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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Norwich’s Treasured Holiday Tradition and Its History

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I’m not going to say it because it’s just too cliché. However, it does feel like yesterday when Wendy McMillan Kenyon and I were working on the Quechee Times together – she was my graphic designer at the time – and we began toying with the idea of starting a Norwich publication modeled after the Quechee Times. Her daughter, Maddy, was just three years old and my older daughter, Dewey, was just 18 months and we both worked with and around our daughters by our sides many a day or night!

I had only been publishing the Quechee Times for about a year and thus harbored a helping of self-doubt and fear highlighted by my inexperience. So, I asked my cousin who was an extremely well-loved and respected community member and local attorney, Garfield (“Field”) Miller of Miller and Candon, what he thought of the idea. He, of course, in his reserved way (with a slightly noticeable twinkle in his eye) said “Yeah, sure. Go for it!” He even agreed to write one of the first articles!

So, before I continue to ramble on about how awesome Norwich is and about what a privilege it has been to share its good news stories with everyone in the community, I’d like to dedicate this 25th anniversary issue to my late and beloved cousin, advisor and under-the-radar supporter, Field Miller. All who knew him loved him dearly and anyone who enjoys the Norwich Times can thank him in memoriam.

Why Just Norwich?

One of the age-old questions I get asked about the Norwich Times is why I didn’t start a Hanover/Norwich paper. From a business perspective, it would have made all the sense in the world. At the time, Here In Hanover didn’t exist and there really were no other publications that served these two communities except Upper Valley Life and the Valley News. The Norwich Happenings newsletter was a wonderful mainstay for town and civic organization news. But, the Norwich Times, I believed, would serve to complement it by presenting more longform, human-interest profile pieces.

Sometimes I kick myself because it would have been much easier to get advertisers and therefore more revenue had I been able to offer to reach both communities. However, I knew in my gut that Norwich needed its own publication that focused solely on Norwich people, places and events that made Norwich such a deeply special place. Somehow, it just felt like the right thing to do and, to this day, I still feel strongly about how wonderfully intimate we can keep the content without having to serve multiple audiences. I hope you all agree. Please feel free to share your thoughts!

Recurring Themes That Just Fit

While Norwich is home to so many interesting people and goings on, it’s not always easy to come up with new story ideas. Unless you hear people talking on the playground or at Dan and Whit’s or at a soccer game, you don’t necessarily know what cool and unique tidbits are just waiting to be told. So, sometimes certain themes would repeat themselves over the years as tried-and-true fan faves!

Clearly, we love our local farms and farmers. We live here because we are privileged to have such incredibly high-quality food grown or raised in our backyards. As such, you might have read many articles about farms, farming, farmers and the landowners who donated their land to keep local farming viable. In my opinion, the topic never gets old!

Another theme that I selfishly created was the Gap Year Kids series. When my daughters were in middle and high school, I was intrigued by the many adventures Norwich young people embarked on between high school and college. I personally believed in the benefits of trying out a new culture or volunteer stint or perhaps an apprenticeship before just automatically going straight to college. In order to give a voice to these young people, I encouraged many to tell their tales. This served a variety of obvious purposes. I also hoped that other young people would be inspired to investigate their own options and possibilities. If you were inspired by reading about your contemporaries, please share which stories were particularly compelling and what you ended up doing as a result!

Education is another community priority that Norwich residents value a great deal. Since the longtime MCS principal, Milt Frye, retired just as the Norwich Times launched, we featured the many principals that followed his tenure. Mrs. T, Tracy Smith, Mr. G and other longtime and beloved teachers often appeared in our pages, as well. The May Day celebration was always a welcomed photo opp as it captured so well the spirit and values Norwich holds dear when it comes to educating its children.

I also particularly enjoyed our Elder Profiles. Norwich has an amazing mix of those whose families have been here for generations and the newly retired transplants who come back after their long-ago exposure to our special place during their Dartmouth years. Not only were their life stories fascinating, and their words of wisdom worth their weight in gold, the fierce commitment these elders made to aging in place was a testament to Norwich and to the community support. It was an honor to capture their spirits in our pages.  

Thank you, Norwich

When we think about the saying, It takes a village to raise a child. I can’t think of a better village to raise this “child,” the Norwich Times, from birth to now, as it turns 25. I am deeply grateful to have been able to share your personal heart and soul stories and to provide a vehicle through which neighbors can connect and even meet each other. To overhear someone in Dan and Whit’s say, “Oh, I recognize you from reading about you in the Norwich Times…” is my greatest reward. To know that people connect, inspire, teach, share, open up, invite and just plain give of themselves to each other through our pages, and have for the past 25 years, is what gives me the hope that we can uplift humanity through the power of positive press. Thank you, Norwich, for making it so easy.

And, last but not least – as these pages would not exist without our co-collaborators – our advertisers, sponsors and contributors. We truly could not exist without local businesses that believe in the power of good news and in supporting their community nor could we feel Norwich’s heart and soul if we didn’t have such tremendous writers who capture the essence of what makes Norwich so special. Thank you all for your ongoing loyalty, support and for translating our subjects’ values into messages of hope and inspiration.

We thank you all!

Psyanky, or egg-writing, was the last lesson Shannon Wallis of Norwich taught as an elementary school teacher some 23 years ago, though she did not know it at the time. Teaching art to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders at Hanover Street School and Seminary Hill in 1999, Wallis was ordered on bed rest while pregnant: “I took a leave of absence and then didn’t go back to teaching art, so that was the last unit I taught,” she said.

A coincidence that now feels fateful, Wallis is a full-time pysanky artist creating intricate designs on delicate eggs. Wallis first learned this Ukrainian artform while training to become an elementary school teacher about 30 years ago. Ten years ago, Wallis introduced some of her friends to pysanky during Easter and that June: “They called me up and said, ‘We’re gonna egg, do you want to come over?’ and we started getting together once a month.” This turned into a year round activity and Wallis has now been making a living as a pysanky artist for 5 years.

The word pysanky comes from the Ukrainian word “to write,” hence why the art form is referred to as “egg-writing.” “Often people think about writing a story while they’re working on their eggs,” Wallis says, “The story may be a prayer, it may be symbolic, or it may be for the recipient.” Traditionally, the pysanky eggs hold a cultural meaning – they have been planted in fields to ensure a good harvest or placed in the cow barns to enhance milk production. In Spring, Wallis says, girls would write an egg and give it to the boy for whom she held affection. “There’s a story you’re putting on the egg, that’s why we say ‘to write.’”

The action of the art itself reminds Wallis of writing. The artist uses a teeny bundle, called a kistka, filled with beeswax that has been melted over a candle or electrically to write on the egg. The egg then goes into a dye and the eggs become colored wherever the beeswax is not present. This may sound familiar to many of us; Wallis says the process is similar to using a white wax crayon on an Easter egg – albeit with a much finer point! The alternate wax and dyeing process continues with as many color layers as the artist wishes to add. “For every color on an eggshell,” Wallis says, “there’s that many layers of wax and dye.” The pysanky artist doesn’t know what her egg will look like until the final step when all the wax is then melted off the egg. Sometimes the final design can be quite a surprise.

Wallis loves creating pysanky because of the geometry of the egg: “It’s different at the equator than it is on either end,” and that it allows her to vary her designs with her interests. “Whether it’s a design or a color pattern or a color scheme, I can play around with things.” When being juried into the League of NH Craftsmen, Wallis was worried the group wouldn’t see enough of a cohesive theme but they liked her collection all the same.

Although Wallis herself is not Ukrainian, she has met a number of pysanky artists who came to the artform through their Ukrainian or Eastern European heritage, and Wallis says they are always glad to have more people practicing the art form. “It’s a the-more-the-merrier feel,” she says.

This appreciation for people taking up the artform comes from the fact that it was at risk of being lost in Ukraine. “I’ve learned Ukrainian culture was suppressed in Ukraine,” Wallis says, “They weren’t allowed to speak their language or practice their arts, so some of it went underground but a lot came with the immigrants to North America.”

The artform making its way to North America with the large Ukrainian diaspora has been essential for the form’s survival. There are many people of Ukrainian heritage across Canada and the northern United States and Wallis feels lucky to have tapped into the network. She has Ukrainian-American friends from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania with whom she zooms once a week, and they assist Wallis with Ukrainian cultural and language questions. This May she attended a 5-day pysanky retreat in the Catskills at a Ukrainian cultural heritage center where she both taught and attended classes.

Wallis also participated in Pysanky for Ukraine Day on April 1st. A Canadian pysanky artist started this tradition in 2014 after Russia invaded Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula as a day for artists to get together and write. “It was like, ‘What can I do from here?’” Wallis says. “Let’s get together and pray and write and let people in Ukraine know that we’re with them in spirit.” This year over 150 people attended the virtual event where three Ukrainian pysanky artists spoke, including the head of the Pysanky Museum in Ukraine. Wallis herself has an egg over in Ukraine now that was intended to be part of an exhibition of Pysanky in North America. This has been put on hold and the eggs have been moved to another location after several cultural areas were bombed in central and eastern Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine has unsurprisingly affected and inspired Wallis’ work. She’s recently purchased eggs from and taken a Zoom masterclass with a Ukrainian pysanky artist, Tetiana Konoval. Wallis ended up being the only student in the class and laughs recalling neither Konoval or Wallis spoke the other’s language and had to type to each other with Google Translate. Konoval explained to Wallis her recent designs, which are in the style of traditional village scenes but now feature tractors pulling tanks, Ukrainian flags, or the Mariupol iron plant, with people hiding underground at the bottom of the egg and soldiers around them defending the plant. “It just gives you chills to look at these eggs,” Wallis says, “She’s making statements about the war and is really very much writing the story.”

Currently, Wallis says, she, and many of her friends have also been creating a lot of blue and yellow eggs in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. She has also been working on a number of eggs with traditional designs from five different areas in Ukraine that all were directly affected by bombings or invsaion for the upcoming Day for Ukraine fundraiser at La Salette Shrine in Enfield on June 11th. Wallis will be demonstrating her art at the event and have plenty of eggs for sale as well. The writing process can take Wallis anywhere between one and four hours so she plans on having a number of nearly finished eggs at the event so people can watch the big reveal at the end. Wallis hopes the participants not only get to learn about pysanky, but also come away with a greater understanding of Ukrainian culture. She notes that she has learned it is best to refer to the country as “Ukraine” and not “the Ukraine” as adding “the” can be offensive to some folks who feel that makes the country seem to be only a region. “I want to make sure people understand that Ukraine is a sovereign country with a real cultural heritage and that these people are really fighting for their sovereignty,” Wallis says.

Wallis recently held her own fundraiser for Ukrainian relief, donating 25% of her sales to World Central Kitchen during the four weeks leading up to Easter. This combined with donations made through her fundraiser page totaled over $3,000.00. She also participated in a Ukrainian relief fundraiser with the Library Arts Center in Newport, NH and donated 10 eggs to Long River Gallery in WRJ; all eggs have sold with proceeds going to World Central Kitchen.

Even the act of writing pysanky can help, Wallis says. She’s shared designs on social media and people currently in Ukraine have written to express their appreciation for her writing eggs. Wallis shares an old legend from western Ukraine that tells a tale of a monster chained up in the mountains who, every spring, sends his minions out to the villages to see if people are writing pysanky. If they are, his chains tighten; if fewer people are writing his chains loosen. If no one at all is writing pysanky, then evil will be free to rain terror. Wallis mentions she has always read that folktale at the beginning of her classes, but feels it’s taken on new meaning with the war.

Wallis is grateful to continue creating pysanky with her global community and sharing this artform with a new group of people at the Day for Ukraine: “I truly feel really honored to be an ambassador of the art form.”

The Day for Ukraine fundraiser will take place on June 11th, 2022 at the La Salette Shrine in Enfield, NH. Please visit La Salette’s website for more information on the day: www.lasaletteofenfield.org. Shannon Wallis can be found on her site: www.shannonwallisdesigns.com.

On a typical day at the Norwich Public Library, Lucinda Walker might find herself checking in with the library staff, responding to patrons’ questions about how their phones work, listening to a student talk about her day at school, loaning out an energy meter, managing the library budget, buying the latest books and media for the library collection, greeting enthusiastic library volunteers, and considering an innovative idea for a new library activity from a patron. And we used to think a library was only about books!

Celebrating 20 years as the Director of the library, what Lucinda has come to appreciate most are the positive relationships with the people who come to the library not only to check out books and media, do research, or play in the backyard, but to enjoy the sense of community Lucinda and her team have created for Norwich residents and guests.

Lucinda credits the Norwich community for making the library the dynamic place that it is today, and is humble about her role in navigating the many changes in library services that have evolved over the two decades of her tenure. “I cannot believe it’s been 20 years. I feel so fortunate to be embraced by the community and the professionals and volunteers at the library. It’s so nice to go to work each day and be challenged and have an impact.”

Staying true to its mission to “…serve as a community center for the town providing traditional and innovative resources for all patrons and offering library experiences that support education, imagination, and community engagement,” Lucinda feels fortunate to have started working at the library when it had just been renovated. “With a brand new building, the community really embraced the library – it became the place to be after school. The community room was booked every night by local organizations, and still is. We went from a quiet library to a busy, vibrant community space.”

In fact, in 2020 the Library Journal designated the Norwich Public Library a ‘star library’, one of only three in Vermont, and 260 nationwide. The ranking is measured by circulation data, library and program visits, and public internet computer use. Lucinda notes, “We’ve been able to keep pace with trends, and the town has been amazing in its support.”

Stepping into the Director’s role in 2002, Lucinda followed Sylvia Fraser, the previous librarian, who oversaw the early library renovations. “Sylvia was a tremendous creator of collections. She applied for many grants that allowed for new shelves and additional staff for the library.” When Lucinda was hired, the Board supported her ideas for building on Sylvia’s efforts, and she was able to add a youth services assistant, fully staff the children’s area, and hire a programming person. “The additional staff meant we could expand children’s and adult programming. We also Increased the collection by buying DVDs, where we previously relied on donations, and expanded our audiobooks collection.”

Originally from Windsor, VT, Lucinda remembers talking with her high school guidance counselor about college. “He threw out the idea that I should become a librarian because I liked to read. I was incensed because the librarians I’d run into through most of my childhood were difficult people. They didn’t have much of a sense of humor, and didn’t really direct my reading.” Lucinda’s love of reading and research led to working in a library for a business newspaper in New York City. “This was the ’80s, before the internet, so you spent a lot of time at other libraries in Manhattan like the New York Public Library. I love untangling the puzzles I was given in that job.” Lucinda’s opinion of librarians took a 180 degree turn. “Librarians in college were amazing people.”

Lucinda earned a Master of Library Science at Long Island University and her library career was off and running with jobs at the Brooklyn Museum of Art Library and the San Francisco Mechanics’ Institute Library. “The Mechanics Institute Library was a technical institute created after the gold rush to keep people in the city – that’s when I got my real love of working with people.”

After moving back to Vermont, Lucinda explored many of the libraries throughout the Upper Valley. “At the time, it seemed like librarians were staying forever. In all honesty, I wondered if I was seasoned enough. When the Norwich position opened, I visited the library to get a sense of the place. I went in on Saturday, and saw Lisa Milchman, who was wearing Tevas with wool socks. I immediately felt like these were my people and that this was the spot for me. I was delighted and astonished that I was hired.”

Many of the highlights of the past 20 years for Lucinda revolve around her interactions and relationships with people. “I’m wired to take risks in the library world, so when people come to me with a new idea, I like to help them achieve that idea. Being able to help shepherd people’s ideas forward makes the library a community-based institution.” Professionally, Lucinda has advanced her own creative ideas to improve communication and networking among librarians throughout Vermont. She co-founded the Green Mountain Library Consortium in 2007, which was successful in bringing the progressive notion of ebooks and audiobooks to Vermont. And, as of February 2020, the Norwich Library no longer charges fines for overdue items. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. Fines are a huge barrier to access, and eliminating them helps ensure that everyone can have equal access to the library.”

Lucinda’s leadership style is one of collaboration and listening. “I do my best work with a collaborative leadership model. Today’s libraries are community centers, and we take care of people at their best and sometimes their worst. We learn to become empathic by hearing other people’s stories and the library has to be a place where that can happen.”

During the 2008 financial crisis, Lucinda heard stories from fellow librarians in the Vermont Library Association about patrons sharing their stories of financial hardship. “I created a presentation about librarians as social workers, because people are often sharing very intimate parts of their lives with us.” This has been true as society begins to emerge from the pandemic. “Many consider this time ‘The Great Unraveling.’ We’ve all been isolated, scared, and grief stricken, and people are unburdening. We need to take care of each other during this time. We want every action we have with a person to leave them feeling better.”

Lucinda is excited to return to the time when libraries are the community places where you can pick up your dry cleaning, CSA share, and access the food shelves. “We’re happy to hold things for people to come and pick up. We rent electric bikes. We host Kindergarten Clean Ups for Earth Day. Community members host meetings here and can use the library as a work space and get tech help. Our WiFi is available 24/7.” Lucinda believes libraries are only successful if the staff and volunteers are able to connect with people and track down what they need. Much of the librarian’s day is spent troubleshooting and problem solving.

Along with curiosity, perceptively reading situations that arise, and extreme multitasking, communication and collaboration are all in a day’s work for Lucinda Walker. “Word of mouth continues to expand the use of the library. I want to shout out to the fact that a successful library is a wonderful reflection of the community it’s serving. Norwich is filled with remarkable people, and the Friends’ group is pivotal. We’re only successful because of our relationships with other people.”

A local store struggles to maintain staffing during the Covid pandemic and is faced with the possibility of having to shutter for good. The owner throws a Hail Mary pass and puts out a call for help to the community – would residents and customers be willing to take a weekly shift? And in a resolution fit for a Christmas movie, many people answered the call. The store is saved.

Of course, this isn’t a Hallmark movie, and it isn’t any local store. It’s the true story of how Dan & Whit’s stayed in business despite losing most of its staff due to the exigencies of a global pandemic. 

It’s a heartwarming tale and one that we all needed to hear. And as such, everyone has had a crack at it. VPR did a piece on it. Steve Hartman came out with cameras and lights and interviewed co-owner Dan Fraser for his CBS Evening News segment On the Road. Robert Reich, political commentator, and former Secretary of Labor wrote a column on it. Even the Vermont Retail & Grocers Association featured an account on their blog. 

But Dan & Whit’s belongs to Norwich. The struggle to staff the store is Norwich’s struggle. Those two dozen relief employees are Norwich. The problem happened to Norwich, and the solution was found in Norwich. The story belongs to Norwich.

And so, it is only fitting for the Norwich Times to show you the people who made it possible for Dan & Whit’s to keep their doors open. Why did they do it? What is it about Dan & Whit’s that motivated so many people to step up and help?

Peggy Morin, 74, had two careers prior to her stint at Dan & Whit’s. After practicing as an attorney for 20 years, Peggy earned her MFA in drama and joined the theater faculty at SUNY Stony Brook. Now retired, Peggy heard from a friend about Dan’s letter to the Norwich Listserv. She had “enjoyed the institution for many, many years. And I’m also aware of the fact that Dan & Whit’s does a great deal for its community.” She thought, “I can certainly spare some hours.” Telling the story, she said with a laugh, “Not that I would be the greatest sandwich maker in the world.” 

But the beauty of Dan’s proposal is the flexibility he offers. The first thing he asks his relief workers is, “what do you want to do?” The workers are assigned to jobs and tasks that suit them best. In Peggy’s case, that meant organizing clothing. “Most costume people are familiar with the strategies about how to organize a large costume collection. It’s a little bit like a library system. You need, say, a Captain Hook… in a size 20.” You need to figure out how to set it up so customers can easily find things. “It means that costume people have a pretty good sense about complicated organization of clothing pieces.” Contrast that with sorting t-shirts in the stock room. “There’s nothing complicated about what we’re doing here. I’m not trying to pretend this is rocket science. I’m just trying to set it up so that they can come back here and grab things in five seconds.” 

Why is it important to Peggy not to let Dan & Whit’s close? “In addition to the public service that Dan & Whit’s has exhibited so much through the years, I think for some people it’s a reminder that life does not need to be so complicated. The motto, ‘If we don’t have it, you don’t need it’ is probably not exactly true. I think the idea that you can find everything under one roof, the way you could in your grandparents’ day, probably has a little nostalgia connected with it as well as some truth.” For someone who spent many years in New York, Norwich has something special. “I love a smaller community kind of life, with the degree of accountability that exists. Not that I know all my neighbors, but I live in a wonderful neighborhood with neighbors who look out after each other. There’s something, I think, about the nostalgia for life in a rural community that people want to keep going. And Dan is such a smart proprietor too. He’s sensitive to the needs and always looking for ways to make it a nice place for people to drop in to find what they need. I mean, it would be sad if we only had Wal-Marts left, wouldn’t it?”

Thirty-five-year-old Maggie Ronan moved to the Upper Valley a year and a half ago to be closer to family. She is pursuing a graduate degree in computer science at Northeastern University and, with all the classes being remote these days, needed something that would get her out of the house. When she saw Dan’s letter, she was impressed with its innovative approach, and it appealed to “some values I have around groups of people working together as a community. Partly, it’s selfish. I go to Dan & Whit’s all the time as a customer, and I didn’t want it to close. And the idea of people who lived nearby getting more involved was interesting. And for me, it really worked out because it got me out of the house and interacting with people in real life, since I spend so much time on the computer.”

Dianne Miller, 68, a registered nurse and project manager for regional development at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, said of answering Dan’s plea, “He made it so welcoming. He asked people what you would like to do, instead of telling you what you were going to do,” she said. “I told him I don’t want to run the cash register, but I’m fairly good at merchandising. It was Halloween, so getting all that stuff out and then putting that away and getting out the Christmas stuff. It’s quite a bit of work – lots of boxes to unpack, up and down ladders, reaching higher shelves, lifting, cleaning.” Dianne put up a Christmas tree to help display and sell Christmas ornaments. She pointed out that with staffing so restricted, the regular employees “don’t have time for that kind of stuff. So, if you can do something that is extra, that’s really appreciated.”

What is it about Dan & Whit’s that brought so many people forward when Dan made his request? “Dan & Whit’s is so much more than just a general store. It really is integral to the community. They have done so much for the community that it is so natural to want to help them. They are a place where people will gather, meet. You can say to somebody, leave it at Dan & Whit’s, and I’ll pick it up later. During Covid, they were out there doing email orders, bagging them, delivering them. They just really stepped up.”

Matt Merrens, 81, a retired research psychologist with Dartmouth Medical School, took the approach that several others took. He answered Dan’s request by offering to volunteer; he didn’t need the money he would earn from the job.When Matt had heard about the situation, “I was startled by it. I thought, this institution just can’t close.” Of course, driving around, he could see “every place was looking for workers, but for it to happen to Dan & Whit’s just struck me.” Because Dan & Whit’s is a business, not a nonprofit, Dan could not accept the offers to work for free. Matt agreed to help at the store on the condition that his wages be donated. “He gives me a check, and I endorse it to the Haven, and everything’s good.”

Matt continued, “I gotta tell you something he does. We punch in, punch out, and about once a week, he writes you a little, almost, love note – a little skinny piece of paper in which he thanks you for being there. Tells me I’m doing well and all kinds of praise. It’s just a darling little thing that he does for all of us. He’s a real gem.”

What’s so important about Dan & Whit’s? “Well, it’s a store that’s been here a long time. Working there, I see the same people every morning, pick up a coffee, pick up a newspaper. In the month I’ve been there, I’ve gotten to know some of these people. It’s just the heart and soul of the community in a lot of ways. If it closed, it would be a big loss. It’s old, it’s got three wood furnaces that heat the place. It’s been there forever; the floors are beaten down. It’s got a certain feeling about it… I don’t know. I’ve always felt that way about the store. It has a feeling about it that I don’t think the community wants to lose at all. I want to say to you, I think I’m getting a lot out of this personally, as well as helping the store and the community. I didn’t expect that. When I signed up, I didn’t think I’d feel personally benefited by it. And I do. I do.”

Nancy Tehan, 70, a registered nurse, has been going to Dan & Whit’s ever since she moved to the Upper Valley in 1978. When she heard about the staffing issue, Nancy knew it was important to help the community. “Dan & Whit’s is not only the heartbeat of the community – and I know you’ve heard that before – but it’s a place where I see so many wonderful things going on. In years past, there were people who couldn’t afford food, and there was a bartering system. Dan & Whit’s has always taken care of their neighbors. It’s always been about them taking care of the community, and I just thought it was time for… me, at least, to pitch in and take care of our Dan & Whit’s.”

Betsy Maislen, 68, brings a unique perspective to her work at Dan & Whit’s. A retired nurse practitioner, she worked in cardiothoracic surgery at DHMC for years. As a relief worker at Dan & Whit’s, she learned to work the cash register and the gas pumps. And when lines are long, and maybe patience is wearing thin, Betsy takes it all in stride. In one of his weekly notes to her, Dan mentioned that she doesn’t seem to get flustered by much. But compared to cardiothoracic surgery, grocery shopping is not something to get upset about. “My decisions [at the hospital] were sometimes very much life-and-death. But if someone has to wait an extra two minutes in line to get their groceries checked out – nobody’s gonna die.”  

Asked why it’s important to keep Dan & Whit’s running, Betsy said, “I could not imagine the town of Norwich without Dan & Whit’s. Could not imagine it. It’s like a beehive down there, with people coming and going all the time. It’s the center of our town. I thought, well, I’ll do my part. Also, I felt I’ve never been able to do anything for Dan. At the beginning of the pandemic, it seemed like he was working 24/7 to make sure everybody in town was safe. I don’t think I can think of another single individual who has done more for our community. This is one thing I could do for him. And I was happy to do that.”

For Jan Scheiner, 60, a clinical psychologist who has lived in Norwich since 1998, the decision to take a shift at Dan & Whit’s came easily. The pandemic has brought a lot of stress and grief, as every person on this planet knows. In her work, Jan sees firsthand the struggles people are going through. It can be a challenge to let all that stress go at the end of the day. She hoped that working at Dan & Whit’s would give her respite. And it did. “Scanning groceries is very pure. Very concrete.”

Jan describes Norwich as an “effective community,” something that she focuses on a lot in her work. “Effective communities have a willingness to pull together to solve problems.” Jan also noted that Dan & Whit’s has enjoyed the benefit of serving a population that was able to answer Dan’s call. “You have to recognize the privilege in this solution,” she said, “the privilege of time and money” that allowed people to step up and take a job for which they didn’t need the income.

In talking with some of the people who came to work at the store when Dan sent out his plea, it becomes clear what an idea factory Dan Fraser is. His background in special education for the Norwich school informs his approach. He has that creativity toward problem-solving, the understanding and compassion for humanity, and the ability to meet people where they are. As Jan said, “he walks the walk. And it’s hard to say no when he asks.”

“Hey mom! What kind of dogs are those?”

“Those are probably street dogs, Azor,” Aimee responded. “They’re called village dogs here.”

“Well, where’s the owner? And why are they out on the streets?”

“They don’t really have owners. That’s why they’re called village dogs. They kind of have their own communities.”

“Ok, well can we feed them? Can we take them home? They look starving, and they’re all so skinny!”

“You can feed them, but we can’t take them home.  I know it’s hard but there is not a lot we can do.”

It was 2010. Aimee Goodwin and her sons, Azor and Sam, along with Eydie, John, and Brook Leigh, also of Norwich, were cycling the streets of Tulum, Mexico. They had spent the past week coming across various “callejeros,” or Mexican “street dogs” that are often good-natured but don’t have official homes. After witnessing her children’s outreach of kindness for these dogs, Aimee reflected on how she had just responded to Azor. Did I really just tell my son that we can’t do anything to help? What kind of message is that to leave with my kids? Or with myself? 

•  •  •  •  •

The Goodwin family returned home to Norwich. The family had left the village dogs in Tulum, but they had adopted a newfound sense of urgency and a strong desire to help alleviate the stress placed on many of these dogs. After recognizing that she and her boys certainly had the capacity to do something, Aimee decided to propose a family rescue trip to Puerto Rico. Only this time, they wouldn’t just feed the dogs. The Goodwins returned home from their first trip alongside two “Satos,” one adopted by them and the other by Michelle and Dan Gottlieb, formerly of Norwich. Aimee knew she had found her calling. More importantly, she understood that she could share this sense of purpose with others, particularly high school students who needed unique service opportunities.   

“Most high school students struggle to find service options that work for them,” Aimee notes. “I know many that age who would be hard-pressed to help other humans. But puppies. Dogs. That’s what always makes this effort worth it: to stumble upon those little unanticipated moments in which students just melt while helping these dogs.”

With the initial framework in place, Aimee just needed to garner the support of the Dresden School Board. Who will go on a trip like this? Will students really be interested in such a logistical nightmare? And they were right to ask these questions. Who would sign up to spend their vacation grappling with the reality of luring, trapping, and rescuing stray dogs in Puerto Rico when they could be on the beach somewhere? Aimee’s idea solidified: Surf and Satos. She organized the trip around cultural immersion with a service component. Approximately 300 students applied to go on Surf and Satos’ inaugural trip in 2016. 

This first group of students and community members rescued 9 Satos from Puerto Rico, all of which were adopted by families within the Upper Valley.  Word of mouth led to demand for more of these awesome dogs and soon Aimee Goodwin was, officially, the proud owner of…50 Satos from Puerto Rico. She recognized, quickly, that if they were going to be bringing home this many dogs on each trip, she would need additional support from the community. Aimee hosted a dinner at her home in Norwich and invited friends and family to engage in a brainstorming session as to how best to move forward with this initiative. From that dinner, “Student Rescue Project” was born and incorporated in 2017. They have since run service trips to The Bahamas, Costa Rica and, of course, Puerto Rico.  They have even delivered dogs rescued from Puerto Rico to American service members stationed abroad in Germany. To date, SRP has worked with over 200 students and community members helping the endeavor and has rescued, vetted, and rehomed over 1200 dogs. 

“These trips continue to give students an understanding of how our conception of dog ownership, here in Norwich and around New England, differs from the concepts of ownership in other places,” Aimee reflected. “Puerto Rico is also a place where I feel comfortable taking students. We have formed some great relationships there, we have ground transportation, and we work with the locals to help as many dogs as we can. With such a strong foundation, we can really get a lot done there and safely expose volunteers to the raw issue of animal abandonment and neglect.”

But the challenges persist to this day, and the logistics are increasingly complex, as Aimee and her team continue to face headwinds from Covid, higher travel costs, fewer flights, and greater restrictions on traveling with animals. 

“We need more help now than we did in 2016 to get these dogs back to New England. We are always looking for volunteer travelers to bring some of the puppies back with them, and we are always looking for help fostering these dogs.” 

And even though Aimee welcomes community members getting involved in any way they can, she is quick to appreciate the reality of these dogs’ pasts and potential futures. 

“Rescue dogs are not for everyone. I think the mistake some people make is in thinking that these dogs will be the same as buying some pure breed for $3000. These dogs have unknown backstories, and many have never lived in homes. However, the majority of the dogs we take are surprisingly well-adjusted and I find that most adopters are stepping up to be part of the solution and understand that this might take some additional work once the dogs are placed.” 

“These trips also allow me to talk to students about poverty, and how some of these dogs wind up on the streets because their ‘owners’ had no other options. We are quick to villainize those who give up dogs, but after you see the situations on some of the islands, particularly after hurricanes, when everyone is just trying to look out for themselves and get off the island, you develop a much stronger sense of empathy towards others.”

“Besides,” Aimee reflects, temporarily back at home in Norwich, appreciating some much-needed down time in between rescue trips. “Every time I want to quit, I just remember that we’ve become excellent problem solvers.  To watch the students who have been working with me for years encounter a problem and come up with a resourceful solution without needing my help is just so rewarding.  To quit now would be heartbreaking because I know how much we’re helping.” Annie, proud mother of 4 “satito” whelps, none of which have yet to open their eyes on this new street-less world of theirs, looks up at Aimee lovingly and smiles.

What makes the community of Norwich, Vermont, so special? Peter Hanaway isn’t sure he can put his finger on it exactly, but as someone who has lived in Louisiana, Oregon, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, and Europe, he can say for certain that the sense of community here sets it apart from many other places. 

It’s been a peripatetic few years for Peter and his family. After decades in Portland, OR, where he and his spouse, Annie, had established careers and started a family, the end-of-life illness of Annie’s father brought them back east to Philadelphia. When he passed, their intention was to take Annie’s mother with them back to Oregon, but her own failing health made that untenable. So, Philadelphia it was, for two years.

Annie, a psychotherapist, kept working, shouldering the responsibility of financially supporting the family solo, while Peter took on much of the work caring for his mother-in-law. When she passed, Peter and Annie came to the realization that they were now untethered to any geographical location. 

Annie and Peter always loved this part of the country. Annie’s parents had summered in Lyman, New Hampshire for many years, and Annie and Peter had spent much time there and elsewhere in New England. After much research, they settled on Norwich and began the search for a home. Anyone with even passing familiarity of the housing market in Vermont will have a sense of what that search was like. Suffice it to say, it has taken some time. 

In the meantime, they have moved from rental to rental, while their two children, Will and Robin, have been attending Richmond Middle School and Marion Cross Elementary School, respectively. 

The sense of welcome Peter felt in Norwich has been profound. He notices it in moments both casual and significant: how people wave to each other on the street, or the conversations held while watching a kids’ soccer game. And he is blown away by the generosity of a couple who allowed his family into their home as renters, knowing nothing about them. 

Peter has given the phenomenon a lot of thought, trying to nail down what makes Norwich so special. It’s not that people in Portland or Philadelphia or Lyman don’t wave, but there’s something deeper at play here. Connections are more meaningful. “It’s a self-fulfilling emotional comportment that starts as, ‘we trust and expect that you are a good person,’ and is then rewarded by honorable behavior,” Peter said.

At this point in his life, Peter has found himself at a transition point. He’d left a vibrant career as a systems engineer doing consulting work in electronics, optics, and acoustics in Oregon. When his mother-in-law required around-the-clock attention, he had immersed himself in her care. “It was a hard transition to go from being at the pinnacle of my career to, boom, career is gone, you’re getting up two to three times at night.” 

It got him questioning the things that really matter in life and what remains of a person when they are gone. Is it professional achievements like patents and promotions, or is it the relationships with other people and the connections between them? “To escort someone through the last stage of their life, to care for them, I received more than I gave,” Peter said. “It’s an honor to be there for somebody in that way. My mother-in-law was so gracious in the face of losing her faculties and watching her life end. It realigned for me what matters.”

All of this brought Peter to a place of having the desire, time, and space in his life to give back to the community that had welcomed him and his family so fully. Right about that time, Dan Fraser, owner of Dan & Whit’s, sent a message to the Norwich Listserv revealing the possibility that the store could close if they couldn’t find workers. 

The notification spurred Annie to take on some hours at the store and coalesced things in Peter’s mind. He sent his own message to the Listserv, offering his volunteer services to the community. And the list of tasks Peter can perform is long: general home and fix-it services, computer services, and tutoring in grammar and writing, math, science, French, German, and music. Oh, and he’s done considerable caretaking of the elderly and would be happy to help in a pinch. “And for basic things like raking leaves and shoveling snow, my wife and kids are happy to pitch in, too,” he posted.

The response has been enthusiastic. Peter received over a dozen inquiries in the first week since he sent his message. He’s already finished two projects, is waiting on parts for a third, and has several customers lined up to assess their project needs. “I have enough to keep me busy for at least seven to eight weeks, working one day a week.” Peter is even considering taking on a high-school-age apprentice.

Peter will need to go back to professional life, perhaps as a consultant or by starting his own business. “But” Peter noted, “I’ve always been someone who likes to help out.” 

It was five o’clock on a sultry evening in August, and a group of women was gathering in the back parking lot at Dan & Whit’s Country Store in Norwich. Companionable chatter competed with birdsong and the sound of what passed for evening rush hour traffic on Main Street. Bikes came off racks, shoes changed, helmets strapped on. The riders were ready to roll. 

The ride would travel the hills of Norwich by New Boston Road to Stowell Road, circling back via Academy and Campbell Flats. The organization responsible for bringing this coterie of women together is the Upper Valley Women’s Cycling Club (UVWCC). Formed in 2014, the UVWCC is “a cycling group for self-declared women of all ages and abilities in the Upper Valley that promotes a positive and inclusive image of women’s cycling by organizing group rides, hosting social events, and facilitating skills and maintenance clinics as well as gear demos and more.” Since 2020, UVWCC has been under the umbrella group Upper Valley Cycling Club (formerly Upper Valley Velo). 

The UVWCC draws riders from all over the Upper Valley, including Norwich residents Nicole Torres and Peggy Sadler.  

Peggy joined in 2019 with the intention of joining the slower rides. “I knew a couple of the faster riders who encouraged me to join, saying things like, ‘you’ll never get left behind.’ Even so, I was intimidated.” Between her full-time job as co-owner of Designer Gold Jewelry Design and her devotion to the sport of rowing, Petty hasn’t had a chance to participate in any group rides yet. “I’m hoping to join in some of the rides next summer.” 

The UVWCC was the brainchild of Becca Mateo, a triathlete and women’s cycling advocate who has since moved out of the area. She enthusiastically invited women to join the club, go on the rides, be on the board – get involved. 

“At that time, the board was huge. Eventually, we honed it down to five members,” said Jen Barden, one of the founding board members. When Jen discovered the club and showed up for her first ride in April of 2014, she was nervous. “I had never ridden with anyone. I didn’t know anyone; I didn’t know what the skill level would be.” Convinced she would be too slow, Jen was delighted to find that, “I had such a great time. I just kept going back.” 

The group has grown steadily over the years. Rides were initially organized on Meetup but transitioned to Strava and Facebook, where the organization has a public club and a private group. The public presence allows the group to promote their activities and attract new members, while the private group is a safe space for members to connect with each other. 

Nicole came to cycling to help recover after an injury. After riding a Peloton indoor bike for a while, she was coaxed outside by a friend. “While the downhills were a little terrifying, and I was insanely slow because I didn’t have a proper road bike, I loved the challenge of the climb.” Before long, “I was hooked!” She was excited to see that after the 2020 hiatus from group riding, the UVWCC would be having a 2021 season. 

“It was wonderful to meet new people. Everyone was welcoming and supportive. It was nice to have the option to challenge myself with the A group or enjoy a more leisurely pace with the B group,” she says. “Everything just seems a little more beautiful when I’m on my bike!”

Rides are held weekly on Tuesday evenings, beginning as early in the spring as the weather allows and going into the fall until the days become too short. The groups start from different locations throughout the Upper Valley; some favorites are Dan & Whit’s in Norwich, Dewey Field lot on Lyme Road in Hanover, Watson Dog Park in Hartford, Lakeside Park in Enfield, and the Northern Rail Trail terminus in Lebanon.

According to the numbers on the Facebook group, there are 243 members in the UVWCC. Alix Norris, board member, ride leader, and elite cyclocross racer, estimated that there are about “100 to 125 active members that we see in person at some point in the year.” 

Alix came to the group from the world of cyclocross racing. She got into road cycling while at Wake Forest University getting her Ph.D. in cancer biology, traveling every weekend to race. After graduating and starting a family with her college sweetheart, Alix had it in her head that her racing days were over – and cycling with it. How could they travel and race with an infant? Enter cyclocross, a sport where races are short and family-friendly and the community welcoming. Alix realized that cycling is a lifestyle and doesn’t have to be a luxury. 

She brings that ethos to her work as a board member and ride leader, encouraging all comers to the group. “Women are a demographic that, on the face of it, need more support or motivation. Every day I meet women who don’t know how to change a tire, who don’t know the area or how to plan a route,” Alix said. “Women come [to the rides and clinics] because they recognize that lack in themselves and want to change it.”

Sherry Fiore, cyclist, and board member noted the importance of the UVWCC in bringing women into the sport of cycling. Women’s riding groups are a place for women to ride who otherwise wouldn’t. “We’ve got women who show up for our rides but don’t go on other group rides. They won’t ride by themselves.” Sherry pointed out the long history of cycling as an avenue of empowerment for women. In the early history of cycling, bicycles were a way for women to move about independently. “Historically, cycling was very important because it allowed women to leave their homes.”

Jan Proctor’s involvement in the UVWCC has been sporadic over the years, but her roots as a cyclist go way back. She began racing in the eighties, mostly criterium, or “crit” races with the Sunapee Bike Club. She traveled the crit circuit all around New England. Jan is not one to toot her own horn, but she racked up several wins. The accomplishment Jan is most proud of is when she won bronze in the individual road race at the USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships.

As a rider whose experience goes a little farther back in time, Jan has an important perspective on women in cycling and athletics in general. She remembers when it was just her and a handful of other women racing. “What’s important to realize is the impact of Title IX,” she said. “We were the crest of the wave.”

Younger women might not realize it’s more than a clothing brand. Title IX is a federal civil rights law that was passed in 1972. It said, “No person in the United States shall, based on sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” What this meant was that schools had to spend equivalent money on programs for both boys and girls. 

The impact of this legislation has been profound. “I didn’t do sports in high school,” said Jan. “I didn’t think I had any athletic ability. Girls weren’t encouraged.” It wasn’t until Jan began racing that she realized her potential. “I discovered I was pretty good at it.” Since Title IX, all over the country, millions of girls and women have discovered that they do, in fact, have athletic abilities. The UVWCC rides are an outlet for women who discovered their athleticism early as well as for women who are just finding theirs.

After the official UVWCC group rides come to an end in September, some riders continue cycling as the weather and their personal cold tolerance allow. Others transition to winter sports. The board will meet again early in spring to coordinate details for the 2022 season. And when the kickoff party rolls around in April, these women riders will meet again and reconnect, ready for another summer of riding. 

A few years ago, the UVWCC offered kits of jerseys, cycling bibs, and socks for sale, and Sherry was the board member responsible for the design and ordering. The socks, green with purple writing to match the green and purple highlights of the jersey and bibs, have a slogan on the instep: Free. Untrammeled. 

The Walk the End Alzheimer’s, the largest fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association, is an annual autumn event in more than 600 communities across the country. This year, on October 2, the Walk is back with teams and individuals walking together in person and in purple. 

Why purple? Purple is the color of the Alzheimer’s Association, but other colors have significance too, as represented by the flowers people carry during the walk. A purple flower means you lost someone to Alzheimer’s; yellow means you are a caregiver to someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia; blue means you are living with Alzheimer’s; and orange means you support the Alzheimer’s Association. 

As the array of colors indicates, Alzheimer’s profoundly affects not only the six million people living with Alzheimer’s in the US, but also their caregivers and extended family. You are never far from someone touched by this disease of cognitive decline. In Vermont alone, 13,000 patients, and their 25,000 unpaid caregivers are living with Alzheimer’s. Norwich residents and businesses are teaming up to raise money, spread awareness and support them.

Laura Fraser got involved with the walk last year by supporting Team Andy in memory of Andy Harvard. Andy suffered from younger-onset Alzheimer’s and passed away in 2019, at age 69, after ten years battling the disease. Fraser’s partner, Pastor Dick Hodge had a close connection with Andy, and Fraser became good friends with Andy’s wife Kathy, a driving force behind Alzheimer’s awareness in the Upper Valley. Fraser enlisted Fairlee Community Church of Christ to sponsor Team Andy. The walk is about raising funds, but also about building awareness. Fraser and Hodge did both.

Hodge delivered a message about Memory and the Alzheimer’s Walk, while Fraser’s Sunday school class had a lesson built around it and made capes for the walk. Fraser works at Diane’s Casual Cuts (Norwich), which is among the many local businesses “going purple” during the week of the walk, with balloons and purple shirts. “It seems to be everywhere,” says Fraser, “so my goal is to get information and education into the community.”

In the heart of the community, Dan & Whit’s has participated in the Alzheimer’s Walk over the past couple years, “going purple” and displaying the event sign in their window. Less visible businesses show their support through sponsorship. “I’ve seen the devastating effect of the disease personally and on caregivers,” says Norwich resident Peter Carter, whose law firm sponsored the walk last year. Carter’s mother-in-law, Susan McClane, suffered from Alzheimer’s and died in 2005, at age 75. He describes seeing an incredibly intelligent, vibrant, engaged person waste away over a few years. McClane, who had been in the N.H. state legislature, was “very up front about her diagnosis,” Carter said. “She wanted people to know she wasn’t stupid. She had a problem.” 

McClane’s daughter, U.S. Representative Annie McClane Kuster, chronicled her mother’s decline through regular conversations, and the two co-wrote The Last Dance: Facing Alzheimer’s with Love and Laughter. Carter worries that Alzheimer’s is a ticking time bomb, and feels an urgency to fund more research, which is one reason he and his firm support the cause. 

The Alzheimer’s Association funds and drives research toward treatment, prevention and, ultimately, a cure. This research led to the recent release of Aducanumab, the first FDA approved medication to treat the disease. In addition, the Alzheimer’s Association provides advocacy and resources like a free 24/7 Helpline, no-cost education programs (accessible virtually), free care consultations for families facing a diagnosis and more. All of these services are fully funded by the money raised during the Walks and other fundraising events.

For Darcy Bagley, Alzheimer’s is both professional and personal. As the Bereavement Program Coordinator at Bayada Hospice’s Norwich office, she and her coworkers help manage Alzheimer’s patients’ care daily. “We see the illness and also the aftermath with the families,” says Bagley. Bayada also has many staff with personal experience with Alzheimer’s, Bagley among them. All four of her grandparents passed away from Alzheimer’s. 

Bayada sponsors the Upper Valley Walk and others across the state and helps with planning and volunteering. Among the volunteers are families of patients. “Families want to stay involved after their loved one passes,” says Bagley. 

Each year, one or two patients come out and walk as well, wearing blue, just as Andy Harvard did for as long as he could. The walk is a visual reminder that Alzheimer’s is still out there and that there is much work to do.

“That’s why we wear our purple, and go purple and carry flowers,” says Bagley. “It is just as important that people in the community see us and are aware that we are working to find a cure.” The first person to be cured will carry a white flower.

How to Lend a Hand

This year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s kicks off Saturday October 2, 9:30 am at Hanover High School. Here are all the ways you can support the community effort:

• Register a team or walk on your own (registration is free but all walkers are encouraged to fundraise and support the work of the Alzheimer’s Association)
• Volunteer the day of the event 
• Donate to a team or a general donation to the event
• Encourage your business to Go Purple leading up to the Walk or to display a poster.

For information, visit https://act.alz.org/uppervalley.