Vermont’s rural towns are facing multiple challenges — a declining birth rate, closing general stores, school consolidation. Seven Days explores the problems, and how communities are responding, in this special report that spans the state.
Outside of Chittenden County, many Vermont communities are struggling with declining population, school consolidation and poor connectivity. When a key retailer or employer closes, it can create a domino effect of shuttering businesses. Here are scenes of some small towns with big issues.
Is there a mold problem at Champlain Valley Dispensary? Yes, say five former employees who spoke to VTDigger.org for a story published December 4. “There…
September 12, 1947-December 24, 2017 It has now been a year since you so suddenly and tragically left us. There are no words to describe…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Robert Louis Stevenson published his gothic novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in 1886. It was a best…
Meadmaker Ricky Klein taps kegs of sparkling honey wine to celebrate the season of snow-blown days and long, frosty nights. Outside, bonfires and steaming mugs…
Dear Scarlett, How do you know whether someone is “the one”? Signed, Mrs. Right(female, 19) Dear Mrs. Right, You can never be 100 percent sure….
Highland Farm was a deal — at least when a Utah developer bought the 500 acres of forested hillside for a cool $1.4 million nearly…
Farmer of the Year may be the most Vermont movie ever made in Minnesota. To explain: Directors Vince O’Connell and Kathy Swanson shot the film…
(Self-released, digital download) Are the ’90s back? In Burlington, at least, it seems the halcyon days of big, distorted guitars, angsty lyrics and pounding drums…
The small Northeast Kingdom city of Newport boasts a Catholic church of staggering proportions. Built of local granite, it sits on a dramatic perch overlooking…
Greensboro, population 762, has long had a reputation as a hideaway for well-to-do second-home owners and highbrow luminaries. Wallace Stegner, William Rehnquist and Margaret Mead,…
Dennis LeBlanc’s dental practice hasn’t changed much since he first hung a shingle 43 years ago. The 69-year-old Derby dentist has kept abreast of technological…
The only public playground in Guildhall is gone now. So are the baseball field, the school and most of the children. The town of 255…
Imagine a Coen brothers western that combines the stark fatalism of No Country for Old Men with the black comedy and ornate wordplay of their…
The word spread far and wide, all across the globe: Vermont was offering people $10,000 to move to the state. Wow, free money! Ehh, not…
Jack Keefe doesn’t smoke much weed, but he sure would like to sell it. The middle-age proprietor of the Jacksonville General Store displays plenty of…
A group of New Zealand students visiting Vermont this week has a new appreciation for walking in someone else’s shoes. Morristown residents lent the 11…
Burlington’s Anthill Collective is constantly on the move promoting street art and hip-hop culture in Vermont. From making murals for A_Dog Day and the Above…
You can’t miss the mural on the far wall of Hardwick’s Galaxy Bookshop. As the moon rises on a snowy evening, animals cavort, constellations sparkle…
Last year, second and third graders at Vermont’s Holland Elementary School rejected their teacher’s lesson plan and proposed one of their own — to write…
(Self-released, CD, digital) Everyone wants the big, glitzy present at Christmas. But the best Christmas presents are the ones you didn’t ask for or even…
Small-Town Troubles [Re “The Only Name in Town,” November 21]: I read Chelsea Edgar’s story on South Woodstock intently, looking for any strategies, any ideas…
Will’s Store on the town common in Chelsea is appropriately named — its proprietor, Will Gilman, wanted nothing more in life than to live and…
Things were not looking good for the Upper Valley town of Bradford — population 2,797 — in the autumn of 2015. In August of that…
“Oh, my God, is that freaking Mario Kart 64?” I muttered upon entering Babes Bar in Bethel. A projector blasted the classic Nintendo video game’s…
On a quiet Sunday evening at the Shoreham Inn and Pub, a pair of women chatted over glasses of wine at the bar. Nearby, a…
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