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

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

Graduating Hartford High School senior, Natalie Charron, is known throughout the Quechee area by many different people in various facets. She had grown up running around the Quechee Club. Natalie spent hours swimming and skiing, and at 15 she began working as a hostess there, later becoming a health desk attendant. Most who have spent time at The Club have run across Natalie and, rumor has it, simply adore her.

Her love of music

Natalie is an accomplished musician. She began playing the piano at the age of 7 and stopped when at 10 she picked up the saxophone in the fifth grade.… Read More

A to Z Cakes is an inspiring entrepreneurial tale based right here in Quechee. Abbi and Dan Courtemanche have built a successful cake making company out of what Abbi describes as a “happy accident.” Not quite ten years ago, Abbi and Dan were planning their wedding. For reasons most of us could not fathom, Abbi decided that she could make their wedding cake despite having never attempted such a fete before. The cake was such a success that wedding guests asked for the name of the baker. Abbi was shortly hired to make what would be the second of many cakes to come.… Read More

The Smithsonian Museum is referred to as the nation’s attic. In Hartford, Vermont, the Historical Society performs this same function, though without much in the way of resources; it’s an attic at capacity. The Society’s collection is currently displayed in Garipay House at 1461 Maple Street (near the intersection of Route 14 and Christian Street). The house-museum is open weekday mornings, and the whole project is a labor of love for a few devoted volunteers.

You’d never know it from the well-kept, crisp displays, but Garipay House is bursting with additional objects of interest in storage rooms. Gray storage shelves hold boxes of various sizes and shapes.… Read More

As a Quechee Lakes Landowners’ Association (QLLA) Trustee since 2015, Norman Watts’ impression of the state of QLLA governance is important. His response to my inquiry about it was, “I am very confident that the ship is being sailed well. The skipper is competent and very concerned about the members. It’s a good crew.” This statement is quite an apt analogy from someone who has also been an avid sailor most of his life.

Norman’s initial impression of Quechee Lakes when he moved here in 2000 was not always as positive. One of the reasons why he ran for the trustee position was to “encourage and support the momentum QLLA had demonstrated over the past five to six years, so we don’t drift into a stall like when we first relocated to Quechee Lakes.… Read More

What’s better than driving up on a Thursday or Friday evening and arriving in Quechee, says Chris Bunnell one sunny summer morning as he and his wife, Liz, and three sons were about to embark on an adventure to the top of Killington via the gondola for lunch. Chris certainly knew what he was doing when he bought his home on Wheelock Road. His parents Mary and Paul “PD” live right next door. Since his parents bought their vacation home in 2006, Chris, Liz, and siblings have enjoyed many good times in Quechee, and visited as often as they could.

The senior Bunnells moved to Quechee full-time after selling their home in Massachusetts this year.… Read More

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.

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