Ekwanok and the Community
Visitors often comment on the fact that Manchester has provided the perfect setting for the Ekwanok golf course. Many members of Ekwanok have devoted a great deal of energy and resources to maintaining Manchester as a pleasant and beautiful place in which to live. The Club itself has brought valuable publicity, desirable visitors, and considerable income into the area and it will contribute, as it has in the past, a stabilizing influence on the town through its continued existence.
A simple list of things Ekwanok members have done for the community is impressive. From the early days of the Manchester Development Association, in which many members participated actively, on through the tragic days of the depression when Ekwanok members formed a committee for buy the bankrupt Equinox House and keep Manchester a leading resort town, the list of activities has been inspiring.
Back in the early days, members were active in organizing a central sewage system, running electric lines underground (a trail-blazing accomplishment at the time), and through the years they have contributed much by their involvement and interest in local business and industry. Ekwanok members have devoted themselves to the support of churches, schools, the local library, and the formation of the Southern Vermont Art Center which has placed the area in the forefront of cultural activity in New England and beyond. The Ekwanok caddie program and the Ekwanok Scholarship Trust has long provided opportunities for young people to learn about the game of golf and the membership is proud to provide annual college scholarships to Ekwanok caddies and employees.
The Green Mountain Boys and the Green Mountain Girls, separate organizations, both organized in 1928, were never officially connected with Ekwanok, but a number of their members were also members of the Club. Organized for the purpose of fostering good fellowship among Manchester’s regular summer visitors and to perpetuate its traditions, these two groups, among their other activities, were active in sponsoring golf tournaments that were held at the Ekwanok Club. The men’s organization gradually faded out of existence over the years but the women’s group is still active today. Their dues are used to make contributions to local charitable organizations, their luncheon meetings are held in the summer months at the Ekwanok Club, and an annual golf tournament is still held to determine the Green Mountain Girl Champion.
36 Hours in Manchester, Vt.
By LIONEL BEEHNER JAN. 31, 2014
Manchester may never be the ultimate Ski Town, U.S.A. Its gilded mansions and upscale factory outlets continue to draw more shoppers than ski bums. But this bucolic town in southern Vermont, blessed with two nearby ski resorts and backcountry trails that meander through the picturesque Battenkill Valley, is emerging as a popular winter getaway among Bostonians, New Yorkers and even Europeans looking to get acquainted with Vermont’s unspoiled Green Mountains, while also exploring Manchester’s bounty of local arts-and-crafts shops and artisanal restaurants. Its most recognizable property, the stately Equinox Hotel, underwent a major overhaul a few years ago. And the town just installed a pair of traffic roundabouts along the main strip to ease congestion. Don’t expect Aspen, or even Stowe. But Manchester has its own relaxed, if sophisticated, ambience that is making it a popular four-season destination.
FRIDAY
1. Cheese Heads | 3 p.m.
The countryside around Manchester is pure, vintage Vermont: rolling meadows, covered bridges, wood-beamed farmhouses. Luckily, some of the local dairy farms do not go into hibernation during the winter. Among the most iconic and visited is Taylor Farm, a big red barn about 15 miles from Manchester that dates from the early 1800s. Chickens roam the property, while patrons feed the livestock out back. Stock up on maple-smoked cheeses like Gouda ($16 a pound). The farm also offers cheese-making classes, or you can explore part of its 550 acres by sleigh ride ($20).
2. Manchester United | 5 p.m.
Manchester’s charming Main Street is divided into two sections. There is Manchester Center, a cluster of unpretentious arts-and-crafts shops, the centerpiece of which is the Northshire Bookstore. The decades-old behemoth of a shop has a play den, a cafe and endless rows of books. The busy intersection in front, nicknamed “Malfunction Junction,” has recently been replaced with a traffic-easing roundabout. Farther south along Main, past a couple more rotaries, you’ll find Manchester Village. Many of the white-columned mansions and Victorian-era inns are now offshoots of the Equinox Hotel. The Falcon Bar, the hotel’s latest addition, is a relaxed pre-dinner spot to sip wine out by the fire pit.
3. Beyond the Basics | 7:30 p.m.
Dining in Manchester typically revolves around its inns, which feature menus that rarely stray from New England staples like filet mignon or fish. The Silver Fork, a recent addition to the town’s culinary scene, is a nice exception. Its eclectic menu of New American cuisine with a Caribbean twist reflects its chef’s divergent culinary background: Baltimore by way of Puerto Rico via a German chef. Hence, the Puerto Rican art on the walls and Maryland crab cakes ($33) next to vinegary Wiener schnitzel ($29) on its menu. The place is pint-size — just six tables and a tiny bar — so make reservations. A less formal, if tad surreal, dining experience is Depot 62, which feels like any furniture store. But tucked among its exotic Turkish carpets is a pizzeria that serves up zesty lamb-topped pizza ($13.95).
4. Burgers and Foosball | 9:30 p.m.
Vermont night life conjures an image of tie-dye-clad locals grooving in a bar with gravy fries on the menu. But after-hours in Manchester is a more genteel and toned-down affair — Burlington or Bennington this is not. Many of its best restaurants double as bars, the busiest of which is the Perfect Wife. The Wife, as some call it, offers fine dining downstairs and a raucous tavern upstairs. Filled with foosball tables and flat screens, the Other Woman (as the tavern is called) can get loud and fratty at times. But the friendly locals, live music most Friday nights and tasty burgers make it a refreshing reprieve from Manchester’s stuffier establishments.
SATURDAY
5. Stairway to Heaven | 9 a.m.
Up a narrow flight of steps may be New England’s fluffiest stack of sourdough flapjacks ($8.25) and French toast ($7.75), all smothered in hot maple syrup. Up For Breakfast, a cramped but cozy L-shaped room, has long been a fixture of Manchester’s breakfast scene for its offbeat specials like venison blueberry sausage. The ambience — grandmotherly knickknacks and rooster-themed art decorating its walls — is also warm and inviting. For something with more of a French accent, try Ponce Bistro, which began serving breakfast, including house-made crepes ($6.95), last winter.
6. Lincoln Logs | 10 a.m.
Remember Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character in the film “Lincoln”? Well, the Great Emancipator’s son happened to have good architectural taste. His Georgian Revival digs, Hildene, stand as a monument to the industrialists who erected Vermont’s grandest homes in the late 19th century. But it is the grounds and gardens that truly make his mansion worth visiting. Strap on a pair of skis or snowshoes ($15) to explore the estate’s eight miles of backcountry, which is soon to expand, thanks to a floating boardwalk recently built across the property’s vast wetlands. History buffs will appreciate the tiny red schoolhouse built in 1832 that is still in use: students write with quill pens and huddle around an old wood stove.
7. Foggy Bottom | 1 p.m.
Independently operated ski resorts, like rope tows, are becoming an endangered species. Yet Bromley Mountain Ski Resort, 15 minutes east of Manchester, is still going strong after recently celebrating 75 years in operation. The mountain retains the hardscrabble appeal that larger corporate resorts lack. While purists may be put off by renovations of its base lodge — the wood beams and moose heads were replaced with mustard yellow walls — at least the fieldstone fireplace was left in place, and the lodge just installed a new day care center and ski school upstairs. From its south-facing slope, on foggy days the Green Mountains float like islands above a sea of clouds. One of those nearby peaks is 3,875-foot Stratton Mountain, which recently expanded its Sun Bowl, terrain parks and glade offerings.
8. Vermont Lamb | 6 p.m.
Southern Vermont eats well. But you often have to venture outside town to find the freshest ingredients. A few miles outside Manchester is Chantecleer, a rooster-themed restaurant in a former dairy barn that is equal parts romantic and rustic. Its meaty rack of lamb ($48) — at least three locals plugged the dish in casual conversation — comes coated with toasted pistachios and a sweet apricot-Dijon glaze. Ask for a table by the roaring fire in the stone fireplace. A favorite among locavores is SoLo Farm & Table, which opened in 2011 in a charming former inn. SoLo, which stands for South Londonderry, a town 15 minutes from Manchester, offers Spanish-style tastings of octopus ($18) and Vermont lamb cuts ($35) and just installed a wood-fired grill.
SUNDAY
9. Farm to Warehouse | 10 a.m.
The popular Jelly Mill store has shuttered its doors, and the sprawl of retail outlets has taken on Mall of America-size proportions: Orvis alone has gobbled up an entire stretch of Main Street. But Manchester still has several mom-and-pop shops. Manchester Woodcraft, open since 1950, sells every kind of wooden knickknack imaginable, including chessboards and Adirondack chairs, much of them made on the premises. Another popular destination just outside of town is J. K. Adams, founded in 1944 and renowned for its handcrafted cutting boards. On Sunday mornings, its Santa’s Workshop-like warehouse swells with stalls selling locally made jams, soaps and hot apple wine.
10. Glass Half Full | Noon
Tucked amid Manchester’s retail sprawl are a number of workrooms offering hands-on classes. Andrew Weill, a New Jersey native, of Manchester Hot Glass Studio & Gallery will show you the fine art of glassblowing in his garage plastered with New York subway insignia. Pint glasses are popular among adults; paperweights among toddlers. Half-hour classes start at $50. For something a bit more eccentric, take one of JoHannes Michelsen’s wooden-hat-making courses. The basement of his farmhouse, smothered in sawdust and wood chips, has been converted into a wood-turning studio. Lathes and band saws cut and mold slabs of wood into something Wyatt Earp or Charlie Chaplin would wear, but “most people put it on their stands or piano and call it art,” Mr. Michelsen.
11. Full-Serve Game | 2 p.m.
A Mobil gas station is not where you might expect to find fridges stocked with fresh cuts of elk, rabbit and duck. Indeed, the new Garden Arts Fresh Market feels more like an organic food co-op than a suburban 7-Eleven. Easy to miss amid the surrounding strip malls, this unpretentious minimart under a corrugated roof stocks free-range eggs, fresh produce from local farms and a rich assortment of fine wines. Embodying the new and improved Manchester, the shop embraces all four seasons and four food groups.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/travel/36-hours-in-manchester-vt.html?emc=eta1&_r=0
NY Times January 31, 2014