With: Panel TBA

Class Fee: Free / registration required

Class Size: Maximum of 50 / Adults and children 8+ accompanied by an adult

In 2005, a disastrous flood changed the landscape of Alstead forever. Loved ones perished and neighbors lost homes. On this anniversary of the flood we will use the evening to remember both our losses and our recovery process. We will ask the volunteers and Select Board members who were at the heart of the recovery process to share their experiences and then welcome the memories of all who are in attendance.

This event has been postponed and we will set a new date as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

With: Michael Simpson

Class Fee: Free / registration required

Class Size: Maximum of 50 / Adults

With projections of a higher frequency of extreme rainfall events, warmer winters, longer growing seasons, and extended drought periods, climate change is unfolding at a rate and scale that will challenge natural resource managers and affect public works, planners and businesses alike. This talk will encapsulate the latest climate projections for northern New England and discuss some possible ramifications for communities over the next few decades. The discussion will close by touching on the possible economic ramifications of building resilience into human activities on the landscape versus not preparing for such changes.

This program has been postponed due to the recent positive changes in federal support for sustainable energy options. After some time to research and process these new incentives and programs the rescheduled date will be announced here and on Chase's Mill's social media and mailing list.

With: Jim Gruber, Dan Lewis and Joe Kohler

Class Fee: Free / registration required

Class Size: Maximum of 50 / Adults

A panel of knowledgeable and experienced local individuals will share sustainable energy options for your home and our community that move us away from carbon-based energy sources. These approaches include hydro-electric power, photovoltaics, energy conservation, geothermal, wind power, and heat pumps. The panel members and all participants will be invited to share their knowledge and experience with these technologies, and on how you could reduce your energy costs as well as move toward a carbon-free future.

Jim Gruber has been involved in energy conservation consulting and passive solar home design for many years at TEA. As a civil engineer, he has worked as an energy and environmental consultant for home builders, and state and federal agencies, both nationally and internationally. His passive solar energy home in Alstead has been heated with two cords of wood per year for the last 40 years. He is a professor emeritus in Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England and is enjoying a busy retirement with his wife, Patience Stoddard.

Daniel Lewis, PE, received a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from UMass and joined TEA in 1978, where he was head of Consulting Services. Dan and his wife Leslie live in Lost Alstead and installed a 8kW solar PV system in 2010.

Dr. Joseph Kohler taught Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute prior to joining Total Environmental Action (TEA) in Harrisville, NH in 1977 as a Research Engineer. Joe and his wife Mona Anderson built a super-insulated “net zero” stone house in 1979.

Joe and Dan developed a mainframe-based computer model to simulate the hourly energy performance of passive solar houses. They later founded Kohler and Lewis, a mechanical engineering firm that specialized in designing energy efficient HVAC systems. For their research in the solar field, Joe and Dan were designated “Solar Pioneers” by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) in 2021.

With: Barb Davis

Class Fee: $20.00 plus material fee $5.00

Class Size: 6-12 / Adults and children 8 + accompanied by and adult

Come to the Mill to create a beautiful and functional ceramic bowl. All you need are two hands that can roll balls and coils of clay. Using a clay mold, each person will form a unique serving-sized bowl. Participants will add color to the clay on the day of the workshop; then the bowls will be fired and glazed in Barb's studio--ready to be picked up at a later date. You won't want to miss this opportunity to create a special piece of artwork at Chase's Mill.

With: Jason Breen and Lea Kablik

Class Fee: $45.00 plus $85.00 for materials

Class size: 6-8 /Adults

Participants will have an opportunity to learn about ways to extend their growing season and garden well into the winter. The first part of the workshop will be spent reviewing different season extension techniques, the best crops to grow in the cold season, and tips for success; we'll even seed-start some cold season crops. After a brief break, participants will build cold frames for their seed-starts.

With: Patience Stoddard and Ann Acheson

Class Fee: $50.00

Class size: 6-12 /Adults

Each life is like a river that winds and changes through varied terrain. We will spend the day reflecting on and sharing the flow of our inner lives through mapping, meditations, simple art work, songs and ritual. We will provide a simple lunch. Please bring an object that symbolizes a part of the journey of your life, and a poem or piece of reading you find inspiring.

With: Donna Bascom Lund

Class Fee: $20.00

Class size: 6-8 /Adults and children 16+ accompanied by an adult

"Painting with Primary Colors" will explore working with three different primary color combinations and the characteristics of each. Limity the pallet can help with color decisions and create paintings with perfect color harmony. Bring your watercolor supplies, paper, and one or more collections of yellows, reds, and blues, and we will play with color!

With: Helen Frink

Class Fee: Free / registration required

Class Size: Maximum of 50 / Adults and children 8+ accompanied by an adult

In January 2016, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association announced the discovery of the wreckage of two sunken whale ships off the Alaskan coast. Oil, Ice, and Bone tells the story of these vessels and how they came to be lost in the greatest whaling disaster in American history. Arctic whaler Nathaniel Ransom served as third mate on one of the ships abandoned in 1871. In 1860, as a fourteen-year-old, he followed his five older brothers into the dank forecastle of a whaling vessel. For fifteen years he hunted seventy-ton bowheads in Arctic waters for the many uses of "bone." In 1871 Ransom survived the loss of thirty-two whaling vessels in the frigid waters off Alaska's Icy Cape. He kept a journal--and held onto it as he and his shipmates jettisoned weapons and warm clothing to save their very lives. His eyewitness account of whaling's brutal slaughter and sudden losses is enriched by presenter Helen Frink's affection for an ancestor she discovered through his journals a century after his death.

With: Jason Breen

Class Fee: $20.00

Class Size: 8-10 / Adults

Success in building with wood depends on sharp tools. Edge tools such as knives, planes, and chisels, as well as saws and drill bits, are supposed to be sharpened regularly. We will cover basic sharpening techniques for flat chisels and plane blades, handsaws and maybe even some drill bits and carving tools, using grinders, water and oil stones, sandpaper, and files. Bring your own tools to sharpen or help us sharpen tools for the Mill. Participants should bring their own eye and ear protection if they have it. Dull tools and sharpening stones are welcome, too.

With: Margaret Chase Perry

Cost: Free/registration required

Class size: 30 / Adults and children 12+ accompanied by an adult

Explore Mill Hollow's history by viewing old photos and sharing local tales with an emphasis on the history of milling developments and the early summer community around Lake Warren. We will introduce some of the major figures involved, including Ezra Kidder, Hartley Dennett, and Heman Chase, as well as important buildings in the area, some of which are still standing. Co-sponsored with the Shedd Porter Library

With: Nancy Botkin

Class Fee: $20.00 plus $5.00 material fee

Class size: 6 /Adults and children 12+ accompanied by an adult

This year we’ll make a couple of simple and beautiful handmade books using basic materials including cardboard, string, glue, cloth and paper. The books will work nicely as miniature albums or scrapbooks. Please bring some small photos, poems and/or pictures to cut up and glue or transcribe into a book.

Note: this class will be learning different techniques from the 2021 class, but doesn’t require any prerequisite.

With: Nancy Botkin

Class Fee: $20.00 plus $8.00 for materials

Class size: 6-10 /Adults and children 12+ accompanied by an adult

"Paste papers" are one of the oldest decorative techniques used by bookbinders. They are commonly used as end sheets and decorative book covers. Paste paper designs can look like waves and ripples in water or streams. Likely you already have beginning experience making paste paper from when you did finger painting as a child. In this class we'll explore some more sophisticated techniques to make beautiful patterns with a three-dimensional look.

With: Donna Bascom Lund

Class Fee: $20.00

Class size: 6-8 /Adults and children 16+ accompanied by an adult

Beautiful in nature, trees are often a challenge to the watercolor artist. Let's discover the many ways to paint trees in watercolor by experimenting with techniques including sponging, spattering, spritzing and drybrush to create beautiful, interesting trees. Bring your watercolor supplies and whatever else you would like to play with. Donna will also bring a variety of interesting tools to try out.

With: Barb Davis

Class Fee: Free / registration required

Class Size: 30 / Adults and children 10 + accompanied by and adult

Everyone has had an animal in their lives. It may have been a pesky rodent that kept you up an entire winter, chewing and moving acorns, or it may be an animal that sat at the dinner table as a family member. Whatever animal relationship springs to mind, please join us at the Mill for an evening of animal stories.

Six local storytellers will astound you with their recollections of the animals they have had in their lives. This will be fun for the whole family!

With: Sharon Spaulding

Class Fee: By donation/ registration required

Class Size: Maximum of 50 / Adults and children 8+ accompanied by an adult

Three remarkable and relatively unknown women will be highlighted in this discussion: Mary Ellen Pleasant, Mary Ware Dennett, and Zitkala-Sa. Known as the Mother of California Civil Rights, Pleasant was an illiterate, self-made millionaire who funded John Brown's insurrection at Harper's Ferry. Like Harriet Tubman, she repeatedly risked her life to guide slaves to freedom. Dennett, a trailblazing suffragist, reproductive rights, and sex education crusader, took on the federal government's obscenity laws in 1929. Zitkala-Sa was born in 1886, the year the Sioux defeated General George Custer at Little Big Horn. A feminist and activist for Native American rights and culture, she was also an author, educator, and musician. Her magazine stories and government reports uncovered the plot to murder Oklahoma's Osage Indians and steal their oil-rich lands.

With: Sarah Webb

Class Fee: Free / registration required

Class Size: 15 / Adults and children accompanied by an adult

Join us for a walk of discovery as we learn about the flow of water into Lake Warren from the springs, streams, tributaries and wetlands that make up this watershed. We will learn about the natural movement of water and how it has created an aquatic landscape that supports life that we all value.

We will meet in East Alstead at the Four Corners by Fuller Machine Shop on Saturday morning at 9:30. Participants should park along North Road at the junction with Route 123 near the church.

The walk will not be strenuous.

This event is co-sponsored by the Lake Warren Association, the Alstead Conservation Commission and Chase’s Mill.

With: Steve Taylor

Class Fee: Free / registration required

Class Size: Maximum of 50 / Adults and children 8+ accompanied by an adult

Strains of elite wool-producing sheep first imported in 1809 led to the greatest period of agricultural prosperity the hill country towns of the Connecticut Valley have ever known. Vast swatches of forest were cleared to provide both pasture and hay crops to support the explosive expansion of sheep flocks. Their wool fueled the rise of textile mills along many New England rivers. Fortunes were made and the economy boomed until a combination of forces brought about the industry's gradual demise. The legacy of that time includes fine architecture and thousands of miles of stone walls, plus economic and social dislocation that would last a century. Sponsored by the Shedd Porter Library.

With: Nancy Botkin

Class Fee: $20.00 plus $5.00 material fee

Class size: 6-10 /Adults and children 12+ accompanied by an adult

Before the smart phone, people spent a lot of time figuring out clever ways to make a large piece of paper fold easily so it could fit in a pocket and then quickly unfold on demand to find a location. This class will cover several techniques including Turkish and Hungarian map folds. (They make great cards as well.) No experience necessary.

With: Lark Leonard

Cost: $20

Class size: 4-12 / Adults and children with supervision

Lark can help students visualize what farm harvests were like (and what they meant) prior to the Industrial Revolution. Each student will make a harvest token to take home.

Lark Leonard has been plaiting straw ornaments now for over 40 years. She learned from Shelley Osborne, then of Walpole, NH, and from Marilyn Stearns of Springfield, Vt. She also discovered a great deal on her own. The custom is many centuries old and is an expression of profound gratitude for the fullness of harvest. Lark looks forward to sharing this tradition. Please bring an open heart and joyful hands. We will have fun!

With: Brett Morrison

Cost: Free/ registration required

Class size: Maximum of 50 / Adults and children accompanied by an adult

This dynamic river begins over the Canadian Border and winds it’s way 410 miles, through four state watersheds, carrying water to the Long Island Sound. Brett Morrison grew up on the Connecticut River. From his early years he has always enjoyed the region's rivers, brooks, and natural surroundings. He is currently resides as the Director of Development at the Connecticut River Conservancy, which “ provides a voice for the Connecticut River. The organization engages and educates, prevents pollution, improves habitat, and promotes enjoyment of the river.”

In this presentation Brett will speak to the rivers’s history, the CRC’s organizational priorities, and the and the shifting challenges for the Connecticut River and the river communities.

Brett Morrison's professional life has been devoted to teaching and fundraising in New England independent schools, as well as, The Student Conservation Association (SCA) over its final years headquartered in Charlestown, NH. He is now the Director of Development for the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) where he has worked for 4 years. He is currently completing his Masters Degree in Nonprofit Management at Johnson and Wales University, and as a former history teacher, continues to appreciate learning all he can about our NH and VT river towns' pasts. He is thrilled to be in Alstead to talk about the Connecticut and learn more about the Cold River, as well as, Chase's Mill. Brett has a particular affinity for the town and its library – where his partner Alyson serves as Director.

With: Jason Breen

Class Fee: $20.00

Class Size: 8-10 / Adults

It's gardening season! In this garden tool sharpening class we will use grinders, water and oil stones, sandpaper, and files to get those garden tools ready for action. Bring your own tools to sharpen. Participants should also bring their own eye and ear protection if they have them.

With: Kathy Torry, Randy Miller, Andy Davis, and Laurie Indenbaum

Class Fee: By donation/ registration requested

Class Size: All are invited

Chase's Mill invites you to the shores of Lake Warren for an outdoor concert to kick off the 2022 season of Celebrating Water! Kathy, Randy, Andy, and Laurie will be playing songs and tunes of milling and water, as a benefit fundraiser for the Mill. This event will happen come rain or shine, so bring an outdoor chair or a blanket, snacks and perhaps an umbrella, and join friends and neighbors in celebration.

The concert will be at the old Dennett Beach, on the shores of Lake Warren across from the public landing.

All of the contributing musicians have been actively involved in the local music and dance community which grew up in the 1970s. Randy Miller has played fiddle and piano locally and nationally for more than 50 years. He and his friend and former wife Kathy Torrey have organized and played for many local dances and musical events during their 40 years in Alstead. Kathy has called dances and used music in her career teaching young children. Andy Davis has recently retired from a lifetime of teaching music in the public schools and has been a community dance organizer and musician/caller in the Brattleboro area and beyond. He now has time to play music “for fun!” with friends, including Laurie Indenbaum. Laurie lives in Athens, Vermont, and has been sharing her musical talents in many ways over the years. Mill Hollow and the dances and musical events at the mill, East Alstead and Acworth, and the Orchard School have fostered a multi generational sense of community.