Why do Vermonters live where they do? Historically, settlement patterns have been shaped by natural resources and the industries that spring up around them. Workers flocked to Barre for its granite; to Proctor for its marble; to Mount Tabor for its timber; and to St. Albans and Island Pond for the railroad lines to bigger markets.…
Outside of Chittenden County, many Vermont communities are struggling with declining population, school consolidation and poor connectivity. When a key retailer or employer closes, it can create a domino effect of shuttering businesses. Here are scenes of some small towns with big issues. (Photos: Glenn Russell and Don Whipple) Related Stories
Is there a mold problem at Champlain Valley Dispensary? Yes, say five former employees who spoke to VTDigger.org for a story published December 4. “There were a lot of times when it was questionable,” one former cultivator told the website. “If it was my personal grow, that would be unacceptable.” “There was a lot of…
September 12, 1947-December 24, 2017 It has now been a year since you so suddenly and tragically left us. There are no words to describe how much you are missed, my love. Mark Related Stories
The only public playground in Guildhall is gone now. So are the baseball field, the school and most of the children. The town of 255 people in the Northeast Kingdom is feeling the impacts of Vermont’s low birth rate. Many of the local institutions and traditions that once served families and children have withered, and…
Imagine a Coen brothers western that combines the stark fatalism of No Country for Old Men with the black comedy and ornate wordplay of their True Grit. Now imagine six of those westerns rolled into one. Better yet, just turn on your TV. The new movie from the world’s greatest filmmaking duo is now playing…
The word spread far and wide, all across the globe: Vermont was offering people $10,000 to move to the state. Wow, free money! Ehh, not so fast. In reality, it’s a small grant program aimed at a specific category of people: those who move to Vermont and continue to work for employers who are some…
Jack Keefe doesn’t smoke much weed, but he sure would like to sell it. The middle-age proprietor of the Jacksonville General Store displays plenty of local products inside his 1,600-square-foot shop. So why not Green Mountain State-grown cannabis? After all, Vermont legislators are likely to consider legalizing pot sales during the upcoming session. “My 18-year-old…
A group of New Zealand students visiting Vermont this week has a new appreciation for walking in someone else’s shoes. Morristown residents lent the 11 Kiwi teens boots so the boys could enjoy the snow during their trip to the states. “Only in Vermont, right?” said Marsha Cox, who put out a plea for footwear…
Burlington’s Anthill Collective is constantly on the move promoting street art and hip-hop culture in Vermont. From making murals for A_Dog Day and the Above the Radar festival to the group’s monthly hip-hop showcase at the Monkey House, the collective always has something in the works. The latest is the AnteGallery, a one-stop shop for…
You can’t miss the mural on the far wall of Hardwick’s Galaxy Bookshop. As the moon rises on a snowy evening, animals cavort, constellations sparkle and smiling people move boxes from one building to another. Created by local artist Tara Goreau, the scene depicts a key event in the store’s history, one that offers a…
Last year, second and third graders at Vermont’s Holland Elementary School rejected their teacher’s lesson plan and proposed one of their own — to write a history of Holland. According to the staple-bound book they published, the remote town on the Canadian border started its first school in a barn in 1811. By 1882, it…
(Self-released, CD, digital) Everyone wants the big, glitzy present at Christmas. But the best Christmas presents are the ones you didn’t ask for or even know you wanted. Like, for example, the Whirley Pop stove-top popcorn maker Santa gave me more than two decades ago that I still use. Every time I pop a batch,…
Small-Town Troubles [Re “The Only Name in Town,” November 21]: I read Chelsea Edgar’s story on South Woodstock intently, looking for any strategies, any ideas that could be applied to my town, Wheelock. Like South Woodstock, it has a small population and a need for more volunteer firemen. We have second homes, too, but they…
Will’s Store on the town common in Chelsea is appropriately named — its proprietor, Will Gilman, wanted nothing more in life than to live and work in the town where he was born and raised. Even as a little kid in the Chelsea Public School, he imagined a job that would allow him to stay…
Things were not looking good for the Upper Valley town of Bradford — population 2,797 — in the autumn of 2015. In August of that year, Hill’s 5 & 10 shuttered after years of declining sales. Since 1959, the family-run shop had proffered everything from rain boots, work gloves and Johnson Woolen Mills jackets to…
“Oh, my God, is that freaking Mario Kart 64?” I muttered upon entering Babes Bar in Bethel. A projector blasted the classic Nintendo video game’s opening menu on a giant screen in the back of the pub. Four controllers lay on the floor, awaiting challengers eager to enter a breakneck race around Wario Stadium. Directly…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Robert Louis Stevenson published his gothic novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in 1886. It was a best seller and quickly got turned into a theatrical production. In the ensuing 132 years, there have been well over a hundred further adaptations of the story into film and stage…
Meadmaker Ricky Klein taps kegs of sparkling honey wine to celebrate the season of snow-blown days and long, frosty nights. Outside, bonfires and steaming mugs of spiced mead from Groennfell Meadery and sister biz Havoc Mead warm souls willing to brave the weather, while bottomless plates of Scandinavian-style pulled pork and other sustaining snacks keep…
Dear Scarlett, How do you know whether someone is “the one”? Signed, Mrs. Right(female, 19) Dear Mrs. Right, You can never be 100 percent sure. And, well, “the one” might change over the course of your lifetime. The person who may seem like Mr(s). Right today might just be Mr(s). Right Now. Nonetheless, there are…
Highland Farm was a deal — at least when a Utah developer bought the 500 acres of forested hillside for a cool $1.4 million nearly three years ago. The Sharon property boasts two ponds, a horse barn, a caretaker’s house and sweeping views of the surrounding valley. It was the crown jewel of the 29 properties…
Farmer of the Year may be the most Vermont movie ever made in Minnesota. To explain: Directors Vince O’Connell and Kathy Swanson shot the film in the Midwest, much of it in Swanson’s hometown of Tyler, Minn. (population 1,100). Then the couple, who own YellowHouse Films, did most of the postproduction at their yellow house…
(Self-released, digital download) Are the ’90s back? In Burlington, at least, it seems the halcyon days of big, distorted guitars, angsty lyrics and pounding drums have indeed returned. Between the pop-punk love letter that was Preece’s Bad Choices Make Good Stories and the new Phantom Suns record, Caldera, you’d forgive a guy for thinking Bill…
The small Northeast Kingdom city of Newport boasts a Catholic church of staggering proportions. Built of local granite, it sits on a dramatic perch overlooking Lake Memphremagog and nearby Canada. Its twin towers are 105 feet tall, its walls nearly three feet thick. It seats 550 people on pews that cant gradually toward the altar…
Greensboro, population 762, has long had a reputation as a hideaway for well-to-do second-home owners and highbrow luminaries. Wallace Stegner, William Rehnquist and Margaret Mead, to name a few, have all summered in this sleepy Northeast Kingdom outpost on the shores of Caspian Lake. Now, Greensboro is also becoming known as a cultural destination, thanks…
Dennis LeBlanc’s dental practice hasn’t changed much since he first hung a shingle 43 years ago. The 69-year-old Derby dentist has kept abreast of technological advances — dental implants, cosmetic dentistry, better filling and bonding materials, and so on — and his office has expanded to include four dental hygienists. Out in the waiting room,…
On a quiet Sunday evening at the Shoreham Inn and Pub, a pair of women chatted over glasses of wine at the bar. Nearby, a solo guest ordered the burger-and-beer special. The small crowd was mostly locals, co-owner Andrew Done said later. Tucked into a front corner table sat Judy and Will Stevens, owners of…
