This Week’s News
Brandon Fire District seeks voter approval for new water tank
Back in 1878, Brandon hired an engineering firm from Pennsylvania to dig a trench, by hand, from Fern Lake to the village, at a cost of $40,000 (approximately $1.1m today).
Brandon firefighters continue their rescue training
More than forty firefighters and backcountry rescue volunteers met at the Rochester office of the U.S. Forest Service last Saturday.
Hard Tellin’: How to reinvigorate unpopular family holiday traditions
This Christmas will mark the 18th year that I have been forcing my kids to make homemade gifts for each other.
Names lost in Vermont, Part 14: Preedom and Rabtoy/Robeston
My recent research on the McGee family pulled me into the perplexing story of Angeline, wife of Lewis McGee of Chittenden, Vermont.
I worked for a crook (and lent money to another)
In the fall of 1945, I worked for a crook. I was a high-school junior that year (Middlebury High School, Class of ‘47) who was always looking to make some extra money.
Photos of the Week
Sports
Hunters preparing for deer season
Hunters are gearing up for the start of Vermont’s 16-day rifle deer season that begins Saturday, Nov. 16 and ends Sunday, Dec. 1.
Otters over Oxbow, 39-26
The Otter Valley Union High School football team is moving on to the semifinals after picking up a home win against Oxbow on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Stickin’ with it
Anger and sadness. That’s how the seniors on the Otter Valley Union High School field hockey squad described the ending of the 2018 season. Those two words summed up their feelings about last year’s season, and the motivation they had before this season began.
Otters football stun Fairfax
The Otter Valley Union High School football team upset previously unbeaten Fairfax on Saturday night, 38-36, to finish the regular season at 5-3 and earn the No. 3 seed in Division III.
OV victorious, 7-1
The Otter Valley field hockey team finished their regular season the same way they began it, with a win over Brattleboro. Saturday’s game saw the 11-1 Otters hosting a 4-9 Colonel’s team in Brandon.

