Seven Days, April 28, 2021

IT’S SPLITSVILLE Essex Junction, Town to part ways?

VE R MO NT ’S INDE PEN DENT VO IC E APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021 VOL.26 NO.30 SEVENDAYSVT.COM

PAGE 16

People clearly had never dealt with someone like me before.

ST EPHANIE MAT TSON

PUNISHED FOR BEING TRANS

MAY 2021

Moun Mo unta ta

in in Biking

The Department of Corrections has endangered transgender prisoners, despite its own policies. Change is coming — but is it enough?

B Y C HEL S EA ED G A R , PA G E 26

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PAGE 42

Bohjalian’s timely new novel

Spring 2021 Joseph Ribkoff Trunk Show

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WEEK IN REVIEW APRIL 21-28, 2021

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COMPILED BY SASHA GOLDSTEIN & MATTHEW ROY

COURTESY OF HOWARD DEAN

DEEP S#*T

No, former governor Howard Dean has not been filing unemployment claims over and over — but somebody apparently has, using his name. Dean is just one of many Vermonters who have been mailed informational packets from the Department of Labor about unemployment benefits they never sought.

The former gov actually received no fewer than 10 large booklets for new claimants.

The department is reporting a huge increase in fraudulent claims this spring, part of a national wave. The scope of the fraud is “unprecedented,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice, which has set up a task force to combat it.

As many as 70 percent of the claims filed this month in Vermont are fraudulent, state Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington said Monday. It’s not clear how many Vermonters who didn’t file claims received the instructional books. Those who do should report it to the department, he said.

Dean, a Democrat who served as governor from 1991 to 2003, said Sunday that he didn’t know how the scammers obtained his Social Security number. He was more immediately concerned with the cost of the mailings, which he estimated to be about $8 per booklet. He planned to drop them off at the Department of Labor’s Burlington office in

hopes they could still be used.

Dean noted that he called the department last week to report the fraud and was assured the mailings would stop. But they didn’t, he said.

“This is crazy,” he said. “What is the matter with the agency?”

Fraud is “going to cost the state millions and millions of dollars,” he said.

Much of the department’s work is processed on a decades-old mainframe computer that would cost an estimated $35 million to replace.

“We just took in a billion dollars,” said Dean of the state’s share of the latest federal COVID-19 relief bill. “Surely $35 million can be spent on a new computer system so people don’t get scammed.”

That wouldn’t solve the problem, said Harrington. “The states that have newer systems are still struggling with fraud,” he said. “They weren’t designed to manage this volume.”

He said it was impossible to estimate the amount of money the state has paid out in fraudulent claims.

“I’m assuming we’re not batting a thousand here, so there is fraud going out the door,” he said. “But we don’t know it until we find it.”

Read Anne Wallace Allen’s full story at sevendaysvt.com.

Howard Dean

DEAN OF

ACCOUNTING

COURTESY OF MOUNTAIN DOG PHOTOGRAPHY

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Polly and her babies

802much

First responders rescued a Utah man who fell 150 feet into an abandoned copper mine in Corinth.

Quite the find.

KNOCKOUT BLOW

The state fined a Rutland man $22,500 for organizing brutal fights involving kids as young as 6, VTDigger.org reported. Ouch. .

FLYING HIGH

Bald eagles in Vermont will soon soar off the state’s endangered species list, Vermont Public Radio reports.

Magnificent creatures — and news.

BOILING POINT

Maple producers say this season was a bust due to an early warmup and low sugar content in the sap. Let the syrup hoarding begin.

2.8

percent

That’s how much Vermont’s population grew in a decade, according to the 2020 federal census. New York State lost residents, and the U.S. population increased just 7.4 percent overall.

TOPFIVE

MOST POPULAR ITEMS ON SEVENDAYSVT.COM

1. “A Spirited Lewis Creek Advocate and Her Husband Die in Boating Accident” by Anne Wallace Allen. Lewis Creek Association founding member Marty Illick and her husband, Terrence Dinnan, died after their boat capsized in the waterway.

2. “After Councilors Call for Bergstein to Resign, His Wife Says He Already Has” by Courtney Lamdin. Ben Bergstein has been accused of harassing and groping women in his role with the Vermont Performing Arts League.

3. “Some Vermonters Turn to Ayahuasca as a ‘Last Resort’ to Heal Their Bodies and Minds”

by Ken Picard. Users say they have benefited from a plant-based psychoactive compound from the Amazon Basin.

4. “Three New Spots for Coffee and Sweet Treats in Chittenden County” by Jordan Barry. It takes a lot of caffeine to keep up with Vermont’s everevolving coffee industry. Here’s the buzz.

5. “Tiny Thai Restaurant Moves in Winooski” by Sally Pollak. The Onion City mainstay is moving to 293 Main Street, where it’s expected to open soon.

tweet of the week @mary_fafard Sorry I missed your email, I am currently out of the office and on a hunt for Koffee Kup donuts across the state of Vermont.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSVT OUR TWEEPLE: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/TWITTER

WHAT’S WEIRD IN VERMONT

RATS! A LOVE STORY It’s a tale as old as time: Polly shared a cage with Tony because their previous owner thought Polly was a boy. Eleven babies later, it became clear this was a mistake.

Polly, a rat, gave birth earlier this month at the Humane Society of Chittenden County, where her unexpected journey to motherhood has made her Vermont’s latest — and most unlikely — online sensation.

The photo that earned her viral fame shows an ultrasound wand pressing up against her swollen belly. Her eyes are wide, as if her pregnancy were as much news to her as everyone else. The photo was posted to the humane society’s Facebook page and

quickly scurried around the internet. One tweet from @flyrainbowcorn, captioned “RAT ULTRASOUND,” got more than 100,000 likes.

Erin Alamed, the humane society’s director of volunteer and community outreach, said staff performed the exam after confirming Polly’s sex and noting that she “was looking quite large.” She gave birth the following day and spent the next couple of weeks in quasiisolation. Members of the order Rodentia undergo much stress during birth, Alamed said, and are therefore best left alone.

When Polly was finally ready for visitors, staff members were thrilled to discover all 11 bundles of joy had survived. “We were definitely preparing to lose a couple,” Alamed said.

To celebrate these tiny lives — and Polly’s

newfound fame — the humane society’s longtime volunteer photographers staged a maternity shoot, placing the rats inside a wicker basket. The image, which has been shared hundreds of times since the nonprofit posted it on Monday, shows Polly seated squarely in the basket while her litter crawls every which way.

One particularly daring ball of fur is using a sibling’s tail to rappel from the top of the basket.

The humane society will eventually split the rats up by sex to avoid further mistakes, then put them up for adoption in pairs. There appears to be no shortage of takers; numerous people have inquired after seeing the photos.

“There definitely is a need,” Alamed said.

“People love their rats.”

COLIN FLANDERS SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

5

TOTALLY SPOKED. founders/Coeditors Pamela Polston, Paula Routly publisher Paula Routly

deputy publisher Cathy Resmer AssoCiAte publishers

Don Eggert, Pamela Polston, Colby Roberts NEWS & POLITICS editor Matthew Roy

FEEDback READER REACTION TO RECENT ARTICLES

deputy editor Sasha Goldstein

Consulting editor Candace Page

stAff writers Derek Brouwer, Chelsea Edgar,

FOR LEASE:

Colin Flanders, Courtney Lamdin, Kevin McCallum, Alison Novak, Anne Wallace Allen politiCAl Columnist Dave Gram

476 Main St. Winooski

ARTS & LIFE editor Pamela Polston

AssoCiAte editor Margot Harrison

AssistAnt editors Dan Bolles, Elizabeth M. Seyler musiC editor Jordan Adams

CAlendAr writer Kristen Ravin

speCiAlty publiCAtions mAnAger Carolyn Fox

stAff writers Jordan Barry, Margaret Grayson, Melissa Pasanen, Ken Picard, Sally Pollak proofreAders Carolyn Fox, Elizabeth M. Seyler AssistAnt proofreAder Katherine Isaacs D I G I TA L & V I D E O digitAl produCtion speCiAlist Bryan Parmelee senior multimediA produCer Eva Sollberger multimediA journAlist James Buck DESIGN

TAKE A BOW, JORDAN

It may not be possible to sufficiently praise Jordan Adams for his composition of [Soundbites: “The Seven Rules of Concert Etiquette,” April 7]. It’s a shame it took a pandemic to crystallize these fundamental precepts of good manners, empathy and common sense, but no matter: The piece deserves a permanent place on the Seven Days website, with a regular flagging — perhaps at the outset of the fall arts season? Maybe even a republication in the print edition at certain intervals would be in order, as well. After all, it’s worth refreshing the memory on these guidelines virtually any time any of us venture out to one of our highly anticipated events.

Doug Collette

CreAtive direCtor Don Eggert

Art direCtor Rev. Diane Sullivan

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TWO TRAGEDIES

[Re Off Message: “After Councilors Call for Bergstein to Resign, His Wife Says He Already Has,” April 21]: Certainly what’s happened at North End Studios is tragic, and hopefully the people who have been wronged and those who have done wrong will find justice. Not to diminish the importance of the issue of abuse and lack of transparency, but there is another issue linked to this scandal that must be mentioned: the potential loss of three important community spaces that were managed by NES — spaces where theater, dance and music, classes, benefits, meetings, and celebrations occurred. These spaces were also a haven for the New American community.

Two years ago, Hinsdale Properties, owner of 294 North Winooski Avenue, replaced Off Center for the Dramatic Arts with an ax-throwing emporium that served booze, an alarming precursor of for-profit entertainment venues replacing community-based, nonprofit-managed spaces that are so essential to social life in an integrated community. COVID-19 brought down many small spaces and forced others, like Swan Dojo, to fight like hell for their survival.

Looks like they’ve made it, and — fingers crossed — Off Center may have found a new space, too.

Now that this scandal jeopardizes the spaces managed by NES, I call upon the nonprofit, the commercial sector and the city — Burlington City Council, Burlington City Arts, the Planning Commission, parks and rec — to work together to develop strategies to preserve small

WEEK IN REVIEW

TIM NEWCOMB

through the rough patches. The new father who gets a visit from a parent-child center home visitor can access the tools he needs to be the best father he can be.

When we invest in families getting the support they need, they are able to give back to healthy and strong communities.

Now is the time to strengthen parent-child centers and make a policy investment in our network of services for children and families. Can we afford not to spend more on children and families? This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Invest in families; invest in children; invest in Vermont.

Claire Kendall

MORETOWN

Kendall is codirector of the Family Center of Washington County.

HEARTBREAKING HOUSING noncommercial, noninstitutional spaces that serve the community.

David Schein

BURLINGTON

THE COST OF BLACK PLASTIC

[Re WTF: “Why Do Vermont Hemp Growers Use So Much Disposable Black Plastic?”

March 31]: Staring at everyone, but apparently unmentionable, is a solution to the environmental waste of disposable black plastic, a product that profits its manufacturers and vendors and cuts costs for growers who use it to suppress weeds. This practice, which profits a few and dumps the waste, knowingly adds to the environmental destruction of this planet and passes the consequence and cost to the next generation. Yet this manifests the prevailing political view: that recycling must have a market to support its costs — a view that is economically unsound and an environmental disaster.

The inability of the so-called experts cited in the article, including the National Organic Standards Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture, University of Vermont Extension and Northeast Organic Farming Association, to find an environmentally sustainable fix to this problem calls into question their wisdom or their integrity.

Basic economics gives the solution: When such a product portends to impose environmental degradation, mandate a surcharge on the selling price and devote the surcharge revenues to recycling the product. The surcharge places the environmental impact of the offending product where it rightfully belongs: on the farmers who find it economical to use it.

Hugo Liepmann

MIDDLESEX

WEED WHACK

Thank you, Alison Novak, for your story highlighting the accelerating risks for youth sparked by the looming legal cannabis market [“A Troubling Trend,” April 14]. The topic really deserves much more attention. Legalization and commercialization are different, though often conflated, topics. My experience tells me that youth now also tend to believe that driving after drinking is wrong but that driving after using cannabis is somehow more acceptable. I believe the survey you mentioned may address this issue.

Kim Hubbard

AVERILL

PANDEMIC LIFELINE

[Re Off Message: “Scott Proposes Divvying Up $1 Billion in Aid to Housing, Broadband and More,” April 6]: This last year, the pandemic has upended our families, our communities and our world. Parent-child centers across Vermont have offered a constant safety net of support for families through it all. Parent-child centers have provided essential basic needs, such as access to food, diapers, technology tools to ensure education and service, and concrete financial supports to ensure or attain housing security. Parent-child centers have served as a lifeline to parents with young children who are isolated and at risk, both through virtual parent support and connection, as well as in-person supports.

They have often delivered many of the vital resources and goods families needed but could not safely obtain.

The single mom who makes connections with other parents at a parent-child center playgroup creates a social safety net that provides the peer support to make it

[Re Off Message: “Demand, Prices Drive Construction of Multifamily Homes in Chittenden County,” April 19]: This article breaks my heart a little. The inability and unwillingness to build in the majority of Vermont due to all the reasons stated is very valid and clearly a glaring issue.

It is obvious to anyone who lives here. I am floored that towns and the legislature have not done more to solve this problem.

I am a young person who loves this state and desperately wants to buy a decent home here. I don’t want to leave Vermont, but sometimes it feels silly to try to stay. If I travel an hour east into New Hampshire, there are plenty of reasonably priced homes for sale. Why can’t we make that happen here? Just about everyone I talk to my age feels the same. It shouldn’t be this hard.

Molly Hakopian

MONTPELIER

CORRECTION

Last week’s story titled “Sorting Out Recycling” contained an error.

About 46 percent of the beverage containers sold in Vermont are covered by the state’s bottle bill.

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contents APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021 VOL.26 NO.30

‘

COLUMNS

SECTIONS

FOOD 34

11 14 24 25 35 48 50 81

22 34 41 44 46

Brew Unto Others

Magnificent 7 Fair Game Bottom Line WTF Side Dishes Album Reviews Movie Review Ask the Reverend

50 52 55 76 80

Life Lines Food + Drink Culture Art Music + Nightlife Movies Classes Classifieds + Puzzles Fun Stuff Personals

’

Golden Rule Mead stands out with its modern versions of the classic PAGE 34

A Bakery of Her Own New Vergennes Laundry proprietor builds on a sweet legacy

The Department of Corrections has endangered transgender prisoners, despite its own policies.

Change is coming — but is it enough?

PAGE 36

34

STUCK IN VERMONT

Online Now

B Y CHEL SEA ED GAR, PA G E 26

COVER IMAGE JAMES BUCK • COVER DESIGN REV. DIANE SULLIVAN

42

16

44

NEWS & POLITICS 13

CULTURE 41

ART 44

From the Publisher

On the Wing

Of Eggs, Aliens and Men

A Village Scorned

After failed merger votes, Essex Junction plans to break from the Town of Essex

The Oriole & the Ovenbird, Angela Patten

The Tony Shull retrospective at Sequoia Salon is a heady experience

Devil’s Playground

Hour of the Witch, Chris Bohjalian

Power Decouple

recycle like you live here

We have

MUSIC 46 Remain in the Light

“Energy hog” GlobalFoundries asks to leave Green Mountain Power to form its own utility

Bow Thayer grapples with death and change in The Zen of Snug

SUPPORTED BY:

Find a new job in the classifieds section on page 61 and online at sevendaysvt.com/jobs.

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Bob Blanchard grew up in Burlington in the 1950s and ’60s. For the past year and a half, he’s been sharing historic posts and tidbits on the Facebook page Burlington Area History. Nearly 13,000 members are following along — and adding their own memories.

Visit REGANLEADERSHIP.COM for more info.

4/26/21 2:14 PM 4/22/21 2:43 PM

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here are a lot more people mountain biking in Vermont today than there were a decade ago. Advances in trail building and bike design have attracted more entry-level riders and families; ski resorts have embraced mountain biking as an off-season revenue stream; riding in the woods solo or in small groups turned out to be an ideal pandemic pastime.

Nick Bennette, executive director of the nonprofit Vermont Mountain Bike Association, describes this as a “golden age” for the sport. Membership in VMBA — aka “Vimba” — hit 7,600 in 2020, up 176 percent since 2015. Over the past eight years, membership has quadrupled. The organization has helped establish more than 1,400 miles of trails.

VMBA plays an essential role in Vermont’s mountain biking ecosystem; it provides administrative services, insurance and event support to 27 different local Chapters.

If VMBA is the hub, the Chapters are the spokes. They’re the ones getting their hands dirty building and maintaining trails.

And not all Chapters are the same.

“There’s a huge diversity in size,” Bennette says. The smaller groups have a couple dozen volunteers. Others, like Chittenden County-based Fellowship of the Wheel, maintain multiple trail networks and employ paid staff.

VMBA deals with a wide range of dollar amounts, too: it distributes funds to each Chapter through government grants, donations from foundations and membership contributions. Transaction amounts can range from $10 to $13,000.

“There’s a ton of money moving around on the back end,” explains Bennette.

Tracking and managing it can be timeconsuming for VMBA’s three-person central office staff.

Switching to Mascoma Bank’s cash management system last summer made it much easier, says VMBA operations manager Krysy Steckler. “It was actually perfect for us,” she says. “It’s all done in a very straightforward fashion.”

Mascoma’s system is able to handle the complexity of VMBA’s expanding enterprise, and it’s more efficient than the one it replaced. If Steckler has any issues, she contacts Mascoma’s staff. “Working with them continues to be amazing,” she says. “If I need anything, I send them an email and they get back to me within the hour.”

Bennette notes that environmental stewardship is a big part of VMBA’s mission.

He appreciates the opportunity to bank with a Certified B Corporation. “It’s good to know that we’re banking with a partner who is also community-focused and trying to improve Vermont,” he says.

The VMBA Is Growing.

Mascoma Bank Makes It Easier.

Nick Bennette VERMONT MOUNTAIN BIKE ASSOCIATION

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COURTESY OF PATRICK MCCORMACK

LOOKING FORWARD

SATURDAY 1

Can It Spring is when snow melts to reveal a winter’s worth of roadside refuse: cigarette butts, plastic bags, beer cans, you name it. Eco-conscious community members pitch in to clean up Vermont’s public spaces on Green Up Day. Volunteers have disposed of more than 241 tons of trash through this annual initiative. Get free Green Up bags from your local town coordinator to help raise that number even higher.

MUST SEE, MUST DO THIS WEEK COMPI L E D BY KRISTEN RAVIN

LEARN MORE AT GREENUPVERMONT.ORG.

FRIDAY 30

HOMECOMING CONCERT After seven months abroad, Burlington singer-songwriter Francesca Blanchard is back in the Green Mountain State and ready to play. The indie-pop musician joins members of the Vermont Quarantine Collective on the University of Vermont Recital Hall stage for a livestreamed UVM Lane Series concert.

Fans can expect songs from Blanchard’s 2020 album Make It Better, rearranged for a chamber music orchestra.

FRIDAY 30-SUNDAY 9

LEARN MORE AT UVM.EDU/LANESERIES.

In a typical year, the COTS Walk would take participants on a route that a person experiencing homelessness in Burlington might travel to connect with Committee on Temporary Shelter services. This year, the event, which boosts awareness of homelessness and raises funds for shelters and other services, is all online. Participants stay socially distant while learning about the Burlington nonprofit’s programs and hearing video messages from friends of COTS.

The Greatest Show In early March 2020, world-class circus artists converged on the Latchis Hotel & Theatre in Brattleboro for New England Center for Circus Arts’ last in-person fundraising performance before the pandemic took hold. The two-hour Circus Spectacular 2020 is now available for streaming, so folks can watch feats of juggling, tightwire and trapeze from the comfort of their couch.

LEARN MORE AT NECENTERFORCIRCUSARTS.ORG/ PERFORMANCES.

SUNDAY 2

In Their Shoes

LEARN MORE AT COTSONLINE.ORG.

WEDNESDAY 5

A Fight for Rights

THURSDAY 29

Flower Power

COURTESY OF HENRY SHELDON MUSEUM

From 1886 through 1936, father and son Czech glass artists Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka produced 4,300 glass models of 780 plant species. Middlebury College assistant professor Ellery Foutch discusses these works, as well as former college president Ezra Brainerd’s pressed-plant collection, in an illustrated online talk. Middlebury’s Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History presents “Everlasting Flowers: Botanical Models in New England Collections” via Zoom.

LEARN MORE AT HENRYSHELDONMUSEUM.ORG.

Submit your upcoming events at sevendaysvt.com/postevent.

“Why did Vermont lawmakers resist women voting in the 19th and 20th centuries?” Historian and author Marilyn Blackwell tackles this question in “Why Not in Vermont? The Long Campaign for Women’s Suffrage,” an online talk presented as part of Vermont Humanities’ First Wednesdays Lecture Series. Preregister to hear Blackwell describe the debate over women’s full citizenship from the 1850s to 1920.

LEARN MORE AT VERMONTHUMANITIES.ORG.

SATURDAY 1

Top Dog Put your paws together for local entertainers who showcase their skills in Raise the Woof, an online talent competition benefiting the North Country Animal League. Animal lovers hop online to watch family-friendly acts and vote for their favorite preregistered performers. Throw homeless animals a bone by donating to the Morrisville shelter.

LEARN MORE AT NCAL.COM.

THIS IS A SAMPLING OF VERMONT’S IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL EVENTS. BROWSE THE FULL CALENDAR, ART SHOWS AND MUSIC+NIGHTLIFE LISTINGS AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/EVENTS. SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

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FROM THE PUBLISHER

Team Spirit

Paula Routly

FILE: OLIVER PARINI

Every year we ask our readers to pick the Daysies — the best of everything under the sun in Vermont, from murals to mountaintops, barbershops to beer.

Nearly 25,000 souls participate in the process, which consists of two rounds of public voting and, on our end, deciphering and tallying. Our writers report the results in a stand-alone annual publication called All the Best.

Generally, the people’s choices are right-on.

Their wisdom constitutes the consummate insiders’ guide to Vermont. The Daysies are a celebration of local culture and enterprise — and demonstrate that both thrive here in ways that are truly remarkable.

If the winning plaques on display all over the state don’t make the point, the annual party at the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain on Burlington’s Staff from Burlington’s Friendly Toast waterfront surely does (see right). For small at the Alice in Wonderland-themed Daysies party in 2019 business owners, artists and journalists, the event is a highlight of the year.

Or it was — until 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic canceled the Daysies contest and every other festival and gathering in Vermont. Businesses had to lay off employees, and many local restaurants, shops and arts venues closed their doors — a few of them permanently. Our field of perennial Daysies, once hearty and abundant, simply didn’t flower last year.

Things are looking up this spring, but, frankly, it still feels premature to be choosing favorites.

Vermont’s businesses need time — and our patronage — to reseed and grow.

So, instead of promoting a competition, Seven Days is compiling the Vermont Pandemic AllStars to recognize the standout performances of some of the people and programs that helped us all endure the last 13 months.

Through May 2, we’re asking Vermonters to identify people who went above and beyond to serve our state throughout the pandemic. Readers are weighing in on takeout, to-go cocktails, walking paths and local retailers — as well as notable community members who’ve displayed heart and courage. Since nominations opened on April 19, we’ve been flooded with stories of what one reader called “hometown heroes.”

We’ve heard about grocery store workers (“always courteous and helpful — and brave”), elementary school teachers (“so deserving of any recognition”) and security guards (“they worked their butts off!”). Hospice workers who are “witnessing so much pain and suffering … and yet continuing to work with compassion and sensitivity.” Task force members who translated health notices to “swiftly get critical information out to communities.” Good Samaritans who If you like what we do and can afford to help “would mask up and go out for anything” for a pay for it, become a Seven Days Super Reader! neighbor in need. “Tech-savvy and remarkably Look for the “Give Now” buttons at the top of kindhearted” high schoolers who helped sevendaysvt.com. Or send a check with your register elders for their vaccines. address and contact info to: Want a say? Tell us who helped you on the

SEVEN DAYS, C/O SUPER READERS

P.O. BOX 1164 ballot at sevendaysvt.com/all-stars. In the June

BURLINGTON, VT 05402-1164 9 issue, we’ll celebrate some of the individuals For more information on making a financial and entities that came through for team contribution to Seven Days, please contact Vermont.

Corey Grenier:

VOICEMAIL: 802-865-1020, EXT. 36 EMAIL: SUPERREADERS@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

13

FAIR GAME

OPEN SEASON ON VERMONT POLITICS BY DAVE GRAM

In the Black

Some Vermont businesses didn’t need the pandemic aid they received, the state auditor says

T

here are two kinds of money around the Vermont Statehouse: state and federal. State money is always in short supply. Do we spend it on the University of Vermont and the state colleges, raises for underpaid workers at our mental health agencies, or public assistance for people with disabilities? Do we set it aside for retiree pensions and health care? A dollar devoted to one of those worthy causes is a dollar less for the others. The decisions are difficult.

Federal dollars, on the other hand, seem a lot easier to spend.

When more than a billion of them flow into Vermont to help the state weather the COVID-19 crisis — and a second billion-dollar bundle shows up less than a year later, there’s a temptation to start dancing to the 1998 Squirrel Nut Zippers tune “The Suits Are Picking Up The Bill.”

The federal largesse meant Vermont could spend millions of dollars to help pandemic-ravaged businesses stay alive. Sounds good, right?

But it also appears that millions have been sent to not-so-ravaged businesses that, when they added the government aid to their balance sheets, ended up doing better in the pandemic year 2020 than in 2019.

With Gov. PHIL SCOTT’s administration pressing lawmakers to send another $50 million to businesses before the legislature adjourns next month, state Auditor DOUG HOFFER last week did something he had never done before: He shared data with lawmakers in advance of releasing an audit report. He said the report will show that some of the taxpayer-funded coronavirus relief money doled out last year went to businesses that didn’t need it.

Hoffer looked at just a sliver of the pie: 57 of almost 2,800 businesses and nonprofits that got a share of $131 million in grants from the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. The Department of Taxes spent another $190 million through a similar program. Hoffer’s list included the 27 businesses that got the largest grant available: $300,000.

Of the entities he reviewed, Hoffer said, “38 of the 57 businesses ended up better off at the end of 2020 than they were at the end of 2019. So it’s not as if people came up short. The idea of this program was not to enrich, [but] that’s exactly what happened.”

A key reason the program ended up being overgenerous in some instances 14

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

TIM NEWCOMB

YOU CAN’T REALLY BLAME BUSINESSES OR NONPROFITS FOR TAKING

FREE MONEY WHEN THE GOVERNMENT IS HANDING IT OUT. was the way the aid was calculated, Hoffer said. Businesses were invited to tally their need simply by reporting how much their revenues were down in the seven months from March to September 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. But looking just at revenue declines didn’t account for how much they were able to cut costs.

“If you’re a manufacturer and you get shut down, then if possible, you’re going to reduce the inflow of inputs to your business,” the auditor said. “If you’re not making widgets, you don’t need widget parts.” He argued that a much better measure of the negative impacts on businesses would have come from looking at their “net operating income,” essentially revenue minus expenses.

Hoffer said his office checked monthly profit-and-loss statements and used net operating income, rather than simple

revenue changes, to check how businesses had fared from March to September of 2020, versus the same period a year earlier. By this method, 16 grant applicants demonstrated no need at all. But they got a combined $3.7 million anyway.

Sen. MICHAEL SIROTKIN (D-Chittenden), chair of the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee, said in an interview that since Hoffer looked at just 57 of the 2,800 grant recipients, the actual amount of money handed out without need surely was much larger.

You can’t really blame businesses or nonprofits for taking free money when the government is handing it out. The auditor is merely saying that the government should hand it out more carefully and make sure the need is real.

The U.S. Congress approved another

big pandemic relief package in March, and Vermont is about to be showered again with more than $1 billion. But there’s a key difference: The first $1 billion-plus had to be allocated by the end of December 2020. States now have until 2024 to spend this newest batch of money. Both Hoffer and Sirotkin say it would be wise to slow things down a bit before honoring the administration’s request for another $50 million in business grants.

“My goal in this is just to target the money better and to make sure we have a better analysis, and we’re always up against this thing where we gotta get the money out the door, we gotta get the money out the door,” Sirotkin said, repeating himself to emphasize the pressure.

“We’re supposed to be the branch of government that spends the money, and we’re given a proposal with literally hours or days to say yes or no ... and with little staff being able to redesign or look at it,” he added. “It’s very challenging, to say the least.”

But hey, a cynic might say, it’s federal

GOT A TIP FOR DAVE? DAVE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Advance Your Career money, so what’s the worry? The suits are picking up the bill.

Hoffer’s argument is that money is money no matter its source, good uses for it eventually will exceed even today’s largesse, and state officials always have a responsibility to spend it wisely. As much as the Zippers are a load of fun, I agree.

What’s in a Name?

A proposal to name a large state office building in Montpelier for the late governor PHILIP H. HOFF appears to have stalled due to the opposition of one lawmaker. And if it ever clears that hurdle, it could face another: criticism of Hoff’s participation in an annual long-ago racist event at UVM. “I have real concerns about opening up the capitol complex to naming buildings,” House Corrections and Institutions Committee chair Rep. ALICE EMMONS (D-Springfield) said of a proposal to affix Hoff’s name to 133 State Street, the stately stone building just west of the capitol.

Emmons, whose committee oversees state buildings, has declined to take up the matter.

“I can just see a political feeding frenzy for naming buildings,” she said. “It would become a competition … between which party has more of those buildings named.”

Hoff, who in 1962 became the first Democrat in more than a century to be elected governor of what was then the solidly Republican Green Mountain State, was a pivotal figure in developing the modern State of Vermont. “He was the most influential governor of the 20th century, and that includes GEORGE AIKEN and me,” former governor HOWARD DEAN, who served from 1991 to 2003, told Fair Game. “He just fundamentally restructured Vermont in ways that I don’t think any other governor since THOMAS CHITTENDEN has.” (Chittenden was Vermont’s founding governor in the late 18th century.)

In addition to creating new state programs and agencies, including the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, and overseeing the transition of the Vermont House from one member for each municipality to proportional representation, Hoff was recognized as a national leader on civil rights. He appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in 1964 as a counter to segregationist and Alabama governor GEORGE WALLACE in a discussion of the new Civil Rights Act.

He later joined New York mayor

JOHN

with Saint Michael’s College Graduate Programs

LINDSAY in starting the Vermont-New York

City Youth Project, which brought more than 1,000 minority students from the city to the Green Mountains for summer programs.

But Hoff also had a blemish on his civil rights record. More than once as governor, he attended Kake Walk, an annual winter celebration at UVM that featured white students in blackface doing a strutting dance rooted in the days of slavery.

It was a major social event for the school and the surrounding community at which fraternity brothers competed for trophies and a cake.

Even in the 1960s, there were growing criticisms of the event’s inherent racism.

Hoff eventually joined calls to abolish it, which finally happened in 1969. Now the event is universally deplored. CURTISS REED JR., executive director of Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, said in a recent interview that Hoff ’s attendance should disqualify the man from any consideration that a building be named after him.

Hoff’s daughter DAGNY HOFF, who lives in Montpelier and is retired from a career in human services, said she was disappointed by Reed’s comment. “Times were so different. At that time I think there was a lack of understanding about the implications of Kake Walk,” she said. Her father was “revolutionary” in his time for pushing for equality and recognizing the value of all people. She added that she would be glad to see a building named for him as “an acknowledgment of the work that he did, and I think he did an amazing job.”

Here’s the thing: If America is ever to defeat racism, white people have to change. Hoff brought not only huge external changes to Vermont’s politics and government structures, he did the likely harder job of changing within himself, from attending Kake Walk to calling for its abolition. He modeled the internal change many white people still need to make today. It also took more courage — and was more politically costly — to oppose Kake Walk in 1968 and ’69 than in 2021.

I get Emmons’ reluctance to start naming buildings after politicians. But Hoff was more than a politician; he was a pioneer. It might just be a healthy civic exercise to show we can still name stuff after pioneers. m

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MORE INSIDE

STATE TO JOBLESS: GET LOOKING PAGE 18

BUSINESS

Saint J Brewery Tells ‘Globalists’ to Stay Away

EMPTY KOFFEE KUP PAGE 19

ROB DONNELLY

A Village Scorned

GOVERNMENT

After failed merger votes, Essex Junction plans to break from the Town of Essex B Y CO L I N FL A ND ER S

T

hey spent years trying to make it work. They even moved in together, so to speak, sharing staff and consolidating departments in hopes that it would confirm their compatibility. But some relationships aren’t meant to be, and after a messy, century-plus entanglement, the Town of Essex and the Village of Essex Junction are heading toward a split.

The potential breakup of Vermont’s second-largest community comes on the heels of two votes this spring in which residents were asked to merge their distinct but overlapping municipalities. Villagers, whose taxes would have dropped, voted overwhelmingly in favor, while townoutside-the-village residents, whose taxes would have increased, voted overwhelmingly against. Both times, the merger failed by fewer than 30 votes.

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SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

Convinced that they will never have a willing partner, most villagers now want not only to call off the marriage but to break up entirely. They have urged their elected officials to begin the process of separating from the town by drafting a charter for a new City of Essex Junction.

The move would slam the door on the decades-old goal of a combined Essex and require significant work to disentangle the two municipalities. Even some of the most ardent supporters of the merger are convinced that it’s time to move on.

“Separation is really the only thing we in the village can do to be the masters of our own destiny,” said Andrew Brown, president of the Essex Junction Board of Trustees. He added that he sees “zero possibility” the village will change its mind.

“We’re so tired of this.”

Essex Junction was incorporated in 1893 as a village within Essex Town by residents of the more densely populated Five Corners area who wanted amenities their more rural neighbors didn’t. But as the population of the town-outsidethe-village grew in the 20th century, town government began offering duplicate services community-wide. Village residents found themselves paying for redundancies such as two libraries, two recreation departments and two fire departments.

The merger debate predates many of its participants: The concept was first raised in the 1950s, and a handful of votes have taken place since then. Explanations

A VILLAGE SCORNED

» P.18

B Y C O L I N F L A N D ER S colin@sevendays.com A Northeast Kingdom brewery came under fire this week for promoting an upcoming night of music with a Facebook post that included the valediction: “All Americans Welcome, No Globalists Please.”

The Saint J Brewery, located in St. Johnsbury’s Green Mountain Mall, has since deleted the April 21 post, which garnered more than 200 comments while it was still active.

Many expressed anger at the brewery for using a term that has come to be associated with anti-Semitism and farright conspiracies. One of the musicians mentioned in the post, Lefty Yunger, wrote that he would no longer be playing at the April 30 show. A Facebook event for the evening was later canceled.

Scott Salmonsen, the brewery’s owner, did not respond to interview requests.

The definition of globalism can depend on who’s asked, with some using it as a synonym for globalization, or the world’s increasingly interconnected system of economics.

But for the far right, globalism often represents a conspiratorial worldview embedded with racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic conspiracies, according to analysts who track extremist groups.

“Globalism is a principle [sic] driver for the fears that animate the radical right in the United States,” Ryan Lenz, the editor of Hatewatch, a blog published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, told the New York Times in 2016. “It is the enemy, ultimately.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a 2018 video that the term “globalist” originated as a reference to Jewish people who were seen to have allegiances “not to their countries of origin like the United States, but to some global conspiracy.”

The Anti-Defamation League says that while the term “globalist” is not inherently anti-Semitic, it quickly assumes that connotation when applied to individual Jews, groups of Jews or places where they are known to live.

It’s hard to know whom the Saint J Brewery considers to be a globalist.

Salmonsen, the owner, seems to agree with the sentiment: Sprinkled among a wide range of conspiratorial posts on his personal Facebook page are several disparaging references to “globalists.”

In one post, he invites his friends to a Fourth of July party he’s planning and says that while “we Love America, God and Our Constitution,” attendees who do not feel the same are still welcome. “At the end of the day we are all Americans,” he wrote. He added: “ps, No Globalists please.” m

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lobalFoundries, the Essex Junction-based semiconductor manufacturer, paid a whopping $36 million power bill last year.

“We are an energy hog,” acknowledges Greg Rieder, a top manager at the former IBM chip fabrication facility, which has 2,189 workers and is the largest private employer in Vermont.

The sprawling plant, located on a bend in the Winooski River, runs night and day and uses more electricity than the entire city of Burlington — 400,000 megawatt hours per year. GlobalFoundries consumes 8 percent of the power used in the state and 10 percent of the load from its supplier, Green Mountain Power.

So GlobalFoundries is highly sensitive to even slight fluctuations in its electric rates. A penny increase per kilowatt hour can mean millions more in annual operating costs.

IF IT DOESN’T REMAIN COMPETITIVE,

GLOBALFOUNDRIES WON’T BE INVESTING IN THIS SITE ANYMORE. G R E G RIED ER

The manufacturer pays nearly twice as much for electricity in Vermont as it does in New York State, where it has factories in East Fishkill and Malta. Controlling those costs is crucial to its ability to stay competitive in the cutthroat world of telecommunications chip manufacturing.

In addition to its facilities in New York, GlobalFoundries has a factory in Dresden, Germany, and six in Singapore, all of which can produce the kind of chips made in Essex, Rieder said.

“If it doesn’t remain competitive, GlobalFoundries won’t be investing in this site anymore, and it will be a slow death,” he warned.

For years, the company has poured funds into energy efficiency to control its power costs. Now, GlobalFoundries says to thrive in Vermont it needs to reduce costs further by cutting out the middleman.

Last month the chipmaker filed to cut the cord with GMP, the state’s largest retail power utility. The company asked the Public Utility Commission for permission to phase out its GMP service and become its own self-managed utility.

The move is a bold bet by GlobalFoundries that it can save money by purchasing power directly from the wholesale energy market, as the company’s New York facilities do. Those factories pay 4.6 to 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to the 9.1 cents that GlobalFoundries pays in Vermont.

Those New York factories closely manage their power purchases. The company has a team of experts engaged in energy trading and hopes to use their specialized skills in Vermont, as well, Rieder said.

“We’ve done extensive analysis, and we are confident we can do this,” he told Seven Days last week. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have gone this route.”

GMP says it supports the split in part because GlobalFoundries has agreed to pay $16.3 million in fees during a fouryear transition to soften the blow to other ratepayers.

This gradual decoupling period presents less risk than if the company were to leave Vermont tomorrow, said Josh Castonguay, GMP’s chief innovation officer. In that case, ratepayers could face an instant rate increase of up to 3 percent.

That would not only harm ratepayers but would also hurt the state’s economy, he said. Once GlobalFoundries goes solo in 2026, GMP says, total average rates are expected to have increased less than half a percent due to the split.

“If we can de-risk things a little bit for our customers while at the same time helping to make the biggest private employer continue to be viable in Vermont, even a little bit, it’s worth it,” Castonguay, said.

“We think it’s the responsible thing to do.”

Under the current proposal, GlobalFoundries would remain a GMP customer until 2026. The company would pay the utility an annual “transition fee” totaling $15.6 million over the next four years. The chipmaker would also pay $700,000 to

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Vermont Reinstates Work-Search Requirement for Unemployment Benefits B Y A NNE WAL L A CE ALLE N anne@sevendaysvt.com Beginning on May 9, the state will once again require Vermonters to verify that they’re trying to find work in order to receive unemployment benefits. And claimants who refuse suitable job offers, state officials said on Tuesday, could be ineligible to continue receiving benefits.

The mandate comes more than a year after the Vermont Department of Labor suspended its longtime work-search requirement for unemployment insurance as the pandemic rapidly closed businesses.

Thousands of Vermonters were pushed out of their jobs, and others were unable to leave home for work because schools and daycares had closed.

For the last year, the unemployment system in Vermont, as in other states, has served as a COVID-19 safety net for those unable to earn an income as a result of the pandemic.

But with vaccination rates rising and businesses reopening, state officials said that it’s time for many of the estimated 20,000 people who are collecting regular unemployment benefits to start trying to reenter the workforce.

When that mandate kicks in, unemployment insurance claimants will be required to apply for three jobs a week. They’ll also have to submit information about those applications when they apply for their benefits each week, Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington said.

All unemployment claimants are being asked to set up an online profile for job seekers with the state. Refusing an offer of suitable work may result in the loss of benefits, Harrington said.

“We know employers are actively seeking people to fill open jobs,” Harrington said during one of the state’s twice-weekly press briefings on the coronavirus.

He added that there are still exceptions to the work-search requirement. The department has published frequently asked questions about the new rules on its website.

“As with most things related to the pandemic, this is not a simple activity; one size does not fit all,” Harrington said.

Gov. Phil Scott had earlier said it wasn’t possible for many people to go back to work because childcare was an unmet need during the pandemic. But on Tuesday, he said that problem was easing, with schools increasing in-person instruction and many camps expected to open this summer.

“This is the right time,” Scott said.

“Things are getting closer and closer to being back to normal.” m

18

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

A Village Scorned « P.16 for the rejections have varied, but taxes almost always played a role.

Non-village residents pay municipal taxes only to the town. The 10,600 villagers, who constitute about half of the suburban Chittenden County town’s population, pay into both municipalities.

Consolidations over the last decade have aimed to more evenly distribute the financial burden. The two municipalities now share administrative staff and highway and stormwater services, while the town picks up the tab for both public works departments. Still, villagers pay $925 more in municipal taxes on average.

“We can’t do it anymore,” said Elaine Haney, a villager and former chair of the town selectboard who advocated strongly for the merger. “Vermont is so expensive. Chittenden County is so expensive.”

The latest merger proposal would have evened out taxes through a phased approach: Non-village residents who owned a $280,000 home would have seen their bills increase an average of $25 a year for each of the next 12 years. The village would have continued to pay some of its unique costs, retiring its own municipal debt, for example, and plowing its sidewalks. The town would have absorbed the rest of the village budget.

On the whole, villagers viewed the merger proposal as a generous compromise. Their counterparts were not so sure.

Town selectboard chair Andy Watts said many non-village residents bristled at the idea of taking ownership of a budget that was created without them. “Why should we pay for things that we never got a chance to vote on?” he said, recalling the criticisms.

Indeed, non-village residents say they were given few good reasons why they should accept the proposal. Amid calls for a “Greater Essex,” as one website run by the village and the town was named, many were left wondering: What’s in it for me?

“A lot of people felt as though that big question … wasn’t sufficiently answered,” said Tracey Delphia, who was elected to the town selectboard in March.

Non-village residents argue that the lack of incentives was emblematic of a larger problem: While the trustees represent villagers, and the selectboard represents the entire town including the village, no one advocates solely for non-villagers.

They repeatedly called on the selectboard to appoint a group that could negotiate on

their behalf, but the selectboard declined — a decision that some critics say contributed to the merger’s failure.

Though some merger supporters concede that villagers had more to gain, they say efforts to explain how non-village residents would also have benefited from the merger were drowned out by unrelenting opposition.

“There’s a propaganda machine that exists in our community,” said Brown, the village president. “The amount of blatant misinformation just passed out to be truth was incredibly frustrating, because it’s so easy for someone to latch on to certain narratives.”

Brown refused to name them, but he was likely referring to Irene Wrenner

and Ken Signorello, two of the merger proposal’s leading critics.

Wrenner and Signorello run a monthly newsletter called the Essex ReTorter, a play on the local newspaper, the Essex Reporter. They frequently attend local meetings and can often be found waging debates on a town-wide community Facebook group, where politically tinged threads can draw hundreds of comments.

They also ran an anti-merger political action committee, NoMergerNow, that raised $9,000 ahead of the two votes (A pro-merger PAC, One Essex, raised more than $11,500).

In an interview, Wrenner and Signorello said their priority was to keep officials honest. They said information coming out of the town offices routinely displayed a pro-merger bias, whitewashing potential downsides. “Town hall could not be trusted to be the adults in the room,” Wrenner said.

Complicating this battle was the fact that both sides were sometimes technically right. Take, for example, a fight over an informative graphic included in a 48-page merger booklet produced by the town. The graphic sought to help residents understand how their taxes would change under the merger. It included two tables: One showed the “total” tax impact for the owners of a $280,000 home outside the village, noting that their tax bill ultimately would rise by about $330 a year. The other showed how the increase would play out over the 12-year phase-in period, resulting in about $25 in higher taxes each year.

In a January presentation on local access television, Wrenner and Signorello said the graphic misrepresented the tax increase by not clearly explaining how it compounds.

They said the more relevant number for non-village residents would be $2,062, since that’s how much more the average homeowner would pay during the 12-year period. Their presentation prompted two selectboard members and two village trustees to write a six-page rebuttal titled, “SERIOUS MISINFORMATION ABOUT MERGER.” In the end, neither was wrong: Non-village residents would have paid roughly $2,000 more in taxes on average over the 12-year period, while the total yearly increase would have been about $330. But the net effect of this and so many other tit-for-tat debates, according to selectboard chair Watts, was that many people “just didn’t know who to believe.”

After the first vote failed on Town Meeting Day, villagers circulated a petition calling for an April revote. But they also pushed for an advisory question asking whether the village should become an independent city should the merger fail again. Village officials say the two items were included on the same ballot to save money. But many non-village residents “felt like they had a gun to their head,” Watts said.

“They said it felt like a threat and they weren’t going to bow to it,” he said.

Villagers, meanwhile, felt like they were the ones being “held hostage,” Haney said, which is perhaps why the advisory question passed by nearly a 4-1 margin.

The message was clear: Villagers were fed up.

“This was the most generous offer we could come up with,” said village trustee George Tyler, reflecting on what he took away from the result. “We have to understand that no means no.”

Completing the breakup won’t be easy: A series of consolidations have so intertwined the municipalities that it can sometimes be hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. The two currently share a police department, a municipal manager, a clerk, a finance director and an assessor. The recreation departments are colocated at the same building at Maple Street Park.

The true cost of separation won’t be known until officials decide whether to continue any of these sharing agreements, according to joint finance director Sarah Macy, who said even rough estimates require her to make an “insane” amount

WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND

THAT NO MEANS NO. GEORG E TY LER

of assumptions. Even so, preliminary figures suggest the toll could be significant — particularly for the town, since the village represents 42 percent of its tax base.

Were the two municipalities to unravel all existing agreements and share costs for the police department — one potential scenario — then the town would need to cut up to $2.7 million in spending to maintain its current tax rate.

The village, of course, would have its own new costs, especially if it needs to hire new administrative staff; most of the shared positions are currently paid by the town. Still, officials estimate that villagers could pay up to 30 percent less in municipal taxes after separation.

“The town has to prep itself for hurt, financially,” said town selectboard member Patrick Murray, who lives in the village and supported the merger.

Given this expectation, some nonvillage residents appear wary of the split. Speaking at a virtual selectboard meeting last week, Meghan Humphries said she had hoped officials would try again with a different proposal. She said separation would undoubtedly cost more money and make Essex less attractive to prospective residents.

“It just feels like we’re dismantling our town and dismantling everything that has made us strong and good and cohesive for a long time,” she said.

Others, including Signorello, see separation as the town’s best path forward.

Even if non-village residents end up with the same tax increase they would have had under the merger, he said, “it will be worth it.”

“We won’t have to have [villagers] involved in our decisions,” he said.

Town and village officials expect to soon begin discussing how a separation might work. But consensus may be hard to find.

Tyler, the trustee, cautioned that the village should not approach exit negotiations dead set on severing all ties.

Noting that separation would ultimately need legislative approval, he said the village should strive to cause the least disruption to both municipalities. But Brown, the village president, seemed less interested in the status quo, saying the town should have very little input on the village’s exit plan.

“Separation is not a negotiation,” he said. m

BUSINESS

Koffee Kup Bakery Closes Without Warning

BY ANNE WAL L AC E AL L E N • anne@sevendays.com Koffee Kup Bakery closed suddenly on Monday, surprising Vermont officials — and the company’s 156 Burlington employees.

“It was very abrupt,” Gov. Phil Scott said at his regular COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday.

He added that regional development corporations around the state are looking for potential buyers to revive Koffee Kup. “We all learned of this very recently,” he said.

Koffee Kup has been a mainstay for decades, and many Vermonters sought out the bakery’s doughnuts and rolls in grocery and convenience stores.

“A family tradition since 1940,” reads a sign on its industrial-size bakery complex on Riverside Avenue in Burlington. For years, Old North End residents were accustomed to sweet aromas wafting over the neighborhood in the early morning hours. Many employees of that facility were New Americans.

One potential buyer is a Rochester, N.Y., pie maker who said he has made six offers on the business — and still wants it. Michael Pinkowski owns SatisPie in New York and Batter Up, a waffle maker in Georgia. He said he made his purchase offers through Koffee Kup noteholder KeyBank, most recently on Monday.

But the owners, working with KeyBank to resolve their debt, closed the company — which includes bakeries in Brattleboro and Connecticut — on Monday, and immediately notified the state Department of Labor that the jobs had been terminated. In all, the company put 500 people out of work. In addition to its 156 people in Burlington, it employed 91 in Brattleboro, according to the labor department.

“They were looking for different terms,” said Pinkowski, who still hopes the company can be resurrected, at least in part. “Each time we made an offer, we thought we were meeting the terms they were requesting, but they were rejected.”

A private equity firm called American Industrial Acquisition Corporation, or AIAC, acquired the financially struggling KUPCO on April 1, according to Boston-based G2 Capital Advisors, which said it facilitated the transaction.

KUPCO owns Koffee Kup, Vermont Bread in Brattleboro, and a bakery in North Grosvenor Dale, Conn. Koffee Kup delivered bread, buns, English muffins and doughnuts to more than 4,500 points in the Northeast before it closed, according to AIAC. Jeff Sands of Dorset Partners, a Vermont-based adviser to AIAC, said he was too busy to answer questions about the company on Tuesday.

“It’s a bit of an iconic brand for us here in Vermont,” Scott said. “I’m hopeful maybe someone else could make a viable concern out of it.”

Pinkowski was hopeful, too. He said he planned to talk with state officials and KeyBank about saving the part of the business that made bread and other products for other labels.

“That part is still viable,” said Pinkowski, whose two companies employ about 125 people in the two states. “Those customers have reached out to me through other parties. They have said, ‘Listen, if you can get this back, we want to do business with you.’” m

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GlobalFoundries

part because of their “pique that no one asked us.” Lawmakers don’t actually have a say in regulators’ decision. They nevertheless worry that the shift might hamper Vermont’s ability to green up the state’s power mix with more renewable sources.

“I don’t think any of us care if there’s going to be another utility, as long as it’s

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going to act like all the other utilities,” Cummings said.

GlobalFoundries definitely would not do that. If approved, the new utility would be unlike any of the 17 others in the state.

Today those range in size from tiny municipal utilities serving just a few hundred customers to GMP, an investor-owned utility with about 266,000 customers

serving most of the state. GlobalFoundries would be a rare breed indeed.

“We will only be set up to serve ourselves and no one else,” Rieder told lawmakers, who seemed to take little comfort from that fact.

By not having any customers, GlobalFoundries would not be a “retail electricity provider” under state law and therefore would not be required to purchase renewable energy at subsidized rates, as other utilities in the state must.

The utility noted in its filing that 6 percent of GMP’s retail electricity cost stems from the requirement that it purchase power from small renewable energy projects, including solar panels on homes. Cutting that cost alone could save the company upwards of $2 million.

Rieder told lawmakers his company is nevertheless committed to reducing its carbon footprint, not just to be a good corporate citizen, but because the market demands it. “Our customers are driving us to produce a product that is carbon free, and you see that happening worldwide now,” he said.

During the four-year transition, the company would draft a clean power plan and submit it to the Public Utility

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compensate other utilities for the increase they’d experience in the shared costs of the state’s transmission utility, VELCO. Without GlobalFoundries as a customer, GMP will spend about $30 million less per year on power, which eases the pain of losing the $36 million yearly revenue from the company, Castonguay explained.

While the rate impact appears limited, Vermont lawmakers were nevertheless taken aback by the proposal when company officials presented it to the Senate Finance Committee in early April.

Sen. Mark MacDonald (D-Orange) said the plan struck him as a self-serving move by a corporation that neglected to inform the legislature of its intentions until after it petitioned regulators.

“I’m overwhelmed by the proposal,” MacDonald said. “It’s obviously been done over two years without our being consulted.” MacDonald said the move was similar to failed past efforts by IBM, which sold the plant to GlobalFoundries in 2014, to pick its own power provider.

Sen. Ann Cummings (D-Washington) said members of her committee were “somewhat disturbed” by the plan, in

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Commission for review. How the company could secure a green power supply at a lower cost than GMP is not exactly clear, but it could involve making more power purchases when prices are low, possibly paired with battery storage, Rieder said.

“We are willing to take risks on the shortterm market, similar to what we’re doing at our other sites, versus buying long-term contracts that are three, four, five years out.

That’s where we see our savings,” he said.

Such predictions ring hollow to Ben Edgerly Walsh, climate and energy program director at the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. His organization hasn’t taken a position on the breakup yet, but he told senators the company’s claimed exemption from state renewable energy and efficiency programs gives him pause.

Not only would GlobalFoundries not be required to meet the renewable energy mix as other utilities are, it wouldn’t have to meet the increasingly stringent carbon reduction goals in state climate plans.

Nor would the company be required to continue investing $1 million annually in its own efficiency programs.

“Essentially, what the petition argues is that the State of Vermont should cede

energy policy authority for 8 percent of our electricity usage to corporate policy and customer demands of GlobalFoundries,” Walsh told senators. “That would be very different policy than what the state has for any other user.”

Lawmakers also seemed skeptical that there is any real danger of GlobalFoundries departing Vermont, given the strong worldwide demand for its chips. It’s hard for lawmakers to know how seriously to take such threats and therefore how accommodating they should be to businesses looking for special consideration, said Sen. Chris Bray (D-Addison), who wondered whether other major power users might follow suit.

“We’re always over a barrel on this question,” Bray said.

For much the same reason, Vermont Auditor Doug Hoffer has long been skeptical of state programs meant to reward companies for creating jobs.

In 2019, Hoffer sharply criticized the decision by the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive program to award up to $5.3 million to the Silicon Valley-based company that acquired a GlobalFoundries subsidiary called Avera Semiconductor.

He acknowledged there was fear the

acquiring company, Marvell, might leave the state but no hard evidence it actually intended to do so. The company maintains a presence in Burlington today.

Joan Goldstein, commissioner of the Department of Economic Development, called it “a simple fact of life” that international businesses such as GlobalFoundries take the cost of operations into account when deciding where to expand.

As the state seeks to grow its workforce, it is “vitally important that we support the retention and growth of business operations and jobs here” to prevent companies such as GlobalFoundries from passing over Vermont for investment or moving out of state entirely, she wrote in an email.

The state has an obligation to work with businesses that find challenges to doing business here to “mitigate the risk of loss of jobs, opportunities, and collective value to the state,” Goldstein wrote.

June Tierney, commissioner of the Department of Public Service, assured lawmakers that these and other issues would be thoroughly studied during a lengthy Public Utility Commission process, during which her department would advocate for ratepayers. She noted that

utility regulators are required to consider the impact their decisions can have on the economic viability of businesses in the state.

“At the end of the day, GlobalFoundries is not obliged to do business in Vermont,” Tierney reminded lawmakers. “They can simply choose to leave.”

How likely is that? U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was in Malta, N.Y., on Monday, applauding the announcement that GlobalFoundries’ headquarters has moved from California to New York’s Capital Region. He stressed the need for passage of a $50 billion federal bill to help chipmakers alleviate the “desperate shortage” of chips worldwide.

Bearing such demands in mind, Sen. Chris Pearson (P/D-Chittenden) reminded Tierney to take a hard look at the company’s professed cost burden.

Rieder had testified that 85 percent of the world’s cellphones contain at least one chip that was made in Vermont, which Pearson interpreted as a sign that the semiconductor business was robust and any flight risk was likely overblown.

“We should at least have some analysis on whether the threat is real,” Pearson said. m

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OBITUARIES, VOWS, CELEBRATIONS

OBITUARIES COURTESY OF ANNE ROTHWELL

Anthony Capehart Shull AUGUST 31, 1945APRIL 9, 2021 BURLINGTON, VT.

COURTESY OF MAUREEN JENNINGS

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COURTESY OF TISHA SHULL

Burlington artist, musician and creative spirit Tony Shull left this world surrounded by love on April 9, 2021, after a brief illness.

Born August 31, 1945, in Minnesota to expatriate Vermonters Chester and Frances (McCarthy) Shull, Tony grew up largely in Burlington and lived in various places around Vermont (notably Rutland and Fairfield), Wyoming, the Southwest, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with Burlington as his primary hometown. He was a true child of his generation, unfettered by convention and one of a kind.

While he earned a living over the years as an interior painter (other gigs included boat restorer, road crew flagger, special agent daycare worker, freelance pussy willow purveyor and Christmas light hanger), Tony’s true vocation was creative genius.

His life centered on making and sharing art and music with family, friends and the public. He had a gift for inspiring and amplifying the creative spark in others without judgment or ego, whether they were fellow artists or accountants.

Tony was widely known for the colorful murals he painted all over Burlington featuring psychedelic scenes in his trademark color palette.

Falling somewhere between Hieronymus Bosch and Grandma Moses, his style was uniquely his own. “Don’t worry,” he’d say when asking building owners’ permission to transform their walls. “It’s only paint.”

Spacemen, smiling clocks, robots, egg men, ant people, ambulatory fish, naked ladies, shaggy dogs, lovers and the brokenhearted made regular appearances in his works.

That said, his undeniable talent as a fine artist was evident in his striking portraits of friends and historic figures.

For Tony, there was no scrap of wood or cast-off

household object that couldn’t be converted into a religious icon or bawdy visual pun, or some whimsical alternative version of itself: wind machines, robots, collages with moving parts whose sole purpose was to delight.

His work hung in numerous shows around Burlington over the decades and was featured in publications including Vermont Life and Seven Days; a book on his work by photographer Carolyn Bates is forthcoming. For every painting he actually sold, he

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bartered or gave away scores more — if you counted Tony as a friend, chances are that at least one totem of his unique spirit occupies space in your home.

Also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist singersongwriter, Tony joyfully played his guitar and fiddle with fellow musicians in homes and hootenannies across the state. His knowledge of music was prodigious, from sea shanties to blues to the folk scene and everything in between. Original tunes

such as “The Girl From the North Side of North Street” and “Bi-Sexual/Bi-Lingual Man From Montreal” reflected his sometimes bleak, always keen observations of the world around him with humor and wit.

He was both a lover of fast cars and bicycles; irreverent and spiritual. He was a guerilla gardener, canoe adventurer and bonfire builder, and he appreciated beauty in all its forms. A ninth-grade dropout, Tony fed his inquisitive mind as a lifelong reader, dedicated listener to the CBC and public radio, and in thoughtful discussion with others. He drew members of his tribe from all ages and levels of society.

Though he lived a spare lifestyle, he was abundantly generous with his kindness and creativity. His passing leaves the world a little less colorful.

Tony is survived by his beloved daughter Tisha and granddaughter Litza; devoted sister Nancy; nieces and nephews Abby, Sean, Nina and Alex; great-nephew Eddie and great-niece Heather; as well as many, many friends who cherished him dearly. He was predeceased by his parents, sister Carlotta (Tucky) and brother-in-law Fred.

The family wishes to thank the staff at the McClure Miller Respite House for its wonderful, compassionate care in Tony’s final days.

A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Burlington on Friday, May 7, at 4 p.m. (facial coverings and contract tracing required).

Donations can be made in Tony’s name toward a planned memorial grant to benefit Vermont artists. Checks can be made payable to the Tony Shull Grant Fund, 255 S. Champlain St., Suite 14, Burlington, VT 05401.

To honor Tony’s memory, buy some art directly from the artist, go out and make or enjoy live music, and express your own creative genius.

Friends are encouraged to leave remembrances on his Facebook page: The Artwork of Tony Shull (facebook.com/ tonyshullart).

Karen Oelschlaeger

JUNE 1, 1984-APRIL 19, 2021 MONTPELIER, VT. Karen Oelschlaeger died on April 19, 2021, in her home in Montpelier, Vt. She was diagnosed with stomach cancer on May 30, 2018, two days before her 34th birthday.

She was very clear that no one should say she “lost” any “battle” or “war” with cancer, as she was no loser. Karen died grateful for Vermont’s Death With Dignity law. If any of the legislators or lobbyists who worked to pass that law are reading this obituary, she’d like to thank them from the bottom of her no-longerbeating heart.

Karen loved her nieces and her pets. She hoped that her grandmother, Martha Braswell; her lab, Rosie; and her tuxedo cat, Oscar, would be the first to greet her if, in fact, there is another realm after her life here with us.

Oscar was euthanized due to cancer on August 6, 2015.

Karen got sober from alcohol days later, on August 10, 2015.

She died grateful for all the support she’d gotten from her recovery community.

In lieu of flowers, Karen would like for you to live your best life now — just in case.

She’d like you to be kind. She’d like you to take extra care of her parents, Linda and Terry; her most beloved nieces; and her dear ones Meghan, Eric and Jess. If you insist, you may donate money to the Karen Oelschlaeger Scholarship for the Public Interest at Vermont Law School (give.communityfunded.com/o/vermont-lawschool/i/karen-oelschlaegerscholarship-for-the-publicinterest), to the Gastric Cancer Foundation (www. firstgiving.com/fundraiser/oel/ KarenOelschlaegersPage) or to Migrant Justice (migrantjustice.net).

Karen was born in Charlotte, N.C., on June 1, 1984. She worked at Ben & Jerry’s as a teenager, leaving to pursue her passion for social justice organizing with the Fund for the Public Interest, followed by Wesleyan University in Middletown,

Conn. She wanted to drop out of college to work at PapaBubble, making hard candies, in Barcelona, Spain, but her father wouldn’t hear of it.

Instead, she double majored in psychology and Spanish literature, receiving high honors for her psychology thesis entitled “Feminist Rants.”

In 2007, Karen founded West Asheville Dog Walking & Pet Sitting, shortly after moving to Asheville, N.C., to be close to her brother, Eric, her sister-in-law, Jess, and her dear cousin Molly. She later became the youngest president of the League of Women Voters of Asheville-Buncombe County.

In May 2014, Karen obtained her master of social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Rather than attending graduation, she moved to Vermont to enroll in Vermont Law School’s Accelerated JD program and graduated cum laude in 2016.

Following graduation, she worked as a deputy state’s attorney in Windsor County, Vt., where she was a sex crimes prosecutor. She was passionate about juvenile justice and criminal justice reform. She was grateful to live in a state that allows those with felony convictions to vote even while incarcerated.

(Karen insisted on writing her obituary herself in the third person, leaving only a fill-in-the-blank for the date.)

Arrangements are being made through Guare & Sons Funeral Home. Online condolences may be left at guareandsons.com.

Ann Crittenden Livingston OCTOBER 14, 1925APRIL 23, 2021 BURLINGTON, VT.

On April 23, 2021, Ann Crittenden Livingston, beloved mother of four and grandmother of seven, passed away in Burlington, Vt., at the age of 95.

Ann was born in Rochester, N.Y., on October 14, 1925. She was the youngest and last member of her generation of the large Ward family, and she spent time each summer at Grange Landing on nearby Canandaigua Lake, surrounded by her many aunts, uncles and cousins, and later nieces, nephews, and her own children and grandchildren. The family place was a cherished fixture in Ann’s life, shaping her ethos of care and appreciation for others and for the natural world, which she passed on to her descendants.

Throughout her life, Ann worked to make her community and world a better place, through her career as a mother and an educational adviser, through volunteering, and later through modest philanthropy. She was an active leader in the Congregational Church in Wilton, Conn., where she raised her children, and in the Unitarian Church in Burlington, Vt., where she moved in 1972. Her empathy for others was matched by her resilience in meeting life’s challenges. Divorced in middle age, she became an

administrative assistant at the University of Vermont, simultaneously secured her master’s degree in education, and rose to be a highly regarded dean of students of what was then UVM’s College of Engineering, Mathematics and Business Administration. Later in life, she served as president of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington and as a founding board member of what became the Champlain Housing Trust.

To friends and family, Ann offered a guiding hand and a keen ear. She loved hearing people’s stories, which brought her lasting connections across her community. And she supported her children and grandchildren in all of their endeavors and trials, attentive to what made them unique, as well as what brought them together. She especially enjoyed talking with people one-on-one,

and a conversation with Ann — in her living room in Burlington or on the porch of the Canandaigua cottage — made you feel loved and inspired to follow her example of independence of mind and kindness of spirit.

Ann found great joy in the life that surrounded her, in all its forms. Gardening was a lifelong passion, which she shared with her mother and later with her children. (Even when, late in life, she gave up her house and garden on Catherine Street for an apartment, she discreetly scattered mint between the bushes outside the building so that she would have a fresh supply in summer.) She traveled widely with family and friends and took pleasure in art, music, literature and history.

Her thoughtful presence will be missed.

Ann is survived by her children, Carol (and husband Gary Golden), Gil (and wife Amy Wright), Henry (and wife Julie), and Connie, and by her grandchildren, Alex, Pete, Morgan, Nick, Addie, Sarah and ZhouLin. Ann’s ashes will be spread at Grange Landing by her extended family this summer. Her family would like to thank the Converse Home and UVM Home Health & Hospice for their exceptional care.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Champlain Housing Trust (88 King St., Burlington, VT 05401, getahome.org) or the Vermont Land Trust (8 Bailey Ave., Montpelier, VT 05602, vlt.org).

Senan E. “Pepper” Sweeney

MAY 23, 1938APRIL 22, 2021 ENOSBURG FALLS, VT. Pepper left us this week on a snowy late April day, which was absolutely appropriate for the diehard skier that he was. Born in Yonkers, N.Y., Pepper grew up in White Plains and Hawthorne. He graduated from Briarcliff High School in 1956, then attended the University of New Hampshire before ultimately graduating from the University of Arizona and the Thunderbird School.

Between UNH and U of A, Pepper played semipro football before being drafted into the U.S. Army, where he was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany.

After an early career in insurance and real estate, Pepper found his true calling in his forties as a teacher. He returned to school at the Université Laval in Québec City and received his teaching certificate. He

taught French, as well as other subjects, at Milton High School. A lifelong athlete, Pepper was on the ski patrol at Cochran’s Ski Area throughout the ‘70s and early ‘80s, then moved to Smugglers’ Notch, where he was a ski instructor for 35-plus years. Although Pepper was an avid tennis player, from the moment he picked up a golf club, tennis was left in the dust. Once the ski slopes closed in the spring, Pepper’s passion for golf kept him on the links nearly every day until the flurries flew in the fall.

Pepper is survived by his daughter, Meghan, and her husband, Andy; his son, Senan; several nieces and nephews; and many friends and acquaintances. He was predeceased by Alison, the love of his life; his sisters, Joan, Sheila and Mary Louise; and his brother, John.

We will miss the ol’ Irishman’s serious dance moves, his clotheshorse ways (more golf shirts than Tiger Woods), his generous smile and the twinkle in his eye that he shared with everyone.

Here’s to beefsteak when you’re hungry, whiskey when you’re dry, all the women you’ll ever want, and heaven when you die. Sláinte!

A celebration of Pepper’s life will be held on July 30, 2021, from 4-7 p.m. at the Barn at Boyden Farm in Cambridge, Vt. Goss Life Celebration Homes is the area’s exclusive provider of life celebration events. Please visit our website to share condolences, photos and favorite memories at gossfs.com.

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A New Spin

Kaden Apparel outfits women for mountain biking as more and more hit the trail

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Chelsea Camarata

PHOTOS COURTESY OF RYAN BENT PHOTOGRAPHY

helsea Camarata, the 33-year-old founder and owner of Kaden Apparel in Burlington, didn’t have much sewing experience before she launched her own women’s athletic company in 2017. As a high schooler in her hometown of Saugerties, N.Y., she’d taken a home economics class and made a teddy bear. She also attended a two-day fashion design class at a tech center, but it involved no sewing whatsoever.

“I tried to make a dress once with my mom,” Camarata recalled, “but I gave up halfway.”

In 2010, Camarata had just finished an MBA program through Champlain College and Southern New Hampshire University when her then-boyfriend (now-husband), Ryan Bent, invited her to go mountain biking with friends.

She’d never been on a mountain bike before, but Camarata borrowed one from a friend and joined the riders on the Perry Hill trails in Waterbury. Though the bike was too big for her, and the trail they rode was above her skill level, she had fun and stuck with it. Soon, she was tearing up single-track on a regular basis.

But when Camarata went shopping for women’s cycling clothes, she was disappointed by the dearth of options that were designed for women’s bodies.

“A lot of it looked like you were wearing a cardboard box,” she said. “And the stuff that was out there was kind of gross — synthetic fabrics that, as soon as you put them on, smell weird.”

Camarata’s other big gripe was a phenomenon commonly referred to in the marketing industry as “shrink it and pink it.” That is, many traditionally maleoriented brands sell products to women by making them smaller and offering them in pink or pastel colors, rather than actually tailoring them to women’s needs and tastes.

In 2015, Camarata embarked on the project of learning how to make her own athletic wear. That included finding blended fabrics that felt soft, held up well and “didn’t stink” when she sweat in them, she said.

With help from friends who’d gained pattern-making experience in fashion design school, Camarata started sewing clothes and asking for feedback. She admits she made a lot of bad prototypes.

A 2017 Kickstarter campaign raised $5,000 for Camarata’s venture. With that money and some of her savings, she

CHELSEA HAS DONE A REALLY GOOD JOB OF DESIGNING CLOTHES

TO FIT A LOT OF DIFFERENT BODY TYPES EXTREMELY WELL. KEN ZIE FUQ UA

Kaden Apparel’s V-neck cycling jersey

funded her first production run of jerseys at a manufacturing facility in Minnesota.

In early 2018, Camarata began selling Kaden Apparel products directly to consumers online. Today, the company offers three different styles of jersey, one style of shorts, T-shirts, headbands and other accessories; Camarata is working on adding athletic maternity wear. A few Vermont retailers carry her products,

including Outdoor Gear Exchange in Burlington and Ranch Camp and Hitchhiker Bike Shop, both in Stowe.

Kenzie Fuqua, who works in the bicycle department at Outdoor Gear Exchange, said that Kaden Apparel has become one of the store’s top sellers. She described the products as “phenomenal” because they’re soft, lightweight and breathable.

“The fit is the biggest thing for me,” said Fuqua, who mountain bikes four to five days a week. “A lot of women’s cycling clothes are either made to be super baggy or super straight ... Chelsea has done a really good job of designing clothes to fit a lot of different body types extremely well.”

When COVID-19 and an executive order from Gov. Phil Scott forced most retailers to close last year, Camarata said, she had no idea whether Kaden Apparel’s sales would continue online or “drop through the floor.

“I ended up putting some of my production on hold,” she recalled. “I probably shouldn’t have, because I ended up needing it. Cycling really took off.”

Since the start of the pandemic, sales of sporting goods associated with solo activities have risen to historic levels, with cycling leading the way. In February 2021, nearly 1.4 million bicycles were imported

to the United States, a 74 percent increase over February 2020, according to Bicycle Retailer and Industry News.

The worldwide surge in consumer demand also boosted sales of active sportswear, which outperformed the rest of the apparel sector throughout the pandemic, according to McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm.

Kaden Apparel didn’t suffer any major supply-chain shortages of the kind that have plagued the cycling sector, Camarata noted. But by the time she recognized the increased interest, her Minnesota manufacturer had been tapped to shift its production to personal protective equipment such as gowns and face masks.

“When your factory tells you they have to make PPE,” she said, “you can’t really argue with that.”

Because Kaden Apparel has no employees on its payroll — Camarata handles most of the work, along with her full-time job at DealerPolicy, a Williston insurance software firm — the company didn’t qualify for a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan. Camarata did receive a $1,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration and a $250 grant from the Restart Vermont Technical Assistance Program. Every bit helped, she said.

After some initial delays in filling customer orders last spring, Camarata saw her sales recover over the summer as Americans moved outdoors in droves.

Benefiting from the surge in cycling, she ended 2020 with sales up more than 100 percent over 2019, “which sounds like a lot, but I’m still in the growth phase,” she noted. “Hopefully, I can keep that going.”

Kaden Apparel’s production delay in the Midwest had one unexpected upside: It prompted Camarata to forge a relationship with a local manufacturer. After the Minnesota plant pivoted to making PPE, Vermont Teddy Bear got on board to produce some of Kaden Apparel’s jerseys.

Though it was just a one-time run — Kaden is again producing goods at the Minnesota facility — Camarata said she’d love to work with the Shelburne company again if the opportunity arose.

Perhaps that teddy bear she made in high school home ec paid off after all. m

INFO Bottom Line is a series on how Vermont businesses are faring during the pandemic.

Got a tip? Email bottomline@sevendaysvt.com.

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT BY KEN PICARD

KEN PICARD

What’s Happening to Founders Hall at Saint Michael’s College?

A

pril marks the official start of crane season — not the spindly legged water birds but the longnecked construction equipment. Drivers passing Saint Michael’s College in Colchester may have noticed the flock that recently took up residence inside a chain-link fence that now surrounds Founders Hall, the brick behemoth at the corner of Route 15 and Lime Kiln Road. What’s going down on SMC’s campus?

Short answer: the college’s oldest building. After nearly a decade of discussion and more than a year of permitting delays, St. Mike’s has finally begun the monthslong process of tearing down its original home.

The four-story building dates back to the mid-19th century — the 1903 plaque hanging on its façade notwithstanding — and wasn’t always bedecked in brick.

According to a 2009 report by Walter Richard Wheeler, an architectural historian with Hartgen Archeological Associates of Putney, Founders Hall actually began its life as an 1860s-era farmhouse.

After the property’s purchase in 1902, the building initially served as a novitiate for the Society of Saint Edmund, which founded St. Mike’s, the state’s oldest Catholic college. The first boarders arrived there in 1904, and the red brick veneer was added in the summer of 1907. The building’s iconic cupola and cross, which feature in the SMC logo, went up in 1914.

COURTESY OF SAINT MICHAEL’S COLLEGE

Founders Hall, Saint Michael’s College, 1907

The Edmundites have a long history of progressive values — poverty relief, civil rights advocacy, promotion of social justice, and the embrace of religious, ethnic and sexual diversity on campus. So why don’t the equally progressive values of reuse and recycling apply to the school’s most historic edifice?

To be fair, they have for decades. Old Hall, as it was originally known, has been used for just about every campus purpose imaginable: dormitory, chapel, library, classrooms, administrative offices, recreation hall, dining room, laundry and gymnasium. The historical records make no mention of a bowling alley, wine cellar or Pachinko parlor. But if they ever existed at the college, it’s a safe bet they would have been in Founders Hall.

Over the years, St. Mike’s has undertaken a number of projects meant to keep the historic building up to code, preserve its structural integrity and extend its useful life. But Founders Hall has been foundering for years — discussions about its demolition date back to at least 2013.

In 2011, when the college posted a trivia question on Facebook that asked for the building’s alternative name, one student replied, “The Coldest Building on Campus in the Winter Hall.”

According to a college spokesperson, the cost of saving the building and bringing it up to code has been estimated at $12 million to $15 million. But after extensive

Founders Hall, 2021

review by architects, engineers and historical preservationists, the college determined that the building was unsalvageable. In 2019, the board of trustees voted to authorize its demolition.

Not everyone in the college community was thrilled with that decision. In August 2019, after the school requested permission under Act 250, Vermont’s land use and development law, to tear it down, 1977 alum Sara Dillon sought party status in the case and requested a public hearing. Dillon is a Massachusetts resident with a second home in Greensboro, Vt. Her father, also a St. Mike’s graduate, served for years as a professor there.

“Once you knock down that building and it’s gone, I think you’ve really lost the soul of the college,” Dillon told the campus newspaper, the Defender, in December 2019.

When a district commission denied Dillon’s petition, she appealed the ruling to the Vermont Supreme Court in a case titled In re: Founder’s Hall. (Evidently, Vermont’s highest court has a liberal philosophy on its use of apostrophes.) In an October 7, 2020, online hearing, Dillon argued that since Act 250 gives neighboring property owners the right to weigh in on the fate of Founders Hall, her family’s connections to the college should allow her to weigh in, too.

“The building is not being demolished to make way for anything. The college has no intention of building something of

importance,” Dillon told the justices. “It’s simply arguing that it’s too expensive to keep the building.”

But St. Mike’s attorney Matthew Byrne countered that there are people all around the country who are interested in historical preservation, but Act 250 doesn’t give them a proverbial seat at the table, either. If that were Vermont’s legal standard, he argued, “Everyone could sue St. Michael’s, and no building would ever come down.”

Ultimately, the justices sided with the college and Dillon’s appeal was denied.

“While we are very sad to see our beloved Founders Hall come down, saving it would not have been fiscally responsible, and we must invest our resources in providing the best experience for our students, faculty and staff,” SMC president Lorraine Sterritt said in a written statement last week. “We will save the iconic cupola and other elements of the building to appropriately memorialize [them].”

The cupola is tentatively scheduled to be decoupled during the week of May 17; the rest of Founders Hall will be removed

by September. Aside from creating additional green space and extra walkways, the college has no plans yet for what will replace it. m

INFO Got a Vermont mystery that has you flummoxed? Ask us! wtf@sevendaysvt.com.

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

25

PUNISHED FOR BEING TRANS

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’

The Department of Corrections has endangered transgender prisoners, despite its own policies. Change is coming — but is it enough?

BY C H E L S E A E D GAR

F

or Jasmine Klein, life in Vermont’s prisons has been a punishment beyond her sentence.

Last November, Klein, a transgender woman, was transferred to Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, the state’s only prison for women, from Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, a men’s prison in Mississippi, where Vermont sends some 170 members of its incarcerated population. In Tallahatchie, she said, a man drugged her and forced her to have sex with him, which made her feel so dehumanized that she attempted suicide.

Klein, who grew up in Rutland, has Asperger’s syndrome; in school, her peers bullied her for her disabilities and, as she got older, for being attracted to boys. Her grandmother was the only person in her family who didn’t make her feel ashamed of her sexuality. When Klein was 16, she said, her grandmother asked her if she felt like a woman. Klein was years away from coming out, but she still remembers how good it felt to be seen without judgment. “If my grandmother were still alive,” said Klein, “I probably wouldn’t be in jail today.”

In 2011, when she was 18, she and two friends broke into a laundromat in Rutland and stole $500 in quarters. “I was trying to fit in and show people that my sexuality didn’t define who I was,” she said. “I just wanted to be like all of them.” Klein, who still presented as male, was charged with burglary and served time at Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland. A year later, while Klein was out on community supervision, she got drunk at a party and had sex with a 14-year-old; in court filings, Klein said she hadn’t known his age. She was charged with sexually assaulting a minor and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

While Klein was awaiting her sentence in 2013, she became only the second person to come out as transgender at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield.

The first, a transgender woman named Cammie Cameron, was a friend of Klein’s 26

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

from Rutland. Klein said Cameron gave her the courage to come out. “I was scared, because I saw the way Cammie got treated,” Klein said. “But I knew that I had to, no matter what, because it felt worse to hide all the time.”

Klein’s fears came true. Prison staff constantly misgendered her; once, when she tried to correct a guard at Southern State, she said, he called her a “faggot.”

She spent six years rotating among most of Vermont’s five men’s correctional facilities, an experience she described as “torture.” More than once, she said, she tried to kill herself.

Klein had raped her. “She told me that if I told any staff what happened, I wouldn’t be believed, because I’m trans,” Klein said.

In December 2019, Seven Days exposed a yearslong epidemic of sexual abuse and harassment of female employees and incarcerated women by male corrections officers at Chittenden Regional. But the mistreatment of transgender people in Vermont’s correctional system has garnered less attention. Of the roughly 1,200 people currently in custody, 15 are registered in the system as transgender; all of them are transgender women. In 2015, the Department of Corrections adopted a

Do you really think I’m gonna pretend to be one of the most hated and oppressed minorities in the world to gain some bullshit privilege from you?

S TE P H ANIE MAT TS O N

At Chittenden Regional, Klein, now 28 and a year and a half away from her release date, hoped she would finally be treated with more respect. Instead, she said, she got the overwhelming message that she didn’t belong. Whenever one corrections officer in her housing unit thought Klein was out of earshot, she said, he would complain to residents that he was tired of having to watch his language around her and the other transgender women in the facility. More than one roommate told her that they didn’t want to live with “a trans.”

Then, in late February, Klein said, another roommate manipulated her into sex by threatening to tell an ex-boyfriend, whom she claimed was a Hells Angel, that

set of guidelines, called Directive 432.01, to establish standards for how corrections employees should interact with the transgender people in their care. These standards include using appropriate pronouns, providing clothing and hygiene products that match a person’s gender identity, and considering gender identity, not just sex at birth, when determining whether a transgender individual will be incarcerated with men or women.

But corrections employees have not always heeded those mandates. Current and former trans inmates, as well as advocates who work in Vermont’s prisons, say that transgender people in the state’s correctional system have been denied

access to appropriate medical treatment and clothing, housed in dangerous situations, and subjected to insults from staff.

Most of this mistreatment happens within prison walls, hidden from public view. But in at least one instance, a corrections employee has used a social media platform to mock a transgender inmate.

In July 2019, James Frank, an officer at Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans, posted a rant on Facebook after his supervisors asked him to report to work a few hours early to monitor a transgender person on suicide watch. “Have to go in 4 hours early to sit and watch a he she who wants to hurt/kill self,” Frank’s post read.

“SO sick of the LIBERAL BULLSHIT. I think it’s just a p-ssy that won’t do it anyway and needs attention.”

A supervisor at the prison heard about the post and reported it; Frank was placed on paid leave. After an internal investigation and a Vermont Labor Relations Board hearing, interim Corrections Commissioner Jim Baker fired Frank in December.

Baker became commissioner in late 2019, after his predecessor, Mike Touchette, resigned in the wake of the Seven Days investigation. In Baker’s view, the department’s handling of Frank represents a shift in the culture of corrections over the last few years, which mirrors the evolution in thinking about gender identity in society at large. “That someone would report the conduct of a coworker for the way they were speaking about a transgender individual is, in itself, a signal of change,” Baker said.

“I don’t think corrections reflects anything different than what the community reflects as people become more educated and sophisticated in the way they deal with individuals who don’t look like them,” he continued. “And my goal is for the staff to be more educated and sophisticated about the understanding of individuals that identify as transgender.”

Baker acknowledged that some corrections employees have displayed bigotry: “We have had individuals that maybe were homophobic, or maybe that were

uneducated and unsophisticated,” he said.

Since becoming commissioner, he said, he has telegraphed to the department’s 928 employees — administrators, prison staff, and probation and parole officers — that he won’t tolerate such behavior.

Under his command, all employees have been required to complete implicit bias training; in October 2020, the department hired the Moss Group, a Washington, D.C.based criminal justice consulting firm, to conduct an audit of all its practices and policies, including its protocols related to the care of transgender inmates.

Advocates applaud these steps toward improvement, but the realities of incarceration, they say, have already done irreparable harm to transgender people.

“The Vermont Department of Corrections is light-years ahead of other states’ correctional systems in addressing the needs of trans folks, and light years behind where they could and should be,” said Kim Jordan, director of the SafeSpace AntiViolence Program at the Pride Center of Vermont, which supports incarcerated survivors of sexual violence.

In the correctional system, she said, transgender people experience trauma every day. “No matter what kind of individualized support we can provide them, they go back to their units, where the corrections officers might misgender them, deadname them” — refer to them by their former name — “remove their gender-affirming underwear and hygiene products, degrade them, and demean them,” said Jordan. “That is violence.”

She looks slightly askance at the department’s recent efforts to treat the incarcerated transgender population with greater dignity and respect. “They don’t want any more legal problems,” she said. “But if the collateral impact of them protecting themselves is that no more harm comes to people, then yes, please.”

Stephanie Mattson spent almost two decades in men’s correctional facilities in Vermont before she came out as a woman in 2016.

In December 2015, less than a year after corrections adopted Directive 432.01, Cammie Cameron, Klein’s friend at Southern State, was brutally beaten by a man in an adjacent cell. Cameron, who is no longer incarcerated, sued the department in federal court in 2018 for denying her requests to be moved to a women’s facility, violating its own directive and exposing her to an unreasonable risk of harm. Because the case is still pending, Cameron, through her lawyer, declined to be interviewed.

“Cammie was one of our first real transgender cases,” said Al Cormier, corrections’ chief of operations. “We ‘PUNISHED FOR BEING TRANS’

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LOCKED UP WITH MEN

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JAMES BUCK

‘Punished for Being Trans’ « P.27

SLOW TO CHANGE

Advocates see a reluctance to implement substantial change, in spite of a growing consensus among corrections officials that the department needs to take a more progressive approach to caring for its transgender population.

In February 2020, Ashley Messier, who was formerly imprisoned at Chittenden Regional, founded the Women’s Justice & Freedom Initiative with the goal of 28

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

Stephanie Mattson’s collection of the grievances she filed during her time in prison

providing support for the queer and transgender community in the correctional system.

“One of my best friends who I was incarcerated with was a trans male in a women’s facility,” said Messier. “Watching his experience, and the things that people did and said to him, really made me realize that there was no dedicated advocacy for queer folks in the context of incarceration, and none specifically for trans and gendernonconforming folks.”

In recent months, Messier said, she’s been generally impressed with the receptivity of senior corrections officials to her suggestions for improvement.

Commissioner Baker and Chittenden Regional superintendent Theresa Stone have been willing to work with her to address specific inmate complaints, she said. But when she has offered to provide training to corrections personnel on the specific needs of incarcerated queer and transgender people, Messier noted, she’s encountered resistance.

“There’s a willingness to work with me on some things, and then I think there’s an unwillingness to be that transparent,” she said. The good intentions of top officials are insufficient to protect transgender inmates in their daily incarcerated lives, because “so much depends on the individual officer addressing an issue, which should not be the case,” she said.

My goal is for the staff to be more educated and sophisticated about the understanding of individuals that identify as transgender.

INTERIM CORRECTIONS COMMISSIONER JIM BAKER FILE: PAUL HEINTZ

really did pause and take a look at how we were doing things.” In recent years, he said, corrections staff have become more cognizant of the risks that transgender people, particularly transgender women, face in men’s prisons.

“Four or five years ago, if a transitioning individual came into our custody, people would kind of throw their hands up in the air and say, ‘What do we do with them?’

There wasn’t a lot of thought put into it, whereas there really is a lot of thought put into it now, for the safety of the individual,” Cormier said. “I see that as a big change for us.”

Nevertheless, Cormier couldn’t point to any specific changes in housing practices that Cameron’s lawsuit had precipitated; to this day, he said, the department offers no specific training to its employees in addressing the needs of incarcerated transgender people.

Directive 432.01 stipulates that corrections must consider gender identity, not just sex at birth, when determining whether a transgender person will be sent to a men’s or a women’s prison. But the same provision leaves the final placement decision at the discretion of corrections officials, and, in practice, the department still houses most transgender people according to their sex at birth. As of late April, 10 of the 15 transgender women incarcerated by the State of Vermont were housed in men’s facilities.

As recently as last year, some officials still seemed to be confused about the existence of transgender people in Vermont prisons. A February 2020 NBC News investigation into the lack of protections for transgender women held in men’s prisons included an interview with David Turner, the facilities operations manager for corrections. In response to a question about how transgender inmates are housed in the state, Turner asked: “What is meant by transgender women?

What is meant by transgender men?” The story noted that Turner refused to fulfill records requests until the NBC reporter had provided an explanation.

Messier is particularly frustrated by what she perceives as the department’s misapplication of the Prison Rape Elimination Act, which contains provisions to help protect queer and transgender people from being victimized.

“Corrections officers like to wield the PREA Act as a weapon against LGBTQ folks,” said Messier. “If they know that you’re a lesbian, for example, and they see you giving a hug to another incarcerated woman, they’ll use that as a way to issue you a sanction.”

In the same way, she added, transgender women who have not had genderaffirming surgery tend to be viewed as the perpetrators of sexual assault in women’s prisons, even though, statistically, they’re overwhelmingly likely to be victims: “The blame will always be placed on them, regardless of how they identify or where they are in their transition, because they might still have a penis,” Messier said.

Outside of prison, one in two transgender people experience sexual abuse or assault at some point in their lives, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime; in prison, transgender people are nearly 10 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than the general population. Transgender people are also incarcerated at twice the rate of the non-transgender population — and, in many cases, noted Jordan, director of SafeSpace at the Pride Center

of Vermont, systemic disenfranchisement is at the root of their involvement in the justice system.

In Vermont, transgender people face homelessness and poverty at much higher rates than the general population: According to a 2015 state-by-state survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality, one in 10 transgender Vermonters reported being unemployed, nearly a quarter said they had experienced homelessness, and almost half said they were living in poverty.

Since the beginning of this year, 33 states have introduced legislation aimed at restricting the rights of transgender people, ranging from bans on youth sports participation to a bill adopted this month in Arkansas that would make it a felony for doctors to provide gender-affirming care for minors. No such legislation has gained traction in Vermont — in fact, a bill that would outlaw the use of a person’s LGBTQ status to justify a crime currently awaits the signature of Gov. Phil Scott.

But Rep. Taylor Small (P/D-Winooski), one of its cosponsors, said that Vermont’s progressive policies are an inadequate bulwark against the anti-trans sentiment that persists in the state’s culture.

“So often in Vermont, we see ourselves as leaders, because we are leaders in a lot of ways. And yet, we are not exempt from bias and prejudice,” she said.

Last fall, Small became the first openly transgender Vermont representative. A month before she took office, she learned about the firing of Frank, the corrections employee who posted a transphobic rant on Facebook.

“It was so jarring to see that this is still what’s happening for my trans siblings who are incarcerated,” she said. “The harm that plays out against transgender folks in society is going to show up within all of our institutions, especially correctional institutions. The system should rehabilitate and support those folks so they can move back into the community, not do further harm.”

DISMAL HOUSE

Stephanie Mattson spent almost two decades in men’s correctional facilities in Vermont before she came out as a woman in 2016, at age 46. From the time she was 5 years old, she said, she knew she was trapped in the wrong body; as she got older, that awareness metastasized into self-loathing and depression, which she tried to escape through drugs and alcohol.

She first went to jail in 1997, after accumulating a string of DUI convictions. Gradually, her sentence stretched to 22 years, prolonged by her relapses into heavy drinking and drug use each time

she was on probation. By 2016, two years before she would reach her maximum sentence, Mattson finally felt ready to begin her transition.

At the time, she was living at Dismas House of Hartford, which contracts with the Department of Corrections to help incarcerated people reintegrate into the community. Even though Dismas House was all-male, Mattson found the staff and residents warm and accepting, and she started presenting as a woman in public.

After a year at Dismas House, Mattson wound up back at the Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury for drug use. She still wasn’t ready to officially come out as trans within the correctional system, but in the fall of 2017, when she was released again on community supervision, she told her parole officer that she wanted to live as a woman.

“I told her, ‘I shouldn’t have to live like this,’” Mattson said. “‘I shouldn’t be treated poorly in society, and I shouldn’t be treated poorly by the corrections system.’” In October 2017, she was offered another room at Dismas House, where, as a furloughed inmate, she would remain in the custody of corrections. She was nervous about how she would be treated in a men’s home, but since her previous experience there had been positive, she said, she felt safe enough to go back.

Mattson’s second stay at Dismas House, court documents suggest, turned out to be nothing like the first. In a 2018 lawsuit, Mattson accused Renee DePalo, then the director of Dismas House, of encouraging residents to harass and humiliate her so that she would be forced to leave. On several occasions, according to the suit, Mattson “overheard residents asking [DePalo] to ‘get this faggot out of here.’” Residents would taunt her with homophobic slurs and speculate about her genitals while she was in the room; whenever Mattson reported the harassment, the suit asserted, DePalo failed to take any action. Once, the suit read, “Defendant DePalo requested that Ms. Mattson undergo an HIV test to assuage some of the residents who thought that Ms. Mattson looked ill and ‘might have AIDS.’” Finally, the suit alleged, on December 2, 2017, Dismas House’s resident adviser, who reported to DePalo, screamed at Mattson to “get [her] AIDS-infected miniskirt out of the bathroom” and then assaulted her. In court filings, Mattson said she was so afraid that she called Bill Soule, the district manager for Hartford Probation and Parole, to come pick her up at the house. She never went back.

Dismas House denied Mattson’s ‘PUNISHED FOR BEING TRANS’

Stephanie Douglas Realtor

802.522.5886 Tony Shaw Realtor

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accusations of abuse; in October 2019, the two parties settled for an undisclosed sum.

As a condition of the settlement, neither Mattson nor Dismas House can discuss the case. DePalo is no longer employed by Dismas of Vermont; Seven Days could not reach her for comment. Jim Curran, the executive director of Dismas of Vermont, which operates three other homes in Burlington and Rutland, declined to be interviewed, citing the nondisclosure agreement. Asked whether Mattson’s case had any impact on policies or staff training, Curran replied by email that Dismas’ diversity and inclusion policies were updated “as recently as the fall of 2020.”

“When Dismas considers referrals, we look at gender identification, and not the identification assigned by someone at birth,” Curran wrote. “This can be challenging, since not all referral sources view gender in the same way as we do at Dismas.” Until recently, he noted, corrections has been the Dismas network’s primary referral source. (According to Curran, no transgender women currently reside at any of the three Dismas Houses for men or at its Rutland home for women.)

Former Vermont Human Rights Commission executive director Robert Appel, who represented Mattson, said that one of his attorneys had reached out to Soule for support on Mattson’s case.

According to Appel, Soule gave none, even though Mattson said she had contacted Hartford Probation and Parole about her treatment at Dismas House several times over the course of her stay. “He basically just offered sympathy,” said Appel.

Soule told Seven Days that he doesn’t remember whether Mattson had asked him for help while she was living at Dismas House. “I don’t recall all the facts,” he said.

“I would really have to do some homework on that.”

ELUSIVE THERAPY

According to Vermont corrections’ own directive, transgender people in state custody must be allowed unfettered access to hormone replacement therapy, a major component of the transition process for many transgender people.

Outside of prison, there is no barrier to starting hormone therapy, according to Rachel Inker, a Burlington physician who sees incarcerated transgender people in her practice. “This isn’t neurosurgery,” she said. “Primary care practices all over the country now offer this kind of treatment.”

But transgender women who have sought hormone therapy while in corrections’ 30

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

Mandy Sweet

custody describe a humiliating, bureaucracy-laden experience.

Mandy Sweet said that it took almost five years from the time she first requested gender-affirming medical care at Southern State until she was allowed to begin hormone replacement therapy. According to Sweet, the prison’s medical staff wouldn’t prescribe her hormones until the mental health providers had formally diagnosed her with gender dysphoria — the psychological and physiological distress experienced by people whose gender identity doesn’t match their sex at birth. Having to prove to multiple therapists that she was a woman on the inside, she said, was degrading and exhausting.

“They’d come up with all kinds of excuses to not give me hormones,” said Sweet, 27, who is serving the last year of her sentence in a corrections-supervised reentry house for men in Barre. At Southern State, one therapist refused to diagnose her with gender dysphoria because, at the time, Sweet didn’t consistently present as female — an argument, Sweet said, that felt like punishment for trying to come out in a men’s prison. “There were times that I hid, because I was trying to protect myself,” she explained. “That didn’t change nothing.”

Sweet told her counselor that she often wore her sister’s undergarments beneath her boy clothes to feel more feminine.

According to Sweet, the counselor told her that her childhood behavior was a fetish, not a manifestation of gender dysphoria.

It was so jarring to see that this is still what’s happening for my trans siblings who are incarcerated.

R E P. TAYL O R S MAL L

Yet another therapist asked Sweet to write an essay about why she thought she was transgender. When Sweet read aloud her three-page response, she said, the therapist informed her that she “still wasn’t ready.” Finally, after Sweet complained to

multiple administrators, she was allowed to begin hormone therapy in July 2020.

Jasmine Klein, the inmate recently transferred back to Vermont from Mississippi, also endured a long road to get on hormones. In 2017, four years after she came out in prison, Klein requested to begin hormone therapy. Like Sweet, Klein was asked to record in a diary why she felt she had “become” transgender. “I had to write like 30 pages’ worth of stuff,” she said. “It made me feel horrible, like I had some incurable disease.”

Klein said she reported several members of the medical staff for obstructing her access to treatment; finally, after she was transferred to Northwest State in St. Albans, the doctor there approved her for a consultation with Inker.

Since 2015, the Department of Corrections has been referring patients to Inker for transition-related care. Inker has treated only a handful — “We’re talking five, at most,” she said — and she confessed to having little insight into what her incarcerated patients go through before they come to her office, or what they experience with health care providers inside the prisons. “It’s been a closed circuit,” she said.

Starting hormone therapy, Inker said, does not require a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. “Out in the community, this is a consent process,” she said. “You don’t ‘PUNISHED FOR BEING TRANS’

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‘Punished for Being Trans’ « P.30

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need a psychiatric evaluation to get on hormones.”

According to Scott Strenio, who became the medical director for the Department of Corrections last summer, the department follows current practices for prescribing hormones, which he said are identical to what patients would encounter in a non-prison setting. He said he hadn’t heard of any circumstances in which someone had been denied hormones for failing to meet certain diagnostic criteria. “That’s unfortunate, if anything like that actually occurred,” he said. “But I’m not aware of that happening to anyone today, which I think is the thing that matters the most.”

Because of privacy restrictions, Commissioner Baker couldn’t comment on Sweet’s or Klein’s experiences with

in the facility. “I shouldn’t have to ask my medical provider to use my pronouns every time I go to see her,” she said. “Any time I ask her anything about my hormone medication, she goes, ‘Talk to the central office. Not me. I’m out of this.’”

GRIEVANCES

After Mattson’s second stay at Dismas House, she tried to get an apartment through the Hartford Community Restorative Justice Center, which offers transitional housing to formerly incarcerated people. But Hartford Probation and Parole told her that the program would only accept her directly from prison. So in early 2018, Mattson took matters into her own hands. “This is gonna sound fucked up,” she said, “but I relapsed on purpose and turned myself in drunk, just so I could go to jail and have a chance of getting that apartment.”

Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility

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their health care providers, but he did note that the department has followed the guidance of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: “What was standard two, three years ago isn’t standard today,” he said. “I’m really proud of how we’ve evolved.”

Since last summer, VitalCore Health Strategies, a for-profit company based in Kansas, has provided medical staffing and services for Vermont’s prisons. Recently, Inker said, VitalCore contacted her to set up monthly meetings with transgender patients and corrections medical staff, which she sees as a promising sign. “In a setting where there’s nowhere else for people to go,” she said, “it would seem very important that VitalCore invest in its ability to offer transgender care.”

Meanwhile, at Chittenden Regional, said Klein, her doctor frequently misgenders her and the other transgender women

At Northeast Correctional Complex, Mattson said, she already knew many of the inmates from her two-decade stint in the correctional system. To her great relief, they regarded her transition with indifference. “Those people had known me for so long that they really didn’t give a shit,” she said.

The corrections staff, however, proved far less accommodating. Mattson tried to advocate for herself through the prison’s internal complaint system, known in the correctional universe as the grievance process, which Mattson described as “a fuck show.” When an incarcerated person submits a grievance, corrections officers have two weeks to respond, making it an inefficient method of resolving immediate concerns; for a grievance to reach the desk of a high-level official, Mattson said, would sometimes take months, if not years. “Most people in jail don’t have

the ability to navigate that process,” said Mattson. “They’re burned out; they’re illiterate; they’ve already given up.”

In her final months in prison, Mattson accumulated a vast archive of the pink and yellow grievance forms, which she shared with Seven Days. One halfinch-thick stack deals exclusively with her attempts to get women’s clothes, which were unavailable to her through the prison commissary. When her wife tried to mail her packages, the facility denied them on the basis that Mattson had been issued men’s clothing upon arriving at the facility and was not entitled to personal property beyond her allotment, which meant, effectively, that she couldn’t obtain belongings that matched her gender identity.

“Directive 432.01 allows for accommodations regarding gender identity in accordance with the property matrix,” supervisor Stephen Russell wrote in response to a grievance Mattson filed contesting the denial. “Directive 432.01 does not make any reference to allowing a special package.”

It felt worse to hide all the time.

JA S M INE KL EI N

Corrections officers misgendered her constantly, said Mattson; when she managed to shower alone, one particular male guard would walk into the bathroom without announcing himself, a violation of Directive 432.01’s requirement that staff of the opposite gender knock before entering a cell or restroom. Mattson filed a grievance against the officer, to which a supervisor responded in writing: “COs do not have to announce themselves.”

At best, Mattson said, the staff dismissed her as a nuisance; at worst, they treated her like a con artist. On one occasion, she said, a male facilitator in one of her mandatory counseling programs even told her that she “just had some kind of sexual kink” and that she wasn’t actually trans.

“People clearly had never dealt with someone like me before,” Mattson said.

“A lot of them thought I was faking it to cause them problems, or to get special accommodations, or to build a lawsuit or something. Like, are you serious? Do you really think I’m gonna pretend to be one of the most hated and oppressed minorities in the world to gain some bullshit privilege from you?”

‘PUNISHED FOR BEING TRANS’

By mid-March, Jasmine Klein, back in Chittenden Regional, was starting to unravel. She and the cellmate who had coerced her into sex had been separated for reasons unrelated to the incident, and Klein was moved into a cell with a woman who berated her for being trans and told her she belonged in a men’s facility.

Finally, Klein snapped. She told one of her friends, another transgender woman held at Chittenden Regional, about what had happened with her cellmate, and her friend reported it to a corrections officer.

Klein said that both she and her cellmate were questioned about the incident; Klein, fearing retaliation if she spoke out, lied and said the sex was consensual. On March 22, she was placed in administrative segregation, the highest level of isolation and supervision in a prison, as punishment.

A few days later, Klein worked up the courage to tell an officer the truth about what happened. “She acted kind of annoyed when I told her,” Klein said.

“She was about to end her shift, and she was like, ‘Well, I guess I have to go tell my supervisor.’” Klein also reported the assault to the Vermont State Police, who told her they weren’t sure what they could do for her.

Under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, someone who reports a sexual assault must be separated from the alleged perpetrator, which means being relocated to another unit.

For more than three weeks after Klein reported the assault, the woman who coerced Klein into sex remained in the same unit, under less restrictive supervision. Almost every day, Klein said, the woman would walk past her cell and attempt to provoke her, flipping her off and mouthing obscenities. The facility took no action to separate them until April 15, after Seven Days asked Cormier, the operations chief, about the situation.

That night, according to Klein, the woman was moved into another part of the facility, and a supervisor informed Klein that staff would be on alert for signs that her former cellmate or other corrections officers were harassing her for reporting the assault.

Klein took little comfort in that intervention. For more than a month, she has spent 22 out of 24 hours a day in a camerasurveilled cell, nine paces wide, with no partition separating the toilet from the rest of the room.

“I still feel like I’m getting punished for being trans,” said Klein. “I’m sick of being dehumanized and treated like a predator.

I just want to be treated like a female, like a regular person.” m

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food+drink

From left: Hilma, twig, High Mountain Tropics and Local Hopper meads

Brew Unto Others Golden Rule Mead stands out with its modern versions of the classic B Y JOR D AN BAR RY • jbarry@sevendaysvt.com

G

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SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

Apfel’s business is about as small as they come: It’s just him. But with every batch of Cori Rose, Wild Light or High Mountain Tropics he brews, he passes on that consumer support to Vermont’s beekeepers.

There are approximately 900 of them, according to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. Those beekeepers produced 282,000 pounds of honey in 2020, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service reported.

Apfel started working in Colorado’s beer industry shortly after graduating from college. When he moved east to be closer to family, he ended up in Vermont working at Middlebury’s Otter Creek Brewing. Several years later, while working the night shift at Shelburne’s Fiddlehead Brewing, Apfel decided to strike out on his own — with mead, not beer.

“Night shift is a great time to ask yourself some really important questions,” Apfel said with a laugh.

Golden Rule Mead in Middlebury

PHOTOS: CALEB KENNA

olden Rule Mead’s tasting room on Elm Street in Middlebury couldn’t be in a much better place.

Addison County has long been the hive of beekeeping activity in Vermont. In their 2020 book The Land of Milk & Honey: A History of Beekeeping in Vermont, Bill Mares and Ross Conrad note that the state’s very first beekeeping association was established in Middlebury in 1875. They write that Addison County “exemplified the matrix between bees, forage, fruits, and dairy cattle,” which gave the area the reputation of a “land of milk and honey.”

Golden Rule also exemplifies that matrix (dairy aside). Alexandre Apfel’s meads celebrate local honey, herbs and fruit and are changing perceptions of what mead can be.

The ancient drink is not well understood. Despite the mead industry’s steady growth over the past decade, the drink still has the reputation of a sweet medieval novelty. In the landscape of Vermont’s craft beverage industry, though, mead makes a lot of sense.

“Mead is really cool because it’s a honeybased product. So anytime you’re drinking mead, you’re supporting beekeepers,” said Apfel, 30. “And there’s no such thing as ‘big domestic mead,’ so every time you’re drinking mead, you’re supporting a small business, too.”

He wasn’t a mead drinker, but he had started playing around with simple recipes at home. “All the homebrewing stuff I had accrued over the years was just empty, because being a commercial brewer is exhausting,” Apfel said. “I didn’t really want to do that on my time off, but I wanted something bubbling in my fermenters.”

The first mead he made was “terrible,” he admitted. But the second one worked, and the more he made, the more he found himself reaching for mead as a lighter option after a long night of brewing beer.

“I wound up appreciating that enlivening, sort of joyful buzz that I got from mead,” Apfel said.

Apfel left Fiddlehead to start Golden Rule in 2019. That second recipe became twig, a wild maple mead that is now one of the company’s six core offerings.

To keep costs down, Apfel moved out of where he was living. From May to November that year, he camped, couch surfed and crashed with his girlfriend. He’s a minimalist by nature, he said, and being nimble saved him months of expenses while he was “bopping all around” and building his business.

One of his frequent destinations was Artesano Mead. Mark Simakaski and Nichole Wolfgang opened the first meadery in Vermont in 2008, and their classic, wine-like mead has led the way for the state’s small mead industry. Artesano’s mead was among the first Apfel remembers trying — and that impressed him. He brewed Golden Rule’s first commercial batches at the couple’s production facility in Groton.

Apfel established an alternating proprietorship with Artesano, using its equipment to produce larger quantities than his homebrewing equipment could handle — up to 240 gallons per batch. He scaled his recipes to fill Artesano’s eight-barrel fermenters, aiming to sell Golden Rule entirely on draft.

That model appealed to Apfel because draft makes it easy for customers to sample before committing to an entire glass. But he encountered a problem: Restaurant and bar owners don’t typically dedicate a tap line to a niche category like mead, much less to a new brand.

Golden Rule landed on the draft list at a few places, including Winooski’s Mule Bar, Middlebury’s the Arcadian, Bristol’s Bobcat Café & Brewery, and two Burlington locations: Manhattan Pizza & Pub and Drifters. Still, Apfel realized at the end of BREW UNTO OTHERS

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COURTESY OF JACK PICKETT

Big Fish, Small Pond LONGTIME STOWE RESTAURATEUR TO OPEN SEAFOOD SPOT

After more than 40 years in the Stowe dining scene, JACK PICKETT has announced he will launch a new restaurant, BIG FISH, in the COMMODORES INN at 823 South Main Street.

Pickett is currently doing a complete renovation and hopes to open in June, he said. The location was formerly the Lighthouse Bar & Grill.

Big Fish will focus on seafood, which Pickett sees as a “gap” in Stowe’s restaurant landscape.

He plans to share his passion for raw oysters and offer lobster rolls and fried clam rolls, along with fresh fish of all kinds. “I grew up in Massachusetts. I love the ocean,” Pickett, 68, said.

“When I head to Maine, the first thing I do is go to a clam shack.”

Pickett’s first job in Stowe in the late 1970s was at TEN ACRES LODGE. In 1992, he opened Blue Moon Café, a pioneer of locavore cuisine. Later, he launched Frida’s Taqueria and Phoenix Table and Bar. Most recently, Pickett served as general manager and executive chef of VON TRAPP BREWING BIERHALL RESTAURANT. After he was furloughed in November 2020, Commodores’ owners approached him about leasing their restaurant space. It overlooks a pond with good outdoor seating options, Pickett said, “in case this COVID thing hangs on.”

While he appreciated working for the von

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Jack Pickett by the pond at Big Fish

Trapps, Pickett said, “I didn’t want that to be my swan song.” A friend recently told him, he added, ‘You’re the Tom Brady of Stowe. You don’t know when to quit.’”

Melissa Pasanen

New in Town SERVICE INDUSTRY PROS MOVE TO BURLINGTON TO OPEN BAR CALLED GOOD TROUBLE

Buying a bar during a global pandemic is a gamble. Buying a bar across the country?

“Basically, we’re crazy,” LAUREN MCKENZIE said.

But that’s what McKenzie, 33, and her husband, MATT SIMPSON, 30, have done, and in May they’ll open GOOD TROUBLE at 71 South Union Street in Burlington.

McKenzie and Simpson are bartenders by trade. After being furloughed from their jobs in Austin, Texas, in early 2020, they started looking for a smaller, more affordable place to start a business of their own.

“The service industry is kind of all we’ve ever known, and it was always a dream to one day open up a bar,” McKenzie said.

“It was mid-election cycle and mid-pandemic, and we wanted out of central Texas.”

Burlington fit their criteria, and when they saw the listing for the former Highball Social space, they jumped on it.

Their laid-back neighborhood bar will occupy the funeral parlor-turnedfood hub that also houses FOLINO’S, WILLOW’S BAGELS and LITTLE GORDO CREEMEE STAND. The skeleton sign above the door nods to the building’s history, while the name GOOD TROUBLE honors late civil rights leader and longtime U.S. representative John Lewis. The couple has commissioned Rutland artist LMNOPI to paint a mural tribute to Lewis on the side of the building.

“We were really inspired by his legacy and his quote about ‘making good trouble,’” McKenzie said. In addition to hosting local artists and community events, the bar will donate 5 percent of its profits to a different local charity every month.

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A Bakery of Her Own New Vergennes Laundry proprietor builds on a sweet legacy B Y M E L I SSA PASANEN • pasanen@sevendaysvt.com PHOTOS: CALEB KENNA

Nadia Dole

Good To-Go is a series featuring well-made takeout meals that highlights how restaurants and other food establishments VERMONT are adapting during the COVID-19 era. Check out GOODTOGOVERMONT.COM to see what your favorite eateries are serving up via takeout, delivery and curbside pickup.

GOOD TO-GO

Vergennes Laundry

I

n January, Nadia Dole relaunched Vergennes Laundry, the 10-year-old Main Street bakery and café she bought in the fall of 2020. She had deepcleaned, repainted and installed new shelving. She had opened up the work space in front of the floor-to-ceiling wood-fired oven and added a 5-by-6-foot black walnut baking table on wheels.

Dole had also been busy baking. The glass-fronted pastry case held tendercrumbed scones in flavors such as cheddarFrench herb and red currant-lemon.

Tea-style cakes — pistachio and lime; lemon and poppy seed; banana, chocolate and coconut made without gluten — were scattered with edible flowers or coconut flakes. She had perfected her own version of cardamom buns, a Vergennes Laundry favorite: elegantly twisted like a ballet mistress’ chignon, generously spiceflecked, buttery and crunchy with deeply browned undersides.

As Dole worked to establish herself, an early customer put a finger on what the new owner was feeling.

“This woman kind of pointed at me and said, ‘You have big shoes to fill,’” Dole recalled with a touch of chagrin.

But then, she added gratefully, “Another customer, a guy, turned around and said 36

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

to her, ‘Maybe she wants to wear her own shoes.’”

After the woman left, the man said to Dole encouragingly, “You be you.”

Dole has had 49 years to figure out who she is — but, as with most people, each new endeavor requires taking a step back to determine how to apply the best of herself.

The Montréal native currently splits her time between Vergennes and her family’s Putney farm. She is an accomplished photographer with a successful business that hosts photography and film workshops around the world in locations from Iceland to Morocco to Vermont. Dole has also cooked and baked professionally, including running the historic Store at Five Corners and its associated Green River Farm in Williamstown, Mass., from 2015 to 2017.

Dole has warm brown eyes and expressive eyebrows and exudes a generosity of spirit. “I’m always checking in on everyone,” she said. “It’s just who I am.”

Her achievements aside, it’s a challenge to take over an establishment with the distinctive personality and reputation that Vergennes Laundry founders Julianne and Didier Murat cultivated.

Barely a year after the couple launched their wood-fired bakery in 2010, they

earned a Food & Wine magazine feature that lavished descriptors including “superlative,” “perfect” and “excellent” on their blistered tarts, naturally leavened bread and intensely caramelized canelé pastries.

Dole was among the original bakery’s devoted fans. She had become a regular on trips between her family’s home, then in Bennington, and Montréal. “I thought it was perfect: the minimalist approach, the pastries,” she said. “It wasn’t fussy.”

When the Murats put the bakery on the market in 2017, Dole seriously considered buying it, but its price and standard of perfection deterred her.

Local chef Christian Kruse purchased the business and renamed it Vergennes Laundry by CK. He continued to offer some baked goods and added seated brunch and dinners. Kruse, who recently became executive chef at Black Flannel Brewing in Essex Junction, announced in December 2019 that the business was again for sale. This time, Dole made an offer; it was not accepted until May, after several other deals fell through due to COVID-19.

Dole originally planned to rename the bakery, but, she explained, “as I was writing the business plan, between all the published articles, the cult following,” it seemed a waste.

GOOD TO-GO

With critical help from her initial team of two (now three, and growing), Dole’sVERMON version of Vergennes Laundry is emerging.

The bakery is currently open for takeout Wednesday through Sunday, offering baked goods, coffee and sandwiches, as well as bread and a selection of homewares and specialty grocery items. Wednesdays and Saturdays are bread-baking days — and Dole will soon add Sundays. The rotating roster includes rye and country loaves, Provençal-style fougasse, and baguettes — all baked in the wood-fired oven.

About 70 percent of Vergennes Laundry’s baked offerings are made in the oven.

The pastries are mostly European influenced but with Dole’s spin. She makes plain brioche and a version filled with pastry cream, peach, hazelnut crumble and poppy seeds. Slices of the rich, soft bread are also layered with almond cream, blueberries and almonds to make bostock.

Dole’s husband favors the plain brioche.

Her 8-year-old daughter’s list includes a lemon, ricotta and white chocolate Basquestyle cheesecake, which the baker promises is “barely sweet.” Dole herself gravitates toward the cardamom buns and blood

food+drink

I FILL YOUR CUP,

BUT MINE HAS TO BE FULL, TOO. N A DIA D OL E

Selection of tarts

orange-cardamom cake. If she were baking just for herself, Dole said with a smile, “The whole case would be cardamom.”

Despite its varied and mouthwatering contents, Dole is not quite satisfied. “The pastry case is evolving. It’s not yet where I want it to be,” she said. Those who crave canelés — including her daughter — will have to wait. “I have to perfect my recipe,” Dole said.

Although Dole is a seasoned baker, the wood-fired oven was new to her. It comes with a steep learning curve and high demands on a baker’s attention and time.

On bread-baking days, Dole wakes at 1 a.m. to tend to the fire. “We call it the beast,” she said with a rueful laugh. “I call it my master.”

The pandemic has hampered Dole’s wood-fired-baking education. If not for COVID-19, she said, “I would have been on a plane going to learn how to make pizza dough,” among other global specialties.

The normally frequent traveler also misses the inspiration she finds in faraway places. “I fill your cup, but mine has to be full, too,” Dole said. For now, her focus is necessarily close to home.

On a recent spring Saturday, the bakery door opened to a tapestry of scents. Butter mingled with citrus; toast swirled with coffee. The glass case displayed more than half a dozen sweet and savory pastries, while a cubby behind the counter held baguettes from the morning’s bake. A staff member pulled meticulous shots of espresso.

The coffee is on theme, all wood-fireroasted by Coffee Lab International in Waterbury, a sister business to Vermont Artisan Coffee & Tea. The beans are singleorigin and sourced mostly from organic and

female-run farms. Dole received certification to do her own roasting at Coffee Lab, but that is on hold during the pandemic.

Dole’s aesthetic is immediately evident in the casually elegant bucket of tulips on the floor, the nature-toned linen aprons hanging on wall hooks, and a richly hued oil painting of giant pomegranates gracing the white beadboard wall. (When she first fell in love with the pricey piece of art 30 years ago, Dole recalled, “My husband said, ‘You want a house, or you want a painting?’”)

The built-in benches that once seated guests are now scattered with an eclectic selection of home goods and pantry items: blocks of pastel soap, slender beeswax candle tapers, bottles of wine and bars of chocolate.

Dole’s épicerie, as she calls it, is named for the French word for grocery. She stocks many of her favorite foodstuffs: squat ceramic jars of Pommery mustard; olive oil from Portugal, Italy and Tunisia; and fancifully illustrated boxes holding tins of preserved seafood. There are also glass jars of dried hibiscus petals her mother brings back from Egypt and the black currant tea favored by Montréal university students.

A stainless-steel oyster display case holds perishables, including Vermontproduced mushrooms, duck eggs, butter, cheeses and sodas, as well as lemons, olives and cornichon pickles from farther away.

Local vegetables and flowers will soon be added, Dole said.

The café offers a daily menu of sandwiches, including the French classic jambon beurre with Vermont butter and thinly sliced ham on freshly baked A BAKERY OF HER OWN

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2019 that he needed a tasting room of his own for the business to survive.

He moved the company — and himself — into a big corner house on Elm Street in Middlebury on March 1, 2020.

Just weeks later, the pandemic closed restaurants and bars around the state, eliminating any hope Apfel had of his mead flowing through their taps.

“Looking back, I think I was going to face a much steeper climb trying to get on tap around the state,” Apfel said.

He started packaging mead in eightounce bottles that he sold through retail shops and farmers markets. The high cost of honey makes mead expensive to make, so small containers keep the price accessible. Golden Rule’s bottles average $6 apiece.

While all of its meads are made from honey, none is sweet. They’re dry, light, bubbly and packed with unexpected flavors.

Apfel uses tea — an “underrated brewing ingredient,” he said — from Middlebury’s Stone Leaf Teahouse, and herbs, fruits and vegetables from nearby farms.

His honey comes from Champlain Valley Apiaries, Briar’s Patch Apiary, Dancing Bee Gardens, and Champlain Valley Bees and Queens. He plans to add Lemonfair Honeyworks this year.

Apfel has a small brewing setup in the tasting room’s basement for seasonal and experimental brews: a single kettle and a fermentation chamber that holds a few 15-gallon batches at a time. For larger batches, he maintains his arrangement with Artesano.

Tasting the meads blind, it could be hard to determine what you’re drinking. That’s especially true of Jitterbug, a 3.8 percent ABV session mead made with beets, lemon and jasmine tea; and of Hilma, a seasonal wild-fermented mead with lavender and lemon balm. These

497-1499

PHOTOS: CALEB KENNA

Brew Unto Others « P.34

ANYTIME YOU’RE DRINKING MEAD,

YOU’RE SUPPORTING BEEKEEPERS. AL EX A N D R E A P F EL

Alexandre Apfel

Golden Rule Mead bottles

naturally carbonated beverages make a wonderful, locally produced substitute for mass-produced spiked seltzer, or a lighter alternative to beer.

Wild Light is among the simplest of Apfel’s meads, ingredient-wise; it’s just honey and water, fermented with a strain of wild yeast that he propagated from Champlain Orchards apples. The aroma hints at those apples with a vivid, tart, tropical-fruit flavor. It’s easy to forget the drink is made from honey.

Some of the company’s meads are slightly more potent, but they stay in an ABV range similar to beer. “You’re not going to see very many Golden Rule meads that go over 10 percent,” Apfel predicted. “I don’t feel like there’s any need for me to create something that’s really intoxicating.”

His meads are perfect for sipping on a porch on a sunny spring evening — and

that’s a delightful way to experience Golden Rule’s tasting room, which finally opened inside at 50 percent capacity last month. Settling into the cozy blue couch on the wraparound porch with a sample or two of mead is like hanging out at a friend’s house, if that friend could answer any questions you might have about brewing honey-based beverages.

The relaxed, welcoming vibe continues inside the tasting room, where Apfel has set up a simple bar with a small draft system, along with a few seating areas.

When curious customers stop in for a sample, Apfel first asks them what they like to drink. He’ll guide cider drinkers to tart twig. Beer drinkers may appreciate the dry-hopped Local Hopper, which uses a blend of Cascade, Willamette and Centennial hops from Champlain Valley Hops.

High Mountain Tropics is what he calls “the wine drinker’s mead”; it tastes almost

MOTHER´S DAY

like a rosé, with a bit of tannin from black tea and hibiscus.

“I want it to be essentially a café, where people can come have a drink of something, hang out, chat, read, whatever,” Apfel said of the tasting room. “Frankly, I think Middlebury needs the nightlife.”

For now, the tasting room is open Friday and Saturday evenings from 4 to 8 p.m. Tastings for $5 include the six foundational meads. Apfel is planning a May Day celebration with extended hours, $1 off tastings and maybe even a maypole.

Compared with his hopes and plans for Golden Rule, Apfel sees the current version as “a drop in the bucket,” but a huge expansion isn’t his goal. “I want to be able to make a meaningful contribution to local agriculture and apiculture,” he said. “I’ll really know I’ve made it when I can hire someone.” m

INFO Golden Rule Mead, 8 Elm St., Middlebury, 719-216-2911, goldenrulebrew.com

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During the afternoon, the team has fun with le goûter. “In France, [that means] an afternoon treat or pick-me-up,” Dole explained. It might be a drink like a recently offered Yemeni-spiced mocha coffee, or a velvety dark chocolate and hazelnut-caramel tartlet with a perfectly crisp buttery crust.

In June, Dole said, Vergennes Laundry will start offering dinners a few nights a week. She will be partnering with chef Justin Wright, an alum of the Inn at Shelburne Farms, Hen of the Wood and Sister restaurant in Oakland, Calif. He most recently served as opening chef for the now-paused C’est Ça in Burlington and hosted Caspian Oyster Depot pop-ups in Bristol.

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“We want to give a stage to ideas and organizations,” Simpson said. “We’re incorporating the spirit of it — drinking with a cause,” McKenzie added.

The couple has retained some of the elements of Highball Social, including the mountain scene behind the bar, while adding couches and other vintage furniture, a fireplace, pool tables, and a small stage.

“It feels like a living room at this point,” Simpson said.

The bar will serve versions of classic cocktails named after the couple’s five dogs, local craft beer, cheap domestic beer, kombucha on tap, coffee and other nonalcoholic offerings.

Like its predecessor, Good Trouble will have a “symbiotic relationship” with Folino’s, McKenzie said. Customers will be able to order from a limited menu of Folino’s

What might dinner guests expect?

“The unexpected!” Dole replied with a laugh. “There are incredible things being Vegetable and Flower Packs, grown here, and we have this gorgeous Field-proven varieties, Herbs, Hanging Baskets, wood fire.”

Perennials, Compost, Organic Potting Mix, Dole has to continually remind herself Fertilizer, Onion Sets, Organic Seed Potatoes, and Fedco Seeds that it will take time to become established in her own shoes, harking back to Shopping by Appointment that early supportive customer. “I’m still 2638 Ethan Allen Hwy Visit GoldenRussetFarm.com trying to get there, but I’m on that path,” New Haven, VT 05472 she said.

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culture On the Wing Book review: The Oriole & the Ovenbird, Angela Patten B Y J I M SCHL EY • schley@sevendaysvt.com

V

COURTESY OF ANGELA PATTEN

ermont poet Cora Brooks (19412018) would sometimes begin her public readings with a oneline poem: “Forgive these words they are not birds.”

While ruing the meagerness of human artifice compared with nature’s wonders, in a quietly melodic way Brooks was also offering a bit of birdsong of her own — not only an apology but an emulation.

Angela Patten would likely concur, and heartily, with Brooks’ sense of fellowship with the feathered ones. Her new chapbook, The Oriole & the Ovenbird, includes 21 poems, with a bird (or several) appearing in each. The book’s cover image is an ecstatic avian painting by Vermont artist Adelaide Murphy Tyrol.

Born and raised in Dublin, Patten moved to the U.S. in 1977 and earned a BA from the

BOOKS

Her writing expresses a bright watchfulness, yet she concedes that finding words for what she sees is “like trying to lasso the air.” Patten offers reassurance to the wild creatures she encounters: “I am only looking, I tell them. Trying / to be quiet.

Just keeping an eye on things” (from “No Laughing, No Talking, No Red Light”).

Set in New England and Ireland, these are lyric poems, swift and concise. Here and there, details hint at more complicated backstories: allusions to surgeries, losses of loved ones, struggles with despair. History casts its shadow in the poet’s acknowledgment that scientific investigation has often served as a pretext for devastation: At birding class I learn the early Colonists killed and studied countless shorebirds then lovingly bestowed the familiar names by which we know them today.

Extravagantly creative yet practical as bread the ovenbird builds a leafy dome like a Quebecois clay oven part of his elaborate courtship ritual his industry an open invitation— come join me in my humble labor and help leaven it with song.

“SPRING COMES TO A DYING DECADE”

(from “The Thing with Feathers”)

University of Vermont and an MFA from (then-called) Vermont College. She lives in Burlington and teaches creative and expository writing at UVM. Patten has published three previous poetry collections, In Praise of Usefulness, Reliquaries, and Still Listening, as well as a prose memoir, High Tea at a Low Table: Stories From an Irish Childhood.

The term “chapbook” was first used in the 19th century to describe small printed pamphlets featuring popular tales and ballads. Their sellers were itinerant peddlers called “chapmen” — the word derives from an Old English word for barter.

Today’s literary chapbooks typically have 40 pages or fewer. Their brevity is an invitation to read a suite of poems in one sitting, making them more akin to a work of chamber music than a sprawling symphony.

Pa t t e n ’s verse is loping and loosely punctuated, relaxed and conversational but slyly Angela Patten rhymed.

says, “I too come from a long line of nobodies.” She recognizes this invisible companion as a comrade in creation:

And: John James Audubon loved birds so much he sometimes killed a dozen before finding the perfect model, then pinned it down with wires to create a lifelike image of a bird in flight. (from “Ever Since Breaking My Wrist”) For her part, Patten sings and celebrates, never risking harm or even interruption, only taking notice as she fashions her images.

To help a reader visualize, she frequently offers analogies for bird behaviors in the habits and trappings of people. Neighborhood crows “gather in the tallest pines / like old men in tarnished suits / meeting for unhappy hour.” The hummingbird is “dressed for dinner / in ruby cravat and emerald tuxedo.” And a raven “appears — / vulnerable — on two spindly legs / like a prisoner in handcuffs / or a card-sharp nailed for dealing / from the middle of the deck.”

This is a book to savor as our brief northern season of avian arrivals and breeding and fledging gives way to another wave of departures; a book to revisit while watching the winter birds visit our feeders.

In a few weeks, as spring comes to a climax, a familiar “teacher-teacher-teacher” will be audible to walkers in Vermont’s woods. In “Whither the Ovenbird,” Patten

Here’s the house finch with his flaming breast the goldfinch yellowing up like a canary the cardinal fully incarnadined.

It must be Spring.

And it’s as if we were back in the early Sixties staring at the static on our tiny black-and-white TVs eating porridge and potatoes in a muted universe when suddenly it was all brilliant plumage. Cuffs like ruffed grouse. Mother wore a woodpecker’s red beret. Brother was an Icterine Warbler in a paisley cravat. Dark-suited men dared to wear pink shirts like shy flycatchers.

Even the priest risked a raven-black leather jacket and a mood-ring.

The world turned bottoms-up like a tufted titmouse freeloading at the feeder, raucous squawks asserting what we instantly twigged was Mating Season.

Reprinted with permission from Kelsay Books.

INFO The Oriole & the Ovenbird by Angela Patten, Kelsay Books, 40 pages. $16. Phoenix Books virtual reading on Thursday, April 29, at 7 pm.

Register at phoenixbooks.biz.

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

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culture

Devil’s Playground Book review: Hour of the Witch, Chris Bohjalian B Y K R IST EN R AV I N • kravin@sevendaysvt.com

COURTESY OF VICTORIA BLEWER

Chris Bohjalian

I

n a March 2021 speech, Michigan Republican Party chair Ron Weiser flung a well-worn insult at Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel. He referred to the trio of powerful Democratic women as “those three witches” who should be “ready for the burning at the stake.”

Centuries after the Salem witch trials, this misogynist trope just won’t die.

Hour of the Witch, the newest book by best-selling Weybridge author Chris Bohjalian, is set well in the past, but its witch-accusation drama feels contemporary enough to drive home how far Americans still have to go in dismantling the patriarchy.

Bohjalian’s 21st novel, a historical thriller to be released on May 4, takes place in 1662 Boston. There, the town meeting place offers a view of the rapidly expanding city, as well as stocks and a whipping platform in the square. Progress and repression coexist.

The story centers on 24-year-old Mary Deerfield, who arrived in Boston from England as a teen with her parents.

BOOKS

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Several years after her arrival, she marries Thomas Deerfield, a well-to-do widower more than 20 years her senior with a bad temper and a drinking problem.

Thomas is violent. His abuse, which he cunningly displays only in private, escalates until he stabs his wife through the hand with a three-pronged fork. This scandalous utensil, which the Puritans call “the Devil’s tines,” plays an outsize role in Mary’s fate.

In a culture in which church attendance is mandated by law, divorce is possible but extremely rare. At her breaking point, Mary seeks to end her marriage on the grounds of cruelty.

The courtroom scene that ensues is a high point in the book.

Mary’s frustration is palpable as the magistrates — men who hold her physical safety in their hands — question her faith, her childlessness, her wifely obedience and seemingly anything but her husband’s actions.

“How was it that so much of the testimony that afternoon had been about her and not about him? How had it centered so much on her behavior and so little on his?”

Modern-day survivors of sexual assault may have wondered the same things when asked about their style of clothing or sexual history.

Later, after the death of a sick boy whom she had soothed with herbal remedies she learned from an unconventional friend, Mary is formally accused of witchcraft.

In a glaring example of irony, the physician who treated the boy describes in court the treatments he used on the ailing t e e n : b l o o d l e t t i n g, spiders, and shoving “boiled and dried toad dust” up the boy’s nose. Which sounds more like an instrument of witchcraft: herbal salves or powder of toad?

It will come as no surprise to those who have read Bohjalian’s 2018 novel The

Flight Attendant or watched its television adaptation on HBO Max that Mary’s desire for justice leads her down a deadly path.

Flawed but compelling characters are in the author’s wheelhouse. Here, Bohjalian establishes his protagonist’s motivations and quickly gets readers on her side, to the point where they may literally want Mary to get away with murder.

One satisfying moment comes when Mary calls out her husband on the incongruity of his favorite barbs: “I do not know what thou art planning,” he said. “I do not know what thou hast in mind. But thou art contemplating something sinister.

I know not what, but — ” “Either I have white meat for a brain or I am plotting evil,” she snapped at him. “Cheese is not known for its perniciousness. Which is it: am I a dullard or a witch?”

Mary isn’t the only character who is the subject of gossip and finger-pointing. There’s also Mary’s aforementioned unconventional friend, Constance Winston, a single woman well versed in herbal applications and clever rebuttals to rude magistrates, and the Hawke family, who have moved into the woods to avoid the conservative community’s watchful eye. Both help push Mary’s story forward and further illustrate that in their world, advocating for oneself is a risky business.

Bohjalian’s The Red Lotus, published in 2020, is an international thriller following an emergency room doctor as she pursues her missing boyfriend and a lethal pathogen in Vietnam and New York. While Hour of the Witch is quieter, it’s thrilling nonetheless.

Moments of suspense (Will Mary be caught meeting her secret love interest?) make for gratifying white-knuckled reading, as do several whodunit scenarios: Who carved a pentagram into Mary and Thomas’

FROM HOUR OF THE WITCH A question came back to her that had been hovering, rather like a raptor on an updraft, ever since she had met with Constance: Was she possessed? What did it mean that she saw conspiracies everywhere, even in the otherwise benign gaze of Rebeckah Cooper?

What should she make of the idea that Jonathan Cooke gambled with sailors and was in need of assistance from his father-in-law? Did a woman who was possessed not know it until it was too late — until the Devil had His claws so deeply inside her that extraction could only come via the noose? She imagined crouching inside her, rather like an infant in her womb, a monstrous imp — a shrunken gargoyle at the beck and call of the Devil — its talons ready to gouge out her flesh. This would be the beast she would birth, and the only one ever.

But she didn’t believe that. Not really. She believed only that she was married to a brute who was going to Hell, and it was not she who was possessed and dabbling with cutlery to cast spells.

She slipped her quill on the page with the 140th Psalm, closed her Bible, and resolved that tomorrow she would see Constance Winston once again.

door frame? Who planted the Devil’s tines in their garden? Who poisoned the boiledapple dessert?

In customary fashion, Bohjalian put loads of research into this book. The author cites numerous literary and academic sources in his acknowledgments and punctuates his chapters with quotes drawn from historical court documents. The story is, in fact, based on the first known divorce case citing abuse, according to marketing copy from publisher Doubleday.

The quotes, sources and 17th-century vocabulary (when’s the last time you used “drink-drunk” or “linsey-woolsey” in a sentence?) make the novel feel rooted in history. Thou shalt find no Hocus Pocus here.

Yet the gaslighting, victim blaming and double standards surrounding women in this 17th-century saga are eerily similar to those we see today. It wasn’t so long ago that a president of the United States led supporters in chants of “Lock her up!” and called a woman television host “low I.Q. Crazy” in a tweet.

So is Mary Deerfield a witch? It’s safe to say that if she is, it’s because someone made her that way. m

INFO Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian, Doubleday, 416 pages. $28.95. Phoenix Books virtual book release celebration: Chris Bohjalian in conversation with Jennifer McMahon, Monday, May 3, at 7 p.m. Free; preregister. phoenixbooks.biz

Vermont Blooms!

Inside Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association Award Winners Vermont Blooms Passport (see back page) Vermont Flower Show

Vermont Nursery & Landscape Associa 12th Annual Industry Awards Program Winners HONOR AWARD The Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association’s (VNLA) Industry Awards Program is in its 12th year. This program brings recognition to outstanding landscape design and installation.

The objective of the program is to promote excellence and encourage greater awareness of the aesthetic and environmental benefits of landscaping. The Industry Awards Program is open to current VNLA members actively offering professional landscape services.

Members are allowed to submit up to three projects per year. All installed landscapes are eligible.

Distinctive Landscaping | www.distinctiveland.com Splashing Water / Elizabeth Proutt & Christian D’Andrea / Charlotte, VT

MERIT AWARD

The judging is conducted by a panel of industry professionals, which includes landscape architects/designers, nursery professionals, and horticultural educators. Projects are judged upon their own merits against a set of five criteria. The five criteria include: • client/project goals • design and creativity • degree of difficulty • overall effect • overall comments Each entry is scored individually with a total of 100 points possible. The three award categories are: Excellence, Honor, and Merit.

diStefano Landscaping, Inc. | www.distefanolandscaping.com A Gathering Place in Georgia / David Burton / Essex Junction, VT

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ation Award Winners- CONGRATULATIONS! VNLA/Green Works Annual Awards 2020-2021

ABOUT THE VERMONT NURSERY AND LANDSCAPE ASSOCIATION

VJ Comai, Carl Phelps & Nan Jenks-Jay, Jack & Danielle @Greenhaven Gardens & Nursery, Dave Berg, and Daisy Unsicker.

Horticultural Achievement Award Vincent J. Comai City of Burlington Arborist

Young Nursery Professional of the Year Award

Burlington, VT / www.enjoyburlington.com

Dave Berg

Environmental Awareness Award

Horsford Gardens & Nursery / Charlotte, VT www.horsfordnursery.com

Nan Jenks-Jay and Carl Phelps Miller Hill Farm, Nursery & Gardens Sudbury, VT / www.millerhillfarmvt.com

Retailer of the Year Award

Allen B. Crane Horticultural Employee Acknowledgement Award Daisy Unsicker

Greenhaven Gardens & Nursery New Haven, VT www.greenhavengardensandnursery.com

Walker Farm / East Dummerston, VT www.walkerfarm.com

2020 Student Merit Awards UVM / Eli Wilson / Plainfield, VT VTC / Maria Potvin / Stamford, VT

Eli Wilson

Maria Potvin

The Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association is a non-profit trade organization representing Vermont’s green industry professionals since 1964.

We are also the producers of the biennial Vermont Flower Show. The VNLA mission is to support and strengthen the horticulture industry of Vermont by promoting a greater awareness to the public of the value of landscaping, plants, products, and services our member professionals have to offer. We are committed to promoting high standards of professionalism and fostering a sense of community. You can view a complete listing of our members and learn more about the VNLA and our members at www.vnlavt.org.

ABOUT THE VERMONT CERTIFIED HORTICULTURIST PROGRAM The VNLA initiated this certification program in 1988. The VCH program is designed to provide the public with professionals who have undergone a rigorous certification process and VERMONT CERTIFIED who must earn HORTICULTURIST continuing education credits each year. These certified professionals subscribe to a code of ethics that promote high ethical standards and keeps them on the forefront of the green industry.

When visiting a garden center or hiring a landscaper, ask to speak to a “Vermont Certified Horticulturist.”

You can view a complete listing of VCH professionals at www.vnlavt.org.

VCH

Awaiting the next VERMONT FLOWER SHOW ?

We are too! We’ll be back in MARCH OF 2023!

Meanwhile stay in touch with the

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Get your passport stamped upon visiting any of the listed businesses. t 7JTJU PS NPSF PG UIFTF CVTJOFTTFT BOE NBJM FNBJM ZPVS TUBNQFE QBTTQPSU UP UIF 7/-" to be entered into a drawing for $100 Nursery Gift Certificates and Flower Show Tickets!

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VIP tour and Backstage Pass

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Participating Nurseries Arcana Gardens and Greenhouses, Jericho

Henderson’s Tree & Garden Service, White River Junction

Claussens Florist, Greenhouse & Perennial Farm, Colchester

Marijke’s Perennial Gardens Plus, Starksboro

Elmore Roots Fruit Tree Nursery, Elmore

Mettowee Mint, Dorset

Evergreen Gardens of VT, Waterbury Center

Miller Hill Farm, Nursery & Gardens, Sudbury

Full Circle Gardens, Essex

Peet Farm Greenhouses, Cornwall

Glebe Mountain Gardens & Nursery, S. Londonderry

Red Wagon Plants, Hinesburg

Golden Russet Farm, Shoreham

Rocky Dale Gardens, Bristol

Greenhaven Gardens & Nursery, New Haven

Sam Mazza’s Farm Market, Colchester

Griff’s Greenhouses, Stockbridge

von Trapp Greenhouse, Waitsfield

Visit VNLAVT.ORG for more information!

Vermont Blooms Initiative The VT Blooms Initiative is an all volunteer VNLA member program that works to improve and enhance public spaces in VT towns. Our first 3 project included the Jeffersonville Family House at Mann’s Meadow, the Platt Memorial Library and the Vergennes Union Elementary School.

We’ll be scoping out 2021 projects for the Fall, so stay tuned!

For more details please visit www.vnlavt.org.

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Look back at the people and stories stories ofand enjoy our Rockyour Daleplant Gardens’ browse catalog 40-year history at rockydalegardens.com

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Presented by

Thank you to everyone involved in the Community Health Centers of Burlington’s “Salud” event!

Our event, held virtually for the first time ever, included a week-long online auction and special webinar celebration and raised almost $50,000 in support of CHCB’s important mission to provide quality health care to all Vermonters.

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Magnum Sponsor: • ReArch Company

Event Volunteers: Doris Angiono, Jen Leonard, Dawn McGinnis, George Black, John Black, Kacy Van Clief, Lauren Genta, Jared Knepper.

Litre Sponsors: • Dedalus Wine Shop, Market & Wine Bar • Janitronics • Mascoma Bank • MVP • NorthCountry Federal Credit Union • Seven Days • UVM Medical Center

Special Thanks: Co-Chairs Patrick Robins, Lisa Schamberg and Chris Loso, and Co-Auctioneer Ryan Addario

Demi Sponsors: • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont • Nikon Precision Inc. • Drs. Terry and Heather Stein • Morgan Stanley • Chris Loso and Dr. Rebecca Stone • Patrick Robins and Lisa Schamberg

As well as all of our generous individual donors, local business partners and bighearted auction bidders; all of whom value the health of our community.

Thyaoun!k

Glass Sponsors: • Susan Cantor • Instrumart • Redstone • SymQuest • Davis & Hodgdon Associates CPAs • Timberlane Dental Group • Community Bank • Patterson Dental • Repro

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4/27/21 12:34 PM

art

Of Eggs, Aliens and Men The Tony Shull retrospective at Sequoia Salon is a heady experience

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CAROLYN BATES

B Y PA M EL A POL ST O N • pamela@sevendaysvt.com

"Heartbreak" by Tony Shull

I

t’s a show nearly everyone in Burlington has seen, though not heard: “Phish Concert,” a mural on the North Street side of Nunyuns Bakery & Café, epitomizes a long, strange trip.

Motley pilgrims walk, crawl or ride a chicken on a magenta-hued road toward a distant stage. One of the phans is a creature whose backside is a set of stairs. A smileyfaced clock carrying a briefcase walks in the opposite direction. A huge, deific eye hovers in the sky.

The wondrous landscape includes

a rocket ship, a waterfall, a sky-bound ladder supported by nothing, a pair of snowmen, Santa with a red-and-whitestriped (north?) pole, and a deep gulch whose occupants seem unfazed to be stuck there. In the lower right corner, a facsimile of Edvard Munch’s screamer looks very fazed indeed.

This whimsical, colorful, richly imagined vista is the work of Tony Shull; it’s one of numerous murals, painted utility boxes and other works the self-taught artist produced over a lifetime in Vermont.

MORE ART ONLINE!

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SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

Though he was born in Minnesota and ventured to a few other locales around the country in his youth, Shull spent most of his life in Burlington. A beloved fixture of the local art scene, he died of pancreatic cancer earlier this month at age 75. (See his obituary on page 22.)

Ken Axelson, who owns the Nunyuns building and lives upstairs, was a close friend of Shull’s for more than five decades. In addition to multiple murals on the property, Axelson possesses a number of Shull’s paintings and assemblages, including a music box Shull made from a discarded toy radio. The bright-yellow toy came with a feature the artist surely appreciated: a smiley-faced clock. Inside the box, he created a moving scroll that unfurls an incongruous parade of nude female figures.

“Time is a frequent character in Tony’s painting,” Axelson said. “Bare naked women as well.”

Shull’s work is all over town. Near the café, another striking mural adorns the west wall of Vantage Press. On Ward Street, a large box of indeterminate purpose boasts an abstract design in iridescent yellow, a color Shull favored.

The patio of Drifters, a soon-to-close restaurant on North Winooski Avenue, is painted in psychedelic hues that nearly leap off the wall. Downtown, in an alley off Cherry Street near Ben & Jerry’s, a “portrait mural” invites passersby to stand against the human-shaped white space at the center of another vivid abstraction.

A recreation of that last mural is part of a Shull retrospective currently on view — by appointment — at Sequoia Salon on Kilburn Street. Organized by local photographer Carolyn Bates, the exhibit features original paintings and prints, with the latter available for purchase.

Bates was working on a book about Burlington murals when she met Shull; he was her first interviewee. This spring, when she learned he was sick, Bates

ART

“Thursday Is Pizza Night” by Tony Shull

shifted gears. “This project has taken on its own life,” she said of the Shull exhibit.

Anthropomorphized clocks recur in the collection, along with other frequent elements in Shull’s work. Whether seriously or facetiously, he claimed to have been abducted by aliens as a child. This scenario, which he “documented” in a painting, fueled his preoccupation with extraterrestrials, rocket ships, astronauts and space.

“It probably came from his own sense of alienation,” Axelson observed.

Shull often deployed these ideas in humorous ways. His painting “Thursday Is Pizza Night” depicts a rocket ship that

Find exhibits, events, talks and call-to-artist listings at sevendaysvt.com/art. If you’re planning a virtual or IRL event or exhibition, submit the details for a free listing using the form at sevendaysvt.com/postevent. You may also email information to galleries@sevendaysvt.com. Accompanied, identified and credited photographs are encouraged where applicable.

is open on one side, dollhouse-like, to expose five levels within. The third level, a kitchen, features tiny chefs preparing Thursday’s feast; other floors reveal the travelers playing music, sleeping or minding the business of hurtling through space.

Another painting, “One Giant Leap for Mankind,” presents a visual pratfall. A rocket ship has landed on a planet, and the astronauts have opened a door and stuck out a ladder. Having apparently stumbled while descending, the first astronaut lies on the ground, distraught — or maybe just embarrassed, given that the other two astronauts are pointing and laughing at him. Any klutz among us can relate.

Burlington resident Megan Humphrey became friends with Shull in the early 1980s when both lived on North Willard Street. She recalled finding a recycled-art gift from him one day, surreptitiously placed in her backyard.

“It was a spaceship with Martians and a sign that said, ‘Hello Earthgirl, you are beautiful!’” Humphrey said.

Not all of Shull’s gifts involved outer space. He also offered up painted found rocks or scraps of wood — “He would just use anything, he was so clever,” Humphrey said.

She extolled Shull’s love of word play, including spoonerisms. “He would say something and then do this little chuckle, kind of to see if you got it,” she said.

Shull also had a thing for his“Egg Man.” Many locals will remember his enigmatic mural, “Egg Man Comes to America,” on the side of Dough Boy’s Bakery & Coffee Shop, a Pearl Street institution that closed in 2011. The long, horizontal painting featured an ovoid character hoisting an American flag on one shoulder and shaking a man’s hand.

Apparently the Egg Man was newly arrived in the USA. Where, though, was the question. A yellow mountain range provided the backdrop for a stark, leafless row of trees hugged by clothed or nude figures.

The painting also included two iterations of another Shull motif: human heads as receptacles. On the far left, a staircase extended from a doorway in one head, allowing figures to exit as if from a plane.

In the center, another large head lay tipped on its side with various contents spilling out. The Egg Man seemed blissfully unaware of the disturbing landscape around him.

“I think the Egg Man is his little benevolent creature that wants to bring peace and gentility and unification,” Axelson opined.

“The mural on Dough Boy’s was classic Tony. It’s too bad it got painted over.”

The creature has an entirely different experience in “The Cleansing of the

“Phish Concert” by Tony Shull

the late Vermont folk artist Gayleen Aiken, others hint at darker moods, complicated relationships or the weird state of the world.

Sorrow is openly on display in “Heartbreak,” another painting in the Sequoia exhibition. In the foreground, a man walks down a city sidewalk, one hand clutching

SHULL PLUMBED PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPTHS IN MANY OF HIS FIGURATIVE WORKS.

Tony Shull with a painted box on Ward Street

Egg Man,” a print of which can be seen at Sequoia. Here the Egg Man is more of an egg cup with legs; next to him, a man pours water into the cup while covering his eyes with his other hand, as if he can’t bear to watch. Or perhaps he’s shutting out the figures, faces and objects that swirl like a bad dream in this sinister, surreal scene. Salvador Dalí springs to mind.

Shull plumbed psychological depths in many of his figurative works. If some of his paintings recall the cheerful naïveté of

his heart. He grimaces with pain. Behind him, a happy couple walks arm in arm in the opposite direction. An adjacent restaurant window reveals diners gazing at the passersby, an unwitting audience to this theater of human emotion.

Axelson noted that Shull often painted himself in his works — he was a handy model, after all. In “Heartbreak,” Shull is both the heartbroken man and the happy man. “He bore witness in his work,” Axelson said.

That quality may be especially poignant in works that express Shull’s empathy.

In “People Who Have Fallen Thru the Cracks,” he presents that plight literally: Eight people stand inside a fissure in the

desert-like earth — one of them a longnosed blond like Shull himself. Above, a man looks down at them with his fingers laced behind his back, indicating his unwillingness to help.

As his friends describe Shull, disinterest would not have been his response to people in need — or animals, for that matter. “Tony’s sense of himself was a Saint Francis of Assisi character,” Axelson said. “He had a way with animals that was unusual. He told me about a pigeon he had once; it was injured, and he took it in. They would sit and watch TV together, and Tony would gently stroke it. That just describes the way he was.”

“He was really one in a million,” Humphrey agreed. “A funny and kind guy.”

Shull reportedly had no interest in material or artistic “success” as conventionally defined. He pieced together a living painting interiors and performing a variety of odd jobs. He was driven to make art for the pleasure of doing so. If alien visitors find these treasures one day, surely they will marvel at the fantastical mind of the Earthling who made them.

“Tony was a unique person,” Axelson said. “He was one of few people I have known who was true to himself.” m

INFO Tony Shull retrospective exhibit, on view through June 25 at Sequoia Salon, 39 Kilburn St., Burlington. Call 540-8333 for appointment.

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

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music+nightlife Bow Thayer

Bow Thayer grapples with death and change on The Zen of Snug B Y C H RI S FAR NSW ORTH • farnsworth@sevendaysvt.com

G

loomy weather is hardly abnormal for early spring in Vermont.

But on a recent gray, rainy Monday, as fog moved around the hills like smoke, Bow Thayer was feeling the mud-season lethargy as he waited for the sun to emerge.

“It’s so dull out there today,” Thayer said by phone as we both stared at the similarly overcast scenery, separated by some miles and a pandemic. “I can’t really get it together on days like this, which is kind of a new thing,” he continued. “Maybe it’s age — I’m in my fifties now. Or maybe it’s the whole quarantine thing.”

The Stockbridge-based musician sighed as he contemplated the last year

of pandemic-fueled isolation. “Some days I have these creative bursts, and others I can’t get off the couch,” he revealed. “I do believe in a global consciousness, and right now the world is sick. It’s heavy living. I think about it a lot.” Then he added, “It’s also really good for songwriting.”

Thayer has the receipts to back up that claim. In the past 18 months alone, he’s put out a double LP with his old bluegrass outfit the Benders, released half a dozen solo singles and started working on a tribute album for a deceased bandmate. Early April saw the release of The Zen of Snug, his latest and perhaps most complete record to date.

Quarantined or not, Thayer — who has more than 30 releases to his credit with

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several bands and as a solo artist — has always been prolific. After growing up in a small town near the South Shore in Massachusetts, Thayer joined the Boston music scene in the early 1990s with Seven League Boots, a rock/reggae hybrid that shared the stage with the likes of Fugazi and Pearl Jam. Following that, he did double duty playing Delta blues slide guitar with Elbow and banjo and lead vocals in bluegrass outfit Jethro, before his seminal run in the Benders.

During his lengthy career in Vermont, where he’s lived since 1998, Thayer has honed his craft to a science. But he’s also endured tragedy and hardship. His longtime drummer Jeff Berlin suffered a

BEN DEFLORIO

Remain in Light

series of strokes during a recording session in 2015 that rendered him unable to play for a time. Fortunately, Berlin was able to relearn the drums and return to the band.

But in March 2018, Thayer’s protégé and bassist Alex Abraham committed suicide.

In 2019 Thayer lost another good friend, musician Doug Chase.

“The last few years have just amplified who I am as a person and an artist,” Thayer said. “All this shit that has gone down — Jeff’s stroke, Alex and Doug dying, COVID, being a parent, and trying to survive in the music industry while living in the middle of nowhere — it’s all fueled me to write these songs.”

The Zen of Snug offers a panoramic view of Thayer’s diverse personal and musical histories. On the edgy, indie-rockinfluenced track “Welcome to the Panic Room,” Thayer growls, “I don’t know what’s real no more!” “Elinoire” is a lush bluegrass ballad that sits in the middle of the album like a beautiful Americana artifact in a museum display. The searching, spacey number “You Are Not Unknown” flirts with progressive rock.

While stylistic shifts double as a summation of the past and a statement of intent for the future, the record’s glue is Thayer’s thematic consistency as a writer.

“It’s sort of a full-circle-sounding album to me,” he suggested. “The songs all have a theme underneath them. I can be a pessimistic fuck anyway, but I tried to put a little optimism in every song this time.”

A balance of bitter and sweet defines the record, which is fitting. The Zen of Snug is dedicated to Chase.

“Doug’s nickname was Snug,” Thayer explained. He added that he and Chase grew up just streets away from one another in the same tiny Massachusetts town. But the two didn’t meet until years later as adults with families living in Vermont.

Thayer and Chase initially bonded over a mutual love of building their own instruments. Thayer plays a custom instrument of his own design called the Bojotar, a sort of banjo/resonator guitar hybrid, and Chase worked for Parker Guitars many years ago.

Chase “had this sort of Zen about him, this whacked-out philosophy I just loved,” Thayer continued. “So I wrote a song for him, and that was sort of the seed of this record.”

Well, they’re starting up again, and we're here to help. Find live music, DJs, comedy and more at sevendaysvt.com/music.

If you're a talent booker or artist planning live entertainment at a bar, nightclub, café, restaurant, brewery or coffee shop, send event details to jordan@sevendaysvt.com or submit the info using our form at sevendaysvt.com/postevent.

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Find, fix and feather with Thayer and his bandmates recorded the Benders in the early 2000s, which he Nest Notes — an e-newsletter that song, “A Small Eternity,” and 10 said were “basically live albums.” filled with home design, “The first one was recorded live with others remotely over the past year.

Vermont real estate tips Berlin, the only other musician besides one microphone, just like the old-timey and DIY decorating Thayer who’s based in Vermont, sent bluegrass albums,” he explained. “When his drum tracks from his home studio. you’re in the same room, you’re feeding inspirations.

Jeremy Dryden laid down bass tracks in off each other.

Sign up today at Somerville, Mass. Chris McGandy, who “I know we’ll get back to that,” Thayer sevendaysvt.com/enews. played with Thayer in his old band Perfect continued, suggesting that recording in Trainwreck, recorded pedal steel parts isolation “isn’t worse, it’s just different.” It SPONSORED BY from Petaluma, Calif. also resulted in a uniquely personal album PRACTICAL MAGICK A few heavy hitters round out the in The Zen of Snug.

15 PEARL ST, ESSEX JUNCTION 05452 802-662-5570 PRACTICALMAGICKVT.COM band, including electric guitarist Val “In some ways,” he said, “this record is McCallum, whose regular gig is playing more me than anything I’ve done before.” lead guitar for Jackson Browne. McCalThat and the forthcoming The Book of Moss might also be Thay-12V-Nest042821.indd 1 lum’s tasteful, fluid work 4/27/2112v-practicalmagick011321.indd 4:05 PM 1 1/8/21 4:20 PM er’s last actual albums; he shines on album opener “Earthling” and “This believes the art form is EACH WEEK Thing Called God.” waning.

OF LOCALLY PRODUCED Dana Colley, formerly “I hate to say this, because I’m an album of Boston alt-rock legends Morphine, is another guy, but that’s not the way 96.1 96.5 98.3 101.9 AM550 musician Thayer knew things are going now,” he he had to have on the said. All of the singles he record. Colley’s signature released last year did better T������ W��� C������ Monday 1:00 – 2:00PM (alternate weeks) baritone sax colors a pair on streaming services Award-winning Vermont broadcaster Charlie of songs, most notably than his 2018 album, A Papillo travels the state, interviewing Vermont’s “Welcome to the Panic Better Version of the Truth. community, business, and political leaders Room.”

“There’s 60,000 releases that about the issues of the day.

Three-time Grammy Awardcome out on Spotify a day, or winning producer Justin Guip, something ridiculous like that,” E���� T��� R���� Tuesday 1:00 – 2:00PM a longtime Thayer collaborator, Thayer said. “Everybody wants DAILY SHOWS Monday-Friday Host Traven Leyshon talks to working mixed the album. Guip worked singles. So if you can’t beat ’em, Vermonters to get their take on a range of for years with the legendary join ’em.”

Host Ric Cengeri discusses issues issues from the perspective of labor.

As the conversation wound Levon Helm and plays drums large and small of interest to VERMONT for Hot Tuna. down and the sun broke through T�� V������ C����������� VIEWP INT Vermonters with interviews of “Every record is different the cloud cover, Thayer arrived Wednesday 1:00 – 2:00PM political and business leaders, with Ric Cengeri Vermont author and journalist David Goodman at a bullet point for the last year with Bow,” Guip said on a call 9:00 – 11:00 AM authors, educators, and others in the goes beyond the headlines for deeper BOW THAYER from his recording studio in of his life. news and phone calls from listeners. discussions with guests on topics ranging from Red Hook, N.Y. “He just writes “I’m pretty happy with politics to arts to sports to business. so much! He writes two, somethe record,” he said. “My wife � times three records a year — it’s crazy.” plays it in the car, and my 11-year-old Conservative commentator H����� C��� T���� �� � Guip is already mixing Thayer’s next runs around singing songs from it. And, Friday 1:00 – 2:00PM Bill Sayre interviews important album, a tribute to Abraham called The yeah, the COVID thing — like I said, heavy Dr. Louis Meyers of Rutland Regional Medical S���� R���� Vermont political figures and Center discusses important medical topics with Book of Moss. living.

11:00 AM – Noon takes calls from listeners. other doctors and medical professionals and “Sometimes with Bow, I finish one “But I was already sort of doing my takes listener calls. record and we’re right on to the next,” own thing in some ways,” he continued.

Guip explained. “But creatively, it really “That’s why I built my own studio and I� T�� G����� Popular Vermont sports-talk host keeps me on my toes.” make my own gear, so I can record my Saturday 12:30 – 1:30PM Brady Farkas brings his talents and The process of recording remotely own music.”

Native Vermonter Peter Burke shares his his network of sports commentators, gardening expertise in a show that features Thayer paused and then laughed, as if kept Thayer on his toes, too. Though he players, team executives and fans to guests, listener questions, gardening advice enjoyed certain aspects of the experience, coming to a realization.

WDEV for wide-ranging discussions and pest and disease information.

5:30 – 7:00 PM he said, it may have been a bit too isolating “Maybe it’s the same as living out in the on all things sports. for comfort. woods in Vermont — it all fits into the same “I did think about Brian Wilson a lot,” philosophy,” he suggested. “All I know is, Thayer admitted, referencing the Beach I’ve had some good songs come to me Boys mastermind who famously secluded while I was building a stone wall.” m himself in the recording studio. “There’s something that’s lost when you don’t have INFO your band in the room with you.”

The Zen of Snug is available on Spotify, Apple Thayer recalled making records with Music and at bowthayer.bandcamp.com.

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REVIEW this Black Fly, Black Fly 01 (SAMEDI RECORDS, DIGITAL)

Mood and aesthetics are especially important considerations for young new artists trying to find their audience. And since 21st-century singer-songwriters are expected to be sentient PR campaigns, catering to potential listeners with a never-ending torrent of content, the sights that accompany the sounds are a huge part of the package. I suppose it’s always been this way to some extent, but branding has never been more prevalent in music than now.

The video for Black Fly’s “Sign 2,” a percolating dance jam from the Richmond resident’s debut LP, Black Fly 01, shows off his personality — and physicality. Real name Joseph Rittlig, the

Idiolect, Subterfuge (EQUAL EYES RECORDS, DIGITAL)

The strength of a local music scene isn’t just about quality. Stylistic diversity is equally important. By that measure, Vermont is doing great. In the past year, we’ve seen the spaced-out future funk of Real Ova Deceit and the ambitious psychedelia of Northeast Kingdom rap crew Tiger Fire Company No. 1. The latest out-there addition is a duo called Idiolect, whose debut, Subterfuge, is a broadcast from another universe.

Rapper/producer AgentElsewhere and rapper K_Now are Burlington based these days, but they grew up together in Fair Haven. Their natural chemistry enhances every track on the LP, and it’s clear the two love working together. They’re also happy to embrace exactly who they are — “straight out the boondocks with a boom box.”

Sonically, Subterfuge is a refreshing

electro-pop artist proves to be quite the limber, quirky dancer. Animated by the track’s sharp cracks and plunging synths, he jerks his body in delightful ways through warehouses, dark country lanes, rolling hills and windy moors. For a presumably low-budget video, it packs quite a punch.

The moniker Black Fly implies a certain level of macabre. The production on Black Fly 01 is shadowy but only flirts with being full-on disturbing. More often than not, Rittlig plunges into darkness only to ascend to sun-drenched heights.

Love hovers at the center of his universe, a red giant in an otherwise starless quadrant of space. He sings with a vocal

rasp overflowing with power; his words melt into each other as he languishes in amorous feelings.

The quantized square bass on opener “Dipped” recalls the foundational elements of ’80s English new-wave acts such as New Order and Depeche Mode. But Black Fly’s music isn’t a pastiche.

Eighties pop may linger in its DNA, but it’s fueled as much by contemporary electro-pop, R&B and hip-hop elements — not to mention an “American Idol” sense of grandeur — as by music from 35 years ago.

Black Fly 01 is a dynamic assemblage.

“Sadsap” chugs along with locomotive beats and a ghostly trumpet solo, while

“Green” is an aerobic workout built on simmering hi-hats and spurts of synth.

Penultimate track “Z’s Ocean” is a sprawling torch song, a classically constructed piano ballad with a sense of trepidation. It lingers on a question Rittlig sings: “Can I take my love down to the ocean … and fade away?” But does he look to the sea as a source of life or a black, unknowable void? He asks these questions again and again, wondering whether he can “cast my fear,” “burn my body” and “throw the world out” into the waves.

Black Fly 01 is a solid entry from a previously obscure Vermont artist. Rittlig proves a compelling and appealing personality, one with a strong sense of composition and substantial pipes.

Black Fly 01 is available to stream on all major services.

blast of club-shaking electro-rap, punkrock energy. The beats boom without mercy, full of frozen synths, bass drops and rapid hi-hats, equally influenced by Public Enemy’s Bomb Squad and Kraftwerk.

Those distinctions didn’t always mean as much as they do now.

Before record execs and music critics made up names for 10,000 electronic subgenres, people could be fans of both Mantronix and Skinny Puppy without worrying about dress codes. And while it’s easy to lump smart, weird, white rappers in with labels such as Anticon or Definitive Jux Records, Idiolect are really a throwback to that late ’80s/early ’90s era when everything was still wide open and brand new.

Befitting such a polyglot sound,

Idiolect are lyrically all over the map.

In their collage of styles, thoughtful, introspective raps collide with party tracks, paranoid politics, horrorcore and sci-fi storytelling. Their flow patterns also draw from a deep, diverse tool kit, to the point where they can sound like a much bigger crew.

Subterfuge greatly benefits from the formidable talents of DJ Kanga, one of the finest turntablists the 802 has ever seen. But the real creative backbone of Idiolect is AgentElsewhere, aka Steve Eaton, who provides the beats, mixing and mastering — and even the cover photography.

Some of these tracks have been demoed and workshopped for years, and the improvement in Eaton’s engineering game over that time is staggering. The LP

sounds fantastic: a massive wall of sound that finds room to spotlight every verse.

There are plenty of microphone workouts here, too, such as standouts “Film This,” “Keep Runnin’” and the brutally bleak “H.” Subterfuge is equally strong on the instrumental front, packed with scratch interludes and carefully sequenced MIDI movements.

The result is an urgent, exciting debut that demands to be taken on its own terms. This album is an important new twist on the 802 sound, but what makes it great is that Idiolect don’t seem to care about that at all. They’re here to bang out and have fun.

So take Subterfuge as it is: a speakerfolding good time, a nihilist nightmare and, most of all, a killer live set waiting to happen. Here’s hoping that’s very damn soon.

Subterfuge by Idiolect is available at equaleyesrecords.bandcamp.com.

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movies

RITES OF SPRING A desolate island may hold the key to a 21-year-old mystery in this Danish series.

Equinox HHHH

O

Copenhagen and try to solve the mystery of what happened to her sister.

Will you like it?

In 1999, 21 graduating seniors went off on a party bus, swigging and yelling and flirting.

The bus was later discovered on a country road with only the driver and three students inside; the rest of the class was gone.

Twenty-one years later, no trace of the missing students has ever been found.

Astrid (Danica Curcic) is the younger sister of Ida (Karoline Hamm), one of the disappeared. Now working as the host of a call-in radio show about the paranormal, Astrid remembers vividly how frightened and reluctant to go on the bus Ida seemed that day. The loss drove their parents apart and left Astrid with waking nightmares.

A cryptic on-air call from Jakob (August Carter), one of the three graduates who didn’t vanish, spurs Astrid to return to

It’s no surprise to learn that “Equinox” started as an audio drama. Astrid initially announces her intention to tape a radio show about the mystery, a perfect setup for the mockumentary format so popular with horror podcasts.

But the Netflix version abandons the radio-show conceit almost immediately.

Rather than follow Astrid’s progress toward the truth in procedural fashion, “Equinox” hops around in time. Flashbacks make us privy to Ida’s perspective in the months before her disappearance, showing us things that Astrid has no way of knowing.

Or should have no way of knowing — because Astrid, it turns out, has always had an awareness of things beyond her ken.

She’s not much of a detective or a journalist; viewers expecting a whodunit will be frustrated by the seeming lack of logic with which she investigates. (For instance, after failing to connect with Jakob, she appears to forget about the other two surviving students for a while.) In fact, Astrid is a bit of a basket case — or she’s the only person who’s ever known the truth about what happened, and would still know it if she hadn’t allowed her elders to convince her she was mentally ill.

With its unreliable, often passive protagonist, “Equinox” is closer to moody horror than to mystery. It seems to be aiming for that “Twin Peaks” vibe; any solution is secondary to the realization that everything in ordinary life is woven through with sinister intention.

If the characters’ motivations don’t always hold up, the acting does. Viola

NEW IN THEATERS

NOW PLAYING

LIMBO: A group of refugees, including a young Syrian musician (Amir El-Masry), wait on a Scottish island for the results of their asylum claims in this drama from writer-director Ben Sharrock (Pikadero). (103 min, R. Savoy Theater)

DEMON SLAYER THE MOVIE: MUGEN TRAINHHHH A team of demon slayers embarks on a new mission as the popular manga/anime series jumps to the big screen.

(117 min, R. Essex Cinemas. Dubbed and subtitled.)

The deal

SEPARATION: An 8-year-old (Violet McGraw) who has recently lost her mom isn’t eager to let her dad (Rupert Friend) move on — and neither are her creepy beloved puppets — in this horror flick from William Brent Bell (The Boy). (107 min, R. Essex Cinemas) THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS: This acclaimed documentary examines the work of a small group of elderly men in Piedmont, Italy, who carry on the tradition of hunting a pricey truffle that resists cultivation.

Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw directed.

(84 min, PG-13. Savoy Theater)

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GODZILLA VS. KONGHHH Ready to go back to the theater and see giant monsters smash each other in a would-be blockbuster directed by indie horror filmmaker Adam Wingard? (113 min, PG-13. Essex Cinemas, Stowe Cinema, Sunset Drive-In) MORTAL KOMBATHH An MMA fighter competes in a high-stakes intergalactic martial-arts battle in the latest adaptation of the classic video game. (110 min, R. Essex Cinemas, Stowe Cinema, Sunset Drive-In) NOBODYHHH1/2 Bob Odenkirk plays a put-upon dad who goes on a Death Wish-style vigilante spree in this action flick. (92 min, R. Essex Cinemas, Sunset Drive-In)

COURTESY OF NETFLIX

ur streaming entertainment options are overwhelming — and not always easy to sort through. Recently, I was telling a friend about the interesting Danish high school graduation customs documented in 2021 Oscar winner Another Round. (Oral exams on philosophy! Very drunk kids in nautical-looking caps boarding a party bus, accompanied by their equally drunk teachers!) She informed me there was a whole mystery series pivoting on just such graduation festivities gone awry.

I had to watch it. “Equinox” (2020) is a six-episode Netflix original series produced in Denmark, directed by Søren Balle and Mads Matthiesen and based on the podcast “Equinox 1985,” created by Tea Lindeburg.

The show doesn’t shed any light on the origins of those “The Love Boat”-esque caps (actually a long Nordic student tradition), but it’s a head trip, all right.

REVIEW Martinsen is haunting and haunted as the psychic 9-year-old Astrid, and several performers do memorably quirky turns in small roles.

The filmmakers excel at creating creepy visual textures. Aerial shots of the woods are a horror cliché these days, but here the drone photographers also get major mileage out of the city of Copenhagen, with its cold, glassy skyscrapers and stone row houses as severe as Victorian matrons. Folkloric motifs — birds, hares — weave their way into the narrative. When Ida and her school friends get involved in the occult, the action moves to a deserted island that becomes the scene of a hypnotically eccentric equinox ritual.

“Equinox” feels like a dream, with less of a climax than a foregone conclusion.

And when it’s over, viewers may find most of the story vanishing from memory, as dreams do. But you’ll probably never think of graduation and its associated rites of passage the same way again.

If you like this, try...

NOMADLANDHHHHH Frances McDormand plays a woman set adrift by the Great Recession to travel the country in her beat-up van in this Oscar winner directed by Chloé Zhao. (108 min, R. Sunset Drive-In)

OLDER/SPECIAL FILMS

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGONHHHH A young warrior seeks the help of the last living dragon in this Disney animated fantasy. (114 min, PG. Essex Cinemas, Sunset Drive-In)

WALKING WITH HERB (Essex Cinemas, Sat only)

TOGETHER TOGETHERHHH1/2 In this comedy nominated for the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize, a middle-aged loner (Ed Helms) develops a bond with the young woman (Patti Harrison) he hires as a gestational surrogate for his child. Nikole Beckwith wrote and directed. (90 min, R. Essex Cinemas) THE UNHOLYHH A seeming miracle may be something darker in this horror flick in which a girl gains supernatural powers after a visitation from the Virgin. With Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Cricket Brown. Evan Spiliotopoulos directed. (102 min, PG-13. Sunset Drive-In)

• Midsommar (2019; Amazon Prime Video, rentable): If you enjoy artistically filmed rituals of neo-pagan cults, the folk horror films of Ari Aster are for you. This one also has that special Scandinavian flavor.

• “Black Spot” (two seasons, 2017-19; Netflix): If you prefer your supernaturalthemed entertainment to be combined with strong procedural elements, check out this French series set in an isolated woodland town with a bizarrely high murder rate.

• “The Sinner” (three seasons, 2017-20; Netflix, rentable): Each self-contained season of this USA Network anthology series focuses on the “why” of a murder, not the who. Shows like this and “Equinox” could be called “dozy mysteries” — they’re heavy on atmosphere, pretty images and dark truths about the human condition, but you won’t miss much if you watch in a pandemic haze.

MARGO T HARRI S O N margot@sevendaysvt.com

FARGO 25TH ANNIVERSARY (Essex Cinemas, Sun only) THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS (Essex Cinemas) THE WIZARD OF OZ (Essex Cinemas, Sat & Sun only)

OPEN THEATERS ESSEX CINEMAS & T-REX THEATER: 21 Essex Way, Suite 300, Essex, 879-6543, essexcinemas.com THE SAVOY THEATER: 26 Main St., Montpelier, 229-0598, savoytheater.com STOWE CINEMA 3PLEX: 454 Mountain Rd., Stowe, 253-4678, stowecinema.com SUNSET DRIVE-IN: 155 Porters Point Rd., Colchester, 862-1800, sunsetdrivein.com

ai161954515629_1T-HireUp042821.pdf

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1:39 PM

LOOKING FOR WORK? Meet the area’s top employers at:

Hire Up!

A Live Video Q&A Session Connecting Companies With Candidates Considering a new career path?

Want to get back into the field you love?

These sessions will help you explore your options from a safe social distance.

During each 30-minute session recruiters will explain what jobs they have available and what they’re looking for in an applicant.

You can ask questions or just listen in.

Attend one session or all — for free!

WED., MAY 12 10 a.m.

11 a.m.

Noon

1 p.m.

2 p.m.

Register for the free live video sessions at:

jobs.sevendaysvt.com/hire-up SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

51

CLASS PHOTOS + MORE INFO ONLINE SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSES

classes THE FOLLOWING CLASS LISTINGS ARE PAID ADVERTISEMENTS. ANNOUNCE YOUR CLASS FOR AS LITTLE AS $16.75/WEEK (INCLUDES SIX PHOTOS AND UNLIMITED DESCRIPTION ONLINE). SUBMIT YOUR CLASS AD AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTCLASS.

BCA Studios

Burlington City Arts spring class registration is now open! Find these classes and many more at burlingtoncityarts.org.

HAND-STAMPED JEWELRY: Local jeweler Bren Prescott instructs students on creating simple but satisfying fine metal jewelry via Zoom. Learn the basics of metal stamping to create your own unique pieces to keep or give as gifts. Class includes one hour of instruction plus all the materials you will need, in a kit.

Wed., May 18, 6-7 p.m. Cost: $20.

Location: BCA Studios, Online.

Info: Kiersten Wlliams, 865-7157, kwilliams@burlingtoncityarts.org, burlingtoncityarts.org.

DIGITAL PHOTO: Learn the basics of making a great photograph, from home, with your digital camera. Our photography expert, Mark La Rosa, guides you through basic camera controls such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO ratings, shooting in RAW, lens choices, metering techniques and more. Students must have their own DSLR or digital mirrorless camera. Mon., May 3-24, 6-7:30 p.m. Cost: $120.

Location: BCA Studios, Zoom class.

Info: Kiersten Williams, 865-7157, kwilliams@burlingtoncityarts.org, burlingtoncityarts.org.

HANDBUILDING: Join local clay artist Sarah Camille Wilson, Zooming live from BCA’s Clay Studio! Sarah covers basic handbuilding techniques, such as creating a strong, even slab; soft slab construction; hard slab construction; pinch pots; and coil building. Students learn simple tips for creating texture and decoration to make their work unique.

Wed., May 5-26, 6-7 p.m. Cost: $80. Location: BCA Studios, Zoom class. Info: Kiersten Williams, 8657157, kwilliams@burlingtoncity arts.org, burlingtoncityarts.org.

FAMILY CARDMAKING: Six families max. Ages 6 & up.

Create handmade cards to share with those you love! Family Cardmaking is a great class for making art as a family at home on a Sunday morning. Includes one hour of instruction plus all the materials you will need, provided in a kit. Sun., May 2, 11 a.m.-noon.

Cost: $20 per family. Location: BCA Studios, Zoom class. Info: Kiersten Williams, 865-7157, kwilliams@burlingtoncityarts.org, burlingtoncityarts.org.

computers COMPTIA A+ CERTIFICATION: Get your CompTIA A+ certification without spending thousands on a costly college degree at GMTCC. We provide affordable and fast computer training services, so you can earn your CompTIA A+ certification within two to three months. CompTIA A+ is the industry standard for establishing a career in IT and the preferred qualifying credential for technical support and IT operational roles. It is the only industry-recognized credential

with performance-based items to prove pros can think on their feet to perform critical IT support tasks in the moment. It is trusted by employers around the world to identify the go-to person in endpoint management and technical support roles. May 25-Jul. 29. Tue. & Thu., 4-7 p.m. Cost: $1,400/person incl. all books/materials, certification/ exam fees & tuition. Location: Green Mountain Technology & Career Center, 738 Route 15 W., Hyde Park. Info: Mallery Daudelin, 851-1575, mdaudelin@gmtcc.net, gmtccadulteducation. coursestorm.com/course/ comp-tia-a-certification.

drumming DJEMBE & TAIKO DRUMMING: JOIN US!: New hybrid classes (Zoom and in-person) starting!

Taiko Tuesday and Wednesday.

Djembe Wednesday. Kids and Parents Tuesday and Wednesday.

COVID-19-free rental instruments, curbside pickup, too. Private Hybrid Conga lessons by appointment.

Let’s prepare for future drumming outdoors. Schedule/register online.

Location: Online and in-person at Taiko Space, 208 Flynn Ave., Suite 3G, Burlington. Info: 999-4255, burlingtontaiko.org.

language LEARN SPANISH LIVE & ONLINE: Broaden your world. Learn Spanish online via live video conferencing. High-quality affordable instruction in the Spanish language for adults, students and children. Travelers’ lesson package. Our 15th year. Personal small group and individual instruction from a native speaker. See our website for complete information or contact us for details.

Location: Spanish in Waterbury Center, Waterbury Center. Info: 585-1025, spanishparavos@ gmail.com, spanishwaterbury center.com.

martial arts

psychology

VERMONT BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU: This school was developed to communicate the importance of proper, legitimate and complete Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instruction. We cover fundamentals of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with a realistic approach to self-defense training skills in a friendly, safe and positive environment. All are welcome; no experience required. Develop confidence, strength and endurance. Julio Cesar “Foca” Fernandez Nunes was born and raised on the shores of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Earning his black belt and representing the Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Team, Julio “Foca” went on to become a five-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu National Champion, three-time Rio de Janeiro State Champion and two-time IBJJF World JiuJitsu Champion! Julio “Foca” is the only CBJJP, USBJJF and IBJJF-certified seventh-degree coral belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and self-defense instructor under late grand master Carlson Gracie Sr. currently teaching in the USA. Accept no Iimitations!

Location: Vermont Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 55 Leroy Rd., Williston.

Info: 598-2839, julio@bjjusa.com, vermontbjj.com.

FAIRY TALES AND THEIR DEEPER MEANING: Discover the depth of wisdom in tales from France, Denmark, Russia and China, illustrating how archetypes can come alive in each of us. Led by Sue Mehrtens. Class taught via Zoom. Email us to register. April 28 & May 5, 12, 19, 7-9 p.m. Cost: $60. Location: Jungian Center, Zoom class. Info: Sue Mehrtens, info@jungiancenter.org.

ONLINE SPANISH CLASSES FOR ALL AGES: Premier nativespeaking Spanish professor Maigualida Rak is giving fun, interactive online lessons to improve comprehension and pronunciation and to achieve fluency. Audiovisual material is used. “I feel proud to say that my students have significantly improved their Spanish with my teaching approach.”

-Maigualida Rak. Read reviews on our website: spanishclassesvt. com. Location: Maigualida Rak, Online. Info: Maigualida Rak, info@ spanishclassesvt.com, spanishclassesvt.com.

And on the seventh day, we do not rest.

Instead we bring you...

well-being FUNCTIONAL NUTRITION & HEALTH: This class will have five modules that will allow students to pick the subjects they want to study, or they can take the entire five modules for the practitioner training. The modules are: Anatomy & Physiology, Essential Oils, Nutrition, Qi Gong, and SelfCare/Lifestyle. Mon., starts Sep. 13, 9 a.m.-noon. Cost: $2,500/120 hours; individual modules are less. Location: Elements of Healing, 21 Essex Way, Suite 109, Essex Junction. Info: Scott Moylan, 288-8160, scott@ elementsofhealing.net, elementsofhealing.net.

yoga EVOLUTION YOGA: Bring your body and mind toward balance and find connection in community. All are welcome. Find support you need to awaken your practice. Offering livestream and recorded classes. Give the gift of yoga with a gift card on our website. Flexible pricing based on your needs; scholarships avail.

Contact yoga@evolutionvt.com. Single class: $0-15. Weekly membership: $10-25. 10-class pass: $140. New student special: $20 for 3 classes. Location: Evolution Yoga, 20 Kilburn St., Burlington.

Info: 864-9642, evolutionvt.com.

Get the newsletter featuring notable news, arts and food stories handpicked by our editors. Sit back, relax and read up on what you may have missed.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY:

SEVENDAYSVT.COM/ENEWS 52

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

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3/2/21 6:43 PM

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802.985.8482 | TheAutomasterMercedesBenz.com 2021 GLA 250 shown in Denim Blue metallic paint. Optional equipment shown. *MSRP excludes all options, taxes, title, registration, transportation charge and dealer prep. Options, model availability and actual dealer price may vary. See dealer for details. ©2020 Authorized Mercedes-Benz Dealers For more information, call 1-800-FOR-MERCEDES, or visit MBUSA.com.

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SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

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4/9/21 9:52 AM

PAULA ROUTLY

Readers help pay for the production of this awardwinning weekly newspaper. More than 2,000 have made one-time or recurring donations to sustain Seven Days during the pandemic. Their support — along with advertisers’ — has allowed us to deliver breaking news and thoughtful long-form journalism throughout the crisis.

Support local journalism — make a contribution today!

If you like what we do and can afford to help pay for it, please become a Seven Days Super Reader. Your donation will help to keep our community informed and connected.

Join the Super Readers at sevendaysvt.com/super-readers.

Or send a note (and a check) to: Seven Days c/o Super Readers PO Box 1164 Burlington, VT 05402

Contact Corey Grenier at 865-1020, ext. 36 or superreaders@sevendaysvt.com.

54

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

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Seven Days on the press in Mirabel, Québec

3/16/21 7:06 PM

Humane

Society of Chittenden County

housing »

Cheech & Chong AGE/SEX: 1-year-old males ARRIVAL DATE: March 10, 2021

COURTESY OF KELLY SCHULZE/MOUNTAIN DOG PHOTOGRAPHY

REASON HERE: Their owner could no longer care for them.

SUMMARY: Meet Cheech and Chong! These handsome fellas have been working hard on their socialization skills and would like a new home that is committed to taking things slow and continuing to build their trust and comfort with handling.

When they aren’t out exploring their cage and finding treats, they can be found curled up in a hidey-hole together. These guys are best “buds” and need to go home as a pair. Stop by HSCC to make sure their dreams of a new home don’t go “Up in Smoke”!

DID YOU KNOW?

Rats are very playful, and providing toys for mental enrichment and exercise is highly recommended. Items from around the house, like cardboard boxes, toilet paper rolls and paper towels left in sheets (so fun to chew them up!), are all great options that won’t break the bank.

Reduce, reuse, recycle for your rats!

Sponsored by:

Visit the Humane Society of Chittenden County at 142 Kindness Court, South Burlington, Tuesday through Friday from 1 to 6 p.m., or Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 862-0135 or visit hsccvt.org for more info.

APARTMENTS, CONDOS & HOMES

on the road »

CARS, TRUCKS, MOTORCYCLES

pro services »

CHILDCARE, HEALTH/ WELLNESS, PAINTING

buy this stuff »

APPLIANCES, KID STUFF, ELECTRONICS, FURNITURE

music »

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jobs »

NO SCAMS, ALL LOCAL, POSTINGS DAILY

NEW STUFF ONLINE EVERY DAY! PLACE YOUR ADS 24-7 AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM.

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

55

CLASSIFIEDS We Pick Up & Pay For Junk Automobiles!

on the road

CARS/TRUCKS

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housing ads: $25 (25 words) legals: 52¢/word buy this stuff: free online services: $12 (25 words)

pets. It is very spacious & has been recently renovated. It also has a pool & is very close to downtown, the highway & UVM campus. There is parking & a deck.

Note: There will be some furniture in the place.

Please contact me at jacobrdanford@gmail. com.

OFFICE/ COMMERCIAL

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AT MAIN STREET too. Call 1-866-535LANDING 9689. (AAN CAN) KEEN’S CROSSING IS on Burlington’s waterNOW LEASING! front. Beautiful, healthy, 1-BR, $983/mo.; 2-BR, affordable spaces for $1,191/mo.; 3-BR, $1,376/ your business. Visit mo. Spacious interiors, mainstreetlanding.com fully applianced & click on space avail. kitchen, fitness Melinda, 864-7999. center, heat & HW incl.

Income restrictions apply. 802-655-1810, keenscrossing.com.

housing

FOR RENT AFFORDABLE 2-BR APT. AVAIL. At Keen’s Crossing.

2-BR: $1,266/mo., heat & HW incl. Open floor plan, fully applianced kitchen,

HOUSEMATES 1-BR IN S. BURLINGTON CONDO I am looking for someone to rent a room in my condo in S. Burlington.

You would be living w/ me & my cat, so sadly no

CLASSIFIEDS KEY appt. appointment apt. apartment BA bathroom BR bedroom DR dining room DW dishwasher HDWD hardwood HW hot water LR living room NS no smoking OBO or best offer refs. references sec. dep. security deposit W/D washer & dryer

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 and similar Vermont statutes which make it illegal to advertise any preference, limitations, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, handicap, presence of minor children in the family or receipt of public assistance, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or a discrimination. The newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate, which is in violation of the law. Our

56

services

AUTO DONATE YOUR CAR TO CHARITY Receive maximum value of write off for your taxes. Running or not! All conditions accepted. Free pickup.

Call for details. 855-9780215. (AAN CAN)

BIZ OPPS BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR! We edit, print & distribute your work internationally. We do the work; you reap the rewards! Call for a free Author’s Submission Kit: 844-511-1836. (AAN CAN) LOOKING TO LAUNCH A BUSINESS? The Welcome to Montpelier Program offers business support & funding opportunities for new Montpelier

readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. Any home seeker who feels he or she has encountered discrimination should contact: HUD Office of Fair Housing 10 Causeway St., Boston, MA 02222-1092 (617) 565-5309 — OR — Vermont Human Rights Commission 14-16 Baldwin St. Montpelier, VT 05633-0633 1-800-416-2010 hrc@vermont.gov

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

display service ads: $25/$45 homeworks: $45 (40 words, photos, logo) fsbos: $45 (2 weeks, 30 words, photo) jobs: michelle@sevendaysvt.com, 865-1020 x21

print deadline: Mondays at 4:30 p.m. post ads online 24/7 at: sevendaysvt.com/classifieds questions? classifieds@sevendaysvt.com 865-1020 x10

businesses! Learn more at welcometomontpelier. com.

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4/26/21 1:23 PM

Calcoku SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSIFIEDS »

Using the enclosed math operations as a guide, fill the grid using the numbers 1 - 6 only once in each row and column.

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Post & browse ads Complete the following puzzle by using the 6 photos per ad online. at your convenience. numbers 1-9 only once in each row, column and 3 x 3 box.

8 36x

4 1 7 2 5

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CALCOKU

Show and tell.

Sudoku

1 Difficulty - Hard

BY JOSH REYNOLDS

9 8 2 5

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No. 685

SUDOKU

Difficulty: Hard

BY JOSH REYNOLDS

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: HHH

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: HHH

Fill the grid using the numbers 1-6, only once in each row and column. The numbers in each heavily outlined “cage” must combine to produce the target number in the top corner, using the mathematical operation indicated. A onebox cage should be filled in with the target number in the top corner. A number can be repeated within a cage as long as it is not the same row or column.

Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers one to nine. The same numbers cannot be repeated in a row or column.

5

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ANSWERS ON P.58 4 6 9 H8HH =5HOO, BOY! 1 7 HH2= CHALLENGING H =3 MODERATE

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by Seven Days.

SEVENDAYSVT.COM/DAILY7 8v-daily7-coffee.indd 1

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

1/13/14 1:45 PM

57

The District 4 Environmental Commission is reviewing this application under Act 250 Rule 51—Minor Applications. A copy of the application and proposed permit are available for review at the office listed below. The application and a

FROM P.57

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SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

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PUZZLE ANSWERS

ACT 250 NOTICE MINOR APPLICATION #4C02795 10 V.S.A. §§ 6001 - 6093 On April 14, 2021, Hakija and Azra Rizvanovic, 58 Logwood Circle, Essex, VT 05452 filed application number 4C0279-5 for a project generally described as the construction of a 24’ x 30’ detached garage. The project is located at 58 Logwood Circle in Essex, Vermont.

5

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Dated at Essex Junction, Vermont this 23rd day of April, 2021.

By: Stephanie H. Monaghan, District Coordinator 111 West Street Essex Junction, VT 05452 802-879-5662 Stephanie.Monaghan@vermont.gov

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No hearing will be held and a permit may be issued unless, on or before May 14, 2021, a person notifies the Commission of an issue or issues requiring the presentation of evidence at a hearing, or the Commission sets the matter for a hearing on its own motion. Any person as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1) may request a hearing. Any hearing request must be in writing to the address below, must state the criteria or sub-criteria at issue, why a hearing is required and what additional evidence will be presented at the hearing. Any hearing request by an adjoining property owner or other person eligible for party status under 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1)(E) must include a petition for party status under the Act 250 Rules. Prior to submitting a request for a hearing, please contact the district coordinator at the telephone number listed below for more information. Prior to convening a hearing, the Commission must determine that substantive issues requiring a hearing have been raised. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law may not be prepared unless the Commission holds a public hearing.

Parties entitled to participate are the Municipality, the Municipal Planning Commission, the Regional Planning Commission, affected state agencies, and adjoining property owners and other persons to the extent that they have a particularized interest that may be affected by the proposed project under the Act 250 criteria. Non-party participants may also be allowed under 10 V.S.A. Section 6085(c)(5).

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The District 4 Environmental Commission is reviewing this application under Act 250 Rule 51—Minor Applications. A copy of the application and proposed permit are available for review at the office listed below. The application and a draft permit may also be viewed on the Natural Resources Board’s web site (http://nrb.vermont. gov) by clicking on “Act 250 Database” and entering the project number “4C0051-3.”

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If you have a disability for which you need accommodation in order to participate in this process (including participating in a public hearing, if one is held), please notify us as soon as possible, in order to allow us as much time as possible to accommodate your needs.

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If you feel that any of the District Commission members listed on the attached Certificate of Service under “For Your Information” may have a conflict of interest, or if there is any other reason a member should be disqualified from sitting on this case, please contact the District Coordinator as soon as possible, and by no later than May 14, 2021.

ACT 250 NOTICE MINOR APPLICATION #4C00513 10 V.S.A. §§ 6001 - 6093 On April 16, 2021, City of Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront, 645 Pine Street, Burlington, VT 05401 filed application number 4C0051-3 for a project generally described as rehabilitation of existing multi-use path through Oakledge Park and construction of a new universally accessible playground, path connections, 8 new universally accessible parking spaces, ADA compliant beach access, restroom improvements, landscaping, and lighting upgrades. The project is located on Flynn Avenue in Burlington, Vermont.

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WARDS: VERMONT PUNK BAND 34-song live CD. 19782018. $10. Proceeds paid to Paul Allison, 33 West St., Bolton, VT 05676. paulbolton9@gmavt. net, 802-434-5459.

PLACE AN AFFORDABLE NOTICE AT: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/LEGAL-NOTICES OR CALL 802-865-1020, EXT. 10. draft permit may also be viewed on the Natural Resources Board’s web site (http://nrb.vermont. gov) by clicking on “Act 250 Database” and entering the project number “4C0279-5.”

No hearing will be held and a permit may be issued unless, on or before May 12, 2021, a person notifies the Commission of an issue or issues requiring the presentation of evidence at a hearing, or the Commission sets the matter for a hearing on its own motion. Any person as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1) may request a hearing. Any hearing request must be in writing to the address below, must state the criteria or sub-criteria at issue, why a hearing is required and what additional evidence will be presented at the hearing. Any hearing request by an adjoining property owner or other person eligible for party status under 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1)(E) must include a petition for party status under the Act 250 Rules. Prior to submitting a request for a hearing, please contact the district coordinator at the telephone number listed below for more information. Prior to convening a hearing, the Commission must determine that substantive issues requiring a hearing have been raised. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law may not be prepared unless the Commission holds a public hearing.

If you feel that any of the District Commission members listed on the attached Certificate of Service under “For Your Information” may have a conflict of interest, or if there is any other reason a member should be disqualified from sitting on this case, please contact the District Coordinator as soon as possible, and by no later than May 12, 2021.

If you have a disability for which you need accommodation in order to participate in this process (including participating in a public hearing, if one is held), please notify us as soon as possible, in order to allow us as much time as possible to accommodate your needs.

Parties entitled to participate are the Municipality, the Municipal Planning Commission, the Regional Planning Commission, affected state agencies, and adjoining property owners and other persons to the extent that they have a particularized interest that may be affected by the proposed project under the Act 250 criteria. Non-party participants may also be allowed under 10 V.S.A. Section 6085(c)(5).

Dated at Essex Junction, Vermont this 19th day of April, 2021.

By: /s/ Stephanie H. Monaghan Stephanie H. Monaghan District Coordinator 111 West Street Essex Junction, VT 05452 802-879-5662 stephanie.monaghan@vermont.gov ACT 250 NOTICE MINOR APPLICATION #4C032014B 10 V.S.A. §§ 6001 - 6093 On April 1, 2021, St. Michael’s College, 1 Winooski Park, Colchester, VT 05446 and J. Hutchins, Inc., 88 Rogers Lane, Richmond, VT 05477 filed application number 4C0320-14B for a project generally described as draining surface water from the West Lime Kiln Quarry into the Winooski River and filling the quarry with earthen and construction materials. The project is located on Lime Kiln Road in Colchester, Vermont. The application was deemed complete on April 22, 2021.

The District 4 Environmental Commission is reviewing this application under Act 250 Rule 51—Minor Applications. A copy of the application and proposed permit are available for review at the office listed below. The application and a draft permit may also be viewed on the Natural Resources Board’s web site (http://nrb.vermont. gov) by clicking on “Act 250 Database” and entering the project number “4C0320-14B.” No hearing will be held and a permit may be issued unless, on or before May 20, 2021, a person notifies the Commission of an issue or issues requiring the presentation of evidence at a hearing, or the Commission sets the matter for a hearing on its

fsb

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own motion. Any person as defined in 10 V.S.A.

FSBO-Maguire042821.indd 1 § 6085(c)(1) may request a hearing. Any hearing

request must be in writing to the address below, must state the criteria or sub-criteria at issue, why a hearing is required and what additional evidence will be presented at the hearing. Any hearing request by an adjoining property owner or other person eligible for party status under 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1)(E) must include a petition for party status under the Act 250 Rules. Prior to submitting a request for a hearing, please contact the district coordinator at the telephone number listed below for more information. Prior to convening a hearing, the Commission must determine that substantive issues requiring a hearing have been raised.

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law may not be prepared unless the Commission holds a public hearing.

If you feel that any of the District Commission members listed on the attached Certificate of Service under “For Your Information” may have a conflict of interest, or if there is any other reason a member should be disqualified from sitting on this case, please contact the District Coordinator as soon as possible, and by no later than May 20, 2021.

If you have a disability for which you need accommodation in order to participate in this process (including participating in a public hearing, if one is held), please notify us as soon as possible, in order to allow us as much time as possible to accommodate your needs.

Parties entitled to participate are the Municipality, the Municipal Planning Commission, the Regional Planning Commission, affected state agencies, and adjoining property owners and other persons to the extent that they have a particularized interest that may be affected by the proposed project under the Act 250 criteria. Non-party participants may also be allowed under 10 V.S.A. Section 6085(c)(5).

Dated at Essex Junction, Vermont this 26th day of April, 2021.

By: Stephanie H. Monaghan District Coordinator 111 West Street Essex Junction, VT 05452 802-879-5662 stephanie.monaghan@vermont.gov ACT 250 NOTICE MINOR APPLICATION #4C084213B 10 V.S.A. §§ 6001 - 6093 On April 19, 2021, Edward J. Lockerby and Robin L. Lockerby, 1162 Main Street, Isle La Motte, VT 05463 and DDA Services, Inc., 11 Navigator Road, Londonderry, NH 03053 filed application number 4C0842-13B for a project generally described as the expansion of an existing gravel parking lot on Lot #25, construction of a new gravel parking lot on Lot #17, and the construction of a new gravel walkway, stormwater improvements, and lighting on Lots #17 and #25 of Gauthier Industrial Park.

The project is located at 29 Gauthier Drive in Essex, Vermont.

The District 4 Environmental Commission is reviewing this application under Act 250 Rule 51—Minor Applications. A copy of the application and proposed permit are available for review

at the office listed below. The application and a 4/26/21 FSBO-Talentino042821.indd 1:20also PM be viewed on1the Natural draft permit may Resources Board’s web site (http://nrb.vermont. gov) by clicking on “Act 250 Database” and entering the project number “4C0842-13B.” No hearing will be held and a permit may be issued unless, on or before May 17, 2021, a person notifies the Commission of an issue or issues requiring the presentation of evidence at a hearing, or the Commission sets the matter for a hearing on its own motion. Any person as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1) may request a hearing. Any hearing request must be in writing to the address below, must state the criteria or sub-criteria at issue, why a hearing is required and what additional evidence will be presented at the hearing. Any hearing request by an adjoining property owner or other person eligible for party status under 10 V.S.A. § 6085(c)(1)(E) must include a petition for party status under the Act 250 Rules. Prior to submitting a request for a hearing, please contact the district coordinator at the telephone number listed below for more information. Prior to convening a hearing, the Commission must determine that substantive issues requiring a hearing have been raised.

Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law may not be prepared unless the Commission holds a public hearing.

If you feel that any of the District Commission members listed on the attached Certificate of Service under “For Your Information” may have a conflict of interest, or if there is any other reason a member should be disqualified from sitting on this case, please contact the District Coordinator as soon as possible, and by no later than May 17, 2021.

If you have a disability for which you need accommodation in order to participate in this process (including participating in a public hearing, if one is held), please notify us as soon as possible, in order to allow us as much time as possible to accommodate your needs.

Parties entitled to participate are the Municipality, the Municipal Planning Commission, the Regional Planning Commission, affected state agencies, and adjoining property owners and other persons to the extent that they have a particularized interest that may be affected by the proposed project under the Act 250 criteria. Non-party participants may also be allowed under 10 V.S.A. Section 6085(c)(5).

Dated at Essex Junction, Vermont this 23rd day of April, 2021.

By: /s/Rachel Lomonaco Rachel Lomonaco, District Coordinator 111 West Street Essex Junction, VT 05452 802-879-5658 Rachel.lomonaco@vermont.gov INVITATION TO BID The Burlington and Essex Westford School Districts, will receive electronic bids for the following two (2) separate services: 1) knife rental sharpening and delivery, and 2) preparation/ delivery of hot, sliced, and ready to serve pizza.

Bids must be received on or before, but no later than, 10:00 AM, Monday, May 10th at ddavis@ bsdvt.org Please place the following in the subject

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line of the electronic submission: BID SUBMISSION 4/26/21 4:17 PM ATTACHED- OPEN ON MAY 10, 2021 The electronic proposals will be opened at the same time and address. Notification of the award, if any, will be made no later than 30 days from the date of opening.

Anyone interested in receiving a full bid packet or more information, contact Doug Davis, Director of Food Service at 802 864 8416 or ddavis@bsdvt.org.

STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL DIVISION CHITTENDEN UNIT DOCKET NO. 937-1019 CNCV TERESE M. AYER, Plaintiff, v.

DENIS N. LINEHAN, W.C.A III ASSOCIATION, and OCCUPANTS residing at 4232 Bolton Valley Access Road, Unit 3-L, Bolton, Vermont, Defendants.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE By virtue of the Judgment Order, Decree of Foreclosure, Shortened Redemption Period and Order for Public Sale entered on November 19, 2020, and in execution of the Power of Sale contained in a certain Mortgage given by Denis N. Linehan, dated March 31, 2015, and recorded in Volume 89 at Page 124 of the Town of Bolton Land Records, which Mortgage Terese M. Ayer is the present holder, for breach of the conditions of said Mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same, the undersigned will cause to be sold to the highest bidder at Public Auction at 4232 Bolton Valley Access Road, Unit 3-L, Bolton, Vermont, at 10:00 a.m. on the 5th day of May, 2021, all and singular the premises described in said Mortgage.

The property is known as 4232 Bolton Valley Access Road, Unit 3-L, Bolton, Vermont. The real estate is described in the aforesaid Mortgage is as follows: Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to Denis N. Linehan by Warranty Deed of Patrick Ayer and Terese M. Ayer dated March 31, 2015 and recorded in Volume 89, Page 122 of the Bolton Town Land Records, and being more particularly described as follows: Being Apartment 3-L, so-called, in the Bolton Valley Corporation known as Wentworth Condominium No. 3 located in the Town of Bolton, and being as designated in the Declaration establishing a plan of condominium ownership of certain land and buildings in the Town of Bolton, said Declaration being dated January 12, 1973 and recorded in Volume 24, Page 493 of the Bolton Town Land Records.

Said Apartment 3-L and as referred to in said Declaration as “free-hold-estate” being entitled Apartment 3-L is conveyed in conformity with Title 27 V.S.A. Section 1301 of the Condominium Ownership Act of the State of Vermont, No. 228 and any amendments thereto, and includes the fee in an undivided 5.46 percentage interest in the common areas and facilities in said Wentworth No. 3 apartments and the real property described in said Declaration.

This conveyance is made subject to the provisions of said Condominium Ownership Act and, also

specifically, the provisions, restrictions, covenants and agreements set forth in said Declaration above-referred to and to the By-Laws of the Wentworth Association No. 3 attached to the Declaration.

Included herewith is an easement in common with the owners of other Units of said Condominium, to the use of any roads, pipes, wires, ducts, cables, conduits, public utility lines and other common elements located in any of these Units or elsewhere on the property and serving this Unit.

Included also is an easement of necessity in favor of this Apartment or other Apartments of this Condominium, in all of the common elements above-mentioned. The Condominium Unit herein conveyed is being conveyed to an easement in favor of other Apartment Units in said Condominium to the use of the roads, pipes, wires, ducts, conduits, cables, public utility lines and other common elements located in the Condominium or elsewhere on the property and serving said Units.

Reference is hereby made to the aforementioned instruments, the records thereof and the references therein contained, all in further aid of this description.

The description of the property contained in the Mortgage shall control in the event of a typographical error in this Notice.

TERMS OF SALE: The sale will be held at 4232 Bolton Valley Access Road, Unit 3-L, Bolton, Vermont. The property shall be sold AS IS, WITH ALL FAULTS, WITH NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, subject to all easements, rights-of-way, covenants, permits, reservations and restrictions of record, title defects, unforeclosed liens, environmental hazards, unpaid real estate taxes (delinquent and current), current and delinquent assessments in favor of homeowners associations, if any, and municipal liens, to the highest bidder for cash. At the sale, the successful bidder, other than the Mortgagee, shall pay $10,000 down (non-refundable) in cash or bank treasurer check (or a combination thereof).

The deposit must be increased to at least 10% of the successful bid within five (5) calendar days of the public sale by an additional payment in cash or by bank treasurer’s check. The successful bidder shall execute a Purchase and Sale Agreement requiring payment of the balance of the purchase price within ten (10) days of entry of the court order confirming the sale. Before being permitted to bid at the sale, bidder shall display to the auctioneer proof of the ability to comply with these requirements. The successful bidder, other than the Mortgagee, must sign a NO CONTINGENCY Purchase and Sale Agreement satisfactory to Mortgagee at the sale. Title will be transferred by the Order Confirming Sale. The person holding the sale may, for good cause, postpone the sale for a period of up to thirty (30) days, from time to time, until it is completed, giving notice of such adjournment and specifying the new date by public proclamation at the time and place appointed for the sale, or by posting notice of the adjournment in a conspicuous place at the location of the sale.

Notice of the new sale date shall also be sent by first class mail, postage prepaid, to the Mortgagor at the Mortgagor’s last known address, at least five

LEGALS » SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

59

Legal Notices (5) days before the new sale date. The public sale may be adjourned for a period of time in excess of thirty (30) days by agreement of the Mortgagor and Mortgagee or by order of the court. Other terms to be announced at the sale or contact Ward Law, P.C., 3069 Williston Road, South Burlington, Vermont 05403; (802) 863-0307.

The record owner is entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the Judgment Order, Decree of Foreclosure, Shortened Redemption Period and Order of Public Sale dated November 19, 2020, including the costs and expenses of sale.

Dated at Bridport, Vermont this 25th day of March, 2021.

WARD LAW, PC Attorneys for Plaintiff By: /s/ Cynthia R. Amrhein Cynthia R. Amrhein, Esq. 3069 Williston Road South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 863-0307 STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT ENVIRONMENTAL DIVISION DOCKET NO. 21-ENV-00034 Vermont Division for Historic Preservation & the Lake Champlain Transportation Company Lake Encroachment Individual Permit 3027-LEP NOTICE OF APPEAL NOW COMES Appellants Vermont Natural Resources Council and Lake Champlain Committee, by and through its attorneys Jon Groveman, Esq. and David Grayck, Esq., and hereby appeals to the Vermont Superior Court—Environmental Division the issuance of Lake Encroachment Individual Permit 3027-LEP, 29 V.S.A. § 401 et seq., to the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation & Lake Champlain Transportation Company on March 25, 2021 (the “Permit”), of which a copy is incorporated as Attachment 1.

The Appellants claim party status and status to appeal as an aggrieved person under 10 V.S.A. §§ 8503(a)(2) and 8504 as parties whose interests could be adversely affected by this matter.

Appellant submitted written comments during the comment period for the permit in question, which is incorporated as Attachment 2. The Agency of Natural Resources purported to summarize those comments in the Lake Encroachment Individual Permit Application – Response to Comments, which is incorporated as Attachment 3. Appellant reserves the right to argue that such summary was not complete.

The address, location, and description of the property, project, or facility with which the appeal is concerned, and the name of the applicant, is set forth in Attachments 1 and 3.

Pursuant to 10 V.S.A. § 8504(f), the filing of an appeal shall automatically stay the act or decision in the following situations: (A) acts or decisions involving stream alteration permits or shoreline encroachment permits issued by the Secretary of Natural Resources.

TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: In order to participate in this appeal, you must enter an appearance in the Vermont Superior Court— Environmental Division within twenty (20) days of receiving this Notice of Appeal. Notices of Appearance should be mailed to: Jennifer Teske, Court Office Manager, Vermont Superior Court—Environmental Division, 32 Cherry Street, 2nd Floor, Suite 303, Burlington, VT 05401.

Dated: April 23, 2021 Montpelier, Vermont By: Jon Groveman, Esq. STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT PROBATE DIVISION CHITTENDEN UNIT, DOCKET NO.: 20-PR-02020 In re ESTATE of Rodney Swett

60

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

NOTICE TO CREDITORS To the creditors of Rodney Swett, late of Shaftsbury.

I have been appointed to administer this estate.

All creditors having claims against the decedent or the estate must present their claims in writing within four (4) months of the date of the first publication of this notice. The claim must be presented to me at the address listed below with a copy sent to the court. The claim may be barred forever if it is not presented as described within the four (4) month period.

Dated: 4/21/21 Signed: /s/ Christina Paterson Fiduciary/Administrator: Christina Paterson 340 Blohm St. 3.

West Haven, C.T. 06516 203-707-0352 chrissypaterson@icloud.com Name of Probate Court: Vermont Superior Court Bennington Unit Address of Probate Court: 207 South St., Bennington, Vermont 05201 STATE OF VERMONT VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT WASHINGTON UNIT, CIVIL DIVISION DOCKET NO: 233-4-19 WNCV WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A. v.

JAMES MCSPARRAN A/K/A JAMES A. MCSPARRAN AND NANCY MCSPARRAN OCCUPANTS OF: 49 Country Way, Barre VT MORTGAGEE’S NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY UNDER 12 V.S.A. sec 4952 et seq.

In accordance with the Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure entered November 6, 2019, in the above captioned action brought to foreclose that certain mortgage given by James McSparran a/k/a James A. McSparran and Nancy McSparran to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., dated April 23, 2013 and recorded in Book 276 Page 415 of the land records of the City of Barre, of which mortgage the Plaintiff is the present holder, for breach of the conditions of said mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same will be sold at Public Auction at 49 Country Way, Barre, Vermont on May 12, 2021 at 10:00AM, all and singular the premises described in said mortgage, To wit: ALL THAT CERTAIN LAND SITUATED IN THE STATE OF VERMONT, COUNTY OF WASHINGTON, CITY OF BARRE, DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEING LOT #5, TOGETHER WITH IMPROVEMENTS THEREON, AND LOCATED ON AND KNOWN AS 49 COUNTRY WAY, BARRE CITY, SAID LOT CONTAINING APPROXIMATELY 13, 577 SQUARE FEET, AS SHOWN ON A PLAN OF LOTS ENTITLED “COUNTRY WAY, OFF WESTWOOD PARKWAY, BARRE CITY, VERMONT, PROPERTY SUBDIVISION” RECORDED ON NOVEMBER 3, 1989, IN PLAT BOOK 3, PAGE 48 OF THE CITY OF BARRE LAND RECORDS. APN #: 0432-0049-0000 Commonly known as: 49 Country Way, Barre, VT 05641 Reference is hereby made to the above instruments and to the records and references contained therein in further aid of this description.

Terms of sale: Said premises will be sold and conveyed subject to all liens, encumbrances, unpaid taxes, tax titles, municipal liens and assessments, if any, which take precedence over the said mortgage above described.

TEN THOUSAND ($10,000.00) Dollars of the purchase price must be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check at the time and place of the sale by the purchaser. The balance of the purchase price shall be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check within sixty (60) days after the date of sale.

The mortgagor is entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full

PLACE AN AFFORDABLE NOTICE AT: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/LEGAL-NOTICES OR CALL 802-865-1020, EXT. 10. amount due under the mortgage, including the costs and expenses of the sale.

48 AS SHOWN ON THE AFOREMENTIONED PLAN, TOGETHER WITH THE BUILDINGS THEREON STANDING.

Other terms to be announced at the sale.

PARCEL ID # 1100-0016.0000

DATED: March 31, 2021 By: /s/ Loraine L. Hite Loraine L. Hite, Esq. Bendett and McHugh, PC 270 Farmington Ave., Ste. 151 Farmington, CT 06032

THIS BEING THE SAME PROPERTY CONVEYED TO GEORGE W. MILLER AND SYLVIA MILLER FROM RUSSELL W. BRECHIN AND ALBERTINE BRECHIN IN A DEED DATED JANUARY 7, 1978 AND RECORDED JANUARY 7, 1978 IN BOOK 87 PAGE 230. GEORGE W. MILLER LEFT THIS LIFE ON JULY 19, 1989 IN THE TOWN OF BERLIN, VT. TITLE NOW VESTS SOLELY IN SYLVIA MILLER.

STATE OF VERMONT VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT WASHINGTON UNIT, CIVIL DIVISION DOCKET NO: 379-7-19 WNCV REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING, LLC v.

LAWRENCE J. MILLER, RANDALL G. MILLER, STEVEN A. MILLER, PAMELA J. MARTIN, SUSAN L. MILLER AND SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT OCCUPANTS OF: 16 North Parkside Terrace, Barre VT MORTGAGEE’S NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY UNDER 12 V.S.A. sec 4952 et seq.

In accordance with the Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure entered January 25, 2021 in the above captioned action brought to foreclose that certain mortgage given by Sylvia D. Miller to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as nominee for Reverse Mortgage Funding LLC, dated June 8, 2015 and recorded in Book 289 Page 154 of the land records of the City of Barre, of which mortgage the Plaintiff is the present holder, by virtue of an Assignment of Mortgage from Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as nominee for Reverse Mortgage Funding LLC to Reverse Mortgage Funding, LLC dated May 8, 2019 and recorded in Book 351 Page330 of the land records of the City of Barre for breach of the conditions of said mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same will be sold at Public Auction at 16 North Parkside Terrace, Barre, Vermont on May 28, 2021 at 9:30 AM all and singular the premises described in said mortgage, To wit: THE LAND REFERRED TO HEREIN BELOW IS SITUATED IN THE COUNTY OF WASHINGTON, CITY OF BARRE STATE OF VERMONT, AND IS DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: IT BEING THE SAME LAND AND PREMISES AS WAS CONVEYED TO RUSSELL W. BRECHIN AND ALBERTINE M. BRECH1N BY THE WARRANTY DEED OF JEANETTE HOOKER DATED SEPTEMBER 13, 1968 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 82, PAGES 503-505 OF THE LAND RECORDS OF THE CITY OF BARRE, AND FURTHER DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: COMMENCING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE WESTERLY SIDE OF NORTH PARKSIDE TERRACE, SO-CALLED, WITH THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN LOT NO. 47 AND LOT NO. 48, AS SHOWN IN A CERTAIN PLAN OF LOTS ENTITLED: “SUB-DIVISION OF PROPERTY, LAGUE, INC. JUNE 1960, WHITE & MARTIN, SURVEYORS: THENCE RUNNING IN A GENERAL WESTERLY DIRECTION IN A STRAIGHT LINE A DISTANCE OF 81.9 FEET TO A POINT; THENCE TURNING TO THE LEFT AND RUNNING IN A GENERAL SOUTHERLY DIRECTION 1000 FEET TO THE GENERAL NORTHERLY SIDE OF A PROPOSED STREET; THENCE TURNING AN ANGLE TO THE LEFT AND RUNNING ALONG THE NORTHERLY SIDE OF SAID PROPOSED STREET IN AN EASTERLY DIRECTION A DISTANCE OF 56.9 FEET: THENCE TURNING AND RUNNING GENERALLY NORTHERLY AND EASTERLY A DISTANCE OF 56.9 FEET; THENCE TURNING AND RUNNING GENERALLY NORTHERLY AND EASTERLY IN A CIRCULAR DIRECTION AT THE INTERSECTION OF SAID PROPOSED STREET AND NORTH PARKSIDE TERRACE TO THE WESTERLY EDGE OF NORTH PARKSIDE TERRACE; THENCE RUNNING IN A STRAIGHT LINE ALONG THE WESTERLY EDGE OF NORTH PARKSIDE TERRACE IN A GENERAL NORTHERLY DIRECTION A DISTANCE OF 75 FOOT TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING. MEANING HEREBY TO CONVEY ALL OF LOT NO.

Property Commonly Known As: 16 North Parkside Terrace, Barre, VT 05641 Reference is hereby made to the above instruments and to the records and references contained therein in further aid of this description.

Terms of sale: Said premises will be sold and conveyed subject to all liens, encumbrances, unpaid taxes, tax titles, municipal liens and assessments, if any, which take precedence over the said mortgage above described.

TEN THOUSAND ($10,000.00) Dollars of the purchase price must be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check at the time and place of the sale by the purchaser. The balance of the purchase price shall be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check within sixty (60) days after the date of sale.

The mortgagor is entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the mortgage, including the costs and expenses of the sale.

Other terms to be announced at the sale.

DATED: April 19, 2021 By: /s/ Loraine L. Hite Loraine L. Hite, Esq. Bendett and McHugh, PC 270 Farmington Ave., Ste. 151 Farmington, CT 06032 STATE OF VERMONT VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT WINDSOR UNIT, CIVIL DIVISION DOCKET NO: 3548-18 WRCV ARGOLICA LLC v.

JANET DIMICK, AS ADMINISTRATOR TO THE ESTATE OF NINA GRACE DIMICK, CREDIT ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION, CAPITAL ONE BANK (USA), N.A., HSBC FINANCE CORPORATION AND BENEFICIAL MORTGAGE CO. OF NEW HAMPSHIRE OCCUPANTS OF: 2247 E Woodstock Road, Woodstock VT MORTGAGEE’S NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY UNDER 12 V.S.A. sec 4952 et seq.

In accordance with the Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure entered August 2, 2019, in the above captioned action brought to foreclose that certain mortgage given by Nina Grace Dimick to Beneficial Mortgage Co. of New Hampshire, dated May 13, 2002 and recorded in Book 159 Page 70 of the land records of the Town of Woodstock, of which mortgage the Plaintiff is the present holder, by virtue of the following Assignments of Mortgage: (1) Assignment of Mortgage from Beneficial New Hampshire Inc. to Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB d/b/a Christiana Trust, not in its individual capacity but solely as trustee for the RMAC Trust, Series 2015-5T dated August 20, 2015 and recorded in Book 252 Page 667; (2) Assignment of Mortgage from Beneficial New Hampshire Inc., successor by merger to Beneficial Mortgage Co. of New Hampshire to Citibank, N.A., not in its individual capacity, but solely as trustee of NRZ Pass-Through Trust VI dated January 12, 2018 and recorded in Book 263 Page 171; (3) Assignment of Mortgage from Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB d/b/a Christiana Trust, not in its individual capacity but solely as trustee for the RMAC Trust, Series 2015-5T to Citibank, N.A., not in its individual capacity, but solely as trustee of NRZ Pass-Through Trust VI dated June 14, 2018 and recorded in Book 264 Page 582; (4) Assignment of Mortgage from Citibank, N.A., not in its individual capacity, but solely as trustee of NRZ Pass-Through

Trust VI to Atlantica, LLC dated July 9, 2019 and recorded in Book 269 Page 339; (5) Assignment of Mortgage from Atlantica, LLC to Cilici, LLC dated July 11, 2019 and recorded in Book 269 Page 340; (6) Assignment of Mortgage from Cilici, LLC to Alaska Louisiana Partners, a Limited Partnership, an Alaskan Limited Partnership dated July 7, 2020 and recorded in Book 274 Page 370; and (7) Assignment of Mortgage from Alaska Louisiana Partners, A Limited Partnership, An Alaska Limited Partnership to Argolica, LLC dated September 16, 2020 and recorded in Book 275 Page 577 all of the land records of the Town of Woodstock for breach of the conditions of said mortgage and for the purpose of foreclosing the same will be sold at Public Auction at 2247 E Woodstock Road, Woodstock, Vermont on May 7, 2021 at 10:30 AM all and singular the premises described in said mortgage, To wit: BEING ALL AND THE SAME LANDS AND PREMISES CONVEYED BY MARION K. DIMICK TO NINA GRACE DIMICK BY WARRANTY DEED DATED JUNE 27, 1977 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 67, PAGE 260 OF THE WOODSTOCK LAND RECORDS, AND FURTHER: BEING LIKEWISE ALL THE SAME LANDS AND PREMISES CONVEYED BY WARRANTY DEED OF HAROLD L. POTWIN AND MYRLE E. POTWIN TO HOWARD A. DIMICK (NOW DECEASED) AND MARION K. DIMICK ON MAY 17, 1956 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 53, PAGE 550 OF THE WOODSTOCK LAND RECORDS. THE KNOWLTON PLACE SO-CALLED CONSISTING OF ABOUT TWO ACRES OF LAND, MORE OR LESS, WITH HOUSE AND OTHER BUILDINGS THEREON STANDING NEAR THE VILLAGE OF TAFTSVILLE ON THE EASTERLY SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY LEADING FROM WOODSTOCK TO TAFTSVILLE. BOUNDED ON THE EASTERLY BY OTTAUQUECHEE RIVER AND WESTERLY BY THE HIGHWAY KNOWN AS U.S. 4.

INCLUDING WHATEVER WATER RIGHTS WE HAVE IN THE ARTESIAN WELL LOCATED ON SAID PREMISES BUT NOT INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO A SPRING WATER CONVEYED TO US TO (SIC) BY ZINA GEORGE WHICH SPRING IS NO LONGER USED AT THIS RESIDENCE. ALSO CONVEYING A SMALL PARCEL OF LAND ON THE NORTHERLY SIDE OF THE MAIN HIGHWAY ABOVE REFERRED TO AND BEING ALL THE SAME LAND AND PREMISES CONVEYED TO HAROLD L. POTWIN AND MYRLE E. POTWIN BY HENRY G. GRAMLING AND EUNICE B. GRAMLING BY DEED AUGUST 21, 1951, RECORDED IN THE LAND RECORDS OF WOODSTOCK ON PAGE 323 OF BOOK 51. THE PARCEL HEREBY CONVEYED IS DESCRIBED AS BEGINNING AT AN IRON STAKE AND STONES SITUATED ON THE NORTHERLY SIDE OF SAID HIGHWAY NEAR A BIRCH TREE, WHICH IS THE SOUTHEASTERLY CORNER OF THE PREMISES HEREBY CONVEYED; THENCE FOLLOWING WESTERLY 665 FEET ALONG THE HIGHWAY ABOVE MENTIONED TO A CORNER MARKED BY AN IRON STAKE AND STONES; THENCE NORTHERLY DOWN THE BACK TO THE OTTAUQUECHEE RIVER; THENCE EASTERLY ALONG THE OTTAUQUECHEE RIVER 665 FEET TO A CORNER AND THENCE SOUTHERLY UP THE BANK TO THE IRON STAKE AND STONES FIRST ABOVE MENTIONED AS THE POINT OF BEGINNING. Reference is hereby made to the above instruments and to the records and references contained therein in further aid of this description.

Terms of sale: Said premises will be sold and conveyed subject to all liens, encumbrances, unpaid taxes, tax titles, municipal liens and assessments, if any, which take precedence over the said mortgage above described.

TEN THOUSAND ($10,000.00) Dollars of the purchase price must be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check at the time and place of the sale by the purchaser. The balance of the purchase price shall be paid by a certified check, bank treasurer’s or cashier’s check within sixty (60) days after the date of sale.

The mortgagor is entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the mortgage, including the costs and expenses of the sale.

DATED: March 24, 2021 By: /s/ Loraine L. Hite Loraine L. Hite, Esq. Bendett and McHugh, PC 270 Farmington Ave., Ste. 151 Farmington, CT 06032 TOWN OF ESSEX SELECTBOARD NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING MAY 3, 2021 6:35 P.M. MICROSOFT TEAMS ESSEX JCT., VT 05452 The Town of Essex Selectboard will hold a public meeting to discuss proposed changes in water and sewer rates. The meeting will be held remotely via Microsoft Teams, and accessible clicking the following link or calling the following conference call number: Join Microsoft Teams Meeting +1 802-377-3784 United States, Middlebury (Toll) Conference ID: 150 964 34# Water rates are proposed to increase by 2.8% to $5.78 per 1,000 gallons, with sewer rates proposed to increase by 3.0% to $9.93 per 1,000 gallons. The yearly minimum public water charge is proposed to remain at $180 per year. Water initiation fees for new customers are proposed to increase from $5.73 per 1,000 gallons to $5.78 per 1,000 gallons. Sewer initiation fees for new customers are proposed to remain unchanged. Interim or final billing requests shall continue to be charged a fee of $35 for the service. The proposed water and sewer budget and rate methodology is available at www.essexvt.org.

Please direct questions to Public Works Director Dennis Lutz or Town Engineer Aaron Martin at 802-878-1344 or dlutz@essex.org and amartin@ essex.org.

Andy Watts, Chair Essex Selectboard

15 APRIL 2021 TO: ENVIRONMENTAL DIVISION OF THE SUPERIOR COURT FROM: DOUGLAS FLETCHER, 590 ARNOLD BAY RD, VERGENNES VT 05491 To Whom It May Concern: We are appealing the Shoreland Protection Permit Decision Number 3326-SP. Our ability to appeal as an interested party is described under 24 V.S.A. §4465(b)(3). The substance of our appeal is based on our comments that were submitted during the public comment period. The decision was made

by Peter Walke, Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, and signed by Misha Cetner, Environmental Analyst, Lakes and Ponds Management and Protection Program, Watershed Management Division on his behalf.

The property for which Shoreland Protection Individual Permit Number 3326-SP was granted is Parcel SPAN 228-073-11070 with a physical address of 588 Arnold Bay Road, Ferrisburgh VT. The permit applicants were Kristin and Andrew Shamis of Shelburne Vt. Part of this property lies within the shoreland protection zone of Lake Champlain.

The issue in question is not with the building site work in the shoreland zone, but with the accepted claim of 6900 ft2 of existing, cleared, impervious surface that was made by the applicants in their permit application. This surface is neither cleared nor impervious. As we stated in our concerns, we believe that a site visit now that the ground is no longer frozen is the easiest way to resolve this aspect of our concern. However, there are also three additional factual errors in the permit application that were not addressed in the decision.

With this appeal, we request that the permit be amended to state that there is no existing cleared or impervious area on this property, because that is an accurate description of their shoreland condition. Our specific objections regarding the inaccuracies about the claim of 6900 ft2 of existing, cleared, impervious surface are explained on the following pages.

Thank you for your attention in this matter and please contact me if you have any questions.

Douglas G. Fletcher

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Other terms to be announced at the sale.

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ATTENTION RECRUITERS: POST YOUR JOBS AT: JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POST-A-JOB PRINT DEADLINE: NOON ON MONDAYS (INCLUDING HOLIDAYS) FOR RATES & INFO: MICHELLE BROWN, 802-865-1020 X21, MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

YOUR TRUSTED LOCAL SOURCE. JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Sign Maker

SEEKING reliable, motivated, and enthusiastic individual to join our team. Fast pace work environment filling and packaging products. Prior experience not necessary but encouraged. Must be 18 and over. Starting pay $16.00 per/hr. with full benefits offered after 6 months.

HOUSEKEEPER/ASSISTANT Needed 1 to 2 days a week. Days & hours are your choice. House work, some cooking, drive to appt, errands, shopping. Looking for for an outgoing, interested, fun person. We run a small family business out of our home and the right person would need to fit in and like to be around people.

Design Signs is seeking a highly Email application and resume to sharon@rozelle.com or by mail at: skilled Sign Fabrication ProfesRozelle Inc. Attn: Sharon, P.O. Box 70, Westfield, VT 05874 sional to join our team. Duties Please call Cindy or Craig with any questions. 802-899-3088 Other positions may be available, specify experience on application. include sign manufacturing from start to finish, cutting on a CNC router, painting, installation and applying vinyl. Benefits 2h-RozelleCosmetics033121.indd 1 1 4/19/21 3/29/212h-WalkersVTMapleSyrup042121.indd 4:08 PM include competetive pay, paid holidays & time Off, health insurance and a fun working OPERATORS atmosphere. Technically minded $2,250.00 Sign-on Bonus! people are encouraged to apply.

Reach out to nicole@ designsignsvt.com for more information or to submit resume.

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Night Shift: 7pm to 7am Pay Rate: $17.44 (includes shift differential) Schedules: Includes long, 4-day weekends off every other week!

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Education Assistance: Eligible after 6 months.

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CEO

Apply online at globalfoundries.com/about-us/careers.

For more information email jobs@globalfoundries.com.

The next CEO will have the opportunity to lead this GlobalFoundries continues to fully operate and hire during COVID-19. vibrant, forward-looking, and mission-driven organization to be a field leader in 1 4/26/21 3/2/214t-ArborTrek042821.indd 1:37 PM affordable housing in Central 4t-GlobalFoundries030321.indd 1 Vermont and must embrace the adage that their work is “more than four walls and a roof.” Candidate will manage operations effectively and efficiently within the complexities typical of a Do you have a passion for serving income eligible Vermonters housing nonprofit. and leading a team of dedicated employees? Northeast Howard Center is looking for a compassionate, reliable and adaptable

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/ DIRECTOR OF WEATHERIZATION

SHARED LIVING PROVIDERS

Upload required documents to: eostransitions.applicantpool. com/jobs This executive search is being conducted by Eos Transition Partners consultant Nancy Jackson. All submissions will be acknowledged and are confidential, and any questions must be submitted to Nancy Jackson at: njackson@eostransitions.com.

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couple to provide full time therapeutic foster care. We are looking for individuals that excel in communication and collaboration.

This family would reside in a Howard Center owned home, in a quiet cul-de-sac in Colchester. The Shared Living Providers in this spacious four bedroom house will care for two children full time. This home has a beautiful backyard and is less than a half a mile from Niquette Bay State Park. Children living in this home will be receiving wrap around services through the Enhanced Family Treatment program with a long-term goal to reunite with their family.

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Call 802-488-6372 to learn more!

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Employment and Training Organization (NETO) seeks an Executive Director/Director of Weatherization to provide leadership and direct and oversee all functions of NETO.

For over 40 years, NETO has helped over 10,000 households in Orleans, Essex, and Caledonia counties save money by improving the energy efficiency of their homes, resulting in lower heating and utility bills. NETO is a private non-profit with an administrative office in Newport, a second location in St. Johnsbury, 24 employees, and a $2.3million annual operating budget.

Learn about this position, including compensation and travel requirements, and apply at bethgilpin.com/current-openings.

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FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSJOBS, SUBSCRIBE TO RSS, OR BROWSE POSTS ON YOUR PHONE AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Bee’s Wrap shapes intentional habits without compromise for people, our core purpose, and the planet. We thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and employ a growing workforce in Middlebury. We are currently hiring for the following positions: • Production Staff • Staff Accountant • Customer Experience Manager • Purchasing & Supply Chain Specialist

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Legal Assistant

Lead the installation, maintenance, support and development of all information and communication systems and related equipment for our natural foods cooperative grocery store. Develop and maintain computer programs, databases, and reporting systems to support Coop goals for margins, turns, inventory management, membership data management, pricing, sales, and profits. Supervise two staff in providing these services. Participate in storewide strategic business planning.

Qualifications include a bachelor’s degree in computer science, a related field or equivalent job experience. Experience in managing networked information systems and applications in a retail or similar environment including a retail point of sale system (installation, configuration, maintenance) highly desirable. Experience as a supervisor in a retail or customer service setting is preferred, especially in natural food stores.

This position reports to the General Manager, will be a lot of fun for the right candidate,and is full-time,salaried with comprehensive employee benefits.

Hunger Mountain Co-op is an equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities,

Prestigious law firm seeks experienced legal assistant. Candidates people with disabilities, veterans, and members of the LGBTQ community are must possess excellent communication skills, be able to work encouraged to apply. Hourly employees are represented by UE Local 255. in a fast-paced environment, have initiative, be detail-oriented, organized, computer literate, capable of learning new technologies and show a willingness to adapt to changing priorities.

5v-HungerMtnCoOp042121.indd 1 4/19/21 Law firm experience preferred, competitive salary & benefits package.

Summer positions in Central Vermont serving with non-profit organizations May-August 2021

Please reply with cover letter and resume to: Nikki Stevens, Firm Administrator Langrock Sperry & Wool, LLP 210 College Street, P.O. Box 721 Burlington, VT 05402-0721 Or via email to: nstevens@langrock.com www.langrock.com

• environmental education • conservation stewardship • trail maintenance

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vhcb.org/americorps VHCB AmeriCorps offers: • a living allowance • health insurance • an education award • training opportunities • leadership development

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Centers for Wellbeing

ACCOUNTANT 4/12/21 4:12 PM

Counselor/Social Worker The Invest EAP Centers for Wellbeing is seeking a skilled Master’s level counselor or social worker. We’re a growing and dynamic team with diverse and engaging responsibilities.

Our clients represent a broad cross-section of mostly adults throughout Vermont, and our dedicated counselors work collaboratively to provide short-term solution-focused counseling, resources, and support.

This position will join our mission to provide a high-touch and individualized response to each Vermonter to help with the daily life challenges that we all experience. Cover letter and resume to Marc Adams, marca@investeap.org by May 3, 2021. Steady salary with high-end health and retirement benefits. Equal Opportunity Employer.

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11:04 AM

We are seeking an Accountant to join the Finance Team at Capstone Community Action. The Accountant’s primary responsibility is performing general accounting, reporting and analysis duties.

Additional duties include preparing periodic reports to funding sources and back up for payroll function. The ideal candidate would have an associate’s degree in accounting, experience in a fast-paced fund accounting/bookkeeping environment and possess a solid understanding of computers and software – notably Microsoft Excel.

Interested applicants should submit a letter of interest and resume to: Capstone Community Action, Inc. Human Resources, 20 Gable Place, Barre, VT 05641 Or email to: jobs@capstonevt.org Capstone Community Action is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Provider. Applications from women, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and people from diverse backgrounds are encouraged. Only those applicants selected for an interview will be contacted.

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4/16/21 12:44 PM

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

Clerical Assistants (Job code 21001)

64

APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

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POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

2:15 PM

Recruiting for temporary Docket Clerk positions lasting up to but not exceeding June 2022. 40 hours a week.

The position will specialize in data entry, filing and clerical office work involving one or more docket areas.

Locations – Burlington, Barre, St. Johnsbury, Brattleboro, Bennington & Newport.

High School graduate and two years of clerical, or data entry experience required.

Starting at $17.11 per hour Go to https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/employmentopportunities/staff-openings for more details and to complete application.

These positions is open until filled. The Vermont Judiciary is an equal opportunity employer.

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For 2021 se M pvandegraaf@diovermont.orgPlease call ark The Judiciary is recruiting for a full time at Pleasant limited-service Docket Clerk B position funded through federal Valley, Inc. stimulus fund. One position with Statewide Unit in Burlington 820 802-343-4

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and one with the Franklin Court in St. Albans. The position will specialize in customer service, records keeping and data entry involving one or more docket areas. High school degree and 2 1t-PleasantValley042821.indd or more years of clerical work required. Starting pay at $17.11 per hour with benefits including healthcare, sick leave, holidays, and paid time off.

Go to vermontjudiciary.org/employmentopportunities/staff-openings for more details and to complete application.These positions are open until filled.

MULTIPLE POSITIONS OPEN Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital has a variety of open positions including: RNs, LNAs, MT or MLT, Administrative, Information Services and more!

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CLERICAL ASSISTANTS

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Starting at $17.11 per hour with excellent benefits, paid holidays and leave time. Job code # 20030.

Candidates shall submit a complete and up-to-date Judicial Branch application and resume. An electronic version of the Application may be found at: vermontjudiciary.org/ employment-opportunities/staff-openings The Vermont Judiciary is an equal opportunity employer.

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Administrative Assistant

pvandegraaf@diovermont.org with Champlain Valley Head Start. The ideal candidate will be experienced in the field with a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood (or related field), have an educator’s license, and 4/27/21 meet or be willing to meet the VT Childcare Center-Based Childcare2v-EpsicopalDioceseofVT042821.indd 1 Licensing staff requirements in section 7.3.1.4.

m

To be successful as the SHCC Early Education Director, you will need a wealth of current knowledge of early education and possess excellent interpersonal, collaboration, and communication skills as well as embody the belief that a strong early education sets the stage for years to come. This is a full-time, benefited position. To see the full position posting and to apply, visit saraholbrookcc.org/ employment-opportunities.

DRILLER'S HELPER WATER WELL PUMP TECHNICIAN

Located in Burlington. High School graduate and two years of clerical, or data entry experience required.

4/23/21 10:26 AM

Part-time, 20 hours/week General administrative support The Vermont Judiciary is an equal opportunity employer. as part of a small collaborative office team in a pleasant work environment at Rock Point in Burlington. Must 4t-OfficeCourtAdministrator042121.indd 1 4/19/21 7:40 PMhave good people skills, be EARLY EDUCATION attentive to detail, and have DIRECTOR strong technical skills in all areas of administrative support Do you love working with our littlest including use of the Microsoft community members? Are you an amazing collaborator who thrives Suite and FileMaker Pro, and on working with a team to help kids grow and foster their love of Apple products. Compensation learning? Sara Holbrook Community Center is actively seeking based on experience and skills. an Early Education Director to oversee the daily operations and Send resumes to: administration of our Toddler and Pre-K programs in collaboration

2 POSITIONS OPEN: 3/19/21 4t-SaraHolbrook042121.indd 11:06 AM 1

The Vermont Judiciary is recruiting for a full-time, permanent Docket Clerk, to perform specialized clerical duties including data entry and extensive customer service over the phone.

1

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

4/19/21 7:43 PM

POST YOUR JOBS AT: sevendaysvt.com/ postmyjob

We are looking for a self motivated person with a "clean" DMV record and reliable transportation, who takes pride in being on time and is willing to work 40+ hours a week. Position requires driving company vehicles. Must pass pre-employment drug test. Strong mechanical and technical abilities and a basic understanding of electrical wiring and plumbing, Must be able to lift and move 100 lbs; ability to work outdoors in all types of weather. Applicants will be able to with training pass the required certifications within 2 years of hire as a condition of employment. All training will be provided including safety training. Competitive wages and benefits offered (health insurance, life insurance, vacation and more).

Please submit resume in person or email to our office: Spafford and Sons, 11 North Main St., Jericho Vt. Monday - Friday between 7:00 am and 4:00 pm. Starts immediately. info@spaffordwaterwells.com

4/27/21 4t-Spafford&Sons030321.indd 12:11 PM 1

PRINT DEADLINE: Noon on Mondays (including holidays) FOR RATES & INFO: Michelle Brown, 802-865-1020 x21

michelle@ sevendaysvt.com

JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

3/30/21 1:30 PM

9:55 AM

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSJOBS, SUBSCRIBE TO RSS, OR BROWSE POSTS ON YOUR PHONE AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Filling Station in Middlesex VT is looking for Bartenders and Servers. We are a busy place with a fun atmosphere. We have indoor and outdoor dining and will be open 7 days a week, so we are able to work with busy schedules. Looking for something FT? We got it.

PT? We got that too.

Applications are invited for a full-time Dispatcher/Switchboard Operator for Public Safety/Fire & Rescue Departments at Saint Michael’s College to dispatch radio calls and operate the College switchboard. This person will be responsible for answering all incoming calls and directing calls to the appropriate party quickly, accurately and professionally. All emergency calls are received for SMC campus and the surrounding community. Dispatch, switchboard, emergency services experience desirable, but we will provide training for a motivated and dependable person with demonstrated aptitude.

Please apply through our email or stop in at an appropriate time to talk and drop off resume. fillingstationvt@gmail.com.

Benefits include health, dental, vision, life, disability, 401(k), generous paid time off, employee and dependent tuition benefits, and discounted gym membership.

Full job description and to apply online: bit.ly/SMCdispatch2021.

Development Services Coordinator

4/27/21 2v-FillingStation042821.indd 12:20 PM 1

Apply steadfast accuracy and responsiveness to process and acknowledge financial contributions and update donor accounts. Exercise superb interpersonal skills to resolve inquiries and strengthen donor relationships. Fulfill responsibilities for fundraising campaigns and large-scale written communications throughout the year. Bring initiative and a positive attitude to daily work and unexpected challenges, and respectful candor to all interactions.

Learn more at VPR.org/Careers. VPR is an E.O.E.

4/23/21

65 APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

’re e W g!

n i r i H

! m a r ing te u o n Joi amaz

We’re looking for camp counselors, lifeguards, grounds keepers, waterfront & boathouse crew, campground staff, conserva�on & trees specialists and more. Find your perfect summer job!

APPLY ONLINE!

4/27/21 11:47 AM

WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

If you have a passion for Vermont Public Radio, consider becoming a new VPR Development Services Coordinator, providing supporters with an excellent donation & stewardship experience.

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JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

BARTENDERS & SERVERS

DISPATCHER/SWITCHBOARD OPERATOR

4t-StMichaelsCollege042821.indd 1

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY!

Paramedic/ AEMT

For accessibility informa�on or alterna�ve formats, please contact Human Resources Department at careers@burlingtonvt.gov or call (802) 540-3057

Accepting applications for full5v-BurlingtonParks&Rec042121.indd 1 4/20/21 time paramedic or AEMT to serve as a crew chief for up to three 12hour day shifts per week. This may also include nights, weekends, and holidays. Duties include Select is searching for an experienced business emergency medical services, professional to support logistics & project managerelated trainings, maintenance ment of our internal and external resources, to of equipment, apparatus, and ensure that we meet our clients’ delivery expectastation. The successful candidate tions. The ideal candidate will serve a vital role in will be NREMT certified, hold a valid VT AEMT or higher license, daily operations through adaptability, exceptional hold a valid driver’s license, have communication and thorough project management. a minimum of 2 years as an EMS 10:49 AMcrew chief, and be willing to Responsibilities: support delivery initiatives for obtain Fire Fighter I status within special projects, manage an ongoing fulfillment & 18 months of hire. Must pass a background check. warehouse partnership, maintain activity and com-

Logistics Coordinator

Competitive compensation package based on experience and certification level. Benefits include health, dental, vision, SIMPLE IRA & generous paid time off. admin@cvfrs.org

3v-TownofCharlotteVOLUNTEERFIRE042821.indd 4/27/211 10:16 AM

9:00 AM

municate with third party (3PL) partners, collaborate and communicate with internal stake-holders, and deliver accurate logistical details to all parties.

Qualifications: Experience working in a logistics or project management role, proficient in Microsoft Office Suites & navigating logistics technology & products. Bachelor degree preferred.

Apply: careers@selectdesign.com Full Listing: www.selectdesign.com/careers 208 Flynn Ave., Burlington, VT (802) 864.9075

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4/20/21 7spot.indd 11:03 AM 1

10/29/195v-SelectDesignLOGISTICS042821.indd 12:12 PM 1

4/26/21 5:19 PM

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

66

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

TRANSPORTATION DATA ANALYST

BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONIST

CATMA seeks a dynamic, knowledgeable, and team-oriented individual to support our growth in Chittenden County. We serve as a regional gateway to connect businesses, developers and municipalities with convenient, reliable and economical transportation options and solutions.

The Analyst is essential to designing and managing CATMA’s data systems, which are fundamental in calculating and monitoring the travel behavior and emissions of our membership. Primarily responsible for producing plans and reports, in collaboration with CATMA team, external stakeholders, and members, to influence decision makers on innovative sustainable transportation policy. The Analyst must work closely, courteously, and cooperatively in a small office environment.

REGISTERED NURSE Pediatric Neurology and Neurosurgery (Outpatient) This unique position combines the roles of a Pediatric Neurology Nurse and a Pediatric Neurosurgery Nurse. This nurse will have the ability to improve, recommend and establish new processes for both Healthcare Divisions.

State of VT RN license required.

Learn more and apply:

uvmmed.hn/sevendays

Job & Application Info: catmavt.org/join-our-team

1 4/19/214t-UVMMedCenter-RN-042821.indd 1:03 PM

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Suzannesmith.orc@gmail.com

SKILLED 4/27/21 TRADES PERSON

4/5/212v-OnionRiverCrossroads042821.indd 2:42 PM 1

PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER (part-time) Applications are invited for a part-time Public Safety Officer.

This position requires the ability to deal with a wide range of individuals, often under stressful or emergency situations.

A successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to work effectively in a college environment seeking a balance between education and enforcement in the performance of duties.

Maintaining a safe campus includes the performance of routine services, response to incidents and emergencies, and completion of necessary documentation and follow up. Schedule is rotating and includes nights, weekends and holidays.

JOIN THE TEAM AT GARDENER’S SUPPLY! Through gardening, our customers control their access to safe and affordable food, and grow food to share with their neighbors. At Gardener’s Supply, we are committed to doing everything we can to help our customers keep gardening, but we need your help.

We’re hiring for SEASONAL POSITIONS AT THREE OF OUR LOCATIONS:

For full job description and to apply online, please visit: interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp?JOBID=130221

READINESS AND RELIEF COORDINATOR

1:27 PM

Looking to Hire a skilled trades person to help at our stone processing facility. Job would include building maintenance, machinery repair and assisting with day to day operations. Willing to train the right person.

Must have valid driver’s license and reliable transportation. Wages based upon experience; carpentry skills & electrical experience a plus.

Apply: john@vtverde.com.

4/23/212v-WestminsterStoneWorks040721.indd 1:11 PM 1

4/6/21 2:03 PM

Montpelier, VT (Due to COVID-19 the CERF+ office is temporarily closed and all staff work from a fully virtual/home office possible permanent remote/virtual work.)

• Pick/Pack customer orders at our DISTRIBUTION CENTER IN MILTON • Provide exceptional customer service to our customers over email at our CONTACT CENTER • Help customers with their gardening needs at our WILLISTON GARDEN CENTER We are 100% employee-owned and a Certified B Corporation. We offer strong cultural values, competitive wages and outstanding benefits (including a tremendous discount!). Please go to our careers page at www.gardeners.com/careers and apply online!

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Benefits: Eligible for paid-time-off accrual as outlined in the employee handbook. This hourly, part-time position is not eligible for regular College provided fringe benefits.

4t-StMichaelsCollegePSO042821.indd 1

Confident, Motivated individual needed to work with teenage girls who have emotional and behavior challenges. Must be 21 years old, clean driving record, and pass a background check. Experience and degree preferred, but will train the right person.

Tuesday-Saturday 3pm to 11pm. Health, Dental and Life insurance provided at no cost to employee. $17.00 an hour to start. Come help us make a difference in a young person’s life.

In this role you will be integral to the expansion of the readiness and relief services that we offer to craft artists. This is a new position and you will be part of an organization that has worked diligently to understand and serve the needs of craft artists. You’ll help our readiness and relief programs synergize and organize, think differently, plan and implement in a more proactive and culturally responsive way, and communicate out what we’re doing and the resources that are available to artists.

This is a tremendous opportunity for a dynamic, collaborative individual to help CERF+ expand its emergency relief and recovery services. CERF+ offers a wonderful quality of life, collegial work environment, and competitive compensation, including an attractive benefits package. For a complete job description, please visit cerfplus.org/employment-opportunities/.

4/26/21 4t-CERF041421.indd 11:48 AM 1

YOUR TRUSTED LOCAL SOURCE. JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

4/9/21 1x2 12:08 Jobs PM Filler.indd 1

1/14/20 12:30 PM

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSJOBS, SUBSCRIBE TO RSS, OR BROWSE POSTS ON YOUR PHONE AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Carpenters Wanted!

Needed Immediately!

Finish Carpenters, Carpenters and Carpenters Helpers. Good Pay, Full Time and Long Term!

Chittenden County.

Call Mike at 802-343-0089 or Morton at 802-862-7602.

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WORKFLOW AMBASSADOR

This position provides administrative support to the Executive Director and is a communications liaison for the Board of Trustees. Candidates must have excellent communication skills, the ability to multi-task, and outstanding problem-solving skills. Along with the ability to manage calendars, processes, and meetings within the organization, the Workflow Ambassador will keep our ED prepared, on time, and up to date.

Visit our website for more details: flynnvt.org/About-Us/Employment-andInternship-Opportunities Submit application materials and access to your digital portfolio: HResources@flynnvt.org

We’re looking for upbeat, motivated people to join our Pizzeria Verità family! Experienced in the kitchen or out on the floor? Great! Just starting out and primed to learn new skills for the future? If you’re 5v-Flynn042821.indd friendly and positive we’d love to train you. We have a lively and supportive workplace, an awesome crew and we offer a progressive, fair pay structure.

If it sounds like this might be for you, stop by Weds-Saturday from 3-5 pm or send us your resumé at info@pizzeriaverita.com.

JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Join the Flynn’s playful, supportive, diverse environment, and be part of a team of people striving to make the community better through the arts. All backgrounds encouraged to apply. This is a full-time, benefited, in-person position.

8/6/18 10:42 AM

Kitchen & Front of House Staff

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY!

Flynn Center for the Performing Arts Human Resources Department 153 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05401 No phone calls, please. EOE

1

• Safety & Training Coordinator • Creamery Supervisor - 2nd Shift • HR Coordinator At Vermont Creamery, our employees are our greatest resource. We are a community that empowers our team to engage and live our mission every day. We know that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and here, the whole is powered by a spirit of collaboration and transparency.

Benefits matter; that’s why we offer a competitive package.

Our benefits program includes medical, vision & dental insurance, retirement plans & a total well-being approach.

Perks to keep you healthy & happy include a wellness program, time off & tuition assistance. A certified B Corp since 2014, we’re using our business as a force for good.

4/9/21 Sales Executive - Strategic Accounts

4/23/21 5v-VTCreamery041421.indd 11:08 AM 1

10:26 AM

Select is looking for an experienced Sales Executive to own and grow key client relationships and deliver creative outcomes within our growing base of iconic global consumer brand partners.

Farmland Conservation Analyst

4/16/215vVHCBfarmland042821.indd 5:12 PM 1

OPEN POSITIONS - ALL SHIFTS

To apply, please call 802-479-9371 or apply online at: careers.landolakesinc.com/vermontcreamery.

Join our team, evaluating farmland conservation grant applications and assisting with the administration of the VHCB Farmland 2v-PizzeriaVerita042821.indd 1 4/23/21 12:22 PM Conservation Program to conserve important agricultural land.

Help with policy development and provide technical assistance and capacity-building support in collaboration with applicants and partners. Qualifications include experience with agriculPreschool Head tural land conservation easements and transactions; addtionally, Teacher knowledege and experience in natural resources and land use Seeking a Head Teacher planning desired. Proficiency in data and financial analysis and for the older preschool management is important. Strong organizational skills, keen atclassroom (ages 3 to 5) in our nature and play-based tention to detail, and excellent written and oral communication program. Candidates should enjoy spending a lot of time skills and proficiency with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint required. outdoors in all weather, hiking, Experience working with non-profit organizations, municipalities, exploring, and teaching children about the natural world, as well and state and federal agencies is important. Full-time position as overseeing a social-justice with competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package. For focused preschool curriculum.

Start Date: June 21st. the full job description visit: vhcb.org/about-us/jobs. EOE. Please For details on this job opening, reply by May 3 with cover letter and résumé to: jobs@vhcb.org. please go to jobso.id/dk6g

2v-SchoolhouseLearning052821.indd 1

67 APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

Responsibilities: foster client relationships by understanding and defining the outcomes they seek, collaborate and communicate with internal stakeholders, and engage clients using Select’s growing suite of marketing technology products.

Qualifications: 3-5 years experience in a consumer brand marketing agency or sales role, a strong understanding of the consumer brand space, and today's omni-channel landscape, and experience managing relationships with multiple complex deliverables on budget and within deadline.

Bachelor degree preferred.

Apply: careers@selectdesign.com Full Listing: www.selectdesign.com/careers 208 Flynn Ave., Burlington, VT (802) 864.9075

1 4/23/215v-SelectDesignSALES042821.indd 2:08 PM

4/26/21 5:17 PM

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

68

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

Help Vermonters pursue their education goals!

CAREGIVER

DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES

In search of a caregiver to provide community/respite support to a 62-year-old woman with developmental disabilities. Enjoys animals, bowling, exercising, crafting and Zooming.

Always open for adventure.

Come join our team and help Vermonters!

Vermont Student Assistance Corp (VSAC) is seeking an experienced Human Resources professional, with progressive experience in Human Resource management, to join our leadership team.

In this role, you will provide positive and proactive leadership and management of VSAC’s human resources functions. This involves planning, organizing, and directing the human resources department, collaboration with the leadership team and others to develop and execute strategies regarding organizational planning and employee satisfaction including our compensation, benefits, recruitment, employee development and training, performance management and human resources policy administration and compliance. The successful candidate will have exceptional communication and leadership skills, a proven ability to work effectively as part of a team, current knowledge and usage of relevant technology, familiarity with federal and state laws and a demonstrated ability to successfully work with a team to solve complex problems. A Bachelor’s degree in a related field and minimum of 5 to 7 years in Human Resources is required.

Hours: Monday/ Wednesday/Thursday/ Friday, 10-3 or 11-4. 20 hours/week, $16.50/hour.

Must pass background check and have clean driving record. Contact: k_kilpeck@yahoo.com

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VSAC offers a dynamic, professional environment with competitive compensation and generous benefits package.

Apply ONLY online at www.vsac.org VERMONT STUDENT ASSISTANCE CORPORATION PO Box 2000, Winooski, VT 05404 EOE/Minorities/Females/Vet/Disabled

5v-NorwichSolarTechnologies042821.indd 1

BUILDING MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN

JOIN OUR TEAM!

4/26/215v-VSAC042821.indd 2:01 PM 1

The Building Maintenance Technician position is an experienced team player who likes working in a fast paced environment. The ideal candidate has demonstrated knowledge and a background in both general building maintenance and custodial services.

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SHIFT HOURS: School year, 3:00 pm - 11:30 pm Summer, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm CONTACT: Chris Giard: cgiard@cvsdvt.org Or apply online: schoolspring.com

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL SERVICE PROGRAMS

A sign on bonus of $500.00 will be given after 6 months of continuous employment. E.O.E.

If you are an organized and detail-oriented person with good 4/26/21 D written and verbal communication skills, computer proficiency, 2v-ChamplainValleySD042821.indd 1 IN F L administrative experience, and a positive attitude, then this may be L I W the job for you. Prior National Service or Peace Corps experience OU Y a plus. This position is one of three Assistant Directors who help manage two statewide AmeriCorps programs.

Send cover letter and resume to Hiring Committee at vydc.recruitment@wcysb.org by May 5, 2021.

Position starts in May. • Salary Range $37,000 – 43,000 • Health Insurance & Generous Leave Policy.

E.O.E. Background Check Required.

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3:47 PM

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Currently working remotely with a planned re-entry into office work in the fall, with a hybrid option of remote and office work.

ECHO is an Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes candidates for employment who will contribute to our diversity.

Please submit cover letter and resume to jobs@ echovermont.org with Building Maintenance Technician Position in the subject line. Apply by May 15th.

4/23/21 1:28 PM

Duties: recruit, support, and manage AmeriCorps members and sites; help manage grants and write reports; coordinate and facilitate monthly training; implement public relations campaigns; maintain databases and websites; and monitor members and sites.

This position will be full time, non-exempt and will be scheduled for five, eight-hour days per week, including weekends. Occasionally, this position will be required to work full weekends, holidays and overtime. For a full job description please visit echovt.org/jobs.html

CUSTODIANS Champlain Valley S.D. has immediate openings for full time, second shift custodians.

Hourly rate commensurate with experience and full benefits included.

We’re looking for a dynamic individual to help support the VT Youth Development Corps AmeriCorps State and VT Youth Tomorrow AmeriCorps VISTA Programs.

ECHO seeks an experienced team player to provide building maintenance and custodial services in a unique 36,000 square foot, LEED-certified aquarium and science center. The full time position provides a diverse set of responsibilities that includes interior and exterior daily cleaning of guest, staff and service areas as well as seasonal grounds maintenance.

This position will also assist in interior and exterior building maintenance including painting, flooring, plumbing, carpentry, lighting, HVAC, and exhibit setup and maintenance.

4/27/21 12:05 PM

CRACK OPEN YOUR FUTURE...

with our new, mobile-friendly job board.

START APPLYING AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

1 4/26/212v_JobFiller_Cookie.indd 9:39 AM

3/20/17 5:09 PM

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSJOBS, SUBSCRIBE TO RSS, OR BROWSE POSTS ON YOUR PHONE AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

69 APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

SUMMER ENRICHMENT COORDINATOR FULL-TIME

RETAIL SALES ASSOCIATE A fierce commitment to customer service, knowledge of and passion for Apple products, an understanding of the digital lifestyle, keen attention to detail. Our retail store is currently open Monday - Friday from 10-6.

This position includes a full benefits package. Please send resumes: jobs@smalldog.com.

Security Officers

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APPLY TODAY! Help Burlington/Winooski youth emerge from COVID and have a fun, enriching summer! We are hiring teams of summertime AmeriCorps Members to support youth in affordable housing neighborhoods throughout the city by planning and executing activities for 11 weeks during the summer. You will receive a summer stipend of $3,500 with an education award upon successful completion. There are also opportunities at our overnight Camp DREAM in Vermont: Camp Counselors, and a Meals and Garden Coordinator!

DREAM’s mission is to close the opportunity gap for youth in affordable housing. With our nation’s history of systemic racial and economic oppression, DREAM recognizes that children living in affordable housing do not receive equitable access to educational and enrichment opportunities, which can be pivotal experiences in shaping a young person’s future. DREAM seeks a world in which all children have the opportunities, resources, & relationships necessary to achieve their dreams.

Apply directly here: http://bit.ly/DreamProgramSummer2021.

For more information: rjohns@dreamprogram.org, 720-288-9593.

POSITIONS OPEN!

4/26/21 4t-DreamProgram042821.indd 11:53 AM 1

SSC, Inc. is currently recruiting for FT/PT Security Officers All Shifts available in Montpelier, Champlain and Jericho, VT. Ideal candidate will have excellent customer service skills, and ability to think critically in any situation, have a positive attitude, and ability to work within a team. Must have VT Security License, reliable transportation and DL. Starting rate is $17.00-$17.50 per hour.

To apply visit: smgcorporateservices.com and click on the CAREERS tab.

Love working with children and youth? Summer programs and camps across Vermont are hiring for full and part-time positions.

Help youth reconnect, recharge, and have fun!

Teens, college students, experiential educators, and anyone seeking a seasonal job are welcome to apply. Programs are especially keen to hire energetic, responsible, creative people who have diverse skills to share. Most jobs are in-person, and employers carefully follow COVID-19 safety protocols and health guidance. Types of roles include:

• Camp counselor • Enrichment activity leader • Outdoor educator

• Specialized tutor • Certified lifeguard • And more!

Visit VermontAfterschool.org/Recruit to easily indicate your interest in applying for an open position near you.

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4/23/21 11:02 AM

The Community Sailing Center (CSC) is urgently hiring for the sailing season!

Part-time and Full-time jobs are available.

SAILING INSTRUCTOR

Would you love to share your passion for sailing with others? Do you enjoy working with youth and adults? If you answered yes, check out our Sailing Instructor position. Our team of US Sailing certified instructors spend the summer on the water providing a once in a lifetime experience to participants of all ages and abilities. Sailing instructors deliver on-the-water instruction for various classes and programs and are responsible for delivering a formal curriculum and teaching practical skills.

A US Sailing Level 1 certification or the ability to earn one is required. Full and part time positions are available.

WATERFRONT COORDINATOR

Do you prefer being out on the water? Do you have experience handling power boats and possess a valid Boater's License? Do you have an eye for detail and water safety awareness? Check out our Waterfront Coordinator positions! WCs supervise and manage the waterfront and our docks. They frequently help customers with their rentals, direct 2v-SSC042121.indd 1 4/19/21 7:22 PMdock traffic, bring customers to moorings, and keep the waterfront flowing smoothly. Outstanding boating skills and customer service are MACHINE OPERATORS required. A boating license or ability to acquire one is required. Full and part time positions are available.

Permanent, full time positions available for a variety of machine operators Do you enjoy working with guests and have a knack for excellent customer on all three shifts. This service? Do you thrive in busy environments? Do you like having different exciting career comes aspects to your day to day job? Check out our Office Coordinator position! with competitive wages, We are looking for friendly and organized people to help run our office incredible benefits and so this season. Typical tasks include welcoming and registering participants, much more! We offer health, dental, vision, short term answering phones, answering program questions, booking reservations and disability, life insurance and handling transactions. Experience with Google and Office are preferred. No 401k with employer match. boating experience is needed. Full and part time positions are available.

Raises every 6 months. We All positions offer competitive pay and staff receive a free rental pass. We offer on the job training with no experience necessary. are willing to train the right candidates for any position. Sign on bonuses Strong math skills and are offered depending on the role. mechanically inclined a plus.

If you have any questions about your qualifications or how to Come join our team! earn certifications please contact Program Manager, Tom Tucker at tom@communitysailingcenter.org.

Julie.Lague@tivoly.com

OFFICE COORDINATOR

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SUMMER PROGRAMS & CAMPS ARE HIRING!

1 4/23/216t-CommunitySailingCenter042821.indd 9:44 AM

PH International (Project Harmony, Inc.) is an international non-profit with 35 years of experience focusing on civic engagement, cross cultural learning, and increased opportunities in the digital age. The U.S. headquarter office is located in Waitsfield, VT with field offices in Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Republic of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine with projects implemented in other countries.

FINANCE MANAGER Immediate full-time opening in the Waitsfield office for a highly qualified professional to be a key member of PH’s Senior Management Team and oversee all accounting and financial functions.

Demonstrated experience in non-profit accounting, business management, organizational leadership, and be highly adaptable to new online management systems. Knowledge of U.S. federal grant management and compliance is a must. Oversee all financial and accounting systems and reporting; supervise accounting staff; develop and manage the annual budget process, annual audit, 990, and NICRA proposal; manage cash management and cash-flow; monitor investments and line of credit; approve reports, invoices, journal entries, and transactions; prepare monthly account reconciliations; ensure internal procedures are followed for new awards, cost share, sub recipients, and procurement; and lead financial report preparation and reporting for Senior Management and the Finance Committee of the Board of Directors. Experience working with international field offices and with multi-company accounting and consolidated financial statements is a plus; demonstrated experience with federal and state regulations related to payroll; effective problem solving, critical thinking, and systems evaluation skills; experience in organizational leadership and supervising staff.

FULL JOB DESCRIPTION & APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS AT: PH-INT.ORG/VACANCIES. Application deadline: May 24, 2021. EOE.

4/26/21 6t-PHInternational042121.indd 11:45 AM 1

4/20/21 10:36 AM

ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

70

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

New, local, scamfree jobs posted every day!

DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Vermont Tent Company is currently accepting applications for immediate employment as well as future summer/fall employment starting in May. We have full time, part time, after school and weekend hours available for each position. Pay rates vary by position with minimum starting wage ranging from $15$20/hour depending on job skills and experience.

Opportunities include: • Tent Installation/Delivery Team • Driver/Warehouse Team – Event Division • Drivers/Delivery • Linen Team • Inventory Maintenance Team – Wash Bay & Warehouse • Load Crew Team Members For job descriptions and application. vttent.com/employment

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DO WHAT MATTERS!

You are a systems mastermind who likes people.

You know first-hand the power of technology to unlock potential.

You will bring your expertise to a mission-driven organization.

We are seeking a people-focused leader, someone: • who can transform our Information Technology in support of our strategic evolution • who is customer-focused to the core • who seeks to join a collaborative and respectful culture of fun, dedicated people.

Apply today at vlt.org/employment. Position will stay opened until filled. The Vermont Land Trust is an E.O.E. We honor and invite people of all backgrounds and lived experiences to apply.

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Join the senior leadership team of passionate innovators at the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS), a Vermont nonprofit nationally recognized as a model for our successful program outcomes. COTS provides prevention resources, emergency shelter, support services, and housing for those without homes or at risk of becoming homeless.

HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR COTS is seeking a Human Resources Director to lead and manage the human resource and staff development functions for 50+ employees. This is an exciting opportunity for a senior human resource professional to join a dynamic agency.

Reporting to the Executive Director, the HR Director is a member of the senior leadership team and serves as a partner in developing HR strategies to support the priorities of the organization. The position includes recruiting and onboarding; salary and benefits administration; employee relations and performance management; and ensuring compliance with all state and federal employment laws and regulations.

Requirements include Bachelor’s Degree and a minimum of five to ten years’ related Human Resources experience, Master’s Degree preferred. Successful candidates will possess a positive track record of implementing strategic initiatives; strong analytical ability; ability to relate to people at all levels of an organization; excellent communication skills; knowledge of federal and state policies affecting human resources; experience with recruitment and hiring processes; demonstrated ability to have difficult conversations; ability to maintain confidentiality; ability to work independently and as a positive member of a collaborative team; and a commitment to the COTS mission.

4/6/21 2:12 PM

Local (Adirondacks) premier builder seeking experienced craftsmen to join our team. Our team is growing and we’re seeking:

CABINET SHOP, CARPENTERS & FOREMEN We are fortunate enough to build the unique collaborations of our architects and customers – making their projects come to life. Our projects are anything but ordinary – and have earned us placement on the cover of Architectural Digest. We are seeking experienced shop members with a combination of cabinetry shop, custom milling and furniture building experience to join our team. We are also looking to add skilled carpenters & foremen to our field team.

PROJECT MANAGER The Project Manager is responsible for the daily management of current projects. Duties include financial, schedule and quality management, construction operations - including hands-on field work, as well as the oversight of the project team. They engage day-to-day with Owners, Architects, Engineers, Designers, Subcontractors and work alongside and closely with the company President. You will contribute to the overall operations of our company and to the future direction of our organization.

Project Manager Experience:

5-10 years’ high-end residential construction and/or project management experience, Proficiency in MS Office Suite, PlanSwift, AutoCAD, Engineering, Architecture, or Construction Management degree a bonus.

This is a 32-40 hour per week position with benefits.

Interested candidates should submit a resume, cover letter to jobs@cotsonline.org.

We have a great team, company, benefits, above average compensation for our region and trade. If you are interested in RELOCATING to the area, we would be happy to help you do so!! Our region is an outdoor lover’s paradise!

EOE: We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

Please contact us to learn more! email: info@adirondackclassicdesigns.com office: 518-359-0073

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jobs.sevendaysvt.com

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NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

WHERE YOU AND YOUR WORK MATTER...

When you work for the State of Vermont, you and your work matter. A career with the State puts you on a rich and rewarding professional path. You’ll find jobs in dozens of fields – not to mention an outstanding total compensation package.

AGO PARALEG AL – MONTPELIER

The Attorney General’s Office seeks a talented and motivated Paralegal to assist the General Counsel and Administrative Law Division in providing legal services to State agencies and representing the State before various boards. Duties include drafting legal documents and correspondence; preparing discovery; and assembling exhibits, gathering information and evidence. Please Note: This position is being recruited at multiple levels. If you would like to be considered for more than one level, you MUST apply to the specific Job Requisition. For more information, contact Jacob Humbert at Jacob.humbert@vermont.gov. Department: Attorney General’s Office. Status: Full Time. Job ID #14199, 14222 & 14223. Application Deadline: May 4, 2021.

VOCREHAB COUNSELOR I & II – BURLINGTON

VocRehab is recruiting for a skilled rehabilitation/career counselor with an ability to support high school students and young adults with physical, psychological, or cognitive disabilities. The VR counselor would assist individuals in preparing for employment through surveying their interest and skills and facilitate career exploratory activities and work experiences. The position involves a close working relationship with local area high schools. Candidates must possess a master’s degree. Please Note: This position is being recruited at multiple levels. If you would like to be considered for more than one level, you MUST apply to the specific Job Requisition. For more information, contact Cindy Seguin at cindy.seguin@vermont.gov or 802-595-1112. Department: Disabilities Aging & Independent Living. Status: Full Time. Job ID #14561 or 14821. Application Deadline: May 5, 2021.

Learn more at: careers.vermont.gov

The State of Vermont is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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71 APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

HEAD CHEF

The Abbey Restaurant, Sheldon, Vermont The Abbey is a family-owned restaurant and pub located in Sheldon, Vermont. We have been in continual operation for over 40 years and have no plans of slowing down. It is a neighborhood kind of place with an everyone-is-your-friend vibe. We have a lot of fun here. We strive to provide high-quality pub favorites and delicious seasonal specials for our regulars and tourists.

Our ideal chef is someone who has the range and desire to cook for a place like ours. Whoever we hire will work with management as a team, but you will lead in menu development, planning and executing weekend specials, kitchen staff scheduling, inventory/food ordering, kitchen management, and of course, cooking meals. The Abbey is a busy restaurant with a lot of moving parts. There will be minimal dull moments and many roll-up-your-sleeves moments Sheldon, you ask? Basically, Google “Vermont” and that is what you get. The Abbey is located directly on the Missisquoi River/ Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail at the foothills of Jay Peak. We are talking minutes from Canada, just over an hour drive from Montreal, a mere 45 minutes north of Burlington.

Can you move here to start a new life? YES, YOU CAN! Maybe Franklin County never crossed your mind, but if you are an adventure-seeking person who likes endless pastures and quick access to many Vermont-centric activities, this could be the place for you!

If any of this sounds interesting to you, please send us your resume. We can help you find housing and get you all set up here.

Starting salary $65,000 and benefits; negotiable with experience.

Apply online: http://bit.ly/AbbeyRestaurantHeadChef2021

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ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

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POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

Vermont Parks Forever (VPF), the foundation for Vermont State Parks, would like to welcome an

• Competitive pay • Huge discount on product • Own shares of the company • Amazing culture and the best co-workers

ADMINISTRATIVE AND DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT (Part Time)

Join the team at Gardener’s Supply!

Our manufacturing facility in Georgia, VT is growing!

We are looking for a full-time

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT This person will manage all incoming orders; track and communicate scheduled ship dates; reconcile with accounting; place purchase orders; and follow up with vendors on raw material purchases. This person will also answer incoming calls and emails and will be a backup for the General Manager for all front office related tasks. Our ideal candidate will have excellent phone and email communication skills; a high level of accuracy and attention to detail; and be proficient in MS Excel, Word and Outlook. Knowledge of shipping systems is preferred.

104A Arrowhead Industrial Park, Building 110, Georgia, VT Please go to our careers page at gardeners.com/careers and apply online!

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to join our executive director and development and communications director by providing administrative support for operations, fundraising, and communications for this small and growing nonprofit. This 15 - 20 hours/ week position will wear many hats and be a critical part of VPF’s team.

The ideal candidate will have a passion for the outdoors, be organized, dependable, and committed to professional development in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. The organization is based in the Montpelier area and a flexible work at home schedule will be offered.

View the full position description at vermontparksforever.org and submit a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications, your favorite outdoor experience, and your resume to info@vermontparksforever.org by May 3rd.

VPF is an equal opportunity employer, all are encouraged to apply.

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PRODUCTION ASSOCIATE FOR SHARK TANK COMPANY

4/19/21 7:48 PM

MORTGAGE BANKER Chittenden County

There is no better time to join NSB’s team!

We are seeking full-time employees to join our production team in the fabrication and fulfillment of Seedsheet's gardening products. Are you a hard-working, self motivated, and all around team player? Have you ever been referred to as a "Jack/Jill of all trades?" If so, we want you!

Northfield Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest banking institution headquartered in Vermont. As an essential workforce, we strive to serve our employees as well as our communities. We are looking for a professional to join our Mortgage Banking team in Chittenden County.

Seedsheet is a 7 year old company located in Middlebury, that manufactures gardening products that empower anyone to successfully grow food at home. We are a small, cohesive team that knows how to work hard and play harder. Our production team is composed of former farmers, bakers, bike mechanics and more. If you like crushing milestones and are a quicklearning, scrappy worker you'll love working at Seedsheet!

From Shark Tank success, to numerous QVC sellouts and Good Morning America features, our company is growing like crazy (pun intended) and our team is growing to meet the demand!

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES & REQUIREMENTS

POSITION DETAILS: • Starting salary of $18/hr • 8am-5pm Monday-Friday

OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH

NSB encourages career development and has a variety of training platforms available, including tuition reimbursement. The average years of service for a NSB employee is 9! If you’re looking to settle down in your career, join our team!

• Eligible for Company profit-sharing program after 30 days • Second shift opportunities • Employment growth opportunities COVID-19 PROTOCOLS: We are especially protective of our employees, and require daily temperature tests and completion of daily symptom checklists.

Our machines are staggered for optimal social distancing and our factory is cleaned and sanitized daily.

Interested? Email jobs@seedsheets.com to submit your resume.

Our mobile-friendly job board is buzzing with excitement.

Job seekers can: • Browse hundreds of current, local positions from Vermont companies.

• Search for jobs by keyword, location, category and job type.

• Set up job alerts.

• Apply for jobs directly through the site.

WHAT NSB CAN OFFER YOU

• Time and a half OT available on most weekends

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The successful candidate will understand the borrower’s needs and will aid our customers with their purchase from application to closing. This position will be responsible for originating a variety of new residential loans. A bachelor’s degree or two-to-four years of experience in a financial institution or related area is required along with registering with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System.

Looking for a Sweet Job?

Competitive compensation; combination of base salary plus commissions. Well-rounded benefits package. Profit-Sharing opportunity. 401(k) matching retirement program. Professional development. Work-Life balance!

PLEASE SEND AN NSB APPLICATION + RESUME IN CONFIDENCE TO: Careers@nsbvt.com or Northfield Savings Bank Human Resources | PO Box 7180, Barre, VT 05641

Start applying at jobs.sevendaysvt.com

Equal Opportunity Employer

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73 APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

PREPARED FOOD COOK

Mirabelles Bakery, South Burlington P-T COOK AND DISHWASHER

Hayward Tyler, a leading manufacturer of industrial pumps and motors in Colchester, is seeking candidates to fill the roles of IT Support Specialist, Inside Sales Representative, Assembly Technician, Quality Control Inspector and Quality Assurance Engineer.

Please apply in person at Papa Frank’s: 13 West Center St., Winooski 802-655-2423 1t-PapaFranks042121.indd 1

Hiring a prepared food cook. This person should have restaurant experience, strong culinary foundation and cooking theory, and excellent knife skills.

Five day work week usually Tuesday-Saturday 6a.m.- 2p.m.

2 weeks’ paid vacation. Resumes: mirabelles198@comcast.net

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Transportation Security Officers Part-time positions starting at $18.30 per hour*

IT Support Specialist

This position is responsible for supporting the Information Technology department at Hayward Tyler Inc. They will primarily be responsible for the company’s helpdesk ticketing system and participate in the on call rotation. The ideal candidate will be highly motivated, friendly, courteous, and willing to work as part of a team The candidate should also have experience supporting a Windows based network system.

Inside Sales Representative

This candidate provides daily customer communication and is the main point of contact for activities such as preparing and maintaining accurate and complete quotes, lead times and pricing.

Reviews customer requests, technical specifications, terms and conditions and works with stakeholders in collaboration to identify any exceptions or deviations. Close attention to detail and excellent communication skills are essential.

Assembly Technician

This is an entry level assembly team member who should possess the ability to follow work instructions from his/her supervisor and experienced team members. The candidate must be able to work in all areas of assembly (DCI, Build and Wind) with the ability to understand drawings and work instructions.

Quality Control Inspector

The candidate will be responsible to perform receiving and final inspection of parts and units, verification that all operations are signed off and closed prior to releasing to Manufacturing, responsibility for correct materials and batch numbers being issued to Manufacturing.

Quality Assurance Engineer

This position is responsible for providing a high level of quality assurance engineering work. Qualified candidates are able to plan, complete, and direct quality engineering work associated with the HTI Quality Program. Must be able to establish priorities for work assigned and Work co-operatively with all departments and suppliers to exceed customer expectations.

What We Do Matters Your experience and insight will find a welcome home at TSA. Previous work in security isn’t required. We’ll provide paid on-the-job training, along with great federal benefits.

Join our team at Burlington International Airport in a mission that matters.

Apply online

at jobs.tsa.gov/TSO

ENSURING

For complete job descriptions, please visit: haywardtyler.com.

We offer a competitive salary and excellent benefits package.

If you meet our requirements and are interested in an exciting opportunity, please forward your resume & salary requirements to: Hayward Tyler, Inc - Attn: HR Department 480 Roosevelt Highway - PO Box 680, Colchester, VT 05446 Email: Careers@haywardtyler.com Equal Opportunity Employer.

SAFE TRAVELS U.S. citizenship required. Equal opportunity employer. *Pay rate varies by location.

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NOW HIRING

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ATTENTION RECRUITERS:

74

POST YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

Join the Vermont Land Trust as our

Northeast Kingdom Project Director!

We are seeking candidates who are excited to: • Create thriving connections between land and communities • Manage the ins and outs of land conservation projects • Communicate and collaborate within diverse teams • Get their boots dirty in the Northeast Kingdom Apply by May 28 at vlt.org/employment.

The Vermont Land Trust is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We honor and invite people of all backgrounds and lived experiences to apply.

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4/27/21 12:26 PM

VICTIM LIAISON

GO HIRE.

The City of South Burlington seeks someone to fill the position of Victim Liaison at the South Burlington Community Justice Center.

The Victim Liaison will reach out to victims of crime in South Burlington to see what questions or needs they have.

This position requires very strong computer and data entry skills with high accuracy combined with strong empathy and listening skills. Some evening Panel meetings are required. This position is 22 – 26 hours/week with no benefits. A background check with the SBPD is required and while some criminal history is allowable, felony offenses or being currently on probation will not pass the required background check.

For further information and job descriptions please use our website: southburlingtonvt.gov. To apply, please submit a cover letter, resume and three references by Friday, May 7, 2021 to Jaimie Held, Human Resource Manager at jheld@sburl.com.

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Job Seekers: Job Recruiters: • Post jobs using a form that includes key info about your company and open positions (location, application deadlines, video, images, etc.).

• Accept applications and manage the hiring process via our applicant tracking tool.

• Search for jobs by keyword, location, category and job type.

• Set up job alert emails using custom search criteria.

• Save jobs to a custom list with your own notes on the positions.

• Apply for jobs directly through the site.

• Easily manage your open job listings from your recruiter dashboard.

Accounting Clerk

Duties include generating customer invoices, posting customer payments and creating bank deposits, paying vendor invoices, reviewing weekly time cards for submission to payroll company, taking customer phone orders, filing various documents and other duties as assigned. Knowledge of general accounting and Microsoft Office required and experience with Quickbooks a plus. Competitive salary and benefits.

Shipper

Duties include packing and shipping Company products using various shippers such as Fedex and UPS, loading and unloading boxes, other duties as assigned. Must be able to lift 75 pounds. Forklift and crane experience a must. Competitive salary and benefits.

Get a quote when you post online or contact Michelle Brown: 865-1020, ext. 21, michelle@sevendaysvt.com.

jobs.sevendaysvt.com

Warehouse Package Handler

Duties include palletizing customer orders and delivering to local trucking companies, other duties as assigned. Must be able to lift 75 pounds.

Forklift and crane experience a must. Competitive salary and benefits.

Apply at: granitecitytoolco@myfairpoint.net.

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4/23/21 1:06 PM

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75 APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

MENTAL HEALTH THERAPIST

PROCUREMENT COORDINATOR

Hannah’s House is seeking two full-time, private practice licensed therapists to join our team of three therapists serving clients in the greater Mad River Valley and Waterbury areas in Central Vermont. Candidates will be versatile and experienced working with children, adults, couples, families and individuals with alcohol/ drug issues. Hannah’s House provides free office space, promotion on our website, use of Zengar/ Neurofeedback system, professional development assistance and a supportive team of peers.

Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP | Cureblindness), a VT-based nonprofit, is actively seeking a Procurement Coordinator.

Please visit our website for complete job description, cureblindness.org/careers.

Contact chrissy@hannahshousevt.org or go to hannahshousevt.org for more information.

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Champlain Community Services is proud to be voted as one of the “Best Places to Work in Vermont” for the third year in a row and we want you to be a part of our team! Our current openings offer opportunities to make a positive impact on someone’s life, and in yours. CCS employees receive a comprehensive benefits package, including paid time off, affordable health insurance, paid holidays and more.

To apply, please submit resume and cover letter to: jobs@cureblindness.org

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4/16/21 9:33 AM

Program Manager Coordinate residential and community supports for a humorous woman who leads an active life and likes to spend time outside. The ideal candidate will enjoy working in a teamoriented position, have strong clinical skills, and demonstrated leadership. Client therapeutic needs require a female program manager, and two overnight shifts are required. This position is an excellent opportunity to continue your work in the field of human services and offers a $750 signing bonus.

Employment Specialist CCS’ leading supported employment program, Way2Work, is seeking a creative and outgoing individual to join their dynamic team. The Employment Specialist is responsible for supporting individuals in developing career goals, job seeking skills, securing employment, and on the job training. This position also collaborates with businesses to build partnerships for long-term community-based employment. The ideal candidate will demonstrate reliability, strong communication skills, and the ability to solve problems effectively and professionally.

Direct Support Professional Join our Direct Support Professional team to work one-to-one with individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism. Feel good about what you do while enjoying your job, receive a comprehensive benefits package (including $100 sign-on bonus!) and feel a deep sense of appreciation from your employer. This is an excellent job for applicants entering human services or for those looking to continue their work in this field.

Service Coordinator CCS’ Adult Family Care program, Homeward, is hiring a Service Coordinator to provide case management supports to individuals who have transitioned into a community home setting and help them lead fulfilling, healthy lives. This is an excellent opportunity to be a part of a comprehensive, and unique, health care program for individuals in need. The ideal candidate will have strong clinical, organizational & leadership skills and will enjoy working in a team-oriented position while improving the lives of others.

Direct Support Professional Overnights Seeking experienced individuals to support a dynamic young woman with a quick wit and energetic personality. She loves cars, animals, and a range of indoor and outdoor physical activities. She needs staff with patience, clear communication skills, and the ability to set strong boundaries. This position supports her in her home and the community in 24-hour shifts, including asleep overnights in a private, furnished bedroom. Compensation is $250/day including asleep overnight hours, PLUS a $500 signing bonus.

Shared Living Provider Open your home to an individual with and intellectual disability or autism. We have a variety of opportunities that might be perfect for your lifestyle. This position includes a generous tax-free stipend, ongoing supports, assistance with necessary home modifications, respite and a comprehensive training package.

There is no better time to join NSB’s team!

Northfield Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest banking institution headquartered in Vermont. We are adding to our teams! We are looking for professionals to join our Direct Banking department as Call Center Representatives. Additionally, we are looking for a Community Banker professional to join our team in our Williston, Taft Corners branch.

Each position will require a high school diploma or equivalent, excellent customer service skills, and strong written and verbal communication.

CALL CENTER REPRESENTATIVE

The successful candidate will be comfortable with digital and online banking systems and will be eager to provide prompt, accurate, and confidential information to our customers.

COMMUNITY BANKER

The Community Banker will be responsible for receiving and processing customers’ financial transactions, matching customers’ needs with appropriate products and services, protecting customer information, and maintaining customer confidentiality.

OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH NSB encourages career development and has a variety of training platforms available. The average years of service for a NSB employee is 9! If you’re looking for a career in the banking industry, this is a great place to start!

WHAT NSB CAN OFFER YOU Competitive compensation based on experience. Well-rounded benefits package. Profit-Sharing opportunity. 401(k) matching retirement program. Professional development. Weekends off!

Please send an NSB Application + your resume in confidence to: Careers@nsbvt.com, or mail to: Northfield Savings Bank Human Resources P.O. Box 7180, Barre, VT 05641-7180 E.O.E./Member FDIC

Work at CCS and support our mission to build a community where everyone participates and belongs. Visit ccs-vt.org, click on ‘Join Us’ and apply today!

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CALL CENTER REPRESENTATIVES & COMMUNITY BANKER – TAFT CORNERS

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fun stuff

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fun stuff RYAN RIDDLE

is

Making it is not :( Keep this newspaper free for all.

Join the Seven Days Super Readers at sevendaysvt.com/super-readers or call us at 802-864-5684.

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7/14/20 3:32 PM

Have a deep, dark fear of your own? Submit it to cartoonist Fran Krause at deep-dark-fears.tumblr.com, and you may see your neurosis illustrated in these pages.

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY REAL APRIL 29-MAY 5

GEMINI

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20):

In her poem “Mirror,” Taurus poet Halina Poświatowska wrote, “I am dazed by the beauty of my body.” I applaud her brazen admiration and love for her most valuable possession. I wish more of us could genuinely feel that same adoration for our own bodies. And in accordance with current astrological omens, I recommend that you do indeed find a way to do just that right now. It’s time to upgrade your excitement about being in such a magnificent vessel. Even if it’s not in perfect health, it performs amazing marvels every minute of every day. I hope you will boost your appreciation for its miraculous capacities and increase your commitment to treating it as the treasure that it is.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Poet Allen Ginsberg despairingly noted that many people want more, more, more life, but they go awry because they allow their desire for more, more, more life to fixate on material things — machines, possessions, gizmos and status symbols. Ginsberg revered different kinds of longings: for good feelings, meaningful experiences, soulful breakthroughs, deep awareness and all kinds of love. In accordance with astrological potentials, Aries, I’m giving you the go-ahead in the coming weeks to be extra greedy for the stuff in the second category.

(May 21-June 20): Gemini poet Buddy Wakefield writes that after the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of 2004, “the only structure still standing in the wiped-out village of Malacca [in Malaysia] was a statue of Mahatma Gandhi. I wanna be able to stand like that.” I expect you will indeed enjoy that kind of stability and stamina in the coming weeks, my dear. You won’t have to endure a metaphorical tsunami, thank Goddess, but you may have to stand strong through a blustery brouhaha or swirling turbulence. Here’s a tip: The best approach is not to be stiff and unmoving like a statue but rather flexible and willing to sway.

books and is history’s most-translated author. While growing up, she had few other kids to associate with, so she created a host of imaginary friends to fill the void. They eventually became key players in her work as an author, helping her dream up stories.

More than that: She simply loved having those invisible characters around to keep her company. Even in her old age, she still consorted with them. I bring this to your attention, Virgo, because now is a great time to acquire new imaginary friends or resurrect old ones. Guardian angels and ancestral spirits would be good to call on, as well. How might they be of assistance and inspiration to you?

CANCER (June 21-July 22): No educator had ever offered a class in psychology until trailblazing philosopher William James did so in 1875. He knew a lot about human behavior. “Most people live in a very restricted circle of their potential being,” he wrote. “They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much like a person who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using only his little finger.” I’m going to make an extravagant prediction here: I expect that in the coming months you will be better primed than ever before to expand your access to your consciousness, your resources and your potentials. How might you begin such an adventure? The first thing to do is to set a vivid intention to do just that.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “To hurry pain is to leave a classroom still in session,” notes Libran aphorist Yahia Lababidi. On the other hand, he observes, “To prolong pain is to miss the next lesson.” If he’s correct, the goal is to dwell with your pain for just the right amount of time — until you’ve learned its lessons and figured out how not to experience it again in the future — but no longer than that. I suspect that such a turning point will soon be arriving for you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Someone in me is suffering and struggling toward freedom,” wrote Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis. To that melodramatic announcement, I reply, good for him! I’m glad he was willing to put himself through misery and despair in order to escape misery and despair. But I also think it’s important to note that there are other viable approaches to the quest for liberation.

For example, having lavish fun and enjoying oneself profoundly can be tremendously effective in that holy work. I suspect that in the coming weeks, Leo, the latter approach will accomplish far more for you than the former.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo novelist Agatha Christie sold hundreds of millions of

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In her poem “Every Day,” Scorpio poet Denise Levertov wrote, “Every day, every day I hear enough to fill a year of nights with wondering.” I think that captures the expansive truth of your life in the coming weeks. You’ve entered a phase when the sheer abundance of interesting input may at times be overwhelming, though enriching. You’ll hear — and hopefully be receptive to — lots of provocative stories, dynamic revelations and unexpected truths. Be grateful for this bounty! Use it to transform whatever might be stuck, whatever needs a catalytic nudge.

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I hope you’re not too stressed these days. There has been pressure on you to adjust more than maybe you’d like to adjust, and I hope you’ve managed to find some relaxing slack amid the heaviness. But even if the inconvenience levels are deeper than you like, I have good news: It’s all in a good cause. Read the wise words of author Dan Millman, who describes the process you’re midway through: “Every

positive change, every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness, involves a rite of passage. Each time we ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation. I have never found an exception.”

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): We can safely say that Anaïs Nin was a connoisseur of eros and sensuality. The evidence includes her three collections of erotic writing, Delta of Venus, Little Birds and Auletris. Here’s one of her definitive statements on the subject: “Sex must be mixed with tears, laughter, words, promises, jealousy, envy, all the spices of fear, foreign travel, new faces, stories, dreams, fantasies, music.” In response to Nin’s litany, I’m inclined to say, “Damn, that’s a lot of ambiance and scaffolding to have in place. Must it always be so complicated?” According to my reading of upcoming cosmic rhythms, you won’t need such a big array of stuff in your quest for soulful orgasms — at least not in the coming weeks.

Your instinct for rapture will be finely tuned.

AQUARIUS

(Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “One is always at home in one’s past,” wrote author Vladimir Nabokov. I agree. Sometimes that’s not a good thing, though. It may lead us to flee from the challenges of the present moment and go hide and cower and wallow in nostalgia. But on other occasions, the fact that we are always at home in the past might generate brilliant healing strategies. It might rouse in us a wise determination to refresh our spirit by basking in the deep solace of feeling utterly at home. I think the latter case is likely to be true for you in the coming weeks, Aquarius.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “Not everything

is supposed to become something beautiful and long-lasting,” writes author Emery Allen.

“Not everyone is going to stay forever.” Her message is a good one for you to keep in mind right now. You’re in a phase when transitory boosts and temporary help may be exactly what you need most. I suspect your main task in the coming weeks is to get maximum benefit from influences that are just passing through your life. The catalysts that work best could be those that work only once and then disappear.

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SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

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4/26/21 10:40 AM

FREE SPIRIT WHO ENJOYS LIFE I enjoy skydiving, hiking, biking, photography, printing, cooking and much more. Looking for someone to share some of this life in a positive manner — friendship or more. Just turned 50 years young. jayspring, 50, seeking: W, l

Respond to these people online: dating.sevendaysvt.com WOMEN seeking...

COUNTRY, REDNECK, CARING, FISHING, FUN I’m looking for someone to take me out to dinner and a movie. Or we can go fishing/ hiking, walk the bike path or just sit at the water. I love Vermont and the nature in it, and I’m an open-minded, caring, loving individual. Looking for new people and new things. SpringRenewal420, 31, seeking: M IRREVERENCE WELCOMED My passions are travel, food, art, music and more. I like to spend as little time being serious as possible. I’m curious about a lot of things. Do you share these passions and have others of your own? Do you like family time, being in nature or people-watching as you sit at an outdoor table on Church Street? summerplease, 64, seeking: M, l WALKING THROUGH AN OPEN DOOR I am rebuilding my life and looking for someone to stand beside me through all of life’s adventures. I am loving, devoted and hardworking. I enjoy working on outdoor projects, hiking and helping others. I would like to find a man who is hardworking, open-minded, respectful and kind. NewBeginnings21, 39, seeking: M OUTDOORSY, HONEST, HEALTHY, MUSIC LOVER Vibrant, mature, independent, welltraveled person who is interested in nature, music, culture, arts, travel and enjoying life. Looking for a gent who is positive, kind, honest and enjoys the same. Bella2020, 63, seeking: M, l

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SAPIOSEXUAL, ADVENTUROUS, WITTY, PLAYFUL Looking for people to get to know and become friends with. Go out of town for an evening of fun, go kayaking, hanging out, whatever strikes us at the moment.

I am not looking for a relationship, but if it happens, it happens. I enjoy intelligent conversation, self-reflection, growing and learning about myself and others.

Let’s see if we connect! BBWforFUN1234, 45, seeking: M, W, Cp, l

COMICMELLOW Love music, outdoors, painting, cooking, building. ComicMellow, 43, seeking: M, W, Q, l

GOOD-SPIRITED, HOPEFUL DREAMER Currently I am one of the many bored Vermonters waiting for my life to resume. Can’t wait to laugh out loud at a comedy club, crowd into a theater to see a play and just hug a stranger. I love long bike rides and good hikes, campfires, great food, raw conversations, and chocolate with red wines. oxCindyxo, 54, seeking: M, l

COMPANIONSHIP, ADVENTURE Woman seeks honest, kind, stable, adventurous person, M or F, “friend only,” responsible for yourself, who wants to go on a practical trip south to planned destinations, R&R, or just something different to do. No specific expectations.

If you’re bored or would like to get away, just because you can, no specific schedule, let’s talk about several possibilities. Life’s a journey. Live it! Quest, 59, seeking: M, l

MERGING HEARTS AND MINDS Looking to add a new best friend and partner to my beautiful tribe to share those intimate moments and maybe grow old with. I believe in great love but know those roots are in the platonic. I like to move, sit, keep it fresh. I love music and silence. Looking for a brave, messy, youthful, mature human with emotional intelligence. Overhere, 56, seeking: M, l TAKE MY BREATH AWAY At this age, I am interested in someone real, a sweet romantic, somebody all sorted out and yet ready to play, to live for ourselves (not the grandkids). My dog and my children are important but not what my life is about these days.

I’m told I’m the least judgmental person others know. So give this old gal a try.

Cheers! OH52, 68, seeking: M, l FRIENDLY, SOCIAL, INDEPENDENT, EASYGOING Very honest, loyal, friendly. Enjoy cooking, traveling, walking, driving with no destination, exploring the beauty of the Green Mountains.

Would enjoy finding the same in my partner. dyniska, 79, seeking: M EDUCATED, SENSITIVE, ADVENTURE SEEKER Adventurous, sensitive, fit, optimistic, independent, divorced woman with two wonderful teenage sons. Enjoy walking, hiking, skiing, kayaking, swimming, biking, exploring new places (cities and ruins), connecting with the locals and learning their language.

Seeking someone to share adventures.

JoySeeker, 53, seeking: M, l OPEN MIND, HEART, ACTIVE COMPANION Kind, curious, open-minded, capable, community-oriented, care-full, creative companion for activity, to ski, swim, sail slowly. Let’s meet on the bike path near Burlington sometime — or my favorite, the Colchester Causeway.

62-y/o woman. Please contact me by sending me a message — and I hope we can meet in person sooner rather than later, as companionship comes down to chemistry. openmindheart, 62, seeking: M, l

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

CUCKOO ABOUT ADVENTURES I’m just looking for a new friend. I’m somewhat new to the area and would like to find someone who likes to talk, hike, or do anything that doesn’t involve going to the bar or lots of drinking!

NDrootsNYbuds, 38, seeking: M, l

HAPPY, COMPASSIONATE AND CURIOUS I love to cook, dance, but most importantly, laugh. Favorite movie: Miracle at Morgan’s Creek; celebrity crush: Cary Grant; post-retirement dream (or if Trump gets reelected): escaping to a cottage in Connemara, Ireland. I am looking for a confident, kind, intelligent and easygoing man with a great sense of humor. Nella26, 65, seeking: M, l FAERY QUEEN Tender heart, sensual lover of earth and water, leader in life looking for strong, grounded, passionate love.

FaeryQueen, 51, seeking: M, l

MEN seeking...

WORK AND PLAY, TRAVEL OFTEN I’m a hardworking, real-deal, manygeneration Vermonter with strong Caribbean connections. My goal is to work for eight-ish months and travel often to warm destinations January through March. Hope to find a partner who appreciates living life and is not about retirement but living to the fullest, staying active and staying fit.

I’m a man who always has projects and plans. Fungardener, 61, seeking: W, l HUMOROUS SIDEKICK Am a people person. Have a rich background with environmental ethics; this is big with me. Friendships, the basis of relationships, require osmosis. It takes time. I like to cook, especially with another.

Food is important. Great films are a bonus.

My preference is intelligent, humorous, an interesting life. I prefer jazz and good restaurants. Mornings I prefer sunlit places. orelprenyea, 66, seeking: W, l BREAKING OUT OF LOCKDOWN Somewhat of a homebody, though I do like an outside adventure. Ready to break out of lockdown and go traveling, or rummage through a few thrift stores in Lebanon or Estrie Aide in Sherbrooke. This follows my complete Moderna vaccination schedule.

The COVID scare has kept me isolated beyond belief and devoid of a relationship. greytail2020, 70, seeking: W, Cp, Gp, l

LET’S PLAY Submissive male looking for dominant individuals or couples. Obedient, responsive and open-minded. Into humiliation, light bondage and oral worship. Be safe and sane, and get in touch. subplay, 53, seeking: M, W, Cp, Gp GEEKY MAKER DAD, SUPER POSITIVE I’ve always pushed myself. Sometimes I do stop to reflect on why, and then, refreshed, I move forward some more.

Built my own house. Adding to it now.

But not married to it. Almost done with my master’s degree. I love travel and have been waiting out this pandemic to visit places again. Go visit places with me. Descanso, 53, seeking: W, l DECENT DUDE/PLEASURE SEEKER Looking for connection, chemistry, pleasure, exploration. We’re only alive once, and meeting people on Seven Days seems like a quintessential Vermont experience. Let’s enjoy ourselves.

Hereforsafefun, 30, seeking: M, W, Cp, l WHERE ARE YOU? I like to think of myself as kind and smart, curious and adventurous, athletic and musical, and much more. A “renaissance person” is what I’ve always considered the ideal. Many years ago, I through-hiked the Appalachian Trail, and that experience, and my many adventures since, have shaped my life and my values in profound ways. somethingdifferent, 61, seeking: W, l LONELY. COVID SUCKS. SUNBATHING NAKED. Looking for fun in the sun. Enjoy being nude. Fires outside. Cut, trimmed and shaving. Woman or a couple.

Good times and laughter and sex.

Toohorny11, 53, seeking: W, Cp, l TRYING TO PAY ATTENTION Moved to Vermont on a whim many years ago. Appreciate nature and animals.

I am on a lifelong learning curve. NPR and live music (once upon a time). Find me at the ocean in Wellfleet, driving on Highway 1 in California or in a Chinese restaurant in NYC. I listen more than speak. Hoping to meet a kind, compatible soul. Mindfully, 67, seeking: W PIN ME ... EROTIC WRESTLING? Hi all, I’m a discreet, masculine submissive who wants to be dominated, pinned down, tied up, used, played with, you name it. I’m very kinky with few limits, DD-free and play clean. I always have good 420 to share, too.

You must host. Hit me up, and let’s party and have some kinky fun. Hlplss, 56, seeking: M, TM, TW, Q, Cp, Gp, l TATTOOS, MUSIC, WORK I am a hardworking man who has been to hell and back and is rebuilding successfully. I would like a woman who works hard and wants to build a future with someone. No games. newlife2021, 46, seeking: W, l CHIVALRY Friendly “man” looking for my sidekick/partner/friend.

Bruce2016, 54, seeking: W, l SWEET, SALTY AND SPICY I consider myself fun, charming, creative and an interestingly varied individual. BKind, 29, seeking: W, Cp, l

SILVER FOX ARTIST I’m creative, passionate, a problem solver, an adventurist, a respected business owner (30 years), well traveled, educated, secure. Now open to a fit, energetic, passionate female to share adventures and intimacy with. Must love animals, laughing, affection. I’m an artist who has spent the past 30 years creating custom artwork for thousands of clients around the world.

Pleasant surprises in many ways! hawaiiartistinvt, 62, seeking: W, l BACKCOUNTRY SKIER, HIKER, LEFT ACTIVIST Looking to share recreation, deep friendship and love. About myself: cerebral, intense and passionate.

Crave touching, sharing affection.

Enjoy sharing hiking, backcountry skiing, mountain biking with peers or a lover. Enjoy the company of big dogs, most music and love to dance.

Active for my age. “Retired” into an engaged life doing progressive-socialist organizing, a radio show and outdoor activities. SkiDog, 74, seeking: W, l

TRANS WOMEN seeking...

FOREVER SEARCHING Still looking for love. Would love to run into a beautiful dominatrix who will, through her grace, help me find the inspiration I need to flourish as a woman. I love to cook, I design board games and Lego sets, and give the best foot and back massages in the world! If this is heaven for you, come claim me! Neneveh, 24, seeking: W, l GENEROUS, OPEN, EASYGOING Active, healthy trans woman w/ partner seeks ecstatic connection for playtimes, connections, copulations, exploration and generally wonderful occasional times together. You should be fit, in good health, and available (not down low). Ideal is another couple for a foursome. But possibilities are wide-ranging: three, four, explorations and adventure.

DoubleUp, 64, seeking: M, Cp, l

COUPLES seeking...

HAPPY, RELAXED, OPEN TO POSSIBILITIES We’re a couple looking for safe, sexy adventures with likeminded individuals or couples.

Bluebird, 38, seeking: M, W, Cp COUPLE LOOKING FOR FUN! Adventurous, silly, easygoing, freespirited. Agd09090, 27, seeking: Cp COUPLE SEEKING WOMAN We are very open and honest. Clean, safe and totally discreet. We are looking for a woman who wants to try new adult things with a couple. We want to role-play and try some kink.

Newboytoyvt, 51, seeking: W, l ATTRACTIVE MARRIED COUPLE Attractive, caring and honest married couple looking to meet a female for fun times both in and out of the bedroom.

She is bi-curious; he is straight. We are very easygoing and fun to be around. Will share a photo once we communicate. Let’s see what happens.

VTcouple4fun, 50, seeking: W ACTIVE AND INTERESTING COUPLE! Hi, we’re a professional couple in our early 50s living a healthier life. We’re in love but have limited friends, and that’s why we’re here! trekkingcouple, 52, seeking: M, l

i SPY

CO-OP KITCHEN GUY The secret is out and the deli person knows who they are, as I confessed about the ad today. I never intended to cause any trouble for partnered people, and I likely read into it too much — sorry, folks! Awkwardness of the situation aside, you seem like a cool person, and I’d enjoy a friendly hangout if you’re interested. When: Thursday, April 8, 2021. Where: Hunger Mountain Coop.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915255

If you’ve been spied, go online to contact your admirer!

dating.sevendaysvt.com

PUFFY JACKET SPORTY SPICE Spotted you slinking through the cheese section. You said I smelled divine as I swooned for your Aubrey Plaza eyes. Care for a date? I’ll bring orange tulips if you bring Earthshaking poetry. When: Friday, April 23, 2021. Where: City Market. You: Woman. Me: Woman. #915263 WITCH AT PINGALA First time at the café and was served by an incredibly kind and amazinglooking woman in a witch-inspired getup. I was carrying a giant bamboo walking stick and ordered a coffee while we small-talked about gothic dresses. Would love to be able to talk about other cool things over a picnic lunch, if the concept isn’t too terrible! When: Saturday, April 24, 2021. Where: Pingala Café. You: Woman. Me: Trans woman. #915262

HONKING LADY I saw you on the corner at a red light.

You were honking your horn for an unknown reason. I pulled up next to you. We had a brief conversation, and I joined you in blaring our car horns together. I would like to see you again sometime. When: Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Where: St. Paul and Main streets in Burlington.

You: Woman. Me: Man. #915259 RANDOMDORKY NAME Curious if you are actually interested or not, with our age differences. I am very serious in my post and what I want and am looking for on here. Are you? Not sure where you are located, but distance would never be an issue with me. Give me a clue about what the next move will be. When: Sunday, April 18, 2021. Where: Seven Days.

You: Woman. Me: Man. #915258

CANNONDALE SPEED DEMON ON ROUTE 2 Fast biker wearing a neon vest, green fast goggles, riding a Cannondale.

I’m positive you had a mustache; I just knew even though you were moving too quickly to tell. You seem like the kind of guy to cook me a gourmet meal and chat about golf?

Only reply if you’re willing to earn my respect. When: Saturday, April 3, 2021. Where: Route 2 in Bolton.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915261

AN EDELWEISS IN BLOOM The brunette behind the counter. We talked about the I-Spy, and you said you’ve never been spied. I’ve never spied before and thought it would be fun to send a shout-out to the awesome personality at Edelweiss in Stowe.

You have a warm, welcoming and contagious “eye” smile (unfortunately a rarity these days)! So, thanks for that — and the cookies! When: Tuesday, April 13, 2021. Where: Edelweiss.

You: Woman. Me: Woman. #915257

BEHIND THE COUNTER AT WALGREENS You: behind the counter. Me: not. I think I could see you every day if you let me. You took care of my photos, and I appreciate it more than you know. You’re K—s-al, and I’m not.

Thank you for the wonderful customer service. When: Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Where: Walgreens, Milton.

You: Woman. Me: Man. #915260

ARCHITECT ENJOYING LAKE CHAMPLAIN I read your profile elsewhere but hope this connection will take. I won’t use your name but will respond only to you. M is closed: perhaps Leunig’s in May, a mid-Saturday afternoon? A relationship by design. When: Tuesday, April 13, 2021. Where: in his writing.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915256

Ask REVEREND the

Irreverent counsel on life’s conundrums

Dear Reverend,

I plan on divorcing my husband in two years when my youngest is 18. I haven’t had sex in more than 10 years and don’t know if I ever want to again. I miss intimacy — the hugging and knowing someone has your back — but I don’t miss the real physical stuff. I am just not horny.

I don’t want to be alone the rest of my life, but I don’t know if dating is an option, as I cannot offer the thing that men want: sex. Is there a market for someone like me?

Lolo Libido (FEMALE, 53)

CO-OP DELI GUY This has been the subject of much discussion, as nearly all the kitchen/ deli guys wear black shirts and green hats at one point. Some with partners are already in trouble for giving eyes. Can you be more specific? We do all wear name tags. Just saying.

When: Thursday, March 18, 2021.

Where: Hunger Mountain Coop.

You: Woman. Me: Man. #915254 SHAMWOW And maybe when the time is right, we can meet again as strangers who know each other a little far too well. When: Sunday, April 4, 2021. Where: in my dreams. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915253 YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE Missing my sunshine. MSG needs his ray of light. When: Saturday, April 3, 2021. Where: Montpelier.

You: Woman. Me: Man. #915252 MAN AT MEHURON’S You had on a Joe’s Pond hat in the liquor department. Your basket was scantily clad with North Country smoked hot dogs, cheese puffs and Cabot Salsa Grande Dip. Your shining silver hair didn’t distract me from the six-pack of Heineken bottles you picked up. Call me Debbie, ‘cause I won’t be late for dinner. When: Monday, March 29, 2021. Where: Mehuron’s.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915251 GREEN CAP GUY, ESSEX HANNAFORD I saw you loading groceries in your gray Nissan Altima in the Essex Hannaford parking lot. Super cute guy with a green baseball cap. Caught your gaze for a moment. I think we should meet up! Maybe in EJ on Hawthorn?

AFsDay! When: Thursday, March 18, 2021. Where: Essex Hannaford.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915250

Dear Lolo Libido,

You’ve been in a sexless (and seemingly loveless) marriage for more than a decade? No wonder you’re not horny.

First off, I don’t think you’re being fair to men as a whole. Not all of them just want sex — especially when they’re a little older and wiser. There are plenty of fellas out there looking for a solid, loving relationship.

Could your feelings have something to do with the dysfunction of your current situation? That old stereotype is some baggage you ought to get rid of, along with your soon-to-be ex.

TATTOOED HOTTIE WORKING AT COSTCO I commented on your gorgeous tattoos. You told me your artist was out of Waterbury. I should have given you my number. I also have lots of ink, but I forgot your artist’s name; let’s grab a coffee and talk tattoos. When: Sunday, March 28, 2021. Where: Costco, Colchester.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915249

6 YEARS SINCE FL-FT BP: It’s been six years since our first FaceTime. You are still the first person I think of every morning and the last person when I go to bed. I miss seeing you every day. I miss your gorgeous brown eyes, your sexy voice and your killer smile! iwyrhcimdwc!

PP. When: Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Where: FaceTime, Florida.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915243

RUNNER BABE WITH DOG I was with six friends walking up from the bike path. You were running with your dog, and we passed you right at the bottom of Maple. You were turning onto the bike path. You have a very nice face. Email me; let’s take a walk with your dog. :) When: Sunday, March 28, 2021. Where: Maple St., Burlington.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915248

HEARTTHROB AT HANDY’S Peter — was that your name, or the name I dreamt for you? A gray sweatshirt, dark hair and a jawline that won’t quit. Bellied up to the breakfast bar at Handy’s Lunch.

You ordered French toast, or was it eggs?

Anyways, let’s French sometime. When: Friday, March 12, 2021. Where: Handy’s Lunch. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915242

BIKINI-CLAD WOMEN, BOLTON VALLEY 3/23 and 3/25: Did not mean to be rude to you on the 25th when I saw and spoke with you. In all my years skiing, I’ve never had the pleasure to follow what I did on the 23rd. Next week, if BV still has skiing and the weather is warm?

My friends don’t believe I saw you. You both ski quite well! —An old GSr. When: Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Where: Bolton Valley. You: Woman. Me: Man. #915247 SEVEN DAYS PERSONALS We met online through Seven Days.

Started making a plan to met in person, but somehow we’ve been blocked from communicating with you.

Hope to see you sometime at Three Penny! When: Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Where: Seven Days Personals.

You: Man. Me: Couple. #915246 BARTENDER AT STONE CORRAL Sir. You are amazing. I was here on Saturday. I could not stop staring. When: Saturday, March 20, 2021. Where: Stone Corral. You: Man. Me: Man. #915245 COOP KITCHEN DUDE GIVING EYES I see you. Your little looks have become a cute piece of my weekly shopping trip. Am I reading into it too much?

Hard to strike up a conversation when you’re across the room — not to mention we both seem a bit shy. Let’s hang out sometime. You: green hat, black shirt. When: Thursday, March 18, 2021. Where: Hunger Mountain Coop.

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915244

I’m sure you have reasons — aside from your child — for not breaking it off with your husband sooner, but it seems obvious that you’ve been with the wrong person for far too long.

When you’re single again and you find someone you’re interested in, you might just change your tune.

When you meet a guy, be honest with him up front.

Let him know that you’ve just

FIREWORKS ON THE BIKE PATH It was dusk on the bike path. My dog was freaking out about fireworks at the skate park. You stopped briefly to spare a comforting comment about how your dog does the same thing.

Firework-free dog walk? When: Thursday, March 4, 2021. Where: bike path by the skate park (date is approximate).

You: Man. Me: Woman. #915241 BEST BUY BABE We locked eyes from across the customer service desk at Best Buy on March 11.

Was it the Canadian tuxedo you were wearing that had me interested? I’m not sure, but I’d love to get to know you and your man bun better. Coffee? When: Thursday, March 11, 2021. Where: Best Buy. You: Man. Me: Woman. #915240 ALWAYS ALWAYS LAND You’re still in my thoughts ... every day. When: Saturday, March 6, 2021. Where: my dreams. You: Man. Me: Man. #915239 CARAMN 52 Dating site you said you wanted to meet. I wanted to meet you, too. I sent you a message and checked the next day. It wasn’t there anymore, and I couldn’t find your profile anywhere.

Even after asking them specifically, they consistently screwed things up. But I’d still like to meet. Contact me here. I’ll show a picture of me.

When: Wednesday, November 4, 2020. Where: on Zoosk dating site.

You: Woman. Me: Man. #915237

ended a long-term relationship and want to take things slow.

That’s an easy way to weed out anyone who may only be after a roll in the hay.

If you do find that you’re genuinely not interested in sex anymore, there are a number of websites that cater to like-minded individuals, such as asexuality.org and asexualcupid.com.

Whatever you decide, just keep in mind these wise words from R&B artist Jermaine Stewart: “We don’t have to take our clothes off to have a good time.”

Good luck and God bless,

The Reverend

What’s your problem?

Send it to asktherev@sevendaysvt.com.

SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

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56-y/o SW. Humbled, thoughtful. Hoping for a safe, kind, honest relationship with a man. Calm in nature, love for nature. Morning coffees, long walks, talks, sunsets, art, music, dance, friends, family, laughs!

Willing to see and resolve suffering. Unconditional love and support find me at home.

Phone number, please. #L1486 64-y/o SWF seeking SM, 50 to 75 y/o, for companionship. Must be Catholic or Protestant, clean, COVID-free. Interests: the arts, teaching, cooking, watching shows, Hallmark movies. Love animals, walks, coffee, tea, sunrises, sunsets. Consider a man’s heart more important.

Phone number, please. #L1494 38-y/o SWM seeking male for LTR. Must live near the Plattsburgh, N.Y., area. I am average but cute-looking. I enjoy reading, videos and time with friends. Talking a must.

Your age: 35-plus. Nonsmoker.

Stability required. #L1499

No more ancient than the great Madonna, and just as hot.

Camera shy and social media challenged, so 2021 times leave me at — where’s my man? Take care of me so I can take care of you, or just lead back to the music. #L1497

GWM, mid-60s, 5’11, slim build.

Blue eyes, decent looking. Like walking, hiking, swimming.

Enjoy music, movies, gardening.

Mindful and kind. Looking for LTR. 420-friendly. Southwest Vermont. Seeking GM, 55 to 70, tall, intelligent, humorous, energetic with integrity.

Nonsmoker who enjoys nature. #L1498

I’m a man who’s served our country honorably, looking for a tenderhearted woman, 56 to 67, with grit. I like to travel, go out to eat, go to the movies, play golf and listen to live music.

I own a home in Burlington and a camp in the mountains.

I’m financially secure. I have a grateful and humble attitude for everything in my life. #L1496

HOW TO REPLY TO THESE LOVE LETTERS: Seal your reply — including your preferred contact info — inside an envelope. Write your penpal’s box number on the outside of that envelope and place it inside another envelope with payment. Responses for Love Letters must begin with the #L box number.

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(made out to “Seven Days”) in the outer envelope. To send unlimited replies for only $15/month, call us at 802-865-1020, ext. 10 for a membership (credit accepted).

PUBLISH YOUR MESSAGE ON THIS PAGE!

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Submit your FREE message at sevendaysvt.com/loveletters or use the handy form at right.

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We’ll publish as many messages as we can in the Love Letters section above.

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Interested readers will send you letters in the mail. No internet required!

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SEVEN DAYS APRIL 28-MAY 5, 2021

GWM looking for springtime hookups or longer if all goes well. Easygoing, nice guy in Rutland County. I like to play and like everything.

Respond with phone number. #L1493 Older yet still younger person seeking any age to bring back that lovin’ feeling. Longdistance runner, speed walker, hiker. 5’9, 160 pounds. Biker, aerobics lover, looking for a fine friendship or more. I love music, drawing, poetry, guitar, literature, yoga, philosophy.

Mostly vegetarian looking for values, humility, kindness, smiles, even magic. #L1492

Internet-Free Dating!

Reply to these messages with real, honest-to-goodness letters. DETAILS BELOW. Bi male, slightly older. Live in New York but can travel. Clean, COVID-free. Slim but in good shape. 6’1, 180 pounds. Mostly a bottom; looking for a nice guy who’s a top. #L1491 I’m seeking a Robert De Nirotype man: handsome, well educated, lots of fun with good manners, class and panache.

I’m a 60-something blond girl.

Still have my cheerleading legs. Lover of delicious. He must respect my dog. #L1490 I’m a 39-y/o male seeking a female 18 to 45. Looking for a friend and pen pal first. I’m an honest, loyal, loving and determined person. I’m a Pagan (Asatru). I’m also a dork.

I look forward to writing you. #L1488 SWM, late 50s, seeking W, M, Couples roughly 30 miles from capital. Love getting off on phone fantasies. Send number and best times. Meeting or photos possible. No text. Let’s get off safe and hot! Hope to have hot fun. #L1485

60-y/o male seeking 40- to 80y/o male or female. Seeking other nudists for companionship in northern Vermont. #L1487 Seeking pen pervs and phone freaks who will share their closet kinks. I’m open-minded, nonjudgmental and eager to hear all of your sexy stories. #L1483 66-y/o bi male, 5’4, 150 pounds, brown eyes, salt-and-pepper hair. Very handsome, warm, kind person. Looking for goodlooking bi or gay male. Must be DD-free, 420-friendly. Prefer little body hair, must shave and be circumcised. Would like to meet good-looking gay couple for ongoing thing. Very oral. #L1482 Do you seek a soul mate who loves music, travel and lively conversation? I’m an active retired woman in Addison County (5’5, slender, nonsmoker) who enjoys the outdoors. Friends consider me smart, funny and caring. My hope: to make a warm, healthy connection, sharing interests and chemistry, with a good man. #L1481

Describe yourself and who you’re looking for in 40 words below:

Required confidential info:

(OR, ATTACH A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER.)

__________________________________________

I’m a _________________________________________________ __ ____

NAME

AGE + GENDER (OPTIONAL)

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_______________________________________________________ MAIL TO: SEVEN DAYS LOVE LETTERS • PO BOX 1164, BURLINGTON, VT 05402 OPTIONAL WEB FORM: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/LOVELETTERS HELP: 802-865-1020, EXT. 10, LOVELETTERS@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

THIS FORM IS FOR LOVE LETTERS ONLY. Messages for the Personals and I-Spy sections must be submitted online at dating.sevendaysvt.com.

Who went above and beyond this year?

Honor them! It’s time to nominate...

T H E

V E R M O N T

PA N D E M I C

— T O P I C S INCL UDE —

Seven Days is celebrating the herculean efforts of the people and programs that helped Vermonters survive the last year.

WE NEED YOU!

WHICH RESTAURANT TOOK TAKEOUT TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL? \

WHOSE ONLINE OR OUTDOOR FITNESS CLASSES KEPT YOU MOVING?

Help us discover Vermont’s Pandemic All-Stars by telling us how you made it through and who helped you along the way.

WHICH VERMONT BUSINESS PIVOTED THE MOST TO SERVE A GREATER GOOD?

SHARE YOUR NOMINEES WITH US AT

SEVENDAYSVT.COM /ALL -STARS NOW THROUGH SUNDAY, MAY 2.

We’ll write about the standouts among your nominees in the June 9 issue — don’t miss it!

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4/19/21 12:38 PM

HIGH SCHOOL ST UDENT S CAN

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4/26/21 3:37 PM