Photos by Nanci Blog

Adam Parker delivers roast beef to Lana Manning For over 35 years the Hartland First Congregational Church has hosted their Famous Roast Beef Suppers . The suppers run for nine consecutive Saturdays in late January-March. This year’s suppers end on March 16th. Three teams of kitchen and dining room volunteers work three suppers. Volunteers are church members, community members and their friends. Some of the twenty-somethings have been volunteering since they were five years old.  John Duman slices the roast beef Martha Dow readies the dinner rolls Rhonda Lamica gets more roast beef and rolls ready for the tables Jami-Lee Fernandes slices up the pies The menu includes roast beef, home made pies, rolls, and side dishes, all homemade drawing hungry patrons from throughout the region. Some folks attend all nine suppers and some have been attending since the suppers began. Each supper serves anywhere from 250-300 diners. More event images: Photos by Nanci ...

The Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) hosted their annual Owl Festival on Saturday. Folks travelled from as far away as Saratoga NY for the event. The event was listed in Yankee Magazine as something to do in February!  The day started with many activities for young and old alike; from exploring Owl Senses, Owl Bingo, Owl Crafts and Obtacles to Owl Pellet dissection (a very popular activity.) The highlight of the day was meeting the owls. About 75 VINS visitors greeted Snowy, the Snowy Owl. More event images: Photos By Nanci SmugMug Owl Festival 2013 Hosted at Vermont Institute of Natural Science Quechee VT February 23, 2013 Copyright ©2013 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries: http://thevermontstandard.smugmug.com/ Follow Photos By Nanci at: photosbynanci.com  Photos by Nanci Blog SmugMug Galleries YouTube Twitter  Facebook

With another Nor’easter in the forecast, the folks of the Long Hill Snowmobile Club of South Woodstock VT were excited to be hosting a Pig Roast to benefit the club on Saturday. Shane Barrows of Woodstock starting cooking the pig at 8:30 PM on Friday evening; Barrows figures the pig will feed about 150 hungry people. In addition to pig, hamburgers, hot dogs, mac & cheese, and various salads were served. The reasonable price made it easy for folks out riding the trails to stop by for a quick lunch-$10 for adults and $5 for children. Folks were encouraged to arrive by snowmobile or by car. The organizers also held a 50/50 Raffle, a raffle for many prizes donated by local are businesses and a special raffle for a gun purchased by the club specifically for the raffle. Tickets for the gun went fast and were sold-out by noontime.  The Windsor County Sherriff’s Department also stopped by and were offering free sled inspections—they look for Vermont Association of Snow Trav...

Shawn Mullins Signal Kitchen , 71 Main Street Burlington VT hosted  Shawn Mullins  with Special Guest  Chuck Cannon   on a snowy Sunday night.  Just down the alley after the Ski Rack on Main Street in Burlington is one of the area's newest intimate concert venues. Opening in June 2012 during the Discover Jazz Festival , the basement concert hall can hold up to two hundred people, for the Mullins concert there were about 117 people in the house. After locating the venue, about eighteen fans began lining up around 7 PM for 7:30 doors. The venue sold the first two rows as VIP GA seats that included a Meet and Greet after the show. Nashville artist Chuck Cannon took the stage at 8:14 and played about 35 minutes. He was introduced by Shawn Mullins as Shawn's good friend and co-writer. Cannon said he was excited to be in Vermont, he "learned to ski up at Killington" he told the crowd. The crowd politely corrected him...down at Kil...

Local artists gathered on Saturday at the Little Theatre in Woodstock VT for a "Artisan Trunk Show." About 15 artists displayed their crafts, prints and foods. The event was organized by Kimberly DiNofrio and Andrea Trzaskos both were also selling their crafts. More event images: Photos By Nanci SmugMug A nice write-up appeared in The Mountain Times Vermont Artisan Trunk Show Little Theatre Woodstock VT February 16, 2013 Copyright ©2013 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries: http://thevermontstandard.smugmug.com/ Follow Photos By Nanci at: photosbynanci.com  Photos by Nanci Blog SmugMug Galleries YouTube Twitter  Facebook

Edward Forrest works on “Ad Lib”  featuring an owl and a seal playing with a ball. Local and National Snow Sculpture Artists gathered last week on the Green in Woodstock to create some fantastic sculptures. The event was sponsored by Pentangle Arts Council  and the ArtisTree  along with support from various local businesses. Visiting from Winston-Salem North Carolina, Cade Lindsay 9 was inspired to work on his own snow sculpture. Cade was visiting with his family doing research for his 3rd grade project about Vermont. More event images: Photos by Nanci SmugMug Woodstock Snow Sculptures On The Green Woodstock VT February 16, 2013 Copyright ©2013 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries: http://thevermontstandard.smugmug.com/ Follow Photos By Nanci at: photosbynanci.com  Photos by Nanci Blog SmugMug Galleries YouTube Twitter...

Sunday the First Universalist Society of Hartland hosted its 5th Annual Chocolate Auction just in time for Valentine’s Day! Over forty four items were up for bid including truffles, cakes, pies and Harpoon Chocolate Stout Beer. Children had the opportunity to bid on desserts set aside for them, the buckets of dirt and worms (crumbled chocolate cookies, pudding and gummy worms) were very popular. More Event Images: Photos By Nanci SmugMug 5th Annual Chocolate Auction Hosted by First Universalist Society of Hartland VT Hartland VT February 10, 2013 Copyright ©2013 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries: http://thevermontstandard.smugmug.com/ Follow Photos By Nanci at: photosbynanci.com  Photos by Nanci Blog SmugMug Galleries YouTube Twitter  Facebook

As part of their Free at Home concert series, the Lebanon Opera House hosted Alternative At Home on Thursday night. The featured band was Turkey Point Swim Club made up Vermont musicians Davis McGraw (of The Pilgrims), Caleb Thomas (of Thompson Gunner) and Ryan Hebert (of Giant Travel Avant Garde) The guys played a good mix of originals and covers and appeared tight even after stating that they had practiced together three times. The evening started with singer-songwriter actor  Justin Goodrich . From his website: He has independently released two official EP's, most notable for being acoustic guitar and vocals only though performed loudly and aggressively, and for their video-accompanied singles "Deeper Inside" and "Love You Still" shot by Disasterous Film. His music often lends itself to mid-tempo, minor key, broodish ballads with theatrical arrangements, dark, metaphorical lyrical content and Justins noticeably '60's crooner-esque vocal...

On Wednesday night February 6, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals brought their Roar Tour to The Egg in Albany NY. The band last appeared in Albany in June 2009 for an Alive At 5 Concert on the Waterfront. The Nocturnals took the stage as the MGM theme played the lion's roar. A thundering drum beat got the crowd on their feet to welcome the Nocs to the Hart Theatre; the band broke into the title track to their current release "The Lion, The Beast, The Beat." The Egg Performing Arts Center, Abany NY Courtesy photo Potter told the crowd that it was OK to stand and dance , but would understand if folks needed a break and sat but no arguments about people standing and dancing in front of you or she would have to leave the stage and "take care" of the situation. The seventeen song set was a little short, according to the die hard Posse people in the crowd. (The Potterville Posse are a bunch of true fans that follow the band all over the country!...

Race Winner Saywer Mattsson WUHS With bitter cold winds blowing and the already challenging slopes of Suicide Six very icy, five area alpine ski teams battled despite the crazy conditions. Students from Bur and Forty-six girls and thirty-five boys from Burton Academy, Rutland High School, Thetford Academy, some independent students and the Woodstock Union High School hit the slopes. Some literally hit the slopes. There were many wipe outs but only minor injuries reported. Jocelyn Werle WUHS More Race Images and Awards: Photos By Nanci SmugMug Follow Photos By Nanci at: photosbynanci.com  Photos by Nanci Blog SmugMug Galleries YouTube Twitter  Facebook

Hartland celebrated winter despite the lack of snow on Saturday with its annual Winterfest Chili Cook Off. The Hartland Recreation Department sponsored the cook off and a snow sculpture competition, where photos of sculptures created when we had snow we submitted online, printed out and voted on. In addition, there was a silent auction to benefit the 8th Grade Graduation Trip and the Hartland Cooperative Nursery School. The Chili winners first place Jenn and George Burne for their Rte 12 Chili, second place Julie Abernathy’s Maple Chili, and third place Dam Good Chili made by Tanner Potter last year’s first place winner. The first place prize for the snow sculptures went to Cal and Silvia Hale for the dog with dog creation. More images from the Chili Cook Off: Photos By Nanci SmugMug Hartland Chili Cook Off Hartland Recreation Department Hartland VT February 2, 2013 Copyright ©2013 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.theverm...