Discover More from This Category: Columns

Fires, swimming are prohibited at fishing access areas 

June 7, 2023
  With the beginning of summer and anglers fishing from shore, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department reminds people that open fires and swimming are prohibited at all Vermont state fishing access areas.  Open fires and their remnants, create unsafe areas for other anglers and boaters to use and enjoy.  The remnants of these fires…

Prevent tick-borne illness

June 7, 2023
By George Fjeld Editor’s note: Dr. George Fjeld is a retired physician. Summer’s almost here and it’s time to get outside! Fun things like walking the dog, going for a hike, swimming, and paddling in the lake or playing a round of golf are a few of my favorite options.  However, nothing ruins an outdoor…

The last day

June 7, 2023
It’s the earliest day of the season (for my family anyway). We were in line an hour before the lifts started, with Bloody Marias and breakfast sandwiches in hand, way earlier than we would get there for any powder day. We won’t even wait on line on opening day, choosing instead to start the season…

Chances are…

June 7, 2023
  Evelyn Adams loved playing the lottery and dreaming about the day she might finally win big. Initially she spent $25 a week on tickets, but over the years her growing passion to play drove her spending to over $100 a week, hinting at the first signs of a burgeoning gambling problem.  Adams was in…

Of dewdrops and spider webs

June 7, 2023
  On a foggy morning walk, it may seem as if the spider webs on your path have turned into jeweled wonders, every thread a string of gems as smooth as pearls and as sparkling as diamonds. Each of these “jewels” is a drop of water the web has collected from the misty air. As…

Woodstock Union High School announces its senior’s plans post graduation

June 7, 2023
  Jordan Lee Allard, Merrimack College, Marketing and Communications Emma Halpin Allegretti, Villanova University, Environmental Studies & Communication Meghan Jennifer Bailey, Gap Year Cody Edward Bartlett, Army National Guard Austin Robert Bloch, Plymouth State University, Business Administration Christopher Morrill Bradley, Gap Year Jacob Jonathan Carey, College, Exercise Science Nicholas William Champine, Carpentry Jared Lewis Clark,…

Something isn’t right

June 7, 2023
For several months now, there has been a bright shining star in the Western horizon in the evening. That star is Venus and she’s the star to keep an eye on now. Reason being, she’s going to be taking a longer than usual journey through the sign of Leo. Instead of her usual month-long visit,…

No phys ed or female sports back in the day

May 31, 2023
  A classmate recently told me that she didn’t remember any sports for girls during our high school years at Mount St. Joseph Academy in the early 1960s. I didn’t recall any either so I checked the yearbooks online to see if we were correct.  The ski team was the only sports related activity showing…

Joys of watching a dump truck

May 31, 2023
  You could hear the screaming from our house as the truck rolled into town. No matter what day it was, kids would come running out of their homes in all directions in a mass frenzy, making their way to the safe spot, a non-verbally agreed to location where our parents felt we would be…

Go and be heard

May 31, 2023
  As a child, my parents were against excessive television watching, so, consequently, I had to find something else to do when the outdoor option was unavailable. Because of this, I became enamored with board and card games. I started with Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, checkers, and a variety of card games. Once I…

Holding the perimeter: Part 1

May 31, 2023
  I mowed the lawn today. The mower choked its way slowly through the chest-high grass, hidden saplings, and lush wildflowers.  If left unattended for an entire summer, our lawn’s perimeter would disappear. Within five summers, our homemade house would be camouflaged by the surrounding forest. Mother nature is always busy filling in the holes.…

Without risk, there’s no reward

May 31, 2023
  If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is —  it's  not advice you’ll want to take this week. An opening, an opportunity or a portal of some kind may arrive that could truly change the course of things for you.  Now that you know this, you’ll be anxiously waiting for…

Residential contractors’ registration program explained, consumer protection tool is live

May 24, 2023
  In a press conference held in the Vermont State House earlier this month, Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas and Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark joined forces to highlight their offices’ respective consumer protection work regarding residential contractors and unveiled a new consumer tool to help Vermonters protect themselves: an interactive map on…

Memorial Day: Freedom is not free

May 24, 2023
  This weekend, we express our gratitude for our fallen heroes. Each of us will do this in our own way. Some of us will attend parades and lay down wreaths of flowers at the gravesites of our men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Others will carry an American flag down Superstar as they feel…

I’ve seen the future of technology

May 24, 2023
  On May 9, 1974, music critic Jon Landau walked into the Harvard Square Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and witnessed a revelatory concert delivered by a 25-year-old, young and impassioned Bruce Springsteen. Landau would write about his experience soon after, inviting the world to buy into the hype that he was peddling.  And we did.…