Leisure

Enjoying time around the reflecting pool is one of many events happening at the Clark Museum during April vacation week.

School break art activities at the Clark

The Clark Art Institute offers fun activities celebrating art, nature, and student creativity during the April vacation week. From Tuesday, April 21, through Friday, April 24, children are welcome to explore the outdoor sculpture exhibition “Ground/work 2025” while using the free activity packs....

Visitors enjoy a live demonstration in the cabinet making shop on the Old Sturbridge Village campus.

Free admission for kids at Old Sturbridge Village in April

As spring arrives in New England, Old Sturbridge Village, in Sturbridge, MA, invites families to celebrate the season with a special offer: children receive free general daytime admission now through April 30. Up to two children, age 17 or younger, will be admitted free with each adult full-price...

Square dance fundraiser in Townshend

There will be a Spring Fling Square Dance fundraiser for the Valley Village Senior Living community in the Dutton Gym on Friday, April 10, from 6:30 to 9 pm. No experience necessary as dances will be taught. Come with a partner, friend, family or alone. Sally Newton will teach and call the dances....

Apple Barn opens for spring with Annual Maple in April festival

The Apple Barn & Country Bake Shop, 604 Route 7, will officially reopen for the season on Friday, April 4, welcoming visitors for another year of fresh bakery and Vermont-made goods, as well as community events at the farm. Guests visiting during the early spring season can expect to find...

DEC scientist collecting water samples on Molly's Falls Reservoir in Marshfield shortly after ice-out in early spring.

DEC looking for ice-out survey responders

As Vermonters patiently wait for spring, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) invites the public to report when Vermont’s lakes and ponds lose their ice cover. Also known as the “ice-out date,” it marks when lakes or ponds become ice-free from shore to shore. DEC scientists use ice-...

Floating row covers are examples of tools that gardeners and farmers alike can use to practice IPM for vegetable crops to exclude insect pests.

IPM allows for pest control without overuse of dangerous chemicals

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a holistic approach that gardeners can use to reduce pesticides when managing insects, diseases, and weeds. The US Department of Agriculture defines IPM as “a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, physical, and chemical tools...

State DEC pauses lake construction projects during spring fish spawning season

During the spring fish spawning season, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) wants to remind Vermonters that permitted lake encroachment construction projects and non-chemical aquatic plant control projects on public lakes and ponds are typically not allowed from now through...

Time for the bird feeders to come in

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department (VTFW) is receiving reports of bears coming out of dens and is urging Vermonters to remove bird feeders and take additional steps now to prevent conflicts with bears over the spring and summer. Bird feeders should be removed and yards bear-proofed before...

Michael Clough

Clough leaving museum after 14 years of service

The board of directors of the Vermont Museum of Natural History and Pool Nature Center have announced that executive director Michael Clough will be leaving the organization by early summer. After serving in a variety of capacities, most notably as the organization’s primary educator for 14 years,...

Wedding Expo at Chez Nous

Engaged couples and wedding professionals from across southern Vermont, western Massachusetts, and the Berkshires are invited to attend the upcoming Southern Vermont Wedding Expo, a premier showcase of the region’s most talented venues and vendors. The event takes place at Chez Nous, 665 Rt 9, on...