Vermont Travel Notes

The Stowe antique and classic car show is this weekend. I've been seeing some great looking old cars in the area the last couple of days. Many of the entrants come up here a few days early to do some scenic touring. The show usually attracts nearly 1,000 collector automobiles.

Look for it at Nichol's Field a few minutes south of Stowe on Route 100. For more information, see my July 20 entry by going to the bottom of this page and clicking on the gold "2" to the right of where it says Page 1 of 2, and then scroll down.

(c) 2007 Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus

Candy Barr Plein Air Class

The month long Festival of the Arts continues this weekend with these events (click dates for links to more information):

Friday, August 10
Accessorizing Seminar
Asia In VT...Art & Antiques
Mad For Massage!
Authentic English Afternoon Tea
Culinary Tour of Italy
Kundalinii Express Concert
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Cigarettes
The Fantasticks

Saturday, August 11
Artists' Open Spaces / Open Studio Visits
Art on the Porch at the Creators Shop
Digital Photograph & Photoshop Workshop
Basic Drawing
Farmers' Market Fun
Chinese Exercise & Meditation
Favorite Dinner Party Desserts
Folk Art Workshop
Innovative Homes of MRV Tour
Poetry Workshop, Picnic & Reading
Wilder Raku Firing Workshop
Authentic English Afternoon Tea
Portuguese Dinner
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Cigarettes
The Fantasticks
Kundalinii Express / Prabhata Samgiita Concert

Sunday, August 12
Artists' Open Spaces / Open Studio Visits
Mad For Massage!
Sean Callahan at Artisans' Gallery
Warren Village Street Fair
Eastman School of Music Alumni Concert
Sunset Drumming by River - Mad River Massage
Vermont Philharmonic POPS Concert

Monday, August 13
A Garden Tea
Candy Barr's Plein Air Class
Mosaic Workshop-You Break It, You Make It
Picasso Kids Art Camp
Labyrinth Building at Camp Bridges
Perseids Meteor Shower
Barn-B-Q

Some of the country's best bluegrass bands will be in Alburgh VT this Fri, Sat and Sun for the Lake Champlain Bluegrass Festival.

In the line-up are Rhonda Vincent (seven time female vocalist of the year) & the Rage, Doyle Lawson & Quick Silver (six time vocal group of the year), The Gibson Brothers (three number one albums), James Reams & the Barnstormers from NY state, Adam Dewey & Crazy Creek (MA), Bob Degree & the Bluegrass Storm (VT), Southern Rail (MA), Yonder Hill (Montreal), The Mad Mountain Scramblers (VT), and The Cabin Fever Band (NY).

There is free weekend camping for tents and RV's.

In addition to the performances, there will also be workshops, jam sessions, fiddle & banjo contest, craft shows, hayrides, bonfires, and BBQ's.

Ticket information is on the website, as are some very good directions with your choice of scenic routes or direct routes. It is a nicely done website by the way.

(c) 2007 Jeff Connor

The American Cheese Society Convention is being held this week in Burlington. You have to be a member of the society to attend but there is one event open to the public. Everyone is invited to the Sheraton Burlington on Saturday, August 4th, 2007 from 4:30 - 8:00 pm for a cheese tasting.

This is a rare opportunity to try "more than 1,000 handcrafted artisan and farmstead cheeses, from producers throughout North America . . . entered in the American Cheese Society's Annual Competition . . . there will be wines, beers and specialty foods that complement the stars of this event."

In addition to this event, there is the Vermont Cheese Trail, available year around. The "trail" is made up of cheese producers around the state, many of them open to the public. To find them, go to the Vermont Cheese Council's Cheese Trail page on their website. There are 37 facilities listed here with links to the companies' web sites. The ones open to the public are flagged.



(c) 2007 Jeff Connor (except the VT Cheese Council's map above) Grunberg Haus

The Mad River Valley Festival of the Arts is a very popular, month long series of events in and around the towns of Waitsfield and Warren VT in the north central part of the state.

There will be community dances, ice cream social, musical performances, artist studio tours, gallery events, children's activities, street fairs, fine dining, concerts, readings, plays, dance performances, architectual home tours, workshops, garden tours. A huge event with something for everyone.

(c) 2007 Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus

Summer time and the playhouse theatre (they nearly all spell the word in the Middle English version) season is in full swing. From time to time, I come across a new theater or theatrical group I have not heard of before. I am not sure how many there are in Vermont but it is more than
anyone would think for such a small, rural state. We do love our arts here.

Here is a list of the ones with summer productions, followed by a small list of fall performances:


Southern VT

Dorset Theatre Festival
Dorset VT
"Dulcy" July 19 - Aug 5
"Sleuth" Aug 9 - 25

Vermont Theatre Company Brattleboro
No current schedule posted yet for the season

Old Castle Theatre Company
Bennington
"On Golden Pond" July 13 - 29
"The Fantasticks" August 17- September 2


Central VT

Poultney Summer Theatre Poultney
"The Taming of the Shrew" by Shakespeare
July 26 - August 4

Weston Playhouse
Weston
"A Number" July 25 - Aug 19
"Hairspray" Aug 2 - 25


Northern VT

Lost Nation Theater
Montpelier
"Tartuffe" by Molière August 2–19
"Henry V" by Shakespeare: September 20–October 7

Adamant Quarryworks Theatre
NOTE: free admission
"Long Day's Journey Into the Night" until Aug 5
"Charlotte's Web" Aug 9 - 19

Skinner Barn Commons Group Waitsfield
"The Fantastiks" Aug 9 - 19


Stowe Theatre Guild
Stowe
"Into the Woods" now through Aug 4


Waterbury Festival Players Waterbury
"Beyond Therapy" Aug 8 - 25



Fall and Winter Productions

Northern Stage
White River Junction
"Doubt" Oct 4 - 23

Lamoille County Players
Hyde Park
"The Spitfire Grill"
September 27-30 and October 4-7
(A couple of our inn guests, who were very experienced play attendees, went to one of this group's performances a while back and could not get over the high quality of the performance - they told me emphatically to recommended it to all our guests.

Lyric Theatre
Burlington
"West Side Story" Nov 8 - 11

(c) 2007 Jeff Connor Grunberg Haus