Plowing Day

October 28, 2012 by Geoff Hansen

Last fall, I photographed Floyd McPhetres as part of the Our Town photo project. In 1998, he started the Central Vermont Tractor Club for a group of local tractor aficionados. They get together twice a year to plow a farmer’s field — I told Floyd I would be interested in covering it for the Valley News, which I did last weekend. “For some reason, tractor clubs tend to attract nice people,” he said. I agree.
More photos from the event can be seen in the newspaper’s online gallery here.

From top: With puddles remaining from this fall’s wet weather, Bob Bushway, of South Strafford, plows at White Rock Farm in Royalton, Vt., with his 1980 Allis Chalmers AC 5040. The annual plowing day was postponed a week due to wet weather; Floyd McPhetres, of Tunbridge, Vt., laughs while leaning on his 1951 Farmall H before the start of the club’s annual fall plowing day. His tractor was bought new by a neighboring Royalton (Vt.) farmer. McPhetres started the club in 1998; Ronald Schoolcraft, of Randolph Center, Vt., leads a quartet of club members plowing under a corn field. Behind Schoolcraft are, from right, Gordon Conant, or Randolph, Allen Williams, of Randolph Center, and Chris McPhetres, of Royalton; Schoolcraft shows Joe Williams, of Randolph Center, the work he has done to his 1952 Ferguson TO30 after the club finished plowing 12 acres of corn at White Rock Farm. Williams came to the event to help his two sons set up their tractors and to watch.

Award-winner

October 20, 2012 by Geoff Hansen

The New Hampshire Press Association recently announced winners in their annual Best Media Contest. My photograph for the Valley News of muddy players at the end of a football game won first place in the Daily Sports Photo category. It is nice to be recognized for my work as a photographer, especially when I know so many talented journalists across the state.

Mascoma Valley High School’s Zach Warner is congratulated by his teammates after his interception stopped a late game drive in Canaan, N.H.

Starting Off

July 14, 2012 by Geoff Hansen

Thanks to Forbes Morrell’s attendance at a plumbing trade show, Vermont Lt. Gov. Phil Scott waved the green flag to start the NASCAR Nationwide series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. Morrell, owner of Forbes Maintenance Services in Corinth, Vt., nominated Scott for the honor while at the trade show. Scott is also a race car driver, something he’s done since 1989 and before he became a politician. I photographed Scott and Morrell at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., the other night for a story we did for the Valley News. More photos from the event can be seen in the newspaper’s online gallery here.

Driver Phil Scott, of Berlin, Vt., gets a good-luck hug and hiss from his wife, Diana Scott, before his late model heat race at the Thunder Road International Speedbowl.

Living History

June 17, 2012 by Geoff Hansen

This weekend, the Vermont History Expo is being held down the road from us at the Tunbridge Fairgrounds. While working for the Valley News yesterday, I met organist Miriam Herwig at the log cabin on Antique Hill. Herwig was playing songs Civil War-era on a pump organ in the hall as the expo marked the period. Wearing her grandmother’s 1887 wedding bonnet, Herwig definitely looked the part.

Miriam Herwig, 89, of Randolph Center, Vt., turns the page while playing “Battle Hymn of the Republic” in Antique Hill’s log cabin at the Tunbridge Fairgrounds in Tunbridge, Vt. Reenactors, authors and historical societies from towns across the state were part of the Vermont History Expo this weekend. An organist in her community church, Herwig said she enjoys playing the Civil War-era songs on the 1880 parlor organ because her grandmother sang some of the same to her when she was a child.

Counting on Cards

May 20, 2012 by Geoff Hansen

Last Saturday night, I photographed a Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament at the Orange East Senior Center in Bradford, Vt., for the Valley News. Many of the players were regulars at the center’s fundraising game. It was interesting to watch the action, ranging from serious to silly.

From top: Jason Bowen, left, of Topsham, Vt., keeps an eye on his competition while playing in the poker tournament. Dealer Sandy Benjamin, right, of Enfield, N.H., chats with players while running a table at the tournament. Benjamin has been a dealer the whole time the game has been at the senior center; Dealer John-Paul Hunt, of Woodsville, N.H., center, turns over “the flop” — the first three of the five community cards — at one of three tables of players during the tournament; Mary Ryan, of Norwich, Vt., checks her cards while playing.

Team Irene

May 5, 2012 by Geoff Hansen

After several days of rain this week, the softball team at Whitcomb High School in Bethel, Vt., celebrated the use of their new field with a 20-5 win over neighboring South Royalton yesterday. Both teams lost their riverside fields to several feet of silt when Tropical Storm Irene flooded them in August. The kids’ enthusiasm was great to see as I was there to photograph the game for the Valley News. More photos from the game can be seen in the newspaper’s online gallery here.

From top: Whitcomb’s Cambry Zullick, left, is congratulated by teammate Amanda Begin after Zullick’s third inning solo home run against South Royalton in Bethel, Vt. It was the first home run at the team’s new field, which replaced the old one, damaged by Tropical Storm Irene’s flooding last fall. Whitcomb won, 20-5; Whitcomb’s Lindsey LaPerle, right, waits for the call after the ball gets away from South Royalton’s Kim Lakin; Whitcomb’s softball team has signed their names in the new softball field dugout, calling themselves the Irene Team.

Gone Fishin’

April 15, 2012 by Geoff Hansen

As the sun came up yesterday morning, I found many enthusiastic anglers in area rivers and ponds on opening day of Vermont’s trout fishing season. I was making pictures for Jared Pendak’s Valley News story. I haven’t cast a line since going with my grandfather as a kid, but I can see why so many are drawn to the sport. A few more photos from my morning can be seen in the newspaper’s online gallery here.

From top: David Mattern, of Tunbridge, Vt., right, holds up a string of rainbow trout while his friend Garrett Chrostek, of South Royalton, Vt., paddles their canoe out on McIntosh Pond in Royalton, Vt. The pair had caught four before taking a break to help Mattern’s father load his canoe on opening day for trout fishing season; Eight rainbow trout lie in a cooler after Wes Mattern, of Tunbridge, and his son Ben, 6, caught them at McIntosh Pond; Jason Ballou, of Bethel, Vt., shows his son, Kellan, 6, how to bait his line with a worm while fishing for trout on the Third Branch of the White River in Bethel. Returning to the same spot they fished last year, Ballou said the river channel was in a different place after Irene’s flooding; Sharon Waters, of Randolph, casts her line into the White River under the Royalton village bridge in the morning. Waters said she was looking forward to a day of fishing – including with her adult son in the afternoon – on her only day off in three weeks. “I just love being by the water,” she said.

For the Birds

March 31, 2012 by Geoff Hansen

While working on a story for the Valley News last weekend, I followed a group of interested bird-watchers as they explored an area of the Connecticut River known as a pathway for waterfowl migration. Organized by the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, the tour was led by Phil Brown, who is New Hampshire Audubon’s Director of Land Management. A bald eagle and a nesting peregrine falcon were amongst the highlights of the tour.

From top: Common grackles fly across a marsh adjacent to the Connecticut River south of Charlestown, N.H. With the unusually warm weather in March, the ice melted early in the area’s rivers and streams, speeding up the migration of birds that come through the spring on the way to their summer breeding grounds up north; Lebanon, N.H., resident Tina Avery looks through a spotting scope at an American black duck during a tour of what’s been designated the Middle Connecticut River Important Bird Area in Charlestown; N.H. Audubon’s Phil Brown: “If they get to breeding areas earlier, they’ll have an advantage, but also a risk.”; A mid-tour look at photographs of a hooded merganser.

Having a Ball

March 25, 2012 by Geoff Hansen

On Saturday, I covered the Vermont Basketball Coaches’ Association’s Senior All-Star Game in Windsor, Vt., for the Valley News. It was great to the see how much players from schools across the state enjoyed being around each other. More work from the game can be seen in the newspaper’s online gallery here.

From top: North and South girls teams from Vermont’s Division III and IV schools battle it out on the court at Windsor High School; Mid Vermont Christian’s Eli Seale looks to pass to a teammate before a jump ball is called; Players are honored for their accomplishments between two of the afternoon’s four games.

Mercer Lawyer

March 10, 2012 by Geoff Hansen

Earlier this winter, I was hired to photograph Jack and Laney Sammons (and their dog Pon) at their Tunbridge home for Mercer Lawyer magazine. Jack teaches at Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law in Macon, Ga. I enjoyed meeting them and talking about the town we all enjoy being a part of.