What brought you to Norwich?
The succinct answer is that the Hanover/Norwich area was recommended when we were deciding to move from California back to the northeast.

What’s your favorite hang out in Norwich?
I’m kind of a homebody, so I’d have to say our black armchair where I start each day drinking coffee, reading the Valley News, poring over – and sometimes responding to – the listserv. But, if I’m out and about, the most likely places to find me are Dan & Whit’s, the dump, the library, or the MCS or Huntley playgrounds.

What’s your favorite food on the Thanksgiving table?
This really depends on who made what. My all-time favorite is stuffing with sausage, but some versions are better than others.

Favorite way to spend a snowy day in Norwich?
If it’s a light snow and not too windy or cold, skating on the pond or cross-country skiing will make me very happy. If it’s really snowy, my black armchair also faces our wood stove and that’s a good place to settle in for a good read.

What are you most looking forward to this winter?
Believe it or not, I really enjoy snowblowing the driveway, if it’s not windy or bitterly cold. Which reminds me that I have to make sure it still starts up.

What skill would you like to master?
I kind of like being “capable at some and expert at none” so I’m not sure I want to master any. But I really would like to learn to play the bass guitar. I even bought one over a dozen years ago, but I have never put in the time to learn much of anything.

What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?
I don’t find these weird, but I’ve been told by others that they think they are: peanut butter and banana, and peanut butter and bacon. Don’t think I’ve tried all three together, but Elvis might have.

What was cool when you were younger, but not now?
Not sure I have ever been one to know what is cool, so pretty sure my views on this are somewhat irrelevant.

If you could have dinner with any famous person (alive or dead) who would it be?
The writers of the US Constitution, so I could ask them how they think it should be interpreted today in light of all the societal and technological changes that have occurred since they wrote it. Or for similar reasons, Jesus or Mohammed.

What brought you to Norwich?
My Norwich in-law’s lured me with many servings of coffee-in-bed. That, and the fact that Norwich’s beauty and quiet felt like finally coming home.

What’s your favorite hang out in Norwich?
Sitting in the dirt of my garden.

What’s your favorite food on the Thanksgiving table?
Brussels sprouts!

Favorite way to spend a snowy day in Norwich?
If it is a weekday, I spend a snowy day grumbling about it. If it is a weekend, I’m still grumbling, but with a little cheer peppered in. But mostly grumbling.

What are you most looking forward to this winter?
April.

What fictional place would you like to visit?
The Temple of Doom.

What skill would you like to master?
Not screwing up idioms.

What is your ideal way to spend a weekend in Norwich?
Digging in the dirt on a warm day while my daughter builds a fairy house next to me. Just spending the day together without anywhere to go, except for a trip to Dan & Whit’s for soft serve and a Dr. Pepper.

What is the best way to start the day?
Waking up with the sun and drinking a black coffee on the steps of my porch.

What charity do you donate to regularly?
I wish I could say I did this more often, but my daughter and I have volunteered with Aging in Place a number of times. I have had conversations with the most interesting people, all of whom have lived through a time that is so radically different from our lifestyles today.

What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?
Soy nuts and wheat germ mixed together, sprinkled with kosher salt, and olive oil drizzled over it. Hands down favorite snack in the Shepherd household.

What’s the last book you read? Did you like it, love it, or were you just happy to be done with it?
Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen. I loved it because I finished it. Honestly, it’s hard to find time to read, not to mention I always fall asleep one page in. If I actually finish a book, I am overly proud of myself.

What’s your most energizing dream/vision of your future?
I only look at the future through my daughter’s eyes, so I see fairies, schnoodles, and chickens abound.

David Barlow with wife Kate and 8-year-old twins Teddy and Amelia

What brought you to Norwich?
I grew up in Hanover. In 2007, my wife Kate and I relocated back to the area, in part to raise kids, get away from city living, and be close to family.

What’s your favorite hang out in Norwich?
Norwich Racquet Club… paddle/platform tennis

Favorite way to spend a snowy day in Norwich?
Nothing’s better than enjoying a few hours of snow-shoeing or sledding, and snowball fights with Kate, the twins, and our two black labs Carlo and Coco

What are you most looking forward to this winter?
Skiing around Vermont/ NH with the family.

What fictional place would you like to visit?
Asgard. That’d be cool. I’m still a big Marvel fan.

What skill would you like to master?
Typing. I’m still using the two-finger method.

What would be your first question after waking up from a 100-year sleep?
Did the Patriots win?

What is your idea way to spend a weekend in Norwich?
Huntley Meadows is a great venue… tennis, soccer, baseball… being outside.

What is the best way to start the day?
Coffee is the best, perhaps essential these days.

What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?
As a kid, peanut butter and salami sandwiches.

What was cool when you were younger, but not now?
8-tracks, Spam, hacky sack

What is your favorite movie from childhood?
Hard to say… this goes back to early eighties. I’d have to go with Caddyshack. It’s still a classic today.

What is your motto in life?
Work hard, play hard, be positive.

Does your life have a theme song? If so, what is it?
Cats in the Cradle always reminds me to make time for my family.

If you could save or protect one animal, plant or part of our earth, which would it be?
The Great Barrier Reef because that’s where I met my wife.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Something in medicine like my father, but to be honest, it took me 30 years to figure that out, before I went back to school for physical therapy.

There is a black and white photograph of Norwich’s Main Street in 1940. It’s the view a driver would see heading out of town towards Hanover. Huge maple trees hang out over the road; by the sidewalks the grass is bushy and unmowed and there is only one parked car in sight. What was it like in the village of Norwich that day? In 1940, the Norwich Women’s Club assembled a detailed 103-page booklet entitled Know Your Town, whose purpose was to “evaluate the town’s social assets and liabilities… and to present a picture of contemporary life which shows the changes and trends in the community.” In its twelve chapters, the survey covered everything from community health programs to leisure time activities.

Not-so-long-ago ski school on Cemetery Hill, 1940

Norwich was 172 years old in 1940, and since the town was founded, its population had always been on the move, explained Carrie Barrett and Margrit Rosenstock-Huessy, surveyors of the town’s population trends. Chief among the emigrants would have been Norwich farmers. “How different the face of the earth must have looked in 1850! Wheatfields, oats, the apple orchards and sheep pastures compared with the monotony of our hayfields and cow pastures. Four-hundred-eighty-one horses (compared with 250 today) and 406 oxen (compared with 40).” In 1850, 376 men in Norwich called themselves farmers. In 1940, only 100 citizens held this occupation. Norwich had also seen its professional citizens move away. According to the 1850 census, there were 31 lawyers, doctors and teachers in Norwich, but by 1940 only 23 professors and instructors lived in the town. “But their center of interest now is mostly on the other side of the river…and they do not take part in the life of the community. Today,” they concluded, “Norwich is on the way from town to suburb.”

In the chapter on Norwich town government, Della Sargent MacAulay wrote “that to know your town is to understand better your state and national affairs.” And what better place to understand a Vermont village than at the town meeting. In 1939 Norwich, with the opening of Tracy Memorial Hall, welcomed a permanent home for community gatherings. It was a dream come true. Before Tracy Hall was constructed, the town meeting had been held in churches, meeting houses, the Norwich University and above Merrill’s Store in the Union Hall. Now the March gathering had a home that also provided a center for the town with a stage, auditorium, gymnasium and a well-equipped kitchen. MacAulay described the highlights of the 1940 town meeting. The town agreed to operate on Daylight Saving Time as Hanover did because, “the difference in time causes confusion especially in border towns.” Another article asked that the town give $100 for the Norwich Band’s free concerts. “Our voters from all over town drive to the village campus, sit in their cars, and relax for an hour on a summer evening, with a nickel bag of popcorn to munch, and enjoy the pleasure of listening to the band concert.” The town also discussed whether $350 should be given to the Norwich Fire District to cover expenses. Although the fire district was primarily responsible for fire protection, it could also “construct sewers and sidewalks and sprinkle and oil streets.” According to MacAulay, citizens discussed a “cooperative sewage disposal.” Hopefully, she wrote, “When action is taken that they will not employ the old unsanitary method of dumping sewage into our brooks to be carried to the river. Probably such practice will, in time, be forbidden by state authorities… and scientific septic tanks and drainage beds be required.”

Norwich Women’s Club in the early 1940s

In Our Educational Opportunities, Alberta Jacobson and Hazel Thorburn outlined the status of the Norwich schools. Of the six schools in town, all were rated superior except the Village School, which was rated standard. Fire protection was the main problem at the Village School. Two boilers were just below the main floor and the lowest grades with the smallest children had classes on this floor. If there were a fire there was the only one exit out the main door. “Some have suggested that the windows afford additional exits… but it would be a high jump for tiny tots… and in the panic and confusion of a fire, it is not safe to assume that older people will be on hand to pass these tots safely through the windows.” Mr. Kingsbury, the fire chief, suggested that a window on the ground floor be converted into a door. This he believed, “…would assure adequate protection to the little ones.”

Town School in 1941

School costs had “skyrocketed” in the years leading up to 1940, when education costs topped out at $18,000 annually – six times what it cost in 1900 – even though the student population remained the same. The cost of living had increased and “teachers’ salaries have gradually increased to $20 a week.” But the real problem was that the state spent “61.8% for highways and only 10% for educational purposes.” To rope in the school taxes, Norwich was gradually consolidating its schools. In 1905, there were thirteen rural schools. In 1940, there were only six.

Much of the survey concerned the town’s health and welfare. It reported that Norwich was blessed with wonderful local doctors who still made house calls. But a trend had started where many of its citizens were going to Mary Hitchcock Hospital when they were ill. For those on welfare, Norwich ‘pledged’ to cover the hospital costs. Citizens who might “be deprived of hospitalization because of lack of funds are accommodated through our ‘free beds,’ made possible by endowments from public-spirited Norwich donors.” The endowments covered between 150 and 175 days of care each year, and these patients were given “regulation ward care plus daily visits by a staff doctor.” The churches in 1940 also helped out those in need with Christmas baskets. Several groups made quilts for families “in need of warm bedding.” A “Mitten Fund” was established to see that every child in town had warm hands in the winter. In 1940, Norwich children were given 215 pairs of mittens. The description of the generosity of the town went on for many pages and was summed up with these words, “No matter how much we work through organization, nothing will ever replace the need for a great measure of much so called old fashioned kindness, friendliness, and neighborliness!”

The ‘New’ Tracy Hall in 1940

“Over its spidery roads, leading through valleys and climbing steep hillsides,” began Helen Southworth’s report on the town’s roads, “Norwich folks have traveled from the generation of vigorous frontiersmen to the effete descendants whose luxurious cars keep more and more to the broad valley highways.” The writer regretted that there were no more carriages rushing to the station and that old roads were, “…ruthlessly destroyed in the modern obsession for speed and still more speed.” Most of the town roads were kept open in the winter, but during spring mud season it was a different story. “In March,” she noted, “many an ancient horse and buggy is seen going serenely along the village streets while the owner’s car remains in his hilltop garage.” Southworth felt the corner at Church and Main Street near the school, “…is a traffic hazard, and in spite of improved signs, a blind turn to strangers.” To protect the school children, the entire 8th grade at the town school became members of the state run School Patrol System. Each patrol leader wore a white belt with the state safety patrol buckle, along with a sweater and cap donated by the American Legion. Patrol leaders were stationed at the white church across from the school, at Tracy Hall, and at Elm Street. “These are the most dangerous points on the home-to-school route, and patrol leaders stationed at these points protect the children at the confusing turn on Route 5 at the school house corner.”

By 1940, the business scene in Norwich was changing, wrote Mrs. Southworth in the section on Norwich Industries. There were 21 ‘businessmen’ in town, but Southworth noted that the service for “blacksmiths, and harness makers was falling off, while the garages flourished.” A few new ‘industries’ were beginning in 1940. A ski school was opened on Cemetery Hill with a portable tow run by a tractor. A ‘cozy cabin’ with a stove and lunch counter was built near the ski tow with high hopes for a snowy winter. Plans were also underway to construct sheds for a mink ranch to be built in the western part of Norwich. By the summer of 1941, “…it is expected that the sheds will be occupied by 3,000 mink.” Norwich was selected for the ranch because “mink food is manufactured near here and the weather is believed to be cold enough to assure pelts of high quality.”

“At the close of the day,” began Mrs. Southworth in the chapter on recreation, “when the town’s ledger has been balanced, when the town’s offices and shops are closed; the school bells are hushed and the mill-wheels have ceased turning, then our town people seek relaxation and recreation.” In 1940, there were a variety of free time choices. In Union Village there was a Young People’s Club that taught teenagers how to introduce speakers and run a meeting “according to parliamentary procedures.” In the same hamlet, Rev. Rand ran an “extremely successful arts and crafts class.” There were circulating libraries in Union Village and in Norwich. In winter there was the Dartmouth Winter Carnival, skiing, and skating on “the pond on the campus, prepared and maintained by the Firemen with some help from the children.” There was also the annual school sleigh ride for the children. “When the sleigh bells jingle, and the children ride by laughing and calling to each other, many an oldster experiences nostalgia for the days of cutters and proudly stepping horses.”

Church Street in 1940

“The village itself, 177 years after the first settler came is dignified and charming in spite of the rush of motor cars along Route 5,” proclaimed Mrs. Southworth at the conclusion of Know Your Town. “The pride in lawns and gardens is widespread. The number of unkempt and unsightly buildings is few. Even the stores and garages in most cases are in keeping with the village character.” Written in 1940, at the end of the Depression and on the eve of the United States’ entry into World War II, Know Your Town discussed the beauty of the town, how it cared for its poor and children, and how it coped with changes in transportation and technology. “It would be a tragedy,” she concluded, “to have some outside industry through its modern and progressive interests mar this age-old atmosphere of stability and leisure too rare today. When civic pride is strong, such an inheritance remains a delight to visitors and joy forever to those whose home is Norwich.”

One treasure of Norwich that you will never find in a real estate listing, a guide book, or a town report is “the Block.” It is the two-mile loop comprised of Main Street, Turnpike Road, Moore Lane, and Beaver Meadow Road. It has about as much in common with a city block as a crow has with a flamingo: some similar features, but radically different.

From a distance perspective, the Block is a beaut. Little Legs can handle it, especially if Big Legs remembers to bring a couple bribery snacks. For Schnauzers, poodles, beagles, and the people they manage, the Block is ideal for the daily constitutional. The Block offers a perfect way for workers on lunch break, friends, and couples to squeeze a 30 or 40 minute walk into their schedule. The 10,000+ feet are enough to wipe away stresses, energize the mind and body, and remind one of the benefits of good old fashioned fresh air. In inclement weather, circumnavigating the Block is just serious enough of an undertaking to make you tough without risking hypothermia. Runners use it as a quick cruiser or as an add-on to longer treks. The blind, sidewalk-less curve by Bragg Hill brings an element of danger. You can extend it with a jaunt down Huntley or around Hazen. It is, simply, a route for every age at every time of the year.

As substantial as the cardiovascular benefits of the Block are, its finest role is as glue in our community. No matter where you begin your trip, you encounter a smattering of positive points of the 05055. Start out from the bridge on Moore Lane and Mother Nature’s melodies soothe you as Bloody Brook babbles underfoot. On Beaver Meadow, as you pass the Lyman F. Pell American Legion, it is only natural to give a little nod of appreciation to the veterans of Norwich who have served our country and our community so well. Sometimes, there are people gathered around the pizza oven as you stroll by. Ascending the gentle slope by the cemetery, every car within a country mile stops to let you cross the street, a small but remarkable courtesy. The pace of activity picks up: small businesses, started and run by Upper Valley entrepreneurs, populate the buildings, a testament to our professional independence. The Inn, home of wedding parties, family dinners, reunions, and community events, stands witness as thousands of residents make their daily pilgrimage to the universe’s finest general store at the halfway point of your journey.

You recall pancake breakfasts at the Grange as you amble past, mindful of the new building going up to house police and firefighters. Kids are playing in front of the library, burning off some steam post-Cross School before they go inside and crawl into another book.

Houses on Main Street, a series of New England postcards, are older, their history almost palpable. There’s a famous Democrat’s house. A fire chief used to live in that one. Right before Turnpike, you try to puzzle out if residents of Main Street are required by the town to keep their front lawns immaculate. On your last stretch, traffic slows, and you get a break from initiating or returning the waves and smiles that seem to be the primary currencies of the town.

You’ve gone far enough to feel limber, revitalized, good. As you finish your loop around the Block, you gaze down on Mink Farm/Huntley Meadows. Constellations of little people chase balls under the watchful, supportive eyes of parents and coaches. Dogs zig and zag across the terrain. And you know it’s a bubble, and you know there’s big bad stuff out there, and you know you have responsibilities. But sometimes, it’s nice to forget all that and just take a walk around the Block.

Norwich Residents Lend a Hand

Meghan Wilson (right) poses with her friend Noelia in Puerto Rico

Noelia, Yiria, Elliot, Rose and Glenda. They are the reason why I’m motivated to continue to support and reach out after Hurricane Maria landed on Puerto Rico in September. They are my colleagues and friends on the island, and they are leaders in their separate communities, supporting others and affecting positive change after the storm.

I’m taking a leave of absence this year from teaching biology at Hartford High School and am currently in Mexico to improve my Spanish in order to communicate more effectively. I’ve been working closely with Puerto Rican teachers and students for the past three years, and have led groups of Hartford and Puerto Rican students and teachers to Montreal, Hubbard Brook, Dartmouth, Hartford High School and to Ceci and Dunnz’s little sugar house here in Norwich on Ladeau Road. I’ve also been able to work closely with the teachers on the island and take a group of Hartford students to Puerto Rico. Together we visited each community where these teachers are now working.

The island is beautiful with many different ecosystems to explore. We traveled first to Carolina, a municipality on the island with a huge focus on education. During the day, we visited a science museum that reminded me of the Montshire with many different hands-on activities. In the afternoon, we attended José Aponte de la Torre School for Science, Math, Technology and Languages where the students taught us about different tree species on the island. This school meets after the normal school day finishes and is supported by the municipality. The next few days we spent in El Yunque National Research Forest where we learned how to measure tree growth and characteristics of soil. The forest was wild and beautiful, something that I had never seen before. The soil was rich and when I suggested that we take a hike, Noelia and her crew of volunteers laughed and agreed. The air was humid and the soil, while abundant with life, made it difficult to hike.

To have light! Grateful teachers, Elliot and Rose, receive their first delivery of lights. Hopefully the first of many such deliveries.

We then visited Guanica, a town in the south of the island, where the land was much more arid, and we compared different tree species and how they evolved to support life in a dry area. We visited the municipality of Florida, where we learned about recycling efforts on the island. The week was completely packed with learning experiences for myself and my students. The people on the island were warm and generous, every place that we stayed the parents of the students prepared meals for us. We even had an impromptu salsa lesson from a local family!

I can’t begin to imagine what the island looked like after Maria, however, every few days I get an update from my friends… how they are doing, and what their families and communities need. If I can support them by connecting them to people on the mainland and resources, I try to help out. Carolina, the municipality that is focused on education, was hit really hard. Eighty percent of families and schools lost everything. The school that we had visited was damaged so badly that it is not in service now, nor will it be for the foreseeable future. Yiria and other teachers that we met in Carolina are now focused on providing food for hundreds of residents daily. Florida was also hit hard and there are towns that, for the next several months, will not have electricity or water service restored because Maria destroyed roads and pipes connecting the towns.

Elliot and Rose’s daughter, Alana, teach a local family to use a water filter. For just $52, this filter can provide drinking water to 18 people for a year. Please contact Meghan if you want to support this effort.

Noelia, the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Schoolyard Education Coordinator at El Yunque, said that after the storm, she ventured out to assess the damage in her neighborhood. She observed trees toppled across the roadways, roofs ripped off houses, and some homes completely demolished. “Looking up toward El Yunque National Forest, we saw a bare landscape where just the day before a verdant tropical canopy had existed, seemingly unalterable. We were utterly shocked and saddened by Maria’s impact” Noelia said.

“Our spirits were soon lifted!” she continued, “Puerto Rico is a resilient country, with its strength rooted deep in the soil as well as the community. In a matter of hours, local groups of citizens were out clearing the roads with machetes and chainsaws, and helping neighbors sift through debris and stabilize their homes. Others passed by with warm meals and potable water. Within a week, many trees began to leaf out again, testimony to the will to live and the natural capacity for renewal. External aid from partners in the US and internationally has been amazing as well. These efforts have made heroic strides toward helping those in need through the provision of emergency relief. We are grateful for and humbled by the outpouring of solidarity and support received thus far.”

Yet Puerto Rico is just beginning what will be a long road to full recovery. A majority of the island’s 3.5 million inhabitants remain without basic water and electric utilities. For many people, access to food, clothing, medical supplies, and fuel is also compromised due to limited stocks and blocked transportation routes, particularly in rural mountain areas. Elderly and residents of low-income communities are among the most vulnerable. It is anticipated that these difficult conditions will persist for several more months, potentially exacerbating public health crises.

As a resident of Ladeau Road in Norwich, the effort to support those affected by Hurricane Maria seems very similar to the aftermath of the severe rain storm this past July. The Norwich community came together to support Vickie and Mike Seaver when they needed help. And now with Hurricane Maria, there are Norwich residents supporting ongoing relief efforts in Puerto Rico.

Students learning in the field in El Yunque

Lucia Graves, a Peruvian American who grew up in Norwich, works closely with the Upper Valley Buena Gente Social Club to provide a welcoming atmosphere for native and non-native Spanish speakers in the Upper Valley. Lucia says, “Buena Gente in Spanish means Good People. I know that my birth country of Peru and many other countries suffer economically after natural disasters but even in Perú basic needs are met after such devastating times. In Puerto Rico, there are sections still without governmental aid and old laws are thwarting help from getting in. That’s where we as community members step in. I’m happy to have helped create The Upper Valley Solidarity Network for Puerto Rico to not only help Puerto Rico, but also to raise awareness of our group, the Upper Valley Buena Gente Social Club. We are showing this community and the world that there are Latinos and non-Latinos that don’t have to identify as Puerto Rican to be good samaritans and lend what they can to help. Yes, my nationality is very important to me but this affects me as an American Latino and in any way I can help through the outlets of this community I will.”

A group of volunteers from the Buena Gente Social Club (BGSC), colleagues from Dartmouth College and staff from DHMC have formed “The Upper Valley Solidarity Network for Puerto Rico.”

The Network’s inaugural fundraiser took place in October and raised more than $12,000. All proceeds have been delivered directly to Iniciativa Comunitaria, a trusted community based organization working with vulnerable populations in and around San Juan.

Students working together to disperse water

Norwich resident, Jennifer Roby, helps to coordinate the BGSC and assists with outreach across the Upper Valley. “The opportunity to work with local partners in the Network has strengthened our community’s bonds of friendship. It is so gratifying to see people making connections and developing plans to work together in support of Puerto Rico. Outreach to our broad-based membership has helped connect people here at home and on the island.”

Noelia’s husband, Chris, explains characteristics of soil

A few years ago my extended family started a new tradition. During the holidays when we get together to celebrate, we no longer purchase gifts for each other. Instead, we rotate through the family and choose one organization that we support monetarily or with resources.

This tradition is rich because it brings together support and we get to learn more about what each of us values. This year my family is supporting ongoing relief efforts in Puerto Rico.

The world seems overwhelming at times, but there are so many ways to lend a hand. If you want to support the communities on the island with supplies and resources, please contact me directly at hewitt.meghan@gmail.com for more information, or contact the Upper Valley Solidarity Network for Puerto Rico at BGSC: uvbuenagentesocialclub@gmail.com.

Thank you and have a happy holiday season.

Meghan Wilson

Navigating young-adulthood is not always easy. Relationships are difficult. School is challenging. Responsibility is not always an easy concept to grasp. And control does not always seem attainable. Often times, passion and involvement are the things that make all of these challenges seem less daunting and more manageable.

For Sophie Cardenali, that passion and that involvement have been found within the sporting community. Sophie, a Norwich resident and Hanover High School graduate, has been playing sports for as long as she remembers. With parents that both coach skiing, Cardenali recalls fondly that sports have “…always been a big part of my life.”

Cardenali played soccer until her sophomore year of high school before realizing that the match was not meant to be and pursued field hockey for the rest of her high school career. She has played lacrosse since third grade.

Sophie Cardenali snuggles with her puppy, Leo

Cardenali started her first year at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York in August. While she acknowledges the challenges and the ways in which her freshman experience differs greatly from her experience at Hanover High, she also enthusiastically notes how much she has enjoyed the year thus far.

Despite a demanding and wide-ranging course load, Sophie is a member of both the field hockey team and the lacrosse team at St. Lawrence. Her field hockey team just finished their season during which she started as the team’s goalie in nearly every game. She reflects on her appreciation for her experience with field hockey this fall. As she started her field hockey career much later than that of lacrosse, she appreciated the more challenging level of play that she experienced at the college level and notes that she gained valuable knowledge of the game that she was able to apply to her performance throughout the season.

Cardenali also takes the time to reflect on the ways that lessons learned throughout her sporting career have translated into the rest of her life. She capitalizes on the work ethic that she has gained from playing sports, commenting that these values are ones she may not have otherwise learned. She also touches on the time management skills that she has gleaned from her sporting experiences as well as interpersonal skills that she has acquired and the ability to adapt quickly to different situations:

“It’s taught me a lot about how things can change and how to adapt to different situations and how to work with people that are different or similar to you but also having fun and getting to meet new people.”

She acknowledges that during her transition from high school into college life, these lessons, values, and strengths have played an important role.

Sophie credits much of her success to great coaching, pictured here with Coach Chris Seibel.

Juggling a heavy course-load with daily practices as well as travelling for away games was very hard and different from what she had grown accustomed to during her time at Hanover High School. She notes that time management was key in keeping her on track with her busy schedule, she also firmly states that despite the difficulty of the situation, “…it’s better to learn it now.”

Above all else, Cardenali capitalizes on the importance of the relationships that she has cultivated within the sporting community. Noting that the friendships she made with her freshman year Field Hockey team were among the things that helped to make her transition into college life smooth and seamless.

Sophie also speaks at length about the relationship between athletes and their coaches. With experience as both an athlete and a coach, she provides great insight into the qualities that make a coach successful. She acknowledges that while all coaches are different, each one has helped her “…in one way or another.” Cardenali states that, overall, an effective coach is “…able to connect with the players and support us, but also able to be the that person that gets us focused and get us going and teaches us what we need to learn.”

Sophie with her father, Jim, and her stepmother, Amy Tuller

Among coaches that have been particularly influential throughout her career are her high school field hockey coach, Jean Essex, and her field hockey coach at St. Lawrence University, Fran Grembowicz.

She reflects, specifically on the coaching duo that led her junior year high school lacrosse team to win the state championship: Chris Seibel and Whit Stearns. While Seibel had coached Sophie and her teammates for years, Stearns was a new addition to the team and Sophie confidently states that Stearns’ difference from past coaches was one of the things that helped most in bringing the team together and helping everything to fall into place. She goes on to state that the two coaches had the “…perfect balance…when one of them needed to be intense, the other one could be our friend and support us.” She goes on to say that so much of the victory that year was due to the coaches’ ability to relate to the players in different ways and their consistent support throughout the season.

However, Sophie closes by emphatically stating, “Though overall it was my teammates and the girls I was playing with everyday that made me the player I am, we just had the help of these coaches.”

The lessons that Cardenali has learned from her consistent involvement in the sporting community are boundless and valuable and have helped to mold her into the person that she is today.

Sophie enjoying Christmas with her mother, Cami

When asked whether she sees herself pursuing a career in this vein, the answer is one of relatively distinct affirmation. Sophie, herself, has a great deal of coaching experience. From coaching skiing in France and at various camps across the country, to coaching locally at Quechee Mountain, to working for Empower Lacrosse club (a local club team for young girls looking to develop their skills), she has found an appreciation for coaching that she can see herself pursuing in the years after college.

However, for now, Sophie is quite happy keeping her options open and experiencing life as it comes as she continues to grow as a person and an athlete both on and off the field.

Throughout August and continuing through September, White River Animal Rescue (WRAR) is running a campaign called the #50/50 Campaign. The #50/50 Campaign is based on the idea that a puppy born in the US has a 50% chance of survival, and that many rescues in the local area and beyond have a lot on their plates trying to pull dogs from the south as fast as possible. The goal is collaboration among rescues and shelters to save as many dogs’ lives as possible.

Amy Knight, the founder of WRAR, emphasized the need for collaboration among rescue organizations to take that 50% chance of survival and bring the number as close to 100% as possible.

Amy began rescuing dogs unwittingly seventeen years ago when she took in Shiba, a Belgian Malinois puppy who was about to be killed by the farmer who bred it. A teenager who was on the property managed to rescue one of the litter and brought it to Amy. While she intended on keeping this sweet, wriggly thing which showed up, Amy was concerned for the other pups that remained on the property. She called the neighbor, who turned out to be the farmer’s sister-in-law, and the woman collected the rest of the puppies.

Amy also didn’t know she ended up with a pure Belgian Malinois until she took the dog to the groomers. Shiba ended up being quite extraordinary and sadly passed away this previous winter.

When Amy moved to Vermont, she ended up on an email list for rescue volunteers where she was asked if she could help transport three dogs from White River Junction to Burlington. Once people have a line on you, especially from down south, they start calling.

All signs pointed to her need to be involved in animal rescue, so in 2009 Amy decided to start White River Animal Rescue. She also works as a college professor, teaching psychology part time. Her focus is on bringing dogs from dangerous situations in the south up here where they live with foster families with the goal of finding forever homes. Many of the dogs are pulled from overcrowded southern shelters with anywhere from 24 hours to 3 minutes to live, but some come from other places as well.

Amy and Justine at Revolution

Amy said, “We don’t only rescue dogs from shelters… Because not all dogs are in the shelters, some dogs are on the side of the road. Some dogs are way out in the country. Some people, they don’t want to bring the dog to the shelter, they dump them wherever, in whatever state. People say, ‘Oh my god! That dog’s not from a shelter?’ And I say ‘no, it’s from the side of the road or a ditch, or in a drainage culvert…’ But it’s still a rescue because they are living on the side of the road.”

Justine Kohr is a WRAR volunteer and self-proclaimed foster failure. She spends her days working as the assistant director of marketing and communications at the Tuck School as well as being a writer and editor. As a volunteer, Justine has utilized her work skills to assist with the marketing of WRAR. “Everyone who volunteers is a little bit involved in everything.”

She has worked with transports, new arrivals, and other aspects of the rescue, as well as training her rescue dog and previous foster, Pepper.

Justine is heavily invested in the #50/50 Campaign as well. In a prior interview she shared, “We know that other rescues and shelters have a lot on their plates and they have a lot of animals that they are bringing into their spaces, and we want to partner with them and help when we can.”

According to Amy, there are currently seven other rescues or shelters participating in the campaign. On the website, the first dogs highlighted are the ones who need the most donations to fight health problems. Then the list continues.

For WRAR they ask that the rescue or shelter send them a video, photo, and description of the dog in need and they will promote it. Half of the donations stay with WRAR, but all of any adoption fees go directly to the original rescue.

The final hope of the #50/50 Campaign is that rescues will continue to collaborate rather than trying to do everything individually. Helping each other, in the end, means helping more dogs.

If you’ve lived in Norwich, and especially in the Beaver Meadow area, you probably know Arthur. And if you know Arthur, you probably have had occasion where Arthur came to your rescue in an emergency. Known by some as the ‘gatekeeper of the Meadow’ as his house is situated at the corner of Beaver Meadow and Chapel Hill road, Arthur has been there when cars slid off the road during icy storms, repaired the bell on Beaver Meadow Chapel when it’s been rung too exuberantly by young churchgoers, or plowed out the schoolhouse or chapel when they were needed for an event or service.

The Arthur we are talking about is, of course, Arthur Owen, a longtime member of the Upper Valley community who has had occasion to touch many of our lives with his substantial skills in problem solving and improvising to get us out of jam or ditch, get that well working again, or shore up that foundation. Arthur’s ability to save the day is legendary even to young children who have told their parents to call Arthur when a problem has them stumped because “Arthur can fix and build anything.” Arthur’s innate abilities and the skills he had acquired in his years of working for Dartmouth Buildings and Ground Department made him a go-to resource to resolve much of what comes with living in tough New England. Even if you don’t call Arthur for help in an emergency, he has a way of showing up at just the right time, analyzing the problem, and showing you what needs to be done.

It was with these moments in mind that friends and family of Arthur decided to hold a party to show appreciation for those many instances when he has touched our lives. Close to a hundred people gathered at the Beaver Meadow Schoolhouse in late August for a potluck dinner after a sing-along at the Beaver Meadow Chapel. With the schoolhouse filled to capacity, several people recounted stories of the times Arthur helped them in a moment of need. Some were funny and some ended with hardly a dry eye in the house, but all seemed to end with the mention of “pie.” It appears that the one payment Arthur appreciates for his many services is a good pie.

The last couple of years have brought some changes for Arthur. After his first wife, Shirley, also a legend of the Meadow passed, Arthur married again. He has since moved from Beaver Meadow and is now building a house in Newbury, Vermont, a decision he made so his wife, Carol, could be closer to her job. But he still holds on to his house here in Norwich, and is often seen in the dooryard working on his trucks or plowing through the last year. And now, Arthur has also had to fight against esophageal cancer, a disease that doesn’t yet know Arthur’s resourcefulness in overcoming obstacles. Upon receiving the news of the cancer, the Owens contacted the Beaver Meadow community for prayers and positive thoughts, and those seem to be working well. Arthur’s cancer has not metastasized. It has responded well to chemo and radiation, and the doctors are optimistic that with surgery, scheduled for September, he will be able to beat it.

The party at the schoolhouse was evidence of the support that Arthur has from the community, and assurance that neither distance nor the trials of illness put much of a dent in Arthur’s impact on Norwich, and for that we are grateful.

Norwich Residents Reach Out with Aid

We have all seen the bumper sticker and t-shirts carrying the Vermont Strong inscription.

Recently a group of Norwich residents proved that motto is not merely a fancy catch phrase by offering a shining example of how neighbors care for neighbors.

Vickie Seaver holds debris ironically emblazoned ‘Happiness Guaranteed’

On July 1 of this year, the property owned by Michael and Vickie Seaver on New Boston Road in Norwich was devastated by a sudden downpour that produced more than four inches of heavy rain in a mere few hours. The freakish storm wreaked havoc for the residents along the New Boston and Ladeau Roads. For the Seavers, it hit particularly hard, as Vickie explains.

“Our neighbors next to us have a fifteen-foot elevated driveway that runs over a gully. The rain filled a field by the driveway and the water pressure caused the driveway to collapse. All that water rushed onto our property and leveled our two-car garage. Also we had eight trees down and propane tanks were seen floating nearby. There was debris everywhere and the entire neighborhood had to be evacuated. It was devastating!”

Vickie went on to point out that their house did not have a basement and that saved them from further flood damage that would have compounded the situation. Everyone was safe, but not without a price.

“My 90-year-old father is a carpenter and he had many of his tools stored in that garage and they were washed away. Our vehicles were not in the garage and that was a relief,” Vickie said.

As the Seavers looked out at the carnage in their yard, the first thoughts turned to just how would they cope with this disaster? They had no flood insurance and their homeowners policy would not cover the damage. They did not have to stress for very long however. Norwich residents sprang into action to help their neighbors.

Chainsaw work

“Meghan Wilson, who lives on Ladeau Road, organized a cleanup event for us to help clear out the debris from our flooded garage. The water had run down to Ladeau Road, as well, and the brook behind our house had risen. We have many neighbors in Norwich, and we were the fortunate ones who feel truly honored to have folks that didn’t even know us help us out. It was incredible!”

Garage debris

“All of a sudden we had about 35 people in our front yard,” Michael Seaver stated. “There were people with tractors and a dump truck, and everyone started pitching in to remove all the debris and to cut up the fallen trees. Many of those people we met for the very first time. It was unbelievable!”

Debris cleanup

The dedicated volunteer laborers quickly cleared the debris working through the day on a Sunday. Once the damaged garage was removed, the group then constructed a brand-new storage shed on the slab where the 24×24′ structure had stood.

“I think we will place a container garden and a patio on the back part of that concrete foundation. That way we can sit out there in nice weather and watch the brook flow by,” Vickie added with a smile.

As they look back on the experience, the Seavers remain overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and concern by their neighbors.

“We still can’t believe it!” Vickie exclaimed. “I will give an example. I approached one gentleman in his vehicle as he was working. I told him we would offer as much financial help as we could. He rolled up his window and said he could not hear me!”

It appears as if we need a new bumper sticker that reads Norwich Strong.

Elisabeth Bilar and Meghan Hewitt pitched in.

It was truly a whole group effort. A lot of people also helped out during the week leading up to the neighborhood clean-up that I helped organize. (Price Campbell was putting up trash bags and collecting debris from the stream throughout the storm, Ashley Lang picked up a ton of debris, and I know there were countless others.) I wanted to help, but knew that I couldn’t move things in the stream… so I just chose a day at a gathering of Ladeau residents that worked for most. I was communicating with Vicki and Mike about what they would like to have done, and let them know that Sunday from 12 to 3pm was the time where people would be helpful. Vicki then had a day that she could tell all of her friends and family to come out and help, and Liz put the message out to the town. There was a lot of support from Ladeau, and a lot of support from Vicki’s connections in actually doing the clean-up. I wasn’t doing heavy lifting, instead I was playing dressup with the neighborhood kids while others were cleaning up the road. We also helped out Peter and Vicki’s neighbor… and they in return helped us out.Cheers, Meghan Hewitt