Jim Vanier was the first person I met when I arrived in Lebanon in 1983 for a job interview at the newly formed Lebanon Recreation & Parks Department. At the time, the office was located upstairs at the Carter Community Building where Jim worked coaching and mentoring the youth of the City. Jim greeted me the same way he greeted nearly everyone who entered the building over his 51-year tenure by smiling and saying, “Hello. Please take off your shoes before you come into the building.” Over the years this rule never changed, and “the building” was a shining example of how one person’s care and attention can create a place that is welcoming and respected by all. Over the ensuing decades as we worked together, it became evident that I had met not only the unofficial “Mayor of Lebanon,” but a living legend whose life’s work revolved around caring for young people day in and day out.

Jim Vanier

Years later, in 2024, Jim’s friends and supporters organized a retirement celebration in Colburn Park, attended by hundreds of people, many traveling from a great distance to pay tribute and tell stories. According to Lebanon attorney and long-time friend Pat Hayes, “The park event was great and it was so good to have Jim on stage listening to the tributes. He was an inspiration to so many people.”

Sadly, Jim passed away suddenly in December of 2025 of a heart attack at age 73. Among the hundreds of tributes online and in print, news has emerged of a group of Lebanon residents working to establish a non-profit to honor Jim’s memory and to carry on his legacy of serving as a beloved role model for young people from Lebanon and throughout the Upper Valley. The Jim Vanier Youth Fund (JVYF) is just getting off the ground, and is expected to be formally up and running by August 22, when a Celebration of Life event will be held in Colburn Park.

“Everybody loved Jim — we hope the Jim Vanier Youth Fund will continue his legacy of helping the youth of the area with whatever they need to succeed,” said Hayes. The Celebration of Life event will include several guest speakers who will reflect on Jim’s enduring legacy. Friends, family, and LHS alumni are all invited to gather in remembrance and connection, and to participate in creating a lasting impact in his honor.

Shelby Day, who served as the executive director of the Carter Community Building Association during part of Jim’s tenure, was raised within the community Jim helped to shape, learning directly from his mentorship and example. Day will administer the fund in collaboration with JVYF Board members Pat Hayes, Rich Tobin, Nate Camp, Larry Vanier, and Kristen Brenner.

Jim Vanier and friend Nate Camp.

“The Board was looking for someone who had a history with Jim and understood what his legacy was about,” said Day. “Being able to give back to the community that gave so much to me as a child and gave so much to my family is truly humbling.” Day fondly remembers the many lessons Jim delivered over the years. “Jim taught us to be kind, respectful, and to give back, and believed that kids shouldn’t have to pay to be kids. I love everything about how he helped kids grow and thrive. We want to be sure children can continue to have recreational opportunities without money being a barrier. This is exactly what Jim would have wanted.”

Day has decades of experience working with young adults and children, and is currently a high school special education teacher and a part time mental health technician in the Dartmouth Hitchcock Emergency Department. “Every day we work to advance the JVYF, I feel Jim smiling down on us. I am thrilled to be part of the Board and its vision.”

The group is in the process of drafting a mission statement, which aims to focus on Jim’s philosophy to “Practice Random Acts of Kindness,” and to honor the memory and influence of Jim’s predecessor and mentor, CCB Director Pat Walsh. During his career, Jim administered the “Pat Walsh Sneaker Fund,” quietly providing children with needed items like a baseball glove, new sneakers, or a suit for an interview, often just from his observations or through random conversations with fellow youth coaches, teachers, and parents.

An early basketball team.

The draft mission states, “The mission is in remembrance of two of Lebanon’s treasures that did so much for the kids and families in Lebanon. This new endowment fund will be set up to provide the essentials like food, clothes, sneakers, cost of childcare or to set up a version of Jim’s “Drop-in Center” and other opportunities for the needy children in Lebanon; sports/recreation fees, sporting equipment, school supplies and to enhance their potential in the form of education scholarships in Jim’s name. This would ensure the children thrive, grow, and reach their full potential, emphasizing empowerment, compassion, and community support, ensuring safety, promoting well-being, and offering both immediate relief and long-term solutions for a better future honoring Jim’s and Pat’s work for all these years to the children and the Lebanon Community.”

The plaque in the James G. Vanier Gymnasium.

The JVYF is also a fitting tribute to the original mission of the Carter Community Building. According to Larry Vanier, Jim’s older brother, Jim always maintained that his primary focus was about the kids. “Jim had one mission — to carry on the CCB tradition of caring for the children and the community of Lebanon. He was one of a long line of concerned citizens that realized the importance of the CCB in supporting young people. It wasn’t that long ago that the CCB was all the community had.”

Jim at the gym dedication.

So the next time you have occasion to visit the “old CCB,” consider taking off your shoes before going into the building in honor of Jim Vanier, one of Lebanon’s true community heroes. ■

The Jim Vanier Youth Fund is currently accepting donations, and the Board welcomes suggestions for how to use the funds to honor his legacy. For more information, contact Pat Hayes at 603-448-2720 or send contributions to Jim Vanier Youth Fund, PO Box 1155, Lebanon, NH 03766. The Jim Vanier Celebration of Life will take place on Saturday, August 22, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. in Colburn Park.

Did you know that Dartmouth Health prioritizes art as a part of its facilities and care? And not just a beautiful mural here or there, either, but programs and initiatives that bring the community together. In addition to permanent and rotating exhibitions, the hospital has creative arts specialists such as writers, visual artists, and harpists, as well as public art projects, and even offers live performances. Working with organizations like the Upper Valley Music Center, the AVA Gallery and Arts Center, and the Hopkinton Center of the Arts, Dartmouth Health’s focus on utilizing art for healing is philanthropically funded for a good cause.

The Dartmouth Health Center’s Creative Arts program employs arts-focused contracted staff, including a creative writer, a visual artist, and two therapeutic harpists.

Integrating Arts and the Humanities was one of Dartmouth Health’s projects even back when the hospital was known as the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital. In the late ‘80s, Gertrude Mertens’ support, along with Mary and Laurance Rockefeller’s 107 Audubon Bird prints, kicked off the program that soon included various other forms of art within the hospital’s walls. One of these is the rotating gallery program, where eight galleries rotate four times a year, said Gillian Cook, the program coordinator for care experience. Artists can find the hospital and apply, or Cook will find artists that she thinks will be a good fit.

In addition to these galleries — which include art in mediums such as oil paintings and pastels — Dartmouth Health also began a Creative Arts program in 2005 for the Dartmouth Cancer Center. Here, an arts-focused contracted staff, including a creative writer, two therapeutic harpists, and a visual artist, all work within the cancer center, said Heather Allin, the program manager of the Complementary Care program for the Dartmouth Cancer Center.

“Patients can request one-on-one services,” Allin continued, if they, for example, need the creative writer to help them write their memoirs. The success of this program, Cook expressed, has allowed it to move into an inpatient center setting, as well, with the same artists. Providers often give referrals to patients if they believe the services would be good for their patients’ well-being. Cook and Allin both said that all supplies that patients work with are donor-funded.

Still, these only scratch the surface of how Dartmouth Health embraces the arts within its care. Cook explained that there are also several live performances, with “at least one person playing every day of the week” in two public areas in the hospital. Featured musicians include pianists, a cellist, a violinist, and a few guitar players. The hospital also hosts a “winter holiday concert series where community choirs and other ensembles will come and play in our main rotunda,” Cook said.

A stained glass window by artist Sabra Field.

Allin said they’ve tried something new this year in the cancer center hematology oncology waiting room. “People are there waiting for long periods of time,” she said, so a visual artist set up a new collaborative art project, where she “laid down tarps and a canvas, and over the day, people can come and she gives instruction.”

“By the end of the day,” Allin said, “You have this beautiful picture that has just come together with multiple people participating.” This program has been conducted weekly for the past six or so months.

Among the many arts- and humanities-focused services the hospital offers, another worth mentioning is how Dartmouth Health collaborates with local organizations. There’s the AVA Gallery and Art Center, which aids the hospital with public art, as well a partnership with the Upper Valley Music Center to offer an aphasia choir for patients “who are experiencing speech deficits from either stroke or traumatic brain injury,” Cook explained. She recounted that one of the caregivers of a patient with aphasia said, “her son hadn’t been singing in church until he started going to aphasia choir, and now he sings again.”

Left Gillian Cook, program coordinator for care experience at Dartmouth Health. Right Heather Allin, program manager of the Complementary Care program for the Dartmouth Cancer Center.

This is just one of many uplifting patient accounts. Cook expressed that “one person said during those days when [her] husband fought for his life, the art at the hospital became more than beautiful decorations. With each stop, she found a momentary hiding place from all things medical.”

Allin recounted a few testimonials from those working with the artists, such as “creating art helps me forget my cancer for a while,” and “I was not having a good week of chemo. I was not sure if I’d be able to do the activity, but I found getting involved helped lift my spirits.”

Overall, it’s clear that Dartmouth Health’s Arts and Humanities programs have had, and continue to have, an impact on the patients they serve and the community they collaborate with. A unique aspect of Dartmouth Health, the programs show how nontraditional methods of healing are worth exploring, especially considering how much help they can provide.

Are you upset by current events in our country? Does consuming the news evoke anger and make you want to shut it off? Have your relationships with friends or family been negatively affected by politics? Do you feel helpless to do anything about it?

While many are fearful about our nation’s future, our book, Beyond the Politics of Contempt: Practical Steps to build Positive Relationships in Divided Times, offers hopeful ways to better our lives, our relationships, and our country.

Bringing our book to the State House.

We both volunteer with Braver Angels (braverangels.org), the national citizens movement founded in 2016 to bring Americans together to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our democratic republic. We envision an America with respectful embrace of political disagreements, where civic friendship flourishes and competing perspectives strengthen our nation. Embracing values of respect, humility, honesty, and courageous citizenship, the goal is not to change people’s views of issues, but to change their views of each other.

Doug volunteers as Braver Angels New England Regional Leader and led the Braver Angels initiative to create a bipartisan caucus in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. His background includes serving as a GOP state legislator, leading the Peace Corps in Ukraine, and helping to end the Ebola epidemic in Guinea. He recently was a panelist on the NPR show “The Middle.”

Beth moderates Braver Angels in person and in online workshops and debates for community members and elected officials. A neurologist and science communicator focused on public health, sleep, and climate change, she has been a TEDx speaker and has appeared on NPR 1A, PBS Newshour, and other news outlets.

Since our book launch, it’s been an incredible adventure meeting people at events in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Tennessee, Arizona, and more. We have discussed many themes affecting our country right now. We’ve heard comments including the following:

• “I haven’t talked with my sister since the last election. I miss seeing her, and my nephews and nieces. What can I do to repair our relationship?” We suggested she start by letting her sister know how much she cares about her before venturing into politics.
• “I can’t sleep after watching the evening news.” As a neurology sleep specialist, counseling people to stop “doomscrolling” before bed has become a routine recommendation that Beth gives patients.
• “I’m a proud activist speaking up for the injustice I see in our country. How can I talk to ‘those people’ when the world is on fire?” Courageous Citizenship is how we put the fire out.

Participants from the Sharon VT Braver Angels workshop and book discussion in January 2026, held at Sharon Elementary School.

There are simple solutions we can do to fix this issue:

• Recognize the “conflict entrepreneurs” that stir up anger among us for power or profit (think about those incendiary cable talk show hosts and social media algorithms that play on our fears). Learn how to be more media savvy and stop the cycle of sharing divisive news.
• Get in touch with your values and try to figure out whether you are living them when you encounter people who voted differently from you. Are you kind, treating your friends, family, and neighbors with dignity and respect, even if you don’t agree with them?
• Get Braver Angels Training in Courageous Citizenship — that includes listening with curiosity and humility to people who differ politically than us, and speaking out about what we believe. When you listen first, your viewpoint will be more likely to fall on receptive ears, and you might also learn something useful. You can be BOTH an activist and a bridge-builder at the same time.
• Join a community organization, a sports team, a musical group, church, or any other collection of people who are diverse (including politically, if possible). Or work on a local project to help your community. This civic engagement, built into the DNA of New Englanders, fosters trust and makes it easier to talk with anyone about politically charged issues when they arise.
• We also offer book-related articles on our free “Together Across Differences” Substack newsletter. See for example our post “Overcoming Political Violence — We can be a beacon of light in a darkened world.”

Through these solutions, we can find hope in divided times and be a light for others.

Resources:

• Braver Angels: braverangels.org
• Beyond the Politics of Contempt website and links to Amazon and local book sellers: beyondthepoliticsofcontempt.com
• Free Substack Newsletter, Together Across Differences (book-related articles): togethernow.substack.com

Robert Plante is the honorary chair of the Lebanon Great Strides Walk to cure cystic fibrosis (CF). He has been volunteering for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for 38 years. In that time, he’s raised more than $350,000 dollars to support research to find a cure for CF.

Robert Plante and Bill D’Amico, who met through the Special Olympics/Best Buddies program.

According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, more than 40,000 people in the U.S. are living with CF. Plante became involved with the organization after his childhood friend Doug Jones, who was diagnosed with CF at the age of 13, passed away at the age of 43. Plante spoke at his funeral.

Bill D’Amico traveled to the Upper Valley from Golden, Colorado, for the event. He met Plante, who is a former Special Olympics athlete, 26 years ago through the Special Olympics and Best Buddies International partnership, which pairs volunteers with Special Olympics athletes who have aged out of or are no longer involved with the program. They first only corresponded by email, but received permission from the organization to meet in person in 2006. Since then, D’Amico has traveled to the Upper Valley each year for the Great Strides Walk.

What has been the most rewarding part of the Walk for D’Amico? “I just think that Robert’s consistency in doing this for 38 years and raising $10,000 a year, every year, all through the Upper Valley” he said. “It’s an amazing testament to the community here, and people that support this type of event. And Robert, specifically. He’s been the ambassador.”

More than 50 people participated in this year’s event, which took place on May 3 at the CCBA Pavillion in Lebanon. The 2026 Great Strides Walk raised $13,685, surpassing its $11,750 goal.

Robert Plante with volunteers and participants at the CCBA Pavillion.

Robert recruits neighbors and friends to join the walk every year, and he reaches out to local businesses to donate lunch for participants.

Paula Garvey of Amherst, New Hampshire, met Robert at a walk 15 or 20 years ago. She got involved because her daughter has cystic fibrosis. She said she and Robert talk every day on the phone. “Robert is the best part,” she said, adding that he brings people together. “He is why this walk happens. We’re all here to support Robert.”

“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.” Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), Field of Dreams, 1989.

The boys of summer are coming. Soon after Mud Season, the days will get longer, the golf courses will open, winter attire will be packed away, and America’s pastime, baseball, will return to the Upper Valley..

The Upper Valley Nighthawks, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), make their home at the Maxfield Sports Complex on Route 5 in White River Junction. The team is made up of college baseball players from all over the country, who call the Upper Valley home for the months of June and July. The Nighthawks’ games are free for spectators, family-friendly, and just plain fun.

Rhys Anderson (Wabash College) wears the Nighthawks mascot and leads a between-inning footrace.

Founded in 1993 by a group of baseball-loving sports enthusiasts, The NECBL’s goal was to expose New England student athletes to Major League Baseball (MLB) scouts. What started with a handful of teams is now a popular league of thirteen teams divided into two divisions, who travel between team locations from Martha’s Vineyard in the south to Montpelier in the north for games. The league boasts nearly 150 former players as MLB draftees and stars. Player recruitment is ongoing, with college coaches and team management collaborating year-round. While most players in the NECBL come from schools on the East Coast, occasionally, an outlier from California may appear on the roster. They all show up enthusiastic to spend the season in New England and to fine tune their baseball skills. The NECBL exposes them not only to on-field skills, but the “back-side” side of baseball, such as marketing, management, and business operations.

Noah Crane, an area native and President of the Upper Valley Nighthawks, is a lifelong lover of baseball, and shenanigans. He attends each game attired in a zebra stripe blazer, and acts as Master of Ceremonies for between-inning games, offering a variety of hilarity, from “finish the lyrics” of a popular song to three-legged foot races. Crane describes the atmosphere as “part baseball, part carnival, and part farmer’s market.” From the thunder of small feet chasing a foul ball (a herd of children instantly appear in hot pursuit when the crack of the bat signals an opportunity to snag a coveted game ball), to the cheers of the spectators when the Nighthawks score a home run, to the inevitable laughter during between-inning entertainment, an evening with the Nighthawks has something for everyone.

Crane has a long history with baseball, having played, coached, and spent a time with a Red Sox minor league team learning the business side of the game. He once owned an NECBL team with his father, in Laconia, many years ago. After returning to the Upper Valley to work at Dartmouth College, Crane was delighted when The Maxfield Sports Complex was built. It would make a perfect home for an additional NECBL team. In 2016, the 13th franchise was awarded, and the Upper Valley Nighthawks made their home at “The Max,” truly a real-life “Field of Dreams.”

Brandon Adams (U North Florida) delivers a strike (hopefully!).

The team was welcomed by the community, and many volunteers and merchants stepped up to participate. The outfield is lined with banners of advertisers from throughout the area. In-game announcements remind participants to support the vendors who support the team. The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation paired with Mascoma Bank to make admission to the games free (although a head count is taken as spectators arrive). The nearby Upper Valley Aquatic Center works with the team to provide essential facilities for the players to work out and train. The Montague Golf Course in Randolph offers reduced greens fees for players. Multiple area restaurants provide food service at the game, with adult beverages for purchase. Of course, no baseball game would be complete without hot dogs and, an area summer staple, Maple Creamees!

In addition to the games, the Nighthawks give back to the community in the form of summer camp for local children. Players and staff share their expertise and love of baseball, and provide instruction and encouragement to the young aspiring athletes. Because many alumnae of the NECBL have gone on to “The Bigs” (MLB) and had brilliant careers, it is possible that a child might exclaim, “He was my coach one summer!” Introducing children to this level of talent could help them learn new skills, develop a lifelong love of baseball, and inspire them to think, “Maybe I can do that!”

The challenge each summer for Crane and his staff is finding housing for the players. It is a league rule that players must be placed with Host Families in the community. Hotels and dormitory situations are not acceptable. Host Families provide the players with a sense of grounding, a home away from home. In these days of short-term rentals, and the popularity of the Upper Valley in summer, people with extra space may choose to rent instead of hosting. This is an economic reality that challenges each team, and for one team was its demise.

Marie McCormick and family with Nighthawks player Will Carnley (Troy).

The team asks community members with extra room in their homes to welcome one or two players for the months of June and July. They require a place to sleep, access to laundry, and occasional meals. In addition, Host Families enjoy discounts on team merchandise and concessions at The Max. Children are particularly excited to have “an older brother” for two months, and the players frequently become “members of the family.”

Host Families report thoroughly enjoying the experience. “The decision was simple,” says one Host Mom. “My husband is a huge baseball fan, so it was a done deal.”

Another shared, “In the summer of 2024, we hosted a second baseman and a left fielder, who particularly enjoyed breakfast before heading off to coach summer camp, or to work out before team meetings and practice. They would wake to the smell of bacon, which became ‘the bacon alarm clock.’ The summer of 2025, we hosted two pitchers, The Twin Towers (6’4” and 6’6”), who were not breakfast eaters, so no ‘bacon alarm clock’ for them! We’d advise them what would be planned for dinner, and suggest they let us know if they wanted to be included. They were a joy to host, and we look forward to meeting our next ‘boys of summer’ in June!”

Marie McCormick, of Lebanon, has hosted since the beginning, 2016, when her son was four years old. He is now 13, and a player himself. He loves having an athlete “big brother” each summer, and the family enjoys ongoing relationships with “their players,” some who are now in the minor leagues. ■

If you would be interested in hosting one or two players this summer, contact Noah Crane, noah@uppervalleynighthawks.com. Your generosity will be rewarded with great fun and memories of contributing to helping develop a future MLB star.

Kindergarteners in Donna Soucy’s class at Mount Lebanon Elementary School gathered in a semi-circle on the blue polka-dot rug at the front of the room, ready to read.

The topic on that midwinter Monday morning: the letter Q.

They started by thinking of some common words that contain Q, like quick and quit. Quest is another Q word, but one unfamiliar to some of the kindergarteners. So, Soucy asked them questions, and provided an example, to help them understand.

“Mrs. Soucy is on a quest to find the best bagels in the Upper Valley,” she said. Her students agreed that bagels are quite tasty.

Over the course of the 40-minute lesson, students practice everything from how to shape their mouth to make the Q sound (kw) to how to write it in both uppercase and lowercase — including where to start on the page, which way to push with their pencil, and which shapes the letter contains. They also learned a helpful way to remember the letter that always accompanies it: “Q and U, they stick like glue!”

Mount Lebanon Elementary School 1st grade Teacher Mary Skiffington, right, works with a group of students during small group literacy time.

A Transformative Approach To Reading

This is just a small glimpse into how the Lebanon School District has transformed its approach to literacy education over the past four years, leading to impressive results and strong, enthusiastic readers.

In the 2024-25 school year, the percentage of kindergarteners meeting literacy benchmarks soared from 44% to 89% over the course of the year. In the latest standardized test results from the winter NWEA assessments, all grades 1-4 are well above the 60th percentile for both growth and achievement in reading. That means Lebanon students are not only achieving above the national average for this time of year, but also beating the average growth percentile from fall to winter.

These strong results come as Lebanon’s public schools have adopted a Structured Literacy approach rooted in the “Science of Reading” — that is, research that shows the cognitive science behind literacy.

The lesson Soucy was teaching on the letter Q came from the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) Foundations program, a gold-standard, evidence-based program of explicit and systematic phonics instruction. In the early grades, students learn letter sounds and how to blend them into words using the UFLI (“you-fly”) program.

Students also read “decodable” books that match the phonics skills they are learning, so they can practice successfully and build confidence and fluency. Teachers have participated in ongoing training so they understand how children learn to read and how to teach those skills effectively.

“I was an early supporter of the UFLI program and really enjoy teaching reading with it,” Soucy said. “I noticed growth in my students’ reading and writing almost immediately. I appreciate how structured the program is because the kids understand the routine and know what to expect. At the same time, it’s flexible, allowing me to add my own touches and differentiate lessons so I can meet the needs of all my learners and keep them excited and engaged.”

Donna Soucy, center, helps two of her kindergarteners at Mount Lebanon Elementary School with a writing exercise.

A Student-Centered Approach

The team of four reading specialists at Hanover Street School, the district’s other elementary school, said the district-wide literacy curriculum provides a common language for all educators to work together to meet student needs.

“Whether you’re a classroom teacher or reading specialist, it’s all based on the Science of Reading, and it’s all working toward helping students learn more and provide them with more,” said Jeanne Akpan, a reading specialist at Hanover Street School. “And the students are always the focus. No matter where they’re at with reading, we will meet them there and we’re working to move them forward.”

This year, the Lebanon School District also introduced an additional reading program called Arts and Letters that helps students build background knowledge and expand their vocabulary through rich content and discussion.

In classrooms like Mary Skiffington’s 1st grade class at Mount Lebanon, students get an hour of Arts and Letters writing and comprehension lessons every day, along with small group literacy time when Skiffington can work with cohorts of students based on their specific needs.

Some 1st graders are still working on the fundamentals of reading, Skiffington said, while others are deepening their comprehension skills and having discussions about what’s happening in the books.

Classroom and school-wide libraries at Mount Lebanon and Hanover Street schools have a range of books for readers of all levels, and teachers constantly encourage students to take books home and read with their parents/guardians every night.

“Make sure you have new books for tonight!” Skiffington told her class as they wrapped up small group literacy time on a recent morning.

Together with families, teachers, reading specialists, and administrators, Lebanon’s district-wide effort is creating a community of confident, lifelong readers.

“Literacy expert Louisa Moats says that teaching a child to read is ‘rocket science,’ because it requires intentional, well-designed instruction grounded in a deep knowledge of how the brain learns to read,” said Karen DuBois, the district’s director of academics, engagement, and opportunity. “That understanding has shaped our approach. We’ve invested in teacher professional learning and high-quality instructional materials to ensure that every child has the best foundation for becoming a confident reader.”

On May 30, 1886, the cornerstone of the Soldiers Memorial Building on North Park Street was laid, initiating construction of the remarkable building designed by Lebanon architect Ferdinand Davis. It was an important milestone for the architect; it had taken five years to raise enough money to start construction. More importantly, however, the architect was a veteran of the Civil War, and the Soldiers Memorial — believed to be the first such building in New Hampshire — was built to honor him and his fellow veterans.

Ferdinand Davis, 1880 (Lebanon Historical Society)

Ferdinand Davis was born in Maine in 1840 and as a young man trained as a carpenter. He first came to Lebanon at the age of 18 in 1858; two years later, he enlisted in the Union Army and fought in the 7th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment. After the war’s conclusion Davis returned to Lebanon and married Eliza Thompson. Though carpentry work must have been plentiful in Lebanon’s post-war industrial boom, Davis wasn’t content with his line of work, and he eventually spent a year in New York City studying architecture.

The Soldiers Memorial may have been Ferdinand Davis’s highest profile work in Lebanon, but it wasn’t his first or only design in town. In 1881, he drew up plans for the Whipple Block at the corner of West Park Street and Hanover Street (today the pedestrian mall). That same year he designed a state-of-the-art mill for Frank Kendrick and the Mascoma Flannel Company — Lebanon’s first woolen mill, and the only one to survive the 1887 fire that destroyed most of the central village. Davis’s mill has been substantially enlarged over the years, but it still stands as part of the Rivermill Complex on Mechanic Street.

By 1884 Davis was designing buildings outside of Lebanon’s borders, including the Union Block in Bradford, Vermont, and an elaborate Queen Anne house for Horace Pease in Hartford, Vermont. Union Block, Bradford’s The United Opinion extolled, was “one of the handsomest and most commodious buildings to be found in this section of the state.”

Ferdinand Davis’s growing architectural success in the Upper Valley abruptly ended in 1887, however, when Ferdinand and Eliza moved to Pomona, California. At the time, Pomona was home to fewer than 4,000 residents (roughly equivalent to Lebanon’s population), and the town wouldn’t be incorporated until the following year. The rapid growth of southern California at the beginning of the 20th century quickly made Pomona an attractive place to be, however, and Davis’s architectural career soared in his new community.

Lebanon Soldiers Memorial, 1911 (Lebanon Historical Society)

Only two years after settling Pomona, Davis designed the city’s First National Bank. His architectural style and talent must have suited the region, and Davis produced a bevy of buildings throughout southern California over the next three decades. Among his many designs were the Seventh-Day Adventist Church (1895), Currier House (1907), Barbara Greenwood Kindergarten (1907), Orange Grove Meeting House (1908), Pomona Masonic Lodge (1909), Pomona City Stables (1909), Pilgrim Congregational Church (1910), Pomona Ebell Clubhouse (1910), and several residences in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Many of these structures remain striking and historically significant buildings, and several are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ferdinand Davis passed away in Pomona at the age of 81. Upon his death, The Pomona Progress claimed that Davis “drew plans for every business block on the north side of Second Street from Garey Avenue to Main Street.” Nearly two decades later, the paper further observed that “more of the public buildings, office structures, and residences of the valley were designed by him than by any other man.” While the same cannot be said of Davis’s work in Lebanon, it’s hard to imagine three more significant structures to carry on his legacy in Lebanon than the Whipple Block, the Mascoma Flannel Mill, and the Soldiers Memorial.

The Wet Paint Players, Lebanon High School’s drama club, is  partnering with Upper Valley Circus Collective (UVCC) for its production of “Water for Elephants.” The show will be performed December 5-7 at Lebanon Opera House.

Set during the Great Depression and told through memories and flashbacks, this musical adaptation of the 2007 novel by Sara Gruen tells the story of student veterinarian Jacob Jankowski who joins a circus and falls in love.

Charli Swan

The show is brought to life through a mix of acting, vocals, choreography, and circus elements. For the past few months, the students have split their rehearsal times between Lebanon High School and Northern Lights Gymnastics in White River Junction.

“When I found out we had plenty of kids in the school that do circus, I got really excited,” said Shannon Aridgides, Lebanon High School’s music and theater teacher and the show’s director. “These kids really do circus. We’re talking silks and lyras and crazy acrobatic and aerial stuff.”

“Our coaches are amazing,” said Meg Tenney, director of Upper Valley Circus Collective. “We have a bit of a tag team. They’re all either professional performers or in a professional program themselves right now.” She said three coaches did the choreography for the first 10 weeks and two coaches will oversee safety and rigging changes. “We have a large team behind all of this.”

“Wet Paint Players has never partnered with another group like we are with UVCC,” said Ollie Hermanson, a senior at Lebanon High School and the show’s stage manager. “This is brand new, and it allows us to explore this territory and open up new opportunities in the future.”

Creating Community

Although this is the first collaboration between the Wet Paint Players and Upper Valley Circus Collective, many of the students in the show have been involved in theater or circus arts for years.

Blaise Yuan (pointing) playing August and Sam Smith (R) playing Jacob and cast

Junior Rachel Horak started attending circus camps when she was seven or eight years old. After a five-year break, she got involved again and is happy she did. “It’s my favorite place to be,” she said. “I love to move, and I love when people get to watch us and be amazed. It feels really cool.”

Sophomore Gardell Wetherington started in theater and then found circus at the age of 10. “I just like the idea of getting to do what I love and then sharing it with people who go to the show,” he said.

This is Blaise Yuan’s first theater production. “I do it because my friends are doing it,” he said. “And I thought it’d be fun.”

“Community is a really big part of it,” said Hermanson. “It’s such a tight knit community, we’ve become basically like family.”

Junior Caroline Cloud, who has been doing circus for nine years, agreed. “My favorite thing about rehearsals is getting to be with everyone,” she said. And her favorite part of performing? “Getting to show everyone what we worked so hard to do.”

A Pioneering Production

The high school version of Water for Elephants only recently became available for production in the fall of 2025, so Lebanon High School is one of the first schools to perform the show.

Abigail Tremblay and Blaise Yuan

The script offers suggestions for incorporating circus elements, but it also allows for a lot of freedom depending on a school’s available resources.

Aridgides said the first few pages of the script offer guidance for staging the show, but it’s not prescriptive. “It says this is a memory play, Mr. Jankowski is remembering things, so it can be abstract,” she explained. “We understand you’re a high school, we understand you’re all from different places with different opportunities. Maybe it’s your local gymnastics team, and that’s what you’re going to showcase… We do have circus people and, not only that, they’re good.”

“Do they say the silks or the lyra or the tumbling pass will be here? No, but it lends itself perfectly to it. It’s a perfect marriage,” said Susan Lamontagne, the show’s choreographer.

“I think it’s really, really cool that we get to do something new and especially something so cool that we get to invite the UVCC circus and get to work with them,” said Abigail Tremblay, a senior. “It’s a little challenging at times, though, with so little character studies, never having seen the show, and then not having many references to go off of. It’s a lot off the top of your head. A lot of research. I’m digging around for interviews on the actors and characters to work on certain scenes. But it also feels kind of special, and I really like that.”

Junior Sam Smith agreed. “Since the only people who have performed this were on Broadway, we don’t have a lot of information on how the show actually works, which is bad but it’s also good because we can make it our own,” he said. “Especially with all the circus stuff… we can do cool, special things because there’s no rules.”

The performers all have their favorite parts of the production.

For Tremblay, it’s the music. “I feel like there’s not enough folk and bluegrass on Broadway, especially not in high school shows,” she said. “I feel like it’s underrated. I love every single banjo moment in this piece, but I also like that it dips into a rocky feel sometimes when it gets angry. The composition is so amazing.”

“I really like to see how everything grows and grows and grows,” said Simon Trussell, a junior.  “We start out with nothing. Just like, what show is it going to be? Then we’re casting the actors, and we’re learning the songs, bringing in the props, getting the costumes, and then we’re getting on stage. And it’s really cool to see little by little how we’re building this whole show up from scratch more or less. That is awesome.”

“I’m so excited for the audience that isn’t really ready for the circus stuff to be so amazed,” said Horak. “I really hope it gets more enjoyment in circus in general, because I think circus is really cool.”

Something for Everyone

“I picked the show because once I knew we had the cast for it, it has something for everyone,” said Aridgides. “You can be someone who hates musicals and you can still have an awesome experience with the show.”

Meg Tenney, Shannon Aridgides, and Susan Lamontagne

Tenney has read the book twice and loves the story. “I’m the sappy one – as soon as the show starts, I’m going to cry,” she said. “The end of this show really gets me every time.”

Smith appreciates that the show allows many performers to take the spotlight. “Oftentimes with musicals it focuses on three or four people and everyone else is an ensemble, but I feel like in this musical there’s at least 10 people who all get their own song and get to show off how really good they are at acting,” he said.

“No matter what scene, no matter where you’re sitting, there’s something everyone will enjoy,” said Hermanson. He described a typical scene that includes dancing, singing, and circus, all while platforms and lighting are moving and changing. “Even if you’re not a theater lover, even if you’re not a circus lover, there’s something that you will enjoy on stage.”

Lamontagne said one of the most rewarding parts of this production has been working with the students. “Getting to work with kids that are young, relatively inexperienced and getting to teach them steps, musicality, characterisms, some of the things they’ve learned through circus, and watching their confidence in themselves grow, watching them start to create these characters and become the show – watching it build, for me, will always be the most wonderful thing to be a part of,” she said.

Many of the students in the show have been involved in theater or circus arts for years.

Presented by Lebanon High School’s Wet Paint Players and Upper Valley Circus Collective, Water for Elephants will be performed at Lebanon Opera House on Friday, December 5 at 7 p.m., Saturday, December 6 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, December 7 at 1 p.m. Tickets, by donation (suggested $5-10 per person), will be available at the door. Cash and check accepted.

For more information, visit: lebanonoperahouse.org/events/water-for-elephants.

Chances are we’ve all viewed that hilarious scene in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation in which Clark (Chevy Chase’s character) connects the extension cords and illuminates his house with 25,000 Christmas lights, with which he painstakingly decorated the exterior. Clark’s lighting display temporarily blinded his neighbors, caused the electric meter to go into overdrive, and likely could be seen from space.

Now none of us have the time, patience, or forgiving neighbors (let alone the funds to cover that December electric bill) to match Clark Griswold’s extravagant light show, but many of us do enjoy having a more modest lighting display over the holiday season. After all, when it gets dark at 4:30 in the afternoon, who doesn’t like a little extra exterior lighting?

Roadside pick-up crew: (L-R) Mark Kimak, Peter Bickford, Paul Dalton, Tom Zuttermeister, Chris Herring, Catherine Herring, and Geoff Tomlinson

The local Lebanon-Upper Valley Lions Club sure does, and they’re proving it by offering their first-ever Holiday Light Display Contest during the month of December. The Lions are challenging residents and businesses in Lebanon and West Lebanon to decorate their dwellings, offices, and stores in their holiday finest, featuring festive lights and accompanying decor. Photos of the displays then may be sent to the Lions, and a committee of Lions members will choose the winner and two runners-up.

The idea for this contest originated with long-time local Lions Club member Tom McGonis. His objective in proposing this new contest? “It’s a chance to build community spirit.”

The next step was proposing the idea to the Lions Club members. They proved to be receptive to the idea, so the contest was on. The members feel the contest is a perfect fit for the holiday season. “We wanted to choose an idea that would excite the community and light up Lebanon,” McGonis says.

The rules of the contest are simple and straightforward. Homes and businesses are both open to compete. Decorate the building (and possibly the adjoining yard) with your best holiday decor, featuring a festive light display, take a photo (or photos), and send them via email or the post office to the Lions Club. Club members will then judge the photos, and pick a winner and two runners-up. The three chosen will each be awarded a prize from a local business: Katie’s Cookies of Lebanon is providing the prizes. The contest is only open to Lebanon and West Lebanon homes and businesses, and runs from December 1 to December 31.

Any expectations of how many homes and businesses will enter this contest? “We have no idea, being our first time,” says McGonis, though he adds that the hope is they will have many participants.

Hosting a pizza party for the Lebanon Girl Scouts

Promotion of the contest includes signs and posters around town, news stories in local media (such as this article in the Lebanon Times), and word-of-mouth, says McGonis. As is true with all the programs the Lions undertake, they are always happy to accept corporate sponsorship from local businesses, though, “The contest is not a fundraiser,” he adds.

The Lebanon-Upper Valley Lions Club is involved in a wide variety of philanthropic work and projects. They provide assistance to well-respected Upper Valley organizations such as David’s House, Listen, and The Haven. In addition, they perform community work, such as clean-up on their one-mile stretch of Route 120, and they assist in keeping Lebanon’s fire hydrants clean and working properly during the winter months – so important when winter structure fires occur, and ice and snow can interfere with hydrant operation. Lions members take part in holiday food distribution efforts, and offer scholarships to high school students. They even pair with other organizations in fun and educational events. Tom McGonis says the Lions recently teamed up with a local Girl Scouts troop to put on a pizza party.

Of course, they are involved with the major function of all Lions Clubs – that being assisting with those facing eyesight issues. Eyeglass collection, sight screening and education, support of those providing seeing eye dogs, and financial support for those in need facing vision problems, continues to be a mainstay of all Lions Clubs.

Tom McGonis says the Lebanon-Upper Valley chapter of the Lions consists of, at various times, between 10 and 20 members. Several members have devoted years of service to Lions Clubs; McGonis first became a Lions Club member in 1972, and Paul Dalton, who is involved with the Holiday Lights Contest, also has several decades of service in area Lions Clubs.

This December, whether you’re a Clark Griswold holiday-lights-extravaganza-wannabe, someone who puts an effort every year into a tasteful holiday light show, or someone who’s always wanted to dress up your home or business in a festive holiday light theme, why not be a part of this first-ever Lions Club contest? Again, the rules are simple – your lights display must be in Lebanon or West Lebanon, and you need to send the photos of the display to the Lebanon-Upper Valley Lions Club during the month of December. You may win, “A major award,” (as did the father in another popular Christmas movie), but you will, “show that our community has holiday spirit,” says McGonis. Good luck!

Want more information about the Lions’ Holiday Light Display Contest, or the Lions Club in general? Just visit the Lebanon-Upper Valley Lions Club website.