By 9 o’clock on Sunday morning, hundreds of individuals clad in swimwear were waiting in the shallows of Malletts Bay. Further out, a line of canoes and kayaks did the same. The voice of an announcer suddenly blurted from a loudspeaker, his countdown echoing across Bayside Park. At “zero,” the swimmers and boaters launched into action. The water around them exploded — more like a shark frenzy than the peaceful start I had expected. And so began the 24th Annual Colchester Triathlon.... Read more

Lucian Avery suffers for his art. At any given time, numerous burns dot his forearms. But that’s less alarming when you learn his line of work — blacksmithing. For the past 14 years, Avery has been giving exquisite shape to lifeless metal at a small shop in Hardwick. And he’s one of a small but growing number of contemporary artisans drawn to a craft that began in the Iron Age.... Read more

Ethan Allen Park echoed with the screams and cackles of ghosts, ghouls and witches on Saturday evening, when all-that-was-sinister descended upon this normally peaceful place in Burlington’s New North End. The event marked the second time local spooks and spectres gathered there to celebrate Halloween with a haunted tour.... Read more

Brisk winds and choppy water couldn’t stop scores of runners, walkers and bikers from crossing a 200-foot gap in the Colchester Causeway — all without getting their feet wet. An impressive trick, for even the fittest of the bunch. Of course, they had a little help in the form of their friendly neighborhood Bike Ferry. I rejected both bike and running shoes and walked to the causeway, a trip long enough to turn my “farmer’s tan” from bad to worse.... Read more

It’s barely noon on Saturday, and already temperatures have reached record heights in the parking lot at Pine Street Studios in Burlington. It’s the sort of heat that pops thermometers and, according to Elijah Sproles, would make a pack of matches spontaneously combust in your pocket. In degrees Fahrenheit, you’re talking easily over 2000. That’s about what it takes to melt iron, and that’s what today is all about: an iron pour that’s the culmination of a weeklong iron-casting workshop.... Read more

Two unassuming signs greeted visitors at the far end of North Beach — “Burg Summit!” and “All Politics, All the Time” — setting the tone for the afternoon’s events. Sunday marked the second go-round for the Annual Political BBQ and Hamburger Summit, an event intended to give Vermont’s tireless online political commentators a break from cyberspace in lieu of some fresh air, food and fun.... Read more