Scots like to compete, explains Lezlie Webster, founder of Scottish Arts and organizer of the Quechee Highland Games, formerly known as the Quechee Scottish Festival. This year’s Games will be on Saturday, August 26 at the Quechee Polo Field on Dewey’s Mills Road. Hardcore aficionados should know that solo pipers begin playing for judges at 8am, athletic competitions start at 9, with massed bands playing and parading at noon.

A highlight of the weekend is Highland dancing

The event will include food provided by Salt Hill Pub – it’s a great opportunity to munch meat pies and stock up on shortbread – and musical entertainment by two different bands, not even counting the bagpiping.… Read More

The old Maxham place is Vermont-speak for ‘the farm formerly owned by the Maxham family.’ The farm now owned by Tim Shine and his family has a new name – River Highlands Farm – as well as a unique name for their barn. Tim and his daughter Molly explain why.

Traffic whips right along on Quechee Main Street between the Quechee Club and the Taftsville Bridge. But, at about halfway, there’s a landmark that does more than its share to slow people down. An old farmhouse sits right next to a large barn and a red milk house. It’s the barn that people are looking for.… Read More

Christopher and Andrew Emerson have quite the connection to Quechee. The brothers grew up on Long Island, NY, with their parents Michael (Mike) and Elizabeth Emerson. They skied in Quechee competitively, were accepted into impressive military academies, and continued to both excel in college and ski competitively. I had the opportunity to speak with Elizabeth about her sons as well as her Quechee experience.

Before Elizabeth and Mike met, Mike’s parents had retired to Quechee. While both found it a beautiful place to visit, the commute was five-plus hours in the best of times, and it made it difficult. That changed when the family came for a visit when Christopher was 11 and Andrew was 5.… Read More

Juanita Zerda, Tony Carlin, and their two boys, Liam, 11, and Juan, 9, have their home base in Winchester, MA, but own a second home here in Quechee. Like many Quechee homeowners, they were drawn here after visiting with a friend and seeing all that Quechee has to offer.

Although this time it was not a friend who owned a house up here, which is often the story, but instead a friend who had been here for a corporate retreat and remembered how much they liked it here. After visiting a few times, Juanita and Tony rented a house the following winter and decided to purchase a home.… Read More

Audrey and Ted Raycroft are Quechee, Vermont homeowners who, for most of the year, reside in Sherborn, Massachusetts, as do the co-owners of their Quechee home, Suzanne and Adam Craig. When Raycroft began looking for a house, she did not set out intending to share with a friend; that happened by a little twist of Vermont fate. As time goes by, however, she has found it is a wonderful way to have a second home and, often, increases the fun of trips to Vermont.

There is an extended network of families and individuals from Sherborn, who own homes in and around the Quechee area.… Read More

A skier, swimmer, and a dedicated honors student, Victoria Carlson of Wenham, Massachusetts, does it all! Carlson’s ties to Quechee precede her. Her grandparents, Deb and Dick Carlson, built a house at the top of the Quechee Ski Hill in the early 1970s. Her great-grandmother, Ann Williams, named the road the house is on, Williams Lane. Her father, David, and his brother, Dan, learned to ski on the Quechee Ski Hill as kids. So, when David and his wife, Carol Harlow-Carlson, had Victoria it was only natural that she would spend a great deal of time in Vermont!

Carlson’s love of skiing started with lessons at age 3 with the Quechee Ski Bees.… Read More

Quechee is blessed with an outstanding collection of capable, energetic people who turn their talents to the support of many worthy causes, both local and larger. Notable in this group is Diane Ames, full of vigor and wide smiles. She’s raised three successful sons (and is working her magic on three grandchildren), accumulated an impressive résumé and greased the wheels of the world with extensive volunteering. With good reason she has been called “a volunteer extraordinaire!”

Roots in volunteering

Diane was born and brought up in Washington, D.C. She can remember air raid sirens, and the blackout shades and ration books of World War II.… Read More

Raymond and Suella Clark and their four Clark children—Matthew, 17, Anthony, 15, Erin, 13 and Kiera, 8—have had a home in Quechee for the past five years. This is a family that doesn’t take for granted the quality of life that Quechee offers. They enjoy every minute of their time here.

Ray and Suella grew up in South Africa, in Umkomaas, a small town on the east coast that, Ray says, felt very much like Quechee—Ray’s parents were both born in South Africa, as was Suella’s dad; her mom was born in London. Ray and Suella met when they were nine-year-olds sitting next to each other in school.… Read More

In 1977, the Peter family of Connecticut bought a lot in Quechee and built a vacation home for their family of four children and their wider circle of active friends. Margot and Latham (Lee) loved skiing, tennis, hiking, as well any other sport that looked like fun. Their children followed suit.

Peter Peter, their third child, said his parents wanted a casual home, with an open feel and no grass to mow and many beds. His mom liked the opportunity to have family members and guests share in the cooking. Now it’s the next generation who enjoy the home in a key location near the clubhouse.… Read More

Margot and Gary Ott are a study in contrasts. They are well aware of this, and play up their different approaches to entertain family and friends. She’s chatty; he’s initially reserved. She likes travel and being outside; he likes crosswords and a good book. They share a strong commitment to God and family.

But beneath their different styles is a deep commitment and shared effort that—together with faith—have helped Gary and Margot build a marriage that recently passed its 45th year. The phrase “salt of the earth” comes to mind as they recount their lives: working in worthwhile positions; rearing three capable children, two girls and a boy; and engaging with the communities they’ve joined in retirement.… Read More