From Tree to Table

EARLY SPRING ADVENTURES IN THE BERKSHIRES AND SOUTHERN VERMONT

From Tree Cure Your to Table Cabin Fever THE ART AND SCIENCE OF COOK UP THE ULTIMATE MAKING MAPLE SYRUP SPRING CELEBRATION

UPCOUNTRY’S 38 GET OUTDOORS TO SWEETEST SUGARHOUSES BRIGHTEN YOUR SOUL

MAKE YOUR OWN DISCOVER THE PEACEFUL MAPLE TREATS JOY OF FLY FISHING

Plus HOW ELLEN STIMSON FOUND COMEDY GOLD IN THE HILLS OF VERMONT

SIMON WINCHESTER ON THE NOBLE HISTORY OF MARCH/APRIL 2017 MUD SEASON FREE P H O T : H U B E R T S C H R I E B L

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An Orchestral Experience: 1o 13 A Night At The Opera Beethoven Glière, Renié, & Brahms Rachmaninoff, Bach, Young Artists Concert 3 & Mendelssohn 17

Mini season subscriptions begin at $106 and full season subscriptions at $254. WWW.MMFVT.ORG or call 802-362-1956 s as n MAN CHESTER, VERMO NT 2017e o Welcome to UpCountry.

UpCountry Magazine is a celebration of the uniquely vibrant culture of Berkshire, Bennington and Windham counties. Covering arts, entertainment, shopping, dining, outdoor recreation, local history and prominent personalities, UpCountry is a guide to the region’s natural and cultural resources, for natives and travelers alike. UpCountry Magazine March/AprilPhoto: Holly 2017 Pelczynski Photo: Stephanie Zollshan 1 "Ad"AdddColorColortotoyyourourBeaBeautifulutifulViewViews"s" THERMOTHERMOEXPERTEXPERT Windows 4413-13-44443-20993-2099 Sliding Doors

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UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 3 boston symphony orchestra summer

shed concerts tickets on sale now!

june saturday july friday july sunday august saturday august saturday RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin Aaron Jay KERNIS Musica Celestis june sunday HAYDN Symphony No. 83, La Poule PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 3 august sunday Thomas ADÈS Three Studies from TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 2, Couperin Little Russian MOZART Piano Concerto No. 21 in july friday C, K.467 july saturday july saturday july sunday CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2 An Evening with David Sedaris MENDELSSOHN Incidental music celebrating the release of his new july saturday to A Midsummer Night’s Dream book Theft By Finding (complete) august friday july monday & july tuesday august sunday Celebrate July 4 at Tanglewood with a favorite popular artist, details of which will be announced in the new year. Information BERLIOZ Overture to Benvenuto Cellini will be sent to donors about pre-sale tickets. RAVEL Piano Concerto for the left hand MOZART Symphony No. 25 Fireworks to follow the concert on July 4 BERLIOZ Te Deum SCHUMANN Cello Concerto SCHUMANN Symphony No. 2 july friday july sunday august friday august saturday WAGNER Das Rheingold BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto MAHLER Symphony No. 2, WALTON Belshazzar’s Feast july sunday Resurrection august tuesday july saturday Two of today’s most acclaimed august saturday singers—soprano Kristine Opolais and, in his Tanglewood debut, John WILLIAMS Markings, for solo baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky—join violin, strings, and harp Andris Nelsons for an exciting (world premiere) evening of opera and song, to TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto Julian ANDERSON Incantesimi feature arias, duets, and choruses BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique BRAHMS Violin Concerto from the Italian and Russian lyric BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 july friday stage. The program will include COPLANDFanfarefortheCommonMan august sunday excerpts from Verdi’s Simon COPLAND Piano Concerto Boccanegra and La traviata, and KODÁLY Suite from Háry János july sunday Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. MENDELSSOHN Overture, The august sunday Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave) BERNSTEIN Symphony No. 2, John WILLIAMS Music from Jurassic The Age of Anxiety MOZART Overture to The Marriage Park, Minority Report, and Jaws TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4 of Figaro TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 Overture MOZART Violin Concerto No. 1 in july saturday MOZART Violin Concerto No. 5 in B-flat, K.207 A, K.219 SCHUBERT Symphony in C, The Great MAHLER Symphony No. 4 august friday august friday IVES “The Housatonic at Stockbridge” Thomas ADÈS ...but all shall be well from Three Places in New England BRITTEN Sinfonia da Requiem BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5, september friday Emperor MAHLER Selections from Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Rückert-Lieder CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 1 BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 UnderScore Friday Series Three Friday-evening performances will be part of the popular UnderScore Friday series this season. At these RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 3 performances, patrons will hear comments about the program directly from an onstage BSO musician.

4 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 What’s inside ... 38 Must-Visit Sugarhouses Explore the sweeter side of Western Massachusetts and 14 Southern Vermont. From Sap to Syrup A look at the hard work and artistry behind New England's world-famous 20 maple syrup. Celebrate Spring's Arrival Break up the late-winter gloom with a meal featuring 24 fresh, local ingredients. Ellen Stimson Strikes Gold How a big-city transplant turned misfortune into wild 28 (hilarious) success. On Mud, Le Petit Caporal, and Tin Simon Winchester muses on the glorious history of mud 32 season. The Allure of Fly Fishing Cast aside your worries and join the long tradition of 37 UpCountry fly fishing. The Joy of Broomball At remote Marlboro College, it takes a village to beat the 41 winter blues. 6 From the Editor 12 UpCountry Living 55 From the Archives Welcome to UpCountry Who has Cabin Fever? The Awful Itch of April 9 Worth Checking Out 44 Get Out and Go 44 Happenings Jack's Restaurant and Pub Early Spring Happenings Get Out and go

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 5 On the Cover From the Editor

If you grew up in the upcountry about 30 years ago or more, you too may have suffered the indignity of being forced to wear rubber overshoes to school this time of year. Forcing them on, rubber overshoes resisted. Peeling them off, rubber overshoes fought to stay on. And in between, how an inch of mud suctioned them off so easily — on the next step, plunging the shoe they were supposed to save deep into the muck anyway — is one of childhood’s great frustrations. (But it was worse for Napoleon. See Page 32.) Yet, for every mud season, spring follows. Days lengthen. Ice melts. Maple sap flows. Spirits lift. We venture outside, imbued with the possibilities of a reawakening. A bottle of local maple syrup at We head to buy maple syrup (see our list of sugarhouses Holiday Brook Farm in Dalton, on Page 14). We think of learning a brand new activity (and maybe that will be fly fishing on Mass. Story, Page 17. Page 37). We think of bringing friends and family together around a nice meal to celebrate spring Photo: Ben Garver (like grilled butterflied leg of lamb with fresh mint chimichurri sauce on Page 24). We trade one sense of cabin fever for another, perhaps a cozy log home in the woods (one starting at $159,000 on Page 12). And maybe some of us will move from the city to the country (so read how Ellen Stimson did that on Page 30). This season’s transition means winter’s boots get pushed deeper into the closet. Mercifully, it’ll soon be time to put away those rubber overshoes too. PUBLISHER Kevin Moran, Editor Alan English [email protected] [email protected] EDITOR Kevin Moran [email protected]

ART & MARKETING DIRECTOR Kimberly Kirchner [email protected]

VP OF ADVERTISING Jordan Brechenser [email protected]

VP OF CIRCULATION Warren Dews Jr. [email protected]

REGIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGERS Berkshire County, Mass.: Kate Teutsch [email protected]

Bennington, Vt.: Robert Morin [email protected]

Manchester, Vt.: Susan Plaisance [email protected]

Windham County, Vt.: Josh Unruh [email protected]

FIND US ONLINE: UpCountryOnline.com Facebook.com/UpCountryOnline UpCountry Magazine is a publication of A young chick peers out the window at Bousquet Mountain in Pittsfield, Mass. Photo: Stephanie Zollshan New England Newspapers Inc. 6 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 Live Music Fridays and Saturdays Contributors Friday Pizza Night & Sunday Brunch Robin Anish [“Celebrate," Now serving fine Wine & Brews! page 24], a former cater- er in the Berkshires, writes (518)677-CAFE about food from her home in Lenox, Mass., for The Ea- We are a Full Service Bakery gle, Banner, Journal and Re- with Organic Artisan Breads, former. Scones, Muffins, Gluten Free Cookies, Cakes made to order. Facebook Round-House-Bakery-Café

Cicely M. Eastman [“Worth Checking Out," YOUR LOCAL page 9], a Brattleboro resident, is the arts and enter- SOURCE FOR tainment/features editor for VERmOnt the Brattleboro Reformer. Sprague & Son PURE mAPLE Sugarhouse PROdUCtS Route 100 Jacksonville, VT

4 Miles South of Wilmington, VT Maple Soft Serve Ice Cream Telly Halkias [“Happen- Open Weekends 10am to 5pm or Weekday by Appointment ings," page 44] is a national (802) 368-2776 award-winning, independent journalist. He lives and writes from his homes in southern Vermont and coastal Maine. the sun knows no season Nourish, protect and soothe your skin with lightweight, broad spectrum sun protection. Jennifer Huberdeau [“Cabin Fever," page 12, "Must-Visit Sugar Houses," page 14] is New England News- papers' online editor and pens the column, "The Cottager," for Berkshires Week and The Shires of Vermont. She lives in Adams, Mass., with her husband and two children. Larry Parnass [“The Joy SPF 30 Powder-Me SPF Dry Sunscreen for face, body and scalp. of Broomball," page 41] pre- SPF 15 LipDrink Lip Balm, a protective drink for your lips. fers roads less traveled. He is the investigations editor Available at Louisa Ellis and select spas and salons. of The Berkshire Eagle and 294 Main Street Great Barrington, MA former editor of the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

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UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 7 Contributors Kevin O’Connor [“Ellen Stimson,” page 28] is a Ver- mont native and Brattleboro The Berkshire’s Premier Source for Crystals, Stones, Sage, Incense, Reformer contributor. Essential Oils, Jewelry, Clothing and Gifts. Open Tues. - Fri. 11am-6pm • Sat. 9am-12:30pm

413-329-8162 Allendale Underground Pittsfield [email protected] Francesca Shanks [“From Sap to Syrup,” page 20] is a writer and musician living in North Adams, Mass. She writes about food, Catch Your Favorite Game On One Of farms and lifestyles for Our 20+ HD TV’s! The Eagle, Banner, Jour- nal and Reformer, and oth- Open Daily at 11:30 am er publications. You can Tuesdays thru Sundays find out more about her at 650 Cheshire Rd. francescashanks.com. Lanesboro, MA 01237 Greg Sukiennik [“The Al- (413)499-3331 lure of Fly Fishing,” page 37] is the editor of the Man- chester Journal in Vermont. He has previously written for ESPN.com, the Associ- ated Press, The Berkshire Eagle and Bay State Parent magazine.

Simon Winchester, [“On Mud, Le Petit Caporal, and Tin,” page 32] an author, journalist and traveler, lives on a farm in Sandisfield, Massachusetts. His nov- el, "The Professor and the Madman," is being made into a feature film starring Mel Gibson and Sean Penn. He is currently writing about Photo: Setsuko Winchester the history of precision. Truck Rental/Moving Services Wedding & Special Events Complete Indoor & Outdoor Wedding • Catering Tent Services • Corporate & Private Events Visit us on the web at 802-257-0573 480 Marlboro Rd., Brattleboro UpCountryOnline.com www.VTRENTALSPLUS.com www.WERENTLINENS.com

8 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 Worth Checking Out When husband and wife team Jack Judge and Melanie Boese bought the Brattleboro Coun- of 2015 so that the restaurant try Club in the fall of 2014, could be open all year long, fulfilling a lifelong dream of but progress hit a setback Jack’s, they thought, “How in February 2016 when the hard could it be?” Fast forward pipes burst, flooding the din- to 2017, and Melanie admits ing room. Turning lemons into she's certainly seen more than lemonade, Melanie closed the her fair share of challenges. restaurant and used the time They sold R.O.V. Technol- to renovate the dining room, ogies, Inc., the robotics busi- repair the antique tin ceiling ness they had built from the and paint the interior a wel- ground up in 1989, then pur- coming green with cream trim, chased the struggling country then reopened the first week of club facing imminent foreclo- April. sure. A Brattleboro landmark, A talent for food the country club was a members-owned club residing in a When the club’s long-time historic farmhouse on Upper chef died unexpectedly, Mela- Dummerston Road in Brat- nie’s search for a replacement tleboro, Vt., offering fantastic that meshed with her vision views and once serving as the for the restaurant finally end- Brattleboro Retreat’s summer ed with the hiring of Jordan getaway for its male patients. Wong. The restaurant business In an effort to increase mem- runs thick in his blood: his bership, the club members father owned the immensely took on a project to upgrade popular Jade Wah on Main the course from nine holes to Street in Brattleboro. He al- 18 holes, but money problems ways knew he wanted to be a plagued the undertaking as chef, creating dishes since he rock ledges and other issues was 8 years old. He graduated put the project way over bud- from the Lincoln Culinary In- Jack’s get. More upgrades were still stitute, then interned at Peter needed, but time and money Havens. He has also worked were sparse. at Fireworks and Whetstone Station and was a sous chef Restaurant When Jack and Melanie at the Farm Table in Bernard- took the deed in hand, their ston, Mass. Jordan started out first order of business was as a sous chef at the club, and and Pub to open the course up to the Melanie quickly spotted his public, setting their course for gift, promoting him to head transforming the club into a welcomes the chef. community hub. Then tragedy struck. Jack died after a brief “I’m excited to promote public with illness in the summer of 2015. him,” Melanie said. “He’s got a Melanie’s determination to talent for food.” keep Jack’s dream alive kicked As head chef, Jordan’s goal is open arms into high gear, beginning with to make the menu approach- By Cicely M. Eastman the daunting task of making able for the community, but Photos by Kristopher Radder upgrades. Electrical upgrades make it a little more upscale were made. New support with new interpretations, tak- beams and a new heating sys- ing advantage of the fresh tem were installed in the fall foods that are so accessible

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 9 to this region. He takes dishes that are popular and have worked in the past, but makes them his own. “I’m so passionate about cooking, I have been since a young age. I forced my way into a lot more knowledge. I take in knowledge from my own personal experience and from other chefs. I love the instant gratification of having a customer enjoy it,” Jordan said. It is obvious he enjoys his job, and he has visions for the future at the club too. He plans on incorporating more outdoor dining using the big grill on the property, making the most out of the space to make it more open to the public. only,” a branding she was trying to shed. She wanted to give The menu boasts a variety credit to her late husband, her of options to please a variety inspiration, so the restaurant of taste buds: quesadillas with is now Jack’s Restaurant and a choice of cheese, chicken or Pub, reflecting his “let’s do it” steak, club sandwiches with a attitude and the club’s wel- choice of turkey ham or roast coming of the community. beef, or how about grilled ham and Swiss, or a Reuben melt? The bartender who There is a chef ’s soup, salads knows everyone and of course, a burger. On Friday and Saturday nights, Jess Galdamez is a familiar they serve a steak dish, a fish and friendly face that has been and a pasta dish. with the company since 2005 — she manages the front of Last November, Melanie the house. She is also an area closed the restaurant for an- resident, having grown up in other round of renovations. Hinsdale, N.H., and is quite giving the bar a new look with familiar with restaurant life, a copper top, and replacing following in the footsteps of the wood flooring. The freshly her mother, who has managed painted front entrance porch a local restaurant ever since has been rebuilt to be wheel- Jess can remember. She had chair accessible, and the small been studying criminal law kitchen was converted to a and started at the country club commercial kitchen, doubling part time. She soon discov- in size, much to the delight of ered her passion for great food Jordan. Melanie said they have and great spirits instead. She been lucky that through all of has grown with the company, the construction, closings and working her way up to manag- chef searching, the members er. Jess is that bartender who have been loyal, patient, and knows everyone by name and supportive. what they like to drink, build- The restaurant reopened ing relationships professional- on Jan. 12 with a new menu ly and personally, and making crafted by Jordan, and a new TOP: Jessica Galdamez shows one of her signature cocktails made people smile along the way. name. To Melanie, the name with Saxtons River’s Maple Sapling liquor. The restaurant is a "home away The Fairway Tavern was not BOTTOM: Chef Jason Won offers up a Caesar salad at Jack’s from home for me and the inviting, reeking of “members Restaurant and Pub in Brattleboro, Vt. customers,” she said. “I have

10 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 built some very solid relation- so work up an appetite with a ships since I have been here.” round of golf, then sally up to Her creativity shines with the bar for a cocktail and meal! each event she plans, from With two outdoor tents, birthday parties to weddings, Melanie and staff can accom- business meetings, rehearsal modate larger events like wed- dinners, and bridal showers. dings and receptions, averag- Jess stocks the bar with eight ing two or three a year so far. draft beers, Vermont craft In the summer, the outside bar Fresh Salads & Sandwiches beers, and Vermont liquors on the hill comes with great (on our own fresh-baked bread) like Saxtons River’s own Ma- views. ple Sapling, and she creates The upgrades aren’t reserved Deli and Specialty Store - signature drinks only to found just for the clubhouse either. all at affordable prices. in her bar. Her Blood Orange Irrigation systems are being Cosmo or the Gold Rush put in place for greener greens, baked goods & pastries Martini with a hint of ginger protective coverings are used are sure to be enjoyed, or for against winter’s havoc, and she bulk Food products the traditional, hot toddies, acquired five golf boards last Irish coffee and hot chocolates summer for the brave of heart. huge Selection of are also among the items of- baking Supplies and more! fered. Melanie pointed out that as the golf course is stand-alone She said, “I am very excit- and not part of a resort, you ed to be a part of all the new don’t have to wait in long lines changes that are happening. and the parking is great, and If you have never been to the there is also a driving range country club, be sure to make for practice. Tournaments still it a must-do for 2017 as we play a large part in contribut- 1896 harwood hill Road, bennington VT 05201 welcome all the public, fam- ing to the community, bene- Open TUES thru SAT 9Am - 5:30pm ilies, and of course all of our fiting nonprofit organizations members.” such as SEVCA, Youth Ser- Seasonal offerings vices, and others. There are still many things The view can’t be beat from Melanie wants to do, and ideas the large dining room win- she’s been tossing around, ex- dows that overlook the course amining all of the options, and the hills along the West the advantages, the feasibility River Valley. In the winter, and what the public wants. cross-country skiers glide She’s hoping to renovate the along the trails that crisscross pro shop in the spring if all Heading Up Country, Down State or Somewhere in Between? the course. The Brattleboro goes as planned, and at some Outing Club rents out the point installing additional trails, which are connected to bathrooms and lockers on the the Retreat Trails, and school main floor. She is considering students use the trails for a bridal show, and is checking training and enjoyment. In into frisbee golf, archery golf, the summer, watch golfers on or maybe even a simulator for the greens while dining either practice. You’ll have to check inside or outside on the deck. in regularly to see what she is ...A-List will get you there in style and for a competitive price. Winter hours for the restau- up to next! rant are Thursday through Sat- Airport Sports and Concerts urday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Even though there have White Glove Concierge Girls/Guys Night Out Wi-Fi Bachelor/Bachelorette Sunday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thurs- been many ups and downs Mobile Office Party day night is wing night, draw- for Melanie, it seems like the X-Box Retail Therapy worst is over and things con- ing a crowd as word of mouth For larger parties, ask us about our Party Bus! and consistent advertising gets tinue to look up as she shakes the word out that the public is the “members only” stigma, 1-877-2-GO-ALIST welcome. During golf season promoting her new policy: www.alistluxurycarservices.com they open seven days a week, Come here! You are all wel- TRAVEL BUSINESS CELEBRATION EXCURSION come! • UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 11 UpCountry Living Who has cabin fever? Six great log cabins for sale in Southern Vermont and the Berkshires

Images courtesy of Josiah Allen Real Estate 29 Owls Head Hill Lane, Dorset, Vt. See Page 13

By Jennifer Huberdeau That charm often in- tle and bustle of the city. can imagine.” The allure of the log cabin cludes a wood-burning They can go skiing. They The more contemporary begins with an idea: Warm- stove, a stone fireplace, an- can imagine the family log homes, which come in a ing up beside a crackling gled chalet-style windows warming up together in variety of shapes and sizes, fire after a day of hitting and vaulted ceilings. front of the fireplace.” have the look and feel of a the slopes. Finding sereni- “For those looking to in- For those seeking the cabin, but also have finished ty in the peaceful silence of vest in this type for real es- ambiance of the log cabin walls, multiple bathrooms rolling hills during an after- tate, mainly second-home of our forefathers built, but and state-of-the-art kitch- noon hike. Trading the buzz owners, the log cabin rep- aren’t looking to live a more ens. of the city for the tranquili- resents a very rustic, warm rustic life, today’s log homes “Today there are so many ty of the country. getaway. There’s a very ro- are a favorite option. different types of log cabins “There’s a quintessential manticized image that goes “There really is something and log homes. It’s easy to charm people are looking along with these homes,” for everyone,” Fraser said. envision yourself living in for when they are in the said Monique White, an “We have everything from a log cabin,” White said, market for a log cabin,” said agent with The Hermitage the very rustic cabin to the noting a recent client had Leslie Fraser, an agent with Deerfield Valley Real Es- more expensive post-and- dreamed of owning a log Four Seasons Sotheby’s In- tate group of West Dover, beam log home, with lots of cabin for over 30 years. ternational Realty of West Vt. “It’s a place where they natural wood, that has every “There’s a real calling for Dover, Vt. can get away from the hus- modern convenience you these people.”

12 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 1. A Cabin on the Battenkill 3. 1927 Cabin in Whitingham 5038 River Road, Arlington, Vt. 782 Route 8A, Whitingham, Vt.

Image courtesy of Able Realty

List Price: $299,500 Image courtesy of The Hermitage Deerfield Valley Real Estate Bedrooms: 2 Baths: 2 List Price: $159,000 Year Built: 1984 Square Footage: 1,219 Bedrooms: 2 Baths: 1 Acres: 8.17 Taxes: $4,548 Year Built: 1927 Square Footage: 1,226 Agent: Alan Hess, Able Realty Acres: 2.78 Taxes: $3,588 More information: 1-800-375-9442 or ablerealty.com Agent: Monique White, The Hermitage Deerfield Valley Real Estate Spend your afternoons and weekends fishing, kayaking and swim- More information: 802-464-3055 or hermitagedvre.com ming in the Battenkill River, stretches along 900 feet of this log cabin’s Built in 1927, this log cabin harkens back to a simpler time. Sur- 8 acres of meadow land. rounded by stone walls on 2.7 acres, this home is far away enough from Just a short trip by car to Manchester or Saratoga, N.Y., this two-bed- civilization to enjoy its country setting, but still close enough to be a room, two-bath log cabin offers an enclosed porch, cathedral ceilings, short drive from the slopes of Mount Snow. There’s also plenty of nearby natural woodwork, skylight and a walk-in closet. trails for snowmobiling. This two-bedroom cabin features cathedral ceilings, a stone fireplace 2. An Enchanting Log Cabin with an inset wood stove and wood floors. The enclosed porch serves as 86 White Birch Lane, Wardsboro, Vt. a bunk room and the main bedroom has a laundry area. 4. Paradise in the Berkshires 220 Antelope Drive, Lee, Mass.

Image courtesy of: Four Seasons Sotheby's International Realty Mount Snow

List Price: $219,000 Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 3 Image courtesy of Mountain Brook Realty Year Built: 1974 Square Footage: 2,268 Acres: 2 Taxes: $4,678 List Price: $160,000 Agent: Leslie Fraser, Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty Bedrooms: 2 Baths: 1 Mount Snow Year Built: 1975 Square Footage: 1,128 More information: 802-464-1200 or leslie.fraser.fourseasonssir.com Acres: 0.63 Taxes: $2,950 With access to snowmobile trails in Green Mountain National Forest Agent: Kim Gordnier, Mountain Brook Realty and located within a 15-minute drive of Mount Snow and Stratton, this More information: 413-637-4466 or mountainbrookrealty.idxbroker.com cabin is the perfect getaway for the outdoor enthusiast. A three-season sunroom, private tennis courts, boat docks and access Enjoy the rustic charm of an older log cabin with all the modern to Goose Pond are only some of the amenities that come with this log amenities of modern living, including a whirlpool tub and separate cabin. shower in the master bedroom, as well as a fully-equipped kitchen and Part of the Lee Leisure Community — a former ski area — this baseboard heating. This nine-room home has three bedrooms, two full 1,128-square-foot cabin has a master bedroom as well as a loft that can bathrooms and two stone fireplaces. be used as an additional sleeping area.

H 5. A Contemporary Log Home with Seasonal Views 29 Owls Head Hill Lane, Dorset, Vt. This contemporary log home is a dream for someone who loves to List Price: $675,000 entertain. Whip up a meal for your guests in your own chef ’s kitchen Bedrooms: 5 Baths: 4.5 and then choose from a variety of spaces to serve it — on the covered Year Built: 1984 Square Footage:4,558 porch, the back deck or the slate terrace. Acres: 4.9 Taxes: $14,421 With five bedrooms and 4.5 baths, this two-story home has plenty Agent: David Shehadi, Josiah Allen Real Estate of room for the whole family and a few overnight guests. It’s also close For more information: 802-867-5555 and 802-362-3355 or to town, so there’s plenty of nearby shopping, dining and recreational www.josiahallen.com activities to keep everyone busy.

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 13 6. A Cabin on Woodford Lake 6523 VT Route 9, Woodford, Vt.

HAND-CRAFTED PIZZA SMOKED BBQ Dine in and take out New York-Style Pizza BBQ Smoked in-house with applewood Sandwiches • Salads Full Bar and Specialty Cocktails 75 Elliot Street Brattleboro, VT 05301 802.579.1092 hazelpizza.com Tuesday - Wednesday 4:00 - Close Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday 12 - Close Closed Monday

Images courtesy of The Hermitage Deerfield Valley Real Estate

List Price: $260,000 Bedrooms: 2 Baths: 2 Year Built: 1960 Square Footage: 1,350 Acres: 10.12 Taxes: $3,038 Agent: Monique White, The Hermitage Deerfield Valley Real Estate More information: 802-464-3055 or hermitagedvre.com Enjoy your own private stretch of shoreline on Woodford Lake while living in this two-bedroom, two-bath cabin. A cozy living space offers a combined living and dining room with an open beam ceiling and a large stone fireplace, along with large kitchen and sun room. Located on 10 acres near Woodford State Park, as well as Woodford and Prospect mountains, this home offers ample opportunities for outdoor adventures. When not on the lake fishing or kayaking, take in the views from a large deck or from the comfort of your own private fire pit.•

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14 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 Fine Suits FOR EVERY MAN. At Miller Bros.-Newton, we carry suits for every taste and every budget. The t, the drape, the look you want, perfectly-tailored for your body. Suits starting at $325

WHERE AUTHORS & READERS MEET The Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vt. Photo: Scott Stafford Lauren Grodstein Kathleen Rooney Northshire Bookstore Jason Rekulak William Schwalbe MILLER BROS. - NEWTON Presents Booktopia 2017 Fine Mens Clothing Jessica Shattuck 109 Main Street & more Brattleboro, VT (802) 254-2287 On Friday, May 5, and Saturday, May 6, celebrate a weekend full of authors, readers, games, food, drink, laughter, ON-SITE ALTERATIONS INCLUDED on sale now at: Suit/Tuxedo Rentals & Sales new and old friends and great conversations at the North- www.NORTHSHIRE. com 105 Main Street shire Bookstore in Manchester, Vt. Keene, NH (603) 352-3039 Manchester Ctr, VT 800.437.3700 This special annual event will feature 8 different authors presenting their new books in several different sessions and venues over the course of two days. On Friday night, enjoy a lively evening with authors and attendees at The Celebration Barn at The Inn at Manches- ter. The event includes dinner, a spirited game of book triv- ia, fun prizes, the ever popular Yankee Book Swap, and a cash bar. Saturday will again be full of interesting author sessions and plenty of Q&A. The day will end with the main event, which includes all participating authors in one room for their final presentation, topping it all off with a group book signing. Awaken on Sunday and spend some leisurely time ex- ploring the Thomas Jefferson Readers Park and outdoor gardens, and the 10,000-square-foot multi-level bookstore filled to capacity with books, games, toys, clothing, jewelry and more! Take a stroll down Manchester's Main Street and discover the amazing independently owned shops,

LIVE BEAUTIFULLY WITHOUT WORRY restaurants, and clothing outlets. Introducing SmartStrand Forever Clean using the most advanced fiber innovation, offering the highest level of beauty, comfort and performance available The cost for Booktopia 2017 is $150 per person and includes a $50 gift card to Northshire Bookstore. Attendees will also receive additional discounts on guest authors' fea- tured books as well as free shipping. With the exception of the Friday evening dinner, all travel, lodging, and meal BENNINGTON HOUSE OF TILE AND CARPET expenses are your own responsibility. 1267 Harwood Hill Road • Historic Route 7A • Bennington, Vermont 05201 For more information and to purchase tickets, visit 802 442-2494 • www.benningtontile.com northshire.com/event/booktopia-2017. • UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 15 Who doesn't love a little syrupy sweetness? Another maple sugaring season is upon us, and there's plenty of time to visit area sugarhouses — whether it’s for a fun-filled family outing or just to stock up for the year. We’ve put together a list of 36 must-visit sugarhouses in the Berkshires and southern Vermont, who allow visitors during their boiling season. We suggest you call ahead or visit their websites to confirm whether or not the sugarhouse is operating before your visit. By Jennifer Huberdeau

16 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 Massachusetts

1. Ioka Valley Farm 4. Holiday Brook Farm Dalton from 500 to 2,000. New equip- Hancock ment was added and produc- Since establishing Holiday Brook Farm in the late 1800s, tion increased. In 1992, Rob Leab and his four generations of the Crane family have been producing wife, Melissa, the third gen- maple syrup. Today, the farm has 4,300 taps that feed into the sugar- eration to run Ioka Valley In the early days, the family tapped the sugar maples that house by reverse osmosis, Farm, revived the art of maple line the road and a brook alongside the farm. Nowadays, sap where it is boiled down to syr- sugaring with 13 taps and his is harvested from the farm’s sugarbush on Day Mountain up. mother’s kitchen stove. To- in Dalton. It’s brought back to the farm’s two sugarhouses, day, the farm has more than where it’s boiled in wood-fired evaporators. Call ahead for turnerfarmsmaplesyrup.com 10,000 taps that feed sap from boiling times. 6. Crystal Brook Farm the sugarbush into the sugarhouse’s two modern wood- For more info: holidaybrookfarm.com Tyringham fired boilers. At least eight generations of the Slater family have owned During the boiling season, and operated Crystal Brook which traditionally runs from Farm, which began as a dairy mid-February through early farm. Today the farm produces April, visitors are welcome to maple syrup and hay for live- stop by the sugarhouse. Tours stock and construction pur- and tastings are traditionally poses. held on weekends during the boiling season. The ‘Calf-A’ facebook.com/Crystal-Brook-Farm serves pancake meals with the -172290059594924/ farm’s own maple syrup during 7. Moose Mountain the sugaring season. Maples iokavalleyfarm.com Otis 2. Mission Maple at Alan and Anita Minery Ramblewild opened Moose Mountain Ma- Lanesborough ples in 2010 with a sugarhouse on West Center Road. The Forest Stewardship Council-certified forest lands Equipped with the latest surrounding Feronia For- technology for commercial ests’ Ramblewild tree-to-tree production, reverse osmosis is adventure park are home to used to bring sap to the sugar the 110-acre sugarbush from Dicken Crane uses a hydrometer to test boiling sap as he makes shack. which sustainably sourced sap maple syrup at Holiday Brook Farm in Dalton. Photo: Ben Garver facebook.com/ is tapped to make Mission: MooseMountainMaples Maple syrup. A portion of the 8. Sweet Brook Farm with his children. Son Greg the family also make maple proceeds from the syrup are Williamstown donated to a nonprofit. Caproni has recently taken a candy, maple sugar and maple more active role in the family cream. Visitors are always wel- Syrup, including a limit- Peter and Beth Phelps be- business, stepping in to help come to stop by and view the ed-release bourbon-infused gan raising alpacas on Sweet expand the operation and keep family operation during the syrup, are available in 2- and Brook Farm in 2007, adding it up to date with the most maple sugaring season. 3.5-ounce sizes. the art of maple sugaring to modern advances in the indus- massmaple.org/city/northadams their repertoire two years later. missionmaple.com try. 5. Turner Farms They began with a few taps the 3. Caproni Family The sugarhouse, which has first year and fell in love with Sugarhouse producing their own maple Sugarbush a high-efficiency, wood-burn- South Egremont North Adams ing arch for boiling, is fed syrup. each season by some 800 to When Paul and Carla Turn- The farm now has 4,350 taps The Caproni Family has 1,200 taps. Half of the taps er produced their first 25 gal- in its sugar bush and produc- produced maple syrup for over are old-fashioned bucket col- lons of maple syrup in 1988, es a variety of maple products, 50 years. Alfred Caproni, who lection stations, while the rest they did so with a “backyard including syrup, candies and began tapping trees in his early utilize vacuum tubing. In addi- rig.” Over the next few years, roasted nuts. 20s, would share the tradition tion to producing maple syrup, the number of taps jumped sweetbrookfarm.com UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 17 9. Windsor Hill Sugar single-batch syrups that are 14. Jennings Brook Farm New Ashford House handcrafted with care and Windsor limited in number. The Jennings family has been farming in New Ashford since arriving after World War II. Beginning in 1985, the A total of 4,000 taps bring berkshiresweetgold.com family began tapping sugar maples on the 200-acre farm sap to Windsor Hill’s sugar- 12. Fourniers to produce maple syrup. Today, the family taps 3,000 trees house, where Andy and Trisha Sugarhouse producing maple syrup, as well as a variety of maple-based Schmidt produce a variety of Plainfield products including maple lollipops, maple nuts, maple maple products, including syr- cream, maple candy and maple sugar. up, maple cream, maple candy, Fournier’s Sugarhouse be- maple-sugared nuts, maple jel- gan in 1998 in a very different For more info: jenningsbrookfarm.com ly and maple sugar. location — Northfield, Mass. Gary and Jean Fournier, with facebook.com/Windsor-Hill-Sugar- the help of their family, dis- House-100850043323479/ assembled the old sugarhouse 10. Blue Heron Farm and moved it 45 miles to Charlemont their farm in Plainfield, where Bill and Norma Coli began they’ve been sugaring ever the maple sugaring process since. when they built Blue Heron The family jokes that the Farm’s sugarhouse in 1986. farm has more taps (about Since then the family has been 1,500) than there are residents boiling sap collected from the in the town (about 600). An- farm’s 4,000 taps over a wood- other 300 old-fashioned buck- fired evaporator. ets add to the sap collected and The farm produces 600 to boiled in the sugarhouse. The 800 gallons of certified organic farm produces several grades pure maple syrup a season. of maple syrup. blueheronfarm.com fournierssugarhouse.com 13. Thatcher’s Steve Jennings checks the fire as he boils sap in his sugarhouse. 11. Berkshire Sweet Photo: Gillian Jones Gold Maple Farm Sugarhouse Heath Plainfield a variety of products including a sweet amber-colored syrup. Four generations of Thatch- At Berkshire Sweet Gold maple syrup, maple cream, ma- The sugarhouse is open by ap- ers have been sugaring in Maple Farm, sustainability is ple cashews, maple candy and pointment only. During the Plainfield since 1906. The key to the sugaring process. granulated sugar. sugaring season, open house family retired the original The “solar-powered harvest- hours are posted on Facebook. 1906 sugarhouse built by thatcherssugarhouse.com ing” system includes 60-kilo- countrymaplefarms.com watt solar panels paired with Charles Thatcher at the family 15. Country Maple the reverse osmosis system dairy farm and replaced it with Farm 16. Gould’s Maple that delivers sap from 20 miles a new, more publicly accessible Shelburne Sugarhouse of tubing to the sugarhouse’s one in 2000. Shelburne Maple sugaring has always evaporator. Drawing sap from some been a passion of Jim Brag- Come for the syrup, but stay 2,000 taps, the family produces The results are single-crop, don, who’s been making maple for the pancakes. Helen Gould syrup at Country Maple Farm and her family opened Gould’s in 2008. A variety of products, Maple Sugarhouse in 1960. Holiday Brook Farm including maple syrup, maple Three generations and 57 Located In The Heart Of The Berkshires cream, maple candy and maple years later, the sugarhouse and cream on fried dough are pro- restaurant are still operating in Premium Grass Fed Beef, Lamb & Pastured Pork. duced during the season. the same location. Pure Maple Syrup From Our On-Site Sugar House. The farm operates 3,000 Take a peek at how the taps and buys sap from anoth- family makes syrup with a er 2,000 to 3,000 taps from wood-fired evaporator before another local producer. Col- heading to the restaurant for lected by vacuum tubing and pancakes, fritters and syrup on Bring the whole family for a visit to the farm. a reverse osmosis system, the snow. sap is boiled in a wood-fired 100 Holiday Cottage Rd., Dalton, MA 01226 facebook.com/GouldsSugarHouse/ 413-684-0444 • www.HolidayBrookFarm.com evaporator before it becomes

18 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 Vermont

17. The Robb Family Farm Guilford house, is slowly boiled into dy and creams. Established in 1907, The Robb Family Farm has been pro- thick, amber syrup. paradisefarmsugarhouse.com ducing maple syrup for six generations. The sugaring process The family also produc- 22. Matt’s Maple has been handed down and the family still boils down the es maple candies and maple sap in the traditional way — with a wood-fired arch. Syrup creams. Marlboro The only thing “new” about the sugaring process is the vermontmaple.org sugarhouse. The family’s current sugarhouse was built in 20. The Sugar Shack Although Matt’s Maple 1998, replacing the original 1920s building. Syrup has only been produc- Arlington In addition to syrup, the farm produces maple candy, ma- ing maple syrup since 1979, ple ice cream and maple-coated nuts. Take a ride along Historic this small, family owned farm RT7A, also known as Sugar taps 1,800 trees each year. robbfamilyfarm.com Shack Lane, and you’ll come The family boils sap the across the XR Maple Farm at same way farmers have been the Sugar Shack in Arlington. doing it for the last century — The Sugar Shack offers over a wood-fired evaporator. samples of all four grades of its mattsmaplesyrup.com pure maple syrup in the store, 23. Dutton’s Farm so you can pick your favorite. Stand Free sugarhouse tours with Manchester Center samples of hot maple syrup are offered during the sugaring While you can purchase season. maple syrup at any of the three sugarshackvt.com Dutton Berry Farm locations, you can only experience the 21. Paradise Farm collection and boiling of sap Sugarhouse at its Manchester Center lo- Brattleboro cation. Maple syrup has been part of The Duttons, who have this farm’s history in one way been maple sugaring for over or another. Its current owners 20 years, put out more than revived the practice when they 3,000 taps in their sugarbush built a “new” sugarhouse from each year. a 200-year-old building they duttonberryfarm.com brought in from downtown 24. Lilac Ridge Farm Brattleboro. Brattleboro The sugarhouse is attached to the farm’s country store, Lilac Ridge Farm started Helen Robb holds up a small bottle of maple syrup at the Robb which offers up its maple in 1937 with Stuart J. Thurb- Family Farm. Photo: Zachary P. Stevens products including syrup, can- er and Marjorie Van der Vliet. 18. Harlow’s Sugar and maple creams. Robb Family Farm House vermontsugar.com Putney 19. Ball Brook Maple Harlow’s Sugar House has Pownal Visit us been carrying out the New With the help of family and for all your England tradition of maple friends, the Dence family boils sugaring since 1927. the sap collected from eight Gift Basket Run by the fourth gener- miles of tubes along 30 acres needs ation of Harlows to call the of Ball Brook Farm. farm home, the sugarhouse 822 Ames Hill Road, Brattleboro, vt The sap, which is deposited produces a variety of maple into a 1,100-gallon container 802-258-9087 products, including several va- near the Ball Brook Sugar- www.robbfamilyfarm.com • [email protected] rieties of syrup, maple candies UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 19 Today, Ross and Amanda Ellis es approximately 3,000 taps Thurber continue the family – about half buckets and half tradition at Lilac Ridge Farm. pipeline. In a good maple sug- Now certified organic with aring year, they can produce Vermont Organic Farms, the approximately 1,000 gallons farm is a 2,000-tap sugaring of premium quality Vermont operation. maple syrup. lilacridgevt.com evansmaplefarm.com 25. Franklin Farm 28. Mance Family Guilford Tree Farm Shaftsbury At the Franklin Farm, Da- vid, John and Mary Ellen At the Mance Family Tree Franklin take pride in the ma- Farm, maple syrup is made ple syrup they produce. with a traditional wood-fired evaporator and reverse osmo- The family sets about 2,700 sis. taps each year at the certified organic farm, which they’ve During Maple Open House farmed for eight generations. Weekend, on March 25 and 26, stop by the sugarhouse to franklinfarm.net learn how maple syrup is made 26. Sprague & Son and sample some of the farm’s Sugarhouse maple syrup. Jacksonville VermontMaple.org Sprague and Son Sugar- 29. Merck Forest & house was built in 1993 by Farmland Center Marty and Karen Sprague Rupert along with their son, Rodney. A 40-acre sugar bush with In addition to maple syr- over 3,000 taps supplies the up, the sugarhouse also pro- sap for the Merck Forest and duces maple candies, maple Farmland Center’s 100 per- spread, maple sugar and maple cent organic certified syrup. crunchies. A long-standing tradition at facebook.com/Sprague-Son- the farm is its annual pancake Sugarhouse-290671490950920 A fresh batch of maple candy at Hidden Springs Maple. Photo Source: visitvermont.com breakfast, held during Maple Open House Weekend. Oth- courtesy of Hidden Springs Maple. 27. Evans Maple Farm er activities include tapping Dummerston 30. Hidden Springs Maple Putney, Vt. demonstrations and wagon Faith and Roger Evans have rides. Tapping the sap of a 250-acre sugarbush of 100-year-old been maple sugaring as a cou- merckforest.org sugar maples on Beamis Hill in Westminster West West- ple since 1975. minster West is one of the secrets behind Hidden Springs Maple’s sweet amber syrups. That and the Copper-Ellis Their operation compris- family’s 50-year tradition of sugar making. Maple sugaring comes easy to Peter Cooper-Ellis, who along with his brother, Fraser, began learning the trade at a young age at the family’s Dusty Ridge sugarbush. The broth- ers co-own CE Maples, as well as their own retail compa- nies, Fraser’s Vermont Maple and Hidden Springs Maple. In 2010, Peter Cooper-Elis, with the help of his wife, Sar- HIDDEN SPRINGS MAPLE ah Weck, took Hidden Springs online, tapping a new cus- FARM STORE tomer base. Today, the sugarmakers maple syrups, candies, Maple Syrup Tasting Table • Samples and creams, as well as a variety of other maple products are Gifts • Hand-Dipped Ice Cream available online as well as at the farm store in Putney, where

162Westminster Rd, Putney,VT visitors can learn about the sugaring process and buy a gal- See website for hours lon or more to take home. 802-387-5200 | hiddenspringsmaple.com hiddenspringsmaple.com

20 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 34. Peacock’s Pure 3,000 trees on his properties in 31. Maple Hill Maple Shaftsbury Vermont Maple Syrup Bennington and Pownal. Maple sugaring began as a hobby for Rick Kobik when he Shaftsbury BenningtonMaple.org arrived in Vermont in the early 1970s. His hobby grew from Source: BCCDVT.org Visit the sugarhouse during boiling a few gallons of maple syrup over an open flame to Maple Weekend to tour the 36. Touch of Peace building his own sap house. He named it Maple Hill Maple. sap house, a ‘walk the woods’ Farm Today, Kobik and his wife, Greer, continue to boil syrup learning process and collecting Bennington with the help of family and friends. buckets for children. Visit this CSA during Ma- vermontmaple.org Source: bccdvt.org BenningtonMaple.org ple Weekend for demonstra- 35. Armstrong Farm tions and tastings. Bennington BenningtonMaple.org Keith Armstrong began 37. Loomis Family making maple sugar at a young Sugar House age and later apprenticed un- Shaftsbury der Colonel Ayres in Shafts- bury. He began his own sugar- Tour the Loomis family’s ing business in 1975. sugarhouse, watch syrup boil and sample some maple treats. Armstrong now taps over BenningtonMaple.org

38. Glastenview Maple Farm Shaftsbury, Vt. At Glastenview Maple Farm, owners Bill and Sue Free- man are proud to say they boil their syrup with a wood-fired evaporator. A visit to the sugarhouse includes a tour of the sugar bush, candy making and a variety of maple syrup and snacks to try and purchase. facebook.com/glastenview-maple-farm-444281132311024

Rick Kobik, of Maple Hill Maple in Shaftsbury, bottles maple syrup. Photo: Holly Pelczynski

32. Mountain Valley 33. The Wing Farm Maple Bennington Photo courtesy of Glastenview Maple Farm West Rupert According to The Wing Pure Vermont Maple Product Maple The 2016 maple sugaring Farm’s Facebook page, “Mak- Weekend season was good to Mike Lou- ing maple syrup is a family af- Open HOuse rie, owner of Mountain Valley fair. There is no better place to do homework than in a sugar- Saturday March 25th & Maple Farm. In mid-February, Sunday March 26th he told The Maple News that house.” We’ll take their word 10AM to 4PM he was already on his eighth for it. Activities: Saphouse tours of our wood-fired evaporator, candy making, maple snacks, boil of the season and already The farm has been owned and fresh maple syrup to sample and purchase. boiled 960 gallons of syrup. Glastenview Maple Farm and operated by Scott and — Bill & Susan Freeman — May 2017's boil is set to be Erin McEnaney since 2012. Visit us on Facebook just as good! 571 Glastenview Drive - 802.442.4687 WingFarmVermont.com shaftsbury, vt We Ship BenningtonMaple.org [email protected] Directions: Rt 7A to Paulins in S. Shaftsbury, take Daniels Road to first right, Glastenview Drive, go 0.6 mi., last house on left.

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 21 Spring summons the maple sugaring season — and it’s a lot of work.

By Francesca Shanks 22 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 All over New England, thousands upon thousands of maple trees wait like soldiers for the tapping season to begin, their wood linked by miles upon miles of tubing. As the days grow warmer, the slightly sweet, mineral-rich sap those trees spit out runs into sugar houses all over the countryside. Most of that water is destined to boil away into steam, leaving only the sweet, concentrated gold that is 100 percent pure maple syrup. And from the woods, from the ski slopes, from the cities and towns, come visitors seeking that gold. At Ioka Farm in Hancock, Mass., Terrianne Koepp is ready to receive them. As a small group files into the sugarhouse on the opening day of the farm’s winter season, Koepp gestures through the window at the mountain that rises above the farm. “There’s over 250 acres of maple trees up there,” she says, guiding them through an in- dustrial reverse-osmosis setup that enables the farm to quickly produce 100 gallons. Ioka also filters its syrup, which makes a smoother product, free of the natural grit that comes from Some 7,000 maple taps wind through the trees in the acres behind the sugar house at Ioka Valley the syruping process. Farm in Hancock, Mass. Photo: Stephanie Zollshan The sap comes down in lines, year, all boiled at the family Callen Parker, all of Pittsfield, a packing house that sells to connected and maintained sugar house on Route 43 near were at Ioka’s opening day, ex- faraway places like Norway by the Leab family, who have Jiminy Peak. cited to share their tradition and Switzerland. run Ioka since 1936. Koepp Koepp and her husband of weekends at the farm with “We’ve shipped to Afghan- explains the constant mainte- John, who runs the evapora- Callen for the first time. istan,” he says — usually peo- nance they take: lines freeze; tion equipment, have worked “You’re the heart of this ple ordering syrup for family snow is waist-deep; mother at the farm for years, and Ter- place every weekend,” Shana members in the armed services. bears bite the lines open so rianne Koepp is a bit of a local tells Terri, after Callen smiles Along with syrup from its own their cubs can drink the sap; celebrity. She’s a quick-mov- his way through tiny tastings taps, Hidden Valley gets bar- squirrels chew the lines; some ing, quick-talking, memorable of three different maple syrup rels of syrup from Vermont taps just stop running or get figure, delighting years of chil- grades. Shana will later buy a farms, then packages it with stuck. dren on school field trips and darker syrup flavor, which she the farmers’ own packaging. It takes 40 gallons of sap to weekend visits while teach- favors over the lighter, sweet- “That’s kind of our thing — make one gallon of syrup, and ing them about maple syrup er grades, made with sap from to support small family farms the season spans only a short grades. A Boston Globe article earlier in the season. and help them take their syrup time, usually from February to hailing her as a “high priestess to an international market,” he April. Ioka runs 14,500 taps of maple syrup” hangs on the c says. and trucks in syrup from an- wall of the sugar house. Further north, at Hidden Hidden Springs is half of other 4,000-tap sugarbush in Springs Maple in Putney, Vt., Shana Parker, her wife Me- CE Maple, a family syrup the area. Koepp says they’re lissa Parker, and their baby Peter Cooper-Ellis is running hoping for 8,000 gallons this company that also includes a UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 23 Recipe Unorthodox Maple Bread Pudding

If you have toured Ioka Farm in Hancock, Ma., you may Syrup Uses have had their bread pudding during a syrup tasting. It’s a  In coffee, with or without cream great, comforting dessert on a winter day. (Obviously, it begs for ice cream.)  “Maple milk” instead of chocolate 2 cups milk milk 2 eggs  On fish, mixed with mustard or ¾ cup maple syrup BBQ sauce 1 tablespoon butter  Drizzle on bread or biscuits 1 teaspoon vanilla  Over an omelet or drizzled on the 1 cup bread cubes inside of a breakfast sandwich Scald milk with butter. Add small amount to eggs and  1-2 teaspoons mixed with melted mix, then add all ingredients together. Butter a crockpot, butter for caramelized onions then add all ingredients to crockpot and cook low for four hours. If you like, add some optional ingredients: an orange  As a sweetener in lemonade rind, ½ cup raisins, 1 diced apple, ½ cup walnut, 1 ripe ba- nana, or ½ cup dried cranberries.

The Grade A/Grade B maple syrup system was updated by the USDA in recent years. Syrup grades There are now four levels of Grade A, as well as “Grade B suitable for reprocessing.” Grade A Golden Grade A Amber Grade A Dark Grade A Very Dark Delicate Taste Rich Taste Robust Taste Strong Taste

Made from early-running Mid-season syrup great Late season with a much Ultra late-season syrup with sap, this light, mild syrup is for the breakfast table, with a stronger maple flavor. Excel- an intense flavor. Good for good for candy, frosting, and slightly stronger maple flavor. lent for baking and table syrup. baking and a sweet partner in other super-sweet purposes. glazes, roasted vegetables, etc.

24 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 Welcome to our Sugar HouSe If it’s STeamINg we are BoIlINg!

Bottles of maple syrup are prepared for sale at Ioka Valley Farm in Hancock, Ma. Photo: Adam Shanks

27,000-tap sugaring operation. early-season stuff to the dark- “My family has been in the er, late-season batches. (See sugar business for my entire sidebar for a guide to syrup life,” he says. Cooper-Ellis grades.) A tasting will help; spent 35 years working in Sil- being able to see and taste icon Valley before returning different syrup batches will al- to Vermont with the goal of low you to make an informed bringing pure Vermont syrup choice about what to put on to a wider audience via the In- your pancakes. ternet. A wide customer base gives Now he ships pure, all-nat- Cooper-Ellis insight into syr- ural syrup via Amazon Prime up grade preferences across at the rate of about five pallets the nation. “People in New Free syrup & a week, and also maintains an England and Vermont actually online store on the company’s tend to like the lighter grades, cider samples! website. Hidden Springs also like amber and golden, but maintains a brick and mor- nationally it seems the darker MAPLE crEAMiEs And fudgE tar store in Putney, which, of flavors are more popular, partly course, does tastings for a will- because they have that stron- ing public. ger flavor.” Buy Direct From the Farmer! It’s important to know There’s also been a nation- what syrup grade you’re par- al trend away from artificial apples Sweet cider tial to, from the light, sweet Continued, Page 50 Potatoes • Gilfeather Turnips • Beets Vermont’s Maple Open From Our Own Greenhouse: House Weekend Lettuce • Kale • Salad Greens From Our Own Bakery: Get tours of a sugarhouse, enjoy a pancake Fresh Fruit Pies • Cookies • Bread breakfast and sample some syrup during the Ma- Dutton’s Homemade Fudge • Fruit Jams ple Open House Weekend in Vermont. This year’s VT Specialty Foods weekend is March 25 and 26 and sugar makers invite one and all to come visit and explore how ROUTE 11/30 MANCHESTER CTR. maple syrup is made. The Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association, at http://vermontmaple.org, OPEN DAILY 9-7 362-3083 sponsors this annual event. www.duttonberryfarm.com

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 25 Follow this how-to guide and impress your friends with a locally inspired meal By Robin Anish There’s no place better to be when spring arrives than in the Berkshires and Southern Vermont and no better time for getting together with friends to revitalize winter-weary spirits with some fresh air, a hike on one of the many trails throughout the region, or maybe a first paddle of the season on a local river. Feeling renewed, head into the kitchen to prepare a meal inspired by some of the best ingredients that spring affords us right here in our own backyard. First things first. Set a beautiful table. Not a fussy table setting but a simple, welcoming table. Spread a tablecloth, use dishes that you love and add fresh flowers. That’s a beautiful table. To get some ideas for flowers to use in a spring table arrangement, I visited Bridget Brown who owns Berkshire Flower Company, a charming, eclectic floral shop in Pitts- field, Mass. Bridget is a floral artist who brings in the most beautiful and often unique flowers to create her one-of-a- kind arrangements. Expecting she might show me something exotic, what did Bridget recommend? Tulips! A simple bouquet of tulips the quintessential spring flower. So, the table is set. Let’s get cooking!

26 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 On the menu you’ll find: For the salad, you will need: Rhubarb Gin & Tonic Vinaigrette: Shaved Asparagus Salad 1/3 cup olive oil with local feta cheese and crushed pistachio nuts 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb 2 teaspoons dijon mustard served with Fresh Mint Chimichurri Sauce 1 teaspoon dried tarragon or 2 teaspoons fresh, Herb Buttered Orzo minced Sugar House Maple Cookies salt and pepper to taste Rhubarb Gin & Tonic Whisk together ingredients to emulsify. Salad: Rhubarb makes its appearance locally in the spring so it is fit- 2 pounds asparagus, ends snapped off ting to start off with a fresh rhubarb cocktail made with gin dis- tilled in the the Berkshires. Berkshire Mountain Distillers pro- 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled duces small batch, handcrafted spirits in Sheffield. (Check out 1/4 cup crushed pistachio nuts their website berkshiremountaindistillers.com to learn more.) Try the Greylock Gin for this rhubarb gin and tonic. When buying asparagus for this recipe, chose the thickest stalks available. Start by making a simple syrup: 2 cups slice rhubarb stalks Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put some ice in a large bowl and fill with cold water to create an ice bath. 1 cup sugar Cut the tips from the asparagus stalks and set aside. Drop the 1 cup water stalks into the boiling water and cook for just 30 seconds, quickly drain and immediately plunge into the ice bath. Do not cook any Combine rhubarb, water, and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat longer. The asparagus should still be crisp. Drain when stalks are to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dis- cool. Lay out on paper towels to dry. Repeat the same process for solved and rhubarb has broken down. Let cool. Strain through a the reserved tips but cook them for 2 minutes. fine mesh strainer and refrigerate. The syrup can be made ahead of time and kept refrigerated for up to two weeks. Using a swivel-blade vegetable peeler, Chill some tall glasses and a bottle of tonic. Cut a lime into strip long ribbons offthe stalks. wedges and have plenty of ice. For each drink, fill a glass with ice Gently toss the ribbons then pour over: and tips with the 2 ounces gin vinaigrette and let marinate for a few 2 ounces rhubarb syrup minutes before 4 ounces tonic water plating and garnishing with some crumbled Give a quick stir, garnish with a lime wedge and serve. feta cheese and a sprinkling Shaved Asparagus Salad of pistachio nuts. Serve immediately. Fresh asparagus is in abundance at this time of year and this recipe for shaved asparagus salad is a delicious alternative to the usual steamed or roasted asparagus. For this recipe, asparagus is blanched just long enough to bring out its flavor and bright green color but maintain a raw crunch. The stalks are shaved into thin ribbons and lightly dressed with a tangy vinaigrette. A garnish of feta cheese and crushed pistachio nuts finishes the dish. I added feta to the salad because I’ve really been enjoying a particular feta cheese that is made in Bennington, Vt. It’s produced by Maple Brook Farm. The flavor is a bit milder and less salty than most feta cheeses, making it a nice compliment to the other ingredients in this salad. I buy Maple Brook Farm feta cheese at Big Y supermarket. Check the Maple Brook Farm website at maplebrookvt.com for more sources.

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 27 Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb Start by marinating the lamb. Marinade: Spring lamb is such a treat. So bring the grill out of win- 2 tablespoons of olive oil ter storage and fire it up to prepare what might be the best 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar lamb you have ever eaten, a butterflied leg of lamb with fresh mint chimichurri. Zest of one lemon 4 cloves of garlic finely minced To butterfly a leg of lamb, the bone is removed and the meat trimmed and flattened out so it looks like a big 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary or 1 table- steak. A butcher will do this for you. For this recipe, ask spoon dried the butcher to prepare one butterflied leg of lamb (4 to 5 Salt and pepper pounds), trimmed of excess fat. Stir together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon zest, garlic and rosemary. Liberally salt and pepper the lamb on both sides. Spread marinade all over the meat and put in a large, sealable plastic bag pressing out as much air as possible. Refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 24 hours. Remove from refrigera- tor 1 hour before cooking. Preheat an outside grill to medium high. Pat lamb dry. Grill about 10 minutes on each side, or until an instant-read thermometer horizontally inserted into thickest part of meat registers 130 degrees for medium-rare. Let meat rest 15 minutes before slicing. To facilitate grilling, insert long skewers horizontally through the meat to hold it together in one piece. You can also broil the lamb. Adjust the oven rack 6 inches from the broiler. Put the broiler pan on the rack and preheat along with the broiler. Lay the meat on the preheated pan and broil about 12 minutes on each side or until instant-read thermometer registers 130 degrees. Let rest 15 minutes before slicing. Chimichurri is a fresh sauce made up of herbs, a little vinegar, olive oil and spices that originates in South America. There are many variations but this version with an abundance of mint is perfect for grilled lamb. Chimichurri: 2 cloves garlic 1 packed cup fresh spearmint leaves 1 packed cup fresh Italian parsley leaves 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 6 tablespoons olive oil

In a food processor, pulse garlic several times until chopped. Add the mint and parsley and pulse until finely chopped. In a small bowl, combine the herb mixture with the vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes and olive oil. Serve at room tem- perature with the lamb. Herb Buttered Orzo Orzo, a small rice shaped pasta, cooked and tossed with butter, minced parsley and chives compliments grilled lamb nice- ly. Follow cooking directions on the package and simply add butter and minced parsley and chives as desired. 28 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 Sugar House Maple Cookies balls. Place on greased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart and flatten slightly. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack. One of the greatest treasures mother nature offers as spring arrives is maple syrup. I get syrup right from the source with The birds are chirping outside my window! Happy spring! a yearly jaunt to one of the many sugar houses throughout the Berkshires and Southern Vermont. Grade B dark syrup is my favorite. The color is dark and the flavor is robust. I highly recommend it for baking these Sugar House Maple Cookies as a sweet ending to a memorable meal that celebrates what we wait for all winter long, the arrival of spring! 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1/2 cup shortening 1 cup packed brown sugar 1 egg 1 cup real maple syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening and brown sugar. Add the egg, syrup and vanilla. Mix until well blended. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir into mixture until well blended. Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Chill the dough a bit to make it easier to roll into wall to wall we do it all! Free Prompt Estimates - Professional Installation OPEN 7 DAYS/WEEK FOR LUNCH & DINNER Low, Low Prices for a complete menu & events, visit Over 30 years in flooring www.ravensdensteakhouse.com A Popular Chef-Owned Restaurant, 802-768-8779 | 1811 Depot St., Manchester, VT Sports Tavern & Patio STEAKS ~ SEAFOOD ~ SALAD BAR ~ Carpet • Vinyl • Hardwood • Laminate SPIRITS Mon-Fri 8-5 • Saturday 9-2 Enjoy our upscale dinner menu with salad bar, or choose from our tavern menu in a relaxed atmosphere 211 River Street • Bennington VT 5 State-of-the-Art WINE Taps & 11 VT WCW Brews, Craft cocktails & award-winning wines. Everything is made from fresh CARPET 802.447.1166 EDWARD St. OngE ingredients! WAREHOUSE www.wcwcarpetwarehouse.com ‘VERMONT-CHEF-OF-THE-YEAR’ Awarded by the ACF Call us to Cater Any Sized Function [email protected]

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UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 29 30 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 How Ellen Stimson hit ‘Mud Season’ potholes —and struck gold

The self-professed ‘flatlander’ has turned misfortune into a last-laugh memoir series praised by ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ creator Garrison Keillor.

By Kevin O’Connor

Vermonter Ellen Stimson was living in the Midwest almost two decades ago when her husband surprised her one December night with a bottle of port and the equally spir -ited black-and-white film “Christmas in Connecticut.” “We watched it and imagined living on a farm in New England,” she recalls. “The idea of a romantic sleigh ride pretty much sold us on the eventual move right then.” A Northeast winter, she envisioned, would melt into spring: “The fields are filled with dandelions — the happy yellow of childhood.” Then summer: “We aimed for supper beside a stream and our morning coffee in the woods.” Then fall: “There are always boutique farmers at roadside stands selling cheese, bread, bunches of beets, and hot apple cider; wildflowers displayed in old jelly jars; countless fairs exhibiting everything from antiques to merino sheep.” If only someone had told Stimson about mud season. By 2003, she and her husband and three children had relocated from the Gateway city of St. Louis, population 318,172, to the Green Mountain town of Dorset, population 2,031. They soon bought a two-century-old general store. Tried to “improve” things. (“You moved the bread from where it used to be,” one longtimer sniffed.) And less than five years later, facing bankruptcy after sales plummeted 70 percent, sold what was left of the business for half its original purchase price. Author Ellen Stimson holds one of her chickens outside her Dorset home. Photo: Kevin O'Connor

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 31 That’s when the self-professed “flatlander” (“Real Ver- Ellen Stimson: In her own words monters are calm and sensi- ble — they would have never “Real Vermonters teach us by example how to live well in this bought the store,” Stimson place. It is a good lesson for kids and adults alike. This is a place of now says) began to write a simple beauty and it demands a plain response. book. Her memoir, “Mud Sea- “I miss things about the city, though. Can I just say? I miss all that son,” came with a subtitle al- anonymity. There is nothing quite like going to a coffee shop in your most as long as winter: “How sweats with messy hair and no makeup and reading the paper while One Woman’s Dream of Mov- you are on your third croissant with crumbs all over the table. That is ing to Vermont, Raising Chil- not behavior you can manage in Vermont. You will see seven people dren, Chickens and Sheep, you know and at least two will want to talk. and Running the Old Coun- try Store Pretty Much Led to “It is what it is. Ten minutes after you move to Vermont, you will know everybody’s business, One Calamity After Another.” and they will know yours. They will. Just watch. As soon as your kid goes to school, or you hire a plumber, or really if you just say hello. You are doomed. You might as well write a book.” It also launched a new career. Stimson sold her manu- — From Ellen Stimson’s “Good Grief,” published by Countryman Press script to prestigious New York publisher W.W. Norton, which released the hardcover through its Countryman Press in 2013. The 5.5 million-circulation Reader’s Digest soon ran an excerpt. The 1,500-member American Booksellers Associ- ation pushed the title as a top recommendation. Seemingly everyone else responded with a question. “They all would say to me, ‘What happened next?’” Stim- son recounts. “I said, ‘Oh, good grief ’ — and thought, ‘What a great title.’” ‘Her big chaotic life’

And so Stimson has turned misfortune into a memoir series that’s giving the author the Author Ellen Stimson feeds the chickens she tends outside her Dorset home. Photo by Kevin last laugh. O’Connor Her second book, 2014’s “Good Grief,” started where do you know how to work a that killed her ex-husband. utility closet, next to the vac- the first one finished — -be fire extinguisher?” she went on “So, what if the guy you uum. ginning with the lesson she to write. “No? Neither did I. were married to for about 15 “I know, I know,” she went learned after decorating her And what I’m sure they never minutes when you were barely on to write. “It was not per- dining room table with au- told me was that you can’t read 22 died and left you in charge fect.” tumn leaves (“they would seem that little print on the side of of his estate?” she says in the A year later, her family scat- to have just drifted down from the extinguisher when every- YouTube trailer for her second the limbs overhead, somehow thing all around you is billow- tered them in the nearby Met- book. “Then, what if your be- tawee River. missing the roof ”), lighting ing smoke, either.” loved current husband — you the candles (“so that they Think a newcomer should be know, the one you married for “With tears streaming down could burn down — you know, seen and not heard? Stimson life — delivered his eulogy? our cheeks, we watched Steve, just a little — you don’t want tells all. On page 57 of “Good And then, what if your son or what had been Steve, swirl your candles to look like they Grief,” she shares the true sto- handed you his ashes? What away. It was beautiful, really.” just came out of the box”) and ry about a backyard bear. And exactly does one do with their Such juxtaposition of hones- leaving minutes before it all on page 92, the police car that ex-husband’s ashes?” ty and humor has led the Bos- went up in flames. pulled her over. And on page Stimson stored them in her ton Globe to note that Stim- “Just as a point of interest, 156, the rare heart arrhythmia son “reads like Erma Bombeck

32 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 meets E.B. White (with a dash and/or delusional when intro- of Elizabeth Gilbert thrown ducing readers to Vermont. in). She’s a natural storyteller “A little blue state known for and openhearted lover of her its hippie ice cream, beautiful family, her animals, her big views, and liberal politics,” she chaotic life.” writes in “Mud Season.” “Big- ‘A couple of tips’ box stores are rebuffed in favor of little village country stores, Stimson’s 2015 book “An where you can still get every- Old-Fashioned Christmas: thing from a light socket to Sweet Traditions for Hearth bird food to local cheese, while and Home” — a 288-page you find out the baseball scores confessional/cookbook that and argue local politics. There mixes recipes for “Pig Can- are no roadside billboards in dy” (chocolate-covered bacon) Vermont. And it’s a state with with sweet and savory remem- way more cows than people.” brances — won praise from Forget the fact that the latest “A Prairie Home Companion” census counted 135,000 cows host Garrison Keillor. versus 626,562 people. Stim- “I’ve been a little uneasy son told her real estate agent to about Christmas for a long find her a historic home with time and now I shall stop,” “four or five bedrooms, a big Keillor wrote Stimson after re- gourmet kitchen, and lots of ceiving a draft of her take on porches — cheap.” When she the holiday. “A big party. Cut stopped at Dorset’s old Pelt- out the stuff you don’t enjoy. ier’s market, a local landmark And a whole raft of stimulat- since 1816, she decided to buy ing recipes and a good snow- that, too. storm. Wonderful.” ‘Just the way it is’ Stimson’s books aren’t the first to chronicle the chasm Stimson, then a big-city between Green Mountain book wholesaler, figured it old-timers and newcomers. would be easy to remodel a Such stories began long before small-town 1830s farmhouse Frank Bryan and Bill Mares and even more historic busi- penned “Real Vermonters ness into her vision of bucolic Don’t Milk Goats,” the state’s bliss. Then she hired an out- all-time best-selling humor of-state home construction book, in 1983. But Stimson’s crew — from Missouri — and work is nonetheless a rare moved the store’s central bread breed: An explosive exposé of shelf to make way for mer- a “flatlander” fired off by the chandise like alpaca socks, pis- target herself. tachio paste and, every Thurs- “If you’ve ever taken a kid day, crab cakes with mango to the beach or Disney World salsa. and had to explain, at the end Longtimers quickly re- of a long, happy, sunny day, that sponded. First they boiled over we can’t always be on vacation, at the coffee counter. Then, one then you are one step ahead of by one, they evaporated. TOP: Stimson autographs her book “Good Grief” with a self- me,” she writes in the prologue “A thought dawned: I might portrait. Photo by Kevin O’Connor to “Mud Season.” “We never be in trouble here,” Stimson left. We still love it. But if you CENTER: Stimson and family at their Dorset home, as pictured recalls. “And it probably wasn’t by Vermont photographer Natalie Stultz in the book “An Old- find yourself planning to move just the bread.” here, I maybe could offer you a Fashioned Christmas: Sweet Traditions for Hearth and Home.” couple of tips.” It didn’t help when Stim- Photo by Natalie Stultz. son cellphoned 911 after dis- The author, depending on BOTTOM: One of Stimson’s dogs inspects one of Stimson’s where you were born, can ap- desserts, as pictured in “An Old-Fashioned Christmas: Sweet pear to be a daydream believer Continued, Page 50 Traditions for Hearth and Home.” Photo by Natalie Stultz UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 33 Winchester

34 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 ON MUD, LE PETIT CAPORAL,

AND TIN By Simon Winchester

My old chemistry teacher Napoleon’s horses sank to to their own waists in earthy tinent seemed under its malign used to say that two things their withers in brown slurry. glue. And then at night they influence. Mud was what lost doomed French emperor Na- His gun-carriages sagged into all froze, and froze to death. the French the war: the might poleon on his retreat from ruts deeper than their wheels, General Mud, they called it of the Russian army was by Moscow: the atomic eccen- unyielding to the efforts of — then Marshal Mud in those comparison as nothing. tricities of tin and the sucking hundreds of weary men up later days when the whole con- It wasn’t for another fifty abilities of mud. years that the home-grown Tin, I shall return to in a American idea of Rasputitsa moment. But mud’s uniquely — the birth in 1851 of the En- crippling effect on le petit capo- glish phrase mud season — was ral has an immediate relevance 'Out on the roads, for fully realized. to us here in the Berkshires America’s Northeast — to- and Southern Vermont, since two or three wretched gether, it was steadily accepted, what he experienced back in with parts of the soon-to-be 1812 is what we here are go- weeks in early Dust Bowl upper midwestern ing to have to endure in a few prairies too — turned out not weeks’ time: We are about spring, you meet your to be all that different, climat- to suffer through the weeks ically, geologically, topographi- ahead that have been known match, you come to cally — from the gray steppes for the last century-and-a-half of Europe. And so until the as mud season. fragile networks of macadam The Russians, known for the accept that that mud roads were built around New economy of language, have a England, our forebears here single word for it: Rasputitsa beats metal, just as all suffered just as they used to — the season when the world in Warsaw and Donetsk and becomes a sea of mud. And both scissors beat paper, or Odessa too. Not quite so badly, in war and in ancient legend, it though: because so few battles is a season that seems to have paper beats rock. Get were ever joined here — not in been peculiar just to the end- the springtime at least — the less flatlands of northern Eu- prepared, they say in annual reappearance of the rope. From Brussels to Minsk, season was hardly a cause of from Hamburg to Kiev, the misery or woe, more of a dam- phenomenon once embraced Belarus or Berkshire nable inconvenience, usually the merciless reality that, easily solved by visits to the once the spring thaw began, County, get used to it, carwash and the Laundromat. such roads as existed became The physics that cause Ras- in short order half-drowned and endure.' putitsa or mud season are the channels of perpetual quag- same, whether in Smolensk mire and loss. or Sandisfield, Massachusetts.

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 35 The deep winter cold begins in Sandisfield has in its two develop strong Berkshire Thousands of men of the to lift. The snow starts to melt centuries of existence never thigh-muscles to bring you Grand Armée had their trou- or, on very sunny days, to ab- once enjoyed the benefits of through the worst of it, those sers held up by buttons of im- late, to pass from its solid state tarmac — and so our experi- mud-seas by the gates, where pure tin — which, the story directly to the air. The ground ence on the first realizable day the cattle stir things up and goes, turned to powder in the beneath then begins to un- of mud-season has become a add steaming additions to the freeze of 1812. The soldiers freeze itself — and, critically, familiar one. mix. It is only out on the roads then had to flee through the it does so from the sunny top- You drive onto the road — where, for two or three wretch- cold while trying frantically to side downwards. The upper- and promptly cede all con- ed weeks in early spring, you keep their clothes from falling most inches become warmed trol of the vehicle to the road meet your match, where you off — which would seem to by the sun. The ice crystals itself, to its ever-deepening come to accept that that mud me an even more acute prob- locked into the earth become crazy-quilt of its fresh-formed beats metal, just as scissors lem than the existence of the liquid water and mix with the mud ruts. You think you are beat paper, or paper beats rock. glutinous sea of mud around sand and clay and the organic driving straight: the mud has Get prepared, they say in Be- them. humus to become a half-solid quite another idea, knocking larus or Berkshire County, get And which places our brief half-liquid miasma of what we the car from side to side and used to it, and endure. irritation with the coming sea- now call by the old Germanic in directions unknown to the son into something of a prop- word mud. steering wheel, unwished-for c er perspective. So let us brace And because the ground be- by the driver. I have seen all And what of tin, Bona- ourselves, to be sure. But let us neath it remains frozen, so this too many confident chauffeurs parte’s other supposed nem- also think of the Russians, who mobile thixotropic amalgam of smart town-cars standing esis? My chemistry teacher invented the thing. And let us has nowhere to go, no place to ankle-deep in churned up reminded us that tin exists in have some slight retrospective which to leach. So it remains chocolate pudding while their two forms, depending on tem- sympathy, if just for once (I there — a layer of molasses once-shiny steed remains im- perature. The silvery metal we write this as an Englishman) floating on a sheet of puddled mobile, lurched into the ditch, all know becomes a brittle gray for the wretched condition of iron, ready to ensnare anything sludge up to its door jambs. substance when it is very cold, the French. And for Napoleon, and a strange transformation foolhardy enough to try to Out in the fields it is much whose name to most of us is known as tin pest can then cor- pass through it. the same — but here you ex- and always will be, Mud. • rode it into a powder. The road outside our farm pect it, you dress for it. You

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38 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 With spring around the bend, cast aside your worries and be one with nature By Greg Sukiennik

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 39 people while leading casting started 50 years ago as a boy Imagine a moment when all the cares of the lessons and excursions. with a few library books and “I get a lot of city folks who time to learn from his own world and your life — the job, the mortgage, stay in the Berkshires, people mistakes. “Today, with much better books and thousands of all of it — disappears, and all that’s left is you who are rookies at fly fishing,” Desmond says. “They’re full of internet videos and schools it's and your natural surroundings. energy and kind of hyper. They a whole different story.” want to know where we’re And the Berkshires and It doesn’t require medica- recovering from breast cancer fishing, they’ve already got Southern Vermont are great tion, virtual reality goggles or a through fly fishing adventures. their waders on. places to get started. sensory deprivation tank. Whether it’s untangling line “Get them into the water, So let’s start where modern But you will need a fly fish- or reading the water for where and after an hour, you see folks fly fishing in the United States ing rod and reel, a few flies, the fish are lurking, “you’re al- let go. You can see it, you can began: Manchester, Vermont. and a commitment to learning most forced to let your mind feel it — they let go of the dai- Here, nestled between the a few skills in a world where rest and let go of all the other ly grind. I’ll hit people with a Taconic and Green Moun- you need to learn how to think stressors of the outside world,” question when I see they’re in tain ranges and alongside the like a fish. Milhoan says. the zone — I’ll ask ‘What are Battenkill River, the legacy of you thinking?’ Ninety percent That’s the magic of fly fish- When you’re thinking like a Charles F. Orvis and his family of the time they’ll say ‘Oh, is everywhere. The company he ing, say the sport’s teachers fish, trying to find the “seam” nothing.’” and advocates. It draws you in in running water and scanning founded in 1856 as a mail-or- so deeply, as you scan the water the water surface for evidence c der specialty firm is headquar- for the places fish loiter while of where the food is, you’re not tered just down the road in But isn’t fly fishing difficult awaiting their next meal, that thinking about the mortgage, Sunderland; it’s now owned to get into? All that equip- the rest of the world disap- the car repair or the job. You’re by the Perkins family, which ment? All those fancy hand- pears. at one with the environment purchased the firm in 1965. tied flies? Isn’t it kind of ex- that surrounds you — a liter- The company’s flagship store, “It’s so meditative. It really is pensive? complete with trout ponds, is an activity that forces one into al statement if you’re wearing Not so. In fact, it’s never at 4180 Main Street (Histor- being present,” says Whitney waders and standing in thigh- been easier to get started in ic Route 7A), within strolling Milhoan, the executive di- high water. the sport. distance from several hotels rector of Casting for Recov- Harry Desmond of Berk- and inns. ery, a Manchester, Vt.-based shire Rivers Fly Fishing has “Light years easier, “ says nonprofit that helps women seen how fly fishing relaxes Orvis marketing manager You can immerse yourself Tom Rosenbauer, who got the sport’s history here. The American Museum of Fly Fishing sits just south of the flagship store, and contains an informative permanent exhibition laying out the long history of the sport, and how innovation has fueled the constant evolution of equipment. Behind the store is the Orvis Rod Shop and Factory, which hosts daily tours that show- case the marriage of high-tech and human craftsmanship that goes into making the company’s signature product. But if you’re getting started in fly fishing, you’ll want to cross Main Street and check out the Orvis Fly Fishing School. The school’s Fly Fishing 101 classes, established more than 50 years ago, are an excellent Photos courtesy of Berkshire Rivers Fly Fishing Adventures way to start, as the company

40 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 “Get them into the water, and after an hour, you see folks let go. You can see it, you can feel it — they let go of the daily grind. I’ll hit people with a question when I see they’re in the zone — I’ll ask ‘What are you thinking?’ Ninety percent of the time they’ll say ‘Oh, nothing.’” -Harry Desmond, Berkshire Rivers Fly Fishing Adventures

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 41 employs a panel of well-re- hours, with all the gear you’ll spected anglers and teachers need included. who will show you the finer “With beginners, you teach, points of casting, tying knots teach, teach. Get them out on and figuring out where to find the water and I guarantee that the fish. Anglers from around person, after the first time, the world travel to Manches- is going to leave with confi- ter to learn and sharpen their dence,” he said. skills and try their luck in the Battenkill River, well-known What sets fly fishing apart for its challenging brown trout from spin reel fishing is also fishing and plentiful brook what presents hurdles for peo- trout. ple who think it’s too hard or too time-consuming to learn: This spring and early sum- Successfully getting the fly mer, Orvis plans to offer free into the water. Fly Fishing 101 and 201 instruction on weekends starting Other than the use of hand- April 22 and running through tied lures, the main difference the end of June at its retail lo- between fly fishing and spin cations. The classes come with fishing is that fly fishing line a nice perk: A free Trout Un- is weighted because the fly limited membership, which weighs close to nothing. (In provides access to a grassroots spin fishing, it’s the weighted organization that promotes lure that gets tossed and pulls the conservation and preserva- the line with it.) Combined tion of coldwater fisheries and with the correct fly-casting habitats. motion, the weight of the line loads the rod in a bend in the Why go to the trouble of back cast and then in the for- starting with a school, or a ward motion the rod unbends, guide? For starters, you’ll learn sending energy forward into from someone who knows the line and propelling it for- what they’re doing, and that’s ward. The trout fly, weightless, always a good idea. Second, merely goes along for the ride they’ll often provide all the out onto the water. So the art fishing gear you’ll need, so you of casting — getting the fly can try before you buy. into the water — is the biggest Rates for the Manchester hurdle that new anglers face, school run between $140 and according to Orivis fly fishing $489; see http://www.orvis. instructor Truel Myers. com/fly-fishing-schools for The good news is there’s details. plenty of instruction available in the Berkshires and South- c ern Vermont for anglers of all Ideally, whomever you go experience levels. fly fishing with that first time “Any kind of motion, like — a guide or an experienced an athletic endeavor, can be a friend or family member — hurdle to some people,” Myers will spend a lot of time teach- said. “But it’s something most ing you the basics so you can anybody should be able to do.” build a foundation from which to enjoy the sport. And like a lot of things in life, the secret is not overdoing “Hiring a guide the first it. time going out is a great idea,” says Desmond of Berkshire “One of the biggest issues Rivers Fly Fishing, whose in- with people casting is they try troductory two-hour casting to work too hard at it. They clinic costs $100 and first-time wade-in costs $250 for six Continued, Page 50 Photos courtesy of Berkshire Rivers Fly Fishing Adventures 42 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 At remote Marlboro College, it takes a village to beat the winter blues. By Larry Parnass

This town understands iso- lation. Back in 2011, Marl- boro, Vt., was one of a dozen Vermont communities cut off by Tropical Storm Irene. Flood waters receded and crews re- paired roads and bridges, but there was no changing the fact this town of about 1,000 people isn’t close to much. About three miles south off Route 9 in Southeastern Ver- mont, it can seem even more remote for the 190 students who attend Marlboro College. Especially this time of year. “This is actually the month we all get sad together,” observed Sophie Ackerman, one of a half-dozen Marlboro College students, and a dog named Susan, gathered around a woodstove someone had hauled outside, as a battle on ice raged just feet away. At Marlboro, beating the winter blues has for nearly 30 years meant spending the first weekend in February slip-sliding away in the school’s Broomball tournament. Over two days, players willingly hu- miliate themselves trying to sweep an object into goals — a lot like hockey, but without skates. The double-elimination tournament is a great leveler, since nobody’s much good at running on ice. “You’re basically all just sliding around,” said Andrea Tirrell, right, a senior at Marlboro College, surveys the action with Susan. Photo: Larry Parnass

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 43 Ackerman, a junior transfer You are now free to move Or the grinning visage project, she is creating a map student from Granby, Conn., about, the captain announced. of a mixed-breed hound and field guide of some of the studying ecology. “There’s so- And a dance party began. The named Susan, who came to school’s property. lace in community.” next theme party under con- the Broomball tourney wear- Marlboro was created in Whether they planned to sideration, according to folks ing a San Francisco-themed 1946 by joining three hill or not, Marlboro students get gathered around the wood- kerchief? Incidentally, Susan farms — so the sense of lives a higher education in ways to stove, was to involve folkloric carried her own set of issues. spent outdoors and livelihoods overcome winter’s assault on monsters. Key ingredient: Peo- (“She doesn’t like men,” one supported by nature endures. mood. So Upcountry jour- ple. student observed. Maybe she needs a therapy human.) As one of the school’s early neyed here for tips on how ev- Finding No. 2: Let there trustees wrote: “Two roads di- eryone can push back against — oh, please — be light. Ackerman, the ecology stu- verged in a wood, and I — / I cabin fever. dent from Connecticut, snug- took the one less traveled by, / The school’s seeminglygles with her therapy rat Mur- Finding No. 1: Don’t try And that has made all the dif- tongue-in-cheek Total Health phy — and is still mourning ference.” to go it alone. Center (that’s THC for you the recent loss of another such That’s how Robert Frost saw That’s the lure of Broomball, acronym-bees) offers students pet. “She’s just there for me it in his poem “The Road Not and a series of other off-beat access to full-spectrum lights. to interact with,” Ackerman Taken.” And in his 1915 work, events that mark the Marlboro Zoe Dehart, a sophomore said of Murphy. “She becomes “A Servant to Servants,” Frost social calendar. This innovative from Washington, D.C., who more important in the winter- wrote this, what might be tak- college’s culture can be tough is studying politics, likes to go time. en now as a cabin-fever tonic: on traditions, though Broom- to the light, but notes that this Finding No. 4: “ … the best way out is always ball has managed to secure its regimen demands rigor. Sometimes, people are through.” place. Other events pop up out “You have to do it every day well, too much. of nowhere, like the recent air- for it to make a difference,” she Indeed, Tirrell has learned plane-themed student party. said. Natural spaces are just min- to find her way out through Vermont’s long winters. On the date of this depar- Finding No. 3: Better utes away from the Marlboro campus, in all directions. ture, space in the Happy Val- living with fur. “I spend a lot of time on the ley dorm was rearranged to Taking inspiration from na- trails,” she said, as the wood- accommodate seats in rows While pets are not allowed ture is one of the tried-and- stove crackled and popped and resembling an airplane cabin. at the college, there’s a loop- true prescriptions for treating Broomball players came off the Guests checked in, flight at- hole that Marlboro students winter ennui. ice, the wisest in knee-pads, to tendants distributed pretzels, regularly take advantage of: warm up. Andrea Tirrell of Stoning- a captain made announce- therapy animals. ton, Conn., who will graduate Several had found that the ments and someone, thanks What else explains the pres- this spring, assigned herself best way to warm their frozen to a sound file mined from the ence on campus of a hedgehog the task of getting out into hands was to insert them with internet, cued up the roar of jet named Agatha? the woods, alone. For a final engines. Continued, Page 53

Action during February’s Broomball tournament, a 30-year tradition at Marlboro College in Vermont. Photo: Larry Parnass

44 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 Sights and locales able Family owned and operated. to lift the winter spirit BEADniks Celebrating 25 years. Looking for ways to climb out of that winter rut? Here are 4000 Miles a few additional thoughts gathered from visits with winter Cymbeline survivors in Southern Vermont: Intimate Apparel TheTempest Stare into a glassblower’s furnace. Wharton Comedies A Midsummer Night’s Dream That’s what people come to do at the Fire Arts Vermont God of Carnage gallery in Brattleboro (formerly Fulcrum Arts), taking seats Special 40th Season Events inside the studio door to watch Randi F. Solin create her with Musical Guests glass sculptures. Liza Wyman, who runs social media for the artist, said Solin is generally at work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the 485 West • Retro Toys River Road business, with a break for lunch. If it’s winter cold that’s causing despair, the glassblowing studio offers GETYOUR • Candy both light and heat -- all free to visitors. “It’s about a mil- TICKETS lion degrees in here,” Wyman said. Recently, a couple from TODAY • Post Cards Connecticut came and watched Solin for more than two hours, through the entire process of shaping a piece. Then • Gems & Fossils they bought it. That part isn’t free. A Bead store and a Whole Lot More! Find your outdoor happy place. 115 Main st Brattleboro, VT For Diane Petrie of Guilford, one of those places is Grout 413.637.3353 802-257-5114 Pond off the Stratton Arlington Road, southeast of Man- shakespeare.org open every day chester. The pond is a popular southern Vermont cross-coun- www.beadniksvt.com try skiing and snowshoe destination. “It’s a beautiful, serene area off the beaten path,” Petrie said. “There’s not shopping anywhere. You’re going to spend your time in nature. You definitely have to wear the right kind of gear.” Look across 100 miles of New England, instead of just across the room.

An easy way for people in southern Vermont to do that is visit Hogback Mountain on Route 9 between Brattleboro and Wilmington. Petrie, a former dairy farmer, treasures the three-state view. While the overlook has mounted tele- scopes, the landscape doesn’t need enhancement. “It’s gor- geous up there. Breathtaking. It’s a gem.” The Hotel Pharmacy Savor the arrival of spring light. 20 Elliot St, Suite 1 Brattleboro, VT 05301 For 17 years, Barry Bozetarnik has helped people stop- ping at the I-91 visitors center in Guilford, Vt., find interest- 802-254-2303 ing destinations in the state. Each year, as winter drags on, fax 802-257-0023 hotline 802-258-3008 Bozetarnik waits for two things. No, one of them does not involve a groundhog’s shadow. His spirits lift when pitchers FREE DELIVERY and catchers report to Major League Baseball’s spring train- to Surrounding Towns ing. “And the first day when the sunset is officially 5 o’clock Text when Ready! or later. I watch it creep … the longer it stays light out the more likely I am to get things done.” That day came Jan. 29 Curbside Delivery! Experience our award winning in the Brattleboro area, when the sun set at 5 p.m. on the customer service! button. Bozetarnik adds, “I don’t have seasonal affective dis- Locally Owned and order. I don’t crawl into a cave, but I’m much happier when Operated for 36 Years by it stays light out.” the Giamartino Family! — LARRY PARNASS Located in the Historical Methodist Church on Elliot Street

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 45 Get Out and Go Always something to do as winter winds down Something for everyone in early spring happenings

Kids can visit with Hildene's herd of Nubian goats in early spring. The year-round working farm is one of the most popular attractions on the 412-acre estate of the Lincoln family. Courtesy of Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home.

By Telly Halkias Then he split his hybrid snow- Trail System (BATS). states of repair, and unified ef- board-skis, put skins on, and forts not only to get permis- Jared Newell believes there A nonprofit founded just climbed the rest of the way to sion for access to private lands, is something interesting to go a year and a half ago, Newell the top. Reassembling his skis but also to expand upon those out and do every month of the was one of a group of devoted into a snowboard, down he trails. year. Seen recently making his mountain bikers in southwest came in the virgin backcountry way home to Old Bennington Vermont who felt it was time In less than two years, the powder, where not a soul had via fresh, calf-deep snow at to organize, and take out- group now counts among its ventured. the foot of Mount Anthony door recreation into their own many local supporters Don- in Bennington, Vt., Newell re- As it were, when Newell hands. ald Campbell of the Vermont counted his day. told the story as the last bit of BATS focused on many Land Trust, who is also a twilight vanished in the west, Bennington selectman, and A friend drove him as far up parts of a trail system that al- he was on one of the trails of David Evans, the president of the other side of the mountain ready existed in and around the new Bennington Area Southern Vermont College, on by road as possible, he said. the Bennington area in various

46 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 whose lands many of the more the road, too. adventurous trails now exist. “Hey, man, make sure you “The idea was to work on also check out the Thunder- developing and maintaining a bolt.” At a Glance trail system that we could keep expanding, and use all sea- c BENNINGTON AREA TRAIL SYSTEM (BATS) sons,” Newell said. “Everyone Newell was talking about When: Trails open year-round. we have dealt with, from offi- one of the most celebrated Where: Bennington, Vt. cials to landowners, have been events south of the border, See Website for conditions/closures/maintenance receptive to the upgrade and in the Berkshires, which this Website for trail descriptions, volunteering opportunities, expansion of the area’s trail year will take place on March donations and, trail map download, conditions, and events: system.” 4: The 2017 Thunderbolt Ski www.batsvt.org The trails are multi-use, Race on Mount Greylock. Contact: [email protected] Newell continued, and for The race, named for the ski most of the year a solid cadre trail on Mount Greylock, is THUNDERBOLT SKI RACE of BATS volunteers works on truly a celebration of late win- maintenance as well as plan- ter in Adams, Mass., and the When: Saturday, March 4 ning and building in coordi- surrounding area. Whether Where: Mount Greylock at Adams, Mass. nated work sessions. contestant, volunteer (many Detailed information on entry, membership, registration, “The result is that we have are needed) or just spectator transportation spectating, and volunteering: Thunderbolt hikers, joggers, mountain bik- (draws hundreds every year), Ski Runners, www.thunderboltskirunners.org/the-race/2017- ers, cross country skiers and there is, again, something for race-details/ just about any kind of good everyone. recreational use you can think Matt Barlin, the director of,” Newell said. “Of course, of the 2017 Thunderbolt race, HILDENE, THE LINCOLN FAMILY HOME volunteers are always welcome was found tuning skis at his When: Open year-round to come help when we have home in Pownal, Vt. Where: 1005 Hildene Road, Manchester, Vt. work parties, and donations Full information on venues and estate: 800 578-1788, 802- are important to our work. All A member and longtime 362-1788 of this is done on a really tight devotee of the Thunderbolt Ski budget.” Runners, the club which spon- Website: www.hildene.org sors the race and maintains the The trail access and use is trail and its associated stations, free, and trails both existing Barlin said the premise of SOUTHERN VERMONT WINGS AND and new have been marked for the race sounds simple, but is WINTER HOMEBREW FESTIVAL the first time in local memory. much harder in execution: When: Saturday, March 18, noon to 4 p.m. BATS denizens have taken “Basically, it’s totally a Where: Masonic Temple, 504 Main St. Bennington, Vt. to creative naming of the trails, throwback to old-school ski- Full event information: 802-447-3311 with monikers such “The Wall” ing in the Berkshires,” Barlin Website and tickets: www.bennington.com/calendar a seemingly near-vertical and said. “In the early part of the endless rise up the northeast 20th century, when downhill side of Mount Anthony. A [skiing] was just emerging in ular ascent, the grueling test of The experience to get to the local favorite is “Halloween the U.S., most Alpine skiers heading up to the ski shelter top while slugging through Tree,” on the north and north- used to hike up the mountains before starting the descent. snow and carrying skis and east side of the mountain, a they wanted to ski. They just “The unique aspect of the poles and a backpack is like mostly new trail named for a strapped their skis on their Thunderbolt is the climb, and nothing in ski racing any- gnarly tree that looks like it’s backs, hiked up, and then even more so the camaraderie where, Barlin added. right out of a horror movie. ripped it downhill, sometimes it generates among the rac- Blair Mahar, co-founder and over and over in the same day.” “Early spring is a great time ers,” Barlin said. “Yes, you’re sergeant-at-arms of the Run- on the trails,” Newell said. “If About 100 contestants race all competing, but that climb ners, and also a biology teacher you’re from anywhere within each year, though sometimes up Greylock is super tough, let at Hoosac Valley High School an hour or so, or even if visit- up to an extra 20 have been alone with gear on your back. for the past two decades, said ing the area, you can spend the allowed, based on demand, Racers going uphill are con- that the Thunderbolt ski trail whole day out having a great Barlin said. stantly encouraging each oth- was developed in the 1930s as time.” The race has a number of er and passing along morale a result of the growing popu- But before heading back on categories, including men’s and boosts to each other, whether larity of Alpine skiing in the his trek home, Newell showed women’s, alpine, telemark, and pausing to catch their breath, U.S. that he knows how to go on snowboard, and the very pop- or passing quickly.” “The ’Bolt has a vertical of UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 47 more than 2,000 feet and it’s nard, its press and group tour over a mile and a half long,” director. Mahar said. “Add to that a “Somewhere on our 412 grade that exceeds 30 degrees acres, whether inside or out- in places, and you’ve got an ex- doors, there’s something for pert trail, one of the top wood- everyone in the family, and ed runs in the country.” that means year-round,” May- Racers must be at least 18 nard said. years old, Mahar added, and be In March, and sometimes members of the Ski Runners. in April depending on the Membership can be accom- weather, that means that is plished at the time of registra- there is snow on the ground. tion. Shuttles from downtown In that event, Hildene’s 12 Adams run spectators to the miles of trails over varied ter- finish where they can remain rain are typically buzz with or hike an extra 20 or so min- cross-country skiers and snow- utes to another large spectator shoers. area further up the ’Bolt. In the absence of the white Parking for racers and spec- stuff, visitors who have come tators will be in the Greylock to explore everything the es- Glen on Gould Road. Spec- tate has to offer make their tators may also park on West way to the visitor center, from Mountain Road and walk which a number of directions over to the Glen. No parking are available. will be allowed on Thiel Road. There will be buses shuttling “Considered the most im- spectators from downtown portant Lincoln site outside Adams to the Greylock Glen of Springfield, Illinois, every- from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. thing at Hildene encompasses its mission, which is ‘Values Volunteers are welcome not into Action,’” Maynard said. just to help for the race, but “We work hard at being good also for year-round mainte- stewards of the land and ex- nance of one of the Berkshires ercise environmentally sound, outdoor sports traditions, Ma- sustainable practices in all we har said. offer the public, throughout “There is nothing like the the estate.” Thunderbolt Race anywhere, While March and April are and we’re really proud of it and a bit early to take in Hildene’s how many people it draws in, world-famous gardens and pe- just to watch and cheers the onies, most guests begin their racers on, and just have a great stay with a visit to Robert and day out in the snow.” Mary Lincoln’s home where Late winter and early spring the focus is on bringing their is not all about being able to story to life. hit the trails. Back north of the Robert Lincoln built Hild- border, early spring brings cul- ene, his ancestral home, in ture, history, and family fun to From Top: A cyclist enjoying one of the newly created BATS trails 1905, after a successful career Manchester. on Mount Anthony, in Bennington. Photo by Jared Newell. as attorney and statesman and while he was president of the • Gery Benedetti #32, during the descent of the 2011 Thunderbolt c Pullman Company, the largest Ski Race at Mount Greylock. Photo by Tim Zelazo. Hildene, the Lincoln Fam- manufacturing company in the ily Home and former estate to • "Sunbeam," a fully refurbished 19th century Pullman passenger world at that time. Robert Todd Lincoln in Man- rail car now home at Hildene, the Lincoln Family Home in In the mansion is an histor- chester, Vt., the only son of Manchester, Vt. It once carried President Theodore Roosevelt ically significant exhibit, “The President Abraham Lincoln, during his successful 1912 campaign for the White House, as well American Ideal: Abraham is a destination jewel of many as served on President Franklin Roosevelt's funeral train in 1945. Lincoln and the Second Inau- cuts, according to Paula May- Photo by Stephen Hussar. gural,” which is set within the

48 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 context of Lincoln’s famous Matt Harrington, the cham- speech and includes one of ber’s executive director, said COME EXPLORE VERMONT only three of President Lin- that the sponsors have invited coln’s iconic stovepipe hats in some of the area’s top home existence. brewers, asking them to bring “Sunbeam,” the fully re- their very best home brewed 39TH ANNUAL stored Pullman rail car on the beer, cider, mead, braggot premises, is a visitor favorite. It and wine for a chance to be BENNINGTON came off the line in 1903, and crowned, “Best Home Brew- tells the story of the company, ery.” ARTS society, and the black Pull- Also, the organizing group man porters of the period. It’s has put out a call to numerous WEEKEND portrayed within the histori- area restaurants to submit their cal context of a timeline from best chicken wings for the AUG 4-6 the Emancipation Proclama- chance to be crowned “Best tion in 1863 to the civil rights Regional Wings.” movement in 1963. A $30 entrance ticket to This exhibit is the southern- the event will get each partic- BENNINGTON.COM/BAW most site on the Vermont Af- ipant a commemorative glass, CALLING ALL BUSINESSES rican American Heritage Trail, the chance to sample brews IN THE SHIRES (BENNINGTON COUNTY) Maynard said. and wings, and the ability to Finally, kids will love Hild- vote for the winners of each 22ND ANNUAL ene Farm, specifically the through a voting process, ac- FEATURE YOUR BUSINESS Rowland Agricultural Cen- cording to Harrington. GIN ATHRE LAIRCEA’&S PREMIER ter, housed in its new, state of “We were ecstatic when ap- “ENCYCLOPEDIA FOR TOURISTS” the art sustainable barn. There, proached with the concept,” HERB FEST children delight in visiting Harrington said. “We know WE DISTRIBUTE 70,000 COPIES IN with Hildene’s herd of Nu- how popular the past two years SNEWEEPNGLTAND2& -BE3YOND TO bian goats, which are key to of the 4 Corners [festival] have PROMOTE THE SHIRES OF VERMONT the cheese production facility been, so it was a pretty easy de- therein, whose processes and cision.” production lines are open to READY TO BUY AN AD? The organizers of the 4 Cor- [email protected] public view. ners festival, Harrington con- BENNINGTON.COM/ADVERTISING tinued, have great experience OR CALL 802.447.3311 c with this type of event. Coming full circle back to “We hope that locally we can Bennington, perhaps one of just add fuel to the fire to get the most anticipated events people excited, engaged and drawing passionate residents having fun,” he said. “Home and visitors from the region brewing is an up and coming will be held on March 18: the industry that we’re keeping BENNINGTON.COM/GARLICFEST first-ever Southern Vermont an eye on as a way to attract a Wings and Winter Home- younger demographic into this brew Festival. region.” The Bennington Area Harrington added that the Chamber of Commerce, along 7TH ANNUAL long term goal is to trans- with Madison Brewing Co. form Southern Vermont into and CAT-TV, are joining OKTOBERFEST a world-wide destination for forces to sponsor the inau- carefully crafted home and na- gural event, organized by the OCT 7 no-brews and spirits. group which led the popular 4 Corners North Homebrew “We think this festival Festival the past few years. The will help celebrate that and festival will be held at the Ma- encourage future brewers,” sonic Lodge, 504 Main St., in Harrington said. “It may be downtown Bennington from the end of winter, but it’ll be noon to 4:00 p.m. plenty warm at the homebrew BENNINGTON.COM/OKTOBERFEST fest.” •

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 49 Winter Sap to Syrup millions of out-of-staters har- At Continued from Page 25 boring similar fantasies. sweeteners like high fructose “Vermont is perfect just the corn syrup; Cooper-Ellis says way it is,” she now tells visitors. he’s seen the market grow as “That’s why you came here, re- Up to 3 miles from our location! he’s built his business. member?” $20 minimum Open 7 days a week No Power? No Problem! We have a generator! “The attitude is shifting,” he But with her national ap- says — people are using maple pearance tours always begin- products as a sweetener more ning at her local Northshire and more. “We expect it to Bookstore in Manchester Monday- Wednesday: 11am - 9pm continue to grow.” — Stimson reports news of Thursday - Saturday: 11am - 10pm what’s coming next on her Sunday: 12pm - 9pm Beautiful Views c website, ellenstimson.com — Cozy Fireplace she knows plenty of neighbors If you’re really looking for Local Beer are eyeing her work. Great Wine Selection pure flavor, it’s best to buy local. Bigger packing houses of- She doesn’t live in a typical “Make it Easy Monday” - 1/2 OFF all NY Style We have soups, ten blend syrup from multiple town, she acknowledges in Pizzas from 6 to close salads, seafood, sources. “Mud Season,” but “a high- steaks & more... end little picturesque village “$2 Tuesdays” - All selected canned beers are “It comes out very consis- only $2 Sunday Brunch, too in Vermont filled with people tent, but it’s not exceptional,” “Wine-Down Wednesday” - $2 OFF any glass who moved here from some- Located at Cooper-Ellis says. At Hidden and $10 OFF any bottle of wines the West River Trail Head where else.” Biking, Hiking and Springs, “generally speaking, “Ladies Night”Thursday - 1/2 OFF Cross Country Skiing! it is syrup that comes directly “We are not farmers,” she all appetizers and $2 well drinks Open Mic Every Thursday 7-10PM from farms we bought it from, continues. “Most of what I with Kevin Parry know about farming comes “Kids Eat Free” Sunday - Kids eat free with the or from our farm. So you’re 28 Spring Tree Rd, Brattleboro • 802-257-7563 getting a single-source, sin- from the See ’N Say I had purchase of an entree VermontMarina.com gle-batch syrup.” when I was about one.” *Some restrictions apply GIFT CERTIFICATES !! Here, where taps line hill- Even so, the author’s learn- side after hillside, this matters. ing. “When people around here “One Sunday, late in one taste really good maple syrup, of the first long winters after they know it,” she says. • we’d moved here, my shoes got stuck in the mud,” she writes Ellen Stimson in “Mud Season.” “Pulling Continued from Page 33 them up, I caught sight of tiny little shoots of what would, The most unique craft beer, covering almost a dozen cows deep into summer, become ti- wine and boutique spirits shop blocking the shortcut to her ger lilies. They had been right in the Berkshires. manicurist. Or when, waking under there, hidden away in one especially wintry morn- the dark all along.” ing, she found the store’s boil- “I sort of see everything in er overflowing, draining the life as either the wonderful or downtown water supply and the horrible-that’s-just-wait- turning the street into an ice ing-to-be-a-funny-story,” she rink. concludes in person. “I mostly That’s when Stimson had tend to get something good two revelations. one way or the other.” • One: “We were not Ver- monters,” she writes in “Mud Fly Fishing Season.” “This was perhaps the Continued from Page 42 most damning of all truths.” don’t let the tackle do the work Two: By confessing such for them,” Myers said. “If they sentiments publicly, she could use the proper mechanics, the kellyspackagestore.com turn lemons into lemonade. DALTON, MASSACHUSETTS equipment is going to do most Stimson began writing less 413-684-0870 of the work for them. Once for locals and more for the that’s figured out, it makes it a

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UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 51 lot easier.” The Battenkill River in athrop ommunities “The biggest hurdle is mus- Vermont and New York, the L C cle control,” so that one can get West and Connecticut rivers the timing of when to release in Southeastern Vermont, and A thriving, healthy culture that supports the line during the forward the Hoosic, Housatonic, Deer- part of the cast, Myers said. field, Westfield and Farming- the principles of equality, peace, “People tend to grip the fly ton rivers in the Berkshires all simplicity, integrity and community rod way too tight. Their whole offer challenges to suit anglers body is tense.” of varying skill levels. If all that has you worried “Tiny streams are every- about learning to cast properly, where in the Berkshires,” relax, Myers says. While cast- Desmond says. “For someone ing is important, perfection for looking for a bigger step up, it’s own sake is not the goal. the Housatonic fishes very well. The Deerfield fishes well, “What I tell people is don’t but it draws a lot of people.” worry about the cast. It’s about getting the fly in the water,” If there’s another mistaken Myers says. “Your casting is perception about fly fishing, going to come. It’s like riding it’s that the sport is a closed a bike.” loop — an old boys club of experienced, well-heeled sports- Visit lathrop.kendal.org That said, instructors agree: men. Practice is the best way to get or call 413-529-1110 good at the sport’s disciplines Not so. Myers, Desmond and truly enjoy it. and Peter Nardini at the American Fly Fishing Mu- “It’s all about building a seum all say they’ve seen an foundation,” Desmond says. increase in younger anglers. “Hopefully, you’ll go out on And Myers and Milhoan, of your own and struggle with it. Casting for Recovery, point Like playing an instrument or to increased participation by anything else, it takes time.” women. c Truth be told, women have a long and notable history in The Berkshires and South- the sport. ern Vermont have something else that’s essential for fly fish- During his guided tour of ing: Waterways upon which to the museum, Nardini explains enjoy it. the vital role played by Mary Enjoy a Carefree Stay While Visiting Vermont

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52 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 Orvis Marbury, Charles F. a good old boys club and to be Orvis’ daughter, in creating part of it you had to be affluent a national language for the or have special gear or a per- WATSON sport. Maybury was given re- fect cast. What we have seen sponsibility for the fly tying in organizations like ours is HOUSE operation of the family busi- genuine effort from brands in ness at the age of 20. And her the business to demystify that, book “Favorite Flies and Their break it down and lower barri- ARE YOU CONSIDERING Histories,” published in 1892, ers to entry.” • A NURSING HOME combined with her photogra- phy and fly exhibition at the Broomball FOR A LOVED ONE? 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, Continued from Page 43 helped standardize names Check Out the Dignified Alternative. that had previously varied by care, one at a time, right down 802-447-1161 region. In one of the photo- the stove’s vent pipe, remain- graphs, women can be seen ing alert for sparks. 45 Years of Distinguished Service to Our Community at river’s edge with fly rods in That ensured that the smell hand. of wood smoke, which some “I think the reason it’s a see as a mood elevator in itself, powerful vehicle for healing in would linger. We are that confident in women is it’s a chance to stop “Just getting out and mov- our ability to meet the for 30 minutes, two hours or ing in the cold,” Tirrell said needs of every RESIDENT. half a day and focus on pure of her solitary journeys, some- activity and enjoy the medita- times on foot, other times on tive properties of a simple con- skis, always with a GPS track- nection with nature,” Milhoan er logging her location. “Get- Call and visit us for a tour. said. ting warm by moving in the 802.447.1161 “There used to be this stig- woods. It’s just nice to be out 18 Prospect Street, North Bennington, VT ma about fly fishing that it was there and doing stuff.” •

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54 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 From the Archives The Awful Itch of April EDITOR'S NOTE: The fol- In the city, there’s an Eas- lowing essay appeared in the ter extravaganza at the Music April 1974 issue of UpCountry Hall. Madison Square Garden Magazine. is getting ready for elephants and acrobats. The first bare- By Joan Mills foot boy of the season has already sauntered down 42nd Money and sophisticat- Street, a gipsy band around ed thinking can accomplish his hair, a guitar slung across wonders. In New York, for his back and a job in a coffee instance, they are acquisitive house in prospect. Old wom- of spring, and so they have en walk sore-footedly by, car- made it happen, already and rying packages from Macy’s, entire. It’s bought and paid for made embarrassed and proud (or charged to somebody’s ac- by their new and improbable count), and palpable. blonde wigs. There’s an or- But here in the country, we gan grinder, and balloons, and plain folk have only April, the air smells of bus exhaust, leaking down the rooftops. Coty’s Muguet de Bois, and hot buttered popcorn. The shop windows of Fifth Avenue are thickly grassed Spring, by all the signs! But and banked with fragile flow- only in the city can one be so ers – plastic, but an answer of certain of the season. In the sorts to yearnings. Sloe-eyed, country, the issue is still in nippled mannequins pose, pel- doubt. We cannot purchase vis forward, in dresses of pink proof of spring. What we have and white, trailing ribbons, here is the mere best that God deliciously confusing lust and can do, which, as March runs innocence. The rain is happy into April, seems not to be reason for giddy umbrellas; much. sunshine is evoked by bikinis Where I live, God gives us on display. Pretty girls click mud in this season. We even along in high-heeled sandals, have a time in April called even when they must turn up Mud Week. Between the thaw their collars against a sudden and the rain, there’s mud al- Illustration: UpCountry Magazine, April 1974 chill. most anytime, but the Week is The fancy of young men distinguished by being the one And then? The cars must be and on Easter cards has not there must already have been in which our kids are let out of rescued by elaborate and ex- arrived, and winter has not ex- turned! At subway entrances, school for spring vacation. No hausting measures. The dogs actly gone. April is the interval old men are selling daffodils by matter what the kids do to cel- are banished to the barn. The that spans them, and it moves the bunch, and the girls carry ebrate, they do it in mud. kids of every size, slimy as only as fast as nature allows. the flowers in cones of green For nine glorious days, in creatures from the Black La- We watch, noticing every nu- tissue, and peek at them with rain or faint sunshine, little goon, hammer at back doors, ance that frustrates or beguiles. little smiles as they go. The boys play baseball in mud- pleading for food and amnesty. Not always, but often, when flowers will fade overnight, in slick, soupy pastures redolent Mothers go mad, and washing water glasses, clay jugs or sil- spring is on the calendar, the of cow. Or they wallow in machines are very agitated. earth is still covered with a ver vases, but the girls will go goop along riverbanks, fish- on flowering at Bonwit’s and Where are the daffodils, the crumple of lusterless old snow ing or snarling their lines or wildly caroling birds, the heat- sinking away into lumps and Bloomingdale’s and every- falling in. Little girls who do where. daft honey bees, the sweet ridges. Bleached weeds and not care for mud (some do, of breezes and the Oz look of grasses poke through, show- The daffodils come from course) are pushed into it any- green, green, green? ing no sign of life. Bird calls hothouses. We have no flowers way. Dogs roll in it, or dig in are lonely and occasional. Gray in the country yet – only the it for last year’s bones. The big Coming. As an article of faith, I tell you that all these rain falls and the dark rivers hope – and rain, as I said, and kids go joyriding, and on back run ominously swift. patches of green. roads sink to the hubcaps of are coming. Spring of lilt and their cars in mud. perfection enjoyed in cities But there begins to be a

UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 55 faint edge of warmth on the It’s not uncommon that at 'Only in the city can one be so certain of enduring chill. It comes and this time of year the surface of the season. In the country, the issue is goes and then persists. The the water-laden earth is glazed ground softens between the with ice, but my farmer neigh- still in doubt. We cannot purchase proof puddles of melted ice and the bors, in confidence that sum- of spring. What we have here is the mere pockets of grainy snow, and for mer is coming, are out anyway, best that God can do, which, as March a day or two gives off an odor plowing furrows between each that is musty-damp and sump- lie, until the sun is full up, the runs into April, seems not to be much.' tuous – the smell of earth! It glassy shards of broken winter. mixes with the clear scent of While we still shiver, the first rain-wet air, blending the first seeds go in to rest and wait for are in tatters. We sweep out try, chasing cobwebs and har- perfume of authentic spring. It warmth. the leavings of mice, and the boring the awful itch of April. first flies come in and settle on I itch and wait. Not until the is more evocative than violets; Crocuses pop up in min- unpurchasable, unknown in the sugar bowl. very end of April, the near iature bravado, and then col- edge of May, do I begin to see any city; and it stirs an ancient, lapse under a belated dusting In the city, they are eating atavistic joy. strawberries as big as plums, at last what I have waited for of snow. Time passes. One and now feel I deserve. Fourteen years ago, I first day while the ground is still hastening June. We slog stood on a doorstep in the spongy, the faintest possible through April. The grass is the purest country and realized that the haze of green appears where How agreeable is the grad- green it will ever be, and the curiously unfamiliar scent in last year’s grass grew rampant. ual greening and warming, branches of the nearest trees the air was earth melt. Thaw. Trees are discernibly in bud. between the days of gray and are knobbed with leaf-cas- Spring. The first pale shoots of the cold! With every rain there es stretched to their limit of containment. What I now Nine months before, my larger flowering bulbs break is still mud, and the frost still the surface of the soil. Rabbits comes with night. But the perceive is that within hours, family and I had come to that surely within another day, over house from the city, where and woodchucks are out for- birds have stopped muttering aging, looking thin and hun- and mumbling and uttering miles and miles of countryside, winter was something snow- the trees will be unfolding plows tidily removed, furnaces ger-driven. A skunk waddles in danger cries – they sing on and out of the garage at night, gentle mornings. The land- leaves of the frailest, newborn overwhelmed, and walls shut green. out. But we found a different, pawing through the barrels for scape begins to be romantic, real winter in the country, one anything to live on. Deer step with mists adrift in the valleys Everywhere I look, there for which neither we nor the tentatively into the fringes of and smoky green lying upon will be green – tinged with house we’d bought were in tilled acreage, searching for the hills. The sky is sometimes pink or amber or purple, but any way prepared. The season food. Until the green is ev- so high and blue and fine that still green — a thousand ten- moved in with us, surrounded erywhere, the creatures of the perfect strangers smile at one der shades of color, all green! us, lurked in the closets and woods are still imperiled. another in the streets of town. There will be one grand sweep burrowed in the cellar. But we humans are fat with My sons go out in shirt- of green upon green upon winter sloth and heavy foods. sleeves, for dalliances with airy, lovely green, shedding Cold lay siege to us. Snow transparent light. In roadside buried our cars, crept in un- We’ll work it off. Annually girls. My daughter wears an amazed, we survey the hav- ardent, restless look and a new artlessness and dooryard inti- der the doors, melted down macy – green. Green upon the the chimney. Winter nib- oc wrought by six months of pink sweater. I open a win- harsh weather and conceal- dow wide and lean out while mountains; green dappling the bled at our bones, paralyzed sun-bright rivers; green life in our plumbing, dashed to the ing snow. How different our a breeze lifts the curtain. I am spring chores are here from the full of nameless, middle-aged new-rooted willow and in a ground the wires that deliv- last majestic tower of elm. On ered our power, snatched away city simplicity of washing the longings. windows, tossing moth balls in every tree a poignant wash of our breath on bitter mornings. If I could just flee this lag- the cupboards and sweeping color will lie, overturning the On certain howling nights, I gard season and go to the city! our own strip of sidewalk! heart, equal to all imaginings! understood how easily people I’d buy six dresses and three could die of winter in the cold. Here the chimney leaks and hats, yellow sandals, and an Spring comes in its own time, and is beautiful. Its flow- But even that implacable the roof is missing shingles. armload of anemones. I’d buy The septic tank is backing up sophisticated kites for the boys ers are fleeting, and so is the winter receded finally into affecting clarity and brilliance something bleak and raw, but into the cellar. The lawn is and yards of slithery cloth for madly mulched with black- the girl, incense, and jars of of the greening. But the birds bearable. The day came that I rejoice with singing, and hon- sniffed thaw. And what I felt ened leaves, raveled mittens, English honey. I’d go to a sad fallen branches, gravel flung movie for the sake of tears I eybees swarm, and wasps float was primitive exultation: “I dreamily, and I am happy – have survived!” The world was there by February snow plows, don’t know what to do with and bits and pieces of the rake here; choose diamonds from humbled by innocence, replete circling closer to the sun. There with lack of want. would be heat and light and we mislaid last fall. The hedge the Cartier’s window; search life everywhere! And all those is snarled with Kleenex that all the faces I see for one I “Come to the city with me,” good things did come, slowly, hasn’t yet bio-degraded. The know; eat elegantly and woe- my best friend urges. Yes, I say; slowly, as they always do in soggy pages of an old New fully alone. in a few weeks, yes. But not nature. The waiting was, and Yorker lie in rags near where now. I don’t want to be any- is still, suffused with hope and the hammock hung in sum- c where now but where I am, mer. The fence is sagging; the glad awareness. I am better off in the coun- experiencing and admiring the house needs paint. The shrubs earth that is home. • 56 UpCountry Magazine March/April 2017 We know why you’re here. And we’re here for the same reasons.

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