When Alex and Cristy Beram lived around the corner from each other on Willard Street in Burlington, they lived different lives and never met. Cristy was busy finishing her degree in sociology and Italian studies at UVM and Alex was making his name in the local music scene. Years down the line they would be set up on a blind date in their respective new homes in Charlestown, Boston, and twenty years later they would return to Vermont together, a married couple with two small children.

Not long after the two were married sometime after that fortuitous blind date in Boston, Cristy brought Alex on a trip with her brother to the Quechee-Woodstock area where she and her family used to come regularly as children.… Read More

When asked out of context, Dave Courtney doesn’t recall the exact year he started working at the Quechee Ski Hill, but he does know that he recently retired in 2018. However, I’m not meeting with Dave to talk about his long, Quechee-based ski career. Dave and I are meeting to talk specifically about an exciting offshoot of his many years on the hill. Dave’s son, Will Courtney, who skied the Quechee Hill with his dad since he was three years old, was hired this year to be a member of the US Alpine Ski Racing Team as an assistant coach and strength and conditioning coach.… Read More

This past year the Ottauquechee School raised money to undertake a cutting-edge learning program for their students. With donations from the annual Scholastic Book Fair and a Donors Choose Campaign (donorschoose.org), Rebecca Whitney, the school’s library media specialist and Principal Cathy Newton managed to create “STEAM Time” to focus on: science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. Working in collaboration with the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education at the University of Vermont, dedicated STEAM learning time found its way into the little big school in Quechee.

The general idea of the program is to create the time and space for students to learn how to approach these subjects, how to work together as a group to focus on an issue, and to collaborate on ideas and resolutions.… Read More

Eric Emery met Andrea Chula while attending Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire. After graduation, the couple married and moved to Denver. Eric’s father had recently passed away from pancreatic cancer, and instead of settling in New Hampshire they decided to go live someplace new before their careers and family made that more difficult. Both avid skiers, they chose Denver because they wanted to spend some time “skiing in the powder in the Rockies.” When not on the slopes, Eric worked in sales for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Andrea worked as a pre-school teacher at the Cerebral Palsy School of Colorado.

They didn’t stay away for too long.… 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

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

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

Rebecca ‘Becky’ Whitney is the resident librarian for the wee ones of Quechee. Some might say a children’s librarian is the most important of all types of librarians. After all, who first shows us that libraries are incredibly special and magical places where one can disappear from the busy world into the endless possibilities which bookshelves possess? Libraries can be overwhelming. We all need a guide in the land of enchantment sometimes, especially when we’re still little. While Becky is somewhat new to the position – having been at the Ottauquechee School Library for just under a year – she has enthusiastically taken on the role of being their guide.… Read More

If Brad Pirkey isn’t a familiar face or name to you around the Hartford/Quechee area, maybe you recognize his brightly colored food bus. Chef Brad’s CrazySide has been around the area since 2012, and it’s hard to miss. Most recently you’ve probably noticed the colorful addition to Fat Hat Corner where Quechee Main Street meets Route 4. Chef Brad’s bus has moved into the corner, and it sounds like the CrazySide may have found a home.

Pirkey grew up in the Woodstock and Killington, Vermont, areas graduating from Woodstock High in 1980 where he claims his only ‘A’ was for a quiche cooked up for French class.… Read More

From my interview with Kristen Coats, I have no doubt that the Upper Valley Haven in White River Junction is incredibly lucky to have her. The Walden University graduate in public health spent almost six years working for Dartmouth-Hitchcock where she coordinated the Upper Valley Heal program. It was at Dartmouth-Hitchcock that Coats says she developed a true appreciation for the fact that people are healthy if their environments are healthy.

Having been at the Haven for only a year, it’s easy to see that Coats infuses her work with that same passion today. As leader of the nutrition program, she has no problem talking effortlessly about all the different areas in which the program has grown.… Read More