Many people don’t know there are good jobs in manufacturing, right here, says Chris Hamilton of Fuji Dimatix, which invents and produces commercial-quality inkjet printheads. Kids can buck the trend that says they have to leave the Upper Valley to find a good job after high school. Next fall, a pilot program bearing the impressive name STEM Internship: High Tech Manufacturing and Engineering, will link 16 Lebanon High School seniors and some students from Thetford Academy with Hypertherm and Fuji in a semester-long internship. “The program covers the entire business,” explains Tim Renner, a team leader at Hypertherm’s tech training institute.… Read More

Are you in the parking lot? I’ll come to the door.

That’s Sangwook ‘Sunny’ Nam – the Grammy-nominated mastering engineer – as I call him from the East Wilder Road parking lot of his studio, Jacob’s Well Mastering. Situated yards off the bank of the Connecticut River, the elegant but nondescript building has been the home of Sunny’s studio since 2012. As he opens the door and introduces himself, I step into a cozy, inviting meeting room. Sunny leads me around the corner into his studio and then steps to the side so I can admire his workspace. It’s certainly a space worthy of admiration: professional-quality speakers are built into the wall to my left on either side of a window overlooking the river, while Sunny’s custom console fills the space to my right, boasting a vast array of displays, knobs, sockets, and lights.… Read More

Tucked behind a downtown Lebanon playing field, the Canillas Community Garden is a bustling hub for longtime residents as well as Lebanon’s growing international community. The garden’s visionary founders are preparing to celebrate 10 years of success in ‘sowing the seeds’ for how to cultivate healthy soil, grow organic vegetables, and share wisdom and knowledge with the next generation of gardeners.

Pat McGovern, Helen Brody, Polly Gould, and Cherry Angell are the current coordinators of the Canillas Community Garden. Three of the team are founders, and have observed firsthand the evolution of the garden from its modest beginnings with seven raised beds and a spiral garden to an important community gathering place and educational collective with 35 beds and a reputation for innovation and welcoming gardeners of all ages and abilities.… Read More

A Lebanon Local Supports Families Through Adoption

They call it the Triad Group, and think of a three-legged stool. The evolving group consists of about a dozen people, all with some connection to one of the three facets of adoption, whether as birth parent, adoptive parent, or adoptee. Co-founder Judith Bush says support groups usually aim at one, or possibly two, of these facets. “I’ve always wanted a triad group, but I bet you could look and not find one in the whole country,” she says. Titia Ellis of South Pomfret was also enthusiastic about connecting the triad, and helped found the group.… Read More

Achieving the rank of Eagle Scout is a goal of many who enter the Boy Scouts, but one not easily attained. According to the National Eagle Scout Association, only about five percent of those in the Boy Scouts achieve the Eagle Scout designation. Along with amassing various merit badges to become an Eagle Scout, candidates must complete a service requirement to achieve that status.

Lebanon resident Justin Rogers recently was awarded the honor of becoming an Eagle Scout, and in achieving the honor, Justin helped students and teachers at the Mt. Lebanon Elementary School by performing his service work component at that school.… Read More

“If it has happened to a traveler, we have probably seen it!”

There are brave people in the world who willingly put themselves at risk to save us when we are in harm’s way. They have chosen to devote their lives to a company that rescues us just about anywhere we choose to travel around the globe – Global Rescue.

At home here in Lebanon when we fall and need help, we dial 911 and an ambulance and its well-trained crew comes to our rescue usually in a matter of minutes. But, what if we are in South Africa on a Safari, and are mauled by a lion?… Read More

In recent years, the trend in the ski industry is for major corporations to own most of the country’s ski resorts. Companies such as Vail Resorts, Peak Resorts, and Boyne USA own resorts across the United States, and even internationally. Yet a few independent mountains still operate, drawing local residents and visitors alike, who like the idea of supporting a locally run, locally managed ski operation.

New England once was home to numerous small, local ski operations. Many of these have disappeared over the years, victims of the appeal of huge ski resorts with dozens of trails, major snow making capabilities, and numerous amenities, such as waterparks, hotels and conference centers, and multiple restaurants.… Read More

At 65 years young, the Lebanon High School Alumni Association is among the City’s oldest community service organizations. If you’ve been anywhere near Colburn Park in mid-June, you’ve likely come across the association’s multi-faceted and colorful alumni parade weaving through downtown Lebanon, dating back to its founding in 1952.

Like many social and civic organizations around the country, the LHS Alumni Association is eagerly seeking out the next generation of leaders to sustain its community service activities, and finding ways to navigate alumni recruitment in the digital age. With more than 1,400 members on its Facebook page, the LHS Alumni Association is an extensive and active network of Lebanon High School graduates from around the country.… Read More

It’s just like Ben and Jerry’s! exclaimed a cellist at the Upper Valley Music Center, “starting in an old garage.” The musician was looking at Roy’s Garage, diagonally across Colburn Park from the Music Center’s new home. The garage is soon to be the home of Lucky’s Coffee Garage. Creative dynamo, Deb Shinnlinger, aims to develop a community meeting spot, a home away from home. And you don’t have to be the barista or the baker.

Deb has been working on the idea of opening a coffee shop for over a year. “A series of fortunate conversations put Mike [Davidson, who owns the property] and me together,” she explains.… Read More

Look up tidal wave in Webster’s Dictionary and among other terms, it will state that the definition of a tidal wave is “Any widespread movement or feeling, etc.”

Lebanon Police officer Dakota DeRego acted when a life-altering tragedy descended upon a young Lebanon High School student, and his acts of kindness set off a tidal wave of compassion and emotion that swamped the Upper Valley and continues to gain strength.

It all started when Dakota heard the plight of Julie Barber and her family. Julie, a sophomore at Lebanon High School and a varsity ice hockey player, was admitted to the hospital to have a cancerous tumor removed from her spine.… Read More