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
Kaizen Fitness Arts, martial arts studio, opens in Brandon
Growing up in New Hampshire, David Belanger was a big fan of Ip Man, a Chinese martial artist who taught the legendary Bruce Lee.
The new Nesh, founded on old farmland, still thriving
After the Brandon Country Club closed in 1944, the town went without a golf course for thirteen years until, in 1957, a group of Brandon golfers started investigating places in town to build a new one.
VT Wrestling Championship at Otter Valley; Cole named Coach of the Year
Vermont’s top wrestlers competed in the “House of Noise” at OV last Friday and Saturday. One hundred and fifty-one competitors on 25 teams vied for the individual and team state championships.
Otter Valley Wrestling Alumni Association presents the first Ray Miro scholarship to Cassy Sue Thompson
A $1,000 check was presented to OV senior Cassy Sue Thompson by Wrestling Alumni Association President Richard Kepner last week.
Brandon Country Club created to fill the gap
After the first Neshobe Golf Club folded in 1903, the town of Brandon went without a golf course for the next 24 years.

