Author Archive for Cynthia Prairie
Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor more than 40 years. Cynthia has worked at such publications as the Raleigh Times, the Baltimore News American, the Buffalo Courier Express, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Patuxent Publishing chain of community newspapers in Maryland, and has won numerous state awards for her reporting. As an editor, she has overseen her staffs to win many awards for indepth coverage. She and her family moved to Chester, Vermont in 2004.

Chester takes possession of new fire truck
By Cynthia Prairie The Chester Fire Department took possession on Tuesday Nov. 26, of its new fire truck – a Class A pumper. Crew immediately began switching out accessories from the old truck and testing the equipment at the town garage off Depot Street, with the expectation that it could be ready for work […]

Using their noodles: Spaghetti dinner helps Keewaydin camp effort
The 70 or so 5th and 6th graders from Chester-Andover Elementary School are deliciously closer to going to Keewaydin Environmental Education camp in May 2014 thanks to the volunteer parents, teachers and pupils who served up a spaghetti dinner to more than 100 hungry folks last Thursday night, Nov. 21, 2013. The dinner — […]

Parks agency repairs Chester state forest accessibility, drainage problems
By Cynthia Prairie Chester’s only state-owned forest, the 108-acre Williams River State Forest in the Popple Dungeon area west of Nudist Camp Road, has gotten some much-needed work that will make it much more accessible to the public. Tim Morton, a Saxtons River resident who is the state District 1 stewardship forester for the […]

$22,000 state grant, $14,000 in donations push Londonderry park nearer to revitalization
By Cynthia Prairie With the awarding on Tuesday, Nov. 12, of a state grant for $22,000 and donations thus far reaching almost $14,000, the Londonderry Parks Board has passed the halfway mark of its goal of $63,600 to revitalize Pingree Park. Pingree Park is a 16-acre recreation area off Route 11 and Stowell Hill […]

3rd annual Rotary Cabaret a singular sensation
A s dinner winds down, the spotlight comes up and the third annual Chester Rotary Cabaret is under way. Students from Green Mountain Union High School’s drama and music departments entertained an enthusiastic crowd of diners on Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Newsbank Conference Center. The performances were proceeded by a dinner prepared by […]

Drywells, flooded street: Mountain View residents seek solutions
By Karen Zuppinger When Suzanne Waldren-Munukka and her husband David bought their home eight years ago in Chester’s Mountain View community, they noticed the roadside drain at the corner of Mountain View and Cross roads, right next to their corner home. They thought nothing of it. After all, the home has town water and sewer, […]

Annual Peru Fair draws out the crowds
The skies were blue, the weather warm, perfect for the 34th Annual Peru Fair on Saturday, Sept. 28. This old-fashioned town fair actually started life in 1979 as the World’s Largest Tag Sale. Now, however, it boasts more than 100 vendors. And it draws folks from all over for food, fellowship and fun, as well […]

Playhouse gets zoning board OK; Duke leaves WPTC
By Cynthia Prairie The Weston Zoning Board of Adjustment has granted the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company a conditional use permit to build a new theater complete with parking spaces, driveway and landscaping on the 5-acre Walker Farm property at the corner of Route 100 and Chester Mountain Road in Weston. ON THE COVER: Architect Jim […]

Smiling faces fill Chester’s 39th Annual Fall Festival
The sun shone bright on Saturday, and broke through a cloudy Sunday, enough to keep food vendors and craftspeople busy and shoppers and tourists visiting the Rotary Club of Chester’s 39th Annual Fall Festival on the Green. Craftsmen and women from Chester and beyond dotted the Green, demonstrating their art. Filling the air were the […]

Opponents lay out arguments against Dollar General plan
This is Part II of a two-part series reporting on last week’s Dollar General appeal, today covering the testimony for opponents of the proposed Dollar General store in Chester and cross-examination. Feel free to share your views on the articles and the issues in the Comment section below the article or send us a Letter […]

Zaremba defends Dollar General plans in court
This is Part I of two parts reporting on this week’s Dollar General appeal, only covering the testimony for Dollar General and cross-examination. Please share your views in the Comment section below the article. By Cynthia Prairie NEWFANE Many punches were thrown, quite a number were landed but none seemed to be a knockout in […]

Judge hears from Dollar General proponents
Posted at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013 NEWFANE The first day of testimony in the appeal of the Act 250 approval of a Dollar General for Chester wrapped up shortly before 5 p.m. after an early morning site visit and testimony from witnesses on behalf of the Zaremba Group, the developer for the 10,000-store […]

Playhouse plans for year-round performances with Walker Farm expansion
By Cynthia Prairie The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company is planning to expand its theatrical offerings to year-round with a new cultural center at the 4.9 acre Walker Farm, just north of its Weston Green main stage. The company, which attracts audiences from throughout the northeast, currently stages shows from late spring to early fall, offering […]

It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird, and a shame to miss this ‘Mockingbird,’ now at the Weston Playhouse
By Karen Zuppinger There are few things more Southern than sweet tea, molasses on hot buttermilk biscuits or Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Arguably one of the most influential novels of the 20th century, and one of the best film adaptations of all time, what could a stage production offer that the book and […]

Black River expands into meat processing with new 50,000-square-foot plant
By Karen Zuppinger SPRINGFIELD Springfield based Black River Produce recently opened a meat processing plant to meet a growing demand. The 50,000-square-foot facility is located in the old Ben & Jerry’s building in North Springfield Industrial Park, a few miles down the road from the company’s headquarters. The compound processes all natural beef, lamb and […]

Chester’s Cheyenne Prescott places 2nd in 10th Keene Idol
By Karen Zuppinger KEENE, N.H. Seventeen year old Chester resident Cheyenne Prescott is this year’s 2nd place winner of the 10th annual Keene Idol singing competition. Bested only by industry vet and former “The Voice” contestant, Michelle Brooks-Thompson, Prescott’s vocals and stage presence stood out on a night when all seven finalists brought their A […]

Toddler playset finally goes up at the Pinnacle
Click any photo to launch the gallery.

UPDATES: DRB on Dollar General; Ballinger’s stinkin’ Kickstarter campaign; Winston art is selling
The five-member Chester Development Review Board decided at its meeting on Monday, Aug. 12 that it would begin deliberating the Dollar General case on Thursday, Aug. 29. The meeting is not open to the public. In April 2012, the DRB had approved the construction of the proposed 9,100-square-foot Dollar General store. But opponents of the […]

DRB begins to address Dollar General proposal again
The Chester Development Review Board has gone through all the documents from the previous hearings on the proposed 9,100-square-foot Dollar General Store, according to zoning administrator Michael Normyle. At its Monday, Aug. 12 meeting, the five-member board will announce that it will begin considering what steps to take next. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. […]

LIFE IN WATERCOLORS: Winston painting sale evokes memories of the Chester Art Guild
By Cynthia Prairie Galen Pinkham is a large man with a ready smile, a welcoming laugh and a wealth of stories. He navigates this Grafton home with the ease of someone who grew up among the books, the record albums, the furniture and, especially, the many paintings that hang from just about every wall. Many […]