The Valley Reporter - Staying ConnectedThe Valley Reporter, serving the Mad River Valley and Sugarbush and Mad River Glen ski communities since 1971. Local news and local views of Waitsfield, Warren,https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/staying-connected2024-03-28T19:37:31-04:00The Valley Reporterjeff@valleyreporter.comA Warren Fourth of July message from Senator Bernie Sanders2020-07-03T17:40:51-04:002020-07-03T17:40:51-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/staying-connected/14732-a-warren-fourth-of-july-message-from-senator-bernie-sandersjkvtvrjeff@valleyreporter.com<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/connected/Bernie4th.jpeg" alt=""></p><p class="p1">A happy Fourth of July from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. He says he’s looking forward to being back in Warren Village next year.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">{mp4}200702_MF_4th_WARREN-HD_V1{/mp4}</p><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/connected/Bernie4th.jpeg" alt=""></p><p class="p1">A happy Fourth of July from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. He says he’s looking forward to being back in Warren Village next year.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">{mp4}200702_MF_4th_WARREN-HD_V1{/mp4}</p>How to not ruin your relationship in quarantine2020-05-24T08:00:34-04:002020-05-24T08:00:34-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/staying-connected/14571-how-to-not-ruin-your-relationship-in-quarantineHadley Laskowskijeff@valleyreporter.com<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5005/Connected_West.jpg" alt="How to not ruin your relationship in quarantine"></p><p>After years of working as a paralegal in the corporate world, Sallie West decided it was time for a change. “I was successful at my job, but it wasn’t enlivening me at all,” said West, a Mad River Valley native.</p>
<p>In the early 1990s, West applied to graduate school for marriage and family therapy, got her master’s degree from Antioch University in New Hampshire and has been a counselor ever since. “That was probably the greatest thing I ever did for myself. I love my work, and I love the people I work with,” said West.</p>
<p>While West accepts clients to her home office in Fayston, she’s also an avid online therapist who meets with a number of her clients via phone or video chat.</p>
<p>Even before Vermont’s Stay Home, Stay Safe order was issued on March 24, forcing therapists to turn to online platforms, West was familiar with online counseling and its benefits. With teletherapy for instance, West found that “there were very sensitive topics that people were much more comfortable talking about, like sexual issues or deep-seeded shame issues.”</p>
<p><strong>CONVENIENT FOR CLIENT</strong></p>
<p>Online therapy is also convenient for the client. For instance, West works with many young parents who live in rural areas and can’t find or afford child care to cover session and commuting time. “In a rural area, it’s a really critical option to have,” said West, speaking of online therapy.</p>
<p>The convenience of remote therapy applies to West as well. Working online allows her to travel and visit her family on the West Coast while maintaining a regular schedule with her clients. “After this I expect not to go back to face to face,” said West, referring to postpandemic times.</p>
<p>“I started doing online therapy before it was popular. Now, it’s really hit its stride,” said West, recognizing that the coronavirus pandemic has put many other therapists in her remote-healing shoes. “The efficacy of it has really been born out by this awful tragedy that we find ourselves in,” said West.</p>
<p>West explained that people who might have been hesitant about online therapy before are “jumping right on it” because now they have no other choice. Since the pandemic hit, West has received an influx of calls, as well as an influx of new patients who seem eager to stay on with her.</p>
<p>One reason for the new flood of online therapy seekers in Vermont nowadays may have to do with the unique family situations people find themselves in under coronavirus prompted work-from-home orders. Many couples are now living under the same roof 24/7 for the first time ever.</p>
<p>“What I’ve found is that situations where both parents are working at home and also have small children is really pushing people to the brink,” said West. “Not to the brink of divorce, but to the brink of their stress and anxiety,” West clarified. “And there’s no way they’re getting 40 hours of work in. Absolutely not.”</p>
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<p><strong>WORK ON COMMUNICATION</strong></p>
<p>With couples spending more time together than ever before, the necessity to work on communication has never been so prevalent, especially since in quarantine there’s no escape, said West.</p>
<p>West explained where communication can go wrong among quarantined couples. “Without communication, we make assumptions about what our partner is thinking or doing. We create stories in our heads about the other person's motivations,” said West.</p>
<p>The role of therapy, West explained, is to teach people to stop themselves in the midst of a blaming-oriented thought frenzy and to analyze those thoughts in a nonjudgmental way. “People quickly find out that these stories and assumptions are very flimsy. When we move away from immediate judgment toward curiosity, we tend to realize that our partner isn't really the asshole we think they are,” said West.</p>
<p>When couples fight, the corrosive aspect of their arguments often comes from a tendency to ride the wave of anger until it bubbles out of proportion. “Half the time people get to the end of a power struggle by threatening divorce and it started with some inane thing like, ‘You left a wet towel on the bed,’” said West.</p>
<p>West’s timeout model is designed to help couples stop power struggles in their tracks by teaching people how to recognize their triggers and immediately transition into self-soothing, rather than egg on an argument. Yoga, reading, dancing, painting or cooking are some self-soothing activity examples. However, West finds her own self-soothing haven in the outdoors. “I think the best kind of self-soothing is getting outdoors,” said West. “It gives you some perspective and makes you realize you’re a part of something bigger.”</p><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5005/Connected_West.jpg" alt="How to not ruin your relationship in quarantine"></p><p>After years of working as a paralegal in the corporate world, Sallie West decided it was time for a change. “I was successful at my job, but it wasn’t enlivening me at all,” said West, a Mad River Valley native.</p>
<p>In the early 1990s, West applied to graduate school for marriage and family therapy, got her master’s degree from Antioch University in New Hampshire and has been a counselor ever since. “That was probably the greatest thing I ever did for myself. I love my work, and I love the people I work with,” said West.</p>
<p>While West accepts clients to her home office in Fayston, she’s also an avid online therapist who meets with a number of her clients via phone or video chat.</p>
<p>Even before Vermont’s Stay Home, Stay Safe order was issued on March 24, forcing therapists to turn to online platforms, West was familiar with online counseling and its benefits. With teletherapy for instance, West found that “there were very sensitive topics that people were much more comfortable talking about, like sexual issues or deep-seeded shame issues.”</p>
<p><strong>CONVENIENT FOR CLIENT</strong></p>
<p>Online therapy is also convenient for the client. For instance, West works with many young parents who live in rural areas and can’t find or afford child care to cover session and commuting time. “In a rural area, it’s a really critical option to have,” said West, speaking of online therapy.</p>
<p>The convenience of remote therapy applies to West as well. Working online allows her to travel and visit her family on the West Coast while maintaining a regular schedule with her clients. “After this I expect not to go back to face to face,” said West, referring to postpandemic times.</p>
<p>“I started doing online therapy before it was popular. Now, it’s really hit its stride,” said West, recognizing that the coronavirus pandemic has put many other therapists in her remote-healing shoes. “The efficacy of it has really been born out by this awful tragedy that we find ourselves in,” said West.</p>
<p>West explained that people who might have been hesitant about online therapy before are “jumping right on it” because now they have no other choice. Since the pandemic hit, West has received an influx of calls, as well as an influx of new patients who seem eager to stay on with her.</p>
<p>One reason for the new flood of online therapy seekers in Vermont nowadays may have to do with the unique family situations people find themselves in under coronavirus prompted work-from-home orders. Many couples are now living under the same roof 24/7 for the first time ever.</p>
<p>“What I’ve found is that situations where both parents are working at home and also have small children is really pushing people to the brink,” said West. “Not to the brink of divorce, but to the brink of their stress and anxiety,” West clarified. “And there’s no way they’re getting 40 hours of work in. Absolutely not.”</p>
<p>
Advertisement
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>WORK ON COMMUNICATION</strong></p>
<p>With couples spending more time together than ever before, the necessity to work on communication has never been so prevalent, especially since in quarantine there’s no escape, said West.</p>
<p>West explained where communication can go wrong among quarantined couples. “Without communication, we make assumptions about what our partner is thinking or doing. We create stories in our heads about the other person's motivations,” said West.</p>
<p>The role of therapy, West explained, is to teach people to stop themselves in the midst of a blaming-oriented thought frenzy and to analyze those thoughts in a nonjudgmental way. “People quickly find out that these stories and assumptions are very flimsy. When we move away from immediate judgment toward curiosity, we tend to realize that our partner isn't really the asshole we think they are,” said West.</p>
<p>When couples fight, the corrosive aspect of their arguments often comes from a tendency to ride the wave of anger until it bubbles out of proportion. “Half the time people get to the end of a power struggle by threatening divorce and it started with some inane thing like, ‘You left a wet towel on the bed,’” said West.</p>
<p>West’s timeout model is designed to help couples stop power struggles in their tracks by teaching people how to recognize their triggers and immediately transition into self-soothing, rather than egg on an argument. Yoga, reading, dancing, painting or cooking are some self-soothing activity examples. However, West finds her own self-soothing haven in the outdoors. “I think the best kind of self-soothing is getting outdoors,” said West. “It gives you some perspective and makes you realize you’re a part of something bigger.”</p>Front Porch Portraits project underway2020-05-23T10:08:15-04:002020-05-23T10:08:15-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/staying-connected/14576-front-porch-portraits-project-underwayLisa Loomisjeff@valleyreporter.com<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5005/LynnOsborn-header.jpg" alt=""></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">A Warren and Brookline, Massachusetts, photographer has been capturing Valley residents in all their full April glory for her Front Porch Portraits project.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Lynn Osborn, an architect and second-home owner for 20 years, conceived of the idea of taking pictures of people sheltering in place on their front porches.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Everyone has been hunkered down and some families are multigenerational with kids home from college,” she said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The result is an eclectic collection of people on porches in various family groupings, stacks of wood, snow shovels, brown April earth visible in spots and dogs variously paying attention to Osborn or not.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">FOOTWEAR CHOICES</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Footwear choices reflect the vast range of early spring weather in Vermont, including bare feet, winter boots, sneakers, flip-flops, leather boots and more. There are skis and motorcycles on the porches and in many of the pictures the faces of those photographed are unsmiling and serious, as in American Gothic.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Capturing people in places where they live and work appeals to Osborn, who had planned to work on a collection of pictures of people who work with their hands, specifically businesses that do handcraft work.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">She’d done something similar in Brookline where she photographed people working at a zipper hospital and a dressmaker and more. She’d planned something similar for The Valley this spring and had about 50 people she’d planned to visit.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“After COVID, it was not practical to go into people’s workshops,” she said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">So Front Porch Portraits was launched. As a longtime Warren homeowner, she had the Prickly Mountain community email list and then another list for her closest neighbors and homeowners association.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Osborn said she’s enjoyed it a lot and she’ll probably continue it after the Stay Home, Stay Safe order is lifted.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I’m happy that this project is part of the public record of how people sheltered in place during this pandemic,” she said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Her online gallery can be found here: <a href="https://lynnosborn.smugmug.com/Front-Porch-Portraits/"></a><a href="https://lynnosborn.smugmug.com/Front-Porch-Portraits/">https://lynnosborn.smugmug.com/Front-Porch-Portraits/</a>.</span></p><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5005/LynnOsborn-header.jpg" alt=""></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">A Warren and Brookline, Massachusetts, photographer has been capturing Valley residents in all their full April glory for her Front Porch Portraits project.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Lynn Osborn, an architect and second-home owner for 20 years, conceived of the idea of taking pictures of people sheltering in place on their front porches.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Everyone has been hunkered down and some families are multigenerational with kids home from college,” she said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The result is an eclectic collection of people on porches in various family groupings, stacks of wood, snow shovels, brown April earth visible in spots and dogs variously paying attention to Osborn or not.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">FOOTWEAR CHOICES</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Footwear choices reflect the vast range of early spring weather in Vermont, including bare feet, winter boots, sneakers, flip-flops, leather boots and more. There are skis and motorcycles on the porches and in many of the pictures the faces of those photographed are unsmiling and serious, as in American Gothic.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Capturing people in places where they live and work appeals to Osborn, who had planned to work on a collection of pictures of people who work with their hands, specifically businesses that do handcraft work.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">She’d done something similar in Brookline where she photographed people working at a zipper hospital and a dressmaker and more. She’d planned something similar for The Valley this spring and had about 50 people she’d planned to visit.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“After COVID, it was not practical to go into people’s workshops,” she said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">So Front Porch Portraits was launched. As a longtime Warren homeowner, she had the Prickly Mountain community email list and then another list for her closest neighbors and homeowners association.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Osborn said she’s enjoyed it a lot and she’ll probably continue it after the Stay Home, Stay Safe order is lifted.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I’m happy that this project is part of the public record of how people sheltered in place during this pandemic,” she said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Her online gallery can be found here: <a href="https://lynnosborn.smugmug.com/Front-Porch-Portraits/"></a><a href="https://lynnosborn.smugmug.com/Front-Porch-Portraits/">https://lynnosborn.smugmug.com/Front-Porch-Portraits/</a>.</span></p>Silent spring: The UVM senior edition 2020-05-23T07:00:12-04:002020-05-23T07:00:12-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/staying-connected/14570-silent-spring-the-uvm-senior-editionHadley Laskowskijeff@valleyreporter.com<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5005/Connected_Mumford.jpg" alt="Silent spring: The UVM senior edition "></p><p>Emmy Mumford, recent graduate of the University of Vermont, knew she wanted to pursue psychology ever since her post–high school gap year, which she spent working in a Taiwanese orphanage. Many of the orphans that Mumford worked with had lost their parents in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunamis. “Seeing those kids and their resilience is what made me realize that people, even in tough situations, are innately resilient. The idea of being able to help them foster and nurture that resilience is what made me want to pursue psychology further,” said Mumford.</p>
<p>On March 17, 2020, Mumford graduated with her bachelor’s degree in psychology. However, the celebration, and the semester leading up to it, was nothing like Mumford could have anticipated.</p>
<p>“It’s been an isolated time,” said Mumford, reflecting on her last semester as a psychology student, much of which she spent quarantining with her family at their home in Waitsfield.</p>
<p>The transition to online learning was smooth, all thanks to the professors, said Mumford. “Our professors were incredible. I give them so much credit because to change the curriculum was extremely difficult. They did an amazing job adjusting,” she said.</p>
<p>Still, some aspects of Mumford’s curriculum couldn’t be transferred to an online platform. Mumford’s favorite psychology class involved biweekly visits to Chittenden County Correctional Facility, a routine that became obsolete in the face of the pandemic.</p>
<p><strong>MISSED CONNECTION ASPECT</strong></p>
<p>“To go from being inside a prison twice a week to taking the class behind a computer was really tough. That was my favorite class and it turned out to be one of my least favorite classes toward the end because I missed the connection aspect of it,” said Mumford. “The interaction with the inmates was really fun and interesting.”</p>
<p>When UVM transitioned to remote learning, it took pressure off students by allowing them to switch from letter grading to pass-fail grading. Thus, staying academically motivated became even more of a challenge for seniors like Mumford.</p>
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</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It was tough to find the motivation at the end,” said Mumford, although she had devised a strategy to keep herself on track. On Sundays, she would write out all her assignments for the week and spend subsequent days checking items off the list.</p>
<p>“I did a kind of Pavlovian positive reinforcement training on myself. When I finished an assignment, I would go do something fun after, like watch a show or make something to eat,” said Mumford.</p>
<p><strong>SILVER LINING</strong></p>
<p>The silver lining to Mumford’s at-home semester was getting the chance to slow down and enjoy old routines. “I love that we’ve started to have family dinners again. At college, you get into this routine of eating while you’re studying or eating ramen while watching Netflix,” said Mumford.</p>
<p>Still, the semester was strange and the strangeness most prevalent when Mumford was finishing her final exams. “There’s always something about a final exam, even when you’re a sophomore. You get up and leave the classroom and feel like a weight has been dropped off your shoulders. But this year it was really weird because when I finished my final exam I just closed my computer,” said Mumford. “It was strange to not have that experience of getting up and walking out of class and saying, ‘I’m officially done with college.’”</p>
<p>Like the quiet closing of a laptop to mark her last college exam, a modest event marked Mumford’s graduation from college. Instead of gathering among hordes of other students and watching a flood of graduation caps speckle the skies, Mumford celebrated by tuning into UVM’s online graduation speech and slideshow before having a small family celebration at her house.</p>
<p>Caught in the crux of a pandemic-sedated celebration has led Mumford to reflect on what she’s learned during this time of isolation. “There are things that we can’t change, that are inevitable, and there are things that we can change,” said Mumford. “Just focusing on what I can do has been the biggest positive factor for me in all this.”</p><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5005/Connected_Mumford.jpg" alt="Silent spring: The UVM senior edition "></p><p>Emmy Mumford, recent graduate of the University of Vermont, knew she wanted to pursue psychology ever since her post–high school gap year, which she spent working in a Taiwanese orphanage. Many of the orphans that Mumford worked with had lost their parents in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunamis. “Seeing those kids and their resilience is what made me realize that people, even in tough situations, are innately resilient. The idea of being able to help them foster and nurture that resilience is what made me want to pursue psychology further,” said Mumford.</p>
<p>On March 17, 2020, Mumford graduated with her bachelor’s degree in psychology. However, the celebration, and the semester leading up to it, was nothing like Mumford could have anticipated.</p>
<p>“It’s been an isolated time,” said Mumford, reflecting on her last semester as a psychology student, much of which she spent quarantining with her family at their home in Waitsfield.</p>
<p>The transition to online learning was smooth, all thanks to the professors, said Mumford. “Our professors were incredible. I give them so much credit because to change the curriculum was extremely difficult. They did an amazing job adjusting,” she said.</p>
<p>Still, some aspects of Mumford’s curriculum couldn’t be transferred to an online platform. Mumford’s favorite psychology class involved biweekly visits to Chittenden County Correctional Facility, a routine that became obsolete in the face of the pandemic.</p>
<p><strong>MISSED CONNECTION ASPECT</strong></p>
<p>“To go from being inside a prison twice a week to taking the class behind a computer was really tough. That was my favorite class and it turned out to be one of my least favorite classes toward the end because I missed the connection aspect of it,” said Mumford. “The interaction with the inmates was really fun and interesting.”</p>
<p>When UVM transitioned to remote learning, it took pressure off students by allowing them to switch from letter grading to pass-fail grading. Thus, staying academically motivated became even more of a challenge for seniors like Mumford.</p>
<p>
Advertisement
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It was tough to find the motivation at the end,” said Mumford, although she had devised a strategy to keep herself on track. On Sundays, she would write out all her assignments for the week and spend subsequent days checking items off the list.</p>
<p>“I did a kind of Pavlovian positive reinforcement training on myself. When I finished an assignment, I would go do something fun after, like watch a show or make something to eat,” said Mumford.</p>
<p><strong>SILVER LINING</strong></p>
<p>The silver lining to Mumford’s at-home semester was getting the chance to slow down and enjoy old routines. “I love that we’ve started to have family dinners again. At college, you get into this routine of eating while you’re studying or eating ramen while watching Netflix,” said Mumford.</p>
<p>Still, the semester was strange and the strangeness most prevalent when Mumford was finishing her final exams. “There’s always something about a final exam, even when you’re a sophomore. You get up and leave the classroom and feel like a weight has been dropped off your shoulders. But this year it was really weird because when I finished my final exam I just closed my computer,” said Mumford. “It was strange to not have that experience of getting up and walking out of class and saying, ‘I’m officially done with college.’”</p>
<p>Like the quiet closing of a laptop to mark her last college exam, a modest event marked Mumford’s graduation from college. Instead of gathering among hordes of other students and watching a flood of graduation caps speckle the skies, Mumford celebrated by tuning into UVM’s online graduation speech and slideshow before having a small family celebration at her house.</p>
<p>Caught in the crux of a pandemic-sedated celebration has led Mumford to reflect on what she’s learned during this time of isolation. “There are things that we can’t change, that are inevitable, and there are things that we can change,” said Mumford. “Just focusing on what I can do has been the biggest positive factor for me in all this.”</p>Homesteading in the early 20th-century Valley2020-05-17T15:03:09-04:002020-05-17T15:03:09-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/staying-connected/14549-homesteading-in-the-early-20th-century-valleyTracy Brannstromjeff@valleyreporter.com<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/StayingConnected/connected-homesteading.jpg" alt=""></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Eighty or 100 years ago, everyone had gardens,” said Huguette Abbott, who moved to Fayston in 1937 before her first birthday. “A lot of people had chickens and some had pigs and calves too.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">EATING FROM THE LAND</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Abbott’s mother was raised in Montreal, “but she turned out to be one hell of a gardener,” Abbott said. For her family of seven, she grew corn, peas, carrots, beets, cucumbers, wax beans, parsnips, pumpkins, squash and at least 50 pounds of potatoes every year.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Of course, there were tomatoes. Abbott said that her mother started both tomato and cabbage seeds in a cold frame on Town Meeting Day. Once the plants were established, they were sold for 50 cents a dozen.</span></p>
<figure><img style="display: block; margin: 5px auto;" title="Ruth Pestle" src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5004/Ruth%20Pestle-web-01.jpg" alt="Ruth Pestle" width="600" height="399" /><figcaption>Ruth Pestle</figcaption></figure>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“‘Organic’ kind of makes me laugh,” Abbott said. “Back then, to fertilize, we had lime, phosphate and cow manure. About as organic as you can get.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Longtime Waitsfield resident Ruth Pestle was born in 1932 and inhabits the same Bridge Street home where she was raised. Her family of five was also fed from an enormous garden.</span></p>
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</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">She said that her mother, born to an Irish family in 1899, often had to harvest the corn crop early, before it was plundered by raccoons.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Potato bugs were also a nuisance back then and, as a child, Pestle was paid 1 cent per can of insects collected from the plants. They were drowned in kerosene.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pestle’s mother ordered Burpee seeds and started some plants on windowsills in their house, until her brother sourced a large, indoor light fixture. She baked the soil to sterilize it.</span></p>
<figure><img style="display: block; margin: 5px auto;" title="Ruth Pestle in her garden." src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5004/Ruth%20Pestle%20garden-web-02.jpg" alt="Ruth Pestle in her garden." width="600" height="399" /><figcaption>Ruth Pestle in her garden.</figcaption></figure>
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<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">FLOWERS TOO</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pestle’s mother sold regale lilies, gladiola bulbs and phlox roots on the roadside and by mail. She called her business Pestle’s Posies.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pestle still grows many of the flowers that her mother did many years ago, as well as a few new varieties. She tends tulips, roses, delphinium, monkhood, coreopsis, honeysuckle, daisies and a tulip tree, which are rare in The Valley these days.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">When Pestle’s mother was bedridden in her last years, she asked Pestle to move her phlox beds closer to the window where they could be better seen and Pestle happily obliged.</span></p>
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</p>
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<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">WINTER PRESERVATION</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Both Pestle and Abbott grew up without the easy luxury of storing food in electric freezers. Pestle’s family had a stone cellar where they stored potatoes and apples on shelves, carrots and beets in covered crocks and an endless supply of canned tomatoes, applesauce, string beans and pickles.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Even eggs were stored for several months in crocks, submerged in a substance called water glass or sodium silicate. “The yolk was flat when you broke it. It wasn’t standing up like a fresh egg, but it wasn’t spoiled either,” Pestle explained.</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">She said that when her family purchased an Amana freezer in the early 1950s, “That was really exciting because it meant that we didn’t have to can everything.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">EARLY GROCERY SHOPPING</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Although most food was grown, some was also purchased. Abbott’s family shopped at Ward Lumber Company in Moretown for sugar, brown sugar, salt, pepper, cornstarch, tapioca, molasses, tea, peanut butter, mustard, vinegar, coffee, bananas, oranges and 50-pound bags of flour.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Abbott said that her mother would sew ballerina skirts from printed flour and grain bags and that the introduction of Wonder Bread meant that fewer loaves were baked at home.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I was about 10 years old when mayonnaise was a new product. At 10 cents a quart, it was a bargain. We liked it so much that we stopped using mustard, but then the price went up.”</span></p>
<p>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Abbott also saw the introduction of margarine or oleo. She said that her family would mix it with cream and salt to achieve butter-like consistency and remembers how angry her father became when the family revealed to him that it was an imposter product.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pestle’s family shopped at a store owned by the Bisbee family for staples like flour and sugar, as well as canned Campbell’s tomato soup and spaghetti, rice, penny licorice, dried codfish and oatmeal. “My father didn’t think he’d had breakfast unless he had hot oatmeal every day of the year,” she said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Both Pestle and Abbott remember Sir Walter Raleigh, a peddler who knocked on their doors, offering spices and medical supplies like Bag Balm, aspirin and vitamins.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">HOME COOKING</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Sourcing food also meant that “you took advantage of whatever was around,” Abbott said. With her siblings, she hunted partridge and squirrel after school. “When we got three or four, my mother would cut them up, roll them in flour and fry them with a side of gravy.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Abbott’s family also hunted deer and rabbit, and raccoon was not uncommon either. “You would soak it overnight in vinegar, then boil it, stuff it and bake it. It’s very greasy, but it tastes OK,” Abbott said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“You also picked every wild berry you could find,” she added. As for wild strawberry preserves, “You can’t beat it.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Abbott remembers dining on roasted chicken, fried and scrambled eggs, home fries and milk gravy atop boiled potatoes. “We were soup people,” she explained. Her family saw a lot of vegetable soup, sometimes with meat.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">In the spring, they ate potatoes and peas with cream. Abbott said that biscuits prepared in a woodstove are far superior to those baked in a gas oven – “like night and day.” When coffee was not available or Abbott’s family could not afford it, they burned toast and used the crumbs as coffee grounds.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pestle recounted her mother preparing chicken dinners in the woodstove. She chopped the heads off on a block, dropped them into scalding water to remove the feathers and, “of course, they always flop around a while after they’re dead,” she said. Her mother covered the chicken with biscuits and gravy.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">BITTERSWEET CHANGE</span></strong></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Abbott said that when Sugarbush was coming to life, urban residents from New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island arrived without gardening skills.</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Fred Gilbert, a resident of Waitsfield’s Evergreen Place who bought land on Center Fayston Road in the late 1960s, said, “A lot of people didn’t want to get their hands dirty.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pestle said that she sees a revival of gardening with organic methods in addition to greenhouse production and farmers’ markets. “I’m pleased that people have had this revival of growing things,” she explained, “and stores like Mehuron’s provide variety.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“But we use the stores a lot,” she said. “It’s bittersweet.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><em><span class="s1">Editor’s Note: This article ran in The Valley Reporter’s Home and Garden issue in 2016, written by former staff writer Tracy Brannstrom</span></em></p><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/StayingConnected/connected-homesteading.jpg" alt=""></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Eighty or 100 years ago, everyone had gardens,” said Huguette Abbott, who moved to Fayston in 1937 before her first birthday. “A lot of people had chickens and some had pigs and calves too.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">EATING FROM THE LAND</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Abbott’s mother was raised in Montreal, “but she turned out to be one hell of a gardener,” Abbott said. For her family of seven, she grew corn, peas, carrots, beets, cucumbers, wax beans, parsnips, pumpkins, squash and at least 50 pounds of potatoes every year.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Of course, there were tomatoes. Abbott said that her mother started both tomato and cabbage seeds in a cold frame on Town Meeting Day. Once the plants were established, they were sold for 50 cents a dozen.</span></p>
<figure><img style="display: block; margin: 5px auto;" title="Ruth Pestle" src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5004/Ruth%20Pestle-web-01.jpg" alt="Ruth Pestle" width="600" height="399" /><figcaption>Ruth Pestle</figcaption></figure>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“‘Organic’ kind of makes me laugh,” Abbott said. “Back then, to fertilize, we had lime, phosphate and cow manure. About as organic as you can get.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Longtime Waitsfield resident Ruth Pestle was born in 1932 and inhabits the same Bridge Street home where she was raised. Her family of five was also fed from an enormous garden.</span></p>
<p>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">She said that her mother, born to an Irish family in 1899, often had to harvest the corn crop early, before it was plundered by raccoons.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Potato bugs were also a nuisance back then and, as a child, Pestle was paid 1 cent per can of insects collected from the plants. They were drowned in kerosene.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pestle’s mother ordered Burpee seeds and started some plants on windowsills in their house, until her brother sourced a large, indoor light fixture. She baked the soil to sterilize it.</span></p>
<figure><img style="display: block; margin: 5px auto;" title="Ruth Pestle in her garden." src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5004/Ruth%20Pestle%20garden-web-02.jpg" alt="Ruth Pestle in her garden." width="600" height="399" /><figcaption>Ruth Pestle in her garden.</figcaption></figure>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">FLOWERS TOO</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pestle’s mother sold regale lilies, gladiola bulbs and phlox roots on the roadside and by mail. She called her business Pestle’s Posies.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pestle still grows many of the flowers that her mother did many years ago, as well as a few new varieties. She tends tulips, roses, delphinium, monkhood, coreopsis, honeysuckle, daisies and a tulip tree, which are rare in The Valley these days.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">When Pestle’s mother was bedridden in her last years, she asked Pestle to move her phlox beds closer to the window where they could be better seen and Pestle happily obliged.</span></p>
<p>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">WINTER PRESERVATION</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Both Pestle and Abbott grew up without the easy luxury of storing food in electric freezers. Pestle’s family had a stone cellar where they stored potatoes and apples on shelves, carrots and beets in covered crocks and an endless supply of canned tomatoes, applesauce, string beans and pickles.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Even eggs were stored for several months in crocks, submerged in a substance called water glass or sodium silicate. “The yolk was flat when you broke it. It wasn’t standing up like a fresh egg, but it wasn’t spoiled either,” Pestle explained.</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">She said that when her family purchased an Amana freezer in the early 1950s, “That was really exciting because it meant that we didn’t have to can everything.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">EARLY GROCERY SHOPPING</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Although most food was grown, some was also purchased. Abbott’s family shopped at Ward Lumber Company in Moretown for sugar, brown sugar, salt, pepper, cornstarch, tapioca, molasses, tea, peanut butter, mustard, vinegar, coffee, bananas, oranges and 50-pound bags of flour.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Abbott said that her mother would sew ballerina skirts from printed flour and grain bags and that the introduction of Wonder Bread meant that fewer loaves were baked at home.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I was about 10 years old when mayonnaise was a new product. At 10 cents a quart, it was a bargain. We liked it so much that we stopped using mustard, but then the price went up.”</span></p>
<p>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Abbott also saw the introduction of margarine or oleo. She said that her family would mix it with cream and salt to achieve butter-like consistency and remembers how angry her father became when the family revealed to him that it was an imposter product.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pestle’s family shopped at a store owned by the Bisbee family for staples like flour and sugar, as well as canned Campbell’s tomato soup and spaghetti, rice, penny licorice, dried codfish and oatmeal. “My father didn’t think he’d had breakfast unless he had hot oatmeal every day of the year,” she said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Both Pestle and Abbott remember Sir Walter Raleigh, a peddler who knocked on their doors, offering spices and medical supplies like Bag Balm, aspirin and vitamins.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">HOME COOKING</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Sourcing food also meant that “you took advantage of whatever was around,” Abbott said. With her siblings, she hunted partridge and squirrel after school. “When we got three or four, my mother would cut them up, roll them in flour and fry them with a side of gravy.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Abbott’s family also hunted deer and rabbit, and raccoon was not uncommon either. “You would soak it overnight in vinegar, then boil it, stuff it and bake it. It’s very greasy, but it tastes OK,” Abbott said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“You also picked every wild berry you could find,” she added. As for wild strawberry preserves, “You can’t beat it.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Abbott remembers dining on roasted chicken, fried and scrambled eggs, home fries and milk gravy atop boiled potatoes. “We were soup people,” she explained. Her family saw a lot of vegetable soup, sometimes with meat.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">In the spring, they ate potatoes and peas with cream. Abbott said that biscuits prepared in a woodstove are far superior to those baked in a gas oven – “like night and day.” When coffee was not available or Abbott’s family could not afford it, they burned toast and used the crumbs as coffee grounds.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pestle recounted her mother preparing chicken dinners in the woodstove. She chopped the heads off on a block, dropped them into scalding water to remove the feathers and, “of course, they always flop around a while after they’re dead,” she said. Her mother covered the chicken with biscuits and gravy.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">BITTERSWEET CHANGE</span></strong></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Abbott said that when Sugarbush was coming to life, urban residents from New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island arrived without gardening skills.</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Fred Gilbert, a resident of Waitsfield’s Evergreen Place who bought land on Center Fayston Road in the late 1960s, said, “A lot of people didn’t want to get their hands dirty.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Pestle said that she sees a revival of gardening with organic methods in addition to greenhouse production and farmers’ markets. “I’m pleased that people have had this revival of growing things,” she explained, “and stores like Mehuron’s provide variety.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“But we use the stores a lot,” she said. “It’s bittersweet.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><em><span class="s1">Editor’s Note: This article ran in The Valley Reporter’s Home and Garden issue in 2016, written by former staff writer Tracy Brannstrom</span></em></p>Pandemic life through the eyes of a horseback rider2020-05-16T13:13:21-04:002020-05-16T13:13:21-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/staying-connected/14545-pandemic-life-through-the-eyes-of-a-horseback-riderHadley Laskowskijeff@valleyreporter.com<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/StayingConnected/connected-Robinson.jpg" alt=""></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Charlotte Robinson knows horses. She’s been riding since she could sit on a horse. Her grandmother, who started one of the first therapeutic riding centers in the U.S. (HALTER in South Carolina), gave her the horse-loving bug.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Now, not only does Robinson board her own horse at a stable in Ferrisburgh, where she can ride all winter long in the indoor ring, but she has 11 horses living on her Warren farm. This is where she taught her three children how to ride, where she spends the summer hosting riding camps for kids, and where she’s trained horses born on the farm.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">When the spread of COVID-19 led Governor Phil Scott to issue his Stay Home, Stay Safe order, some stables decided to cut off contact to the outside world, even to those who just wanted to see their own horses.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Eventually, after the governor deemed care of livestock an essential practice, her Ferrisburgh stable opened up, under strict conditions. Robinson was allowed to sign up for two-hour slots to ride and do chores. This slotted time involved coronavirus cleanliness protocols: disinfecting tack and brushes after use, and wearing gloves and a mask at all times.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">NO VISITS</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">At her own barn, Robinson initially took a strict no-visits approach with her two boarders. “We were really strict about it because we have a disabled adult who lives with us who has a compromised immune system,” said Robinson, explaining why she told the boarders to stop visiting their horses. “They were fine with it.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Like the owners of the stable in Ferrisburgh, Robinson is now loosening the metaphorical reins on her no-visits policy. One teenager who boards a horse at Robinson’s barn took a lesson from Robinson last week. The lesson worked out, in terms of social distancing, because the teen can tack up on her own. Additionally, Robinson’s boarders have their own equipment, including pitchforks and brooms, all of which are now labeled to ensure nobody is accidentally grabbing a broom hot off another’s hand.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">While Robinson is now letting her self-sufficient boarders visit her barn, she doubts that she’ll be able to host a summer camp this year, seeing as many of her campers are young and need hands-on help handling horses. Moreover, many of these young riders don’t have their own equipment, and Robinson is reluctant to let campers freely borrow and share.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">RISK OF EXPOSURE</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Another dissuading factor in hosting a summer camp has to do with the risk of exposing Vermonters to out-of-state travelers, said Robinson. In a typical camp at Robinson’s barn, 60 percent of the campers are from The Valley and 40 percent from out of state. “Just yesterday I got two calls and two emails from people that live out of state, who have seen that the governor has changed things and are wondering if their kids can come ride here,” she said. When Robinson asked two Bostonian parents if they planned on quarantining their kids before camp, they said no. They told Robinson that they had been living low key in Boston and felt that quarantining wasn’t necessary for them.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I had to turn them down,” said Robinson. “I’m a little worried. Because, since Vermont has done a great job with this and because we are so safe and the numbers are so low, of course, people want to come here.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Still, the prospect of a summer without riding camp is a sad one for Robinson. “I feel like kids need something. School is canceled and so many camps have been canceled already,” she said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Additionally, without summer camps, Robinson will lose the financial fuel that allows her to feed her 11 horses all winter long. “Generally, my program sustains feeding all of my critters,” said Robinson. “I make all my money for winter hay in just a couple of months in the summer. So I’ll take a hit there.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Although Robinson is worried for the equine community, as well as others suffering in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, she’s staying positive by helping the community, spending time with her family and enjoying long rides. “I’m doing my part to try and buy meals for people, to buy gas cards and grocery cards and try to help out in any way I can. That makes me feel positive,” said Robinson. “And I’ve got my whole family here. And I’ve got my horses. I’ve got my grandkids. I’m so lucky.”</span></p><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/StayingConnected/connected-Robinson.jpg" alt=""></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Charlotte Robinson knows horses. She’s been riding since she could sit on a horse. Her grandmother, who started one of the first therapeutic riding centers in the U.S. (HALTER in South Carolina), gave her the horse-loving bug.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Now, not only does Robinson board her own horse at a stable in Ferrisburgh, where she can ride all winter long in the indoor ring, but she has 11 horses living on her Warren farm. This is where she taught her three children how to ride, where she spends the summer hosting riding camps for kids, and where she’s trained horses born on the farm.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">When the spread of COVID-19 led Governor Phil Scott to issue his Stay Home, Stay Safe order, some stables decided to cut off contact to the outside world, even to those who just wanted to see their own horses.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Eventually, after the governor deemed care of livestock an essential practice, her Ferrisburgh stable opened up, under strict conditions. Robinson was allowed to sign up for two-hour slots to ride and do chores. This slotted time involved coronavirus cleanliness protocols: disinfecting tack and brushes after use, and wearing gloves and a mask at all times.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">NO VISITS</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">At her own barn, Robinson initially took a strict no-visits approach with her two boarders. “We were really strict about it because we have a disabled adult who lives with us who has a compromised immune system,” said Robinson, explaining why she told the boarders to stop visiting their horses. “They were fine with it.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Like the owners of the stable in Ferrisburgh, Robinson is now loosening the metaphorical reins on her no-visits policy. One teenager who boards a horse at Robinson’s barn took a lesson from Robinson last week. The lesson worked out, in terms of social distancing, because the teen can tack up on her own. Additionally, Robinson’s boarders have their own equipment, including pitchforks and brooms, all of which are now labeled to ensure nobody is accidentally grabbing a broom hot off another’s hand.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">While Robinson is now letting her self-sufficient boarders visit her barn, she doubts that she’ll be able to host a summer camp this year, seeing as many of her campers are young and need hands-on help handling horses. Moreover, many of these young riders don’t have their own equipment, and Robinson is reluctant to let campers freely borrow and share.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">RISK OF EXPOSURE</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Another dissuading factor in hosting a summer camp has to do with the risk of exposing Vermonters to out-of-state travelers, said Robinson. In a typical camp at Robinson’s barn, 60 percent of the campers are from The Valley and 40 percent from out of state. “Just yesterday I got two calls and two emails from people that live out of state, who have seen that the governor has changed things and are wondering if their kids can come ride here,” she said. When Robinson asked two Bostonian parents if they planned on quarantining their kids before camp, they said no. They told Robinson that they had been living low key in Boston and felt that quarantining wasn’t necessary for them.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I had to turn them down,” said Robinson. “I’m a little worried. Because, since Vermont has done a great job with this and because we are so safe and the numbers are so low, of course, people want to come here.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Still, the prospect of a summer without riding camp is a sad one for Robinson. “I feel like kids need something. School is canceled and so many camps have been canceled already,” she said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Additionally, without summer camps, Robinson will lose the financial fuel that allows her to feed her 11 horses all winter long. “Generally, my program sustains feeding all of my critters,” said Robinson. “I make all my money for winter hay in just a couple of months in the summer. So I’ll take a hit there.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Although Robinson is worried for the equine community, as well as others suffering in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, she’s staying positive by helping the community, spending time with her family and enjoying long rides. “I’m doing my part to try and buy meals for people, to buy gas cards and grocery cards and try to help out in any way I can. That makes me feel positive,” said Robinson. “And I’ve got my whole family here. And I’ve got my horses. I’ve got my grandkids. I’m so lucky.”</span></p>Creativity at The Wine Vault2020-05-08T07:00:21-04:002020-05-08T07:00:21-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/staying-connected/14502-creativity-at-the-wine-vaultLisa Loomisjeff@valleyreporter.com<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5003/Wine_Vault_Staying_Connected.jpg" alt="The Wine Vault in Waterbury offers curbside service."></p><p>An unexpected byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the creativity of selecting wines for people based on what they request in terms of varietals and price points for Anastasia Kohl, owner of The Wine Vault on Elm Street in Waterbury Village.</p>
<p>“We’re allowed to be open, which we love, and we’re doing curbside, which is really creating a new element for us. No one is really in the store although sometimes people come in with a mask,” Kohl said.</p>
<p>“Often people tell me, ‘I want to spend this much and this is the kind of wine we like,’ and I’m putting it together. The response has been great and I love the creativity. People are appreciating the service as well, as they try to stay home. They appreciate that they can pick up some wine, stay in their budget and also feel safe,” she said.</p>
<p>She either puts orders out in her hallway or in the back of people’s cars after they preorder and pay. Her shop on Elm Street has been open since last June.</p>
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</p>
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<p>“We really wanted this spot and we decided to bite the bullet even though we knew construction was happening,” she said in reference to the Waterbury Main Street Reconstruction project.</p>
<p>“So we had a summer and fall of construction, then a really great winter, then COVID-19 and now construction again,” she said. “But I appreciate being able to be open. It’s better to be busy,” Kohl pointed out.</p>
<p>Her curbside is located near the curbside for Prohibition Pig which is convenient for people picking up from both businesses.</p>
<p>Asked for a recommendation for a wine for this week, she offered “a delicious biodynamic Tikal Malbec. It’s a beautiful wine and goes great with grilled meats,” she said.</p>
<p><img style="display: block; margin: 5px auto;" src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5003/Wine_Vault2.jpg" alt="The Wine Vault in Waterbury offers curbside service." /></p><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5003/Wine_Vault_Staying_Connected.jpg" alt="The Wine Vault in Waterbury offers curbside service."></p><p>An unexpected byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the creativity of selecting wines for people based on what they request in terms of varietals and price points for Anastasia Kohl, owner of The Wine Vault on Elm Street in Waterbury Village.</p>
<p>“We’re allowed to be open, which we love, and we’re doing curbside, which is really creating a new element for us. No one is really in the store although sometimes people come in with a mask,” Kohl said.</p>
<p>“Often people tell me, ‘I want to spend this much and this is the kind of wine we like,’ and I’m putting it together. The response has been great and I love the creativity. People are appreciating the service as well, as they try to stay home. They appreciate that they can pick up some wine, stay in their budget and also feel safe,” she said.</p>
<p>She either puts orders out in her hallway or in the back of people’s cars after they preorder and pay. Her shop on Elm Street has been open since last June.</p>
<p>
Advertisement
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We really wanted this spot and we decided to bite the bullet even though we knew construction was happening,” she said in reference to the Waterbury Main Street Reconstruction project.</p>
<p>“So we had a summer and fall of construction, then a really great winter, then COVID-19 and now construction again,” she said. “But I appreciate being able to be open. It’s better to be busy,” Kohl pointed out.</p>
<p>Her curbside is located near the curbside for Prohibition Pig which is convenient for people picking up from both businesses.</p>
<p>Asked for a recommendation for a wine for this week, she offered “a delicious biodynamic Tikal Malbec. It’s a beautiful wine and goes great with grilled meats,” she said.</p>
<p><img style="display: block; margin: 5px auto;" src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5003/Wine_Vault2.jpg" alt="The Wine Vault in Waterbury offers curbside service." /></p>Stowe Street Emporium finds a way to keep serving customers2020-05-07T12:29:50-04:002020-05-07T12:29:50-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/staying-connected/14501-stowe-street-emporium-finds-a-way-to-keep-serving-customersIngrid Lackey-Howell, internjeff@valleyreporter.com<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5003/Stowe_St_Emporium_Connected.jpg" alt="Stowe Street Emporium finds a way to keep serving customers"></p><p>Kathy Murphy, owner of Stowe Street Emporium in Waterbury, has owned the shop for seven years now. The shop itself has been open for 26 years.</p>
<p>Although the store closed its doors on March 17, Stowe Street Emporium has found a unique way to get inventory out to customers. “My daughter Kate runs the store with me – my younger daughter. She came up with this idea of mystery boxes,” Murphy said.</p>
<p>These mystery boxes are filled with items from the store. However, the items in the boxes are not all that mysterious. Each box has a theme.</p>
<p>“At first, of course, we did Easter-themed boxes. We’ve done baking boxes, beauty, accessories, kitchen gadget boxes, Vermont made boxes, all these different themes. Now it’s Mother's Day, so I’m making a lot of Mother’s Day boxes and it’s been keeping me busy. We’ve been shipping, doing porch deliveries or people come to the back door and pick it up curbside,” said Murphy.</p>
<p>These mystery boxes have not only kept money coming in, they have allowed Murphy to help her community. “It’s filling my soul personally and making people's lives happy with being able to gift them to their loved ones,” she said.</p>
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</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not being able to see her family and customers, Murphy said, has been the most vexing part of the pandemic. “Honestly the most stress on me personally is just not seeing my grandchildren and seeing all my beautiful customers. I’ve been so appreciative of the business people are giving us through email and on the phone.”</p>
<p>Ben & Jerry’s in Waterbury Center is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Vermont, one that is a huge attraction for Waterbury and for Murphy’s store as well. Murphy is concerned with how and whether the factory tours will be reopened.</p>
<p>Murphy has also been appreciating the state government's actions. Regarding the state’s safety measures, she said, “I think our governor has done a great job on that and the numbers prove it. I’m really proud of our governor. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Life, you can’t get back. We’re just going to have to work a little differently when we come out of this.”</p>
<p>When social distancing requirements are eased, Murphy will try to accommodate her customers even if they don’t feel ready to stop.” I figured that if we reopen and somebody is not comfortable coming in, that they could still do what we are doing now and that’s calling me for a gift and I can always deliver it. I can do the curbside pickup.”</p><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5003/Stowe_St_Emporium_Connected.jpg" alt="Stowe Street Emporium finds a way to keep serving customers"></p><p>Kathy Murphy, owner of Stowe Street Emporium in Waterbury, has owned the shop for seven years now. The shop itself has been open for 26 years.</p>
<p>Although the store closed its doors on March 17, Stowe Street Emporium has found a unique way to get inventory out to customers. “My daughter Kate runs the store with me – my younger daughter. She came up with this idea of mystery boxes,” Murphy said.</p>
<p>These mystery boxes are filled with items from the store. However, the items in the boxes are not all that mysterious. Each box has a theme.</p>
<p>“At first, of course, we did Easter-themed boxes. We’ve done baking boxes, beauty, accessories, kitchen gadget boxes, Vermont made boxes, all these different themes. Now it’s Mother's Day, so I’m making a lot of Mother’s Day boxes and it’s been keeping me busy. We’ve been shipping, doing porch deliveries or people come to the back door and pick it up curbside,” said Murphy.</p>
<p>These mystery boxes have not only kept money coming in, they have allowed Murphy to help her community. “It’s filling my soul personally and making people's lives happy with being able to gift them to their loved ones,” she said.</p>
<p>
Advertisement
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not being able to see her family and customers, Murphy said, has been the most vexing part of the pandemic. “Honestly the most stress on me personally is just not seeing my grandchildren and seeing all my beautiful customers. I’ve been so appreciative of the business people are giving us through email and on the phone.”</p>
<p>Ben & Jerry’s in Waterbury Center is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Vermont, one that is a huge attraction for Waterbury and for Murphy’s store as well. Murphy is concerned with how and whether the factory tours will be reopened.</p>
<p>Murphy has also been appreciating the state government's actions. Regarding the state’s safety measures, she said, “I think our governor has done a great job on that and the numbers prove it. I’m really proud of our governor. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Life, you can’t get back. We’re just going to have to work a little differently when we come out of this.”</p>
<p>When social distancing requirements are eased, Murphy will try to accommodate her customers even if they don’t feel ready to stop.” I figured that if we reopen and somebody is not comfortable coming in, that they could still do what we are doing now and that’s calling me for a gift and I can always deliver it. I can do the curbside pickup.”</p>Owner of Vee’s Flowers stays positive through epidemic2020-05-03T08:00:41-04:002020-05-03T08:00:41-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/staying-connected/14480-owner-of-vee-s-flowers-stays-positive-through-epidemicIngrid Lackey-Howell, internjeff@valleyreporter.com<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5002/Connected_Vees.jpg" alt="Owner of Vee’s Flowers stays positive through epidemic"></p><p>COVID-19 might have closed many businesses in The Valley, but that doesn’t mean flowers have stopped growing. Vee’s Flowers, Waitsfield, is owned by Vee Lynch, who has had the shop for three years. “I had to close, but I still have to come down and take care of the plants.”</p>
<p>Lynch closed her shop on March 15, laying off her two employees as well. Lynch also lost some business with the cancelation of the high school prom and graduation. However, despite her loss of business, Lynch says that closing wasn’t a hard decision to make. “It’s a really quiet time of year, April, and I think that it’s a good thing for The Valley that this had to happen now. For restaurants and everybody else, April is a really dead month.”</p>
<p>Instead of fixating on the bad, Lynch says that she is trying to focus on the good that has already come out of this mess. “This is a positive for a lot of reasons. Mother Nature is saying, ‘Hey guys get your stuff together.’ A lot of places are a lot cleaner than they’ve ever been before because we’re not going outside. I look at it positively instead of negatively.” Lynch also praised her community and state government. “I think our community has been really great and I think our governor has been unbelievable.”</p>
<p>With lots of free time on her hands Lynch has revisited old hobbies. “I’ve really enjoyed my time at home. I’ve been baking and I’ve been doing stuff that I haven’t done in probably 10 years,” she said. Lynch has also been contributing to her community, utilizing her sewing skills and old materials from when she had a quilt shop. “I’ve also made over 350 masks for people. So that’s what I’ve been keeping myself busy with. Because I owned the quilt shop I have hundreds of yards of fabric and I’ve just been having fun doing that.”</p>
<p>Lynch has started doing curbside pickup. She did her first over the weekend. However, at the beginning of the pandemic she was worried about not being able to do anything for her customers. When asked what her biggest fear was going into the pandemic she said, “That we wouldn’t be able to do the curbside, that we wouldn’t be able to do anything. Because I love doing what I’m doing and to be told I can’t do anything would just be awful, but I think it’s all going to work out OK.”</p><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5002/Connected_Vees.jpg" alt="Owner of Vee’s Flowers stays positive through epidemic"></p><p>COVID-19 might have closed many businesses in The Valley, but that doesn’t mean flowers have stopped growing. Vee’s Flowers, Waitsfield, is owned by Vee Lynch, who has had the shop for three years. “I had to close, but I still have to come down and take care of the plants.”</p>
<p>Lynch closed her shop on March 15, laying off her two employees as well. Lynch also lost some business with the cancelation of the high school prom and graduation. However, despite her loss of business, Lynch says that closing wasn’t a hard decision to make. “It’s a really quiet time of year, April, and I think that it’s a good thing for The Valley that this had to happen now. For restaurants and everybody else, April is a really dead month.”</p>
<p>Instead of fixating on the bad, Lynch says that she is trying to focus on the good that has already come out of this mess. “This is a positive for a lot of reasons. Mother Nature is saying, ‘Hey guys get your stuff together.’ A lot of places are a lot cleaner than they’ve ever been before because we’re not going outside. I look at it positively instead of negatively.” Lynch also praised her community and state government. “I think our community has been really great and I think our governor has been unbelievable.”</p>
<p>With lots of free time on her hands Lynch has revisited old hobbies. “I’ve really enjoyed my time at home. I’ve been baking and I’ve been doing stuff that I haven’t done in probably 10 years,” she said. Lynch has also been contributing to her community, utilizing her sewing skills and old materials from when she had a quilt shop. “I’ve also made over 350 masks for people. So that’s what I’ve been keeping myself busy with. Because I owned the quilt shop I have hundreds of yards of fabric and I’ve just been having fun doing that.”</p>
<p>Lynch has started doing curbside pickup. She did her first over the weekend. However, at the beginning of the pandemic she was worried about not being able to do anything for her customers. When asked what her biggest fear was going into the pandemic she said, “That we wouldn’t be able to do the curbside, that we wouldn’t be able to do anything. Because I love doing what I’m doing and to be told I can’t do anything would just be awful, but I think it’s all going to work out OK.”</p>A celebration of Mad River Strong and community resilience through art2020-05-02T09:31:53-04:002020-05-02T09:31:53-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/staying-connected/14483-a-celebration-of-mad-river-strong-and-community-resilience-through-artLisa Loomisjeff@valleyreporter.com<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/StayingConnected/connected-art.jpg" alt=""></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Throughout The Valley in well-traveled local places, groupings of hand-painted canvases with varying subject matter and mediums, bearing a silver star, are showing up.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">They are the result of a local effort to connect community members through art and a celebration of community resilience and the theme of Mad River Strong.</span></p>
<figure class="pull-center"><img title="Art work from the Mad River Strong Resilience project." src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5002/Art-01.jpg" alt="Art work from the Mad River Strong Resilience project." /><figcaption>Art work from the Mad River Strong Resilience project.</figcaption></figure>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Shortly after COVID-19 hit Vermont, resulting in school closures and stay-at-home orders, a trio of local people came up with the idea of a community art project as a way to demonstrate community resilience.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“It’s a celebration of Mad River Strong and our resilience and a way for us to stay connected,” said Waitsfield resident Charlie Hosford, who, along with Joni Zweig, Warren, and Jess Tompkins, Waitsfield, conceived of the project.</span></p>
<p>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Here’s how it worked: Hosford cut 200 canvases that are 12 by 16 inches. With the help of Free Wheelin’ volunteers and others, the canvases were distributed throughout The Valley to kids and adults alike.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“The original idea came from Joni and Jess who put out on social media the question of whether there was something we could do that was emotionally uplifting, plus something that school kids could do to unleash their creativity in such a way that they could connect visually with each other,” Hosford said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Each person got a canvas and a silver star. The results are eclectic!</span></p>
<figure style="text-align: center;"><img title="Art work from the Mad River Strong Resilience project." src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5002/Art-02.jpg" alt="Art work from the Mad River Strong Resilience project." /><figcaption>Art work from the Mad River Strong Resilience project.</figcaption></figure>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“If you look at the hangings, some are done by 3-year-olds and some by grown-ups. The only instruction people were given is that they need to, in some way, express their thoughts about community resilience and working together through a stay-at-home pandemic,” Hosford said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Waitsfield Elementary School Principal Kaiya Korb and the children’s librarians from the Warren and Joslin Memorial Libraries, Amanda Gates and Hannah Church, helped with promotion and logistics of the project.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Amanda was designated as the contact person and Jess delivered canvases to any family that wanted them. There was also a box on the front porch of the Masonic Temple. I’ve been putting them together four and five at a time and hanging them in public places like the Waitsfield post office, Bisbee’s, Mehuron’s and Village Grocery,” Hosford said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I’m grouping them randomly, not by age or artist or school. I just wire them together and hang them up,” he added.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Watch for a slideshow of the community artwork on Mad River Valley Television in the coming weeks. Here is the link for anyone to view them prior to that slideshow: <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CjQrh4IV736Qa7yW8C0MdOa4F2f5MmkA?usp=sharing"></a><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CjQrh4IV736Qa7yW8C0MdOa4F2f5MmkA?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CjQrh4IV736Qa7yW8C0MdOa4F2f5MmkA?usp=sharing</a>.</span></p>
<p>
</p><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/StayingConnected/connected-art.jpg" alt=""></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Throughout The Valley in well-traveled local places, groupings of hand-painted canvases with varying subject matter and mediums, bearing a silver star, are showing up.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">They are the result of a local effort to connect community members through art and a celebration of community resilience and the theme of Mad River Strong.</span></p>
<figure class="pull-center"><img title="Art work from the Mad River Strong Resilience project." src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5002/Art-01.jpg" alt="Art work from the Mad River Strong Resilience project." /><figcaption>Art work from the Mad River Strong Resilience project.</figcaption></figure>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Shortly after COVID-19 hit Vermont, resulting in school closures and stay-at-home orders, a trio of local people came up with the idea of a community art project as a way to demonstrate community resilience.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“It’s a celebration of Mad River Strong and our resilience and a way for us to stay connected,” said Waitsfield resident Charlie Hosford, who, along with Joni Zweig, Warren, and Jess Tompkins, Waitsfield, conceived of the project.</span></p>
<p>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Here’s how it worked: Hosford cut 200 canvases that are 12 by 16 inches. With the help of Free Wheelin’ volunteers and others, the canvases were distributed throughout The Valley to kids and adults alike.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“The original idea came from Joni and Jess who put out on social media the question of whether there was something we could do that was emotionally uplifting, plus something that school kids could do to unleash their creativity in such a way that they could connect visually with each other,” Hosford said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Each person got a canvas and a silver star. The results are eclectic!</span></p>
<figure style="text-align: center;"><img title="Art work from the Mad River Strong Resilience project." src="https://www.valleyreporter.com/images/issues/5002/Art-02.jpg" alt="Art work from the Mad River Strong Resilience project." /><figcaption>Art work from the Mad River Strong Resilience project.</figcaption></figure>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“If you look at the hangings, some are done by 3-year-olds and some by grown-ups. The only instruction people were given is that they need to, in some way, express their thoughts about community resilience and working together through a stay-at-home pandemic,” Hosford said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Waitsfield Elementary School Principal Kaiya Korb and the children’s librarians from the Warren and Joslin Memorial Libraries, Amanda Gates and Hannah Church, helped with promotion and logistics of the project.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Amanda was designated as the contact person and Jess delivered canvases to any family that wanted them. There was also a box on the front porch of the Masonic Temple. I’ve been putting them together four and five at a time and hanging them in public places like the Waitsfield post office, Bisbee’s, Mehuron’s and Village Grocery,” Hosford said.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I’m grouping them randomly, not by age or artist or school. I just wire them together and hang them up,” he added.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Watch for a slideshow of the community artwork on Mad River Valley Television in the coming weeks. Here is the link for anyone to view them prior to that slideshow: <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CjQrh4IV736Qa7yW8C0MdOa4F2f5MmkA?usp=sharing"></a><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CjQrh4IV736Qa7yW8C0MdOa4F2f5MmkA?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CjQrh4IV736Qa7yW8C0MdOa4F2f5MmkA?usp=sharing</a>.</span></p>
<p>
</p>A factory of one at Reign Vermont2020-05-02T07:00:48-04:002020-05-02T07:00:48-04:00https://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php/news/staying-connected/14476-a-factory-of-one-at-reign-vermontLisa Loomisjeff@valleyreporter.com<p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5002/ReignVT_staying_connected.png" alt="A factory of one at Reign Vermont"></p><p>“It’s meditative and it’s been a blessing. April is usually my quietest month. I come to work every day and I enjoy the monotony of it. It grounds me,” said Bridget LaMell of Reign Vermont.</p>
<p>LaMell, Waitsfield, is a clothing designer and maker and a longtime local entrepreneur who has pivoted to making cloth face masks from her small, red cottage at the south end of Bridge Street Marketplace along the Mad River.</p>
<p>“Sewing is therapy for me. When I feel like I’m floundering, I start sewing. If I’m anxious, I sew. It’s been that way for 30 years,” she said.</p>
<p>A friend of hers suggested that she consider making washable cloth face shields and she did some research, watched tutorials and started making samples. She texted pictures of the samples to her friend and others.</p>
<p>About that same time, Annemarie Furey at Product Think Tank in Waitsfield was ramping up her efforts to make reusable and washable masks for health care workers.</p>
<p>“It all came together at the same time Annemarie was gearing up. She and I were talking about our efforts and the difference between our masks. She was using wire for nose pieces and mine are for covering the masses!” LaMell said.</p>
<p>At the end of March, she put out a post on social media and to her regular customer base via email and the response was overwhelming, she said. An issue for many mask-makers has been access to elastic for the earpieces, but LaMell, who is regularly producing clothing, had a good supply at the beginning. The orders haven’t stopped since her outreach on March 29.</p>
<p>“Two weeks ago, I was getting here at 7 a.m. and leaving at 6 p.m. I kept saying to myself, if our health care workers can be doing what they’re doing on the front lines, I can do this. I feel like I’m helping and that makes me feel good,” she said.</p>
<p>After her initial supplies of elastic ran out, she had a bit of a lull where she scoured the internet and eBay in search of more. During that time orders were piling up and people – accustomed to living in an Amazon Prime world – wanted to know when things were going to ship.</p>
<p>LaMell explained the elastic situation and had to tell people over and over that she didn’t know there was going to be a pandemic.</p>
<p>
Advertisement
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>ONE-MAN FACTORY</strong></p>
<p>As supplies come in, she’s continuing to pump out masks. She’s working production-style for efficiency. She has had some help from local seamstresses, but mostly she’s a one-man factory in her little, red cottage.</p>
<p>She’s filling orders as fast as she can and she’s now having her fabric made specifically for her.</p>
<p>When she’s waiting for supplies she is experimenting with other models.</p>
<p>“The ones I’m making now are simple. I wanted to get these out to get people covered so they could go to the grocery store, post office and to get gas. I’m working on some other models with the nose and chin guard. When you do the same thing every day you’re always thinking of a better way to do it,” she said.</p>
<p>LaMell has been sewing and making her entire life. She has made bike bags and totes and other bags, selling variously out of small retail outlets and larger chains such as REI where she had her products in 105 stores at one time.</p>
<p>In 2011 with no warning, REI stopped carrying her product and a week later she got flooded by Tropical Storm Irene and had 3 feet of water in her shop.</p>
<p>“I ended up refocusing. I’d been so consumed by that REI account that I didn’t have any time for creativity,” she said.</p>
<p>With the encouragement and support of her partner, Chris Pierson, she decided to start doing what she wanted to do which was to design clothes.</p>
<p>“Chris said, you’ve got to keep going. It’s who you are. And that’s what I did. I wanted to be a clothing designer and I started making skirts, dresses and pants. It’s been great. I only do consumer direct either online or at the market,” she said.</p>
<p>But right now, she wants to make masks and she is still pumping them out, covering faces in The Valley and beyond. Visit <a href="https://www.reignvermont.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.reignvermont.com</a> for details.</p><p><img src="https://www.valleyreporter.com//images/issues/5002/ReignVT_staying_connected.png" alt="A factory of one at Reign Vermont"></p><p>“It’s meditative and it’s been a blessing. April is usually my quietest month. I come to work every day and I enjoy the monotony of it. It grounds me,” said Bridget LaMell of Reign Vermont.</p>
<p>LaMell, Waitsfield, is a clothing designer and maker and a longtime local entrepreneur who has pivoted to making cloth face masks from her small, red cottage at the south end of Bridge Street Marketplace along the Mad River.</p>
<p>“Sewing is therapy for me. When I feel like I’m floundering, I start sewing. If I’m anxious, I sew. It’s been that way for 30 years,” she said.</p>
<p>A friend of hers suggested that she consider making washable cloth face shields and she did some research, watched tutorials and started making samples. She texted pictures of the samples to her friend and others.</p>
<p>About that same time, Annemarie Furey at Product Think Tank in Waitsfield was ramping up her efforts to make reusable and washable masks for health care workers.</p>
<p>“It all came together at the same time Annemarie was gearing up. She and I were talking about our efforts and the difference between our masks. She was using wire for nose pieces and mine are for covering the masses!” LaMell said.</p>
<p>At the end of March, she put out a post on social media and to her regular customer base via email and the response was overwhelming, she said. An issue for many mask-makers has been access to elastic for the earpieces, but LaMell, who is regularly producing clothing, had a good supply at the beginning. The orders haven’t stopped since her outreach on March 29.</p>
<p>“Two weeks ago, I was getting here at 7 a.m. and leaving at 6 p.m. I kept saying to myself, if our health care workers can be doing what they’re doing on the front lines, I can do this. I feel like I’m helping and that makes me feel good,” she said.</p>
<p>After her initial supplies of elastic ran out, she had a bit of a lull where she scoured the internet and eBay in search of more. During that time orders were piling up and people – accustomed to living in an Amazon Prime world – wanted to know when things were going to ship.</p>
<p>LaMell explained the elastic situation and had to tell people over and over that she didn’t know there was going to be a pandemic.</p>
<p>
Advertisement
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>ONE-MAN FACTORY</strong></p>
<p>As supplies come in, she’s continuing to pump out masks. She’s working production-style for efficiency. She has had some help from local seamstresses, but mostly she’s a one-man factory in her little, red cottage.</p>
<p>She’s filling orders as fast as she can and she’s now having her fabric made specifically for her.</p>
<p>When she’s waiting for supplies she is experimenting with other models.</p>
<p>“The ones I’m making now are simple. I wanted to get these out to get people covered so they could go to the grocery store, post office and to get gas. I’m working on some other models with the nose and chin guard. When you do the same thing every day you’re always thinking of a better way to do it,” she said.</p>
<p>LaMell has been sewing and making her entire life. She has made bike bags and totes and other bags, selling variously out of small retail outlets and larger chains such as REI where she had her products in 105 stores at one time.</p>
<p>In 2011 with no warning, REI stopped carrying her product and a week later she got flooded by Tropical Storm Irene and had 3 feet of water in her shop.</p>
<p>“I ended up refocusing. I’d been so consumed by that REI account that I didn’t have any time for creativity,” she said.</p>
<p>With the encouragement and support of her partner, Chris Pierson, she decided to start doing what she wanted to do which was to design clothes.</p>
<p>“Chris said, you’ve got to keep going. It’s who you are. And that’s what I did. I wanted to be a clothing designer and I started making skirts, dresses and pants. It’s been great. I only do consumer direct either online or at the market,” she said.</p>
<p>But right now, she wants to make masks and she is still pumping them out, covering faces in The Valley and beyond. Visit <a href="https://www.reignvermont.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.reignvermont.com</a> for details.</p>