Alan Beard sold us the back chunk of his land in 2021, and it happened just as you’d imagine a land purchase of Vermont’s yesteryear would; there were handshakes, conversational negotiation and no banks involved. Bless his heart.
Alan and his brother, Bruce, took a chance on our non-native family by granting us access to Johnson land, which was beginning to feel more and more inaccessible as the years went on. The moment we became neighbors was the same moment we became kin.
We admiringly referred to Alan as our “foreman” as we built our house. When Brian was at work while the foundation was being poured, Alan would oversee and report back to Brian, without having been asked.
When we checked on Dave’s progress with our driveway, we witnessed Alan, 81 years old at the time, rolling out the fabric so Dave could lay material with the excavator more efficiently.
One evening, Brian was solitarily setting the beams of our home, using a rigged chain hoist to float them into place. Alan sat a while, watching the innovation and laughing, which Brian took as a nod of approval.
Once we moved into our home, we began to expect the sound of the side by side approaching from the distance. The kids would run to a window or outside, excitedly shouting “Alan’s coming!” Sometimes Alan would do a slow drive-by, and sometimes he would park and get out to briefly chat. He would deliver apples from his tree to our pigs, come up to borrow a tool, or show a family member our budding spot. We were both comforted and charmed by his presence and his neighborliness.
It saddens me to share that Alan passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, Jan. 12. Our family will undoubtedly miss his unsolicited advice and supervision. May Alan be given an endless sunny hillside of green mountain grass to mow, a pile of good books to read, and a garage to tinker in as his personal version of resting in peace.
Imaginature School, located on Clay Hill, has openings for the spring semester starting in March. This program runs Wednesdays from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. through June, supplementing public or homeschool learning for children ages 6-12. This program is fully outdoors, focusing on primitive skills, arts and crafts, theater, wild free play, and running games. Colin, the founder and mentor, has over nine years of nature mentoring experience and creates an inclusive, safe, and rich imagination incubator for kids. If interested, reach out to Colin at imaginaturecocreations@gmail.com.
Veena Chandra, an internationally renowned sitarist, composer, teacher and choreographer, will be playing at the Dibden Center for the Arts at Vermont State University-Johnson on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m.
Chandra is the founder and director of the Dance and Music School of India in New York, where she teaches classical music. She has been a faculty member at Skidmore College since 1990, teaching sitar, and has been Artist Associate in Sitar at Williams College since 2014. Tickets are $10 and are available for purchase at catamountarts.org or at the Dibden box office.
Johnson’s Recreation Coordinator, Isabelle Sullivan, is asking residents to reflect on what they would like to see offered for adults in our community. If you have any dreams or wishes of what Johnson Recreation could support to bring more adult recreation opportunities to town, reach out to Isabelle at tojrecreation@townofjohnson.com.
This could be things like summer soccer, basketball leagues, bike rides on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, or fun runs.
General activities or events are also welcome ideas.
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