EDITOR’S NOTE
Who was your best childhood friend?
STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS COPUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Cathy Resmer
cathy@kidsvt.com COPUBLISHER
Colby Roberts
colby@kidsvt.com MANAGING EDITOR
Alison Novak
alison@kidsvt.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Lexy and Alison, 1982
Mary Ann Lickteig
maryann@kidsvt.com ART DIRECTOR
Brooke Bousquet brooke@kidsvt.com
MARKETING & EVENTS DIRECTOR
Corey Grenier
corey@kidsvt.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Kaitlin Montgomery kaitlin@kidsvt.com
CALENDAR WRITER
Brett Stanciu
brett@kidsvt.com PROOFREADERS
Carolyn Fox, Katherine Isaacs, Kara Torres PRODUCTION MANAGER
John James CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Don Eggert DESIGNERS
Kirsten Cheney, Rev. Diane Sullivan CIRCULATION MANAGER
Matt Weiner BUSINESS MANAGER
Cheryl Brownell CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Astrid Hedbor Lague, Grace Per Lee, Ken Picard, Erinn Simon, Autumn Spencer, Jessica Lara Ticktin, Katie Titterton PHOTOGRAPHERS
James Buck, Sam Simon, Matthew Thorsen ILLUSTRATORS
Rob Donnelly, Elisa Järnefelt
Published 11x per year. Circulation: 25,000 at 600+ locations throughout northern and central Vermont. © 2018 Da Capo Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.
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ALISON NOVAK, MANAGING EDITOR
My best friends when I was little were TARA and SAMANTHA. We took dance classes together for years. To this day, when I hear certain songs, it reminds me of singing in the back of one of our parents’ cars on the way to dance. BROOKE BOUSQUET, ART DIRECTOR I had a few best friends when I was growing up: my dog, HERBIE, who adopted me at the Humane Society when I was 5, my next door neighbor Smelly KELLY (my brothers’ nickname for her), and my sisters, MONICA and MARIE. DIANE SULLIVAN, DESIGNER
CONTRIBUTOR’S NOTE ELISA JÄRNEFELT (“Mom Takes Notes,” page 11) is a Finnish researcher and illustrator. While finishing her PhD in Boston, her husband, Nick, asked her to hike with him to the top of Mount Mansfield so she would think about something other than work for awhile. There, they talked about how cool it would be to move to Vermont someday. Four years later, Elisa and Nick welcomed a tiny Vermonter, Saga, in Burlington. Instead of keeping a baby book, Elisa makes simple illustrations about Saga’s developmental milestones and her own experience as a mom. Follow Elisa on Instagram at @aslittlecookingaspossible.
KIDS VT
here are all kinds of love stories. Lexy and I met as toddlers while finger painting with chocolate pudding at a progressive child-parent center in Philadelphia. We quickly became enamored with each other. Luckily, our moms became good friends, too. We attended the same preschool, went on family vacations to the Jersey Shore together and spent countless hours playing grocery store in her basement. We insisted that our mothers dress us alike, and we were occasionally mistaken for twins, much to our delight. When I was 5, my family moved to New York, but Lexy and I managed to stay in touch. We went on summer travel programs together in middle and high school, backpacked around Europe after our freshman year of college and trained for the New York City Marathon in our early twenties. We’ve seen each other through breakups and moves, marriage and pregnancy. Though she now lives in Brooklyn, we still manage to get our families together several times a year. And — in what feels like proof of the strong, unspoken connection we’ve cultivated over 38 years of friendship — when we do see each other, we’re often dressed alike. In this month’s issue, we celebrate the love between friends. Erinn and Sam Simon — themselves partners in life and creative work — interviewed and photographed pals with special bonds (“Friends Forever,” page 18). From 6-year-old Leo and his “County Road Grandma” Kitty, to Harry Potter-loving middle schoolers Lili and Quinn, their stories are unique but the sentiments they express will be familiar to anyone who’s ever had a true friend. Looking for a sweet Valentine’s Day treat? Flip to page 16 for Astrid Hedbor Lague’s recipe for a decadent crêpe cake. In the mood for a relaxing — and warm — outing with your preschooler? Katie Titterton explains why the Gardener’s Supply greenhouse in Williston is the place to be during the winter months in “Destination Recreation” (page 13). And on page 22, learn about a unique, long-running program at Champlain College that shows the love to single parents looking to earn a college degree. I’m also happy to introduce a new contributor, Elisa Järnefelt. Every other month, the talented illustrator will be sharing a drawing about some aspect of parenthood. This month, she reflects on what her family members do for each other without having to ask. February also marks the beginning of our camp guide, which runs through May. Starting on page 26, you’ll find tons of information about local summer camps, including a planning sheet you can use to keep track of what your kids are doing each week of the summer. Don’t forget to join us at our 21st annual Camp and School Fair, on Saturday, February 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Hilton Burlington. We’d love to see you there.
With only eighteen months between us, MY SISTER and I shared the same room growing up, swapped library books and favorite T-shirts, and spent endless hours enmeshed in an imaginary world only the two of us inhabited. She’s still my closest friend. BRETT STANCIU, CALENDAR WRITER
FEBRUARY 2018
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Friends ’Til the End
My friend CELESTE and I met in preschool when we were 3 and have been friends ever since. We were both raised Catholic, share the name Celeste (my middle name) and have the same sense of humor. Now, instead of passing notes about funny church signs we’ve seen, we text photos of them. CATHY RESMER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
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