There's a letter to the editor from Randolph writer Bill Scheller in this week's issue. He doesn't submit feedback often, but when he does, it's short and sweet — my favorite. As I do with every letter writer, I called to verify his authorship and left a voicemail. He called back immediately, asking if I remembered his contribution to a group story we published many Thanksgivings ago. Of course, I did! In year two of Seven Days, in advance of the holiday, cofounder Pamela Polston and I asked a group of Vermont writers to pick their favorite dish in the traditional meal and wax poetic about it in a few hundred words. We called it a "literary potluck." Scheller wrote about the nerve-racking ritual of making gravy. Abigail Stone took on the bird. The late, great poet John Engels celebrated cranberry. Author David Huddle dug into mashed potatoes. Other contributors included Ron Powers, Peter Kurth, Creston Lea and Phil Baruth — yes, that Phil Baruth. The least-known among them was Samantha Hunt. Although she'd worked for us as a graphic designer right out of college, it was the first time we had published her writing — a snippet that involved sweet potatoes. She's now the award-winning author of five books. The inimitable Sarah Ryan illustrated the whole feast. She and Lea now make guitars together. There, in the centerfold of our then-fledgling newspaper, was a heaping serving of Vermont cultural history. That 40-page paper on November 20, 1996, was our second focused almost entirely on food. I wrote my arts news column, "Backtalk," and a story about New England Culinary Institute. Peter Freyne gave us the "Inside Track" political column and a piece about Leunig's Bistro & Café host Bob Conlon. Food writers Marialisa Calta and Molly Stevens both contributed features to the edition, which we headlined with punny delight: "Happy Hollandaise." You can see it — and every issue of Seven Days — on our website. Click "Issue Archives" in the upper-right corner of the home page, pick a year and behold all the covers. Tap any one of them, and you can flip through the pages. I emailed the link to Vol. 2., No. 12 to both Scheller and Stevens. "Wow. Blast from the past! That NECI story!" Molly wrote back. "And Peter Freyne! Amazing how long you've been putting out a remarkable newspaper week after week…