EAST CORINTH—When Gary Bicknell moved to East Corinth from Ellington, Connecticut, decades ago, his plan was to be a vegetable farmer. He needed some barrels for the operation and asked his brother to bring a load of them up when he visited. They sat out in the field for a time until he was going to get around to putting them to use. People driving by noticed them and stopped to see if he wanted to part with a few here and there. That was 35 years ago and, as they say, the rest is history. He’s been selling plastic and steel used food grade containers ever since.

HAVERHILL—Property tax bills that went out earlier this month have generated plenty of criticism in Haverhill.

FAIRLEE—Barbara’s Red Stocking is celebrating its 30th year of giving Christmas food to families in Fairlee, Orford, West Fairlee, Vershire, and Piermont. Every year since 1994, a crew of volunteers has organized the annual holiday giveaway.

Wan Yee Ng, a Chinese national who pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to smuggle 29 box turtles in an inflatable kayak across Lake Wallace from Vermont to Canada, was sentenced to time served at the federal courthouse in Burlington on Friday. Chief District Court Judge Christina Reiss handed down the sentence, which included orders of deportation back to Hong Kong.

FAIRLEE—The Fairlee Development Review Board unanimously approved proposals for several building projects after a Dec. 11 public hearing with local developer Jonah Richard, doing business as Village Ventures.