Choose Your Own Adventure featured
Choose Your Own Adventure, Waitsfield, is featured in an extensive article in this week's edition of The New Yorker. It delves into a lot of the early history at Vermont Crossroads Press and the recent history at Chooseco as well. The article details the founding of the business and its franchising efforts as well as some of its best sellers.
"This was the late 1980s in Los Angeles. You binged on these books, pulling tattered sun-bleached copies from your bookshelf: four, five, six in the course of a single afternoon. All over the country, all over the world, other kids were pulling these books from their bookshelves, too. The series has sold more than 270 million copies since its launch in 1979. It’s the fourth best-selling children’s book series of all time. Its popularity peaked in the 1980s, but the franchise still sells about a million books a year," author Leslie Jamieson wrote. Here's a link to the article:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/09/19/the-enduring-allure-of-choose-your-own-adventure-books
Lawson’s Finest debuts Black IPA, Big Hoppy this fall
For the first time ever Lawson’s Finest Liquids is introducing a Black IPA across the Northeast. Big Hoppy, a 7.5% ABV Black IPA boasting a bold flavor profile, is now available for the first time across the brewery’s nine-state distribution area of VT, CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, and RI.
Made with huge additions of five hop varieties and seven malts, Big Hoppy is a dark brew.
“Big Hoppy was first brewed as a limited batch before moving into the Taproom at Lawson’s Finest,” said Sean Lawson, CEO and founding brewer of Lawson’s Finest Liquids.
Big Hoppy is the latest beer to be released as part of Lawson’s Finest specialty distribution calendar. Now until the end of October, Big Hoppy can be found in four-packs at retailers across the Northeast. Later this year, the brewery will continue its calendar of specialty releases with Mad River Maple and its celebrated annual Barrel-Aged Winter lager.
For additional information on the brewery, taproom, upcoming beer releases, and more, visit
Neck of the Woods updates HVAC system
The board of Neck of the Woods (NOW) child care center recently agreed to commit the funds necessary to update the first floor HVAC system of the Waitsfield facility. In collaboration with locally-owned Ward’s Mechanical/Ward’s Energy and Lennox International, an agreement was signed to install energy-efficient Lennox mini split systems across the newly renovated classrooms at NOW. The new units will service the entire first floor including a recently added new child care room. In addition, the units will include capacity to support the proposed kitchen and café area which facilitate hosting the first Head Start program in The Valley.
“Local businesses like Ward’s Mechanical have been very supportive of NOW’s mission and addressing the gap in child care capacity in The Valley. The support from Lennox International is the first national level company to support our program,” said Moie Moulton, executive director of NOW.
All rebates available including those available from Efficiency Vermont are helping to make this possible.
“The new systems will provide AC and augment the existing furnace heating system in winter providing reliable HVAC and improve our electric efficiency,” said Rob Ciappenelli, board member who managed this project. The electricity for the new system will be provided by the existing solar array to allow NOW to continue to progress away from fossil fuels.
Work is expected to begin in September.
