Among the thriving artistic culture here in Quechee and the greater Upper Valley, and the many talented people who live here, there is a notably rich presence of choral singing, which is supported by a growing network of interested artists, as well as the Choral Arts Foundation of the Upper Valley (CAFUV).

The Choral Arts Foundation, like most non-profits, aims to support and uplift the community it serves – and in this case, that means promoting choral singing in the Upper Valley.

The CAFUV mission statement emphasizes providing “inspiration and support to those who sing, those who direct, and those who listen.”… Read More

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.… Read More

The Quechee Scottish Games and Festival we all know and love have been entertaining attendees for 45 years here in Vermont, but their history goes back much farther than that – over 700 years ago! 

The Scottish Games themselves date back to 1314 when they were called Ceres Highland Games, held every year in the Scottish town of Ceres. These games were possibly founded by Scotland’s first king, Robert the Bruce, to reward the Ceres village men who fought with him in the battle for independence from England. Except for during the COVID-19 lockdown, these games have continued in Ceres without interruption since 1314. … Read More

“I’ve always been looking for this,” says Ben Lay, a local musician from the Quechee/West Hartford area 

who coordinates the efforts and activities of the Hartford Salamander Team. Since 2020, the Hartford Salamander Team has been engaging adventurous locals to identify hotspots of amphibian migration and help save frogs and salamanders from being hit by vehicles as they make their journeys on warm, rainy nights in spring. Though this remains its major focus, the Team has grown in diverse ways over the last three years as members share not only their knowledge, but their desire to learn more about the natural world around them. … Read More

This past February, the Vermont Flames, a year-round youth hockey organization that includes players from throughout the state, participated in the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament and skated away as the first Vermont team in the history of the 63-year-old event to win it all.

The Flames team is made up of some of the top players in the state including the two goalies, Isaac Tane and Kaleb Sanderson, who are both from Quechee.

The Tournament is the oldest and most prestigious youth hockey tournament in the world and unofficially serves as the Pee-Wee (13U) World Championships. Founded in 1960, the event is attended annually by more than 2,250 competitors from over 15 countries.… Read More

Much has been written about Quechee’s Whitman Brook, a lovingly restored orchard offering 143 varieties of heirloom apples originating in Europe and the United States. Now an award-winning documentary has been added to the orchard’s accolades. Whitman Brook and the Nature of Time by Norwich Writer/Director Ben Silberfarb beautifully captures the distinct seasons in the orchard and the moving story of its thoughtful founder and lead steward Terry Dorman and the people who work with him taking care of the land.

The poet Alexander Pope wrote a commonly used phrase in landscape and agricultural circles, ‘Consult the genius of a place in all.’… Read More

For New Englanders, spring is a much-anticipated season. These first warm, sunny days after a bitter winter bring purple crocuses, budding trees, and singing birds, as well as feelings of renewal and joyful anticipation of time spent outdoors. As May approaches, it seems like every corner of our landscape is home to beautiful vistas and diverse wildlife. In Vermont in particular, these treasures of a healthy ecosystem are part of our identity. 

“Vermonters are very proud of their state,” says Kate Alberghini, Executive Director of Green Up Vermont and herself a lifelong Vermonter, “they’re not too good to pick up a piece of trash.”… Read More

Ballet dancer. Lawyer. Writer. Three professions with wildly different levels of certainty, not often found in the same person, but Leigh Abramson, a Quechee writer whose first novel “A Likely Story” is coming out with Simon & Schuster this March, has already been all three.

Growing up the daughter of two creatives – an artist and children’s book writer – in downtown New York City, Abramson was always interested in writing.

However, her first major creative passion was dance; Abramson was a serious ballerina studying at the American Ballet School. But, at age 15, missing school and other typical teenage activities for dance while attending the Professional Children’s School, Abramson decided to make a change.… Read More

Actually, the Quechee Times’ first edition was published 150 years ago in 1872. However, the ‘modern-day’ version began in November 1972. Please indulge me as I tell this full-circle tale.

L. John Davidson was the founding visionary of the Quechee Lakes development. He was on a quest to find the perfect setting to create a four season resort community where families could live, work and play in the beauty that only Mother Nature can provide, while still having access and relative proximity to high-level cultural amenities and city centers. Quechee was just that spot.

While it sounds nice in the movies, it’s not a given that ‘if you build it, they will come.’… Read More

Matt Pickell, food program associate at the Upper Valley Haven, succinctly sums up the work that the Haven does in five straightforward words: “Good deeds happen here daily.”

Completing its 40th year in service, the Haven has long been providing shelter and education to those experiencing homelessness and food and other assistance to those in need. “The work here is very tangible,” Pickell says, “People come here, they need groceries and they leave with groceries.”

The Haven began its work in 1980, founded officially in 1982 by a group of five Upper Valley citizens in an old farm building on Hartford Avenue, formerly Taft Avenue.… Read More