This past year the Ottauquechee School raised money to undertake a cutting-edge learning program for their students. With donations from the annual Scholastic Book Fair and a Donors Choose Campaign (donorschoose.org), Rebecca Whitney, the school’s library media specialist and Principal Cathy Newton managed to create “STEAM Time” to focus on: science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. Working in collaboration with the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education at the University of Vermont, dedicated STEAM learning time found its way into the little big school in Quechee.

The general idea of the program is to create the time and space for students to learn how to approach these subjects, how to work together as a group to focus on an issue, and to collaborate on ideas and resolutions.… Read More

For most of us, our first exposure to geology in school was the study of the Grand Canyon. Awed by its immense size and varying nature, it seemed improbable that a mere river could cut such a wide, and deep swath through the earth, even with millions of years to get the task completed. At close to 300 miles long, up to 18 miles across, and a mile deep, the Grand Canyon inspires awe, with about 5 million visitors going to see this wonder each year. Even though new evidence suggests part of the canyon formed millions of years before the Colorado River existed, the power of water, and erosion are on display at this American landmark.… Read More

Revels North is a theatre company steeped in tradition, according to their history on their website, revelsnorth.org. “Revels” began in 1957 when John Meredith Langstaff staged the first production of Christmas Revels in New York City, where its traditional songs, dances, mime, and a mummers’ play introduced a new way of celebrating the winter solstice. By 1974, Revels North was founded as a non-profit arts organization providing year-round, multi-generational programming which celebrates the power of traditional song, dance, storytelling, and ritual.

Revels has been a profound positive experience for those in the Upper Valley for over 40 years. Upper Valley local and Quechee resident, Heather Nowlan, and her two children, Monet, 12, and Teelin, 9, had such an incredible experience the first time she saw a performance that she jumped at the chance to be involved.… Read More

You might think that a guy who’s made a career as a firefighter, with a retirement career as a balloon chaser, would be kind of a wild man, but Tom Ritland is soft-spoken and quiet. Perhaps after a lifetime of springing suddenly to full alert, wearing, and carrying at least 60 pounds of equipment into life-threatening situations, and dealing with constantly changing catastrophes, he feels no need to swagger. Here’s a man who has seen a lot of disasters, and done more than his fair share to remedy them. He knows the value of forethought. He prefers prevention to having to fix problems, and he knows that the best explanation is no good if the recipient doesn’t get it.… Read More

Sooner or later, it happens to all of us. An injury changes the regular routine of life, or an illness pops up to put a severe crimp in our passions.  Possibly a life-changing disability forces us to give up a once vigorous lifestyle. These changes to our physical being, whether temporary, or permanent, cause us to re-think our activities, and adapt to a new normal.

Quechee resident Gail Seaver knows all to well how an illness can disrupt one’s life, and dramatically change a lifestyle.  A diagnosis of a rare form of cancer, followed by surgery, and chemotherapy, proved to her that life is an evolving series of unexpected occurrences.… Read More

Eric Emery met Andrea Chula while attending Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire. After graduation, the couple married and moved to Denver. Eric’s father had recently passed away from pancreatic cancer, and instead of settling in New Hampshire they decided to go live someplace new before their careers and family made that more difficult. Both avid skiers, they chose Denver because they wanted to spend some time “skiing in the powder in the Rockies.” When not on the slopes, Eric worked in sales for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Andrea worked as a pre-school teacher at the Cerebral Palsy School of Colorado.

They didn’t stay away for too long.… Read More

Je me souviens… “I remember.” The motto of Canada’s Quebec Province appears on license plates and welcome centers at the border. Penned in 1883, the lines continue, “I remember/ That born under the lily/I grow under the rose.” It’s so true! Quebec City’s 400+ years of history as a settlement began under the fleur-de-lis of France and grew under the rose of Britain. The French language and culture are strong in Quebec, and crossing the border by car, after a short drive up I-91 from Quechee, it’s easy to feel as if you crossed the ocean.

David and Brenda Barrell, and Chet and Debbie Marcus, drove to Quebec (we Americans call it Quebec City) in July of 2017 during the visit of the Tall Ships to this beautiful port city on the St.… Read More

The next time you see Joe O’Donnell around the Quechee Green, you should probably stop and shake his hand. If you know Joe, you were probably going to do that anyway, but this time around you should ask him about his self-published book, Deadly Codes: A Gallagher Novel, and the feature-length film Bent that’s based on his book. Joe’s gregarious and positive nature makes him truly enjoyable to interact with, and his excitement is contagious.

Previous to attending the premiere of a movie based on his own novel, Joe had already worked a highly reputable career in pediatric dentistry. He went to school in his home state of Pennsylvania and then Boston, specializing in pediatric dentistry.… Read More

Some people restlessly move from place to place, while others find themselves, fortunately, placed in an environment that offers work and entertainment to fill a lifetime. Ron Paprocki is an archetype of the second category. Born in Rochester, NY, he went to school there, and went to the University of Rochester as an undergraduate, receiving a degree with high distinction in French Literature. However, his degree was not a good indicator of where he was heading.

A foundation in higher education

Ron stayed put and began working for the University as an advisor, in academic support and counseling positions. Then he moved into administrative work, beginning with budgeting and planning.… Read More

While it might be true that in the spring a young man’s fancy turns to love, for us older guys it turns to more practical things: like ice fishing. Or, is that just me? Contrary to what you might have heard it is ice fishing, and not polo, which is the true Sport of Kings and manly men.

My friend Doug Cheng told me “Roll down your window” as we crept his three-ton Toyota Tundra out onto the frozen surface of Lake Fairlee in Fairlee, Vermont. “Why?” I asked, having never done this before in my life. “Because if we break through the ice, you can swim out the window,” he explained.… Read More