As the new school year begins, it’s probably a good idea for all of us, not just students, to brush up on our math skills. Let’s try a few questions. Here’s the first one: How many seconds in eleven years? Is everyone reaching for a calculator? The answer is 346,896,000. Next try this: What sum multiplied by itself will produce 998,001? Answer: 999. How did you do? Well, now consider this: in 1810, a six-year-old Vermont boy answered both of these questions in 8 seconds. His name was Zerah Colburn

Born in 1804 in Cabot, VT to Abia and Betsy Colburn, Zerah was the sixth in a family of eight children.… Read More

Norwich Volunteers Take Active Role in Orchard Work

Some dozen volunteers from the town’s Willing Hands will once again be offering their time and labor this year at the Whitman Brook Orchard in Quechee. The Norwich-based non-profit serves people in need of all ages throughout the Upper Valley, having developed an efficient system for food recovery and distribution.

“We arrange for regular pick-ups with over 40 food donors and deliver to at least 58 organizations every week, all year long,” said Executive Director Gabe Zoerheide. “Together we provide one small but effective solution to a very big challenge.”

Many families and individuals in the Upper Valley struggle to make ends meet.… Read More

The wave of Black Lives Matter protests sweeping across and beyond the US has forced white Americans to open their eyes to racial abuse and injustices that are centuries old. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and more recently the shooting of Jacob Blake, have sparked a series of protests, demonstrations, and campaigns across all sectors of society. The music industry shut down for #blackoutfriday. Books about Blackness, Whiteness, and antiracism have shot to the top of bestseller lists as non-Black people strive to learn more about an issue that we have had the privilege to ignore for too long.… Read More

Global pandemics are nothing new. From prehistoric times to today, man has faced devastating diseases that have changed the course of history or, worse, ended civilizations altogether. What is novel, however, as local resident and historian Sarah Rooker discovered recently, is the telltale stories that accompany them. “Hanover High School rising senior Lauren Pidgeon and I had been researching the 1918 influenza epidemic in Norwich and realized there was very little information,” said Rooker, director of the Norwich Historical Society (NHS). “All we really had were newspaper clippings. Diaries and letters from the time casually mentioned it, but there weren’t enough to really gain insights into the community’s experiences.”… Read More