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.

Naturally, my grandchildren’s love of the Montshire ignited mine, and I became active as a volunteer on the Montshire Fund Committee and in various educational pursuits over the years. These connections have led to what I now see as my “grown-up,” ongoing engagement with this wonderful educational, scientific, and outside-the-box-fun resource, right here in town.

I was delighted to have the opportunity one afternoon this past fall to sit down with the Montshire’s new Executive Director, Marcos Stafne, who began work here in April. I wanted to know more about what he believed that he brought to his new job, what stood out about the Museum for him in his early months here, and what his thinking is as he contemplates his role in leading an institution turning 40 on January 10, 2016.

Marcos Stafne’s life history and job experience are very clearly museum based. He grew up in Orlando, Florida, where he spent a lot of kid time as a visitor to the Orlando Science Center and where he worked during college, as a program presenter as well as an actor performing shows about science, both of which, he says, “provided me with a great background for understanding the different ways that one can communicate science. I enjoy taking difficult concepts and making them accessible to folks at various levels.”  Marcos brings expertise from his work at the Orlando Science Center, the New York Hall of Science, the Rubin Museum of Art, and most recently, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum.

How did he get to Vermont?  By car, he states, driving up for the first time from New York during a snowstorm!  Encouraged by various colleagues to put his hat in the ring for the Montshire job when David Goudy’s retirement was imminent, Marcos arrived for an initial interview at the peak of last year’s intense winter. “When I drove toward the Museum from Hanover,”  Marcos says, “I was awestruck by its majestic position along the frozen Connecticut River. The building isn’t ostentatious, but the aesthetics project it as a place of importance,” an observation that Marcos elaborated on as our conversation continued:

“When I entered the building for the first time, I noticed how engaged all the visitors were. The exhibits allow you to bring your imagination to the table. In essence, a visitor plus the exhibit equals the experience. The Museum needs people to activate it; that each visitor experiences the joy of engagement rings true to my own personal connection with science.”

As the new Executive Director, Marcos Stafne succeeds David Goudy, who held the job for 34 years. I was interested in how Marcos contextualizes for himself the connection between the past and the future, in thinking about his role here:  “There’s a reason, according to folk wisdom, that cars have windshields that are bigger than their rear view mirrors.” Going on to explain, Marcos affirms that the Museum was “built on a strong foundation, and my role is to take advantage of what is already working incredibly well, sharpen our focus, and keep the Museum relevant to the community.” Glancing backwards to identify strengths and depths that are synonymous with our identity, he suggests, we use that retrospective view to help sort through the choices ahead and make rock solid decisions.

David Goudy had “real vision,” Marcos commented. With dedicated and highly competent staff members and volunteers, he led the Museum to develop the hands-on opportunities that characterize visitors’ experiences here. He forged strong connections with local institutions like Dartmouth and with more distant pinnacles of the scientific world such as the Association of Science and Technology Centers, the National Institutes of Science, and the Noyce Foundation, whose aim it is to help develop leaders in the areas of math and science. Under David Goudy’s guidance the Museum also established multiple programs designed to deliver good science education to local school children and professional development opportunities to teachers.

Director of Education Greg DeFrancis created the School Partnership Initiative, further strengthening the Museum’s dedication to meaningful science education. Since its inception, the Museum has welcomed thousands of school children annually, through carefully planned school programs orchestrated by its highly skilled educators.

But that’s not all. It was under David Goudy’s leadership that the Museum expanded its footprint; built walking trails; began programming for adults; created the outdoor Science Park, recently renamed in his honor; and dedicated the Hughes Pavilion.

That’s a lot to work with, and Marcos looks forward to a future that will include expanding ties with Dartmouth and the community, exploring opportunities to utilize the Museum’s 110-acre campus, and increasing the educational programming. He also sees additional priorities on the horizon. Already, under the leadership of Jennifer Rickards, Director of Development and Visitor Services, the Montshire offers a “Warm Welcome” program, which provides greater access to the Museum for economically disadvantaged children and families.

Emphasizing a broad sense of inclusiveness will be a definite intention as the Museum looks ahead. “My short term focus has been to get to know the Montshire; listen to what folks have to say about the Upper Valley, Vermont, New Hampshire, New England; and interpret people’s perceptions to ensure that the Montshire is meeting the community’s needs,” says Marcos. On his list of possibilities down the road, he names improving access and opportunities for those with special needs, diversifying adult programming, providing connections for senior citizens, and exploring engaging programs for teens that can strengthen their ties to science in a supportive environment. Marcos envisions a museum that is both a community hub as well as an exciting destination for visitors from far and wide. Expanding partnerships and collaborations is on his radar as an essential pursuit in the years ahead. Community engagement in all aspects of science will be crucial.

As the Montshire Museum of Science celebrates its 40th anniversary, the leadership plans a year full of superb exhibitions, programs, and events beginning January 10 with a community Open House. The thematic mantra will be to cultivate the Joy of Science.

Human Plus: Real Lives + Real Engineering (January 30 – May 8, 2016) is a 2000 square foot interactive exhibit that offers visitors a chance to explore and create a range of low-tech and high-tech tools that extend human abilities.

Prototype Showcase: Making Music: The Science and Art of Instrument Design (May 16 – June 6, 2016) will allow visitors to share their input as the Montshire creates a new exhibition focused on the art and design of musical instruments.

The Tinkering Loft (June 25 – August 28, 2016) will be the Museum’s marquee exhibition for summer 2016. Based on the Montshire’s work piloting activities in the Tinkering Lab over the past 18 months, The Tinkering Loft will provide an extended environment to engage all visitors in tinkering, designing, and building.

And dinosaurs will be back next fall when the Montshire hosts Dinosaur Revolution. (September 24, 2016–January 1, 2016)

Please join me in wishing Norwich’s Montshire Museum of Science a very happy birthday, and also in welcoming Marcos Stafne as the new Executive Director of this

very impressive institution. As the Museum builds on its past and looks toward its future, may the goal of experiencing the joy of science lead to an even more vibrant and inspirational 40 years ahead, on all fronts!

For Scott Miller, the world is full of stories from many cultures, waiting to be told.  And he thinks that by sharing them, the world has a chance of becoming a better place.

“It started on a study abroad to Spain when I was in college,” Scott explains.  “While on the Iberian Peninsula I kept noticing the architecture, the mingling of influences.  In Cordoba I saw the La Mezquita Cathedral which was used by Muslims, Jews and Catholics – multiple faiths worshipping in different ways – in different sections of the same building, each section adorned with details from the others’ traditions.  I found it amazing.”

He noticed that this melding of influences extended to textiles, iron work, tile, and agricultural practices.  “Crops brought from the Middle East – lemons, limes, almonds, oranges, date palms”, he explains, “all originally came to Spain from Arabia. Farming techniques were brought over, too.  The aqueducts built by the Romans are still standing.”

To Scott, these centuries-old elements evidenced the ability of differing ethnicities to live side-by-side and prosper together.  “I came to the conclusion that this peaceful co-existence happened because of leadership.  If the leaders at the time hadn’t seen the value of co-operation, it wouldn’t have been possible.  In fact, diversity is necessary for cultures to flourish.”

Scott himself had a kind of multicultural upbringing.  From the time he was a tiny baby until he was 12-years-old, he spent six months of every year in Norwich and six months in Nairobi, Kenya.  His dad, anthropologist/political scientist Norman Miller, PhD holds a research professor appointment at Dartmouth Medical School and specializes in global heath, the environment and human rights.  As part of Dr. Miller’s work, he took his family with him on his annual research trips to East Africa.

“I was always the new kid,” Scott says of his bi-continental upbringing.  “I had to be friendly and outgoing.  And I learned to make friends quickly.”

Still, he thought of the house in Norwich as home.

“I had everything a kid could ask for,” he says of the family’s house on New Boston Road.  “We had woods all around and a pond in the backyard…  It was my playground.”

Educated concurrently in the Hanover-Norwich schools and in British schools in East Africa (with a dose of home schooling thrown in), the scientist’s son possessed a good measure of on-board curiosity from the get-go.  He did his own kind of field work, right in his Norwich backyard.

“I became a master of catching amphibious creatures,” he says, reminiscing.  “I would put on a mask and snorkel, and go down to the pond to look for turtles.  I’d swim up underneath them, and watch to see what they did.  Sometimes I would catch them and – very, very gently – put them in a bucket for a day or so.  But I always put them back in the pond.  I never killed things.  I was more of a curious gatherer.”

He might not have made the connection himself, but it is clear these two abilities in concert – a knack for adapting quickly to new settings and the practice of close observation without interfering – along with a life-long habit of traveling globally, made Scott particularly well-suited to his chosen profession of photojournalism/ethnography.

On that junior year abroad, the larger questions of how people from very different cultures and opposing religious views work together and prosper captured his imagination.

Then 9-11 happened.  Suddenly the notion that people from varying cultures and religions might live together in peace took on a new and urgent relevance.  Soon after, Scott joined forces with Hanover native Wynne Washburn, and together they launched the Regarding Diversity Project.

In the spring of 2004, Miller and Washburn went back to Spain to document evidence of the pluralism that had been the norm centuries earlier.  They photographed buildings with tile roofs, built with a technology harkening back to the Middle East and China.  They captured Spanish citizens practicing Tai-chi in courtyards that were originally modeled on Middle Eastern open-air patios.  They photographed dancers and street-corner protestors, painters and craftsmen.  They found evidence of cultural medley everywhere they looked and learned a good deal of history in the process.

“As the variety of artists styles and ideas grew in medieval Spain, the inspiration for craftsmen, musicians, poets and other artists grew exponentially,” they wrote.  “Jewish poets began to write verses in Hebrew using the structure of Arabic poems as a base.  Musicians from Bagdad were invited to the Court of Cordoba to teach a new form of musical notation – the form we use today.”

During 2005—2006, ten years after the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, the partners took their cameras to Bosnia-Herzegovina where the former Yugoslavia had been fractured by decades of war.  Communities and family members of different religions and belief systems, who had lived and worked side-by-side for generations, were suddenly forced to choose sides.  Miller and Washburn traveled from town to town by bus to meet local people and get their perspectives on the aftermath.

“We were interested in meeting people, learning about the current situation with regard to religious tolerance and understanding how people view the progress of healing within themselves and their country,” they wrote at the time. “We knew the peace accords had physically re-integrated the population that had lived side-by-side in Yugoslavia for 46 years, but we wondered if integration is really what the people wanted.”

What they found was an institutionalized fear of “the other.” In the new paradigm of post war Bosnia- Herzegovina, separate schools were established for each language or dialect. “There were multiple schools in the same village the size of Norwich or smaller, each teaching a different version of the same history in a different language. And each municipality was making up its own rules for its schools,” Scott explains.

They visited a high school in the city of Mostar which had separate classes and teachers for Bosnians, Croats and Bosiniaks, though these same students interacted with each other in the hallways and at lunch.

Part III of the Regarding Diversity Project took place in 2006-2007 when they went to India to explore the southwestern state of Kerala where a 5,000-year-old culture had been built on a philosophy of pluralism. Here they explored the harmonious co-existence knitted together by Jews, Muslims, Hindis and Christians. “Our most important finding,” Miller and Washburn wrote, “…was that economic interdependence between religious groups provides an incentive for tolerance.” Muslim fishermen knew that if they fought with their Hindu neighbors as was happening elsewhere in the country during the riots of 1992 and again in 2002, they would lose their customers. “If we riot with the Hindu merchants,” explained the fisherman, “who will buy our fish?”

Eventually, Miller went to graduate school and earned a Masters degree in International Affairs and Ethnographic Studies from the New School in NYC. While in New York, he took part in the Global Video Letters project in the South Bronx. He and others went into the community and, working with NGOs and community activists, taught kids the skills they needed to “tell their own stories about what they see, experience and want to share with the world.”

Then in the fall of 2010 and the winter of 2011, Miller completed a documentary film called “Our Global Campus” in St. Johnsbury. He worked with adults with developmental disabilities for six months, teaching them the basics of filmmaking and helping them to complete video projects about their lives. The result is a startlingly personal record of the everyday lives of these Vermonters. They play sports, they socialize, they talk about what they care about, they make plans – all right to the camera, in their own words.

“My approach has always been to ‘capture’ what I see on film. Appreciating what is all around – wanting to participate but not influence,” Scott says about his work. “As a photographer and explorer, my work begins with a question: how can we all live together in peace?”

Lately Scott, along with his wife and business partner Lindsay McClure Miller (they were married this past August) work together on a project called World Story Exchange in which they “…invite all people to observe their place and create documentary art for global exchange.”
Scott and Lindsay travel around the globe, putting cameras in the hands of children, showing them how to use the equipment and then inviting them to make mini-documentaries to tell their own stories or those of their families and friends.

“There are two basic philosophical foundations for my work,” Scott explains. “First, I am interested in using youth-made media to create bridges of communication, and thus foster new understandings and appreciations between participants. These bridges can connect people from different generations, different cultures, different socio-economic groups, and others.

“Secondly, I am interested in fostering active citizens through the creation of documentary artwork. My students are typically assigned some type of community questioning, either making interviews with others or asking students to critically assess the positive, and negative, aspects of their community. Through these acts of on-the-street questioning and engagement, the student is no longer a passive body, no longer a bystander, but is now an active participant in the social order, a citizen, perhaps an activist in the making.”

They have traveled to Vietnam, Brazil, Cambodia, Thailand, Nicaragua, Indonesia, and all over the state of Vermont, teaching children to use still photography, video and audio equipment. Working with the Vermont Folklife Center through its Education Outreach program and “a wide variety of organizations, including K-12 public schools, homeless shelters, teen & parent-child centers, senior centers, public libraries, and organizations for adults with differing abilities,” they have made over 200 short documentaries.

“I continue to be fascinated by humanity,” Scott writes, “I am simultaneously inspired and saddened by our capacity to create and destroy, socially and ecologically, the groups we live among, and the places we share.”

“What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore, it knows it’s not fooling a soul.” – American Gods

Long-time Norwich residents may disagree with Neil Gaiman’s assertion, saying that Norwich’s career as a fine town antedates the arrival of the Norwich Bookstore, but who would not agree that the Bookstore improves the town? Not just books, but community-building ideas hatch at the Bookstore, such as the Book Angels program that provides donors an opportunity to give books to children at Christmas. And, through the energy of two booksellers, “The Book Jam,” a jazzy blog, was born in 2010 to spread news of good books. Lisa Christie and Lisa Cadow stated their mission: “We’re here to help you out of those troublesome ‘book jams.’ You’re in a ‘jam’ when you ask: ‘What should I read next?’ ‘What’s the best new cookbook to give Mom?’ ‘What do I, rural girl in a flannel shirt, give my sophisticated best friend who lives in New York City or Seattle?’ We aim to put the right book in the right hands at the right time.”

The Book Jam’s roots are both practical and idealistic. Christie explains, “The blog started because the Bookstore needed a stronger internet presence. And we both really strongly believe in the power of books and stories to change lives.” She adds, “Basically, we decided the blog would not be ‘work.’ We’re not book critics per se – if we don’t like something, we don’t review it.” Enthusiasm shines through the blog and makes you want to abandon other projects and run to the library or the Bookstore or your “to read” shelf and start reading!

The two Lisas read whatever catches their fancy, whether because of reviews, events in the news, or their own family or travel plans. There have been posts on Pakistan, natural disasters, and Iceland’s Nobel-prizewinning Haldor Laxness. After reading independently, the Lisas consult with each other and find a theme developing for the blog. There’s a new post every other Monday, except in the summer, when they take a “Gone Reading” break from posting – but never from reading. The blog has over 500 subscribers and gets about 1,000 hits a month.

Eventually the Lisas decided to put on a live event, and in April 2012 introduced Pages in the Pub, a sort of speed-dating for books, and a fundraiser for the Norwich Library, held at the Norwich Inn. Four local book mavens each reviewed three books; admission tickets covered a drink and a donation to the library. The Bookstore took book orders. The event sold out and then some, and in later years Lisa Christie has taken it on the road, linking up with independent bookstores in northern Vermont and Rhode Island to spread enthusiasm for good books. (Early notice is here given: Norwich’s next Pages in the Pub will be the week after Thanksgiving.)

Lisa Cadow, who is on the board of the Norwich Library, discovered “Tables of Content,” another fundraising idea. Hosts pick a book they love – “in that year, or in their lives” says Cadow – and guests sign up for a dinner gathering based on the book, not knowing who the hosts are. “Almost more important than the book discussion is the community-building,” Cadow says, though the several thousand dollars each event raises are helping the library achieve opening on Sundays during the school year.

Lisa Christie currently devotes most of her time to parenting, but B.C. – Before Children – she spent several years donating her talents to a non-profit called “Everybody Wins!” which links adult volunteers with children for a once a week reading session. “It’s a great story, how it got started,” says Lisa, launching into her story like the Ancient Mariner. “It began in New York City in 1992. A businessman in the garment district walked by a school every morning on his way to work, and he went in to the principal and said he’d like to read to some of the kids. I guess she looked at him as though he had twelve heads, but he persuaded her and eventually she said OK. He had so much fun doing it, he talked about it at work and got everyone doing it.”

The model is simple: one adult meets once a week with one child to share reading and discussion of a book. Meetings are at lunch or recess, so they don’t disrupt the school program, and it’s supposed to be fun; if the child doesn’t like one book, help them pick out another.

The program attracted the attention of Senators Jeffords and Kennedy, who headed the HEW committee, and they sicced their staffs on investigating. The report came back, “It’s fabulous!” so the senators challenged colleagues and staff to try it at a local elementary school. Apparently the school nearest the Capitol is not a high-performing school, but rather, says Christie, the kind of place where there are shots on the street corners. The program was a success in D.C., and spread to several other cities. An effort was made to bring it to Vermont, but failed.

When she moved to Vermont in 1999 and couldn’t find a paid job, Christie took up the challenge to restart an “Everybody Wins!” program in the state. The first year she established the program in Rutland and Barre. A $2,000 grant from CVPS covered the cost of local coordinators. Her goal was to have 20 volunteers working in each city; by the end of the year she had 40 in Barre and 100 in Rutland. After 4 years she had 17 schools on board, with about 600 volunteers. In the White River School, the closest participating school to Norwich, there has been a volunteer for every kid in the school.

“Teachers in Vermont consistently say, no matter what school, that the people who benefit most are not the highest or lowest performing students, but the average kids in the middle. Is it because they usually don’t get much attention? Who knows, but they become more confident, and more interactive in the classroom.”

Christie is not fussy about formats: paper, e-reader, audiobook – she enjoys them all. With her characteristic gusto she exclaims, “Anything that gets people reading, I’m all for it!”

Over two years in the making, “Back to School: Lessons from Norwich’s One-room Schoolhouses” will have its long-awaited premiere this month, with a screening at Wilder Center on Sunday, June 28 at 7:00, and another screening at Marion Cross School in the multipurpose room on Tuesday, June 30 at 7:00.  The screenings will benefit Root Schoolhouse and Beaver Meadow Schoolhouse, with a suggested donation of $10 for adults, $5 for children, and $20 for families.

In the winter of 2013, Boston-based Historic New England, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most comprehensive regional heritage organization, and CATV, the Upper Valley’s local community cable television studio, agreed to make a documentary about the history of Norwich’s one-room schoolhouses.  The groups’ previous project, “Connecting the Threads,” a documentary about AVA Gallery’s history as the H.W. Carter and Sons factory, had been well-received, and they were eager to now tell a Vermont story about great buildings and their transformations, weaving together interviews and historic photos.  CATV director Bob Franzoni suggested Norwich’s schoolhouses, with a focus on the surviving two that were at the time on the cover of Norwich’s town report and would soon be added to the National Register of Historic Places: Beaver Meadow and Root. Over the next two years, ten students who attended Norwich one-room schoolhouses in the 1930s and 1940s were interviewed, along with local experts on one-room schoolhouses, and dozens of historic photos provided by the Norwich Historical Society were identified for use in the documentary.

Excitement within Historic New England about this project grew, so much so that a photo of Root Schoolhouse graced the cover of the winter 2014-15 edition of its membership magazine, the first time a Vermont building had ever been Historic New England’s cover story.  In that article, Ken Turino, the documentary’s director and Historic New England’s Manager of Community Engagement and Exhibitions, writes, “Why do one-room schoolhouses resonate with people today?  Do they remind us of a more rural America with strong local communities?  Is it nostalgia for a simpler, slower pace of life?”

Excitement within Norwich grew as well.  In February 2014, Dan & Whit’s and the Norwich Inn hosted a wine-tasting fundraiser in support of the documentary.  In the fall of 2014, a crowd-source fundraising campaign to help complete the documentary resulted in 38 contributors donating anywhere from $25 to $50; some of these donations came from outside of the Upper Valley.  Thanks to the community’s support, the documentary will include a remarkable soundtrack of original string quartet music composed by Travis Ramsey, the music teacher at Marion Cross School; performed by instructors at the Upper Valley Music Center under the leadership of its director, Ben Van Vliet; and recorded live by Spencer Lewis within the walls of Beaver Meadow Schoolhouse.  The composition is called “Marion’s Morning,” in honor of Marion Cross, a former Union Village one-room schoolhouse teacher who later moved on to the school in the heart of Norwich village.

The completion of the documentary comes at a time when the community’s interest in preserving the schoolhouses is at its peak, no doubt in part due the schoolhouses’ addition to the National Register of Historic Places in the summer of 2013, made possible by the efforts of the Norwich Historic Preservation Commission. Shortly after this designation, Beaver Meadow Schoolhouse launched a major fundraising campaign to re-establish the septic system, plumbing and bathroom and upgrade other areas.  Significant progress has been made thanks to generous grants from the Vermont Arts Council, the Byrne Foundation, Mascoma Savings Bank, Ledyard National Bank, the Norwich Women’s Club, the Norwich Lion’s Club, and Beaver Meadow Chapel Association, and in-kind donations from contractors including Pathways Consulting, Wanner Earthmoving and others.  Many individual donors have contributed and fund raising continues with Beaver Meadow’s annual cocoa mulch sale, concerts and other efforts.  Upcoming improvement plans include building and attached shed repairs, wheelchair accessibility and electrical upgrades.

Meanwhile, the Root District Game Club, which became a 501(c)3 nonprofit last summer, has initiated an $80,000 capital campaign to rebuild its deteriorated foundation, which forced the building’s closing in 2011. In 2014, it received a major boost with a $40,000 matching pledge from the Byrne Foundation, and has also received support from the Norwich Women’s Club, the Norwich Lion’s Club, Vermont Community Foundation, Preservation Trust of Vermont, in-kind donations from Smith & Vansant and Pathways Consulting, and several individual contributions. The Game Club’s campaign still has a long way to go, but they are optimistic that the documentary could help generate the additional financial support it needs.

Helen E. Smith, Root School	Jacquie Teeter-Durkee, Turnpike School
Stanley Wallace, Beaver Meadow School	Alfred DeVaux, Pompanoosuc School

How do we measure whether or not this documentary is a success?  Will it be a success if there is a strong turnout for the two screenings?  Will it be a success if it is broadcast on Vermont Public Television, as “Connecting The Threads” was shown on New Hampshire Public Television?  Will it be a success if it wins an award, as was the case with “Connecting The Threads,” which won the 2013 Leadership in History Award from the American Association for State and Local History?

More important than all of these possibilities, the documentary is already a success because it has given an opportunity for ten people who attended Norwich’s one-room schoolhouses to share their stories.  Historic New England’s Ken Turino says, “Norwich’s one-room schools are now part of the past, but these stories are just as important to the town’s history as the structures themselves.”

Thanks to Dale Somerville, Stanley Teeter, and Jacquie Teeter-Durkee, we will remember Turnpike School, even though it burned down decades ago.  Thanks to Alfred DeVaux and Alma Gray, we will also remember “Pompy,” the Pompanoosuc School, which was long ago converted to a single-family home.  These schools may not have been preserved, but memories of them will be.

Thanks to Stanley Wallace, we will know Beaver Meadow Schoolhouse even better than before for its historic role in Norwich education, as well as for its current and future role as a vibrant gathering place in the Beaver Meadow community.

And thanks to Rockcey Ruby, Dan & Fred Smith, and Helen Smith, we will remember the Root School.

For the members of the Root District Game Club, for the many families who have used the schoolhouse as a community center from 1952 until its reluctant closing, and the current residents of the community surrounding this building, one important measure of the documentary’s impact will be a simple one: did it help save the building? The documentary alone cannot rebuild Root Schoolhouse’s deteriorating foundation and return it to public use.  Hopefully, those who are moved by “Back to School” will respond by supporting the preservation of the building itself, along with its memories.

If you would like to attend a screening of “Back to School,” please contact us at (802) 331-0677, or send an email to rootschoolhouse@gmail.com.

More information about the documentary, including video clips, can be found at our website:  www.rootschoolhouse.org.  You can even follow the film on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/rootschoolhouse.

Norwich locals behind initiatives bringing Upper Valley citizens together online.

Once the meeting house was the place where people would, well, meet, interact, and exchange news and information while discussing community affairs. Twenty odd years ago, along came the internet, enabling you to connect with a new, ethereal community. Remember dial-up? Your computer and landline joining forces, shrieking awkwardly in an attempt to establish a tenuous link that allowed you to exchange some brief messages with others far away? It was revolutionary and otherworldly, but slow and unreliable. And since the connection couldn’t be taken for granted, it was more novelty than productivity. It was also a blow to our sense of belonging to our traditional local community.

Since then, the internet has matured and grown exponentially. Today, (almost) everybody has access to an infinite amount of information and people online; telecommuting is routine, and teachers assign homework to complete online and “hand in” electronically. Everything from banking to shopping is done on the web, and many if not most of our daily social interactions are virtual, rather than real.

The Nuts and Bolts of Getting Us Connected

But all that digital excess is only available if your connection to the internet has kept pace. For many Vermonters, however, connectivity has remained sketchy and slow, leaving them stranded on the far side of “the digital divide” that separates those with access to new technologies from those without. To be clear, that’s not only a developed-versus-developing world issue: the digital divide has been called one of America’s leading economic and civil rights issues, and it affects rural areas, like Vermont, particularly badly.

This was why Governor Shumlin earlier this year reiterated that Vermont’s economy cannot function without sufficient internet access. “It’s no different than the telephone lines and electric lines, the challenge that Governor Aiken faced, back when that was being distributed through poles and wires,” he said of broadband. “I don’t think there’s a more important goal for a small, rural state.”

The state has struggled to achieve that goal, however, and in 2007, enterprising Vermonters took on the challenge to bring broadband to the underserved in East-Central Vermont. By 2010, after a bumpy ride through the great recession, EC Fiber had set up shop in South Royalton, and the company has since extended fiber optic cable – and with it high speed internet – to towns, libraries, companies and private subscribers in off-the-grid places, including parts of Norwich.

Getting community buy-in and gaining the necessary access to utility poles has required EC Fiber’s team to jump through countless hoops, their accomplishment is perhaps more one of financial prowess and negotiating skill than of engineering. With its community ownership and leadership, a team of friendly, local staffers and funding largely from local investors, EC Fiber certainly has more than a touch of modern day co-operative about it. With over 1,000 customers, their feisty business model is working well – so well, in fact, that EC Fiber is being noticed and their approach copied by other rural communities eager to deliver broadband, tired of waiting in vain for the state or commercial providers like Comcast to do so.

In a Norman Rockwell Painting, You’d Ask Your Neighbor

Once the high speed bytes flow freely, the first thing many users do is join the billion or so other users of Facebook, the social media juggernaut that – for better or worse – remains a primary conduit for information and interaction online. Perhaps you get back in touch with a long lost high school classmates or your old pen pal in Peru, but even if a few hundred of them are “friends,” Facebook’s vast network is no real community. As Chance Barnett of Forbes Magazine put it a few years ago, “Just because we connect with a person or company online, it doesn’t mean we have an actual relationship. Real connections are forged under many circumstances, but relationships built in local communities are more important than ever.”

To bring it back down to scale, one option would be to establish a local community in the virtual world. That’s what Chris Healy of Norwich did five years ago, using Facebook’s built-in groups – “The place for small group communication and for people to share their common interests and express their opinion” according to Facebook itself. Chris had already seen the usefulness of such groups as a hockey coach, and he felt an online group could broaden the scope for instant, informal communication between people from different towns in the Upper Valley, on a platform with which they were already familiar.

Chris invited his friends, then let word of mouth (and clicks on mice) do the rest, and today the Upper Valley VT/NH Facebook group has almost six thousand members. It’s mission is for users is to: “Share your experiences, give advice, make referrals with your neighbors. Be nice to each other. Revel in our differences as well as our commonalities. Most of all, share your favorite Upper Valley finds.”

Members post almost anything, really. Live music announcements, requests for recommendations, announcements of yard sales. One member came looking for a “turtle-sitter,” another recently asked:  “Does anyone know who runs the ice cream truck that drives around Lebanon and West Lebanon in the summer time?” Less than five hours later, she had her answer.

“This group is not about selling things,” admonishes Chris in his welcome message on the group’s page. But as the moderator of the group he tries to be hands off, and he rarely has reason to intervene. “It’s somewhat self-policing,” he says. “People have really gotten the spirit of it and taken ownership.” Which may explain where Chris finds the courage to dream about expanding the group to involve more political discussions, hoping that the format would allow people to discuss local matters in a positive and meaningful way, while keeping things respectful.

Civic Participation in the Online Era

Whereas Chris Healy opted to use an existing social media network, Norwich resident, Watt Alexander, and his team at Subtext Media in White River Junction have instead built their own platform – a website called dailyUV.com – to support genuinely local, community-based conversation and connections while avoiding the privacy compromises and problems associated with sites like Facebook.

DailyUV.com began by repurposing the content from the venerable Upper Valley email listservs, but it is evolving into a comprehensive suite of events calendars, marketplaces and interactive hubs of community information.

Rob Gurwitt  (also a Norwich resident) from Subtext Media notes that, even in a small town like Norwich, life has become more complex. “We’re busier, and with few exceptions – like the recent bond debacle – people just don’t have time to show up at a community meeting at 7pm. We saw that at Town Eating Day in Norwich, where we could never get more than a couple of hundred people to turn out. All the same, people do want to be and feel connected and informed, so local government and organizations in cities and small towns all over the country are struggling to figure out how to let people know what’s going on. That’s harder than ever with the barrage of information cluttering every media channel.”

Subtext Media’s approach is to use the internet to bring it all together, lowering the barriers to access information, and presenting curated local content in a more convenient and approachable way.

In Chris Healy’s ideal world, the connections forged online should lead to offline “real world” interactions as well – face-to-face meetings and collaboration on community projects. Rob Gurwitt isn’t convinced that improved access to local information will get more people actively involved in community life. “That remains up to each individual,” he says, but he does hope that the site will help stimulate discussion.

The reason Shumlin and others want all Vermonters connected to broadband is obviously not primarily so they may swap canning recipes with their neighbors. Rather, says Julia Pulidindi of the National League of Cities, “Ultimately, the goal of broadband access is to allow people to take advantage of its potential to improve the user’s experience, whether it’s for business development, improved healthcare, education or recreation.”

The goal is proving elusive, however, and the goalposts keep shifting. The leap from dial-up to even limited broadband like DSL was significant a few years ago, but the FCC recently increased the minimum speed that may properly be considered “broadband,” and as VPR reported in February, by that new standard, thirty percent of Vermonters still lack broadband.

EC Fiber’s Norwich-led team of innovators has taken a grassroots approach to help community members across the digital divide. Bit by bit, they’re connecting them to the online world around which our lives increasingly revolve. Once there, they can use both the dailyUV.com and the Upper Valley Facebook group to discuss matters great and small and share the experiences and insights that make the Upper Valley special. Our little community may be part of a brave new virtual world, but it can still be local.

You probably know that the Lions Club runs the Norwich Fair each year, complete with rides, cotton candy, the dunk tank, a pig roast and even a Meadow Muffin competition. But you probably don’t know how many businesses help out behind the scenes, or how many local charities benefit from funds raised at the event.

It may surprise you. Over the past year, the Lions donated about $22,000 to nearly 30 charities ranging from the Red Logan Dental Clinic to Holiday Basket Helpers to the High Horses Therapeutic Riding Program. Well over 100 companies and individuals from the area made donations to help make last year’s fair one of the most successful ever. (See sidebar.) And that doesn’t count the dozens of volunteers who set up tents, sold tickets, got dunked in the dunk tank and generally kept things running smoothly.
“The last couple of years, the fair has looked more like the ones I remember from 40 years ago,” says Henry Scheier, a member of the club’s fair committee. “You see more people congregating and talking with each other, especially in the evening hours. That’s really important to the town, which seems to have become less community-oriented over the years.”

Widespread business participation certainly helps – whether it comes in the form of donations to the silent auction or cases of water for the Lions working the hospitality tent. The club has other events during the year to support charities and Christmas decorations and the Memory Tree on the bandstand, but the annual fair is key to its fundraising.
The club has sponsored the fair for the last 26 years. Prior to that, it was run for 40 years by the churches in town. Joyce Childs, King Lion (president) of the club, was chair of the Norwich Church Fair when it began to run out of gas.

“It was hard keeping it going,” Childs recalls. “Most people wanted to stop after 36 or 37 years, but I talked the old-timers into continuing into the 40th year, and then promised I wouldn’t ask them anymore.”

After that 40th year, Childs found the Lions Club eager to take over, and the deal was struck before you can say Meadow Muffin. “They were tickled to death to have it,” she says. “They used to sell light bulbs, but that didn’t raise much money.”

The light bulb sales were tied to one of the club’s core missions: to help the blind. That mission continues today, with collection boxes for used glasses at both Dan & Whit’s and the town clerk’s office.

But the fair gives the club the opportunity to do much more for the community and the charities that serve it. Lion Richard Neugass is especially proud of the club’s support of the Marion Cross School, funding projects outside the normal budgeted facilities and curriculum. For example, the Lions fund trips to the Valley Terrace Senior Center, and educational programs for kids at the Norwich Historical Society. It also supports a one-on-one lunchtime reading program, tree planting and the providing of skates for those needing to borrow them to participate in the PTO’s community skating events at the rink on the Green.

At Lions Club meetings (6:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month downstairs in the library), representatives of local non-profits are invited to speak and make members aware of their activities. This not only helps build synergies among like-minded people, it helps club members decide which charities to support. If you’re interested in joining or learning more, come to a meeting.

Did you know the Norwich Business Council (NBC) was  started over a decade ago? Sally Wilson and other local business leaders felt there was a need for the business community to come together, providing an avenue of community outreach, business networking, and supporting each other as good neighbors. During the early years, these leaders began the tradition of making holiday decorations for the downtown light posts.

The NBC has come a long way since its early days. It is a vibrant and relevant piece of the Norwich business community. Although it no longer makes holiday decorations, the Norwich Business Council’s support of local endeavors is far reaching. This is clearly shown with the recent success of the “19 Days of Norwich.” NBC member Dan Fraser spearheaded this endeavor which has raised over a quarter million dollars for the Upper Valley Haven. Dan’s inspiration motivated members of NBC to do their part by organizing, volunteering, and contributing. Thanks to this effort, enough food and money has been donated to provide the Haven with what they need for over a year!

The NBC meets at 8:15 a.m. on the second Friday of each month at the Norwich Inn. It is there that a committed group of leaders brainstorm, plan, and create dynamic events and programs that benefit the Norwich community.

One of the community outreach projects is the “Norwich Welcome Bags.” These are very attractive canvas bags filled with goodies donated by Norwich businesses. They are hand-delivered to new residents of Norwich to welcome them to the community so they feel welcome, and know what businesses are nearby to serve them.

One of NBC’s most memorable events is the Spring Business Blitz, which this year will be held on April 1st at the Montshire Museum. This event has had a fun history over the past five years and generates great enthusiasm and interest. The NBC collaborates with the Hartford Chamber of Commerce in this event. The style is that of “speed dating.” It begins with about a half-hour of casual networking and socializing with other business leaders while enjoying delicious appetizers and drinks – and then the serious networking begins! Everyone is divided into two groups, and then seated in pairs. Each person has 60 seconds to share their elevator speech – introducing themselves, describing their business, exchanging business cards, and seeing if there are ways they can work with each other. After the two minutes, a bell is rung and people move to the next chair to meet someone else. It’s a lot of fun, and a boundless opportunity to meet new people and learn about the products or services they provide. Frankly, it is amazing how many unique and creative businesses are located in the Upper Valley!

This year the NBC is pleased to offer its members several great opportunities to showcase their business. At monthly meetings, everyone is given a chance to speak with other community leaders. Members often share their ideas, insights, new undertakings and promotions they are offering, or they can ask for advice from other experienced business owners.

Additionally, individuals can sign up to make a 10-15 minute educational presentation at the monthly meetings to share their expertise with the group. Recent presentations have taught how to use Facebook and LinkedIn as business networking tools, and how a coach can help guide business growth and other issues. These presentations are an instructive and inspiring time, and give attendees great ideas that they can implement in their own endeavors.

This year will see the reintroduction of “NBC’s ABCs” which is shorthand for the After Business Connections. An NBC ABC is an opportunity for a business to host a social event for local business networking. These events can take place either before or after business hours at the convenience of the business host. Small, home-office businesses that cannot readily handle a large gathering can team up with another business that has more space and co-host an NBC ABC. The NBC strongly believes that this is a great avenue to bring local business leaders together with the opportunity to build relationships, get fresh ideas, and learn from each other.

One way the NBC promotes all Norwich businesses state-wide is by providing each of the Vermont Welcome Centers with “Discover Norwich” rack cards. The goal is to attract tourists to Norwich who were previously unaware of what is offered. “Come visit, come eat, come play and stay!” is a promoted theme. All Norwich businesses that are members of the Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce (HACC) are individually listed on the card. A QRcode on the back of the card is linked to the Norwich page of the HACC website, so visitors can get a business’ contact information, directions and hours of operation in order to plan their visit.

Finally, and what makes the Norwich Business Council a truly community-building entity is that it is free and open to any local business. It readily welcomes large businesses such as Dan & Whit’s and the local banks, to smaller operations and home-based offices such as Body Kneads Massage and Lufkin Graphic Designs, respectively. The NBC invites any small business owner to attend the meetings and get a feel for what it’s all about. New ideas and a passion for the Norwich community are welcomed and encouraged. After all, local business is critical to Norwich’s economic success and to the strengthening of the community fabric of Norwich!