Valentine's Day: How We Love It

In 1847 Esther Howland created the New England Valentine Company and sold mass produced cards across the nation. She is consider the "Mother of American Valentines."

                           Victorian Valentines were fancy and filled with cupids, doves and hearts.

This is the type of Valentine's card that elementary students gave in the late 1940s, with one for each classmate and one for the teacher.

“I fell in love with Ellen because she always laughed at the funny Valentines I sent her.”

This is a line from the play “Funny Valentines, A Romantic Comedy,” recently presented by a local cast at Court Street Arts in Haverhill. Co-director Peter Richards indicated he selected the play by D.R. Anderson because it was appropriate for the season.       

Twelve years ago Marianne Kelly wrote the following in this newspaper to honor Valentine’s Day. “Nearly 800 years before Valentine became patron saint of lovers, the Romans held a pagan festival in February, honoring Lupercus, the god of fertility. A lottery was held, and each young man chose the name of a young girl who would become his sexual companion for the remaining year.

This festival didn’t set well with Pope Gelasius, who feared the wrath of the Romans.  He decided to change the custom and replace the names of young women with saints, hoping the young men would emulate the life of a saint they chose. The virile young Romans were totally under-whelmed.

The Catholic Church, determined to end the lottery and the worship of Lupercus, searched for a suitable ‘lovers saint’ to take the fertility god’s place. They decided on Valentine, a bishop who was beheaded by Emperor Claudius in 270 A.D.

While in prison for opposing the emperor Valentine fell in love with the jailer’s blind daughter.  According to legend, he healed her by the sheer force of his love and faith.  Before being led to his death, Valentine wrote his beloved a note signing it, ‘From your Valentine.’

The pagan festival’s lottery died out, but Roman men sending handwritten messages of affection to their sweethearts signed Valentine’s name. And therein lays the origins of the Valentine’s card.”

 Europeans continued the tradition as early as the 15^th century and by the 17^th century it was widespread with a number of traditions connected with the day.

Valentine’s greetings made their way into American history and gained widespread popularity in the 1700s. By the 1820s those who wished to send a valentine could purchase paper made especially for that purpose. In the 1840s, commercially produced Valentine’s cards became more popular. 

Beginning in 1847 Esther Howland became the first to mass produce Valentine’s cards.  Using her father’s stationary store in Worchester, Massachusetts as her first outlet, she created the New England Valentine Company. Her cards were sold nationwide and won her the title “The Mother of American Valentines.”

 At the same time there was a growing fancy for hand-painted valentines. Valentine’s cards became even more popular in the period after the Civil War. Many cards were humorous and sent as a joke. Valentine’s post cards also became popular.

Did lovers in Vermont and New Hampshire become part of this tradition? Did romantic hearts beat beneath their taciturn exteriors? I turned to newspapers of the period from the 1860’s to the present to try to answer these questions  One thing is certain from this search, as Valentine’s Day became more commercialized nationally, it became so locally. 

The first advertisement for Valentine’s cards that I could find was in an 1851 edition of The Middlebury Register. It was just a couple of lines inserted in a store’s advertisement. Newspapers of the period included stories or poems during any time of the year reflective of the Victorians’ attraction to the idealized concept of romance.

In 1863 the Orleans Independent Standard of February 2 published “A Story of St. Valentine’s Day” about a wounded Union soldier’s love affair with his nurse. Another entitled “Valentine’s Story” appeared in March 1867.

The Bradford Opinion began to mention Valentine’s Day in the 1870s with very small advertisements.  In 1877 it offered cards for sale at its office. In 1883 Morrisville’s News and Citizen panned valentine poetry with the following: “There are not many Valentine’s writers, and I don’t think that if you hired one, you would find one distinguished name among them, or even one that you have heard from.”

 By the end of the next decade several references to celebrations appeared. In 1889 a Valentine’s Masquerade party and dance was held at Bradford’s Odd Fellows Hall. As local schools were generally closed on or near the 14^th of February there was no mention of school parties. 

Little escaped the notice of local area reporters who wrote of residents’ illnesses, accidents, travels and visitors. It was not uncommon for groups to hold oyster suppers in early February, but these were more likely to observe Lincoln’s birthday than Valentine’s observances. One exception was in 1884 when a St. Valentine’s Oyster supper was held at the Bradford Congregational Church parlors, admission 20 cents.

In 1894 The United Opinion ran a reminder “Wednesday is St. Valentine’s Day” in the Bradford column as well as a large ad for J. M. Warden store that included the following: “See our Valentines! This week!” An ad for a comedy entitled “Sweethearts” sponsored by the Eastern Star included the following: “If you have a sweetheart come and bring her; if not, come and find her at 7:30 o’clock, p.m. Admission 10 cents.”

Two years later a Bradford Congregational Church social was held at which it was promised “Cupid will present each one patronizing the Pink Tea with a valentines from his quiver.” One local store advertised the “finest valentines procurable.” In 1898 the Dramatics Club of West Newbury held a Valentine Sociable at the local schoolhouse.  

The local Eastern Star seemed to be a most consistent promoter of the celebration. Beginning in 1907 and for several years it sponsored a “Spinster Tea” promising “pretty valentines will be given as souvenirs.” In Fairlee in 1910 a young adults’ party was held and in North Thetford a Valentine’s dinner. 

After the end of World War I, Valentine’s Day observances became even more common with references to school and church parties. One observer lamented that “machine-made valentines that we buy nowadays have lost the personal touch” and suggested that the modern young man “instead drops into a confectioner’s or florist shop.” An ad in the 1922 American Florist magazine promoted the theme “Say it with Flowers” suggesting a basket of flowers along with a “small bouquet of cigarettes” or a corsage or plant.

The Great Depression didn’t seem to put a damper on observances, although yearly outbreaks of subzero weather and measles might have. In the early 1930s the Bradford Ladies Society, the Corinth Red Cross and the Fairlee Community Circle had parties with holiday themes.

In 1935 Gove Bros’ Pharmacy in Bradford advertised “Valentines-all kinds, sizes and colors” and the newspaper carried news of school parties. The following year the renamed Gove and Bancroft’s Pharmacy offered Whitman’s Chocolates and “a Valentine greeting that meets with 

acclaim from everyone.” The dance held at the West Newbury Grange “lasted until quite an early hour, but was much enjoyed.” The Piermont Grammar School’s party featured a “post office that was a beautiful box made by 4 girls.”

During World War II, there was a shortage of sugar and therefore a shortage of Valentine’s candy.  Gove and Bancroft advertised valentines from 1 cent to 1 dollar, but mentioned that they had only 60 percent of the normal supply of chocolates.

Beginning in 1944 I checked each edition of the United Opinion or Journal Opinion  for Valentine’s-related advertisement in the two weeks prior to Feb. 14 as an indication of its significance locally. That year there was just one Valentines advertisement and a few parties. Several of these were farewell parties for departing servicemen.

In the late 1940s I was in Ramona Flanagan’s first and second grade classroom at the Orfordville school. It was normal to buy inexpensive cards for everyone in the class and one for the teacher.

Mrs. Flannigan had acquired a small vintage post office fixture featuring 30-40 boxes complete with combination locks and a window for the postmaster.  Each February it was set up in the classroom and the students took turns sorting the incoming valentine’s into each student’s mailbox prior to the party.

The number of advertisements and events continued about the same into the 1950s.  High school Winter Carnival Balls played a major role in the celebration of Valentine’s Day. In 1954 there was one advertisement connected with the day and reports of several parties. In 1958 February became the designated month for the Heart Fund with local drives.

A decade later there continued to be one advertisement for cards and candy.  But Valentine’s Day, 1964 fell on a Friday and there were advertised dances and parties in Bradford, Thetford and Topsham. George Smith’s Orchestra played at the Bradford Legion dance and admission was 50 cents. The Cliff Hall Trio played for dancing at the Happy Hour in Wells River. 

In the decades that followed commercialized Valentine’s Day became big business and the number of advertisements reflected that change. In addition to increased anticipation for gifts, the interstate opened the area to access to larger markets for those gifts. Connie Sanville, now publisher of this newspaper, indicated that the staff sought advertisements in those newly accessed markets. 

In 1974 the newspaper had four advertisements, largely local, in the two editions prior to Feb. 14.  A decade later there were10 with advertisements for clothing, cards, candy and flowers, but still within the circulation area. One local florist recalls that flower sales as Valentine’s gifts grew significantly in the 1980s and continues to make it one of the busiest holidays of the year.

 In 1994 the holiday fell on Monday and there were 13 advertisements including restaurants, beauty salons, motels, jewelry shops as well as the traditional ones. The businesses advertised ranged from Littleton to White River Jct.  .  

As the 2004 holiday came on Saturday, the number of advertisements increased to more than 15 with the same variety and extended locations as before. If the advertised services and products matched gifts given, expectations continued to rise. While dinner and perhaps a movie continued to be a favorite, considerable sums were spent on flowers and jewelry.  In 2004, it was reported that about half of men spent more than $50 on the celebration.

Between 2004 and 2014, the amount of money spent on gifts and outings increased.

Stores featured shelves of treats, cards and decorations. By the end of that decade the expenditure had risen to an average of $134. After accounting for inflation, that still represents an increase in spending although the number of advertisements in the Journal Opinion may have peaked.

The National Retail Federation reported that the decade had seen a significant increase in the number of purchases made online. Those who turned to the Internet spent more individually than those who bought gifts elsewhere.

The total spent by Americans on the holiday was over $17 billion, with men spending about twice as much as women on gifts for significant others. Americans also gave Valentine’s cards or gifts to family members, friends, teachers and colleagues and some even gave to their pets. The Federation predicts this year will see an increase in the amount spent.

Children’s parties, especially in public schools, have been complicated by modern sensitivities. Many schools have altered traditional customs, replaced them with healthy alternatives,   academic activities or banned them altogether. A check of local elementary schools reveals that they allow teachers to hold parties, with guidelines for healthy treats and inclusiveness.    

There are many who reject the commercialization of holidays in general and Valentine’s Day specifically. Having compared my meager spending on Valentine’s past with the national norm, I realize that my frugality was not so much a rejection of the day as a reflection of my thrifty upbringing. My wife has kindly indicated she didn’t feel neglected.

But on second thought, I may want to give some additional attention this year to flowers, candy, dinner and a movie or some other appropriate way of celebrating this holiday for lovers.   

Decades of Change 2001-2006

   

  This is the ninth chapter in my review of local events as reported by this newspaper during the last 50 years. As before, I looked for both recurring events and variations in the pattern of local affairs. The repetitiveness in those patterns gives the impression that we were stuck in place. This six-year period generally refutes that impression, for we experienced an evolving sense of place. We treasured some of the best of what we had and embraced, with varied levels of enthusiasm, the new.  

     It was not the focus of this weekly to report on events beyond the area, but it did report those events when they were felt locally. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the subsequent wars in the Middle East and environmental disasters in the United States and abroad were the subject of debate and actions locally. Local responses were reported both in articles and in letters to the editor.

     These years brought new businesses, organizations and events to the area. Some of those included the Lower Cohase Chamber of Commerce, Middle Earth Music Hall, A Notch Above Automobile Company, Wholehog Festival, Vermontster 4x4 Rally, Shaw’s Market, The Tool Barn, Dunkin’ Donuts, Subway Shop, Ocean State Job Lots, Valley Vista, speculation buildings in Pierson Industrial Park and the forecast of a Super Wal-Mart.

     Gone or replaced were Thomas Pharmacy, Ames Department Store, Happy Hour Gift Shop, Brookside Nursing Home, the Meadows Drive-In Theatre, the Woodsville Armory, Behind the Times newspaper, the East Corinth General Store, Davidson Industries and Tembec Sawmill.

     Significant changes in local health care came with the creation of the Little Rivers Healthcare system that combined offices in East Corinth, Bradford and Wells River. Kimball House Basic Care Center was established in West Fairlee. Everywhere higher health care costs were a growing concern.  
 

      A major focus of the Journal Opinion was reporting on town and school governments affairs. Reporters followed budgets from initial proposals through final approval by voters. Budgets were debated energetically as local property taxes increased. The impact of Act 60 was especially controversial in Fairlee, a “gold town” with a new interstate school system. Cuts in state aid to local districts also caused problems for New Hampshire towns.

     The patterns of debate seemed to be a year of approval of spending increases followed by a year of retractions. Both schools and towns took on additional functions. With greater demands on local officials, several towns increased the number of Selectboard members from three to five. Local officials on all boards seem to have a shorter tenure than in years past, a function of the intensity of debate and workload. While, in some years there were too many candidates for local offices and other times too few, extended residency faded as a requirement for election.  
 

     These boards dealt with issues involving roads, police, zoning, facilities, solid waste, water and sewage, equipment purchases and animal control. In Bradford the merger of the Village and Town was, after decades of debate, finally consummated, but the extension of the sewer system to its Lower Plain was not.
 

     In Newbury Village a new water system was installed. Those towns that had zoning reviewed it for possible changes and those that didn’t have it continued to reject it. With the demise of Behind the Times, this newspaper continued that paper’s practice of reporting the minutes of Selectboard meetings.

     School boards also carried a heavy workload. Rivendell dealt with the birth pains of a new school system, Bradford and Woodsville Elementary with building expansions while all boards dealt with curriculum and teacher contract issues. Connecticut Valley Academy in Bradford and the King Street School in Woodsville were created to reach students who were unsuccessful in the traditional system.
 

     School news continued to fill considerable space in this newspaper. Good news of student projects and performances, accomplishments of staff and reports of new programs and techniques were offset by the problems that plagued modern school systems. New school staff members were hired to replace or enhance existing staff. A number of experienced teachers and administrators retired after extended careers in local schools. 
    

     While all athletic events received considerable attention, there were those teams and individual athletes who achieved special attention. Division state championships won during the period included Blue Mountain Bucks boys basketball and baseball teams in 2001with the girls basketball  team winning in 2002.The Oxbow girls basketball team placed first in 2002. The Thetford boys basketball team topped competitors in both 2002 and 2004. The Engineers of Woodsville won the boys soccer championships in both 2004 and 2005. Football’s introduction at Oxbow in 2004 offered a new sports focus for that school.

     Individual achievements included 1000^th basketball points for Blue Mountain Bucks Jon Murray, Danielle Restelli and Holly Scott, Oxbow’s Olympians Shane Claflin and Lisa Welch, Thetford’s Damon McGinn and Chris Snider as well as Rivendell’s Whitney MacDonald. Woodsville’s Dimitri Kapotis achieved his 100^th soccer point.

      Especially noteworthy was the night that twin brothers Joey and Joel Farley achieved their 1000^th basketball points within minutes of each other in the new Rivendell gym. Blue Mountain’s outstanding athlete Christine Perry achieved both her 100^th soccer point and 2000^th basketball point, but died in an accident in 2003. 
      

     In every period communities lose, from illness or accidents, citizens young and old. Losses during these years included the following individuals, each of whom had a significant community presence: Raymond Wright, Maurice Page, Hattie Davis, Mary Rowe, William Demetrules, George Richie, Bert Holland Jr., Meldrim Thomson, Michael Johnson, Signa Carbee, Paul Mayette,  Hazel Flander, Kathleen Knight, Margaret Pratt, Harold Taylor, Jr., Nancy Perry, Frank Barber Jr, Arthur Sylvester, William Deal, Hazel Donnelly, Albert Stevens, Fairie Atwood, George Stowell, William Sanborn and Gertrude Mallary. Lost also was the Old Man of the Mountain. 
 

     Weekly obituaries confirmed some of the changes in the makeup of local communities. While many of those who died had spent their entire lives in the local area, many others did not have local roots. A significant number of obituaries reflected the growing number of elders who retired elsewhere.   
 

     Many communities honored the super seniors among them. Some have the tradition of awarding a cane to the eldest citizen(s). The following Bradford citizens received a cane during the period: Margaret Pratt,Violet Piper, Lloyd Kidder and George Barber. In Fairlee the cane was given to Henry Colby and then Merton Jenks, in Piermont Pauline Webster, in Ryegate Doris Berry and in Haverhill Col. James Good Brown.

     Each edition of the newspaper was filled with photographs. Area citizens were pictured individually and in groups and often in recognition for some accomplishment.  Among the hundreds of accomplishments mentioned three stand out. In 2005 Albert Stevens was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his many contributions to the area and state, Mike Lavoie was recognized as the national NAPA-ASE Technician of the Year and Dr. Harry Rowe was given a lifetime award by the American Association of Family Practitioners.

     The Journal Opinion kept its readers aware of the role of local service personnel as the United States conducted military operations in war in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. Individual military personnel and local units of the Vermont and New Hampshire Guard were activated for duty in the Middle East. The newspaper covered their deployment with articles, photographs and columns. It also reported the battle death of Woodsville-based guardsman Spc. Alan Burgess. 

     Articles also described local responses in support of the deployed Guards and their families. When units returned, the coverage included numerous photographs as families were reunited. Also reported were the anti-war demonstrations. Letters to the editor fought the battle between supporting or opposing the war and support for the troops. 
  

     Conservation efforts bloomed during the period with active conservation commissions in many communities including Bradford, Haverhill, Orford and Fairlee.  In cooperation with the Upper Valley Land Trust and private landowners, thousands of acres of agricultural and forest lands were placed in conservation easements. Bradford’s special attention to the area of Devil’s Den and Wright’s Mountain and West Fairlee’s plans for a Town Forest are two examples of these efforts.
 

     Composting, recycling, sustainable energy projects, junk car removal and Green-up Days were all regular efforts in many area towns. Public awareness of the dangers of invasive plants such as purple loose strife, Japanese knotweed and milfoil encouraged local action. 
 

     Communities also made an effort to restore, renovate and conserve many of the older structures that give character to local villages. Outstanding among those efforts was Haverhill’s Alumni Hall as it became a cultural and arts center and Bradford’s Academy Building with its retrofitted office spaces and auditorium. Churches in Newbury, Lyme Center, Topsham and West Fairlee had major restoration projects. In Lyme, Haverhill and Orford agricultural preservation projects helped to save endangered barns.

     Bradford and Groton received large community grants to restore or replace existing buildings and municipal infrastructures. The vacant Upper Valley Press building in Bradford became the Bradford Regional Community Center, home to the Orange East Senior Center and the Bradford Teen Center.  Community center buildings were also opened in West Fairlee and Groton.  Questions of what to do with the Orford Academy building, the old Grafton Courthouse, the abandoned Ryegate Paper Mill and the Orfordville Grange Hall remained unanswered. 
 

     The First Congregational Church of Thetford, Bradford’s Grace United Methodist Church, the Grafton County Complex, the Glencliff Home, Cottage Hospital and Newbury’s Tenney Memorial Library received additions. Fairlee and Vershire opened new library buildings and Bradford’s Public Library underwent partial restoration.

      Antique painted theater curtains were rescued, restored and reinstated in Fairlee, West Fairlee, Haverhill and Topsham. New or enhanced walkways included the Orford Mall Walk, the Cross-Rivendell Trail, the Cross Vermont Trail and new trails on Wright’s Mountain.
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     Major bridges that were restored included Orford-Fairlee’s Samuel Morey Memorial Bridge, the Bath-Haverhill Covered Bridge, Bradford’s Creamery Bridge and the Connecticut River bridge between Woodsville and Wells River. A new bridge on Rte. 25 was built in Warren.  New parks included the Boch Park in Bradford and the Newbury Veteran’s Memorial Park.  

     Many of projects mentioned above were made possible by public or private grants. The reliance on grants was summed up in a 2004 editorial: “Hardly a week goes by without at least one story about grants. Asking for and getting federal, state and private benefactors has become a way of life. Perhaps the best we can do is accept the money graciously and use it wisely.”

     Whether communication towers should dot local landscapes became a major issue in Orford, Bradford and Ryegate.  iPod, enhanced smartphones, high speed broadband, Facebook and Twitter were introduced and citizens wanted them all.  Schools, town governments and businesses joined individuals with websites and blogs. Those who didn’t comprehend these innovations were assured that they could turn to a grandchild for “young people are the natives in the world of technology.”  

  

     Other items reported include: the goats of Cookeville, Jumpin’ Jim Jeffords, the view tax, 911, Paddle the Border, wood fired boilers, “abysmally low milk prices,” army worms and a whole range of criminal actions from murder and robberies to arson and child molestation.

     Covering as it does a number of communities on both sides of the river, many readers may have found reports of local issues in towns other than their own to be of little interest at the time.  Those with a wider view of affairs and a sense of a larger community of interest realized that an issue that faced a neighboring town might soon face their own.   
 

     In summary, this newspaper reminded us then of a truth still valid: “That we’re not made up of isolated individuals, towns and school districts. Details may differ, but interest and questions, solutions and problems, strengths and weaknesses are remarkably similar across the borders.”  It also illustrated the principle that has become the motto for this year’s Bradford250 celebration: “Honoring the Past. Embracing the Future.” 

Local Newspapers & Soldiers in America's Conflicts

This article appeared in the Journal Opinion’s 150^th anniversary edition, Dec. 31, 2014

 “We hope there will be no war, yet every generation of this country has had a chance to fight.”  This sentiment was published in The United Opinion in December 1895 in a column signed “Vermonter.”

Every generation of local residents since European settlement have experienced war and since the 19^th century local newspapers have included articles about those wars and those soldiers.

The earliest Europeans to visit the area were usually soldiers as part of the ongoing wars between English settlers to the south and French and natives to the north. When those wars ended in 1763 the Coos region opened to settlement. Many of the leaders in the new communities were soldiers and every able-bodied man was expected to be part of the continuing protection of the area.

Local newspapers before the mid-19^th century were scattered and usually short-lived. Soldiers from the area were involved in the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Mexican War and residents had opinions about those wars. In the first two there was real concern that the local area was in danger of invasion. Some newspapers from outside the area arrived locally weeks after publication and were handed from reader to reader giving them information about national and state events. 

With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the Aurora of the Valley, published for a time in Bradford, kept readers aware of the course of the war. The most prominent column was entitled “The War for the Union.”  With hundreds of local men involved in Vermont and New Hampshire regiments, those at home were hungry for news and this newspaper met that need with correspondents’ reports and letters to the editor. Its coverage included descriptions of battles and camp conditions among Union forces as well as denigrating reports on the rebellious South.   

Almost weekly this newspaper published lists of Vermont men who were casualties of the war. In the July 11, 1863 edition its headline was “The Three Days’ Battles” and its description of the battle at Gettysburg began with the word “Victory!”     

During the period between 1865 and 1898, the Bradford’s successive newspapers, National Opinion, the Bradford Opinion and The United Opinion kept readers familiar with national reconstruction efforts as well as Union veterans’ activities. These included numerous memoirs of military experiences and reunions.  One of the most extensive memoirs was the lengthy series written by 10^th Vermont’s Lt. Thomas H. White of Topsham.   

The newspaper coverage of local militia activities included extensive coverage of statewide musters held in Bradford in 1879 and 1890. In 1895 a special muster edition celebrated the event when it was held in Fairlee.  

From the earliest arrival of European settlers until the early 20^th century there were continuing battles to wrestle control of the land from the native population.  In the period after the Civil War, the local newspaper had frequent articles on those battles as America expanded westward. In July 1876, the Bradford Opinion’s front page described the massacre of Lt. Col. Custer’s 7^th Cavalry at the Little Big Horn in Montana.

In 1898 the United States became involved in a “splendid little war” with Spain, a largely one-sided confrontation. Local men, members of Co. G, 1^st Regiment Vermont Volunteers, prepared for war.  The closest they came to battle, however, was being stationed at Camp Thomas in Chickamauga Park, GA for the summer. Their greatest enemies were disease, bad food, high humidity and boredom.  The United Opinion published regular reports of their experiences.

It also covered the naval victory at Cuba’s Santiago Bay, the hero of which was Bradford’s Capt. Charles E. Clark of the battleship Oregon and the victory at Manila Bay in the Philippines at which Vermonter Comm. George E. Dewey led the American naval forces.

Some local men went on to serve in the 1899-1902 war against the natives of the newly-acquired territory of the Philippines. These included Edward Bayley and George Wright of Newbury.

In April 1917 the United States became embroiled in the Great War that was devastating Europe.  When local company of the Vermont Guard was called into active service in August 1917, The United Opinion reported “The spirit shown by the men is such that it shows they mean business.”  Many local men were in the American Expeditionary Force in France and saw frontline action. Because of military censorship, news was only officially released news was reported.

The newspaper played a significant role in mobilizing the war effort on the local home front.  Men away in the service, shortages of food and fuel, an epidemic of influenza and a period of exceptionally cold winters gave Editor Harry E. Parker cause to write “We are facing conditions which are unique for this generation in these days of war.”   

The newspaper played a similar, but enhanced, role during World War II.  It described the struggles in both Europe and Asia and America’s mobilization in the period before Pearl Harbor. One editorial called for the nation to do more than just talk “if we are prepared to defend liberties we have left.”

Once the war began the newspaper joined newsreels and radio and magazine coverage in keeping spirits focused on the war effort. It asked for a measure of civilian commitment mirroring that of the members of the armed services. Weekly the readers were informed of scrap, stamp and blood drives, wartime recipes such as “Victory Casserole,” and delayed and censored news of the war.  It recognized the difficulty, if not impossibility, for a weekly to “keep abreast with the war news.” 

It did carry news of the hundreds of area service personnel, one example being the rescue of Sgt Kenneth Stockman of Bradford, a veteran of 20 bombing missions who was shot down over Germany in 1944.  While it sought news from readers, it admonished them not to reveal “the location and strength of military units.”

After the war came to an end, issues around the world required that the United States maintain a large standing military force numbering in the millions in active and reserved service. This was a sharp departure from the long-standing aversion Americans had to a large permanent military.  Many local men and women joined the military during those Cold War years and the newspaper reported news of their military induction, training, promotion, furloughs and stationing.

Between 1950 and 1953 American forces fought on the peninsula of Korea on behalf of the United Nations. Unlike the two previous wars, this conflict did not have a profound impact on the home front. Weekly, The United Opinion included major articles and guest editorials on the course of the war.  Local residents were encouraged to contribute to a column entitled “News of Local Boys in Service.”

In February 1951 it reported that 88 Vermonters had been casualties in Korea.  One commentator wrote: “It is a cruel and bitter thing that so many men from peaceful Vermont should have to give their lives fighting an outlandish foe in a far off corner of the world.”

The newspaper reported local casualties including the following wounded: Pfc Irving Paronto of Corinth, Pfc George Clogston of Bradford and Sgt Harold Fay of Orford.  In March 1953 it reported that Cp1 Clayton Huckins of Orford was killed in action. His funeral was held in May in the church in Orfordville near his boyhood home.   

By the 1960s the newspaper had reduced its national news coverage considerably, but did editorially express opinions on events beyond the local area. It kept up with the assignments of local military personnel stationed domestically and abroad. It also ran articles dealing with the danger of nuclear war and the need for civil defense awareness.

 When America first became involved in the conflict in Vietnam, The United Opinion expressed reserve and questioned the justification. In August 1964 the first news of area servicemen in Vietnam appeared, a practice that continued until the end of the war.  In 1966 the death in Vietnam of Sp4 Barry R. Wood of Bradford received front page coverage.  The newspaper also covered gift drives for the troops.  Letters for and against the war were common, a practice unheard of before.    

From the end of the war in Vietnam until Operation Desert Storm the most common military news in the Journal Opinion was in news of individual personnel, veterans’ obituaries, activities of veterans’ organizations and area town meeting’s debates over a nuclear weapon freeze.

In 1990 the Gulf War was initiated in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. The war put local National Guard units on standby. The newspaper featured a series of articles about the war include a compelling article entitled “G. I. Joe” about an unnamed Bradford man involved in Desert Storm. Demonstrators gathered in downtown Bradford to oppose the war. They were met by others who expressed support for the troops. Similar diversity of opinion filled the letters to the editor.

Between 2001 and the present, the Journal Opinion kept its readers aware of the role of local service personnel as the United States conducted war in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.  These were operations against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

In 2004 and again in 2009 local units of the Vermont and New Hampshire Guard were activated for duty in the Middle East. The newspaper covered their deployment with articles, photographs and columns. The weekly column “My Soldier” by Ryegate’s Carole Welch kept readers in touch with her son SSgt Roy Welch and his unit of Green Mountain Boys at a supply base in Kuwait.

The October 20, 2004 edition’s front page is an example of this coverage. It described the ceremony held in Woodsville for returning SSgt Scott Robbins who had been wounded in Iraq. Another article told the battle death of Woodsville-based guardsman Spc Alan Burgess, the second North Country soldier in less than a week in die in Iraq.   

Articles also described school, business and community’s responses in support of the deployed Guards and their families.  When units returned, the coverage included numerous photographs as families were reunited. 

This article was begun on Veterans’ Day 2014 as many paused to express their gratitude to the men and women who have served. Colin Powell led the day’s ceremony at Norwich University in Northfield.  His gratitude is reflected in this quote: “Our nation has been blessed with patriots in every generation, who have been willing to place their sacred honor in the service of their fellow citizens, and give their all for freedom. You often hear about the greatest generation.  The truth is there is greatness in every generation.”