Brooke Geery

Taso on Center braces for winter

Originally published Oct. 14, 2020 To-go meals all packed and ready. Area restaurants face uncertainty and challenges due to Covid restrictions and approaching cold weather By Brooke Geery Downtown Rutland restaurants, including Taso on Center (22 Center St.), took full advantage of the warm weather and additional outdoor seating possibilities this summer in order to stay afloat amid Covid restrictions. But now, as winter approaches, a new strategy is required. “We are not in normal times,” Taso owner Jay Sabataso said. “We are adapting and thinking outside the box. The seating downtown has been awesome outside, we’ve had good weather and the Downtown Partnership has been great, but the weather…
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Annual Autumn Round Up in Ludlow offers window to the past

Originally published on the Mountain Times- Sept. 30, 2020 By Brooke Geery High in the hills above Ludlow, after the paved road turns to dirt, sits Barker Farm, a massive 155-acre property dotted with giant maple trees and buildings in various states of disrepair. On the right  side of the street is a reminder that it’s 2020—the Coolidge Solar Project, with rows of massive panels, covering over 88 acres of the property. But on the left side of the road, a massive antique wrecker stands as a literal welcome sign to the 22nd annual Autumn Round Up, a small-engine and antique tractor show held on Sept. 26-27. You probably didn’t…
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Local hurricane relief efforts send supplies to Louisiana

Originally published in the Mountain Times- Sept. 16, 2020 Current and former students of McNeese State University in Louisiana raise their fingers in the official college salute, send the message “Geaux Pokes” to their friends down south. By Brooke Geery Early in the morning of Aug. 27, Hurricane Laura slammed into DeRidder, Louisiana, causing widespread destruction. Ruth Tolar, a 30-year resident of Killington, watched from afar as her hometown, and her entire family, sat directly in the hurricane’s path. “Even though the floods were not what was expected, there is extreme damage done to the area,” Tolar said on Facebook. “Most of the areas are looking at 6-8 weeks—at least—before…
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Forests full of fungi

Originally published in the Mountain Times Deadly Amanita in all its stages. Mushroom hunting in Vermont provides hours of entertainment and health benefits, too By Brooke Geery A vast network of underground mycelium lies hidden in the forests of Vermont. This is, until the right combo of water and heat cause it to spring forth as wild mushrooms in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are edible, some are poisonous, some are just plain cool to see. With a little research and training, you can learn not only to spot them, but identify which are delicious and vitamin rich. This article is by no means a comprehensive guide, but…
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Bike Bum races move to KMTB club trails

Originally published in the Mountain Times Tony Sudol. By Brooke Geery By Brooke Geery Much like their winter brethren, mountain bikers are a hardy sort. They’re not going to let a little thing like a global pandemic spoil all the fun. So, although the Bike Bum race series, normally held on Killington Resort’s network of trails, was not able to happen at the resort this year, organizers regrouped and moved things just down the road to the Killington Mountain Bike Club’s trails behind Base Camp Outfitters on Route 4. This year, riders negotiate the TBR (Thundering Brook Road) trail, which was created in seven days by KSA Built. KSA Built…
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Art in the Park survives Covid-19

Originally published in the Mountain Times By Brooke Geery With nearly all events cancelled due to Covid-19, no one would have been surprised if Rutland’s annual Art in the Park festival didn’t happen this year. But by limiting the number of vendors and attendees, the Chaffee Art Gallery was able to host the event for the 59th year on Aug. 8-9. Main Street Park in Rutland was neatly fenced off and instead of compact rows of tents filling the space, vendors were spread around the park with arrows on the ground leading people in a one-way figure 8 path around them. St. Albans-based Green Mountain Kettle Corn was one of…
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King Margo takes the show on the road

Originally published in the Mountain Times By Brooke Geery Rachel Coats and Lucciana Costa, also known as King Margo, made their mark on the Killington music scene this past winter. The duo, originally from the Midwest, migrated north from Nashville, caught the snowboarding bug, and decided to make Killington home. It wasn’t long before they were playing at venues such as Jax, Liquid Art and more, quickly amassing a following with their “sarcastic folk rock.” When the pandemic struck in March though, they, along with all the other musicians in town were quickly sidelined. Not willing to go completely silent, the duo took to Facebook Live every Friday night. “How…
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Little Bangkok Thai and Sushi Cafe opens in Rutland

Originally published in the Mountain Times By Brooke Geery A frequent staple at the Rutland Farmer’s Market, Pattanit Smansook opened a brick and mortar store front serving Thai food and sushi in Rutland on April 13, 2020. Little Bangkok Thai and Sushi Cafe, located at 162 No. Main St. in Rutland, in the Stonybrook plaza, is a welcome addition to the central Vermont dining scene. Smansook has been cooking and serving Thai food to Rutland residents at the Farmer’s Market for a couple of years. When Covid-19 hit and the Farmer’s Market stopped being a stable source of work, Smansook decided to open the space. “Everything shut down, so I…
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Obituary: Fred R. Geery

Originally published in the Mountain Times- May 6, 2020 Fred R. Geery left the world too soon on May 2, 2020. He started his life homeless on the streets of Portland, Oregon, and suffered abuse, including a broken back before the age of 8 months old. He was rescued by a Good Samaritan who brought him to the Multnomah County animal shelter, where he was rescued by Aaron Cope and Brooke Geery. His early abuse in life left him with a limp, which made him run like an adorable drunken sailor. Though his exact lineage is unknown, he was likely part Boston terrier, boxer, English Staffordshire terrier and salamander. He…
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Local physician publishes book, ‘The Intern’

Originally published in the Mountain Times By Brooke Geery Peter Hogenkamp’s first officially published novel, “The Intern,” hit shelves on Tuesday, April 13, an accomplishment nearly 20 years in the making. The Rutland-based physician actually began the project as a sort of promotional tool for another book he’d written called “Absolution,” on the story-sharing site Wattpadd. “The idea of writing about an interaction I had had during my pediatric rotation (20 years earlier) had been kicking around in my head, and I figured Wattpad would be a good way of getting it out of my head and onto (virtual) paper,” Hogenkamp said. “The Intern” tells the story of Maggie Johnson, a…
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