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.… Read More

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.”… Read More

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.… Read More

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.… Read More

Norwich-based dog trainer, Sue Kenney hasn’t always been a professional dog trainer, but she has always been involved with training dogs. It started with raising Guide Dog puppies for the blind.

Sue raised Guide Dog puppies since her children were young and would bring them into the Marion Cross School in Norwich. The dogs were even incorporated into the curriculum; students would keep journals about each puppy’s weight, nutrition, and behavior. Of course, the benefit went both ways, it was excellent socialization for the puppies as well.

When Sue moved on from the Marion Cross School, she studied under other instructors until she became a dog trainer herself.… Read More

Each month, more than 1,000 households benefit from the Food Shelf at the Upper Valley Haven, an on-site source of groceries offered at no cost. Six years ago, the Healthy Eating Program began, which has taken the issue of food accessibility in the Upper Valley and turned it up a notch, adding in the importance of nutrition and a little cooking wisdom.

Jennifer Fontaine, director of Community Services and Operations at the Haven, said in the past, healthier items, especially produce, were left on the shelves, prompting staff to consider how they might get guests to consider healthier choices. People in need can take a week’s worth of groceries each month from the Food Shelf and have unlimited access to breads and produce.… Read More

The holidays can get crazy. Lots to do, never enough time. It can all easily degenerate into a Stress Odyssey. The Norwich Times asked around to find out how people manage to keep the JOY in the holidays (and hold the stress at bay).

Artist Kate Emlen lives on Elm Street. “I don’t necessarily go out looking for joy,” she admits, “but it snuck up on me yesterday while I was vacuuming my kids’ rooms and singing along with my headphones on. The kids will both be home, to be joined soon after by my three quirky brothers and families. Doesn’t get any better than that and I get a clean house as a bonus!”… Read More

Looking Ahead Through the Rear View Mirror

Grandchildren were my original passports to Norwich’s Montshire Museum of Science. Starting as toddlers with Andy’s Place, the Bubbles exhibit, Science Park, and then a few summers in the Museum’s outstanding camp program, all three of these kids not only had a great time but also developed a sense of curiosity and engagement with science that continues today. In fact for my granddaughter, Eliza, now 15, the Montshire was, without a doubt, an inspiration in her choice to enroll in a residential semester program in Freeport, Maine, where a primary goal is to support and enhance the education of young women in the sciences.… Read More

Their location may change, but their occupation is always animal health. Norwich residents, Dan and Jodi Kelly, founded the first Stonecliff Animal Clinic in Bradford, VT, in 1991. At the time, Jodi says, they had a “pretty historic” farm tucked under the cliffs north of Bradford, where they raised replacement heifers. Dan made farm calls as a large animal vet, and the Clinic began in order to care for the pets of these farmers.

The Kellys dreamed of opening an emergency hospital for animals, a service that was not then available; owners of seriously ill pets had to take them to Burlington or Concord, NH.… Read More

Have you hiked the Gile Mountain trail to the fire tower recently? If not, you will be surprised to see the upgrades taking place along the trail. On a recent beautiful, late summer August evening, my companion and I took the drive up Turnpike Road to the trailhead, to make the short 1.4 mile round trip to the fire tower and back.

The first thing I noticed upon arriving was the number of cars parked in the small lot, most of which with license plates other than NH and VT. Mid week, late in the day (but not sunset), late August, I did not expect this many fellow hikers, even on a near perfect late afternoon.… Read More