ORFORD—Twenty warrant articles await voters who will gather in person at the annual meeting which will take place March 8 at 7 p. m. in the Rivendell Academy Gymnasium with voting for town officers beginning at 4 p.m.
The selectboard seeks approval to enter negotiations for a purchase and sale agreement for an Orford property rich in sand.
Late last year, the board discussed acquiring the property and decided to add the proposal as a 2022 warrant article.

STRAFFORD—Keith Fifield stood atop his sugarhouse checking sap lines hung like telephone cables coming out of the woods behind his house. His father, Wayne, sat in the driver’s seat of a John Deere loader with the bucket that lifted his son resting at the roofline.
As the bright winter sun thawed the frozen ground on a February afternoon, deep mud ruts were carved into the road leading to Fifield Sugar House on Maple Hill Road in Strafford, a Vermont hamlet filled with quiet winding roads.

SWIFTWATER–Timing is everything, they say.
“It was great, perfect. Everything fell into place,” said Franco Nicolazzo. “I had a plan, a vision and it all came together.”
When the Boston native purchased a general store outside of Mountain Lakes last year, the opportunity to realize his longtime dream came earlier than he envisioned.
He loved the idea of retiring and owning a country store featuring homemade Italian cuisine while creating a sense of community. He and his family have visited Franconia in the past and loved the White Mountains area.

RYEGATE CORNER—Ryegate residents will return to the traditional town meeting format on March 1.
The annual town meeting will be held at 1 p.m. at the Ryegate Town House. Residents will be expected to wear masks and maintain physical distancing.
The proposed operating budget is $1,087,109.70 with $939,509.70 to be raised in property taxes.

BRADFORD—At the Feb. 10 selectboard meeting, Paul Hunt presented a “show and tell” on the condition of Bradford’s municipal website.
Chair Ted Unkles, board members Meroa Benjamin, Ryan Lockwood, Daniel Perry, and Carole Taylor, and members of the public were present in person and on Zoom.