Brooke Geery

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…

Originally published in the Mountain Times Sprouts! By Carol Geery By Brooke Geery The old idiom about waiting until after Memorial Day to plant a garden here in Vermont, doesn’t have to apply if you start your garden indoors! In this uncertain world, there has never been a better time to get your hands dirty and plant a vegetable garden. Even minimal success will provide you with some joy (and additional food security) over the coming summer, and homegrown veggies just taste better. In addition to the obvious benefit of edibles, gardening is a great activity for your mental and physical health. It gets you outside and in touch with…

Originally published in the Mountain Times With life upended for everyone in the world, it’s important to stay positive and look for whatever rays of sunshine may come. Things may not be perfect, but they’re definitely going to get better eventually. In the meantime, be thankful for what you have. Here are 10 bright sides, or silver linings, to appreciate during this pandemic: Way better delivery/takeout options – I recently moved back to Vermont from a real food city— a place where you could literally find any type of cuisine whenever you wanted it. So, pulling up Uber Eats in Rutland to see a choice between fast food and pizza was…

Originally published in the Mountain Times It may be difficult to think about summer when your windshield wipers are frozen to your car and simply opening the door requires bundling up, but the warm weather will be here before you know it. And what better way to celebrate summer than with a little baseball? Enter Rutland County Little League. Chartered with Little League International in 2017, the league has grown from seven Majors teams, to 13 total teams (including tee ball and coach pitch) with over 150 players ages 4-12. “Our purpose was to revive excitement for the game of baseball for the youth of Rutland County,” League president Paul…

Originally published in the Mountain Times Alastair Stout sits at the organ in St. Paul’s Cathedral, Pittsburgh. Stout is the minister of music at Grace Congregational. By Brooke Geery At Grace Congregational Church in Rutland, music is an important part of the program, but it’s not just church hymns that echo through the tabernacle. The music ministry includes jazz, gospel, folk, music theatre and classical, and at the helm of it all is Alastair Stout. Born and bred in Scotland’s Shetland Islands, the organist, director and composer joined the church in 2017, ably filling the boisterous shoes of long-time music minister Rip Jackson. Stout’s interest in music began at a…