Tucked behind Fogg’s Hardware on Route 5 is one of Norwich’s hidden gems — the Norwich Racquet Club (NRC). Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Club is proudly honoring its humble beginnings and its aspirations for a bright future.
Conceived as a startup in the early ’70s, entrepreneur Bruce Colley (former Quechee Lakes CFO) purchased the land from Tony Farrell (of Farrell Farms) for $13,000 and proceeded to convince the Norwich Planning Board not only that the enterprise was a worthy endeavor, but also that it wouldn’t disrupt the neighborhood. Red pines (now 80 feet tall) were planted by hand to shield nighttime court lights, a quaint outhouse was dug, and the log cabin-style warming hut was built; all of it was inspected by the town and approved. Two paddle tennis courts were delivered: people came, they played, they subscribed — the business was born!

Mother and son team in competition.

The Chess of Racquet Sports

Paddle tennis is a highly social game of finesse — some call it the chess of racquet sports. It involves a spongy ball, a small court, and the use of the wire mesh fencing to keep the ball in play. It is usually played as a doubles sport and enjoyed in the colder months, thanks to heaters that melt ice on the court surface. The early years of the club attracted some of the area’s most enthusiastic transplants, including a paddle tennis champion from New Jersey, who got the word out to the Upper Valley. Within a few years, two clay tennis courts were added. Then around 1980, due to his job relocation, Colley and the shareholders sold the business to subscribers, at which point it became a club.
The NRC continued its humble existence as a member-run, no-frills concern. One highlight of this era was the establishment of the Green Mountain Open, an APTA men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles tournament. Lovingly organized by Dave Barlow for the past 20 years, this tournament attracts the best players in New England. As to longevity, a fun-loving, if somewhat notorious, Tuesday night men’s group has been playing year-round since around Y2K, according to one Norwichian, who will remain anonymous to protect the guilty.
With the arrival of COVID, the club witnessed a surge of new energy. What better way to be active and connected while social distancing outdoors? It was at this time that some of our most accomplished players (and a curious on-duty police officer!) discovered the sport.
Fast-forward to 2026: Paddle tennis is seeing an uptick in popularity with Sugar Genereaux’s Monday Ladies Lessons, Sunday afternoon Open Paddle Mixers, and Norwich Rec’s new Introduction to Paddle taught by APTA pro Mason Astley. This year’s annual Nina Webb club tournament attracted new enthusiasts seeking the fabled “fun zone” and the grand prize — a jug of maple syrup. Although the sport usually winds down after March, the club will continue its Sunday and “40’s and Under” mixers through May, after which tennis season begins in earnest.

Men’s tennis singles players take to the court.

Springing to Action

Come April, Norwich Racquet Club members spring into action to prepare the clay tennis courts for play. As a member-run club, NRC has turned its spring cleanup into a social ritual. Tasks include rolling courts, picking up orphaned paddle balls, retrieving nets, and hanging wind screens (presumably after, not before, a menacing wind).
This summer, in recognition of its 50th anniversary, the Club is partnering with Upper Valley tennis pros to offer some new activities and provide additional court space for high-demand programs in the area. Some of the programming will even be open to non-members, including Friday “Doubles with a Pro” organized by Storrs Pond Pro Billy Pontious, and Thursday clinics and lessons organized by independent pro Tammy Arado. The Club will start an intermediate (3.0+) men’s round-robin on Saturday mornings for members, and host its inaugural summer season opener (potluck, of course) with tennis and paddle activities for people of all ages and abilities. With so many of the Upper Valley’s public courts under construction or unavailable this summer, the Norwich Racquet Club offers something truly unique for its members: two clay tennis courts, great parking, and easy online reservations. New memberships are always accepted via the website: norwichracquetclub.com.

2026 Nina Webb mixed doubles winners.

For half a century, this quirky, home-grown organization has represented the best of Norwich: unpretentious, social, and physically active with some friendly competition. If you are interested in racquet sports, want to get out on dark winter nights, and meet new people, Norwich has a “diamond in the rough” just waiting to be explored.

It takes a town to make a clock chime. This is especially true when it comes to the repair of the Norwich Congregational Church, first reported on in Demo Sofronas’ My newsletter “about Norwich” Substack in his article “The clock was ticking and now the Bell is ringing once again also.” Over seven months, through a set of small-town connections, including a police officer, an award-winning clockmaker, a church caretaker, and a clock winding team, the bells in Norwich ring once more.

Kimo Griggs and Ron Nollet, a tool and die maker and clockmaker.

It started with a bit of curiosity from Norwich resident Kimo Griggs. Though he’s “not a clock repair person,” he’s always been “handy” and over the years has fixed several “machine tools, mechanisms, and wind-up toys.” He also has an interest in clocks, owning several that he’s brought to a clockmaker to have repaired. Because of these aspects, Griggs has always wondered about the clock at Norwich Congregational Church. One day last year, he brought it up to Priscilla Vincent during his crossing guard duties. By late August of 2025, Vincent connected him with Dan Goulet, the church caretaker, self-described as a “helper.”
When Goulet first introduced Griggs to the clocktower, Goulet remarked on Griggs’ fascination. “Most people don’t know what they’re looking at,” he said. “But he was like a kid on Christmas morning.”

Scoping it all out to find the problem.

Griggs’ passion became a volunteer job in September 2025, when he joined the church’s team of winders to help wind the clock. Though it’s an eight-day clock and should only have to be wound once every eight days, the church was moved from Norwich Green to Church Street in 1852, which doesn’t have wells dug around it. This means that the counterweights that operate the clock can no longer descend their full distance. They stop every three to four days, which requires the clock to be wound twice a week. Griggs does the mid-week winding, while another winder, Chipper Ashley, performs the task earlier in the week. Goulet fills in when needed.
Goulet expressed that the task is “quite a chore.” When he was younger, Goulet explained, he “used to be able to wind it with one hand…,” but now it requires two hands and his “shoulder gives out halfway through.” Thus, he and Ashley were happy to have help. Ashley said he’s been winding the clock since the mid-’80s. He agreed with Goulet that the task has gotten harder as he’s aged, and he was glad Griggs stepped in.

The gears that make it tick.

Over time, Griggs noticed the bell no longer rang. When he called his regular clock repair contact, though, he wasn’t interested. Griggs explained that working on tower clocks like the one at Norwich Congregational Church is niche work, and Ashley elaborated that, although they’ve had people come in the past to make regular repairs, it’s difficult to find consistent help.
As Griggs went weekly to wind the clock, he kept looking at the clock mechanisms, which he thought looked relatively simple. Because of the clock’s nature, the mechanical parts are wholly visible, and by November Grigg had deduced that the bell issue was an alignment problem and could be a simple fix. He brought up the repair proposal to Ashley.
First, the decision was made by the congregation, and then Ashley brought the request to the church council and the Ministry of Building and Finance during the annual meeting in January 2026. “And they were fine with it,” he said. By February 11, he let Griggs know he could proceed.

imo Griggs and Ron Nollet in front of the Norwich Congregational Church.

Back in January, while still waiting for the church’s decision, Griggs was again performing his crossing guard duties. He spoke to Norwich police officer Mike Rebentisch, who himself has a fascination with old clocks. Coincidentally, his stepfather, Ron Nollet, is an award-winning clockmaker.
When Griggs explained his theory of why the clock wouldn’t chime, Nollet visited on March 11 and agreed with Griggs’ assessment. Griggs explained that “all it needed was two washers, really.” He described the process as simple as breathing; he “took some things off, applied a little oil here and there, put the washers on, and Bob’s your uncle, the bell’s back in action.”
Griggs fixed it on March 13, and the bells rang at noon on that day. Though Ashley said the church considered making the clock electrical but “never got around to it,” Griggs said it’s good the church kept the original clock mechanisms, so he could easily fix it.
Preservations like this have helped make the clock a piece of history. In “The Paul Revere Bell Rings again and again but How?…”, another post on Sofronas’ Substack, he recounts that the Norwich Congregational Church bell is a Paul Revere bell, meaning it was formed in the Boston North End bell foundry of Paul Revere. Norwich’s specific bell, Sofronas wrote, is “the earliest in Vermont and the only one cast during Revere’s lifetime.” He further explained that it was “presented to the church in 1817 by Thomas Emerson” and is “one of six Revere bells remaining in Vermont.”
Sometimes, this history makes the church a destination spot. Ashley said every so often the church gets a call from someone out of town interested in the clock. “There’s a group of people out there that are clock aficionados, and they are aware where these clocks are located.”
Goulet also tells a tale of Minnesota visitors, with whom he brought up the clocktower, “and they were just gaga.” Three days later, the church received a note from them, along with King Arthur baked goods, explaining it was the highlight of their trip.
Despite Ashley’s experience that “you have to be physically able to climb through the trapdoor,” he said the view from the clock tower is worth it, especially in the fall. “October is great when the foliage is out, and you stand up in the clocktower…you got a 360-degree view of the hills…it’s pretty neat.”
What’s even neater is that after a few hundred years, the clock continues to tick and chime thanks to the help of several members of the community. Through chance encounters and willing volunteers, the Norwich Congregational Church’s unique clock continues to move forward, and more importantly, still rings.

“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.” – Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), Field of Dreams, 1989.
The boys of summer are coming. Soon after Mud Season, the days will get longer, the golf courses will open, winter attire will be packed away, and America’s pastime, baseball, will return to the Upper Valley.
The Upper Valley Nighthawks, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), make their home at the Maxfield Sports Complex on Route 5 in White River Junction. The team is made up of college baseball players from all over the country who call the Upper Valley home for the months of June and July. The Nighthawks’ games are free for spectators, family friendly, and just plain fun.

Brandon Adams (U North Florida) delivers a strike (hopefully!).

Founded in 1993 by a group of baseball-loving sports enthusiasts, The NECBL’s goal was to expose New England student athletes to Major League Baseball (MLB) scouts. What started with a handful of teams is now a popular league of thirteen teams divided into two divisions, which travel between team locations from Martha’s Vineyard in the south to Montpelier in the north for games. The league boasts nearly 150 former players as MLB draftees and stars. Player recruitment is ongoing, with college coaches and team management collaborating year-round. While most players in the NECBL come from schools on the East Coast, occasionally, an outlier from California may appear on the roster. They all show up enthusiastic to spend the season in New England and to fine tune their baseball skills. The NECBL exposes them not only to on-field skills, but the “back-side” side of baseball, such as marketing, management, and business operations.
Noah Crane, an area native and president of the Upper Valley Nighthawks, is a lifelong lover of baseball, and shenanigans. He attends each game attired in a zebra stripe blazer and acts as Master of Ceremonies for between-inning games, offering a variety of hilarity, from “finish the lyrics” of a popular song to three-legged foot races. Crane describes the atmosphere as “part baseball, part carnival, and part farmer’s market.” From the thunder of small feet chasing a foul ball (a herd of children instantly appear in hot pursuit when the crack of the bat signals an opportunity to snag a coveted game ball), to the cheers of the spectators when the Nighthawks score a home run, to the inevitable laughter during between-inning entertainment, an evening with the Nighthawks has something for everyone.
Crane has a long history with baseball, having played, coached, and spent a time with a Red Sox minor league team learning the business side of the game. He once owned an NECBL team with his father, in Laconia, many years ago. After returning to the Upper Valley to work at Dartmouth College, Crane was delighted when The Maxfield Sports Complex was built. It would make a perfect home for an additional NECBL team. In 2016, the 13th franchise was awarded, and the Upper Valley Nighthawks made their home at “The Max,” truly a real-life “Field of Dreams.”

AJ Brotz (Marist University) talks with a young fan.

The team was welcomed by the community, and many volunteers and merchants stepped up to participate. The outfield is lined with banners of advertisers from throughout the area. The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation paired with Mascoma Bank to make admission to the games free (a head count is taken as spectators arrive). The nearby Upper Valley Aquatic Center works with the team to provide essential facilities for the players to work out and train. The Montague Golf Course in Randolph offers reduced greens fees for players. Multiple area restaurants provide food service at the games, with adult beverages for purchase. Of course, no baseball game would be complete without hot dogs and, an area summer staple, Maple Creamees!
In addition to the games, the Nighthawks give back to the community in the form of summer camps for local children. Players and staff share their expertise and love of baseball, and provide instruction and encouragement to the young aspiring athletes. Because many alumnae of the NECBL have gone on to “The Bigs” (MLB) and had brilliant careers, it is possible that a child might exclaim, “He was my coach one summer!” Introducing children to this level of talent could help them learn new skills, develop a lifelong love of baseball, and inspire them to think, “Maybe I can do that!”

7-28-2025 Nighthawks vs. Mountaineers

The challenge each summer for Crane and his staff is finding housing for the players. It is a league rule that players must be placed with Host Families in the community. Hotels and dormitory situations are not acceptable. Host Families provide the players with a sense of grounding, a home away from home. In these days of short-term rentals, and the popularity of the Upper Valley in summer, people with extra space may choose to rent instead of hosting. This is an economic reality that challenges each team, and for one team was its demise.
The team asks community members with extra room in their homes to welcome one or two players for the months of June and July. They require a place to sleep, access to laundry, and occasional meals. In addition, Host Families enjoy discounts on team merchandise and concessions at The Max. Children are particularly excited to have “an older brother” for two months, and the players frequently become “members of the family.”

Rhys Anderson (Wabash College) as the Nighthawks mascot.

Host Families report thoroughly enjoying the experience. “The decision was simple,” said one Host Mom. “My husband is a huge baseball fan, so it was a done deal.”
Another shared, “In the summer of 2024, we hosted a second baseman and a left fielder, who particularly enjoyed breakfast before heading off to coach summer camp, or to work out before team meetings and practice. They would wake to the smell of bacon, which became ‘the bacon alarm clock.’ On mornings of away games, I’d send them with breakfast to go. The summer of 2025, we hosted two pitchers, The Twin Towers (6’4” and 6’6”), who were not breakfast eaters, so no ‘bacon alarm clock’ for them! We’d advise them what would be planned for dinner, and suggest they let us know if they wanted to be included. They were a joy to host, and we look forward to meeting our next ‘boys of summer’ in June!”
If you would be interested in hosting one or two players this summer, contact Noah Crane, noah@uppervalleynighthawks.com. Your generosity will be rewarded with great fun and memories of contributing to helping develop a future MLB star.

The Choral Arts Foundation of the Upper Valley lists more than 30 groups on its website, including church choirs, community choruses and ensembles, and youth choruses. There’s certainly no shortage of options for anyone who wants to sing. One of these choral groups, Upper Valley Voices (UVV), is approaching 50 years of creating community through singing.
Founded by Director Valerie Miller in 1978 as the Thetford Chamber Singers, the group transitioned to using the name Upper Valley Voices in 2023 to better reflect its repertoire, which includes a wide range of classical and contemporary music, as well as the ensemble’s geographic footprint. Members from across the Upper Valley meet on Tuesday evenings for rehearsals at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Upper Valley in Norwich. Performances are held each winter and spring at churches throughout the region, most recently in Strafford, Thetford, Norwich, and Lebanon.
The current UVV director, Kevin Quigley, has been with the group since January 2005.
“I really just loved what Valerie Miller, the founder and director, was doing,” said Quigley. “I liked her style, I liked her repertoire, and I liked the people in the group, the vibe. So, I stepped in to sing.”

UVV Accompanist Alison Cerutti and Director Kevin Quigley

A Welcoming Atmosphere

Quigley became the director in 2013. He creates a choral atmosphere that’s welcoming to singers of varying experience and abilities. Some members are professional musicians, while others have little experience reading music or are returning to a choir after not singing for some time.
“I love having an ensemble that’s that varied but so dedicated to working together,” Quigley said. “It’s inspiring to see the generosity of the experienced artists and it’s inspiring to see the courage of the less experienced artists.”
Norwich resident Franny Eanet joined the Thetford Chamber Singers in 1998 after seeing an ad in the Valley News calling for new members. “I am a long-time choral singer, pretty much since junior high school,” she said. “All different places that I’ve lived and phases of my life, I’ve usually found some group or other to sing with.”
She noted how open the group is to new members. “Kevin is welcoming to people of a variety of abilities,” she said. “People shouldn’t be put off by a lack of experience.”
That accessibility is extended to audiences, as Quigley tries to deformalize the concert experience. “We’re very low key and very down to earth when we’re in front of an audience,” he said. “I’ll talk about pieces in informative ways and humble ways, and there’s no choir robes, no tuxedo with tails, that’s just not a part of who we are or what we want to be doing. We want to make things human and real.”

Telling a Story Through Song

Quigley programs the music for each season’s concert based on a theme. “I’ve always felt that art needs be purposeful,” he said. “No matter what kind of art it is, it’s got to do something other than just make people feel good or give them a beautiful experience or entertain them. That’s never been enough for me.”
He starts with a series of questions: What is it that this ensemble needs right now? What is the message? What is the energy we need? When the group came back to in-person rehearsals and concerts after the COVID pandemic, he expanded his criteria to include: What does the Upper Valley community need? “At that point we were talking about vibrancy, health, courage, and the ability to come back together,” he said. “That’s what vocal music does. That’s its purpose. It binds us together socially and emotionally and spiritually.”
When programming music, Quigley enjoys bringing diverse pieces from different time periods, languages, and styles together to form a cohesive story.
The theme for the upcoming Spring 2026 concert is Justice. “This one is about justice and making sure that we understand what it means and how important it is to solidify, to make certain our culture stays stable and caring and compassionate and aware of each other,” he said. “That’s been a bit of a challenge for the past several years, so the music we’re singing in May is all about righting the balance, bringing things back into a place where we can all be proud of where we’re from and where we live and each other regardless of our differences. Where we can treat each other with respect and kindness, and we can become motivated designers of the place we live and how we live there.”

Upper Valley Voices perform at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon in 2025.

For the Love of Music

Being part of a chorus has individual benefits, as well.
Leah Romano, who lives in Norwich, joined the chorus in the 2011-2012 season. She had performed with other local groups and was looking to expand her artist community. She currently serves as UVV’s management committee chair.
With a background in performance and theater, Romano is first and foremost connected to the music. “I just really love learning new music,” she said. “Whether you’re learning it to sing it or appreciate it or connect to the emotionality of a song where you’re like ‘wow, that’s so beautiful.’”
Eanet is drawn to the experience of singing with others. “I just love music and being involved with it,” she said. “I don’t really want to be a solo singer. I’ll do a solo here or there or sing in a small group, but I don’t want the attention or pressure. I much more enjoy the dynamic of singing in a section, and singing in a group.”
She also appreciates the way singing can transcend the realities of daily life. “It’s a good way to get your mind off of everything else that’s going on,” she said. “When I’m in the middle of doing it and I’m really focused on it, it’s like I’m not even thinking about anything. My brain is fully engaged in what I’m doing. … Anything that can get me in that state is good.”
Members of the group also serve as a support network for each other.
“I wouldn’t have stayed for so long if it wasn’t for the people,” said Romano. “The singers and the audience alike. They’re just genuinely a caring group of folks. I love learning with them and singing with them.”
Eanet said the group comes together to help members in need. “It’s a really warm, welcoming group to be part of,” she said. “One of the things that’s been a constant for me in this group since I’ve joined is that aspect of it. If people are going through something difficult, it’s a community of people that will step up support them.”

A Circular Connection

Singing in a chorus is just one way to get involved in the arts in the Upper Valley. “We share rehearsal spaces, we share venues or program supporters, or companies in the area that want to make a difference,” said Romano. “We’re very mindful of those supporters that have helped us over the years and we thank them. We couldn’t have done it without them. We’re member run, primarily ticket based and donation based, so we get to do what we do because of them. It is that circular connection. Some people want to sing and perform. Some people want to listen and support. Some people just want to make sure the arts are alive in the area.”
As UVV starts planning for its 50th Anniversary celebration, Romano said it will be a collaborative musical opportunity for the community.
“I think that it’s really important we return to singing together,” said Quigley. “It used to be people would get together and sing in bars and pubs, with each other, full hearted. They would sing at the ballpark, at their religious services. Someone could break into song on the street and others would join them. And this is not something that happens anymore. Revitalizing and maintaining our choral tradition is vital to maintaining our humanity.”

Lisa Lance joined the Upper Valley Voices in the fall of 2025. For more information about the group and upcoming performances, visit uppervalleyvoices.org.

Each year, volunteers for the Norwich Wood Bee spend a fall day cutting, splitting, and stacking wood to ensure those in need will have heat for the winter. This year, the program had about 10 volunteers come out to a woodlot on Beaver Meadow Road in Norwich on October 11. Participants were encouraged to bring wood splitters, wheelbarrows, and refreshments for an active day outdoors. They spent four to five hours moving wood to splitters, transferring the split wood to a shed, and stacking it.

Eric Friets, director of the Norwich Wood Bee, started as a volunteer on the fall work days and then took over coordinating the program in 2020. “We run entirely on volunteers,” he said. “All of our effort goes into firewood that keeps people warm.”

Those who need wood for the season can make requests through the Norwich town office or Upper Valley Haven.

Nancy Griffin, service coordinator with Upper Valley Haven, has been working with the Norwich Wood Bee for several years. She fields requests from people who request wood and shares them with Friets for the Wood Bee.

“They’re wonderful,” said Griffin. “They make the difference for a lot of families and individuals. Most people heat with something extra to save money, and they have been amazing.”

Friets said one of the unique aspects of the program is that it is very informal. They don’t have a charter or founding document, a budget, or a requirement for recipients to complete any forms or show proof of income.

“I love the efficiency of the aid,” said Friets. “How easy it is for recipients to contact us and how easy it is for us to get them wood. It’s simple and efficient in terms of impact.”

“This is just something very kind that’s being done that’s very useful, with no paperwork except for directions for where they’re going,” Griffin said. “That’s another wonderful thing, that we can do things just out of kindness. People don’t call here unless they’re in need. I think it’s really incredible that it exists.”

The Norwich Wood Bee typically holds one work day each fall that is open to anyone who would like to volunteer. Friets said occasionally a local organization or company will sponsor its employees for a volunteer day, or a youth group will participate.

The town provides the Norwich Wood Bee with trees that have fallen or were cut down along roads. Sometimes local residents who have trees taken down on their property donate it to the program. “Once we had someone who was doing some logging on their land offer us a whole truckload,” Friets said.

Between eight and 12 families from Norwich and surrounding communities will receive firewood this year. “He also delivers, to the hardest places in the world to get to sometimes,” said Griffin. “Which I really appreciate.”

Because the wood is not kiln-dried, the program can only deliver wood to homes in a 50-mile radius within Vermont to comply with Vermont forestry regulations.

Griffin has concerns about an increased need for fuel assistance this winter, as families continue to struggle with housing, food demand, and increasing costs. “The middle class is getting squeezed. Everything has gotten so much more expensive,” she said. “The community is really stepping up, though. Everywhere, you’re seeing people trying to fill in gaps for people, which is really nice. Vermont’s kind of like that, I think. It’s a great state to live in.”

Demo Sofronas attended the 2025 volunteer day and shared the experience through his About Norwich Substack newsletter. He described it as “a day that was filled with lots of activity and people were busy, energetic, and actually excited to be there to assist in this very worthwhile cause.”

Friets said he enjoys the physical aspect of the work day, as well as providing warmth for others in the community. “It’s good exercise, and I like to work outside,” he said. “I’ve really come to enjoy talking to the recipients that I see every year. This year, one of our long-time regular clients had called to make arrangements and then called back and said somebody had given them a cord of wood unexpectedly so they called to cancel to make sure someone else could get that wood.”

Friets gets the word out through the Norwich Listserv and emails to volunteers. Community members who would like to volunteer can contact the Norwich Wood Bee through the town office or Upper Valley Haven.

“Volunteers really make things happen,” said Griffin. “We couldn’t survive here without our volunteers. There’s so much talent in the Upper Valley and so much thoughtfulness. It makes you happy to be here, and grateful to be here.”

Sitting in his favorite chair – the same one he uses for songwriting — in his backyard in New Orleans, independent singer-songwriter Hans Williams seems at ease as he reflects on the past year. Recently, on October 18th, he put on a show with his band in Hanover, NH, and afterward, he introduced his bandmates to his Norwich community by pressing cider with his neighbors. It’s here that Williams expresses something poignant — the first of many things — when he says that the Upper Valley is “a unique, special community…you can tell someone that, but it takes growing up there…to get a sense of that.”

Hans Wiilliams at a recent Bragg Hill Cider
pressing.c

Though the Norwich transplant now lives in New Orleans, this community mindset plays a significant role in Williams’ life. The musician shares a split-up multi-family house with a few other local musicians, including his producer, long-time collaborator, and once-Norwich resident Phin Choukas. This space has become an artist’s domain, brimming with creative energy as each works on their projects. Together, these musicians have created a small, tight-knit community, like the one Williams grew up with in Norwich. Together, they share wins and losses as they work toward success in a difficult industry.

Thankfully, Williams is in a good place. He lives comfortably off his earnings from streaming, partially due to his continued independence from music labels. He expresses that he is both grateful for the opportunity and lucky, knowing full well that some of his other colleagues must work all year to earn a meager salary on the road. However, this opportunity has allowed Williams to focus wholeheartedly on his art. Though Williams has a laid-back manner of speaking, when it comes to his craft, the musician expresses somber, spiritual, and ambitious reflections about his work: “There’s this gap between what I like to listen to and what I’m capable of making, and I really want to make something that’s going to last as far as my taste.” In other words, he wants to pen songs he never tires of playing.

Hans at Austin City Limits Festival: Austin, TX, Oct 12, 2025.

To do this, Williams revisits his favorite seat outside regularly. Often beginning with a chord progression or a series of notes, he jams on it and works out a melody line. As he nails that down, Williams sings words and phrases that come to his mind. Then, later, he digs deeper to see if these improvisational lyrics are a signal from his subconscious of something more affecting. Often, they become signals to process complex emotions, especially when it comes to traumatic events.

Hans playing at a Tuck’s Rock Dojo show ca: 2014

Lately, ’70s British folk music (Nick Drake, John Martyn, Fairport Convention, Pentangle) has become an inspiration for him in this regard. Although Williams expresses that extensive inspiration comes from his parents’ taste in music (Al Green, Steely Dan, Tracy Chapman), he has had British folk musician John Martyn’s 1973 release Solid Air in his solid rotation. Inspired by Martyn’s visit to a colleague, folk legend Nick Drake, the record became an accidental tribute to him when Drake would commit suicide via depressants a year later. Similarly, Williams processed and coped with the tragedy of being a first responder to his roommate’s suicide with his 2020 hit, “Body On My Shoulders.” Understandably, the event still lurks in Williams’ mind, and as time goes on, he finds himself returning to it in new ways. He says the event is still top of mind and may make its way into more of his work.

Not all Williams’ work is this dark. Earlier this year, he released the soul-funk adjacent “Hold My Love,” a tune about love, apologies, and making up. However, both this song and “Body On My Shoulder” establish a common theme in Williams’ work: his ability to speak to the human spirit. Williams is the first to say he does not know exactly what made him so successful on streaming, as Spotify’s algorithm works its magic outside his knowledge. However, it is clear Williams is tapping into something that resonates with listeners. Last year, when he toured his 2024 release More Than One Way Home, he was able to meet his audience, and through conversations, he saw firsthand how listeners had taken to heart the songs he had written. Sometimes, they were in ways he had not originally intended, but still, it seemed Williams spoke directly to their soul. It illustrates another example of the singer-songwriter’s focus on community, woven into both his work and his approach to his surrounding listenership.

When asked how growing up in Norwich influenced him, Williams expressed that Norwich’s community was vital in shaping who he is. He said that when it comes to Norwich, you become attuned to this way of thinking by living there. “You don’t really choose who your friends are. You kind of have to make nice with everyone.” One of his bandmates commented on it when they were recently pressing cider in Norwich, “I get why you love community so much, because you have such a strong one here.”

Williams’ Norwich upbringing, which stressed the importance of community, along with his serious approach to his craft and relatability, all most likely play a factor in his success. It’s clear the musician’s roots are carved deep in his work. Whatever project we see next from the successful singer-songwriter, it would not be unlikely to expect a little bit of Norwich to be present. Whether that element ends up front and personal or buried beneath the surface, listeners will have to wait and see.

Neighbors on Bragg Hill pressing cider

Rightfully so, due to his uncanny ability to poke check the puck from seemingly out of nowhere (tall torso and long arms helped), his nickname on the ice was ‘Reach.’ What has become so beautifully clear is that Stuart (Stu) Close’s reach was felt far and wide – spanning generations and geographies – and none of us knew! Because Stu lived a good-person’s life from the inside out – quietly, gently, fairly, honestly, lovingly, graciously – all from a place of deeply-seated integrity, anyone who has ever had the gift of his presence has come away feeling, well, good!

We all know that no one is perfect and that all humans are flawed. I’m sure Stu was, too. He wasn’t super human, but he did have a super power that was just part of who he was. He was able to do what is really, really hard for most humans: meet any and all challenges head-on with an under-the-radar, no fanfare, no-reward-expected resolve and determination that just might put him in the super human category.

And, as you will learn after reading the words that follow (excerpts from speeches given by his family and friends), Stu was able to muster up the best possible attitude and “game-on” joie de vivre – in EVERY domain of his life – raising up everyone he reached!

In fact, one could say he positively poke checked the hell out of us all, and now here we stand, in utter awe and admiration, wondering how he did that.

“Today is a great day!” Stuart Close, 1960-2025

Stuart Thomson Close, 1960-2025

Stuart Thomson Close died April 17, 2025 at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center following a twelve-year battle with a brain tumor.

Stu was the son of Thompson and Ardis (Moore) Close and brother to Elissa Close and Ellen DesMeules. Growing up in Norwich, he was an avid athlete, playing hockey and football and developed a passion for skiing from an early age. He spent his summers working at his father’s company, Blaktop, which Stuart later managed as president after his father’s passing in 1989. He graduated from Hanover High in 1978 and from the University of Vermont in 1983 with a degree in business.

Stuart married Kristin Brown in 1997 and they raised their two children, Greta and Bridger, in Norwich, as active members of and volunteers in the community.

On Saturday, May 31, 2025, a Celebration of Life was held at the Norwich Congregational Church to honor Stu. Not surprisingly, it was a packed house. There were prayers, there were speeches, there were jokes and laughter, original poems were recited, we sang John Denver’s “Country Roads” with some Stu-ified lyric tweaks, we heard stories about Stu and the indelible mark he left on all who knew him. There was not a dry eye in the house. Sadness, to be sure, but it was love and that feeling of pure joy for life that permeated every heart in the room.

The following are excerpts from some of the speeches given by his family and friends that reveal just how wonderful Stu made people feel.

From his wife, Kristin

Stu and I are regular donors to the American Cancer Society and particularly the NFL’s Crucial Catch campaign. In 2018, we were amazingly picked out of a lottery to win tickets to the Super Bowl in Atlanta where the Patriots beat the L.A. Rams – Tom Brady’s last Super Bowl win with the Patriots – such a highlight! Part of our weekend with Crucial Catch was being showered in gear, and one of the items we got was a Patriots sweatshirt that across the front said STILL HERE referencing the Patriots staying power. Little did we know, that would be Stu’s motto a year later…

Soon after his third brain surgery in 2019, he spent a month at Ascutney rehab where he had to relearn how to do most things from writing, to eating, to speaking, to standing, to walking. Not long after  he got home, we went to the Parker Meadow here in town [Norwich] to practice walking. I was taking a video of him taking steps and, all of a sudden, he raised his crutches into the air and yelled: “STILL HERE”!

Stu repeated this slogan every time he tried something new or overcame yet another challenge whether it was walking, or skiing, or sit-skiing, or sled hockey, biking, or even attaching his feeding tube. It was dark humor but we chuckled every time because, after all he had been through, it seemed so unlikely that he actually was still here.

A Romantic

…Stu was a self-proclaimed sentimental old fool – he was old-fashioned – a throw back – I LOVED that about him!

Stu proposed at sunset at the lighthouse on Monhegan Island in Maine… As a surprise for breakfast… Stu pulled out a Blueberry Buckle. I have no idea how he snuck and made this without me knowing, but it was absolutely delicious and became a favorite. From then on, Stu would make a blueberry buckle every engagement anniversary.

Every [wedding] anniversary we could, we would go back to the Trapps Meadow, he would queue up our wedding song (Bobby Darin’s “Beyond the Sea”) and we would drink champagne, he’d give me flowers, and we’d look at our wedding album – it was so romantic!

…Somewhere along the way, we decided we wanted to celebrate our anniversary EVERY month, so on the 21st of each month we would give each other cards or a text or go to Happy Hill for a toast or a dance in the kitchen… Seriously, we barely missed a month!

Stu was diagnosed with his brain stem tumor in early 2012. The tumor came back in 2014 and again in 2019. Through it all, Stu was courageously rock-solid in not letting this tumor take over his life. Not many could endure three 11-hour brain surgeries and two rounds of radiation.

Perseverance

MLK said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge.”

We have all heard this quote, but Stu lived it EVERY day – especially in these past few years, showing us further what an incredible human he was. I think of how he embraced each challenge with, “What CAN I do now in this new state?”…a state that was ever-changing and ever-compromised.

When he couldn’t trust himself to bike on two wheels, he found a recumbent e-trike. When his legs couldn’t ski or skate anymore, he found Vermont Adaptive and started sit-skiing and joined a sled hockey league over at Campion. When he eventually couldn’t balance on the hockey sled, he’d go over to watch his buddies play.

But one of the hardest losses for Stu was his smile. His beautiful smile lit up his whole face. You will see in almost every photo taken over the past few years that he would take his right hand and tug the right side of his mouth up – ensuring that we knew he was truly having a good time… because he was. He was experiencing real JOY. He loved being with us and [being] a part of whatever we were doing. Even in the midst of so many losses, he managed to share his gratitude for STILL being HERE.

Because of these physical declines, Stu became elderly before his time. It’s funny… starting early on in our marriage, whenever he would see an elderly couple walking down the street, he would say to me: “there we are.” But, in 2019, as we would slowly make our way around the block, he began to say: “here we are.”

In so many ways our reality was unimaginable, but we both seemed to get that we had to stay in the present, stay positive, and find happiness in this time we had left. I’ll never forget how every morning he came into the kitchen practicing his speech and over-enunciating, “TODAY IS A GREAT DAY!”

Bridger and Stu circa 2013.

Nurturing Relationships

From his son, Bridger

My Dad noticed our similarities as I grew up, and every so often he would tell me how he saw parts of himself in me. One moment that stuck with me was when I received a letter from him while at school in Colorado last winter. In it he opened up and articulated more than he ever had before. He wrote about his emotions growing up, how they shaped his choices early in life, and what he wished he had prioritized more. One of those things – something he didn’t want me to overlook – was building relationships.

Over the past few years, my Dad was a true role model for how to nurture relationships. When Greta and I were kids, we’d always duck in the backseat of the car as mom shouted out the window to say hello to someone she recognized on the street. But recently it was my mom, Greta, and me idling next to my dad as he checked in with a neighbor from our front porch or greeted a passing biker on a rail trail. He kept in close touch with his friends, always making the effort to call or set up an adventure for the upcoming weekend.

Fair and Family-Focused

Stu ran Blaktop and Twin State Sand and Gravel, alongside his
partner Bud Ames, for nearly 40 years.

From Tim Kramer, Blaktop employee

But it was more like we worked with him rather than for him, for as long as he was at Blaktop… When you respect a man as much as I respect Stuart, it’s easy to keep on pulling for the betterment of the company and because you don’t want to let a man like him down.

Stu treated his employees with great respect also. He didn’t want anyone overworked. Stu, being a family man, wanted everyone to be close to their own family and to be part of the Blaktop family. When asked what it would cost to pave a wheelchair ramp for my mother, the answer was “just do it.” We are all family. He even knew my granddaughters’ names and kept tabs on them.

His disposition was almost always excellent. It was pretty hard to make him mad. But trust me, I did pull it off a couple times. One night in particular, it was getting late and we had a disagreement that didn’t go too well. I left mad at him and he was mad at me. However, he didn’t want the sun to go down with the issue still between us, so before I was home he was calling me, wanting to get some dinner and get it worked out.

Kindness and Integrity

From his UVM best friend, Mern

Back to the original question – What made Stu so exceptional? Stu was truer to his core beliefs than anyone I’ve ever known.

One example: You know that one, “Don’t speak poorly of others?” In the 48 years we were friends,

I never heard Stuart, not even once, speak poorly of another person!

That’s exceptional!

Like father, like daughter. Greta and Stu circa 2001.

Humble and an Adventurer

From his daughter, Greta:

…Sometimes I wondered if it was hard for him to recount the life of that fit and fearless former version of himself. But if anything, he seemed surprised and touched that I was so interested in his life. And honestly, that was so Dad, never one to feel worthy of such attention. He was so humble and unassuming in everything he did. I’m not sure I’ve met anyone else who, without needing to speak, commanded such respect and love and admiration just from the way he carried himself.

And yet, at the end of the day, Dad was Dad, and it’s not those intangibles but simply him, just being around, that I’ll miss most.

So, I’d like to end with this letter-turned-poem

I wrote to him this spring.

Dear Dad,
I drove home last night through perfect spring.
Cotton candy skies and bushy green trees.
And there you are.
In every freshly unfurled leaf, each budding flower,
in the birdsongs and the clouds and the setting sun.
Just like the other night,
when I biked out to the end of Turnpike
and then further
until grated, hard-pack dirt
turned to mud and rocks and that old Class 4 road.
I pedaled over rock slabs and deep ruts,
amongst puddles and trees.
The further I went,
the thicker the golden hour poured over that forest and me.
And when I hit the powerline,
I turned left toward home,
and I spoke to you.
“Hi Dad,” I said. In my mind, walking through
the breezeway
into your crooked grin.
“You know that old Class 4 road off the end of Turnpike?” I’d say.
And you’d know.
And together we’d trace my route,
you from the yellow swiveling chair in the kitchen
and I on two knobby tires.
“I know you’d know where that old mine is,
and the way water runs through those ruts,
and the fun in discovering the beautiful, hidden folds of your hometown.”
And when I stopped talking, there you were
in the hills ahead of me and the ridgelines behind
and up above in the pink and blues of the sky.
Like seeing home with new eyes.
The ruts veered and I with them,
and I thought,
okay Dad,
if this is how it must be,
then I’ll be here,
and you’ll be everywhere,
and it will be the most beautiful the world has ever been.
Love,
Greta

We all – and I can safely include even those of you who didn’t know him – love him and miss having him on this Earth. But, as with every super human, his glorious reach is still being felt and will through time and space… for good!

Many people reach a point in their lives when it becomes difficult to meet new people. Thankfully, Upper Valley Ultimate has been remedying this problem for decades by providing a third space to play Ultimate Frisbee. At Sachem Field in West Lebanon, over thirty people meet at 6 pm on a Monday to throw the disc in a friendly pick-up game.

Norwich resident, Eli Weber (holding disc), has been playing Ultimate Frisbee for over 26 years.

Sonia Howlett, a Norwich resident and one of the group’s organizers, had a lot of positives to express about the group. Though she played in college, she was looking to meet new friends after COVID, and this group seemed like a good way to do so. Since then, she’s entered a leadership role with three others, setting up communication through emails and a Discord server, coordinating all sorts of logistics.

Norwich resident Sonia Howlett

Attendees range from 16 years old to those in their 70s, though most are more centered around the middle of that age range. Howlett says that one of the great things about the sport is that it’s “nice to make a space that holds a range of ages.” Though there are several residents from Norwich and the surrounding Upper Valley area, some players drive over an hour to play, such as some from St. Johnsbury. Part of the reason for this is simple. Although other areas in the region have pickup games,  this is one of the most well-attended groups, so there are always enough people to play. However, for Howlett and many others, the draw of Ultimate Frisbee is that “the sport pulls good people” and it’s nice to have a “third space that meets once a week.” To clarify, in social theory, a “third space” refers to a place, separate from home (first space) and work (second space), where people gather to socialize, relax, and build community. It’s a neutral ground for informal interactions, fostering a sense of belonging and connection (AI search summary).

Beyond pick-up games, the Upper Valley Ultimate group hosts an additional league night during the summer. Teams are internally constructed within the group with co-ed teams of equal gender-mixing. One of the coordinators’ hardest jobs is making sure teams are balanced effectively for fair play. The latest summer league that just wrapped up its season had four teams. Team names are typically constructed based on a theme, and this year’s was medieval professions: the Bladesmiths, the Shepherds, the Town Criers, and the Jesters.

Another Norwich resident and a former “Shepherd” team member, Eli Weber, has been playing Ultimate Frisbee for over 26 years. He expressed that one of the best parts about it for him is that it’s a “lifelong sport” and more “interesting and fun to play” than other activities. From the way the disc curves and floats to the strategy involved, he imparts that there’s an artistry to its play. He also stressed that Ultimate Frisbee is “a real athletic sport.” Not only do players wear cleats, but Weber says, “You’re running as fast as you can, jumping as high as you can. Being athletic and practiced is key.”

Norwich resident Rodney Jacobson

Despite it being helpful to be athletically inclined if you are participating in league play, Howlett expressed that Upper Valley Ultimate is for everyone, especially those who wouldn’t describe themselves this way. Beyond the community aspects, Howlett describes the sport as enjoyable because you “don’t have to run and do something complicated at the same time.” Another unique aspect of the sport is “the spirit of the game,” something that has, over time, been written directly into the rulebook. The gist is that players are encouraged to respect each other on the field, and games have no referees. Instead, when a foul is called, both players talk out the call and have to agree on its legitimacy, making it completely self-regulated. Howlett expresses that this aspect adds to the inclusivity and community aspect of the sport.

In the last four years, the group found another way to be more inclusive by creating and running a separate women and nonbinary players’ night. The intention was for it to be a space for new players that was less intimidating for those who may struggle in an athletic space. Originally, the group held practices and drills to increase the skills of these players, but this made it difficult for those who couldn’t make it every week. Eventually, coordinators shifted it to a separate pick-up night.

Though Sachem Field is perfect during the summer, fall makes the area less viable due to several school teams needing it for games. This is when the Upper Valley Ultimate group moves down to one night per week. Though still able to utilize the field for a time in the fall, when the weather turns, they meet inside and whittle down their games to a four-on-four format.

Full summer league photo from this year

One of the greatest challenges the group has is spreading the word about the group. Though there are several returning members, a great deal of the members are transient, including students and medical residents. Flyers have been utilized in the past, but most come to know about the group through word-of-mouth or the over 400-follower Upper Valley Ultimate Facebook page. The group is always looking for more players, whether experienced or new to the sport. Those interested can simply show up to a pickup game held on Monday or Wednesday at Sachem Field or reach out to the Facebook group for more information.

If you’re someone who’s looking for a way to get outside and meet new people, the Upper Valley Ultimate group is here for you. Whether you’re athletically inclined or not, the group stresses they’ve always been more about fostering a sense of community than anything else. Though many argue about the vanishing “third space” in our current world, when you look around Sachem Field, you can see Ultimate Frisbee is helping keep it alive where those from all walks of life gather to play a friendly, casual game together.

What often goes unnoticed about a good book is that the book’s origin story is often as interesting as the story within the book itself. Understanding the author’s own life journey adds perspective and inspiration to the reader’s experience.

That’s why, if you attended Norwich-based author Ken Cadow’s talk at the Norwich Public Library earlier in April, you might have a new window into his recent novel, Gather – a coming-of-age story set in present day Vermont, that explores themes of youth, education, family, struggles with addiction, and resilience – told through the eyes of a teenager named Ian.

Ken Cadow grew up in Rhode Island and spent his summers on Block Island. He later graduated from Rhode Island College with a focus on computer science and English and ended up jumping around in professions and interests.

“I would describe myself as an avid lifelong learner, always wanting to know more, but I really don’t care about formal credentials,” he says. Realizing this, Cadow opted to drive a taxi cab after graduating college instead of putting his degrees to ‘logical’ use. He joined the Navy where he was an officer for four years, then opened up a grocery store and wholesale business in Rhode Island, then he met his wife and started a family before landing in Norwich in 1997, where they have lived ever since. This is where the writing comes in.

For Cadow, writing and publishing Gather was a process spanning years, full of starts and stops, re-routing and re-writing, and lots and lots of thinking. In 1999, Cadow was inspired by an encounter he had while interviewing local hunters for an oral history project through the MALS (Master of Arts in Liberal Studies) program at Dartmouth College. “I was really struck by how, typically, you put a bunch of teenagers with a bunch of people who are older than they are, and they don’t say much, but I found that in the hunting camps, they were really leaning into the whole experience and part of the conversations.” A big parcel of nearby land had just been posted, and the hunters were sharing their disdain for this newfound situation. “They were talking about how it was harder and harder to find places to hunt,” Cadow says. “I thought, it would be really interesting if one of the kids in this hunting camp fell in love with the daughter of the family who just bought this land and moved into town…that would be an interesting dynamic to explore in a book.”

Where Ken has spent countless hours contemplating,
curating, developing, writing.

Cadow had been jotting down notes to develop a plot, “But I could never find the character that I wanted to stick with to tell that story,” he says. Twenty years later, “Ian walked onto the page.”

With another two decades of Vermont living under his belt and having worked with local kids in various educational roles, Cadow felt better equipped to bring this story to life. From the winter of 2019 when Cadow picked his pencil back up, it took him about eight months to finish the first draft. “After a while, I stopped paying attention to who the audience was and paid a lot more attention to who the narrator was,” he says. “My whole focus really became owing it to the character to get the story out.”

Inspired by some of Cadow’s real-life observations and experiences, but completely fictional, Gather takes a thoughtful approach to define learning, battling the notion that a “one size fits all” education isn’t the answer, or even close to it. In Cadow’s experience, he learned how to do things in school, but later learned how to use those things outside of school. “For me, that’s the ideal learning environment – through application,” he says. “The most important thing for me was always not necessarily utility, but the satisfaction of putting knowledge to work…[Things] have come a really long way since I was in school in terms of how we reach kids and have more opportunities than just desk learning,” he adds. “But I think we still have a long way to go.”

Gather’s main character, Ian, exemplifies an all-too-common struggle between student and the “system” – an educational model that’s outdated, inefficient, and “top down”, as Cadow describes. “The creativity is happening at the ground floor,” he explains, with passionate teachers who want to meet students where they are. “I wish we didn’t make such a huge distinction between learning by doing and desk learning that we do in our system,” Cadow says. “Everybody needs the exposure [to both types] to figure out what they might want to do next; figure out where their strengths are.”

“One of the things that drives education to be so expensive is that we’re trying to make something that’s busted work for too many people,” Cadow adds. “Instead of simplifying the system, we’re trying to simplify how we pay for it.”

As a former educator at various schools in Vermont and as the current administrator at Oxbow High School in Bradford, VT, Cadow witnesses the educational lives of his students daily, celebrating their wins and coping with their struggles alongside them. The shift in recent years has prioritized testing – especially since Covid-19, which focused more on learning lost than the potential for learning gained, Cadow says. Instead, Cadow raises the questions: “Why have kids stopped associating what they do at home with learning?” and “How can students see themselves as learners 24/7?”

With that in mind, Gather is more than a book – it’s a testament to the very real experiences of learners and educators everywhere – rural and urban, young and old, those concerned with tradition and those who desire to stray from the norm. Ian’s story represents that of “good kids who struggle with a system that’s not as flexible as we need it to be,” when “the systems that are intended to support him don’t.”

“I would love to challenge every person who’s looking at public education to ask themselves a couple of things,” Cadow says. “One is, ‘if it’s all this race to the top, what are we doing with everybody else and why do we have to define it that way?’” And, “Another thing that I wish we paid more attention to is – when the supply chain got really tight – how much we need our people who are capable of producing that which literally sustains us…I think Norwich is pretty great about that, but it’s a little bit of a bubble economy. How do we make it less of a bubble?”

Now, Cadow has been spending time on another book that’s been in the works since 2002 (he points out that with a full-time job as a principal, he only has time to work on his book over school vacations and for a few hours at a time on the weekends). He’s always keeping notes on a potential sequel to Gather, but for now, it’s one book against the world – a world that could use some added perspective.

Every year, on a Thursday in May, students of all ages at Marion Cross School gather on the Norwich Green to sing, dance, and welcome the sunshine. Community members join them on picnic blankets to enjoy live music performed by the school band and watch the students’ performances. Mayfest is a long-standing tradition at Marion Cross—a spring festival that has been celebrated for as long as many faculty members can remember.

Students look forward to performing all year long. In the weeks leading up to the festival, they spend lots of time outside practicing and perfecting the songs and dances specific to their grade level. They also create colorful garlands to wear and vibrant paper decorations to adorn the Green.

This is Travis Ramsey’s eleventh year teaching music to children from Pre-K through sixth grade at Marion Cross. He leads both the chorus and the band, and has been working hard to prepare students for Mayfest. “It’s a chance for the kids to come out and celebrate spring with singing and dancing,” Ramsey says.

The songs and choreography students learn for the festival vary based on their age and skill level. Much of the performance is rooted in tradition, with each grade typically participating in the same dances each year—drawing on New England’s rich history of folk music and dance. Contra dancing, for example, is a centuries-old folk tradition that remains popular in New England today. Accompanied by fiddle and accordion music, this communal dance involves long lines of dancers pairing up and moving in rhythmic patterns. It’s meant to be a shared experience, and Mayfest proudly upholds this spirit of togetherness as students sing and dance side by side.

Mia Tesone and Lucy Gaugh

The sixth graders, the oldest students at Marion Cross, cap off the festival with a series of maypole dances. A maypole dance is a traditional folk routine in which dancers move around a festively decorated pole, each holding a ribbon attached to the top. As they circle the pole, they weave intricate patterns with their ribbons. At the end of the dance, the ribbons are swiftly unwound in a dazzling swirl of color and movement. It’s a beautiful and symbolic way to welcome spring. Younger grades perform dances appropriate to their level, building up to the maypole dance in their final year at Marion Cross.

“The kids really look forward to being the biggest kids in the school and getting to perform this intricate maypole dance,” Ramsey explains. “It’s like a rite of passage.”

Georgia Gollub and Jaden Stocking

The long-standing tradition of Mayfest spans generations at Marion Cross School. Some current faculty members, who attended MCS as children, recall Mayfest with deep affection. Ross McGee, now a math coach at the school, is one such alum. He remembers feeling jealous of his older brother, who performed the maypole dance three years before he got his chance. “I eagerly awaited my turn to be a ‘big kid.’ The songs, the dancing, and being outside as an entire school community are memories I will always carry with me,” McGee says. The maypole dance gives students a joyful milestone to look forward to and fondly remember.

Hillary Roberts, a self-proclaimed “Marion Cross School Superfan,” was a classmate of McGee’s and now works as an education assistant at the school. She describes Mayfest as a tradition that makes Marion Cross “truly magical.” Like McGee, she recalls the 5th and 6th grade dances as highlights of her experience. “It was such an honor to finally be a fifth grader and wear all white with bells around our ankles while we did the ‘stick dance,’” Roberts shares. The stick dance, a beloved tradition for fifth graders at MCS, features students dancing and playfully jousting with poles.

The memories of Mayfest stay with Marion Cross students for decades. Ania Safford, a member of the class of 2000 and now a sixth-grade teacher at MCS, paints a vivid picture of her own Mayfest experience: “I can easily transport myself back to the meadow on a beautiful spring afternoon—the field filled with colorful flying flags, the sounds of accordion, fiddle, and guitar music, Maypole ribbons floating in the wind, and picnic blankets covering the hillside.” That tranquil joy is what alumni remember most dearly.

Mayfest offers students at Marion Cross a chance to learn traditional folk dances and perform them for their community on the spring Green, creating memories that last a lifetime. “The students get to put their teamwork and musical learning into action,” says Ramsey. “It’s an important way for us to contribute to our community.”