Ed. Note: Jeanie McIntyre is President of Upper Valley Land Trust and was a friend of Lebanon resident Laurel Letter, who died earlier this year. This article is adapted from the original published in March at uvlt.org.

Laurel Letter was not a conservation leader. At least that’s what she would have said. She would say that she did not have expertise or confidence, she would ask for advice about next steps. She would offer to assist, to gather information. She would make it easier for others to lead – actually, she made it impossible for others not to lead. That’s how Laurel Letter made things happen.… Read More

Our daily transportation decisions have major impacts on our personal health and the wellness of our communities. Places that design streets to encourage walking and biking inevitably get people active and out of their cars. A robust transit system encourages good public health because it gets people walking to bus stops. Buses also help us breathe easier. They produce 95 percent less carbon monoxide, 92 percent fewer volatile organic compounds, and 45 percent less carbon dioxide than private automobiles, according to the American Public Health Association.

Thankfully, Lebanon residents have many options to use public transportation or take a safe walking or biking trip.… Read More

Lebanon was once known as “The City of Fountains” – and the Lebanon Fountain Committee is on a mission to help it live up to that name. Established in 1997 to spearhead the restoration of the Marion Carter fountain downtown, the five-member committee continues to raise funds, recruit volunteers, and strive toward the restoration and building of the fountains the city was once known for.

According to Lebanon resident and committee volunteer Priscilla Gosselin, the priority this year is to build a fountain on the downtown Mall, providing another enjoyable space where residents and visitors can gather. As the city recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Lebanon fire that destroyed much of downtown, Gosselin said it seems like a good time to create a new downtown attraction that will add to the feeling of community and fellowship.… Read More

Beverly Damren has been an energetic and sociable presence in West Lebanon for 65 years. She has made her mark as a parent, a Den Mother, and counselor. She has worked in the schools, in social service groups, and most recently putting a strong shoulder to the wheel to get the Kilton Public Library up and running. Growing up in Claremont during the Depression, she learned not to wait around for someone else to do things for her.

Different Times, Different Pace

“Everybody walked – you didn’t think anything of it,” Bev recalls of her childhood. Her maternal grandparents had a farm, which her uncle later took over.… Read More

There is some contention over when it starts – some say the beginning of the senior year, some say in the second semester of junior year – but when “senior-itis” hits, it hits hard. What is “senior-itis?” It can be a hazy, glazed-over look in an upperclassman’s eye, a telltale sign that his or her mind is not there in the classroom, but in what lies ahead for them after graduation. It can be seen in the lounging groups of seniors in the library, luxuriously enjoying the final moments of high school. It can include a sense of fear, too; “senior-itis” is just as much an admission of anxiety over the future as it is an eagerness for the future to come.… Read More

While we remain held firmly in winter’s icy grip here in the Upper Valley, many residents can’t resist the opportunity to let their minds drift off to the lazy, hazy days of July.

Specifically, July 12, 2014, when once again hordes of excited, dedicated, and determined individuals from every walk of life will descend upon the town of Hanover for the 33rd Annual Prouty fundraiser, staged by the Friends of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center in Lebanon.

That prestigious event has become legendary and established itself as the biggest charity fundraiser in Northern New England, incorporating more than 4,500 people from more than 30 states who gather to celebrate life, hope, and the defeat of cancer, an insidious disease that has struck down so many.… Read More

This issue of The Lebanon Times spans an interesting season here in the Upper Valley, covering February through April, the time when we transition from the cold and gray of winter to beginnings of the warmth and verdure of spring. It truly feels like a season of renewal: We’ve survived another winter of snow and below-freezing weather, and we’re possessed of a new, hopeful energy that only comes with this particular season.

Each person welcomes the spring in her own way. Me, I go outside as the snow melts and take “litter-picking walks,” collecting the trash suddenly so evident at the sides of the roads.… Read More

Nonprofit organizations. Volunteers. Fundraisers. Banks?

It may be surprising that one of the most committed nonprofit donors in the Upper Valley is a bank, but for Mascoma Savings Bank, the community is their success to support and celebrate.

One of Mascoma’s most cherished events to support is the annual Concerts for the Cause series, which provides funding for Child and Family Services, a statewide nonprofit agency with a regional office in West Lebanon.… Read More

Terri Dudley greets a visitor with a hug instead of a handshake. A welcoming, grandmotherly woman (who is indeed grandmother of four and great-grandmother of five), she leads the way to a cozy living room filled with seasonal decorations. You’d never guess that she’s spent years in the civic and political heart of Lebanon. The titles of the positions and achievements on her résumé flood off the page.

But if you ask Terri what has been her greatest accomplishment, she instantly says, “Raising children.”

She didn’t limit her attention to her own three, or her five foster children. “Our home was the gathering place for all the children in the neighborhood,” she recalls.… Read More

Jacqueline Clary, an art teacher at Lebanon High School, has an infectious passion for what she does. When I entered the large, open art room where she spends most of her time, she was pacing between students still working on their pieces, giving pointers and encouragement when she could.

Her passion carries over into her role as the faculty advisor for Students for a Sustainable Future, the long-running environmental group at LHS founded more than a decade ago by a small group of dedicated students.

The club was originally started with Mary Maxfield and Chrissy Morley, two LHS science teachers, as advisors.… Read More