ICYMI: Farmer Olympics, Norwich Inn, and Peace Corps

Source: NOFA-VT. Giant marshmallow (i.e. wrapped hay bale) roll.

A brief roundup of news and information regarding Norwich, Vermont that may have escaped your attention.

Honey Field Farm to host Farmer Olympics

Honey Field Farm on Butternut Road in Norwich is hosting the 6th Annual Farmer Olympics. The event, scheduled for August 31, is sponsored by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, or NOFA-VT.

“Farm teams will show off their finely-honed skills in events ranging from physical to cerebral to just plain ridiculous,” says Sunday’s article on vermontbiz.com.The article quotes Zea Luce, NOFA-VT’s Events & Engagement Coordinator, as saying: “The Farmer Olympics are all about joy, celebration, and connection.” The event is exclusively for farmers. Mixed-farm teams are allowed. Register here.

Norwich Inn featured in Seven Days ‘Staytripper’ series

This summer, the newspaper Seven Days is running a series of articles under the banner “Staytripper, The Road Map to Rediscovering Vermont.” Staff writer Sally Pollak wrote a piece late last month about the Norwich Inn. She quotes co-owner Joe Lavin as saying, “In our market, there isn’t anything quite like us.” The article Historic Norwich Inn Welcomes Guest on Foot or by Car is here.

Norwich resident part of Peace Corps ancestry

In his recent Then Again column in VTDigger, Vermont historian Mark Bushnell says the Peace Corps can “trace its ancestry back to a short-lived, idealistic project undertaken in the foothills of Vermont.” That project was Camp William James in the Tunbridge area.

Norwich resident and Dartmouth professor Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy was a passionate supporter of philosopher William James idea of national service. With help from Rosenstock-Huessy, a number of his former students from Dartmouth and Harvard founded the short-lived Camp William James in 1940. The article Then Again: The idea behind a Vermont camp birthed the Peace Corps is here.