Ten years ago, my family was living in Baku, Azerbaijan, because of my husband’s job as a government contractor. I was working as a teacher and soccer coach at Baku International School. The soccer team was on its way to a match against an elite local soccer club. When we arrived, a security guard boarded the bus, looked around, and asked (in Azeri) who was in charge. My interpreter indicated to the security guard that I was in charge and he informed me my team was not being granted permission to enter the soccer stadium. Through my interpreter, I asked “Why?”… Read More

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.… Read More

The Ottauquechee River is the connector that has flowed throughout VINS’ (Vermont Institute of Natural Science) 50 years of educating Vermonters on the environment, from its beginnings in Woodstock in 1972 to its current day campus in Quechee in 2022. “It just seems very fitting,” Mary Graham, VINS assistant executive director, says, “We’re here on the Ottauquechee River now when we were founded in 1972 to clean up the river, so there’s that wonderful connection from the beginning until now, over the last 50 years.”

The origin of the VINS lies in a case to clean up the Ottauquechee River.… Read More

For April Lawrence and Ben Pauly, opening and operating their Quechee-based doughnut business, Farmer and the Bell, has been a serendipitous endeavor.

Now about a year old, their bakery – which doubles as their shop – attracts a long line of customers waiting for fresh doughnuts before 8 am when they open on the weekends.

“Each weekend it’s just so much fun for us to go in, and waking up super early doesn’t even matter because we just meet smiling faces (on) every single customer,” Lawrence said.

Farmer and the Bell, a name inspired by the couple’s memory of growing up in families that used a dinner bell, was an idea conceived during the pandemic and the result of picking up a new hobby to help pass the time while at home, Lawrence said.… Read More

Hello good friends. Normally you hear from us about all the great food we are featuring or the incredible producers or farmers we are supporting in our local food chain. Today I wanted to pass along some news about an incredible friend of mine who has chosen humanity over self and has flown to the border of Ukraine and Poland to help with the flood of refugees in that war-torn region.  

Mark Kovach and I taught skiing at Keystone Mountain in Summit County, Colorado years ago, and we forged an instant relationship that has lasted 30 years. Mark is a passionate entrepreneur, always getting involved in opportunities, and raising a great family with his wife Chantal and two wonderful kids in Steamboat Springs.… Read More

Each year, thousands of Upper Valley residents take part as participants, volunteers, and donors in The Prouty, the annual fund raising effort for the Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC) at DHMC. This year – the 41st for the event – is no different as preparations are well underway for another successful event. Over the years, The Prouty has become a multi-generational endeavor, with entire families involved. That is certainly the case with Quechee’s Krysta Frye Kostrubiak.

“I think of us as being a Prouty family for most of my life. When I was younger, I would walk in The Prouty with a family friend while my parents did their 100-mile tandem bike ride,” says Krysta.… Read More

The Quechee Club recently announced the adoption of its campus-wide master plan to enhance the club’s lifestyle offerings for its member community, marking the beginning of the largest project in the Club’s 52-year history. The overwhelming approval of the proposed first phase of the renovation plans transforms the four-season residential community’s position to provide a variety of outdoor recreational pursuits, premier amenities, and an inviting social atmosphere, all centered around the enjoyment of the club’s Upper Valley Vermont location.

Long in planning stages, an iteration of the plan was first presented to membership in 2010, but was never approved in its entirety.… Read More

“I loved coming here for 33 years,” says Marty Banak, founder and former owner and operator of Wilderness Trails and the Vermont Fly Fishing School at the Quechee Inn at Marshland Farms. “This was my spot.”

Wilderness Trails was an all-season outdoor hub that rented outdoor equipment such as canoes, kayaks, and bikes, gave cross-country skiing lessons, and housed the Vermont Fly Fishing School where Banak taught fly-fishing to eager fishermen and women, young and old, visiting or staying year-round in Vermont.

Banak first started the Wilderness Trails business in 1981 at 28 years old alongside his childhood friend Larry Boymer.… Read More

“I am not sure she should get a driver’s license. If she is stopped by the police, her chance of racial profiling is high in Vermont.”

“When the kids go to school, I am worried when the teacher asks them a question and if they are slow to answer, the teacher is more apt to interpret it as insubordination more so than if they were white.”

 “I just saw a pickup truck with a Confederate flag flying on it in your neighborhood. Is it safe for the children to walk to your house?”

Such are the worries posed by my daughter because she is the mother of two children who are black and living in Vermont.… Read More

The Ottaquechee Health Foundation (OHF) states, “There is no other organization in the region doing what OHF does for our communities.” What sets OHF apart from other local organizations – and other organizations with similar missions – is that the Foundation offers financial assistance to people with unmet medical expenses and homecare needs. In addition to providing financial assistance, OHF improves the health and well-being of residents through community events and partnerships, education opportunities, and the support of wellness initiatives. Based in Woodstock, the Foundation assists the healthcare needs of nine towns: Barnard, Bridgewater, Hartland, Killington, Plymouth, Pomfret, Quechee, Reading, and Woodstock.  … Read More