All Entries in the "Featured" Category

Changes in store for Lisai’s Chester Market
With Photo Gallery and Story Below By Cynthia Prairie I t’s obvious. Just look at the grocery carts. Most of the full-sized, difficult-to-turn models have been replaced by shiny sub-compact, double-decker ones that save energy as customers easily maneuver them through the aisles at Lisai’s. And there has been and will be more. Change that is. […]

Sun shines on 38th Fall Festival on the Green
A persistent high fog finally broke after noon on Saturday, Sept. 22, to bring out the crowds to the Chester Rotary’s Fall Festival on the Green. It remained a beautiful weekend almost up to the end, when clouds rolled in to cast a similar chill Sunday afternoon that had dampened Saturday morning. Within the two […]

Whiting Library, biomass plant dominate Select Board meeting
By Karen Zuppinger Whiting Library chairman Bruce Parks and several members of the Library Board of Trustees voiced their concerns during the Select Board meeting of Wednesday, Sept. 19, about a memorandum of understanding that the Select Board wants the trustees to sign. The main issue stems from the most recent outside audit that called […]

SOCCER PREVIEW: For Green Mountain soccer, it’s a numbers game for varsity squads
By Greg Hart Soccer is generally not a game of numbers, certainly not the way that sports like baseball and football are driven by statistics to quantify and evaluate performance of teams and individual players. Typically the only numbers that matter in soccer are goals scored, final score and a team’s won-loss record. However at […]

An Old Home Day photo gallery
After a year’s absence, Chester Old Home Day and Fireworks 2012 kicked off Saturday afternoon Sept. 1 under bright skies and cheery faces. The event, put on with the help of the Chester American Legion Post 67, the Ladies Auxiliary and the Sons of the American Legion, featured dance music by Sound Investment, fried dough, […]

Public offers suggestions on zoning regs; 2nd hearing set
By Cynthia Prairie Concerns about enlarged minimum property size, noise limits, property uses and the enforceability of zoning language drew about 30 Chester residents out on Monday night, Aug. 20, for the first of four public hearings to be held to take comment on proposed changes to the town’s zoning regulations. The hearing was held […]

Proposed zoning changes to get public hearing Aug. 20
By Shawn Cunningham After nearly two years of work, the Chester Planning Commission has released the proposed new zoning regulations ahead of a Monday, Aug. 20 hearing when the public can ask questions and comment on major changes to the town’s land-use laws including new districts, minimum lot sizes, new setbacks, fewer conditional uses and […]

More brain drain at the Chester Development Review Board
By Cynthia Prairie For the fourth time in five months, an experienced member of the Development Review Board is gone. Bruce McEnaney resigned two weeks ago, after he took a job at the Jeld-Wen plant in Ludlow. This once again leaves two vacancies on the five-member board and only one person – Harry Goodell – […]

A healthy wellness community grows in Chester
By Jade Dunn Ten years ago, few would have thought that Chester could become a Mecca for holistic, naturopathic and alternative medicines. But with more than nine practitioners – in acupuncture, massage and acupressure as well as some of the more controversial fields such as Reiki – this town of more than 3,000 is well […]

Biomass plant switches to air-cooled; fiber optic coming on line
By Shawn Cunningham In a remarkably short meeting on Wednesday, July 18, the Chester Select Board covered a wide variety of topics in just under 90 minutes, including updates on the Springfield biomass plant and VTel’s federally funded project to replace existing telephone wires with fiber optic cable. Board members had a number of questions […]

Chester detective part of Windsor team that focuses on child sex abuse cases
ON THE COVER: From left, Det. Matt Wilson, SIU head Julie Gaudette, Victim’s Advocate Pam Weigel, SIU coordinator Katie Ouelette, Springfield Det. Allison Novasel, SAAPC liaison Cindy Morancy and Deputy State’s Attorney David Cahill. by Stephen Seitz Sex abuse is a crime that carries emotional damage that can go well beyond the physical crime. And […]

Four Chester silversmiths prove their mettle
By Kelsy Allan Originally used for trade in early Greek, Spanish and Roman empires, and later used in technology, decoration, jewelry, film and even insulation, silver has been alluring people since 3000 B.C. Made into coins, molded into various patterns and designs, formed around stone and glass, silver in all of these forms and more […]

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 […]

Select Board meeting: Hudkins resigns DRB, Biomass concerns voiced, tax rates set
By Shawn Cunningham On a sticky early July evening when electric fans on the second floor of Town Hall had to be shut off for the gathering to hear, the Select Board’s special meeting was meant to set the town’s tax rate but included the resignation of Development Review Board chair Peter Hudkins. Just before […]

E. coli at two Williams River spots 10 times above acceptable level
By Shawn Cunningham and Cynthia Prairie E. coli levels at two spots in the Williams River in and near Chester were 10 times higher than acceptable levels for swimming, according to samples taken at those sites Wednesday morning, June 27. Those spots are below the Waste Water Treatment Plant and at the Bartonsville Bridge. “The […]

Sports: Cote, Chester dominate Westminster for Majors championship
By Greg Hart Chester 5th Grader Dan Cote pitched a masterful one-hitter, with the Chester Reds winning by a score of 6-0 during the Valley Youth Baseball Majors Championship on Wednesday, June 27 at Greven Field in Cavendish. Cote took a no-hitter two outs into the the sixth and final inning, when it was broken […]

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 […]

Alumni Parade draws Super Heroes to Chester
Chester was filled with Super Heroes under warm blue skies on Saturday, June 9, as the annual Alumni Day Parade made its way through town, up from Town Hall, past the Jiffy Mart and the Green, which was filled four-deep with onlookers. An estimated 2,000 people enjoyed the 30-minute parade, filled with floats, music from […]

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 […]