If you need evidence that community spirit is alive and well here in Norwich, check out the Lyman F. Pell American Legion Post 8 on Beaver Meadow Road. Last November, courtesy of countless local volunteers and notably, Home Depot, the building got some badly needed major renovations.

Sawdust Has Settled

Now that the sawdust has settled, it seems like a different building. Prior to the work, inside walls were painted cement blocks without insulation. Lighting was dim and wiring was not up to code. The porch wobbled. The front door was on its last legs. Old bathrooms were not handicapped accessible. The old kitchen had a tiny sink. Unpaved walkways could be treacherous, especially in winter. You get the idea.

All this had been a thorn in the side of Legion members for a long time. Work would be done piecemeal, but it was clear that a major effort was needed. But how?

Then one day in the fall of 2014, Bob and Betty Armstrong, with the blessing of past commander Jim Harlow, went up to a worker at Home Depot in West Lebanon, N.H., and asked if perhaps the store could help with some small projects. They got talking, and over the next few months, ideas percolated and grew. Home Depot’s Rick Thibodeau worked closely with Bob and Betty as the project expanded, and there were several weeks of planning, site preparation and staging of materials.

Then it was D-Day. Truth be told, it did look like an invasion. For two long days, legions of workers (nobody got an accurate count because the number changed all the time) attacked the job.

Home Depot made this a district project, and sent about 60 workers from ten stores, all volunteering without extra pay. They brought the necessary tools with them and the retailer even gave the Legion a $9,500 grant for supplies.

Legion members and others in the community worked side-by-side with the Home Depot Team and several local contractors who donated time and materials. Tom Slater, a Legionnaire and area carpenter, was the team leader for the interior renovations and did much of the finish work.

Both Tom and Lyle also spent a good deal of time completing the “punch list” items which always need to be accomplished to bring a project to a successful conclusion. The two-day transformation was amazing. “The look and feel is so much more hospitable to all who enter the building,” says Legion member Richard Neugass. “People who come to the Thursday night cribbage games talk about how much brighter it is, and how the main meeting room seems bigger.” Neugass singles out Post Commander Lyle Favreau for “putting a ton of effort and physical labor into the project,” and Lyle gives complete credit to Bob and Betty Armstrong for overseeing the renovations.

Open to the Community

The renovations allow the Legion to open up the building more often to the public for personal and community events. They are asking for only a small donation to cover expenses. Kitchen upgrades include new appliances, new sink, and larger counter space to allow easier preparation and delivery of food.

A new storage shed frees up space inside the building, which was cramped with supplies and materials that were necessary but used only sporadically. A grant from Dr. Peter Batson, a Legion member who died in 2014, funded the shed project, which was supervised by Commander Lyle.

Remember all the problems with the building we listed above? All fixed. New front door, repaired porch, walkway with pavers  –  the whole nine yards. (You can ask most any Legion member about the origin of that expression.) Says one observer, “It was so beautiful seeing everyone pulling together on this. There can be a lot of infighting in Norwich sometimes, but one thing is clear  –  we can still work together.”

For me, the Green is just irreplaceable,” says longtime Norwich Recreation director Jill Kearney Niles. There is heartfelt emphasis in her voice as she lists a few of the activities she organizes on the Green: practice for multiple sports, including soccer, cross-country running, biking basics, and lacrosse (starting in kindergarten). “After-school programs are so popular because they’re so convenient, like parent-pitch softball,” she continues. Organized sports programs are just a fraction of what happens on the Green, Norwich’s inviting, open center, artfully framed by civic, educational, and spiritual focal points.

The Rec. department also sponsors Touch-A-Truck day, producing deliriously happy kids of many ages by offering work vehicles like the Town’s dump truck, loader, backhoe, police cruiser, and fire truck for examination and tactile exploration.

The school owns most – the fraction varies with who’s talking – of the Green; the corner with the water fountain (donated by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union) and the bandstand belongs to the town. One group that focuses on water, though not from the fountain, is the Hosers, the dedicated volunteers who struggle to keep the ice rink in good shape. Weather may not cooperate, but the Hosers don’t give up. When there is ice, it gets used long past dark. Seize the moment!

One of the biggest events on the Green, of course, is the Norwich Fair, now organized by the Lions Club. For many years the Fair was a project of the churches of the town, but when Marion Cross School expanded, the construction spread out on the Green. The Fair moved to land on Route 5 which eventually became Dresden school playing fields. At that point, roughly 10 years ago, the Fair returned to the Green. Ed and Joyce Childs, hardworking Lions, have been stalwart Fair organizers for years. “I like having it back on the Green,” says Ed. “The event became more family-focused when it moved back to the Green.”

Evolution has happened. In the old days on the Green the major rides were a Ferris wheel and the swings. A parade was a big feature of Saturday morning, with floats, decorated bicycles, and yokes of oxen (ready for the ox-pull later in the day). In the Rt. 5 years, there was no parade, and energy for parade participation has generally not resurfaced. Faster rides such as the Tilt-a-Whirl took over from the Ferris wheel. The popular Dunk Tank appeared, where generous-hearted town celebrities offer their dignity for the Lions fundraiser.

The Fair is about 65 years old. “I don’t think we’ve had any disasters,” says Ed, aside from rain. “But people who live in Norwich – if they can’t go today because of rain, they’ll go tomorrow.” Joyce recalls working in the bank Friday afternoon as final setup proceeded, and having people come in saying “You’ve got to do something!” This was back when the churches still ran the Fair, and the name had gone up on the funhouse: Satan’s Curse. “I couldn’t leave because we were really busy,” she remembers, but the sign was removed. Still, when Saturday brought torrents of rain, people wondered…

The Norwich Women’s Club sponsors summer concerts in the bandstand. People bring blankets or folding chairs, and maybe picnics, as they gather to hear local and regional musicians. The style of the music varies, but the entertainment from people-watching and catching up with neighbors are reliable constants.

A subtle feature of the Green is the collection of trees that surround it. Ever notice? They’re all different. In the late ’60s conservationist “Bill Ballard wanted to create an arboretum of trees that would survive this kind of weather,” says Bill Hammond. There were plaques on the fence identifying the varieties, but then the fence was replaced. Now the third grade is working to identify the trees. They have a list of what was originally planted, some of which have been cut down. A real world challenge.

Spring events on the Green include MCS’s Mayfest, in which all the students participate in traditional songs and dances. The whole community is welcome, says Hammond. A more elaborate seasonal festival is the summer solstice celebration put on by Revels North in June. Retiring Production Manager Bonna Wieler lists just a few of the features of the event: Morris dancing, singing of multiple sorts, mummers, crafts, and food. “It’s grown out of community celebration,” she says. After all the hard work to produce the event, “the rewards are everything from the look on a kid’s face, and the joy you see on the Green when people celebrate together. Community is built among people who sing together, and there’s the joy of carrying forward beautiful traditions honoring the earth. The community strengthens when it celebrates together.”

It’s hard to keep your eyes on your hosts when you visit Greg and Toni Prince’s house in Union Village, because intriguing objects and vistas draw your attention here, there, and everywhere. Inviting doorways with glimpses of trees and pastures, a gaggle of toy horses gathered in consultation on a shelf, and an antique sled perched in the corner pull your gaze and attention.

Wood paneling and antique beams warm a high-ceilinged sitting room, part of the Princes’ addition to their 1881 farmhouse. In spite of crisp winter temperatures outside, the space is as cozy and inviting as its owners. While more collections of antiques offer themselves for attention, the eye of a romantic is drawn to a needlework pillow that proclaims “Happiness is being married to your best friend.” Greg and Toni exemplify that happiness.

In their very different ways, Toni and Greg are educational leaders, Greg devoting himself to changing institutions and Toni providing a life-changing experience to children who come to her to learn to ride. Their skills feed and expand on each other. “It began with her,” says Greg, in very real – including chronological and financial – ways. “I was a sailor,” says Greg, “but I married horses.” And they put him through graduate school.

Greg and Toni met at a cocktail party in Washington DC, though neither of them were drinkers. They conversed, but Greg had an appointment elsewhere. “I have to go,” he told her, “but I have a strange question.” He invited her to be his date for a ski week in Vermont that he and a fellow Yale senior were planning. The trip had been an annual event, but for the first three years neither man had managed to find a date for the ski week; now Greg’s classmate had lined up a date, so the pressure was on! A week later Toni responded by telegram, “Twenty-one years of sense and sensibility lead me to accept your invitation.”

After graduation, Greg landed Yale’s fellowship to teach English in China for two years. “The assumption was that since you spoke English, you were qualified to teach it,” he says. Eight weeks of comparative linguistics training provided some information about possible problems from different language structures, and then he was pretty much dropped in at the deep end. “Hong Kong introduced me not just to teaching but to the importance of building institutions as a way to affect long-term change.”

Greg’s first job after China was as history teacher and Director of Guidance and College Placement at Woodberry Forest, an elite Southern prep school in Virginia. Many private academies were being founded in an effort to avoid desegregation; some at Woodberry wanted to desegregate in hope of setting a tide-turning example. Hired to help this cause, Greg occasionally roiled the waters by defending marches in Mississipppi or Freedom Rides when those actions were being condemned by others in the school. In spite of efforts by the headmaster, Greg, and others, the board did not develop sufficient backing for desegregation. The school, as an institution, missed a great chance to be a national leader. Greg was censured twice a year by the board in his three years and told, “If you were a gentleman, you would retire.”

Greg also resisted the idea of tracked classes, and told his “Basic” class they would take the AP test. When the “Basic” students protested, he told them, “You can complain, but I’m not going to bend, and I want to tell you: No matter how peeved you are, it’s nothing to what the AP class’s reaction will be when they find out I’m letting you take the exam.”  At the end of the year, every student had a 3 (out of 5) or better, and the average score of the Basic class was only one-tenth point less than the honors class.

Those “Basic” students rose to meet Greg’s expectations, a pattern many passionate teachers have seen. “I experience it every day,” says Toni of her students, who come for riding lessons but leave with much more. “The kids are like little sponges. They watch the more experienced ones. They’re generous, kind, thoughtful, focused. They want to succeed.”

Greg came to teaching as an adult, but Toni was a trainer of ponies and riders by the time she was ten. “I was a very solitary child,” she says. “Working with horses was the one thing I was very good at. I wanted to be their friend, not their master, not to make them my slave. I was more interested in why they behaved a certain way.

“She was an early horse-whisperer,” Greg chimes in. To Toni, the seemingly mystic connection some call horse-whispering is a matter of paying attention with mind and spirit. Her technique works well with children as with horses, and it’s not magic, she says. “I would [teach horse-whispering] in a heartbeat if I were starting now.”

Arriving in the Upper Valley

As Dartmouth College prepared for coeducation, President Kemeny hired Greg to direct summer programs. The idea was to create a summer term of serious stature, since adding a fourth term would instantly make room for women students. “I was told to make money,” says Greg. “I was hired to be an entrepreneur.” The couple moved to Norwich and found their Union Village farm, which has been Toni’s base ever since.

“One of my proudest achievements at Dartmouth,” recalls Greg, “was some of the faculty I hired for the summer who came from places no one normally ever would have looked. When they came, they were seen to be so outstanding everyone wanted them to stay.” Michael Dorris, from Franconia College, who helped found Dartmouth’s nationally recognized Native American Studies program, was one of these. So was Bill Cook, an African American, who eventually became chair of the English department. When Greg hired Bill Cook, he simply said Bill was from Princeton, and no one ever questioned the decision. When Cook, who’d been teaching at Princeton High School, later heard that story from Greg, he exclaimed, “That explains why some of my colleagues came up to me at graduation and pointed out ‘This one’s from Harvard, that one’s from Yale.’ I couldn’t figure out why they thought I cared.”

After almost 20 years at Dartmouth, Greg became president of Hampshire College. “I was an improbable choice – white, male, Ivy-League,” he says. Student protest was a way of life at Hampshire; Greg helped them understand their actions. When NYPD chief Lee Brown came to speak, a protest was planned but didn’t materialize. Afterwards Greg called the organizers into his office to see what had happened. “We didn’t know he was black,” they explained. Greg hoped he would never again be as embarrassed by Hampshire students as he was that day – they could not have done anything that would have been more disrespectful of Brown. Later a student said, “I never dreamed I’d be at a college where the president would be excoriating me for not protesting.”

Changing Students, Changing Worlds

Greg and Toni with family.

Greg mortgaged his future when he recruited a woman for the Hampshire College board whose dear cause was Pathways to College, which helps disadvantaged students prep for college; for every year she gave to Hampshire, he’d serve on Pathways’ board. The program appeals to his convictions: “The fastest way to change a high school is to get the students to do it.” Part of Pathways’ mission is to help promising students network with each other and become those change agents. Those same skills are the ones they’ll need to succeed in college.

Nowadays, Greg travels for Pathways, while Toni continues to care for her six ponies, which she does without help. She gives lessons in the summer, but does not train year-round with an indoor ring. She hopes kids try different sports, or take some time off – and the ponies too. “People mostly have horses now, but ponies are more like cats,” she says affectionately. Soon the place will once again be full of children “hanging around, helping each other get it done,” she adds. “Children are incredible teachers, because they’re there, or they have been there. If you give them an opportunity, they run with it. Parents get it – this place is not competitive. The kids learn partnership, self-control, and joy.”

David Macaulay

To be inside the Norwich studio of illustrator/writer David Macaulay is to be aloft in the cozy company of sketchpads, stacks of tracing paper, shelves of art and history books, 3-D models, collected birds’ nests, and one kitty named Scribbles. Awash in natural light from four large windows, the studio is attached to the home he shares with his wife, Ruthie, their two children, another cat, and three dogs. David’s son, Sander, is at home, attending Hanover High School, and daughter Julia is at UVM and “loving it.”

While Macaulay is a well-known face around town, he is also known the world over for his children’s books which feature the inner workings of machines and the human body, as well as the design and purpose of buildings, from mosques to castles.

Since winter, one wall of Macaulay’s studio has been pinned with sketches he’s made of a particular ship: the SS United States. The nearly 1000-foot long boat is not only the subject of Macaulay’s forthcoming children’s book, it is the vessel that carried him and his family from England to the United States in 1957. Readers will find the giant steamship visually dissected in classic Macaulay style, while getting a peek into Macaulay’s view as a child.

Growing up, Macaulay’s parents helped foster his imagination by example. Both mother and father enjoyed making things and understanding how they work. His father worked with textile machinery and his mother was a craftsperson. Sewing, embroidery, and cutting wood were all part of home life.

“My parents were both makers of things,” Macaulay said. “Anything they needed, they made. Seeing how things are made starts you on the road to understanding how things are made. That is the key to curiosity and that leads to imagination.”

While playing in the woods was his favorite pastime, on those rainy England days he’d be indoors creating special worlds. He recalled in particular placing toy soldiers in his mother’s flower pots and creating a ski lift from spools of thread to carry them to the top of the curtain rods.

The Macaulay family moved to New Jersey in the late fifties when David’s dad was recruited to license textile machines in the U.S. While dad flew to the States to get things in order for the move, David, his mom, and two siblings, took to the sea on the SS United States, a massive ocean liner 100 feet longer than the Titanic.

To write about the ship, Macaulay is doing a lot of research, including reading books and interviewing friends with backgrounds in history. When he was afloat on the ship as a child, he admits he was “bored” and more interested in watching movies that were played for passengers than checking out the ship. Now docked in Philadelphia, the boat is owned by the SS United States Conservancy, an organization dedicated to preserving this historical boat, currently in danger of destruction.

The book ends upon the Macaulay family’s arrival in the U.S., but of course David’s own journey in life was only just beginning. After several years in New Jersey, the family moved to Pawtucket, RI, and eventually Macaulay attended the Rhode Island School of Design to study architecture.

While he did do some drawing here and there in his youth, he preferred to make things. In high school his drawing was mechanical and for attention, he explained. In college, he said that he “didn’t have the courage to be an illustrator or painter. Those weren’t real jobs.”

And yet upon graduation, Macaulay felt architecture was not for him. He wanted a creative role in which he had more control. While a student at RISD, he worked for an interior designer who was very encouraging of his illustrations, and whenever an opportunity for graphic work came up – such as designing a menu cover at a local restaurant – Macaulay took it.

“I kept looking for freelance illustration work,” he said. “I began to illustrate books written by friends, and I started to see how words and pictures came together.”

Eventually Macaulay began work on what would become his first book, Cathedral. When Macaulay brought his book to an editor, the story was actually one of fantasy, merely featuring a cathedral in the background.

“The editor said, ‘we don’t need more fantasy,’ but he was drawn to the cathedral,” Macaulay explained.

And thus was born Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction, featuring intricate pen-and-ink drawings and descriptive text of all aspects of a French Gothic cathedral.

While the subjects of his books are often quite grand in scale, in his day-to-day life, he prefers the dynamics of a small town. He and his family moved to Norwich about 11 years ago.

“I enjoy walking the dogs around town at night,” where Macaulay said he enjoys passing the lit-up windows of the Norwich Inn and seeing people dining and laughing, or catching a glimpse of square dances or fencers with swords through a window at Tracy Hall.

“There are these little pockets of life throughout town. The scale is so human.”

Norah Lake of Sweetland Farm, managing some of her chickens

Agriculture has always been an important component of the commerce of the Upper Valley. Dairy farms, cornfields, and orchards have long dotted the area’s landscape. Though these well-known farm landmarks still are common, there is a new and thriving area of agricultural commerce now found in our area – the small, local, independent food producer.

Shopping local for food products, as well as other types of goods, continues to grow in popularity. With the concern about additives in food products, both nationally and internationally, knowing the source and maker of the foods one buys is of greater concern than ever. Nothing seems to put one’s mind at ease more than buying what you eat from your neighbor.

In the town of Norwich alone, there are numerous small farms and specialty food producers. Susan Zak, owner of Bakewell, is one such producer of unique, local foods. Though not a lifelong producer of food products, Zak says, “I was always interested in cooking and baking.”

While living in New York, Zak took many cooking classes. After moving to Vermont, Zak attended cooking school at the New England Culinary Institute. Upon completing classwork there, in 2008 Zak opened her business, Bakewell, from her home in Norwich.

Though the name Bakewell might give one the impression she only produces baked goods, Zak creates many types of food products through her business. “I do a wide range of sweet and savory products,” she says. Quiches, almond cakes, whole grain salads, and pastries featuring vegetables and goat cheese, are just some of her creations.

Another transplant to the Upper Valley who has created a local food business is Paula Alexandrescu, owner of My Brigadeiro, a specialty chocolate shop in Hanover. Alexandrescu, who lives in Norwich, started the business in her home in 2012. In late 2014, she opened her store on Main Street in Hanover, though she continues to do some of her chocolate production out of her Norwich home. “I would have loved to have opened a shop in Norwich,” says Alexandrescu, though she felt to be successful, she needed the greater foot traffic found in downtown Hanover. Still, with her home, her business start, and some of her production in Norwich, Alexandrescu feels a kinship with the Norwich business community. “I’m so proud to be a Norwich business,” she says.

Alexandrescu’s chocolate creations have a tie to traditional Brazilian treats, and are customized with her own recipes and creativity. Having made her special chocolates for occasions such as her son’s birthday, Alexandrescu was encouraged by friends to turn her skill into a business.

When she began her business, Alexandrescu sold her chocolates at several local retailers. She found, however, that with the short shelf life of her chocolates, she really needed to sell her candies herself, from her own storefront. She still does sell the chocolates from a few area stores, including Dan & Whit’s.

Susan Zak also sells most of the food she producers herself, though not from a storefront. Zak works regularly with one of the departments at Dartmouth College, providing food for their events, meetings and seminars. Occasionally, she will cater a private event, or offer her goods at area events, such as the Norwich Historical Society’s annual antique show. Some of her products, primarily frozen dough, can be found at Dan & Whit’s. Killdeer Farm retails some products, including a granola Zak makes. “The granola is super popular,” she says.

Norah Lake, who owns and operates Sweetland Farm in Norwich, sells all of the products her farm produces directly from the farm. At some point, Lake says, she would like to offer her food products through local retailers. For now, however, her customers buy through the popular Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares.

As is true with other area farms such as Killdeer and Cedar Circle, Sweetland Farm offers their clients traditional and specialty vegetable products through the CSA shares. Sweetland also raises their own lambs, pigs, and chickens, with most of the meat they produce sold to the shareholders. One does not go to Sweetland to pick up an individual ham or leg of lamb, however. “We sell whole sides, cut up into the various cuts,” says Lake.

Right now, Sweetland Farm raises about 30 lambs, 15 pigs, and 500 meat chickens a year for processing and sale. “As we get up and running, we’d like to add beef to the mix,” says Lake.

When ready for the market, the lamb and pigs are sent to an area butcher for processing. The meat is available to customers later in the fall, and is USDA certified. The chickens are processed right on the farm, and sold as whole roasters, says Lake. Sometimes there are more roasting chickens available for sale then there are shareholders to buy them, but that is not a problem. In that case, “we often post on the local list serves to let people know chickens are available,” says Lake.

All of these food producers find that being in the Upper Valley, and the Norwich area in particular, is key to their success. “I don’t think that if I started (the business) anywhere else, I would have done as well,” says Brigadeiro’s Paula Alexandrescu. “The support is great,” she says, adding that support from other area businesses has been critical. To succeed, “you have to rely on other businesses,” says Alexandrescu.

Norah Lake says people choose farm CSAs based on geography, and with so many people in Norwich and surrounding towns devoted to quality, locally produced foods, she is thrilled to have her farm in Norwich.

Susan Zak also finds the Norwich area a great location for her business. “People appreciate great food,” she says of area residents.

Working out of her Norwich home, and not a commercial space, is another great advantage, says Zak. “Its been great,” says Zak of working at home, adding, “It allows a lot of flexibility.” That flexibility allows her to constantly try new recipes and new products, Zak says. In order to work out of her home, her kitchen is certified by the Vermont Department of Health, says Zak.

For small, local food producers, farmer’s markets are a natural way to market their products. The Norwich Farmer’s Market is, of course, the “granddaddy” of area farmer’s markets.  In the spring, and again later in the fall, Zak is a regular exhibitor at the Norwich Farmer’s Market. She purposely does not do the market during the warm summer months, as she remarks that pastry does not hold up particularly well outside on a hot day.

When she wasn’t running her retail store, Alexandrescu offered her candies at area food events, but with the store, she does fewer of those events. Chefs of the Valley is one event she does participate in, she says.

All of these local food producers find that adding diversity to their mix of products is essential to maintaining a successful business. Norah Lake mentions that growing a mix of specialty vegetables along with the staples is important, and Susan Zak enjoys experimenting with new recipes and flavors.

New, different flavors are very important in the candy making business, says Paula Alexandrescu. When she began her business, Alexandrescu offered 10 different flavors of her chocolates; today, she has 45 different flavors. “I create flavors for the different seasons,” she says.

Alexandrescu depends on her customers at My Brigadeiro to give her input on her different candies and flavors. “We love opinions from customers,” she says. “Our customers tell us what they like and dislike.”

After opening the shop in Hanover, Alexandrescu decided to expand her offerings beyond candies. “We needed to diversify because of all the space,” she says. As a result, My Brigadeiro now offers coffee, cookies, cupcakes, and cake, made with their own chocolate. Alexandrescu makes these baked goods, just as she does her candies.

Adding diversity to the mix at Sweetland Farm included planting a 200-tree fruit orchard, says Norah Lake. The orchard includes pear trees, plum trees, and 40 varieties of apple trees. As this is the fifth year for the orchard, Lake says, “We are hoping to get our first little crop this year.”

A great advantage small, local food producers in our area have is using locally grown products in their recipes. Alexandrescu mentions she uses local farm cream in her candies. Susan Zak grows and produces many of the ingredients she uses in her creations at Bakewell. Some of the vegetables she uses come from her own garden, she raises chickens for her eggs, and even produces her own maple syrup.

One of the true pleasures of owning and operating any small business is that it allows the owner to take part in all aspects of the production.  Whether it is Susan Zak experimenting with new recipes in her kitchen, Paula Alexandrescu interacting with her customers about what they like, or dislike in her latest creations, or Norah Lake moving her chickens or sheep from barn to pasture on the farm, the ability to be ”hands on” in all aspects of their businesses give these entrepreneurs a great level of satisfaction.