Upper Valley Connections

Your weekly guide to life along the Connecticut River

Easter weekend, a Dartmouth sports blitz, a quilting project in White River Junction, pizza at the Norwich Bookstore, and a piece about the oldest flour company in America — which just happens to be your neighbor. Enjoy the weekend, however you’re spending it.

A few things worth knowing if you have kids or just like eggs:

• VINS Egg Hunt running all week April 4–11, included with admission
• Spring Egg Scramble • Hosted by Hartford Recreation • Sat Apr 4 • 9:30am • Free
• Sensory Friendly Hour at VINS • Sat Apr 4 • 9:00–10:00am • A quieter, lower-stimulation opening hour for families who need it. Included with admission.
• Afternoon Tea at the Enfield Shaker Museum • Sat Apr 4 • 12:00pm • A lovely Easter weekend tradition. $40–$45. Details →

Note: Billings Farm, Howe Library, and a few other regulars are closed Easter Sunday.

Your Neighbor Since 1790

There’s an event Thursday night at the Norwich Bookstore that caught our eye: King Arthur Baking is launching The Book of Pizza — tickets include pizza samples and a copy of the book. It’s a fun evening, and a good excuse to talk about one of the Upper Valley’s most remarkable institutions.

King Arthur is the oldest flour company in the United States. Founded in Boston in 1790 — the same year George Washington was inaugurated — it spent nearly two centuries there before making a quiet move north. In 1984 the core flour business relocated to Norwich, Vermont. King Arthur Flour found its footing in our neighborhood and never looked back.

The next chapter is the one that really sets King Arthur apart. In 1996, Frank and his wife Brinna — who had long dreamed of opening an onsite bakery and baking school — made a decision that was unusual then and remains rare now: rather than sell the company to outside investors when they retired, they sold it to their employees. By 2004 the transition was complete, and King Arthur became 100% employee-owned.

Brinna’s bakery and school vision came true too. The Norwich campus — the flagship store, bakery, café, and baking school — opened in 2000 and has been a destination ever since. CBS Saturday Morning once called it “the Mecca of Baking,” which seems about right if you’ve ever spent a Saturday morning there.

In 2020 they updated their name from King Arthur Flour to King Arthur Baking Company, reflecting how far they’d grown beyond flour. Everything else — the employee ownership, the Norwich address, the quality — stayed exactly the same.

And their Recipe of the Year for 2026? A flaky puff-crust pizza. Which makes Thursday’s book event feel rather well timed. The Book of Pizza at Norwich Bookstore, Thu Apr 9, 5pm →

Coming up later this month: a guide to Upper Valley farmers’ markets as outdoor season gets underway. If you know of a market we should include, message us at info@uppervalleyconnections.com.

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