Photos by Nanci Blog

Saturday August 1, 2015 Plymouth VT Back in the early 20th century Plymouth Old Home Day was very popular and continues to be today. The event is a step back in time to a Vermont village that remains as it did in the 1920s.   The day included a special presentation by agricultural historian Paul Wood (sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council ’s Speakers Bureau) at 1:30. Wood spoke about farm patents and how these inventions helped the farmers, especially dairy farmers in our region. There were wagon rides, chicken barbecue, old-time music, sheep shearing, traditional craft demonstrations, and “Clara’s Games” (historic children’s games organized by the Vermont Historical Society ). At 2:47 there was reenactment of Calvin Coolidge’s “Homestead Inaugural” On August 2, 1923, Coolidge was vacationing at his father's home in Plymouth, Vermont. It took several hours for the news of President Harding's death in California to reach the small town. Traditio...

Weathersfield News July 29, 2015 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy photosbynanci@comcast.net My hat goes off to the first responders in Weathersfield. Some were gathered last Saturday to celebrate the life of Patricia Daniels, a big supporter of our fire fighters, when the call went out for a motor vehicle accident on the interstate. The guys dropped everything and ran. By now you've heard this accident resulted in a fatality. I left the Center Meeting House and went to cover the Harpoon BBQ Championships in Windsor . Driving north on I-91 we saw that traffic was backed up past State Street as the State police and emergency personnel cleared that accident. We decided to play it safe and head home using Rte 5. As we got to the interstate overpass at Exit 8 we see another huge traffic back-up. This couldn't be from the single car interstate accident four hours earlier, could it? No, it was a separate accident involving a Subaru Forester and a Golden Cross ambulance. The ...

Ribs at Lester's Roadside Saturday July 25, 2015 Windsor VT This past weekend a little over 7000 people made their way through the turnstiles to attended the Harpoon Brewery 's 15th Annual Championships New England Barbecue in Windsor Vermont. Thirty five 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.) Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) oversees the meat certification prior to cooking and the judging. This year Blazin' Buttz BBQ, from Long Island NY was Grand Champion with a score of 685.6916 and Rhode Hog BBQ was Reserve Champion with a score of 682.2628 State Championship Results may be found at: ht...

Bow Thayer July 23, 2015 Lebanon NH The Lebanon Recreation Front Porch Concert Series is back! This past Thursday night, Bow Thayer performed for a crowd of a couple hundred music lovers. At one point the skies were threatening to open up but held off to a few sprinkles. It turned out to be a great night for music in the park. More concert images:  https://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/BowThayer/2015/Front-Porch-Music/ This concerts series is a collaboration of the Lebanon Rec Depatment, the Lebanon Opera House , and The Point FM Radio Station. It is their 10th Summer of the Front Porch! Performances are Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. in Colburn Park also known as the Town Green across from 51 North Park Street Lebanon, NH. You can enjoy shopping & music at the Lebanon Farmers’ Market from 4-7 p.m. before the concert. Buy dinner or kettle corn or ice cream and settle in for an evening of great FREE music. This series is underwritten by Byrne Foundation, Lebanon ...

July 23, 2015 Woodstock, VT SOAK, SOAK, SOAK could be heard leaking out of the Yoh Auditorium on Thursday afternoon July 23. Close to 200 children and their families joined their teachers and advisors before their Summer S.O.A.K wrap up party and family BBQ. What is S.O.A.K? In its second year, Summer Student Opportunity for Achievement and Knowledge is a four-week summer program hosted by the Windsor Central Supervisory Union and held at Woodstock Union Middle/High School and venues around Windsor and Rutland Counties. Children spend their days building robots, fixing and riding mountain bikes, visiting art museums, swimming, learning Spanish, cooking, gardening, taking college prep courses and so much more. The programs are open for students in Grades 1 through 12 and their days were divided into two sessions, from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.. An Epic Water Balloon Fight was held as a fundraiser, Thursday to help pay for the four week program.  More images from the party:...

July 25, 2015 Weathersfield VT By Nancy Nutile-McMenemy, Vermont Standard Correspondent There were several motor vehicle accidents in the region Saturday, including one on Interstate 91 that killed a New York man. Trent Costello, 22, of Kingston, New York, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, after the car he was riding in hit a tree on the west side of the highway near mile marker 48, state police said in a news release. The driver of the car, McKayla Park, 21, of Oneonta, New York, was taken to Springfield Hospital with unspecified injuries. Hospital representatives were unable to provide information about Park’s condition last night. Both were wearing seatbelts, police said. Police said Park and Costello were traveling south at about 11:30 a.m. when their car left the west side of the roadway in Weathersfield, overturned and struck a tree. The car, a 2000 Subaru Forester, was totaled. Emergency responders closed the southbound lanes of I-91 at Exit 8 in Ascutney, abou...