Photos by Nanci Blog

There were no horse trailers. There were no feed buckets, water buckets, saddles or bridles but there were hobby horses (stick horses) of all kinds and colors. One young man, Matt Tidwell even competed with "Godzilla" his prized stick "horse." There were unicorns, a purple horse and even a stick cow! On Sunday, Jill Delaney of West Windsor opened Delaney Stables on Sheddsville Road to a "Horseless Horse Show." The first annual event she said. Delaney came up with the idea over the winter and mapped out a cross country course, a trail class and three indoor events: Dressage, Jumping and Barrel Racing. Delaney said "This show is about having fun while learning some of the different things that can be done with horses." Admission to the show was $3 (or a bag of apples or carrots) and open to children and adults a like. Competitors were invited to bring their own stick horse but a few were available to borrow during the competitions. High ...

Union Arena hosted “The Great Woodstock Resale”, a community-wide indoor flea market/yard sale sponsored by Norman Williams Public Library on Saturday.  Antique dealers joined area neighbors to offer everything from flea market bargains to furniture, decorative accessories, kitchenware, outdoor gardening and patio items, and much more. If you’re looking for it, you could find it in the more than 45 spaces of great “stuff.”  Coffee, doughnuts and lunch were served. Admission was $3 benefiting the Norman Williams Public Library in Woodstock (children under 12 were admitted free). Or a donation of  four good books for the library's ongoing Foyer book sale could get you in free too. More images:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/May-2014/Great-Woodstock-Resale/ Great Woodstock Resale To Benefit the Norman Williams Public Library Union Arena Woodstock VT May 24, 2014 Copyright ©2014Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The V...

WUHS Senior Elizabeth Camb met with National Park Service employee Kat Robbins. She told Robbins she wanted to attend YES the Youth Environmental Summit. Camb came home with many ideas about expanding the current WUHS composting efforts. Currently, the cafeteria employees compost material collected during food preparation. Camb and fellow senior Olivia Clement would like to see this expanded to post consumption composting for the whole school. Both Camb and Clement attend Mr. Brennan's Ideas Class. They wanted to come up with a long term project. They designed an indoor collection method of composting first then found that with limited time left in their school careers and the interest in leaving behind something sustainable for the school they re-focused on an outdoor facility. They did their research, set a budget and even visited Thetford Elementary School's hugely successful composting project which is jointly run by the school and Cedar Circle Farm. Project design and p...

Arnie Howe taught agriculture at the Woodstock Union High School for 36 years. He hand picked his successor, John Hiers who has been with the school for 21 years. On Saturday, Hiers lead a group of Howe's family and friends on trip down greenhouse lane that ended in the dedication of the new greenhouse as Arnie's Place. The current greenhouse, built in 2005, provides space for the Horticulture and Advanced Horticulture classes students to experiment, grow and test plant materials. Some plants are grown for the Woodstock Garden Club's annual plant sale, the Town's Hanging baskets that decorate the lamp posts, the food shelf garden and also a few plants are grown for the senior center. The new greenhouse dedicated on Saturday was constructed by Colby and Tobiason Custom Builders with $4000 in labor and materials being donated to the project. The design was conceived by 35 year WUHS employee Laurel Tobiason and the horticulture students. Tobiason is the teachi...

The Weathersfield Proctor Library Capital Campaign Committee hosted a "Kiss A Pig" Fundraiser on Friday night. Folks volunteered to be voted "Pig Kisser" by towns folk at $1 per vote. About 75 people attended Hot Dog party and Pig Kissing.  Weathersfield Elementary School Principal JeanMaire Oakman came in first place with 300 votes, followed by Historical Society President Ginger Wimberg and Library Board Trustees Chair-Ernie Shand. "Spot" the pig owned by Lynn Esty was a good sport through the kissing and can be proud to know he helped raised over $900 for the Library's Expansion Fund. Potential Pig Kissers Kiss A Pig and Hot Dog Party A Benefit for the Weathersfield Proctor Library Capital Campaign Fund Martin Memorial Hall Ascutney VT May 16, 2014 Copyright ©2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard

What's 42 feet long, travels either by container ship or three (3) 53' tractor trailers..."A T.rex named Sue. "Sue" has traveled the world and this week she arrived at the Montshire Museum in Norwich Vt. She will be on exhibit in the Upper Valley from May17 through September 7. The exhibit combines thrilling science, engaging educational activities, and blockbuster appeal in one of the most successful U.S. traveling exhibitions ever. At 42 feet long (12.8 m.) and 12 feet high at the hips (3.66 m.), Sue is the largest, most complete, and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered, and a dramatic, life sized skeleton cast is the centerpiece of this exciting exhibition. One of the largest flesh-eaters to have ever inhabited the Earth, Sue was a Tyrannosaurus rex that roamed North America about 67 million years ago. The “Tyrant Lizard King,” with its extraordinarily powerful jaws and massive serrated steak-knife teeth, still dominates popular perc...

The Hartland Recreation Department  hosted its annual Truck Extravaganza on Saturday. Children have the opportunity to check out various trucks and other heavy equipment. More  Photos by Nanci  event images:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/May-2014/Truck-Extravaganza-2014/n-NGCFr/ Truck Extravaganza 2014 Hartland Recreation Center Hartland VT May 10, 2014 Copyright ©2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard:  http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard

The Yoh Players celebrated William Shakespeare's 450th Birthday by performing a two-act play called "Happy Birthday Sweet William." According to the playbill: "We believe that if Elizabethan men could play the roles of men and women, then so can American women play the roles of women and men." Eight very talented young women played roles from some of The Bard's most famous plays: Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew to name a few. The lone male actor in the troupe did not appear until the very final scene-"Sweet" William himself. More performance and backstage images:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/May-2014/Yoh-Sweet-William Yoh Theatre Players Perform Happy Birthday, Sweet William Woodstock Union High School, Yoh Theatre Woodstock VT May 9, 2014 Copyright ©2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.thevermontstandar...

On Friday, The Hartland Recreation Center hosted an afternoon of storytelling with New London NH resident, Simon Brooks . Despite the chilly weather about fifty children and a few adults sat on benches or cold concrete to hear Brooks weave his tales. He told the Puget Sound Native American tale of "The Raven", the Creator and Trickster God. He also told a World Story of "The King with Donkey Ears", which the children found very funny. He even told the "true" tale of Goldilocks. More Photos by Nanci images of the event:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/May-2014/Simon-Brooks-Storyteller/n-MJFkd/ Simon Brooks, Storyteller Hartland Recreation Center Hartland VT May 9, 2014 Copyright ©2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard

Sharp Dressed Men Woodstock Country Club Woodstock VT May 3, 2014 Woodstock Union High School hosted its annual Junior/Senior Prom on Saturday night. The Woodstock Country Club was decorated with gold balloons and hip hop music filled the air. The young ladies were dressed to the nines! And "selfies' were being taken very frequently. After the ballots were counted the King and Queen and their Court were announced. The Prom King and Queen and Their Court More event images:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/May-2014/WUHS-Prom-/ Woodstock Union High School Junior/Senior Prom Woodstock Country Club Woodstock VT May 3, 2014 Copyright ©2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard

Hartland Vermont May 3, 2014 The folks of Hartland come together for many events but it seems like just about everyone pitches in on Green Up Day. The first Saturday of May, Vermonters take to the roads to pick up the trash that has "magically" appeared after the winter snows have melted. Hartland residents are no different. Ginny White, Event Organizer said the day was a huge success. She signed up so many people to help out. Folks went out on their assigned routes and returned with green bags filled with roadside trash. After a morning of picking up other people's trash, the volunteers enjoyed a lunch hosted at Damon Hall. More event images:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/May-2014/Hartland-Green-Up-Day/ Hartland Green Up Day 2014 and Green Up Day Luncheon Damon Hall Hartland VT May 3, 2014 Copyright ©2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy http://www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Gall...

Tupelo Music Hall Vermont White River Junction, VT Friday May 2, 2014 Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck rumbled into the Freight House (aka  Tupelo Music Hall ) Friday night. Always a crowd favorite, the place was packed. Good to see r Lee Adams on keys (he recently moved out of the area.) Bow should be known as the Banjo Man of Vermont, as he played a few for the dancing crowd that night. Each "banjitar" or as Thayer calls two of them "Bowjitars" has a unique sound. Thayer has carefully crafted songs to highlight the special qualities of each of them. More than a few times during the night the A.C. unit kicked on, trying to cool down the crowd. But Perfect Trainwreck kept them on their feet, stomping their feet and swaying well into the night. The Mallett Brothers Band from Portland Maine opened the show and were very well received by the crowd. (They are on this reviewer/photographers radar now!!) Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck...

Hotel Coolidge White River Junction, VT Friday May 2, 2014 The Coolidge Salon Series continued on Friday featuring Jim Rooney and friends. The amazingly low $10 ticket got you light snacks, great poetry and very cool music. Rooney's performance was third in a series of six. Series founder and Hotel Manager, David Briggs welcomed the audience, and introduced the Hotel's new "Green Card" Promotion. Contact:  davidbriggs@hotelcoolidge.com  for more information. Jim Rooney was joined by longtime friend and musician Pat Alger and Colin McCaffrey . Rooney told the full house he got his start at the Hayloft Jamboree and the song that did it was a Hank Snow song "Music Makin' Mama From Memphis." He explained that the second of two "Party Pieces" was a 1952 Hank Williams song "Honky Tonk Blues." Rooney took the crowd on a musical trip down memory lane via song and words. He even read a passage from his book "In It For The L...