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Grand Re-Opening Celebration Bob Williams of Williams Hardware (l) invites you to his Poultney True Value Hardware store's Grand Re-Opening Celebration Saturday and Sunday. Come for giveaways, a treasure hunt and more! See flyer inside for details and also ad on Pg. 4 for all the exciting details.
FreePress LAKES
Vol. 22, Issue 19
Take 'Mom' to breakfast! / 8
POSTAL CUSTOMER
REGION
Friday, May 6, 2011
Twig remembers Pg. 12
Briefs Green Up Day Saturday Lakes Region
Spartans host Casino Night
Lakes Region communities ready to 'clean up'
The Spartans AAU Basketball team will host a Casino Night Saturday, May 7 at the Spartan Arena behind the Rutland Mall. Doors open at 7 p.m., and gaming runs until 11 p.m. All guests must be 18 or older. The $20 entrance fee includes 200 chips. Games include black jack, roulette, and craps.
St. Raphael's holds Poultney Spring Ball The St. Raphael's Catholic Church will host the annual Poultney "Spring Ball" with "Enerjazz" Big Band, an 18-piece group that will play for your dancing and listening pleasure. This is a semi-formal affair and will be held in St. Raphael's Catholic Church Hall, East Main Street, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., Saturday, May 7. The cost is $20 per person. Information available at 802-287-5186.
Castleton Woman's Club meets May 11 Welcome spring with the GFWC Castleton Woman's Club annual meeting on May 11 at the South Station Restaurant in Rutland. The social hour will begin at 11:30 PM, and luncheon will be served at 12:30 PM. All members and guests are welcome. Please call 468-0011 for information.
Methodist Church plans rummage sale The Wells United Methodist Church will present a Spring Rummage Sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday, May 13. There will be a tomato plant sale and a food sale outdoors and then inside there will be spring and summer clothes, shoes, and accessories for men, women and children, as well as other items. On Saturday only, the church will have its big bag sale. For additional information please call Phyllis at 802-3253196.
Public Notices / Pg. 2
After several years of growth, Dennis Browns' grapes are featured in several varieties of wine.
Vintage Poultney Lakes Region vineyard offers authentic Vermont wine By Derek Liebig Dennis Brown has been making wine for his own personal use for years. He’s also spent the last several years raising his own grapes. And now both those efforts have come together with the opening of his business, Whaleback Vineyards. Many local residents would probably recognize the small vineyard. Located at 202 Old Lake Road, just off Route 30 at the northern terminus of Lake St. Catherine in Poultney, Brown has been raising grapes on the gentle hillside for several years. The plastic mulch and trellis system went in several years ago and the vines were added later and have since grown into a mature vineyard. “It’s been an ongoing thing. It’s taken years to get the vines started,” Brown said. “I just got through all the licensing around December.” The business offers a selection of seasonal wines. Brown said he currently has four varieties of wine available, including a Rioja, Marquette, St. Croix and even an apple wine. “There are lots of other varieties coming up,” he said. Brown said that up until 15 years of ago it
was difficult to produce grape wines in the area because most varieties of grapes couldn’t survive the harsh winter climate in the region. However with the development of more winter hardy grape varieties, all that changed, creating a surge of vineyards in Vermont. “The grapes I grow can survive up to 30 below, instead of 12 or 15 below. These varieties didn’t exist until 10 or 12 years ago.” The process from vine to palette takes time. Besides the years spent raising and caring for the grapes, Brown has to pick the fruit, crush it, press out the juice, ferment the fruit and finally add the yeast. He said most white wines are ready about a year after they are bottled while red wines take longer. “They take about two years to mellow down and get to peak,” Brown said. The flavor of each wine is influenced by a number of things including the variety of yeast used and the vessels in which the wine is produced. Brown said he prefers un-oaked wines meaning the wine ferments in a stainless steel vessel as opposed to one made of wood, specifically
See WINE, pg. 2
The Town of Poultney is participating in Vermont’s Annual Green Up Day on Saturday, May 7 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a town-wide clean-up and many items being collected at the Poultney Transfer Station. “We have good citizen participation every year,” said Town Manager Jonas Rosenthal. This is the 41st year for the state-wide event, which is sponsored by the Green Up Vermont organization. To continue the Vermont tradition of taking care of the state’s beautiful landscape, the town invites all citizens and groups to volunteer their time that day to help clean the community. Green Up bags, which
See GREEN, pg. 2
Don't be left out! Your official guide to summer is coming the end of this month....your 2011 Lakes Region Summer Guide. This popular guide will be delivered throughout the Lakes Region and beyond all summerlong. If your business would like to be included in this annual edition, give the FreePress a call today at 800-354-4232. Don't delay...time is running out!