just six weeks. He went on to sell 15,000 copies.

Since then, Miller has used that same determination to publish five other books, selling nearly 50,000.

Aside from his books, Miller has a gallery in his home in the Colbyville section of Waterbury near the Ben & Jerry’s factory.

He was born in New York City and began his career in 1959 as a reporter for LIFE magazine. For 20 years he was a contributing editor to SKI Magazine and a freelance writer for The New York Times, Smithsonian, and many travel magazines. He has won numerous awards for his books and his photography, was named Vermonter of the Year, and was honored by the Vermont Legislature for his work in documenting the culture of Vermont. His work has been exhibited in New York, Paris, and Tokyo.

The 23 essays within “Vanishing Vermonters” are taken straight from the mouths of the people Miller photographed. “It’s their words, and if you don’t like what they say, your fight is with them, not me.”

Here are three of their stories.

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E S S AY S

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

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Heidi Scheuermann – Stowe Legislator

’m not much at keeping up with who’s who in Vermont, but last year I read a column in the Stowe Reporter by Heidi Scheuermann, who for the past eight years has served in the Vermont Legislature, representing Stowe.

Usually, I become cynical when I read about this gold town that I love and hate, but Heidi’s comments perked me up. She blamed the legislature, of which she is a member (Seat 77), for passing bills that increase the burden on Vermonters who are already pickpocketed by taxes and fees.

Heidi wants the legislature to have financial responsibility. After all, while the average Vermonter income is stagnant, the state, in 6 years, increased taxes by $575 million. Her thrust is to cut spending so the taxpayer has disposable income. In other words, she wants to make the state affordable again and refute the Forbes article, “Tax Happy Vermont Becoming a State Where Only the Rich Can Afford to Live” (Forbes, April 3, 2016).

The first time I saw Heidi was in a bar in Stowe. She was hanging out with old friends and I just stood at the edge of the bar, introvert that I am, and watched. Heidi is quick with the joke and fast with a deep laugh. She was confidently at ease with this male group

enjoying an after-work drink. Long dirty-blond hair, always a smile—she is upbeat. Couple of weeks later, I interviewed and photographed her in Seat 77, her desk in the State Capitol. The chamber was empty save for a few Chinese tourists with their smartphones extended, locked and loaded. I immediately felt at ease with Heidi—something about her calmness, or her direct way of looking at me. She is straight on, saturated with facts and honestly speaks her mind, which is refreshing. She listens, but suddenly a spark brightens the eye, she smiles and then a big laugh displays teeth bright white, not ground down by stress. Wonder what happens when she is angry.

Or does she hold it in?

She’s quick, smart and does her homework; she worked for Sen. Jim Jeffords in Washington, D.C., and in Vermont. Stoweites wanted her to run for governor (she declined). She runs a property-management business in Stowe but she wants to be what she is . . . a Vermont state legislator with the hope of grounding Vermont.

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rom my perspective, Stowe and Lamoille County have a huge percentage of the population that is on a small income and in some cases no income at all. It’s a struggle and yet we have this disconnected body in Montpelier that keeps putting pressure on these folks and the frustration and anger people are feeling in Vermont is real. I felt it when I was thinking of running for governor. We have to give something back to these folks so they can have opportunities. If 30year olds want to start a family, it’s next to impossible to find housing. And they can’t afford a $400,000 fixer upper. We have not prioritized investment in housing for that kind of workforce.

Fred Baser, a representative from Bristol, supported a bill for building actual housing for young professionals and it had a great deal of support but in the end the majority did not want to invest that money. I’m a conservative but there are investments that have to be made and this was one of them to ensure our economy is strong. This means financial or other incentives for municipalities to jolt housing development in smart growth areas. Winooski encouraged investment in housing with the hope of attracting professionals to their town and they did a wonderful job.

Dennis Heath – Heath Lumber Mill – North Hyde Park

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t’s a Phoenix band saw you see on the opposite page behind the Heath family who work at the mill. “’Bout 150 years old,” says Denny Heath, the boss of the M.B. Heath and Sons Lumber Company. “The wheel is eight feet high and runs a saw that can cut a 40-inch log. We still get them.” The story of how they built the mill in the 1940s is fascinating and reflects the versatility of the native Vermonter. The Heath family is quick-witted, innovative and typical of the natives that are practical and have all the skills required to survive in Vermont. You know—building, welding, scavenging, plumbing, dickering, repairing anything, roofing—those old Vermonters did it all, by hand, without electric tools. And they were frugal—by necessity. “My father bought this saw when the Burt family in Stowe sold out. ’Bout 1964.” He paid $2,800 for all the machinery in the mill. Today, a modern version of the band saw runs about $350,000. Denny is proud of the shrewdness of his father Buck, who taught him the practical, and ethical, side of the business.

Three generations of Heaths built and worked at the family soft wood mill where they sawed spruce, hemlock and pine. They do custom posts and beams, framing for houses, ship lap, tongue and groove for floor, wall and ceiling, dry pine tabletop planks and also just straight, clean pine. The Heath Mill is a family business: five members of the family help run the mill, and Denny’s wife Mary does the bookkeeping. Chad works the yard and Jason keeps the mill running and is the sawyer. They are brothers to Denny. Jason’s wife Jamie is secretary and keeps track of incoming logs, and is learning to do the books.

Denny is like his old man Buck, maybe more so. Not as tall and skinny as his Yankee dad, smiles more, talks often about what he learned from his father and, oh, he outdoes his father when complaining and explaining how the government wreaks havoc on a small business. But let’s face it: the Heath’s are stubborn, practical and survivors. Let’s listen to Denny:

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y grandfather and father built this sawmill. It was 1940 and it took five years for them to scramble it together. When my father was 13 he told his father that he wanted to own a sawmill of his own. Well this town used to be nothing but a sawmill town. “We’ll build a mill,” said my grandfather. My father Buck worked at the asbestos mine and got married but in their spare time he and his father tore down old barns, and sheds, found all kinds of stuff lying by the road or in the dump. They salvaged parts from mills that were out of business. In their second year they acquired a steam engine in Eden and my grandfather rebuilt it, and ran the mill making a hot fire of lumber edgings and saw dust and creating steam. They put it together and by gosh they had an old lane carriage but no edger so they doubled up on the carriage and edged the boards there.

They poured concrete and built everything with saws, hammer, nails and they didn’t have electric tools. They toggled and scabbed the mill together and, by God, they started sawing and they got going a little better where they had a little bit more money, and then my father, I think he was

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Standing before their 150-year-old Phoenix band saw are Chad Heath, yard hand and son of Denny; Denny Heath; Mary Heath, bookkeeper and wife of Denny; Jason Heath, mill manager and son of Denny; Jamie Heath, wife of Jason and secretary.

in his mid-50s, bought a new Lane edge and found an old pair of trim saws and after that first summer of sawing they had saved $15,000 and at the time that was a tremendous amount.

They took that money and put it in a bunch of cans and in the dirt floor cellar of their home they buried it in a box in the corner so if the house ever burnt to the ground they wouldn’t burn up their money. The next spring they had enough money so they could buy more logs to run the mill. Buck had his sawmill.

We had land of our own and trucked our own logs into our mill and now we buy from loggers who work in a 50-square-mile radius of our mill. We buy from anyone who brings us good timber. My father said to always buy the best timber. Don’t buy somebody’s junk.

I started working in this mill when I was 15 years old. During the housing boom we would saw over 100 post-and-beam houses a summer.

We had 13 men working for me for about 15

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years and had three trucks on the road and we couldn’t run the mill fast enough to keep up. That’s how good the economy was before the housing market crashed.

We saw mostly pine because of the markup. Why saw spruce and make 50 cents when you can saw pine logs and make a dollar and a half? When you are a retail mill like we are you have to have a variety so when people want spruce or a couple of pine boards to finish out the trim on a window you’ve got it. It’s like running a grocery store. You have to have a little bit of everything and if you don’t they’ll be shopping at a store up the road. My father said always buy good logs, make good lumber and if it ain’t good enough for me to use in my house, what makes you think it’s good enough to put in somebody else’s home? And he told me to be fair with the logger. Pay him what you told him you’d pay and scale them the way they should be scaled. If you have a problem with a couple of logs, just set them aside and show the logger what the defect is. Loggers work damn hard for their money—sometimes seven days a week and they have families to feed and houses and trucks and equipment to pay for. And if we have too many logs or run out of money we give them two weeks more and then shut them off until they catch up. We can hold so many logs.

He said always be fair with a logger for without a logger behind a saw mill there’s no saw mill and without a customer buying from us, there’s no saw mill. So we’re right in the middle.

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e have so many big problems with the government. I voted for Phil Scott (elected as Republican governor of Vermont in 2016 with a Democrat controlled house and senate) and I tell you I voted for Donald Trump because this country is in a tremendous big mess and so is the State of Vermont. There’s a big money factor going on in this country and in today’s world it is what I call greed. Money buys power. If you have a lot of money you can buy judges, congressmen, senators, lawyers, accountants. Money makes the power to get what you want. And the American people have woken up to all this and are sick of it. That’s why they voted for somebody else besides a politician who is just sitting there feathering his own nest. That politician is never going to be without a paycheck nor is he or she ever going to be without health insurance. He gets everything he wants because he is secured by the taxpayer who voted him into office. There is so much crooked business going on and underhanded stuff that Trump says we’re going to try to make America great again. We can’t fight all the wars in the world. We can’t police every country and can’t pay for their problems.

We can’t do everything and then let our own country slip down and down every day.

Drive our back roads and you’ll find people who lived here for three and four generations who all of a sudden are moving out of the state. We love Vermont, our mountains, fields and rivers, the fall foliage, we love the whole landscape of Vermont but can we work hard enough to

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stay here? There’s only seven days in a week and the average person like me or my sons are working harder in their lifetime than my grandfather or father. That almighty dollar doesn’t have any buying power. When my father earned a dollar in 1950 he had 90 cents to spend because of its buying power.

Today it is only worth 10 cents so you need many more dollars to do the same thing today that we did 65 years ago. The jobs created are not making the country any money, as there are too many free programs. People are using the systems in Vermont, which is one of the highest taxed states in the union.

We are the welfare state. I was brought up that those who need help if they need fire-

wood we cut and split in piles and we had the overseer of the poor that would help people get back on their feet by supplying them with food and clothes. Everybody needs a little assistance once in a while but now society has changed, and gone right backwards. People are lazy.

Welfare was set up to help but not to live on for the rest of your life. It wasn’t set up for the next generation to see their mother and father live on welfare and then go on welfare like their mother and father because they know how to play the system. They just want to go through life free of charge.

You might have three little kids in one household. One might be four years old, one six years and,

by God, here’s one who is two! Each one of them is a half brother and sister because if the kids are grown up enough where she no longer gets the benefit for the welfare program to support her she’ll deliberately go out and get pregnant again to have another child so she can stay on welfare.

If they ain’t on welfare they fake a disability. I’ve got guys who’ve worked for me for years, good strapping, strong men and they figured out how to get total or part disability. So they got a knee or shoulder problem and we all have our aches and pains, as we get older. I had one man and I asked him if he was going to work this summer, he had been with me for five years and he came right out and said, “Denny, I really don’t want to work at all. My knee is bothering me and my shoulder’s

Buck Heath in 1990.

It’s all about the details.

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Alec Sparks – Snowbound Kennels – Addison

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esidents of neighboring towns do not have much good to say about Stowe.

Too much money, a certain arrogance, high property taxes, a very large police force, a desire to fill an over-crowded calendar with events to attract tourists—why, it’s a gold town of course, a ski resort with the best mountain in New England morphing into a year-round destination. Ski racing was big at Stowe; national and international races were held there. In 1966, Jean Claude Killy raced and won! The people who lived there at that time were a mix from a wealthy heritage to a simple Vermont philosophy. It was a farming community laced with a hidden elite, Austrian ski instructors and a macho ski patrol. Thirtyfive years ago there was no class boundary, money did not separate Stoweites into cliques.

That has changed as the mountain expanded and the CEOs for the resorts were more inter-

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ested in the bottom line than in sponsoring an international race. The resort became an island to itself, distinct from the town. Now the resort (not including the new complex of hotel and “cabins” called Spruce Peak) has been bought by Vail Associates and that is probably a good thing. As Paige Stackpole, a former Stoweite, said in another commentary in this book, “Where Stowe and much of the state is headed is not my direction. It is opposite of the Vermont I grew up in.” Paige now lives in Burlington to be near her daughter, Anna.

And Alec Sparks (he grew up as Alec but his name is Alexander and some call him Alex; he prefers Alec) has left Stowe for Addison, the flat farming country near Lake Champlain, which is a mile from his home and has a warmer climate. Alec, a handsome man of 60, looks 40 and says he acts like a 12-year-old, is six-foot-nine, a head taller than his father, Kerr, a veteran of the 10th Mountain Division who earned two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and battlefield commission in the Italian campaign of World War II. Kerr survived, crucial for the existence of Alec, settled in Stowe and became the head of the Mt. Mansfield Ski School. His son Alec grew up a ski brat. He learned at an early age to ski, race and instruct. He was also a coach, a physical trainer, a tennis instructor and an all-around athlete. His future was directed to the ski industry, but it was through the diversity and interest of Stowe residents that he became a dog trainer for retrievers, pointers and later for all breeds and protection dogs. He is one of the best.

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hen I was 14, a friend of my father, Gordon Lowe, invited me to his North Hero home to go duck hunting.

His Labs were great hunting dogs and I became obsessed with the sport and how his dogs worked. I lived next to Vic Coty, who made films that recorded the history of skiing at Stowe, and he hunted woodcock and grouse with a setter. A friend of my father, Carol Simoneau, gave my family a Lab and when it had puppies I was given my own dog. I was 13 and trained that dog in the backyard with a couple of retriever bumpers. I became obsessed with training hunting dogs. As I grew up, I trained dogs, read books and observed other trainers. I was pretty good but really just an enthusiast. That changed when I was 32 and another Stowe neighbor, Betsy Bernhardt, introduced me to Rick and Patty Roberts, professional dog trainers from Maryland who came up in the summer to train her’s and other dogs. I spent two months, five days a week with them and later at their home in Maryland.

When in Stowe Patty trained the young dogs in the morning, and gave me an on-going narration of what her training involved and she answered my questions. Later she helped me with the formal training of my two dogs. I received a huge learning curve on the conceptual and technical concept for dog training.

I would look at the classified ads of the local paper and when I saw ads for free Labs I would take them and used them to learn more about conceptual training. I am a natural working with animals. I have emotional control. I do not get angry. Dogs have different emotions and temperaments that can be impacted positively or negatively through training. I have been to kennels where dogs hide when the trainer comes to their pen. If we walk to my pens there will be 18 dogs barking wildly with excitement because of the way I train. I am fair. I teach dogs what I want them to learn, then fairly enforce skills. I do use

remote collars that are wonderful tools if used correctly. Despite being an advocate for them I’m very apprehensive of their widespread use.

Few people will ever train enough dogs to use them optimally. You can use too much of a bump too often or not enough. I learned from another professional step-by-step what to do with a remote collar and have transitioned over 800 dogs to a remote collar but I’m still working to perfect my skill and knowledge with them. Some vilify remote collars as they do guns. Both are inanimate objects and only are misused when the wrong people or the unknowledgeable pick them up.

My wife Sarah and I were driving back to Vermont from a pro trainer’s facility in Maryland and I told her how obsessed I was with training dogs and how incredibly cool it was. She said to me, “Why don’t you turn pro?” And I said, “Okay, I will.” The first thing I did was to train five Labs for free up to a certain point and once they reached that level, the owners either took their dogs home or agreed to pay for the rest of the training.

There is no certificate or exam for a trainer to pass, so there are some not-so-good trainers. In my case, it was word of mouth. Now I am so busy I usually have a waiting list of people who want their dogs trained.

In 1993, I married Sarah. It was an outdoor wedding and the only wedding attendant and “best dog” was my Lab holding a training bumper with a little chamois pouch with the rings in it.

We were living in Johnson at the time and looked around for something in the Champlain Valley that had a longer warm season and so is much better for training dogs and we found this place with woods surrounded by farm fields— 112 acres—and we bought it. We put

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welcome to paradise California couple finds slice of heaven in a place called Eden

STORY

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: robert kiener |

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: glenn callahan

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“Listen,” says Anne Ford as she sits on a comfy brown leather couch in the living room of her brandnew house on Lake Eden. “Do you hear that?” she asks as she explains to a visitor why she loves living here. “Nothing but silence. It’s just so incredibly peaceful.”

She smiles and explains that she and her husband, Steven, both San Diego residents, bought this 7.5acre lakefront property and recently built their threestory second home here, partly because the location is so serene.

“I’ve lived in California all my life and the crowds and noise were getting too much for me,” says Ford.

“Every day in California I hear motorcycles roaring up and down nearby Catalina Boulevard. It drives me crazy. Pretty much all I listen to here is the occasional loon. This is paradise!”

Then, after a pause, she adds, “I see why they named this part of Vermont Eden.”

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s Ford escorts a visitor around her new home, she confesses that Eden—as much as she loves it—was her second choice for what she freely describes as “my dream home. If I could have built anywhere, I would have built a home in Scotland,” she says, explaining how she and her entire family fell deeper and deeper in love with that country’s moody mountains and magical moorlands on numerous visits. “It just spoke to us, and we found ourselves returning to it on holiday again and again.”

Scotland was too far away for frequent family visits, so the couple turned to Vermont, which they loved for its beauty and “soul.” They had a checklist of requirements that were, as Ford says, “non-negotiable.”

They wanted to be on a lake. It couldn’t be too big or too small; they wanted to be able to water ski on it. Steven grew up in Minnesota and spent summers at a family lake house, so he wanted a second home that was big enough to entertain their extended family on a lakeside lot.

They wanted a secluded, quiet location.

Last, they wanted to build their own house. Because they had ruled out buying a second home in Scotland, they wanted to design and build a new home in, as she says, “the manner of a Scottish manor.”

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They began their search near Lake Champlain and moved eastward. Nothing met all their requirements. Finally, working with Stowe-based Pall Spera Company Realtors, they happened on a lakefront lot that had been for sale a while ago but had gone off the market. After some tense negotiations, the land became theirs in early 2016 and it was time to turn dream into reality.

Enter local architect Andrew Volansky. “The Fords were so easy to work with,” remembers Volansky. “They knew exactly what they wanted—a home that would not look out of place in the Scottish countryside—and came to me with a very clear vision. In fact, after meeting them and listening to their wish list

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over cups of coffee, we had a rough, working sketch drawn up in just over an hour. Then we went to walk their lot at Lake Eden.”

s Volansky quickly realized, Anne Ford had a very good idea of what she wanted when it came to designing her new house.

“I had walked through this house so many times in my head, I knew exactly how I desired the house to work and look,” remembers Ford.

Volansky understood that his main responsibility to his clients would not be providing design leadership but would be more about listening to the Fords, hearing what was important to them and helping them carry out their vision.

The couple wanted a traditional design that was reminiscent of a Scottish cottage. Ford had done her homework; she knew she wanted a 12/12 pitch for the roof and a traditionally balanced look for the front door and windows.

Inside, instead of asking for a great room that incorporated an open-plan kitchen and dining area, as so many clients do, they wanted separate, compartmentalized kitchen, dining, and living rooms.

“I also wanted a traditional floor plan with fireplaces at both ends of the main floor, one in the living room and another in the kitchen,” says Ford. “Being able to see both fires burning at once makes the home that much cozier and more cottage-like.”

The couple tweaked their home’s traditional design by opting for larger windows and higher ceilings (10- and 9-foot) than would be found in a classic Scottish cottage.

“And we also did bend to convention and went with indoor plumbing,” jokes Ford.

In response to Vermont’s harsh climate, which closely resembles Scotland’s, Volansky specified 10-inch walls, energy-efficient windows, heavy insulation, and radiant floor heating.

The Fords credit Volansky with important design changes. “When Andrew saw that I had proposed a mudroom the size of small closet, he just laughed,” remembers Ford.

“He called me and said, ‘You must not have a mudroom in California.’ I told him we didn’t have mud! He said we’d need a mudroom about three times larger that what I’d proposed. He was so right.”

Floors are mostly oak and the traditional lintels over the windows and doors are limestone.

A massive hemlock beam serves as a mantel over the living room fireplace that is a combination of stone and stone cladding. The textured plaster walls throughout the house were artfully hand-troweled by Craftsbury-based master plasterer Ron Bisson, who is known for his attention to detail and craftsmanship.

“To produce the classic travertine finish look the Fords wanted, we did a double-coat veneer, which consists of a gypsum base coat

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with a lime putty finish over gypsum plaster board,” says Bisson. Instead of using wood trim, Bisson and his crew made halfinch bullnose plaster beading.

The Fords didn’t have to look too far for help with interior design. Their daughter Maren has started her own design firm, Embellish, and took charge.

Instead of recessed lighting, which the Fords decided was too contemporary, they opted for wall and lamp lighting. The walls are painted creamy white for a whitewashed feel and the floors are stained a rich brown. “We wanted a neutral palette that didn’t detract from the house’s features,” explains Maren.

They are mostly furnishing the four-bedroom home with antiques, such as an 18thcentury pine armoire and a massive, 500pound 5-by-8-foot 1890s stained-glass window they found in a New Hampshire shop.

The dining room boasts a 300-year-old English elm sideboard.

Even the home’s interior five-plank doors are traditional, with one small exception.

“Steven said no to traditional thumb latches on the doors,” says Ford. “So we went with custom-made handles.”

Travis Cutler, vice president of Donald P. Blake Jr. Inc., the home’s builder, reports that his team got very engaged with meeting the Fords’ expectations for a traditional-looking home. For example, they crafted a kitchen pantry unit from reclaimed barn wood and went to great lengths to give it an antique look that blended in with the home’s style.

“Like all the built-ins we made, the Fords told us they wanted them to look like they had been in the house and used for a few hundred years,” says Cutler. “We eased the corners and did some subtle, intentional wearing via strategic grinding and sanding on the pantry doors to look like they’d been used for centuries.”

While the front of the house is a very faithful depiction of a classic Scottish home, the back is more contemporary.

Says Anne Ford, “The house is all business in the front and party in the back.” A walkout basement opens onto a flagstone terrace and outdoor cooking/entertainment area that Volansky neatly tucked into the landscape. Because the Fords didn’t want wooden decks (“There were none in old Scottish houses,” explains Ford), Volansky built up the land to raise the grade and topped it with flagstone terracing.

Although the Fords only recently moved into their new house—construction was completed in August—they report that it is already feeling like home.

“It just gets better and better,” says Ford as she points out the engraved nameplate next to the home’s front door that reads, “Loch Ne’Amh.” “Loosely translated, that’s Gaelic for Lake Paradise or Lake Eden,” she explains. “And it’s proof that, as I told you, we’re living in paradise.” n

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There are other problems with costs.

Vermont has the fourth most expensive electrical rates in the country. Some argue GMP is competitive in New England but we are not competing just against New England; our furniture-makers are going to North Carolina and elsewhere.

I must say that the Vermont Department of Tourism has done a great job of branding Vermont with very few resources. The state is branded now by its dairy farms, cheese, craft beer, maple syrup, ice cream and then it is branded for all its beauty and farms and skiing— tourism is one of the keys to our success as an economy. But the legislature has never funded them well and it is difficult to compete in the global market. One of the first branding (efforts) of Vermont was Vermont Life magazine. Recently in committee we talked about what if we did not have Vermont Life, what could we do with that income? There is a lot of support for Vermont Life but I think the money could be spent more effectively in other ways with regard to tourism.

You have to understand taxpayer behavior.

People who are older find their pensions falling behind their costs. It is a challenge and why many are forced to leave the state. One of the reasons is our property taxes are tied to our education tax. Compared to other states, it is so challenging. Somebody once told me that money goes where it’s treated best and I always remember that. Vermont is a great place but we have to listen to what Vermonters are saying and feeling. What happens if you have wages stagnant like ours and the economic growth is at less than 2 percent a year and the costs are going up? These people are not going to take days off and come here (to Montpelier) to advocate or whatever. I mean they have to work. Some of them feel like they’re . . . like . . . dismissed.

My mother grew up in St. Albans and my father in Barre. My mother always said that Vermonters were self-reliant, independent and didn’t depend upon the government. Churches would help their community and individuals would help each other. And they let people live their lives. So this existence was more libertarian but as newcomers arrived the state became more activist pushing a liberal sort of existence and setting social policy instead of letting people alone to lead their lives. I think that might become part of what happened with our cultural shift.

The Wall Street Journal picked up the fact that Vermont had 33 percent of its population on Medicaid and made the comment that having that many on Medicaid is not compassion but economic failure. The other problem is we cannot get them off Medicaid. We have all these cliffs. So someone gets a little bit of a raise in income but has fewer benefits and it’s a steep cliff to earn their way up, so they do better by refusing a job or raise as they will lose what Medicaid offers.

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We Vermonters have this tradition of independence and self-reliance over a couple of centuries but now the state has taken over by saying we’ll really take care of you. And that cultural shift has happened and now we know better. Education is a perfect example—we are going to do this and this. Act 46 and consolidating small schools is not good.

It takes away the voice that communities have—I want to return to the decision of bringing control back to our local communities. I think they know what is best for their students and that’s not happening. The school budget, which is raised locally, is disconnected from the state that sets the tax. It’s like you have my checkbook. I make the money and you get to spend it. That lends itself to increased spending and it doesn’t matter how a community votes to spend on their school; what matters is how much the 251 other communities vote to spend because that’s what dictates the tax rate.

Again, that disconnect comes from the Golden Dome.

We have moved away from a government that is a partner with the people to where it has become an adversary. Education, labor, taxes—doesn’t matter what department, but people are now afraid of the government. We have to help people. Why, in my own business I had to hire an accountant to deal with the Vermont Department of Labor and it’s costing a pretty penny.

There was a woman, 87 years old, from Stowe and she got the property tax bill and her rebate from the state but that payment had decreased by half so her taxes went up considerably and she wrote to the tax department.

She sent her previous year’s tax bill, last assessment and nothing had changed, not her house value or income. She wrote her letter in longhand and got in return a posted note stuck on a paper telling her to talk with the town clerk and it was signed taxpayer’s service. I was appalled. That’s a cultural thing as well.

My parents now live in a little condo in North Carolina, an hour from Raleigh in a place called Southern Pines. It is really nice.

I tell you their property taxes are next to nothing compared to us. Their groceries cost a little over half of what they spent when the lived here so their income goes a lot further.

They are able to do a lot more with their resources then they did here and it’s nice for us to make sure they’re able to enjoy themselves in their retirement.

I hear people say, “Vermont costs a lot but it is a beautiful state and that’s why you are going to pay for it so don’t complain.” Well, I don’t buy it. We Vermonters think so highly of ourselves that sometimes it gets us into trouble. There are a lot of other beautiful places.

Vermont is a great state. I came back here for a reason. I love Vermont and its beauty and I intend to stay here . . . Maybe I can make a difference.

—Heidi Scheuermann

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bothering me and I’ve been to the doctors and he said I should be on disability. I told him I wouldn’t know enough to fill out the paperwork and he laughed and said he would fill it out.”

“We love Vermont, our mountains, fields and rivers, the fall foliage, we love the whole landscape of Vermont but can we work hard enough to stay here?” Now my former worker is on disability and ain’t it amazing how he’s healed. He goes deer hunting just like a 30-year old man and if you need some logs cut up with a chain saw, split and piled and you got to pay him $15 an hour but only cash under the table. He’ll do anything he did before because he’s still on disability but he needs to be paid in cash.

And as far as taxes go, my father once said the goddamn state would reach up for the skyhook and bring down the blue sky and try to tax it if they could and I believe he’s right. I don’t judge a person by his color, race, religion or nothing. But if you want to live here and be like us who were born and raised in Vermont, we welcome you, but if you want to change everything that we have then you’re not welcome. It’s the liberals who come here and want to change all our ways and how we live and they get on our town and state governments.

Most of us are working so hard to get by we don’t have time to go to the legislature and tell them how we feel. So the state dictates to the town we should have zoning and we do need some rules and regulations but some towns don’t need it and some do. The state will dictate on how we inspect our cars or run our schools and who has the use of our ridgelines.

All the kids are brought up with tape recorders, computers and cell phones, smart phones. This technology is probably the greatest thing since they discovered fire but it could be our ruination as there’s too much knowledge. I believe in the old method of going to school and learning to read, write and do arithmetic. Kids can write on a computer but can’t write a personal letter. They can’t add or subtract or multiply or other math problems so they use a program on their cell phones. They don’t teach in school cursive writing anymore.

The teachers are telling us that they want more pay, some of them up to $70,000 a year and they get most of their insurance paid for.

Teachers only work 180 days a year and have personal and sick days allotted to them. They got an average of six to eight students per class and they need a teacher’s aide. If they don’t get what they want they will strike. That’s what I call mutiny or blackmailing us.

Now if they were working for me and were dissatisfied over the pay and benefits I would be very honest with them. I hate to lose you, I would say, you’re a good person but we can’t afford what you want. Maybe you should go to another state where you can get all the benefits and big pay you want. Now the governor should say if you all strike you’re fired. Done.

And we’ll bring in the National Guard to teach or teachers who do not belong to the union that

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Barrett Photography

would be more than glad to instruct these students. So don’t sit here and tell me what you’re going to get or else.

And there’s Irene. FEMA, which is the Federal government, draws up what they call a 100-year flood plain. So the banks, which are ruled by the federal government due to the housing crash, demand me to put flood insurance on my place that doesn’t need it. I let it lapse for if I am under water, (the towns of) Johnson, Jeffersonville and Cambridge would be wiped right off the map. So to get a line of credit I had to pay $3,500 to buy the insurance.

Then they tell me they can’t do the policy until I hire a surveyor to give me an elevation certificate for my property. That cost me another $2,500, but I proved we were above flooding.

Then I had to send it to FEMA for their approval. You know the state doesn’t like us logging and they don’t like dairy farms because they’re worried about Lake Champlain. What the state wants is tourists treading the walk paths, to ride their bicycles on the bike paths, to ski on the mountains and stay in our motels and eat in our restaurants and look at the fall foliage and on your way home pick up a gallon of Vermont maple syrup. The state doesn’t want logging—they want aesthetics. It’s okay to make a beer factory and they’ll support things like that but they don’t really care to have a lot of manufacturing of lumber or farming. Drive out the small fellows but keep the big guys.

It seems that people are getting dumber every year more then they are getting smarter.

They are losing their common sense. They don’t know how to think for themselves. They want to depend on somebody else to make decisions for them. So the state has all these permits to build a house or commercial building, to pass Act 250, to measure water resources and all the permits that takes. People have to wait a year or two to get approved on doing anything and then when they do get approved it costs $10- to $20,000 in permits to allow you to move ahead. This is not a business friendly state, it never has been, never will be, and the more these liberals move in here, they’re shutting the old Vermont right out— we’re getting kicked out the door.

How big a bubble can we blow up before it breaks? How can the state be so far in debt and not want us small businessmen to create money to help set things straight? Our politicians won’t sit down politely and discuss it.

It’s like a baseball game. The batter is up but the pitcher has the ball and is holding onto it.

They yell at each other and don’t play and both teams go home in anger. We’re no longer the United States. Take United right out of it.

My father said before he died that there’s two things he learned in life: one was that we had a Civil War amongst ourselves and we’ll probably have another one. And he said he wouldn’t be a bit surprised if there was another Boston Tea Party over taxes. People in this country are saying enough is enough is enough. I think someday this will come.

It will happen.

—Dennis Heath

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in a pond for training retrievers and for two years lived in a camper while Sarah’s brother-in-law built our home. Sarah was for 14 years event specialist for Ben & Jerrys and then, in her fifties, studied to become a pharmacist and now works at the Porter Hospital in Middlebury.

We can take a maximum of 18 dogs to train but no more pets in the house—we have eight of them; three are my wife’s. I can endure more dog chaos than Sarah but her tolerance is pretty high. We currently have two horses but have had as many as five. We have no children. You can have children even if you can’t afford to take care of them; part of the American culture is to get married and have kids. I wasn’t sure I was going to have the income to raise a kid the way I want.

I have learned a lot about dogs and their owners over the years. Dogs and people live in a world of pressure and discipline and if it is not over applied, never ending, or inappropriate, they thrive on it. If the discipline meets the correct parameters, the dogs learn quickly.

What you want to do is enforce commands at a level the dog dictates to the trainer.

Everything should be positive. Humans are poor compulsion trainers, as they want their puppy to love them or they say, “I’m going to fix you, you SOB!” Both are sub-optimal as far as being effective training approaches.

I am a compulsion trainer, but also use a variety of techniques including operant conditioning (a form of learning where an individual or an animal changes its behavior because of the consequences of the behavior, which could be a positive or rewarding event). I also use free shaping. You can teach a dog to lie down or sit and never touch them. I lure the dog with a treat and use the word “yes” (some trainers use a “clicker” rather than voice) when the dog is in the right position. You give food rewards then phase out to a reward of a toy and then to compulsion to ensure command compliance in distracting off leash situations. I saved two of my dogs from a lifethreatening jump over cliffs because they responded instantly to a verbal command while distracted at a good distance from me.

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first learned, and found, my passion for dogs and training in Stowe. We have people from many different areas and countries and we see a bigger picture of the world. I knew ski bums, instructors from different parts of the world, millionaires. Now what if I was brought up in some more rural part of Vermont without the advantages I had in a resort town? I would have played basketball in high school and then on to a trade, as I was a very poor student. I doubt I would have had the opportunity to learn about dog training or get a glimpse of the world so much different from a small town in Vermont. I have been offered all sorts of jobs. I went to Aspen and was offered the job as bouncer at the Hotel Jerome. In Stowe, someone wanted me to be a

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personal bodyguard at a high salary. I could have worked on Ted Turner’s 12-meter boat. I was offered over dinner an $180,000 a year job to take people out to lunch and just tell my stories. I was told that I would be working for a financial printing company and the printing orders, when they came, would be huge. “Do I have to wear a tie?” I asked. “Yes,” she replied. “Do I have to live in New York City?”

I asked. “Yes, she said. “Well, I just can’t do that,” I answered.

I also wonder what would have happened to me, after working on a ski event in Stowe, if I took the job of producing the Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Women’s Volleyball events?

Some of it is who I am. A lot of luck is sometimes involved. It is people I met who did things for me. I’m not sure this would have happened to me living in the towns ringing Stowe.

I will work as a dog trainer for Snowbound Kennels until I die. I have had people ask to work for me at $25 an hour and I would tell them I worked for nothing and got paid with an incredible education for training dogs.

Many wanted the lifestyle of a trainer but not the hard work. Go down South to some of the hunting plantations that charge their guests several thousand a day and you are driven to the covers in a wagon pulled by two mules and work with impeccably trained dogs accompanied by their trainer and eat the finest Southern cooking—quail casseroles, peach and pecan pies, smoked hams. (What do we have that is native to Vermont? Those big oyster crackers and maple syrup!)

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ermont has changed a lot in my life and isn’t perfect—what place hasn’t changed and is perfect? I really wish more people were not struggling financially in Vermont but it seems like change is inevitable and unfortunately some folks get left out. I don’t have the answer.

I’ve spent the last 24 winters going South to train dogs. I’ve wintered from Texas to Virginia and spent the bulk of those winters in North and South Carolina. There are some great people and places in those states but despite its higher cost, I’m happy here in Vermont.

One thing is my job is not going to India. I don’t slave over a computer. I work really hard. I’ve been lucky. I have no benefits and everything I do is self-generated. I don’t run a small business; I am self-employed which so often means it is a one-person operation and I am just a blip on the radar. There is no one sticking up for us. But I wouldn’t trade what I do for anything.

—Alec Sparks

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(800) 376-7922.

APPLIANCES COCOPLUM APPLIANCES Fastest growing kitchen appliance dealer in the area.

Carrying most major brands and providing sales, installation, and service for everything we sell. Locally owned and operated since 1985. (888) 412-1222, appliancedistributors.com.

ARCHITECTS ECK MACNEELY ARCHITECTS, INC. We believe that home is a place where comfort is found and given. Since 1976, we have considered every design detail an opportunity to create the spirit of home.

560 Harrison Ave., Suite 403, Boston MA 02118.

(617) 367-9696. eckmacneely.com.

FLAVIN ARCHITECTS A modern architecture firm focused on contemporary home design. Our designs relate beautifully to their surroundings with sculpted lines and timeless materials. flavinarchitects.com, (617) 227-6717, info@flavinarchitects.com. @flavinarchitects.

HARRY HUNT ARCHITECTS Award-winning 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 A Stowe-based architectural firm offering a personal approach to creative, elegant design. Residential, commercial, and renovations. (802) 253-9928. leehunterarchitect.com.

PAUL ROBERT ROUSSELLE, ARCHITECT AIA Architectural services offering creative design approach for environmentally responsible homes true to their surroundings. We create spaces that move clients functionally, aesthetically, and emotionally with exquisitely detailed, beautifully built, inspiring designs. (802) 253-2110.

SAM SCOFIELD, ARCHITECT, AIA Professional architectural services for all phases of design and construction. Residential and commercial. Carlson Building, Main Street, Stowe. samscofieldarchitect.com.

(802) 253-9948.

Architectural, interior, and landscape design featuring beauty, craftsmanship, and excellent energy efficiency.

Creative, intuitive, functional, efficient. (802) 253-2169. cushmandesign.com.

ART GALLERIES BRYAN MEMORIAL GALLERY Vermont’s premier gallery for landscape painting features over 200 artists in a year-round exhibition schedule. Open Thurs. – Sun. 11-4 p.m. and by appointment. Closed January. 180 Main St., Jeffersonville. (802) 644-5100. bryanmemorialgallery.org.

EDGEWATER GALLERY Contemporary and traditional fine art from emerging and established U.S. and Canadian artists. Two locations in Middlebury, with a home design boutique and event space, and a new location in Stowe. 151 Main St. (802) 760-6785. edgewatergallery-vt.com.

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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 the Stowe Village. (802) 253-2020. tektonikavt.com.

AUSTRIAN TEA & TAP ROOM Offering a variety of baked goods, soups, salads, sandwiches, daily specials, and our von Trapp lagers. Open daily 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Hours vary seasonally.

(802) 253-5705. trappfamily.com.

HARVEST MARKET Homemade muffins, cookies, tarts, pies, cakes, and other luscious treats. Incredible breads, including our own French country bread baked in traditional wood-fired ovens. Fine coffees and espresso. Daily 7-7 (in season).

(802) 253-3800. harvestatstowe.com.

STOWE BEE BAKERY & CAFÉ Breakfast treats, espresso bar, luncheon specials, specialty cakes, and more. Made in our open kitchen. Stay for a slice of cake, or take home a basket of treats. 1056 Mountain Rd. 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. stowebeebakery.com.

BOOKSTORES BEAR POND BOOKS Complete family bookstore. NY Times bestsellers and new releases. Children and adult hardcovers, paperbacks, books on CD, daily papers, games, greeting cards.

Open daily. Depot Building, Main Street, Stowe.

(802) 253-8236.

BREWERIES THE ALCHEMIST

GREEN MOUNTAIN FINE ART GALLERY In the heart of the village. Displaying Stowe’s most diverse collection of traditional and contemporary works by regional artists. Open daily 11-6, closed Tuesdays. 64 South Main, Stowe. (802) 253-1818. greenmountainfineart.com.

HELEN DAY ART CENTER Center for contemporary art and art education, established in 1981. Exhibitions featuring local, national, and international exhibitors. Art classes. Cultural events. Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10-5. 90 Pond St., Stowe.

(802) 253-8358, helenday.com.

INSIDE OUT GALLERY Original fine art and crafts by Vermont and American artists in a spectrum of mediums, styles, and price points, from small gifts to major showpieces. 299 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-6945, insideoutgalleryvt.com.

NORTHWOOD GALLERY New gallery featuring exclusively Vermont artisans. Come explore the talent that Vermont has to offer. We host artist workshops, live demonstrations, and provide custom woodwork. 151 Main St., Stowe. (802) 760-6513. northwoodgallery.com.

ROBERT PAUL GALLERIES One of the country’s finest art galleries. Original paintings, sculpture, and fine art glass by locally, nationally, and internationally acclaimed artists. Celebrating 27 years. Daily.

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

VISIONS OF VERMONT Located in Jeffersonville, featuring Eric Tobin, the Winslows, Thomas Curtin, Emile Gruppe, and more. A century of painting history is made on the Jeffersonville side of Smugglers’ Notch. (802) 644-8183. visionsofvermont.org.

WEST BRANCH GALLERY & SCULPTURE PARK Contemporary fine art and sculpture indoors and outside on the riverside sculpture grounds. National, international, and local artists. Tuesday-Sunday 10-5. One mile from Stowe Village on Mountain Road. (802) 253-8943. westbranchgallery.com.

AUTOMOBILES BERLIN CITY ALFA ROMEO/FIAT

TEKTONIKA STUDIO ARCHITECTS

BAKERIES

Italian racing heritage automobiles are available in Vermont. Lease an Alfa Romeo Stelvio, an AWD SUV. Giulia and 4C Coupe are automobile artwork available for viewing in our studio. (888) 722-3912. 585 Marshall Ave., Williston, Vt.

A family owned and operated craft brewery specializing in fresh, unfiltered IPA. You can visit our tasting room and retail shop Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. 100 Cottage Club Rd., Stowe. alchemistbeer.com.

COLD HOLLOW CIDER MILL Authentic hard cider from a real cider mill. Enjoy a free taste of one of our hard ciders. Then join us for lunch. Daily 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. for tastings, June to December. Hours vary off-season. Waterbury Center. (800) 327-7537, coldhollow.com.

IDLETYME BREWING COMPANY Small-batch craft lagers and ales. Lunch/dinner daily from 11:30 a.m. Innovative cocktails, extensive wine list, family friendly, fireplace dining. Perfect for special events. Beer to go. 1859 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-4765, idletymebrewing.com.

ROCK ART BREWERY Brewing beers we love for you to enjoy. Visit our tasting room and gift shop Mon.-Sat. 10-6. Grab bombers, cans, and growlers, as well as local art and food.

(802) 888-9400. rockartbrewery.com.

VON TRAPP BREWING & BIERHALL Von Trapp Brewing offers a selection of authentic Austrian lagers. Stop by for a pint and enjoy our mountaintop views in our new Bierhall, lounge, or dining room.

(802) 253-5705. trappfamily.com.

BUILDERS & CONTRACTORS BENSONWOOD For more than 40 years, Bensonwood has designed and built beautiful, healthy, high-performance homes. Our legendary craftsmanship, cutting-edge technology and off-site fabrication deliver timeless design and sustainable living … painlessly. bensonwood.com.

COMPASS CONSTRUCTION Commercial design build services. Construction management, custom steel building solutions, Centria architectural siding dealer. We innovate it. We simplify it. We build it.

What can we build for you? (802) 497-2827. compassvt.com.

DONALD P. BLAKE JR INC. Handcrafted quality in building, offering experienced and reliable contracting services since 1985. Specializing in custom home new construction, renovations, commercial construction, construction management, and property management services. (802) 888-3629. stowebuilder.com.

VERMONT CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTING & DESIGN Quality workmanship for your doors, windows, new deck, addition, remodel or new build. Let us help you design and build. No job too big or small. Call Dorick, (802) 917-1053.

GEOBARNS Geobarns is an environmentally conscious, minimal waste builder, specializing in artistic barns using modified postand-beam structures with diagonal framing to achieve a combination of strength, versatility, and beauty at reasonable prices. (802) 295-9687. geobarns.com.

GORDON DIXON CONSTRUCTION, INC. Fine craftsmanship, attention to detail, integrity, dependable workmanship. Over 25 years of award-winning experience. Custom homes, additions, renovations, design/build, project management. Stop in at 626 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-9367, gordondixonconstruction.com.

GRISTMILL BUILDERS Incorporated company 25 years, Gristmill Builders specializes in unique details and net-zero construction. You dream it, we can build it. (802) 279-2000. gristmillbuilders.com.

KAISER HOMES Design/build contractor in Stowe. Custom homes and additions. We remodel and renovate homes, condominiums, offices, and businesses. Historical restoration work with salvaged and reclaimed materials. We can make your home uniquely reflect your character and lifestyle.

(802) 355-0992, info@kaiserhomesvt.com, kaiserhomesvt.com.

MOUNTAIN LOGWORKS, LLC Handcrafted log homes. Specializing in Scandinavian Full Scribe and Adirondack-style log structures with log diameters up to 30 inches. In-house design service available.

(802) 748-5929. mountainlogworks.com

PATTERSON & SMITH CONSTRUCTION, INC. A custom builder, remodeling firm, and general contractor in Stowe. Our mission is to provide each customer and their designer/architect with the highest degree of customer service, management, and craftsmanship. pattersonandsmith.com. (802) 253-3757.

PEREGRINE DESIGN BUILD Peregrine Design Build specializes in remodeling and building custom homes and teams with Vermont architects and designers as their builder of choice. Visit peregrinedesignbuild.com to see our range of work.

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) 655-0043. redhousebuilding.com.

SISLER BUILDERS INC. Custom home building, remodeling, woodworking, home energy audits and retrofits, quality craftsmanship, resource efficient construction, modest additions to multi-million dollar estates. 30 years in Stowe. References available. sislerbuilders.com. (802) 253-5672.

SEPTIC SYSTEMS FOUNDATIONS UNDERGROUND UTILITY INSTALLATION DRIVEWAYS/ ROADS DRAINAGE ISSUES PONDS

STEEL CONSTRUCTION, INC. Steel Construction, Inc., has consistently proven to be one of Vermont’s finest custom homebuilders. We have three decades of proven experience and a long list of satisfied homeowners. (802) 253-4572. steelconstructionvt.com.

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

802.777.0169 | mwyarddoctor@gmail.com

— PROVIDING QUALITY WORK FOR 30 YEARS —

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S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUS YANKEE BARN HOMES For more than 45 years, Yankee Barn Homes has been designing and prefabricating custom post-and-beam homes built with the finest materials for durability, weather protection, and energy conservation. yankeebarnhomes.com, (800) 258-9786.

BUILDERS—TIMBERFRAME WINTERWOOD TIMBER FRAMES LLC Handcrafted, 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 PRODUCTS 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.

PARKER & STEARNS, INC. Providing quality building supplies in Johnson and Stowe, we are the contractor’s choice and the homeowner’s advantage. We sell Integrity by Marvin and Merrilat custom kitchens. A True Value Member. Stowe.

(802) 253-9757; Johnson (802) 635-2377.

CAKES & CATERING BEN & JERRY’S ICE CREAM Time to celebrate. Ice cream cakes serve 1-36 people and are ready-to-go or can be custom ordered. Call (802) 882-2034. Ice-cream catering inquiries—cups and cones to full sundae bars. Call (802) 222-1665.

CATERING THE KITCHEN CASUAL CATERING Artfully presented platters of sandwiches and salads.

Comfort cooking entrees. Order pans of our legendary lasagnas for your next get together. Visit us at stowesandwich@gmail.com.

CHURCHES & SYNAGOGUES BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC CHURH Mass schedule: Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Sunday, 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Daily masses: Tuesday 5:30 p.m., Wednesday through Friday 8:30 a.m. Confession Saturday 3:45-4:15 p.m. Monsignor Peter A. Routhier, Pastor. 728 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-7536.

For more than 30 years, we have been proudly providing residents with reliable:

Cable Television • Internet • Telephone • Commercial Fiber

HUNGER MOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLY Route 100, Waterbury Center. Sunday worship service at 10 a.m. (802) 244-5921.

JEWISH COMMUNITY OF GREATER STOWE

Stowe Cable Systems Stowe Communications (802) 253-9282 • stowecable.com 230

For information regarding services, holiday gatherings, classes, and workshops: JCOGS, P.O. Box 253, Stowe, Vt. 05672. 1189 Cape Cod Rd., Stowe.

(802) 253-1800 or jcogs.org.

THE MOUNTAIN CHAPEL At the halfway point on the Mt. Mansfield Toll Road. A place for meditation, prayer and praise for skiers, hikers, and tourists. Seasonal Sunday service 2 p.m. The Rev. Dr. David P. Ransom. (802) 644-8144.

INESS DIRECTORY ST. JOHN’S IN THE MOUNTAINS EPISCOPAL CHURCH At the crossroads of Mountain Road and Luce Hill Road in Stowe. The Holy Eucharist is celebrated every Sunday at 10 a.m. The Rev. Rick Swanson officiating. St. John’s is wheelchair friendly and visitors and children are welcome.

Office open Tuesday, Thursday. (802) 253-7578. 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 Sunday celebration service with program for children 9:30 a.m. Adult forum Sundays 8:30 a.m.; Contemporary service Sundays 4:30 p.m. The Rev. Will Vaus.

(802) 999-7634; church (802) 253-7257.

WATERBURY CENTER COMMUNITY Route 100 next to the Cider Mill. We warmly welcome visitors. (802) 244-6286. Sunday worship 10:45 a.m.

Handicapped accessible. Church is a National Historic Place. Pastor John Lucy.

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

From traditional to contemporary, Hunter Douglas window fashions enhance the beauty of any decor. Contact us to explore the wide variety of fabrics, textures, styles and colors for your home. Whatever you select, your rooms are sure to be inviting for years to come.

BOUTIQUE AT STOWE MERCANTILE Fabulous contemporary fashion for women. From casual to professional, Boutique can make you feel beautiful any time. Lingerie, dresses, skirts, tops, jeans, sweaters, more.

We’ll dress you for any occasion. Depot Building, Main Street, Stowe. (802) 253-3712.

BUNYABUNYA A new boutique curated with goods inspired by the West Coast, along with items from hand-selected local artisans.

Everyone loves BunyaBunya. Minnetonka, Vintage Havana, Farmstead Flannels, Fjallraven, PJ Salvage. 407 Mountain Rd., Stowe. bunyabunya.boutique.

ECCO Burlington’s original designer boutique has been dressing Vermonters in top brands for over 20 years. From denim to dresses, boots to stilettos, ECCO has it all. On Church Street Marketplace. 81 Church St. (802) 860-2220. eccoclothesboutique.com.

ESSEX OUTLETS & CINEMA Purple Sage, Brooks Brother, Jockey, Carter’s, OshKosh, Gymboree, Snow Drop, Turner Toys, Famous Footwear, HammerFit, Kitchen Collection, Hanes, Van Heusen, ORVIS, Sweet Clover Market, Centerpiece Florist, Ace Hardware, Hannaford, more. 21 Essex Way, Essex Jct., Vt. (802) 878-2851. essexshoppes.com, essexcinemas.com.

FIRST CHAIR ALPINE COMPANY—BOGNER Located adjacent to the outdoor ice skating rink in the Spruce Peak Village Center, this exclusive shop features Bogner and other fine outdoor apparel, accessories, unique Vermont items, jewelry, books and more.

(802) 760-4695.

FIRST CHAIR ALPINE COMPANY—KJUS Located in Spruce Peak Plaza, featuring KJUS as our prominent apparel provider and complimented with Postcard, Dale of Norway, Canada Goose, Hestra, unique books and jewelry. Stowe Mountain Resort.

(802) 760-4695.

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

GREEN ENVY Voted best women’s boutique. 300 of your favorite brands. Vince, Free People, Joie, Rag&Bone, AG, Beyond Yoga, Longchamp, Ray-Ban. Premium denim, clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories. Mon.-Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5.

1800 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-2661, vermontenvy.com.

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S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUSINESS DIRECTORY IN COMPANY Come see what’s in. Specializing in personalized customer service and top designer labels: 360 Sweater, Johnny Was, Lilla P, Orla Kiely, and more. 10-5:30 p.m. daily, 10 - 5 p.m. Sunday. 344 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

(802) 253-4595, incompanyclothing.com.

JOHNSON HARDWARE & RENTALS Clothing, footwear, camping supplies, toys and games, garden supplies, pet supplies, equipment rentals, hardware, plumbing, electrical, paint and stain, safety gear, Milwaukee tools and repair. Route 15, Johnson. (802) 635-7282, jhrvt.com.

JOHNSON WOOLEN MILLS Home of famous Johnson Woolen Outerwear and headquarters for Carhartt, Filson, Pendleton, Woolrich, woolen blankets, fine men’s and ladies sportswear, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, socks. Since 1842. Johnson, VT. (802) 635-2271. johnsonwoolenmills.com.

PINK COLONY Vermont’s largest selection of Lilly Pulitzer. Premiere highend boutique featuring women’s and children’s clothing, accessories, and shoes. 1940 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

(802) 253-PREP. Visit us on IG. pinkcolony.com.

SPORTIVE Largest Bogner selection in northern New England. Toni Sailer, Kjus, Parajumpers, Bog, Autumn Cashmere, White + Warren, Sportalm, Hestra gloves, Autumn, Ugg, Pajar, Alpen Rock, more. (802) 496-3272. Route 100, Waitsfield. sportiveinc.com.

THE VERMONT FLANNEL COMPANY Family-owned company providing finest quality flannel clothing for men, women, and children, celebrating over 25 years. Locations in Johnson, Burlington, Ferrisburgh, Woodstock, and East Barre. Handcrafted in the USA. (800) 232-7820. vermontflannel.com.

VERMONT TRAILWEAR Locally owned by Skirack. Specializing in wears for the trail by Patagonia, Darn Tough, Skida and more. Let us know what our family can do for yours. Waterbury Annex, 2653 Waterbury-Stowe Rd. vermonttrailwear.com.

WELL HEELED Sophisticated collection of shoes, boots, clothing, and accessories for an effortlessly chic lifestyle. Stylish interior combined with personalized service and by appointment shopping available—a #mustdoinstowe. Daily 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. (802) 253-6077. wellheeledstowe.com.

YELLOW TURTLE Kids boutique overflowing with your favorite brands.

Largest selection of children’s Patagonia, plus Appaman, Johnnie-O, Kickee Pants, Tea Collection, O’Neill, more.

Who says your kids can’t be active and stylish? Ages 0-18.

1799 Mountain Rd., (802) 253-4434, yellow-turtle.com.

COFFEE HOUSES BLACK CAP COFFEE & BEER Fresh coffee and authentic espresso in a warm inviting atmosphere. House-baked pastries and tasty treats, light breakfast, and lunch options. Daily at 7 a.m. 144 Main St., Stowe. 63 Lower Main St., Morrisville. Facebook.

HARVEST MARKET Homemade muffins, cookies, tarts, pies, cakes, and other luscious treats. Incredible breads, including our French country bread baked in traditional wood-fired ovens. Fine coffees and espresso. Daily 7-7 (in season).

(802) 253-3800. harvestatstowe.com.

PK COFFEE Coffee, espresso, tea, lattes, fresh baked goods, and the best-grilled cheese in town. Join us for the treats; stay for the conversation. 1880 Mountain Road, Stowe.

(802) 760-6151, pkcoffee.com.

VERMONT ARTISAN COFFEE

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Come visit our state-of-the-art coffee roastery and coffee bar. Delicious coffee, espresso drinks, and whole bean coffees. 11 Cabin Lane, Waterbury Center, vtartisan.com.

DELICATESSEN

EXCAVATING

THE BAGEL

DALE E. PERCY, INC.

Bagels boiled and baked daily. Breakfast and lunch sandwiches, baked goods. Gluten-free options available.

Seasonal specialties. 394 Mountain Rd, Stowe.

(802) 253-9943. 6:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. daily

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. Fax: (802) 253-8520.

EDELWEISS New York-style deli sandwiches. Brisket, corned beef, pastrami, bakery products, fresh pies. Beer, wine, soda, groceries, Vermont products. Stowe’s #1 deli and convenience store. Daily 6:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. 2251 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-4034.

DENTISTRY CONTEMPORARY DENTAL ARTS PC Contemporary Dental Arts is a unique practice offering high quality, state-of-the-art, esthetic, restorative and implant dentistry … where the smile of your dreams becomes a realty. New patients invited. (802) 878-9888. contemporarydentalartsvt.com.

JEFFREY R. MCKECHNIE, DMD, CHRISTOPHER P. ALTADONNA, DDS, & TYLER LUDINGTON, DMD (802) 253-7932. stowedentalassociates.com.

DISTILLERIES SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH DISTILLERY Come taste our award-winning vodka, gins, rum, bourbon, maple bourbon, and wheat whiskey. Tasting rooms in Jeffersonville, Waterbury Center, and Burlington for samples, sales and more. Daily. (802) 309-3077, smugglersnotchdistillery.com.

DRY CLEANING & LAUNDRY STOWE LAUNDRY CO. Full-service Laundromat and dry cleaners. Drop-off washand-dry and fold, same-day service, and alterations.

Professional dry cleaning and shirt service. 44 Park Place, Stowe Village. Open 7 days. (802) 253-9332.

FABRIC & YARN YARN Vermont’s destination yarn shop featuring exquisite yarns, on-trend patterns and expert assistance since 2004. 112 Main Street, Montpelier. (802) 229-2444, yarnvt.com.

FIREPLACES & WOODSTOVES GREEN MOUNTAIN FIREPLACES Offering the finest in heart products for home or business.

We will take your project from concept to design to installation. 800 Marshall Ave., Williston, (802) 862-8311. greenmountainfireplaces.com.

STOVE AND FLAG WORKS We sell, service and install wood, gas, and pellet stoves and fireplaces from quality manufacturers such as Vermont Castings, Wittus, Harman, Morsa, Majestic, and QuadroFire. Two locations: Montpelier (802) 229-0150, Williston (802) 878-5526. stoveandflagworks.com.

FISHING & HUNTING CATAMOUNT FISHING ADVENTURES Guided fly-fishing, spin-fishing, ice-fishing adventures. River wading, canoe, drift boat, motorboat fishing. Guiding Vermont since 1994. Equipment provided. All abilities welcome. Willy, owner/guide, (802) 253-8500. Federation of Fly Fishers certified. Licensed, insured. catamountfishing.com.

FLY ROD SHOP Vermont’s most experienced guide service. Live bait, ice fishing supplies. Drift-boat trips or river wading for fly fishing, spinning. Family fishing trips. Simms clothing, waders.

10,000 flies. Visit our hunting department. Route 100 South, Stowe. (802) 253-7346. flyrodshop.com.

EDUCATION & COLLEGES

FLOORING

COLORADO MOUNTAIN COLLEGE

FLOOR COVERINGS INTERNATIONAL

Learn at 11 of the most stunning mountain communities in Colorado. Choose from two-year career training, bachelor's degrees, and transfer degrees. Small classes, dedicated faculty. coloradomtn.edu.

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.

ST. JOHNSBURY ACADEMY Unique among American independent schools, we offer students a truly comprehensive curriculum, first-rate facilities, and outstanding faculty. Nationally recognized, we attract over 255 boarding students from the U.S. and around the world each year. stjacademy.org.

STERLING COLLEGE Sterling College combines structured academic study with experiential challenges and plain hard work to build responsible problem solvers who become stewards of the environment. Bachelor's degrees and continuing education.

Craftsbury Common, Vt. sterlingcollege.edu.

ENGINEERS VERMONT TESTING & CONSULTING CORP Engineering, structural, geotechnical. Laboratory and fieldtesting and inspection, consulting. vermonttesting.com.

(802) 244-6131.

The largest inventory of ceramic tile, hardwood floors, and carpets in Vermont. Seven in-house crews that do expert service and installation. Visit our showroom and speak with our in-house designers. 31 Adams Dr., Williston.

(802) 891-9264, vermontfci.com.

FLOORING AMERICA Customize your home with flooring that compliments your space while honoring your style. Choose from our leading collection of hardwood, carpet, tile, laminate, vinyl, and rug selections. Williston, (802) 862-5757, flooringamerica-vt.com.

PLANET HARDWOOD Vermont business specializing in green materials, with an emphasis on wood flooring. Our 6,000-square-foot showroom is the best place to really see wood as well as fabulous green products. (802) 482-4404, planethardwood.com.

FLORISTS & FLOWERS BRAMBLE + BLOOM Bespoke floral design for weekly accounts, events, and weddings. Online weekly arrangements. Custom crafted arrangements and in-home service. Boutique event, wedding, and floral design services. Studio hours by appointment.

(310) 686-8199. brambleandbloom@squarespace.com.

FROM MARIA’S GARDEN A floral design studio specializing in natural garden-style designs. For weddings and events, simply beautiful flowers unique to your personal style. By appointment.

(802) 345-3698. maria@frommariasgarden.com.

FUEL BOURNES ENERGY Propane, wood pellets, bioheat, biodiesel, heating, cooling, plumbing, auto-delivery, remote heat monitoring, expert service. Bourne’s Energy—Fueling the Future.

(800) 326-8763. bournesenergy.com.

FURNITURE ALL DECKED OUT One of the largest selections of casual furniture in Northern New England. Teak, wicker, aluminum, wrought iron, and envirowood. Best selection for dining, entertaining, and lazing. Delivery available. (802) 296-6714. alldeckedoutcasual.com.

BURLINGTON FURNITURE COMPANY Large new location. Contemporary and modern furniture for your home. Sofas, sectionals, sleepers, recliners. Dining room, bedroom, mattresses, rugs, lighting, unique accessories. Voted Best Furniture Store. 747 Pine St., Burlington.

(802) 862-5056. burlingtonfurniturecompany.com.

Commercial & Home Maintenance Services • Year Round Property Management • Home Security Checks • Arrival Preparation • New Construction • Building Repairs • Painting • Landscaping/Tree Removal • Light Trucking & Backhoe Work • Winterization • Wind & Water Damage Service • Spring Clean Up

INSIDE OUT GALLERY Be inspired and refresh your sense of home, inside and out, through vignettes of transcontinental seating, tables, lamps, and mirrors. Our samples are just the beginning; we’ll special order too. 299 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

(802) 253-6945, insideoutgalleryvt.com.

MATTRESS & SOFA WAREHOUSE Dining room, living room, and bedroom furniture by Ashley, Lazy Boy, Coaster and mattresses by Simmons, Beauty Rest, Tempurpedic. Fine home furnishings at affordable prices. Delivery available. (802) 888-3979.

POMPANOOSUC MILLS Pompanoosuc Mills has been handcrafting fine furniture for more than 43 years. Each piece is custom-made to order in our Vermont workshop by our experienced craftsmen. For our collection and showrooms visit pompy.com.

WENDELL’S FURNITURE & VERMONT BED STORE Best selection for quality, style, price. Copeland, Norwalk, Flexsteel, and more. Bedroom, living and dining rooms, nursery, office, and entertainment. Next to Costco, 697 Hercules Dr., Colchester. (802) 861-7700. wendellsfurniture.com.

GIFT & SPECIALTY SHOPS

34 years of professional, reliable, detailed workmanship RRP Certified Protect your investment by hiring Allaire Construction!

802-793-2675

Contact Brent at bda77@comcast.net

ALLAIRE CONSTRUCTION

Anderson& Associates Peter G. Anderson, Esquire

BE.NATURAL BEAUTY Super luxe. Totally pure. Non-toxic. Offering the best in 100 percent natural skincare, hair care, makeup, bath, mens, baby, and aromatherapy. Made in Vermont products. 25 Main St., Stowe. (802) 760-6776.

BIRDFOLK COLLECTIVE Shop handmade and independent designers. Over 250 artists from Vermont and around the country. Art, jewelry, pottery, baby/kids, cards, plants, gifts. Waterbury and Winooski locations. (802) 882-8543. birdfolkcollective.com.

BUTTERNUT MOUNTAIN FARM & MARVIN’S COUNTRY STORE Country store focused on all things maple—a carefully curated selection of our favorite products. Specialty cheeses, honey, jams, Vermont-made products, crafts, and gifts. (800) 899-6349, marvinscountrystore.com.

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

A General Practice Law Firm Serving businesses and individuals throughout Vermont for more than 20 years.

Civil Litigation • Commercial Law Family Law • Business Transactions Probate Proceedings Anderson & Associates prides itself on providing quality legal services responsive to the individual needs of each client.

INSIDE OUT GALLERY Find a full range of gifts and wedding presents, Vermont fine art and crafts, photographs, jewelry, table furnishings, candleholders, picture frames, and outdoor décor. A short walk up from Main Street. 299 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

(802) 253-6945, insideoutgalleryvt.com.

954 South Main Street | P.O. Box 566 Stowe, Vermont 05672 802-253-4011 | andersonlawvt.com

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S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUSINESS DIRECTORY STOWE CRAFT GALLERY American made for over 30 years. Winner “Stowe 4393 Awards for Jewelry, Gift and Art.” Women’s fashion, knives, kaleidoscopes, beverage dispensers, porch swings, pottery, mirrors, lazy susans. 34 S. Main St. and 55 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-4693, stowecraft.com.

STOWE MERCANTILE Fabulous old country store, Vermont specialty foods, penny candy, clothing, bath and body, wine, craft beer and cider, gift baskets, and toys. Play a game of checkers or a tune on our piano. Depot Building, Main Street, Stowe.

(802) 253-4554. stowemercantile.com.

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE SPORT & GIFTS Trapp Family Lodge books, music, clothing, and food.

Austrian specialty gifts and gourmet products. Vermontmade products and maple syrup. Visit our three locations.

Shop online: trappfamily.com. (802) 253-8511.

HAIR SALONS SALON SALON World-class Aveda concept salon for men and women.

Haircuts, highlighting, coloring, straightening, manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing, body treatments, massage, shellac, gel manicures, lash and hair extensions, complete wedding services. Downer Farm Shops, 232 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-7378, salonsalonvt.com.

HARDWARE STOWE HARDWARE & DRY GOODS Unique hardware store providing North Country necessities and quality products. Craftsman tools, Cabot Stain, Carhartt, complete selection of fasteners, housewares, home-care products. Open 8-5:30 Mon.-Sat., Sundays 93:30. 430 Mountain Rd. Established since 1829.

(802) 253-7205.

HEALTH CARE CLEARCHOICEMD ClearChoiceMD urgent care centers are here for all your urgent, non-life-threatening medical needs—7 days a week, 12 hours a day. Providing medical care for all ages when you need it most. ccmdcenters.com.

COPLEY HOSPITAL Exceptional care. Community focused. 24-hour emergency services. The Women’s Center, Mansfield Orthopedics, general surgery, cardiology, urology, oncology, rehabilitation, and wellness programs. Morrisville, (802) 888-8888, copleyvt.org.

STOWE FAMILY PRACTICE Stowe Family Practice provides routine medical care and treats winter related and sports injuries. Call (802) 253-4853. chslv.org.

HEALTH CLUBS & FITNESS CENTERS SWIMMING HOLE Stowe’s premier family fitness and recreation center. 25meter lap pool, children’s pool, waterslide, group exercise classes, personal training, masters swimming, swim lessons.

State-of-the-art facility. Day passes, memberships available.

(802) 253-9229. theswimmingholestowe.com.

HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING CHUCK’S HEATING

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We specialize in the installation and service of forced hotair systems, hot-water (hydronic) systems, radiant heat, hydro air, cold-climate heat pumps, and geothermal heat systems. We stand by our work 100 percent. chucksheating.com, (800) 655-1489.

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 COMMODORES INN Spacious rooms, 3-1/2 acre lake, kayaks, rowboats, fireside living room, indoor and outdoor pool, Jacuzzis, saunas, game room, restaurant, popular sports bar, kids free, pets welcome. Route 100, Lower Village. commodoresinn.com. (802) 253-7131.

FIELD GUIDE & PICNIC SOCIAL 30 modern luxe lodge-style accommodations, including suites with luxury linens, soaking tubs, fireplaces, and other amenities desired by the discerning traveler. Picnic Social restaurant. Seasonal pool. Hot tub. (802) 253-8088. fieldguidestowe.com.

GREEN MOUNTAIN INN Classic 1833 resort in Stowe Village. Over 100 rooms located in 8 buildings, luxury and family suites, apartments and townhouses, many with fireside Jacuzzis. Two restaurants, newly renovated outdoor year-round heated pool and in-ground spa, health club, Jacuzzi, sauna, massage, game room. (802) 253-7301. greenmountaininn.com.

GREY FOX INN AND RESORT Under new ownership. Great for romantic getaways, destination weddings, or outdoor adventures. Indoor and outdoor pools, hot tub, sauna, fitness area, WIFI throughout, access to Stowe recreation path, walking distance to Stowe Village. (802) 253-8921. greyfoxinn.com.

SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH, VERMONT America’s Family Resort. Mountainside lodging. Award-winning kids’ programs. Zipline canopy tours. Winter: 3 interconnected mountains, 2610’ vertical. Summer: 8 pools, 4 waterslides, disc golf, mountain bike park. FunZone 2.0 entertainment complex. Family Fun Guaranteed!

(888) 256-7623. smuggs.com/sg.

STOWEFLAKE MOUNTAIN RESORT & SPA Nestled in the heart of Stowe. Upscale guestrooms and townhouses, on-property activities, Charlie B’s Pub & Restaurant for fireside or deck dining, live entertainment and the rejuvenating Spa at Stoweflake treatments and services. (802) 253-7355, stoweflake.com

STOWE MOUNTAIN LODGE Luxury accommodations featuring stone-framed fireplaces, ski-in/ski-out access to Stowe Mountain Resort, spa, outdoor heated pool, Solstice and Hourglass restaurants. (802) 282-4625. (888) 4-STOWE-VT. stowemountainlodge.com.

THE STOWE INN Downtown Stowe inn on four acres, riverfront location. Free shuttle to ski slopes, restaurant, bar and pub on site. Room service, featuring prime rib, seafood, and pub fare. Call (802) 253-4030. stoweinn.com.

TOPNOTCH RESORT Stowe’s only luxury boutique resort wows with contemporary rooms, suites, and 2-3 bedroom resort homes, airy lobby bar and restaurant, top-ranked bistro, world-class spa and tennis center, indoor and outdoor pools.

(802) 253-8585. topnotchresort.com.

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE Mountain resort in the European tradition. 96-rooms and suites with spectacular mountain views. European-style cuisine, music, fitness center, indoor pool, climbing wall, yoga, cross-country and backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, von Trapp history tours. (802) 253-8511. trappfamily.com.

VILLAGE GREEN AT STOWE Fully furnished condominiums at the center of all Stowe has to offer. Fireplaces, indoor pool, sauna, Jacuzzi.

Affordable. (802) 253-9705 or (800) 451-3297. vgasstowe.com.

INSURANCE HICKOK & BOARDMAN, INC. Providing superior service and innovative solutions for all your insurance needs. Home, auto, and business insurance since 1821. “Here when you need us.” 618 S. Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-9707.

STOWE INSURANCE AGENCY, INC. Stowe’s premier multi-line insurance agency since 1955.

Our pricing and service is second to none. Glenn Mink, Teela Leach, Robert Mink, and Renee Davis.

(802) 253-4855.

INTERIOR DESIGN AMBER HODGINS DESIGN Full-service interior architecture and design, decorative painting, and color consultations. Specializing in décor, renovations, and new construction for residential or 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 Street, Waterbury.

DESIGN STUDIO OF STOWE Creating beautiful interiors from classic to modern with respect to client’s taste, property, budget, deadline. New construction, renovations, and updates to existing spaces.

Residential to light commercial projects. Allied Member ASID. 626 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-9600. designstudiovt.com.

GORDON’S WINDOW DÉCOR Gordon’s Window Décor offers no obligation in home consultations for draperies, shades, shutters, window film, and much more. Call or go online to schedule an appointment. gordonswindowdecor.com or (802) 655-7777.

THE RECOVERY ROOM INTERIORS Sophisticated Vermont design …We delight in the detail of making your window treatments, upholstery, slipcovers, and bedding in our professional workroom. Your local Hunter Douglas provider, too. (802) 496-4644. therecoveryroomvt.com.

SELDOM SCENE INTERIORS INC. All aspects of interior design. Stowe and Boston. Full architectural services, design build, and project management.

Large comprehensive portfolio. By appointment only. 2038 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-3770. seldomsceneinteriors.com.

INTERNET SERVICES STOWE CABLE Providing reliable high-speed internet, cable television, and phone service throughout Stowe and Jeffersonville for over 30 years. Located at 172 Thomas Lane in 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., Stowe.

(802) 253-3033. ferrojewelers.com/stowe.

INSIDE OUT GALLERY Discover new colorful and creative designs made by American artists. Add inspiration and fun to every day.

Easy prices. Enjoyable shopping. Short walk up from Main Street. 299 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-6945, insideoutgalleryvt.com.

STOWE CRAFT GALLERY Jewelry and fashion by Vermont and American artists. A jewelry store inside a craft gallery. Artist owned and curated in a historic Stowe landmark. 55 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-4693, stowecraft.com.

VON BARGEN’S JEWELRY A Vermont family business with five locations. We specialize in distinctive artisan jewelry, fine, ideal cut diamonds, and custom jewelry. Stowe Village. Monday-Friday 10-5, Saturday 10-5, Sunday noon-5. (802) 253-2942. vonbargens.com.

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

BARRE TILE Rediscovering elegance in the home-place. Our Stone Shop is Vermont’s source for kitchen countertops, bathroom vanities, thresholds, fireplace hearths, more. Make an appointment today to view our extensive stone slab inventory. Over 25 colors. (802) 476-0912. barretile.com.

HORSLEY LAJOIE GOLDFINE, LLC General practice including civil litigation, personal injury, real estate, corporate, estate planning/administration.

Located in Stowe village. 166 S. Main St. Member Vermont and Massachusetts bars. (802) 760-6480. hlgattorneys.com.

OLSON & ASSOCIATES, PLC General law practice: commercial and residential real estate, estate planning and probate administration, business formation and maintenance, general litigation, family law, mediation services. 188 S. Main St., Stowe.

(802) 253-7810.

STACKPOLE AND FRENCH Litigation, real estate, corporate, utility, wills, and estate administration. 255 Maple St., Stowe. (802) 253-7339. stackpolefrench.com.

LIGHTING BARRE ELECTRIC & LIGHTING SUPPLY, INC.

BURLINGTON MARBLE & GRANITE We manufacture and install the finest handcrafted stone countertops for Vermont’s premier builders, fine kitchens and bath designers and discriminating homeowners.

Warehouse stocked with over 100 full slabs to view.

(802) 860-1221. burlingtonmarbleandgranite.com.

CLOSE TO HOME Locally owned and operated since 1999, we have the finest selection of bath fixtures and vanities, kitchen sinks and faucets, door/cabinet hardware, and more. A culture of customer service. 10 Farrell St., S. Burlington.

(802) 861-3200. closetohomevt.com.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN AMBLER DESIGN Full-service landscape architecture and construction company in Stowe. Working with plants, water, stone, and earth, we create unique, exceptional, and beautiful outdoor spaces. (802) 253-4536. amblerdesign.com.

CYNTHIA KNAUF LANDSCAPE DESIGN Beautiful, functional, and green. Creating memorable outdoor spaces that link buildings and people to the site.

Emphasis on sustainability through local materials and craftsmanship, green roofs, and rain gardens.

(802) 655-0552. cynthiaknauf.com.

Indoor and outdoor lighting, fans and home accents. The supplier of choice for area electricians and builders. Come visit our 3,000-square foot showroom featuring working displays for kitchen and bath lighting. Route 302, Barre.

(802) 476-0280. barreelectric.com.

MAD RIVER ANTLER Handcrafted one-of-a-kind antler creations in the form of chandeliers, sconces, table lamps, floor lamps, and custom creations using naturally shed antler from moose, deer, and elk. (802) 496-9290, madriverantler.com.

MARKETS COMMODITIES NATURAL MARKET Voted Best Market 2015 – 2017. Organic produce, groceries, artisanal cheeses, fresh bread, local meats, bulk section, awesome beer and wine, gluten-free, wellness products. Winooski location too. (802) 253-4464, commoditiesnaturalmarket.com.

HARVEST MARKET Stowe’s one-stop gourmet store. Grab and go section, premade sandwiches and salads prepared by our own chefs and bakers. Vermont cheeses, charcuterie, microbrews, wines, farm-fresh produce. Daily 7-7 (in season).

(802) 253-3800. harvestatstowe.com.

• • • • •

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

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

THE BUTCHERY Butcher shop, fish monger, fromagerie, sourcing prime beef, all-natural pork, free-range chicken and game, domestic and international sauces, spices, specialties.

Success in your kitchen starts here. 504 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-1444. butcheryvt.com.

MASSAGE & BODYWORK KATE GRAVES, CMT, BHS Relaxation, deep tissue, moist heat, energy work (Brennan graduate), maternity, Thai. Practicing integrative medicine over 30 years. Competitive rates. Stowe Yoga Center, 515 Moscow Rd. kgravesmt@gmail.com, (802) 253-8427, stoweyoga.com.

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

BARR LAW GROUP Member of Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts bars.

125 Mountain Rd., Stowe, Vt., (802) 253-6272; 100 Park Ave., New York, NY, (212) 486-3910.

DARBY KOLTER & NORDLE, LLP General civil practice: commercial and residential, real estate, environmental, estate planning/administration, personal injury, workers’ comp, mediation services, business formation, family law. Stowe: 996 Main St., Unit 1A, (802) 253-7165; Waterbury: 89 S. Main St., (802) 244-7352.

STOWE VILLAGE MASSAGE Massage center offers exceptional bodywork services from relaxation to injury recovery. Certified practitioners in a casual atmosphere. 60-minute massages starting from $80.

Daily from 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. 49 Depot St., Stowe. Book online at stowevillagemassage.com. (802) 253-6555. info@stowevillagemassage.com.

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE FITNESS CENTER Massage therapists use a blend of techniques to address needs including Swedish, deep tissue, acupressure, and Shiatsu. Other treatments include reflexology, salt glows, and hot stone therapy. Appointments available daily.

(802) 253-5722.

430 Mountain Road, Stowe

Mon-Sat 8-5:30 • Sun 9-3:30

253-7205

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S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUSINESS DIRECTORY MATTRESSES

PHOTOGRAPHY

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

BURLINGTON FURNITURE COMPANY

PAUL ROGERS PHOTOGRAPHY

STOWE RESORT HOMES

Large new location. Contemporary and modern furniture for your home. Sofas, sectionals, sleepers, recliners. Dining room, bedroom, mattresses, rugs, lighting, unique accessories. Voted Best Furniture Store. 747 Pine St., Burlington.

(802) 862-5056. burlingtonfurniturecompany.com.

NATURAL MATTRESS OF VT We have a unique selection of natural chemical-free mattresses. FSC-certified furniture, organic bedding, and home décor. Everything for a healthy nights sleep. 3198 Shelburne Rd., Shelburne. (802) 985-2650. naturalmattressvt.com

WENDELL’S FURNITURE & VERMONT BED STORE Best selection for quality, style, price. Copeland, Norwalk, Flexsteel, and more. Bedroom, living and dining rooms, nursery, office, and entertainment. Next to Costco, 697 Hercules Dr., Colchester. (802) 861-7700. wendellsfurniture.com.

MOVIE THEATERS STOWE CINEMA 3-PLEX First-run movies, all new 7.1 Digital Surround EX and 5.1 digital sound with silver screens and RealD 3D. Full bar available as you view. Fresh popcorn, real butter, full concession. Conventional seating too. 454 Mountain Rd. Movie phone (802) 253-4678; stowecinema.com; or Facebook.

NEEDLEWORK THE WOODEN NEEDLE Charming needle arts shop in heart of Stowe Village.

Counted cross-stitch and needlepoint featured. Specializing in linens, hand-painted canvases, Paternayan wool, Weeks Dye Works, Gentle Art cottons, fun fibers. Park and Pond Streets. (802) 253-3086, wooden-needle.com.

OPTOMETRY DR. ROBERT C. BAUMAN & ASSOCIATES Comprehensive eye exams, immediate treatment of eye injuries/infections. Same-day service on most eyeglasses including bifocals. Area’s largest selection glasses and contact lenses, immediate replacement of lost or damaged contact lenses. Saturday hours. (802) 253-6322. drrobertbauman.com.

STOWE EYE CARE At Stowe Eye Care, we provide personalized vision services. We use advanced technology for the most accurate diagnosis, as well as having a frame selection as unique as we are. stowe-eyecare.com. (802) 253-7201.

PAINTERS—Interior & Exterior LAMOILLE VALLEY PAINTERS, LLC Custom painting company in Stowe, specializing in highend interior and exterior painting, staining and wall-coverings for homes, decks, barns, and commercial businesses in the Lamoille Valley. dan@lamoillevalleypainters.com or (802) 730-2776.

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. (802) 253-7879, paulrogersphotography.com.

PHYSICAL THERAPY

REAL ESTATE & RENTALS

COPLEY REHABILITATION SERVICES

COLDWELL BANKER CARLSON REAL ESTATE

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

PINNACLE PHYSICAL THERAPY Skilled physical therapy for orthopedic and neuromuscular conditions, sports, family wellness, pre- and post-surgery.

Personal, professional care: 1878 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

Appointment within 24 hours, M-F. (802) 253-2273. info@pinnacleptvermont.com or pinnacleptvermont.com.

UVMHN CVMC REHABILITATION SERVICES Physical, occupational, and speech therapies. Specialized service: Parkinson’s disease, urinary incontinence, vertigo, concussions, and more. Clinic in Waterbury. Get evaluated within 48 hours at Rehab Express in Berlin. cvmc.org/rehab. (802) 371-4242.

PHYSICIANS ADAM KUNIN, MD, CARDIOLOGIST Personalized cardiac care. Board-certified in cardiology, nuclear cardiology and internal medicine. Providing general cardiology, advanced cardiac tests, and imaging.

Morrisville. (802) 888-8372, copleyvt.org.

DAVID BISBEE, MD—PRIMARY CARE Access to your personal physician 24/7, longer appointments, house calls, and personalized medical care. Annual membership fee. Limited enrollment. Board certified in family medicine. (802) 253-5020. davidbisbeemd.com.

DONALD DUPUIS, MD, GENERAL SURGEON Board-certified general surgeon. Specializing in advanced laparoscopic procedures. Providing a wide spectrum of inpatient and outpatient surgical care. Morrisville.

(802) 888-8372, copleyvt.org.

MANSFIELD ORTHOPAEDICS Comprehensive orthopedic care. Nicholas Antell, MD; Brian Aros, MD; Bryan Huber, MD; John Macy, MD; Joseph McLaughlin, MD; and Saul Trevino, MD. On-site radiology and rehabilitation facility. Morrisville and Waterbury. (802) 888-8405, mansfieldorthopaedics.com.

THE WOMEN’S CENTER / OBGYN Board-certified specialist William Ellis, MD, and certified nurse midwives Kipp Bovey, Jackie Bromley, Marge Kelso, and April Vanderveer. Comprehensive gynecological care.

The Women’s Center, (802) 888-8100, copleyvt.org.

PRINTING THE UPS STORE

PERFORMING ARTS FLYNN THEATER Featuring world-class music, Broadway, theater, dance, and family performances on the MainStage, with additional touring shows added throughout the year. 153 Main St., Burlington. Box office (802) 86-FLYNN, (802) 863-5966. flynntix.org.

SPRUCE PEAK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

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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 or more info.

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.

From blueprints and banners to business cards and brochures, we print it. Shipping, scanning, and every other business service you can think of, we are your locally owned business partner. 112 S. Main St., Stowe.

(802) 253-2233. store2614@theupsstore.com.

THE X PRESS Custom business and personal print, copy, and design services. Brochures, letterhead, envelopes, business cards, forms, labels, invitations, banners, specialty products for over 30 years. Office supplies, shipping, scanning/fax service. (802) 253-7883 (fax). Stowe Village, M-F, 8-4:30.

(802) 253-9788. thexpressink.com.

Real estate sales and rentals, representing Stowe and surrounding communities. Our talented team leads the industry in technology, innovation, and passion. 91 Main Street, Stowe. (802) 253-7358. stowevermontrealestate.com.

FOUNTAINS LAND Specializing in the sale and forestland and rural estates.

Please visit fountainsland.com or call (802) 223-8644 for more information about our listings and services.

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, sellers, and rentals. Your goals are our priority. We are fulltime realtors who appreciate the importance of your real estate decisions. (802) 253-1553, info@lrrvermont.com and lrrvermont.com.

MOUNTAIN ASSOCIATES REALTORS Bigger is not always better. We have chosen to remain small, allowing us to offer experienced representation, personalized service, and a team approach to residential and commercial sales. (802) 253-8518. mountainassociates.com.

NEW ENGLAND LANDMARK REALTY Stowe, Vermont real estate. Professional real estate sales.

Beautiful Stowe homes and land. You’re going to love our Stowe Vermont lifestyle. Call today. (866) 324-2427.

(802) 253-4711. nelandmark.com.

PALL SPERA COMPANY REALTORS Stowe and Lamoille County’s leading real-estate company serving Central and Northern Vermont from three offices, and 24 hours a day at pallspera.com. Mountain Road, Stowe (802) 253-9771, Stowe Village (802) 253-1806, Morrisville (802) 888-1102.

STOWE AREA REALTY LLC Our name says it all. Partnering with Stowe Area Realty to manage your commercial, residential, or investment real estate interests will give you a distinct advantage. 1056 Mountain Rd., Suite 1, Stowe. (802) 760-3100. stowearearealty.com.

STOWE COUNTRY HOMES Vacation homes and condos for short- or long-term rental.

Professionally and locally managed. Luxury slopeside properties, secluded private homes, affordable condos—we have what you want, meeting all budgets. (802) 2538132. stowecountryhomes.com.

STOWE RED BARN REALTY 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 RESORT HOMES Luxury vacation homes for the savvy traveler. Book some of Stowe’s best resort homes—online. Well-appointed, tastefully decorated homes at Topnotch, Spruce Peak, and throughout Stowe. (802) 760-1157. stoweresorthomes.com.

RESTAURANTS BENCH Unique to Stowe, wood-fired comfort food including pizza with a focus on local ingredients in a relaxed, rustic modern Vermont atmosphere. Enjoy après ski or dinner. 28 taps, craft beer, cocktails, and extensive wine list. Daily.

492 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-5100. benchvt.com.

THE BISTRO AT TEN ACRES Simply great, handmade, flavorful food. Craft beers, delicious wines, fresh-pressed cocktails. 1820s Vermont Farmhouse with bar seating, elegant dining rooms, fireside lounge, outside dining and beautiful views. Barrows and Luce Hill Roads, Stowe. tenacreslodge.com.

(802) 253-6838.

BLACK DIAMOND BARBEQUE We only use quality meats prepared with homemade rubs and marinades, then slowly smoke using native hardwoods. Our bar features craft beer and cocktails. blackdiamondbbq.com.

BUTLER’S PANTRY “A Breakfast Treat.” Enjoy a homemade meal in our cozy dining room in the heart of Stowe Village. Acai bowls, biscuits and gravy, mimosas, Bloody Marys, daily specials.

On Main Street. Open 8 a.m.

JUNIOR’S STOWE Chef owned and operated. An expansive menu including authentic southern Italian cuisine, homemade pasta, fresh seafood, classics like lasagna and veal parmigiana, and fresh baked bread and desserts. 18 Edson Hill Rd, Stowe.

(802) 253-5677, juniorsatstowe.com.

CLIFF HOUSE RESTAURANT Enjoy panoramic views at 3,625’ near the top of Mt. Mansfield. Award-winning American cuisine with rustic Vermont flair, fresh seasonal, artisanal ingredients.

Tantalizing cocktails. Daily, 11:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Reservations: cliffhouse@stowe.com. (802) 253-3665. stowe.com.

COLD HOLLOW CIDER MILL Homemade is our favorite word. Baked-daily breads and homemade soup, salads, sandwiches, and paninis at our Applecore Luncheonette. Serving beer and hard cider.

Daily 11 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Check for off-season hours.

Waterbury Center. (800) 327-7537, coldhollow.com.

DEPOT ST. MALT SHOP Lunch and dinner, kids’ menu. 1950s soda fountain atmosphere. Thick and creamy malts, frappes, sundaes, ice cream sodas, Vermont beef burgers, sandwiches, homemade soups, fabulous maple walnut salad dressing. Takeout. Stowe Village. (802) 253-4269.

DOC PONDS Eat and drink. Many beers from 24 rotating taps to 50 different bottles and cans, craft cocktails, natural wine, updated bar food. Two turntables with 1,000 records. Bar, lounge, dining room. 294 Mountain Rd., Stowe.

(802) 760-6066. No reservations. docponds.com.

HARRISON’S RESTAURANT & BAR Located in historic Stowe Village serving elevated takes on American dishes with wine, craft beers and cocktails in a unique, parlorlike space. Reservations accepted.

(802) 253-7773, harrisonsstowe.com

HEN OF THE WOOD—WATERBURY Seasonal American food celebrating the farms of Vermont.

Serving dinner 5-9 p.m. Tues.-Sat. 92 Stowe St. Waterbury.

(802) 244-7300. henofthewood.com.

HOB KNOB BAR & LOUNGE Enjoy a drink in our lounge and some comfort food from our kitchen Thursday-Saturday. Put your feet up sit by the fire. Bring the family, play some games and enjoy. hobknobinn.com. (802) 253-8549.

IDLETYME BREWING COMPANY Simple, seasonal comfort food. Lunch/dinner daily from 11:30 a. m. Craft beers, innovative cocktails, extensive wine list. Family friendly, fireplace dining and brew pub. Perfect for groups and special events. Beer to go. 1859 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-4765, idletymebrewing.com.

SINCE 1890

MCCARTHY’S RESTAURANT & CATERING Delicious breakfasts and lunches. Soups, daily specials.

Kids’ menu, low-calorie, low-carb offerings. Homemade muffins, pies etc. Gluten free bread, gluten free muffins, cappuccino, milkshakes, smoothies. 6:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-8626.

MICHAEL’S ON THE HILL Farm-to-table European cuisine. Swiss chef owned.

Restaurateur & Chef of the Year, Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, Best Chefs America, certified green restaurant.

Bar, lounge, groups. 5 minutes from Stowe. Route 100, Waterbury Center. (802) 244-7476. michaelsonthehill.com.

PIECASSO PIZZERIA & LOUNGE Traditional, hand-tossed New York style pizza with modern style, eclectic music, and great vibes. A local favorite, voted a “Top 11 Slice in the Country” by travelandleisure.com. Creative entrees, craft beer, glutenfree menu, online ordering, takeout, delivery.

(802) 253-4411, piecasso.com.

CHARLIE B’S PUB & RESTAURANT Charlie B’s is a Stowe tradition featuring upscale pub fare and an award-winning wine list with Vermont craft brews on tap. Enjoy fireside or deck dining and live entertainment in season. (802) 760-1096, charliebspub.com.

Vermont family owned & operated

PIZZA ON MAIN Come taste the difference. Seven Days food editor stated “best pizza in the state.” Slices, salads, subs, pastas, entrees, Gluten-free, wine, local beers. Dine-in, take-out.

Delivery, catering. Open daily. pizzaonmainvt.com, (802) 888-4155.

Kitchens • Cabinet Hardware Plumbing Fixtures • Paint • Doors Power Tools • Windows • Trusses Roofing • Siding • Decking Lumber and much more

WE HAVE WHAT YOU WANT OR WE WILL GET IT! JOHNSON 405 Railroad St. • (802) 635-2377

STOWE 354 Main St. • (802) 253-9757

PLATE Winner of the “Best New Restaurant” Daisies award 2014.

California flavor meets Vermont style. 50 seats, full bar, open kitchen. Food ranges from serious meat eaters to healthy vegetarians. Everything is homemade, utilizing many local farms. Dinner Wednesday - Sunday 5-close.

91 Main St. (802) 253-2691. platestowe.com.

RESERVOIR RESTAURANT Located in the heart of Waterbury, The Reservoir serves dinner 7 days a week and lunch Saturday and Sunday.

We specialize in local Vermont food and some of the best beers available. (802) 244-7827, waterburyreservoir.com.

SKINNY PANCAKE We’re on a mission to change the world by building a safer, healthier and more delicious food shed while creating everyday enjoyment that is fun and affordable.

Breakfast, sweet and savory crepes, group munchies, craft beer, full bar. At Spruce Peak, Stowe Mountain Resort. skinnypancake.com.

Traditional Vermont Homes and Outbuildings

Local Vermont Timber Energy-Efficient Construction

SOLSTICE Solstice features artisan-inspired cuisine using farm-to-table ingredients, Vermont cheeses and produce, and a flair for culinary creation. Private wine-tastings and dining room for up to 16 guests are also available. (802) 760-4735. solsticevermont.com. Reservations recommended.

SUNSET GRILLE & TAP ROOM Northern-style southern barbecue with a side of sports.

Barbecue, seafood, steaks, burgers. Patio dining, family friendly. NFL Sunday ticket. 30 TVs. Just off the beaten path. Cottage Club Road, Stowe. (802) 253-9281. sunsetgrillevt.com.

SUSHI YOSHI Experience the best in Chinese and Japanese cuisine.

Eclectic menu with something for everyone. The entire family will enjoy our gourmet hibachi steakhouse. Daily.

Outdoor seating in summer. Call for free shuttle. 1128 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-4135. sushistowe.com.

THE STOWE INN Riverfront location overlooking covered bridge in downtown Stowe. We feature prime rib, seafood, and bistrostyle cuisine. We source local ingredients. Pricing from $7 – $31. Book your party or special event today.

(802) 253-4030. stoweinnn.com.

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

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S TOWE-SMUGGLERS BUSINESS DIRECTORY TRAPP FAMILY LODGE—LOUNGE & DINING ROOM Seasonal menus reflecting both Austrian and Vermont traditions. Open daily. Dining room: breakfast 7:30-10:30 a.m.; dinner 5-9 p.m. Reservations: (802) 253-5733. Lounge: lunch 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; tea 3:30-4:30 p.m.; dinner 5-9 p.m.; bar nightly until 11 p.m.; (802) 253-5734.

TRATTORIA LA FESTA Old-fashioned full-service family-style Italian restaurant.

Serving Stowe for 30 years. Wine Spectator best wine list.

Great place to meet locals and celebrities, great music.

Dinner 5 to close; closed on Sundays except on long weekends. Plenty of parking. Reservations: (802) 253-8480. trattoriastowe.com. trattorialafesta@stoweaccess.com.

SKI & SNOWBOARD SHOPS—Retail AJ’S SKI & SPORTS Patagonia, Arcteryx, Burton, Leki, Helly Hanson, Prana, Ibex, Sorel, Dalbello, Volkl, Dale of Norway, Eisbar. Skiboot fitting/sales from Lange, Tecnica, Salomon, Atomic.

Oakley and Smith goggles and accessories. Gloves, mittens, hats. Daily 8-8, Friday and Saturday until 9.

(802) 253-4593. stowesports.com.

MOUNTAINOPS Full-service ski shop specializing in backcountry, alpine, telemark, A/T. Nordic sales, service and rentals for all winter activities. All in a cozy atmosphere like no other. Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-4531. mountainopsvt.com.

TRES AMIGOS Authentic Mexican fare highlighting fresh produce and local meats and cheeses; tequilas and mezcals, margarita and cocktail menu, 24 drafts focusing on Vermont and Mexican-style craft beers. Intimate music space with upper level viewing. 1190 Mountain Rd., (802) 253-6245. tresamigosvt.com.

WHIP BAR & GRILL Casual atmosphere with open grill. Al fresco dining.

Homemade soups, salads and desserts, hand-cut steaks, seafood, vegetarian, children’s menu. Lunch/dinner daily, Sunday brunch . Green Mountain Inn. For reservations: (802) 253-4400, ext. 615. thewhip.com.

ZENBARN Globally inspired cuisine, craft beer and Vermont spirits.

Live music, events, yoga classes, more. Beautiful setting in renovated dairy barn. Quarter mile from Ben & Jerry’s.

179 Guptil Rd., Waterbury, zenbarnvt.com.

(802) 244-8134.

PINNACLE SKI & SPORTS Voted No.1 in customer service. All new rental and demo skis and snowboards. All major brands. Clothing from Marmot, Obermyer, Fly Low, Helly Hansen, others.

Complete line of accessories. Tuning services. Open nightly till 8 p.m., 10 p.m. Fri., Sat. and holidays. (802) 253-7222. pinnacleskisports.com.

STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT SHOPS Expert staff quickly and efficiently addresses your equipment and clothing needs—slopeside. Best selection, competitive pricing. Shops at Spruce Peak: First Chair Alpine Co., Spruce Peak Sports; Shops at Mt Mansfield: Mansfield Sports, Midway Retail, Gondola Summit Shop, Stowe Toys Demo Center. (802) 253-3000.

STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT CROSS COUNTRY CENTER

SHOE STORES WELL HEELED Unique collection of shoes, boots, handbags, belts, clothing, and jewelry in a chicly updated Vermont farmhouse halfway up Stowe’s Mountain Road. Shoes are our specialty and effortlessly chic our motto. Daily 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

(802) 253-6077. wellheeledstowe.com.

SKI & SNOWBOARD SHOPS—Rentals & Demos AJ’S SKI & SPORTS Stowe’s largest selection of rentals and demos. K2, Volkl, Atomic, Line, Rossignol, Blizzard, Burton snowboards. We rent ski clothing, jackets, pants, gloves, mittens. Reserve online and save: stowesports.com. Daily 8-8, Friday and Saturday until 9. (802) 253-4593.

FRONT FOUR RENTAL & DEMO CENTERS Rent at Mansfield Lodge, Stowe Toys Demo Center (next to FourRunner Quad) or Spruce Camp Base Lodge. Latest skis, snowboards, helmets, more. Rentals and tech support where you need it–on the mountain. (802) 253-3000.

PINNACLE SKI & SPORTS Voted No. 1 in customer service. All new rental and demo skis and snowboards. Choose from 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.

SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS ARBORTREK CANOPY ADVENTURES AT SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH Family friendly, year-round treetop adventures including an award-winning zip line canopy tour, treetop obstacle course, and climbing adventure. Adventures from serene to extreme. Ages 4+; Good to moderate health. Reservations recommended. (802) 644-9300. arbortrek.com.

COLD HOLLOW CIDER MILL Watch apple cider being made on an old-fashioned rackand-cloth press. Hours vary, check website. Apple cider and hard cider samples. Live observation beehive. Maple products, bakery, cider donuts made daily. Route 100, Waterbury Center. (800) 327-7537. Daily 8-6 p.m. coldhollow.com.

KING ARTHUR FLOUR Visit King Arthur Flour in Norwich, Vt., for all things baking.

Shop our retail store, sign up for a class, or enjoy a delicious meal in our cafe. (802) 649-3361. kingarthurflour.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.

MONTSHIRE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE

COPLEY WOODLANDS

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.

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Locally owned since 1995, offering the area’s best prices, service, and selection of gear and clothing for Nordic, telemark, alpine touring, snowshoeing, ice climbing. Open 7 days. Burlington. (802) 860-0190.

SKIING–Cross Country

WAKE ROBIN

World-class spa integrates natural surroundings, luxurious amenities, over 150 treatments. Bingham Hydrotherapy waterfall, Hungarian soaking mineral pool, men’s and women’s lounges with steam, sauna, hot tub, Jacuzzi, yoga, Pilates, fitness classes. Open to public.

(802) 760-1083, spaatstoweflake.com.

OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE & GEARX.COM

RETIREMENT COMMUNITY Come home to Stowe, where retirement living is easy.

Spacious condos, fine dining, activities. Available for adults 55+. Copley Woodlands, 125 Thomas Ln., Stowe.

(802) 253-7200 copleywoodlands.com.

THE SPA AT STOWEFLAKE

45 km of groomed trails and 30 km of backcountry terrain.

Rental shop offers Nordic gear, snowshoes, touring gear, classic and skate skis, backcountry, telemark. Group clinics and private lessons on request. (802) 253-3688.

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE OUTDOOR CENTER Over 100 km of groomed and backcountry trails in woodlands and meadows with spectacular mountain views.

Private, group instruction, rentals, retail shop. Celebrating 50 years as North America’s first cross-country ski center, 19682018. (802) 253-8511. Snow reports: (802) 253-5720.

SKI RESORT BOLTON VALLEY SKI RESORT Bolton Valley is the best value in big mountain skiing and riding in Vermont. Enjoy ski-in/ski-out lodging with access to 71 trails and glades. Just 10 minutes from Exit 10 off I-89. 1-877-9BOLTON, boltonvalley.com.

JAY PEAK RESORT Jay Peak offers skiing and riding on the most snow in the East. Vermont's only aerial tram, Pump House indoor waterpark, Ice Haus indoor skating rink, and new Clips & Reels recreational center with climbing gym, arcade, and movie theater. (800) 451-4449 jaypeakresort.com.

SKI TUNING STAY TUNED AT STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT Convenient, slopeside service centers with state-of-the-art tuning and expert technicians. Leave your gear overnight for tomorrow’s first tracks. Mansfield Lodge, Spruce Camp Base Lodge, or Stowe Toys Demo Center. (802) 253-3000.

SPA SPA & WELLNESS CENTER AT STOWE MOUNTAIN LODGE Enjoy our relaxing healing lodge, sauna, herbal steam room, Jacuzzi, and cooling rain shower; full-service salon; 18 treatment rooms; full fitness center with heated outdoor pool and classes. (802) 760-4782. stowemountainlodge.com.

The Montshire Museum of Science is a hands-on science museum with a focus on the natural and physical sciences, ecology, and technology. Located on 110 acres, it also features trails and nature exhibits. montshire.org.

STOWE BOWL Stowe’s greatest hotspot. Come bowl in a swanky setting with a state-of-the-art visual experience, a full bar, tasty food, and fireplace lounge. Casual entertainment, parties, and events. stowebowl.com.

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

STOWE KITCHEN BATH & LINENS More than just a kitchen store. Gourmet kitchenware, shower curtains, clothing and gifts. Furniture, rugs, bedding, spa products, clothing, jewelry, Vineyard Vines, Le Creuset, cooking classes, design services. 1813 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-8050. stowekitchen.net.

VERMONT TEDDY BEAR FACTORY TOURS One of the most popular Vermont activities. Come and experience our store, take a factory tour and make your own bear. 6655 Shelburne Rd., just south of Shelburne Village. (802) 985-3001. vermontteddybear.com.

SPECIALTY FOODS HARVEST MARKET Stowe’s one-stop gourmet store. Delicious salads, entrées, baked goods and breads—prepared by our own chefs and bakers. Specialty cheeses and meats. Espresso bar. Farm fresh produce. Great wine selection. Daily 7-7 (in season).

(802) 253-3800. harvestatstowe.com.

LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES Specialty chocolates made with local ingredients, including caramels, clusters, truffles, Five Star Bars, hand-whipped fudge, and a café serving award-winning hot chocolate and ice cream. Plus plenty of factory seconds.

(802) 241-4150. lakechamplainchocolates.com.

SPORTING GOODS

SNOWFLAKE TAXI

POWER PLAY SPORTS Northern Vermont’s leader in winter gear. Peruse our huge selection of new and used skis, XC, snowboard, splitboard, and hockey gear at the area’s best prices. Service and rentals available. 35 Portland St., Morrisville.

(802) 888-6557. powerplaysportsvt.com.

HARVEST MARKET

Local family owned business. New vehicles. Safe, reliable drivers. $2 per person/$3 per mile. 24-hour service. Flat rate to airports: Burlington/Boston/Montreal/New York.

Delivery service available. (802) 253-7666. Book online snowflaketaxi.com.

STOWE BEVERAGE

TRAVEL & TOURS 4 POINTS BREWERY TOURS

WATERBURY SPORTS Your recreation destination is central Vermont’s most convenient place to rent, repair, or buy skis and snowboards including XC, backcountry, and splitboards. A huge apparel and hockey selection. 46 S. Main St., (802) 882-8595. waterburysportvt.com.

Vermont is home to some great microbreweries and several are close by. We pick up in the local area, make 5 stops and guarantee a good time! Call Rick @ (802) 793-9246, 4pointsvt.com.

WEDDING FACILITIES CUSTOM ON-SITE YOGA

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.

TELEVISION & CABLE

Help set the tone for your event to be calm, centered and loving, with gentle yoga and meditation. Over 30 years experience. Kate Graves, Stowe Yoga Center. stoweyoga.com, kgravesmt@gmail.com. (802) 253-8427.

EDSON HILL Edson Hill offers an exclusive, quintessential Vermont country estate with picturesque views, 23 luxurious guestrooms, and a talented culinary team to help create the wedding of your dreams. edsonhill.com, (802) 253-7371.

THE STOWE INN

STOWE CABLE Providing reliable high-speed internet, cable television, and phone service throughout Stowe and Jeffersonville for over 30 years. Located at 172 Thomas Lane in Stowe.

(802) 253-9282, stowecable.com.

ONCE UPON A TIME TOYS/THE TOY STORE Ever launched an Estes Rocket? Tested your skills on a Ninjaline? Vermont’s most exciting store for 42 years.

Lego/Playmobil, science/building toys, party/art supplies.

Birthday? Come in for a free balloon. 1799 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-8319. stowetoys.com.

Leave the planning to us. Perfect wedding location in the heart of Stowe in any season. Indoor and outdoor spaces for weddings, receptions, or rehearsals. Spa bridal services from hair to make-up. (802) 253-7355, stoweflake.com.

TRAPP FAMILY LODGE From intimate ceremonies in our lodge to grand receptions under a tent with spectacular mountain views, we tailor to individual tastes and budgets. European-style cuisine, accommodations. (800) 826-7000, (802) 253-8511. trappfamily.com.

TRANSPORTATION & TAXIS

WINE & BEER

BLAZER TRANSPORTATION

BLACK CAP COFFEE & BEER

Stowe’s premier taxi service for over 15 years. Now with state-of-the-art GPS, satellite dispatching. Offering the best price in airport transfers. Licensed and insured. Call anytime (802) 253-0013.

PEG’S PICK UP/STOWE TAXI For all your transportation needs. Airport, bus, train.

(Burlington, Boston, Montréal, New York). Errands and deliveries. Daily courier runs to Burlington. Full taxi service.

(802) 253-9490, (800) 370-9490, (800) 293-PEGS.

Full-service wine, beer, liquor, mixers, snacks. Stowe’s best wine selection. Best price in town on Vermont maple syrup.

Cigars. Free local paper with wine purchases. 9-9 Monday through Saturday; Sunday 11-6. (802) 253-4525.

STOWE PUBLIC HOUSE 500 highly rated and local craft beers, wine, and hard ciders. Regional cheeses and specialty foods sampled daily. Gifts, gadgets, books, and accessories. Bar open daily. 109 Main St., Stowe Village. (802) 585-5785, stowepublichouse.com.

STOWE WINE AND CHEESE Choose from hundreds of wines, craft beers, artisanal cheeses, pates, gift baskets, maple syrup and all things Vermont. Taste in Swirl wine bar, buy in the store.

Mountain Road, Stowe. Facebook. (802) 253-8606, stowewineandcheese.com.

WINERIES & SPIRITS

Historic Stowe inn offers intimate weddings from five to 170 persons on four beautiful acres overlooking river and covered bridge. Outdoor gazebo, rehearsal dinners, wedding venue, and outdoor covered deck. Bridal suites and spa rooms. (802) 253-4030. stoweinn.com.

STOWEFLAKE MOUNTAIN RESORT & SPA

TOYS & GAMES

Great wine selection Napa Cabernets to Argentinean Malbecs. Local Vermont microbrews and farmhouse ciders.

Weekly specials. Daily 7-7 (in season). (802) 253-3800. harvestatstowe.com.

BOYDEN VALLEY WINERY & SPIRITS Vermont’s award-winning winery, cidery, and distillery.

Tastings, free tours, gourmet cheese plates. Two locations: Cambridge Winery & Tasting Room, (802) 644-8151; and Waterbury Tasting Room Annex at Cold Hollow Cider Mill.

(802) 241-3674. boydenvalley.com.

SHELBURNE VINEYARD Taste our award-winning wines and enjoy touring our ecofriendly winery to learn about our adventure growing grapes and making wine in Vermont’s northern climate.

Open everyday 11-5. (802) 985-8222. shelburnevineyard.com.

YOGA & PILATES STOWE YOGA CENTER

Awesome selection of Vermont, American and imported craft beers. Regular tasting events. Fresh coffee, authentic espresso, house-baked pastries, breakfast, sandwiches.

Daily at 7 a.m. 144 Main St., Stowe, 63 Lower Main St., Morrisville. See us on Facebook.

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.

Gentle multi-level classes include guided meditation.

Special series: chakras, prenatal, chair yoga. Custom classes for your event on-site or at the studio: wedding, bachelorette, athletic recovery, reunions. Online schedule. 515 Moscow Rd. (802) 253-8427, stoweyoga.com.

YOGA BARN AT WELL HEELED Serene studio offering a full range of classes from vigorous flow to restorative practices. Talented instructors at our peaceful barn studio offer something for everyone. Privates, groups, retreats available. 2850 Mountain Rd, Stowe. theyogabarnstowe.com for schedule.

While in town, don’t forget to pick up a copy of the Stowe Reporter community newspaper for the latest nightlife, art exhibits, sales, restaurant specials, real estate, and more.

On newsstands everywhere or ask your concierge.

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INDEX AJ’S SKI & SPORTS 1 ALCHEMIST BEER 151 ALL DECKED OUT 221 ALLAIRE CONSTRUCTION 233 ALPINE MODERN HOMES 193 ANDERSON & ASSOCIATES 233 ARBORTREK CANOPY ADVENTURES 73 BAGEL 160 BARRE ELECTRIC & LIGHTING SUPPLY 179 BARRE TILE 218 BEN & JERRY’S 170 BE.NATURAL BEAUTY 128 BENCH 143 BENSONWOOD 217 BERLIN CITY ALFA ROMEO 67 BIERHALL AT TRAPP FAMILY LODGE 145 BIRDFOLK COLLECTIVE 133 BIRDS BE SAFE 195 BISTRO AT TEN ACRES 171 BLACK CAP COFFEE 175 BLACK DIAMOND BARBECUE 167 BOLTON VALLEY SKI RESORT 61 BOURNE’S ENERGY 203 BOUTIQUE 135 BOYDEN VALLEY WINERY & SPIRITS 157 BRYAN MEMORIAL GALLERY 106 BUNYABUNYA 141 BURKE MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT 57 BURLINGTON FURNITURE CO. 115 BURLINGTON MARBLE & GRANITE 221 BURLINGTON MATTRESS 183 BUTCHERY 23 BUTLER’S PANTRY 160 BUTTERNUT MOUNTAIN FARM 106 CAMARA SLATE PRODUCTS 222 CATAMOUNT FISHING ADVENTURES 71 CHUCK’S HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING 207 CLEARCHOICEMD 230 CLOSE TO HOME 209 COCOPLUM APPLIANCES 195, 223 COLD HOLLOW CIDER MILL 25 COLDWELL BANKER CARLSON RE INSIDE FRONT COLORADO MOUNTAIN COLLEGE 127 COMMODITIES NATURAL MARKET 174 COMMODORES INN 167 COMPASS CONSTRUCTION 224 CONTEMPORARY DENTAL ARTS 22 COPLEY WOODLANDS 122 COUNTRY STORE ON MAIN 137 CUSHMAN DESIGN GROUP 201 CYNTHIA KNAUF LANDSCAPE DESIGN 194 DEPOT STREET MALT SHOPPE 170 DESIGN STUDIO OF STOWE 217 DOC PONDS 149 DR. ROBERT C. BAUMAN OPTOMETRY 16 DONALD P BLAKE JR BUILDER 223 ECCO 141 ECK MACNEELY ARCHITECTS 209 EDGEWATER GALLERY 107 EDSON HILL MANOR 169 ESSEX SHOPPES & CINEMA 140 EXPRESS CARE 10 FERRO ESTATE & CUSTOM JEWELERS 2 FIELD GUIDE 147 FINE WINE CELLARS 2 FIRST CHAIR ALPINE COMPANY BOGNER 33 FIRST CHAIR ALPINE COMPANY KJUS 5 FLAVIN ARCHITECTS 205 FLOOR COVERINGS INTERNATIONAL 227 FLOORING AMERICA 219 FLYNN CENTER 129

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TO

ADVERTISERS

FORGET-ME-NOT-SHOP FOUNTAINS LAND GEOBARNS GOOD STUFF GORDON DIXON CONSTRUCTION GORDON’S WINDOW DECOR GREEN ENVY BOUTIQUE GREEN MOUNTAIN FINE ART GALLERY GREEN MOUNTAIN FIREPLACES GREEN MOUNTAIN INN GREY FOX INN GRISTMILL BUILDERS HARRISON’S RESTAURANT HARRY HUNT ARCHITECTS HARVEST MARKET HOB KNOB INN BAR & LOUNGE IDLETYME BREWING CO. IN COMPANY CLOTHING INNER BOOTWORKS INSIDE OUT GALLERY J. GRAHAM GOLDSMITH ARCHITECTS JAY PEAK VERMONT JOHNSON HARDWARE RENTAL, FARM & GARDEN JOHNSON WOOLEN MILLS JUNIOR’S STOWE KATHERINE GRAVES BODYWORK THERAPIST KING ARTHUR FLOUR LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES LANDSHAPES LINDAL CEDAR HOMES LITTLE RIVER HOTGLASS STUDIO & GALLERY LITTLE RIVER REALTY LOEWEN WINDOW CENTER OF VT & NH MAD RIVER ANTLER MARTIN WERTH LANDSCAPING & EXCAVATING MATTRESS & SOFA WAREHOUSE MCCARTHY’S RESTAURANT & CATERING MCKENZIE MEATS MICHAEL’S ON THE HILL MONTSHIRE MUSEUM MOUNTAIN LOGWORKS MOUNTAINOPS OUTDOOR GEAR NATURAL MATTRESS CO NORTHERN VERMONT UNIVERSITY NORTHWOOD GALLERY ONCE UPON A TIME TOYS OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE & GEARX.COM PARKER & STEARNS PATTERSON & SMITH CONSTRUCTION PAUL ROBERT ROUSSELLE ARCHITECT PAUL ROGERS PHOTOGRAPHY PEREGRINE DESIGN/BUILD PICNIC SOCIAL PIECASSO PIZZERIA & LOUNGE PINK COLONY PINNACLE PHYSICAL THERAPY PINNACLE SKI & SPORTS PIZZA ON MAIN PK COFFEE PLANET HARDWOOD PLATE POMPANOOSUC MILLS RECOVERY ROOM INTERIORS RED BARN REALTY OF VERMONT RED HOUSE FINE HOMEBUILDING RESERVOIR RESTAURANT & TAPROOM ROBERT PAUL GALLERIES ROCK ART BREWERY ROOST AT TOPNOTCH SALON SALON ST. JOHNSBURY ACADEMY

139 224 226 128 225 222 119 105 65 169 158 29 179 225 29 146 165 125 17 123 180 27 51 139 173 72 177 174 229 216 109 213 231 137 229 227 161 159 150 73 219 21 224 59 137 139 69 237 191 211 52 216 147 165 13 52 17 161 177 226 146 181 231 201 211 143 111 171 55 52 127

SELDOM SCENE INTERIORS 3 SHELBURNE VINEYARD 179 SISLER BUILDERS 220 SKINNY PANCAKE 173 SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH DISTILLERY 158 SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH RESORT 45 SPORTIVE 37 SPRUCE PEAK ARTS 121 STEEL CONSTRUCTION 230 STERLING COLLEGE 63 STOVE & FLAG WORKS 185 STOWE AREA REALTY 187 STOWE BEE BAKERY 9 STOWE BEVERAGE & LIQUOR STORE 154 STOWEBOWL 31 STOWE CABLEVISION 230 STOWE COUNTRY HOMES 221 STOWE CRAFT DESIGN 117 STOWE FAMILY PRACTICE 7 STOWE HARDWARE & DRY GOODS 235 STOWE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 72 STOWE KITCHEN BATH & LINENS 118 STOWE MERCANTILE 113 STOWE MOUNTAIN LODGE SPA 47 STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT ADVENTURES 11 STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT DINING 155 STOWE MOUNTAIN RESORT GEAR & RENTALS 19 STOWE RESORT HOMES 15 STOWE VILLAGE MASSAGE 71 STOWE WINE & CHEESE 150 STOWE YOGA CENTER 72 STOWEFLAKE RESORT INSIDE BACK SUNSET GRILLE & TAP ROOM 161 SUSHI YOSHI 142 SWIMMING HOLE 49 TEKTONIKA STUDIO ARCHITECTS 220 TIM MEEHAN BUILDERS 218 TOPNOTCH RESORT & SPA 55 TRADEWIND AVIATION 69 TRAPP FAMILY LODGE 145 TRES AMIGOS MEXICAN 143 VERMONT ARTISAN COFFEE & TEA 171 VERMONT BED STORE 189 VERMONT ELECTRONICS 226 VERMONT FLANNEL 135 VERMONT TEDDY FACTORY 52 VERMONT TRAILWEAR 61 VILLAGE GREEN AT STOWE BACK COVER VISIONS OF VERMONT 123 VOLANSKY STUDIO 195 VON BARGEN’S JEWELRY 43 WAGNER HODGSON LANDSCAPE ARCH 215 WAKE ROBIN 215 WELL HEELED 41 WENDELL’S FURNITURE 189 WEST BRANCH GALLERY & SCULPTURE PARK 103 WHIP BAR & GRILL 154 WINTERWOOD TIMBER FRAMES 224 WOODEN NEEDLE 137 YANKEE BARN HOMES 213 YARN 118 YELLOW TURTLE 133 ZENBARN 153 YOGA BARN 41

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