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. And it lets police officers develop comfortable connections with citizens, making it easier for them to calm difficult situations. Several programs for mixing police and community members include:

National Night Out

Many towns, in fact about 20,000 nationwide, participate in this annual celebration at the beginning of August. The program began as a way to diminish crime by strengthening a community. In 1984, when the idea first took root, people in about 400 towns just turned on their porch lights and sat outside, or visited up and down their streets. Festivities expanded, of course. “It’s kind of like a block party,” says Chief Kasten. “There’s a dunk tank, and hot dogs, and a bounce house.” Major Braedon Vail often runs the grill. “He’s an expert hot dog chef,” the chief says smiling.

Other community organizations participate too, such as the Rotary Club of White River and the Hartford Community Coalition. The Water Department supplies water for the dunk tank with the added benefit of being able to spread awareness about the importance of clean water.

Coffee with a Cop

Canine Handler Officer Eric Clifford with K9 Dozer

The Hanover Co-op Food Store in White River Junction, Vermont, connected with the Police Department to organize this informal meet-up opportunity. The store put up a tent and provided refreshments – always a draw. Officers stopped by between shifts to meet residents and answer questions. Such events are primarily social, but occasionally someone will raise a concern that generates some police follow-up. “Policing is a community-wide activity,” Chief Kasten points out. “We want people to see us as community leaders and facilitators.”

Elder Education

Occasionally an officer will visit the Bugbee Senior Center in White River Junction, to join the popular lunchtime gathering, and perhaps to make a presentation on a topic relevant to seniors. The police seek to alert seniors to the scams – many targeted to – seniors, recurring by phone and internet.

Adopt a School

The Police Department and the town’s schools have organized a partnership that links two police officers with each school. The officers put quite a bit of time into this connection. They attend concerts and sports events, show up occasionally to chat during lunch or recess and patrol the campus daily, and the school building weekly. This on-going visibility helps create a connection, but still, says Major Vail, “some kids may be timid.” The department has a K-9 officer who can be an excellent icebreaker attending various events with their handler. “Everybody loves a dog!” he adds. One of the events that Major Vail is very involved in is the Special Olympics.

Addiction and Computers

“The region, and in particular Vermont, approaches addiction as the medical problem it is,” notes Chief Kasten. These days the opioid epidemic is on everyone’s mind, but Chief Kasten and Major Vail call attention to another problem: alcohol. “We don’t talk about it, but it’s the biggest addiction,” says the chief. “It contributes to domestic violence, serious fatal crashes, child abuse.” Major Vail chimes in, “It’s socially acceptable. Legal.” Chief Kasten adds, “That’s why law enforcement people are generally not in favor of legalizing marijuana.”

The department focuses on an annual theme each year to help build awareness for schoolchildren and adults; the topic is cyberbullying. “Social media creates feelings of invincibility,” notes the chief; that makes it easier to post threats or harmful photos. “We tell people, ‘If you wouldn’t say or do it in person, or you wouldn’t say or do it in front of your parents or your spouse, then don’t do it online.’”

“There are always issues with technology as it advances,” says Major Vail. “It’s easy, and we like, but it comes with a price.” Chief Kasten adds, “It ties in with our efforts to build relationships. You move at the speed of trust.”

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. Now you step inside the building to find yourself in a thoroughly modern stage theatre.

Actors from New York perform in Godspell

I met with Theatre Director Chris Flockton for a tour. The outside of the building is stark white and simple, with the dramatic, wide backdrop of the Vermont countryside and hills, including a view of the Suicide Six Ski Area. The foyer includes some historic pieces of the grange and an original small office space serving as the ticket booth. The main stage is small with a rear interior space and an upper level. It’s not too far from the stage that the rows of chairs begin. The 85 to 100 seats are comfy and classic red, but also removable. The original windows are still in place but have been equipped with automatic, remote controlled blackout shades. Chris tells me that foam insulation was put in the walls to keep the noise from neighbors and passerbys. Thoughtful touches like these were used in the interest of preserving the old grange as much as possible. Architect George Turner and Wright Construction helped to restore a grange hall and create a modern theatre all within the same space. The broader idea behind the preservation is that the community can still use the building for events and gathering.

Chris is happy to report that the first running season of 2017 has been successful. The season consisted of four back-to-back shows. The first was The Little Mermaid as performed by Upper Valley kids aged seven through 18 who attended a theatre camp before showtime. The musical Patsy Cline played a few sold out shows. Actors were hired in New York and given the opportunity to stay locally in Pomfret while rehearsing. The play Godspell came next with 10 actors from New York City and a six-piece band. Another musical, The Marvelous Wonderettes, will wrapped up the season.

Grange Theatre

During the “off-season,” November through May, the theatre’s focus will shift to community-based projects. A holiday show, open mikes, and short act plays are in the works and sign up sheets are available for anyone interested. Chris is emphatic that anyone can call him if they have interest in any aspect of theatre work. There will also be official classes such as intro to acting, improv, and a Shakespeare intensive. Chris anticipates classes in which students of all ages can shadow a professional through the entire production of a play from casting to curtain drop.

The ultimate goals of the theatre include using the space year-round with high-quality productions summer through fall and community-based projects in the winter. Hiring, teaching, and involving Upper Valley community members is important to the mission, as well as keeping the theatre accessible: theatre tickets have not been higher than $25 a seat. All proceeds cycle back into the theatre program and the non-profit ArtisTree.

What Chris brings in experience is worth noting, his acting resume is diverse and lengthy, including soap operas (Guiding Light), voice-overs (The Fabulous Life), and some movie acting (Boondock Saints). Chris is also well-versed in teaching young children and has conducted outreach programs such as “Shakespeare in the Schools,” managing to teach 40 eighth-graders A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Chris moved to Vermont six years ago with his wife and a son who currently attend the Upper Valley Waldorf School in Quechee.

The set of Godspell was colorful and had a life of its own

The surrounding towns and communities have just been made all the richer with this addition to the ArtistTree Community Arts Center. Those who gain the most are Upper Valley theatre fans and local kids who have an interest in theatre. There are also the countless kids and adults who will discover their love for theatre in the seasons to come. The Grange already has that magical theatre feeling, and it has only just begun.

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. It’s neat and clean – due to strenuous efforts to avoid piling heaps of things in corners –  but the options for orderly storage are filling up. Because of the need for more space, and also the alluring opportunity to acquire and preserve an elegant old building down the street, the Historical Society is engaged in a capital campaign to buy the Horace Pease House, familiar to many as the Elks Club.

A New Role for the Pease House

Horace Pease House

The older, front portion of Pease House was built in 1884. An earlier house, built about 1800, was moved to Summer Street to clear the site. (That house has since burned down.) Horace Pease, a very successful businessman, apparently built his house, which he called “Sunnyacre,” for his wife, Seraph.

The Elks Club added large rooms in the back of the building, which could serve the community as event and meeting spaces. Few buildings in town offer a large accessible space, lots of parking, and a commercial kitchen. Judy Barwood, chair of the capital campaign, explains the appeal of Pease House to the Society. “We desperately need to do something; we’re bursting out of our current space.” The hope is to rent space in the Pease building to existing users – such as the bingo fans who fill the 100-car parking lot twice a week – and to add new users. “Since we announced our interest in making space available,” says Judy, “we’ve received lots of calls from people interested in using the space” for either regular or one-time events.

The Society has been working for about two years on the acquisition project. Building-owner Richard Daniels, a strong supporter of the Elks, bought the house in foreclosure to help the Elks. He’s eager to move on from this obligation, so there’s time-pressure on the Society to raise or borrow money to buy the building. (Donations to the Historical Society are tax-deductible.)

Little Space, Much Information

Painting of the Theron Boyd homestead located on the corner of Hillside Road and Quechee Main Street

The displays in Garipay House are eclectic, charming, and intriguing. Society President Martha Knapp shows a visitor around, and she’s a mine of information. Her particular interest is the Abenaki, not just their way of life in pre-Colonial and Colonial days, but also the ways they and their traditions were suppressed for many years until recently. In this context, she brings up Henry Perkins, a University of Vermont professor who read a study of Army recruitment in World War I that showed Vermont men had an extremely high rate of “defects,” such as diabetes, epilepsy, deformities, and mental deficiency.” Perkins became an enthusiastic advocate of eugenics in the 1920s and ‘30s, working to establish laws permitting the sterilization of the “unfit.” Such movements were going on at the time in many places in the United States.

Martha is more eager to discuss the more cheerful threads of history. She points out some of the artifacts that entertain children. She encourages the local schools to tour the museum and generates quite a reaction among the students. Thank you notes and models of Abenaki houses and villages attest to the impression visiting the past has on kids.

“We’re the repository,” Martha says, “when someone’s cleaning out their attic. But if there’s no connection to Hartford, or if we have copies, we pass items along to the Vermont Historical Society.”

You don’t need space for stories, however, and Martha has many stories and anecdotes that she gently weaves into the tour. “I pick up all these tidbits,” she says, “but there are too many to use.” She describes how what’s now the Vermont State/Gilman office complex up on the flats was the Vermont State Fairgrounds for 30 years. And every year for 30 years, it rained on the fair. The story goes that when the fair began an old lady came by asking for a drink of water, but no one helped her. She left saying, “You will want no more for water.” True or not, it’s still a good story.

The Hartford Historical Society is Quechee’s local historical society. A painting of the Theron Boyd house is on display, and Quechee residents with interest in local history are heartily welcomed as volunteers and board members. To find out more about the Historical Society or to make a donation, please visit www.hartfordhistory.org.

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. When we arrived here things like the clubhouse and health club were dated and tired. It has dramatically changed – to the credit of the members’ support of the upgrades. My involvement with the QLLA Board and committees has given me a whole different perspective on the Quechee Lakes Landowners’ Association,” he says.

Roots in Vermont

Norman and Katherine with one-year-old Brady

Norman has lived in Vermont since 1982. He grew up in Southern California, moved east to attend American University in Washington, DC, decided to embark on a law career and came to Vermont Law School.  He and wife, Katherine, have lived in Woodstock, Barnard, and Hartland, Vermont. They decided to make the move to Quechee Lakes for several reasons. First, Katherine (Dow) grew up in Quechee, and the move was a move home for her. And, they knew they would love living in Quechee Lakes, and they do, “because of the wonderful friends we have here, the super facilities and the natural setting – removed from a crowded urban setting, but close enough to socialize with friends,” Norman says.

Background in Washington, DC, politics

During his years in Washington, DC, Norman was active in politics. He worked on Capitol Hill for the House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee and learned first-hand the importance of fair labor laws and standards. He managed Ronald Reagan’s gubernatorial re-election campaign and President Gerald Ford’s election bid. “Working at the White House was an amazing experience, but I prefer living and working in the Upper Valley – with its quietude and sanity. It has changed my outlook.”  His law firm, located in Woodstock, serves clients throughout Vermont in state and federal courts and has done so for more than 30 years. Watts Law Firm specializes in civil litigation – predominately employment law and medical malpractice.

Amidst his political involvement, Norman managed a ski mountain resort development project in Colorado and a mountain residential development in Northern California. His connection with land development work was a natural focus for Watts on helping to manage the landowners’ associations’.

With his legal education, came an increased awareness of environmental issues, as well as a strong interest in workplace discrimination, particularly of women. Norman says the “glass ceiling is even in Vermont.”  He fights hard for the rights of women in the workplace, and this work represents close to 90 percent of his practice. Coming to and living in Vermont has also changed his outlook politically. Given his background and career focus, QLLA is lucky to have him actively involved in governance and community relations.

Involvement in QLLA committees and the Board of Trustees

Before his service on the Board of Trustees, Norman was a member of the QLLA House Committee for seven years, an experience that led him to “appreciate the importance of communication and cooperation between members and management.” During his time on the Committee, major physical plant improvements were achieved including the clubhouse renovation and reconstruction of the swimming pools. “With a diverse membership on the Committee we were able to work with management to accomplish a great deal,” he says. Another reason he ran for a trustee position was to expand his House Committee experience to “have a greater impact on long-range decisions.”

Watts is now chair of the Community Affairs Committee. With his respect for “public sentiment and its nuances” as a result of his years in the political world, his ties to the Upper Valley community, and concerns about community relationships, he is a natural to chair this Committee and is proud to hold this position. He has worked to improve the rapport with the Town of Hartford and thinks that it is going well. He attributes much of this change from the members and Trustees moving away from a “private club/member only” focus to being strong community members. “It’s great to see the Quechee Club as the home base for the Hartford High School golf team and to see local youngsters skiing here. We have a duty to participate in the wellbeing of our community. I see our relationship with the community – local, regional, and state – as extremely important to the success of QLLA,” he says.

The Community Affairs Committee continues to promote the Life’s Transitions/Aging in Community programs that have been evolving over the past several years (see related article on page 25). The Committee will continue to support the evolution of the Ottauquechee Music Festival as well as planning for QLLA’s 50th anniversary in 2020. They are working with the Town of Hartford to complete the Covered Bridge Pocket Park – at the time that this is being written, the park on the west side is under construction, trees are planted, stairs are going, and it looks good.

In October, the Community Affairs Committee hosted three Vermont legislators for a briefing on the status of milfoil infestation in Lake Pinneo. State Senators Alison Clarkson, Dick McCormick, and Alice Nitka, learned about the problem and toured the lake area. QLLA leadership and members are concerned about preserving Lake Pinneo as a recreational facility and nature preserve.  Norman was impressed with our Vermont Senators, “They were on top of it, interested, and personable. They asked a lot of questions and had done their homework. Ken Lallier, QLLA property manager, has recommended an aggressive, but safe treatment to eradicate the milfoil, one that will work for all concerned parties,” says Norman. The Committee will continue to monitor progress and report to QLLA members about the status. Watch the QLLA blogs on this topic; there is one on the website now from Norman entitled “Lake Pinneo Infestation Solution.”

Norman with five of his grandchildren at Kona, Hawaii

Spare-time pursuits

At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that Norman is an avid sailor as is Katherine. They have sailed the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Atlantic oceans as well as the Mediterranean Sea together, including a great Atlantic trip from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, to Bermuda and Newport, Rhode Island. But things change! The sailing came to a “screeching halt; now it is our grandchildren take up our free time,” says Norman. They have a blended family of five children and have eight grandchildren, from under one to 16, who live in California, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. So now their travels take them to those locations. Of course, the grandchildren also love to visit Quechee. The couple occasionally still sail, enjoy cross-country skiing and snowshoeing here in the winter, and are both jazz music enthusiasts. But their greatest joys now are those children and grandchildren.