Fall in Southern Vermont Where to go, what to see, where to shop and what’s happening this season.
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Sept/Oct 2026
9 .9 $4
Southern Vermont Travel & Tourism Guide
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BENNINGTON, VT DROP LOCATIONS 1. Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce 100 Veterans Memorial Drive, Bennington, VT • 802-447-3311 2. Better Bennington Corp. 215 South Street, Bennington, VT 05201 • 802-442-5758 3. Madison’s 428 Main Street, Bennington, VT 05201 • 802-442-7397 4. Bennington Welcome Center 100 VT-279 Bennington, VT 05201 5. Avocado Pit 201 South St, Bennington, VT 05201 6. Juniper Lane 445 Main St Bennington, VT • 802-440-5755 7. The 421 Craft Bar and Kitchen 421 Main St, Bennington, VT • 802-440-5972 8. Jay’s Art & Frame Gallery 115 South St Bennington, VT • 802-447-2342 9. Elm Street Market 251 Elm St, Bennington, VT • 802-753-7366 10. Bennington Bookshop 109 south St, Bennington, VT 0501 • 802-442-5059 11. Bennington Museum 75 Main St, Bennington, VT • (802) 447-1571 MANCHESTER, VT DROP LOCATIONS 1. Equinox Golf Resort & Spa 3567 Main Street, Manchester, VT 05254 • 802-362-4700 2. Kimpton Taconic Hotel 3835 Main Street, Manchester, VT 05254 • 802-362-0147 3. Manchester Business Assoc 4826 Main Street, Manchester Center, VT 05255 • 617-869-3591 4. Northshire Bookstore 4869 Main Street, Manchester Center, VT 05255 • 802-362-2200 5. Reluctant Panther 9W Road, Manchester, VT • 802-362-2568 6. Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home 1005 Hildene Rd Manchester, Vt 05254 • 802-362-1788
PITTSFIELD, MA & TROY, NY DROP LOCATIONS 1. Berkshire Roots 501 Dalton Avenue, Pittsfield, MA 01201 • 413-553-9333 NORTH BENNINGTON, VT DROP LOCATIONS 1. Pangaea 3 Prospect St. North Bennington • 802-442-4466
2. Powers Market 9 Main St North Bennington, VT • 802-440-0871 3. Prospect Coffee House 1 Prospect St, North Bennington • 802-753-7847 BRATTLEBORO, VT DROP LOCATIONS 1. Market 32 499 Canal St., Brattleboro, VT 2. Panda North 1332 Putney Rd., Brattleboro, VT 3. Brattleboro Food Coop 2 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 4. Latchis Hotel 50 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 •802-254-6300 5. Vermont Country Deli 436 Western Avenue, Brattleboro, VT 05301 • 802-257-9254 6. Vermont Market Place 580 Canal Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 • 802-254-5861 7. Holiday Inn Express 100 Chickering Drive, Brattleboro, VT 05301 • 802-257-2400
OTHER LOCATIONS 1. Vermont Distillers 7755 Route 9 East, Marlboro, VT • 802-464-2003 2. The Newfane Store 596 VT-30 Newfane, VT • 802-365-7775 3. Harmonyville Store 1412 Vt-30 Townsend, VT • 802-365-9417 4. Riverbend Farm Market 625 Vt-30 Townsend, VT • 802-365-4600 5. HN Williams, Dorset 2732 VT-30 Dorset, VT • 802-867-5353 6. Smitty’s Chester Market 526 Depot St. Chester, VT 7. Stone House Antique Center 557 - VT-103 Chester, VT 8. Vermont Antique Mall Route 4 Quechee, VT 9. Four Columns Inn 21 West St., Newfane, VT 10. West Townshend Country Store 6573 VT-30 West Townshend, VT 11. West River Provisions 3816 VT-30 Jamaica, VT 12. Shaw’s Market 97 E Main St., Wilmington, VT 13. Allen Brothers Farm Market 6023 US -5 Westminster VT 14. Quechee Gorge Visitor Center 5966 Woodstock Rd. Quechee VT 15. Windsor House 54 Main St. Windsor VT 16. Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site 3780 VT-100A Plymouth VT 17. Plainfield Country Store 1190 NH-12A Plainfield NH PUTNEY, VT DROP LOCATIONS 8. Putney General Store
4 Kimball Hill, Putney, VT 05346 9. Putney Food Co-op 8 Carol Brown Way, Putney, VT
Contact us at info@vermontcountry.com - Follow us @vtcomagazine on Facebook and Instagram - www.vermontcountry.com VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 1
On the cover President and Publisher
Jordan Brechenser jbrechenser@reformer.com
Editor Ahmad Yassir ayassir@benningtonbanner.com
Bennington County Sales Manager
Susan Plaisance splaisance@benningtonbanner.com
Account Executives Amanda Bogatka abogatka@manchesterjournal.com
Designer Cicely M. Eastman cicelyeastman@gmail.com
Windham County Sales Manager Lylah Wright lwright@reformer.com
Step into the world of Hildene, The Lincoln Family Account Executives Home, where history, beauty, and nature come togethRichard Lolatte rlolatte@reformer.com er. Explore historic exhibits, formal gardens, working Richard Battista farms, and peaceful woodland trails, and leave inspired. rbattista@reformer.com Discover upcoming events and plan your visit at www.hildene.org. Read their story on page 4.
2 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
Vermont Country magazine is a publication of
TABLE OF CONTENTS & CONTRIBUTORS
188 12 20 28
Sandra Magsamen's Children Books By Danielle M. Crosier
4
Hildene in Manchester By Anne Archer
Spine: 16 Champlain Pain Management
The Mysterious Bennington Triangle
Gilfeather Festival in Wardboro
By Kyle Neece
in 30 Shopping Southern Vermont
31 3 Pears Gallery By Patrick Kincaid Local & Co. 32 The By Ahmad Yassir 17 Fall Destinations King's Knit -Wit Begins 33 18 Fall By Winston in Bennington By Ahmad Yassir Habitat for Coolidge's White House 34 Humanity 22 Piano Retored By Rejoice E. Scherry Artisan 35 Vermont Voted Best & River Tavern 24 Rail Opens in Brattleboro Tree: For 35 Shoe Fashion and comfort in Downtown 26 Fall Putney Bennington 36 The General Store By Ahmad Yassir 27 Retreat Farm Market
Equestrian Getaway
By Allison Rehnborg
of 37 Best Southern Vermont
Brothers 38 Allen Brattleboro Area Realty
39
40
Chris Lewis Al Jeffers Dandrea Painting Retro Music Norm's Ski & Bike Shop Country Bridals & Formal Wear Kevin's Restaurant
41 By Ahmad Yassir 42 Bennington Yoga Place Angry Egg 2 43 The Luxbrush Painting
46 Vermont Country Homes
VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 3
Hildene Inspires New Generations Through History, Agriculture, and the Outdoors
Photos by Idena Beach - Studio on Main. Goats photo by Toby Young
By Anne Archer
Vermont Country correspondent
On a 412-acre estate flanked by the Green Mountains to the east and the Taconic Mountains to the west, autumn is alive. Surrounding maples, birches, and northern red oaks are decorated in spicy red, tangy orange, and sunshine yellow leaves; squirrels collect acorns in preparation for winter; Nubian goats, Randall cattle, Corriedale sheep, and Huacaya alpacas grow warmer coats; sweater-clad visitors tour the 1905 Georgian Revival home; and school children explore the woods, waters, agriculture, and history of Hildene,The Lincoln Family Home. Hildene in Manchester, Vermont has evolved from the family estate of Robert Lincoln, the only son of President Abraham Lincoln to survive to adulthood, into a nonprofit organization providing education, recreation, and inspiration to children and adults in a peaceful environment that invites contemplation.
The diverse estate is grand, consisting of the Lincoln home perched atop a bluff overlooking a valley where the Battenkill River flows; the
goat dairy at Hildene Farm, where the craft of cheesemaking is on display; the dene, a working farm with livestock and gardens; a meticulously restored 1903 Pullman car; and 12 miles of walking trails. The historic home, located at the end of Hildene’s nearly one mile drive, was built by Robert Lincoln and his wife Mary Harlan Lincoln. Robert’s first trip to Manchester occurred during the summer of 1864 when he visited his mother, Mary Todd Lincoln, and his brother Tad, who were staying at The Equinox House (presently The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa). Years later he was drawn back to the area by his Chicago law partner, Edward Isham, who spent the summers at his family estate just south of Manchester Village. Robert Lincoln – a corporate lawyer, the U.S. Secretary of War under Presidents’ Garfield and Arthur, and president of the Pullman Car Company – and his family spent summers at the Hildene estate where he became a proud gentleman farmer, and his daughter Jessie, who took an interest in gardening, designed the Formal Garden known for the lush heirloom peonies.
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Robert died in his sleep in his bedroom at Hildene in 1926 and eventually his granddaughter, Peggy Beckwith, a woman ahead of her time, moved into the home. She was well known throughout Manchester, often seen driving around town, or flying overhead in one of her three planes. Peggy revitalized farming in the dene, prohibited hunting on the estate, and raised two orphaned raccoons she’d found on the side of the road in an upstairs bedroom overlooking the Formal Garden.
A year after Peggy’s death in 1975, Friends of Hildene, Inc., a nonprofit, was formed by Manchester residents. They saved the property from development, and they followed Peggy’s wishes of turning the estate into a memorial to the Lincoln family.
Today, the property and the 24-room home decorated in original Lincoln family furnishings with a working 1908 Aeolian pipe organ is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. While Hildene is a physical place, it is also a vibrant community that pulsates with positive
energy and goodwill, emulating the nonprofit’s purpose “to carry the values of Abraham Lincoln to future generations by educating and inspiring others to put those values into action.” “It isn’t just a place where you learn about the 14th amendment and about how a wealthy family lived in the turn of the 20th century,” said Craig Gemmell, President of Hildene. “There is so much more here for people.”
Starting with experiential, inquiry-based learning that removes children – and adults – from their screens and places them in an outdoor classroom where maybe they get a little dirty stomping around a pond or engaging with curious farm animals. For decades, Hildene has welcomed local students through the nonprofit’s hands-on school programs, where students are encouraged to explore, experiment, and make their own discoveries. The programs have become so popular and so respected by teachers that Lisa Maggio, Youth Education Director since 2025, said it is becoming a challenge for her and Youth Education Assistant Kyle Turner to keep up with demand.
Currently, 3,000 students from kindergarten to middle school participate in one or more of Hildene’s 22 standard-based school programs throughout the school year. “We get to see some of the same students multiple times a year which is special because we can dive a little deeper,” said Lisa, who clearly loves her work. Class topics range from agriculture to natural science to history, with Lisa and Kyle incorporating large swaths of the estate’s diverse property into the curriculum as well as utilizing experts on staff, home and Pullman railcar docents, and knowledgeable volunteers.
Each program is like a child to Lisa, and she tries not to play favorites, but she had to admit Mighty Monarchs – a program that teaches students in grades kindergarten to three about monarchs’ habitat, life cycle, and migration – is one program at the top of her list.
As Lisa explained how the program is set up – one end of an open field is Vermont, the other end of the field is Mexico – her enthusiasm dominated the conversation. “Each kid turns into a monarch,” Lisa said. “We migrate to Mexico and along the way face challenges, windstorms, rainy days, and it’s just so much fun.” As Lisa continued, her excitement was contagious.
“They get so into it,” Lisa said. After wintering in Mexico, monarchs begin their journey north, with each generation continuing the
migration back to Vermont. “They have a dramatic death, are reborn as eggs, and become larvae, pupae, and butterflies again. The role-playing makes learning come alive.”
While the outdoor school programs, including lessons on pond critters, wetlands, water quality, bumble bees, and greenhouse ecosystems, may get dirt under children’s fingernails, the historic programs turn back the clock, immersing students in a time when Pullman porters fought for better pay and conditions (more role-play involved) and when Abraham Lincoln used a telegraph to communicate with generals in the field during the Civil War. Craig whole-heartedly endorses the school programs, saying that “This gets right at the core of our mission. And it supports the goals of teachers who don’t always have the resources, and literally the physical resources, to offer these kinds of activities.” Craig, who came to Hildene in December 2025, brought with him a lifetime of experience in the world of education, first as a faculty member and administrator at Groton School in Massachusetts. Later, he became Head of School at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire before launching two international Brewster campuses in Madrid, Spain. Education has long been a priority at Hildene. In 2018, the nonprofit joined forces with Manchester's local high school, Burr & Burton Academy (BBA) – a natural fit as both organizations share a commitment to integrity, service, civic responsibility, and sustainability.
In 2015, thanks to a generous donor, an educational, four-season greenhouse was built at the dene, a part of the Hildene campus located in the valley below Robert Lincoln’s house. A classroom and two gardens – an education garden and a BBA garden – were also constructed. The facilities are open to visitors to explore where they will often find students working on projects through BBA's Farm and Food Studies classes. “The separate space and the classroom allow for students to experiment and make mistakes,” said Ann Ogden Hausslein, Hildene Farm Gardens Manager and Educator since 2014. Year-round, the dene, which is situated between the Green and Taconic Mountains, is picturesque but in autumn it redefines breathtaking. With a backdrop of blazing red, orange, and yellow trees, Randall cattle, Vermont’s only known heritage breed, graze in the fields; Corriedale sheep mill around wearing sheep coats designed to protect the quality of the fleece; Huacaya alpacas hang out with a variety of chickens and ducks; and wide, mowed trails lead to a wetland
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boardwalk perfect for bird watching.
Ann spends a large amount of time at the dene, particularly in the educational greenhouse and gardens where she helps BBA students who take classes like CP Food Systems, CP Sustainable Agriculture, CP Ethnobotany, Farm to Plate, and Farm Skills internships, which are taught through integrative, experiential, placebased learning methods.
“The fun collaboration that I get to do is pretty exciting,” said Ann, as she recounted her work with students. “I get to think up ideas that are created out of that educational space.” Having students of all ages explore, discover, and study agriculture, the natural sciences, and history at Hildene has not only brought the nonprofit closer to its mission, it has improved the property and created new experiences for visitors.
Through Ann’s work with students, visitors to the dene can see different types of crops beyond standard vegetables and flowers. She and her students have experimented with luffa, heritage grains, and broom corn, and created a dye garden. All the products, from start to finish, are on display.
Visitors also reap the benefits of Hildene Youth Corps, a summer camp designed for seventh and eighth grade students. Each year, the Youth Corps team completes projects that enhance Hildene’s campus.
Under Craig's leadership, Hildene has increased its programming to include many high-profile speakers to explore and address the pressing issues of our time. This past summer, it launched the Lincoln-Hildene Civil Community Initiative under the direction of Stephanie Moffett-Hynds.
During a visit to the goat barn, guests watch curious Nubian goats play on the creative climbing structure built by the 2026 Youth Corps team. The structure is intended to stimulate the goat’s brains but for them it’s just fun to run up and down ramps and jump onto platforms. Since milk from the goats is used to make chévre, a soft, creamy cheese, the team built a bottle-fed goat station and a demonstration milking stand designed to help new goats feel comfortable when walking up to the milk station. These items are practical, but they also enhance guest experience through education.
All the success with Hildene’s school programs has Craig thinking about ways to expand Hildene’s adult education programming. “It’s inspiring me to think about the broader scope and sequence that we offer here for all people,” Craig said.
While Craig is happy to see so many adults’ visiting Robert Lincoln’s family home, he’d like to see more of them exploring all the sites Hildene has to offer and to engage more deeply in the content.
Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home
Located at 1005 Hildene Road, Manchester, Vt. Phone (802) 362-1788 Website hildene.org Hours: Memorial Day to October 31st Open 7 days a week 10AM-4:30PMNovember 1st- the last Monday of May Open Thursday through Monday 10AM- 4:30PM Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays General admission: Adults $25.00, children (ages 6-16) $8.00, children 5 and under free. Vermont resident general admission $12.50, children under 16 free with an adult. Memberships: Individual $65.00, Household $125.00 Located at 1005 Hildene Road, Manchester, Vt. Phone (802) 362-1788 Website hildene.org Hours: Memorial Day to October 31st Open 7 days a week 10AM-4:30PMNovember 1st- the last Monday of May Open Thursday through Monday 10AM- 4:30PM Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays 6 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
It has already featured several prominent thinkers. Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin spent an evening at Lincoln Hall discussing lessons learned from Abraham Lincoln's leadership and how to use those lessons to engage in civic dialogue.
Stephanie explained, "The Civil Community Initiative is a gathering place for civil discourse modeled on the example of President Lincoln himself, encouraging curiosity, humility, and a willingness to sit down with people who see things differently. At a time when it is easier than ever to retreat into our echo chambers, we bring people back together in community to foster healthy dialogue and inspire goodwill and civic engagement. To do this work, we have been honored to host Ms. Goodwin, in addition to leading US Constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar, and James Ramsey, Sr. Advisor to the US Capital Historical Society. On a separate evening, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns entertained guests with a lively conversation with Harold Holzer, the chairman of the Lincoln Forum. Burns spoke about the making of The Civil War, a five-part film that aired on Public Broadcasting Service in 1990.
Launching the Civil Community Initiative and hosting the Lincoln Forum, a weekend long retreat for Abraham Lincoln and Civil War era scholars and enthusiasts, are only the beginning of Hildene’s expansion into adult educational programming. While the future is bright for Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home, Craig is focused on fall. He wants to get people outside to enjoy the colorful autumn landscape and to learn more about the agriculture and history of Hildene. For Craig, it’s “back to school at Hildene for people who are lifelong learners.” Lisa agreed, only she rephrased the sentiment. “Welcome back students of all ages.”
Editor's Note: Anne Archer was assigned this article because of her longstanding knowledge of Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home, including serving as a member of the board of trustees, her close connection to the Manchester community and her experience as a local freelance writer..
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From Maryland to Vermont The life and work And, that love is the most powerful – because my sister, with her great love for me and the blessing of adrenaline, was able to lift that off my leg and save my leg.” Isolated at home, she turned to making things — small, handmade “lifelines” – to bridge the distance between herself and her friends.
Scholastic
With Scholastic, Sandra Magsamen has created more than 100 interactive, tactile “novelty” titles over the years – the kinds of books that invite small hands to lift, to tug, to investigate, and to Idena Beach Photography cuddle. Sandra Magsamen enjoys a moment with her dog Olive.
By Danielle M. Crosier
Vermont Country Magazine. NORTH BENNINGTON — Sandra Magsamen has been helping people say what’s in their hearts since she was 12 years old. Back then, it wasn’t through bestselling children’s books or nationally licensed gift lines; it was through tiny hand embroidered charms from the Woolworth’s five-and-dime, sent to the classmates that she could no longer see.
“I began making things that my sisters could take to school to communicate with my friends, who I didn’t see anymore because I was home all the time,” she recalled. “So, I learned to crochet. I learned to embroider. I made drawings — and they all had little messages like ‘sending my love’ or ‘have a happy day.’” Today, those little messages have grown into a global body of work — books and objects sold around the world — all grounded in what Magsamen calls her life’s mission, “What I do today is an extension of what I’ve always done. I help people connect one heart at a time.”
And, for the past two decades, she’s been doing much of that work from North Bennington, where she and her husband, painter Mark Barry (whose art is always on display at Pangaea), have contentedly woven themselves deep into the fabric of the local community.
A life-changing accident at 12
Magsamen’s creative life began in childhood, and was born out of a crisis that occurred on her father's small Maryland farm.
At age 12 — while working with her father and sisters to clear rocks from a field — the group followed a heavy trailer, tossing the rocks from the soil into the back, “We were told not to walk behind it, and it was filled with rocks. We were filling it all day,” she said. “It was the end of the day, and my sister Karen walked behind it, and it fell. My leg got caught under the equipment. I was trapped.” Her twin sister, Susan, was sitting by a campfire when she heard Sandra’s screams.
“I kept yelling at her, ‘Susan, help me, help me!’ And my father couldn’t lift it. She came over, and in an instant she lifted it off my legs — and I pulled myself out.”
The injury was severe — a compound fracture that led to repeated hospitalizations and a year of home-and-hospital schooling with other children facing serious accidents and illnesses, including cancer. “That year was so pivotal for me,” Magsamen said. “I learned probably the most important lessons of my life — you’re not promised tomorrow, so the moment really matters.
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“My whole life, that’s what I’ve done – because I needed it so much as a 12-year-old girl, and it stuck with me,” she said. “I understood how important communication and connection at the spirit level — at the heart of who we are — is. That’s, for me, where life is lived the most fully.”
From art therapist to “Messages from the Heart”
That early experience with art and connection led Magsamen to art school and, from there, into the field of art therapy. She earned a master’s degree in art psychotherapy from Goucher College and spent years working with people on the margins — children in foster care; women healing from cancer and postpartum depression; men in a forensic facility in Jessup, Maryland; and older adults in nursing homes who had “become sort of detached and despondent from meaning in life.”
“All the while, I was hearing the messages that they wanted to share, and that they weren’t able to, and that impacted their mental health,” she said. “I started writing down the things people wanted to say. And, the common denominator was that we all had parts of ourselves that we weren’t able to express and deeply connect with either ourselves or with others.” In a nursing home ceramics room — the kind once used to make greenware Christmas trees and knickknacks — she learned to use the kiln. She began rolling out clay slabs and carving simple, honest words into them — “In a world where you can be anything, be yourself ” and “I’m sorry for all the things I said.” She embellished them with beads and baubles scavenged from antique shops.
“I realized I loved doing it so much,” Magsamen said, laughing as the memory once again brought joy. “At that time, I was pregnant with my one and only daughter. I filled her nursery with the things I wanted to say to her in these plaques and messages.” And, it was her sisters who noticed first,
'One Heart at a Time' of Sandra Magsamen “They would come over and they would be like, ‘Can I have that one? I need to give it to a friend who’s having a hard time.' Or, 'Can you make this for me and say this because my friend is going through a hard time and this is the message she needs to hear?’” What began as plaques for family and friends soon became a full-fledged business. She and her husband started doing local craft shows on weekends and quickly realized that they had truly tapped into something with much greater possibility. “The first show that we did, we sold out of all the stuff,” she said. “We were like, ‘This is not sustainable with a baby.’” Taking a leap of faith, they signed up for a wholesale buyers’ market in Atlantic City. Unprepared for the volume of interest, they had to scramble just to get duplicate order forms, “Before we knew it, our booth was filled with people, and we were writing orders and orders and orders,” she laughed. “We got home and we laid them all out on the table, and then wrote people back and we said, ‘You’ll have your order then.’ And we started making pottery and shipping it all over the country — and even Japan.”
With mentoring and practical help from her mother — who handled early invoicing and helped “put the business together” — the pottery company grew. The business, first called Table Tiles soon transitioned to Messages from the Heart, and it occupied a former bee farm in Maryland — complete with a honey “warm room” that was perfectly repurposed to become the company's pottery drying room.
A national platform, built on simple words
By the 1990s, as the American gift industry shifted, Magsamen’s work caught the eye of major brands. At the New York Gift Show, large companies approached her about licensing her designs — Stuart Tabori & Chang, Hallmark, Scholastic, Lenox, Department 56/Silvestri, 1-800-Flowers, and eventually retailers such as J.C. Penney and Walmart. Her verses and imagery moved from handmade plaques into mass-produced gifts and then into children’s books, extending the same “little messages” to a vastly wider audience. All of it was rooted in the same simple impulse that she had felt and experienced as
Hannah Magsamen-Barry
Sandra Magsamen, on a satellite media tour.
Scholastic
Sandra Magsamen holds "Kiss Kiss Little Fish," published by Scholastic. a girl stuck at home with a broken leg — to reach out and to help people say what they couldn’t quite find the words or the courage to say for themselves.
grow up,’” Magsamen recalled, laughing again. “And I said to her, ‘You know, everything that you need, you already have. You’re everything you need to be.’”
Two publishing paths, one core message
Board books like "I Love You, Honey Bunny" feature plush bunny ears sticking out of the top, turning the book itself into a comforting “transitional object.”
“And, I've created a career in making books and objects that were meaningful, that helped people connect from their heart,” she said. “And, these were messages from the heart.”
Today, Magsamen works primarily in children’s publishing, with two distinct but overlapping lines.
With Scholastic, she’s created more than 100 interactive, tactile “novelty” titles over the years – the kinds of books that invite small hands to lift, to tug, to investigate, and to cuddle.
“Early on, I realized that having an interactive component on the cover or within the book really helped the child engage and get into it,” she said. Her first Scholastic picture book — "When I Grow Up, I Want to Be Me" — was written for her daughter, Hannah. “I said, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ She goes, ‘I have no idea how to
From that conversation came a poem — and then a book — encouraging children to see themselves as already whole.
“I wanted to extend the message of ‘I love you’ to a child through the story, but children often need to have something to hold on to,” she said. “So, the book now became a book and something beloved to hold on to — so it was a cross between a book and a plush animal.” At Sourcebooks, Magsamen has developed a different kind of series, centered on a recurring character — a little elephant called Little One. It started with a poem that she had written as a promise to her daughter — originally published in an earlier, less-successful book. When Sourcebooks publisher Dominique Raccah read it, she immediately recognized its potential — and together, she and Magsamen reimagined the project.
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One phone call, a meeting at the Garlic Festival, and — in what may be the most Vermont detail of the story – a rare pink sweater later, the family bought their first small condo at Hiland Hall. Over time, they added two more units, sold their Maryland home, and gradually shifted their lives north. Now, Magsamen and Barry live full-time in North Bennington, and she says the move has profoundly changed her work, “In Maryland, my life was much faster,” she said, grinning. “Here, I find that I’m able to tap into that still small voice of myself in every day. I can find those quiet moments where I can hear myself, and therefore I can write what matters to me and what I think is important.” Sophie Stone Paris
Sandra Magsamen with her husband, painter Mark Barry.
“What came from that was how to tell the message in a stronger way, with stronger imagery, in the right format, in the right way that will resonate with families and children,” Magsamen said. Working closely for years with editor Karen Shapiro, she built a robust line of Little One board books, following the character through “all of the stages and phases of a little one’s life — from sleeping to Christmas to potty time to first words.”
The two publishing tracks — one filled with many different characters, the other focused on a single small elephant — reach the same audience from different angles, “Two very different ways to approach,” Magsamen said. “The same parents/same families buy all of the books — but it's very different storytelling.”
Finding “Slow Living” in North Bennington
Magsamen’s path to Vermont began with a college friend, Matthew Perry of the Vermont Arts Exchange. The two met decades ago at the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, Massachusetts, along with Magsamen's future husband, Mark Barry. For years, they visited Perry’s family in Weston, and then later in North Bennington.
When Barry and Magsamen's daughter Hannah chose Bennington College, the family’s ties to the Southern Vermont area deepened. Frequent visits led to a stay at a Park Street bed and breakfast and, one morning, a walk that changed everything.
“We got up to walk the Mile Around [Woods], and the house next door – the Hiland Hall Farmhouse — had a big 'for sale' sign in front of it and it said 'condominiums,'” Magsamen recalled.
She’s also embraced a deeply local life.
“I like knowing the farmer who picked my eggs. I like knowing where my lettuce comes from,” she said with a laugh, noting recent national news about contaminated salad greens. “I go up to Bea Berle and I know Bea’s picked that lettuce that morning. I have my own garden, too. We live very local. We live very slowly. We know our neighbors. We help our neighbors; they help us. It’s a pace of life that is so beautiful and so different.” She compares it to the Italian idea of la dolce vita, the sweet life, “I feel like I’m alive here, and I’m really living. I’m living my best life, my authentic life, my most creative life,” she said. “It’s been incredible to live in Vermont. I mean, I love it here. I love it.”
Growing carrots, and growing a community
True to her mission of “connecting, one heart at a time,” much of Magsamen’s energy now also goes into community work. She serves with Sage City Syndicate, a long-standing organization focused on housing in the North Bennington area. She helped start the North Bennington Roundtable, which brings together nonprofits and residents to plan community events. And, she is a founding force behind the Friends of Hiland Hall Gardens, a project that turns historic grounds into an outdoor classroom for local children.
plant an idea, and nurture the seed. When the weeds come, you’ve got to learn how to throw out the weeds. You need to know when it’s ripe and when it’s ready to share, and then how to prepare it, and how to put it in the world.” “For me, the whole program is really a metaphor for helping a child learn to grow themselves,” she added. “It’s not just about growing carrots; we’re growing community — and that really matters.”
Looking ahead — a grandmother’s voice
Even after decades of creating, Magsamen is quick to say that she never had a master plan – just a willingness to follow what felt meaningful.
“I didn’t know the path, but I kept walking,” she said. “And, when an interesting direction and something seemed like it had meaning – I walked that path – and then I met people along the way that showed me things that I would have never seen, and that led me to the next thing.” Now, as her daughter prepares to welcome a baby via surrogate, Magsamen is listening for the next evolution of her voice — and it is that of a grandmother.
“I’m really starting to cultivate what writing might look like from the voice of a grandmother,” she said. “I’m not writing as a grandmother now. I’m writing as a mother, really, and I think that’s going to be a different voice and in another way.” Whatever comes next, Magsamen intends to meet it the way she has met everything since she was that injured 12‑year‑old girl first discovering the power of a small handmade message sent out into the world. “I really have a lot of faith in life opening and unfolding as it should,” she said. “And, I will embrace it. I’m not afraid to wholeheartedly embrace what comes in front of me — and I think that’s how I’ll live the rest of my life.”
“We restored the gardens and we bring children and students in from the Village School, and we teach them education in the garden — so they learn to grow, harvest, and make food,” she said.
For her, the garden is more than a place to grow vegetables — it’s a living metaphor.
“I really believe that if we teach a child to grow a vegetable, we’re teaching a child to grow anything – to grow an idea, to grow a friendship, to grow a life, to grow any ideas that they have,” she said. “To grow a carrot, you know, you’ve got to
10 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | JULY-AUGUST 2026
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How the mysterious ‘Bennington Triangle’ came to be
A series of eerie disappearances led to the creation of the state police force and birthed a lasting cultural phenomenon
Photos by Kyle Neece
The view from the top of Glastenbury Mountain.
By Kyle Neece
UVM Community News Service. On December 1, 1946, Bennington College student Paula Jean Welden decided to go for a hike on the Long Trail. She hitched rides and walked until arriving at a trail in Woodford Hollow. Along the route, Welden met a group of hikers and asked them a few questions about the trail. Welden continued north into the late afternoon and evening. She was seen near the Fay Fuller camp, a former shelter on the Long Trail, after which she disappeared without a trace. Welden’s disappearance from that remote, wooded area in Glastenbury wasn’t the first or the last. Between 1945 and 1950, four other people vanished from the area; only one body was recovered. When short-staffed law enforcement agencies failed to find her, Welden’s case tipped the scales for Vermont to establish a state police force, the last such organization formed in the U.S.
The mysteriousness of the area would later inspire myth and folklore, causing the region to be known today as “The Bennington Triangle.” Decades after these unexplained disappearances, the Triangle remains a cultural phenomenon.
who coined the nickname Bennington Triangle. “I’m on the verge of believing them.” Citro named the Bennington Triangle after the Bermuda Triangle, a loosely-defined region in the North Atlantic Ocean bounded by Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, which is famous for its urban mythos about vanishing ships and planes. According to Citro, the Bennington Triangle is not a literal triangular area. It’s rather a span of wilderness around Glastenbury Mountain that was home to a number of strange occurrences. While Bennington is nearby, the area is very remote, with dense forest stretching for numerous miles.
Paula Welde Accessing Glastenbury Mountain, nd G lastenbury W isappeared in the the mysterious main point of interest case remain ilderness in 1946, and within the triangle, requires a 19-22 s h from the De unsolved. Newspaper c er mile hike with an elevation gain of li c e pping m b e r6 over 3,000 feet. The most popular and Benning ton Evening , 1946 issue of the recommended entrance is the Appala- via Ne wspapers.co Banner, chian Trail via the Long Trail. m. Welden’s 1946 disappearance caused weeks of searching, with Bennington College closing for several days, and students and faculty helping in organized searches. Hundreds of volunteers, family members, firefighters and even National Guard troops searched for Welden to no avail.
Ground and air searches concentrated on the Long Trail up as far as Glastenbury Mountain, “I’ve interviewed people who’ve had Bigfoot the trail’s various branches, and along Route 9 sightings in that neck of the woods, and those from Bennington to Brattleboro. The prevailare pretty interesting, pretty convincing stories,” ing theory became that Welden got lost inthe woods. said Joseph Citro, a Vermont horror author 12 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
As the search parties faltered, Welden’s father and many others criticized how local law enforcement handled the situation. Welden’s father pointed out that the lack of statewide law enforcement and the lack of training of local sheriffs contributed to the poorly run investigation. Within seven months of the disappearance, in July 1947, the Vermont legislature created the Vermont State Police. The area’s four other disappearances have only further established its notoriety and mystique.
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Middie Rivers, 74, disappeared on November 12, 1945, while hunting in Bickford Hollow. When he failed to return, a search party was launched, and the only evidence found was his handkerchief.
James Tedford, a 68-year-old World War I veteran, went missing on December 1, 1949, but went unreported for about a week. No trace of him was ever found. Eight-year-old Paul Jepson vanished on October 12, 1950, while helping his mother with farm chores and was never found. Frieda Langer, 53, went missing 16 days later while hiking with her cousin in the woods near Somerset. Seven months later, fishermen found her body three and a half miles southeast of her family’s campsite. Heather Moser, producer and researcher for the film company Small Town Monsters, said the Triangle is a reminder that missing people are more than just stories.
“It’s easy when you look at history to just see it as a story. But that’s not the case,” she said. “There’s actual people behind it, families that were affected. There are still some family members of these missing people that are alive today.” Even so, the lore around the Triangle has endured for decades, spawning conspiracy theories that range from alien abductions to
a man-eating rock that have been captured in news stories, documentaries, podcasts and YouTube videos.
Jamie Franklin, a historian and curator for the Bennington Museum, put on the “Haunted Vermont” exhibit in 2023, which explored the mysterious area.
“People say when they’re hiking up there, they get an eerie feeling, a feeling that they’re being watched. You know, when they camp overnight, they’ll hear sounds out in the woods,” he said. “Those sorts of first-person narratives get passed around a lot, and so people come to expect that.” Citro, who has visited the area and contributed to its notoriety, agrees.
“It’s dangerous for a number of reasons, and one is this aura of spookiness that people bring with them when they go there,” said Citro. “They go there kind of expecting things to be weird, and sure enough, they are.” Vermont State Police Lt. Tyson Kinney, the Bureau of Criminal Investigations commander who oversees the Welden case, doesn’t put much stock in the folklore, saying the spate of disappearances was likely coincidental.
He also emphasized that today, missing persons complaints are a top priority. State police use resources such as K9s, search and rescue teams
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14 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
and unmanned aerial devices to locate any missing people.
As for the Bennington Triangle, Kinney said people should be careful while exploring, but the odds of one disappearing are, in today’s age, lower. “There’s always a risk of being out in remote areas, where you don’t have access to cell phone service and things like that in today’s world.
Obviously, they didn’t have that back then,” he said. “If people are just cautious about where they’re going and what they’re doing, if they tell a friend and they just use common sense, they’ll be okay.” Reporter’s note: In an attempt to understand Paula Welden’s case better, a friend and I met up on a Sunday in late July to hike Glastenbury Mountain. The hike was about 20 miles round trip with an elevation gain of over 3,000 feet. The ascent was challenging, and my sense of direction was thrown off by the thick trees. We made a wrong turn once at the beginning of the hike and had to relocate the trail, and at one point, we became separated. My friend and I both felt a strange and ominous feeling when we passed the Glastenbury Wilderness marker sign, at respective times. There was a physical change in the landscape; the forest was darker, visibility worsened, and it felt just…weird. My friend and I eventually located each other, completed the hike, and headed back down to the trailhead.
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Dr. Thierry Bonnabesse performs a procedure on a patient.
Surgical Pain Center of the Adirondacks facility, which is a free standing ambulatory surgery center, where patients go for their procedures.
25 Years of Caring: Dr. Thierry Bonnabesse and the Art of Pain Management
By Patrick Kincaid
Vermont Country correspondent There is a very old saying that nurses and doctors are angels in disguise. In this case Dr. Thierry Bonnabesse is the epitome of that metaphor. Starting his practice in 2001, Dr. Bonnabesse has been healing people from pain for 25 years. Raised in France, Dr. Bonnabesse came to the U.S. In 1987 to study. When inquired how he ended up in Vermont, he replied, “I went to college here and instantly fell in love with Vermont. I also did some studying in California and worked in many places all over the country, but my heart has always remained here in Vermont”, so he returned here to attend undergrad and college. Eventually, Dr. Bonnabesse started Champlain Spine & Pain Management which was founded with a simple mission: to bring an exceptional breadth of advanced pain therapies and clinical expertise to patients throughout Vermont, New York, Canada, and the Northeast.
Dr Bonnabesse has a wonderful sense of humor about his profession, when asked, “What does it take to become a doctor in your line?, without even missing a beat, he responded with, “A lot of gray hair”. Collectively, the staff of Champlain Spine & Pain Management brings over 50 years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of spine, nerve, joint, and chronic pain conditions, half of which is Dr. Thierry Bonnabesse. Although he has been around since 2001, Dr. Bonnabesse is not one to get settled, and believe that he has learned it all, in fact, when inquired about what he believes makes his team stand out, Dr. Bonnabesse answered, “We offer things that can not be offered anywhere else. We
started out concentrating on the basics in pain management, but quickly realized that we had specialties including cutting-edge technology. We are constantly updating with the newest technologies available. In fact, what makes our practice different is not simply access to advanced therapies. It is our extensive experience across a broad range of the most innovative treatments available in modern pain medicine.” Over the past 25 years, using 60+ years of combined clinical experience, the Champlain Spine and Pain Management has treated an impressive 20,000+ patients, and performed 100,000+ image-guided procedures
It must truly be an amazing staff because when asked who he relied on the most, Dr. Bonnabesse replied in a way that you would expect a king to pick out their favorite jewel. He insisted, “there are far too many people that provide an invaluable service to our team for me to pick ten standouts, much less one. Our institute currently has six providers, and sixty staff members, many have been around for many years, and every single one contributes immensely to the success of this practice. Collectively, our physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants bring more than 60 years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of spine, nerve, joint, and chronic pain conditions. In addition to caring for patients, members of our team actively participate in physician education,
16 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
professional conferences, and healthcare innovation, helping bring the latest advances in pain medicine to our region.”
Naturally there is the question of what makes Dr. Bonnabesse's practice stand out from the others, and he was able to answer that as well, “because we offer more options than most pain centers, we can better tailor treatment to the individual patient rather than relying on a limited set of procedures. This allows us to create highly individualized treatment plans designed around each patient’s unique condition, goals, and circumstances.” Dr Bonnabesse understands that the average person is going to have questions and concerns about what they can expect when they come to Champlain Spine & Pain Management. When asked, he stressed “don't be fooled by the name of our practice. We treat pain well beyond just the spine. We want to help people dealing with any pain throughout the body. Living with chronic pain can be physically exhausting and emotionally draining. Many patients arrive feeling frustrated, discouraged, or anxious after months or even years of searching for answers. That is why we have worked to create an experience that feels different from the moment patients walk through our doors.
Across all of our locations, patients are welcomed into thoughtfully designed spaces featuring”
Finally, when asked about what he is the most excited about at the moment, Dr Bonnabesse happily announced that he has opened a new office at 463 Mountain View, Colchester, VT. Visit their website at www.champlainspine. com
Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
Share your fall photos and travels with us. Tag us @VtCoMagazine.
VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 17
Fall Begins Here: Make Bennington Your Home Base for Autumn
By Ahmad Yassir, Vermont Country Magazine
Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
Sponsored by VermontBeginsHere.com.
There is a particular kind of magic to a Vermont fall: crisp mornings, winding roads framed in red and gold, farm stands overflowing with the harvest, and small towns that seem to slow down just enough to let you take it all in.
In Southern Vermont, Bennington is a natural place to begin
For travelers coming from New York City or Boston, Bennington is roughly 3½ hours away, while Albany and the Capital Region are less than an hour’s drive. And the journey is part of the experience. Scenic roads bring you through mountain landscapes, farms, orchards and small communities before you arrive in a town where you can settle in, explore locally and easily venture into neighboring Vermont, New York and Massachusetts. It also makes a compelling home base for exploring the region without the price tag, or crowds, of some of Vermont’s better-known fall destinations.
Come for the Leaves, Stay for the Harvest Fall in Bennington is about much more than foliage
Start with the harvest. Pick up pumpkins at Armstrong Farm in nearby Pownal, stop for cider donuts at the Apple Barn, or spend an afternoon picking apples at Terry’s Orchard in Bennington, where the historic orchard sits high above the valley with views toward the Bennington Battle Monument.
Then follow the flavors back into town. Bennington’s restaurants and bars embrace the season with changing menus, seasonal specials and fall-inspired drinks. From craft brews at Madison’s and 421 to creative dishes at Pangaea, autumn gives local chefs plenty of room to play.
A Town Made for Exploring
Bennington’s historic character is especially beautiful in the fall. The
18 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
The Bennington Museum, Robert Frost’s gravesite at Old First Church and the Robert Frost Stone House Museum in nearby Shaftsbury each offer a different window into the region’s history, art and literary legacy.
and cafés. Spend an afternoon wandering Main Street, looking for Vermont-made goods, local art, maple products and unexpected finds.
And make time for the events. Garlic Town USA kicks off the fall season over Labor Day weekend, while Harvest Festival brings vendors, music, family activities and autumn energy to Downtown Bennington in October. Across the region, seasonal happenings at farms, arts organizations and cultural institutions add even more reasons to explore.
The best part? You don't have to plan every minute. Leave some room for the scenic detour, the farm stand you didn't expect, the gallery you wandered into, or the restaurant that becomes your new favorite. Fall foliage timing varies by elevation and weather, so keep an eye on Vermont Begins Here for seasonal updates, itineraries and ideas as the leaves begin to change.
Your Southern Vermont fall adventure begins in Bennington.
And then there is the outdoors. Parks, trails, reservoirs and scenic roads provide countless opportunities to photograph the foliage, stretch your legs or simply find a quiet place to appreciate the season. Nearby Pownal, Shaftsbury and Woodford open the door to even more mountain and countryside exploration.
Shop Local, Stay Local
A fall getaway here is also an invitation to support the people who make the community what it is. Downtown Bennington is filled with independently owned businesses, from galleries and gift shops to specialty stores, restaurants
VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 19
Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
foliage weaves through historic neighborhoods, around Old First Church and along streets lined with preserved architecture. The Bennington Battle Monument offers one of the area’s most recognizable views, while the town’s museum, galleries and cultural organizations provide plenty to explore when you want to step indoors.
A Small Town Throws a Big Party for Turnips Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
Wardsboro is the undisputed home of the Gilfeather Turnip, the Vermont State Vegetable
Photos courtesy of Wardsboro Public Library By Anita Rafael Ever since 2002, long before the State of Vermont designated the Gilfeather turnip as the State Vegetable, the residents of the small town of Wardsboro have been throwing a party every October for the humble tuber that was first grown in the town over a century ago. It started out, more or less, as just a few folks from around the village gathering to share a big kettle of turnip soup.
A group of volunteers, following a recipe created by Chef Greg Parks, who was then at Newfane’s historic Four Columns Inn, made big batches of Gilfeather turnip soup on the old gas range in the kitchen at Town Hall. They invited their neighbors and friends to stop in and have a bowl or two. Every penny of the money raised from the bowls of soup went to support the town’s public library, which had just moved into old farmhouse that needed renovations. From that point on, everything about the annual turnip party grew and grew.
Today, the Gilfeather Turnip Festival and Turnip Contest is one of the most unusual culinary-agricultural events in all of New England. The minute the fete opens there are customers waiting to buy just-harvested turnips off the big, red market cart – some 1,600 pounds of turnips are delivered the day before. Just a note to everyone who cooks: The turnips will keep perfectly in a cool place until Thanksgiving Day and about five medium-sized turnips will serve six people a good helping of mashed
At the festival, there’s an outdoor kiosk serving steaming hot turnip soup, of course, and there’s an inside cafe offering a menu of turnip “tastings” from favorite recipes in the Gilfeather Turnip Cookbook. The Turnip Boutique sells, what else, turnip-themed clothing, caps, gifts, and handicrafts. Spread out across the lawn next to Town Hall and along Main Street, there are various Vermont vendors selling their wares. Many craft sellers have said that Wardsboro’s annual marketplace is their favorite – echoing Goldilocks, they say things
20 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
John Gilfeather wagon from Wardsboro history group,
Courtesy of Gilfeather Farm
John Gilfeather.
like “It’s neither too big, nor too small,” and some say that “it’s a perfect stick-season event.” The festival is supported by funding from 802 Credit Union and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets.
For people who want to hear the backstory of Wardsboro’s famous turnip and the old farmer who grew it, there are short, entertaining talks in the historic Methodist Church, directly across the street from Town Hall. It turns out there are still a couple of mysteries yet to be solved about this vegetable – one: where and how John Gilfeather first obtained the seeds, and, two: whether or not the turnip he named for himself is a turnip after all. (Perhaps it’s really a rutabaga?) Plus, the story of how the schoolchildren of the town spent two years campaigning for the State Legislature to pass the Act making it Vermont’s official State Vegetable is an inspiring tale of youthful grit and glory. Without a doubt, though, the highlight every year is the Gilfeather Turnip Contest. There’s always a local celebrity judge who volunteers to pick the winners in numerous categories, from serious to humorous: Heaviest, Most Interesting, Best Dressed, and so on. There are awards for junior growers, too. It’s free to enter the contest. The Gilfeather Turnip Contest record, so far, is a 52-pound gnarly giant grown in a garden in town. It was the grand champion about four years ago. One of the clues that the citizens of Wardsboro are darn proud of their special turnip is the fact that at either end of town, north and
south, they have placed colorful road signs that read “Welcome to Wardsboro, Home of the Gilfeather Turnip, The State Vegetable.” Painted right in the center of the sign is a big, beautiful turnip.
Anita Rafael is a writer living and working in an 1840s carriage barn in Wardsboro. Her art book For the Love of Vermont: The Lyman Orton Collection was published in 2023.
Celebrating Vermont’s State Vegetable Saturday, October 24, 2026 Website gilfeatherturnip.org
Gilfeather Turnip Festival and Turnip Contest, 10 to 2, rain or shine. Field parking $5. Big and little tents on Main Street, indoor and outdoor activities with farm-grown Gilfeather Turnips for sale, Turnip tastings, Turnip soup, Turnip attire and gifts, Turnip seeds, marketplace sellers, and a Turnip Contest for Gilfeather Turnip growers, junior and adult. Wardsboro, Vermont (10 miles north of Mount Snow on Route 100). Festival details and contest rules: gilfeatherturnip. org or email gilfeatherturnip@gmail.com. A fundraiser for Wardsboro Public Library, Wardsboro School Club, and Scout Troop #428. VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 21
Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
Courtesy of Gilfeather Farm
Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
Coolidge Museum Announces White House Piano Restoration
By Rejoice E. Scherry, site administrator In the 1920s, the Baldwin Piano Company of Cincinnati, Ohio was an internationally recognized piano maker. Baldwin rivaled, if not outperformed, Steinway in every regard. The superior sound of Baldwin pianos was preferred by a majority of American radio stations and recording studios. There was just one problem; piano sales were plummeting. The way in which Americans consumed music was rapidly changing. Where once every home contained a piano, there now sat phonographs, player pianos, and radios. Music appreciation soared with the advent of new musical styles such as jazz, swing, and blues, but musical skill was declining. Individuals did not have to know how to play instruments to enjoy music at home.
Baldwin needed to garner national attention for their products in order to capture a dwindling market. In December 1923, the company gifted First Lady Grace Coolidge a Model K grand piano and announced their generosity in a series of Christmas ad campaigns. Mrs. Coolidge was a skilled pianist and had a reputation for her passionate appreciation of music. The subtle installation of a Baldwin instrument in the president’s residence at the White House was a resounding endorsement.
Grace Coolidge’s White House piano eventually entered into the care of the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and became a starring artifact at the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth, Vermont. For decades, the piano has transported museum-goers on musical journeys. However, in 2023, at 100 years of age, staff noticed the instrument’s diminishing performance. An evaluation by a piano technician noted serious physical deterioration. Immediate intervention was needed.
For over a year, Mrs. Coolidge’s beloved piano rested at the Old Timey Piano Craft studio, operated by Patrick Branstetter, in Brattleboro. Included in the monumental work undertaken was the repair of a cracked structural beam, replacing the soundboard, and rebuilding the key actions and hammers. The piano returned to the Coolidge State Historic Site in July 2026, and museum staff are now looking forward to unveiling the final results in a concert on Saturday, September 12 at 2:00 p.m. Members of the public are invited to this free recital where the piano will be feted with a presentation about its unique history and restoration process, and performances by professional musicians. This former White House piano uniquely blends the best of American industry and art and offers a glimpse into the preeminent sound of the 1920s.
22 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
ennington’s 5th Ann own B t n ual w o D Fall Foliage
Theatre
HARVEST Fest
SAT, OCT 17, 2026 10 AM – 5 PM Snow Playgrounds
PHOTO CREDIT: CRAFT BREWERIES BY GREG NESBIT, © MARU LEÓN DESIGN
Old First Church
Bennington Monument
Unique Lodging
Craft Breweries
Snowy Sunsets
Walkable Downtown
Covered Bridges
FREE ENTRY & FAMILY FRIENDLY FREE ENTRY & FAMILY FRIENDLY
Live Music & Performances All Day Curated Vendors & Food Trucks Fall Themed Activities Dedicated Kids Area Specials by Downtown Businesses and so much more! This year’s special activity: MAKE YOUR OWN SCARECROW!
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Plan your visit! Bennington’s Online Visitor Guide VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 23
Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
Bennington Museum
Park-McCullough
Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
New ‘Favorite Dining Spot’ Opens in Beautiful Brattleboro, VT
Brattleboro- Nestled in the heart of vibrant Brattleboro, Vermont, flanked by the Amtrak railroad and the Connecticut River, is the newly opened dining spot, the Rail & River Tavern. After a full renovation and modernization, the Rail & River Tavern has opened its doors as the area's premier dining establishment.
A family-friendly atmosphere with views of the Wantastiquet Mountains and Connecticut River is just one of the unique surprises you can expect when you enter their location, located at 36 Bridge st. The first floor offers sit-down indoor dining and a wrap-around deck perched over the Connecticut River with outdoor seating. A full-service bar with ample seating gives views of the former Vermont/New Hampshire bridge and its pristine waterways below. And if you look closely at the north wall, you will see the VT/NH state line drawn to represent straddling both states. The second floor, named the Wantastiquet Sky Bar, offers breathtaking views of the river and mountains with a year-round rooftop bar. Plush seating and a wraparound deck let you enjoy a cocktail and a bite to eat while you take it all in. 24 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
The whole skybar can open its garage-style doors for an open-air experience that can't be beat.
The concept, designed by owner Paul Belogour, was inspired by his time overseas at different rooftop bars with views of the city and surrounding area. “It's a great way to feel you are part of the area, becoming one with its surroundings and scenery”, says Belogour. “Whether it's mid-summer with the river and boats passing by, Fall time with beautiful views of the changing leaves on the mountain landscape, or during winter with snow-capped mountains and snow glistening off the river, it's a truly beautiful four-season skybar to sit and enjoy yourself.” Says Belogour. General Manager, Timothy Moss, describes the venue as family-friendly, with something special for everyone. “We really took everything into consideration when designing the restaurant and its offerings. A simple yet elevated menu offers familiar family favorites with a Vermont twist.” Said Moss. “It's the kind of place you can feel like a regular, or come as a tourist for a truly special dining experience while passing through Vermont.”
Plans include live music at the Skybar on weekends, special Vermont goods incorporated into the menu, such as Vermont Maple Syrup produced at Viking Farms in Guildford, Vermont, and a full beer and wine list featuring many popular Vermont brews, such as Vermont Beer Makers' seasonal beers and brews. For more information, visit www.railrivertavern.com, call 802-254-0103, or stop by 36 Bridge St, Brattleboro, Vermont. VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 25
Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
Harvest Festival returns for its fifth annual celebration of small-town autumn charm
Fall Comes to Downtown Bennington By Ahmad Yassir
Vermont Country Magazine There is something especially inviting about autumn in Bennington. The leaves begin to turn, the air gets a little more crisp, and Downtown Bennington, with its historic buildings, walkable streets and locally owned shops, takes on the kind of small-town charm that feels almost made for a fall weekend. That is exactly the setting for Harvest Festival, which returns Saturday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for its fifth annual celebration, produced by The Better Bennington Corporation (BBC).
Since launching in 2021, Harvest Festival has quickly grown into one of Downtown Bennington’s favorite fall traditions. Held annually on the third Saturday in October, the event brings together more than 130 vendors, live music, food, family activities and plenty of reasons to spend the day exploring downtown. And for anyone who has attended before, the atmosphere is part of the experience. The festival has a way of bringing out the fall spirit in everyone, including the volunteers who make it happen. There is an unmistakable energy throughout downtown as the streets fill with people, decorations and the colors of the season.
“Fall in Vermont is truly magical and my favorite time of year. I’m excited to work alongside our team and local businesses to make Downtown Bennington a place where families and visitors can come together and make memories. It feels especially meaningful that my first Harvest Fest as Executive Director is also our fifth annual celebration, and I’m looking forward to continuing this wonderful downtown tradition,” said Ali Elwell-Zaiac, BBC Executive Director.
A Downtown Full of Fall
Main Street will be lined with more than 130 vendors, while School Street will become a destination for food trucks. Merchants Park will transform into the festival’s kids zone, with family-friendly activities, demonstrations and shows throughout the day.
the soundtrack going all day with a mix of returning favorites and new performers. This year’s lineup includes Kevin Wayne & The RetroBillies, Uken Brew, Sky Alan, Beard and Glasses, and Velvet Wave.
Make a Day of It
Harvest Festival is also a great excuse to explore beyond the festival itself.
Downtown Bennington’s independent merchants will be getting into the spirit with themed shopping, food and drink experiences and special offerings throughout the day. Because the downtown is compact and walkable, visitors can easily move between the festival and the shops, restaurants, galleries and other local businesses that make the area worth exploring year-round.
Over at Nichols Lot, history gets a little more hands-on with a performance and battle area featuring Bennington’s Jousters, reenactors and members of Bennington’s 250th anniversary committee.
For visitors coming from outside the area, it is the perfect kind of Vermont fall day: wander through a lively downtown, listen to local music, find something handmade, grab something delicious and take in the changing leaves along the way.
Meanwhile, the Main Stage at Lucky Dragon, next to the festival dining area, will keep
For schedules, updates and a directory of downtown businesses to help plan a visit, visit BetterBennington.com
More fall-themed activities will be announced as the festival approaches, so visitors are encouraged to follow Better Bennington’s social media updates or subscribe to its newsletter at BetterBennington.com.
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And for locals, it is a chance to celebrate the community that makes Downtown Bennington special, and support the businesses that help keep it that way.
Vermont Starts at the Retreat Farm Market For a full taste of the iconic fall season in Vermont, be sure to make a stop at the Retreat Farm Market in Brattleboro. Tucked inside the historic Retreat Farm campus, this gem of a market has quickly become one of southeastern Vermont's best one-stop shops for local food, drink, and gifts, all gathered under one roof on Route 30 at the north end of Brattleboro’s vibrant downtown center.
Step inside and you'll find thousands of products by more than 100 food producers, the majority of items from right here in Vermont and nearly all from within 150 miles.. It's as
much a curated tour of the region as a grocery store: Tavernier Chocolates of Brattleboro, Parish Hill Creamery's award-winning cheeses from Westminster; and maple syrup from the Bunker Farm in Dummerston. All share the space with local jams, honey, cider, and locally roasted coffee. Every producer featured is chosen with care, and the Market prioritizes carrying brands and farms that give back to their communities and treat the land well, so browsing here doubles as a way to get to know and give back to the best of the region. The cheese case is the heart of the Market, and staff run tastings daily, walking visitors through New England’s best cheese wedges and wheels. This is a great way to find a new favorite before committing to a whole block. On many weekends, that same spirit of discovery expands into pop-up tastings featuring rotating producers, plus wine tastings hosted with Vermont Wine Merchants, so there's often something new to sample no matter when you visit. The recently opened coffee bar adds fresh-brewed drinks.
The Market makes an easy stop on its own, and it's also the perfect complement to exploring the rest of Retreat Farm. The campus is free and open to the public year-round from dawn to dusk, with nearly 10 miles of hiking trails, pastures with resident farm animals, and a forest playground for kids and the young at heart. Across the street, a popular local canoe and kayak put-in spot accesses a calm, shallow setback with the West and Connecticut Rivers just beyond.
Retreat Farm Market has something for all ages.
Grab a snack, pick up a local beverage, and head out to Farmhouse Square — a fitting reward after an autumn hike, time on the water,
or a simple stroll around the farm. Whether you're filling a picnic basket, hunting for a gift to help you remember your time in Vermont, or just looking for an excuse to taste your way through local cheeses, the Retreat Farm Market is worth the stop. It's open daily, easy to find, and makes for a perfect gateway to Vermont.
Find the Retreat Farm Market at 400 Linden Street, Brattleboro, VT. Open daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Learn more at retreatfarm.org or call us at 802-490-2270 ext. 2. Check out events schedule at: https://www.retreatfarm.org/ events
The coolers offer cheeses for every occasion and taste. Also, a great selection of wines, micro-brews and hard cider.
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Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
Brattleboro’s Retreat Farm Market, Rte. 30/400 Linden Street. Ready to welcome guests on a recent summer morning.
NEW ENGLAND’S ULTIMATE EQUESTRIAN GETAWAY:
Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
Fun, hands-on, and family-friendly experiences await at Equine Affaire!
Winslow Photography LLC
By Allison Rehnborg Are you searching for an exciting equestrian adventure or a fun weekend escape for the whole family? Come to Equine Affaire, New England’s favorite horse expo! Established as a staple of the New England fairscape since 1998, Equine Affaire will be at the Eastern States Exposition in W. Springfield, MA, on November 12-15, 2026. Whether you already love horses, wish you could learn more about them, or want to introduce your family and friends to their new grand passion in life, Equine Affaire is the place for you! Get your tickets while they last at equineaffaire.com. Equine Affaire offers something for everyone, no matter your age or experience with horses. From hands-on kids’ crafts and exciting meet-and-greets with horses and horse professionals to top-notch shopping, competitions, educational clinics, demos, and seminars, there’s always something to explore. Don’t miss the spectacular nighttime theatrical show, Fantasia, and other unique experiences, like our Drive a Draft activity, where you can learn to drive a team of powerful draft horses. Whether you’re a seasoned horse owner or just discovering the equine world, Equine Affaire is the ultimate equestrian destination. A full schedule for the event is available online at equineaffaire.com,
but here’s a sneak peek of just a few of the great features your family will enjoy at Equine Affaire:
Shop in person and support a whole herd of small businesses just in time for Christmas at North America’s largest horse-related trade show! Browse acres of shopping spread out across four trade show buildings and shop for great gifts for all the horse lovers in your life, from jewelry and décor to tack, riding apparel, grooming supplies, and more.
Pet and snap photos with dozens of beautiful horses in the Breed Pavilion and Horse & Farm Exhibits! Stroll through the barns to meet and greet with horses of all sizes, breeds, and colors. Learn all about different breeds of horses by attending multiple breed demonstrations throughout the day. Sample the adrenaline rush of the racetrack by visiting our brand new “Bred for Speed” exhibit, where you can learn all about Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds, as well as other speed-oriented horses. Revel in the beauty and majesty of horses at Fantasia! Sponsored by Myhre Equine Clinic, Equine Affaire’s musical celebration of the horse is a two-hour spectacular nighttime show that will take place on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights during Equine Affaire. With just three fabulous performances, Fantasia is an experience not to be
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missed! You’ll enjoy fast-paced drill team routines, incredible costumed performances, and so much more.
Learn to drive a draft horse! The incredible team at Whispery Pines Percherons Carriage Rides & Logging is coming back this year to present Drive A Draft, an exciting activity that teaches attendees how to drive a draft horse. Put your hands on the reins and learn how to guide an 1,800 pound-Percheron with nothing but two lines and your voice. It’s free to participate for Equine Affaire attendees, but you have to sign up to participate! Learn more at equineaffaire.com
Bring the kids! The Stick Horse Rodeo happens daily at 3 pm in the Equine Fundamentals Forum in the Mallary South. Make sure to take your kids to the “EFF” where they can learn about horses and make their own stick horse (or unicorn mask!) at our craft tables, then bring them back for the Stick Horse Rodeo so they can compete for prizes. For more details, including tickets, event times, and more, visit equineaffaire. com!
November 12–15, 2026 W. SPRINGFIELD, MA, Eastern States Exposition
Explore the world of horses through hands-on exhibits, educational clinics, exciting competitions, unforgettable entertainment, crafts for the kids, and shopping at the largest horse-related trade show in the East! Kids 6 & under enter free!
For all you need to know, visit VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 29
Fall Destinations & Events in Southern Vermont
The Nation’s Premier Equine Exposition and Equestrian Gathering!
Southern Vermont Shopping 30 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
3 Pears Gallery
A stroll through downtown Manchester often reveals some of the best of Southern Vermont shopping: independent galleries, thoughtful boutiques and places where browsing becomes part of the experience. Among them, 3 Pears Gallery, which combines a highly curated collection of fine art, artisan-wares, distinctive jewelry, and unique Vermont finds. Located at 4963 Main St., 3 Pears is worth stepping inside simply to experience gracious Vermont living at its best. It’s always a surprise and delight to see the artwork and chosen treasures beautifully displayed. The walls and merchandise seasonally change with the works from the stable of the gallery’s represented artists. Most of whom have been with 3 Pears Gallery for over 14 years and are in important private collections and museums. Founders, Greg and Judith De Luca warmly great each customer to not only inform but to ensure everyone feels comfortable and relaxed as they take in the gallery's artistic Vermont experience.
Fine Art • Curated Jewelry • Unique Finds 3 Pears Gallery
4963 Main Street, Manchester, Vermont 3pearsgallery.com
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Southern Vermont Shopping
3 Pears believes “Beauty and skilled craftsmanship is a universal right for all”. This is conveyed in its convivial spirit and range of offerings and price points.
Southern Vermont Shopping
The Local & Co. brings coffee, food, gifts and community together A Little Slice of Home in Downtown Bennington
By Ahmad Yassir, Vermont Country Magazine
everyone feel welcome.
There is something special about a place that feels like home the moment you walk through the door. In Downtown Bennington, The Local & Co. is building that kind of place, a cozy community gathering spot where coffee, food, shopping and friendly conversation all come together under one roof.
At The Local & Co., the philosophy is that the best businesses become something more than businesses. They become gathering places — the kind of spots where neighbors become friends, familiar faces are remembered and a quick coffee run can unexpectedly turn into a conversation.
Located in the heart of downtown, The Local & Co. was created around a simple idea: to make a place people want to return to.
That sense of connection is at the heart of the experience.
For shoppers, that can mean discovering something unexpected on the shelves. The shop carries a carefully curated collection of gifts and lifestyle goods selected by its owner, including the latest Jellycat collection, Farmhouse Fresh beauty products, Julie Ellyn Designs earrings and Hayden Rowe candles. The variety is part of the fun. A visit might begin with a search for a gift and turn into a discovery of something to take home for yourself. But The Local & Co. is more than a shop. After browsing, visitors can head to the café for freshly brewed coffee, breakfast or lunch, or something sweet from the bakery. The baked goods are made on-site, adding another distinctly local touch to the experience. Whether someone is meeting a friend, taking a quiet moment alone or simply grabbing something to go, the goal is to make
“Come as you are. Stay awhile,” is the invitation from The Local & Co. Visitors can browse the shelves, settle in with a favorite drink, meet a friend or perhaps make a new one. In a downtown increasingly defined by locally owned businesses, creative finds and places designed to bring people together, The Local & Co. offers a little bit of everything, and, perhaps most importantly, a place to feel at home. For locals, it can become part of the everyday rhythm of downtown life. For visitors, it is the kind of place worth discovering while exploring Bennington: somewhere to find a thoughtful gift, enjoy something homemade, and experience a little of the community along the way. The Local & Co. may call downtown Bennington home, but its welcome is meant for everyone. Visit them at 434 Main St, Vermont Website: www.thelocalandcompany.com
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The King's Knit-Wit from the perspective of Winston
outreach groups like Knitted Knockers, Cancer Caps, Military Scrubs and Stability Toys. If you are interested in helping, you can reach him here at the store.
Everything seemed fine for some time. Then one day Patrick came home and announced that he wanted to retire early, so they started discussing selling their home, and moving to Vermont. Then they found the perfect building in Downtown Bennington, and the next thing I know, I am completely uprooted, and we are driving across country. I didn't know what to expect, but hey, they were my family. Luckily, soon after we arrived, I experienced my very first snowfall ever, and I fell in love with Vermont as well.
We also have a spinning group (The North Bennington Spinners) that comes every second Saturday of the month. Plus knitting groups that meet every Wednesday at 2:00 and 5:30, and Saturdays at Noon. All of these ladies are so talented and wonderful. Many bring me treats, and all of them bestow plenty of attention on me.
Our store is absolutely beautiful. The front half is a highend yarn boutique, run by my human Doug Cardoza. He is amazing! He is an award-winning knitter, crocheter, and spinner. He even teaches knitting and crocheting on a oneto-one basis. Beginning lessons are even free, if you buy the materials from us. Doug doesn't believe is spinning lesson, he thinks that spinning is a personal journey that one must take on their own; however, he is always willing to guide you along your path. And speaking of spinning, you should see the wheels that he has for sale! The best part is that you can buy them on time. Doug says that you can put a deposit on a wheel, pay a little each month, come in to spin whenever you want, and once the wheel is paid off, take it home. As for yarn, Doug specializes in all natural fibers, such as wool, alpaca, silk, cotton, bamboo etc, but he also has an extremely high-end acrylic. They all feel and smell wonderful! Doug also wants to start craft
The back is also a coffee/tea/wine bar which is run by my other human, Patrick Kincaid. The bar specializes in cold slushies, hot wassail (both can be family friendly and for adults), and cookies (many of which are Patrick's own recipes. He also sells bags of whole bean coffee and tins of loose-leaf teas, which he also serves at the bar (perfect for the upcoming cold weather).
You can also find amazing locally made art here, such as beautiful dolls, paintings, and jewelry; many of which have been designed special for the fall and Christmas, however, what I constantly hear is the best part about our store is the friendly atmosphere that the three of us constantly strive to present. We want our customers to feel welcome from the moment they enter the store. I love it here and I think that you will too. Sincerely, Winston VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 33
Southern Vermont Shopping
Hello everyone, my name is Sir Hairy Winston Churchill Sarnfsalot, and I am the owner of The King's Knit-Wit at 520 Main Street, in downtown Bennington, Vermont. I was asked to give an account of my store, and how my humans and I came to be here. To begin our story we have to go back three years to when I first met Patrick Kincaid and Doug Cardoza. I was staying at a shelter in Merced, California when they showed up and asked to meet me. They seemed like a nice enough couple, so I decided to adopt them.
Bennington County Habitat for Humanity ReStore The Bennington County Habitat for Humanity ReStore is a place where a good find can do a little more good. The Manchester shop offers a constantly changing selection of gently used furniture, home goods, tools and building materials, all at a fraction of typical retail prices.
Southern Vermont Shopping
For shoppers, that means an ever-changing inventory
with plenty of opportunity to discover something useful, unexpected or just right for a home project. For the community, every purchase helps support the work of Bennington County Habitat for Humanity, with proceeds from donated items providing direct funding for new home construction and the organization’s home repair program. The cycle begins with donations. By giving gently used items a second life, donors help keep useful materials out of landfills while keeping the ReStore’s inventory fresh. Donations can be brought directly to the store, or the ReStore can arrange to come to the donor. Whether browsing for a piece of furniture, searching for materials for the next project or simply stopping in to see what has arrived, shopping at the ReStore connects everyday purchases with a larger community effort. “Together, we build homes.” When residents shop or donate at the Bennington County Habitat for Humanity ReStore, they help support the organization’s mission to build decent, affordable housing both locally and around the world.
ReStore Open Wednesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Visit www.benningtoncountyhabitat.org restore to learn more about shopping and donations. Knight Kitchens is a family-owned custom wood cabinetry manufacturer. We design and build custom cabinetry with fine furniture quality and value for every room in the home. We provide unparalleled service and our award-winning design team help personalize and support your design project.
If you can dream it, we can build it.
20 Innovation Drive, P.O. Box #66 North Clarendon, VT 802-773-87777 knightkitchens.com georgep@knightkitchens.com
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Voted Best Art Gallery in the 2026 Brattleboro Reformer’s Reader’s Choice Awards
Vermont Artisan Designs is a fine art and contemporary American craft gallery which – for more than 50 years -- has celebrated a wide variety of artists and artisans primarily from Vermont and other parts of New England. You’ll find both functional and decorative work from well-established and emerging artisans: paintings, rang-
ing from landscapes to still life to abstract; sculpture in bronze, wood, paper, wire, mixed media, stone and steel; colorful and clear brown glass; a great selection of pottery; beautiful hand-painted silk scarves; carefully turned salad bowls; exquisitely finished furniture including a rocker that you will swear was made just for you; a great selection of Judaica featuring a wonderful collection of menorahs; entrancing kaleidoscopes; subtle sounding chimes; photographs that capture the essence of Vermont; lamps to accent your home or office; and other wonderful items for you to discover. They are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Make sure to check them out on Facebook! And, don’t forget our sister stores, Kitchen Sync and the Tuxedo Gallery.
At The Shoe Tree, you will find fashionable, comfort footwear for men and women who value their feet! The Shore Tree has been family owned and operated since 1990 and they are located in the historic Hooker-Dunham building in beautiful downtown Brattleboro. The store occupies the space of the original Dunham Brothers shoe store. Their goal it so to help find you fashionable and comfortable footwear to match your lifestyle! They carry brands like Dansko, Ecco, Arcopedico, Birkenstock, Lowa, Haflinger, Wolky, Blundstone, Naot, Olukai, Topo, Rieker, Teva, Taos Oboz, IceBug and many more! They also have a great selection of socks, from Darn Tough, OS1st and Smartwool! Handbags from Baggllini and Travelon. Insoles by Superfeet and PowerStep. Stop in today to find the perfect fit for you and make sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram!
The Shoe Tree 135 Main Street Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-254-8515 Open 7 Days a Week! Monday-Saturday 9:30am-5:00pm Sunday 11:00am-4:00pm
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Southern Vermont Shopping
Vermont Artisan Designs 106 Main Street Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-246-7245 Vtartisan2@gmail.com Vtart.com
The Putney General Store: Putney Where Vermont Comes to Life
Southern Vermont Shopping
If you want to understand what makes a Vermont village special, don’t just drive through Putney, stop at the Putney General Store. The G-Store as the locals call it, sits at the heart of Putney Village, and walking through its doors feels a little like stepping into the Vermont you came here hoping to find. There’s good food, coffee, groceries, Vermont-made products, craft beer, wine and cider, friendly faces, and plenty of reasons to linger. But what makes the G-store special isn’t simply what’s on the shelves. It’s what happens between those shelves: neighbors catching up, visitors discovering a new favorite sandwich, locals grabbing dinner on the way home, and conversations that seem to happen naturally. For travelers, it is the kind of place that turns a trip to Vermont from sightseeing into an experience.
The Putney General Store traces its roots to 1796, making it the oldest operating general store in Vermont. The store has been serving locals since, but it also welcomes travelers with the sort of warmth that makes you feel less like a customer and more like you've stumbled into someone's neighborhood. You can grab a coffee and a breakfast sandwich in the morning, pick up a great lunch, stock up on provisions for your Vermont adventure or find something unexpected that you didn't know you needed. That's part of the fun. General stores were never supposed to be sterile, anonymous places where you run in, scan something and leave. They were gathering places. Places where people exchanged news, caught up with neighbors, solved small problems and occasionally solved the world's problems over coffee.
Putney's General Store till does that. The current proprietors, Mike and Kim Cosco, have embraced that tradition since taking over in 2019. The couple came to Putney with experience operating a community-focused general store in Massachusetts, and they understood that a successful general store is about far more than selling things. Mike is frequently found working in the kitchen or behind the register, while Kim oversees Phoenix Gifts upstairs. Their approach has helped preserve something increasingly rare: a business
that is genuinely intertwined with the community it serves.
The store isn't trying to be a Vermont-themed amusement park for tourists. It is a real working general store that happens to be a fantastic place for visitors to experience Vermont. That distinction matters. You'll see locals shopping alongside people who have driven hundreds of miles to explore the Green Mountains. And that's exactly how it should be. The food alone is worth the stop. The kitchen and café offer hearty breakfast and lunch options, sandwiches, baked goods and coffee, making the store a perfect place to fuel up before exploring Putney and the surrounding countryside. The grocery selection ranges from everyday necessities to Vermont and New England specialties, while the beverage selection includes local craft beer, cider and wine. Upstairs, you'll find Phoenix Gifts, Kim Cosco's wonderfully curated gift shop and it is absolutely worth climbing the stairs. Phoenix isn't a generic souvenir shop filled with Vermont T-shirts and maple syrup. Kim has created a collection that feels personal, playful and thoughtfully selected. Her retail background and appreciation for local artisans are evident throughout the shop. The merchandise includes jewelry, clothing, candles, cards, toys, home goods, art and plenty of wonderfully unexpected Vermont treasures. The best word for Phoenix Gifts might be curated. Nothing feels randomly thrown onto a shelf. There is a sense that somebody chose these things because they were beautiful, useful, funny, unusual or simply made someone smile. It is the kind of shop where you walk in looking for one gift and walk out with three because you found something perfect for someone back home. For visitors, it is also an excellent place to find a Vermont souvenir that doesn't scream "I BOUGHT THIS AT A TOURIST SHOP." Putney is full of the things people come to Vermont to experience: beautiful countryside, independent businesses, artists, food, history and a strong sense
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of place. The Putney General Store brings all those things together under one roof. It is historic without being stuck in the past. It is local without being exclusive. It is practical enough for residents and interesting enough for visitors. And thanks to Mike and Kim Cosco, it continues to be a place where the community comes first. So, the next time you're traveling through southern Vermont, take the exit, slow down and head into Putney Village. Grab a sandwich. Get a coffee. Browse the shelves. Go upstairs and lose yourself for a while in Phoenix Gifts. And if you find yourself staying longer than you planned, don't be surprised. That's what happens at a real Vermont general store.
The Best of Southern Vermont
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Allen Brothers
Best of Southern Vermont
6023 US Route 5 Westminster, VT 05158 802-722-3395 allenbrothersfarms.com Open 7 Days a Week!! 6am – 8pm Mon thru Sat. Friday’s until 9pm 7am – 8pm Sundays Allen Brothers is family owned since 1956. Vermont's largest deli, pizza by the slice, bakery, coffee island, indoor/outdoor eating areas, ice cream, cheese, craft beer & wine, garden center, farm stand, Irving gas & diesel. Seasonal items include; Spring: Greenhouse, maple syrup, vegetables and strawberries; Summer: local produce and ice cream stand; Fall: Apples! Over 30 varieties. Pumpkins on top of pumpkins; Winter: Christmas trees, wreathes, Thanksgiving pies, Vermont holiday products. Easy on-easy off highway; directly off exit 5 on I-91, at 6023 Rt. 5 Westminster VT, with ample parking and trailer access. Diesel, Wi-Fi, maps, ATM, dog walk and clean bathrooms.
Brattleboro Area Realty 402 Canal Street Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-257-1335 realtyvermont.com Voted Best Real Estate Company in 2026 Brattleboro Reformer's Reader's Choice Awards, 8 years running. Serving Southern Vermont and Southwestern New Hampshire real estate markets since 1973. Broker/Owned, Kristen Ziter-Taylor was voted Remarkable Entrepreneurial Leader in 2018 and Brattleboro Area Realty’s team is the recognized leader in service and client satisfaction. We LOVE what we do, call us and become another satisfied client.
Voted Best Real Estate Agent in the 2026 Brattleboro Reformer’s Reader’s Choice Awards Chris Lewis joined Brattleboro Area Realty 37 years ago. When she joined, education and service were her top priorities and she’s passionate about her clients, loves learning new ways to help and loves seeing the smiles when her and her clients find the right house! Chris believes in our community and she appreciates the outstanding support and recognition the
community has given her in this career. Call her today and she will put the 35 years of knowledge, passion and commitment to work for you!
THANK YOU!
For voting us the Best Area Painting Company in Brattleboro 2026 for the 8th year in a row!
Dandrea’s Painting 802-254-8426
802-254-1963
38 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
Chris Lewis Vermont & New Hampshire Broker at Brattleboro Area Realty 402 Canal Street Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-257-1335 realtyvermont.com chris@realtyvermont.com
Al Jeffers and Sons 802-365-4447
Dandrea’s Painting, Inc. Tim Dandrea, owner 802-254-8426 802-254-1963 Tim Dandrea started Dandrea’s Painting in 2002 as Dandrea’s Painting and Handyman Services. Over the past 25 years, painting has become the primary focus of the company, leading us to shorten the name to Dandrea’s Painting when we incorporated in 2007. Fully insured and lead-removal certified by both the state of Vermont and the EPA, we provide internal and external painting services for both commercial and residential properties in Brattleboro and the surrounding towns. For the past 15 years, Tim has been joined on the jobsite by Ken Felion and Andy Hale, as well as various other employees. Dandrea’s Painting is proud to be the 2026 winner of the title Best of Brattleboro in the painting category, making this the tenth year we have earned that title, and the eight consecutive year. Call us today for your painting needs. Although most exterior jobs are currently booking into 2027, there is still room in our schedule for some interior work this winter. We will be happy to provide you with a free estimate.
RetroMusic 38 Washington Street Keene, NH 03431 Open Monday-Friday 11:00am – 6:00pm Saturday 11:00am – 5:00pm Retroguitar.com
21st ers’ ReadAwards hoice
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RetroMusic has been dealing in used and vintage guitars, AMPS, and pedals since 1988, and selling gear online since 1997. Located in tax-free Keene, NH, they primarily sell used player-grade guitars and AMPS, but almost always have several nice vintage pieces in stock. Check out their website, retroguitar.com or stop by the store, located at 38 Washington Street, Keene, NH.
THANK YOU FOR VOTING US
BEST GARDEN CENTER & PLANT NURSERY SHOP LOCAL
Come Visit Our Farmstand For A Taste Of Vermont
FARM MARKET
OPEN 7 DAYS 6:00 AM - 8:00 PM Exit 5 off I-91 • Rte 5 South Westminster, VT • 802-722-3395 www.allenbrothersfarms.com
21st Readers’ Choice Awards
2026
Thanks for voting us Best Plumbing Company 2 years in a row! Prolong the he life li of your heating ing system s and schedule dule an annual mainttenance appointmentt today! t
Serving Southern Vermont, Manchester, & The Mountains 24 HOUR EMERGENCY SERVICE MAIN (802)365-4447 * SERVICE (802)380-0018 JEFFERS.SERVICE@GMAIL.COM
VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 39
Best of Southern Vermont /Southern New Hampshire
is a residential and commercial plumbing, heating, and air conditioning contractor, locally owned in Townshend, Vermont. Established in 1977, they are a third-generation family business that provides installations for plumbing, heating, air conditioning and service work for customers in Southern Vermont, Manchester & The Mountains. They also offer 24-hour emergency service. Give them a call today for any commercial, residential, new construction or renovation service at 802-365-4447. Check them out on Facebook or email them at Jeffers. service@gmail.com. The office is open Monday – Friday, 6:30am4:00pm but they are available 24/7 for emergency service.
Country Bridals & Formal Wear 17 Main Street Jaffrey, NH 03452 603-532-7641
Countrybridals.com Monday 12:00pm – 7:00pm Tuesday CLOSED Wednesday 10:00am – 5:00pm Thursday 12:00pm – 7:00pm Friday 10:00am – 6:00pm Saturday 9:00am – 3:00pm Sunday CLOSED
Norm’s Ski & Bike Shop 62 Martell Court Keene, NH 603-352-1404 contact@normsskibike.com
Best of Southern Vermont
normsskibike.com Norm’s Ski & Bike Shop has been around for over 50 years! Located at 62 Martell Court in Keene, NH, which is on the intersection of Routes 12 & 101, and Main Street in Tax-Free New Hampshire. Stop in today to browse their selection of Skis, Snowboards, Bikes & More. Store hours change seasonally so be sure to check out their website for correct and current hours of operation.
21st Readers’ Choice Awards
2026
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Country Bridals & Formal Wear is New England’s most exciting full-service bridal salon. They offer a friendly, relaxed environment and thoughtful service from a trained and experienced staff. All of their hand selected dresses are gorgeous and you are sure to find the perfect one! They highly value communication and want to know what type of beautiful you want to be on your special day. Country Bridals & Formal wear is a one stop shop for all wedding attire needs-they have a beautiful selection of accessories, shoes and dresses for bridesmaids, mothers, flower girls, and prom! They also have a fabulous selection of tuxedos for the guys.
21st
Best Music Store
USED & VINTAGE GUITARS
Readers’ Choice Awards
2026
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“Affordable Elegance” We pride ourselves on personal service in a relaxed atmosphere.
For all your Bridal, Bridesmaid, Mothers, Special Occasion, Prom & Tuxedo needs. 17 Main Street, Jaffrey, New Hampshire 603-532-7641 | www.countrybridals.com
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40 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
www.normsskibike.com
Chef Lauren Davis brings heart, creativity and tradition back to Kevin’s By Ahmad Yassir
more personal than a themed restaurant. It is a record of the people who have passed through.
Vermont Country Magazine North Bennington has always been more than a village. Its independent businesses, library, arts organizations, trails, historic destinations and nearly three decades of outdoor sculpture have helped give the community a character all its own. But the people are what keep it moving — the owners, artists, cooks, volunteers, makers and longtime residents who continue to invest in the place they call home.
It is an especially fitting recognition for someone whose story with Kevin’s goes back years. Davis first joined the Kevin’s kitchen in 2009 as a line cook, becoming the first woman hired to work in the kitchen. After stepping away, she continued developing professionally in management positions in Bennington and nearby New York. When she returned to Kevin’s in 2024, it was less about starting over than returning to something she had missed: the craft of cooking. At first, Davis was working a full-time job while helping Kevin’s through staffing shortages, stepping into the kitchen one or two days a week to cover the line. Before long, she saw an opportunity to help shape the kitchen again. She approached owner Teddy, who has owned Kevin’s since 2016, with a simple goal: to “whip the kitchen back to shape.” That meant starting with what already made Kevin’s special. The menu remains rooted in the traditional Kevin’s recipes, with Davis working closely with Kevin Lynch himself to learn how the dishes were meant to be prepared “the Kevin way.” That foundation has become a creative jumping-off point rather than a limitation. Davis still finds room to experiment, particularly with soups and sauces,
The Villager Block: A Timeline
1903 — H. C. Simmons builds the brick building on the south side of Main Street.
where unexpected flavors and playful fusions can make their way onto the menu. The combination of familiar favorites and inventive specials gives the kitchen an identity that feels both connected to its history and distinctly its own. And Lynch is still part of the picture, stopping in and working closely with Davis, offering advice and sharing the institutional knowledge that comes with Kevin’s long history. For Davis, though, the most rewarding part of being head chef may happen outside the kitchen. “It has given me special love, love North Bennington, love my team,” she says, crediting the consistent, hardworking staff who have helped build the restaurant’s atmosphere over the past two years. She also points to sous chef Chase Marcoux and the front-of-house team as essential to the renewed energy at Kevin’s. That sense of family is easy to understand when walking into the restaurant. Kevin’s occupies a building with its own stories, having once served as the North Bennington post office, a butcher shop and several restaurants over the years. Today, the space retains the feel of a neighborhood sports pub, with high-top seating and the bar on one side, a traditional dining room on the other, and a small outdoor area. The walls tell their own story, too. Historic memorabilia, photographs of staff and regulars, and the accumulated character of the place create something
1920s — Frank Remington operates a restaurant on one side of the building, while Richard R. Dwyer runs a meat market on the other. Later — Remington's restaurant closes and the space becomes the local post office. After the post office moves — Dwyer closes his meat market, and Norma and Cliff Herrington open the Villager Restaurant. The building becomes known as the Villager Block. Villager years — The restaurant and bar become a popular North Bennington gathering place, with regulars, local characters and a busy daily trade. Later Villager years — Norma leaves the business and Cliff continues operating the restaurant and bar. Partnership — Cliff brings Danny Wendell into the business as a partner. The Side Track — The partners open a second restaurant, The Side Track, for banquets, parties and larger gatherings. After Cliff 's departure — Gary Martin operates the restaurant and bar for several years. Following Martin — Danny and Beth Boepple open a restaurant in the building and operate it for several years. Kevin's era — Kevin's takes over and becomes one of North Bennington's bestknown restaurants, earning a reputation for good food, good times and a strong sense of community. 2016 — Teddy, Jamie and Kelsey Hill purchase the building and restaurant business, beginning a new chapter for the longtime Main Street gathering place. 2026 — Lauren Davis is recognized as Best Chef, adding another achievement to the building's long history of food and hospitality.
VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 41
Best of Southern Vermont
Among them is Lauren Davis, whose return to Kevin’s Restaurant has quickly made her one of the familiar faces of North Bennington’s dining scene. This summer, Davis was named Favorite Chef in Bennington County in the Readers’ Choice awards from the Bennington Banner and Manchester Journal.
As North Bennington continues to grow and evolve, Kevin’s remains refreshingly itself — a neighborhood gathering place built around familiar food, familiar faces and a kitchen that knows where it came from while still having plenty of room to surprise.
Carrying the Message to Bennington Yoga Place The Green Mountain Monk brings meditation and community to a longtime local studio By Ahmad Yassir
"It's complimentary to yoga practice, and there's a big value of sitting with others and meditating together," she said.
Vermont Country Magazine For 25 years, The Yoga Place has quietly been part of Bennington’s wellness community. Tucked behind 532 Main St. #3, the studio has grown from a small local yoga practice into a welcoming space where people come to move, breathe, relax and reconnect with themselves. This year, that longtime role was recognized by the community when The Yoga Place was named Best Yoga Studio in Bennington County in the 2026 Readers Choice awards.
For people who have practiced meditation before, the sessions offer an opportunity to experience it alongside other members of the community and with the direct guidance of an experienced Buddhist monk. Bhante Dhammarathana is a Theravāda Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka with more than 26 years of monastic experience in Sri Lanka and the United States. Ordained at age 13 in 1999, he studied Buddhist philosophy, culture and classical languages before earning a bachelor's degree in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Kelaniya.
Best of Southern Vermont
Now, the studio is opening its doors to a practice that naturally complements its longtime work: meditation. Beginning Sept. 4, The Yoga Place will offer Meditate with a Buddhist Monk every Friday at noon, led by Bhante Dhammarathana, affectionately known as the Green Mountain Monk. The sessions will be free, with suggested donations, and no registration will be required.
Today, he is the abbot and spiritual advisor at the Green Mountain Meditation & Wellness Center in Jacksonville, Vermont, and serves the region through meditation instruction, Dhamma teachings, retreats and interfaith programs.
The opportunity came after Bhante reached out to co-founder Jane Schaeffer with a simple purpose: to "carry the message of meditation to Bennington."
His path has included time at the Lankarama Buddhist Institute in Los Angeles and nearly three years at the Bhavana Society Forest Monastery in West Virginia, where he served as personal assistant to renowned meditation teacher Venerable Henepola Gunaratana.
For Schaeffer, the collaboration makes sense.
His approach draws from traditional Buddhist practices including breathing meditation, loving-kindness meditation, walking meditation and contemplation. At The Yoga Place, the emphasis will be accessible and communal: an opportunity to stop, sit together and make room for stillness in the middle of the week. It also reflects something that has been central to The Yoga Place since Schaeffer helped establish it 25 years ago. Yoga, she says, is not simply about performing a posture correctly. It is an ongoing practice of becoming more aware of the body, mind and spirit — and finding the approach that works for each person. Meditation offers another doorway into that same conversation. For a studio that has spent a quarter-century creating space for people to practice together, the arrival of the Green Mountain Monk feels less like a departure and more like another way to gather. Meditate with a Buddhist Monk takes place every Friday at noon at The Yoga Place, 532 Main St. #3, Bennington. Sessions are free, with suggested donations, and no registration is required. For the complete schedule and current class offerings, visit www.benningtonyoga.com Note from Jane: There’s also a weekly event at St. Peter’s called “Contemplative Evening Prayer and Meditation.” Evening Prayer begins at 5 p.m., followed by a half hour of meditation at approximately 5:30 p.m. At 6 p.m., the group begins a half hour of Lectio Divina, a guided meditation focused on a passage from the day’s Scripture reading. 42 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
By Ahmad Yassir
Best Breakfast: The Angry Egg 2
Vermont Country Magazine
2 has become a familiar part of the Downtown Bennington breakfast scene — a place to meet friends, linger over brunch, discover something new on the menu or simply start the day with a plate that leaves you feeling pretty happy you got out of bed.
The Angry Egg 2 467 Main St., Bennington 802-753-7811 angryeggcafe.com
Best of Southern Vermont – 2026 Readers’ Choice Winner Luxbrush Painting Company provides interior and exterior painting, wallpaper services, carpentry, power washing, and other property improvements. Care & Craft guide everything we do. Care means listening to our customers, respecting their properties, communicating clearly, and supporting one another. Craft means taking pride in every detail and delivering quality work built to last. From the first conversation through the final walkthrough, we strive to provide a thoughtful, professional experience and results our customers can enjoy for years. This award belongs to our team and to the customers and community members who trust us, recommend us, and welcome us into their homes.
Best Painting Company — Four Years in a Row Thank you to the readers of the Bennington Banner and Manchester Journal for voting Luxbrush Painting Company the Best Painting Company in Southern Vermont for the fourth consecutive year. For nearly 30 years, Luxbrush has proudly served homeowners and businesses throughout Southern Vermont. Our team
Thank you, Southern Vermont, for your confidence and support. We are proud to serve this community and grateful to be your Readers’ Choice for Best Painting Company once again!
Luxbrush Painting Company Manchester Center, Vermont www.luxbrush.com | 802-366-1119 VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 43
Best of Southern Vermont
In a town with plenty of reasons to get up early, The Angry Egg 2 has given Bennington another one: breakfast worth making plans around. Owners Steve and Liz have built The Angry Egg 2 into a distinctly local gathering place, where generous plates, creative takes on breakfast and brunch, and a welcoming atmosphere have earned the Downtown Bennington restaurant a loyal following. That community support has now translated into a 2026 Readers’ Choice honor: Best Breakfast in Bennington County. The recognition is a reflection of what the Angry Egg team has been building since bringing the family-owned restaurant to Vermont after a successful run in Connecticut. Their approach is straightforward but never boring — familiar breakfast favorites get plenty of personality, while the menu leaves room for those looking for something a little more indulgent or unexpected. Breakfast is served all day, with favorites ranging from the Angry Egg Sammich, stacked with eggs, bacon, Cabot extra-sharp cheddar, chipotle mayo and arugula, to the Stuffed French Toast with mascarpone, berries, maple butter and whipped cream. For the truly hungry, the I’m Hangry
brings together eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, home fries and toast. But food is only part of the Angry Egg experience. The restaurant has become a place where breakfast and community naturally overlap. Local and regional musicians have performed there, while art, photography, handmade crafts and antiques have found a home among the tables. The result is a space that feels connected to the creative energy of Downtown Bennington rather than simply situated within it. Steve and Liz also remain committed to working with local butchers and vendors, keeping quality ingredients at the center of what comes out of the kitchen. For the owners, being named Best Breakfast is ultimately about the people who keep coming through the door. “We are so grateful to the Bennington community for continuing to support us,” the Angry Egg team says. “This award means so much because it comes from the people who have welcomed us and made us feel at home here.” At 467 Main St., The Angry Egg
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Built to last:
40 years of Old Brick Furniture and Mattress Company By Patrick Kincaid
Best of Southern Vermont
Vermont Country correspondent
One of the attributes that gives a town that “small-town” or “hometown” feel is a family-owned business that seems to have been around forever. That is certainly true in Bennington with The Old Brick Furniture and Mattress Company. Celebrating 40 years in Bennington, Vermont, The Old Brick began in a small brick warehouse as Bennington Furniture across from Henry’s Market on Main Street in 1987. It was founded by Denise Cyr, a strong woman who wanted to create something that would last for her family. As a furniture sales representative for a major chain, Denise understood the importance of offering high-quality furniture at reasonable prices. She decided to open her own store—a place where people would feel welcome and comfortable from the moment they walked through the door. She found a 300-square-foot warehouse on North Main Street in Bennington and knew it was exactly what she wanted. Starting with two to three employees, a one-year loan—which she successfully repaid within the allotted time—and furniture sold on consignment for C&D & Siegle, Denise Cyr set out to build a legacy. Now, 40 years later, The Old Brick Furniture and Mattress Company is still going strong. Although it has long since outgrown its original 300-squarefoot warehouse and was purchased by Denise’s son, Michael Fiacco, in 2012, it has retained that same “hometown, family-owned business” feel. Now located at 1371 Harwood Hill Road, the current Bennington location was once home to Bennington Furniture. Michael purchased the building in the early 2020s and welcomed it into the Old Brick family. Although the building is a far cry from 300 square feet, the Bennington store is, oddly enough, currently the smallest of the Old Brick showrooms. Today, The Old Brick Furniture and Mattress Company has locations in four
states: Vermont, New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Since its creation, many changes have taken place at The Old Brick. The original warehouse has evolved into a full clearance center, and the company has grown from a small business with two to three employees into a thriving chain employing approximately 300 people. The current stores carry significantly more inventory, allowing for quicker deliveries, and Old Brick’s prices are 10% to 30% lower than many other furniture stores. However, even with this tremendous growth, Michael Fiacco still insists on keeping the business family-centered, where employees and customers alike feel like kin. When asked what makes Old Brick stand out from other furniture stores, they were quick to point out: “We have faster deliveries than most other stores because we have more furniture in stock, and we have an amazing delivery team. Many of our customers are second homeowners in the mountains, with furniture deliveries often requiring stairs, balconies, or other challenging access. Our hardworking in-house team ensures every delivery is handled safely, carefully, and on time.” “We offer 0%, and many other financing plans are available for those who are not credit qualifying. There is an option for everybody.” “We also offer much more than furniture, we do flooring and window treatments (with installation available), we offer almost every kind of accessory
44 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
possible. If it is displayed in our showroom, it is most likely for sale. Basically, we offer high quality merchandise in every price range. There are many options to choose from.” However, one of the biggest differences between Old Brick and many other furniture stores is its approach to customer service. When asked what makes Old Brick stand out from other furniture stores, Owner, Michael Fiacco and Bennington Showroom Manager, Brooke Pratt, were quick to point out: “We have laid back sales people, not pushy whatsoever. They are happy to help if you want them, but they won't make you feel pressured. Furniture shopping should be enjoyable, not stressful. Unlike many stores, we don’t believe in high-pressure sales tactics. Our team works together, not on commission, creating a friendly, no-pressure shopping experience where your needs come first. Take your time exploring our wide selection with zero pressure—we’re here to offer guidance, answer questions, and ensure you find exactly what you’re looking for, at your own pace. Shop comfortably, knowing your satisfaction is our priority.” When asked what keeps the staff motivated, the answer came with a smirk and a twinkle in the eye: “JoAnn has been working in furniture for 52 years and has been a part of Old Brick from the beginning, and she does not let us forget the importance of customer service. If the customer isn't happy, she isn't happy.” After 40 years, The Old Brick Furniture and Mattress Company continues to build on the values that started it all: quality merchandise, fair prices, dedicated employees and exceptional customer service—all while maintaining the welcoming feel of a hometown, family-owned business.
Visit the Discount Barn at Old Brick
Check out the Discount Barn, located next to Old Brick in Bennington, Vermont. Visit them at 1371 Harwood Hill Road, Bennington, VT, or online at www.oldbrickfurniture.com.
Best of Southern Vermont – 2026 Readers’ Choice Winner Black Magic Chimney Sweeps Best Chimney Sweep
and support. We are proud to serve this community and honored to be your two-time Readers’ Choice winner for Best Chimney Sweep!
Black Magic Chimney Sweeps Manchester Center, Vermont www.blackmagicchimneysweep.com | 802-362-5755
FIND US AT 532 MAIN ST, BENNINGTON, VT 802-447-0393 BENNINGTONYOGA.COM
Thanks for voting us best Yoga Studio in Bennington County. Your support means a lot and we really hope you enjoy our new classes and programs!
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Best of Southern Vermont
Thank you to the readers of the Bennington Banner and Manchester Journal for voting Black Magic Chimney Sweeps the Best Chimney Sweep in Southern Vermont. We are honored to receive this 2026 recognition and proud to be a two-time Readers’ Choice winner. Our chimney technicians and office staff work together to provide chimney sweeping, inspections, repairs, masonry services, and hearth appliance installations throughout Southern Vermont. At Black Magic, Care & Craft guide everything we do. Care means listening to our clients, respecting their homes, communicating clearly, and helping them make informed decisions. Craft means applying our knowledge, taking pride in the details, and delivering quality work with safety at the forefront. This award belongs to our entire team and the clients and community members who trust, recommend, and welcome us into their homes. We are grateful for every employee whose knowledge, teamwork, and dedication made this achievement possible. Thank you, Southern Vermont, for your votes, confidence,
Photo provided by Brattleboro Area Realty See our ads on pages 48-49
46 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
Picture courtesy of Brattleboro Area Realty
Vermont Country Homes VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 47
4303 Hinesburg Rd, Guilford, VT
Vermont Country Homes
13 rooms, 6 bedrooms, 3 baths 3,682 sq. ft. • 10.9 acres • $475,000 • MLS #5093324
More information: Christine Lewis, CRS, CBR, GRI
Brattleboro Area Realty Cell: 802-380-2088 Office: 802-257-1335 Chris@BrattleboroAreaRealty.com
Private! Guilford! This unusual combination of a true log home with an incredible center double sided chimney—a fireplace facing the kitchen/dining area and a woodstove in the living room, bringing the best of both worlds.....ambiance and warmth. There is a surprise of one more fireplace on the 2nd floor in the charming primary bedroom...use the ensuite for a huge walk in closet. The other half of the home is a brick and stick built addition with an amazing green house room, built to bring the outdoors in and help warm the floor tiles for passive solar...great for plants or just soaking up the winter sun with a good book. Close the door between the 2 sides and create an in-law with full kitchen, bath and bedroom, all on one floor...for those who want to age in place. The land is a combination of open...for gardening and play and Vermont woods for nature hikes. Enjoy the fruit trees, perennials and plant some veggies for putting by...Private! But, off a paved road for easy access...Loved by the owners for many years, it is time to pass this very special home to the next generation who will bring upgrades and new ideas.
48 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
947 MILLER ROAD DUMMERSTON
$769,000 2 BR. 3 BA. 1600 sq ft.
SCAN FOR FULL LISTING!
Kristen Ziter Taylor 802-380-6632 kristen@realtyvermont.com realtyvermont.com
VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 49
Vermont Country Homes
Vermont Country Homes
$2,290,000 634 Lower Dover Road, Marlboro, VT 5 bedrooms, 3 full, 2 half baths, 4400 sq. ft. • MLS # 5097953
Discover a once-in-a-generation opportunity to own an extraordinary 745± acre estate in the heart of Southern Vermont. Steeped in centuries of history yet thoughtfully updated for modern living, this remarkable property combines unmatched natural beauty, recreational opportunities, and agricultural potential. The property features expansive open fields, managed woodland, a productive sugarbush, wildlife and scenic views. Miles of historic carriage roads have been transformed into an extensive trail network ideal for all sorts of recreation. The 4,400+/- square foot main residence offers five bedrooms and comfortable, updated living spaces that blend timeless Vermont character with today’s conveniences. A charming carriage house includes a private two-bedroom apartment, providing ideal accommodations for guests, family, caretakers, or rental opportunities. An extensive collection of outbuildings offers outstanding flexibility for almost any pursuits. Modern infrastructure includes updated septic systems, a wholehouse generator, and high-speed internet. Conveniently located near ski resorts, shopping, dining, and four-season recreation. Ideal full-time residence, sporting estate, family compound, or working farm.
Experts in Southern Vermont Real Estate Since 1965 Brattleboro Office 119 Western Avenue Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-254-6400
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www.berkleyveller.com 50 | VERMONT COUNTRY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026
$2,290,000 634 Lower Dover Road, Marlboro, VT 5 bedrooms, 3 full, 2 half baths, 4400 sq. ft. • MLS # 5097953
Experts in Southern Vermont Real Estate Since 1965 Brattleboro Office 119 Western Avenue Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-254-6400
Dover Office 118 Route 100 West Dover, VT 05356 802-464-8900
www.berkleyveller.com VERMONTCOUNTRY.COM | @VTCOMAGAZINE | 51
Vermont Country Homes
Discover a once-in-a-generation opportunity to own an extraordinary 745± acre estate in the heart of Southern Vermont. Steeped in centuries of history yet thoughtfully updated for modern living, this remarkable property combines unmatched natural beauty, recreational opportunities, and agricultural potential. The property features expansive open fields, managed woodland, a productive sugarbush, wildlife and scenic views. Miles of historic carriage roads have been transformed into an extensive trail network ideal for all sorts of recreation. The 4,400+/- square foot main residence offers five bedrooms and comfortable, updated living spaces that blend timeless Vermont character with today’s conveniences. A charming carriage house includes a private two-bedroom apartment, providing ideal accommodations for guests, family, caretakers, or rental opportunities. An extensive collection of outbuildings offers outstanding flexibility for almost any pursuits. Modern infrastructure includes updated septic systems, a wholehouse generator, and high-speed internet. Conveniently located near ski resorts, shopping, dining, and four-season recreation. Ideal full-time residence, sporting estate, family compound, or working farm.
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