Cottage Industry: Pulling Herself Up By Her Own Boot Bracelets
Dawn Hancy, a Vershire resident and fan of all things local, ushered in the New Year with a glass of hard cider from a nearby farm. This year, Hancy plans to turn her longtime interest in fiber and sustainability into a business of her own. The product? Boot bracelets. Worn over anything from cowboy boots to Uggs, the accessories often are made of beads or metal chains. Hancy’s, however, are handwoven sheep’s wool and alpaca fiber,...
Upper Valley Humane Society gala and fundraiser goes ‘Hollywood’
Normally a dressy affair, Upper Valley Humane Society’s annual gala was even snazzier this time around. “We definitely stepped it up a little bit for this one,” said Carrie Hamel, the nonprofit’s media and events coordinator. About 130 people put their best feet forward for their four-legged friends at A Night for Paws, held Nov. 14 at The Hanover Inn. The fundraiser featured a vintage-Hollywood theme. “It was wonderful, Hamel said....
Virtual ‘Lightbulbs’
Leaf-peeping in the Twin States is a well-established tradition, but for the past few years another fall happening also has provided a feast for the eyes — and ears. The fifth annual Woodstock Digital Media Festival, held on Oct. 16, featured speakers from across the country, including Phoebe Judge, host of the podcast Criminal ; Chicago activist and writer Suey Park; and Jesse Kriss, a designer and tool builder who works at NASA’s...
Work Here: It’s Cool
When Jon Nicholas was looking for a job after college, his baseball pitching coach at Colby-Sawyer College — then a Red River Computer Co. employee — suggested he apply there. But in Nicholas’ 22-year-old eyes, the company, which provides information technology products and services mainly to the U.S government, had three strikes against it. Government? Boring. Sales? Bad connotations. The company also is “a middleman.” Yet during...
Cottage Industry: Strafford Woman Mixes Passion and Savvy Into a Home Business
After decades of working for other people, Meredith Jo Henning-Dyer was ready to make a splash of her own. But first, she waded. “Here I am, 57 years old and starting my own business,” she said in a recent interview in her Strafford kitchen. “That’s nuts.” Friends made her believe in herself, telling her not to fear her own destiny, said Henning-Dyer, an avid walker and swimmer. “They pushed me off the diving board,” she said. A year...
The Big Event: At The Taste of Woodstock festival, a feast for all the senses
L ocal cheese, sweets and spirits are among the flavors featured at The Taste of Woodstock. But with music, dancing and art also on the menu, the free festival on Aug. 8 was a feast for the other senses, too. Beth Finlayson started the event several years ago. “The idea was to close down the street, have a street dance and give people a reason to come and taste all the good things Woodstock is known for,” said Finlayson, director of...
Back in the Black: Financial Coach Helps Call the Plays That Pay
Throughout Megan Sather’s childhood in Jericho, Vt., money ranked right up there with sex and religion. “Those were the three topics you were never to mention,” she said. Many other people — perhaps most people — had similar experiences, which Sather said might explain the stigma around the subject of money. Or perhaps it’s because people don’t learn financial literacy in school “and they feel embarrassed because maybe they’ve messed...
Cottage Industry: When a Battered Guitar Needs TLC, Lebanon Man Gets the Gig
Fires, bad paint jobs, long-term disregard, the guitars and basses that find their way to Will Morneault’s workbench have endured any number of indignities. Others have been loved so hard they need a little tender, loving care. Nearly all are older, some with value as collectibles. Yet when a newly spruced up guitar or bass is returned to its owner, it won’t be hung on a wall “like a trophy,” Morneault said. “They’re going to take it...
The Big Event: Painters, Sculptors Gather at The Fells in Newbury, N.H., for Annual Artists Weekend
While their approaches vary, the painters invited to the annual artists weekend at The Fells share a mission — to portray the landscape of the early 20th-century summer estate. The work is started and finished over the course of two days, with most artists completing two to six pieces. This year’s event, July 18-19, featured 16 painters and two sculptors, most from New Hampshire. Muggy weather and a rain shower didn’t dampen their...
Franchisees Fighting $15 Wage in N.Y.
New York — Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to have it his way with New York’s fast-food industry — and restaurant owners aren’t loving it. Franchise owners say they’re considering a lawsuit against Cuomo’s plan to raise the minimum wage in their eateries to $15 an hour, arguing that it is not fair or legal to be saddled with such a significant increase in labor costs that won’t apply to retail, landscaping, child care or other traditionally...
