Thank you for your interest in and support of the Valley News. We need to raise $60,000 to host journalists Frances Mize and Alex Driehaus for their one-year placements in the Upper Valley through Report for America, a national service program that boosts local news by harnessing community support.

Please consider donating to this effort.

Music for a good cause

Close-knit communities don’t simply materialize. People work together to create cohesion, trust, and — in this case — music!

Three Upper Valley organizations — the Lebanon Elks, the Hanover Lions, and the Upper Valley Community Band — are joining forces to foster community and support a great cause. Please join us on Sunday, Sept. 4 at 4 p.m. at the Lebanon Elks field (150 Heater Road, Lebanon) for a free outdoor concert by the Upper Valley Community Band followed by a BBQ ($) at 5. The concert and BBQ will benefit Copper Cannon Camp for kids (coppercannoncamp.org), a tuition-free summer camp for underserved youth in New Hampshire. Please help support this worthy cause. If you can’t attend, please consider making a donation by visiting the Copper Cannon website.

Bring a chair and enjoy a great afternoon of music and camaraderie.

I read a lot. My biggest complaint is that almost everything I read could be said in a fraction of the space. So, I begin with this commitment to brevity and pith.

This letter targets seniors who agonize over the physical ravages of time. We are aging, our bodies are changing, and we must adapt. Below are a few simple suggestions to deal with the inevitable consequences of age and, hopefully, minimize their damage while maximizing the quality of your life:

Diet: We are bombarded with advertisements and new discoveries almost daily. Most are either to sell a product or promote an ideology that has little to do with caring about us as an individual. My best suggestion is to eliminate as much sugar in your diet as possible. As we age, most of us lose much of our ability to metabolize sugar efficiently..

Exercise: The first exercise one should do is not stretching, it’s not yoga, it’s not calisthenics and it’s certainly not spinning or a Peloton program. No, the single most important physical issue for seniors is balance. As we age, our sense of balance erodes and a huge number of injuries occur simply from losing our balance during everyday activities such as showering and cleaning.

Pace: As we age, our ability to “multi-task” is impaired. So many accidents and much frustration results from refusing to adapt successfully to the aging process. Instead of rushing to finish the dishes, get to a doctor’s appointment or any other chore, slow down. We are retired and our lives, physically and emotionally, will vastly improve if we just turn the switch from 78 to 33 rpm (only seniors understand this reference to our childhood victrolas).

That’s it, folks. Just cut out sugar, do two minutes of balance exercises once or twice a day and slow down, and I am sure you will be healthier, happier and safer during our “golden years.”

It’s such a dispiriting time in politics, which begs the question: Is it possible for politics to be a civil enterprise? Civility has to do with norms that promote trust, cohesion, and mutual respect. These societal expectations of behavior form the basis of our democracy. If flouted, they jeopardize social cohesion and weaken our institutions.

The divisions place undue stress on our democracy.

They are magnified by statements like Newt Gingrich’s threat to imprison lawmakers serving on the Jan. 6 committee, and Steve Bannon’s threatening to have 20,000 “shock troops” on hand to take over the government and deconstruct it. Violence is an ever-present danger aimed at leaders past and present.

Crude and vindictive statements by our former President and Congressional representatives such as Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert, Jim Jordan, Ted Cruz, and others minimize civility and spread a hateful climate among the citizenry. Politicians in both parties face death threats whenever they cross a line.

One of the goals of civil discourse is to move people beyond either/or, or us-versus-them thinking to help them obtain an accurate understanding of other people. In view of the vengeful climate which pervades the social and political scene today, we have a long way to go to implement, not to mention, achieve this goal.

What are things we can do? For one, modeling is a particularly effective strategy for promoting greater civility. Leaders, organizers, and facilitators must demonstrate civility in their actions and speech. For another, we need to act on the notion that “our individual flourishing is bound up in collective well-being.”

Most of all, we must follow through on questions prompted by our Declaration of Independence: Are we protecting the liberty of people? Are we fostering citizen happiness? Affirmative response to these questions will help to insure a just and civil society.

Regarding recent letter: “They never gave Trump a fair chance to lead:” (Aug. 26). I agree Donald Trump was not accorded a “fair chance” to lead — because he was not qualified.

He was the least qualified individual elected to the Presidency since well before WWII. He was, and continues to be, a serial liar. He has been recorded acknowledging acceptance of abuse of women, had never previously been elected to any office, had dodged military service, routinely cheated his contractors and lost other investors’ funds in serial real estate projects, and seems to have defrauded taxpayers in New York State for years. He has a casual disregard for normative behavior in elected office — and for the law. Considering his history, by most accepted standards he was uniquely unqualified to lead America.

I welcome an alternative to a Democratic nominee for any elected office. The ensuing debates are critical to our democracy, particularly if said debates educate us in the general electorate. But the GOP nominee must at least be qualified for the office being sought, and Donald Trump clearly was not.

I am enthusiastically supporting Kelsey Root-Winchester in her bid to replace Joe Parsons as the Groton-Topsham-Newbury representative to the Vermont legislature.

One issue stands out for me, although it is by no means the only one. Joe Parsons is anti-choice. How could Parsons, a self-styled libertarian, support the idea that the government should insert itself in a person’s reproductive decisions? How could he vote against a bill guaranteeing reproductive liberty? Inconceivably, he did just that with Vermont’s Proposition 5 (aka Article 22) when it came before the Vermont legislature for a vote on Feb. 8.

Kelsey, on the other hand, firmly believes that people have the right to decide about their own health care — including the right to choose an abortion — without interference by the government. She speaks out strongly for Prop 5.

My name is Dana Colson and I’m a candidate for state senator in the Windsor County District. I was born and raised on a farm here in the Upper Valley. I went on to graduate with degrees in mechanical engineering from Vermont Tech and business management from Franklin Pierce University. I have decades of experience with international, national and local businesses.

I believe this makes me an excellent candidate to tackle the economic and affordability issues facing Vermonters. Politically, I am a moderate who will work across the aisle to find common-sense solutions to problems.

Costs of everything from, housing, home heating, gas, food, and medicine have skyrocketed. We can’t afford to keep sending the same people who created these problems back to Montpelier year after year.

The progressive agenda has failed. It’s time for fresh ideas from proven business leaders.

First, to get our economy back on track we must work to streamline permitting for new housing and businesses. When Hurricane Irene swept through the Upper Valley permitting was suspended and contractors went to work at record speed. This is proof of what is possible when we cut through the red tape.

Second, we need to fully support schools that train the workers for jobs in the trades. There’s a high demand for jobs in construction, manufacturing, meat processing, and medicine.

Third, we need to look at taxes and where our dollars are being spent. There are reasons businesses locate on the New Hampshire side of the river instead of Vermont. For, example 5% of Vermont’s revenue for 2021 came from sales taxes. So, if we could find 5% savings in the budget, we could eliminate the sales tax. I know that would help many businesses and families too. What could you do with that extra 5% savings?

Colson is a Republican candidate for state senator Windsor County District.

SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Leaders in Vermont health care and directors from four health care organizations gathered on Thursday to discuss rural health...

Another program is launching to help Vermont businesses that are short on operating funds because of the COVID-19 pandemic.The program...

The Vermont Marble Museum, which bills itself as the world’s largest marble exhibit, can remain in its historic building in Proctor under a deal...

The court-appointed receiver overseeing Jay Peak Resort provided a new look Friday into last week’s auction of the ski area, and he gained the...