It’s cold and I can feel the wind nipping at my exposed cheeks right above my mask. Based on the snow swirling at my feet, I cannot tell if the wind is straight smacking me in the face or swirling around me but I don’t care. The air is so clear and so crisp. Above…

By Declan McCabe Large fishing spiders walking on water can be fascinating – or terrifyingly unnerving. The latter reaction is common among Saint Michael’s College students as we sample Vermont’s streams and ponds. On one occasion, a normally macho student screamed, dropped his net, and leaped from the stream to avoid a particularly large specimen.…

By Cassandra Tyndall A matter you’ve been either avoiding or walking on egg shells about, may come to a head this week. We all eventually get to the proverbial line in the sand when the only way forward on an issue is to confront it. While potentially upsetting, once you’ve sliced and diced the matter,…

The Division for Historic Preservation has announced the Vermont State Historic Sites opened on a limited basis the week of July 1. The President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth Notch and the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell opened Wed., July 1. The Bennington Battle Monument in Bennington, Hubbardton Battlefield in Hubbardton,…

MONTPELIER— Vermont’s popular fish and wildlife summer course for teachers and other educators will be held July 12-17, 2020. The interactive field course, which gets educators out into Vermont’s streams, forests and wetlands with some of the state’s leading natural resource experts, will take place at the Buck Lake Conservation Camp in Woodbury. Increased personal…

FAIR HAVEN—Fair Haven Free Library recently announced that it has partnered with the University of Vermont to promote and support the Lake Champlain Sea Grant Watershed Explorers Program. The water specialists, fisheries biologists, and watershed scientists of UVM’s Lake Champlain Sea Grant (LCSG) have turned their attention to reaching out to kids who don’t have…

For more than 20 years, JobsInVT.com has provided job seekers with real, local, quality jobs online — and their successful career fairs have brought seekers face-to-face with recruiters from some of the best companies in Vermont. Now, in support of social distancing, they’ve taken career fairs online. Virtual VT Career Fairs allow job seekers to…

The Old Fashioned Cocktail is the first drink to ever bear the name ‘cocktail’ (c. 1806).  People would order at the bar a ‘cocktail’ made with their spirit of choice mixed with a little sugar, some bitters and citrus twists. Ingredients: 2 oz Tom Cat gin 1/2 tsp demerara syrup (2 parts demerara sugar: 1…

WEST RUTLAND—The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center hosts Artist in Residence Tim Lehmann during the months of June and July. The Montpelier artist is fascinated by the “stark and varied forms” of withered foliage in winter. He has enlarged an elecampane (elfdock) leaf in clay and will translate it into stone while he is in…

RANDOLPH— Vermont Pride Theater at Chandler recently announced the lineup for its 10th annual Summer Pride Festival. It includes Jon Gilbert Fox’s photo exhibit At the Right Place at the Right Time, available both online and in the Main Gallery, plus a silent auction of books appropriate to this pride celebration and theater arts at Chandler. Along with…

On July 18, youth ages 8-18 are invited to take part in the virtual Sheep and Goat Camp 2020, sponsored by University of Vermont (UVM) Extension 4-H. The free camp, offered through Facebook Live, will run from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Participants do not need to be enrolled in 4-H, just have an interest…

Give blood July 1-31 to earn a chance to win an epic prop replica RUTLAND—This July, the American Red Cross and Wonder Woman 1984 are joining forces to save the day for patients in need of lifesaving blood transfusions. The Red Cross has an urgent need for blood donors this summer, as the Covid-19 pandemic…

VINS Nature Center’s outdoor exhibits are open daily, and beginning on July 13, VINS educators will once again begin presenting in person. The schedule includes reptile time at 10:30 a.m. every day, where visitors will listen to stories of the amazing abilities of our scaly friends. At 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. explore the natural…

Sunday July 12 at 2 p.m.—CAVENDISH—The pandemic began in the East, sweeping through cities and towns, disrupting daily life and sowing fear and uncertainty throughout much of the known world.While this sounds like an apt description of today’s Covid-19 pandemic, it was actually talking about the Antonine Plague, possibly small pox or measles, which took…

RUPERT—To offset the revenue lost from cancelling Old Home Days, the Rupert Volunteer Fire Department will be holding a fish fry on July 11 from 5 p.m. till 8 p.m. on the carnival grounds in Rupert. The menu will include fish, French fries, coleslaw, and fried dough balls (with your choice of cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar). …