We aim to spend about one-third of each officer’s time in proactively building and fostering relationships in the community, says Hartford Police Chief Phil Kasten. The majority of calls to the police are from a crisis of one sort or another, and police officers train for those moments, with the possible need for quick and sometimes drastic action. But preventing crises is even better than helping people through crises. Weaving sociable acquaintance with police officers into people’s daily experience makes it easier for people to call the police for help when they need it. It also reminds would-be troublemakers that police officers are woven into the community and are keeping an eye on what is happening in the community.… Read More

There is a new gem hidden in the surrounding hills and hollows of the Upper Valley. The Grange Theatre in Pomfret, Vermont, formerly the Teago Grange Hall, is the newest branch of the ArtisTree Community Arts Center. The theatre’s first season wrapped up in late October. Maybe you were lucky enough to see The Little Mermaid or get a seat for the sold-out Patsy Cline. If you’ve been to a show already, you were probably impressed before it even started. The old grange still looks like a well-maintained meeting hall where over the years countless couples married and community dinners were served.… 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