Bonnie Fiorelli has been quilting for 34 years. Her journey began when she saw a quilt on the porch of an antique store in Cumberland, Rhode Island. The store held quilting lessons and Bonnie joined the class, beginning her lifelong journey with quilting. Bonnie’s passion for the fabric technique became so deep over time that she began offering local quilting classes in 2018. “I love to quilt,” Bonnie said, “It brings me such joy to give someone a quilt that I have made, especially with them in mind. Everything today is geared toward purchasing online or without personal interaction. With a quilt, it says you mean a lot to me after taking the time to quilt something just for you. It’s a personal gesture that is thoughtful.” Bonnie and her family first came to Quechee after a close friend invited them to use his condominium for several days so that she could attend the Vermont Quilt Festival and her husband Bob could golf. “After coming to Quechee on vacations and weekends for ten years, we became full-time about fifteen years ago,” Bonnie said. “I brought my love of quilting with me to our new home.”

Bonnie found that the Quechee Club Base Lodge was available on Wednesday mornings so she advertised for beginner quilting classes. “I had six students, and we had a great time,” she said. “As my students completed a few quilts, we decided to make an overnight bag just to change things up a bit, and, of course, it was quilted.”

“I enjoy seeing people understanding that they can make a lovely quilt, table runner, and it really is easy,” Bonnie said. “All they need to know is how to turn on their sewing machines, and I’ll teach them the rest.” Teaching gives the Quechee resident great pleasure. “The aha moment when my student understands what I’m telling them really isn’t that hard,” she said. “You just need to look at it one step at a time. The thought that I’m carrying on an art that is several hundred years old is very satisfying.”

Indeed, current student Joyce E. Baldwin and veteran Sheryl Hoehner couldn’t be more pleased about participating in Bonnie’s classes. “I am forever grateful that Bonnie appeared in my life,” said Sheryl who discovered the quilting classes in the fall of 2019. “With Bonnie’s help, I’m now hard at work on a memory quilt for my husband. Again, a project over thirty years in the making!”

Decades ago, Joyce took a hand-quilting class and began a sampler using traditional patterns. But she never finished the project and is now hoping to learn how. “I’m also interested in experimenting with more contemporary styles and machine quilting,” said Joyce. “Bonnie’s class is small enough to give everyone individual attention, and she’s a whiz at simplifying instructions and techniques. I’m learning new methods and making friends with my sewing machine.”

Veteran and current student Cathy Paprocki first saw Bonnie’s ad on the Quechee Club calendar in October 2018. “I had a portable sewing machine that I hadn’t used in a very long time, and the table runner shown in her ad looked like something I could do,” she said. “We did both class and independent projects under Bonnie’s expert guidance. One of our most fun projects was a large, quilted tote bag with zipper. I’m so glad I started quilting lessons with Bonnie. Not only did I learn many different styles of quilting, I met other women who were also interested in learning new things and helping each other. A sense of humor also helps when there are days when you’re using your seam ripper more than your machine.”

There are currently five students in Bonnie’s classes that run each Thursday morning from 9-12. She still quilts almost every day and enjoys repairing antique family quilts in her spare time. Her students have enjoyed making memory quilts and t-shirt quilts made from a collection of sporting, dancing, or other collected materials.

“I love all the quilting methods I’ve learned including hand piecing, hand applique, and hand quilting as well as machine piecing and quilting,” Bonnie said. “I feel fortunate to be able to teach new people the joy of creating a family heirloom. Our mantra is: If it’s not fun, we don’t do it! Thankfully, it’s all fun.”

When local resident Cindy Gould retired four years ago, she reflected on ways she could use her time and professional experience as a volunteer. So, in 2019, Cindy reached out to Gail Ferney, president of the Quechee Lakes Landowners Association (QLLA) Charities, Inc. to see how she could help. It wasn’t long before Cindy became deeply and passionately involved in the organization, specifically its CHaD Gala.

“Since I’ve considered myself to be a sort of jack-of-all-trades in the development world during my working years, I thought it would be a good fit, and it has,” she said.

For the Gala, Cindy maintains its prize database by keeping track of donations; getting the word out through various social media platforms and through the Quechee Club’s website and publications; and creating such print materials as signage, the invitation package, and the program booklet.

Cindy is one of well over a dozen dedicated volunteers at QLLA Charities, established as a non-profit in 1980 and formed with the vision of making a positive and significant impact in the Upper Valley community. Host of the notable CHaD Classic golf tournament and annual CHaD Gala, QLLA Charities has raised millions of dollars for the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock (now Dartmouth Health Children’s) as well as for other local causes such as the Quechee Elves holiday season initiative for families in need.

“The mission of QLLA Charities is one that the Quechee member community is proud of,” said Brian Kelley, CCM, PGA, general manager and chief operating officer of the Quechee Club. “Everyone here treasures this very special place, and the member-led QLLA Charities committee is dedicated to uplifting our Quechee community through their work. The inspiring part is that they achieve this while supporting the greater Upper Valley area at the same time.”

The annual CHaD Gala is organized and hosted by a large committee of QLLA members with the support of the QLLA board of trustees, the Quechee Club, and its dedicated membership. Since its founding, QLLA Charities has donated $2.87 million to assist the dedicated staff at CHaD by providing medical care to the sick and injured children in the immediate region. There are 18 people on its committee.

“I have seen firsthand the wonderful work done by the dedicated CHaD Gala from its beginning in 2003 and realized how important community support is to the welfare of our children,” said Sharin Luti, Gala chair. “I have led a fortunate life and believe that it’s important to give back. This is one of my ways of doing that.”

This year, the Gala was a “big success”, according to Sharin. “We had 174 people attend and all seemed to have a really good time,” she explained. “We gave a check to CHaD for $120,000. This is the combined profits from both the Classic and the Gala. Our musicians, Erik Boedtker and Johnny Obdrazalek, were great.  People danced well beyond our usual 10:00 pm closing time.”

As chair, Sharin has put together a large group of volunteers who, as she noted, are “dedicated, talented, and very responsible. Our committee is made up of teams that work well together to get the job done,” she said. “I coordinate the teams and work on several as well.”

Sharin said she was particularly excited about this year’s Gala because – as reservations were coming in – there was an increasing number of new and younger QLLA members which, she noted, will have a positive impact on the future Galas, resulting in more children being helped.

Over the last 20 years, there have been several, diverse themes of the Gala that are displayed on the wall of the lobby at the Quechee Club each year.

“Seeing this, people ask more about this organization and often donate in order to get their name on this growing display,” said Jeanette Veverka, Decorations and Wall of Hope leader. “This year, I have seen kids tweak the nose of the clown and ask if they could add their name to one of the balloons. That donation means another child will be helped through CHaD’s Gala. Over the years and working with my team on the Wall of Hope has truly been a joyful experience, knowing that whatever donation given is helping CHaD achieve success.”

This year’s theme is The Circus with the tagline “Step Right Up for the Kids” and included – in addition to the live music and silent auction – a live auction and game of Heads or Tails hosted by ChaD Gala returnee Jaime Polli, a speech by Dr. Resmiye Oral (section chief, Child Advocacy and Protection Program; and professor of pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth), and a plated dinner. All proceeds benefit The Ken and Vickie French Child Advocacy and Protection Program (CAPP) at CHaD.

Like the majority of Gala volunteers, Cindy related that it has been “incredibly satisfying” to work alongside a group of dedicated volunteers for such a great cause. “Seeing it all come together as a result of many, many individual contributions is just as satisfying – and very special,” she added. “And it couldn’t happen without lots of hands on deck.”

QLLA Charities team leaders: Sharin Luti, gala chair; Gail Ferney, board president and auction team leader (live and silent); Marty Whitney, board treasurer (keeps track of all Gala revenues and expenses); Peggy Woods, board secretary, gala prize team leader and auction co-leader; Jeanette Veverka, decorations and wall-of-hope leader; Cindy Gould, board member, publicity and Gala booklet leader.

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. 

In the 21st century, as the Industrial Revolution has become gradually replaced by the Digital Age, many makers are still producing their crafts through small-batch manufacturing whereby small amounts of product are commissioned from a factory that can still achieve the economies of scale necessary to make money. A case in point is Junction Fiber Mill, a new wool processing mill in the heart of White River Junction. With a goal “to promote and invigorate the local fiber shed by providing top-quality custom processing, local fiber products, and educational opportunities to inspire the community about sheep and wool”, owners Peggy Allen and Amanda Kievet welcomed their new mill equipment this past winter.

The seeds of their partnership were sown last spring on a road trip to drop off wool at a mill during the height of the pandemic. As they sat in Peggy’s farm truck, they talked and listened to each other about wool mills, partnerships, and work ethic. Peggy and her husband, Todd, run Savage Hart Farm in White River Junction, and Amanda and her husband, Cody, became sheep farm hands “extraordinaire,” moving onto the farm for a lambing season in 2019 to help Todd while Peggy was recovering from a traumatic brain injury.

In a recent interview, Peggy and Amanda reflected on their dedication to supporting small farms and fiber farms geared toward raising sheep…

QT: How did you and Amanda become interested in wool, yarn, and sheep initially?

Amanda: I became interested as a knitter looking to better understand the fiber I was working with. Initially, I just bought the acrylic yarn from the available big box craft stores in my hometown in Wisconsin. When I moved to NYC, the yarn store down the block sold many wonderful yarns made from natural wool yarn and I immediately felt the difference. After moving to the Upper Valley, I got a job at Ibex Outdoor Clothing and became a total wool convert when I experienced the difference of wool clothing: way less stinky and better feeling on the skin, great temperature regulation (a major benefit for hiking and running). I met Peggy at the Norwich Farmers Market a few years ago and bought some yarn from her made from her flock of Corriedale sheep. My husband, Cody, and I had recently bought a home with a small pasture so I was interested in getting a few sheep to keep it down. Peggy agreed to show me the ropes of shepherding and she and her husband, Todd, became our sheep mentors. We started our small flock from two of their ewe lambs and are on our third-year shepherding.

Peggy:  I’m a so-so knitter, but I have always loved wool fiber. While biking in the San Juan Islands of Washington state, my husband and I came across a small sheep farm run by a woman named, Annette who sold her yarn right there in a section of her barn. We stayed and visited with her for much of the afternoon and, as we left, my husband, who knew I joked about having a sheep farm someday, said, “If I could have a sheepdog like hers, I’d consider having a sheep farm.” We spent the rest of the vacation talking about how we could pull it off and in less than 10 months we went from the Chicago area to living with sheep in Vermont. 

QT: We understand that you both consider your new business to be a cottage industry. What makes it so?   

Amanda: Actually, we consider our mill to be small-batch manufacturing. We use extremely high-tech heavy machinery in a dedicated mill building to produce between 15 and 20 pounds of yarn per day. Compared with the large-scale fiber mills used to produce textiles and yarns for the majority of the fashion/craft economy, ours – at eight spindles – is comparatively tiny. By comparison, the wool mills of yore in our area had hundreds to over a thousand spindles each. The benefit of being a small batch mill is that we can produce yarns made from a single farm or even a single sheep’s fiber. This gives fiber farms the ability to market their unique fibers as finished yarns rather than sell their fiber to a wool pool to meet the processing minimums at large mills.

QT:  Why is there an alleged logjam and long delays in turning wool orders around the state?   

Peggy: Processing raw wool into yarn is very labor intensive. Scouring, or cleaning, raw wool alone can take several hours. In addition, there simply aren’t enough small mills to accommodate all the demand from area sheep farms.  

QT: And why is there a decline in sheep farming?  

Peggy: We’re not sure there is a decline in sheep farming. We think there is a growing interest by old and young people to experience the whole circle of raising sheep, shearing for wool, processing that wool and pursuing fiber crafts. 

QT: Please tell us about Savage Hart sheep farm in Hartford and raising a small flock?  

Peggy: Savage Hart Farm is a 32-acre farm in White River Junction and we raise colored Corriedale sheep. This spring we had 34 lambs bringing our flock up to 64. I’m not sure we consider raising sheep work; it’s just a way of life for us.  Todd has a full-time job with Mascoma Bank on their wealth management team, and I work full-time at the mill. Amanda is a brilliant web and social media developer but she too now works full time at the mill. 

Amanda: As Peggy said, I was doing web development and design previously but have stepped down from doing that entirely, other than of course putting those skills to use for Junction Fiber Mill. As I mentioned, my husband Cody and I are raising a small flock we started with Todd and Peggy’s sheep. After lambing this year, we’re now up to five and will keep it there. 

QT: When did you officially open the new mill? And where you are in the business cycle now?  

Peggy: Our mill equipment arrived at 101 Maple Street on a snowy day in February of this year. We immediately began working with raw sheep’s fleece we had acquired to ensure we understood not only how the equipment worked, but how the wool from different breeds of sheep behaved. We began taking roving orders on April 1 and yarn orders on May 1 (roving is wool that has been washed and prepared for hand-spinners).

Amanda: Currently we’re busy fulfilling custom processing orders but we have exciting plans to start experimenting with fiber we’ve acquired to create yarn we can sell directly to knitters. We’re excited to see what balance of services versus products serves us and our community as we get some experience under us.

It was the sheer beauty and tranquility of the Quechee landscape that brought New York resident Rich Mauch here over 46 years ago. In fact, as he noted in a recent interview, his blood pressure and stress level took (and continues to take) a significant drop as soon as he exited the highway and entered the picturesque and historic village.

“I’m not sure there are many places like Quechee in the country,” Mauch said. “It is truly a massive playground for “big kids” and little kids with so many things to do for everyone. I often tell friends that the best days are when I complete what I call the Quechee Triathlon, taking part in three activities like downhill skiing, cross country skiing, paddle tennis, golf, tennis or swimming in Lake Pinneo.”

Perhaps, then, it is not surprising that Mauch loves to show It was the sheer beauty and tranquility of the Quechee landscape that brought New York resident Rich Mauch here over 46 years ago. In fact, as he noted in a recent interview, his blood pressure and stress level took (and continues to take) a significant drop as soon as he exited the highway and entered the picturesque and historic village.

“I’m not sure there are many places like Quechee in the country,” Mauch said. “It is truly a massive playground for “big kids” and little kids with so many things to do for everyone. I often tell friends that the best days are when I complete what I call the Quechee Triathlon, taking part in three activities like downhill skiing, cross country skiing, paddle tennis, golf, tennis or swimming in Lake Pinneo.”

Perhaps, then, it is not surprising that Mauch loves to show off the area to family and friends and is passionate about bringing people together, whether for a round of golf, hiking in Section 5 or Hurricane Forest, biking to Woodstock, having sunset drinks at Lake Pinneo or dinner on Dewey’s Deck. As such, some consider Mauch to be an unofficial ambassador to Quechee.

“Many years ago, I bumped into a college fraternity brother of mine at the Quechee pool,” said Mauch. “He was staying in the condo of his boss and visiting Quechee for the first time. After hearing about my longevity in Quechee, he asked me: what is Quechee all about? After explaining to him and his wife why I thought Quechee was the ultimate ‘happy place,’ I discovered a short time later that he bought a house on Main Street the next day.”

Mauch’s infatuation with this quaint village known for its Gorge and covered bridge over the Ottauquechee River has led him to return the favor. For example, he presently serves as a board member on the Dartmouth Place Owners Association whose mission is to oversee the condominium(s) in which he lives with his wife, Helen.

After serving as a committee member on the Men’s Invitational for several years, Mauch is now the 2021 Chair.

“This Member Guest Golf Tournament is one of Quechee Lakes Landowners Association’s flagship events and is a perfect opportunity to showcase our extraordinary club and all that it has to offer,” said Mauch. “I know there are many guests whose first exposure to Quechee was playing in the Men’s Invitational and then, years later, becoming a landowner and/or member themselves.”

For years, Mauch said he was fortunate to play in this event as a guest with his father and now as a member. He has continued to keep the family tradition by hosting both his brother, Chris, and brother-in-law, Billy, over the last few years.

Mauch noted that it is also important for members to engage with the Quechee Club’s employee team. In 2019, he and another fellow member hosted the executive director of Quechee Club Golf and five of his golf professionals for a 36-hole day at Winged Foot Golf Club, home of the recent 2020 U.S. Open.

“The members are vital in providing us the opportunity to experience each and every day,” he said. “I have never felt better about our present leadership and their passionate team members.”

Mauch’s 46 years in Quechee, falling in love with what he calls his “happy place,” searching for ways to experience the Upper Valley, and trying to overcome the challenges presented by the pandemic have all steered him to one of his current business ventures of InjoyVermont.

“I have been so fortunate that Quechee and the Upper Valley have brought so much joy to my family and me over the years,” said Mauch. “Now, InjoyVermont is my great opportunity to create an abundance of joyful memories for new and returning visitors to the Upper Valley.”

Likened to a travel agency, InjoyVermont takes it to the next level, Mauch explained.

“In theory, there’s no difference,” he said. “But we’re looking to one-stop shop planning and booking travel experiences in the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire. We hold our customers’ hands throughout the process, from the time of their dream to the actual experience. By partnering with many of the amazing local businesses in the Upper Valley, our goal is to plan and book customized itineraries, whether it is for a family of four, a large group visiting the area for a family reunion or a company holding a corporate retreat for its employees. Our goal is to create joyful memories for our customers which benefits everyone, becoming the Injoy family from the customer to the business.”

To kick off the process to what Mauch calls the “perfect, immersive Vermont getaway,” customers are asked to complete a short Injoy Vermont Personal Travel Profile which enables the Injoy team to better understand what type of trip experience is best in addition to whom the customer wants to spend time with, what he/she loves to do, and how busy or relaxed he/she wants to be.

Mauch recalled the time he took his mother-in-law to the Quechee Balloon Festival where she went up in a hot air balloon for the first time.

“She had a smile that I had never been seen before,” said Mauch. “She said it was like being up with God. It’s this sense of pure joy that we want to try to bring to all future InjoyVermont customers.”

A self-appointed, passionate organizer, Mauch is always thinking about how to plan the perfect day in Quechee, whether that is a non-stop day with activities, reading with his feet in the sand at Lake Pinneo or taking long walks with his family.

Mauch’s wife, Helen, is an attorney and, with her law partner, launched her own firm, MintzerMauch, in January 2020 just before the pandemic hit. The firm specializes in environmental and land use law. Her favorite activities in Quechee are taking long walks from her condo over the covered bridge, around the Quechee Green and back. She also enjoys relaxing at Lake Pinneo, gardening around her condo, playing golf or having a meal at Simon Pearce.

Daughters Kelly, Ally and Caroline have all fallen in love with their hometown and love to hike, jog and photograph in and around Quechee when they’re home. Kelly lives in San Francisco, having graduated from Hobart William Smith College, where she works for a startup company called Modern Health; Ally lives in Manhattan, having graduated from Northwestern University, where she works as a reporter for People Magazine; and Caroline is a student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Along with brothers Doug and Chris, Mauch’s parents, Gale and Rich, were 38-year active members of the Quechee community. In addition, Rich’s aunt and uncle were instrumental in introducing him to Quechee in 1975 and have owned a home on Hartness Way for more than 40 years.

“Over the last 46 years, Quechee and the Upper Valley have brought so much joy to my family and me,” said Mauch. “I truly can’t wait to share with others all there is to do here and create for them joyful memories that will last a lifetime.”

Tis the season, and no one knows this better than the Upper Valley non-profits that are now gearing up to help adults and children in need. Ten years ago, for example, Quechee resident Lisa Lacasse started the Quechee Elves program to benefit the Hartford-Norwich Holiday Basket (HNHBP) program that began in 1983. Through their efforts, children are sponsored and supplied with clothing and toys to make their holiday a bit more special.

“I grew up in Hanover and was a volunteer with the program for many years,” said Lacasse. “In fact, we started a year or two after the HNHBP began. I invited several of my friends and their children to sponsor a family. Our children would use their allowance money to purchase some of the children’s gifts.”

Shopping Elves do the shopping and Donation Elves prefer to donate money. At the beginning of November, Quechee members sign up for a child or children to purchase specific gifts that the family has asked for. The average spent on a child is approximately $130. Donations are made out to QLLA Charities with a memo that it is for The Holiday Baskets. “The key to this program is the people – I feel privileged to work with such compassionate and fun people,” said Lacasse. “It’s been an honor to run this program with so many Quechee Lakes members lending support and helping hands.”

Part of Quechee’s charm is the array of volunteer activities in which members can become involved. QLLA Charities, Inc. is the service arm of QLLA, for example, and sponsors several other charitable functions besides the Elves each year to help support the extended community. It has been fundraising for 35 years, according to volunteer Sharin Luti. “Most, but not all, of the dollars have gone to programs and/or bricks and mortar to benefit CHaD (Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock),” Luti said. “Some of the other beneficiaries have included Holiday Baskets, WISE, The Haven, Quechee Cares (pandemic support), and Hurricane Irene aid.”

CHaD provides an extended system of care that offers advanced pediatric services. It has often been referred to as a children’s hospital within a hospital by the Children’s Hospital Association. It is New Hampshire’s only children’s hospital and one of more than 220 children’s hospitals in the country providing care specifically focused on children.

CHaD is the recipient of two large fundraising events held at Quechee. One is the CHaD Classic Golf Tournament held in June and the other is an accompanying Gala in July. The QLLA Charities donates to CHaD as a result of these successful events, and volunteers begin early in the spring to plan for, and work on, both of these events.

QLLA Charities has donated over $2.5 million through funds raised from the CHaD Classic Golf Tournament and the CHaD Gala. “This year, we were unable to run these events and did a virtual fundraiser which netted $30,000 for CHaD,” said Luti.

In addition to organizations that go through QLLA Charities, there are also volunteer efforts put forth by members including the Community Affairs Committee whose members make masks, repair hospital gowns for Dartmouth Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, and make quilts for those who need them.

Another volunteer organization is The Haven that, since 1980, has provided temporary shelter and educational programming for homeless families and adults as well as food to anyone in need. Its mission is to serve people struggling with poverty by providing food, shelter, education, service coordination and other support.

Quechee Cares is a new fundraising endeavor from The Quechee Club community. They raised over $27,000 during May 2020. Donations were given to the Haven to fund the Food Shelf and other programs. In addition, Quechee Cares paid Quechee Pizza Chef and The Public House Pub to provide “thank-you meals” at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Hospital and to supply meals to those in need through the Haven.

Over the years, Quechee Club members have volunteered at local hospitals, Quechee Library, the Haven, local schools, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Headrest, David’s House, Friends of Veterans, Listen, WISE, and the Garden Club, to name a few.

For more information, contact Lisa Lacasse at quecheeelves@gmail.com.

Quechee resident Terry Dorman was undoubtedly an environmental steward before he knew it. When he was a young boy of perhaps nine or ten, for example, he often grabbed his fishing rod and left his Massachusetts home along with his dog to walk a mile through the woods to Four Mile Pond, spring fed and about 100 feet deep in the middle.

This would be the beginning of his long devotion to and protection of the natural environment that he came to love. Even when he was three years old, he followed his father into the woods and, after getting lost, waited for him sitting on a stump. Over the years, he returned to those woods regularly where he and his father cut firewood, built roads, hauled out a few saw logs and burned lots of brush.

The house where he lived with his family was surrounded by apple trees, and Dorman remembers the “big, old trunks and the gnarly apples.” His father had a large garden, and Dorman became responsible, as a young lad, to pull the weeds and haul the rocks from their vegetable garden. He brought peas to his mother (who, at age 100, is still living at their Boxford home) and planted trees with his father who taught him the love of the forest and vegetable garden.

Dorman brought that experience and passion to Vermont in 1980 and acquired his land on Wheelock Road eight years later. It is now known as Whitman Brook. At the time, it was to be a waystation while he and his wife, Sara, searched for a larger and more rural parcel.

“Quechee was at first just an outpost to work from transitionally while I found a farm,” said Dorman, looking out at the brook that runs along the back of his house. “But it became so much more. Our approach to landscaping, design and stewardship is largely through visual observation of the natural world. Whitman Brook offers a breadth or terrain and environments. I never intended to live here, but it gave me the solitude of Vermont and the peace of winter.”

The couple called off the search in 2001, several days after the 9/11 attack. Their abutting neighbor to the north had listed their house, and they quickly signed a P&S, subject only to a formal inspection. The acquisition, although just an acre of land and a house they later demolished, changed the character of their property disproportionally. But it gave them a site for a guest cottage and was the keystone in visually tying their land with the orchard across the road.

“Whitman Brook became a gift of sorts,” said Dorman. “Not only could I conserve a farm, I was able to create one.”

The old Fells orchard gave him a start. Planted around 1920, it was abandoned in 1968 and had started to revert to forest by the time Dorman negotiated a lease with the Quechee Lakes Landowners Association in 1995. He has since tripled the size of the orchard with 520 trees and now grows 132 varieties of apples, many of which are hard-to-find heirlooms. Ninety of those are of bearing age, although this year will be a lighter harvest, Dorman said.

“Remember that many of our trees are standard rootstock, much bigger than the size grown in commercial orchards nowadays, so they are spaced farther apart and have the height, width and canopy of a shade tree, “evoking days gone by,” he explained.

The farm’s signature apples include Hewes, a very small crab apple that has a yellow-green skin covered with deep red later in the season, ripens in mid-September and, according to Dorman, is the best apple to make roasted applesauce; Cox’s Orange Pippin, a “magical apple,” Dorman said, and is considered England’s MacIntosh, highly regarded due to its full flavor and crisp texture; Karmijn de Sonnaville, an offspring of Cox that is complex for eating and “makes a terrific crisp,” Dorman noted; and the original strain of McIntosh, “a whole different apple, known for its tender white flesh that’s crisp, sweet and juicy.

The older varieties are bred for specific regions and uses and carry such romantic names as Calville Blanc, Stayman Winesap, Westfield Seek-No-Further, Hubbardston Nonesuch, and Belle De Boskoop. Dorman has purchased some trees from nurseries specializing in older varieties and others from farms in surrounding Upper Valley towns. He sprays minimally and uses sticky traps when possible.

To Dorman, the six-acre orchard is a special place, one that transports him back to the early 20th century when it was first planted.

“Who were those men who dug every hole by hand, watered the freshly planted whips every week for the first year?” Dorman asked. “What did they talk about? Calvin Coolidge was U.S. President, and my mother was a toddler.”

Dorman spent all winter pruning. On January 1, he hauled seven ladders into the northwest corners. For the rest of the day and the next 125 straight days, he pruned. With a full-time job as the founder of Dorman & Fawcett that advises businesses across the US and UK, that meant starting in the evening with a fistful of AAA batteries and a headlamp. As the days grew longer and warmer, the headlamp was used less, and Dorman watched the valley come back to life. Then, at the end of April, standing on top of Row 1 in the Wheelock orchard, he could look back over his entire winter.

Dorman’s holdings approximate 200 contiguous acres, and he is actively seeking to expand wherever possible. He has purchased the Clark Hillcrest barn and field that abuts the southwest boundary of his property that will allow him to make it part of his walking trail network. The field will be left open for agricultural and open space purposes only.

“The barn will remain, and we will add a greenhouse and hoop-house east of it,” said Dorman. “Any landscaping and planting will be carried out in the tradition of old Vermont, consistent with the materials and workmanship used at our main house and cottage on Wheelock Road.”

Whitman Brook also includes a wildlife parcel that is part of the QLLA greenbelt. Dorman has an agreement with QLLA to manage the parcel.

“Our master plan includes the restoration of approximately 25 acres of fields and a primary agricultural/forestry travel way,” said Dorman. “An extensive network of walking trails is contemplated for the adjacent parcels now owned or expected to be acquired.”

With no heirs (his wife, Sara, passed away in 2017) and mindful of the loss of his family property in Massachusetts, Dorman’s life’s work is dedicated to de-subdivision and the gifting of the resulting house, gardens and land to conservation or the public.

Ever the environmental steward, aware and knowledgeable of the world around him and making sure he does as little as possible to negatively impact it, Dorman has worked on a day-to-day basis for the last thirty years to ensure sustainability in this increasingly industrialized world, using what his father taught him so long ago as a boy in the woods by the house in which he grew up.

“This is a magical place, and no one ever knew,” he reflected as he looked at his east orchard that sits above the upper valley underneath the hills of New Hampshire. “Growing up on an old farm and acreage that we eventually could not hold on to, I saw what was lost. Coming to Vermont was a way to turn back the clock and bring that back, to live more simply and be closer to the land.”

Dorman’s goal in restoring the orchard is to make more varieties of apples available to consumers and to donate any excess harvest to local food shelves. The orchard has been open to the pubic since 2010. Hours are Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It lies half a mile up Wheelock Road in Quechee on the right. The orchard will be open until early November.

He’s the guy who plays the guitar on his front porch; the one who passers-by wave and honk at; and the yellow house owner who calls his porch sessions “traffic jams” because sometimes people stop, roll down their car windows and listen for a while before giving him the thumbs up and moving on.

He’s Dave Clark, and he’s proudly been a resident of this picturesque Vermont village for 22 years. “Located on the corner of Quechee Main Street at the cemetery, pretty much everyone in town knows us,” said Dave of his wife, Helen, and him. “And I have to say – everyone here is so friendly!”

As a result, Dave said he feels more connected to the people of Quechee “than if I lived on a side road up the hill a way. Maybe that’s why I try hard to be a good citizen and get involved where I can be of help.”

It is not unusual, for example, to see Dave out and about raking leaves in town, fixing the rock wall along Main Street or becoming involved with the reclamation of the open space just downstream from the Quechee Gorge. “It’s a beautiful area, and we’ve put in a network of walking paths that connects to the larger trail system that runs down to the Strong House Spa,” Dave explained. “I have to give owners Sheila Armen and Shelly Yusko credit for helping to maintain those paths over the years. If you have been down there, it’s a very meditative environment that transports you to a different place.”

And the rock wall? “I really enjoy well-maintained spaces, and, since I walk along Main Street so often, I just feel like I should do what I can to make it look presentable,” said Dave. “It’s really a great feature for the town.”

Bob Fox, a good friend who lives around the corner and often accompanies Dave on walks with their dogs to philosophize and talk about the latest goings-on, said Dave is “just extraordinary.”

“He’s so selfless,” said Bob. “He’s so creative, so inspirational. He has such a love of people and a desire to see others do well and be happy. He’s always the optimist who is full of good cheer.”

Having moved to Quechee from Strafford, VT, in 1998, Dave’s two children were enrolled in the Waldorf School, and he wanted to be close to them. Dave has two daughters from a previous marriage: Cassady who is now married and lives in Utah, and Callus who resides in Barnard and is studying Chinese medicine and acupuncture online from The Five Elements Academy in Gainesville, FL.

Dave and Helen met in 1999 and the couple bought the well-known yellow house in 2000. He has been self-employed in advertising since 1988. He now works a couple of hours a day with his company, Clark Communications Group, along with clients and staff. Dave’s role is to cheerlead and, from time to time, develop new levels of services that are then made available to its lighting showroom clients. Currently, staff work with showrooms in 30 markets around the US and Canada.

“Being self-employed has given me a sense of achievement every day that I get to make my own decisions,” Dave noted. “Helen joined the company in 2002 and has been a huge help to me maintaining websites and taking care of administrative details like paying bills. She’s also become a good graphic designer.”

Dave’s company specializes in creating advertising campaigns for family-owned lighting showrooms around the U.S. and Canada where it retains the right to resell to clients in geographically exclusive areas. “There are only four employees, and we all work from home offices which has been very helpful during the Covid-19 crisis,” Dave said. “We have fantastic relationships with our clients, and we constantly strive to create forward-leaning programs using new technologies and advertising platforms that are helping local retailers compete.”

In addition to becoming involved with landscaping in and around the village, Dave has also helped the Hartford Chamber of Commerce for the past three or four years on the Quechee Balloon Festival, providing suggestions and managing contracts for musicians, dancers, and other entertainers.

And speaking of music… a musician he is. In 2005, Dave developed a website that promotes music, theater, art, and dance throughout the Upper Valley.

“It’s called www.yellowhousemedia.com and has put me in the center of the music scene in the Upper Valley,” he related. “I get a lot of gigs from venues like The Woodstock Inn, Marshland Farm, Twin Farms, Big Fatty’s BBQ, and others.”

Dave also tried his hand at putting on concerts at the Briggs Opera House. “It was fun to work with David Briggs and see what is involved in putting on a successful show,” he said. “There’s a lot of marketing, planning and advertising involved.”

Another aspect of music Dave is passionate about is a capella choral singing. He is currently a member of Wrensong, a ten-voice Renaissance group that has performed at the Quechee Library and various other venues around the Upper Valley. He has also been a member of the Handel Society and has fond memories of touring in the Baltics as well as Italy and singing at the Vatican for Sunday Mass.

“The Vatican is huge,” Dave said. “We sang in a variety of cathedrals in Europe and our main concern was ‘reverb’ or how many seconds it would take before our echo returned to us. We didn’t have that problem at the Vatican because the sound just kept going away from us, never to return. Also, the Vatican was a little scary to me because I kept thinking it was the perfect target for terrorists. There were security precautions in place but they tried to keep them out of sight.

The Vatican is also famous for its paintings and statues. Really, if you haven’t been to Rome in general, you should go. And while there, don’t miss the Vatican.”

Dave is a self-proclaimed singer-songwriter who has put out two CDs and is currently working on two more. He recorded his first CD, Imaginary World, in 2005. It was produced by Rich Meijer and features a broad range of genres including stadium-level rock arrangements, as well as ballads and full-string accompaniments.

“It took me a while to get back to recording,” said Dave. “And, as a result, I have a large backlog of material to process.”

His second CD, Shine!, was completed in February 2020 and features straightforward danceable rock ’n roll, upbeat acoustic rock, country, and ballads. He is currently hard at work on his third and fourth CDs that will feature an eclectic mix of blues, rock, jazz, and bluegrass musicians. He hopes to have the bulk of the 24 songs recorded by the end of November.

Dave’s CDs can be found at www.yellowhousemedia.com/product/music along with a few other of his favorite local artists including Wrensong in the overall music section.

Dave proudly displays his guitars on one of his walls in his house. He has seven iconic electric guitars including Gibson Les Paul, Fender Telecaster, Gibson 335, and an electric bass custom made for him by Jason Twigg-Smith, a well-known luthier from Barnard, VT. He also has six acoustic guitars and a stand-up bass that he plays frequently with a Country Roots Duo called Oxford & Clark. “I love my guitars,” Dave said. “They’re a bit like a harem that doesn’t get me into trouble.”

But Dave’s life is not exhausted by music, either. His 19-foot Cape Dory Typhoon sailboat named Bella that he keeps on Lake Champlain in Charlotte, VT, allows him and Helen to escape the small village of Quechee to which he is so devoted.

“There’s something about the tug of the wind on the sails and the open sky, the clean water and mountain backdrop that makes Lake Champlain super special,” he said.

This, of course, does not take away from Dave’s deep commitment to his hometown. “I feel lucky to call Quechee my home,” he said. “I’m always struck by its beauty whenever I’m driving along the river on Quechee Main Street. There are so many excellent services provided by businesses like Jake’s, Simon Pearce, Marshland Farm, and The Public House that it never seems inconvenient to be here. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, there’s an influx of second homeowners from Connecticut and Massachusetts and beyond. We’ve gotten to know and appreciate many Quecheeites. From Labor Day through May, the streets are quieter, and we go into hibernation mode, putting away outdoor furniture, giving the yard (and the wall) a final cut, and sitting by the fire pit with friends. I believe that the beauty of place has a huge influence on attitude, self-worth, and appreciation of others. Quechee is one of those places.”

When the Quechee Lakes Landowners’ Association, Inc. (QLLA) was incorporated 50 years ago, it not only reflected the thousands of open, pristine acres on which it currently sits, but also the man behind its inception, L. John Davidson.

L. John Davidson, creator of
the restoration of Quechee village
and the development of Quechee Lakes
Landowners’ Association

With a dream of preserving traditional values in a self-contained commercial establishment on that land that belonged primarily to local farmers and millworkers, Davidson realized that the farmlands, trails, hills, forests, wildlife and Ottauquechee River provided the perfect setting for his vision.

But before he became the visionary developer of one of the largest and most successful developments in New England, Davidson knew he had some hard work to do, for when he arrived in the village of Quechee in the mid-1960s from his home state of Massachusetts, he was shocked and saddened by what he saw.

“I found a very depressed place,” Davidson said recently. “Rats were walking along the main street, the mill was closed, the Parker House roof had caved in from a fire, the town had a stone wall running down the street that had crumbled, and the covered bridge had fallen down during the 1938 hurricane.”

Undaunted, Davidson was resolute to bring the tiny village back to life. “I was determined to buy every one of the 70 houses and restore them, including the stone wall,” said Davidson. “It took four years to research who owned what and to make a deal with property owners within a $2 million budget.”

And so, between 1965-1970, Davidson went door to door, shaking the hands of owners, most of whom had farms, and negotiating prices of sale. As a young man, he graduated from Phillips Andover and Harvard University. He worked in his father’s restaurants, was on air patrol in the Korean War and later operated clothing stores in Cambridge and Andover, MA.

L. John Davidson (left) presented his namesake Davidson Trophy to 1974
Quechee Club champion Bill Purcell.

Most importantly, having grown up in Andover, across from a dairy farm, Davidson was familiar with the lifestyle that went with it. “I milked cows and had a paper route for the Saturday Evening Post,” Davidson recalled. “So, I knew what it was like to run a dairy farm. I had a way of talking that people of that background understood.”

Not one owner held out from selling. “More than one looked me straight in the eye, shook hands and sometimes with tears in their eyes asked me to take care of their land,” Davidson said. “They had put their whole lives into it, and so I did.”

But Davidson hadn’t just arrived in Vermont to save a small mill town. He had something else in mind, something he said had never been done in real estate – not even today. “I had to find a balance between a quiet but practical situation,” he said. “I knew that I couldn’t just bring back the town and land and then leave. I had to figure out how to maintain them.”

So, Davidson came up with a few “inventions,” as he called them, to not only preserve the environment and its holdings but to generate monies to sustain them. Enter the single-family condominium.

A model of the construction on Clubhouse to be completed in April 1974

“I wanted the homes and exterior yards to be under control of an association in order not to have them fall into disrepair or have some kind of crazy colors,” he said. “And, I wanted to maintain a rural feel. With the open land, I came up with a valley floor that would be preserved to look the same as the pastures it contained, so I put in two golf courses.”

One day, as Davidson took his children on a ride in an off-road vehicle around the open land, one of his daughters looked up at him and asked, “Where are the deer going to live?”

“And that became the heart of the land plan that I finally created,” said Davidson.

As a result, Davidson dedicated half his project to a permanent greenbelt, composed of 2-3,000 acres that would preserve the integrity and natural beauty of the valley.

The original Quechee Lakes Master Plan was approved on September 27, 1971 and was based on a letter submitted to the Planning Commission by Davidson. In May 1980, the Master Plan was amended twice; and again in 1982 and 1984 with several more over the years.

Davidson was unwavering in his mission to preserve the nostalgia and old-fashioned values threaded into a resort area for families to visit and/or reside.

“The greenbelt gave room for trails and wildlife in a perfect setting,” said Davidson. “The hills displayed the beauty of Vermont with the valley below and the river running through it.”

Phidias Dantos –  a close friend and business partner of Davidson – first worked with him to defeat urban renewal in Andover. Afterward, the two formed Danton Realty Trust. Following their work in Andover, Davidson developed Quechee Lakes of which Dantos was the Club Manager from 1973-74. As such, some of Dantos’ duties included overseeing the restaurant, pool, exercise room, and squash courts, among other areas.

“John definitely fulfilled his mission,” said Dantos. “The proof is in the eating. He helped to preserve the pristine Vermont hillside by camouflaging all the condo units. I remember him saying that no one should have to look at a laundry line of drying clothes. A genius he was.”

Today, there are over 1,700 homes and condominiums in the Quechee development where Davidson rebuilt the covered bridge, restored the mill and relocated other buildings throughout the town. He developed ski trails and built ski lifts for residents, two championship golf courses, two lakes and a 50-mile trail system.

His farmstead concept was unique to the real estate industry, and he was the first to offer the single-family home as a condominium.

At 89 years old, Davidson currently resides in Atkinson, NH where he continues to have an active life. The key to his successful venture in Vermont, he related, was due to a variety of  factors.

“It was the dedication of space, the restriction of cutting down trees, the enforcement of their covenant, the benefits derived from a single-family condominium being controlled by the association, the farmsteads that made it possible to restrict development, the control of the improvements of the downtown area, and the restoration of the mill,” said Davidson. “It’s a complicated world, and it’s nice to preserve (a part of Vermont’s history).”

Phidias Dantos

Publisher’s Note: An affable American Greek, Phidias Dantos was (and still is) dashing, vivacious and very charming. And, boy, does he have stories to tell…some fit for mainstream consumption and others, not so much! I had the pleasure of hearing a few during our recent chat about the early days of Quechee.

“Did you hear about the Thanksgiving story,” Phid asked me? I had not but was eager to listen now.

In his Massachusetts accent, he proceeded to tell me…

Phidias Dantos, Quechee Club Manager 1973-74.

“Al Moulton called me up and said, ‘Phid, I need you to come be our Club Manager. I had to fire so-and-so’” [Al Moulton was the President of the Quechee Lakes Corporation at that time]. Phid had just sold the Hotel Coolidge in White River Jct. and thus had the time and opportunity to take over. What he didn’t know was how bad things had become at the Club.

This was the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Phid took stock of the situation, gathered the unruly staff, and told them how he expected things to be from then on. “I had very high standards, you know, and we would do it right!” Come Monday morning, Phid had a mutiny on his hands… no one showed up!

Phid reminded me that this was now three days before Thanksgiving. He had reservations for more than 80 people and the place was a mess! Much of the silverware had been pilfered, dishes and glassware had been broken, and nothing edible was to be found. 

“So, I called my friend, the food and beverage manager at the Hanover Inn, and asked him, ‘Do you have linens, silverware, and glassware for 10 tables of 8 I can use for Thanksgiving Day?’” “Sure! Bring your van and we’ll load you up.”

Next he needed staff. Phid then asked Chef Ron, his highly regarded chef from the Hotel Coolidge, who was off on Thursday, if he would be willing to cook the ten or more turkeys and all of the fixings for Thanksgiving dinner, and could he put together a team of servers and kitchen help…

“So, in two days’ time, we somehow pulled all of the pieces into place and put on a spread that was perfect! People are still talking about it!”

“Now, the lobster bake did not work out so well…,” he said with a chuckle.