Photos by Nanci Blog

Sunday 16 November 2014 Weathersfield to Boston to Ireland The Traditions of the Emerald Isle Tour (We booked our trip to Ireland a year ago on Black Friday with Go Ahead Tours .) We dropped Riley, the wonder dog, off at the kennel and drove south to Boston. Our overnight flight from Logan/Boston to Dublin arrived about 4:45 am. We were met by our Tour Director Cathal (pronounced like Karl) in the airport. He popped us in a taxi and off we went to the Maldron/ParnellHotel . Got there at 6 am and luckily there was a room ready for us. Monday 17 November 2014 We crashed, intending to sleep only a few hours but woke up at noon. We decided, after surfing the internet, to try to find The Black Sheep Pub on the corner of Parnell and Capel.  We did find the Pub after asking a few friendly folks and found it to be wonderful. Lots of young folks and a few oldsters too. They had a variety of Galway Bay Brewery beers on tap so Jay was in heaven. I ordered the fi...

Weathersfield News November 23, 2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy photosbynanci@comcast.net Beannachtaí Greetings from the Emerald Isle, Ireland. We flew over last Sunday and have been touring this lovely country all week (we should be arriving back to Weathersfield as this paper is being delivered!) Our adventure started with three nights in Dublin-and no we didn’t see Bono (I believe he was having surgery following a bike accident-not that we would have seen him anyway.) We day tripped to many wonderful sites such as: Dublin- St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Trinity College (Book of Kells), Phoenix Park. County Wicklow (the Hollywood of Ireland-many films are shot here)-Powerscourt (gorgeous gardens), Glendalough (Valley of Two Lakes) Making our way south we hit: County Kildare-The National Stud Farm (famous Irish Thoroughbreds) County Tipperary-Rock of Cashel (12th century stone buildings) County Cork-Cobh (the last stop before Titanic began its voyage across the Atlantic, also the Lusitan...

Weathersfield News November 19, 2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy photosbynanci@comcast.net I had the pleasure of attending a delightful musical this past Friday night, Fish Tale, An Original Musical. The Trumbull Hall Troupe performed this musical at the Lebanon Opera House. The play was directed by Kyle Silliman-Smith and Jodi Picoult was the Executive Producer. With this combination, you know this play had to be off the charts-and it was. Picoult wrote the script and Ellen Wilbur the score. The set and costumes were colorful and amusing Chris Scott and Holly Levison out did themselves. And the actors-what a great group of very talented young adults. In addition to rehearsals, they gave of their time to help support Troupe's charities: they wrote letters to orphans in Zimbabwe (The Zienzele Foundation), helped out at the CHaD HERO Half Marathon and Ripcord 5K (Children's Hospital at Dartmouth ) and hosted a three-week class with children through the Upper Valley Ha...

Weathersfield News November 12, 2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy photosbynanci@comcast.net I hope you all noticed 'Old Glory' flying on the power poles in Ascutney and Perkinsville. The Weathersfield American Flag Project, headed by Lisa and Jeff Slade, raised private funds to purchase the flags and mounts; used volunteers to mount them and as a result the flags are now proudly on display in time for Veterans Day. The flags will be removed for the winter and will reappear just before Memorial Day. The group is still accepting donations (in the form of a check made payable to the Town of Weathersfield mailed to the Town Office at PO Box 550 Ascutney, VT 05030 or contact Lisa Slade 802-291-1475 for more information) so the flags and mounts can be replaced as needed. Signs of November-gray skies, leafless trees and time to wear orange. Youth rifle season in Vermont was last weekend Nov. 8 and 9. Rifle Deer Hunting and Late Black Bear Hunting open Nov. 15 through No...

Veterans Day November 11, 2014 The American Legion Post 48 and Cub Scouts Pack 235 hosted a program honoring the local Veterans at Damon Hall in Hartland on Tuesday. Attending the ceremony were two World War II combat vets: Jimmy Bowers who fought at the Battle of the Bulge and Errol Rice who was shot down over France. Dorothy Cummings was also at the event. She served as an Army nurse on the US Hope. She was working the night shift when the Japanese surrendered. More images from Hartland's salute to their heroes:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/November-2014/Hartland-Veterans-Day/ Later in the day, the students at Albert Bridge School in West Windsor hosted a program honoring their local Veterans. The students read a brief history of Veterans Day, sang a few songs and Thanked the Veterans by handing out Certificates of Appreciation. At the close of the ceremony the 6th grade class went around the gym and personally thanked all the Veterans i...

Stephanie Linton, 24 of Woodstock , was driving her 3 year old son, Jax to child care around 8:30 a.m. Monday morning when their 2011 Hyndai Santa Fe hit a buck on Rte 106. A doe ran across the road followed by a buck. "The deer came out of nowhere, I hit the brakes but I had no place to go" said Stephanie by phone after the accident. Both she and her son are fine, the car is a wreck. The airbags did not deploy. Immediately after the accident, Jax's Dad, Josh, was on the scene and he said his son was fine and said to him "Daddy can we go find the deer?" The deer was badly injured and climbed up into the woods where it later died. Vermont State Game Warden, David Taddei arrived from Townshend and tagged the deer so the Linton family could legally keep it. "We still have deer meat in the freezer from last winter" Stephanie said, this buck will add to it. The vehicle was towed to Woodstock Sunoco waiting on insurance assessment. Ms. Linton is...

Windsor County Partners hosted a Pasta Dinner and Quicksilver Comedy Improv Night at Damon Hall in Hartland Saturday night to kick off 40 years of mentoring in Windsor County . Over 75 people attended the dinner that included chicken from Jake 's in Quechee, Mac and Cheese from Skunk Hollow tavern in Hartland, Lasagna from Windsor Station In Windsor and a beautiful cake from Shaw's in West Lebanon . More images from the evening:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/November-2014/Pasta-and-Comedy-Imrpov/ Pasta Dinner and Quicksilver Comedy Improv Night Hosted by Windsor County Partners Damon Hall Hartland , VT November 8, 2014 Copyright ©2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard:  http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard

Voters in Hartland and West Windsor took to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 4. These two Windsor County towns still hand count every ballot-no machines for them. Voters of all ages cast their ballots. I even ran into a first time voter in Hartland. Cotey Anderegg casts his first vote. More images of Voting Hartland:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/November-2014/Voting-in-Hartland/ West Windsor:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/November-2014/Voting-in-West-Windsor/ Voting in Hartland and  West Windsor West Windsor , VT November 4, 2014 Copyright ©2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard:  http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard

Weathersfield News November 5, 2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy photosbynanci@comcast.net By now you are getting adjusted to our turning the clocks back an hour on Sunday Nov. 2. I for one don't see the point. I'm not a big fan of Daylight Savings Time (DST), and would prefer that we leave the clocks alone. I offer you five reasons why we shouldn't change the clocks: 1.  An unpopular tradition -The main argument against daylight saving time is simple: People don’t like to do it. According to a  Rasmussen report  from March of 2013, only 37 percent of Americans believe that DST should continue, while 45 percent said that the practice was pointless and was not “worth the hassle.” 2.  Farmers -Much of the argument for maintaining DST lies in the belief that the practice is beneficial to farmers. However, the changing hours have little to no effect on the daily tasks required on a farm, there's still the same number of daylight hours. 3. Sa...

Hundreds of Hartlanders attended the Pumpkins In The Park Halloween Party hosted by the Hartland Recreation Department on Friday night. The evening's events included: costume contests, guess the HUGE pumpkin's weight, how many candies in a jar, hay wagon rides and a DJ to dance the night away. More images from the Halloween Party in Hartland:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/November-2014/Pumpkins-In-The-Park/ Pumpkins In The Park 2014 Hosted by Hartland Recreation Department Hartland VT October 31, 2014 Copyright ©2014 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy www.photosbynanci.com For The Vermont Standard: http://www.thevermontstandard.com/ Image Galleries http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard

Reading Town Hall was transformed into a giant Haunted House Friday Night. Complete with ghosts and zombies and a very unusual chef. The Town Hall hosted a Turkey Supper and Old Time Dance a week ago Friday night and the Friends and Neighbors Community Foundation volunteers moved in on Saturday to begin setting up for Fright Night 2014. The Haunted House didn't open until 6:30 p.m. so the children of Reading VT and their families had time to "Trick or Treat" at the houses and businesses in town before the fun really began. Children and families also had the option of enjoying some pizza and desserts before the haunted house opened. There was also the annual Pumpkin Carving Contest with the pumpkins all a glow at the library. More images from the Scary Fright Night:  http://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/November-2014/Fright-Night-2014/ Reading Fright Night 2014 Hosted by Friends and Neighbors Community Foundation Reading VT October 31, 2014 Cop...