A five-mile drive from Norwich along the Connecticut River and a small meander up Route 132 will drop you into a unique portion of Norwich’s history – the hamlet of Union Village, a community shared by two towns and two counties.

Union Village had its start along the Ompompanoosuc River, which begins in Vershire and runs through West Fairlee and Thetford before it joins the Connecticut River in Norwich. The river provided several locations along its banks for the first White settlers to establish water-powered mills. In the 1790s, the Locke brothers erected a grist mill on the “Pompy” about 4 miles from the point where it empties into the Connecticut River. By the turn of the 1800s, John Hall had purchased the mill, and he then added a sawmill. Quite the entrepreneur, Hall also built and managed a tavern in the area and opened the first store. Soon the stage route from Boston, Concord, Hanover, and Montpelier rumbled through the village. With all the success that he brought to the area, the hamlet became known as Hallville.

Hallville had the unique distinction of being divided, smack dab in the middle, by the town line between Thetford and Norwich and the counties of Orange and Windsor. With that division in mind, the name Hallville was dropped. The small hamlet became officially known as Union Village with the opening of the post office in the general store in 1841. Morrill J. Walker,  who was a partner in the store, became the first postmaster.  

The early settlers built a dam north of the village that provided the energy for the mills, and they erected a covered bridge over the flowing water. The water from the dam was led to the mills in a long wooden flume. Each person who purchased land along the river also purchased water rights, but there was a priority system for who could use the water. First on the list was the gristmill, next came the woolen mill with its carding machines, and finally the furniture shop could use water for turning its lathes. By 1851, Phillip Cambridge, the last owner of the woolen mill, where raw wool was turned into cloth, employed 25 to 40 people. In addition, the village had a sawmill, a carriage shop, three shoemakers, a tailor, and a gravestone shop. The businesses were thriving until, after 36 hours of constant rainfall, the flood of 1869 washed away the dam, bridge, and most of the mills.

While the flood of 1869 was a significant blow to the community, a Beers Atlas map from 1877 shows that the area was once again prospering. A bustling general store and post office, owned by the Blasidel family, became the business and social center of the community. According to one resident, “There the men gather in groups to discuss all important topics. And nothing is settled until after it has been thoroughly canvassed on this popular forum.” The storytellers had time on their hands and “took pleasure in repeating their own stories over and over like sailors at sea spinning their yarns.” South of the general store on the Norwich side of the village was a carriage shop, and M. S. Colburn’s Blacksmith Shop and Hall. Along with being the village smithy,  Myron Colburn played a mean E-flat coronet and in 1872 he organized “Colburn’s Cornet Band.”  Members came from various towns, and their uniforms featured lots of silver buttons and plumed hats. They played twice a year for Dartmouth athletic events, at political rallies, and in 1880 took third place at the International Band Tournament held at Lake Memphremagog in northern Vermont.

By 1815 there were enough worshippers in the area that a church was built 2 miles south of Hallville. In 1836 a larger church was built in the village that served both Methodist and Episcopal members. The entire cost of the building was $1,800. The “Centennial Celebration” program from 1936 noted that pews were sold to families to pay for the construction. In 1849 the stewards of the church agreed to raise the preacher’s “allowance” and the church records show that of the six people named as stewards, three were women. “The interest and strength of women’s work here,” explained the Centennial program, “continues to today.” In the early days, the church seemed to be quite formal. “In 1880 it was voted to hold  ‘no entertainment but Christmas in the church’ but behavior patterns changed.” By the 1920s, plays were presented to help pay for “renovation and redecoration.”  “Through prosperity and depression,” concluded the program, “through ‘ups and downs,’ people have rallied to the needs of ‘the little brick church’ and for which she has stood, for a century.”     

Union Village had a one-room schoolhouse, erected “sometime before 1836.” The school was on top of the county line on the river side of the main road. The northern part of the building was in Thetford while the southern half was in Norwich. There was a dividing line of nails through the center of the floor, and according to Ernest Bond, who attended the school, “Norwich children sat on the Norwich side and the Thetford children on the Thetford side.” How strong the division was between the two sides of town is up for debate, but one long-time resident remembered a Thetford vs. Norwich spelling match. “The word that ‘stumped the experts’ was ornithorhynchus (or ni tho rhyn’ chus): An egg-laying mammal with a duck-like bill” (in other words, a platypus). Regardless of any divisions, the two towns shared the expenses of the school.

Because the school hugged the river the only place for a playground was on the road in front of the building. Nonetheless, this was a safe area for recess, “as the road was seldom used and only with horse and buggy.” Perhaps the traffic picked up, for the school was hauled across the road in 1925 and set next to the church. The school closed in 1951 and was sold to the “Pew Owners Association of the Union Village Methodist Church” for $1,005, to be used as a parish house. The building was refurbished and a new kitchen was installed to help with church suppers. As one resident noted, “It seems quite fitting that this schoolhouse should be closely connected with the church there for they always have. I’m sure the little schoolhouse still feels it has its nitch [niche] in the hearts and lives of many people.”

While entirely on the Thetford side of town, the Union Village Dam has had a significant impact on Norwich and its outlying hamlets. Before the dam was built, storms devastated villages along the entire Connecticut River and caused flooding as far south as Springfield, Massachusetts, and New Haven, Connecticut. The November flood of 1927 stands as the greatest natural disaster in Vermont’s history. The flood waters claimed 84 lives, including that of the lieutenant governor at the time, S. Hollister Jackson. More than 1,280 bridges were destroyed, many of which had been built soon after the 1869 flood. In 1936 and 1938, floods turned the Pompanoosuc area near Kendall Station into a lake and washed away bridges and roads in the area. Something had to be done. Dams could not be built on the Connecticut River because it was used for logging and hydroelectric power. So a plan was devised by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1940s to build a series of dams from Rhode Island to the Canadian border along the Connecticut River tributaries. The Union Village dam site was selected to control the Ompompanoosuc River. The 1,100-foot-long 170-foot-high dam was completed in 1950 and was the largest dam built on any of the tributaries. The project had some negative impacts. Several farms were demolished, grazing pastures were lost, and the dam construction blocked the town road to Tucker Hill, so Route 132 was extended up the hill just before the southern entrance to the village.

Union Village is a beautiful place to visit. Although the village store is gone, the brick church and schoolhouse sit on a small hill and welcome visitors to the village. There are places to picnic and hike near the dam. But the covered bridge is one of the best connections to the past. The current bridge has spanned the river since 1867 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974  It is the longest multiple-kingpost span in the state and rests on original abutments of stone that have been capped in concrete. Walk across it today and you can almost hear the clip-clop of a horse-drawn buggy heading up the hill to Thetford.

For a closer look at Union Village, be sure to join the walking tour of the area next summer led by the Norwich Historical Society..

Since 1983, Hartford-Norwich Holiday Basket Helpers has served vulnerable residents in the Upper Valley. What started as a group of friends getting together to support some families who were unable to celebrate the holidays has since evolved into a robust organization. According to Sue Pitiger of Norwich – one of the current organizers – it was Pat Stark, working for the Town of Hartford, who connected the Hartford community with the Norwich community and created a local yearly event. When Pat retired, Pitiger and others such as Sophia Crawford and Carol Loveland, continued the program.

What makes Holiday Basket Helpers a very personalized project is how families are able to define what their children need. With the help of local schools, a list of candidates is created; families are contacted and asked specifically what clothing is needed and what two toys the child would like. Details are important, too. Holiday Basket Helpers wants to get clothing sizes correct, and kids have color preferences! Pitiger asks families, “Does she like ballerinas?” or “Does he only like blue?”

Holiday Basket Helpers then searches for sponsors for each child, and after sponsors drop off gifts at Saint Paul’s Church in White River Junction, the chaotic fun begins. Sue relishes the busy atmosphere of the volunteers who receive and sort the gifts, making sure the sizes are correct. That’s the key, Pitiger says. No six-year-old wants a size 3T hoodie! “We rely on the volunteers to see that all kids get what they want,” says Pitiger. Families receive a gift card for food and other items. Holiday Baskets Helpers also serves seniors who have been identified through agencies such as Meals on Wheels.

December 10th marks the day when families will arrive at Saint Paul’s to collect their gift bags. A joint effort, Boy Scouts help distribute the bags and Willing Hands provide the produce.

The Holiday Basket Helpers find great joy in what they do. Families have expressed their appreciation for the program in notes of thanks. One former recipient is now a volunteer. Gratitude abounds for so many helping and generous hands – the Norwich Lions Club, the Norwich Women’s Club and the Quechee Lakes Elves, to name a few.

While Pitiger relishes the entire process, there are favorite moments. One is when “Santa” and “Mrs. Claus,” played by Jack Candon and his wife of Norwich, come incognito (in street clothes) to Saint Paul’s bearing gifts. The volunteers let out a knowing laugh at the sight of “Santa.” The greatest thrill comes when the last bag is securely closed and all is set for pickup. “It is a glorious moment!” says Pitiger.

Please consider becoming a sponsor or contributing a monetary donation to Holiday Baskets Helpers (HolidayBasketsVT.org).

Matt Pickell, Food Program associate at the Upper Valley Haven, succinctly sums up the work that the Haven does in five words: “Good deeds happen here daily.”

Completing its 40th year in service, the Haven has long been providing shelter, education, food and other support to those in need and continues to do so every day. “The work here is very tangible,” Pickell said, “People come here, they need groceries and they leave with groceries.”

The Haven began its work in 1980, founded officially in 1982 by a group of five Upper Valley citizens in an old farm building on Hartford Avenue, formerly known as Taft Avenue. “At the very beginning it was all volunteers,” said Michael Redmond, who is in the fourth year of his tenure as executive director of the Haven, “There were no paid staff, and there was a host family for the shelter at the site of present-day Hixon House, the Haven’s adult shelter.” From these beginnings, the Haven has grown to a powerhouse of good in the Upper Valley, serving over 10,000 individuals in the past year alone who were in need of food, shelter, or any sort of helping hand.

Renee Weeks, longtime director of clinical services at the Haven, who now works at the Vermont Agency of Human Services, speaks of the Haven’s work as something special: “There’s a phrase around here that we use in-house and we call it ‘Haven magic.’” She tells stories of serendipitous instances such as when a family might be moving to permanent housing out of the shelter and will be in need of a mattress, and half an hour later a donor will call looking to donate a mattress. It’s not just these sorts of instances that make the Haven special though, Weeks said. It’s also the staff: “We refer to our staff as the magicians of the Haven, because not only is it these moments of ‘Wow, I can’t believe that happened right when we needed it,’ but the staff are doing that work every day.”

In addition to the staff and volunteers, the community at large is a huge part of what keeps the Haven rolling day-to-day. Laura Gillespie, director of development and communications at the Haven, sees that on a personal level in her work of raising much-needed funds for the Haven: “People are so frequently and generously thinking of ways to support our work.” Gillespie shares the story of two little kids coming in with their family to donate $17.46 from their lemonade stand. “It’s a joy to do this work,” Gillespie said, “You don’t have to explain to people why they should give and give generously. They get it.”

During the 2021 holiday season, community support came to the Haven in a big way, as it had for the nine years prior. Each December, the Haven runs its “19 Days of the Valley” campaign, during which businesses around the community donate a portion of their sales to the Haven. This holiday season marks the 10th anniversary of 19 Days of the Valley, which was first known as “19 Days of Norwich” and began with Dan Fraser, co-owner of Dan & Whit’s, when a shopper came in to make purchases to help fill the Haven’s food shelf, which she had heard was nearly empty.

“It got me thinking,” Fraser said. “We’re in the food business, there might be something we could do to help support them (the Haven).” Fraser came up with a simple formula – Dan and Whit’s would donate 1% of their sales during the first 19 days of December toward the Haven’s food shelf program. “Then, we started challenging other businesses to do the same thing,” Fraser said. “This (19 Days) is now the largest fundraiser for the Haven.”

The first business to join in was Diane’s Casual Cuts, a Norwich beauty salon that has since closed. Beginning in 2014, Diane’s Casual Cuts went head to head with another local salon, Andrea’s Hair Studio, in a “battle of the beauticians,” competing to see who could raise the most money to support the Haven through the 19 Days campaign. After three years, the hairdressers joined forces, calling their effort “bonding of the beauticians,” and they raised between $20,000 and $40,000 each year.

“It’s businesses and lots of individuals who give at whatever level they like,” Gillespie said. The funds raised by the local businesses are now also matched by the Jack and Dorothy Byrne foundation and in 2020, 19 Days raised more the $421,000 for the Haven. Now, with participation growing all throughout the Upper Valley, 19 Days was able to collect over half a million dollars during last year’s fundraiser. “I am just so buoyed by this community effort on our behalf,” Gillespie said.

The goal of this philanthropic initiative, Fraser said, is “to encourage people to participate and shop locally and support the Haven.” Since the start of the pandemic, shopping locally has become a popular trend, and it makes sense. Not only does it boost the local economy, but, “we need to rely on products that are closer to home and businesses that are independent, because chain stores can’t necessarily react as quickly (to changes in the economy) as an independent store could,” Fraser said.

Since 2013, the fundraiser continues to grow every year. In addition to the monetary contributions from participating businesses, community support is rallied through a series of fun and motivating events, like the annual Norwich “Turkey Trot” (which serves as an unofficial kickoff to 19 Days), a flash mob of angels and elves at the Ledyard Bridge waving to passing cars, and a pancake breakfast put on by Mascoma Bank. Ledyard National Bank, who usually hosts a grilled cheese lunch during the fundraiser, started a new tradition during the pandemic – collecting votes on which color to dye the bank manager’s hair! “Every year it’s a little crazy…it’s really sort of hokey fun,” Fraser said.

Participating businesses choose to contribute in a variety of ways. They might donate 1% of all their sales, a portion of their sales, or even sponsor an activity to boost the giving spirit that keeps the fundraiser thriving. Some Upper Valley businesses and locales hold contests to collect a certain type of non-perishable food like tuna, tomato soup, or cereal. These types of activities allow the community to come together in support of a common good, and it gives families a chance to “talk about people who need food and what that means,” Fraser said. “The community’s only as strong as its weakest link,” he added. “It just is the right thing to do.”

 “I’m proud of our group, proud of our volunteers, and proud of our community.” Pickell said. Redmond concludes, “There’s just this feeling of everyone pulling together for things that we believe in and that we are all meant to be here at this moment in our life.”

The issues that the Haven addresses are truly pressing issues here in our community and in the states of New Hampshire and Vermont. “When I came here,” Weeks said, “seeing how prevalent homelessness was in our small state was really alarming to me, and seeing how many people in our state are living right at the edge of affordability.” The Haven works to de-stigmatize the idea of people reaching out for help when they need it, as there is no telling when or why someone might need help. Weeks remarks on how quickly or easily it is for any of us to become homeless in unexpected and difficult circumstances and encourages people to reach out when they need it. Pickell recalls the words of a shelter guest: “I wish I would’ve asked for help sooner.” 

The Haven is celebrating its 40th Anniversary by sharing 40 stories of people, events, ideas, and services fundamental to its mission that can be found on the website at www.uppervalleyhaven.org. The Haven is open Mon-Thu: 9am-4:30pm and Fri: 9am-3pm. The Haven relies overwhelmingly upon support from the community to carry out its mission. Support comes in myriad ways, including financial donations, volunteer time, and donations of food and clothing. Over 70% of the Haven’s revenues come directly from individuals who make donations by check, credit card, or gifts of stock.

19 Days of the Valley celebrates its 10th anniversary this holiday season! To learn more or get involved, visit uppervalleyhaven.org/events/19days and reach out to the Haven, or email Dan at dan@danandwhits.com.  

Norwich’s Treasured Holiday Tradition and Its History

The winter of 1961 marks an important time in Norwich holiday history as the first year of a beloved community tradition – the Norwich Christmas Pageant. Before the pageant, Norwich children would often gather at the Grange to visit Santa and sit around a Christmas tree while enjoying some hot chocolate and candy. Betty Booth and several Norwich organizations and churches came up with a new idea to help celebrate such a significant holiday, and thus the Norwich Christmas Pageant was born. Now, the pageant has channeled the holiday spirit into something truly special – both a celebration of Christmas and a testament to community.

Over the years, the pageant has thrived thanks to the generous Norwich residents who give their time and skill to keep the tradition alive. As the founder of the pageant, Booth’s dedication to pulling the event off each year was vital to its success today.

One of Booth’s tasks was finding the perfect donkey to carry Mary to the stable in the story, which ended up being a white Sicilian donkey from Bethel, Vermont, whom she named Smokey. Smokey resided with Booth in her house on Elm Street which she’d lived in since 1950, where all the preparation for the pageant took place. Smokey’s ebullient personality made him the perfect fit for the important role right away, and he would often be rewarded for his good behavior during the performance with an Oreo cookie that Joseph would keep in his pocket.

While Booth was the main coordinator of the pageant for many years, she eventually passed the task on to her daughter, Laura Day Guest. Before she started managing the pageant, Guest was involved in the tradition from a young age. Along with her older sister, she had played the role of Mary, and her brothers had played Joseph. Though Guest passed away in March, the legacy she’s left on the community of Norwich and the Norwich Christmas Pageant is admired and felt by all.

Along with other volunteers who have helped keep the tradition of the pageant alive over the years, Norwich resident Ann Marie Smith has helped organize the pageant for 20 years and this year, she’s taken on Day’s role and helps oversee the whole production.

Guest was known by many as “Day,” and her friends described her as soft-spoken, calm, and humble. “Day was both shy and not religious, but she overcame her shyness and lack of religion to embrace the Christmas Pageant after her mother had died,” Day’s husband, John Guest, said. “Her heart and soul were always into it.”

Day wanted to honor her mother’s vision for the pageant and in doing so, she didn’t make any changes to how it was organized. “Day was a stalwart and protective steward of the pageant,” Smith said. “She had so many roles, but specifically always dressed Mary and Joseph, which might sound easy, but is not; she knew every fold of Mary’s blue robes and exactly how it all should be pinned together for that locally famous side saddle ride through town on what was sometimes a bucking donkey…”

Day brought the community of Norwich together in more ways than one through her work as a volunteer. Despite not being a particularly religious woman, she made everyone with different backgrounds feel included during the pageant season. “She had so many wonderful tales of the trials and tribulations of the pageant through the years,” Smith said. Day took on many responsibilities to keep the tradition going, which she kept as true to her mother’s original vision as possible. “We’d always be so glad [the pageant] came out so well and it always did,” John Guest said, who was also an involved member of the group that pulled the event together each year.

The energy in anticipation of the pageant each year was as exciting as it was stressful, but Day always made sure things ran smoothly and kept a calm composure throughout all of the planning. Her fun attitude and positive energy, and her dedication to including everyone in such a special tradition, created a cherished memory for those involved. “To me, she had a very wonderful ‘Yankee’ personality,” Smith said. “She always showed up and made sure the work was done; she was quiet but spoke up when things needed to be said or corrected; she stayed in the background and took care of the details not wanting any credit or glory, and at the end of the night, her big smile showed how thrilled and happy she was to see it come to fruition every year; she was grateful and appreciative of all who helped, and then off she went till the next year when the time to plan came around again.”

What makes Norwich’s pageant so unique is its presentation of a traditional story in a slightly less traditional way. As many witness each December, Norwich’s version of the pageant involves a live nativity “parade” – made up of pageant characters and audience members – that travels from scene to scene at several locations throughout Town. From the opening act in Tracy Hall to the Norwich Inn, and finally the Grange, the pageant is a magical spectacle.

High school seniors play the roles of Joseph and Mary in the story, while others from a range of age groups play the part of angels, shepherds, wise men, a narrator, a Roman citizen, and the innkeeper. Local livestock fill in to play the nativity animals, including sheep, oxen, and donkeys. The script for the pageant was written by Nick Jacobson, a playwright who lived in Norwich and also assisted Booth with directing the production.

In the early years of the pageant, baby Jesus was played by a doll, but later a real baby was used – either a boy or girl – to make the production even more authentic. The storyline is just one aspect of the pageant’s production. Audio equipment, costumes, and willing volunteers within the community all help to make it a reality. Microphones are provided by a Norwich resident, and robes for costumes are sourced from old graduation gowns or fabrics from the Middle East.

Not only does the Christmas pageant celebrate the holiday – it also celebrates the community of Norwich and brings everyone together to pause and feel the warmth of the season. It’s also a special opportunity for school-age children living in Norwich to reconnect with their elementary school classmates and relive childhood nostalgia.

Smith, who is currently working on organizing this year’s pageant, describes the annual event as a “beautiful, long-standing tradition that has been kept in place with the hard work of a lot of the original stewards of the pageant for many, many years,” she said. “When you grow up in Norwich as a child you watch it and get to come back as a senior and participate in it, and then you come back years later with your family. [It’s] a lovely community tradition.”