HOUSES OF DUMMERTON

No, it's not a local medical drama TV series.

It's a Contemporary Photography Exhibit, the culmination of a years-long project of the Dummerston Historical Society. Beautiful documentary photographs of homes, outbuildings, and residents of Dummerston are on display at the Historical Society building - the old schoolhouse in Dummerston Center.

This exhibit began as a follow-up to the Dummerston 250th Anniversary in 2003 when the Historical Society decided to document all structures in Dummerston and invited residents to either submit photographs or have their houses and outbuildings photographed by one of 15 volunteer photographers. There are approximately 145 properties which have been documented.

The exhibit's openings are scheduled for Wednesday, July 8 (12 - 2 PM), Thursday July 16 (6:30 - 8 PM), and Saturday, July 25 (4 - 6 PM).

Additional open dates will be announced in this space. This event is free and handicapped-accessible. Come and enjoy refreshments while taking in this wonderful exhibit! (More info? 254-9311)

Cohabitation in the Twenty-First Century

Black bear, East-West Road
photo courtesy Mary Ellen Copeland
The bears are on the move, and it's time to take down those bird feeders! As fascinating as it is to see these impressive animals strolling through your yard, it's never a good thing to train them that approaching people and homes is the quickest way to a great snack.


Well-stocked bird feeders are nothing more than a buffet invitation to bears, and the consequences are never good. Please - remove ALL outdoor food sources, so that the bears' best dining opportunity is back in the woods. Later in the fall the bird feeders can go back out, but for now, bring 'em in!

More tips are available from our friends at Vermont Fish & Wildlife. For extra credit, take a look at their Black Bear Fact Sheet.

And now, for something completely different

Dummerston School recently presented its annual Spring Concert, a wonderful showcase of our students' music and acting talent. Imagine the scene when, at the end of the evening, most of the teachers - and the Principal - took the stage and gave back to the students and their families a little gift of their own!

If you've got a broadband Internet connection, click here for a taste of the excitement that evening. (Note: do NOT click if you've got dialup Internet.)

It's easy to see that the most-fun educators around teach at Dummerston School!

A Trillion Dollars



A billion. A hundred billion. A trillion dollars. Big numbers! What does a trillion bucks look like, though? Go to this page to start to get an idea of a number that big.

E-mail woes?

A distressing number of local folks are reporting BIG problems with the cutover of their Verizon-to-Fairpoint e-mail service. How about a little advice from the trenches?

Since you HAVE to change your e-mail address now, why not go with something that won't be subject to change the NEXT time? A lot of your neighbors have taken the opportunity to switch to a very robust, feature-filled, and free e-mail account from Google.

Google Mail - or, "GMail" - offers you virtually unlimited storage, access to your e-mail from anywhere, and a suite of capabilities that are just too numerous to even start mentioning here. Your address book can be imported to Gmail, and you can even ask it to magically push all of your contacts and calendar changes to that new iPhone!

If you're ready to take control of your e-mail, go to GMail, set up a free account, and take it for a test drive! If you don't care for it, walk away with no regrets.

Sean Moynihan is New Hampshire's Principal of the Year

Former Dummerston School teacher, mentor, and athletic director Sean Moynihan has been named Princpal of the Year in New Hampshire.

Now in his fifth year at the helm of Sunapee Middle/High School, Sean continues to inspire and elevate students to higher achievement. Read the full story here.

Congratulations, Mr. M!

Help!   (posted Friday, January 16th)

Six families, victims of Saturday night's fire at the Lawrence Block, Brattleboro, lost everything in the fire, according to the Red Cross. The town of Brattleboro, the Brattleboro Housing Authority and the Brattleboro Drop In Center have all aided the families this week.

The following are suggested clothing items/sizes for the affected families:

  • Youth boy's pants and shirts size 10-12.
  • Women's size 7 shoes.
  • Women's medium, large size tops.
  • Boys 3T pants.
  • Women's size 9, 10, 13, 15 and 16 pants.
  • Boy's 4T shirts.
  • Boys shoes, 11 wide.
  • Women's coat -- large.
  • Women's shoes/boots size 8.
  • Men's pants 40W-32L, 33W-32L
  • Men's XXL shirts.
  • Men's winter coat, XXL.
  • Men's medium-large shirts.

Also, six households need to replace all household items and furniture, including microwaves, towels, sheets, blankets, dishes, pots/pans. A laptop computer is also sought for a college student.

Items may be dropped off at the Brattleboro Town Manager's office at the Municipal Center, 230 Main Street, Brattleboro.

On The Road - with Bill Holiday

Local history guru Bill Holiday leads remarkable tours to amazing locations. Bill has been honored as a national expert on the JFK assasination, and has also made similar inroads into our expanded understanding of the Vietnam War. Take a look at his website for his upcoming tours, then figure out why you're not signing up! Go to Holiday Travel and review the speakers and participants he's got lined up for his trips. Very impressive...

Student Software Special

Really - this is a great deal. Microsoft is once again offering its "Ultimate Steal" deal on the top-of-the-line version of Microsoft Office. If you have an ".edu" e-mail address, get this software for $59.95. You'll download the software, so DON'T try this on a dialup connection. Also, make sure to backup your software to CD once you download it! Click right here to check it out. This is significantly cheaper than even the "Home and Student" version, on sale, with rebates, etc.

Evening Star Grange

Ever wonder what's happening at Dummerston's version of Madison Square Garden? Now you can take a look at the online calendar that Ruth Barton is building. No hard hat required...

Highway Travel S-t-r-e-t-c-h

The Vermont Information Center Division publishes a handly little guide called "Park Bench Yoga". It's designed to help visitors loosen up their muscles after their long trek to our corner of the world. The exercises look like they'd also be just the thing for recovering after a long flight, though certainly not possible whilst in your "cozy" seat! Take a look: Park Bench Yoga. The file is 1.4MB, and it'll print wonderfully to a regular 8 1/2 by 11 page.

Antivirus update time!

Those of you who have been using the free version of AVG Antivirus should be updated to Version 8 by now - otherwise, your virus definitions will no longer be kept current.   If you haven't yet installed Version 8 (which is still free for individuals, by the way!), read on.

If you're unsure as to which version you're running, open AVG, click on "Information", then click on "About AVG Free".   If it shows you've got program version eight-point-something, you're good.   If not, click here, download that puppy, and install it now.   Then go back to your homes and go about your normal business.   There's nothing more to see here.