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Archives for October 2016

October 9, 2016 by swheeler Leave a Comment

Large Crowd Turns Out to Support Deveney Choquette in her Battle Against Cancer

Deveney Choquette was only 17 years old when she lost her mother to breast cancer. Since then, she has dedicated her life to helping other people in need, especially those battling cancer. However, now it is her who needs help. She is battling the same kind of cancer that claimed her mother’s life. On Saturday, two of her friends, homegrown musical talents – Tod Pronto and Wayne Warner, hosted a benefit concert for Deveney at the Goodrich Memorial Library in Newport. The venue was filled with her supporters!

 

Wayne wrote and sang a song about Deveney.  To listen to it click HERE

Tod wrote and sang a song about his mother who passed away from cancer. To listen click HERE

The evening ended with the singing of Amazing Grace – HERE

Tod Pronto (left) and Wayne Warner (right) hosted the evening's events.
Tod Pronto (left) and Wayne Warner (right) hosted the evening’s event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deveveny was given the royal treatment
Deveveny anxiously awaits for the concert to begin
Deveney thanking those in attendance at the concert.
Deveney thanks all of those who attended.

 

Deveney Choquette got a present from a special friend, Tristin Geoffrey.
Deveney Choquette got a present from a special friend, Tristin Geoffrey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Many people turned out to listen to the concert and to support Deveney in her battle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Vermont’s Northland Journal — Our monthly magazine is dedicated to sharing and preserving the history of VT’s Northeast Kingdom through the words of the people who lived it. Learn how to subscribe HERE

Filed Under: Blog

October 8, 2016 by swheeler Leave a Comment

Open House Weekend at Jed’s Maple Products

Today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday) Jed’s Maple Products on the Derby Pond Road in Derby is holding an open house. This is the story of Jed’s accompanied by photos I took today – Scott Wheeler/Publisher

 

Family Traditions Mean Sweet Rewards

by Tanya Sousa

Steve and Amy Wheeler are the owners of Jed's.
Steve and Amy Wheeler are the owners of Jed’s.

Steve Wheeler and his wife, Amy, have been in the maple sugaring and maple products creation and sales business for 15 years, but the roots to what they do reach much further than that in more ways than one. Their business, Jed’s Maple, is the sweet reward for generations of experience and ingenuity.

Steve’s father sugared. Steve’s grandfather sugared. In fact, his great-great-grandfather William Jewett, who built the famed seven covered bridges in Montgomery, sugared too. “It’s a family tradition,” Wheeler said. He remembers his grandmother’s stories of packing the entire family into a horse-drawn sleigh and going to the sugarhouse and making an event of sugaring season days and nights.

He recalls being six years old and being given jobs easier for a little body to do during sap boiling time—like climbing through a small hole in a tarp to retrieve pieces of wood for stacking. “When I got older, I was given other jobs,” he said. He wasn’t allowed to do the tapping for a long time since it took more upper body strength and body weight to do safely. His father and grandfather always did that. “I didn’t see any of it as work,” Wheeler muses. “I loved it.”

He loved it so much that he did a project on “reverse osmosis,” a maple sugar-making process, for his high school chemistry class.

Although Steve Wheeler was admittedly “bitten by the bug” of maple production, he had a vision when he was young—a vision, he says, that included being successful in a different way than he looks at success now. He wanted to be rich—a professional climbing the ladder of corporations. Indeed, he moved from the area, married his lovely Amy, and both were on that track. Not long after the couple had their first child, though, they took a hard look at their life goals and realized they had changed.

Jonah Wheeler making maple pizza
Jonah Wheeler making maple pizza

Wheeler said, “We wanted to raise our kids where they would be safe. We wanted to be able to spend time with them.” With that in mind, the small family returned to Vermont. They raised vegetables and their own animals, and Steve began tapping some maple trees on a very small scale—planning only 50 to 60 taps the first year.

His father, grandfather, and other relatives had always worked the maple sugaring as a side hobby, although at the peak of it his grandfather did have several thousand taps going. “That’s as much as you wanted to do then on your own,” Wheeler laughed.

So a hobby is what Steve imagined too. “It was a hobby gone awry,” he smirked. “The first time I put holes in the trees it was magic.” The first year’s taps ended up being closer to 800 instead of 60. He had 1,300 taps the second year. He called upon the family ingenuity and handiness and rebuilt a used evaporator that was in bad shape and turned it into a functional beauty of sorts. He sold out of his first year’s syrup, made more, and continued to have demand as well as the passion for doing what he was doing. Before too long he had 10,000 taps and a thriving full-time business.

Steve educating visitors about the sugaring process and about the products that Jed's offers.
Steve education visitors about the sugaring process and about the products that Jed’s offers.

“My children got to hang out with Dad,” he said. They helped—and still do—by packing boxes and going to shows, where they get the opportunity to see new places and visit historic sites, while at the same time, putting on labels or doing other activities they are willing to do and that the family deems safe and appropriate. Family is important to both Steve and Amy—so important that their company, Jed’s Maple, is named after their eldest son. Later on they started a second branch of the business, Jonah’s Maple Supply, selling sugar-making equipment, named after their youngest son.

The company continues to grow and stay lively. Steve feels this vibrancy and constant adaptation are, in large part, the reason for their success (along with his wife’s keen marketing skills!). In Boston, they’re a recognized brand. They sell all around the country and the world via their website and catalog. One day Wheeler received a phone call from Fox News Radio and was interviewed about how climate change has affected their sugaring operation. “My sister was driving in Washington, DC, and nearly went off the road—she heard me quoted on the news!”

Their products branched from straight maple syrup to a number of other items, and their catalog list is constantly being renewed. Best sellers like maple cotton candy and maple dressings, along with others that perform well, stay on. New products are created and tested each year and those that don’t hold their financial weight in sales are removed from the offerings.

 

dscn9523“We want to become a destination,” Steve explained. “I want people to be able to see what we do—and to learn how maple sugaring can be done in environmentally friendly ways,” he said, referring to the fact that they boil using used vegetable oil rather than wood or diesel or other fossil fuels, and they recycle the steam from the process back into water again so that there is less energy needed to heat the water since it’s already quite hot coming in as steam.

The Wheelers also want to teach visitors about the history of their family business and the history of the land and buildings they use or did use to build the business. They’re in the process of turning one of the older buildings into the Wheeler Family Maple Museum, which they hope will open this spring.

The land they use is as rich with maple sugaring history as the Wheeler family itself. They are located in the old Mitchell sugarbush. According to Steve Wheeler, the landowner before Mitchell was a fine wood craftsman who slowly culled the forest of non-maples and used the wood for stepladders, truck bodies, and other products. By the time he was ready to retire, the maple grove was ready for use. W.S. Mitchell then purchased the land from that owner and used it to produce maple syrup. Eventually the land ended up in the Wheelers’ care.

When asked what it is about the sugaring business that keeps them going and loving it, and what, exactly, was the bug that bit Steve in the first place, he said, “I think it’s the family tradition. My dad is the family historian—he does it on paper—but I do it too by doing. I hope one of my kids will want to keep it going later. If they don’t, it’s okay, but I hope so.”

He continued, “When the snow is blowing sideways and hitting your face, or when tree branches are dropping down around you because that wind is breaking them off, and the cold hurts your hands but you can’t wear gloves because you can’t do certain things wearing gloves, I remember my father and my grandfather. They went out in the nasty weather and did what they had to do without complaint. The measure of a man to me is that at the end of his life, does his wife still love him? Is his family proud of him? Does he have a good reputation? I can work towards those things doing this.”

 

Check out Jed’s website HERE

 

About Vermont’s Northland Journal — Our monthly magazine is dedicated to sharing and preserving the history of VT’s Northeast Kingdom through the words of the people who lived it. Learn how to subscribe HERE

Filed Under: Blog

October 6, 2016 by swheeler Leave a Comment

The Construction of St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church

Newport’s most notable landmark is without a doubt St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church. Built in 1909, it overlooks the city and Lake Memphremagog. These are photos of the church being built and the celebration that followed.

 

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If you like stories and photos relating to the history of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, please consider subscribing to the Journal.The monthly magazine is dedicated to sharing and preserving the history of the Kingdom through the words of the people who lived it.  To learn how to subscribe click HERE

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October 5, 2016 by swheeler Leave a Comment

Serenading an Ailing Wife as Elvis

Mark serenading his wife on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Gail Singer
Mark serenading his wife on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Gail Singer

Rock and roll legend Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977, bringing an end to an amazing career that included such greats as “You Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog,” “All Shook Up,” and “Love Me Tender.” However, Elvis came to life at the Haskell Opera House on October 1 through the voice of Mark Shelton of Newport. He played some of Elvis’s greatest hits in front of two sold-out shows promoted as “The King Returns” show. One of the most versatile singers to ever come out of the  Northeast Kingdom, Mark has performed a wide variety of music all over the United States and points around the world. Mark’s wife, Lisa, who is equally talented, is the daughter of the Rev. John and Ruth Genco. She grew up totally absorbed in the world of music. The Sheltons have donated thousands of hours to benefit worthy causes.

 

 

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Mark performing as Elvis in high school in the 1970s

Mark’s appearance at the Haskell was more than about entertainment and honoring Elvis. It was also about determination, his love of his wife, and to raise money for Lisa’s medical care. She was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer on May 27, 2014. About two and a half years since diagnosis, she has far outlived the vast majority of people diagnosed with such an advanced stage of that type of cancer.

“The show was amazing and a great blessing,” Mark said. “My bride was beaming and happy. The two sold-out audiences were high energy and fun. The band was rocking on all cylinders. I appreciate the support of the community and many members of the Kingdom went above and beyond. I am forever grateful. A few of my dear friends traveled from around the country, including Frank Shelton, master of ceremonies, and Bryan Gonzales, security and tactical. I thank God for His faithfulness and I thank everyone for their continued support and prayers for my bride, Lisa, as she enters the battlefield every day. She is a very special woman.”

The hundreds of people who attended the show were treated to probably one of the best Elvis shows that has taken place since the real Elvis passed away almost 40 years ago. There were more than a few wet eyes when Mark also took time to serenade his beautiful bride. The band and all the backup singers, one of them Lisa’s sister, Jo Gardner, were also amazing. For a time, Mark was also joined on stage by Lisa’s parents who shared their musical talents. Mark’s son, Barry, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, served multiple roles, including stagehand. Although Lisa’s daughter, Johna, is away at college, she was there in spirit and was in constant contact with her mother during the concert. Mark said he has no doubt his deceased parents, Richard and Barbara Whitcomb, were there in spirit.

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Mark singing in Fenway Park in 2011

“The most important family members to give thanks to are those of God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” Mark said. “Without their presence and assistance this type of an event does not occur.”

Wanting to honor Elvis at the same time, Mark said he wasn’t about to try to squeeze his girth into a skintight jumpsuit. With the help of a personal trainer, and the support of many, he completely changed his diet and began a workout regime that would not only help him lose weight, but tone him as well. On concert day, Mark looked like a totally different man in his jumpsuit, weighing 215 pounds. He’d also shaved off the signature beard he’d worn since 1983. Although he’d lost weight the natural way, and he’d shaved his beard, there was little he could do naturally to cover his balding head to create the Elvis look. Instead of being a bald Elvis, he donned a wig resembling Elvis’ hair.

 

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Mark strikes a similar pose on Saturday as seen in his high school photo

Without a doubt, Mark’s performance, and that of the entire band and the backup singers, was one of the greatest, most touching performances to take place in the opera house during its 100-plus years. The performance even attracted national attention, spotlighted on the national news.

 

Publisher’s note: Our thoughts are with Lisa as she continues her battle.

 

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October 2, 2016 by swheeler Leave a Comment

Mark Shelton Performs Elvis in Derby Line

 Yesterday’s (Oct. 1) Elvis concerts by Mark Shelton in Derby Line were HUGE successes. Both shows were sold out. The shows served as fundraisers to help Mark’s wife, Lisa, in her battle against stage 4 lung cancer. All but one of these photos are by Gail Singer. What outstanding photos for an amazing event. The final photo is of Mark singing in Fenway Park before his weight loss journey so he could transform himself into Elvis. (He lost almost 180 pounds to get into the jump suit) The following is a link to a WCAX story detailing the couple’s journey. Click HERE. — Scott

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