Top Stories for Tuesday March 17, 2009

VUHS Wrestling: Taking It To A New Level
By Cookie Steponaitis
    When VUHS wrestling Coach Nathan Kittredge was in second grade, he accompanied his father to VUHS to wrestle. Growing up in a family steeped in the tradition of the sport, Nathan watched matches and their outcomes at all levels long before he was able to compete himself. When Nathan became a student at VUHS in the 1990’s there were only five students on the team. Although the group was very tightly knit, there was not much recognition or excitement about wrestling during that decade. “Wrestling taught me a great deal,” Nathan reflected. “It certainly was what got me to go to college. My father had a very successful construction business waiting for me to join, but I wanted to wrestle at a college level. That took me to Plymouth State College and a degree in physical education and health.”
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Raising Falabellas: They’re Horses Not Mushrooms
By Cookie Steponaitis
    The Falabella, bred originally in Argentina, South America in 1868 is a mixture of Andalusian and Spanish horses that came from the conquistadors and has a long and unique history that makes it one of the rarest of today’s famed miniature horses. Falabellas are between 28 and 34 inches in height and closely resemble Arabian and Thoroughbred horses in their size and confirmation. However, because they are so small, Falabellas are ridden only by small children and are shown in hand classes, driving classes and hand jumping competitions not exceeding three feet. Over the past forty years a growing interest in the breed has brought them to America and now to Vermont.
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A View From The Front Porch
By Larry Johnson
   As you’ve probably noticed, few modern houses have front porches. They may have a deck for their barbeque or hot tub and a landing platform for a set of stairs going out onto the lawn, but porches, for the most part, are nearly nonexistent.
   When I was a kid, porches were a functional and integral part of most houses. It was unthinkable to not have a place for summer entertainment. That’s right, a porch was the entertainment center and the gathering place for friends and relatives who just happened by on a Sunday afternoon or a warm, moonlit night.
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