Honouring teachers in Uttar Pradesh, India

Teachers with their awards of excellence during a special event at Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Uttar Pradesh.

By Aviral Mittal, Rotary Club of Muzaffarnagar Galaxy, Uttar Pradesh, India

As I looked around the hall filled with teachers, I thought about how teachers shape the people that we become. We often remember a doctor who treated us or a leader who inspired us, but behind them all, there was a teacher.

That day, our club had the joy of honouring teachers who have given years of extraordinary service to society. They were recognized with heartfelt words, flowers, and applause. It wasn’t just about an award – it was about appreciation.

We chose to host this event at Saraswati Shishu Mandir because it is more than just a school. It blends modern education with Indian culture and values, aiming to nurture disciplined, patriotism, and well-rounded citizens. With its focus on value-based education, character building, and national pride, the school reflects the very spirit of why we honour teachers – the builders of both individuals and nations.

This philosophy resonates deeply with Rotary’s own values of service, integrity, and community building. Just as the school emphasizes shaping responsible citizens, Rotary works to create a world guided by compassion, respect, and action.

Teachers build the future

The Education Excellence Award initiative was launched by Governor CA. Nitin Kumar Agarwal of District 3100 to recognize teachers across the district who dedicate their lives to shaping young minds and building a stronger society. Seeing the initiative in action reminded me how Rotary doesn’t only serve communities – it also honours those who quietly serve every single day.

Teachers build the future of society. They shape young minds, nurture values, and give children the tools to dream big. A powerful nation is built by wonderful teachers, because every scientist, every leader, every professional first learned from them.

One teacher stood up during the program and said, “Every child I teach feels like my own.” That sentence touched me deeply. It reminded me that teaching is not just a profession – it’s a lifetime of shaping futures.

I couldn’t help but think back to my own school days. There were teachers who encouraged me, corrected me, and guided me with patience. Presenting the Education Excellence Award through Rotary gave me a chance to say thank you, not just to them, but to all teachers who silently build our tomorrow.

Shared values

Rotary, to me, is about:

• Recognizing service in every form.
• Building respect for those who shape society.
• Creating moments where gratitude becomes action.

By honouring teachers at Saraswati Shishu Mandir, we celebrated more than individual achievements – we celebrated the shared values of education and service that both Rotary and the school stand for.

If you’ve ever had a teacher who changed your life, I encourage you to take a moment and thank them. Write a note, make a call, or simply tell them what they mean to you. And if you want to do it with others who care, join us at Rotary. Together, we celebrate not just teachers, but all who serve.

Timeline and Battles of King Philip's War

By Joshua J. Mark

King Philip's War (1675-1678) was the pivotal engagement between the second generation of English immigrants who had arrived in New England and the Native American tribes of the region. The English won the war, and the natives lost not only their land but, in many cases, also their language and culture, at least for a time. The policies of both sides were informed by earlier Anglo-Native conflicts including the Indian Massacre of 1622 which resulted in 347 English colonists killed by the tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy in Virginia, the later Third Powhatan War (1644-1646) which killed over 500 colonists in the same region, and the Pequot War (1636-1638) during which the Pequot tribe sought to enlist the Narragansett in the same sort of operation against the English.

The conflict was begun by Metacom (also known as King Philip and Metacomet, l. 1638-1676), chief of the Wampanoag Confederacy, in response to the policies of Plymouth governor Josiah Winslow (l. c. 1628-1680), which encouraged colonial expansion into Native American territory, and colonial usurpation of Native American rights concerning justice. Metacom's father, Massasoit (l. c. 1581-1661), had signed the Pilgrim-Wampanoag Peace Treaty with the first governor of Plymouth Colony, John Carver (l. 1584-1621), on 22 March 1621 which promised mutual aid and protection as well as the right of each party to punish their own for crimes. When the colonists hanged three high-level Wampanoags for murder in June of 1675, Metacom, tired of English lies, broken promises, and land theft, launched his first offensive.

Battle of Bloody Brook, 1675 By F.O.C. Darley (Public Domain)

The war devastated the region, destroying English and Native American settlements equally, costing thousands of lives, disrupting trade, and destroying crops. When the English finally could declare victory in 1678, the political, social, and demographic make-up of New England was completely changed. After Metacom was killed in 1676, the Native American initiative flagged and after 1678, those natives who had fought for Metacom's cause – as well as many who did not – were sold into slavery, deported, pushed onto reservations, or absorbed into other tribes. The war was hailed as a great victory for 'God’s People' against the 'heathen' but, actually, it was the inevitable result of English greed and Native American naiveté and lack of unity.

Causes of the War

The causes of the war go back to the founding of Plymouth Colony in November 1620. The passengers of the Mayflower found the village of Pawtuxet abandoned - because the inhabitants had all died of European-borne diseases carried by traders’ c. 1610 - and settled there without ever compensating the tribes of the Wampanoag Confederacy who still used the land. This same model was observed with the establishment of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1628 and again in 1630. Roger Williams (l. 1603-1683), an English theologian who lived at both Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, criticized this policy c. 1633, noting that King James I of England had no right to claim foreign lands already inhabited and his subjects had even less right to settle those lands without compensating the owners fairly.

Williams was exiled from Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636 for his religious views that differed from those of the magistrates, but his arguments concerning land rights of Native Americans certainly did nothing to endear him to the authorities. The colonists continued to take land from the natives, sometimes by way of what they saw as legitimate transactions and sometimes by outright theft. The natives did not fence in their territories because they did not believe they owned the land. In the same way, transactions of valuables for land were understood by the natives as gratuities for use of the land, not as a sale.

The immediate cause of the war was the death of the Wampanoag chief Wamsutta (l. c. 1634-1662) who was succeeded by his younger brother Metacom (King Philip), and the hanging of three Wampanoags, all high-level counselors to Metacom, by the colonists. Wamsutta had died shortly after returning from a meeting with Josiah Winslow at Plymouth, and Metacom claimed he had been poisoned. His claim was most likely true because Winslow had no regard for the natives and saw them as obstacles to progress that should be removed. Even though Metacom did not move against the colonists at this time, Wamsutta's death seems to mark a cooling of relations between the natives and the English.

Between Wamsutta's death in 1662 and the outbreak of hostilities in 1675, the colonists took more land in breach of the Pilgrim-Wampanoag Peace Treaty of 1621. The colonists had been welcomed to the land they had already claimed by the coast, but, increasingly, they were settling further and further inland. Metacom had repeatedly tried to negotiate with both Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay to stop expansion, but the English promises were never kept, as they would have hampered profitable land deals made by men like Winslow.

Metacom began discussing an attack on the colonies with chiefs of his tributary tribes and others and news of this was brought to the colonists by one John Sossamon who overheard the talks. Sossamon was a former counselor and interpreter of Metacom's who had left to live with the English. He was a so-called 'praying Indian' – one who had converted to Christianity, learned English, and adopted English culture and dress. The praying Indian often served as interpreter in land deals and negotiations and so passed relatively freely between native and English villages. Sossamon’s report resulted in a call from the colonists for Metacom to explain himself - which he did, denying the truth of Sossamon’s account - but only after Sossamon was found dead.

New England, 1665 CE By Norman B. Leventhal Map Center (CC BY)

Two months later, although many people had been interrogated and none had any information on the murder, eyewitnesses were suddenly produced by Winslow, and three Wampanoags were charged with Sossamon's murder. On 8 June 1675, these men were hanged by the English in direct breach of the 1621 treaty that made clear that each party would be responsible for punishing their own. Three days after the hanging, the Wampanoags were arming themselves outside Swansea Colony, and the first attack was launched against Swansea on 24 June 1675, starting the war.

Timeline of the War

The timeline of King Philip's War is well documented by colonial writers although some accounts seem to repeat the same information. The following timeline is constructed from a number of works but relies primarily on scholar Jill Lepore's The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity, xxv-xxviii:

1675:

• 29 January: John Sossamon killed
• 8 June: Sossamon's alleged killers are hanged at Plymouth Colony
• 11 June: Wampanoags are in arms at Swansea Colony
• 14-25 June: Rhode Island, Plymouth, and Massachusetts Bay colonies attempt negotiations with Metacom and other chiefs
• 24 June: Wampanoag Confederacy attacks Swansea
• 26 June: Massachusetts Bay militia join Plymouth Colony militia in defense of Swansea
• 26-29 June: Wampanoags attack Rehoboth and Taunton; Mohegans go to Boston with an offer to fight for the English
• July 8-9: Wampanoags attack Middleborough and Dartmouth
• July 14: Nipmuck tribe attacks Mendon
• July 15: Narragansetts sign a peace treaty with Connecticut colonies
• July 16-24: Massachusetts envoys attempt to negotiate with the Nipmuck tribe
• July 19: Metacom and his army escape to Nipmuck territory
• August 2-4: Siege of Brookfield - Nipmucks attack Massachusetts troops and besiege Brookfield
• August 13: Massachusetts Council orders Christian Indians confined to praying towns
• August 22: Native American warriors kill seven colonists at Lancaster
• August 30: Captain Samuel Moseley arrests 15 Hassanemesit tribal members for Lancaster assault and marches them to Boston
• September 1-2: Wampanoags and Nipmuck attack Deerfield. Massachusetts forces led by Moseley attack the village of Pennacook
• September 12: Battle of Bloody Brook – 57 out of a 79-man company killed; colonists abandon Deerfield, Squakeag, and Brookfield
• September 18: Narragansetts sign a peace treaty with the English in Boston while Massachusetts troops are ambushed near Northampton
• October 5: Pocumtucks attack and destroy Springfield
• October 13: Massachusetts Council orders Christian Indians removed to Deer Island
• 19 October: English repel an attack from Indians from Hatfield
• 1 November: Nipmucks take Christian Indians captive at various points
• 2-12 November: Commissioners of the United Colonies order an army to attack the Narragansetts.
• 7 December: Massachusetts Council issues a broadside explaining the case against the Narragansetts
• 19 December: The Great Swamp Fight - Colonial forces attack the Narragansett stronghold in the Battle of the Great Swamp; over 600 Narragansett killed as well as women and children of other tribes

Battle of Bloody Brook By Unknown (Public Domain)

1676:

• c. 1-14 January: Metacom leads his people to New York seeking help from the Mohawks; Mohawks side with the English and attack him, driving him back to New England
• 27 January: Narragansetts attack Pawtuxet (area of Plymouth Colony)
• 10 February: Lancaster Raid - Nipmucks attack Lancaster settlement; Mary Rowlandson taken captive
• 14 February: Metacom and his tribe attack Northampton, MA; council debates erecting a wall around Boston
• 21 February: Nipmucks attack Medfield
• 23 February: Indian assaults within ten miles of Boston
• 1 March: Nipmucks attack Groton
• 26 March: Settlements of Longmeadow, Marlborough, and Simsbury attacked
• 27 March: Nipmucks attack Sudbury settlement
• 28 March: Indian bands attack Rehoboth
• 20 March: Providence Colony is destroyed
• 21 April: Sudbury Fight - Indian bands attack Sudbury settlement, killing half the militia
• 2-3 May: Mary Rowlandson is released and returns to Boston
• 18 May: Battle of Turner’s Falls - English forces attack sleeping Indians near Deerfield; 200 Native Americans killed in revenge for Battle of Bloody Brook
• 30 May: Indians attack Hatfield
• 31 May: Christian Indians are moved from Deer Island to Cambridge
• 12 June: Indians attack Hadley settlement but are repelled
• 19 June: Massachusetts issues a declaration of amnesty for Indians who surrender
• 2 July: Second Battle of Nipsachuck – colonial victory; Major John Talcott and his troops begin sweeping Connecticut and Rhode Island, capturing large numbers of Algonquians who are transported out of the colonies as slaves throughout the summer
• 4 July: Captain Benjamin Church and his soldiers begin sweeping Plymouth for Wampanoags
• 11 July: Indians attack Taunton but are repelled
• 27 July: Nearly 200 Nipmucks surrender in Boston
• 2 July: Benjamin Church captures Metacom's wife and son
• 12 July: Battle of Mount Hope - John Alderman, an Indian solder under Church's command, kills Metacom/King Philip.

Death of King Philip or Metacom By Frank O. Small (Public Domain)

1677-1678: Northern and Southern tribes continue the war without Metacom's leadership, finally surrendering in 1678. The war is concluded by the Treaty of Casco of 1678.

Pivotal Battles & Events

Every engagement of King Philip's War was brutal, hand-to-hand combat or massacre on both sides, but a number of these are considered pivotal in that they directly resulted in another episode of carnage or significant step in the war.

Battle of Bloody Brook, 12 September 1675: Metacom observed a company of approximately 79 men gathering crops in the fields for transport to a nearby colony. He had his men cut down trees to block the road the company would have to take, and the convoy of wagons was stopped. The English left their weapons in the wagons to move the logs from the path, and those not engaged with clearing the road went foraging for food. The Wampanoags fell on the group, killing 57 of the 79. This massacre was cited as justification for the campaign against the Narragansetts known as the Great Swamp Fight as well as the later massacre of Native Americans known as Battle of Turner’s Falls on 18 May 1676.

The Great Swamp Fight, 19 December 1675: The Narragansett tribe had remained neutral when hostilities broke out. They had allied with the English against the Pequot tribe during the Pequot War and been rewarded with land and trade agreements. They felt bound by honor, however, to accept the women and children, as well as the injured, from the Wampanoag and other tribes engaged in the conflict. Winslow claimed the Narragansetts were helping the enemy; they claimed they were only offering shelter to non-combatants. On 19 December 1675, a combined militia force from the colonies, led by Winslow, attacked the Narragansett stronghold near present-day South Kingstown, Rhode Island, killing over 600 Narragansett as well as the women, children, and injured of the other tribes. Most of the Narragansett warriors were away from the fort at the time. This event brought the Narragansett into the war on Metacom's side and cost the colonists dearly afterwards through Narragansett raids.

Metacom and the Mohawks, early January 1676: In an effort to bolster his forces, Metacom led his army to New York to seek assistance of the Mohawks. The Pequot chief Sassacus (l. c. 1560-1637) had tried this same tactic during the Pequot War, but the Mohawks killed him and sent his head and hands back to the English as a gesture of friendship. Metacom made out only slightly better than Sassacus in that he lived through the encounter after the Mohawks attacked him, killing many of his warriors, and drove him back to New England. Without assistance from the Iroquois Confederacy, Metacom was left to fight on his own with dwindling resources.

The Lancaster Raid, 10 February 1676: The Lancaster settlement was attacked by Narragansett, Nipmuc, and Wampanoag warriors, killing many and taking others captive. The raid is one of the most famous of the war due to the work of one of these captives, Mary Rowlandson (l. c. 1637-1711), who was later released and wrote the bestselling captivity narrative The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, which is considered a classic of colonial literature and reliable first-hand account of life in a Native American village.

The Sudbury Fight, 21 April 1676: After a native coalition destroyed the fortified settlement at Marlborough, Massachusetts, the Bay Colony sent one Captain Samuel Wadsworth and 50 militia to the area to protect survivors. Sudbury was destroyed and Wadsworth’s militia lost half their number in a well-coordinated attack by over 500 native warriors. This was the last Native American victory in the war. As with earlier engagements, the Sudbury Fight encouraged further engagements as the colonists sought revenge.

The Battle of Mount Hope, 12 August 1676: The militia under Captain Benjamin Church (l. c. 1639-1718) and Josiah Standish (l. c. 1633-1690), both of the Plymouth Colony, were led to Metacom’s camp on Mount Hope by a praying Indian named John Alderman, who had formerly been one of Metacom’s counselors before converting to Christianity. Alderman identified Metacom and shot him in the back, killing him. Church then gave Alderman the chief’s head and hands which, for a price, Alderman would show to others afterwards until he finally sold the head to Plymouth Colony for 30 shillings. Metacom’s death effectively ended the war although tribes continued to fight on to the north and south of the region until 1678.

There are many more pivotal moments in the war, as well as shifts in policies such as those regarding the praying Indians. Christian natives had always been trusted more than non-Christians, but the colonists would have had in the back of their minds the memory of the Indian Massacre of 1622 at Jamestown. In March of 1622, the Powhatan Confederacy launched a one-day attack on the settlements, killing 347 colonists, and this was preceded by natives feigning an interest in conversion in order to lower English defenses. Accordingly, during King Philip's War, no Native American was completely trusted and Christian natives were often treated quite poorly, first confined to their towns and cut off from their farms and food supply, and then approximately 1,000 relocated to Deer Island in October 1675 where many died of starvation and exposure.

Conclusion

As in the case of the Pequot War, King Philip's War was lost by the natives, in large part, due to a lack of unity and the persistent belief on the part of some factions that they would be treated better by the English than others. During the Pequot War, the Pequots had tried to win the Narragansetts to their side, but the Pequots and Narragansetts had traditionally been rivals, and the Narragansetts listened to the advice of Roger Williams and sided with the English, dooming the Pequots. The Mohegans in this war also sided with the English and for the same reason: because they did not believe that what happened to others at English hands would happen to them.

Lieut. Gardiner Attacked by the Pequot By Charles Stanley Reinhart (Public Domain)

Both tribes were wrong and the Narragansetts, anyway, repeated the mistake in King Philip's War, remaining neutral for the first six months. If the Mohawk had decided to help Metacom instead of the English, they could have made a substantial difference in the war. Instead, they placed their trust in the English who, less than 100 years later, drove them from their New York lands into Canada and forced them to negotiate to get some of them back.

Conflicts would continue after King Philip's War as the English moved west and north, expanding into other territories, and Native Americans became involved in the French and Indian War (1754-1763), pitting tribes allied with the English against those fighting for the French. When the French lost the war, the English took their land south of the Canadian border and settled more colonists there. Native American tribes who had fought for the English, and hoped they would now be rewarded, were eventually betrayed just as the Narragansetts, Mohawks, and many others had been. The reservation system, established earlier, was developed more rapidly after King Philip's War, and native lands shrank along with Native American autonomy.

The last living Von Trapp child still helps run the family resort in the mountains of New England – where fans of The Sound of Music can explore a little slice of Austria.

By Anna Fiorentino

In the rolling meadows and snow-dusted peaks of Stowe, Vermont, 86-year-old Johannes von Trapp still helps run the lodge his mother, Maria von Trapp, founded 75 years ago after the family fled Nazi-occupied Salzburg.

As his daughter Kristina von Trapp Frame recalls, Maria spotted a dilapidated farmhouse with a "For Sale" sign in 1942. "We can't replicate the views, but we can fix the house," Kristina says her grandmother told the family. That view, stretching across Vermont's Green Mountains, reminded them of the Austrian Alps they'd left behind.  

This year, the Von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort celebrates its 75th anniversary – and the last living Von Trapp child still lives part-time on the property. Johannes splits his days between the Green Mountains and his cattle ranch in New Mexico, while Kristina and her husband manage the sprawling 2,600-acre estate. Guests can hike through wildflower fields dotted with Highland cows, sip maple syrup made in the lodge's sugar shack or sample Austrian-style lagers brewed on site. In winter, skiers glide along the trails of North America's first commercial cross-country ski centre, which Johannes established in 1968.

In the rolling meadows and snow-dusted peaks of Stowe, Vermont, 86-year-old Johannes von Trapp still helps run the lodge his mother, Maria von Trapp, founded 75 years ago after the family fled Nazi-occupied Salzburg.

As his daughter Kristina von Trapp Frame recalls, Maria spotted a dilapidated farmhouse with a "For Sale" sign in 1942. "We can't replicate the views, but we can fix the house," Kristina says her grandmother told the family. That view, stretching across Vermont's Green Mountains, reminded them of the Austrian Alps they'd left behind.  

This year, the Von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort celebrates its 75th anniversary – and the last living Von Trapp child still lives part-time on the property. Johannes splits his days between the Green Mountains and his cattle ranch in New Mexico, while Kristina and her husband manage the sprawling 2,600-acre estate. Guests can hike through wildflower fields dotted with Highland cows, sip maple syrup made in the lodge's sugar shack or sample Austrian-style lagers brewed on site. In winter, skiers glide along the trails of North America's first commercial cross-country ski centre, which Johannes established in 1968.

A slice of Austria in Vermont

The Von Trapps immigrated to the US in 1942 – five years before Maria's husband Georg passed away – and purchased the Stowe farmhouse with their meagre earnings from their family's famous singing group, the Trapp Family Singers. By 1950, Maria had converted the farmhouse into a 27-room lodge, which Johannes took over in 1969, expanding the property after a fire in 1983.

Spread over 2,600 acres, the resort includes a cross-country ski centre, brewery, gardens and miles of hiking trails (Credit: Chadwick Estey)

Maria infused the lodge with gemütlichkeit – that uniquely Austrian spirit of warmth, friendliness and good cheer. In fact, the main building, with its steeply pitched roofs, flower-box balconies and endless mountain views, feels more Austrian than New England. Inside, visitors linger over coffee and strudel at the Austrian-themed Kaffeehaus, or settle in at the Von Trapp Brewing Bierhall, where sausages and Bavarian pretzels pair with the family's Jubilee Grüner Veltliner, produced to mark the anniversary. 

Despite its fame, little at the resort hints that this family inspired one of the most-watched musicals of all time, based on the 1949 autobiography of Maria von Trapp. Because Disney holds the rights, no official imagery from The Sound of Music can be found here. Instead, the family honours its real legacy: the story of the Trapp Family Singers, who toured internationally for two decades.

One woman told me just this week how she had named her three children, and even her dog, after the kids in the movie – Kristina von Trapp Frame

"I call the movie my sci-fi parallel universe family," says Kristina. "It helps people realise how different the movie was from my family's life. It was filmed in different locations than where my family lived and the children had different names and sang different songs."

Still, she loves meeting nostalgic Sound of Music fans at the Vermont lodge. "Someone once told me how their family member passed away and all they wanted to do was listen to the Sound of Music soundtrack on a loop," she said. "One woman told me just this week how she had named her three children, and even her dog, after the kids in the movie. Sometimes they just start crying."

After settling in Vermont in the 1940s, Maria von Trapp embraced farm life with characteristic energy (Credit: von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort)

An Alpine-style ski village

It wasn't by chance that Maria and Georg fell in love with Stowe's rolling hills and meandering streams. In this quaint 18th-Century town, often called "The Ski Capital of the East", Austrian influences run deep.

A few years before the Von Trapps arrived, Austrian ski instructor Sepp Ruschp – known for helping develop skiing as a US sport – had become the first director of the ski school at what is now Stowe Mountain Resort, home to Vermont's highest peak. Top ski instructors and others from Austria followed. "Back in 1952, Ruschp took Maria von Trapp on as a ski student," remembered Peigi Guerra, who has worked for decades at the Von Trapp lodge.

Stowe's resemblance to Austria is more than mountain views; it's also in its hearty food and rustic ski chalets. A classic A-frame decorated with elaborately carved wooden balconies, the Innsbruck Inn at Stowe was originally built by Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer as the Austrian Pavilion at Montreal's 1967 Expo before it was moved to Stowe. Between the town's farmhouses are restaurants rooted in Alpine heritage, like the Swiss Fondue Restaurant By Heinz, opened by Swiss hotelier Heinz Remmel; and Edelweiss Mountain Deli, once owned by Austrian ski instructors Aldi and Ingeborg Yoerg, which operates inside what was an 1830s one-room schoolhouse.

A homecoming in Salzburg

Earlier this year, Kristina returned to her grandmother's hometown of Salzburg for the 60th anniversary of The Sound of Music, helping with an exhibit at the city's famous Schloss Leopoldskron hotel, where scenes from the film were shot. Family photos from both Salzburg and Stowe, as well as memorabilia like the green curtains Maria famously sewed into play clothes, will appear in 2026 at Salzburg's first museum dedicated to The Sound of Music at Schloss Hellbrunn, now home to the gazebo where Liesl and Rolf sing "Sixteen Going on Seventeen".

"When you're a kid, the movie is fun. As a teen, you relate to the themes of love, and when you get older you understand the movie is about a country and its values," Kristina said. "They did a brilliant job and it's an honour that the Sound of Music is still relevant to people."

During that trip, she met Texan traveller Kathleen Ditter, who fell in love with the Sound of Music as an eight-year-old girl. Salzburg – a city of 157,000 residents – draws more than 300,000 Sound of Music fans each year to film sites like the 1913 Salzburg Marionette Theatre. During a chance encounter on Salzburg streets, standing between buses wrapped in movie posters featuring Julie Andrews (who played Maria von Trapp) and Christopher Plummer (Georg von Trapp), Kristina convinced Ditter to visit the family lodge in Vermont.

While Johannes still helps out, his daughter Kristina and her husband now manage the family's sprawling Vermont estate (Credit: von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort)

"While walking back to our bus [in Salzburg] with our tour guide, we realised we were standing next to a lovely woman dressed in a pretty dirndl," Ditter recalled. "Our tour guide began talking to her and that's when the woman introduced herself as Kristina von Trapp."

At the Vermont lodge, Ditter toured the small stone chapel built by Werner von Trapp, the second oldest Von Trapp son, after he returned from World War Two, where he and his brother fought as US soldiers in the elite 10th Mountain division. "What they've built over the years is amazing," she says. "I felt like I was in a European Austrian lodge. What a wise visionary Maria von Trapp was."

The real Von Trapp story

The family's true history is quieter than Hollywood's version but no less remarkable, starting withthe orphaned girl who found comfort with the nuns of Salzburg's Nonnberg Abbey. On the Trapp Family Lodge & Resort tour, visitors learn that after somewhat reluctantly marrying Georg, Maria and the family fled Villa Trapp in Austria not by foot over the mountains – that would have taken them to Germany, not Switzerland – but by train to Italy (formerly Croatia), where Georg had grown up and earned a military pension. From there they sailed to the US. 

Visitors can tour the small stone chapel built after World War Two by Werner von Trapp, the second-oldest of the von Trapp children (Credit: Chadwick Estey)

Guests also discover that Maria was "strict, not as cosy as you see in the movie, but that's kind of the German and Austrian way – very black and white and right or wrong", said Kristina. "She was also very gracious and giving. As a kid, my brother and I called her Grandmother with a capital 'G'." And, she adds, it was her grandfather Georg who, despite his portrayal in the movie, "was actually really warm and loving". 

As for the singing Von Trapp children later raised in Stowe – her aunts and uncles – Kristina remembers them as a doctor, a dairy farmer, a music teacher, the owner of Vermont's Von Trapp Farmstead cheese-making business and even a missionary in New Guinea living with no electricity. The youngest, one of three born to Maria and Georg, is her father Johannes, who helps keep their Austrian heritage alive in the hills of Vermont.

"We're excited to go home and watch the entire movie again. It'll be in a new light after visiting Stowe, I'm sure," said Ditter. "I bought a copy of Maria's book."