By Katy Savage Hannah Soar heard it growing up. As she bumped down the moguls of the Outer Limits trail at Killington Resort as a child, other skiers told her, “You’re going to be an Olympian,” Soar remembers. Soar, a fearless child, just liked to be on snow and though she was talented, she wasn’t…

By Frank Kaczmarek Winter is far a far cry from being prime mushroom hunting season. Most fungi stop producing mushrooms, or fruiting bodies, in early autumn, and their hyphae (filamentous structures that are the main part of the fungal body) are out of sight, inside wood or in the ground. However, you can still find…

By Richard Balzano Editor’s note: Richard Balzano of Ryegate, a Ph.D candidate in history, a former high school teacher, a stand-up comedian, and a veteran in the fields of human services and mental health. This is a letter he submitted to the Blue Mountain Union School Board, in Wells River, in support of a vaccine…

LeRoy “Roy” Erwin Prior, 82, died on Jan. 26 at home in Mendon, Vermont. He was born to Lucy R. Hunt Prior and Erwin Wilson Prior in their home in West Bridgewater, Vermont. Roy graduated from Woodstock High School. He received a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Castleton College in 1988 and…

By Merisa Sherman It started like any other tour. I had my backpack full of goodies, including the best puffy coat in the entire world. It’s the coat that enables me to forgo my fear of the cold, knowing that no matter the temperature there is a nice warm bundle of heat waiting for me…

Feb. 3-6 — The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival (MNFF) has announced the resumption of its statewide Vermont tour, following a two-year hiatus. Two top films from its 2021 7th annual festival will screen in six towns across the state on the expanded weekend, February 3-6. The two feature documentaries that will screen are the award-winning…

Officials at Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, a nationally recognized nonprofit providing sports and recreation year-round to people with disabilities, announced Jan. 26 that Molly Tobin, program coordinator for the organization, has been awarded the 2021 Kellen Sams Memorial Leadership Award. “We are thrilled that Molly is this year’s recipient of the award,” said Christine…

Big Lazy and Mamie Minch Sunday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. — PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts in Putney announces a performance featuring two underground bands from the Brooklyn Barbés scene, on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Big Lazy has flourished for over two decades in NYC’s downtown music scene. Simultaneously noir and pastoral,…

On July 1, 2022, Michael Ruppel, 33, will become OVUHS’s new principal, replacing Principal James Avery, who after 30 years with the RNESU district — 27 of which he served as associate principal and principal — announced his retirement in November. An aggressive search process got underway immediately, and among several applicants, Ruppel was picked…

By Ariadne Will A presentation to the Pittsford Select Board by the Otter Creek Consolidated Communications District (OCCUD) asked the panel to consider allocating ARPA funds to broadband infrastructure in the community. Tony Ferraro, a representative from the communications district, explained OCCUD’s plan to deliver broadband service to all Pittsford homes over the next several…

By Dom Cioffi I grew up under two extremes. My father’s parents (my paternal grandparents) were hard-working, blue-collar laborers, with my grandfather being a self-employed plumber and my grandmother the quintessential mother and housewife. They lived in a small two-story house directly across the street from a large factory and right behind the city’s largest…

By Kevin Theissen It’s not uncommon for people to pay more in taxes than anticipated because our tax system treats various income types differently and has tax and penalties that many are unaware of. One way to consider the stages of retirement could be: first, your pre-retirement or work and saving years, usually before age…

By Brooke Geery Not every child in Vermont has the chance to go skiing or snowboarding, but Pico Mountain’s school program aims to change that. Since 2016, the resort has worked with area schools to bring groups of students from kindergarten through 8th grade to the mountain to experience the sports, part of the resort’s…

The Reverend Sara Ann Rossigg has been selected as the new pastor at the Brandon Congregational Church and will begin her full-time duties in mid-January. Reverend Rossigg is a graduate of Chicago Theological Seminary and is an ordained United Church of Christ minister. She has served churches in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Cleveland, Ohio, and Chicago.…

By Curt Peterson Their first meeting in 10 months brought members of the Windsor Central Unified Union School District’s (WCUUSD) new build working group up to speed regarding developments and status since last spring. The group’s goal is a new $75 million middle and high school to be built at the current campus in Woodstock.…