Happy Vermont

The Seven Stars Arts Center is one of those rare places that blends history, community, reinvention, and a touch of quirkiness.

What began as a Baptist church later became a grange hall, then a garage, and eventually a healing arts center. Now the building is an education and performing arts venue run by volunteers.

Located a few doors from the Sharon Post Office on Route 14, the building still resembles an old church. But the stee...

There’s a lot to love about Vermont general stores. 

This episode includes an interview with Ben Doyle, the president of the Preservation Trust of Vermont in Montpelier. The organization has helped many Vermont towns save or reopen general stores. 

I also chat with Dan and Alison Singleton of Singleton’s Store in Cavendish, which opened 80 years ago.

htt...

Jamie Ide of Jericho spends a lot of time on the western side of Mount Mansfield—where you’ll find Underhill State Park and trails to hike to the top of Vermont’s highest peak.

But it turns out there was a ski area there, too. Jamie talks about finding relics of the old ski area in Underhill and what it was like on the quieter side of the mountain many years ago.

https://happyvermont.com

Happy Vermont Holiday Gift...

Kendall Gendron's favorite movie is Beetlejuice.

When the Seattle native met her future husband and discovered that his hometown was East Corinth—where the movie was filmed—it felt like a match made in heaven.

In 2016, the couple moved from the Pacific Northwest to East Cori...

Along Vermont’s interstates stand a unique collection of 16 abstract sculptures created by internationally renowned artists. more than 50 years ago.

These sculptures were placed at rest areas along Interstates 89 and 91 in the early 1970s. Decades later, most of them are now hidden by forest growth. That will soon change.

The collection could be described as the largest outdoor presentation of sculpture in the world. Art cons...

Margaret Loftus is a former public defender.  She’s now a farmer.

She and her husband Jonathan left Brooklyn for Vermont in 2006 in search of a better place to raise their kids—Keelan, Tobin and Wendell—and grow their own food.

After years of learning about farming, growing organic vegetables, and raising animals for beef, pork and lamb, the family-run Crossmolina Farm—named after a town in Ireland&mdas...

Chris Wilcox is vice president of Wilcox Ice Cream in Sunderland. Chris was my first friend when my family moved to Vermont in 1979. 

Not only were we friends, we were neighbors, too. I would zig zag my way through a couple of fields and cross a dirt to get to her house.

The farm you see just south of Equinox Valley nursery on Route 7A, where Chris spent her childhood. But 24 years ago, on May 7, 2001, a fire tore through the ...

The town of Stratton is best known for the popular ski area, Stratton Mountain Resort. But beyond the 3,000-acre ski area, the town has 30,000 acres and about 300 full-time residents.

At one time in the 1930s, the population was so small that there were fears the town would go the same way as the unincorporated communities of Glastenbury and Somerset. 

Town Clerk Kent Young talks about Stratton's tiny population, the fire towe...

Cochran’s Ski Area in Richmond is tiny but mighty. 

The ski area was started in the early 1960s by Mickey and Ginny Cochran. 

Their children, Bob, Barbara Ann, Marilyn and Lindy, came to be known as the “The Skiing Cochrans.” They represented the U.S. in the Winter Olympics, with Barbara Ann winning the gold in 1972.

In this episode, Barbara Ann talks about the ski area's early days, her racing career an...