Thai Silk & Company
Thailand native Lada Marshall said she is pleased to be displaying fine wares from her country at Thai Silk & Company, a boutique in Quechee Gorge Village.

Marshall and co-owner Steven Heijn are selling imported silks, wall décor, jewelry and more from Bangkok and tribal areas far outside of the capital region.

Thai Silk & Company is a small shop with about 200 square feet of space located in front of the Antiques Mall at the Village.

Here, Marshall and Heijn show a number of clothing items and decorative pieces including scarves, neckties, handbags and pillow covers.

Also offered are shawls, paper lanterns, hand- painted rice-paper parasols, lampshades and accent pieces for the home and garden.

“Everything comes from Thailand,” said Marshall, “and everything is handmade.”

A featured item is a lightweight scarf with a checkered pattern. Marshall calls it “an outfit- changing scarf which brings a flair to a simple tank and even jeans.” This scarf is on sale for $19.99.

Clothing and decorative pieces range in price from $2.50 to $5,000, according to Marshall. A floral-printed fan costs little, while custom-made Buddha panels fashioned from native wood cost several thousand dollars.

“We can show people pictures and offer ideas so that they can special-order a decorative item such as the Buddha panels for their home,” said Marshall. A special order takes about six weeks.

Jewelry, also imported from Thailand, has already proved popular. Some jewelry pieces are made by the Karen, a tribe which lives in an area of Thailand far removed from tourist areas or heavily populated centers.

Jewelry ranges from $9.99 to about $40. Much of the jewelry is made of sterling silver with gem stones; jewelry made with amethyst is a big seller.

“All of the jewelry is hammered and assembled by hand,” said Marshall.

Customers are “people from Quechee, Woodstock and other Upper Valley towns, and visitors from all over the country,” she said, “who have been making purchases and ordering special items since the store opened in the late spring.”

It isn’t unusual to meet people from Colorado, California and Florida at the boutique, according to Marshall. The owners said they expect to see a large number of tourists as the summer progresses.

Thai Silk & Company is located at Quechee Gorge Village on Route 4 in Quechee, Vermont 05059. The telephone number is 802.281.4717. Hours are 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The boutique is closed on Monday.

Moonlight Sign & Graphics
Auto body manager and racer Shawn Cassidy took to heart the adage of, “if you want something done well, do it yourself” when opening his own business, Moonlight Sign & Graphics in Bethel.

A racer of everything from street stock to modified vehicles since 1992, Cassidy often found himself discouraged when seeking the service of professionals to letter his cars.

With an artistic flair, Cassidy discovered that many people in the business lacked his eye for color or vehicle lines.

In addition, he found himself wondering why he should be paying others for something he could do himself, which led him to open his sideline venture, Moonlight Sign & Graphics.

Cassidy remains a full-time employee of Valley Motor Sales in Bethel, VT. His business name also pays homage to his racing business, Moonlight Motorsports.

Moonlight Sign & Graphics offers a range of services that include custom vinyl, hand- painted and airbrushed signs and graphics for vehicles, motorcycles, race cars, restaurants and fleet and business vehicles as well as magnetic signs and custom logos.

Several of the race cars he has lettered since opening have gone on to win car shows. He also has worked on a police cruiser for the town of Bethel, several trucks and a tractor.

Cassidy purchased his equipment, which includes a Dell laptop, special software and a Roland plotter, a year ago. He has slowly been building his skill and client base, and only recently registered his business name.

Business has grown through minimal advertising and word-of-mouth to such a point that Cassidy said he has already decided to build a garage that will allow him to work on large vehicles such as dump trucks and construction equipment during the winter months. With the help of a local contractor, he is building a 48-foot by 32-foot garage with a 14-foot ceiling.

Cassidy’s love of cars began as a teenager, when he would help a local racer touch up his race car. Today, Cassidy owns three race cars and a hauler to take them to races.

He has been a top contender in all the race car classes he has competed in. Cassidy has a degree in auto body technology from Alfred State College in Alfred, NY.

He said he is enjoying his new venture. “I have a passion for cars, and like being able to be a little bit more artistic.”

Cassidy is self-taught and does a great deal of his work freehand. He relies on an industry price guide to help him determine prices, which can run from as little as $50 to as much as $1,200, depending on what a customer wants and the number of hours he puts into each project.

He chose to purchase a laptop computer to allow him to go to a customer’s site and design on the spot. Although Cassidy intended the business to be a sideline venture, he said he sees the potential for perhaps eventually going full-time.

Cassidy is willing to visit customers throughout the region; however, most of his current projects have averaged 30 miles away in towns such as Thetford, Barre and Woodstock.

Moonlight Sign & Graphics may be reached by mail at 286 Brink Hill Rd. in Bethel, VT. The telephone number is 802.234.6853. Work is done by appointment.


M & B Helping Hands
BY GUY C. DENECHAUD
Brad Reynolds and Mike Barnaby have joined forces to begin their new business, M & B Helping Hands, serving the Upper Valley from their homes in Lebanon and Sharon, VT.

Reynolds and Barnaby offer homeowners and business operators a variety of services that range from cleaning and landscaping to errand services and building maintenance. They began the business in late spring.

Both men have accumulated years of experience in the custodial, landscaping and masonry fields. The long-time friends said they felt 2009 was as good a time as any for them to begin working for themselves.

M & B will tackle jobs including cleanups of garages, basements and attics, as well as small painting jobs and removal of old fences.

Some other tasks require special equipment that M & B can bring to the site, such as power-washing equipment that can handle outside decks, exterior building surfaces and even concrete where moss and mold have taken hold. This year’s weather, Barnaby said, seems to have caused more landscaped areas to grow out of control than other recent summers.

“There are many tasks that homeowners may not have time to tackle on their own, and we can help them out, performing most of these assignments more quickly and with a better result than if they did it themselves,” Barnaby said.

“When homeowners or business operators hire M & B Helping Hands, they are getting reliability and experience, as well as the convenience of not having to do these jobs on their own.”

Barnaby spent more than four years performing custodial and maintenance services at Hartford High School, and another four years working for a landscaping company in West Hartford, CT, but said he prefers living in the Upper Valley area. Barnaby also gained more than two years experience working on patios and repairing stone walls for a local masonry contracting company.

Reynolds has an extensive background in the hotel industry, both in the Upper Valley and other regions. “Through the years, I have worked in more departments in the hospitality industry than I could name,” he said. “I have done everything from custodial work and building maintenance to landscaping, even driving shuttles.” He has also done some light construction.

“A lot of people in the area are still living alone, but are not able to work out in the garden or get around to run errands the way they once could,” said Reynolds. “It is a pleasure to help them out.”

The mailing address for M & B Helping Hands is 82 Mascoma Street, #2, Lebanon, NH 03766. Brad Reynolds can be reached at 603.727.2953. Mike Barnaby can be reached at 802.291.1279.


Creative Ink
By KIM J. GIFFORD
In an economy where businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain full-time employees, graphic artist and marketing specialist Julie Nelson hopes to offer an alternative.

Nelson recently opened Creative Ink of Vermont, LLC, a graphics and marketing business that operates out of her home at 76 Pleasant Street in Bethel, VT.

Offering a wide variety of specialized services from graphic design and marketing to copyediting, copywriting and proofreading, Nelson’s plan is to target all business sectors, including those looking to outsource their design and marketing work.

Although Nelson acknowledged that no job should be taken for granted in this economy, she said she believes she can offer business owners “excellent freelance experience.”

“I am a good alternative to paying for benefits or keeping someone busy in slow times,” she said.

Nelson brings 20 years of experience in marketing and graphic design to her venture. She has worked as a production coordinator at The Countryman Press in Woodstock, VT and as a marketing specialist and community outreach coordinator at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph, VT.

She has also served as an advertising and graphic specialist at Heinemann Educational Publishers in Portsmouth, NH and as a publicity assistant at the University of New Hampshire. She did graphic arts and advertising for a number of other New Hampshire-based businesses in the early 1990s including Foster’s Daily Democrat, Rockingham County Newspapers and Augustagraphics.

Nelson has received technical training in electromechanical drafting from Stratham Technical College and attended Lyndon State College. She moved to Bethel in 2003.

“I had been working at Heinemann Publishers in Portsmouth, NH and driving through this area to view catalogs, as they printed on a press in Essex, VT,” she said. “I am originally from the Northeast Kingdom and wanted to come home.”

Although Nelson said she loved living on the seacoast, she said it was getting “too crowded.” As a result, she moved to Bethel upon finding a job.

Nelson said she had been thinking of opening her own business for awhile.

“People had told me for years that I should do this type of work on my own,” she said.

As a result, she volunteered for area businesses and organizations such as Chandler Music Hall in Randolph, where for approximately four years she created 90 percent of its posters and advertising.

Eventually, she decided to turn her endeavors into full-time work. “As you might guess, in order to make the mortgage payments, a person must keep expanding horizons,” she said.

In this electronic age, Nelson also noted she has the opportunity “to virtually work anywhere, for any company.” In fact, she has several friends in the publishing world, including one in New Hampshire who works out of her home for a company in California.

Nelson’s industry experience has led her to conclude that it is important to design for “aesthetic reasons as well as communication results.”

Nelson said she has been “knocking on doors” since opening to good response. She has gained three new clients this way and also has a steady pool of clients she had already developed prior to launching her business. Those clients include the Randolph Area Community Development Center, Lincoln Farm Produce, Countryman Press and Chandler Music Hall.

Creative Ink’s mailing address is 76 Pleasant Street, Bethel, VT 05032. The phone number is 802.234-6321; the e-mail address is inkcreative@ymail.com.


Kam Ming Restaurant
By SARA WIDNESS
Dining is a Chang family affair in the Upper Valley: in the space of a year, the Changs have opened two restaurants.

First, they opened Golden Ming in Canaan, NH in 2008. Their newest, Kam Ming Restaurant, opened in Enfield, NH in June.

Family spokesperson Ricky Chang, a student at Mascoma High School, said the new Enfield establishment has 16 seats and also has take-out services. Chang said patrons can call the restaurant to place an order for pick-up. The establishment accepts Visa and Master Card.

“Our design for the restaurant is something that we brought in with us from Hong Kong,” said Chang, who came with his family at age six. He is now 14. “My father was a chef in a big dining restaurant in Hong Kong.”

Running the two restaurants are Ming Chang and Miki Chang, proprietors and relatives. The family also includes a grandmother, Ricky Chang and a young sister. They all live in Canaan, NH.

“We have been really busy,” said Chang.

He said that his father’s specialties include General Tso chicken, a dish made with chunks of chicken marinated with red pepper and a special spicy sauce; Happy Family, a stir fry that combines beef, chicken, shrimp, scallops, lobster and vegetables; and a honey chicken dish with chicken, celery, broccoli and homemade honey sauce. Also offered is white rice, egg rolls, soups and other menu selections.

Kam Ming Restaurant is located at 56 Main St., Enfield NH 03748. The telephone number is 603.632.4881. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The restaurant is closed on Monday.


Parthenon House of Pizza
By GUY C. DENECHAUD
Parthenon House of Pizza & Restaurant has opened its doors in the Glen Road Plaza in West Lebanon, NH.

Bruce Waters of McLaughry Commercial reported the signing of a long-term lease with the Nanopoulos family, which owns and operates the business, late this spring. The eatery opened in July.

The 1,500-square-foot space was previously home to a Domino’s Pizza franchise before it was renovated to the fit the needs of the new restaurant.

The Parthenon House of Pizza & Restaurant seats 24, and offers a menu featuring a number of popular dishes of both Italian and Greek origin, in addition to pizza. It offers delivery service in the area.

Owners Steve and Nancy Nanopoulos said they were pleased about the opportunity to open the restaurant in the Glen Road Plaza, which offers easy access to the many shoppers on the Route 12-A strip and is less than one mile from Interstate 89.

McLaughry Commercial, which represents the Glen Road Plaza, has had excellent success in filling space there during the last few months, Waters said.

Steve and Nancy Nanopoulos operated the Thetford Village Pizza restaurant in East Thetford, VT for about 10 years before closing that location and purchasing an existing pizza, grinder and Italian food restaurant in Lisbon, NH, near Woodsville.

“We missed seeing many of our old customers from this area, and are glad to be back in the heart of the Upper Valley in West Lebanon,” Steve Nanopoulos said. The couple will run the new restaurant with sons Christo and Niko Nanopoulos.

The Nanopoulos family has a history of more than 30 years in the food-service business around the Upper Valley, having opened C & A Pizza in Hanover in the late 1970s.

“Once this business gets in your blood, it becomes a way of life and is hard to give up,” said Nanopoulos. “We will adapt our menu based on what our customers want, and will offer some meals and snacks that are rarely found in this area.”

Added Waters: “With the addition of the Parthenon House of Pizza, the Glen Road Plaza should attract a good deal of sit-down as well as carry-out meal service customers, with Subway and the Men-At-Wok all within the plaza.”

Parthenon House of Pizza is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. The mailing address is 1 Glen Road Plaza, Suite 14, West Lebanon, NH 03784. The telephone number is 603.276.3205.


Reach for the Stars Coaching
By SARA WIDNESS
Doris Faughnan, a New Hampshire native, has started a life-coaching service called Reach for the Stars Coaching LLC in the Copeland Block in Enfield, NH.

“I am combining all of my experience that I’ve had in the past,” said Faughnan. “I want to help people who are looking for purpose, direction and balance in their lives to help them redefine their goals and find relief from life stressors.

“A life coach can help determine what is /isn’t working in your life and draw up an action plan to make that happen,” she said.

Her practice will include individual coaching appointments of 30 to 60 minutes per session. Appointments can be conducted by phone or at her office. She plans to integrate group counseling into her practice, and said she also hopes to create a newsletter.The coaching process, she said, begins with an intake and registration phone call to determine that the client will be comfortable with the kind of coaching she offers, and to find out what the client hopes to achieve from one or a series of coaching sessions.

Between now and Sept. 1, she is running a promotional special of $35 for the first session and $45 for subsequent appointments. Coaching fees can be paid by cash, check or money order.

“To have a good foundation, it’s always good to tell people that the process may take three months,” she said.

“I have always had an interest in helping people,” said Faughnan. “It all began with helping children in special education and in various public-school positions in the Upper Valley.”

Her path led to work as a residential counselor at various places in New Hampshire and Vermont, including Health Care Rehabilitation Services of Vermont and the Brattleboro Retreat. She also worked at Valley Vista in Bradford, VT, assisting women with substance abuse issues; she worked in a similar capacity at Headrest, Inc. of Lebanon, NH.

“I have a lot of experience working with children, and from there ended up at the New Hampshire Technical Institute,” she said. “There, a light went off in my head, and I saw that I can combine education with human services. I wanted more.”

Some of her engagements as a youth counselor included Wediko School and Treatment Program in Windsor, NH and the Wreath School of New Hampshire in Plymouth.

She is working toward certification in coaching, which she said she expected to have earned by the end of June.

She has worked with Suzie Hastings of the Creative Communications Center in Norwich, VT; Hastings runs leadership skills classes and purpose workshops directed toward becoming a life coach. She has also applied for a license to become an alcohol and drug counselor.

She holds an undergraduate degree in English and education from Plymouth (NH) State College; an associate’s degree in human services from New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord, NH; and a master of science degree in community mental health counseling from New England College in Henniker, NH.

Reach for the Stars Coaching is located at 56 Main St., Suite 304, Enfield, NH 03748. The telephone number is 603.667.3329. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.


The Joyful Godess
By KIM J. GIFFORD
The Joyful Goddess, a jewelry making business, recently opened out of owner Ginny Sedgwick’s home in Rochester, VT.

Sedgwick makes beaded jewelry, which she sells at area craft fairs and stores. She currently has her work for sale at Bethel’s Brick Store on Main Street in Bethel, VT.

Sedgwick began selling her jewelry at craft centers and fairs last year, and recently decided to make it official and open her own business. She said the idea came to her because she enjoyed making jewelry, and was making so much that she had an excess of inventory to sell.

“There is only so much you can give to family and friends,” she said.

Part of the enjoyment in making and selling jewelry comes from the act of creating and in searching for different materials and sources for materials, Sedgwick said.

“I go to various bead shops such as Michael’s and JoAnn Fabrics and buy online. I like searching out the materials and putting different designs together,” she said.

Sedgwick relies primarily on glass beads, although she occasionally uses acrylic and plastic. For example, she also works in the emergency department at Gifford Medical Center handling bedside registrations. There, she makes lanyards for employee nametags.

“If I use glass beads, they can be too heavy and weigh them down, so I sometimes use plastic with those to make them lighter,” she said.

Sedgwick creates necklaces, earrings and bracelets, and plans to expand into barrettes. She favors colors such as turquoise, blues and greens, which she said are popular with customers. The earrings and hooks she uses are either silver-or gold-plated or surgical steel.

Because Sedgwick has sensitive ears and has problems finding jewelry that doesn’t cause an allergic reaction, she said she is careful to use materials that don’t irritate the ears.

Pendants are among Sedgwick’s most popular sellers. She often creates braided strands of beads with a hanging pendant. “I really like that look,” she said.

In addition to single items, she also creates jewelry sets. Recently, she made a piece for a friend using the colors of the Chakras – which are said to be force centers of energy in traditional Indian medicine – and hopes to soon branch out into this for other customers.

Sedgwick also does custom work. Her earrings typically sell for $10; bracelets are $15. Her necklaces sell for $17 to $25.

Sedgwick may be reached at 802.767.9383 from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Her work is also available at Bethel’s Brick Store, which is open Monday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Thursday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.