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.
E. coli levels drop at Chester sites; two remain above acceptable levels
The latest water tests taken on July 11 by volunteers of the Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance have found that E. coli levels have dropped at all six Chester area Williams River testing sites and are at acceptable levels at four — including two that were 10 times higher than acceptable levels. Click here for the […]
Festival Series ends evening performances; focus remains Arts-in-Education
By Cynthia Prairie The 28-year-old Green Mountain Festival Series evening performances will no longer be held. The GMFS board of directors announced on Wednesday, July 11, that the series was ending its annual performance lineup to focus on its Arts-in-Education program. In announcing the decision in an email, the board wrote, “For many years the […]
63 in Class of 2012 graduate from GMUHS
By Cynthia Prairie With all the anticipation that befits a coming adventure and the sadness of leaving a place of comfort, Green Mountain High School’s Class of 2012 graduated Friday, June 15, as the sun set behind the school. Graduation ceremonies took place on the front lawn, on a cooling evening warmed by friends and […]
Family Center gets DRB OK for move to larger digs
By Cynthia Prairie The Chester-Andover Family Center has been approved for a conditional use permit by the Development Review Board so that it can move into the former Curtis’ Bar-B-Q restaurant building at 908 VT Rt. 103 S. to set up its thrift shop and first-floor food pantry. The permit still needs to be formalized […]
Wunderle out at DRB; O’Neil, Westine to fill openings
By Cynthia Prairie As many expected, the Chester Select Board did not reappoint long-time Development Review Board member Scott Wunderle to another three-year term. Instead, the board on Wednesday, June 6 appointed Amy O’Neil and Carla Westine to three-year terms. The board also declined to fill a second alternate position, after Select Board member Derek […]
Bittersweet Family Day as CAES bids farewell to Plunkard
Becky Plunkard has been with Chester-Andover Elementary School for 19 years — it’s been so long that she had to look back in her records to check, she said. Secretary, paraprofessional, special education teacher, substitute teacher, mentor, Respect Club adviser, special events and after school activities coordinator. “I have kids that I remember when they […]
Rotary seeks families to host Thai student
The Rotary Club of Chester will be sponsoring a young woman from Thailand as the Rotary International Inbound Exchange Student for the school year 2012/2013, and is looking for host families for her. Host families will enjoy the benefits of having a teenage daughter to share their household with, together with an opportunity to learn […]
Select Board awaits legal opinion before filling DRB slots
By Cynthia Prairie The Chester Select Board may have intended to appoint two members and one alternate to the Development Review Board at its Wednesday, May 2, regular meeting, but a filing by attorneys for the Zaremba Group, which wants to build a Dollar General on Main Street, thwarted the plan. Zaremba, through attorney David […]
Fire leaves family of five searching for a new home
By Cynthia Prairie It was dinner time at the Picz home, a chilly April Saturday good for grilling out but eating in. At the grill, Greg Picz was the first to see the smoke crawling from the basement stairs. He yelled for his wife Angie and their three children to get out of the house – […]
15 from GMUHS inducted National Honor Society
One junior and 14 sophomores from Green Mountain Union High were inducted into the Flamstead Chapter of the National Honor Society Wednesday night at the school. The induction ceremony, lead by counselors Ally Oswald and Pamela O’Neil and chapter President Mark Harwood, was preceded by a dinner for inductees and their families prepared […]
Select Board appointment error throws Dollar General OK into question
By Cynthia Prairie Confusion on the part of the Select Board over when appointments to the Development Review Board are made could throw into question the DRB’s recent decision to allow a Dollar General store to be built, as well as other actions it may have taken since the beginning of March. (You can read […]
DRB approves Dollar General proposal
By Cynthia Prairie The Chester Development Review Board has approved the proposal for a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General store on a 1.4-acre empty parcel southeast of Main Street Pizza, former home to Zachary’s Pizza House. The decision was 3 to 2, and voted on Monday night, April 16. The DRB did place 35 conditions upon the […]
15 from GMUHS named to National Honor Society
Fifteen students from Green Mountain Union High School have been named to the National Honor Society, Flamstead Chapter, announced Ally Oswald, NHS adviser and GMUHS guidance counselor. The 91-year-old National Honor Society, with chapters in all 50 states, honors students who have “demonstrated excellence in the areas of Scholarship, Leadership, Service and Character,” according to […]
Easter Bunny arrives in Chester
The Easter Bunny hopped into Chester Saturday morning under blue skies and to the welcoming smiles of 75 kids and their parents, as the Chester Rotary once again hosted its Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Chester-Andover Elementary School. Chocolate eggs were spread like grass seed across lawn, garden and the Castle playground by Rotary members, […]
Jersey Girls to be featured at Beard Foundation Dinner in NYC
By Cynthia Prairie Chester’s own Jersey Girls Dairy will receive the honor of being featured by the James Beard Foundation at one of its rare Chef-Farmer Dinners, to be prepared by Chef Jason Tostrup of the Weathersfield Inn. The dinner, which will be held on June 4 at the foundation headquarters — the late James […]
Restoration brightens, gives accessibility to Stone Church
By Cynthia Prairie When congregants returned in January to the historic First Universalist Parish in the Stone Village after a four-month restoration project, they were met with jewel red carpeting and sunny yellow walls that draw eyes to the stunning stained glass windows. But the major aspects of the $270,000 project involved adding safety features […]
Whiting Library to institute late fees beginning April 2
For the first time in its 120-year history, the Whiting Library will begin charging patrons a late fee on any item not returned by the due date. The policy change takes place Monday, April 2. Each late item – whether a book, DVD, audiobook or CD – will be assessed 20 cents for each day […]
Vermont ranks 6th in nation for women
By Cynthia Prairie Vermont is the sixth best state in the nation for women to live in, according to a new poll by iVillage.com, an online community for women. Vermont’s neighbor to the west, New York, came in 7th, and its neighbor to the east, New Hampshire was listed as 10th. The No. 1 spot […]
DRB member speaks against Dollar General
By Cynthia Prairie Navigating a bumpy sea of issues – from the placement of catch basins to water connections for a sprinkler system to expected noise levels – the Chester Development Review Board held what it promised would be its final meeting last night, Monday, March 12, on a proposed conditional use permit to allow […]
