La Salette Shrine: Hope International Connection and Peace

Most Upper Valley folks are familiar with the La Salette Shrine Festival of Lights display in Enfield, NH during the holiday season, but the shrine is a busy place connected to the Upper Valley Community year-round. Speaking with Father John Patrick Sullivan, the director of the shrine and Roman Catholic priest, one can hear his passion for connecting with people in both his neighborhood, the greater Upper Valley, and the world community.

 La Salette has been a part of the Upper Valley for over 100 years after the Shaker society sold the land to the La Salette group in 1927.… Read More

Iryna’s story begins ten years back, before Russia’s war on Ukraine ever began. Iryna Petrus – now living in the Upper Valley with her 4-year-old daughter Polina after fleeing Ukraine in February 2022 – first came to Lebanon as a student. Iryna had a degree in engineering from a university in Ukraine, but was looking to improve her English by studying at Lebanon College where she earned her Associate Degree in business administration. She also worked at Elixir in WRJ, where she recalls talking to patrons about Ukrainian independence and history: “I was a really proud Ukrainian back then and even more now.”… Read More

Muriel Maville, owner of Muriel’s Donuts in Lebanon, had never baked before opening the shop with her husband Francis in 1967. “I was a mother; I was at home!” Muriel laughs, “I hadn’t even gone out to work. In the beginning I didn’t even know if I even wanted to do it, but it all worked out alright.” 

To say that it worked out alright is an understatement; Muriel’s Donuts has stayed in business for 54 years, with Muriel and her family baking up delicious donuts for a loyal customer base and the new faces that come in to try the treats they’ve heard about from friends and family, and in regional and national publications. … Read More

In summer of 2021, the Lebanon Times attended an inspiring concert on the Lebanon green featuring one of the Tuck’s Rock Dojo bands, a mix of talented high- school and college-age musicians and their high-energy teacher, Tuck Stocking. The singer’s powerful and emotional voice and the driving rhythms and melodies of the instruments playing classic rock songs inspired dancing and jubilee in the crowds. Let’s explore the secrets to creating such passionate and skilled music.

Tuck Stocking and Kata Sasvari, a husband-wife team, started Tuck’s Rock Dojo back in 2009. Tuck has a longtime love of many types of music.… Read More

When a small but committed group of ‘Founding Mothers’ started WISE 50 years ago as a women’s career and parenting resource center – email, floppy disks, and pocket calculators had just been invented. Also in 1971, women could not own credit cards or purchase property. And the concept of gender-based violence was not part of any community conversation: it would take decades for this to change. Yet the pioneering WISE founders began hearing and believing women’s stories of sexual and domestic violence at home and at work and took the courageous step to act on those stories. Fifty years later, the next generation of WISE staff, volunteers, and board members is still providing a haven for people who suffer from gender-based violence, offering support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.… Read More

If there is one philosophy that Lebanon resident John Fenley lives by, it is that which was imparted to him by his parents years ago. 

“My mother taught me that you have to have faith and fight and persevere through the hard moments in life,” says John. “She has shown me what it means never to give up. And my father taught me that you can achieve your dreams if you work hard.”

For John, these words have had significant meaning considering his diagnosis of a craniopharyngioma brain tumor at age three which required five surgeries to successfully remove. And although the resulting brain injury created obstacles, he strives to define himself by his abilities rather than his disabilities.… Read More

Following her retirement as principal of Mount Lebanon Elementary School, Eloise Ginty wanted to spend her time on meaningful projects that would have a positive impact on people’s lives. So, she began volunteering for non-profits that focused on migrant justice and planned parenthood, but she quickly learned that her leadership skills and experience were calling her to take a different path. “I had been a leader, and I felt that I needed a bigger project for transition into retirement,” said Eloise. “I wanted to keep it focused, with a clear vision.”

While on a pre-pandemic road trip, Eloise was reflecting on her next steps, and recalled her social activism days during junior high school cleaning garages to support children in other countries who needed funds to attend school.… Read More

Among the outdoor events that went virtual through Covid last year was the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s.  The event is held every fall in more than 600 communities across the country to raise money and awareness for the work of the Alzheimer’s Association. The walk went on nonetheless, and Lebanon locals came through with a strong show of participants, sponsors and spirit. They’ll be at it again this year on October 2, this time with the option to do what communities do best – to connect in person.  

The Power of Purple: Purple is the color of the Alzheimer’s Association, and “going purple” is a way to show support for the cause.… Read More

Growing up in countryside Cieba de Madera, San Victor, Moca in the Dominican Republic, Lebanon resident Yaniris McLenithan, or Yani as her friends call her, recalls the importance of staying connected to her family, her community, and the fertile farmland her parents once managed in the mountains above the city. The many crops produced from the healthy farm soils of Yani’s homeland are a source of pride among locals in the Espaillat province. Yani describes the farming scene. “These were sustainable family farms, between 200-500 acres, providing everything a family needs on a daily basis, including tobacco, bananas, plantain, and all kinds of fruit that was either consumed or sold at regional markets.”… Read More

Among Elizabeth Borowsky’s two-dozen-plus Upper Valley students, Amalia Hickey doubts that she’ll ever play the instrument for audiences of more than a few friends.

Yet Hickey keeps going back to the keyboard, which grips her imagination the way wielding a field hockey stick lights up her instinct to compete for Lebanon High School.

“I love the grand sound,” says Hickey, a junior. “And I love that all 10 of your fingers are playing together and working together to create music.” 

Her love for the piano multiplied a couple of years ago when Borowsky started composing, as annual birthday presents, solo pieces on which Hickey could hone her skills.… Read More