Santa on the Radio

Santa came to town again last Sunday night and was on Magic 97.7 talking to all the little girls and boys of the Northeast Kingdom. Be sure to listen in when he returns this Sunday from 7-9 pm. It will warm your heart.

Holiday Giving Breaks All Records

Saint Johnsbury was the scene of holiday merry-making with their Victorian Christmas. With the sounds of horses hooves and young carolers in the background, Craig Schnepf from Fairbanks Scales spent the day weighing in donations of food and money to replenish local food banks.


We were in front of Dunkin Doughnuts in Saint Johnsbury doing a remote broadcast to help our hungry neighbors have a happy holiday season. Here Josh and a Dunkin Doughnut Elf announce the progress (over 2000 pounds of food at this time).

We couldn't believe the response to the call for help today. People showed up with dry goods and canned goods and money, lots of money. Each dollar buys 3 pounds of food for the food shelves. Gingue constructions came by with $100 and a challenge to other local businesses to match him--which they did. An anonymous donor gave $700 in honor of Pat O Hagan's memory. Before noon we reached over 10,000 pounds of food!

Hayden Tanner (sleighridevt.com) brought his beautiful pair of Belgian horses to give wagon rides to holiday revelers.
Shortly after noon, Cindy announced that we had broken 15,000 pounds and it was still pouring in. When all was said and done the good people of the Northeast Kingdom had donated over 23000 pounds of food to replenish food banks.

It warms the heart to see so much generosity. The Northeast Kingdom could teach the world about giving. Housewright Constrution gave $100 to match Gingue. An anonymous dog donated dog food for needy dogs.

Santa Comes to Lyndonville!

It was a blustery Saturday this past week, but that didn't keep Santa away...thanks to the many businesses in Lyndonville who sponsor this wonderful event. If you wanted to catch the Christmas spirit it was certainly contagious in the faces of the children who weathered the cold to spend a moment on the big guys lap to murmur their hearts desire into his ear.
Val Davis was on hand for the live broadcast in front of Darling Manor in Lyndonville.

It was a joy to see all the happy faces.
There were hay-rides around town, hot chocolate to help us warm up.
And elves with treats!
Merrit and Val from Magic 97.7 set it up (Thanks guys!)
And even some big kids showed up for the fun!

Many thanks to all the people that make this event possible: Lyndonville House of Pizza, Village Kids, Fabric Town, Keira's Collectibles, RTD Antiques and Collectibles, Northeast Motors, Greg's Auto, All Around Tan and Gym, to name a few. Go by and thank them in person!

Remember next week is the annual food drive. There has never been a greater need so if you find that you are one of the fortunate this holiday, please take a moment to drop by Dunkin Doughnuts in St. Johnsbury to drop off non-perishable food or money (each dollar buys 3 pounds of food for a needy family). Help make Christmas happen for everyone this year!

Cutie Patootie Contest

We Ended up with a tie for third place.





2nd Place


and our Winner!
To see all of the cuties in the contest go to: Cutie Patootie. You can come by the magic studio today and pick up your child's picture, tag on our facebook page, and get a digital copy by emailing us at : vermontradio@gmail.com and giving us your email address and the picture number (such as cuties_12.jpg or whichever number shows up on the left in the gallery).
We want to thank all the people who came by the booth to enter and vote in the first annual Cutie Patootie Contest!

Treasure Hunters Roadshow in Saint Johnsbury

July 28 through August 1st you can clean out your attics and bring your treasures to the Comfort Inn in Saint Johnsbury to have them evaluated and marketed to a large number of collectors or even purchased on the spot.


It's called Treasure Hunters Roadshow. Lynn Hanes told me that you can bring anything old but of special interest to them as buyers is anything gold or silver (even broken or mismatched jewelry),

Jeff Arko evaluates some great garage sale finds from this collector. He told me that this particular man had a great eye for treasures--most of what he brought was valuable.



These are some of the items I saw while I was there:

Here is some old jewelry that came in:

Also of interest are old musical instruments, toys and World War II items (especially German).

Here, Roadshow expert Jeff Arko evaluated a gemstone with a loupe.

When I stopped in to see how things were going every station had treasures that they were evaluating and there was a line of people out the door and in the hall.

This is Brian Scott, helping someone with their old coin collection.

Lynn Hanes (left) and Pierre Monroe (right) can upload pictures of your treasure directly to a team of collectors and find a buyer for your item right there, via internet.



I think getting there early is a good idea! Doors open at 9 am every morning this week and will close at 6pm except Sunday when they will be closing at 4pm.

Live on-air reiki massage

Val Davis got rubbed the right way by massage therapist Nancy Feltus on Friday. The massage was broadcast live on Magic 97.7 in Lyndonville, Vermont. I always wondered what reiki looked like.



Nancy told me that all the massage she does whether it's deep tissue or shiatsu is reiki because it's not about the touch but rather the movement of healing energy. Val had been injured on his knee (quad rupture) so he asked Nancy to see if she could help with the pain. Val said it made his sore knee feel much better even though it didn't seem like much was going on.



Nancy is a long time massage therapist and even traveled to Canada with the US Nordic Ski Team to make sure they stayed in tip top shape for the games. We are lucky to have her here!

She doesn't have a web page yet but you can reach her at : whthwk3@hotmail.com or by good old fashioned phone: 802-467-3562

Home for Sale in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont

You may have noticed the new real estate office in downtown Lyndonville, Vermont : StoneCrest Properties It's run by Kelly Deth and Nikki Bunnell if you've been driving around you will notice their distinctive signs everywhere you turn.




It's not hard to see why this brand-new Real Estate company is taking the area by storm. Kelly Deth has been in the business for many years and she knows that home sales, like sales of any kind is all about marketing and creating memorable and unique material that stands out from the crowd. It is obvious that Kelly has an outstanding grasp on creating that kind of material.

From their office decor, you know they can advise the seller on staging their house effectively and you know the buyer will get the most chances to see the property with Stonecrest's media blitz advertising--they're everywhere!

You will hear them on the radio, see their signs with the distinctive celtic knott design everywhere, this same logo makes her easy to find in any print advertising, and you will find Stonecrest on facebook, on the web at stonecrestpropertiesvt.com and even at their new blog. They use every possible media to reach the maximum number of people possible.

Whether you want to buy or sell property in the Northeast Kingdom you should check out Stone Crest Properties and put Kelly's and Nikki's marketing skills to work for you.

New Hampshire water park: Whales Tails

Hot enough for you? When you have a big family with a range of ages you have to compromise a lot when it comes to family outings. My oldest wants to see romance movies, my middle boys want action and my youngest wants the latest cartoon.

It's a good thing there's Whales Tails in Lincoln New Hampshire or we would never get everyone smiling at the same time...ever! Whales Tails has everything anyone could possibly want in cool, water fun. Even if you missed the Kix 105.5 beach party, you should go. With gas prices high and families cutting back it makes more sense than ever.

With a speed slide of epic proportions for the dare-devils, a lazy river for those seeking relaxation, a hot tub for when you get cold and the new Shipwreck Cove for everybody there really is a good time to be had by all.



We had so much fun that the day just flew by. When you go, make sure you do the Eye of the Storm and see how many full revolutions you can squeeze out of your run or just watch everyone else from the stairs...it's so much fun.

The wave pool kept Elissa happy for hours.



Here is Mira racing mom (me) down the speed slide...she won the race but we both had a blast.



It is rare that we all enjoy ourselves this much...there's even a couple of cabana bars so dad can get a beer on his day off and when you get hungry from all that swimming there is also good food right there at the park with three different restaurants so you don't have to leave.

Jasper forgot his bathing suit...which could have been a disaster but the shop had suites in most sizes reasonably priced. They have lockers that you can rent for the day as well (so I could ditch the camera and get wet myself) and life-vests for the littlest mermaids and minnows. Sunscreen too, in case you have too much fun in the sun.

Go early to get a choice spot and plan to stay all day. You will never run out of fun at Whales Tails no matter what your age.

New Ice Cream Stands in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom

Just about the time flowers start to open along the roadways of Vermont the ice creams stands are opening too. We decided to check into some of the kingdom's newest ice cream shops: Chappy's in East Burke, Vermont, The Pizza Man in Lyndonville and The Bagel Depot in Saint Johnsbury. I needed a crack research squad for the job...and they seemed oddly keen to go to work on this particular assignment.



We hit Chappy's first. Set beside a brook with a view of a tiny dam, the location alone was worth the trip. Chappy's has great atmosphere...it's clean and well appointed with lots of topping choices and napkins (we're gonna need some of those). Sitting by the brook and eating ice cream on a hot summer day is about as close to heaven as a kid can get. What did the experts think about the ice cream? We tried the soft serve flavor burst and all agreed it is good, very good. It is very fresh tasting ice cream to start with and the colorful swirl that runs along the edge is packed with flavor. I think "awesome" is the technical term.




Next we visited the Pizza Man in Lyndonville.



Very conveniently located on Route 5 and family run, this ice cream stand has a lot going for it. It has lots of seating, also a lot of napkins (good),and holy guacamole is that a small?? The servings are humongous!



The experts took their time on this one. One can't be expected to rush research as delicate as this. They all agreed, the Gifford's cookie dough is to die for and the soft serve is rich and flavorful.

Finally we visited The Bagel Depot's New Stand at the corner of Railroad and Memorial in Saint Johnsbury which boasts 50 flavors of soft serve.



At first we were skeptical...that is a lot of soft serve flavors but how they do it is ingenious. They add the flavor to a vanilla base and whip it up together. It gets extruded twice so it's very creamy.


The critics liked the pina colada flavor soft serve and the fruity sorbet hard ice cream got raves. I went for nice hot cup of excellent coffee. The Bagel Depot is in an old creamery building and has nice bistro seating outside in a very good location to watch the world go by.



Ice cream stands are a great metaphor for summer in Vermont...so very sweet, a simple pleasure, and, like the ice cream they dish up, gone much too quickly. So, don't let the summer speed by without taking the time to sit by a brook or a road and savor your share of summers sweetness at one of these shops. And our research? In the end, the critics were pleased with all three ice cream stands...they made this hot summer day just a little sweeter.

Who is Vermont Radio

Vermont radio is the blog of Vermont Broadcast Associates located in Lyndonville, Vermont...in the heart of the Northeast Kingdom. That part of Vermont know as the "Vermonter's Vermont". . . quintessentially Vermonty . . . the full Vermonty if you will. If you haven't been, stay tuned and come on out. You will be pleased that you did.

Vermont Broadcast Associates consist of four stations : Magic (Adult Contemporary), Kix, (Hot Country), The Notch (Classic Hits), and STJ (News and Information). These stations serve an area from White River Junction to Orleans, Vermont (South to North) and Lancaster, New Hampshire to Hardwick, Vermont (East to West). It's a big area but if it's going on there you will hear about it right here in this blog. Or have a listen on-line : Magic Kix The Notch

This past weekend, Lyndonville's population spiked by several thousand as people poured in to attend the Stars and Stripes Festival which features a parade and an outdoor market in beautiful bandstand park. The festivities went on into the night with the street dance featuring the Slant Six Swing Band and VBA was there, broadcasting live. Once again, Stars and Stripes was a massive success. If you missed it this year, make sure to check back so you can get there for the next one. Better yet, become a follower and get your Vermont fix right here every week.