As told to Jessie N. McEntee

My wife, Carol, and I met at a party before a football game at Cornell in 1962. I was a junior and she was a freshman. She came as the date of a friend of one of my fraternity brothers. I learned that she was engaged to a Swede who worked for her mother’s firm back in Rochester, New York. This piqued my interest. And, she was very pretty and feisty. 

“Could you hold my cigarettes? I don’t want to smoke anymore,” I said. I thought it was a great line, and she thought it was the dumbest thing she’d ever heard.… Read More

The Quechee Hot Air Balloon Craft and Music Festival, the longest running hot air balloon festival in New England, will celebrate its 41st anniversary in 2021 when thousands are expected to flock to central Vermont, September 3 – 5, 2021 (Labor Day weekend).

Twenty balloonists will headline the event with five flights slated throughout the weekend and additional tethered rides during the day. Attendees can visit with 50 craft vendors, indulge in a variety of fare from 16 food vendors and sit back and enjoy dozens of entertainers for all ages, over the three-day extravaganza. Children’s activities include Bubble Machines, Rock Climbing wall, and more.… Read More

When two local companies partner to better our community, magical things can happen. JAG Productions, based in White River Junction is partnering with King Arthur Baking Company in Norwich. While a theater company and baking company seem an unlikely pair, together they are co-producing a beautiful series of performances, “Theatre on the Hill.”

“Theatre on the Hill” takes place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings between August 13 and September 12 on the grassy hill behind King Arthur Baking Company. Proceeded with food and drinks provided by Upper Valley favorites such as Munchie Rollz, Griddle and Groovy, and Wolf Tree, “Theatre on the Hill” is an outdoor theater series featuring an array of performances including workshop productions, concert musicals and staged readings. … Read More

Before the rise of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, most families made their living by a small-scale, decentralized manufacturing business often operated out of their homes. By far, the most important “cottage industry” – as it would eventually be called – centered on the production of yarn and textile fabrics. Key to its operation was the entrepreneur who purchased the raw materials, distributed them among working families, passed the semi-finished products from one artisan to another, and then marketed the finished products. In time, hand production methods led to the rise of the mechanized factory system in which textiles were still the dominant industry. … Read More