Craftsbury’s underworld was unknown to me until two of its secret servicemen guided me into the town’s treasure filled depths. In early June I discovered a narrow footpath leading to a cool, windowless room underneath the Craftsbury Public Library. Inside I found Tom Twetten, a trustee of the Library, presiding over cartons and cartons books, […]
Julia Shipley
Last Saturday the folks who drop whatever they’re doing to put out our fires and rescue us from car wrecks also cooked us dinner. “It’s a way to say thank you to the community,” said Fire Chief Walter Gutzmann, who has served on the Volunteer Fire Department continuously since 1969, a just a few years […]
Recently, my neighbor, Eric Hanson, the Vermont State Loon Biologist and his wife, Anne packed the car for a trip to Anne’s college reunion. Early Friday morning, Eric stashed one more item in the back: a Styrofoam steak box. By 5:30 am they were all headed south on I-89 toward Massachusetts– Eric and Anne and […]
The Craftsbury General Store is where many of my small town’s groggy souls fill up their cups and take their first slurp of coffee. For instance this morning, Barb stopped by on her way to work at the Academy, followed by Paula who works at the Flower Shop, then Sarah who runs the Art House, […]
A unique project in the small Vermont town of Cabot reveals what its people, young and old, treasure most.
On the map, the Craftsbury Outdoor Center’s “Grand Tour” looks like a generous oval scrawled by a 3-year-old. The Outdoor Center, a four-season resort tucked beside Great Hosmer Pond, has a network of cross-country ski trails that unspool from its campus and travel dozens of kilometers beyond it. My favorite, the Grand Tour, appears as […]
Ever wondered what it takes to drive a snowplow in New England? We asked seasoned snowplow operator Rusty Churchill: “How are the roads in Vermont?
I hewed the road out of wilderness in 1779 with my pickaxe as one of Colonel Hazen’s men. I took over the yoke in 1789 when one of the oxen sickened, pulling the sled the last hundred miles to Wolcott. I herded a thousand turkeys over to Boston in 1826, making twelve miles a day […]
Magazine
Iron Skillet Toss Competition
Among the country-fair staples of hog calling, log rolling, tractor pulling, and other rural feats, is the iron skillet toss — the unique art of hurling a frying pan. Each July the Lamoille County Field Days in East Johnson, Vermont, hosts a “Ladies’ Underhanded Skillet Toss,” wherein females in six age divisions, from “Peewees” (7 and […]