An Ode to Trees, Forests and Foliage

This holiday season, windows on Brattleboro's Main Street and beyond are being decorated for the inaugural Festival of Miniatures.  Festival organizer Melany Kahn talks about the event and the town she loves. She also shares insight into Brattleboro's strengths and challenges, and why local art matters. www.brattleboro.com happyvermont.com      

Jamie Ide of Jericho spends a lot of time on the western side of Mount Mansfield—where you’ll find Underhill State Park and trails to hike to the top of Vermont’s highest peak. But it turns out there was a ski area there, too. Jamie talks about finding relics of the old ski area in Underhill and what it was like on the quieter side of the mountain many years ago. https://happyvermont.com Happy Vermont Holiday Gift Guide

Kendall Gendron's favorite movie is Beetlejuice. When the Seattle native met her future husband and discovered that his hometown was East Corinth—where the movie was filmed—it felt like a match made in heaven. In 2016, the couple moved from the Pacific Northwest to East Corinth. When the opportunity arose to own the fictional Miss Shannon's School for Girls from the Beetlejuice movies, Kendall jumped at the chance. It wasn’t just about owning a part of movie history, but how the iconic, Gothic structure on Village Road could become a vibrant events venue and community gathering space. In this episode, I talk to Kendall and lifelong East Corinth resident Wade Pierson about Beetlejuice, the building's past, present and future, and the meaning of community. Visit happyvermont.com Support Happy Vermont on Patreon 

Mike Snyder is passionate about keeping Vermont forests healthy, especially in the face of climate change.  We met up on a wooded trail in Stowe to talk about the consequences of overuse, the foliage outlook for this year, and how we can be more mindful when we’re exploring the woods.

At one time there were 38 fire towers in Vermont. Now there are fewer, but Vermont fire towers are more popular than ever. Luke O’Brien, a forest recreation specialist with the State of Vermont, talks about the history of Vermont fire towers and why they matter. Visit my website: happyvermont.com Help support Happy Vermont: patreon.com Subscribe to Happy Vermont's newsletter: mailchi.mp/happyvermont/subscribe

South Mountain in Bristol is a legendary place.   Ethan Mitchell, a history and mathematics teacher, grew up in nearby New Haven. He’s a folklore enthusiast who has researched tales of money digging in Vermont, including stories about people searching for treasure on South Mountain.   https://happyvermont.com  

Along Vermont’s interstates stand a unique collection of 16 abstract sculptures created by internationally renowned artists. more than 50 years ago. These sculptures were placed at rest areas along Interstates 89 and 91 in the early 1970s. Decades later, most of them are now hidden by forest growth. That will soon change. The collection could be described as the largest outdoor presentation of sculpture in the world. Art conservator Bob Hannum of Barre is working with the state of Vermont to clean, repair and move these sculptures into view so they can be enjoyed once again by the public. Visit happyvermont.com Support this podcast: patreon.com/c/happyvermontpodcast

Margaret Loftus is a former public defender.  She’s now a farmer. She and her husband Jonathan left Brooklyn for Vermont in 2006 in search of a better place to raise their kids—Keelan, Tobin and Wendell—and grow their own food. After years of learning about farming, growing organic vegetables, and raising animals for beef, pork and lamb, the family-run Crossmolina Farm—named after a town in Ireland—became a full-time enterprise in 2018. In this episode, Margaret talks about creating a new life in Vermont, learning how to farm, and creating a tight-knit community around food.    Read about Crossmolina Farm in Daybreak  Find events, stories and more podcast episodes on HappyVermont.com Help support this podcast on Patreon and get free swag.   

Host Erica Houskeeper talks with attorney Spencer Crispe of West Brattleboro and forester Norm Arseneault of Granville about why Vermont ancient roads still matter. Subscribe to my newsletter Support Happy Vermont on Patreon  Visit HappyVermont.com Get in touch: [email protected]

Chris Wilcox is vice president of Wilcox Ice Cream in Sunderland. Chris was my first friend when my family moved to Vermont in 1979.  Not only were we friends, we were neighbors, too. I would zig zag my way through a couple of fields and cross a dirt to get to her house. The farm you see just south of Equinox Valley nursery on Route 7A, where Chris spent her childhood. But 24 years ago, on May 7, 2001, a fire tore through the farm on Route 7A, destroying multiple buildings, including one that housed the ice cream business. The farm you see now on Route 7A is no longer part of Wilcox Ice Cream. It hasn’t been for years. For the past decade, they’ve been making ice cream out of their facility in Sunderland.  In this episode, Chris talks about ice cream, hard work, perseverance, love and loss.   https://www.wilcox-ice-cream.com https://happyvermont.com