178 Real estate & homes: What $3 mil gets you? Designer Marc Langlois • Ski school turns 90
I headed up Stowe Hollow one afternoon, deep into the newspaper deadline. We were doing a story on Ed Billings, who’d made it to 100, and we needed a current photo. So, after nearly 40 years in Stowe, I finally met the legend himself. Former Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol director, builder of fine homes, a hard-hat deep-sea diver with the Merchant Marines during World War II, husband, father, engineer, poet, and painter. Yes, painter. A very prolific one.
I ended up spending 90 minutes talking to Ed that day—deadline be damned. He and his wife, Patty Soper, took me out to their barn after I noticed a snapshot of a painting (this one) Ed had made that was taped into one of many scrapbooks scattered about the living and dining rooms.
There, in the barn, paintings sat stacked against every wall. Pictures of Vermont, Florida, Caspian Lake, where the couple enjoyed summers, and countless other subjects, scenes, and locales.
This one, a watercolor painted in 1989, is sizeable, about 40 inches by 30 inches, and it depicts a lone skier taking in a view of Mt. Mansfield. Alas, I do not recall if Ed painted it from his imagination, a memory, or a snapshot. The location is unrecognizable, at least to me.
Like so many, Ed’s arrival in Stowe was serendipitous. After the war, he took up skiing to impress a woman who was an avid skier. A few years later, on a whim, he left his office job after hearing about the great skiing in Stowe and a job opening with the ski patrol.
After retirement in the Florida Keys, Ed worked on perfecting his painting skills, rewarding friends and family with his efforts.
Ed died in December 2023 at 102.
—Greg Popa
Stephen Kellogg.
by Evan Daigle
Photo
Gregory J. Popa
Bryan Meszkat, David Hatoff, Michael Kitchen, Judy Kearns, and Wendy Ewing
Gregory J. Popa, Katerina Werth
Katerina Werth
Kate Carter
Leslie Lafountain
Leslie Lafountain
Gordon Miller
Glenn Callahan, Kate Carter, Orah Moore, Paul Rogers, Kevin Walsh
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MARK AIKEN
IN THIS ISSUE: Keep ‘em turning, p.186
KATE CARTER
IN THIS ISSUE: Family retreat, p.206
Behind the scenes: My 12-year-old son is fascinated by two things: history and maps. Combine those, and I often find myself being shown old maps, including old Stowe trail maps depicting the original Chin Clip, which emptied onto Route 108, Nose Dive, Barnes Camp. Last year, when he and I read Sepp Ruschp’s memoir, “Ski Pioneers of Stowe, Vermont,” I knew I wanted to cover the compelling history of Stowe’s ski and ride school, now in its 90th year.
Currently: When he’s not researching ski school history, Mark, a freelance writer, has been an instructor at Stowe for 20 years, making him a relative newcomer compared to Tricia Kules and Bill McManus, whom he interviewed for the 90th anniversary article. He lives in Richmond with his wife, kids, dog, two cats, and 11 chickens.
AARON CALVIN
IN THIS ISSUE: New rules, p.158
Behind the scenes: Pistachios are trending in Stowe. In the last edition, an article on Harrison’s restaurant boasted a pistachio-crusted venison. In this one, Trattoria La Festa chef Jason Gelineau’s recent innovations include a rack of lamb with a pistachio pesto.
Currently: Aaron Calvin is a writer and journalist in Vermont, and a staff writer for the Vermont Community Newspaper Group and two of its titles, The Stowe Reporter and News and Citizen. Earlier this year, he was named New England Journalist of the Year for 2024 at the New England Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper competition and was a fellow at the New England First Amendment Coalition’s Gloria L. Negri First Amendment Institute in 2025. More at aaroncalvin.com.
PAUL ROGERS
IN THIS ISSUE: Spring green, p.86
Behind the scenes: I first saw Elizabeth Benedict’s total house renovation when I was invited by interior designer Marc Langlois to an open-house celebration. There was so much to see that I missed a few rooms, but I did find the secret door to the speakeasy. I knew Benedict’s home would make a great story, so I reached out to her, and she gave me a private tour. I was gobsmacked, and subsequently got to both photograph and write about the house. There is something very satisfying about photographing a home owned by an interior designer. It was perfection.
Currently: Kate is a freelance writer and photographer, and when she’s not researching stories, she is photographing homes for builders, interior designers, property managers, real estate agents, and this magazine. Contact her at vtrealestatephotos.com.
LIBERTY DARR
IN THIS ISSUE: The Vintage Garage, p.76
Behind the scenes: I don’t know much about cars, but after I met Pierce Reid, owner of The Vintage Garage, that’s when I really realized I also know too little about this strange thing called life. That’s the thing about talking to Pierce. Sure, you’ll learn a hell of a lot about a Rolls-Royce, but even more so, you’ll learn a thing or two about the greater meaning of it all.
Currently: Liberty, a flatlander-turned-Vermonter, writes for the Vermont Community Newspaper Group, contributing weekly stories to The Other Paper and The Citizen Whenever she has free time from trying to keep up with Vermont’s small-town municipal mayhem, she is probably reading Ottessa Moshfegh’s newest novel, pouring beer behind the pine at the local tavern, or walking the dog.
Behind the scenes: The emergence of spring foliage is a highlight of the year for me. Winter is over, and the trees coming into bud provide so much hope. It’s fun to explore Vermont’s back roads, even those fighting a battle against mudseason. The landscape beckons for attention. Once Smugglers Notch opens to traffic, it ’s easy to see the progression of green at upper elevations, spring flowers start to appear and the promise of renewal is in the air.
Currently: Having grown up in Stowe, it’s easy to take the beauty of the landscape for granted. In the spring, you might find me sprawled on the earth searching for the earliest of spring flowers or composing a backlit landscape when the sun is low. See more at paulrogersphotography.com.
Cannabis Dispensary
Pass the baton
Seventy.
The first Stowe Guide I ever put together was the summer/fall edition in 1991. It was a 6-inch by 9-inch booklet chock full of advertisements, a phone directory, and some copy that got recycled from season to season—what to do, where to do it, and the hours at the dump.
Several years on, two influential men in town approached then-owner Trow Elliman to launch a magazine. So, we did. It was 32 pages. Neither man advertised in the thing. After two issues, we decided to shut it down.
“But wait,” I said. “Trow, why not combine our tourist booklet/phonebook with this large-format, feature-driven product?”
Trow was game. So that’s what we did.
When Biddle Duke bought the Stowe Reporter in 1998, he said, “Greg, this magazine is a great product, and I hope we can work together to make it even better.” And, together, we did.
Two years later, I left my job as newspaper editor and, with several different partners, ran my own company for 10 years. But Biddle kept me on as a subcontractor throughout that decade, and the magazine continued to evolve and grow.
Over these 35 years, this magazine introduced me to some amazing people who also became my friends. Elinor Earle and her scrumptious prose and unmatched wit. Nancy Wolfe Stead’s insatiable curiosity and inimitable style. Both could write about anything, along with Nancy Crowe, who excelled at outdoor features like the time she circumvented Mansfield on foot and chronicled her trip for us. Then there is Kate Carter. She’s been indispensable to me as a writer, photographer, and contributing editor. The newspaper company’s GM, Katerina Werth, is not only one of my dearest friends but a patient sounding board, willing to pitch in wherever, whenever.
Rob Kiener, who writes about Jenna’s Promise in this issue, brought his unique brand of storytelling to our readers, and I always felt as if I’d been especially good in class when Biddle or Pete Hartt or Tommy Gardner or Aaron Calvin would deign to grace these pages with their talents.
And the photographers. Good grief. From the incomparable Glenn Callahan to Paul Rogers and Gordon Miller, Stowe has been blessed to have had its remarkable people and magical places captured on “film.” There are so many other amazing writers and photographers and collaborators—too many to name—so apologies to all who go unmentioned.
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HOURS: MONDAY - SATURDAY 10 TO 7 • SUNDAY 10 TO 5
Cannabis has not been analyzed or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For use by individuals 21 years of age and older or registered qualifying patient only. KEEP THIS PRODUCT AWAY FROM CHILDREN AND PETS. DO NOT USE IF PREGNANT OR BREASTFEEDING. Possession or use of cannabis may carry significant legal penalties in some jurisdictions and under federal law. It may not be transported outside of the state of Vermont. The effects of edible cannabis may be delayed by two hours or more. Cannabis may be habit forming and can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. Persons 25 years and younger may be more likely to experience harm to the developing brain. It is against the law to drive or operate machinery when under the influence of this product. National Poison Control Center 1-800-222-1222.
Seventy.
That’s how many editions I have been responsible for over these decades—as editor, writer, and publisher. But the time has come for someone new. Seventy has just the right ring. Thank you. It’s been an amazing ride.
—Greg
Popa
Correction
We listed an incorrect web address for the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail in our last edition. The address is railtrails.vermont.gov.
INTO THE WOODS The author heads uphill under his own power in Stowe’s Nebraska Valley.
GROWING NUMBERS EARN THEIR TURNS
For years, the coveted century mark was a milestone for many hardcore skiers and riders each season. It takes a certain commitment to reach this lofty goal of skiing 100 days. Consistency, personal drive—both physically and mentally—and a deep passion for snow are critical traits to reaching triple-digit days.
Most snow sliders count their days at the ski area lapping runs on high-speed quads and detachable six packs or slow moving single or double chairs. At smaller ski areas, rope tows or T-bars serve as the preferred mechanical means to get up the hill.
But now there is a new breed of skier—one that harkens back to the sport’s earliest days—one who does not require a lift, day ticket, or season’s pass. They’re human-powered skiers, the ones who use their muscles to propel themselves up the mountain.
Long before chairlifts, skiers used skins on their skis to travel through the mountains and their small towns. These skins gripped the snow under foot to allow a climb up without slipping backwards.
The oldest skins come from Central Asia’s Altai mountains, where skiers have nailed horsehair to the underside of their skis for over 4,000 years. In Finland, badger fur was used for the very same purpose. In the 1930s, the first modern skins developed for recreational use employed sealskin and were used by the famed U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division to train its soldiers.
Looking at the development of skiing, a common theme runs through virtually every advance in the sport—efficiency. Skiing was first used to move quickly and expend less energy than walking through snow. Skis were used to get from one side of town to the other to deliver food, medicine, goods, and other critical supplies needed for survival in arctic-like regions.
What started as a practical tool was soon used for adventure and exploration. Dartmouth College formed an outing club whose members would log many first ascents in the early 1900s. These enthusiasts formed a passionate community of alpinists, whose legacy looms large in the history of East Coast skiing and mountaineering in places like Mt. Washington in New Hampshire.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the desire to explore a resort’s boundaries reemerged, and skiers tapped into a new and bountiful world of exploration and discovery. The reward, a blank palette of snow to lay down tracks, was always worth it. Many hardcore skiers would soon start spending a better part of their season in the backcountry.
But the only way to access the backcountry then was to learn to telemark, the technique of dropping your knee in powder. It took a lot of time to master, the leather boots leaked, and binding cables would break or simply rip out of your skis.
But free heeling set you apart from the vacationers, holiday lift lines, and moguls, offering a purer sense of wonder. A sense of separation slowly started to develop between ski bum friends who you would now only see at night, as a gentle parting of the ways started to happen between people who chose to ride chairlifts and those who chose to earn their turns.
Next came technological advancements in bindings—what we now call AT or tech bindings. Stronger and sturdier than flimsy tele bindings and now much lighter, backcountry skiing became less about telemark and skiing low-angle powder and more about chasing lines that looked like the ones from old ski movies.
FIRST PERSON
Soon, getting fresh tracks meant going higher, further, and deeper. In the off-season, groups of out-of-bounds skiers would go out on reconnaissance missions to cut new zones. You felt like a true rebel, part of a special tribe or underground club.
The sport was changing and for those who jumped on the bandwagon early, it felt like you were part of something big.
During this earn-your-turns renaissance, snowboarders were left out in the cold. But technology has caught up, and splitboards no longer require a socket wrench and lots of nuts and bolts to put the board back together. If you dropped one of those bolts or T-nuts in the snow, well, you would be stuck in a rather tough situation.
Nowadays, splitboard technology has improved greatly, and splitboarders can be found almost anywhere skiers go. Noboarding—snowboarding without bindings—allows the rider to stay on his board with skateboard-like, grip-tape decks, bringing a whole new meaning to being “free.”
Now, anywhere there is snow, whether you live in a city, suburb, or mountain town, your backyard, town park, local golf course, or sledding hill now becomes a legitimate playground for low-angle powder turns.
In Stowe on any powder day, you will see 50 to 75 cars in the Midway lot by 6 a.m. The entire mountain can be tracked out before the lifts even run.
Meditative and physical, these hearty types are drawn to human-powered skiing as it provides a more intimate way to interact with the mountains and nature. With only your lung capacity and leg power, it is the best way to experience skiing.
Access has never been easier. The culture and skinning community is stronger than ever, making ski partners easy to find, as well as racing
against your peers. Most ski towns now have local SKIMO (ski mountaineering) events. In fact, SKIMO racing will be a medal sport in the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games.
All of this points to more people earning their turns than ever before. This frustrates some locals who once had all these “secret” spots to themselves. In the days before cellphones and connectivity, you had to study topographical maps, talk to forest rangers, or get beta from climbing guides and through word of mouth. We got lost more times than I care to admit.
We can blame the popularity of human-powered skiing on gear advancement, like Marker Dukes and Daymaker Trekkers—what we used to call Day Wreaker—that enables the average downhill hill skier to start skinning on their local mountains. Wild and raw places are now listed on cellphone apps, and social media platforms chronicle the runs and secret stashes on video.
Now more than ever, it’s possible to ski 100 plus days a season without ever getting on a chair. Liberation is at hand.
So, the next time you stumble out of bed and into the kitchen for that cup of Joe to get you going, you may want to rethink your objectives and goals for the day. Dawn patrollers and earn-your-turn skiers start their day with a different cup of ambition.
Their coffeemakers are preset for 4:45 a.m., and, in many cases, they have already accomplished what most people do in a day while the rest of us are sound asleep in our beds. n
David Hatoff is a skier, mountain biker, and dad living in Nebraska Valley in Stowe. He relishes being able to ski and ride right outside his door, and he enjoys how both sports have so many similarities with gravity, flow, and comradery.
RURAL ROUTE
on a sunbaked day after The Elmore Store’s grand re-opening, Becca and Tim Lindenmeyr, the new operators, felt both grateful and exhausted.
Nestled between Route 12 and the shores of Lake Elmore, with just as much parking for boats as cars, The Elmore Store saw a revolving door of tourists and locals gathering supplies and slurping up creemees. Within hours of opening, the store sold out of certain items like Tshirts, fresh fruit, and produce.
“It was a bit like a three-day wedding,” Becca said.
The store closed for renovations last January after nearly two centuries of continuous operation. Elmore residents, visitors, and neighbors felt the absence of the town’s only commercial store, and
like lost pets out in the cold, they’ve been anxiously awaiting the day the doors opened again.
“The store is that third space in town that otherwise doesn’t exist,” Becca said. “It’s the only public gathering place other than the church, town hall, and the schoolhouse across the street.”
Longtime patrons of The Elmore Store remember Warren and Kathy Miller, who owned and ran the popular store for nearly four decades.
Before Warren’s death in 2020, the Millers were concerned about finding another owner. In response, they partnered with community members to create the Elmore Community Trust, which embarked on an aggressive fundraising campaign to purchase the store from the Millers. The plan was for the trust to own the building and pay for renovations while an operator ran the store.
The organization cycled through three operators in as many years before the Lindenmeyrs stepped in. Trevor Braun, an Elmore Community Trust board member, said the job is a difficult one and the trust’s commitment to renovating the building before the store re-opened for business added another layer of complexity.
This time last year, there were holes in the floor and the walls buckled under pressure.
The Lindenmeyrs have a long history of owning businesses and renovating spaces, and their pitch as potential operators stunned the trust. Tim is originally from Elmore, and the couple
STORY / PATRICK BILOW PHOTOGRAPHS / GORDON MILLER
COMMUNITY SPIRIT Tim and Becca Lindenmeyr, operators of The Elmore Store, inside the newly refurbished space at this summer’s grand re-opening par ty.
RURAL ROUTE
LEGACY BUILDING The creemees were plentiful on the day when Elmore turned out to check out the newly renovated store, packing the deck that overlooks Lake Elmore. The post office will remain operational inside the store.
currently owns and operates Farm Craft VT in Shelburne, a natural skin care and soap company. Eventually they hope to move back to Elmore.
They proposed a top-down renovation of the building and a comprehensive vision of the store as a community gathering space, restaurant, general store, and bar. And they wanted to do it all in six months before the summer season began.
“I think we’re still shocked they pulled this off,” Braun said. “It wouldn’t have been possible without them, especially with the timeline.”
Outside in
The Lindenmeyrs had a vision for the space, and they wanted full control over the renovation. After the trust saw their pitch, it conceded and let the Lindenmeyrs run the show.
Becca said the space is designed for a variety of different people, from locals to hungry workers traveling Route 12 to tourists seeking out ingredients for s’mores.
They opened the main floor of the store so patrons could see through to the lake as they entered. There’s an open kitchen, coffee bar, and reading area with chairs and tables, which leads to the back deck overlooking
the lake. Upstairs, there’s an apartment alongside a co-working room and wellness studio. Perhaps, most importantly, there’s finally an indoor public bathroom.
The Lindenmeyrs repurposed as much of the original material as possible, including the original flooring, but it doesn’t look anything like the old store. All told, the renovations cost about $500,000, which is a fraction of what most projects of that scale cost, Tim said.
The trust will continue fundraising to pay back the Lindenmeyrs over time, Braun said.
The project was supported by in-kind labor from several people who wanted to keep the store standing. Patterson and Smith Construction in Stowe offered general contracting work, and friends of the store were often on-site swinging hammers when needed.
The Elmore Store was also once home to Fire Tower Pizza, and pizza is back on the menu. The Lindenmeyrs are collaborating with Elmore Mountain Bread to offer a handful of pizza options.
The store has a deli, too, that sources meat from local farms.
And, in August, Elmore residents could once again start picking up their mail at the store, which also serves as the town’s post office. n
Nicole Grenier
‘We believe in giving back and paying it forward.’
Few embody civic-mindedness and care for humanity as strongly as Nicole Grenier. In 2024, Revitalizing Waterbury awarded her the Kathy O’Dell Community Service Award that honors local businesses or individuals who give back to the community. Grenier owns Stowe Street Café in Waterbury, which celebrated 10 years this past summer. The café is a safe and welcoming place for others to gather and connect, no matter what their sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or political leanings. Grenier lives in Waterbury Center with her husband, John Grenier, a civil engineer, their two children, Eli, 17, and Rosalie, 11, and Sam the cat, who is best friends with their latest addition, Maggie, an Italian-Spanish mastiff.
What inspired you to open the café?
It was something I wanted to do for a very long time and thought it would be a passion project when I was done with my career in children’s mental health. The space and the town of Waterbury called to me and are what inspired me to make my passion a reality.
What did your mental health career involve?
the intErviEw
I was in children’s mental health for 25 years, mostly at Washington County Mental Health. I retired as director of the children’s division in 2021. I took a break from my career in 2014, when I had my daughter, and shortly after I opened the cafe. I already had a son from a previous marriage, who was 6 at the time. When the café space became available, I seized the opportunity. I ran the café for three years. Meanwhile, the replacement director at Washington County Mental Health was retiring, and they offered me the job, so I applied and got it. I already had all the systems in place at the café, so I felt comfortable doing both. Then the pandemic hit. I navigated both for a couple of years, and we made it through with a lot of resilience and a lot of pivots. After three years I decided it was time to step down from my mental health career and go full time in my own business.
What is it like to be in the old building where the café is located?
Originally it was a four-lane candlepin bowling alley. The café is located where the pins used to stand. The building has since gone through several phases. When the owner of the building, Sylvia Aylward, was ready to sell, I was ready to buy. It was an honor to take over the property, and now I’m the owner of a café, bookstore, apartment, and Airbnb, and I turned the basement into a commercial kitchen that other entrepreneurs can use. The kitchen is intended to help others in the industry be successful, and the short-term rental is incredibly successful. People love staying there. They are above a bookstore and café and close to other stores and restaurants in the village.
How do your kids like the café?
When I was working in mental health, they had after-school care. Now they come to the café before and after school, and Eli is a part-time barista. Both kids grew up at the cafe, and in a lot of ways I’ve grown up here, too. There have been a lot of lessons, challenges, failures, and successes in the last 10 years, and I’m so grateful for all of that.
How many people do you have on staff?
There are eight of us. A.J. Barr is the chef. He started as a line cook, then took over the head chef position. We create the menu together, which consists of breakfast, lunch, and brunch, five days a week.
What are your most popular menu items?
Our chai coffee, cinnamon buns, and made-to-order breakfast sandwiches. Some things have been on the menu since we opened. People really love the breakfast sandwiches and breakfast burritos.
GORDON MILLER
RURAL ROUTE
What is the café’s vibe?
Since it opened, the cafe has carried a clear commitment to supporting local farmers, artists, makers, and customers in an atmosphere where all are welcome. It’s the most satisfying thing that my intention was to build a space of community and connection, while enjoying local art that we sell. So many customers tell me repeatedly that the café means so much to them and that it’s made Waterbury a better place. My staff have told me it’s the best place they’ve ever worked. It really means a lot to hear that. An overwhelming number of the products we carry are made by local artists and makers. The majority are women, some are LGBTQ folks, many are from diverse cultural groups. People choose to shop here because they know they are supporting so many others and because we have fair trade products. Waterbury is very supportive of shopping local first.
Tell me about the mural on the side of your building.
We donated the space to a community project that was two years in the making. Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition organized the project and commissioned Raphaella Brice, a Burlington muralist, to design and paint “Madonna’s Earth.” The objective was to highlight art by people from various racial and ethnic backgrounds to further a mission and message of equity, diversity, and racial justice. You can see it from the Stowe Street bridge overlooking the railroad tracks. A plaque was installed on the bridge’s pedestrian sidewalk with information about the mural.
What are some of the other ways you’ve given back to the community?
In 2023 we collected and paid forward $21,500 to Vermont Flood Relief and in 2022 we raised $8,777 for the World Central Kitchen to feed those in and fleeing Ukraine. We donated and helped raise $9,204 for ACLU-VT in 2020. And we keep a Kindness Jar + Pay it Forward Meal Program at our register, where customers can submit their name for our monthly drawing to gift to someone they have nominated a $25 gift certificate as a thank you for being kind.
What do you do in your spare time?
I’m a meditation teacher and lately I’ve become immersed in energy medicine and shamanism. I also enjoy cooking and gardening and spending time with my family. n
FINE ART GIFTS DECOR FURNITURE JEWELRY
NEW CHIEFS IN TOWN STOWE SEES NEW LEADERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SAFETY
or Ed Webster, taking the job as Stowe’s fire and rescue chief feels a bit like traveling a full circle.
As a kid growing up in Hyde Park, Webster was no stranger to fire trucks. His father, Ed Sr., was a police officer in Stowe for 40 years and a member of the Hyde Park Fire Department. Ed Jr. was a regular fixture at the station and remembers crawling around the inside of the trucks or sitting perfectly still in the backseat when a call came in and members suited up to respond.
“My father, you know, he’d throw me in the truck and say, ‘Don’t you dare move,’” Webster said. “It was probably the only time I ever listened to him.”
When he was 11, Webster saw his father become fire chief and start a cadet program, which Ed Jr. eagerly joined. His career in fire and rescue services launched from there, pulling him to different corners of New England before he returned decades later to
Lamoille County for the job in Stowe.
Webster spent the last 25 years working for the Burlington Fire Department, where he made lieutenant in 10 years and left in April as a battalion chief.
As a teenager working for the Hyde Park Fire Department, Webster was a founding member of Hyde Park Fast Squad, a team that emphasized quick responses to rural calls in the area. From there, he attended college in New Hampshire, where he worked for the Gilmanton Fire Department, another rural department.
Before taking the Burlington job, Webster worked for Lamoille Ambulance, the precursor to Northern Emergency Medical Services, the main ambulance team for rural Lamoille County and points north.
“They have a huge coverage area that is very rural,” said Scott Brinkman, assistant EMS chief for Stowe Fire and Rescue, who added that Webster was hired for his extensive experience in rural communities.
As Stowe’s fire and rescue chief, Webster is stepping into a first-of-its-kind role in town. Over the last several years, Stowe has worked to merge fire and rescue services under one department and hiring a chief to lead that department was one of the final steps in the process.
Brinkman and Scott Reeves, Stowe’s interim fire chief, will step into assistant chief roles below Webster.
Having everyone under one roof makes it easier, Webster said, adding his employees meet almost daily, whether it’s sipping coffee or getting down to business. Going forward, he wants to continue growing the department and recruit more full-time employees, but Stowe’s housing crisis hasn’t made that easier. There is currently only one employee in the department who actually lives in Stowe. Webster lives in Hyde Park with his wife, Tracy.
“I’m very supportive of what’s happening right now,” Brinkman said. “We needed someone with Ed’s experience to take us to that next level.”
‘MEET THE CHIEFS’ Stowe hosted a “meet the chiefs” event in July to welcome the town’s new police chief and fire and rescue chief. From left, police chief Brooke O’Steen, Stowe Rotary president Ali Mahra, Stowe Selectboard member Jo Sabel Courtney, and fire and rescue chief Ed Webster Jr.
LISTEN UP!
The hills are alive with the sound of live, recorded discourse.
Over the past year, several new podcasts have popped up around Stowe, featuring different topics and a variety of voices both recognizable and new.
The latest local show, “Trivia Buzz,” is hosted by two Stoweites and self-proclaimed trivia nerds—one of whom is a trivia show veteran, appearing on shows like “Jeopardy” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”
Nancy Duran and Laura Goddard were somewhere between Vermont and Texas on a road trip when, after hours of listening to various trivia podcasts, they decided most of them were pretty bad—almost entirely hosted by men and devoid of personality and engaging questions. (Listen at triviabuzzpod.com.)
“Trivia Buzz,” which combines trivia and cocktails, was born a few months later, and with their pink shirts and logo, boozy drinks, and crafty questions, Duran and Goddard’s show is anything but boring.
Duran and Goddard met at a trivia night at Piecasso’s a few years back. Duran was a contestant on those aforementioned game shows, and Goddard—no stranger to Stowe’s trivia bar scene—has been hooked on trivia since her mom busted out Trivial Pursuit in the 1980s. Unsurprisingly, the duo cleaned up their first night as teammates.
Starting a podcast was a little more difficult, but they soon found a rhythm.
Guests have included friends of Duran and Goddard, familiar faces around town, like local bartenders and the host of Piecasso’s trivia nights, George Deane, as well as some visiting out-of-towners. Topics range from sports to history to music, and the questions get progressively harder as the show goes on.
The cocktails mixed for the show either reflect the theme of the questions or the guests’ tastes. For example, Duran and Goddard made Corpse Revivers—gin, Lillet blanc, and absinthe—for a show about the
NEW CHIEFS IN TOWN
New top cop
The town of Stowe also has a new police chief.
Brooke O’Steen, who has worked for the Stowe Police Department since 2016, was sworn in last May.
O’Steen’s hire ended a months-long search for a new chief, following the retirement of former police chief Don Hull in December.
Before joining the Stowe department, O’Steen worked for the U.S. Park Police in Washington, D.C., for 13 years. She was promoted several times during that time and held the position of sergeant, overseeing a squad of 22 officers when she moved to Vermont in 2015.
In Vermont, O’Steen worked for the University of Vermont Police Services for a year before coming to Stowe.
No full-time spots were available on Stowe’s force at the time, so O’Steen worked as a part-time officer until one became available. Meanwhile, she took a full-time job as a paramedic with Stowe Emergency Medical Services and, in 2019, was promoted to a full-time sergeant with the police department.
Grateful Dead, but they’ve also created mocktails and other beverages.
“A lot of trivia you see is like pub trivia, with men on barstools drinking beer,” Goddard said. “We’re like, ‘No, we’re doing something different, and we like cocktails.’”
Segments of the show are organized by a boozerelated system. It starts with Happy Hour, featuring witty banter between Duran, Goddard, and their guest about the happenings of the day.
The easiest and first round of questions is called The Well. Next is Bottom Shelf, followed by Shaken Not Stirred, and Top Shelf, the hardest round of questions, plus a mystery round where Duran and Goddard pepper their guest with unrelated questions.
Listeners now come from 20 countries, and the audience is growing with every show. For Duran and Goddard, the podcast may have started in Stowe, but there’s no telling how big it could get. —Patrick Bilow
Editor’s note: Locals Mike Carey and Ted Thorndike are finding their own voice with their podcast, “The Octagon,” a show focused entirely on Stowe that has attracted a wide variety of guests from different social circles. “Good ‘n You,” a podcast hosted by actor and personality Rusty Dewees, is also gaining traction. (Read our story in our summer edition at bit.ly/46MIbx5. Turn to page 126.)
Continued from page 26
“Brooke is a skilled officer with 22 years in law enforcement,” town manager Charles Safford said. “She is an engaged leader who inspires her team to achieve their full potential. I am optimistic about what lies ahead under Brooke’s leadership.”
O’Steen said what the department needs most right now is stability.
Hull oversaw a period of growth and change within the department during his tenure, but things became turbulent before his departure.
“I think we all just need to get back to work, rise to a common standard, and then move on from there,” O’Steen said. “There’s been a lot of movement, a lot of change with the department, and we just need to stabilize that.”
O’Steen lives in Hardwick with her wife, Lindsay and two dogs, Spud and Ally. She received the Vermont Advanced Life Support Provider of the Year Award in 2022 and Law Enforcement Award in 2023.
Francis Gonyaw, who led the department as interim chief since Hull’s retirement, will now move into a part-time officer role with the department, where, next year, he’ll have served 40 years. —Patrick Bilow
1. In September this year, Barbara and Steve Malfitano of Harrison, N.Y., and Stowe, and Drs. Antonella and Joseph Tartaglia of Rye, N. Y., traveled to Germany. Their journey began in Munich and ended in Berlin, with several stops in small towns along the way. This picture was taken in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the town that inspired the Disney film, “Pinocchio,” as well as the location for other movies, including “Harry Potter.” Here they stand in an area called Plönlein. The small building in the background is thought to have served as the house of Pinocchio’s father, Geppetto. 2. Katerina and Marty Werth of Morristown headed to Austria this summer for a family visit. Here’s Kat at the top of the Rendlbahn ski lift at Saint Anton am Arlberg in September. (More Globetrotters, p.32)
Do you have a photo of our magazine on some far-flung island or rugged mountain peak? Send it along to ads@stowereporter.com, with Stowe Magazine in the subject line. We’ll pick the best one—or two!—and run it in the next edition.
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1. Stowe Middle School eighth grader Oliver Brink relaxes at Poseidon Beach in Khao Lak, Thailand, in February. Oliver spent his seventh-grade year at an international school in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and took his February break in Khao Lak, one of his family’s favorite spots in Thailand. 2. Brenda Geloff submitted this picture from her travels to Barbados last May. “My family has been vacationing in Stowe for years. We love staying at the Trapp Family Lodge and taking in all that Stowe offers.” 3. Stowe went to Ireland for a wedding! Whose wedding, you ask? Ed Pearson and Susan Caldwell tied the knot at the Killaloe Hotel and Spa, Kincora Harbor, in Clare, over the course of three days, April 23-15, 2025. “Confidentially, he is 83 years old,” writes Ali Mahra, Ed’s neighbor on Moscow Road for over 20 years. Ed owned an electrical business in Stowe for many years. Ed and Susan, pictured right, front row, are surrounded by friends from Stowe.
Building a Life Here? Build a Legacy, Too.
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‘Party in the Meadow’
Stowe Land Trust, August 17
Stowe Land Trust executive director Tom Rogers with Julia Rogers and one of their daughters, Claire.
The Legendary House Red Band.
Jo Sabel Courtney and Jed Lipsky.
SARAH PEET PHOTOGRAPHY
Stowe Rescue Squad members Stella Richards, Todd Westervelt, and Drew Clymer.
A signpost points partygoers to Stowe Land Trust conserved properties.
Dean Goodermote of the Legendary House Red Band.
The von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort meadow served as the event venue.
Michy Lemay and Igor Vanovac.
‘It often rhymes’
Opening Festival: July 12 / The Current
Spoken word poet, emcee, and teaching artist Rajnii Eddins addresses the assembled at The Current for the opening of “It often rhymes,” a timely show about art and democracy.
flashback
EARLY TRACKS Newport, Vt.-based photographer Harry Wendell Richardson shot extensively on Mt. Mansfield and in the Stowe area in the middle of the last century. Two versions of this photo card in our possession are postmarked 1944 and 1949, though we think it was taken earlier. It’s part of at least two postcards from the same photo shoot, which both depict these two young women. No. 1442 is titled “Winter Wonderland.”
BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER: TREETOP SINGER
One recent morning, trying to find the source of a warbler trill high in a white pine tree, I was rewarded with a brilliant flash of orange. It was my first sighting of a Blackburnian warbler, one of the most beautiful songbirds song,” Tim Duclos of Vermont Audubon said. “They’re some of the first warblers to return each year, and I’m always excited to see and hear them.”
in the northern woods. While Blackburnian warblers are common in mature conifer and mixed hardwood forests, they can be hard to see, since they forage and nest high in the branches. But once spotted, they are easy to identify.
These avian gems are medium-sized warblers, 4to 6-inches long. During breeding season, the male has a bright orange throat, yellow and black facial markings, white wing patches, and a black back with white streaks. The female is a paler, yellower version.
“The Blackburnian warbler is one of my favorite birds, with its fiery orange plumage and ethereal
Despite their ability to evade our searching eyes, they are also more common than other warblers.
“They may not visit your feeder, but they might be right behind your house,” Duclos said. Blackburnians arrive in the Northeast in May. Males return first and potential mates come a few days later. Males sing from the tips of evergreens and the outermost branches of mature deciduous trees, where they deliver two main songs. Renowned birdsong expert Donald Kroodsma refers to these two vocalizations as dawn song and day song.
In “Birdsong by the Seasons,” he describes listening to 12 males one morning in western Massachusetts and analyzing their songs. Each male has a unique take on the dawn song and the day song and may even have more than one version of each.
My first Blackburnian was singing its day song, an increasingly rapid series of two-note phrases ending with a slightly longer one. I would need to be up before sunrise to hear the dawn song, a series of quick rising whistles followed by a high-frequency chatter and ending with such high notes that most people cannot hear them. Kroodsma describes the beginning phrase of the dawn song as sounding like the bird is juggling pebbles in its throat.
During courtship, male Blackburnian warblers flick their tails and peck at branches to attract the attention of potential mates. The females build nests as high as 80 feet up in the branches of hemlocks and other conifers. They lay three to five eggs in a tiny cup lined with lichen, moss, and grass. These birds are gleaners, hopping around in the branches and foraging for insects by starting near the base of a branch and moving outward before moving to the next branch. Besides insects of all kinds, Blackburnian warblers feast on caterpillars, including spruce budworm larvae.
Unlike some warblers, which are in steep decline, the Blackburnian appears stable.
According to conservation biologists at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, the population trend of the Blackburnian warbler over the past 35 years is flat, though there have been fluctuations up and down.
“Blackburnian and other mature-forest warblers appear to be doing well now that our forests consist of more climax stands of older trees, a habitat that is rather stable over the long-term, barring major logging or large-scale events such as icestorms, fire, disease, and insect outbreaks,” Steve Faccio of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies said. “The warblers with the steepest declines tend to be those that utilize early successional habitat, such as bluewinged and chestnut-sided warblers.”
Deforestation in the bird’s winter habitat in Central and South America could affect the Blackburnian warbler along with other neotropical migrants. Climate change also presents a threat.
“We’re seeing more extreme weather events than in the past, causing birds to get blown off course or stranded for long periods of time,” Duclos said.
This time of year, Blackburnians are well hidden by foliage. But when I hear a trill in the treetops, I look up. If a ray of sunshine strikes the throat of a Blackburnian warbler at just the right angle, I get to see the avian gem in all its glory. —Laurie D. Morrissey
Laurie D. Morrissey is a writer who lives in Hopkinton, N.H. “The Outside Story” is assigned and edited by Northern Woodlands magazine and sponsored by the Wellborn Ecology Fund of New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, nhcf.org.
ARTIST CREATES NOSTALGIC SKI-INFLUENCED ART
Artist Dennis French is best known for his artful reproductions of Stowe Mountain Resort’s gondolas, those bright red cable cars that resemble shiny, juicy apples dangling in the air by their stems.
“I’ve always loved gondolas and older ski culture, the lodges, snowcats, chairlifts, ski signs. I have an affinity for that culture,” French said.
So do the people who buy his gondola replicas and other ski-themed art.
For example, Bill Stritzler, owner of Smugglers’ Notch Ski Resort, has one of French’s miniature gondolas sitting on his desk. “He bought it in hopes it would influence and inspire people who came into his office,” French said.
French began creating various versions of the gondola a decade ago. Some are 2D, while others are 3D and protrude from flat surfaces. Others are freestanding, and some hang from the ceiling. “I always try to keep them as close to the originals as possible,” he said. French also does lift chairs, cut out to look three dimensional. He even created a lifesized version of an old Sugarbush gondola, which was the first of its
kind in the United States when Sugarbush opened in 1958. French’s replica is installed in a condo at the resort.
A former resident of Stowe, French now lives in nearby Waterville with his wife, Sasha French. They both work from their home studio to create unique, nostalgic ski-influenced art. Much of their inspiration comes from vintage alpine-related machinery. They blend traditional painting techniques, illustration, sculpture, and found objects to create whimsical folk art.
French’s artistic endeavors started as a child. He later attended art school at Maine College of Art.
“I’ve always done something artistic—hand-painted trucker hats, waterskis made into long-board cruiser skateboards, graphic design, sign making.”
He stopped buying canvases years ago and started to use acrylic paints on salvaged wood. “I like to keep it simple. Acrylics are waterbased and dry quickly, and I like to repurpose salvageable wood.”
Recently the Frenches took over the 1829 House of Antiques in Jeffersonville and opened the Vintage Den, where you can find room after room of vintage paraphernalia and goods that range from functional and creative to downright wacky, and where you’ll likely find a few pieces of Dennis French’s modern-yet-vintage-themed ski art.
His wall art gondolas are also available at Remarkable Things in Stowe.
—Kate Carter
Artist Dennis French and his ski-themed art.
TRUCK? BIG RIG REMOVAL CAN GET COMPLICATED
Call out the wrecking crew. Er, stuckage crew.
Every spring, once the road opens through Smugglers’ Notch, which connects the towns of Stowe and Cambridge over the Green Mountains, trucks that don’t belong there get stuck, acting like a cork in a wine bottle, preventing anything from getting into or out of the Notch.
Without resorting to expletives, stuckage is the term officials now use to describe when an oversized truck gets trapped in the narrow mountain passageway, while making grammarians and editors wince.
Getting your semi stuck in the Notch is essentially a function of physics and geology. Route 108 presents a triple threat, especially from the Stowe side. First, the road climbs at an incline of about 16 percent, a very steep climb for a car, never mind a tractor trailer rig. The road also features some tricky S-curves. Finally, the curvy road narrows considerably as it goes up, eventually reaching a spot just wide enough to accommodate one regular-sized vehicle at a time.
All the while, much of the roadside is lined with huge boulders moveable only by glaciers or lots of dynamite.
Bring a massive tractor trailer onto that scene, with an average length of 50 feet and typically laden with 50,000 pounds of cargo, and you have one very large cork in a very tight bottle.
So, while everyone knows how the trucks get stuck in the Notch, we wondered what really goes into uncorking them?
Getting unstuck
First, a call to Vermont State Police. Trooper Keith Cote of the Williston barracks, who’s responded to many such calls over the last few years, said it’s often a complicated, time-consuming process.
Only a few regional towing companies can handle Notch extractions. Some companies are located as close as Morrisville and as far away as Swanton, and police call them in rotation. These wreckers are not your average tow trucks, as they must be both powerful enough to maneuver the heavy tractor-trailer units, yet small enough to navigate the tight area.
According to Cote, trucks entering the Notch from the Cambridge side will get stuck near “the ledges,” the section of the road that narrows to one lane near the top. Trucks coming from Stowe will likely get stuck in either the narrowest point at the top or in one of the S-curves just below. “Once the units get stuck, they are done, since they can’t move forward or backward,” he said.
No two the same
Tractor trailers rarely get stuck in the Notch the same way, according to George McRae, owner of McRae’s Wrecker Service in Milton, and a long-time veteran of removing the big rigs. He notes that the process is based somewhat on which part of the truck gets stuck, but even more so on “the angle at which it is stuck.”
Wreckers generally approach the tractor trailer from the rear, so getting good accident scene information in advance from troopers is important.
Wrecker drivers must back up the Notch Road so that the tow unit matches up with the back of the trailer. The driver then hooks onto the trailer and pulls it while the tractor trailer driver may assist by backing up the unit as directed.
Not surprisingly, a great deal of finesse is required. Using two or more winches, each hydraulically controlled, the tow-truck driver hooks the cables to the underside of the trailer in multiple spots, depending upon the type of trailer, where the trailer is stuck, and a variety of other factors.
Once the winches are hooked, each one is played with, adjusted, maneuvered, cajoled, and finagled so the trailer can be moved, tugged, pulled, and shifted just enough so it can eventually be pulled out from between the rocks. During this process, the wrecker is anchored to the ground, allowing the give and take of the powerful winches to dictate how the cables are pulled from each direction, and gradually dislodging the trailer unit.
McRae likens the process to removing a large, heavy object like a refrigerator from a small, narrow space in a house. After grabbing on, the movers must shimmy, nudge, and rock the heavy appliance in different directions, little by little, to achieve success.
In the Notch, the removal process can often take several hours. In the meantime, traffic comes to a standstill.
After dislodging the tractor trailer, the wrecker driver tows it—backwards—down the road to an area wide enough so it can turn around. This process is harder on the Stowe side of the Notch as it has fewer areas wide enough to back the unit up and turn around. The visitor parking area just below the Notch on the Cambridge side makes the process easier.
Stiff fines
Although McRae says most tractor trailers make it out in one piece, when the trailer is badly damaged or if the driver has been arrested, he takes the truck back to his lot. Arrests are rare; tickets and fines are not. Vermont fines the company employing the driver—not the driver—between $1,000 and $4,000, according to the Vermont Agency of Transportation.
Removal charges can easily run between $3,500 and $5,500.
There have been 81 stuck trucks in the
Notch between 2014 and 2024, according to the transportation agency, which has instituted a variety of tactics to reduce, and hopefully eliminate, the problem.
Signs, both locally and on Interstate 89, warn long-truck operators to stay away from the Notch. In 2024, the state installed chicanes, devices made with barrels and plastic cones installed on each side of Route 108 meant to mimic the narrowness and curviness of the approaching road. If a big rig can’t navigate the chicanes without hitting the cones and barrels, that tells drivers they will not fit through the Notch.
And it has mostly worked.
The Notch saw just one stuck vehicle incident in 2024, and it wasn’t even a truck. An overly ambitious bus driver couldn’t quite navigate one of the turns, clogging up the passage.
While transportation officials were hoping for a perfect score this year, a truck got stuck just a week after the road opened in May, resulting in a $2,347 fine.
The hope is that the term “stuckage” soon gets removed from the local vocabulary and becomes a long-forgotten euphemism. Until then, whenever you drive through the Notch, be sure to bring a good book in case you need to pass some time. —Kevin Walsh
PINCHED! Jim Grover, owner of Polar Bear Towing in Morrisville, works one of the winches on the wrecker he used to dislodge a tractor trailer from the Notch in May 2025. A big rig got stuck at the top of the Notch in 2019, closing the road for hours. A wrecker from Polar Bear removes a tractor trailer from the Notch.
VSP TROOPER KEITH COTE; GREG POPA; COTE
the Stowe Community Church is standing a little taller after a special construction crew re-installed its crown: the iconic 75-foot steeple.
It was a defining moment for Vermont’s tallest church, signifying strength and new life at a time when some historic churches are crumbling. In May, Main Street shut down to make way for a giant crane that hoisted the steeple high above the church, and townspeople took advantage of the closure, gathering in the hundreds to commemorate the moment.
“Since 1863, this iconic steeple has stood tall and strong as a beacon of welcome to our community,” said Rev. Dan Haugh, pastor at Stowe Community Church.
The steeple is often depicted in scenes of Stowe, it’s in the town’s logo at trailheads, and it’s long been the focal point of the Stowe Reporter banner, but the real thing looked a little off this year.
After a series of inspections, crews discovered that the top 25 feet of the steeple was rotted and needed repair. The Stowe Community Church board, led by president Nancy Jeffries-Dwyer, embarked on a fundraising campaign and eventually contracted with GVV Architects and Yankee Steeplejack Company to take on the project.
Yankee Steeplejack, a company comprised of employees with no evident fear of heights, took down the top part of the steeple last year in a carefully orchestrated maneuver. It brought the steeple down to its shop in Massachusetts, where workers replaced the rotting wood, and then returned to install it.
After securing the steeple to the arm of the crane, Tom Evarts, Yankee
Steeplejack’s president, and Jake St. Cyr, worked from the ground as it was lifted, while Sean Starratt climbed up the back side of the church to guide the structure into place.
As the top part of the steeple settled into place, the bells tolled for 11 a.m. and the crowd cheered 170 feet below.
Starratt, always secured with a rope, remained on the steeple well after the crowd dispersed and traffic resumed, taking on a Quasimodolike position above the town. He secured the steeple and installed the church’s gold weathervane. For the most part, it was a perfect day to work with clear skies and little breeze, but not long after he climbed off the church, dark clouds moved in and a petrichor ensued.
The steeple, however, stood the test.
The Stowe Community Church raised $1.7 million for the steeple project, including a $500,000 donation from Chuck and Jann Perkins, parttime Stowe residents and members of the church.
“We love the Stowe Community Church,” Chuck Perkins said. “The steeple on this church defines Stowe and Stowe defines Vermont.”
Community members were elated to see the church restored. Among the crowd were Stowe Elementary School students, who have been studying the steeple all year, religious leaders from other denominations in town, and state government leaders, including Vermont Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets Anson Tebbets, whose first job was broadcasting services at the church for WDEV out of Waterbury.
“Community is literally our middle name,” Haugh said. “We are so delighted that the greater community is here to celebrate this occasion.”
—Patrick Bilow
GORDON
MONO SKI Some say loggers developed the jack jumper as a speedy way to zip down skidder roads after a day’s work.
Why stand to ski down a hill when you can take it easy by sitting down and enjoying the ride? That seemed to be the rationale behind the invention of the jack jumper, which is basically a seat bolted to a ski, like the wood-and-peg one pictured here. Riders simply use their arms and body weight to balance the ski and keep themselves upright.
Although this homemade jack jumper is thought to date from the early 1900s, the earliest versions were made in New England in the mid to late 1800s. Little is known about these decidedly low-tech precursors of today’s high-tech skis and snowboards, but some say loggers developed them as a speedy way to zip down skidder roads after a day’s work. Others claim they were originally built for children as a novel way to enjoy the winter. (Skiing was introduced to Stowe in 1913 by Swedish immigrants and commercial downhill skiing began in 1940.)
Jack jumpers were ideal for use on yesteryear’s roads, packed hard by massive horse-drawn rollers, instead of being completely cleared with snowplows. Also, because of intensive logging, a century ago Vermont featured many more open hills to accommodate jack jumpers.
Jack jumpers have never gone out of fashion, and both homemade and more sophisticated manufactured models, including some that boast high-tech shock absorbers, can be seen on hills throughout New England and around the world. Each year Vermont’s Mount Snow sponsors the Jack Jump World Championships. As the motto of one Vermont-based supplier of the skis notes, they are “more funner than sledding and cheaper than skiing.”
—Robert Kiener
STOWE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: School Street, Stowe ••• Thursday to Saturday, 1 - 4 p.m. ••• (802) 253-1518, stowehistoricalsociety.org
NATIONAL NEWS GROUP HONORS COLUMNIST
Carole Vasta Folley, whose “In Musing” column appears in several Vermont community newspapers, was selected as the first-place winner in the lifestyles category at the recent National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ 2025 Annual Columnist Contest.
Second place went to Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun Times and third place went to Richard Sima of The Washington Post.
“The NSNC column contest isn’t just good—it’s the gold standard in our field. If you care about great writing, this is where excellence lives,” Meredith Cummings, the society’s president, said.
The National Society of Newspaper Columnists, which advocates for columnists and free-press issues, receives entries in eight categories. Award-winning journalists from across the country serve as judges.
“We were overwhelmed by the quality and depth of the work that was submitted from some of the top columnists and writers in the industry,” Joanne Brokaw, the award contest director, said.
Vasta Folley’s “In Musing” column began in The Other Paper of South Burlington in 2017 and now also runs in the Vermont Community Newspaper Group’s other four publications.
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SKI STOWE
Stowe’s two magnificent mountains, Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak, form a grand panorama defined by the rugged cliffs of Smugglers Notch. Stowe’s bounty of natural snow, its open glades, uninterrupted fall line, and the spectacular twin summits of Vermont’s highest peak were a magnet for the pioneers of skiing in America. Today, almost 100 years later, alpine, cross-country, and freestyle skiers—and snowboarders—continue to bring world fame to this proud mountain community. In fact, of all of America’s winter Olympic teams, few have failed to have a representative from Stowe.
Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak capture skiers’ and snowboarders’ interest because they boast a total of 2,360 feet of vertical on 485 acres, offering the longest average trail length in the East. Skiers and riders will find every type of terrain, from wide-open cruisers to narrow, winding trails and glades.
What makes Stowe so special? It starts with Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s highest mountain at 4,393 feet and home to the East’s greatest natural ski terrain. Stowe thrills with its famous double-diamond Front Four trails: National, Liftline, Starr, and Goat. The Front Four are the quintessential classic New England trails, with steeps and bumps that pump even the most accomplished skier’s adrenaline. They hold their place with the world’s great runs, and among skiers the world over they’re household words.
Long history of skiers
Its awesome and timeless beauty inevitably strikes first-time skiers at Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak. Gliding toward the top of Mansfield, one is embraced by the stillness of a panoramic bowl that stretches toward forbidding cliffs guarding the narrow pass known as Smugglers Notch. Many of the trails gracing the flanks of Vermont’s highest mountain can trace their history back to the birth of skiing in North America. Nathaniel Goodrich, a Dartmouth College librarian, made the first recorded descent in 1914. Others soon followed. By the 1930s, even before the first lift, skiers flocked to Stowe. These ski pioneers came here first for a simple reason: best mountain, best snow.
Areas of Stowe Mountain Resort marked outside of the ski area boundary on trail maps and with signage on the mountain itself, is hazardous backcountry terrain, containing unmarked hazards such as cliffs, thick, brushy terrain, riverbeds, stumps, rocks, avalanches. This area is not patrolled or maintained. Vermont law states that any person who uses ski area facilities to access terrain that is outside the open and designated trails shall be liable for any costs of rescue, medical, or other services. —stowe.com
BACK COUNTRY
OVER THE TOP Skiers navigate through the woods on the Bolton-Trapp trail, a must-do for every backcountry enthusiast with a sense of adventure
POINT-TO-POINT TRAIL OFFERS WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE
STORY / MARK AIKEN
BEAR
If you want a true wilderness experience, if you’re not put off by the car logistics that come with a point-to-point tour, and if you relish a physical challenge, then ski the Bolton-Trapp trail.
“The trail is 9.4 miles long,” said David Rye, director of the outdoor center at the von Trapp Family Lodge and Resort in Stowe. “But these numbers—a 2,300-foot descent and the 1,300 feet of climbing—are just as important.”
The Bolton-Trapp Trail, part of the Catamount Trail backcountry network stewarded by the nonprofit Catamount Trail Association, starts at the Bolton Valley Nordic Center and ends at Trapp Family Lodge. But make no mistake, it’s a backcountry experience.
“I love that you quickly go from parking lots and wide ski resort trails to feeling like you are deep in the backcountry,” Rye said.
Over-achievers go out-and-back, but most groups ski from Bolton to Trapps. “It’s called the Bolton-Trapp Trail for a reason,” chuckled Rye, noting that the descent-to-ascent ratio is much higher traveling that way. Most drop a car at Trapps, drive to the start in Bolton, then, at the end, drive back to retrieve their vehicle.
Two notes about this backcountry experience. One, carry what you need to be on your own, far from help, food, water and, for much of the trip, cell service. Two, pay for a trail ticket at both Bolton and Trapp Family Lodge. The best way is to buy both online ahead of time. You
may wonder: Why pay to ski the backcountry? In this case, all the land you cover, from the Bolton backcountry trail network to the shoulder of Bolton Mountain through Nebraska Valley to the woods of Trapps, is conserved and protected. So, supporting both resorts supports these efforts. Further, you have to ski through Bolton’s official Nordic trails to access the Bolton-Trapp trail and through the von Trapp trails to get back to civilization.
The actual route is well-documented, but generally skiers start on Bolton’s Bryant trail, picking up Birch Loop at the Bryant backcountry cabin. Bryant can be rented for overnight stays from the Bolton Adventure Center. (There are overnight hotel accommodations at both Bolton and Trapps). Bolton-Trapp is a well-marked turn off Birch Loop. After a trail dipping into Cotton Brook, there are few turns off BoltonTrapp. Unless, of course, you are a bushwacking backcountry skier or rider, in which case there are many places to duck into the glades—if you are prepared for the uphill slog back up to the trail.
The trail overlooks the Cotton Brook basin and skirts the shoulder of Bolton Mountain at a maximum elevation of about 3,240 feet, giving wonderful views of Camel’s Hump, before the long descent to Nebraska Valley Road. Some leave a car here, but they miss out on the “easy” half of Bolton-Trapp; that is, you’ve already skied nearly seven miles, and the final two miles to Trapps is much more rolling.
WINTER WONDERLAND Skiers soak in the stunning scenery.
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TOP OF THE WORLD Views abound on the Bolton-Trapp backcountry ski trail, a favorite for backcountry thrill seekers. Inset: Rudimentary signs offer directions.
For those skiing the route all the way to the end, walk 100 feet along Nebraska Valley until you come to Old County Road, an ungroomed track on the right side. The route follows the Old County Road to the outdoor center’s Russell Knoll track. Russell Knoll intersects with Sugar Road, which brings you to your car.
Johannes von Trapp, retired president of von Trapp Lodge and Resort, remembers scouting a potential route for the trail in 1970. “We were klistering uphill,” von Trapp said, referring to the sticky kick wax cross-country skiers use to grab and glide over spring corn snow. Temperatures in the higher elevations never climbed above freezing, and the snow surface became fresh powder, causing gobs of snow to clump on the bottoms of their skis, impeding their progress. “We had to start a fire, heat our skis up over the fire, and scrape off the
wax on some trees,” he said, providing a perfect example of having the gear (and brains) to deal with situations that may arise in the backcountry.
The topic of equipment and gear is a good one: A multitude of gear setups can work. Some use skins and heavy alpine touring setups. I like a light, metal-edged, fish-scaled backcountry ski with three-pin or NNN bindings for this route, while expert Nordic skiers use cross-country skis with no edges at all. The lighter the gear, the more thrilling (and challenging) the ride. Split-boarders have also been known to make the run.
“Gardiner Lane and I came up with the idea at about the same time,” von Trapp said, noting that the trail was built in 1971. To build the trail, Lane and his legendary Old Goats started cutting from Bolton, while von Trapp and his crew started from Trapps. “It was just like the Union Pacific,” von Trapp said, referring to the post-Civil War railroad line in which one team of railroad builders started laying track in California and another started in the Midwest. “The only difference is that when we met, we did not drive in a golden spike,” von Trapp said.
So while you will find no golden railroad spike on BoltonTrapp, the route is a Vermont classic with good reason. It’s beautiful, it’s challenging, and it’s remote. Bolton-Trapp is a must-do for every backcountry enthusiast with a sense of adventure. n
JAY
The Stowe Mountain Chapel
Nestled on the side of Mt. Mansfield, Stowe Mountain Chapel is the perfect location for an intimate wedding or other religious ceremony. Whatever your faith, you are welcome. Ski in - ski out during winter or hike/drive in other seasons.
Most of Stowe’s trails were cut in the first half of the 1900s, and without the benefit of bulldozers. The first ones were handcut by the Civilian Conservation Corps. in the 1940s. Charlie Lord, the architect of trails like Nose Dive, Goat, and Perry Merrill, had a natural sense of a mountain’s fall line. His trails flow down the mountain like poetry.
SKI STOWE
Those of you who like to follow the sun will find Stowe is laid out perfectly to ski around the mountain. In the morning, the Front Four bask in soft morning light. In the early afternoon, work your way to the right and ski off the gondola. And to catch that elusive afternoon warmth, head to Spruce, which gets magnificent afternoon sunshine. The forgiving terrain of Spruce Peak’s sun-washed slopes also provides a haven for the youngest or newest skiers.
On Mansfield, the 3.7-mile-long Toll Road is the perfect spot for beginners. The wonderful thing about the Toll Road is that it allows beginners to enjoy an experience that advanced skiers get all the time: seeing the whole mountain.
Intermediate skiers can test themselves on miles of groomed cruising runs. The broad expanses of Gondolier and Perry Merrill at the Gondola, or Sunrise and Standard, where the sun shines late on the shortest days of winter, are popular with skiers and riders of every ability. Skiers who like wide cruisers will be completely exhilarated after taking a few runs down Gondolier.
A favorite of many skiers is at the top, off the quad. Ridgeview, not quite as wide open as Gondolier, provides the perfect place to practice short-radius turns. Spruce Peak is also an intermediate skier’s paradise.
For those learning to tackle bumps, Gulch is covered with medium-sized moguls, so skiers can concentrate on technique without being tossed around.
For the adventurous, Mount Mansfield also has premier glade skiing. After a storm, when there’s a solid base of snow, advanced intermediates will want to head for the consummate off-piste experience. Stowe Mountain Resort offers a number of gladed areas—all described on the ski area’s interactive trail map—including Tres Amigos, Sunrise, and Nose Dive glades. n
ISLANDS Researcher Anna Peele holds a rare Bicknell’s thrush on Mt. Mansfield. The Vermont Center for Ecostudies set up nets to capture the thrush during its mating season last summer to attach tracking devices to the birds.
COUNT OF RARE SONGBIRD HELD ON MANSFIELD
ALPINE
STORY / AARON CALVIN ALDEN
BIRD WATCH
AIRBORNE A Bicknell’s thrush on Mt. Mansfield takes flight after receiving its new accessory. Lead bander Anna Peele holds a thrush. The banding process helps scientists and conservationists better understand the bird during its breeding and migratory seasons.
Despite an increasingly threatened habitat and dwindling population, the annual banding of a rare songbird in its Mt. Mansfield habitat this year saw the return of many adults, a positive sign of the population’s endurance.
For over three decades, the Vermont Center for Ecostudies has been studying the Bicknell’s thrush, a small branch-brown songbird, named for the amateur ornithologist who first identified them in New York’s Catskills, that prefers “sky islands” like the alpine summit of Mansfield.
In July, under lead bander Anna Peele, the Vermont Center for Ecostudies once again set up nets to capture the thrush during its mating season to attach tracking devices to the birds. The center monitors the bird population to learn more about its migration, how well it survives from year to year, and to count the number of adult and young birds on the mountain.
The thrush spends its mating season in the northeastern United States and Canada, though most of the population winters almost exclusively on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, and they’re picky about their habitat.
The Center monitors the bird population to learn more about its migration, how well it survives
CHARLES GANGAS; ALDEN WICKER
BANDING PROJECT A pair of Bicknell’s thrush was banded with geo-locating devices by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies as part of its annual count on Mt. Mansfield in July to track and study the rare songbird. The banding project began over 30 years ago with a specific focus on the thrush, but has expanded to track six different alpine bird species.
from year to year, and to count the number of adult and young birds on the mountain.
Based on data that skews heavily male, as the females are harder to catch, Narango said the birds exhibit polyandry, meaning both females and males partner with multiple mates in the nesting process.
“They have a really interesting population dynamic, and that sex ratio changes from year to year, so in some years we have a tremendous number of males and a very low number of females, and in some years it’s more even,” Narango said.
The difficulty in catching females not only makes learning more about the birds’ private lives challenging, but it also prevents researchers from learning more about the females, which is essential to a challenged species’ survival.
The warming world caused by the ongoing
climate crisis threatens all alpine bird species, but the already scarce Bicknell’s thrush population has made them particularly vulnerable. Data collected through the center’s crowdsourced data collection program Mountain Birdwatch indicates that Bicknell’s thrush populations have declined by an average of 5 percent per year in Northern New England and eastern New York over the last 15 years.
The Mt. Mansfield banding project began over 30 years ago with a specific focus on the Bicknell’s thrush, but has expanded over time to track six different Alpine bird species. Two of those species—the white-throated sparrow and dark-eyed junco—are among the fastest declining bird species in North America, according to Narango, for reasons that researchers are still trying to fully understand. They are likely related to human-caused environmental pressures, including climate change, researchers say.
“Part of our work right now is trying to understand what those drivers are of (Bicknell’s thrush) females, because that’s ultimately changing the population,” Narango said. “Another part that we’re currently trying to better understand is what their diets are and what kind of insects that they might be more closely reliant on to feed their young and to sustain the population.”
But at this year’s banding, at least one positive sign was observed.
“We actually had a lot of returning birds this year, so birds that we’ve captured in previous years have come back, meaning that they’ve survived over the season, which is good news for the population, but also provides some information to us that the events that happened during other times in the cycle, such as migration or during the winter, were favorable for survival in this species,” Narango said. n
MIKE SARGENT
‘ALWAYS SMILING’ Greg and Dawn Tatro, with pictures of their late daughter, Jenna, who died in February 2019 of a drug overdose at the age of 26. The Tatros founded the non-profit treatment center, Jenna’s Promise, in her honor. Below: A life-sized placard details Jenna’s life
A Vermont family turns tragedy into triumph
JENNA’S PROMISE
It’s a sunny day in early October, nearly peak foliage time in the small town of Johnson, where crowds of tourists—leaf peepers—seem to outnumber residents. Main Street is packed with cars, and the sidewalks are jammed with visitors, many of whom are using their smart phones to snap pictures and record videos of this picture-postcard-perfect display of Vermont’s intense autumn colors.
I have come to Johnson to meet one of its best-known residents, Dawn Tatro, the founder of Jenna’s Promise, a much-praised women’s substance abuse recovery program that she and her husband, Greg, established and named after their late daughter, Jenna Rae Tatro, who died in 2019 after a drug overdose. We’re meeting at one of the organization’s several enterprise businesses, Jenna’s Coffee House, that is housed on the ground floor of a restored Victorian built in 1884 on Lower Main Street.
Today the coffee house is chockablock with locals and leaf peepers, and Dawn greets me at a small table near the back of the busy shop. Jenna’s Coffee House, like other commercial units of the nonprofit, is staffed by residents of Jenna’s Promise, all of whom are undergoing recovery and working day jobs to help them recover from addiction.
As we both sip large cups of caramel flavored coffee, brewed by another of the center’s offshoots, Jenna’s Promise Roasting Company, I ask Dawn about the nonprofit’s name: “Why ‘Promise’?”
IN MEMORIAM A wall of pictures honors those who have died from opiate addiction. All of the photos were sent in to Jenna’s Promise as a tribute to lost loved ones. Opposite: Dawn Tatro talks with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at the fifth-year anniversary of Jenna’s Promise in Johnson.
“Good question,” she answers as she sets down her sturdy mug and brushes back a shock of her thick, dark brown hair. She begins telling me the story of how her daughter, “my best friend,” became addicted to drugs after being prescribed the notorious painkiller, OxyContin, when she was injured in 2012 while she was studying at Johnson State College.
“She was always smiling. She was so beautiful. Magical. Precious. Loved people. She could connect with everyone. Everybody who met her said so,” Dawn says. “But, like so many others, she fell victim to OxyContin. It owned her. And she soon turned to other drugs like fentanyl and heroin. We tried everything to save her but ...” Dawn pauses, blinks back a tear, and takes a sip of coffee. “We tried so hard. So did she. But the drugs were so powerful, so addictive.”
For almost six years Jenna battled addiction and was in and out of more than 20 treatment and recovery centers across the country. Finally, after a long stint at a New Hampshire drug treatment, rehab, and sober living facility, Dawn and Greg saw a glimmer, then a strong ray, of hope.
“She was doing well there,” remembers Dawn. “She called home frequently and sounded so strong. She actually was doing so well that she became a kind of mentor to other resi-
dents at the facility. She’d often explain how, when she finished the program, she wanted to help others who had become addicted. I remember one of her calls when she told me, ‘Mom, I want to promise you that when I get out of here and come back home, we are going to raise money, educate people about opioid addiction, and start a rehab facility to help people turn their lives around’.”
Says Dawn, “I told her, ‘Awesome. You’ve got my full support.’ Before we ended that call, I also told her, ‘Together, Jenna, you know that you and I can do anything. Anything. We’ll keep your promise!’”
However, less than a month later, on Feb. 15, 2019, Jenna Rae Tatro was gone, the victim of a massive fentanyl overdose. She was just 26 years old.
Dawn, Greg, their son, Gregory, and his wife, Amy, were devastated. Remembers Dawn: “There was such a hole in our lives. I wanted to die. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t think I could go on after losing my precious daughter. But Jenna had made that promise,” Dawn remembers.
That promise gave the entire Tatro family the push they needed to begin transforming lives. But first they needed to celebrate Jenna’s brief
life and let the community she loved so much know the truth. “We didn’t want to hide anything,” Dawn says. “We knew that too many people shun talking about addiction and nothing will change unless people know how frighteningly common—and deadly—it is.”
Jenna’s obituary, written by Gregory and Amy, was both brutally honest and movingly loving. It read in part, “She became addicted, and made decisions that were incomprehensible and devastating to watch ... Your addiction doesn’t define you. Jenna was a writer, a traveler, a poet, a thinker … Her addiction was but one chord in the musical performance of her life, a life that was always tuning and re-tuning itself to the tempo of the world. For all that struggle with addiction, Jenna never lost hope. She would always aid people who were also striving for sobriety, telling them to hold on to hope. If you are struggling with addiction right now, she would tell you: There is always hope. Never, ever, give up.”
“We made the right choice,” Dawn says. “I cannot tell you how many people came up to us at Jenna’s funeral and afterwards, saying they knew someone who was suffering from an addiction and agreed that something had to be done.”
FRONT LINES Jenna’s Promise staffers, from left, Madison Perry, workforce development and education program manager, Alison Irish, health and wellness program manager, Erica Baker, administrative assistant and grants coordinator, Aimée Green, executive director, Ashely Earle, assistant residential director, and Gregory Tatro, co-founder.
PEER GROUP Dawn Tatro with Renee Duarte, a former Jenna’s Promise resident who now works as a peer support specialist. Opposite: Alison Irish, health and wellness manager at Jenna’s Promise, and Sandi Meyler, a contracted psychotherapist through River Rock Treatment (foreground), work with residents on many aspects of their journeys, including behavioral sessions intended to help them structure their own wellness and recovery.
Contributions flowed into the Jenna Tatro Memorial Fund and the family wasted no time establishing a nonprofit substance abuse recovery program for women in Johnson. They named it Jenna’s Promise.
To see how Jenna’s Promise has evolved in six short years, I meet Gregory Tatro, Jenna’s 38-year-old brother, who helps handle some of the center’s day-to-day responsibilities.
On a tour of the Jenna’s House Community Center, which is housed in the former St. John the Apostle Catholic Church on a hill near the center of Johnson, Gregory explains that the family designed their innovative treatment model after seeing firsthand what was lacking in the numerous recovery programs Jenna attended during her years of battling addiction.
In addition to exercise, wellness, and meditation classes, residents are offered behavioral programming sessions intended to help them structure their own wellness and recovery program. The walls of a nearby hallway are covered with inspirational drawings and posters that residents have made during their recovery sessions. One reads, “I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy. I am telling you it’s going to be worth it!” Another says, “Be addicted to improving yourself.”
As Gregory and I walk down the front steps of the community center, which happens to be the former church where his parents were married and both he and Jenna were altar servers during Sunday masses when they were kids, he tells me, “So much of this is about self-esteem. What we’re doing is trying to put people back together again.”
“We saw the same gaps in the system time and time again,” he says. “Jenna had a hard time finding stable housing, getting a job, and connecting with a community. So, we designed a program that would act like a safety net to fill those gaps.”
Jenna’s Promise offers a four-part system comprised of a sober living residential program, clinical services, a health and wellness plan, and a workforce development program for women. Residents, up to 17 at a time, can stay anywhere from nine to 15 months for their recovery.
In the basement of the community center, we watch as a dozen or so Jenna’s Promise residents exercise in a morning yoga class as Ali Irish, the program’s health and fitness manager, oversees them. One of the residents, who is sitting atop a large red inflatable exercise ball, volunteers that she has been fighting addiction for years and tells us, “When I heard that we were expected to do yoga every day, I said, ‘Yuck! Not me.’ But now I love it. I’m feeling healthy for the first time in a long time.”
The rest of her exercise classmates laugh and nod their heads in agreement. Another class member remembers a resident who also pooh-poohed the idea of doing yoga. “But she stuck with it, loved it, and eventually became a certified yoga instructor.”
Then he points to a wall full of dozens of photographs that people have sent to Jenna’s Promise. “These are all shots of people who, like my sister, have lost their lives to addiction. It’s a constant reminder that we, all of us, have so much more work to do.”
Speaking of work, Gregory explains the concept behind the center’s workforce training program as we cross Main Street on our way to JP’s Promising Goods, a surplus goods and appliance store owned by Jenna’s Promise and staffed largely by residents in recovery.
“As I was explaining, one of the biggest elements missing from Jenna’s recovery programs was the chance to work; to get a real job at a real company,” he says. “So, we built that into our model. After a period of close supervision and accountability in our residential program, after the women gain more independence, they may work in one of the several businesses
we’ve started: Our appliance store, coffee roasting company, a surplus goods store, and the coffee shop and cafe.” (The Tatro family has spent more than $1.5 million helping to start up these businesses. Today, donations and government grants help support the nonprofit.)
The work program accomplishes several things. “It’s a real job in a real store, with real customers,” Gregory says. “It comes with real responsibilities. For some of our residents it’s the first time they’ve ever had a real, demanding job. It’s a major step on the road to building self-esteem, as well as getting genuine work experience and building a resume.”
As we stand on the sidewalk in front of JP’s Promising Goods, Gregory tells me a story that helped inspire the family’s decision to offer residents these various work opportunities as part of Jenna’s Promise. “I remember when a job opened at a nearby car dealership for a salesperson when Jenna had returned home after one of her rehab sessions. She loved cars, knew so much about them, and was a superb salesperson. My mother took her to the interview and was thrilled when Jenna came out of the dealership and told her, ‘Mom, I aced that interview!’”
“‘That’s great honey!’ my mother said. But as Jenna sat down in the passenger seat she turned to my mother and said, ‘But they will never
COFFEE HOUR Heather Mayhew and Mariah Spaulding, assistant manager, work at JP’s Promising Goods and Appliance Store and Jenna’s Coffee House, both in Johnson. The store and coffeehouse help residents transition from treatment to the workforce. Inset: Andrew Bunting is roastmaster at Jenna’s Promise Coffee Roasters, another of the innovative work programs associated with the nonprofit to help people combat substance use and reassimilate into society
hire me.’ On the way out of the dealership she had overheard a manager say, ‘There’s no way we’re going to hire a drug addict.’ And they didn’t. They never gave her a chance. That’s one of the reasons we’ve started these businesses: To give our residents a chance,” Gregory says.
Inside the shop I meet Brittany, a Jenna’s Promise resident who has been working as a retail assistant in the surplus goods shop for several months. “Jenna’s Promise has saved my life. Literally. I’ve been an addict for years, been in and out of prison and rehab and recovery centers, and nothing has ever worked. But this is different. Medicaid only gives you 15 weeks of rehab, but I’ve been here for more than half a year and now I’m able to work— for the first time in years. For once, I have been treated like a real person, not an addict. It’s made a difference.
Jenna’s Promise has saved my life.”
Brittany is not alone. Scores of women have successfully completed the center’s recovery program and reclaimed their lives.
According to Gregory Tatro, about 80 percent of the residents have “turned their lives around.” That’s compared to a success rate of only about 20 percent at many other, less intensive recovery programs nationwide. Another Jenna’s promise “graduate” echoes Brittany when she explains, “I lost my family to drugs, went to jail, and struggled for years to get off drugs. Nothing worked until I went to Jenna’s Promise and got the structure, advice, and the push that I needed. It’s been tough and lots of hard work. But I have my life back.”
After a tour of the center’s coffee roasting facility and its discount shop, Gregory and I head back to the coffeehouse. “We’ve come a long way but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” he says. “Across the country we lose several hundred people a day to drug-related overdoses. That’s a national disgrace. I’m convinced that we’re letting that continue because there’s such a stigma about addiction. We keep accepting what’s unacceptable because it’s ‘those people.’ But, as you’ve seen here, these are real individuals who need our support. They’re our children, our neighbors, our fellow citizens. They’re real.”
Once inside Jenna’s Coffee House, I watch as a resident of the center’s treatment program efficiently takes a coffee and sandwich order and engages in a bit of friendly back-and-forth chitchat with a customer. Gregory tells me, “There’s a saying, ‘It’s hard to hate up close.’ That’s what you’re witnessing right here. Our workers and our residents may have had their issues, but they are people on the mend. They should not be stigmatized. They are part of our community.”
After more than five years and dramatic success stories, the Tatros are thrilled that their innovative four-stage recovery model is being recognized across the nation. Politicians and recovery specialists have visited the program and come away with praise and promises to look into replicating the Jenna’s Promise approach to substance abuse recovery. Other operations are in their early stages.
Dawn Tatro is fond of telling a story that never fails to remind her of the results of that touching promise Jenna made six years ago.
“Jenna went on a magical around-the-world trip with a girlfriend after she had graduated from high school,” Dawn says. “She brought me back a lovely turquoise and blue flower vase from India. Unfortunately, when she unpacked it, she realized it had broken into many small pieces, and she was so upset. Nevertheless, I kept it.”
“A few years ago, I decided to see if I could repair it. I asked my grandson Eisen, Gregory and Amy’s son, to help me. First, I got a hot
Aimee Green, the executive director of Jenna’s Promise, says, “This isn’t just a one-off. Jenna’s Promise is a proven success that rebuilds people, and it could—and should—be replicated across the nation.”
Both Vermont senators, Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch, have lauded the Johnson-based recovery center. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott is an avid supporter of the Tatros and has noted, “Their dedication, selflessness, and commitment to service are an inspiration to us all.” U.S. Sen. Cory Booker has said,” I know Jenna’s Promise can be a model for addressing our nation’s opioid crisis.”
Adds Gregory Tatro, “While we are thankful for all the bipartisan support we’ve received from a range of local, state, and national politicians for our work, we’ll never forget that it is Jenna’s spirit that is behind all this.”
glue gun. Then we laid out all the broken pieces on a table in front us and I told Eisen, ‘We’re going to put this vase back together and make it stronger.’ He looked at me with his big brown eyes.”
“Little by little, we carefully glued those broken bits back together and it suddenly hit me. I told Eisen, ‘This is just like when people come to us, and they are broken. We help put them back together again, like this, and they become stronger than before. And then they can do anything.’ He broke into a big smile and handed me another broken piece.”
Says Dawn: “We repaired that vase and it’s become so symbolic. Every time I look at it, I think of Jenna and all the people she has helped us save—one piece at a time.” n
vintage garage STORY : liberty darr
: gordon miller
Pierce Reid owns The Vintage Garage in Stowe, where he and his crew restore classic Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles. Below: dashboard of a pre-war Rolls.
“Iwould shake your hand, but …” Pierce Reid says as his voice trails off and his eyes shift to his palms, stretched out in front of him, as if the motor grease staining the creases of his fingers is an open offering to the world around him.
That is, in a sense, how his hands have looked for most of his adult life. When not tinkering with the inner workings of a vintage Rolls-Royce, Reid, 60, is teaching a new generation the art of restoration, the power of history, and how the very existence of these miraculous machines reflects innate human abilities to reason, build, and, most importantly, endure.
In a horse-barn-turned-horsepower-garage up a winding mountain road in Stowe, Reid’s shop, The Vintage Garage, remains one of the very few places in the world to get a pre-World War II Rolls-Royce or Bentley restored.
Reid’s voice is soft and calm yet asserts a humble dominance over the subject he is speaking about—most probably cars. To the unassuming, he could appear like the sort of man not too keen on small talk and many who know Reid would agree that’s partially true. Nothing Reid says about history or the restoration business could be mistaken for idle talk.
His brain works symbiotically with the cars he is restoring. Not only does he understand the science that makes them run, but he can most likely spit out the entire history of the earliest origins of the vehicle, no matter the make or model, but especially a Rolls-Royce. His stories often take on a life of their own, moving through decades of history, with each detour proving valuable to the final story. To put it simply, if you were to ask Reid a simple question regarding his craft, you likely won’t get a
short answer—so it’s best to pull up a chair, put up your feet, and brace yourself for a journey to another world.
That is, after all, what Reid does. With each restoration, he brings his clients and his workers back in time, to a place before automation, when building a vehicle was a craft of great precision and detail. The walls of the shop are stacked floor to ceiling with books, manuals, and indexes of parts, and offer a clear roadmap for Reid and his crew, craftsmen who, over a century later, are still keeping these automobiles—and their stories—alive.
“This is just a tenth of our literature collection,” Reid said, pulling an index off the shelf, its pages well-worn. “If RollsRoyce printed it or a club printed it, we have a copy of it.”
A walk through the shop proves Reid’s theory that the 6,000-squarefoot building resembles an artist’s studio more than a car garage—splattered paint and canvas exchanged for lathes and drill presses.
Reid’s business is one of three American members of the Rolls-Royce and Bentley Specialist Association, an elite group that encompasses the world’s leading restorers, repairers, and parts producers for all eras of Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars. The group is small and choosy about its membership, with hefty inspection requirements.
GLENN CALLAHAN
Pierce Reid with his crew at The Vintage Garage in Stowe, from left, Ryan Corbin, who grew up in Stowe; Nathan Davey, a Pennsylvania native; Jackson Anderson, who grew up in nearby Morrisville; Kiel Britton of Craftsbury and a volunteer firefighter; and Reid. They’re standing in front of a 1923 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost limousine from Virginia and a 1933 Derby Bentley sports saloon from Texas in the foreground. In September, the garage hosted a weekend of workshops and seminars for past and present clients from across the country to learn a thing or two about restoration and the cars they love, including Kevin Simpson and his wife, Judy, from upstate New York, standing in front of a1938 Rolls-Royce Phantom III 12-cylinder.
Niche industry
The shop may put Vermont on the map in this niche industry, but for Reid, the barn itself holds a deeper personal connection—it’s home. He bought the barn and property in 1997 from his family, who has owned the land since the 1970s. Stowe was a much different place then, Reid said, and the barn that now holds antique cars was once a horse barn with a single-car machine shop off to one side.
“The 1970s and 1980s in Stowe, we had three TV channels, and one of them was in French, so we worked on cars,” Reid said, his face widening in a grin. “We fixed things, we built things, and if we wanted our stuff to go faster, we found parts up at the junkyard to make them go faster, swapped engines and did crazy stuff.”
As he puts it, the entire endeavor now is a tribute to a hobby that spiraled out of control. Apart from always being in search of ways to keep his hands busy and, of course, make his cars cooler, Reid initially found his obsession for restoration in a 1976 Harley Davidson Sportster. The way the story goes, it was love at first sight.
“It was sitting over in the corner, all forlorn, with nobody looking at it and it followed me home,” Reid said. “I restored it on the balcony of my apartment in North Carolina over the course of a winter and won a bunch of trophies for the restoration. I was hooked.”
He continued honing his skills with other bikes, Porsches, and Land Rovers, until the quest for the ultimate mechanical challenge brought him to Rolls-Royces and Bentleys. And there’s only one word to describe that type of old-world build—“insane.” To put it in layman’s terms, the average car from that time period had about 5,000 parts. Prewar Rolls-Royces or Bentleys averaged about four times that.
“Just layer upon layer of engineering, but all Swiss watch quality, just beautifully done,” he said. “Once I got my hands into that, it was off to the races.”
Mastering this complexity is no easy feat. But for Reid—who found his post-graduation calling in technical writing and communications and helped launch some of the most notable companies of the 1990s internet craze—the language of these automobiles fluently rolls off his tongue. His expertise is part of the reason The Vintage Garage made the move to Vermont in 2006.
Prior to that, the business was located in North Brookfield, Mass., originally conceived in 1965 by Frank Cooke, a pioneering vintage car hobbyist, optical engineer, and “off-the-charts genius” whose mechanical ingenuity became legendary to vintage car hobbyists worldwide.
By 2005, Reid had started doing restoration full-time when he connected with Cooke’s son, Bill. Reid’s business merged with The Vintage Garage and relocated to the Green Mountain State. He bought the company outright in 2016.
Pierce Reid mans the grill at a weekend of workshops and seminars in September for his clients.
Now Reid runs the shop with four employees and is on the lookout for a fifth. But he explained that employees for this type of work can be hard to come by and aren’t typically found on some popular employment search engine.
That’s why he is always searching for young people to come work for him, learn the business, and master these skills. “I want to retire someday and by the time I do, I want to have passed on the skills,” he said. “Otherwise, these will all end up in museums, or as wall art or something.”
A social bond
On a particularly warm weekend in early September, Reid hosted a weekend of workshops and seminars for past and present clients from across the country to learn a thing or two about restoration and the cars they love. It’s clear that for Reid, the owners of these vehicles are not just clients but an essential piece of keeping the legacy going.
Aside from the technical nature of the weekend, it was also a good excuse for the cult-like following of the pre-war Rolls-Royce club to socialize and wax philosophical about their automobiles. Most of those who attended this year’s celebration are former and current clients who wouldn’t dream of letting anyone other than Reid touch their prized vehicles.
“Where do you bring a Rolls-Royce that needs work? Well, you bring it to the RollsRoyce guy,” former client AJ San Clemente said. “But the thing that people don’t understand is that Pierce doesn’t necessarily have to accept you as a customer. You kind of have to get him to want to work on your car.”
That weekend’s gathered assembly was clearly of like mind. Every conversation revolved, in some way or another, around this niche industry, with a zeal that teetered on spiritual, Reid at the pulpit, his vestments swapped out for a plain black shirt with a patch on the front that read, “Pierce.”
The convoy of pre-war Rolls-Royces parked out front all appeared in mint condition, most likely due to the steady work completed right in that garage.
“I know Pierce through my checkbook,” Paul Huckle said, letting out a laugh. The London man turned North Carolinian and proud owner of a 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I has been a client of Reid’s for years. And he’s not wrong; an engine rebuild for a model of this type starts at a whopping $75,000.
“People like Pierce, there aren’t many of them,” Huckle said. “They are few and far between because there aren’t that many people interested in learning it, so part of the struggle
Below: Workshop participants chat inside The Vintage Garage in Stowe Hollow to talk about—what else!—their classic cars. Pierce Reid’s hood ornament on his 1925 Rolls-Royce Ghost.
is that Pierce needs these younger guys to learn the business to keep these things going for the next generation.”
Huckle looked through his rearview at Nate Davey, one of Reid’s employees who’s been doing restoration work for 18 years, sitting in the backseat of his car as he whipped around the area’s back roads. Davey was along for the ride mostly to see how Huckle’s car was running. Like Reid’s, his ears have been trained to instinctively hear malfunctions. Davey didn’t say much, just a few nods of approval and an occasional quiet reprimand when Huckle appeared to be shifting too aggressively.
Yankee tinkerer
While Reid is certainly considered the “guru” among clients and others in this tight-knit world, he attests that Vermont has a tremendous pool of talented car restorers specializing in different models and other facets of the industry that he utilizes when completing a full body restoration project—think upholstery or leather work.
“It’s a very small sort of medieval guild, where you have the arrow maker and the arrow feathering guy and the arrow point maker and the bow maker, and they all work together to get you a finished bow and arrow,” he said.
Vermont, he would argue, is where the machine tool and precision industry started. He noted the American Precision Museum in Windsor, which celebrates the story of the 1800s-era industry in the area. The mecca of knowledge would ultimately flow down the Connecticut River through Massachusetts, all the way to New York City, where the ships
and trains headed out to national and world markets.
Reid says he spent 17 years trying to get out of Vermont and another 20 trying to find his way back. The grit and innovation of the Green Mountain State is etched into his DNA.
Perhaps Reid and his restoration knowledge are perfectly suited to a place like Stowe—a rare place where time is measured in the length of seasons, which are constantly bringing about something new and, strangely enough, restoring things to just as they were before.
“The DNA of being a Yankee tinker and a craftsman is still very much here in Vermont,” he said. “That’s my theory, anyway, and I’m sticking to it.”
The ‘Flying Lady’
But it’s not all work and no play for the Rolls master. He is currently fixing up his own 1925 Rolls-Royce Ghost—a British-made, moving cathedral of craftsmanship.
Although, it wouldn’t be Reid’s without some sort of signature touch.
The cars are iconically marked by a hood ornament known as the “Flying Lady.” She is elegantly depicted leaning forward, her hands swept behind her with clothes billowing in the air like wings. Reid’s “Flying Lady,” however, is different. She is crouched, still in a leaning position, but with her hands covering her eyes.
As Reid would put it, she clearly knows how he drives. n
LEGACY OF PRESERVATION
The weather was nice for an early November day in Lamoille County, though it was a bit cold. Midday storm clouds released a powdering of snow at upper elevations, and temps in the 30s meant that the Worcester Range would remain frosted right through the afternoon. The sky began to clear. Warm light spilled into Stowe Village and onto the eastern mountains as sunset progressed.
We were returning from South Burlington, where Mom had a pacemaker checkup. The specialist connected her to a computer, wirelessly, and ran a few standard tests. It took only a few minutes before giving her the green light, as always: “You’re good for another year, Dottie.”
That appointment in 2021 was brief, but for an 89-year-old it was a long trip, being driven from Craftsbury to Stowe and then to the clinic. So before returning to her residential home that evening, an overnight stop at my place would keep the day from becoming too long. Any car trip with Mom, whether to an appointment or a social event, was a good time to catch up.
“What’s new at the care center?” I asked. She would smile if Sally Smith and her little horses recently paid a visit, seen a dress rehearsal by the Craftsbury Chamber Players, or listened to a recital by local Mennonites. But more likely, her first act would be to frown and then vent about conflicts with her elderly co-residents, her disagreement with staff policy, or how her hearing aids were misbehaving.
Such were the ups-and-downs of a life that was no longer lived in the town she used to call home. Mom knew I was less outspoken and more diplomatic than she was, so, at the end of the day, seeking abso-
lution, she would remember to thank me for putting up with her. I had no trouble understanding her intention or the kindness that was hidden behind what could be a sour facade.
Since Mom’s recent death at 93, I’ve gotten a more balanced picture of her personality and gifts: How they operated in our family of five and how they were put to good use in the community.
In the 1970s, as her three sons were transitioning into high school, she saw impending changes in her adopted town of Stowe and took interest in local governance. It was a time when commercial development seemed to lean out of control. She agreed with others that it might be the right time to create a community-based plan for shaping local growth, one that would balance the rights of citizens with the need for thoughtful control.
She applied for an open seat on the Stowe Planning Commission, believing her voice might be valuable. Her thoughts and opinions would prove insightful, though at times loud enough to rub some the wrong way.
That was Dottie.
At the time, notorious words from Vermont’s attorney general rang in the ears of residents, conflicting with Stowe’s famous slogan, Ski Capital of the East. Due to increasing sewage problems in the town, Attorney General James Jeffords accused Stowe of being the “Sewer Capital of the East,” threatening a lawsuit if something wasn’t done. (Stowe Reporter, May 21, 1970).
Though Mom’s assertive and environmentally conscious voice got her into hot water at times, she played a vital role in implementing a town plan. It not only fixed Stowe’s sewer problems, but set in place regulations to protect Vermont’s unique character by preserving working landscapes. Opposing voices reminded us of the importance of property rights and voluntary
stewardship without guidelines, but the balance of change in the 1970s swung toward community-based zoning.
“Dottie was a gift to the town of Stowe for what she did,” a town co-worker said at Mom’s memorial service. “Stowe is a beautiful place, and it’s all because of what Dottie did and the planning commission did in the early 1970s.”
One of the things that impressed me about Mom was that she would notice changes to our town’s landscape—perhaps a new commercial building or a modification to someone’s landscaping—since her last visit. Didn’t matter that she’d started the same conversation on our last drive through town. What mattered was her attention to detail, something that made her particularly good as a planning commission member. And it was still in play.
Whenever we were together on the road, she would be patient if I found something to
photograph, happy to wait in the car. So, on that early November day as we left Chittenden County for Stowe via local routes 2 and 100, the storm clouds began to part, and we kept an eye out for stick season photo-opportunities. Notably, we found a nice view looking east in Richmond’s Winooski River Valley, where the hillsides were nearly colorless but for late-season oak-browns and poplar-yellows.
Entering Lamoille County, we sidetracked through the village of Moscow, past Stowe High School, where I graduated in 1978, and stopped at the Spear Barn, built in 1850. There, bare-branch-maple shadows decorated its facade as sunlight lingered on the building. I took a few pictures before starting our final push for home, wondering what possibilities remained.
Our final stop would yield more than just a favorite photograph; it also produced a cherished memory. Halfway up Weeks Hill Road, I realized that the approaching view might just be wonderful. Indeed, it was. I explored the scene from the site of the Percy Farm barn—lost to fire in February 2022. Mom sat patiently in the car, immersed in a novel by John Grisham or maybe Dick Francis. She never failed to have a paperback in her handbag for such an occasion.
On that day, I had the pleasure of composing a picture of the Worcester Range and Stowe Village bathed in the warm November light at sunset.
While these conditions would have made for a lovely photograph in any part of the state, I’m reminded that this particular scene was made possible through the efforts of a few to preserve it for the future. Even in one’s own backyard, it’s a privilege to photograph Vermont during this quieter, lesscrowded, transitional period. And I now realize that for the 15 minutes I looked east toward the valley, Mom had been both behind the camera and part of the landscape.
Dottie’s time has passed, but stick season returns as always. Across the state, we say so-long to autumn foliage and embrace the inescapable realities of winter. If this leafless time and the coming snow are not your cup of tea, remember that the greens of springtime are always just around the corner. n
Paul Rogers lives in Stowe.
FORESIGHT Worcester Range and Stowe Village, early November 2021
the other leaf season
spring green
Winter is over and sugaring is past. Mud season may still be harassing the back roads of Vermont, but one day, just after sunrise, we’ll catch sight of a backlit maple or willow.
That glimpse will be the hope of spring.
In southern counties, lower elevations, and river valleys those glimpses may have come and gone. But, here, in northern parts, the change will have just arrived. Soon after, green will be popping everywhere.
This is Spring Green—Vermont’s other foliage season—but with none of the hoopla surrounding its autumnal cousin. No visitors from far and wide, slack-jawed at its beauty. No love-hate relationship needing to be assuaged: We’ll have Spring Green to ourselves.
Like stick season, it’s a transitional time. But in spring, we’ll urge it on. It will progress like popcorn, fast and furious. Early reds and oranges will turn green, much the opposite of fall. Leaves will unfurl and, before long, the land will be covered in a rich carpet of freshness, a green delight.
There’s nothing like Spring Green, but it will be brief. So, enjoy this time of renewal. Breathe and marvel at the goodness of life.
“If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”
Percy Bysshe
Ode to the West Wind
Shelley,
“Had I known that you would be my first glimpse of spring, I would've kissed every fallen petal of my hope along the way.”
—Sai Pradeep
Stowe’s
‘H
ồ Chí Minh’
From a distance in the predawn it appears as a long snake of twinkling lights climbing Mt. Mansfield, a scene that repeats in some form from the first snowfall in November until the last patches of snow melt away in the spring. In the dark every morning, dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people gather in the parking lots between Midway and the gondola and march—or, unofficially, race—up Nose Dive with headlamps to the Octagon.
Then they ski down. All this takes place before the lifts begin to spin.
It has become a community tradition and gathering, drawing mostly locals but visitors, too. The objective depends on the conditions. It’s always a workout, a good way to get some serious exercise at the start of the day. But, if it has been snowing, there’s also the promise of freshies or the best groomed conditions, before the lift-riding public mucks everything up.
The equipment is simple enough: ski touring bindings and skins, and a headlamp. Some people bring water, snacks, a dry T-shirt. But skins and touring bindings will get you going. The rest is discretionary.
There are rules, set down by the ski area. The rules are prone to change, so check with the resort before you go, but for the past few years the single up and down route is Nose Dive. Early season, before Nose Dive has snow, the route might be elsewhere; the afternoon skinning route has been Perry Merrill, when it is open.
Of course, people go rogue on powder days and ski down other ways to find untouched snow. But that’s your risk to take.
Stowe’s a competitive town, whether it’s hockey, Nordic skiing, cycling, bridge (yup), golf, tennis, or ski racing. And, for some, the morning skin up Mansfield is, well, a race. According to an unofficial source, the fastest time up the roughly 2,000-vertical-foot climb from Midway to the Octagon is a mind-blowing 23 minutes by Dennis Kramer from Waterbury. An exceedingly fast time is about 30 minutes, but the average is around 40 minutes to an hour.
Among the stalwarts are Stowe’s Thorndike brothers, Ted and Porter, and their team of friends, and Micheline Lemay, director of wellness and junior programs at the Mt. Mansfield Academy.
The impressively fit Lemay’s morning dash up the mountain is among the speediest, so fast that she often gets several runs in before the lifts get going. Last year, she used those daily morning climbs to complete a goal of more than a million human-powered vertical feet within a calendar year.
A few years ago, on a powder day in the morning twilight at the summit of Spruce Peak (skinning there is not allowed during the ski season, and you should not do it) a friend, a stoic Vermonter, pointed to the string of lights steadily ascending almost the entire length of Nose Dive. It was a stunning sight.
“The Hồ Chí Minh,” he muttered. It was an amusing dig, both admiration and scorn at the zeal, determination, and conformity of the uphill marchers across the way, comparing them to the unstoppable Vietnamese soldiers on the Hồ Chí Minh Trail, the famous supply route during that war.
What my friend did not know is the meaning of the words Hồ Chí Minh in Vietnamese: “Bringer of light.”
Which seems just about right for that bright string of optimistic and healthy headlamped skiers headed up exuberantly every morning for the first run of the day. —Biddle Duke
Sk i p o S te rS
Vintage. Historic. Sexy. Glam.
sascha maurer: Vintage Maurer. The copy is short and the sell is sweet.
unknown artist
Ski poSterS
sascha maurer:
Flexible Flyer left room at the bottom of its posters in order for advertisers to personalize their own messages as in this iconic image of a skier riding the single chair at Mt. Mansfield.
steven lowtwait:
Steve Lowtwait, a Savannah College of Art and Design graduate and former Los Angeles animator, loves vintage posters and retro design, but likes to bring a contemporary spin to them. For this poster, circa 2008, he sought a vintage look to “capture and celebrate the heritage of Stowe, an icon of Eastern skiing.” The poster was drawn on the computer using a digital pen and tablet. It is 18-by-24-inch and screen-printed, and was created through a collaboration with Aloft Alpine, a design company started by once-ago Stowe ski bum Alison Napolitano that celebrates alpine heritage and lifestyle. More at @apinestyle56 and stevelowtwait.com.
sascha maurer:
Vigorous, tanned, and glamorous skiers were the norm in vintage posters.
D Ski poSterS
azzling graphics, rich colors, and Spartan text are the hallmarks of vintage posters, images originally created as advertisements for specific products or services. In the 1870s, shortly after the French painter Jules Chéret perfected a lithographic technique that allowed for the use of multiple colors, the poster became an overnight sensation.
As the medium of choice for mass communication, posters flourished from 1895 to 1945.
Some of the most memorable, eye-catching designs were created for the American travel industry and few artists matched the skill or panache of Sascha Maurer (1897- 1961), the country’s premier illustrator of travel posters.
In the early 1940s, when Stowe first received its moniker, Ski Capital of the East, it was Maurer, an avid skier and Stowe enthusiast who created the town’s now legendary logo. With its sensuous ‘S’ swoosh, suggestive of a perfectly carved ski turn in powder, Maurer’s powerful image remains as fresh and timeless today, nearly 100 years later.
The Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in Stowe features many eye-catching, historical ski posters in its permanent collection.
“With the advent of radio and television, posters as an advertising medium lost their luster. But, not so for collectors and those who appreciate this dynamic art form today,” according to a museum spokesperson in 2008. “The early posters remain vibrant reminders of Stowe’s colorful past and its place of importance as a pioneer in the ski industry.”
According to Swann Galleries of New York, a leading poster auction house, vintage travel posters have brought record prices in recent years. Original vintage posters that promote swank ski resorts, hotels, and winter vacations are highly collectible, and Maurer’s remain among the most desirable.
Editor’s note: This piece first appeared in our winter/spring 2008 edition. We popped it into this issue after Sterling College in mid-November announced its imminent closure, prompting our decision to pull our planned feature on the college.
stephen j. voorhies:
Ski train travel poster sold skiing in Vermont to well-heeled city folk.
SHOP • ARTS • EXPLORE
THE CURRENT Center
for contemporary art in Stowe
THE CURRENT
Exhibitions of acclaimed international and Vermont artists and public programs, adult and children’s art classes and private lessons, school tours, student shows, and summer art camps. The Current is made possible through the generous support of the town of Stowe, its members, and sponsors.
90 Pond St., Stowe Village. Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Free. Donations welcome. (802) 253-8358, thecurrentnow.org for monthly public events.
UPCOMING
EXHIBITIONS
January 15 – April 10
Water Writes the Garden
In “Water Writes the Garden” interdisciplinary artist Mary Mattingly unites photographs, sculptures, and poetry around water’s role as timekeeper and storyteller. This solo exhibition explores how water makes marks and sculpts
environments through cyclical formation and erosion. Centered on the notion that water writes, washes, and rewrites the land, the work invites people into slow rhythms of memory. “I want the works to ask: What does water remember? And what does it write into the landscape?” Mattingly asks. Opening reception, Thursday, Jan. 15, 5 - 7 p.m.
January 15 – April 10
Giacomo D’Orlando Symbiosis
Photographic exploration of human and oceanic interdependence in coastal communities across Southeast Asia and Australia. In the Art Lounge.
May
Student Art Show
June
Summer Opening Festival & Exposed
Outdoor sculpture by nationally renowned artists are installed prominently on the grounds
in front of the art center and throughout Stowe. Celebrate summer with contemporary art, live music, and local flavor at The Current, Saturday, June 20, 4 - 7 p.m. April 11
Spring gala
Tickets go fast for Stowe’s not-to-bemissed spring gala. Lodge at Spruce Peak.Tickets: thecurrentnow.org.
VISUAL POETRY At last year’s spring gala, a fund raiser for The Current. Above: Mary Mattingly, “Holding Not Having (after Robin Messing),” 2018
Enjoy this holiday tradition as Clara helps her Nutcracker defeat the Mouse King, and journeys through the land of the Snow Queen and her Snowflakes to the Land of the Sweets, where she is entertained by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her royal court. Dancers from the Elan Ballet Theatre and Elan Academy of Classical Ballet. December 12 at 7 p.m., December 13 at 4 p.m.
December 16
Sean Heely’s Celtic Christmas Award-winning fiddler, singer, harpist, and composer whose artistry bridges Celtic tradition and classical virtuosity. Hailed by Irish fiddle legend Liz Carroll as “one powerhouse of a fiddler,” Heely is also an award-winning Irish fiddler and harpist who brings a rare fusion of technical brilliance and heartfelt expression to every performance. 7 p.m.
December 19
Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas Concert
A mix of holiday standards with selections from the gospel group’s Grammy-winning holiday classic album, “Go Tell It On The Mountain” and the spirited “Talkin’ Christmas.” 7 p.m.
December 21
Carolmania!
January 9
Spruce Peak Unplugged: Stephen Kellogg
For more than two decades, this wordsmith, TEDx speaker, stand-up comic, author, and troubadour has delighted audiences with his mix of music, humor, and storytelling that covers the full spectrum of human emotions. Laugh, cry, and go home with a full heart. 7 p.m.
Join Carol, Carole, and Caroline in this immersive holiday sing-along. 7 p.m.
January 31
Edgar Meyer, Mike Marshall, and George Meyer Bluegrass Trio American music masters Edgar Meyer (bass) and Mike Marshall (mandolin) join George Meyer on violin for a special bluegrass collaboration. 7 p.m.
February 14
Spruce Peak
Unplugged: Pete Francis of Dispatch Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist known for blending eclectic genres and collaborating across the musical spectrum, Pete Francis—once one-third of the legendary New England indie band Dispatch—has established himself as an emotive and dynamic artist. 7 p.m.
Natalie MacMaster.
Sister Sadie.
GOINGS ON
February 28
Spruce Peak Unplugged: Sister Sadie
There was never a master plan. No brand blueprint. Just a spontaneous jam session at Nashville’s Station Inn between a few friends. All women, all seasoned players out to make a little noise on a weeknight. This is Sister Sadie, six women—Gena Britt, Deanie Richardson, Jaelee Roberts, Dani Flowers, Rainy Miatke, and Katie Blomarz-Kimball— telling you exactly who they are. 7 p.m.
March 1
Spruce Peak Unplugged: Glen Phillips
Lead singer and songwriter of Toad the Wet Sprocket, Glen Phillips has helped create an elegant folk-pop sound with honest, introspective lyrics. 7 p.m.
March 6
Isaac Mizrahi in Conversation
An actor, host, writer, designer, and producer for over 30 years, Isaac Mizrahi is the subject and co-creator of “Unzipped,” a documentary following the making of his fall 1994 collection. 7 p.m.
March 7
Brooklyn Rider
With a repertoire that spans classical masterpieces, contemporary compositions, and genre-defying collaborations, Brooklyn Rider is an innovative string quartet known for its adventurous spirit, captivating performances, and pushing the boundaries of chamber music.
March 10
Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy: Celtic All Stars
Cape Breton’s Celtic legend Natalie MacMaster and Fiddle virtuoso Donnell Leahy bring along some of their musical friends for a performance at Spruce, exploring the connections between Celtic styles across countries, from the music’s ancient roots to its modern trends. 7 p.m.
March 14
Boston Dance Theater: “Red is a Feeling” “Red is a Feeling” is a series of short dance works woven together by the color red that highlight themes of the human experience, including love, longing, and the fight to live. 7 p.m.
March 21
Spruce Peak Unplugged: Rosanne Cash
“One of the most ambitious and literary songwriters of her generation,” according to Rolling Stone, Rosanne Cash is America’s foremost musical woman of letters, a literate and incisive artist whose poignant and distinctive vocals turn every song into a revelatory tale. 7 p.m.
March 31
“Pete the Cat: The Musical”
For Pete the Cat, life is an adventure no matter where you wind up. So, the minute the groovy blue cat meets The Biddles, he gets the whole family rocking. That is, except for young Jimmy Biddle, the most organized second grader on planet Earth. Join Jimmy and Pete on an adventure of friendship, all the way to Paris and back in a VW bus. Pre-K through grade three. 10 a.m.
April 12
Women of Americana Songwriter, singer, slide guitar, and clawhammer banjo player Cristina Vane and American songwriter, guitar player, mandolin player, and singer Brennen Leigh merge their disparate sounds in this not-to-be missed collaboration on stage. 7 p.m.
STOWE WINTER CARNIVAL
Events held throughout the town and village of Stowe. facebook.com/stowewintercarnival
January
Ice carving competition, sports events, ski movies, kids’ carnival, and snow golf and snow volleyball tournaments. Date to be determined. Go to gostowe.com.
SPRUCE PEAK LIGHTS FESTIVAL
December 20
Ice dancing performances, tree lighting, and family fun at Spruce Peak. Fireworks at 7 p.m. Other times to be announced. sprucepeak.com.
90 Pond Street. (802) 253-6145. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, noon - 7 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.2 p.m. See stowevt.gov for information and monthly events.
SPRUCE PEAK AT STOWE GLOW SKATE PARTY
Spruce Peak Village ice rink. Stowe Mountain Resort. December 27 Holiday Hits
Glide to festive favorites and holiday remixes, 5 - 8 p.m.
January 17 Throwback Tracks
Hits of the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s, 5 - 8 p.m.
February 14 Heartbeats
Upbeat pop, R&B, and dance tunes, 5:308:30 p.m.
February 21 Go for the Gold
All-star soundtrack of power anthems and victory jams, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.
March 14 Neon Nights
Full-color, high-energy glow party. Latest pop and EDM hits, 7 - 9 p.m.
December 14
Pine Wreath Workshop
Craft a beautiful wreath to welcome guests (and yourself) home all season long, 4 p.m.
February 12
Chocolates with Charlie Vermont's gardening guru, Charlie Nardozzi, brings his horticultural wisdom and trademark charm to talk spring planning, houseplants, and harvest time. 7 p.m.
March 14
Pi Day Trivia Fundraiser
Gather your sharpest teammates, brush up on everything from presidential pets to obscure geography, and prepare for an evening of friendly competition. Prizes—and glory— await.
Our Own Backyard Speaker Series
This season features journalist and writer Wilson Ring, author of “Catching Murphy,” sharing stories from his compelling work; Susan Evans McClure with “Democracy of Punch”; and some to be announced.
WINTER PRIDE FESTIVAL
Stowe’s annual Pride celebration. winterrendezvous.com.
January 21 - 25
Opening party, Pride run on Mansfield, VIP cocktail party, wine dinner, Coco Peru, pool party, drag bingo.
STOWE DERBY
Check mmsca.org for event updates.
February
One of the oldest and most unique ski races in North America. Challenging 20K crosscountry ski course from Mansfield’s Toll Road to Stowe village. The course has a total vertical drop of almost 2,700 feet.
STOWE SUGAR SLALOM
Check mmsca.org for event updates.
April
Music, barbecue, fantastic ski racing and festive costumes. Maple syrup on snow, donuts, and pickles at the finish. n
STOWE MAGAZINE ARCHIVES
PRIDE run on Mt. Mansfield.
INSIDE OUT Gallery owner Jack
calls Chip
work “outsider art. He takes things in real time. It’s super-fresh, lively energy because of the immediacy.”
STOWE
ARTIST FINDS HIS VOICE
Morris
Haggerty’s
Morris hosted Haggerty’s solo show this fall at Front Four Gallery in Stowe.
JACK MORRIS
When he was young, writing, not painting, consumed Chip Haggerty’s need for artistic expression.
He wrote in a Jack Kerouac stream-of-consciousness style, often referred to as spontaneous prose, where the writing flows directly from the mind onto the paper, like listening to someone tell a story in real time.
That’s still how Haggerty writes, but instead of frantically scribbling his thoughts on paper, he’d bang them out on an old-school typewriter onto brown paper bags. He’d cut out the bottoms from the bags and slice them up the sides so they’d fit lengthwise into the typewriter.
Once he filled a bag with his thoughts, he’d insert another, and then another, and another, and on it went.
When his brain ran out of steam, he taped the bags together and rolled them up like the Dead Sea scrolls.
“I was totally into brown bags,” said Haggerty. “It goes back to my childhood when my mother would bring home the haul of groceries.”
Over time, he realized he was thinking more in images, rather than words, and he began combining the two, which led him to book art.
“I was making book art long before I knew it was a niche,” he said.
“My books were always funky, one-of-a-kind. One has pages made from bed sheets, and the cover is a sleeping bag. I entered Burlington’s South End Art Hop and it won first prize. That was 30 years ago.”
Haggerty’s brain is like a tightly racked set of billiard balls cleanly
struck by the cue ball, scattering them in organized chaos, spinning out in myriad directions. “My mind spins all the time. I’m all over the place. I have so many things that occur to me. My phone is filled with hundreds of ideas. I’m learning to focus on one thing at a time and realize that I have to put all other things aside. The books helped me focus and provided a method of giving my writing a beginning and an end.”
COLOR CHIPS Stowe artist Chip Haggerty in his studio. Canvasses on display at his recent Stowe show, “Everyone Thinks I Should.”
PHOTOS BY KATE CARTER
Another of his books on brown paper bags was sewn together at the seam with a string. Stumped for a book jacket, inspiration finally hit as he dug out a sports jacket from his closet, complete with the name tag, “Chip.” The final touch was an assortment of ties that rotated into position, one at a time. “I was making fun of the literary tweed coat thing.”
Haggerty entered his books in a group show at The Front, an artist-run cooperative in Montpelier, where another book artist saw them. She became his broker in several book sales, including one at Skidmore College. But there was one problem with Haggerty’s books: You couldn’t stand back and gaze at them.
So began his shift to painting, and now he thinks of his oversized paintings and their stream-of-consciousness narratives drawn with black crayons as pages of a book. “Everything I paint is big, and whatever is going on in my life, mixed in with who knows what, is what I paint.”
Many people know Haggerty as a server at Gracie’s, a former Stowe restaurant, and, most recently, Idletyme, where he worked for 10 years. He is married to Amy Weller and together, in a mine (Haggerty’s) and ours parenting style, they raised five children in Stowe. Haggerty is now retired and an empty nester.
“Over the years I’ve had to release some art impulses. When I worked nights long ago, I painted days. Then I took a break and focused on work and family. Now I’m back to painting.”
Haggerty says he is not good at promoting himself, but a few years ago Weller convinced him to enter an art fair in East Hampton, R.I. “I sold nine paintings! People would stop and look and say, ‘Oh, I love these.’ I was inspired by them and other successful artists at the fair.”
Going from a basement studio to public exposure was a big step. “I’m starting to have art-world experiences,” he said.
Last summer Front Four Gallery in Stowe featured Haggerty’s paintings in a show called “Everyone Said I Should.” Viewers were greeted by oversized colorful acrylic paintings done on paper bags with stream-of-consciousness sentences scrawled around their edges and woven in throughout the canvases.
Gallery owner Jack Morris describes Haggerty’s art as outsider folk art. “The
BROWN BAG Haggerty’s oversized colorful acrylic paintings on paper bags with stream-of-consciousness sentences scrawled around their edges and woven in throughout the canvases.
pieces have varying levels of detail; some are loose and crude while others are complex,” he noted. “The immediacy of his work is one of my favorite things about it. He takes things in real time. It’s super-fresh, lively energy because of the immediacy.”
Morris, who discovered Haggerty when he did a four-week pop-up show at the former tailor shop in town, said the show at Front Four Gallery was a success. “We sold 12 pieces during the month-long show and had multiple commissions. People really like Haggerty’s work. It was great that a little-known artist could do so well in his first big show.”
Next up was a show last fall in Calais, Vt., where several of his paintings were included in the fall 2005 presentation at the Kent Museum. “The Kent is where you want to be,” Haggerty said. “It features Vermont artists and cars are parked for miles down the side roads.”
Still, Haggerty seems a little overwhelmed by all the attention.
“I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback. People tell me my art is accessible, joyful, funny, whimsical, and several people have said, ‘You sound like yourself in them.’ But honestly, none of it am I consciously doing.” n
January 15—April 10
A solo exhibition by Mary Mattingly Water Writes the Garden unites photographs, sculptures, and poetry around water’s role as timekeeper and storyteller.
Mary Mattingly, Over And Over And, 2018
DOCUMENTARIAN Stowe filmmaker Karen Akins in Mexico on location for her first documentary, “El Sisto,” about food insecurity. For information about her latest film, “The Quietest Year,” go to thequietestyear.com.
DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER TACKLES NOISE POLLUTION
Karen Akins moved to Stowe for the same reasons many come here.
“We wanted to raise our children in a healthy environment with fewer external influences than they had in bigger cities,” said Akins, who came via a not-so-common route—Austin, Texas, to London, England, to Stowe. “We wanted them to have healthy, active childhoods.”
Initially, her experience was everything she imagined and hoped. Her sons bal-
anced homework and hockey practices, while Akins, a documentary filmmaker, walked her dog on the Stowe Quiet Path between editing her first documentary film, “El Sisto,” about food injustice in Mexico. The longer she lived in Vermont, however, she began to become aware—and not in a good way—of a mostly under-reported issue: noise pollution.
Most artists take inspiration from the environment around them. For some Stowe artists, that could mean artwork inspired by mountains, colorful fall leaves, sports, and nature. For Akins, it meant a film about the noise she felt powerless to control.
Akins’ second documentary, “The Quietest Year,” is a personal account of her and others’ experiences with noise pollution—experiences she calls
MOVIE SET
ON LOCATION Karen Akins on the set of her documentary, “The Quietest Year,” which was partially filmed in Stowe. The movie shines a light on an of ten-under-reported problem: noise pollution. A neighbor’s sheep and the ensuing noise served as one catalyst for Akins’s film.
painful, anxiety-provoking, and alienating. Streaming on PBS, the award-winning film details research around noise pollution, the history of noise regulations, and the experiences of several Vermonters, including her own.
Making movies
It is impossible to quantify how many hours, days, weeks, and months go into making a documentary. “Mine took three years each,” Akins said.
Both of Akins’ films include numerous interviews, with each one involving logistics like scheduling camera people, setting up times and locations, and conducting loads of research—all to get the right shot.
Sometimes interviews take unexpected turns. If an interview fails to meet her editorial needs, Akins said, “you’re setting up a second interview.”
After the research, interviews, collecting footage, reviewing raw footage, editing, and adding music are big painstaking tasks. With a documentary, there is no screenplay—Akins loves screenplays: “Have you
written one?” she asks. “They’re so fun!”
Rather, the course a documentary follows is determined based on what interview subjects say.
“The Quietest Year” is 75 minutes long with several storylines. First, through interviews with experts like Les Blomberg of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, former Bose engineer Dan Gauger, and Eddie Duncan, a consultant with Paxwood Acoustics, the film educates the audience about technical concepts around measuring noise, and related jargon like decibels and acceptable noise levels. The World Health Organization deems levels of over 55 decibels harmful.
Interviews with health experts like cardiologist Dr. Michael Osborn of Massachusetts General Hospital and pediatric neurologist Dr. Peter Bingham of University of Vermont Medical Center cover health implications of continued exposure to harmful levels.
The successful documentary lays that technical groundwork in an interesting and entertaining way, and “The Quietest Year” avoids venturing too far into the weeds while still educating its audience, all while telling a captivating story.
Educating through stories
Akins decided to make her documentary about noise pollution when she found herself distracted by 30 sheep in the neighbor’s yard, despite using noise-canceling headphones. “I was trying to edit the music on the first film,” she said.
MOVIE SET
PRIZE WINNER Director and filmmaker Karen Akins at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival last year, where she addressed the festival. Her film, “The Quietest Year,” won the Gaia Prize for Environmental Flimmaking. The production crew on set for the film, a 2023 documentary about the impacts of noise pollution.
“The Quietest Year” also tells the stories Michael Shank of Brandon, whose farming life was disrupted by ongoing recreational gunfire, and many Winooski and South Burlington residents who live in the flight path of the Vermont National Guard’s F35 jets.
Particularly poignant, especially in the cases of Shank and Akers, were their attempts to get outside help from local police and local selectboards to help them improve their home situations when pleas with their neighbors didn’t work.
“Some feel that noise is like a form of oppression,” said Akins, adding that she felt that she couldn’t escape—even in her own home. She couldn’t escape the neighboring livestock, had trouble concentrating on her work, and couldn’t sleep. She began to experience severe anxiety, sought, and took prescription medication.
“It was completely ruining my days and nights,” said Akins. “I had no power to protect my environment in my own home.”
Meanwhile, a secondary storyline in the film is about the damage that unmediated comments on social media can cause to communities and individuals. Both Shank and Akers and another person in the film, former U.S. Air Force Col. Roseanne Greco, who represented the South Burlington City Council’s opposition to the F35s, were subjected to vitriol and bullying on social media.
A quiet year, for some
Like everyone, Akins found her life interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The documentary takes place during that year, and she titled it “The Quietest Year” because, with everyone staying home due to
Covid restrictions, there was less engine noise and other human-made sounds, and fewer cars on the road.
For many, 2020 was the quietest year ever.
For Akins, however, things began to get loud when sheep and chickens (male and female) began to live in the next-door neighbor’s yard.
“Don’t get me wrong—I love animals,” she said. But the home lots are small and just feet from each other, and Akins began to lose sleep due to the noises outside her window. The rooster outside Akins’ window crowed loudly at all hours.
Akins lives on Maple Street (Route 100) in Stowe as it leaves the village heading north. The film documents the everyday sounds from her porch, with planes overhead, trucks slowing down using engine brakes, neighbors operating leaf blowers and, of course, the neighbor’s sheep baaing, chickens clucking, and roosters crowing.
“The Quietest Year” raises issues about what for many viewers may be a previously unknown form of pollution. Since the 1970s and 1980s, when federal protections and legislation around noise were removed, the issue has been largely unregulated, particularly in Vermont which, Akers pointed out, has the nation’s weakest motor vehicle muffler laws.
When considering what makes Stowe special, most residents and visitors will cite the incredible natural surroundings, its quaint village, and rich history. Many will also cite the peace and quiet of rural surroundings.
“I wanted to talk about how noise fits into all this,” Akins said. Her film makes the case that peace and quiet—even in small rural places like Vermont—may be at risk. n
STEPHEN JAMES, ADDISON
STOWE MAN TURNS CAMERA TOWARD HIS ‘LITTLE TOWN’
A Stowe High School grad is producing a short film that hits on topics of class and desperation that might be familiar to anyone following the increasing gap between Vermont’s haves and have-nots.
Callum Adams is looking to raise $29,800 to pay for his film “Townies (Or My Little Town),” which he says is directly inspired by his time growing up in Stowe, and will shed “light on the struggles of yearround residents in a popular ski town.”
The story focuses on siblings Sarah, a once-promising pro-skier who now cleans house, and Danny, a ski instructor at the local resort. Together, they concoct a plan to burgle a wealthy second-homeowner. Sarah unexpectedly encounters the homeowner, however, and may hold secrets of her own.
“This story explores the nuanced perspectives and layered points of view in resort towns across America,” Adams said. “The dichotomy between those who visit these towns and those who call them home has always fascinated me. I wanted to look beneath the postcard image of places like Stowe and uncover what is sometimes hidden in the shadow of tourism.”
He has plenty of first-hand experience. Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Adams moved to Stowe at age 8 and graduated in the Stowe High School Class of 2012. Even as a teenager, he was racking up acting
and theater experience on both sides of the pond and has studied at the Drama Centre in London.
Adams has appeared in several television series and movies since 2016 and starred in the short film “The Green Knight,” which was made by Lamoille County residents Mark Freeman and Brandon St. Cyr, and screened at the Vermont International Film Festival in Burlington in 2022.
Now he’s hoping to bring this personal film to life in a way that resonates beyond Stowe in a “wide range of resort communities, not just ski towns” by exploring “the different relationships people have to the places they call home, how they coexist, and how one cannot exist without the other.”
“As the writer and director, I’m not taking sides or judging anyone’s experience. I’ve created a fictional world with characters who bring their own perspectives to the story,” Adams said. “My hope is that each viewer sees a reflection of their own relationship to place and comes away with a deeper curiosity about the lives and experiences that shape the communities we share.”
Adams hoped to have the funding in hand to start filming this past fall with post-production completed in time for the 2026 spring festival circuit. Learn more at bit.ly/4q0a2kO. —Aaron Calvin
HOMETOWN Callum Adams is looking to raise money for his short film, “Townies (Or My Little Town),” which he says is directly inspired by his time growing up in Stowe.
‘RETAILING
CUSTOM-MADE Susan Fishman outside of her shop in Stowe village.
When your father owns a department store, the retail business inevitably becomes part of your DNA. That’s how it happened for Susan Fishman, co-owner with her husband, Stephen, of Remarkable Things, a gift shop and interior design space in downtown Stowe.
IS IN MY DNA’
“When I was a child, I would go with my father to buying shows. I was always thinking of people and what they would like. My dad let me do his store displays and sales, and best of all he let me push the limits,” Susan said. “Many years later I found myself back in retail and realized that so many pieces of my past were influencing me.”
Another one of those pieces was a house Susan built in Forestdale, Vt., in the early 1970s. She had the money to buy the land and lay a foundation, but when she tried to get a loan to build the house, banks turned her down. Undeterred, she found a nearby lumberyard that gave her lumber on credit. And whenever she had a question, she’d go to the hardware store for answers.
Susan learned carpentry and worked with various contractors, another quality that continues to be helpful in her interior design work.
“I built everything from salvaged materials, assorted items from an old schoolhouse, anything useful that I could find, and anyone who visited had to work on ‘Susan’s Camp.’ I found a series of old leather-bound builder guides at the Brandon library that were extremely helpful. The house was inexpensive because everything was free!”
Susan and her then partner, now husband, Stephen, lived in Susan’s Camp for a few years until Stephen got a job in Waterbury. “I cried when we left that house. I had put my heart and soul into it, but the move was something we had to do.”
When they landed in Waterbury in 1978, Susan put her heart and soul into a new venture, custom-made stained glass. She crafted glass in her home studio and turned their living room into a showroom, open to the public. She brought in other high-end glass products and vendors, and her business, Shimmering Glass, lit up. But with two children, that situation became untenable.
When she was invited to join other retail shops on Waterbury Road, like Champlain Chocolates and Cabot Cheese, she jumped on it, while keeping her studio, now located in a barn at her house.
“All of my stained glass was custom-made and individual, by me as well as other vendors. No two pieces were the same,” Susan said. And while she enjoyed the camaraderie of other retailers, the location was not a good fit.
“The space was odd for me, not at all intimate, very commercial. People were eating cheese and chocolate when they came in, and my space was a fragile environment, filled with a lot of expensive glass pieces.”
Susan began looking for a different location in Stowe, but nothing interested her, except for one building: Stowe Pottery and Craft Gallery at the
three-way intersection in Stowe. It was owned by Johnpaul (JP) Patnode, a renowned potter known for his one-of-a-kind creations. People could come in and watch the man behind the pottery wheel and purchase his earthenware. But the building was not for sale.
Fortuitously, a year later, in 1995, Patnode decided to sell the building, and the Fishmans bought it, moved in, and kept part of the name—Stowe Craft Gallery. Susan brought in crafts from other artists and continued with her stained-glass creations.
“It’s a difficult world for artists, but it’s possible to make it work. I love handmade and custom-made things, and I love seeing these things go into people’s homes. A lot of education is needed about the work that goes into crafts.”
Soon Stephen joined Susan, taking over the financial aspects of the business.
“Art and finance are two completely different personalities, and I was not interested in the finances,” Susan said. “I was interested in buying the most adventurous and beautiful things I could find. Stephen came from a different perspective and paid more attention to what customers wanted, what sold well, and whose work sold best.”
At that point Stephen wanted to rebrand the business, and they changed the name to Remarkable Things. The store morphed into home accessories, and Susan would consult with clients on how to improve their home’s flow and how to accessorize it.
“I ended up getting into interior design because people wanted it, and it was helpful that I had experience with contractors,” Susan said.
It soon became clear they were outgrowing the building the couple bought from Patnode. Susan’s affinity for hand-made furniture was taking up more than its fair share of space, so in 2002 the Fishman’s decided to open a second location for interior design in the same complex. They named it Remarkable Home.
After 30 years, many changes have taken place. The Fishmans sold the building that housed Remarkable Things and combined the two stores into one location at Remarkable Home, while retaining the name Remarkable Things. Stephen is sidelined by health challenges and Susan is semi-retired, but she continues to source retail items, consult on interior design projects, and run a store with a staff of seven. Occasionally she will go to craft fairs to see if there’s anything new that is compatible with the store.
“I’m always looking, it’s in my DNA. I love the people that I work with. I’m an advocate for my clients and also my artists and contractors,” Susan said. “I have clients who were little children when they first came to my store, and now they come back with their own children. It’s important to me to continue that legacy.” n
SINGLE VESSEL A flutter vase by ceramicist Stephanie Grace.
180 Main Street, Jeffersonville. Call for hours. (802) 644-5100. bryangallery.org.
THE BRYAN—STOWE
Main Street. For current hours, see bryangallery.org.
THE CURRENT
90 Pond St., Stowe Village. Tuesday – Friday 10 a.m.5 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Free, donations welcome. Visit thecurrentnow.org for monthly public events. (802) 253-8358. See The Current, p.100
FRONT FOUR GALLERY
Baggy Knees Shopping Center, 394 Mountain Rd., Stowe. frontfourgallery.com.
Original paintings, sculpture, photography from dozens of noted artists.
HELLBROOK FINE ART GALLERY
82 Lower Main Street, Morrisville. Variety of fine art artists. Monthly exhibits.
STEPHANIE GRACE CERAMICS
101 Mad River Green, Waitsfield. stephaniegraceceramics.com
Plates, bowls, vases, platters, more. n
BODY MIND
The life and work of Molly Davies and Polly Motley
OPENING SPREAD In 2024, dancer-choreographer Polly Motley and video artist Molly Davies held three exhibits at the Arter, a contemporary art museum in Istanbul. In “Traverse,” Davies’ live, improvised video accompanied Motley and six dancers in cascading sequences on a landing between two staircases. Below: Davies and Motley in Motley’s studio at their Stowe home, where the walls have become a canvas of their own.
In May 2024, dancer-choreographer Polly Motley and video artist Molly Davies held three exhibits at the Arter, a contemporary art museum in Istanbul.
The first was “Solos,” six dancers performing choreography conceived and directed by Motley in separate parts of the museum that were simulcast in six separate frames. Each one moved with elegant deliberateness in colorful, four-sided jackets and skirts.
The second, “Mandala,” began with the dancers moving counterclockwise in a circle before they separate and flow in seemingly random but carefully orchestrated paths that do not intersect, speeding up and slowing down, their movements dissolving in the projected images surrounding them.
The series concludes with “Traverse.” Six dancers, and Motley, move in cascading sequences, a swift brook of bodies moving in half-time on a landing between two staircases. On the wall behind them, the live feed of the dancers is transposed over a mix of archival video from a performance art piece filmed in Türkiye four decades prior. The dancers are a palimpsest both within and outside the video, their careful, deliberate movements and interruption of the past set to David Behrman’s melodic drone score.
The performance context was held in concert with an exhibition of Jackie Matisse’s “Kite Time,” a collection of the vibrant kites the French artist flew over Istanbul in 1976. Matisse was a member of both extended families of painter Henri Matisse and conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp. Catherine Shannon, Matisse’s daughter, designed the jackets and skirts in “Solos.”
Matisse was a close friend of Davies, and, in 1983, she exhibited a sixscreen installation of footage she had taken of Matisse’s kites fluttering under the water in the Caribbean in 1983, set to a score produced from the sounds of the sea by David Tudor. The 2024 installation, the “Sea Tails” performances, incorporates and pays homage to this work.
“M
y theory is that we’re not a body and a mind, that we are one whole and no matter what we do, this gesture is going to affect what happens in my mind and my heart,” the late dancer and choreographer Sage Cowles said in a 2012 interview. “We’re all inter-related, and I feel we aren’t educated in that in any way.”
The body of work produced by video artist Davies and dancer Motley, both separate but certainly in collaboration, could be viewed as deliberative attempts to fulfill this belief. It is, if nothing else, a thorough documentation of their ceaseless efforts to educate themselves on the mysteries of the mind-body relationship. Their art is the production of a wordless communication, one they have seemingly perfected with each other, but also often involves the mediation of outside collaborators as well as the audience.
Ensconced at the top of a hill in Moscow village, the artist couple could be considered a living, breathing piece of art history, which would be a true enough assertion save for how finite that sounds. They have both worked with some of the great names of the post-war avant-garde and enjoyed a
STORY : aaron calvin
close relationship with the musician-composer John Cage and his partner, the dancer-choreographer Merce Cunningham, longtime friends and professional partners of Davies and Motley.
Visitors at the well-appointed home of Davies, 82, and Motley, 74, will find it decorated with invaluable art that just happened to be made by their friends, and illuminated by weightless blankets of sunlight allowed in by many wide windows. They will likely be offered a cup of coffee just like any other neighbor.
Davies, who was raised in the New York City area, had been coming to Stowe almost since its inception as a ski destination popular among metropolitans. She and Motley have had their home in Moscow for decades, but after a lifetime of international artmaking and exhibiting, it has increasingly been their primary one. Davies keeps a studio further up the hill, where she edits the footage that goes into her performance pieces; Motley works in a building across the pasture, in a wide-open room made for movement with scribbled-on walls. Motley’s studio feels unbound compared to Davies’ tidy studio, but it’s in these spaces where they work both together and apart.
Watching Davies’ recordings of their performance work, consistent themes develop. In many pieces, Davies turns the camera into an ephemeral machine. The camera that records the performance is separate from the camera performing it, documenting what’s being performed while often broadcasting it back, making the recording its own performance. These projections create the context for Motley’s performance.
“The moving image overwhelms the person on the stage, so to keep it quiet, because the eye follows movement—if it moves, you follow it,” Davies said. “The combination of lighting and what I’m projecting has to work to support and enhance what’s going on in a certain way, to make it bigger, but not overwhelm it.”
Motley’s movements are a conversation with the aesthetic atmosphere Davies creates.
“I try my best to be inside the world that Molly creates,” Motley said. “Molly’s work is important to me because she makes my work way bigger than it would have been otherwise. I feel like she contextualizes it just with her images. I might do something, and if it were just myself alone or another dancer alone, you would see a human being in a space, but if Molly’s images are there, you see a human being in the world.”
Born in Nacogdoches, Texas, Motley’s father was a banker, and his profession eventually drew the family into the outer orbit of Houston, between the city and the Gulf Coast. She was exposed to classical ballet in Houston.
“They appreciated a lot of fun, and so dancing and singing were always part of my family,” she said.
Motley achieved a bachelor’s degree in religious education at the University of St. Thomas in Houston at 24 years old. Her interest in experimental and avant garde dance led her to Naropa University, the
PHOTOS
PERFORMANCE ART “Traverse” was held in concert with an exhibition of Jackie Matisse’s “Kite Time,” a collection of the vibrant kites the French artist flew over Istanbul in 1976. In “Solos,” also at the Arter in spring 2024, six dancers performed choreography conceived and directed by Motley in separate parts of the museum that were simulcast in six separate frames.
Buddhist college in Boulder, Colorado. There she studied under Barbara Dillingham, an early member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
“She taught me improvisation,” Motley said. “When I was growing up, if my dance teacher would say improvise, I would just freeze.”
It was at Naropa that Motley first became acquainted with the works of Cage and Cunningham, and the Buddhist principles that helped guide some of their later work.
“Buddhism is all about what is the mind, and what do we do with mind and body?”
Motley said. “A Buddhist teacher has said the body and the mind are not two, not one. Paying attention to this integration is, I think, very fundamental to the way I work.”
Davies started out with non-narrative films and fell in with pioneers of cinema verité like Richard Leacock and D.A. Pennebaker. Her former husband, the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, took a position with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in 1972, and it was there Davies began a fruitful artistic partnership with many of the cutting-edge musicians that came through the city, and met Cowles.
“She was extraordinary, and I wanted to make some work with her, but I thought it’d be better if she were on this stage with the projected images, so that’s when I started to work with a dancer in space,” Davies said. She and Cowles found a welcome home for their work at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, where Cowles was both a powerful philanthropic benefactor and a respected artistic force. Writing in a 2005 retrospective of these “film performance pieces” from this period, the journalist Camille LeFèvre characterized the series as “spare and eloquent, visually meditative and aurally quiet.”
In the 1980s, Motley was also pioneering the work that would ultimately bring her closer to Davies. In her 1985 work “Duet,” performed at the Loretto Heights College in Denver, Motley writes that she “realized that there were at least four versions of the dance that the audience was not seeing: views from the top, back, right, and left sides.” The video of “Duet” shifts perspective around Motley and her partner and features the image overlays and fade-out transitions that make the recording of the performance more dynamic than a single, unmoving shot.
“After I made the live and video versions, I read somewhere that ‘video is not a good medium for showing dance,’” Motley wrote of “Duets.” “I knew this was true if a stationery camera was set up audience-distance in front of a dance. But I also knew that video could do so much more.”
FROM TOP Molly Davies presented her film, “Beyond the Far Blue Mountains,” at The Current contemporary art center in Stowe in 2016. The film, a 50minute, three-screen fairy tale played continuously for the duration of the exhibit. The film follows the life of Illya Maxwell as she seeks to find her identity while navigating race, language, and poverty as an outsider in a foreign land. Davies on location. A video installation of “Sea Tails” was also presented in 2024 at the Arter in Istanbul, a collaboration of Davies, artist Jackie Matisse, and composer David Tudor.
In the summer of 1989, Davies saw Motley perform a piece by Steve Paxton, another luminary of the experimental dance and choreography scene for whom Motley has often performed, at the PepsiCo Summer Festival at SUNY Purchase. They met again shortly after a Buddhist retreat, where Davies noticed Motley as she was leading a meditation session.
“Polly was leading a meditation when she started walking, and I thought, ‘She’s a dancer,’” Davies said. “I have a soft spot for dancers.”
Much of the blueprint for what Davies and Motley do comes from Cage and Cunningham, the musician and the dancer, partners in life and art. Like their former friends and colleagues, they are also not artistically possessive of one another, and view collaboration as a wide field that includes an international order of like-minded musicians, artists, dancers, writers, and curators.
In many ways, Motley and Davies are also still in conversation with Cunningham and Cage through the creative disciplines they pioneered, particularly the spirit of the chance-control and I Ching-dictated pieces he produced in the latter part of his career.
“I would never, ever tell Polly what to do, you know, like, ‘Oh, I want to do this.’ No, no,” Davies said. “Polly is going to make something and I’m going to see what I can do to support her; that’s the tricky part.”
John Killacky, former executive director of The Flynn theater in Burlington and former state lawmaker, has known both Davies and Motley since his time as director of the Walker Art Center in the 1990s, and continued his artistic collaboration and friendship with both in Vermont, so he’s been able to witness the special connection these artists have up close.
“They’ve been together for a very long time, and it really is lovely to see them allow each other to make work in collaboration. It’s never one person directing it. They just allow themselves to collaborate and make these really organic pieces together,” he said.
Sean Clute, a video performance artist who considers Davies a mentor, has studied under and collaborated with her since meeting her while working at The Kitchen, an avant-garde art institution, and as her student at the New School, both in Manhattan.
Clute follows the tradition established by Davies and Motley, and by collaborative artists like Cage and Cunningham, in collaborating with others and his wife, the dancer-choreographer Pauline Jennings, who is also deputy director of The Current, a contemporary art center in Stowe. Like Killacky, he may have connected with Davies in a more metropolitan center of the art world, but remains connected to her in Vermont, where he is professor of fine arts and performing arts at Vermont State University’s Johnson campus.
He, too, has had a front row to Davies and Motley’s unique chemistry.
“I collaborate with many people, but when I collaborate with them, I feel like, while Molly does video and Polly’s doing movement, there’s just so much more going on. It’s almost like this telepathic communication between them and it’s so deep. It transcends the visual and the kind of somatic experiences in it. There’s this language that they’ve been developing, a non-verbal language that they’ve been developing over such a long period of time and to experience that is, it’s actually hard to articulate in words, because it affects you at a deeper, kind of visceral level,” Clute said.
Their collaboration, though revolving around their relationship to one another at its core, seems to always end up being a big tent. It also has, for nearly two decades, often involved Phil Roy. Davies started out work-
-Dan Egan, Author
ing with film, which was cumbersome and didn’t allow for the spontaneity and on-location shooting that she preferred. When videotape came along, she embraced the medium. In the digital age, she found Roy.
“I’ve embraced Phil Roy and Phil Roy embraces technology,” Davies said.
Roy, a Stowe musician with a background in broadcast editing, came to work with Davies with production experience from a world of precision, order, and quick cuts. His new gig was anything but. He’s been inculcated now over the years by Davies’ passive observation, her cinema verité-informed approach to seeing the world and the technical requirements of her multi-screen, multi-camera film performances.
In turn he has become the interlocutor in the work Davies and Motley create together, the conduit through which Davies’ ideas are realized. She tells him what she wants and asks if it’s possible, and Roy determines if it is or not. His innovations have included, among other technical feats, allowing Davies the ability to mix multiple live-streaming cameras simultaneously.
Take “Traverse,” part three of the Istanbul installation, where he operated the cameras trained on the dancers, which were then layered over other footage and projected over the performers.
“I’m running a camera where the live feed from my camera is going into the video mix. For hours at a time, I will have my camera trained on Polly, or somebody who is being directed by Polly, so I feel very closely connected to everything that she’s doing. I’ll be zoomed in on a joint of hers, a wrist or an elbow, and I will be studying that and waiting for the gesture to complete or to end. I’m probably the world’s foremost expert on Polly Motley at this point.”
In a 2006 New York Times article, a theater critic writing an art events preview wrote that Davies was “one of a slowly fading breed of downtown artists who came of creative age in the graffiti-covered, unfashionable SoHo of the late 1960s, and she has worked with the best of that generation.”
She was showing “David Tudor’s Ocean,” a six-channel, six-monitor video portrait of experimental electronic music pioneer Tudor performing his piece “Ocean” with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in Amsterdam, which was performed in 1994 and originally shown at Tudor’s funeral in 1996.
The show was composed of three monitors showing three consecutive performances of “Ocean,” while three more showed the process of setting up, melding intention and act, preparation, and performance. The performance was a Cage-Cunningham creation. Davies called the installation a “six monitor meditation on the elaborate tableau of electronic music-making, in relation to the parallel dance making of Cunningham’s ‘Ocean.’”
Davies worked with so many of the founders of postmodernism and post-war minimalism that, even by 2006, fading was apparently the word that came to mind to one writer. But at the same exhibition where Davies was showing “David Tudor’s Ocean,” she was also showing “Desire,” a three-panel piece that draws upon a shared squishiness in parts of nature and people. The then-critically acclaimed, now-legendary poet and classicist Anne Carson provided text for the piece. Even as she kept the names of the old guard of the avant guard in the press, Davies continued to find fresh ideas by finding new collaborators.
STUDIO TIME Molly Davies and Polly Motley relax on the porch of Motley’s studio at their property in Moscow with Coco.
GORDON MILLER
Even as an octogenarian, Davies is still interested in refining her work, though her body isn’t as accommodating to her desires as it once was.
“I don’t have any energy anymore compared to what I used to,” Davies said, crediting Roy for his assistance in enacting her ideas. Still, it’s her long collaboration that pushes her to keep working.
“Mostly it’s working with Polly. Working with Polly is an inspiration.”
As they’ve become increasingly anchored in Stowe, they’ve exhibited nationally and internationally, while working more locally, shooting projects like 2011’s “Last Year in Morrisville” at the River Arts community art center, turning the light-filled rooms of the old grange building into an homage to French New Wave. Motley is as likely to be exhibiting at The Current in Stowe as she is leading morning movement classes there.
What marks both of their work as they’ve aged is not an ossification of their artistic practices but a continued restlessness. Motley wants to find a way to be in Davies’ video projection like a figure in a Tang dynasty landscape; Davies is still pursuing something perfectly weightless. The pair remain interested in seeing what their long collaboration can produce, and what it can become when other artists get involved.
Davies demonstrated her wide-scope sense of time when, in 2023, she donated 350 acres of forestland her family had acquired in Wheelock in the 1990s to the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation.
“I was there for a while,” she told the Stowe Reporter. “Now, the people who were always there are there.”
In 1998, Motley and Davies premiered “Dressing” at the Jack Tilton Gallery in Manhattan along with “Drawing from the Body,” a 30-minute film in which the audience moved at will between two rooms, one where Motley was performing and another where Davies’ live video feed of Motley’s performance was displayed.
Dressing” is a three-panel installation of Motley assembling clothes over her body. The work is a new frontier in the artists’ shared aesthetic, simultaneously enlarging a small act of a daily routine, while the perspective of the camera makes the body into a foreign country. The contours of flesh and shadows in the folds of a shirt are illuminated only by the natural light cast through the windows of a Burlington office building they had snuck into and filmed. When it was exhibited, members of the audience were given cameras to take photos, which could be left in the gallery.
It’s a piece that embodies the way their mutual friend and collaborator Killacky described Davies’ and Motley’s art.
“The work takes its time. The work unveils itself. The work reveals itself, but you have to just be there with it. You relax and experience the work. It has a pace to it and a quality to it, it’s very organic. It washes over you and you feel blessed.” n
ART OF COLLABORATION Molly Davies and Polly Motley in fall 2025 at their Stowe home
GORDON MILLER
DAN GREENLEAF USES DISABILITY AS ‘FORCE FOR GOOD’
GORDON MILLER
FOUR-PIECE BAND Dan Greenleaf plays at Stowe Cider.
STOWE VIBE
When he was young and learning to play, Dan Greenleaf discovered jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. “He was my inspiration. He perfectly exemplifies his own voice and character. It’s immediately obvious, and it made me realize that I could be successful with what I have.”
Greenleaf, 24, lives in Morrisville, and today is in a four-piece band that plays weddings and events and sometimes expands to include vocalists, horns, and percussion.
“Weddings are not really my career mission, but it pays and is also a good experience,” he said.
Greenleaf, who attended Ithaca College School of Music and studied with Mike Titlebaum—whom he describes as a force of nature—says he is driven by a commitment to pursuing his creative and personal musical goals, often through his own compositions.
“For a live show, I try to create an experience that the audience can take home. I try to shape it so people go on a journey of emotional connection. I rarely talk and music flows from one seamless experience to another,” Greenleaf said. “The difference between soft and loud is a universe of space. In between is where the listener’s attention lies. I’m not virtuosic; for me it’s emotion forward, regardless of ability or technicality. I’m after a cohesive and deep experience.”
Greenleaf’s playing style is different from any other, based on how his hands work. He and his twin brother were born with cerebral palsy, and while his left hand functions normally, his right hand, the one he uses for strumming, plucking, and keeping tempo, moves more slowly. “There’s no blazing speed for me, it’s more technical, so the way I compose and play has more space, more room for reflection.”
Not at all shy about his disability, Greenleaf feels engaged in sharing it with the public. “When you have a disability, you don’t really have a choice in presenting it. It’s part of your identity whether you like it or not. I’ve decided to use it as a teaching point. I have no problem letting it out; it’s a force for good. People only learn about disabilities if they know someone who has one.”
Greenleaf’s twin brother, Jackson, uses a wheelchair, which hasn’t slowed him down, either. He lives independently in Burlington, does social work, and performs stand-up comedy at the Burlington Comedy Club where he is often the opening act and emcees for open-mic nights.
“I really like that guy. Having a twin is incredible because you have this close connection that started when you were born. We’ve been together our entire lives. Having someone understand your experience from the get-go is phenomenal,” Greenleaf said.
In May 2025, Greenleaf came out with his first album, “Dan Greenleaf: Live at Ford Hall.” It’s a collection of instrumental music that he composed for his band. “The band is
comprised of exceptional improvisors. I can come up with a theme, give it to the band, and we grow it together. I love playing with my band, they’re my best friends and are incredibly good.”
Since the album’s release, he’s been on another mission, to build buzz around the album, which is available on any streaming service. He gets help from a publicist in New York City and both are getting the word out in every venue possible.
Greenleaf will donate 50 percent of the album’s proceeds to Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, an organization he has been involved with for over a decade and is a big part of his life. He loves downhill skiing, fly fishing, being outdoors, and he’s recently discovered golfing. “Having a good game of golf is a lot like music. With both, you are at your best when you get in a Zen state of mind.”
So, what’s next?
“I’ve started working on what I hope will be a spring 2026 tour, primarily at college theaters.”
It will be a two-part event for master class students, where Greenleaf will discuss the importance of using his own personal identity to launch his career, and how to structure and build a career in music, something he feels is lacking in musical college curriculums. Part two will be an evening concert.
“You have to invest upfront and know any financial return is a long way off. I use my skills and network to build momentum. I’ve committed to the whole career thing. I’m giving it 10 years of really pushing it.” n
MIKE TITLEBAUM; ERIC MAEIR
IN CONCERT Dan Greenleaf plays live at Ford Hall at Ithaca College. Proceeds from his new album, “Live at Ford Hall,” will support Green Mountain Adaptive Sports.
FOUND IN VERMONT
GET CRACKIN’
Crackers are a means for transporting cheeses, dips, and peanut butter. But the cracker’s got to be a worthy conveyance. Enter Castleton Crackers. Made by Vermont Farmstead Cheese Company in South Woodstock, these artisanal, rustic-looking, flavorful crackers are made from all-natural ingredients and come in six flavor combos: Salted Maple, Alehouse Cheddar, Rosemary, Simply Wheat, Sesame Graham, and Multi-seed Rye. The Alehouse Cheddar crackers incorporate the company’s AleHouse Cheddar cheese, made with Harpoon Brewery’s Munich Dark and IPA. All six flavors are distinctly different and can be found at grocery stores throughout Vermont.
INFO:
BAG IT WITH BIRDIE BLUE
BirdieBlue upcycles old ski and snowboard gear into tote bags, fanny packs, gym bags, shoulder bags—you name it. Founder Kate Harvey, the one-woman show behind Birdie Blue, is on a mission to save as many clothes from the landfill as possible. She does this by taking old, discarded ski and snowboard clothing and converting it into bags. The fabrics come from clothing people donate, manufac turers with flawed extras, and Vermont companies such as Burton and Skida. Customers looking to donate old clothes can request a mailer, sent free of charge, and receive a discount code for send ing in their stuff. Harvey also takes custom orders for people who have gear they love that they’d like to see turned into bags.
INFO: shopbirdieblue.com or locally at Archery Close and Tälta
BEANIES FOR ALL
These made-in-Vermont beanies are super serious about keeping your noggin warm and dry in the depths of winter. Rest assured, your earlobes won’t fear frostbite when a 4T2D beanie is protecting your, uh, bean. Wife-and-husband team Carey Strobeck and Jordan Sears started 4T2D (four-ti-tude) in 2021. They design and manufacture clothing in Burlington’s South End Arts District and are best known for their attractive beanies that come in three styles—skully, midi, cuffed, and assorted variations. All are machine knit from acrylic yarns at the plant on Pine Street. Colors and designs range from plain and simple to colorful and classy. Available online and at their store on Pine Street
IT’S A RING THING
Instead of removing your rings and stashing them someplace you’re sure to forget when you’re doing the dishes, waxing the car, or painting the walls, step it up with this enchanting—and memorable—ring holder. Sculpted from molten glass, the holders come in a variety of swirly colors. The glass bits at the bottom take on a kaleidoscope effect when looking straight down through the finger-like clear glass top. Made by Henrietta Glass in Rhode Island and available at Danform Pewter in Waterbury Center. Get one of these beauties and you’ll never forget where you stashed your rings again. INFO: bit.ly/3XihkTW
SI P • STAY • SU P • INDULG
The Stowe area boasts a variety of cuisines and dining atmospheres, from swanky bistros that embrace the local food movement to fine-dining establishments featuring award-winning chefs and busy pubs with the latest microbrews—and everything in between! Check out the area’s great places to stay, as well, from full-service resorts to quaint country inns. Our guide to dining and lodging outlines the myriad choices from which to choose.
A ROUND HEARTH
ROUND HEARTH SKI HOSTEL TRANSFORMS ITSELF
It’s been five years since the pandemic forced the owners of the Round Hearth Café and Marketplace to pivot their business to a restaurant, but Merry and Grady Vigneau say they’re better for it today.
The Vigneaus have owned the building at the corner of Mountain and Edson Hill roads since 1988 but didn’t open it as a full-fledged restaurant until 2020, a bold move in the early stages of a global pandemic.
Before then, longtime Stowe locals remember the building as a hostel from which the Vigneaus ran popular ski camps for kids from all over the world.
As many as 2,000 kids participated in the camp throughout the winter. One season, National Geographic and Time magazine captured a group of them huddled around the Vigneau’s indoor fireplace, with its hovering vent, which was painted by one of their friends. It depicts Mt. Mansfield and the Vigneaus, their friends, and family as winged angels floating above it.
Hostel reservations began to dry up a few years before the pandemic. Merry
Merry and Grady Vigneau in their popular restaurant known for its famous round hearth. Inset: The lobster cobb salad.
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COMMUNITY GATHERING
Vigneau said parents were becoming less comfortable sending their kids away with strangers, and after Vail Resorts bought Stowe Mountain Resort in 2017, the com pany wasn’t interested in offering package deals on tickets, “which killed us,” she said. Restrictions on travel once the pandemic set in were the final nail in the cof fin.
“It was the kind of thing where we said, ‘Oh my gosh, what are we gonna do with this place?’” Vigneau said.
The family briefly listed the property for sale, but was discouraged by the prospective buyers, and Vigneau said she would’ve had a hard time giving up the place where she raised her kids.
Originally from Massachusetts, the Vigneaus moved to Stowe in 1988 to run the ski camps, and although they moved back and forth over the years, they held on to the property. They now live in resi dents’ quarters with some of their children and grandchildren. Her grandkids ride the same bus to school that her children once rode—and that their son, Chris, drove for years.
Locals gather to help the Vigneau family celebrate five years since they reinvented their old ski dorm.
Faced with a sentimental building and no way to pay for it, the Vigneaus turned to their industrial kitchen and can-do attitude. In 2020, they opened Round Hearth Café and Marketplace and began serving classic breakfast dishes. Their ski dorm breakfast option is a nod to the morning meals they used to whip up for campers.
In September, the Vigneaus hosted a party to celebrate five years since the opening. Merry Vigneau thanked locals who have been eating there routinely since 2020, and Stowe visitors, some of whom remember attending the ski camp as kids.
The building looks much different now. The Vigneaus recently swapped the gray motif on the building’s exterior with a barn red. Inside, where there were once long cafeteria-style tables and bunkbeds, there are intimate family tables and curated rooms for short-term renters.
The rooms, which are listed on Airbnb for around $100 a night, are somewhere between the dorm rooms they once were and luxury accommodations that are common in Stowe. Bunk beds have been swapped for twin and full beds, and the Vigneaus have outfitted the rooms with more vintage furniture and decorations. The bathrooms are still communal, however.
During the pandemic, Vigneau also ran a marketplace with more than 100 vendors. She’s scaled back
Chris Vigneau grew up at the Round Hearth and now helps out where needed.
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FAMILY RECIPE
a bit since then, but there are still artisanmade and antique items available throughout the building.
“We went from operating one business out of here to two or three,” Vigneau said.
She wants to branch into dinner and beverage service. At the September party they teased a few potential dinner items, including prime rib, hot honey chicken, shepherd’s pie, and a vegan mushroom bourguignon.
For dessert, Round Hearth is resurrecting a beloved treat from Whisker’s Restaurant,
Merry Vigneau and her daughter, Alison Vigneau Ewald, take a breather from a busy day at the family eatery.
which closed in 2006. After years of trying, Vigneau finally got her hands on the restaurant’s recipe for hot chocolate cheesecake, which is part of a larger effort to keep elements of “old Stowe” alive at the Round Hearth.
“All the buildings in town are sleek and modern these days, but we’re old Stowe,” she said. “There’s still hot chocolate caked to the walls from kids spilling it everywhere. We kept that vibe and I think people like that.” n
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BURT’S IRISH PUB RETURNS TO ITS ROOTS
STORY / AARON CALVIN
PHOTOGRAPHS / GORDON MILLER
CAROLINA BARBECUE
Burt’s Irish Pub owner Janet Martinez in the bar at her new location on Stowe’s Mountain Road once home to the Blue Donkey.
Your one stop shop for great food, unique treasures and affordable lodging! Our market has a great selection of antiques, furniture, gifts and more! The newly renovated guest rooms provide a comfortable place to rest following your Stowe adventures!
Breakfast and lunch served all day, every day!
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WATERING
Burt’s Irish Pub is back on the road where it all began nearly a half-century ago.
The beloved watering hole, with a strong claim to the status as the last “locals” bar and eatery in Stowe, left its Luce Hill Road location where it operated since 2001 and moved to the same stretch of the Mountain Road where it started in 1976.
“Herb O’Brien would be just laughing. He always said, ‘You gotta get back home,’” said Burt’s owner Janet Martinez, referring to the former Stowe Selectboard member, legislator, and beloved community member who died in 2013.
Martinez took over Burt’s shortly after it moved to Luce Hill Road, but has fond memories of its first iteration, which she described as small, swampy, and drenched in the smell of cigarette smoke.
The new Burt’s—the longtime former home of the Cactus Cafe and, more recently, the
Blue Donkey—is more spacious, with newer fixtures and bigger windows. But the old Burt’s decor has been transplanted, and the pool table that once took up most of the basement at the former location is now bathed in sunlight in a nook that leads into a spacious backyard. Whatever the bar lost in worn-in coziness, it has traded in for room to spread out.
Despite any aesthetic tradeoffs Burt’s made in the move, its heart and soul—the clientele— followed it up the road. Carpenters, masons, and painters who just happened to be regulars all pitched in to help Martinez move. At the inaugural brunch in July, it was so busy—a “shit show,” as Martinez told it—that a Stowe Reporter photographer who stopped by to try and capture the occasion was run off.
Even on a recent Monday afternoon—a nominal dead zone for most bars and restaurants in Stowe, if they’re even open—it was busy.
HOLE
Dave Taylor deftly handles the bar crowd at the popular local watering hole. Inset: Burt’s wears its heart on its front door.
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“The place is only as good as the people in it, right?” said Howie Faircloth III, co-owner of Morrisville’s Green Mountain Distillers and a Burt’s regular who pulled up a stool at the new bar that afternoon.
Faircloth has now seen all three iterations of Burt’s, and reflected fondly on the Luce Hill location, which he described as “like a club basement back in the day.”
Kim Kaufman and Jimmy Goldsmith gave up their Blue Donkey restaurant to make room for Martinez and Burt’s.
“We are thrilled to have this iconic pub in our iconic building,” Kaufman said. “Janet is a dear friend, and it makes us really happy to
see her in a space worthy of her much-loved business.”
Once tucked away off the beaten path, Martinez relied on her regulars to keep Burt’s going. Now, located on prime real estate and highly visible to mountain-bound traffic, she expects more tourists, but won’t be abandoning the bar’s roots anytime soon.
“It’s always been locals first. When Burt’s was tucked away, you could hide better,” she said. “Tourists for us are like gravy. Gravy’s great, but you can get by without gravy. That’s why we kept ‘The Office’ sign up, so they won’t know what (Burt’s) is. If they’re adventurous, and they want to find out, they’ll come in.” n
FOOD MOJO
Janet Martinez is famous for her skills in the kitchen. The menu tips a hat to both Ireland and Colombia, her homeland.
Trattoria la Festa forges new way forward
STORY : aaron calvin
PHOTOGRAPHS : gordon miller
‘RED SAUCE JOINT’ Regular patrons at Trattoria la Festa enjoy traditional Italian fare at the Mountain Road eatery, now into its fifth decade in Stowe. Chef Ana Olsen offers up the restaurant’s duck and pear salad: smoked duck breast, red wine poached pears, arugula, pine nuts, and gorgonzola, topped with a white balsamic dressing. Opening spread: Trattoria crew.
After a new layer of snow falls overnight, a pair of skiers, frequent visitors to Stowe, spend the day taking runs on the mountain. It’s a bluebird day, and they ski until the sun sinks behind Mt. Mansfield. The couple then joins the exodus of headlights inching down Mountain Road, and they turn off at a white house with a long porch. Guided into the back, they take a seat at the polished wood bar while they wait for one of the neatly partitioned booths, enjoying a glass of merlot and listening to the low hum of chatter in the busy restaurant as a blush returns to their cold cheeks from the wine and warmth.
The restaurant very closely resembles Trattoria la Festa—The Place to Feast—they have always known nestled nearly halfway between the mountain and the village. Its architecture resembles a Puritan’s take on an Italian villa, and for 40 years it has been Stowe’s original red sauce joint.
Now it has new owners.
Some of the alterations are subtle. There are fewer paintings on the wall, and the bathrooms got a touch up. Others are more expansive. The entrance opens to a newly renovated room. Half of the building’s first floor—previously used as lodgers’ quarters—is now an après-ski lounge. A new private dining room—
aptly called the Mansfield Room— features a small window that perfectly frames a view of the mountain.
The couple sits down at a cozy table, and glance at the menu. Neither are oenophiles, but there seem to be more Italian varietals on the wine list. Favorite entrees are still on the menu, but there are some intriguing new dishes as well. While debating what to order—the triedand-true veal parmigiana is always a good bet—they spy a plated branzino at a nearby table, and it looks particularly fresh.
For dessert, they both get panna cotta. It floats like a sweet cloud on their tongues. This, too, feels new, although neither can quite put their finger on what’s different.
DOLCI Trattoria la Festa’s menu describes the panna cotta as simple cooked cream, traditional Italian custard topped with a rotating housemade sauce. The main dining room begins to fill up on a busy fall evening.
CAREER CHANGE Executive chef Jason Gelineau has led the kitchen at Trattoria la Festa since 2017 and is now helping new owners, Rebecca McCann and Jeff Ziegler, preserve its past while simultaneously embracing new culinary adventures.
At the end of 2024, career nurses Jeff Ziegler and Rebecca McCann bought Trattoria la Festa from Tony Devito and Patty Hammer, who had owned and run and been the faces of the restaurant since 1986. They paid $1.6 million for the property, according to town records.
That December, devoted “Trat” regulars braved the cold to send off Devito and Hammer and recall the couple’s legendary hospitality. When the bright lights of the holidays faded, the new owners were left to steer the ship alone.
McCann and Ziegler were more than a little familiar with the restaurant, having owned a home in a nearby neighborhood since 2013. Although they had little traditional restaurant experience, the couple was looking for an entry point into the Vermont dining scene.
“We were getting to the point where we just wanted a change of career,” McCann said. “We were both in the hospital for a long time and just looking for a different challenge that maybe involved food and wine versus illness.”
Trattoria coming on the market was serendipitous. The couple has a welldeveloped interest in Italian cuisine. Zeigler, in particular, is well versed in Italian food and how it varies from region to region. He lived in the country for a few years in the mid-2000s and now oversees Trattoria’s dessert menu, including the panna cotta and an assort-
DEPTH OF FLAVOR A 16-ounce veal chop serves as Trattoria’s steak option. It’s topped with mushroom demi-glaze, truffle oil, and fried shallots, and served with blue cheese potatoes. The branzino features a lemoncaper sauce. The eggplant tower marries tomato, mozzarella, and pesto. Sambuca-garlic butter sets these escargot apart, with an ample serving of grilled bread for dipping.
ment of rich gelatos with a remarkable depth of flavor.
“Rebecca and I try and make it back to Italy every year and explore both the food and the wine culture, and so, keep expanding our knowledge base,” Zeigler said.
When it came to running a restaurant, not to mention a beloved local institution, it helped that the restaurant came with an already established retinue of cooks and servers. Executive chef Jason Gelineau joined Trattoria in 2017 and stayed on after the restaurant changed hands, while a loyal front-of-house staff helped to insulate Trattoria from some of the challenges of the tight labor market now plaguing Stowe.
The changes executed by McCann and Zeigler have not just been surface level. They have refined the wine list and tweaked the menu to allow Gelineau to innovate while staying true to the restaurant’s character.
“Some of the dishes we’re now doing are things nobody else is doing in the area,” Gelineau said. “When the customers sit down to order, they just go, ‘Wow, why haven’t I been ordering this the entire time?’”
There’s a longtime regular at Trattoria La Festa, according to McCann, who, after flying directly to Stowe from Louisiana, routinely stops at the restaurant for veal parmigiana on their way to their second home.
“We’ll have a whole table of four people that will just order the chicken parmigiana because that’s what they’ve always had, and that’s what they love,” McCann said. (Devito was the channel for recipes straight from “Mama Devito,” rich with old-world charm.)
Taking on a business with an alreadydevoted customer base and making changes can court disaster. New owners, in general, are prone to extremes, either clinging too hard to the past or charging ahead too quickly and prompting a revolt. McCann and Zeigler took a different approach: They tightened up the edges of the traditional Trattoria while allowing Gelineau to stretch his wings.
“We don’t want to change everything,” McCann said. “We want to
brighten things up and get some new fare but also appreciate and respect the fact that people do come here for certain dishes as well.”
The franchise dish of this new era has been the rack of lamb, pistachio-pesto crusted with a balsamic-mint dipping sauce on the side, a dish whose calling card is “simple, fresh ingredients,” Gelineau said. Same for the salad of smoked duck breast and pear poached in red wine, gently flourished with gorgonzola and a white balsamic dressing and the branzino in a lemon-caper sauce. Like many of the most highly regarded Stowe chefs, Gelineau gets his fish fresh daily from the Atlantic.
Any classic Italian restaurant must have steak. At Trattoria, it’s a veal chop; a 16-ounce tomahawk bound to its bone.
“People go absolutely crazy for our grilled veal chop with fried onion, shallots on the top, served with scalloped blue cheese potatoes, and a porcini sauce,” he said. “It’s just a really impressive dish.
The expansive bar and cocktail area is the most pronounced and immediate physical change to the building’s interior under McCann and Zeigler’s tenure. But it is the Mansfield Room that feels most emblematic of their ownership. A smaller room within the expansive building, built in 1884, is brand new.
Outfitted with one long table and well-suited for seating large parties without overburdening the main dining area, the Mansfield Room feels strangely fresh compared with the well-worn charms of the dining room, the place that, as Zeigler says, contains the promise that
has kept Trattoria in business for four decades, a cozy place where customers get “good, quality food and drink,” and feel welcome chatting with the person nearby, whether a familiar face, a stranger, the bartender, or owners. In keeping with what came before, McCann and Ziegler are at the restaurant each night.
The Mansfield Room also allows the couple to fulfill their own quiet ambitions as restaurateurs. They recently served a sixcourse meal in the room, prepared by Gelineau, and paired with wine selections. It was an experience Zeigler described as a fulfilling for both the customers and staff alike.
The balance between the Mansfield Room and main dining room is like the tension between the chicken parmigiana and the pistachio pestoencrusted rack of lamb. It’s illustrative of McCann and Zeigler’s delicate quest to respect tradition while expanding what their restaurant can be and who can be a regular at Trattoria.
“We’re caretakers—that’s just part of us and part of our personalities— and to bring that to this endeavor is a good thing,” McCann said, reflecting on the similarities between nursing and hospitality. “Maybe even though it sometimes seems like a strange career change, there’s a lot of parallels. When you go to dinner, you want to be taken care of.” n
CHEERS! Bartender Ryan Aughey shares a laugh with patrons at the Trattoria la Festa bar. Inset: Putting the finishing touches on a pistachio martini.
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RECIPES TELL FAMILY STORIES
STORY / BRIANA BRADY PHOTOGRAPHS / GORDON MILLER
Nancy Segreto at her book launch party.
EDIBLES
I have felt few things quite as satisfying as sticking my hands directly into a pot full of whole tomatoes and squeezing, feeling the soft flesh of the tomatoes break apart. Standing at my stove, the tomatoes went directly from can to pot. I relished this tactile experience. I squished. I mashed. I crushed.
It was oddly freeing; we don’t usually get to play with our food.
I was making meatballs. More specifically, I was making the meatballs and sauce from the new cookbook, “Segreto’s Foxfire Cookbook: A Culinary Tale of an Italian American Skiing Family,” by Stowe resident Nancy Segreto.
Her parents, Art and Irene, operated and owned the Foxfire Inn and Italian Restaurant in Stowe from 1975-1994, serving up Italian American classics to a dedicated group of locals and visitors. Many of the recipes come straight from the restaurant’s menu, but some go back even further to Nancy’s grandmother, Josephine, who immigrated to New York from Naples, Italy, in 1900 when she was 8 years old.
Island. And it brought her back to the years of working and spending time at the Foxfire, her dad’s goofy nature and easy generosity, and her mother’s steadiness.
The cookbook is a love letter to the memories that food can hold.
“Working on this cookbook was huge for me, because I had to cook the recipes over and over again to get it right. I don’t like to cook with measuring—my grandmother didn’t do it. But it was such a great feeling in so many ways,” Nancy said.
As she was working on the recipes, the smells wafting from her kitchen brought her back to memories of her grandmother making egg drop soup when she was sick growing up on Long
When the restaurant first opened, Nancy’s mother, Irene, was the cook. She learned to cook from her mother-in-law, diving head-first into the Italian heritage of her husband.
“(My mother) became a really, really good cook. She could cook by smell. She didn’t even have to taste,” Nancy said. It was a twist of fate that brought the Segretos from Long Island to Stowe. While serving in Europe during World War II, Art learned to ski, and when Nancy was young, she and her family would make ski trips to Stowe. The couple planned to move there as soon as both their daughters graduated high school. But at 17, Nancy came to Stowe on her own. Her sister, just 13 at the time, soon joined her, convincing a local fami-
FAMILY SCRAPBOOK Art and Irene Segreto opened Foxfire in 1975. The Foxfire was already an inn when the Segretos took it over. An old family photo.
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ly to take her in for the school year. Irene and Art had little choice but to follow.
That’s when they found Foxfire, a 100-acre property with an inn.
Anyone who has ever worked in food service knows there’s no bonding experience like it. It’s a workplace, but it’s also a bit like family. You yell at each other, pitch in when someone else is overwhelmed, and always, always let everyone know when you’re coming around the corner with a sharp knife or food-laden tray.
Sometimes, in the best kind of restaurant, the regulars become part of that family, as comfortable at their favorite corner table as they are at home.
If Nancy’s book launch in August was any indication, Foxfire was that best kind of restaurant. Old customers, long-time chefs, and people who worked their first job there in the 1970s gathered to remember what a special place it had been.
“It’s a community,” Nancy said. “Doing this book has brought me closer to my family and friends and acquaintances, and it’s really
important for everyone.”
While the cookbook is organized into traditional Italian sections—antipasto, primi, secondi—it also reads like a family tree. There are Josephine’s recipes and Foxfire favorites, but also some attributed to Nancy’s aunts and other family members and friends, with labels noting “Jade’s favorite” or “Benny’s requested favorite.”
Nancy also includes a family history so readers and cooks can learn not only a little bit more about the dishes but the hands that made them.
I made my meatballs with a friend—someone I met when we worked in the same restaurant together, someone who feels like family. She prepped the meatballs while I made the sauce.
When I saw Nancy’s note, “Break tomatoes by hand (the way Grandma did it),” I knew that I needed to stick my hands into that pot. Because what are we doing if we’re not making food with our loved ones and making sure some traditions live on? Especially the ones that let you play with your food. n
OLD FRIENDS Old family friends and former Foxfire patrons, like Charlie Burnham, turned out to celebrate Nancy Segreto’s homage to her family.
REAL ESTATE LIFESTYLE &
Are you searching for the perfect home or vacation getaway? Looking to update your 1970s kitchen, add a great room, or find a stone mason to redo your uneven terrace? Well, the search is over. Our guide to real estate and homes is your one-stop shop to find a new home or connect with the finest architects, interior designers, builders, and other craftsmen and suppliers for everything home-related. Our newspapers and websites—Stowe Reporter (stowetoday.com, and stowereporter.com, and vtcng.com) and News & Citizen (newsandcitizen.com)—are great community and real estate resources.
Kate Carter
Photo
These three extraordinary homes, each a masterpiece in its own, are perfect for anyone seeking both adventure and tranquility, pairing striking architecture, two with panoramic views, one in the heart of the village, while creating the ultimate retreat in Vermont’s most popular resort town. WHAT $3 MILLION (OR SO) GETS YOU IN STOWE
AT HOME IN THE HOLLOW
/ $2,815,000
3,490 square feet, 12.4 acres • Built in 1976 • Taxes: $28,072 • Agency: Suzi Benoit, Tamarack Real Estate
This beautifully renovated 4-bedroom home has breathtaking mountain views from nearly every window. The unique floor plan and recent upgrades create a lovely flow from one room to the next. The exquisite four-season sunroom is the ultimate place to relax, and the oversized kitchen will handle a large reunion. The property is permitted for eight bedrooms and a two-bedroom guest house. Options for expansion and guest accommodations are limitless.
Outside: Nestled on over 12 acres of secluded, meticulously landscaped grounds, the property ensures ultimate privacy while remaining conveniently close to Stowe Village. There’s a fenced-in swimming pool, a pool house, and a jungle gym. And a pond!
COMING DOWN THE PIKE
/ $2,995,000
3,337 square feet, 1.06 acres • Built in 1900 • Taxes: $24,578 • Agency: Mike Hickey, KW Vermont Woodstock
Originally built in 1900, this 4-bedroom sprawling house has gone through extensive renovations, retaining its rustic charm of exposed beams and hardwood floors, and pairing that with a contemporary style and modern fixtures. The gourmet, open-concept kitchen is perfect for gathering around the expansive island, adjacent to the grand dining room. An arresting stone fireplace is the focal point for enjoying quiet evenings. A modern addition includes a two-car garage with a primary suite above that comes with a steam shower, soaking tub, and kitchenette. Set back from the street, the home provides peace and privacy, yet it’s just minutes from the center of Stowe Village. The public library, upscale shops, pubs, and acclaimed dining are just moments from the front door.
Outside: A large stone patio and a large outdoor fireplace are at the back of the house. Set back from the street, the home provides peace and privacy.
THE ZENITH OF STOWE
/ $3,200,000
4,330 square feet • Built in 1984 • Taxes: $23,497 • Agency: Pall Spera, Pall Spera Company
This hilltop estate has arguably the best mountain views in Stowe. Subdivided into two parcels, the land holds value for future use, whether as a legacy investment, a multi-generational compound, or fur ther development potential. The house is privately sited and waiting for a visionary to bring it up to today’s standards. The contemporary 4-bedroom house has a 2car garage connected to the house by a mudroom. The living room has a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace and sliding doors that open to a deck that spans the entire front of the house, where views are at their best, any time of year. A handsome, spacious, circular staircase leads to the second and third floors, where the views get even better. One oversized bedroom doubles as an entertainment center or exercise studio. The semifinished basement offers more room to grow.
Outdoors: Located at the end of a dead-end road, the house is perched high above the valley floor with views to die for. Close to the house is an unparalleled amenity: an Olympic-quality lap pool and cabana, certified by a former Canadian Olympic swimmer. n
MOUNTAIN LIVING
STOWE SKI & RIDE SCHOOL AT 90
STORY / MARK AIKEN
MOUNTAIN MEN Sepp Ruschp Ski School members, 1941-1942, from left, Ruschp, Clem Curtis, Otto Hollaus, Kerr Sparks, Lionel Hayes, Howard Moody, and Norm Richardson. Hayes was the first person from Stowe to be in the ski school in 1939.
NORMAN RICHARDSON, COURTESY OF MIKE LEACH
MOUNTAIN LIVING
TIME The
This winter, Stowe celebrates the 90th year of its Ski and Ride School. “Every time I put on the uniform and look up at Vermont’s tallest peak, I can feel the weight of that legacy,” said Mike Chick, Stowe Mountain Resort’s newly promoted director of skier services, who served for the last three years as the resort’s senior manager of the Ski and Ride School. “I just try to do my best to keep it moving forward.”
A key takeaway from Stowe’s ski school history: Don’t be afraid to take a chance when it comes to following your dreams. Take the letter below, for example:
Dear Sir, I have obtained your address from an American Ski-ing Association (sic) and kindly request you to let me know if any club or hotel in your district would be interested in taking an Austrian state-certified ski-instructor for the coming winter 1936-37. I am 27 years old and have been an Austrian state certified ski-instructor for five years.
Sepp Ruschp sent this letter to the Washington Ski Club in Seattle in September 1936 along with 90 others to ski clubs across the United States. He sensed bad times coming with preWorld War II political unrest at home, and he sent the letters
against the wishes of a father who counseled him not to throw away his good job and because he had just gotten married.
“I assume the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club received a very similar letter,” said local ski historian Mike Leach, who coached racing here for over 30 years.
Leach’s assumption is a strong one; the Washington letter is in the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum, and none of the others are known to still exist. However, Ruschp received five replies from his hopeful “can-I-have-a-job” campaign, including one from Frank Griffin, president of the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club. Corresponding by mail, the club offered to cover his fare to cross the Atlantic, a salary of $500, 50 percent of lesson sales, plus whatever money Ruschp could make on the side—presumably coaching local college racers, although the tradition of instructors finding supplemental income lives on in the 21st century. Less than three months after sending his initial batch of letters, Ruschp became a ski instructor at Stowe.
He eventually founded the Sepp Ruschp Ski School. He partnered with one of his ski school students, insurance magnate Cornelius Vander Starr, who founded American International Group, to consolidate separate lodging, skiing, food service, and lift operations into one company. Later, Ruschp served as the president and CEO of that business until 1977.
PARTY
Stowe ski school’s “Clipper Club Party,” circa 1942. The party was likely held in the Toll House or next door at The Lodge.
NORMAN RICHARDSON, COURTESY OF MIKE LEACH
MOUNTAIN LIVING
PEP TALK Ski and ride instructors gather for their morning meeting at Stowe.
Club bylaws
Ninety years is ancient in terms of modern ski and ride schools but just a blip when you consider that Mt. Mansfield, known as Mozodepowadso to the Abenaki people, who never officially ceded lands, an important acknowledgment when we look at Stowe history, is 450 million years old.
For the purposes of Ski and Ride School history, however, we’ll fast forward over the first few hundred million years and note that the history of the Stowe Ski and Ride School is closely intertwined with the histories of Mansfield, Stowe, the Stowe Ski Patrol, and modern skiing itself. No discussion of these histories is complete without Craig Burt, visionary and promoter of skiing in the area. Burt used home-built skis to tend to outdoor chores and his logging business; he helped start annual Stowe winter carnivals in the 1920s to celebrate outdoor winter sports; he turned his logging camp into the area’s first ski lodge and slopeside accommodation. Now you can see a sign where his Ranch Camp stood on the Bruce, Mansfield’s first ski trail. Burt, along with others, started the Stowe Ski Club, which became the Mount Mansfield Ski Club. It changed names again in 2023 to Mount Mansfield Academy.
It is well-known that the club was central in establishing and expanding Stowe ski trails and in establishing one of the first American ski
patrols, but its earliest bylaws, presumably written by Burt and other early pioneers like Charlie Lord and Frank Griffin, also express a commitment to teaching and instilling a love of skiing. In addition to providing, maintaining, and improving skiing facilities, the bylaws state this mission: “to further the technical skill of members; to promote ski competitions; and, generally, to cultivate an interest in skiing.”
To achieve these ends, Griffin brought Ruschp to Stowe. Ruschp also had a competitive background in Austria, and he and other Stowe pros worked with club athletes until 1960 when the ski club brought in the first dedicated racing coaches.
‘Big personalities’
In fact, ski teaching was happening prior to Ruschp’s arrival. According to Mt. Mansfield Ski Club newsletters from 1934 and 1935, people could buy a 10-pack of lessons for $4 dollars.
The original instructor was Jim Trachier. “Not much is known about him,” said Leach, who found Trachier’s photo in University of New Hampshire yearbooks. “He appears to have only attended freshman year and the first semester of his sophomore year, and the club may have hired him away from school.” Was this the start of another time-honored tradition—cutting school to ski?
FAB FOUR From top left: Several Austrian ski racers were recruited to teach in the Sepp Ruschp Ski School in the 1950s and 1960s. From lef t, Othmar Schneider, a 1952 Olympic gold medalist, director Sepp Ruschp, and Karl Farhner. Kerr Sparks, manager of the ski school after Ruschp, proves his boast that Stowe’s famous ski school could teach anyone to ski. Sparks helps J. Fred Muggs of TV fame—who shows solid form—during the National March of Dimes kick-off on Jan. 4, 1956. Former director Dave Merriam, who took over the school from 1995 until 2015. Peter Ruschp led the ski school from 1975-1995.
Another newsletter mentions an instructor named Dr. Ernst Wagner, but, again, little is known. “There was an interest in getting an authentic Austrian instructor to teach club members,” Leach said.
From the start, top skiers populated the school.
“Jacques Charmoz was a French Olympic team member,” Leach said. Over the holiday run in 1938, Ruschp, Charmoz, and another instructor, Ali Mauracher, taught 500 lessons. Lionel Hayes became the first Stowe native to teach skiing around 1940.
One feature that defined the school was that, whenever possible, Ruschp brought in comrades from Austria like Othmar Schneider, who won Olympic gold in 1952. “The Austrians were such beautiful, elegant skiers,” said Tricia Kules, a current Stowe pro who got her start as an instructor 50 years ago. “They were treated like royalty; they were great skiers, and they had great personalities.”
Through the years
For the first 75 years, Stowe had just four Ski and Ride School directors: Ruschp (1936-1948), Kerr Sparks (1949-1975), Ruschp’s son, Peter Ruschp (1976-1995), and Dave Merriam (1995-2021).
Everyone I spoke with remembered Sepp Ruschp as kind and polite.
“He tried to teach me German,” Kules said. He was also tenacious, both in building a ski school and individually. In 1938, he fell in a national championship ski race on Nose Dive. Despite breaking his ankle, he got up and still finished.
Kerr Sparks, a member of the 10th Mountain Division, was a large, gruff leader who likened his school to a military operation. “We had mandatory Monday morning clinics,” Kules remembered, noting that Sparks originally hired her. “He made us stand in perfect lines for lessons.” He once fired an instructor who had the wrong color long underwear under his ski pants.
In those days, the school was based in the Toll House, where many lessons were taught.
“The Austrians got most of the private lessons,” Kules said, adding that many of those privates were taught at Spruce, which opened in 1954, and Mansfield. That doesn’t mean others never got up to the main mountain. Kules recalls occasions when, after teaching a morning lesson at the Toll House, she’d be summoned to Spruce or Mansfield. Back then, there was no Over Easy lift, and buses looped around once an hour.
“They’d say, ‘Be there in 15 minutes!’” she said. It was standard for Stowe pros to shuttle themselves in their standard-shift personal vehicles—wearing their ski boots.
Modern ski, ride school
Under Peter Ruschp, a former U.S. Ski Team member, the school began to look more like the current Ski and Ride School. Its headquarters shifted to Spruce, and Peter had an easier demeanor than his predecessor.
“We were a much looser, much happier ski school,” said Brian Lindner, another Stowe historian and current Stowe ski patroller who instructed from 1973 to 1989. Under Peter, the name changed from the Sepp Ruschp Ski School to the Stowe Ski School and, eventually, the Stowe Ski and Ride School.
Speaking of riding, longtime director Dave Merriam, who first served as training manager under Peter, recalls a run with Peter, then-CEO Gary Kiedaisch, and early snowboarding pioneers Lowell Hart and Bud Keene. At the time, snowboarding wasn’t allowed on the Front Four trails on Mansfield. “It was deemed too dangerous,” Merriam said.
Merriam, Peter Ruschp, and Kiedaisch watched Hart and Keene shred their way down Liftline and National. Later that season, snowboarders were allowed everywhere. “It must have been 1991,” Merriam said. Some of the first snowboard instructors in the Stowe Ski and Ride School were Mark Garon, Ted Fleischer, and Jeff Wise.
Under Sepp Ruschp’s direction, the school taught the Hans Schneider technique, which focused on stepping and stemming movements. Schneider was a mentor who originally certified Ruschp in Austria. Under Peter, the school adopted the American Teaching System of
instructing that is still used today and endorsed by Professional Ski Instructors of America and American Association of Snowboard Instructors. The American Teaching System emphasizes student-centered, outcome-based lessons and student goals. Peter’s school also prioritized children’s lessons and guest service.
The current school has strong female representation with several PSIA-AASI examiners on staff. The earliest women to show up on ski school rosters were Joan (Stent) Sparks and Mary Mather in 1945. Mather instructed for 25 years after she earned her pilot license to ferry bombers to distant places during World War II.
In a Burlington Free Press article, Rita Buchanan, an instructor in the 1950s, observed that there weren’t many female instructors because “Sepp was not big on women instructors.” She noted that she got her job one day when there were 15 students at a lineup and no instructors. “I asked if I could help out, and that’s how I got started,” she told the Free Press. She also noted that she, another female pro, and two male pros from Stowe traveled to New York in 1958 for instructor certification tests. The women passed and the men did not.
One female instructor who made a lasting impact on the Ski and Ride School was Sally Smith, who worked to overhaul the children’s school under Peter Ruschp. “It was called Pooh Corner for years,” said Lindner, noting that different “Winnie the Pooh” characters made up different levels.
Stowe’s Ski and Ride School has been at the forefront of innovation
BIG AIR A Richardson postcard of Sepp Ruschp, legendary founder of the ski school in Stowe. Ruschp was a key builder of the American ski industry and longtime president and general manager of the Mount Mansfield Company.
MOUNTAIN LIVING
SKI SCHOOL The Tollhouse served as the original location of the Mt. Mansfield Ski School for the 1934-1935 season. The club would later switch management from the Mount Mansfield Ski Club to Sepp Ruschp and be renamed the Sepp Ruschp Ski School. Inset: An instructor transports some young charges uphill, 2013.
since the beginning, and that seems to include adaptive lessons. Norm Richardson was an instructor and photographer, who was responsible for many early photos of Stowe instructors. One series of photos from the early 1940s shows him coaching a blind skier—very likely the first adaptive lesson ever taught on Mount Mansfield.
“He learned by being placed in proper position … An explanation and directions shouted to him as I skied alongside of him,” Richardson wrote. The current school has its own adaptive program that works closely with other groups, including Green Mountain Adaptive Sports, to make lessons available and accessible for all.
Another change for Stowe was the sale of the resort from American International Group to Vail Resorts in 2017. Vail is no newcomer to the block, having officially opened in 1962, but the parent company certainly recognizes Stowe’s historical relevance.
“Stowe brings a deep heritage of excellence and leadership in both instruction and mountain safety,” said Mike Giorgio, vice president and general manager of Stowe. “The Ski and Ride School and ski patrol are not only historic pillars of the sport, but they also set a standard for guest experience and mountain culture that enriches the entire Vail Resorts network.”
The longest tenured employee at Stowe is Bill McManis, a retired state employee, who used vacation time to work holidays for 60 winters as an instructor and one winter as a member of the race department. Preparing for his 62nd winter, he reflected on what’s changed. “In 2025, instructors no longer wear their uniforms to the bar and hustle lessons,” he said.
“Equipment improvements have made skiing easier,” McManis said. But really, much is the same. “The camaraderie of instructors hasn’t changed, and you still have to watch students ski and explain movements.”
Everyone who comes to Mt. Mansfield will have—or hear—stories of the way things were. “We have instructors who absolutely shred, skiers
and riders who train hard, teach with passion, and push each other to be better every day,” Chick said, noting that Stowe has 20 PSIA-AASI examiners and education staff members. “Stowe is widely recognized as a training mecca for instructors pursuing certification and career advancement. If you’re serious about growing as a teacher and athlete, this is the place to be.”
While the current staff is aware and generally reverent of the deep history of the organization, most focus on their own experiences on Mansfield and the experiences they share with guests. Chick’s focus is on creating opportunities to build careers, investing in instructor training and leadership development, and adapting to industry changes while preserving the Ski and Ride School’s unique identity.
Chick acknowledges that “90 years” is an approximation. “Sepp arrived on Dec. 10, 1936. So, Dec. 10, 2025, will be the start of our 90th season. And we’re celebrating all winter.”
The winter’s celebrations will begin with an annual private gathering of Stowe pros at the new Tower 5 Bar at Midway Lodge on Dec. 10. More gatherings will be announced as will patches and pins.
“For me, this anniversary isn’t just about looking back,” Chick said. “It’s about looking forward, honoring the people that built it, and continuing to invest in those that are going to carry it forward.” n
Thank you to Mount Mansfield Academy and Mike Leach for granting access to their archival photos.
COURTESY OF MIKE LEACH; GLENN CALLAHAN
‘I’M INTO DESIGN AND THE VISUALIZATION OF EVERYTHING’
With the influx of second, third, and even fourth homeowners in Stowe, interior design has become a must-have service, blending luxury with functionality, aesthetics, and convenience to transform a house into a home that reflects the owner’s tastes and needs. Interior designer Marc J. Langlois recognized that demand during the pandemic, when many of his Boston clients were investing in second homes at the ski resort. Some of the homes were new builds; others were major renovations. All needed help bringing the interiors to life. Langlois became so busy in Stowe that he opened a second location on Mountain Road called Stowe Outpost Interior Design Studio. He now splits his time between Boston and Stowe.
How did you get started in interior design?
In my past life I was a fashion photographer for many years. Right before 9/11, I had been working in Italy and returned to Newport, R.I., to finish a contract with Conde Nast, where I was a full-fledged fashion photographer. The industry was changing, and I knew my fashion photography career was coming to an end. I took a job as creative director with an interior design magazine in Boston. I designed and photographed all its covers. During that time, I worked with a lot of interior designers and liked what they were doing, and I’ve always had a good sense for design and style. I jumped into high-end projects right from the get-go. Fashion and interior design are similar careers, especially when it comes to attention to detail.
You’re dealing with “stuff” all day and visualizing how the end result will look. Interior designers must be able to visualize how all the things they’ve selected will work in a room.
How would you describe your style?
I’m more of a traditional designer, but it’s hard to peg me. I love it all. One moment I’m clean and unfussy, not particularly traditional, crisp, and minimal. The next minute I might be after a very modern look or a look that’s more settled in.
Boston clients wanted me to help them find a second home in Stowe. I declined, thinking Stowe was too remote, but they texted me all day every day, and I finally relented. The moment I first came to Stowe, I was hooked. Most of my Stowe clients are out-of-state, and they want to work remotely with me. That has worked out very well with Zoom.
Why should people hire an interior designer?
You hire a designer for good ideas, to navigate the process, and to avoid making mistakes. The world I live in and navigate, that’s what people come to me for. I get paid to analyze a house.
How do you begin a project with new clients?
To begin with, clients usually have an idea, and we start from there. I like to take clients on a journey. I’m a very upfront designer and will be direct. Hopefully, they will be open to my style. Some designers decorate their own home to sell a look, and how they live is what they sell. I have a different approach. I disseminate my clients’ tastes and interests, and design from there. Sometimes I must coax clients into understanding my perspective, direction, and suggestions. New builds are much easier; they are a blank slate. With older houses and renovations, there is much more work because often previous owners’ mistakes must be corrected. Typically, my younger clients are looking for a whole new look. They want all new furniture and colors, more clean lines, less busy, minimal, and tidy. Older retirees often want to bring family heirlooms that have had a long life, and it’s time for those heirlooms to also be retired. From the start, I must find out how good my clients are at making decisions. Usually, it’s couples, and I have to know who makes the decisions, will they agree, can they decide in three minutes, three days, or three weeks. In the beginning, there is a lot of discussion about direction. But once the engine gets going, there’s no getting off.
From the beginning, what is most important?
For me, it’s surfaces: floors, walls, windows, window treatments. If they are not correct from the beginning, no furniture will look right.
Do you come from an artistic family?
Not really, but my parents had great taste in style. My father was into antiques, and I’d go to auctions with him. He was a brainiac, and he sure knew his furniture. My brother and I are total opposites. When we were kids, we shared a bedroom. While he was playing sports, I was
constantly rearranging the beds so we could have separate spaces. He had stinky boots and food under his bed. The space under my bed was clean.
How would you describe your Stowe studio?
It’s ideal. It has beautiful light and it’s right next to the bike path. I have all kinds of samples, some furniture and accessories, fabrics, and examples of past work.
What do you do in your spare time?
I love riding my bike on the bike path and I like to hike. In winter, I walk and cross-country ski on the bike path. I also enjoy cooking and cleaning, and I make my bed every day. It’s how I was brought up. And I’m a good dancer, which is probably why I love to dance. I wish Stowe had a nightclub where you could dance all night. n
One of Mard Langlois’ more recent projects was designing the interior of a cabin on Spruce Peak, where he combined a more traditional style with rustic mountain accents for a cozy living room feel.
Ryan Bent Photography
JOSI KYTLE REFLECTS ON STOWE’S HOUSING CRUNCH
INTERVIEW CONDUCTED AND COMPILED / MARK AIKEN
VERMONT LIFESTYLE
A graduate of Stowe High School, Josi Kytle went to Middlebury College, worked corporate jobs in New York City and London for companies like British Airways, JWT, Avis, and Hilton, and eventually resettled in Stowe. “I’d say 70 percent of my high school class lives here,” she said. “Ten of us went out for drinks a few nights ago.”
Having played collegiate tennis at Middlebury, Kytle stays active—skiing, mountain biking, and pickleball. She considers herself lucky to have returned home in 2013. “If I tried to move back now, I wouldn’t be able to afford it,” she said. “I am sad for the generation of people like me who wouldn’t have the opportunity to experience this.”
Kytle has, in part, been able to remain financially viable because she renovated a room in her Stowe home that she can rent on Airbnb. Still, she sees shortterm rentals as a problem in Stowe and serves on the community’s housing task force. She runs Yoga for Cancer, the nonprofit her mother founded, and she works as a socially ethical entrepreneur.
What is your favorite time of day to ski Stowe?
I am a morning skier. I really miss the 7:30 a.m. chair.
What does it mean to be a socially ethical entrepreneur?
I like starting new businesses and coming up with new ideas. Socially ethical means I’m not just there to make lots of money. Some business decisions would not be consistent with my moral compass. If being an entrepreneur is about maximizing profits, then it means I’m a “dumb” entrepreneur.
What is Buttermilk LLC?
Buttermilk is a development firm that in 2015 was going to take a derelict site in Richmond, Vt., filled with chemical contaminants and turn it into a vibrant, walkable, fully net-zero, clean site that could offer people housing and jobs and inject dollars into the town’s tax base. No other developer would touch the site. It was the state’s first-ever project under the Vermont Economic Development Authority’s Brownfield Revitalization Program, and it was the one of the fastest cleanups the state has ever witnessed. The cleanup had lots of state and federal support, but we also had to raise private funding.
voted to keep this group going to try to get things done, and everyone on the task force signed back on.
The first thing we did was get a short-term rental registry to collect real data. We found that 23 percent of short-term rentals are owned by people who live in Stowe. So, 77 percent are owned by individuals who do not live here. A large majority of people are profiting off our beautiful town, amazing infrastructure, and they are paying a lower base tax rate than full-time residents. Homesteaders pay higher taxes than non-homesteaders.
After the cleanup, we built one multi-use building. Then two challenges arose. First, for over a decade, Richmond’s regulations and zoning stalled progress. We couldn’t move forward on further development because of unrealistic requirements. Only this summer did some of the barriers finally get removed. Second, during all the delays, the costs of new construction have skyrocketed, like by 200 percent.
The situation showed how you’ll have well-meaning people in positions of power like selectboard members or people on subcommittees who don’t understand development. The good news is that the experience helped me understand our challenges in Stowe.
What is the housing situation in Stowe?
Different than Richmond, which had rules that hindered development, Stowe has added 1,000 residential units in the last decade. None of these new units—zero!—has gone to long-term housing or full-time residents. Stowe created a housing task force whose one-year job was to gather data so that we could really understand the issue. Everyone should read the housing report that came out of this effort. The Stowe Selectboard unanimously
A few other stats. There is a term— “Zombie Town”—when the percentage of housing stock lived in by fulltime residents falls below 21 percent. It’s when people can’t afford to live and work in a place. A decade ago, Stowe was around 36 percent. Now it’s 26 percent. The housing report also found that to afford to buy a home in Stowe you would need to have $700,000 in the bank. What 20- and 30-year-olds coming out of college have that kind of savings and could live in Stowe?
What do we do about the housing crisis?
Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet. We do need to incentivize people to convert and offer their units to longterm housing. What Stowe needs is housing that is affordable to people who want to be full-time residents and live here. We are also looking at other towns—Jackson Hole, Wyo., Aspen, Bar Harbor, Maine, Martha’s Vineyard, Lake George, N.Y., and others—that have already felt the impacts of these issues so that we can see what policies they tried, what worked, and what didn’t.
We did a disservice to our community and to investors who came into our community and bought property by failing to make any decisions about how to manage this. We may have tough calls to make in the future. If we want our sons and daughters to be able to come back here to live, if we want seniors to be able to afford to downsize and continue to live in Stowe, if we want people like teachers or lifties to be able to move and live here, if we want our schools to continue to have enough students, we have to roll up our sleeves and get to work. n
Read the Stowe Housing Task Force Housing Needs Assessment report at bit.ly/4my1zm6.
SPEED RACERS Miso Fast Stowe ski bum race teammates, 2015, from left, Kristi Brown Lovell, Josi Kytle, Pascale Savard, and Alison Beckwith.
family retreat
When Elizabeth Benedict was looking for a second home in Stowe, she knew she didn’t want to build. She wanted to find an existing house that was big enough to accommodate her large family. While checking out one property, a neighboring farmhouse caught her eye. Built in 1964 on 21 acres, it had an abundance of character, countless small rooms and bathrooms, an unfinished basement, a cottage, and a pond. It was in close proximity to town with amazing views, and an unexpected historic event took place there. Thanks to the powerful acoustics in its basement, Deep Purple recorded “Perfect Strangers” in the house in August 1984.
Text, p.227 Photographs, p.210
OPENING SPREAD: KATE CARTER; AT LEFT: COURTESY PHOTO; BELOW: DANIEL CARDON
GET ORGANIZED
GATHERING SPACES
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: KATE CARTER; DANIEL CARDON; CARDON; CARTER
FAMILY TABLE
CLOCKWISE
DANIEL CARDON
LIVING SPACES
THE BARN
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: K A TE CARTER; DANIEL CARDON; CARDON
TRANSITIONS
But that’s a Trivial Pursuit aside. What really drew Benedict to the farmhouse was its potential. Everyone told her it was destined for destruction, but she was determined to breathe new life into it, while retaining as much of its farmhouse charm as possible. She saw the potential of transforming it into a getaway for her extended family—28 adults and their children, plus grandchildren, cousins, and all their friends.
“For me, it was an exciting opportunity,” Benedict said. “Big spaces were missing, it needed more bedrooms and a mudroom, and we made that happen.”
Yes, all that, and so much more. Benedict, an interior designer, owns Elizabeth Home Décor & Design in Chestnut Hill, a Boston suburb. Her background in economics and finance served her well when she shifted her focus to interior design. After working for other designers and attending the New England School of Art and Design, she opened her own business in 2005. She and her husband raised four children, and by 2016 it was time to move her office out of the house. In addition to her office and showroom, Elizabeth Home Décor & Design includes a retail shop, art gallery, coffee bar, and florist, all owned by other entrepreneurs.
Benedict brought architect Brian Hamor on board to help create a plan for the total renovation of her soon-to-be acquired Stowe farmhouse. This all happened at the beginning of the pandemic, so most communication was done remotely. “We had a great digital dialogue, and four weeks later we had a plan. It was fun, energizing, and easy, and we had the design done before closing on the house.”
Hamor was eager to be a part of the home’s reinvention.
“We had our design ethos in common. Introduce big spaces and bring the outside inside,” he said. “Elizabeth wanted to make this house the best it could be, and I was totally on board. I think we did a great job. We celebrated all the existing elements that were fun and interesting, like the stonework around the fireplace in the living room and the stone wall in what is now the new kitchen annex.”
Hamor suggested creating dormers in the existing bedrooms because they were so small. “With old houses, you always find something that needs a design solution. The coolest thing we did was raise the headers in the east-facing side of the house, so we could make the windows in the kitchen, foyer, and dining room as big as possible to take in the view.”
Before construction began, Benedict and her family moved into the house for six months in the summer of 2020, during the beginning of the pandemic that took so many lives. Benedict’s mother was one of the first in the U.S. to die from Covid.
“It was a very sad time for me and my family. Our Stowe house was a safer place to
be, and we were able to spend time together, and for me, planning the house was very therapeutic. We hunkered down, cooked, played games, and discovered everything about the town,” she said.
While there, they renovated the cottage that came with the property. Once those renovations were done, they moved into the cottage and construction began on the main house.
Many hidden surprises came to life when the house was reduced to studs, such as rot, beehives in the walls, and deteriorating substrate. Benedict and Hamor took it all in stride. They replaced walls, windows, the roof, and the siding, but retained specific elements such as a stone wall and a stone fireplace, both of which were in dire need of restoration. They kept the original footprint and added an entry and mudroom on one end and a “barn” on the opposite end that was intended to be an extension of the living space.
Benedict is experienced working with contractors in the building industry, and served as a remote general contractor, leveraging her existing contacts in the building industry. She wanted to preserve as much of the house as was realistic.
“The style we went with was new vernacular. The board and batten walls and standing seam metal roof are new. We also added a post-and-beam entry and mudroom of reclaimed timbers I found in an architectural salvage yard in New Hampshire,” she said.
The plan also included removing many walls to make rooms larger, taking one end of the kitchen and turning it into a butler’s pantry, removing a spiral staircase in what is now the formal foyer, enlarging it, and installing a traditional staircase. They also installed as many windows as possible. “In order to make the floors level, the ceilings in the main part of the house are only 90 inches high. That’s why it was so important to have a wall of windows to make the space feel bigger.”
Benedict and Hamor were focused on embracing the outdoors. They succeeded by installing large disappearing pocket doors in the family room. Not only do they seal off the elements when closed, the doors fold accordion-style into the walls on both sides to maximize the width of the opening and leave room on the walls for art. For the kitchen annex, they went over-the-top by installing a wide garage door.
“We wanted a really big opening. The garage door was the answer, and it was not super expensive,” Hamor noted. “And, it’s in the same room with a stone wall we wanted to preserve. In a place like this, you feel like you are part of the environment.”
Being an interior designer, Benedict spent a lot of time planning the finishes. “The overall feel is intentionally casual, including indoor-outdoor carpeting in the living room, which gets a lot of traffic. The house is informal, nothing precious, a safety cocoon.” >>
It’s a cohesive space, with a floor-by-floor color scheme and colors repeated throughout. Benedict chose a primary color palette of calming white with deep teal accents. The living room is Aegean Teal by Benjamin Moore. The sofas and chairs are clad in performance fabrics and have a low profile so as not to obstruct the views and to make the ceiling feel higher. The flooring in most rooms is engineered French white oak.
At just under 10,000 square feet, the house can now accommodate Benedict’s large extended family and friends. It has six bedrooms, nine bunkbeds in the bunk room, and five large bathrooms. The first floor has an
accessory suite, and in the basement, where Deep Purple recorded “Perfect Strangers,” is a speakeasy, with a bar, TV, and poker table that belonged to Benedict’s husband’s grandfather.
Truth be told, the house is nothing short of
a masterpiece. It’s a generational house where people of all ages can come together and celebrate life, love, and family. It took four years to complete, but for Benedict it was truly a labor of love. n
S TOWE MAGAZINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY
ANTIQUES
BITTNER ANTIQUES
Third-generation Vermont antique dealer Brian Bittner: broad experience with pocket and wristwatches, jewelry, silver, artwork, coins/paper money, historical/military, older collectibles, heirlooms. Free house visits. 2997 Shelburne Road, Shelburne. (802) 489-5210, bittnerantiques.com.
ARCHITECTS
ANDREW VOLANSKY, AIA / VOLANSKY STUDIO ARCHITECTURE & PLANNING
The term studio speaks to an open process of collaborating with our clients and general contractors who execute our designs. This respectful approach has proven to contribute significantly to project success. (802) 416-0005, info@volanskystudio.com, volanskystudio.com.
BROWN + DAVIS DESIGN
We are a small architecture firm dedicated to the belief that good design matters. We specialize in thoughtfully crafted and energy-efficient residential design throughout Vermont. (802) 899-1155. brownanddavis.com.
ELD ARCHITECTURE
Creating thoughtful, site-specific designs in response to each client's unique goals. We provide the opportunity to experience your home three-dimensionally and are committed to creating enduring relationships with our clients. eldarchitecture.com. (802) 521-7101.
HARRY HUNT ARCHITECTS
Helping clients design modern, low-carbon dream homes—true to the spirit of Vermont. Member American Institute of Architects. Certified passive house designer. (802) 253-2374, harryhuntarchitects.com
J. GRAHAM GOLDSMITH, ARCHITECTS
Quality design and professional architectural services specializing in high-end residential development. Member Stowe Area. (800) 862-4053. jggarchitects.com. Email: vt@jggarchitects.com.
KANE ARCHITECTURE
Residential, commercial, and institutional architectural design services, including landscape and site design. Low carbon local. Member of Protect Our Winters. Patrick Kane, pdkanearch@gmail.com, (802) 535-9894. kanearchitecture.com.
KEVIN BROWNE ARCHITECTURE
We create timeless architecture inspired by the past, designed for the future. Our approach is always tailored to our clients and the region with a focus on sustainability and efficiency. kevinbrownearchitecture.com, (207) 847-3499.
LEE HUNTER ARCHITECT, AIA
A Stowe-based architectural firm offering a personal approach to creative, elegant design. Residential, commercial, and renovations. leehunterarchitect.com. (802) 917-3381.
MAD MOOSE ARCHITECTURE
Mad Moose Architecture was founded on a commitment to provide a more thoughtful way of designing shelter, with reverence for the environment and respect for the earth and its inhabitants. madmoosearchitecture.com. (802) 234-5720.
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
CUSHMAN DESIGN GROUP
Custom architectural, interior, landscape design, and master planning for your home or business. Integrating beauty, craftsmanship, and sustainability. Creative, intuitive, functional, efficient. (802) 253-2169. cushmandesign.com. inquiry@cushmandesign.com.
ART GALLERIES
ARTISANS’ GALLERY
A must-see collection of Vermont fine art and craft since 1995. Pottery, jewelry, photography, fiber, woodenware, greeting cards. Gifts for every occasion. 11-6 daily. Historic Bridge Street, Waitsfield. (802) 496-6256. vtartisansgallery.com.
BRYAN GALLERY
Vermont’s premier gallery for landscape artwork with over 200 regional artists displayed annually. One gallery, two locations, Jeffersonville and Stowe. Visit bryangallery.org for more information. (802) 644-5100.
FRONT FOUR GALLERY
An outstanding selection of original paintings, sculpture, and glass by locally, nationally, and internationally acclaimed artists. Celebrating 34 years. 394 Mountain Road, Baggy Knees Shopping Center, Stowe. frontfourgallery.com. (802) 253-7282.
THE CURRENT
A center for contemporary art and art education, established in 1981. Exhibitions of acclaimed artists. Art classes. Cultural events. Schedule: Monday-Friday 10-5, Saturday 10-3. 90 Pond St., Stowe. (802) 253-8358, thecurrentnow.org.
ART STUDIO & TATTOO SHOP
HELLBROOK FINE ART GALLERY AND TATTOO STUDIO
Hellbrook, a unique fine art gallery and tattoo studio in Morrisville village showcases original artwork, live demonstrations, Friday drawing sessions, and appointment-only tattoos, creating a welcoming and inspiring atmosphere. Visit today. hellbrookink@gmail.com.
AWNINGS
OTTER CREEK AWNINGS
Expand your outdoor living space with the help of Otter Creek Awnings. Providing custom outdoor shading solutions since 1976. Free onsite estimates. Showroom at 19 Echo Place, Williston, or othercreekawnings.com. (802) 864-3009.
BAKERIES
BLACK CAP COFFEE & BAKERY OF VERMONT
Croissants, danishes, muffins, scones, tarts, cakes. Everything made in house. Glutenfree/vegan options. A fun place to work, meet, or hang out. Open daily. Stowe and Morrisville downtowns, Waterbury Train Station. blackcapvermont.com.
STOWE BEE BAKERY
Breakfast, lunch, beverages, and array of sweets and treats. Takeout or relax in our dining room. You can count on Stowe Bee for all-natural meals and amazing from-scratch pastries. 1056 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 760-6728 and info@stowebeebakery.com.
BOOKSTORES
BEAR POND BOOKS
Complete family bookstore. New York Times bestsellers and new releases. Children and adult hardcovers, paperbacks, Vermont authors, daily papers, puzzles, greeting cards. Open daily. Depot Building, Main Street, Stowe. (802) 253-8236.
BREWERIES & CIDERIES
THE ALCHEMIST
A family owned and operated craft brewery specializing in fresh, unfiltered IPA. Open for retail sales and onsite consumption, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., 7 days a week. Order online at shop.alchemistbeer.com. 100 Cottage Club Road, stowe.alchemistbeer.com.
LOT SIX BREWING COMPANY
Brewpub located at the base of Smugglers Notch. Seven-barrel brewery serving elevated pub food for lunch and dinner. Open Wednesday through Sunday from noon-8:30 p.m. lotsixbrewing.com. (802) 335-2092.
ROCK ART BREWERY
Visit us for a wonderful variety of our handcrafted beers. Enjoy a pint while you view the brewery or wander our art gallery, showing more than 60 Vermont artists. You could also enjoy a pint and pretzel on the porch with your dog. (802) 888-9400. rockartbrewery.com.
BUILDERS & CONTRACTORS
DONALD P. BLAKE JR INC.
Handcrafted quality in building, offering experienced and reliable contracting services since 1985. Specializing in custom home new construction, renovations, commercial construction, construction management. (802) 888-3629, stowebuilder.com.
GYLLENBORG CONSTRUCTION
Recognized for high-quality craftsmanship. Our priority is to encourage and promote environmentally friendly living. Individualized customer service and attention to detail for custom homebuilding, renovations, and additions. Established 1995. gyllenborgconstruction.com. (802) 279-4818.
MOUNTAIN LOGWORKS, LLC
Handcrafted log homes. Specializing in Scandinavian Full Scribe and Adirondack-style log structures with log diameters up to 30 inches. In-house design service available. (802) 748-5929. mountainlogworks.com.
PATTERSON & SMITH CONSTRUCTION, INC.
Custom builder, remodeling firm, and general contractor in Stowe. Our mission is to provide each customer and their designer/architect with the highest degree of customer service, management, and craftsmanship. (802) 253-3757, pattersonandsmith.com.
RED HOUSE BUILDING
Full-service, employee-owned building company with an emphasis on timeless craftsmanship. Meeting the challenges of unique and demanding building projects, from contemporary mountain retreats to meticulously restored historic buildings and high-efficiency homes. (802) 655-0009. redhousebuilding.com.
SISLER BUILDERS INC.
Custom home building, remodeling, woodworking, home energy audits and retrofits, quality craftsmanship, resource efficient construction, modest additions to multi-million-dollar estates. Over 40 years in Stowe. References available. sislerbuilders.com. (802) 253-5672.
UNDERSTORY DESIGN BUILD
We create inspiring spaces with thoughtful design and quality construction. From renovations and additions to new homes, we bring your vision to life with our design or yours. (802) 760-7667. understorydesignbuild.com.
VERMONT FRAMES
We’ve been handcrafting timber frames with structural insulated panels (SIPs) for 50 years. We design, cut, and install full-house frames, hybrid frames, and SIP-only homes and are proud to be a veteran-owned company. vermontframes.com. (802) 453 3727.
WINTERWOOD TIMBER FRAMES, LLC
Hand-crafted, custom-designed timber-frame structures and woodwork, SIPs insulation, sourcing local timber and fine hardwoods, building in the Vermont vernacular. Cabinetry, flooring, butcher-block tops, and staircases. (802) 229-7770. winterwoodtimberframes.com.
BUILDING MATERIALS
CAMARA SLATE
National supplier of roofing slate, slate flooring, flagstone, countertops, and other structural components. Committed to delivering a standard beyond our competitors’ abilities with excellent service and quality-valued products. Fair Haven, Vt. (802) 265-3200, camaraslate.com, info@camaraslate.com.
RKMILES
Founded in 1940, rkMiles is a family-owned company providing services and materials for all types of building and design. Nine locations serving Vermont and western Massachusetts, including Stowe and Morrisville. rkmiles.com.
CANNABIS DISPENSARY
BEST BUDS
Visit us to shop premium flower, edibles, concentrates, and more. All Vermont grown and locally sourced. Open every day in Morrisville. Browse our menu and order online at bestbudsvt.com.
CRAFT CANNABIS COMPANY
Locally curated cannabis products, tested by us, for you. Deli-style bulk flower, high-end edibles, and great prices. Vinyl records, guitar accessories, glass, dab rigs, infused beverages and more. 46 Hutchins St., Morrisville. 21 and over only.
HIGHER ELEVATION LLC
Recreational cannabis dispensary. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m.-5 pm. 65 Northgate Plaza, Suite 6, Morrisville. higherelevationvt.com.
WILD LEGACY CANNABIS
Wild Legacy Cannabis Dispensary is a woman-owned small retail business. We carry a unique inventory. Our amazing staff will guide you to products that suit your preferences. Located at 10 Railroad St., Morrisville.
CERAMICS
STEPHANIE GRACE CERAMICS
Modern, handmade, one-of-a-kind porcelain vases, bowls and tableware to elevate your everyday living. Custom wedding registries available. Shop hours: WednesdaySaturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. stephaniegraceceramics.com.
CHIROPRACTIC CARE
STOWE CHIROPRACTIC
Gentle, effective chiropractic care for all ages. Relieve pain, improve mobility, and support overall wellness through customized, natural treatments in a warm, familyfriendly setting. 39 Palmer Road, Stowe. Call (802) 7606396 or email info@stowechiropractic.com to schedule an appointment. stowechiropractic.com.
CHURCHES/SYNAGOGUES
BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC CHURCH
Mass schedule: Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Sunday, 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. See bulletin for daily masses. Confession Saturday 3:30-4 p.m. Father John Schnobrich, Pastor. 728 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-7536.
JEWISH COMMUNITY OF GREATER STOWE
For information regarding services, holiday gatherings, classes, and workshops: JCOGS, Stowe, Vt. 05672. 1189 Cape Cod Road, Stowe. (802) 253-1800 or jcogs.org.
ST. JOHN’S IN THE MOUNTAINS EPISCOPAL
At the crossroads of Mountain and Luce Hill roads in Stowe. Holy Eucharist Sundays at 10 a.m., in person and online. St. John’s is wheelchair friendly, visitors and children welcome. Rev. Rick Swanson. stjohnsinthemountains.org. (802) 253-7578.
STOWE COMMUNITY CHURCH
Stowe Community Church is non-denominational, open, and affirming. All are welcome. 9:30 a.m. Sunday services are in-person and livestreamed. The iconic building hosts public and private events, including weddings, vow renewals, and memorial services. Visit us at stowecommunitychurch.org.
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP
Sunday services at 4:30 p.m., St. John’s in the Mountains Episcopal Church, Mountain and Luce Hill roads, Stowe. Weekly September to June. All welcome. For information: UU Fellowship of Stowe on Facebook.
WATERBURY CENTER COMMUNITY
Route 100 next to the Cider Mill. We warmly welcome visitors. (802) 244-6286. Sunday worship 10:30 a.m. Handicapped accessible. Church is a National Historic Place. Pastor Shirley Nolan.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday
1 - 4 p.m. Or by appointment
90 School St. Next to the Library
S TOWE MAGAZINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY
CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES
ARCHERY CLOSE
Clothing boutique with a curated collection of emerging designers, trend-setting styles, and cult brands. Men’s and women’s clothing. 1650 Mountain Road, Stowe. archeryclose.com, @archeryclose @archeryclosemens. (802) 242-0448.
BOUTIQUE AT STOWE MERCANTILE
Fabulous contemporary fashion for women. From casual to professional, Boutique can make you feel beautiful any time. Lingerie, dresses, skirts, tops, jeans, sweaters, more. We’ll dress you for any occasion. Depot Building, Main Street, Stowe. (802) 253-3712.
COCO GOOSE BY GREEN ENVY
All your favorite brands. Laid-back luxe clothing, shoes, accessories. Veronica Beard, Ulla Johnson, Nili Lotan, Herno, The Great. Over 100 designers. Premium denim, including Mother, Citizens of Humanity, Agolde, Frame, AG, and Amo. Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-2661. shopcocogoose.com, @cocogoose.official. Daily.
FORGET-ME-NOT-SHOP
Treasure hunt through our huge selection of famous label off price clothing for men, women, and teens at 60 to 80 percent off. Route 15 Johnson, just 1.5 miles west of Johnson Village. Open 10-7.
IN COMPANY CLOTHING
Celebrating 24 years. Specializing in personalized service and top designer labels. Come see what’s in. 10-5 daily. Sunday hours may vary. 344 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-4595. incompanyclothing.com, @incompanyclothing.
JOHNSON WOOLEN MILLS
Home of famous Johnson Woolen outerwear since 1842, featuring woolen blankets, and men’s, women’s, and children’s wool and flannel clothing. Route 15, Johnson. (802) 635-2271, johnsonwoolenmills.com.
MOUNTAIN
ROAD OUTFITTERS / MALOJA (MAH-LOW-YA) FLAGSHIP STORE
Made for the mountains. A European outdoor sport, lifestyle, apparel, and accessories brand. Winter: Nordic and alpine ski. Summer: mountain and road bike. 409 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 760-6605. mountainroadoutfitters.com.
ROAM VERMONT
Adventurous footwear and apparel for men and women. Explore in style with Patagonia, Kuhl, Birkenstock, Prana, Dansko, and Blundstone. Located on historic Langdon Street in downtown Montpelier. Open Monday to Saturday. (802) 613-3902. roamvt.com.
SHE WHO RULES
Women’s clothing boutique in downtown Morrisville. Owner Shauna Nichols is a long-time wardrobe stylist and expert in customer service with an extensive background in women’s retail. Unique, yet classic styles, with a focus on quality at an approachable price point. @swrclothing_vt. (802) 272-5793.
SPORTIVE
Luxury skiwear and apparel since 1979. Largest Bogner selection in northern New England. Toni Sailer, Goldbergh, Kjus, Parajumpers, Kinross cashmere, Dale of Norway, Hestra gloves, Eisbar hats, Majestic, Amman. (802) 496-3272. Route 100, Waitsfield. sportiveinc.com.
WELL HEELED
Sophisticated collection of shoes, boots, clothing, and accessories for an effortlessly chic lifestyle. Stylish interior combined with personalized service and by appointment shopping available—a #mustdoinstowe. Daily 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (802) 253-6077, wellheeledstowe.com.
YELLOW TURTLE
Clothing, toys, and gifts for babies, kids, and teens. 1799 Mountain Road in Stowe. yellow-turtle.com, @yellowturtlevt.
COFFEE HOUSES
BLACK CAP COFFEE & BAKERY OF VERMONT
Locally roasted coffee. Lattes, smoothies, teas, chais. Fresh pastries, breakfast, lunch. Glutenfree/vegan options. A fun place to work, meet, or hang out. Open daily. Stowe Village, Morrisville downtown, Waterbury Train Station. blackcapvermont.com.
GIRAKOFI
Coffee your way. Locally roasted espresso and drip coffees. Customizable breakfast sandwiches and freshly baked pastries. Lunch options. Heated indoor and patio seating. Wi-Fi, knowledgeable staff, and Vermont gifts. 1880 Mountain Road, Stowe. girakofi.com, (802) 585-7710.
VERMONT ARTISAN COFFEE & TEA CO.
Stop by our state-of-the-art coffee roastery and coffee bar. Delicious coffee espresso drinks, whole bean coffees, and premium teas. 11 Cabin Lane, Waterbury Center, vtartisan.com.
CREATIVE EXPERIENCES & FAMILY FUN
PAINT & CREATE STOWE
Paint today, pick up tomorrow. Enjoy Vermont charm in our inviting, family friendly pottery studio. Walk in anytime or book a private event. $5–$40. Thursday to Sunday, 11-6, Monday pickup at 11. 393 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 760-6833. paintandcreatestowe.com.
DELICATESSEN
EDELWEISS MOUNTAIN DELI
Farm-to-table prepared foods. Delicious deli sandwiches, salads, baked goods. Craft beer, wine, and local spirits. Monday-Friday, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. 2251 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-4034. We are all about the local.
DENTISTRY
STOWE DENTAL ASSOCIATES
Christopher P. Altadonna DDS and Jeffrey R. McKechnie DMD. (802) 253-7932. stowedentalassociates.com. stowedentist@gmail.com.
STOWE FAMILY DENTISTRY
Creating beautiful smiles for over 40 years. Always welcoming new patients. 1593 Pucker St., Stowe. (802) 253-4157.
DISTILLERIES
GREEN MOUNTAIN DISTILLERY
Vermont’s No. 1 organic distillery. Vodkas, gin, maple liqueur, and small-batch whiskey. 171 Whiskey Run. Route 100 between Stowe and Morrisville; turn on Goeltz Road. (802) 253-0064, greendistillers.com.
SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH DISTILLERY
Come taste our award-winning spirits. Tasting rooms in Jeffersonville, Stowe, Waterbury Center, Burlington, and Manchester for samples, sales, and more. Daily. smugglersnotchdistillery.com.
ENGINEERS
MUMLEY ENGINEERING INC.
Civil engineering services for residential and commercial land development, including subdivisions, site plans, wastewater and water systems, and stormwater management. Permitting for local zoning, state, and Act 250. Contact tyler@mumleyinc.com, (802) 851-8882.
EXCAVATING
DALE E. PERCY, INC.
Excavating contractors, commercial and residential. Earth-moving equipment. Site work, trucking, stone, top soil, sand, gravel, soil, sewer, water, drainage systems, and supplies. Weeks Hill Road. (802) 253-8503.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
We’re a collective of over 1,000 individuals, families, and businesses dedicated to making a meaningful impact in the place we call home. Our funds and programs provide over $70 million a year in grants in Vermont and beyond. vermontcf.org.
FISHING & HUNTING
FLY ROD SHOP
Vermont’s most experienced guide service. Guided fly fishing, ice fishing and family tours. Weekly taste of Vermont tours. Fly tackle, fly tying supplies, spin and ice fishing tackle. Route 100 South, Stowe. flyrodshop.com, (802) 253-7346.
FLOORING
FLOORING AMERICA
Customize your home with flooring that compliments your space while honoring your style. Choose from our leading collection of hardwood, carpet, tile, laminate, vinyl, and rug selections. Williston, 802-448-4771, flooringamerica-vt.com.
FURNITURE
BURLINGTON FURNITURE
From modern and contemporary to classic and Vermont traditional, we are passionate about bringing the perfect style to your home. Sofas, dining, lighting, and rugs—our design team can help you pull your space together. Showroom: 747 Pine St., Burlington. burlingtonfurniture.us, (802) 862-5056.
STOWE LIVING
Welcome to your new favorite store. Unique home décor and take-home furniture for the entire home. Gourmet kitchenware, gadgets, specialty foods, bedding, bath, clothing, jewelry, gifts. Ship and deliver. 1813 Mountain Rd. (802) 253-8050. Shop online at stoweliving.net.
GIFT & SPECIALTY SHOPS
BLACK CAP COFFEE & BAKERY OF VERMONT
Fun selection of gifts and cards within Stowe’s favorite coffee shop and bakery. A fun place to work, meet, or hang out. Open daily. Stowe Village, Morrisville downtown, Waterbury Train Station. blackcapvermont.com.
THE BODY LOUNGE
A natural body and bath shop with an additionally large selection of whimsical gifts, cards, beautiful artisan jewelry and local art. Red Barn Shops, 1799 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-7333. bodyloungevt.com.
BUTTERNUT MOUNTAIN FARM & MARVIN’S COUNTRY STORE
A country store focused on all things maple. Shop a thoughtfully curated selection of celebrated local products including specialty cheeses, honey, jams, Vermont-made products, crafts, and gifts. (800) 899-6349, marvinscountrystore.com.
THE COUNTRY STORE ON MAIN
The Country Store on Main offers a curated selection of gifts, kitchen gadgets, luxury bedding, home goods, accessories, and all things Vermont. Located downtown at 109 Main Street. Open every day. (802) 253-7653, countrystorevt.com.
GREEN MOUNTAIN DRY GOODS
A well-curated collection of Vermont-designed, Vermont-made, Vermont-inspired gifts for all ages. We’re the gateway to your Waterbury-Stowe Road shopping experience. 132 Waterbury-Stowe Road, Waterbury.
HIGHER ELEVATION LLC
Recreational cannabis dispensary. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m.-5 pm. 65 Northgate Plaza, Suite 6, Morrisville. higherelevationvt.com.
MOSS BOUTIQUE
Artist-owned boutique featuring contemporary Vermont oil paintings by Jennifer Hubbard alongside crafts by other independent designers, as well as beautiful and unique home furnishings, decor, gifts, and jewelry. Portland Street, downtown Morrisville. (802) 851-8461, mossboutiquevt.com.
REMARKABLE THINGS AT STOWE CRAFT
For over 40 years, Remarkable Things is a locals’ favorite place to shop for handmade art, jewelry, gifts, and home décor. 300-plus small studio artists are lovingly represented by our family-owned gallery. Shop remarkablethingsvt.com.
SIMON PEARCE
Situated on Mountain Road in a repurposed blacksmith shop, our Stowe location features handmade glass evergreens, barware, candlelight, and more—thoughtful designs made to bring beauty to every day. Open daily. simonpearce.com.
STOWE MERCANTILE
Fabulous old country store, Vermont specialty foods, penny candy, clothing, bath and body, wine, craft beer and cider, and toys. Play a game of checkers or a tune on our piano. Depot Building, Main Street. (802) 253-4554. stowemercantile.com.
TANGERINE & OLIVE
Independent makers from across North America. Clothing, jewelry, letterpress cards and stationery, maple syrup, and inspired gifts for the outdoor lover. Downer Farm Shops, 232 Mountain Road. tangerineandolive.com, (802) 760-6692.
HEALTH & FITNESS CLUBS
THE SWIMMING HOLE
Nonprofit community pool and fitness center. Olympic-sized lap pool, toddler pool, waterslide. Learn-to-swim classes, masters swimming, aqua-aerobics, personal training, group fitness classes, yoga. Memberships, day guests, and drop-ins. (802) 253-9229, theswimmingholestowe.com.
HEATING/AC & FUEL
FRED’S ENERGY
Experienced, licensed, and insured professionals. Quality heating, AC installation and service. Heating oil, propane. Generators. Water heaters, softeners, air purifiers, central vac, sewer pumps. 24/7 emergency service. Morrisville office: (802) 888-3827. callfreds.com.
INNS & RESORTS
AWOL STOWE
AWOL Stowe is your private alpine retreat featuring an outdoor sauna, cedar hot tubs, cold plunge pools, communal fire pits, an on-site librar y, and gear storage. Mountain Road, Stowe.
BLUEBIRD CADY HILL LODGE
Bluebird Cady Hill Lodge is your launch pad for Vermont adventure with indoor and outdoor pools, a playground, shuffleboard court, game room, and cozy bar and lounge. Mountain Road, Stowe.
EDSON HILL MANOR
Enjoy a tranquil escape at Edson Hill: 38 private acres with 22 individually inspired guest rooms. Experience our commitment to genuine service, casual luxury, and top-notch hospitality. edsonhill.com, 802-253-7371.
FIELD GUIDE LODGE
Field Guide Lodge is a stylish basecamp, centrally located in the heart of downtown Stowe, featuring pet-friendly rooms, an outdoor pool, hot tub, and onsite bar and tasting room.
GREEN MOUNTAIN INN
In the heart of Stowe village, over 104 accommodations featuring classic charm and modern comfort. Year-round outdoor pool and Jacuzzi, health club, sauna, firepits, Stowe Village Massage. Two restaurants: Whip Bar and Grill and 18 Main. (800) 253-7302. greenmountaininn.com.
INNSBRUCK INN AT STOWE
Stay close to adventure with complimentary breakfast, pickleball, pool, and sauna, just two miles from the mountain. The scenic Stowe Recreation Path begins right outside your door. (802) 308-4326, innsbruckinn.com.
OHANA FAMILY CAMP
Swim, fish, canoe, kayak, and sail. Play tennis and try your hand at archery. From hiking and biking to reading in a rocking chair, Ohana has it all. alohafoundation.org/ohana-family-camp.
SUITES AT 109 MAIN
The Suites at 109 Main offer modern and comfortable accommodations in a historic downtown building—just steps from shops, dining, and more. Your home away from home in Stowe.
TÄLTA LODGE, A BLUEBIRD BY LARK
Tälta Lodge is designed with the adventurer in mind. Featuring rooms, suites, and cabins, gear storage, a pump track, indoor pool, hot tub, sauna, and onsite bar and restaurant. Mountain Road, Stowe.
TOPNOTCH RESORT
Stowe’s only luxury boutique resort wows with contemporary rooms, suites, one-to-three-bedroom resort homes, an airy bar and restaurant, world-class spa and tennis center, and indoor/outdoor pools. topnotchresort.com.
INSURANCE
STOWE INSURANCE AGENCY, INC.
Stowe’s premier multi-line insurance agency since 1955. Our pricing and service are second to none. Glenn Mink, Robert Mink, Renee Davis, and Richard West. (802) 253-4855.
S TOWE MAGAZINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY
INTERIOR DESIGN & DECORATING
CLOSE TO HOME
Locally owned and design driven, Close to Home is the premier destination for fine decorative plumbing and architectural hardware showroom. Since 1999, our team has helped discerning homeowners, architects, and designers create interiors that make a statement. closetohomevt.com. 257 Pine St., Burlington. (802) 861-3200.
DESIGN STUDIO OF STOWE
Creating beautiful interiors from classic to modern with respect to client’s taste, property, budget, deadline. New construction, renovations, and updates to existing spaces. Residential to light commercial projects. Allied Member ASID. 626 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-9600. designstudiovt.com.
GALEN ARNOT INTERIORS
Boutique interior design firm specializing in high-end residential projects. We manage every detail—from concept through installation—offering architectural interiors, custom furnishings, and seamless project coordination for timeless, livable spaces. galenarnotinteriors.com, (802) 373-2782.
KENNERKNECHT DESIGN GROUP
Our passionate team is dedicated to crafting bespoke interiors with exquisite aesthetics that reflect your distinctive lifestyle. (978) 720-8173. kennerknechtdesigngroup.com.
STOWE OUTPOST INTERIOR DESIGN
Boston-based interior designer Marc J. Langlois, captivated by Stowe, established his studio to design exceptional interiors, providing full-service solutions spanning from classic to contemporary styles. 4285 Mountain Road. (617) 959-1908, marcjlangloisinteriors.com, Instagram: @stoweoutpost, @marcjlanglois.
JEWELRY
FERRO ESTATE & CUSTOM JEWELERS
Stowe’s premier full-service jeweler since 2006. We specialize in estate jewelry, fine diamonds, custom design, jewelry repair, and appraisals. In-house repair studio. American Gem Society. 91 Main St. (802) 253-3033. ferrojewelers.com @ferro_jewelers_stowe.
VON BARGEN’S JEWELRY
A second-generation family business with five locations in Vermont and New Hampshire, including a jewelry making studio. Specializing in ideal cut diamonds, fine handmade artisan jewelry, and custom jewelry creation. (802) 882-8750. vonbargens.com.
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
KNAUF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
We transform landscapes into beautiful outdoor living spaces that ignite the senses and seamlessly connect inside and outside with balance and harmony. Member ASLA. (802) 522-0676. cynthiaknauf.com.
SITEFORM STUDIO
Landscape architect who combines an understanding of people, place, and the environment to craft resilient, site-specific landscapes for projects throughout New England. Member ASLA. (617) 458-9915, siteformstudio.com.
WAGNER HODGSON LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
The process of uniting program, context, form and materials provides the basis for our work, crafting modern sculptural landscapes expressing the essential inherent beauty of natural materials. Vermont, (802) 864-0010. Hudson Valley, New York, (518) 567-1791. wagnerhodgson.com.
LAWYERS
BARR LAW GROUP
Complex litigation and commercial transactions, including class actions, securities litigation, EB-5 fraud, arbitrations, trials, appeals, criminal defense, corporate mergers/acquisitions, Native American/tribal matters, real estate, aviation, personal injury/wrongful death. Licensed in Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts. Offices at 125 Mountain Road, Stowe, (802) 253-6272; 100 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y., (212) 486-3910. barrlaw.com.
DARBY KOLTER & ROBERTS, LLP
General civil practice: real estate (commercial and residential), business formation, family law, estate planning/probate administration, personal injury, worker’s compensation, and mediation services, commercial litigation, appellate representation, constitutional and civil rights, public records. 89 S. Main St., Waterbury, (802) 244-7352. waterburystowelaw.com.
OLSON & SEABOLT, PLC
General law practice: commercial and residential real estate, business representation (formation, maintenance, and asset purchases/sales), estate planning and LGBTQ matters. 188 S. Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-7810, olsonplc.net.
STACKPOLE AND FRENCH
Litigation, real estate, timeshares, corporate, utility, trust and estate planning and administration, probate, and general counsel services. Offices in Stowe, Jeffersonville, Waterbury, and Shelburne. (802) 253-7339. stackpolefrench.com.
STEVENS LAW OFFICE
Full service: We provide over 30-plus years of experience and in-depth representation in real estate, estate planning, family and criminal law, and business formation. Stowe, Derby offices. (802) 253-8547 or (866) 786-9530. stowelawyers.com.
LIGHTING
GRANITE CITY ELECTRIC LIGHTING SHOWROOM
Hundreds of lighting fixtures on display in our Barre showroom. We specialize in Chandeliers, pendants, sconces, vanity, outdoor, flush mounts, landscape, outdoor lighting, and much more. (802) 476-0280. gcehomelighting.com.
MARKETS & GROCERIES
THE BUTCHERY
Butcher shop, fishmonger, fromagerie, sourcing prime beef, all-natural pork, free-range chicken and game. Artisan sandwiches, soups, and prepared foods. Local beer and wine. 504 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-1444. butcheryvt.com.
COMMODITIES NATURAL MARKET
One-stop grocery shopping featuring organic and local produce, groceries, artisanal cheeses, fresh bread, local meats, phenomenal beer and wines, gluten-free galore, wellness products, bulk section, more. Mountain Road, Stowe. Daily. (802) 253-4464. commoditiesnaturalmarket.com.
MASSAGE & BODYWORK
KATE GRAVES, CMT, BHS
Relaxation, deep tissue, moist heat, facilitated stretching, Thai, energy work (Brennan Healing Science graduate 2000), Stowe sound immersion. In practice over 40 years. Stowe Yoga Center, 515 Moscow Road. (802) 253-8427, stoweyoga.com, kgravesmt@gmail.com.
SNOW MOUNTAIN SPA
Snow Mountain Spa was born from Yan’s deep passion for wellness and holistic healing. With over 14 years of experience in therapeutic care, we crafted a sanctuary where relaxation and rejuvenation take center stage. 512-C Mountain Road, Stowe. Book your appointment: (802) 760-6892, yanwei@snowmountainspa.com.
STOWE VILLAGE MASSAGE
Our registered professional massage therapists offer personalized treatments and massage services for a healthier, happier you. TripAdvisor rated No. 1 spa in Stowe. Book online or call (802) 253-6555. stowevillagemassage.com.
PAINTING
STOWE PAINT
Elevate your home with Lamoille County’s finest interior painting. Unmatched quality, precision, care, and attention to detail. Fully insured, free estimates. Contact stowepaint@gmail.com or (802) 585-1028 for your personalized consultation.
PERSONAL CHEF
SWEET & SAVORY PERSONAL CHEF SERVICES
Sweet & Savory’s goal is to prepare and deliver high-quality, healthy, and delicious meals to locals and visiting out-of-towners. Personal chef services, weekly meals, catering for all occasions. Easier than takeout. (802) 730-2792, sweetsavorystowe.com.
PET PORTRAITS
KIMBERLY PROVOST PET PORTRAITS
Specializing in custom fine art pastel paintings of your pet. A unique gift and the perfect way to preserve lasting memories. In Burlington, studio visits by appointment. kimberlyprovost.com and (802) 598-4264.
PRINTING
THE UPS STORE
From blueprints and banners to business cards and brochures, we print it. Shipping, scanning, and every other business service you can think of, we are your locally owned business partner. 998 S. Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-2233. store2614@theupsstore.com.
PHOTOGRAPHY
JESSE SCHLOFF PHOTOGRAPHY
Over 20-plus years, Jesse Schloff has captured countless weddings, from classic to off-thebeaten-trails and breathtaking scenery. His mix of contemporary, portraiture, and photojournalism styles always exceeds expectations. (802) 224-6835, @jesse_schloff_weddings, jesseschloffphotography.com.
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
RURAL RESOURCES
Comprehensive property and household management services. Full-service professional management team specializing in the details of preserving your investment. Concierge/ housekeeping, vendor management, design/remodels, much more. (802) 253-9496, admin@ruralresourcesvt.com.
SEB SWEATMAN PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Your home, managed with care. Comprehensive home management services—encompassing maintenance, oversight, and guest preparation—giving you peace of mind. Reliable, personalized service protecting what matters most to you. (802) 279-0165, sebsweatman@gmail.com.
REAL ESTATE & VACATION RENTALS
COLDWELL BANKER CARLSON REAL ESTATE
Real estate services representing Stowe and surrounding communities. Our talented team leads the industry in technology, innovation, and expertise. Located at 91 Main St., Stowe (802) 253-7358, and 74 Portland St., Morrisville, (802) 521-7962. cbcarlsonrealestate.com.
ELEMENT REAL
ESTATE
Element Real Estate delivers a boutique, client-first approach, transforming real estate from sales to service—one transaction at a time. Visit us at 1250 Route 100, online at realestatevt.com, or call (802) 253-1553.
FOUR SEASONS SOTHEBY’S
Our Stowe office showcases the charm and allure of the town, known for its beauty and community. With diverse listings and expert agents, we unlock the door to your best life. fourseasonssir.com (802) 253-7267.
LANDVEST
LandVest, an exclusive Christie’s international real estate affiliate, is a leading provider of real estate services to clients in Vermont and beyond. Discover the LandVest difference: (802) 318-6034, mkauffman@landvest.com.
LOVE2LIVEINVT TEAM
Award-winning Realtors passionate about VT. Helping buyers open doors to the Vermont lifestyle and guiding sellers every step of the way. Let us help you navigate the market with ease. love2liveinvt.com and info@love2liveinvt.com. Reach Brooke at (802) 696-2251 and Karen at (802) 793-2454.
STOWE COUNTRY HOMES
Locally owned and operated, we offer a curated collection of short-term and seasonal vacation rental homes, unique for their individual character. Each home is privately owned, immaculately maintained, and well-stocked. info@stowecountryhomes.com, (802) 253-8132. stowecountryhomes.com.
STOWE MOUNTAIN RENTALS
Stowe Mountain Rentals specializes in private rentals within the Lodge at Spruce Peak. As the top private rental company, we offer exclusive access to exceptional accommodations. stowemountainrentals.com, (802) 798-3142.
STOWE RESORT HOMES
Luxury vacation homes for the savvy traveler. Book some of Stowe’s best resort homes— online. Well-appointed, tastefully decorated homes at Topnotch, Spruce Peak, and throughout Stowe. (802) 760-1157. stoweresorthomes.com.
VERMONT REAL ESTATE CO.
Just listed. Luxury mountain properties through Vermont Real Estate Company, Vermont’s No. 1 independent brokerage. Alison Beckwith’s expertise now at our Mountain Road office. Buy or sell today. Call (802) 540-8300. vermontrealestatecompany.com.
RESTAURANTS & NIGHTCLUBS
ALADDIN
A taste of the Middle East. Sourcing traditional and original recipe to create the most diverse and authentic vegetarian dishes. A cuisine Stowe has been longing for. Catering available. 1880 Mountain Road. aladdinstowevt.com. (802) 760-6383.
BENCH
Unique to Stowe, wood-fired comfort food including pizza. Local ingredients in a relaxed, rustic modern Vermont atmosphere. Enjoy après ski or dinner with family and friends. 28 taps, craft beer, cocktails, and extensive wine list. Daily. 492 Mountain Rd., Stowe. benchvt.com or (802) 253-5100.
BLACK CAP COFFEE & BAKERY OF VERMONT
Serving breakfast and lunch. Breakfast burritos and sandwiches, quiches, lunch sandwiches. Gluten-free/vegan options. A fun place to work, meet, or hang out. Open daily. Stowe and Morrisville downtowns, Waterbury Train Station. blackcapvermont.com.
BLACK DIAMOND BARBEQUE
Just five miles from Stowe. Not just barbecue. Local ingredients, housemade desserts, outdoor seating, beer garden, covered porch, large groups, dine-in, takeout. Craft beer and cocktails. Open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, blackdiamondbarbeque.com, (802) 888-2275.
BURT’S IRISH PUB
Stowe's local Irish pub for over 45 years. Come enjoy our popular brunch specials out on the lawn every Sunday or stop in anytime for a cold drink and a quick bite to eat. Mountain Road, Stowe. 21+. (802) 253-6071.
CAFÉ ON MAIN & CAFÉ ON MOSCOW
Two locations in Stowe. Savor our authentic Vermont breakfast and lunch menus along with baked goods and catering services. Check out Facebook page for daily specials. Café on Main: 802-253-0077. Café on Moscow: 802-585-1749.
THE DINING ROOM & TAVERN AT EDSON HILL
Edson Hill offers casual fine dining in an elegant setting and seasonal menus with locally sourced ingredients. Open Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations required. edsonhill.com/menu, 802-253-7371.
18 MAIN
Enjoy an extensive breakfast menu set in a charming historic location overlooking Main Street. We offer the best flavors of Vermont in a warm and inviting atmosphere. Public welcome. greenmountaininn.com.
HARRISON’S RESTAURANT
Located in historic Stowe Village serving elevated takes on American dishes with wine, craft beers, and cocktails in a unique, parlor-like space. Patio dining in summer and fall. Reservations accepted. (802) 253-7773, harrisonsstowe.com.
IDLETYME BREWING COMPANY
Small-batch craft lagers and ales. Lunch and dinner daily from 11:30 a.m. Innovative cocktails, extensive wine list, family friendly, fireplace dining. Outdoor patio. Perfect for special events. Beer to go. 1859 Mountain Road, Stowe. (802) 253-4765, idletymebrewing.com.
PIECASSO PIZZERIA & LOUNGE
New York-style pizza, eclectic music, great vibes. A local favorite. Creative entrees, craft beer, gluten-free menu, online ordering, takeout, delivery. (802) 253-4411, piecasso.com.
THE RESERVOIR RESTAURANT
In the heart of downtown Waterbury. We specialize in local Vermont based comfort food and some of the best beers available. Private second floor events space for up to 50 people. Dinner daily, lunch Saturday and Sunday. (802) 244-7827, waterburyreservoir.com.
RIMROCKS MOUNTAIN TAVERN
Relax in our comfortable down-home sports bar. A Stowe staple for 20 years. Enjoy classic pub fare or seafood specials. The kids enjoy the arcade, you chill. (802) 253-9593, rimrocksmountaintavern.com.
THE ROOST AT TOPNOTCH RESORT
The Roost has long been one of Stowe’s best tables—whether inside or fireside—where the local food and drinks are as inspiring as our views of Mt. Mansfield. topnotchresort.com.
S TOWE MAGAZINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY
ROUND HEARTH CAFÉ & MARKETPLACE
Breakfast and lunch all day, every day. Shop while you wait. Check seasonal hours and lodging availability at roundhearth.com. Located at 39 Edson Hill Road, Stowe. (802) 253-7223.
SALUTE STOWE
Chef owned and operated. Scratch kitchen, authentic Italian cuisine. Homemade pasta, wood-fired Napoletana pizza, prime steak, fresh seafood, daily baked bread and specials, gluten free vegetarian options. Catering available. 18 Edson Hill Road, Stowe. (802) 2535677, salutevt.com.
STOWE CIDER
Hard cider hand-crafted in Vermont and made for outdoors. Visit our taproom and barbecue restaurant to try all our delicious offerings. (802) 253-2065, stowecider.com.
10 RAILROAD STREET
10 Railroad Street serves American comfort foods and all manner of cocktails in the lovingly restored historic Morrisville train station. Enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. 10 Railroad St., Morrisville. (802) 888-2277.
WHIP BAR AND GRILL
The Whip serves dinner nightly 4:30-9 p.m., bar opens at 3 p.m. Offering an extensive variety of hand-cut steaks, fresh seafood, soups, salads and homemade desserts. thewhip.com. At the Green Mountain Inn, Stowe village.
RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
WAKE ROBIN
A vibrant non-profit life-care community located on 136 acres just south of Burlington in Shelburne. Residents enjoy independent living in cottages and apartments and comprehensive, on-site health care for life. wakerobin.com, (802) 264-5100.
THE WOODLANDS AT STOWE
An active 55+ independent living community with spacious apartments, chef-prepared meals, and a warm, embracing, and engaging neighborhood of residents located within walking distance of Stowe village. (802) 253-7200. woodlandsstowe.com.
SHOE STORES
WELL HEELED
Unique collection of shoes, boots, handbags, belts, clothing, and jewelry in a chicly updated Vermont farmhouse halfway up Stowe’s Mountain Road. Shoes are our specialty and effortlessly chic our motto. Daily 11 to 5 and private appointments. Insta: wellheeledstowe. (802) 253-6077, wellheeledstowe.com.
SKI BOOT SHOP
SUREFOOT
World’s premier ski boot retailer, specializing in custom ski boot fitting. Since 1982, its proprietary technology and expertise have delivered the best-fitting, best-performing, and most comfortable ski boots worldwide. 407 Mountain Road Stowe. (802) 253-8189, surefoot.com, stowe@surefoot.com.
SKI—CROSS COUNTRY
VON TRAPP FAMILY LODGE & RESORT
Experience North America’s first cross-country ski center at the von Trapp Family Lodge and Resort. Enjoy 60K of cross country and snowshoe trails. Rentals are available our outdoor center. trappfamily.com
SKI RESORTS
SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH RESORT, VERMONT
America’s #1 Family Resort featuring mountainside lodging with award-winning kids’ programs. In winter enjoy 3 big mountains. 78 trails covering over 1,000 acres of terrain. Walk to amenities include FunZone 2.0 indoor entertainment complex, shopping, dining, Nordic skiing and snowshoeing. (888) 256-7623, smuggs.com/sg.
SKI & SNOWBOARD—Rentals, Demos, Retail
MOUNTAINOPS
Mountainops is a full-service ski shop specializing in sales and rental of Alpine, AT, telemark, backcountry and Nordic gear. Best clothing in town tucked in a cozy 1895 barn. 4081 Mountain Rd., Stowe. (802) 253-4531. mountainopsvt.com.
PINNACLE SKI & SPORTS
Voted No. 1 in customer service. All new rental and demo skis and snowboards. All major brands. Clothing from Marmot, Obermeyer, Fly Low, Helly Hansen, others. Accessories, tuning services. Open nightly till 8 p.m., 10 p.m. Friday, Saturday, holidays. (802) 253-7222. pinnacleskisports.com.
SPA
TOPNOTCH RESORT
Bring mind, body, and soul into better balance. Enjoy fitness classes, a selection of over 100 treatments, indoor/outdoor pools with a cascading waterfall, and men’s and women’s lounges. Memberships. Mountain Road, Stowe. topnotchresort.com.
SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS
COLD HOLLOW CIDER MILL
Experience Vermont. Independent, authentic, and charming. Uncover your inner Vermonter with family or friends. Visit our working cider mill, Route 100, Waterbury Center. (802) 244-8771, coldhollow.com.
MONTPELIER ALIVE
Just 30 minutes from Stowe Village, Montpelier, America’s No. 1 small town for shopping, welcomes you downtown to explore one-of-a-kind shops and local charm. Exit 8 off Interstate 89.
MORRISVILLE ALLIANCE FOR CULTURE & COMMERCE
MACC helps to ensure a strong Morrisville downtown and riverfront by building upon the town’s historic past by utilizing existing assets, local knowledge, skills and resources, and creating cultural, beautification, and economic development programs and events. Member of Vermont’s Agency of Commerce and Community Development’s Downtown Designation Program. maccvt.org.
SPRUCE PEAK ARTS
The Stowe region’s premier, year-round presenter of professional performing arts including music, theater, dance, film, education, and family programs on stage, on screen, and across the community. (802) 760-4634. Visit sprucepeakarts.org for more information.
SPRUCE PEAK AT STOWE
From ice skating in the heart of the Spruce Peak village and endless outdoor adventures to cozy fireside s’mores, winter at Spruce Peak includes festive holiday events and the best après scene around. Enjoy the magic of the mountains all winter long. sprucepeak.com.
SPRUCE PEAK AT STOWE LIGHTS FESTIVAL
Celebrate winter and the festive holiday season with a day filled with beautiful ice dancing performances and family friendly activities, all capped with a tree and village lighting celebration and fireworks display. Saturday, Dec. 20. sprucepeak.com.
STOWE HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM
Preserving Stowe’s rich history. Museum at the West Branch and Bloody Brook Schoolhouses, next to Stowe Library. Thursday to Saturday, 1-4 p.m., or by appointment. (802) 253-1518. stowehistoricalsociety.org, info@stowehistoricalsociety.org.
STOWE TRAILS PARTNERSHIP
Stowe Trails Partnership builds and maintains 40-plus miles of mountain bike trails for all to use. Learn more at stowetrails.org.
SPECIALTY FOODS
GOLDFINCH GOURMET
Just minutes from Stowe, Goldfinch Gourmet in Morrisville offers chef-curated delights— housemade pate, artisan charcuterie, pastries, and gourmet pantry finds. A must-visit for food lovers seeking something exceptional. 66 Morrisville Plaza. Goldfinchgourment.com, (802) 888-1180.
LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES—STOWE
Handcrafted chocolates made in Vermont using local ingredients and fair-trade certified chocolate, including truffles, caramels, clusters, and more. Plus, hot chocolate, espresso drinks and award-winning house-made ice cream. lakechamplainchocolates.com, (802) 253-9591.
LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES
—WATERBURY
Premium, handcrafted chocolates made in Vermont using local ingredients and fair-trade certified chocolate. Plus, a hot chocolate and espresso café, award-winning house-made ice cream and plenty of factory seconds. (802) 241-4150, lakechamplainchocolates.com.
SPORTING GOODS
ONION RIVER OUTDOORS
Gear, clothing, and expert advice for all your outdoor adventures. Friendly, knowledgeable sales and service of bikes, skis, and car racks. Visit onionriver.com or find us at 89 Main St., in beautiful downtown Montpelier.
OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE & GEARX.COM
Vermont’s local, neighborhood gear shop since 1995— three decades of adventure! Excellent prices, service, and selection of gear for skiing, riding, biking, and climbing. Visit our fully stocked consignment basement for incredible deals. Downtown Burlington. (888)-547-4327.
UMIAK OUTDOOR OUTFITTERS
Let the adventure begin with Umiak Outdoor Outfitters. We are a full-service outfitter offering sales, tours, and rentals for activities like snowshoeing, sledding, backcountry, and Nordic skiing. 849 S. Main St., Stowe. (802) 253-2317, umiak.com, info@umiak.com.
SUMMER CAMPS
CAMPS ALOHA AND HIVE
Sailing, swimming, archery, tennis, hiking, and more against the backdrop of Vermont’s green mountains set the scene for a playful and fun summer adventure for girls ages 8-16. alohafoundation.org.
TENNIS
TOPNOTCH RESORT
Vermont’s premier tennis resort featuring over 30 tennis and pickleball programs for aficionados, beginners, the young and young at heart. Six seasonal outdoor and four indoor hard courts, as well as a USPTA-certified international staff. Mountain Road, Stowe. topnotchresort.com.
TOYS & GAMES
ONCE UPON A TIME TOYS
Make every day a play day with Airfort®. Test your agility on a ninjaline. Traditional toys like Lego® to eclectic ones like loveable monsters. Vermont’s most exciting store for 47 years. Birthday? Get a free balloon. (802) 253-8319, fun@stowetoys.com, stowetoys.com.
TRANSPORTATION & TAXIS
GREEN MOUNTAIN TRANSIT’S MOUNTAIN ROAD SHUTTLE
Free seasonal bus service in Stowe–from breweries and boutiques to fresh powder on the mountain. Enjoy everything Stowe has to offer. Schedules and more: ridegmt.com or (802) 223-7287.
TRAVEL & TOURS
PATH+PLAIN TRAVEL
Remarkable luxury African safaris. With 20 years’ experience, we blend the best accommodations, routes, and guides into an adventure you’ll never forget. Visit pathplaintravel.com or call (802) 249-4649 to learn more.
SAVOR VERMONT
Savor Vermont has been bringing guests to taste beer, hard cider, wine, spirits, and foods. We’ll take you from one tasting to another or sightseeing to the area’s waterfalls, covered bridges, and more. (802) 917-6656, savorvermonttours.com.
WEDDING FACILITIES
EDSON HILL
Edson Hill offers an exclusive, quintessential Vermont estate on 38 acres with picturesque views, 22 luxurious guestrooms, and a talented culinary team to help create the wedding of your dreams. edsonhill.com, (802) 253-7371.
STOWE MOUNTAIN CHAPEL
Nestled on the side of Mt. Mansfield, Stowe Mountain Chapel is the perfect location for an intimate event in natural surroundings. Inclusive of all faiths and weddings. Skiin/ski-out during winter or enjoy the magic of a Vermont wedding anytime. stowemountainchapel.org.
WINE, CIDER & BEVERAGES
MOFFAT’S ALPINE ENERGY DRINK
A New England energy drink company crafting alpineinspired refreshment with natural caffeine, organic cane sugar, and crisp pine flavor. Buy online or find stores at moffatsenergy.com. Follow @moffatsenergy.
STOWE BEVERAGE
Full-service wine, beer, liquor, mixers, snacks. Stowe’s best wine and beer selection. Best price in town on Vermont maple syrup. Cigars. Free local paper with wine purchases. Monday through Saturday 10-7; Sunday 11-6. (802) 253-4525.
STOWE CIDER
Keeping cider dry since 2013. We specialize in creative, innovative, dry hard ciders, handcrafted in Stowe. Home to Shakedown Street BBQ & Grill with house-smoked meats and full bar. stowecider.com, (802) 253-2065.
YOGA
PEAK YOGA
Peak Yoga classes help to build strength in body and mind. We provide grounding and uplifting classes for all levels in our beautiful and bright Stowe studio. Located in The Swimming Hole, 75 Weeks Hill Road, Stowe. Book a class at peakyogastowe.com. Follow us on Instagram: @peakyogastowe.
STOWE YOGA CENTER
A beautiful space with warm community. Beginner-friendly classes and special events. Chakra and meditation workshops, chair yoga at Stowe Free Library (since 2016), Stowe Sound Immersion. Privates available. Kate Graves, 515 Moscow Road, kgravesmt@gmail.com, (802) 253-8427, stoweyoga.com.
HOUSES OF WORSHIP
Cambridge Christian Fellowship, Main St., (802) 335-2084
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Johnson, 635-2009
Church of the Nazarene, Johnson, 635-2988
Elmore United Methodist Church, Elmore, 888-7890
First Congregational Church of Christ, Morrisville, 888-2225
