By Mary Ellen Shaw We pretty much know that in this day and age “screen time” takes up a good portion of a person’s day…even in their spare time. But how did people spend their free time back in yesteryear? Hobbies filled the spare time of many people. Today’s technology has changed our hobbies, even…

By Mary Ellen Shaw When the Rutland Historical Society calendar for 2022 arrived I took a look at each month and was taken back in time to 100 years ago. From January to December there were pictures of ads for products that were popular back in 1922. I decided to explore some old newspapers online…

By Mary Ellen Shaw Just in case you aren’t an enthusiast of snow covered ground, let’s look ahead this week to spending time in the garden. When the second half of January arrives my thoughts turn to playing in the dirt. Granted it will be about four months before I can even consider spending time…

By Mary Ellen Shaw With the challenges that Covid has brought into our lives it makes many of us look for “feel good moments” in our day. At times we need to replace negative thoughts with positive ones and how we accomplish that is up to each individual. For me reading something light and watching…

By Mary Ellen Shaw Well, it’s almost time to make New Year’s resolutions. I was curious to know how the tradition started so my research began. I was surprised to learn how long that tradition has been around. I wondered if Americans came up with the idea. But I was totally wrong. The ancient Babylonians…

By Mary Ellen Shaw If you are a skier or snowboarder you must be excited that the time has come to do what you love! However, just because we live in this beautiful state doesn’t mean that we all love snow! If you are here to hit the slopes, you are probably saying to yourself,…

By Mary Ellen Shaw A friend sent me an email recently that takes a look at what we wished for when we were younger and how those wishes are perceived today. Let me share some of them with you. If you are too young to relate to them you will see what you have to…

By Mary Ellen Shaw The older you get the less likely you are to look forward to November! I swear the sole purpose of that month is to concentrate on Thanksgiving and some early Christmas shopping. When your status is “retired” you need something positive to focus on when you get up in the dark…

By Mary Ellen Shaw Halloween was always a fun time back in the '50s. For many of us kids the holiday got a head start when our parents brought us to one of the local farms to pick out a pumpkin to carve. In our house it was a tradition to put a candle inside…

By Mary Ellen Shaw It seems like my inbox has a lot of “remember when” emails that take my age group back to the “good old days.” We all seem to enjoy remembering how things were and comparing those times to the present day. Something that frequently comes into our conversations is the television of…

By Mary Ellen Shaw It won’t be long before fall is in the air! It’s been a very hot summer compared to the weather we used to have many years ago. I don’t remember one house on our street having an air conditioner when I was growing up in the '50s and '60s. Everyone had…

By Mary Ellen Shaw Several years ago I took a trip down Memory Lane in this column when I reminisced about the concerts held in Main Street Park. I was reminded of those memories when I read recently that the bandstand needs to be replaced. The Sunday night concerts were an important part of my…

By Mary Ellen Shaw Someone asked me recently what it was like to have observed all the changes that have occurred in my neighborhood during the 70-plus years that I have lived here. The conversation led to such questions as, “Which house was built first?” and “What was Howard Avenue like back in the '50s?”…

By Mary Ellen Shaw We are about half way through the allotted time in Vermont to enjoy watching our flowers bloom. If you have a perennial garden you know that it’s a challenge to have constant color through October. For me the spring garden is probably the one I look forward to the most. After…

By Mary Ellen Shaw If someone could come back into the world that they departed from many years ago they would certainly find that a lot has changed. In my case I wonder what my parents would think about the changes that have occurred to my family home since they passed away. Time has not…