Photos by Nanci Blog

July 29, 2014 Reading Vermont Monday’s thunderstorms caused widespread power outages and road washouts across southern Windsor County. Close to 4 inches of rain fell in a 24 hour period. The towns of Chester and Andover received the worst damage but other towns were also affected. Around 8 p.m. Monday night, Reading Fire assisted the Reading town highway department with a road washout near the intersection of Baileys Mills Road and Town Hill Road. Reading Town crews were out repairing the damage on Tuesday Morning. A half mile stretch of Town Hill RD was damaged. More images:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/July-2014/Washed-Out-Reading-Roads/ Reading Road Washouts Niagara St, Stone Chimney RD, Bailey's Mills and Town Hill Reading VT July 29, 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 squirrels have come down the hill.  Green Mountain Horse Association  will be hosting their  Festival of Eventing  July 28th-August 10th. During the two weeks of eventing, the cross country courses designed by Tremaine Cooper and Janine McLain will feature these two jumps created three years ago during GMHA's cross country upgrade. The Eddy Family generously supported the "squirrel project." $10,000 in prize money will be up for grabs at the competition. For more information or to volunteer for the Eventing Contact Molly Hutchins  molly@gmhainc.org  or call (802) 457-1509. GMHA Squirrels Green Mountain Horse Association Woodstock VT July 27, 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 Vermont Antiques Dealer's Association hosted its 40th Annual Antiques and Art in Woodstock show at the Union Arena in Woodstock on July 26th and 27th. More event images:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/July-2014/Woodstock-Antique-Show/ 40th Annual Antiques and Art in Woodstock The Vermont ADA Show Union Arena Woodstock VT July 26-27, 2014 Copyright ©2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard

July 26-27, 2014 Windsor Vermont This past weekend thousands of spectators attended the Harpoon Brewery's 14th Annual Championships New England Barbecue in Windsor Vermont. Thirty four teams from around the US competed in four categories: Chicken, Ribs, Pork and Brisket. These teams cook for the judges (not the spectators) and are scored from 9 (highest) to 2 (lowest without being disqualified) on the criteria of appearance, taste and tenderness, and the team with the highest composite score wins that category. Scores for each category go toward an overall Grand Champion win (max is 720.) A score of nine is excellent, eight very good, seven above average, six average, five below average, four poor, three bad, and two inedible. The weighted factors for the point system are: appearance -0.5714, taste -2.2858, and tenderness -1.1428. This all seems pretty complicated for eating BBQ. But this is a competitive sport. Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) judges take classes ...

July 28, 2014 White River Junction Vermont New Venue, New Time! Just announced, the Peter Wolf August 23rd show scheduled at the Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon NH has been moved to the Tupelo Music Hall in White River Junction Vermont at 8 pm. The tickets you purchased through Lebanon Opera House Box Office are valid for entry to the show at Tupelo and will be available for pickup at the door. If you already have your tickets or printed them at home, bring them with you to Tupelo the night of the show. Every effort will be  made to insure the seat locations purchased for the LOH show will be the same general location for the Tupelo show   and due to the intimate size of the new venue, all seats will be closer to the stage. If for any reason you aren't able to attend the Peter Wolf concert at Tupelo Music Hall please call Lebanon Opera House box office   at 603.448.0400   for   a refund of your original purchase before August 22 . ...

Some pretty AMAZING shows are coming to the Lebanon Opera House in beautiful downtown Lebanon NH. Peter Wolf Barenaked Ladies Bruce Hornsby Los Lobos Los Lonely Boys Mary Chapin Carpenter with Tiff Merritt Steep Canyon Rangers Richard Thompson So get out your calendars and mark down these dates! AUGUST Saturday August 23, 2014 7:30 pm A Splendid Summer Evening with Peter Wolf Presented by Kirschner Concerts   TICKETS More Photos by Nanci Peter Wolf images:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/PeterWolf More  Photos by Nanci  J.Geils images:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/JGeilsBand SEPTEMBER Sunday September 14, 2014 7:30 pm Barenaked Ladies Presented by  Lebanon Opera House  and Kirschner Concerts   TICKETS Tuesday September 23, 2014 7:30 pm An Evening with Bruce Hornsby (solo) A benefit for Upper Valley Haven Presented by  Lebanon Opera House    TICKETS Tuesday September 30, 2...

New Course Record set by Brian Rusiecki 14:47:35 West Windsor Vermont July 19-20, 2014 This past weekend over 370 Ultra-runners visited our area. The 100 mile loop course (and simultaneous 100 K run) overlap with a 100 mile, 75 mile and 50 mile endurance horse ride. The course passes through West Windsor, South Woodstock, Taftsville, Pomfret, Woodstock, Cavendish, Reading and back to West Windsor. More than 68 generous area land owners granted permission to have their properties traversed.  100K Competitors pass by the GMHA Fields Seventy-100 K runners and over 300-100 milers had registered for the event that sold out in 1.5 hours. By 10:00 AM on Sunday morning-the 30 hour cut-off for the 100 Mile race, 230-100 milers had crossed the finish line. The 5:00 AM cut-off for the 100 K saw 50 runners completing that course. A new course record was set by Brian Rusiecki of South Deerfield MA, he completed the 100 miles in 14:47:35 beating the old record set by Leigh Sc...

Martin Memorial Hall Ascutney Vermont July 16, 2014 As part of their Summer Reading Program , the Weathersfield Proctor Library hosted a morning of science experiments for children. "Fizz Boom Slurp Bang" is "taught" by Swanton Vermont resident Rebecca Rupp. About 18 children had the opportunity to explore chemical reactions during the almost two hour long program. The children's event was sponsored by The Friends of the Proctor Library. More images from the days events:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontPlaces/WeathersfieldProctorLibrary/2014-Galleries/Fizz-Boom-Slurp-Bang/ Fizz Boom Slurp Bang Science Experiments With Rebecca Rupp Part of the Fizz Boom Read, Summer Reading Program Weathersfield Proctor Library Ascutney VT July 16, 2014 Copyright ©2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com More images: http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/WeathersfieldProctorLibrary

In its second year at Ascutney Mountain Resort, The Vermont Mountain Bike Fest saw the largest turnout for the event to date. About 115 people had pre-registered for the race and by Saturday afternoon about 225 more people had registered in person.  Event organizer and Executive Director of  Vermont Mountain Bike Association  (VMBA), Tom Stuessy says "We love hosting the event here at Ascutney, everything is right on site: camping, vendors, food, and about 40-50 miles of excellent trails." The trails he's referring to are the  Ascutney Trails , a network of non-motorized, recreational trails that both scale the peak and hug the western base of Mount Ascutney in southeastern Vermont.  The festival ran from Friday evening July 11 through Sunday afternoon July 13. The event hosted guided trail rides on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Folks just signed up on the info board for the various events they wanted to participate in. The rides ranged in skill level an...

Chester Vermont resident, U.S. diplomat L. Paul Bremer, 72, spoke to a packed room at the Weathersfield Meeting House in Weathersfield Saturday evening. The second annual "A Summer Evening with Friends and Neighbors" was hosted by the Weathersfield Proctor Library 's Fundraising Committee. The evening was one of many fundraisers held by the group hoping to fund a $1.1 million expansion project to the 1902 library in Ascutney Vt. Bremer's one-hour talk entitled "Is America Still An Indispensable Nation?" focused on what he says is the need for the United States to increase its influence around the world, especially in the Middle East. After the talk, Bremer hosted a question and answer session. Weathersfield resident, Martha Hennessey read a letter about the events following the US Invasion of Iraq. Bremer calmly responded and continued to take questions. Hennessey left the room and quietly returned with a sign and stood next to Bremer, the sign re...

July 10, 2014 South Woodstock Vermont On a beautiful Thursday evening, the Green Mountain Horse Association hosted its Sixth Annual Team Jumper Challenge and Lobster Bake . Teams of three or four riders compete against the clock for the fastest combined score. During the day Teams competed in 2' 6" Jumps and 3' Jumps. These teams were allowed only one professional per team. Starting at 5:30 pm, Teams made up of any three or four riders competed on jumps at 3' 6' in height. Horse and rider combination were only allowed to enter at one fence height. Many area riders competed with    Pirouette Farm Flyers  based in Norwich Vermont coming in third with a combined time of 202.25 seconds. Second Place went to  Team Reintree -operated by Jerry and Marc Dean of Canton NY finishing with a combined time of 201.77 seconds. And First Place was awarded to  Horton's Farm   of Grantham NH with a combined time of 199.97 seconds. The Lobste...

Lebanon Opera House Lebanon NH July 13, 2014 North Country Community Theatre 's 42nd musical production "Carousel" opened on Friday night July 11, 2014 at the Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon NH. They have three more performances scheduled for July 17, 18, and 19 all at 7:30 pm. TICKETS Carousel is the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics) (Oklahoma! was their first collaboration). The 1945 work was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline.  The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with mill-worker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He attempts a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. Jacob Lenz plays Billy Bigelow (both his mom and dad, Elaine and Jim, are also in this production) with a certain swagger and conf...

West Windsor VT July 4, 2014 The gloomy skies did not dampen the spirits of the 200 or so people who turned out for the 4th of July Parade down Rte 44 in West Windsor VT. Folks were greeted by the biggest flag hanging from West Windsor's Ladder 1 and Ascutney's Ladder 1 (the flag was borrowed from the Ludlow Fire Department.)  Albert Bridge Elementary School hosted the annual Bicycle Parade. There was lots of Flag Waving. A great time was had by all and the rains held off! More parade images:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/July-2014/West-Windsor-July-4th/

Paul Bremer Saturday July 12, 2014 6:30 pm Weathersfield Center Meeting House Weathersfield Center RD, Weathersfield VT On Saturday July 12th at 6:30 pm at the Weathersfield Center Meeting House ( Weathersfield Center RD ), The Weathersfield Proctor Library Expansion Committee will host its Second Annual "A Summer Evening with Friends and Neighbors." This year's special guest is Paul Bremer. Bremer, is an American diplomat. He is most notable for leading the occupational authority of  Iraq  following the 2003 invasion by the  United States . He served in this capacity from May 11, 2003 until June 28, 2004, serving as head of state of the internationally recognized government of  Iraq . He is a  part time resident of  Chester   Vt. Hors d'oeuvres and  wine will be served, along with fabulous desserts.   A silent auction will also be featured.  $15.00 donation at the door. All p...

For the second summer in a row, Hartland Recreation and   Hartland Community Arts are hosting a Fiber Arts Camp . The camp has been taught by Hartland Elementary School Arts Teacher, Janet Cathey. This year six girls are enrolled, 6th graders: Bea Wendling, Shelby Varley, Isabel Hamilton, Lilly Kendall, 5th grader Karina James and 4th grader Ceci Wendling. The girls are making pom-poms, a community weaving project,  Yarn Bombing around the school and creating batik t-shirts and silk scarves.  Making pom-poms.  A community recycled cloth rug. Yarn Bombing around the school. More Fiber Arts images:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/July-2014/Fiber-Arts-Camp/ Fiber Arts Camp Hartland VT July 1, 2014 Copyright ©2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard