“The taste of Montpellier”
MONTPELIER — Buzz continues to grow about the second annual “Taste of Montpellier,” and organizers are confident the inaugural version will feel like, well, an aperitif.
Don’t take our word for it. Ask Dan Groberg, executive director of Montpellier Alive.
“It was a big hit last year and we’re excited to continue to develop it,” says Groberg, who noted that the recipe will include a few new ingredients.
Of course, there will be food (lots) and entertainment (lots too) on a Saturday afternoon when State Street is closed.
But the “Taste of Montpellier” is a three-day affair (unless you count the Montpelier Burger Battle, which is still ongoing and, if all goes well, will stretch into October.
Saturday is the big day and last year’s ‘Feast of Fools’ has been replaced by ‘Le Bon Goût’.
The latter is a much more robust edition of last year’s test, which took place amid pandemic-related uncertainty.
Groberg says he’s confident “The Great Taste” will taste great and, in addition to an impressive collection of some of Vermont’s best food, will feature live entertainment at two locations and a series of chef demonstrations.
The latest of these is BYOB (bring your own bread) because “Bread Doctor” Martin Philip, the award-winning baker and author, as well as baking ambassador at the King Arthur Baking Company, will diagnose your ailments. baked goods in real time at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Most of the demos will take place in the State Street tent, although there’s one scheduled at the Capital City Farmers Market earlier today, and another competing with the Bread Doctor at the Barr Hill Cocktail Garden.
There’s so much going on and because mentioning everything just isn’t practical, we encourage you to check out /montpelieralive.com/taste to find out what’s happening where and when is the next best thing.
BARRE — How did more than 250 letters written during the American Civil War by two paper-savvy soldiers born and raised in Williamstown end up in a wooden box in the attic of a Pittsburgh home?
This puzzle has long since been solved by Carleton Young, who said he would not bring the box or letters he discovered in his parents’ attic more than 15 years ago with him in central Vermont this weekend.
It doesn’t need to, according to Young, who said the letters and, to a lesser extent, the box, feature prominently in a PowerPoint presentation the retired high school history teacher will give at Barre Elks Lodge. Saturday afternoon and at the Williamstown Historical Society on Sunday.
Both events are free and are far from the first time Young has been to Vermont since coming across letters written by Williamstown residents Henry and Francis Martin in 2006.
Both Martins were members of the First Vermont Brigade. Henry was a casualty of war, losing his life in battle in the wilderness. Francis lost his leg due to an injury he sustained in the Battle of Cedar Creek. He eventually returned home to Williamstown, where the letters were until they were gone.
This is where Young must have researched, because while his father, William, grew up in Barre and was valedictorian of the class of 1937 at Spaulding High School and his grandfather – also William – worked in the local granite quarries and eventually married his grandmother, Ada, who taught Spaulding, there was no obvious connection to the sprawling Martin clan of Williamstown.
It wasn’t until Young discovered that his grandfather had been briefly married to Bernice Sibley, who died in 1915, and was a granddaughter of the brothers’ father, Chester Martin, by his second marriage.
Piecing it together wasn’t easy, but it explains how the mailbox ended up in the family, and how when Young’s father moved to Pittsburgh during World War II, it ended up in his attic.
The rest, as they say, is history, literally and figuratively.
The letters themselves have now all been transcribed, although this was trickier than it looks, as the Martin boys were fans of the paper-saving technique known as “cross-writing “. There are several examples in Young’s presentation of letters that were written, turned aside and then written to share stories from the war well preserved in a wooden box.
Saturday’s free presentation at Elks Lodge will begin at 1:30 p.m. Those interested can make reservations for lunch to be served at 12:30 p.m. by calling 802-479-9522.
Sunday’s presentation at 4 p.m. will be at the Williamstown Historical Society. It’s a repeat performance for Young, who was last in Williamstown in 2019 to speak about the letters written by the Martin boys during the Civil War.
BARRE — Spaulding High School’s Homecoming Parade isn’t ready yet, and this year’s organizers hope to make it a much bigger affair than the four floats — one for each class — that have typically been featured in the annual procession.
Pam Smith and Danielle Brizzolara, co-advisers of Spaulding’s National Honor Society, are turning the parade into a “big community party.” What they have in mind will likely be a multi-year venture, but they hope to start building this year.
They fielded the high school marching band and a contingent from Spaulding’s J-ROTC program, but it was a low hanging fruit. The same goes for the four floats that students in each class create in a competition that is a Spaulding tradition.
That’s a solid base, but Smith thinks bigger is better, and would gladly take offers from people who want to take part in a parade to be held within a week from Saturday (that’s the September 17, if you don’t have a calendar handy).
The weather is always a moving target, but it will likely be mid-afternoon and finish in Spaulding before kick-off for this year’s return game.
Past classes are encouraged to think about entering; the same goes for local businesses, scout troops, dance schools, etc.
Anything is possible and bigger is better, according to Smith.
“We would like homecoming to be a great time of community fun,” she says.
So how do you register or find out how to register for this year’s Homecoming Parade?
MARSHFIELD — Tonight is movie night in Marshfield, where the folks at Jaquith Public Library will wrap up their recent string of outdoor movies with one they’ve tried hard not to advertise.
Not because they don’t want to spread the word, but because of licensing deals because they can’t. To find out what show is happening in Marshfield, you have to dig around.
The series kicked off with “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” a few Thursdays ago, followed by “Black Panther” on August 25 and “Galaxy Quest” a week ago.
Tonight, ‘The Muppets’ will take over the outdoor screen at Old Schoolhouse Common at 8.15pm, and if you bring your family, a blanket, lawn chairs or even your vehicle, you can enjoy the latest film of the season. courtesy of a local library that is recruiting both vendors and volunteers for their “Harvest Festival,” to be held September 25.
Want to contribute to Talk of the Town? Email it to [email protected]. Be sure to put Talk of the Town in the subject line.
