Art and Whimsy at the Sparkle Barn in Wallingford

Susan Leader is a well-known potter based in Andover, where she grew up at the base of Terrible Mountain.  In 1950, Susan's parents moved to Andover and settled at Popplewood Farm, where she spent her childhood.  Today, she lives on a piece of land her parents left her just up the road from her childhood home.  In this episode, we talk about Terrible Mountain, Susan's unconventional upbringing, and how she has found community in the small town of Andover.

Steve Farrow grew up in Holland, Vermont and now lives in Newport in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Steve studied at UVM in the 1980s and his master’s thesis focused on Vermont place names. He now teacher geography at Community College of Vermont. In this Happy Vermont podcast episode, Steve and host Erica Houskeeper talk about Vermont place names and lost names like Elysiana, Hurricane and Jefferson County. They also explore Vermont gores and grants, as well as town names like Eden, Troy and Athens. www.happyvermont.com

Mike Snyder of Stowe was Vermont’s Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation for over a decade before leaving his post in December 2022. He’s now working as an independent consultant. Mike and host Erica Houskeeper met up at Brownsville Forest in Stowe to talk about fall foliage, forest health, and what it's like living in a popular tourist town. Visit my website Happy Vermont: https://happyvermont.com Support Happy Vermont on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/happyvermontpodcast/membership Subscribe to Happy Vermont: https://mailchi.mp/happyvermont/subscribe-to-happy-vermont  

Glenn Fay of Burlington is an author, historian and seventh-generation Vermonter. He’s also a descendant of one of the Green Mountain Boys. Glenn wrote Hidden History of Burlington Vermont and has a new book out, Ambition of the Remarkable Family of Ethan Allen. On a sunny day in July, we met at the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum in Burlington, where Glenn serves as a board member. In this episode, Glenn shares how Ethan Allen is famous for capturing Fort Ticonderoga from the British and was also a complicated figure. We also talk about Burlington’s history, old neighborhoods, and the city's waterfront, which was once a bustling lumber port.  https://ethanallenhomestead.org https://happyvermont.com  

Traveling east on Route 118 along the Trout River is a nostalgic scene with covered bridges, barns and mountain views. After a few bends in the road, a clear view of the Montgomery Center for the Arts unfolds. The Greek Revival building was empty the first time Sebastian Araujo saw it when he and his partner moved to town from Provincetown, Mass. The iconic building, perched at the intersection of Main Street and Mountain Road, is a former Baptist Church built in 1866. “These buildings deserve to be restored. They deserve to be cherished. They deserve to be protected,” says Araujo, founding director of the Montgomery Center for the Arts. “And it's really important, because if we don't know where we come from, we don't know who we are in the present.” Since opening six years ago, the Montgomery Center for the Arts has hosted art exhibits, performances, workshops and meditation sessions.  Araujo and others have tirelessly volunteered to help repair and preserve the building, organize events and get the word out.   https://www.montgomerycenterforthearts.com https://happyvermont.com https://www.patreon.com/happyvermontpodcast    

Artist and entrepreneur Stacy Harshman was living in New York and looking for a change. She Googled "nature, therapy, community, work and mountains" and landed in Vermont.  Seven years ago, she started the Sparkle Barn in Wallingford, which has become a wildly popular destination in this small town in Rutland County. The Sparkle Barn is a gift shop and art installation located in an old dairy barn on Route 7. In this episode of Happy Vermont, Stacy shares how she created this special place and how she’s found healing, happiness and belonging in Vermont.

Adamant is an unincorporated Vermont village between Calais and East Montpelier.  Its geographical boundaries are hard to define. In this episode of Happy Vermont, Erica Houskeeper talks with three women about Adamant's history, the local co-op that's a community hub, and how Adamant is a state of mind.  https://happyvermont.com https://www.adamantcoop.org  

Mount Philo in Charlotte stands at 968 feet. It offers some of the most beautiful views, plus hiking trails, an auto road and campsites. It became Vermont’s first state park 100 years ago in 1924. Judy Chaves is the author of Secrets of Mount Philo: A Guide to the History of Vermont's First State Park. In this episode, we talk about Mount Philo's significance, its history and why people love this small Vermont mountain.

Outdoor recreation is breathing new life into Poultney, which is home to Lake St. Catherine, the Poultney River, the Delaware and Hudson Rail Trail and Slate Valley Trails. James Johnson lives off the grid in a yurt on land once owned by his grandmother. He's also the founder of the Fifth Season Race and Ride, a quirky mud season ride where participants ride around to local sugarhouses.  In this episode of Happy Vermont, James Johnson and other locals talk about life in Poultney, exploring the outdoors in Poultney, and why they call this tight-knit community home.  Read more: https://happyvermont.com/2024/04/09/outdoor-recreation-renaissance-in-poultney/

Pete and Sandy Gebbie are farmers and skiers. They have three rope tows on their 400-acre property, which sits at an elevation of about 2,000 feet. When the snow is good, friends come over to ski. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the first rope tow, which opened in Woodstock in January 1934. In this episode, Pete and Sandy talk to host Erica Houskeeper about running a rope tow and what the tradition of rope tow skiing means to Vermonters.