Fran Lynggaard Hansen
Fond memories remain in the ashes and rubble of a long-vacant neighborhood bar
BRATTLEBORO-"I always thought that the Sportsman's Lounge on Canal Street in Brattleboro was our own version of the television show Cheers," says Gordon Bristol, a regular customer for many years.
The vacant structure burned in a spectacular explosion of flame early in the morning of Nov. 7, days before it was scheduled to be demolished.
‘She was 4-foot-6, but she left her mark on this town’
Family and friends honor the life of Annie Richards, 45, who built community and imbued her world with safety and love for children — especially those in the throes of trauma
BRATTLEBORO-Much of southern Vermont is remembering the impact of the life of Ann (Annie) Richards, who died unexpectedly on Oct. 11 at the age of 45. A proud Vermonter whose family roots dated back to the mid-1700s, Richards, who had a private practice as a family psychiatric nurse practitioner...
An agricultural love story
Longtime Dummerston farmer Bill Schmidt will speak about Elysian Hills Farm, where he and his beloved wife, Mary Lou, grew thousands of Christmas trees and introduced the Gilfeather turnip to a new generation of Vermonters
DUMMERSTON-"I called her the Gilly Filly of Vermont," says Bill Schmidt, who is speaking about his wife Mary Lou and their farm, Elysian Hills. And with good reason. Mary Lou Schmidt died in 2021 at the age of 94. She and Bill spent 40 years together at the farm,
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After the flood
BRATTLEBORO-Brian Robertshaw, owner of Beadniks at 117 Main St., had just gone downstairs - ironically, with a watering can, to get water to care for the plants inside his shop on the ground floor - when he heard an unfamiliar high-pitched hiss. "At first, I thought it might have been a broken water pipe because it's an old building and pipes have burst before," said Robertshaw as he recounted the Sept. 23 fire that displaced tenants and turned his business...
‘They were tough times, but we made the best of it’
DUMMERSTON-Eleanor Emery will turn 97 years old in October - a fact that she conveys with some pride. "Who knew?" Emery asks, throwing her head back and laughing. Born at the family home in West Guilford in 1927, Emery remains as sharp as a tack. This time of year often stirs two memories. The first is of the one-room District No. 1 schoolhouse, where Emery was a student from 1933 to 1941. "My school years were during the Great Depression.
Saving the Estey legacy
BRATTLEBORO-MaryJane Renaud Giroux remembers the day in 1961 when her father, Hyacinth Renaud, came home from work with some news. "I bought the Estey buildings," he told her mother, Louise. "With what?" she replied. Giroux recalls the story, laughing at it as her father would have. More than 60 years after that conversation, vestiges of the Estey Organ Company are front and center in her home, which is decorated with several framed blueprints of the instruments, including a sketch of...
Keeping the wheels turning
DUMMERSTON-Maybe you knew Joe Cook as a local banker at Vermont National Bank during his 18 years there. Perhaps you knew him when he started a second career as a lawyer at his firm, Corum Mabie Cook Prodan Angell & Secrest in Brattleboro. But more than likely, you've recognized Cook on the road on his bicycle wearing his helmet and bright cycling shirts. "I bought my bicycle 30 years ago. It's a touring bike, made for long-distance travel," the 70-year-old...
BMH Auxiliary celebrates a century of service
BRATTLEBORO-JoAnne Rogers has been a member of the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Auxiliary since 1993. "I joined the organization and was the manager of the gift shop and the coffee shop at BMH," says Rogers, the organization's current president, who remembers "so many wonderful ladies" with whom she has worked over the years. The names of members past and present are a who's who of Brattleboro women. "If you've lived in this town for very long, you'll likely remember the BMH...