Top Stories for Tuesday August 20, 2013

The Art Of Alaina Jane Salgado Illustration And Graphic Design

Alaina like many other artists simply does not remember a time when art was not a part of her being. “I didn’t really decide per se it was a gift,” shared the Vermont artist. “It was just there in me at a very young age. I have a higher power to thank for that. I do remember my kindergarten teacher took notice and at the end of the school year, unbeknownst to any other students in my class, my mother at hand, she let me have a whole set of colored markers that had been used during the school year to take home. I was very excited and grateful.”

  [ more ]

Eighth Elm Farm Antiques and Décor
By Cookie Steponaitis
Paulette McNary always liked “old stuff” and when her family moved to the state in 1976 they brought with them “everything they owned.” Settling in at the farm where the pair still lives on Route 7 in Ferrisburgh, Vermont, Paulette began to hold some garage sales to eliminate the extra from the move. “It was astounding,” shared Paulette. “I would be in the barn at 4:00 a.m. and people would be out looking at the items in the sale with flashlights. It was often literally impossible to finish milking because of the numbers that would stop in to see what we had. We had sixteen sawhorses with plywood out in the yard and the people just kept coming.”
  [ more ]

A Vermont Crooner Calls Out From The Past
By Cookie Steponaitis
For all of the readers who associate Vermont Crooners with frogs or cicadas, have we got news from you. He was born in Island Pond, Vermont on July 28, 1901, and was one of the most successful entertainers and voices of early American entertainment. His name was Hubert Prior Vallee which he changed to Rudy Vallee and during the 1920’s and 1930’s his deep and crooning vocals and trademark megaphone were the talk of Hollywood and catapulted him to hosting his own variety hour, “The Rudy Vallee Show” from 1929 to 1943.
Young Vallee idolized professional saxophone player Rudy Wiedoft and actually changed his first name in honor of his idol. He began his friendship with the saxophone player after graduating college and the pair remained staunch friends until Wiedoft’s death. Vallee owned one of Wiedoft’s saxophones and ironically it ended up being sold to an Arkansas attorney, who then gifted it to  then current Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.

  [ more ]

The Vermont League of Women Boaters Are Paddling Your Way

Like many successful Vermont ventures, it all started with two friends and an idea. Founded in the summer of 2012, friends Barbi McDonald and Wendy Bruso started kayaking on Tuesday nights because both of their husbands played in the LC Jazz group and were at practice. Seeing Facebook postings from Bristol resident Robin Hewitt who was looking for kayaking partners, the trio started inviting friends and family with weekly emails and Facebook postings to alert the community.
  [ more ]