The Valley Reporter

The Valley Reporter Serving the Mad River Valley since 1971

Squirrel talk: What does that noise mean?

Even if you’ve never ventured further into the forest than an urban park or a college campus, you’re probably familiar with Sciurus carolinensis, the eastern gray squirrel. While it’s easy to ...

Winter bird count

Since 2005 the Mad Birders, a small volunteer birding organization in Washington County, Vermont, has been conducting an annual year-end bird count to assess the health of the winter population of ...

Weather permitting, the Skatium plans to open the week before Christmas. VR File Photo.

Skatium to open before Christmas, upgrades in the works

As temperatures have cooled down, planning for the 2022-2023 season is underway at the Skatium Ice Rink in Waitsfield. Weather permitting, the plan is to open the rink the week before Christmas. ...

One of the stained-glass windows in St. Patrick Church in Moretown.

About Town with Huguette Viens Abbott

Kathleen Mehuron gave me the perfect topic of Valley history with her article about St. Patrick Church in Moretown. That was our church – all 26 members of my extended family which included the ...

St. Patrick Cemetery. Inset: The grave of Mary O'Connor. She was the wife of James Riley. In the history of the family name of Riley was Count John O'Reilly; Edmund O'Reilly (1598-1669), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh; and Hugh Reily (c.1630-1695) Irish Member of Parliament for Cavan Borough in the Patriot Parliament of 1689. Despite differences in spelling they are of the same sect.

Take Me Back: Religion in The Valley, Part 2 - More on those Irish Catholics

After writing about the renovation of our historic St. Patrick Church in Moretown, I yearned to know how the Irish immigrants that built the church fared as they arrived in The Valley after surviving ...

Cat and dog together. Photo: Louis-Philippe Poitras

VR Goes to The Dogs adds new CAT-e-gory

In response to serious catitude from several very vocal felines and their humans, The Valley Reporter is adding a new CAT-e-gory to its popular, annual Valley Reporter Goes to The Dogs issue coming ...

Wall of Fame inductees are selected by the Wall of Fame review committee and the 2022 class includes: Al and Jane Hobart, Brook Weston, and Tony Chiuchiolo.

Sugarbush welcomes three new inductees to Wall of Fame

Sugarbush Resort is inducting three new members to its Wall of Fame this year. Similar to a Hall of Fame, Sugarbush’s Wall of Fame seeks to recognize some of the most significant contributors to ...