The spring clean-up has begun! We'll be raking and removing scrub from both the L.S. Gordon Store lot and the new Saputo area over the coming weeks, and getting our lawnmowers ready for action. Looking forward to getting more flowers into the ground, too.
The Green Mountain Cold Spring Creamery, circa 1910.
International dairy processor Saputo donates Starksboro property to Big Heavy World:
Big Heavy World, a volunteer-staffed organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Vermont-made music, has received a donation of property in Starksboro.
Saputo, one of the top twenty dairy processors in the world, offered the gift to help support Big Heavy World's effort to restore a century-old general store on a site overlooking the Lewis Creek Valley. The property sits on a stone ledge overlooking the oldest homestead in the village and an agricultural valley that's been farmed for over two hundred years. It adjoins the site of the L.S. Gordon Store, a general store constructed in 1907, presently undergoing restoration to become an archive space for the Vermont Music Library, a program of The Big Heavy World Foundation. The Saputo land will aid the project with an addition of safe parking and a beautiful natural setting.
Saputo, founded in 1954, has 47 plants in five countries and is one of the top five producers of cheese in the United States. One of its plants is located in Hinesburg.
"We are delighted to give this property to Big Heavy World," said Terry Brockman, President, Saputo Cheese USA Inc. "We find their vision compelling and are glad to contribute to the community by participating in a project that will bring people together."
The Starksboro property is the site of the Green Mountain Cold Spring Creamery, founded in 1898 and in operation for almost 100 years as a major village industry. The creamery structures have all been gone for decades, but the old creamery is the inspiration to create a park with interpretive signage describing the historical stories of industry and agriculture in the Starksboro village center.
The gift was facilitated by the Vermont Historical Society and Lisman, Webster & Leckerling, P.C. Site planning is being aided by the Addison County Regional Planning Commission, Freeman French Freeman, and architectural students at Norwich University.
James Lockridge, Executive Director of the Burlington-based Big Heavy World Foundation, said, "The generosity of Saputo awes us; this gift is wonderful on many levels. And it's a pleasure to build friendships in other countries by sharing an idea - it's nice to know the world works that way."
Photo of the archive this week.
Things have been moving slowly but surely at the office this winter, with grant applications to write and planning for the spring. Somehow this past week we've spent a lot of time at the archive, thinking about the stone wall we want to build on the ledge (there's no fence or barrier there at all), and visiting with a group of architecture students from Norwich University and their professor Daniel Sagan, pitching in with site planning.
Photo of Norwich University architecture students with their professor, Daniel Sagan, visiting this past Wednesday.
By Tonya West
A defining – and missed – characteristic of the now-Vermont Music Library Archive is the two large plate-glass windows that were eventually boarded up over time. Back in the 1970's, it was the home front of Hervey and Olive Hanson and was often photographed by folks traveling through Starksboro.
“They’d think it was a flower shop,” laughed grandson Brady Hanson, 42, of Williston. The windows were filled with “everything, you name it: Geraniums, African Violets, La Hoya with its pink clusters draped all around. They smelled so sweet,” recalls Ada Pierce, 85 of Monkton, Olive and Hervey’s eldest daughter. “People would always stop and take pictures. Daddy said she used to talk to her plants.”
(Photo: Ada Pierce, Olive and Hervey Hanson’s eldest daughter, shares memories of what visiting her parents was like.)
Olive was known for more than her green thumb. She was called “The Doughnut Lady” in town and known for her “huge chicken pies.”
“All of her sisters were like that,” said David Mason, 79, who moved nearby when he was eight years old and still lives in the same house. “They could make something out of nothing. Little bit of this, little bit of that.”
(Photo: David Mason, longtime resident of Starksboro and neighbor to the soon-to-be Vermont Music Library & Shop Archive.)
David says the ruins on the VMLS property are the remains of the Post Office and one of Ada’s sisters, Lois, can remember when it was there. “It moved so many times and used to be in the General Store,” said Ada.
Ada also remembers Fred Currier’s barber shop being there and another couple living there. “I don’t know how they stood it,” she laughs. The home had a history of being very cold. “They had an old-fashioned oil pot burner and the kitchen had a neat old stove that was converted. My nephew has it now.”
Both Brady and Ada remember the Sunday family gatherings with fondness. The Hansons’ eight children and their children would converge on the village every Sunday. “It’s just what we did,” said Brady. “And, you wouldn’t believe the Thanksgiving Day dinners we’d have there,” said Ada. At some point the small home was so overwhelmed with family and guests the dinners were moved to the Meeting House.
Brady’s weekend travels to visit family still take him through town. At first, it was difficult to drive by his grandparent’s house. It hadn’t occurred to him it was being restored into the VMLS Archive; rather, he thought it was being torn down.
One of the most often asked questions about the storefront is whether the windows will be replaced. And the answer is a resounding, “Yes!”
(Photo: Olive Hanson making her signature doughnuts in the kitchen of her home.)
Mowed the lawn for the last time of the season this week, getting ready to close things up for the winter. This summer was a busy one, though it's hard to tell from looking! We just submitted a grant application to the state for support to restore the exterior; many groups in Starksboro helped us by providing letters of support. To them, thank you! Tonya has begun to 'interview' Starksboro residents kind enough to help us gather the history of the L. S. Gordon Store - I'm sure notes from her experience will end up here. The Starksboro Historical Society has helped direct us to people who might remember when the building was a store, before becoming a residence.
The photo of the sunchokes was taken this morning - they surprised us, just popping up and blooming naturally on the north side of the building.
Above is what the floor looks like now, after the May repairs. Below is a photo from 2006 before any work began at the building. I expect you'll see a lot of 'Before' and 'After' pics before we're done.
This is another old photo from the town vault, looking North from the center of the village. It's fun to see a truck at the loading dock of the L. S. Gordon Store (center of the image).
This is an old photo identified as the 'Lou Gordon House.' It came from the town vault, where the photos found in Bertha's Book are stored. This book is a wonderful history of Starksboro, published by the Starksboro Meeting House Society.
The original photo caption explained that Lou Gordon's home was located in the area of the driveway of the current post office and old town office on the East side of VT Route 116, across from Lewis Creek Farm, and that the home burned.
Another view of the Gordon residence (on the left):
Another big clean-up day today, with Jim, Ryan, Joe Weinmunson, and Christina Brooker from the Big Heavy World office. We picked up and swept, putting the place back in order following the construction. The photo shows the building as we're walking toward it from the North on the new lawn that appeared after the outdoor clean-up earlier in the season.
The lillies seem to follow a line where the wall of an old building used to be; we found half of an ice tong there and have been told that a gentleman had an ice house there that he sold bailing twine from in the summer (we'd like to learn more about this subject!).
After the clean-up we set up a display in the window with Ginny Joyner's art and information about the Vermont Music Library, for anyone who got curious enough to walk up to the front of the building. It has a light overhead on a timer from 8:00 until midnight.
Also weeded and mulched the flowers that were transplanted to the yard last spring. Looking forward to bringing more to the yard this fall. If anyone has a flower garden to thin, please feel welcome to let us know you've got plants to donate!
The 'after' photo:
Thank you to everyone who came out May 25th to celebrate the release of the ‘In Silver Light’ CD. Over a dozen singer-songwriters shared the intimate setting of the FlynnSpace stage and performed for a full, appreciative house. Made possible by the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, proceeds from the evening and sales of the compilation CD – a ‘breathtaking sampler of Vermont’s singer-songwriting and instrumental music’ – will benefit the Vermont Music Library and Shop.
From the Native Daughters (Michele Choiniere and Deb Flanders), a duo who combines traditional French Canadian songs with Vermont’s folk roots, to The Cush, an eclectic band fronted by Gabrielle and Burette Douglas, whose influences are old tape delays, wind and constellations, and analog equipment, the night unfolded with the eerie sounds of “The Last Whale,” by Ken Mahren and the joie de vivre of Aaron Flinn who hit us right in the heart and kept on strumming.
The sound filtered across the stage seamlessly and the diversity was captivating. As host, Spencer Lewis shared his genuine appreciation of each piece about to be performed and capped the evening on violin and acoustic guitar.
Our deepest thanks are extended to the artists who performed to celebrate the CD and support our work, and also to Harry Chalkin, Sound Engineer; Sean Larock, Engineering Assistant; Brian Johnson, FlynnSpace Manager; and Arnie Malina, Flynn Center Artistic Director; to the family farmers of Cabot Creamery and Jeb Norris, Mike Luoma, and the on-air staff of 104.7FM ‘The Point.’ And again, if you were able to attend, thank you for your support and for sharing this magical night with us!
You can sample and order the ‘In Silver Light’ CD here.
Photo: Ken Mahren performing ' The Last Whale.'
