John Lent, of Waltham, started volunteering many years ago at the Vergennes Community Foodshelf with his late wife, Mary Ann. She was the driving force behind the couple’s volunteering efforts in the community. After Mary Ann died in 2020, John decided to keep volunteering in her honor. 

John is not only an avid volunteer, he’s also an accomplished marathon runner. He’s completed marathons in all 50 states, all Canadian provinces, and all seven continents.

In this episode of Happy Vermont, John shares what motivates him to volunteer and why getting out of your comfort zone is essential. 

Learn more: 

Vergennes Community Foodshelf

Vermont Sports magazine interview with John Lent

HappyVermont.com 

Alicia Taylor and Joanna Alpizar met at a pop-up roller-skating event in Burlington. The two BIPOC women became fast friends and are now on a mission to create a public, welcoming, year-round space for roller-skating in the Burlington, Vermont area.

In this podcast episode of Happy Vermont, Alicia and Joanna talk about the joy of roller-skating, the history of roller-skating, and creating a welcoming skating space for the community.

Read the story here on HappyVermont.com.

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Jamie Franklin opened an exhibition at Bennington Museum earlier this year called Haunted Vermont, which explores disappearances in the Bennington Triangle and the work of mystery writer Shirley Jackson. Jackson lived in North Bennington and some of her work was inspired by the strange happenings in this area of Southern Vermont.

This episode of Happy Vermont highlights disappearances in Glastenbury, witches in Pownal, and vampires in Manchester and Shirley Jackson's work.

https://benningtonmuseum.org

https://happyvermont.com/2023/10/11/bennington-triangle-happy-vermont-podcast/

Every fall, John Anderson of Dummerston and a group of volunteers monitor birds that are migrating south for the season.

For decades, these volunteers, known as the Putney Mountain Hawk Watchers, have recorded the number and kinds of hawks they see and report the information to Hawk Migration of North America, which maintains an online hawk count database.

Established in 1974, Putney Mountain Hawk Watch is the only autumn raptor watch in Vermont that is monitored daily between August and November.

In this episode of Happy Vermont, John talks about hawk watching, what it brings to his life, and the time he saw more 6,000 birds fly over Putney Mountain in one day.

https://happyvermont.com

http://putneymountain.org

If you’ve ever been to Shelburne Orchards, chances are you’ve seen or been lucky enough to meet owner Nick Cowles. Nick has spent most of his life at the orchard, which his father purchased in the 1950s. Nick loved growing up there, and when you visit, it’s easy to see why.

Host Erica Houskeeper met up with Nick to talk about apples, brandy, and how running the orchard changed his life for the better.

www.happyvermont.com 

www.shelburneorchards.com

The summer she turned seven years old, Charity Clark's first outing on Vermont's Long Trail was at Little Rock Pond in Mount Tabor. Years later, she completed the 272-mile footpath across the Green Mountains, the oldest long-distance hiking trail in the United States.

Today, Charity is Vermont's first female attorney general. Even with a busy schedule in Vermont’s highest law enforcement office, she spends as much time as she can outside—hiking, skiing or exploring the woods.

In this episode of Happy Vermont, Charity shares her love for hiking and the outdoors and why Vermont is her forever home. 

Read the story: https://happyvermont.com/2023/08/29/hiking-the-long-trail-charity-clark-podcast/

Happy Vermont podcast host Erica Houskeeper shares ways to explore Vermont this summer and fall. She also weighs in on why we can't take Vermont communities for granted. 

happyvermont.com

Terri Armata of Bennington is one of Vermont’s most dedicated butterfly watchers. A retired hospital employee, Terri has seen about 100 species in Vermont, nearly every kind ever found in the state. 

Host Erica Houskeeper met with Terri at Merck Forest in Rupert to talk about good places to find butterflies, her passion for butterfly watching, and Vermont's second Butterfly Atlas Project survey.

happyvermont.com

vermont-butterfly-atlas

merckforest.org

patreon.com/happyvermontpodcast

Spencer Potter created Woodchuck Golf in his backyard in Waitsfield in 2004. The six-hole course, which runs on donations, attracts golfers from near and far looking for an offbeat and challenging experience.

Happy Vermont podcast host Erica Houskeeper met up with Spencer to find out what motivates him about running a public backyard golf course in Vermont's Mad River Valley.

www.woodchuckgolf.com

happyvermont.com

Most of Vermont's forests and hillsides were clear-cut in the late 1800s. But in a few places, like Gifford Woods State Park in Killington, old trees were spared and continue to stand tall today.

Visit Happy Vermont: happyvermont.com

Learn more about Gifford Woods State Park: vtstateparks.com/gifford

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