The Little Cape That Could

Danville Village House to Open Its Doors on May 2

By Sharon Lakey

“It’s been a labor of love, but I’m not a patient woman,” said Mary Prior, President of the Danville Historical Society.

She’s had to learn to be patient, though, as the charming cape, now known as the Danville Village House, has slowly reappeared in its original form beside the statuesque Danville Congregational church on Hill Street. 

The project began in 2006 with a letter sent to various organizations in Danville. In it was a stunning offer from a lawyer, announcing that an anonymous donor wished to gift substantial money to a group who had a good idea about how to use it. 

Impatient Mary, never lacking for an idea, jumped at the thought of establishing a restored building dedicated to the collection and sharing of history in the center of Danville Village. Margaret Springer, who had worked for 30-plus years as president and archivist of the Danville Historical Society, was ecstatic about the idea, and the thought began to gather momentum.

Time was of the essence, and Mary immediately contacted Paul Chouinard. “He is an architectural perfectionist by avocation,” said Mary. He’s a real estate agent to boot, and they set out to find a house that would fit the bill. By luck or grace, the little cape by the Congregational church became available. 

“I like where it sits,” said Paul. “It is near the center of the village, and it has historical integrity.” Paul describes it as, “a prototypical Cape Cod style home mirroring the austere simplicity of early nineteenth century, rural Vermont homes.” 

Oddly enough, Mary found that the lineage of the people connected with the house were among the long-standing families of Danville: Sias, Choate (the builder, a cabinet-maker), Currier, Cahoon, Peck and Gadapee. It was a perfect match. “All the work the historical society had done under Margaret’s direction and tireless efforts made it possible for me to research this house,” said Mary. 

With Paul’s knowledge of early construction and Mary’s deed research, a detailed history of the house, proposed budget and projected use of the building was sent to the lawyer of the donor. Imagine the excitement when Mary received a letter that related the donor would pay the purchase price of $198,000 and another $200,000 for restoration. “The donor had some good suggestions as well,” said Mary. “For example: Weren’t the proposed cedar shakes a fire hazard? The donor was also adamant that the house would have a meeting room and parking lot.”

Together, Mary and Paul, conferencing with the Historical Society, worked out the renovation plans. Paul, a real stickler for detail, was chosen as clerk of works. They visited Sturbridge Village. “The buildings there were built in the same time period as the house,” explained Paul. “It helped to visualize what the house looked like back in 1838 when it was built.” In their planning, they designed for historical correctness as well as compliance to the Americans with Disabilities Act..  

In keeping with the desire to use as many local artisans and builders as possible, Paul began the painstaking job of putting together contracts. The list of chosen contractors included: Harold Lunnie, foundation; Garren Calkins, driveway excavation, parking area, and seeding; Michael Walsh, garage restoration, single story addition, clapboard siding, flooring, and shed storage room; Joel Currier, wood for flooring and wainscot; Paul Dussault, heating; Hollis Prior, landscaping; Luke Colby, wiring; Sally A. Fishburn, replacement doors and windows; Phil Beattie, stonework; Lucian Avery, blacksmith; Steven Towsley, chimney; and Frank Siebenbrunner, finishing details. (This list doesn’t include the red-hued Mary and her husband, Hollis, who could be watched for weeks as they voluntarily painted the whole building.) 

Meanwhile, Mary continued her historical research, this time in a more communal way. Her Grammie Tennie was a social historian. In writings for Vermont Life and the Burlington Free Press, she published stories told by those still living about people and events of the past. “I spent a great deal of time driving her to remote locations throughout Caledonia and Essex Counties,” Mary remembers. “I’d wait, sometimes for hours, while she interviewed someone for an article she was writing.”

In Grammie Tenney’s tradition, Mary searched and wrote some social history of Annie and Sam Currier, who were owners of the house from 1933 to 1960. Sam died in 1943, so for most of that time, it was known as Annie’s house. The interviews include some wonderful stories, two of which follow. 

Janette Langmaid Morse, Mary’s second cousin: 

“Annie Currier looked like she wouldn’t like children, but that was not the case. She had a sort of scowl for an expression, but she was the nicest woman. My mother and father lived next door. My son Alan used to go visit her often. She would have a nice, sweet pudding for him. One day, she offered him his pudding; he didn’t like it very well, because it wasn’t sweet. 

‘Why doesn’t the pudding taste like usual?’ he asked.

‘It’s Indian pudding,” Annie replied.

‘Where did you get the dead Indians to put in the pudding?’”

Winona Gadapee, former owner of the house:

“I loved that house. I would still live there if I could, but my breathing required a brand new house. While we lived there, the key to the Congregational church hung by the kitchen door inside the sun porch. It was available to anyone who needed it. When we sold the house to the Grayecks, the key still hung there for use by all. Once, Mr. Grayek, who was Jewish, laughed in telling me that the key to the church hung right beside the doorpost that they would touch on their way in as a Jewish blessing. 

‘Only in Danville,’ he would say.”

In a way, the tradition of the key still exists. But this time, the house itself has become a key. All those who paid with money and time offer the residents of Danville a lovingly restored place to meet, research, chat, and remember their dear ones and the community in which they lived. 

Besides the May 2 Grand Opening, programming ideas are starting to stir. Mary plans for the building to be open from 1:00-8:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Saturday mornings. “We need to spread the work into the community, so Danville Village House becomes alive and vibrant,” she said.

To see the picture album related to this article click here    

To enjoy a video walk-through of the Danville Village House, hosted by Paul Chouinard, click here

This story was first published in April, 2009 issue of The North Star Monthly

What the World Needs Now

Is a good belly laugh

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.  ~Jean Houston

By Sharon Lakey

One day my daughter, who lives in Waterbury, called. “Mom, you’ve got to come with me to the next Laughter Yoga class. It’s free,” she enticed. Her voice sounded full of smiles.

I answered with a half-hearted “Maybe,” and a “thanks for the invitation,” but really I never intended to follow through. First, it was a long way to drive to Richmond, VT, and second, the idea of laughter yoga seemed a little forced.  Maybe it was watching night after night of grim news reports that finally pushed me over the edge, because early the next Tuesday morning, I found myself braving snow-covered roads for a chance to lighten up a little.  

And, it was fun. I mean—really fun.  

There were six of us that first day, including leader, Dawn Decker. We met on the second floor of the Richmond library in a beautiful space--hardwood floors, tall church-like windows and walls painted a restful yellow. 

In a short introduction, Dawn explained the basics behind Laughter Yoga, including this piece of research: an average adult laughs five to seven times a day; a child laughs over 300 times, and for no reason at all. I was taken aback by the statistic, and felt sad about my own rusty laugh mechanism. But as Dawn briefly explained it, “Just fake it till you make it.”

Wishing to turn loose my own inhibitions, I entered willingly into the group laughter. Dawn is a superb laugher, and I found it surprisingly easy to join in. With a variety of prompts, we shared everything from titters to guffaws with Kleenex in hand. And the more we laughed, the happier and more relaxed I became. Dawn incorporated gentle yoga stretches into the program, and as our time came to a close, sitting in a circle touching toe-to-toe, I felt warmness toward these women. It seemed as if I had known them all my life.

Later I found out that Dawn, a yoga teacher of 25 years with international certification, is fairly new to laughter yoga.  “I’ve always used laughter in my yoga practice, but this is more focused.” In August of 2008, she attended a two-day workshop in Burlington. “At the end of the workshop, I found I was exhausted, but exhilarated by the possibilities.” Wanting to share this gift with others in her new community of Richmond, she offered free weekly sessions to all-comers.

With just a little research back home, I discovered I had totally missed out on this worldwide phenomenon. The movement began in Mumbai, India, in 1995 by a medical doctor, Madan Kataria, who was writing an article about the connection between laughter and good health. Kataria had studied the writings of American Norman Cousins, who suffered from degenerative, painful arthritis. 

Cousins set out to cure himself with a combination of Vitamin C and laughter, which he stimulated by watching old Marx Brothers movies. He recorded his method in the book Anatomy of an Illness where he reported,  "I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep. When the pain-killing effect of the laughter wore off, we would switch on the motion picture projector again and not infrequently, it would lead to another pain-free interval." 

Wondering how the medicine of laughter could be spread to the general population, Kataria decided to go to a local park and ask people there to join him in laughter. Five strangers agreed to join in the experiment. At first, they laughed by telling each other jokes, but Kataria noticed several things about that; they ran out of good ones rather quickly and not everyone thought a particular joke was funny. But, he noted, it only took one person to laugh at a joke to get the rest of the group to join in.

He decided they should try laughing for no reason at all. It worked. People could laugh at nothing and soon his group of five had grown to hundreds laughing in the park on a daily basis. Laughter clubs were soon to spread infectious good will throughout the world. Information from the American School of Laughter Yoga reports, “At the last count there were an estimated 6000 Laughter Clubs in over 60 countries, the vast majority of which are free and public.” 

Kataria’s wife, a yoga teacher, was the first to introduce gentle yoga stretches into laughter clubs. It was a natural fit. Breathing is one of the five principles of yoga and laughter is an especially good exercise for the breath. According to an article from the American School of Laughter, “It effectively flushes the 2/3 of ‘stale air’ that most people unknowingly keep inside. Repeated practice teaches us to become more and more consciously aware of our own breathing pattern.”

Soon, Kataria felt the unmistakable power and good will generated by laughter could be of help in our world. In 1998, he organized the first World Laughter Day in Mumbai. It caught on and was given a permanent date--the first Sunday of May.  Imagine the sound created by the 10,000 people laughing in the Town Hall Square in Copenhagen, Denmark in the year 2000. Steven Wilson, psychologist, author and head of the World Laughter Tour brought it to New York City in 2001. 

This year, World Laughter Day has made its way to Richmond, Vermont. Dawn invites you to a gathering on May 3, 2:00 p.m., at the Richmond Free Library, 201 Bridge Street. She hopes for at least 100 souls to join her in laughing for world peace. In the words of Steve Wilson, “Regardless of the reason you laugh, the primary purposes of laughter have to do with reducing the terrible effects of stress, and connecting with other people; laughter plays a huge role in maintaining relationships. Actually, we need laughter more now than ever!”

Amen.

For more information about Dawn go to http://dawndeckerbodywork.com/ 

See more pictures

This article was first published in the May issue of The North Star Monthly: http://northstarmonthly.com/