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The Loss of Grace In Vermont’s juvenile lockup, a girl endured violence and isolation. She wasn’t the only one. And it was no secret. A SPECIAL REPORT BY JOE SEXTON, PAGE 26

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contents OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023 VOL. 29 NO.3

FOOD+ DRINK 42

New Naan on the Block

The Loss of Grace

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A S PE CI A L RE PO RT B Y J O E SE XTON, PAG E 26

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NEWS+POLITICS 14

ARTS+CULTURE 48

COLUMNS

Capital Investment

Eek-Commerce

BHS Principal on Leave After Pulling Fire Alarm

Grave Concerns

What lies beneath the cryptic symbology of old New England tombstones

11 Magnificent 7 12 From the Publisher 43 Side Dishes 56 Movie Review 72 Album Reviews 109 Ask the Reverend

700 Episodes

SECTIONS

Would removing four old dams make Montpelier more flood resilient?

A Pioneering Policy

Champlain Valley School District spells out the rights of transgender and nonbinary students

A Burlington boutique offers witchcraft supplies

15 Home-Building Campaign Isn’t Meeting Its Goal Texts Reveal Why Crypto Exec Backed Balint Over Gray in U.S. House Race

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FROM THE PUBLISHER

‘Joe Sexton Here’

You’ll notice something different about this week’s issue of Seven Days. Sixteen ad-free pages have been devoted to an important and disturbing story we think you should read. It explains how young Vermonters were physically restrained, stripped and held in isolation for days in the North Unit of Essex’s Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center — supposedly for their own protection — before the state shuttered the place in 2020. Our special investigation is about the pain suffered by one of its charges. “The Loss of Grace” is the longest piece we’ve ever published. That’s because it’s a story that has never been fully told — and almost certainly never would have been, if a dogged veteran reporter hadn’t moved to Vermont and found it. Three days before Christmas last year, I received an unexpected text that started, “Paula, Joe Sexton here.” It explained that a mutual friend, ProPublica journalist James Bandler, had suggested he get in touch. Sexton, a seasoned reporter and editor who had worked for 25 years at the New York Times and eight years at ProPublica, was now living in Waitsfield and wanted to talk.

WE JUMPED AT THE CHANCE TO HAVE A SELF-DESCRIBED “LIFELONG JOURNALIST, MUCKRAKER AND SHIT-STIRRER” LOOKING FOR UNTOLD STORIES ON OUR BEHALF. Seven Days had just started its holiday break, but Sexton’s bio justified taking the meeting — he’d shared in three Emmys and a George Polk Award and directed six Pulitzer Prize winners. He was about to publish a book, The Lost Sons of Omaha, about two men — one Black, one white — who died as a result of the rioting after the murder of George Floyd. He was also working on a truecrime documentary film with HBO. Sexton had left his native Brooklyn at the outbreak of the pandemic to relocate to Vermont with his wife, a photo editor at the New York Times, and their twin tween daughters. Consulting editor Candace Page and I met with him three days after Christmas. As soon as he walked in Seven Days’ door and beheld the creative chaos of our empty office, his eyes lit up — the sign of a journalist away too long from the newsroom. Sexton is one year older than me: 64. He said he wasn’t ready to retire but was unsure of what he wanted to do next, in a new place. We met a few more times before coming to an agreement: If, in his local explorations, he spotted anything worthy of investigation, he would bring it to Seven Days.

PAULA ROUTLY

Joe Sexton at the Seven Days office

We jumped at the chance to have a selfdescribed “lifelong journalist, muckraker and shit-stirrer” looking for untold stories on our behalf. While reporters are hardwired to be keen observers of what’s going on around them, they can’t notice everything. And, in truth, sometimes we’re blind to what’s right in front of us. That’s what Spotlight, the movie about the Boston Globe’s investigation into pedophile priests, was all about. I knew that, if he were serious about working here, Sexton would be looking at Vermont with fresh eyes. And he’d recognize a good story when he saw it. By April, he’d found one. We first heard about it with the rest of our writing staff during a Lunch & Learn session with Sexton as the featured guest. He showed up in his signature track suit and shared war stories with our reporters and editors — about his first job working for a Black newspaper in Brooklyn; about how he got his start in sports at the Times, then moved to the metro desk when he became a single dad to the two daughters from his first marriage. At the end of our lunch session, he told us about a local story that he’d already started pursuing: what happened at Woodside. He knew lawsuits had been filed on behalf of a group of seven kids who were held there — one of which resulted in a $4.5 million payout from the state. Vermont taxpayers picked up the tab but didn’t know much about what it covered. It’s true that the story was 2 years old, and “there was some solid, straightforward daily news reporting on it” at the time, as Sexton observed. But no local media had dug in to explain what

had happened at Woodside, how it was allowed to occur, who was responsible “and, most important of all, who were these children?” as he phrased it. He aimed to answer those questions. Sexton had already found his way to the family of one of the child victims, Grace Welch, around whom this week’s story is told. I can’t remember if we told Sexton about our own efforts to get inside Woodside. The longtime director, Jay Simons, kept our reporters at bay for years until 2017, when the cash-strapped facility was looking for money from the legislature. That appears to be the one and only time he gave an interview to Seven Days. Sexton was not going to take no for an answer. He was not going to accept silence, either. If current and retired Vermont officials did not respond to his inquiries, he sent them snail-mail letters. When that didn’t work, he found out where they lived and showed up in person. He spent about three months reporting “The Loss of Grace,” during which time he went to Omaha, Neb., to promote his book; published a piece about it in the New York Times; wrote a story for the Atavist magazine with one of his older daughters about his experience being taken hostage in Libya; and moved his family to Williston. He also suffered a heart attack and had double bypass surgery. During his remarkably short convalescence, he sent suggestions for illustrating and packaging the Woodside story. And, of course, he met his deadline. When he filed the first draft, in mid-July, I happened to be stuck overnight at Chicago’s O’Hare International

Airport on the way back from a trip to the West Coast. Totally sleep deprived, in the wee hours I set up my laptop in the airport and started reading. For the 90 minutes it took to consume what was originally a 20,000-word piece, I was riveted. The story was shocking and hard-hitting — and also thoroughly documented and well sourced. For the past three months, we’ve put Sexton’s piece through the journalistic paces: multiple rounds of fact-checking, two full edits by news editor Matthew Roy and Page, legal review, proofreading, art direction, audio recording. News broke, too, that Sexton had to incorporate. Earlier this month, one of the former Woodside leaders went before the state Board of Psychological Examiners and was fined for testifying untruthfully about her qualifications. Also: Vermont is actively seeking sites for a new juvenile detention center, and, not surprisingly, no town is enthusiastic about hosting it. Needless to say, the hard-learned lessons of Woodside should inform how the state plans future facilities for troubled youths. Sexton covers that in his epilogue. We briefly considered serializing his story in consecutive issues but decided instead to publish it in its entirety, all at once. I hope you can carve out the time to read it. It’s not often that one of the best journalists in the U.S. delves into something that happened in our state, for the benefit of those who live here. And it’s definitely not what most people expect from a free weekly. Sexton affectionately calls Seven Days an “absurdity” — a functioning local newspaper that’s still supported by print advertising — and an “absolute miracle” in an era of diminishing news sources. We’re grateful for the chance to work with him and hope that some greater good comes of sharing this difficult story. If you appreciate our efforts and can afford to help us pay for enterprising stories like this one, please become a Super Reader by making a recurring monthly contribution to Seven Days. That will help us continue to provide this public service for free in print and online.

Paula Routly To make a contribution, look for the “Give Now” button at the top of sevendaysvt.com. Or send a check with your address and contact info to: SEVEN DAYS, C/O SUPER READERS P.O. BOX 1164 BURLINGTON, VT 05402-1164

For more information on making a financial contribution to Seven Days, please contact Kaitlin Montgomery: VOICEMAIL: 802-865-1020, EXT. 142 EMAIL: SUPERREADERS@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

KEVIN MCCALLUM

news

EDUCATION

BHS Principal on Leave After Pulling Fire Alarm B Y A LI S O N NO VA K alison@sevendaysvt.com

Kassia Randzio touring the Bailey Dam

Capital Investment

Would removing four old dams make Montpelier more flood resilient? B Y K E V I N MCCAL L UM • kevin@sevendaysvt.com

hen the Winooski River rampaged through Montpelier in July, a dam originally built to control its floodwaters was nowhere in sight. The Bailey Dam, a prominent s t r u c t u re spanning the river just west of the Main Street bridge, was submerged beneath the roiling, muddy waters. But the 10-foot-high, 142-foot-long slab of concrete on the riverbed nevertheless had an impact on the downtown flooding: It likely made it worse. The barrier and tons of silt behind it significantly reduced the Winooski’s ability to carry floodwaters away when it mattered most, said Kassia Randzio, the development and operations director for the Vermont River Conservancy. “This dam is not holding back water. It’s holding back dirt,” Randzio said last week as she gazed down at the structure

ENVIRONMENT

from the Shaw’s grocery parking lot in the city’s downtown. Randzio and her Montpelier-based nonprofit have long hoped to take out the Bailey Dam and three others in and around the capital to restore the Winooski and its tributaries to something closer to their natural state. That would foster a cleaner, healthier ecosystem for fish and wildlife and new recreational opportunities such as boating. The July flood underscored another crucial benefit to removing derelict dams: Taking them out can actually prevent or minimize future flooding, she said. “For better or worse, these types of events illustrate the need for this work,” Randzio said. Dam removals have been on the city’s radar for several years but are getting an urgent new look since the July flood caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to the city.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

The subject came up during a council debate earlier this month over funding for a long-planned park at the confluence of the Winooski and its flood-prone tributary, the North Branch. The newly formed Montpelier Commission for Recovery and Resilience is likely to explore it in detail. The Vermont River Conservancy has hired an engineering firm to study removing four dams around Montpelier. Mayor Jack McCullough said he’s eager to read the report. “It makes total sense to me that if we remove these impediments to the free flow of water, that the water isn’t going to be hanging around right in the center of the city,” McCullough said. City Councilor Dona Bate said removing dams to reduce flooding can seem counterintuitive. That’s because when people think of dams, they envision the CAPITAL INVESTMENT

» P.16

Burlington High School principal Debra Beaupre has been put on indefinite paid leave, days after she pulled the fire alarm during a lunchtime scuffle between students. In an email to the school community, district superintendent Tom Flanagan said he could not share any details about Beaupre’s leave. But he assured families that the district was “working as quickly as possible to resolve this situation.” Monday’s announcement came five days after she pulled the fire alarm amid a student altercation during lunch, leading to an evacuation of the building and a visit from the Burlington Fire Department. Beaupre later sent an email to families explaining what had happened. “I decided to evacuate the building to ensure safety and provide emotional space to students and staff amid a heightened, atypical situation,” Beaupre wrote in an October 20 email. “I realize that this alternative was stressful in the moment, as fire drills are surprising and signal an emergency ... I regret if any student or staff member is experiencing any lingering unsettledness.” The Burlington School District would not confirm whether Beaupre’s leave was tied to the fire alarm incident. Assistant principal Sabrina Westdijk, who previously served as principal of Burlington’s Edmunds Middle School, will serve as principal in Beaupre’s absence, Flanagan said. Beaupre is the school’s fourth principal in three years. She was hired in May after a monthslong search. She previously served as an associate principal at Hanover High School in New Hampshire. Before that, she was principal of Cavendish Town Elementary School, a K-6 school with around 80 students in Windsor County. At Cavendish, she was the subject of a petition of no confidence in April 2019. Roughly 70 people expressed concerns about her discipline style and an incident involving a school bus. According to the Chester Telegraph, some parents alleged that Beaupre had passed a stopped school bus in her car, pulled in front of it, then boarded the bus to tell students they needed to sit down while the bus was moving. ➆

A Pioneering Policy

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EDUCATION

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BY ALISON N OVAK • alison@sevendaysvt.com

a manner consistent with their gender identity.” Dana Kaplan, executive director of LGBTQ youth advocacy organization Outright Vermont, said the newest policy is “an exciting moment where a district is coming out and saying, in no uncertain terms, ‘We want all of our students to be safe.’” “Having really clear guidance in this day and age, when rhetoric is flying around and [there’s a] concerted effort to squelch the rights of young people … is incredibly important,” Kaplan said. “I hope other districts will follow suit.” The policy was passed at a time when lawmakers across the country have taken an opposite approach. Twenty-three

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A DISTRICT IS COMING OUT AND SAYING, IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS,

“WE WANT ALL OF OUR STUDENTS TO BE SAFE.” DAN A KAP L AN

states now have laws that ban transgender youths from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity, and nine states have banned transgender students from using bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. Florida recently prohibited public school employees from asking children their preferred pronouns. Data suggest that these laws have created a hostile, and even dangerous, climate for LGBTQ people. Eighty-six percent of transgender and nonbinary youths said debates about anti-trans bills have negatively impacted their mental health, according to a recent poll conducted by Morning Consult and the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ suicideprevention organization. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s annual crime report, released this month, showed A PIONEERING POLICY

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he Champlain Valley School District has become the first in Vermont to clearly spell out the rights of transgender and nonbinary students in a wide-ranging policy its school board unanimously approved last week. The three-page policy hews closely to guidance the state Agency of Education released in 2017, which outlines best practices for students whose gender identity is different than their assigned sex at birth or who do not identify as male or female. But the school district’s policy uses more decisive language than the state’s to affirm students’ rights to use a locker room or restroom and participate in school sports and activities that align with their gender identity. School board chair Angela Arsenault, who served on the committee that created the policy, said it codifies practices that the school district has used for years. The district-wide approach ensures that educators at its six schools are on the same page, she said. The district is the biggest in Vermont, with more than 4,000 students in Williston, Shelburne, Charlotte, Hinesburg and St. George. “A transgender or gender nonbinary student must be permitted to use a locker room or restroom that aligns with the student’s gender identity,” the policy reads. It defines gender identity as “one’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both, or neither.” Any student who asks for increased privacy “will be provided with reasonable alternative arrangements,” such as a private area, a different changing schedule or a singlestall restroom. The state, on the other hand, says a trans student should not have to use a locker room or bathroom that conflicts with their gender identity. The agency guidance also describes accommodations for “gender nonconforming ” students. The Vermont Principals’ Association, which governs interscholastic sports, has its own policy that says it is “committed to providing all students with the opportunity to participate in VPA activities in

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Home-Building Campaign Isn’t Meeting Its Goal B Y A N N E WAL L AC E ALL E N anne@sevendaysvt.com

large flood-control structures such as those in Wrightsville, Waterbury and East Barre, built with the help of the federal government after the Great Flood of 1927. Flood-control dams have space behind them for runoff from storms to be stored, or impounded, instead of rushing downstream. Some, such as Waterbury’s, have massive metal gates that operators can control; others, such as Wrightsville’s, offer passive protection. Those imposing structures are widely acknowledged to have functioned well and prevented even worse flooding in July. The four dams the Vermont River Conservancy identified for removal, on the other hand, are known as run-of-river dams, and water flows freely over them. “These are not dam dams,” Bate said. “These are nonfunctioning dams.” It’s too soon to say how much the removal projects might cost, but it’s a weight on local officials’ minds. The city is under significant financial pressure to help residents and businesses recover from the flood, making funding such projects an obstacle, Bate said. But as the city rebuilds, it also needs to look toward better protecting itself against future floods, and removing the dams could be a key part of that strategy. The topic is expected to get attention at the Statehouse next year, when the legislature is expected to consider establishing a state fund to help municipalities rebuild with climate change resilience in mind. “Everything I’ve heard to date tells me that dam removals are essential for flood mitigation,” Bate said. “I feel we have to move in that direction, and we need state and federal support to do it.” Not everyone agrees. Thomas McArdle, retired Montpelier director of public works, said the volume of water coursing through the city made the impact of the Bailey Dam “negligible.” “I really doubt it would have any impact on riverine flooding,” he said. And Thomas Weiss, a licensed hydrologist who lives in Montpelier, also said he doubts the Bailey Dam worsened the downtown flooding much. To bring clarity to the debate, the Vermont River Conservancy recently selected SLR International of Waterbury to conduct detailed studies of the four dams. The work is funded by a $300,000 grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program. Roy Schiff, an engineer at SLR, said there is little question that removing dams that aren’t providing flood control helps expand a waterway’s capacity to carry away floodwaters.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

COURTESY OF VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

A prominent housing campaign in Vermont’s most populous region is falling far short of its goal to build 1,000 new units of housing annually in Chittenden County. The Building Homes Together campaign, a project of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission and the developers Champlain Housing Trust and Evernorth, counted 594 new homes in the county last year — just 59 percent of the goal the group announced in 2021. This year, it’s projecting 532 will be constructed by the end of the year. In 2024, 808 are expected to be built. That rate of construction will make it difficult to reach the 5,000 in five years that the coalition called for as awareness of Vermont’s housing crisis was growing. The group is also falling far short of its goal to build 250 units of permanently affordable housing each year. Just 151 units were built in 2021, and 110 in 2022. This year, 113 are expected to be completed. On Monday, members of the campaign thanked lawmakers for millions of dollars in new spending for housing, starting with a $37 million housing bond approved in 2017. In each of the past three years, the legislature has allocated between $110 million and $140 million in state and federal funding to housing, according to Building Homes Together. The group said on Monday that it’s critical to keep the money coming. “The housing shortage developed over decades; this recent level of investment from the state needs to continue for several more years,” the campaign said. The housing shortage is causing pain for renters and homeowners who are being priced out of the places they want to live, and it’s exacerbating misery for people who cannot find a home at all and are in temporary shelters or outside. It’s also preventing many companies from hiring new workers, said Charlie Baker, executive director of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission. “I don’t know how much more employers can sustain this,” said Baker, who described the situation as a housing market failure. “We know there are a lot of jobs going unfilled.” ➆

Capital Investment « P.14

Bailey Dam, circa 1934

How much is extremely site specific and will require detailed modeling. That work is getting under way soon, but evidence Schiff has seen so far, including photos and sediment left behind, shows the Winooski jumped its banks upstream of the Bailey Dam and coursed into downtown, where it joined the overflowing North Branch.

DAM REMOVALS HAVE BEEN ON THE CITY’S RADAR FOR SEVERAL YEARS BUT ARE GETTING AN URGENT NEW LOOK SINCE THE JULY FLOOD.

Removing a 10-foot-high dam won’t necessarily create 10 more feet of carrying capacity in the river, but he’s confident that models will show less flood damage from a Winooski River without the four dams. “It’s a picture and a hydrological model of the river, and you can’t refute that,” Schiff said. A dam has existed at the site where the Bailey Dam now stands since at least 1821, according to a woodblock print of Montpelier in the Vermont Historical Society’s collection. After the Great Flood of 1927, the Civilian Conservation Corps rebuilt the dam as a flood-control project,

complete with movable gates. Those were removed in 1975. Another of the dams is a smaller structure on the North Branch just upstream of the confluence with the Winooski and below a trestle bridge now used as a walking path. It’s known as the “rat dam” and was built when sewer pipes discharged directly into the tributary. This provided rats a convenient avenue to enter buildings. The dam created a pond that submerged the sewer pipe openings, preventing rats from entering the pipes, Randzio said. The sewer pipes are long since gone from the North Branch, but the crude dam, a barrier three to five feet high, remains. It poses a problem because it’s in the heart of downtown on a waterway responsible for much of the flooding, she said. When the Winooski was at flood stage, the North Branch had nowhere to go except up, jumping its stone banks and pouring into the basements and first floors of much of downtown. Removing even this modest structure could go a long way, Randzio added. Karina Dailey, the restoration ecologist at the Vermont Natural Resources Council, agrees. She is the head of the state’s Dam Removal Task Force, which tries to identify and prioritize projects. “Certainly, I think it would make a significant difference,” Dailey said of removing Bailey and the “rat dam.” Two other dams eyed for removal are farther upstream. The Pioneer Street Dam, about 1.3 miles from downtown, is the oldest of the four, dating back to the 19th century. There is concern that sediment behind the crumbling 168-foot

KEVIN MCCALLUM

long, eight-foot-high dam could be contaminated because of its proximity to a former manufactured gas plant. Capital City Gas burned coal on the site to create gas from 1902 until 1949 and left behind significant coal tar contamination on the property. It was later cleaned up, and the site now houses a portable toilet storage facility. The other is 2.75 miles farther upriver in East Montpelier and is called the Hidden Dam. Built in 1906, it’s at the site of a hydroelectric facility that was destroyed in the 1927 flood. Because of the 10-foot-high dam’s location in an agricultural area, the sediment trapped behind it may contain significant phosphorus. Julie Moore, the secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, said the state supports targeted dam removals. But that’s only one of several strategies it is pursuing to improve flood resiliency. These include helping communities build back with future flooding in mind, such as moving utilities out of basements and hardening infrastructure to allow communities to better withstand and recover from floods. Reconnecting floodplains to give rivers room to spread out is another key

Hidden Dam

strategy that has worked elsewhere and needs to be closely examined throughout the Winooski basin. One such project on a former lumberyard in Brattleboro got under way this summer and is expected to reduce the flood levels on Whetstone Brook by four feet, Moore said.

The state is considering a similar project at the Agency of Transportation’s central garage and training center in Berlin. The eight-acre property on the banks of the Stevens Branch flooded for the third time in 12 years in July. The state is considering relocating the garage and

allowing the land to be restored to its natural state. If combined with property on the opposite side of the creek where the Berlin Mobile Home Park flooded, a substantial area could be created to allow floodwater to spread out and slow down before it enters the Winooski, she said. Moore sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) earlier this month, explaining that the state needs to do more to protect the infrastructure and communities in the Winooski River watershed but can’t do it alone. She asked for $3 million and the help of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in conducting such a study. “Funding for permanent flood protections is critical in order to keep residents and property safe and out of harm’s way, protect infrastructure investments like dam structures and buildings, and reduce harm to the environment,” she wrote. Moore said dam removals and land acquisition for floodplain reconnection are often time-consuming because they require a “willing buyer and a willing seller.” She said, “There is no bang! And you’re flood-proof.” ➆

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news that anti-LGBTQ hate crimes rose by 19 percent from 2021 to 2022. The Vermont chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics applauded Champlain Valley’s policy, noting that the state is “not immune to attacks on transgender and gender diverse Vermonters.” “When students feel safe to express their identities across the gender spectrum, they will be more prepared to learn and thrive in school,” the group wrote in a statement. Arsenault, who also represents Williston as a Democrat in the Vermont House, said the policy committee intentionally worked slowly. Made up of five board members and five administrators, the panel gathered feedback from principals, school counselors and nurses, students, and parents, along with staff from the Vermont Department of Health and Outright Vermont. A number of community members contacted board members to question the policy, with correspondence that ranged from “blatantly hateful to genuinely curious,” Arsenault said. Board members responded to all of those who sent messages, she said, trying to dispel misconceptions and assuring them that the policy was based largely on systems already in place. Tony Moulton, who has served as Champlain Valley School District’s director of integrated wellness for almost four years, will help implement the new policy. Educators in the district, he said, have long collaborated to support gay, transgender and nonbinary youths, especially in light of data that show those students are more likely to harm themselves or use substances. And the numbers of students who identify as being in one of those categories is sharply increasing. In 2021, 4 percent of Vermont high school students said they were transgender, compared to 1.3 percent in 2017, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a biennial study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the 2021 survey, 29 percent of Champlain Valley Union High School students identified as LGBTQ+, compared to 10 percent in 2017. Moulton said he sees the policy as one that will benefit all students by making the district more inclusive and welcoming. The policy requires school staff to use students’ preferred names and pronouns. And school records will use the name and gender that is consistent with a student’s gender identity, except when the district is legally required to use a student’s legal name or gender. “Honoring those students who are transgender or nonbinary is a way to 18

THOM GLICK

A Pioneering Policy « P.15

normalize what is already normal,” Moulton said. “We have different ways of identifying, and that’s OK.” The district is still ironing out some details. For instance, one section of the policy says, “The school will work closely with the student and their caregivers (when appropriate) in devising a plan regarding the confidentiality of a student’s transgender or gender nonbinary status that is safe and affirming while meeting competing legal requirements.” Ideally, Moulton said, the school district would include family members in any discussion about a student’s gender identity. But if that disclosure might lead to a student feeling unsafe, a team of educators would discuss what to do. Similar policies in other states have drawn the ire of “parental rights” activists, who say educators should never withhold information about students from caregivers. At the school board’s October 17 meeting, Williston parent Michelle Gagne spoke against the policy. She said she’s always told her daughter, who has Down syndrome and attends Champlain Valley Union High School, that she can go into a bathroom or locker room and not worry about encountering someone with male

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

anatomy. She said the new policy would contradict that and make her daughter’s life “more confusing.” As an opponent of the policy, Gagne said she felt like “the lone voice in the wilderness.” Before the vote, board chair Arsenault addressed Gagne directly.

HONORING THOSE STUDENTS WHO ARE TRANSGENDER OR NONBINARY IS A WAY

TO NORMALIZE WHAT IS ALREADY NORMAL. TO NY MO ULTO N

“I have faith that our administrators will work with you the way I think they’ll work with anyone,” Arsenault said. “I really do believe that as we work through this policy, we really do mean it when we say the focus has been on the safety and well-being of every student. And I personally want that for your student as much as I do for any student.” In an interview, Arsenault said she’s

aware that the policy could face legal challenges given the current political climate. In Vermont last year, conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom sued the Orange Southwest School District on behalf of a student and her father. They alleged the district violated their First Amendment rights by punishing them for comments they’d made about a transgender student athlete who used the girls’ locker room at Randolph Union High School. In May, the school district settled the case for $125,000. In July, the same legal group sued the Vermont Agency of Education, the Vermont Principals’ Association and Mountain Views Supervisory Union on behalf of David Bloch, a former snowboarding coach at Woodstock Union High School. He claimed he was fired unfairly after making comments about a transgender snowboarder on an opposing team. That case is pending. Arsenault noted that Champlain Valley’s policy underwent two rounds of legal review before it came up for a vote. “We really do feel that we’ve covered our bases on the legal front,” Arsenault said, “and are confident that the policy would hold up to any legal challenge.” ➆

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POLITICS

Texts Reveal Why Crypto Exec Backed Balint Over Gray in U.S. House Race B Y S AS H A G O L D S T E I N & DE R E K BR OUWER

F I L E : JA

Text messages revealed last week responses. Balint, Sadowsky wrote, during the trial of cryptocurappeared more amenable to rency mogul Sam Bankmantheir influence than Gray. Fried explain why his “She’s been good on associates took an interest pandemics; put stuff on her in Vermont’s U.S. House website,” Sadowsky wrote race last year — and why of Balint. “Molly Gray said they decided Becca Balint, she wouldn’t do anything the eventual winner, was on it.” Becca Balint their preferred candidate. The Balint campaign has Bankman-Fried is accused, denied any role in coordinating among other crimes, of using with the Bankman-Fried brothers customer funds from his crypto exor the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which would change, FTX, to buy influence on Capitol have been illegal under federal campaign Hill during the 2022 midterm elections. law. But it has been criticized for taking Balint benefited from his political steps that political campaigns commonly machine to the tune of nearly $1 million use to send indirect messages to outside during her hotly contested Democratic groups. primary against then-lieutenant governor Asked for comment last week, Balint’s Molly Gray. campaign manager, Natalie Silver, Bankman-Fried’s associates routed pointed to a statement that she issued in the cash through a pro-LGBTQ super February. PAC under the name of an FTX employee “As previously stated, the in what the feds contend was an illegal Congresswoman does not know any of straw-donor scheme. Only after the the people mentioned in this exchange, primary election, which Balint won handhas never communicated with them, and ily, did the FTX connection come to light did not solicit any donations,” Silver wrote through campaign finance disclosures in an email. and reporting by Seven Days. The LGBTQ Victory Fund did not Evidence previously revealed during respond to requests for comment. Bankman-Fried’s federal prosecution Gray previously told Seven Days made clear that his associates were not that she rebuffed Guarding Against motivated to support Balint because of Pandemics during and after a meeting her positions on gay rights. Participants with its leaders. The new text messages in the alleged scheme spoke crassly appear to confirm her assertion. about donating to “woke shit” to curry Sadowsky’s texts also shed light on favor with Democratic politicians, why the super PAC he ran, Protect Our prosecutors have said. Future, didn’t spend on Balint’s behalf. Last week, prosecutors introduced Gray, during an early primary debate, messages from the “woke shit” exchange had asked Balint to “publicly reject” any that help explain why Bankman-Fried’s pooutside spending on the race, and Balint litical operatives took an outsize interest had agreed. Sadowsky, the messages in a congressional primary in Vermont that show, was aware of that complication involved candidates who were virtually when he asked Singh to funnel money to unknown on the national stage. the LGBTQ Victory Fund. “The winner here is favored to be the “Gray got her to commit to denouncnext senator of VT, once someone retires,” ing super PAC spending at a debate,” Michael Sadowsky, the director of a he wrote to Singh. “So we would take a Bankman-Fried-funded super PAC, wrote negative press hit.” to FTX executive Nishad Singh. In light of the newly revealed text Two days later, Singh gave $1.1 million messages, Gray said last week, “We now to the LGBTQ Victory Fund Federal PAC, know that this was a case study in why which went on to spend nearly $1 million we desperately need campaign finance on ads supporting Balint, who is gay. That, reform and to do everything we can to Sadowsky wrote in the text exchange, keep outside money out of Vermont “is both to help BB win, and to get on her elections.” good side.” “We know that when outside money The decision followed a series of comes into a race, the elections become meetings that Bankman-Fried’s brother, clouded, candidates lose accountability Gabe, and his organization Guarding and outside money makes candidates Against Pandemics held with Balint and into someone they’re not,” Gray said. her opponents, including Gray, earlier in Bankman-Fried’s trial is ongoing in 2022. Manhattan. The meetings were ostensibly about Singh has pleaded guilty to six crimipandemic prevention, as Seven Days prenal counts related to the FTX conspiracy viously reported. But the text messages and faces up to 75 years in prison. He introduced at trial this week indicate that testified last week that he “hopes for no Sam Bankman-Fried’s political operatives jail time” in return for serving as a governwere taking cues from the candidates’ ment witness against Bankman-Fried. ➆

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scandalous homeless problem (I live in public housing, without which I would also be out on the streets) is no symptom of our mythical “free market.” It is the deliberate result of economic and social policies that have been plundering us since the Reagan era, transferring some $50 trillion and probably more of our wealth to the very top 1 percent of Americans, like Bezos, all with the gleeful cooperation of our federal and state governments. While we appreciate and thank Scott for her kindness, let’s not forget why it was so needed in the first place and those who are directly responsible for this dire need. Walter Carpenter

MONTPELIER

NOT-SO FAIRHOLT

[Re True 802: “A Burlington Mansion Hits the Market for $15 Million,” October 4]: Amy Tarrant must have taken a course in real estate at Trump University (before it was shuttered and paid $25 million to the “students” it had defrauded.) Specifically, the course underlying the Trump organization’s own behavior that provoked the current $250 million New York State fraud suit against Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization itself: “Fudging the Numbers 101: How to Tank Property Appraisals for Tax Purposes and Then Pump Value Ridiculously When Setting the Sale Price.” Will Tarrant do better than the Trumps at following this playbook? Shouldn’t the Burlington assessor and city council take notice of this massive discrepancy in valuations? And which Burlington taxpayers were assigned higher property values to make up for the $1.4 million hole in the Grand List that the assessor created by acquiescing to Tarrant’s own appraisal (a 20 percent reduction in appraised value)? Her final grade for the course will depend on whether the city steps in now to examine the assessment and whether anyone is willing to pay her $15 million asking price. But, at a minimum, the post-sale assessment for the new owner must be set to reflect the price the market delivered. Stay on the case, please, Seven Days! Jeanne Keller

BURLINGTON

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

WELL READ

Many readers responded to Alison Novak’s October 4 cover story about declining literary rates among Vermont schoolkids. Titled “Reading Reckoning,” the story broke the news that a teaching method called balanced literacy may not be as effective as the phonics-based one it replaced. It is gratifying to know that Vermont educators have been making strides to improve literacy education for Vermont kids. My own reckoning as a reading specialist came when I could clearly see that my master’s degree training, which focused on balanced literacy teaching, had not prepared me to teach many of the kids, teens and adults whom I encountered and who needed help. Later, I had the opportunity to learn structured literacy, which includes more depth of understanding of phonology, orthography and multisensory teaching than I previously learned. It took time and practice. Eventually, I was able to deliver instruction that made a difference. Growth and progress were evident. My students and their families were grateful. I felt like I could do what I had set out to do. I was successful in my commitment to my students to teach them how to read. I currently hold the position of reading specialist/special educator for the Vermont Department of Corrections. As a branch of the DOC’s risk reduction program, the Community High School of Vermont offers not only high school level classes but also a therapeutic school where students who need help with reading, writing and math also build their skills to work toward a diploma, job or career training or address other personal, functional literacy goals. We use a structured literacy approach. We see progress. Kudos to the Vermont DOC risk reduction program for its commitment to helping reduce educational obstacles for Vermonters. Jeanne H. Smith

ST. ALBANS

Alison Novak penned a great article but omitted key statistics showing the abysmal proficiency scores of Vermont students. Kids learn to read, then read to learn. If they miss step one, school is boring, books are uninteresting and paying attention is difficult. Is this failure to teach our kids basic reading skills — combined with dramatic increases in screen time — a major contributor to poor overall proficiency and surges in behavior problems and “social-emotional challenges”? All

parents should be outraged and listen to the American Public Media podcast “Sold a Story.” Perhaps the most infuriating quote in Novak’s story is “[reading expert Louisa Moats] believes the politicization of literacy — with phonics often being thought of as a Republican cause — is one reason that scientific knowledge about reading hasn’t been put into practice widely.” Our schools failed our kids because it would validate a “Republican cause”? Folks on the “blue team” need to stop doing the opposite of what the “red team” says or does. This is infantile and exists in many issues today. Too often, when a “red state” goes one way, Vermont moves hard the other way — despite the consequences. It’s clear that if Republicans had demanded that kids stay home and wear masks all the time, the “blue team” would have used “science” and “data” to show why kids should be in school full time and not wearing masks. Please think for yourselves. As the article states, we already set “kids back for years, if not for a lifetime.” Tim Guiterman

SHELBURNE

I read “Reading Reckoning” with some confusion. I understand teachers are often led by educational theorists who may create incompetent or ineffective theories, and I understand teachers may be overworked, etc. But where are the parents in this equation? I am not an educator and haven’t studied reading theory, but I taught my three children to read, each by age 4.5. And it was fun! We read daily, eagerly, lovingly, and they were introduced to phonetic reading from the beginning. It took a huge amount of my time and some focused structure. I am sure we gave up other things, such as television. We didn’t own one. I worked full time and put my career on “slow.” But what are our priorities? I reasoned that the strongest academic foundation I could give the kids beyond good work habits was to be fluent readers. My eldest’s first-grade teacher “thought he was pretending” to read until March of that year. Why would I trust these folks to set good foundations?

Two of the kids are in science today, but all continue to read — novels, poetry, history, philosophy. School can enhance your children’s learning. It won’t do it for them. You don’t have to be as over the top as me, but our best learning can happen at home. Richard Hudson

JERICHO

Alison Novak’s article was heartening to read in the sense that — if at long last —some sort of systematic progress in teaching teachers balanced literacy is under way and children are benefiting. But it left out a vital piece of the full story: What reading methods were used before 2000 that resulted in such high Vermont reading scores back then? Something was working. In that connection, to really have the full picture, readers need to have the hard data that would let us compare changes in the social determinants mentioned — such as those for poverty, food security and housing — over the time period. After all, it is suggested that these also play a vital role in children’s educational success. Kate Robinson Schubart

HINESBURG

Thank you for featuring Alison Novak’s exceptional article on Vermont kids’ lack of reading proficiency. I was a Burlington school commissioner for seven years until 2020. Reading proficiency by third grade became a key data point associated with our equity policies. Thanks to our expert executive director of teaching and learning, Stephanie Phillips, we began understanding in 2014 why reading by third grade matters and how critical phonics is to achieving that outcome. From then on, we concurred with Phillips’ budget guidance each year to transition to a phonics curriculum. It was disturbing to read that Vermont institutions accrediting teachers are not in the “run, don’t walk” mode of replacing current teaching practices with phonemic awareness and fluency. Any defensiveness on these higher educational institutions’ part can only be interpreted as neglect and contributes to the collective grief expressed by teachers for their ignorance of data-driven teaching methods, through no fault of their own. More disturbing is how ill equipped our Agency of Education is to intervene. Our kids cannot afford Vermont’s love affair with local control when it comes to policy decisions that are paid for with state-controlled funding. It’s shameful that we have a governor proposing

to return ed funds to taxpayers when Vermont kids’ reading fluency limits their/our future success. The State Board of Education establishes and is currently updating Education Quality Standards. Adopting a “Reading Proficiency by End of Third Grade Through Phonics” standard would go a long way to institutionalize reading proficiency into local school budgets.

The most striking thing that was mentioned was that once a group of students with learning disabilities was given intensive phonics instruction for two to three years, “two-thirds were able to leave special education entirely.” That’s incredible news! It means that if schools made “reading at grade level” for all students a top priority (as it should be), we would likely see a significant reduction in the number

singing the theme song of “Reading Rainbow,” that wonderful PBS show, but it referenced lyrics that sing of the joy of books. I can go anywhere! As a reader who has to have several books going at a time, this week I’ve been in Wessex (The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy), Florence (Inferno by Dan Brown), Istanbul (A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler), London (London: A Pilgrimage by Gustave Doré and Blanchard Jerrold), and Alberta ((Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton). To quote Emily Dickinson, AFTER “There is no Frigate like a Book to MIRO take us Lands away!”

Liz Curry

BURLINGTON

Mayoral candidates mull runs

ENT VOICE OCTOBER 4-11,

2023 VOL.28 NO.52 SEVENDAYS

VT.COM

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VERMONT’ S INDEPEND

Yes, you read this article correctly. Vermont is at the national average in reading test scores for fourth graders. It’s tied with states such as Mississippi — which, not for nothing, spends less than half what Vermont does per pupil ($23,000 versus $10,000 in FY 2021). Meanwhile, the legislature is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic: “Legislature focuses on student equity in Vermont schools.” To paraphrase President Joe Biden: “Don’t tell me how anti-racist you are; show me how many minority kids in your state can read, and I’ll tell you how anti-racist you are.” Don’t just release some nonsensical policy that trips over itself to inclusively define all the groups who need to be culturally sensitively identified as unique individuals. We also have to teach them to read! We have to put as much legislative attention toward the hard work of executing on progressive priorities as we do into talking about how meaningful they are to us. An inclusive school that fails to educate students who need it is as tragic as an elitist school that only educates privileged students. Maybe more so because it allows us progressives to feel like we are finally doing something about structural racism. Roger Brown

RICHMOND

Thank you for publishing this article. Being unable to read at grade level not only impedes learning across the content areas year after year but also impacts a person’s mental health, social behaviors, and overall success in school and beyond. Being consistently unable to access text leads to demoralizing feelings of frustration, shame, resentment and anxiety, which are counterproductive to learning and thriving. For students to become lifelong learners, they must be given the tools to become lifelong readers. It’s apparent that for the past two decades, the actual system meant to educate them has denied them these tools.

Tica Netherwood

CHARLOTTE

Too many Vermont kids strugg le to read. What went wrong — and can educators reverse a yearslong slide in literacy? BY ALISON

Kudos to Seven Days for your article on science-based reading instruction. When our kids were subjected to the whole-language approach to reading, which is part of the balanced approach, we thought it was a bunch of baloney. Having students guess a word based on context seemed ridiculous. We felt vindicated recently after listening to the podcast “Sold a Story.” In the podcast, we heard CREATURE FEATURE GROWTH INDUSTRY LEAF THROUGH IT how George and Laura Bush tried to promote science-based teaching, but it became a political football and of students with learning disabilities Democrats dismissed it as conservaat our schools, a significant reduction tive hogwash. Even today, your article in the cost of educating children in our notes that some Vermont colleges are towns, and a significant reduction of still promoting the balanced approach to behavioral and mental health problems reading instruction. It is amazing what at schools. people will believe if it aligns with their Dear Vermont, please join me in political ideology. encouraging our Agency of Education, David Maher school boards, superintendents and BURLINGTON school administrators to finally prioritize significantly increasing our students’ The role of reading in a democratic reading proficiency rates. There’s too society is critical, yet this article did a much at stake to wait a moment longer. disservice to educators and the public Sharon Kulsick by oversimplifying the work needed to improve literacy in Vermont. CABOT Asserting that student scores on Love of reading is sown long before a standardized tests are the result of lack child sets foot in school. Do children see of phonics instruction is misleading. their parents reading books? Do stacks State and national tests are not tests of and shelves of “I can’t wait to read” books word reading; they assess students’ abilfill the home? Are regular visits to librar- ity to read and understand complicated ies and bookstores eagerly anticipated? texts. Students may perform poorly for Decades ago, my father was so eager any number of reasons, including weak for me to read, he taught me before I vocabulary, fluency, comprehension or started kindergarten. In my mind’s eye, decoding skills. the two of us perch side by side on my bed Reading scores for Vermont have not reading Bed in Summer by Robert Louis experienced a “20-year slide.” From 2000 Stevenson, while the late-day sun streams to 2017, Vermont consistently outperthrough the curtains. formed the nation and experienced a And kudos for a brilliant title and small increase in achievement. From clever cover art! Not only did it get me 2017 to 2022, there was a decline. This

is a concern. A number of factors have likely influenced that result — including a decrease in our veteran teaching force, an increase in the number of teachers working on provisional licenses, a pandemic, and a decline in the amount of reading students do inside and outside school. Serious improvement will require identifying and solving the right problems. Can schools continue to improve? Certainly. Is it simple? No. An inclusive and systemic approach to teaching all aspects of reading will make it possible to respond to the needs of individual students. State policy acknowledges what research has found: No one approach can ensure that Vermont’s students will be engaged participants in a literate democratic world.

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On the hunt at Sasquatch

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Festival

Restoring the chestnut in

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Vermont

Fall issue inside!

Mary Grace

MONTPELIER

Grace is executive director of Partnerships for Literacy and Learning. After spending 27 years helping kids learn how to read, I feel compelled to respond to your article “Reading Reckoning.” The word “science” is bandied about, but no one has explained how it is to be used. It is my view that if you can’t test and replicate it, then it’s not science. We are presented with anecdotal observations that lower reading scores are caused by the lack of phonics instruction. Interesting, yes, but now the work begins. No correlational data are presented, and, remember, correlation is not necessarily causation. In my Reading Recovery training, I overheard a New Zealand guru tell our very competent RR teacher-leader that letter knowledge was not necessary. Seriously? At that point I wanted out, and it took me three years to free myself of the RR yoke. Why? English employs an alphabetic system. This means that words are mediated by the letters. So letter/sound knowledge makes the words easier to recognize. Fast and accurate word recognition is the ultimate goal for competent readers in order to free up memory for comprehension. Why one would keep this “phonic secret” from struggling kids who are just beginning to learn how to read is baffling to me. There is also the naïve view that if all the schools changed to Orton-Gillingham, then the reading problems would significantly lessen and perhaps disappear. Be careful! Along with my own teaching history, other pro-phonics people also have had their own reading failures. Louis Welna

GEORGIA

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

lifelines

OBITUARIES, VOWS, CELEBRATIONS

and Ethan. They divorced in 1981. Also in 1967, Wayne lost his father to a sudden heart attack as he was embarking on a project to build an artist retreat near what is now the Smugglers’ Notch Ski Area. After his father’s death, Wayne and Nancy took over the project and created the Red Fox Ski Dorm. During the 1970s, they built the Salty Dog nightclub and steak house and the Brewster River Yacht Club Restaurant nearby.

Wayne continued to work for IBM and managed his businesses from afar, with the help of his wife on-site, until the mid-’70s, when he settled with his family in Jeffersonville. He took a position at Johnson State College as an associate professor of business management. In 1979, he accepted the position as director of Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in the state of Vermont. After Reagan’s election, Wayne became part of his transition team and was appointed deputy undersecretary of the Department of Education under secretary Terrel Bell, where he helped develop the Presidential Fitness Award. During his years in government, he traveled the world extensively while representing the United States. In 1986, Wayne returned to Vermont to be near his sons and took the position of president of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, which he built into Vermont’s largest business member organization. It was during this time that

Wayne met the woman who would become his life partner, Barbara Surprenant. As president of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, Wayne was involved with almost every issue important to Vermont. With keen acumen and organizational brilliance, he was an effective leader who brought meaningful change and positive impacts to our state. Some of his accomplishments include creating the Convention Bureau to promote the region and state as a meeting destination, creating Vermont’s first comprehensive businessfocused government affairs and lobbying division, creating Leadership Champlain to develop young leaders in Vermont, creating the state’s first business-led Workforce Development and Education divisions to focus on building the workforce of the future, and, again, traveling the world to promote Vermont’s economic interests. Wayne lived a very active life outdoors in his beloved Vermont. He treasured Vermont’s natural resources

and spent a great deal of time fly-fishing throughout the state and Canada. He traveled throughout the world fishing — tuna off Cape Cod, salmon in Brunswick, tarpon in the Keys, bonefish in Bonaire, trout in Montana — and for 36 years participated in the Lake Champlain International Fishing Tournament with his brother, David, and son Morgan. After his retirement in 2006, Wayne spent winters in Fort Myers, Fla., where he and his wife, Barbara, enjoyed their life together, returning to Vermont for summers. While in Florida, Wayne continued to spend countless hours exploring the mangroves, perfecting his angling and enjoying the tranquility of the Florida waterways. Wayne and Barb enjoyed hosting their children and grandchildren in Fort Myers so they could enjoy a reprieve from Vermont winters. Wayne’s true passion was family, and bringing all elements of his family together in any type of gathering was really important to him. Throughout his life, Wayne

sought every opportunity to bring those he loved close to him and Barb. Wayne is survived by his wife, Barbara Surprenant; three sons, Weber (Brooks Crane), Morgan and Ethan (Rebecca), and their mother, Nancy Weber; eight grandchildren, Aiden, Caellen, Asa, Zola, Kessler, Thira, Atalanta and August; his sisters, Patricia Christiansen and Pamela Beach (Charles Beach) and their son Brandon; his brother, David Lee Roberts (Judy Roberts); and Barbara’s son, Chris Poirier, and his wife, Donna, and their children, Joshua and Elizabeth, all of whom were an integral part of Wayne and Barb’s life together. Services for the family to celebrate Wayne’s life will be held at a later date in Waterville, Vt. In lieu of flowers, please consider giving to Spectrum Youth & Family Services (spectrumvt.org). Arrangements are in the care of the Ready Funeral & Cremation Services. To send online condolences, please visit readyfuneral.com.

later, Jim McGinniss, Mark Ransom, Trey Keepin, Peter Riley and Don Sydney. The N-Zones were an institution. They thrilled audiences at countless venues with original blues rock and roll numbers, including “Boogie ’Til Your Head Caves In,” “Killer Bee Bop” and many others, all driven by Bruce’s tenacious backbeat. In 1978, Bruce married another Burlington troubadour, singer-songwriter Mary McGinniss. They welcomed their sons into the world: Owen, in 1980, and Willy, in

1983. Bruce was an attentive and engaged father who delighted in his relationships with his boys. His marriage to Mary ended in 1993, but they have remained lifelong friends, parents and grandparents. In 1995, he was a founding member of Sambatucada!, an Afro-Brazilian samba street band. He served as its bandleader and artistic director for many years, playing for every conceivable community event, from the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival to Mardi Gras to fundraisers for nonprofits serving the poor and disadvantaged. The group’s membership was — and is — open to all. Every performance concluded with an invitation to join the band. Bruce believed that music was for everyone, including playing it. Over the years, he held percussion workshops in schools and for people with developmental disabilities and mental health challenges — anyone with a desire to pick up a drum and play. He would

often talk about the “omnipotent groove” that resonates with everyone. Bruce remarked that his nearly 30 years with Sambatucada! was among the most fun and fulfilling experiences of his creative life. In his tenure, it is estimated that over 1,000 people have received lessons from Bruce and other Sambatucada! members. He was always incredibly generous with his time and encouragement for anyone willing to try their hand at playing. In 2006, he met his life partner and sweetheart, Keiko Kokubun, and their relationship grew and blossomed amid the arrival of his grandchildren, Shannon Manchester and Noah and Colin McKenzie. Bruce and Keiko’s love for one another is fierce. In 2020, Bruce was diagnosed with cancer. With the aid of Keiko and Dr. Ades’ team at the University of Vermont Medical Center oncology department, he fought a stark diagnosis. Dr. Ades referred

to Bruce as one of his miracle patients; his endurance and resolve won him over a year of remission to have more time with his beloved family and friends and with Keiko and his grandchildren; more gigs, holidays, Samba practices and feasts. His dear friend Mark Ransom, brother Pat McKenzie and brother-in-law James McGinniss visited him weekly as he recovered from treatments and regained strength. The family is forever grateful for their support and friendship. The family would also like to extend our deepest gratitude to Dr. Ades and his team for the exceptional care they provided to Bruce. Bruce will be remembered by those who knew him as a bard, a talent, and a true lover of life in all of its trials and joys. He lost his father before his birth. During his life, he lost his mother, Lennie; his siblings Thelma and Ray Maple, Joe, Steve and Bill McKenzie, and Judy and Vinnie Ziccolella; and his brother-inlaw John Bennett.

He is survived by his love, Keiko Kokubun; his children, Willy Dee McKenzie and Owen and Sarah McKenzie; his grandchildren, Shannon Manchester and Noah and Colin McKenzie; his siblings Pat and Ginny McKenzie, Suzie McKenzie, Kay McKenzie, Brian and Anne McKenzie, and Dennis and Nora McKenzie; sisters-inlaw Kathleen and Pauline McKenzie; his ex-wife, Mary McGinniss, and her wife, Kate Bouton; and countless cousins, bandmates, nieces, nephews, students, mentors and kindred souls. Our sorrow in Bruce’s passing is eclipsed by his love for us. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in his name to Sambatucada! via PayPal @sambavt or to UVM cancer research. A memorial visitation was held in the Minor Funeral Home in Milton, Vt., on October 18, 2023. For online condolences, please visit minorfh.com.

OBITUARIES Wayne Roberts FEBRUARY 25, 1944OCTOBER 13, 2023

On October 13, after a glorious day visiting with his family, Wayne passed away at his home in the arms of his wife and love of his life. He was 79 years old. Wayne was born on February 25, 1944, in Boston, to Phyllis Stockwell and Arthur William Roberts. They eventually settled in Lexington, Mass., and spent summers at their home in Jeffersonville, Vt. He graduated from Lawrence Academy in Groton, Mass., and later from Babson College in 1964. He then attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and graduated in 1965 with his MBA. Wayne started his career as part of the sales team at IBM in Washington, D.C., and in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1967, he married Nancy Weber, and they had three sons together, Weber, Morgan

Bruce McKenzie OCTOBER 16, 1952OCTOBER 14, 2023 BURLINGTON, VT.

Bruce McKenzie was born on October 16, 1952, in Burlington, Vt. He was the youngest of 11, born six months after the death of his father, Harold McKenzie. His mother, Lennie Perry McKenzie, raised him and his siblings on Isham Street in Burlington. His eldest siblings, Joe and Thelma, were his godparents. At an early age, Thelma arranged drum lessons for Bruce. He got to upgrade from his knife and fork tapped out on the dining room table to a trap kit in the attic. He spent many hours honing his skills for the bands he was yet to join. He was recruited to join his first band, the Heartbeats, when its existing members overheard him practicing up in the attic. Later, and most notoriously, Bruce formed the N-Zones with Zoot Wilson, Joe Moore, Ellen Powell, Gus Ziesing and,

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

OBITUARIES

Martha Stevens JUNE 13, 1924OCTOBER 19, 2023 SOUTH BURLINGTON

Martha Jane “MJ” Hunt Stevens passed away peacefully in her sleep on Wednesday, October 19, 2023. She leaves two sons, Jonathan and Andrew. Her husband, Donald W. Stevens, predeceased her, in 2004. She was 99. A funeral service will be planned soon.

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Post your obituary or in memoriam online and in print at sevendaysvt.com/lifelines. Or contact us at lifelines@sevendaysvt.com or 865-1020 ext. 142. SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

The Loss of Grace In Vermont’s juvenile lockup, a girl endured violence and isolation. She wasn’t the only one. And it was no secret. BY J OE SEX TON

he girl in the video is naked. She is in a room at what was then Vermont’s only secure facility for troubled children. The walls are white; there is no bed, no chair, no desk. The child is streaked with her own waste — excrement slashed across her thighs, under her breasts, on her chin just under her mouth. The video is being shot by a female staffer at the Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in Essex. The camera looks through a window in the door of the room. The child comes to that window, and it is clear she is in emotional crisis. Yet her eyes possess a flash of warmth, and in that moment, it is not hard to imagine her early childhood of challenge and promise. A girl raised in rural Vermont in a home without electricity, where buckets of water were used to flush the toilet and the family’s food was stored in a neighbor’s refrigerator. A girl who could ride a bike at age 3, who could switch-hit playing baseball at 5, who had a magical touch with animals and once walked into a circle of unruly Arabian horses, instantly befriending them. A girl who often went hungry but who made a point of bringing food to the homeless people begging outside her local supermarket. At another moment, the girl in the video walks about the room laughing madly, her eyes swimming with hurt and fear. She sits on the floor and begins to harm herself — inserting lengths of wire into her right forearm. She does it carefully, calmly, without an expression of pain. 26

The woman working the camera does not open the door to intervene. She asks, “Why are you doing that?” and keeps the camera rolling. Parts of the answer to the staffer’s question can be found in the girl’s thousands of pages of medical, police and child welfare records: She was taken from her family by the State of Vermont at age 11, given half a dozen shifting diagnoses of mental illness and prescribed nearly 20 different medications as she was shuffled from hospitals to specialized schools to placements out of state. At one, in Georgia, the staff sought to control her behavior using “chemical restraints,” heavy doses of powerful drugs meant to render her compliant. She’d lost cherished family members to cancer and car crashes. She’d been ostracized at school — called “the crazy one” and mocked for her lack of stylish clothing. “I’m different from other people,” she told a therapist. “I act up; I get the cops called.” She meant no one any harm, though. “I’m a loving person. I don’t understand why anyone would bully me.” The girl had been at Woodside before, when she was 13. Then, she spent 11 days in a suicide smock, went without a shower for nine days, was kept naked and alone for days on end in the facility’s North Unit — four grim cells where children were sent to be isolated and where the staff often cut off water to the toilets and excrement piled up. She was restrained 31 times, her arms and legs bent and twisted by male staffers whose tactics were meant to get her to do what they wanted. She was denied the schooling at Woodside to which she was entitled by law, sent to court dirty and stinking as her family asked judges to please give her back to them.

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REPORTING THIS STORY The report is based on hundreds of pages of court, medical and police records; regulators’ findings; government correspondence; audiovisual materials; reports; and submissions to the Vermont legislature. It also draws from interviews with Grace Welch’s family and people who knew her; the family’s attorney; her court-appointed guardian; lawyers with Vermont’s Office of the Defender General; former Vermont attorney general T.J. Donovan; state legislators; the commissioner of the Department for Children and Families; former workers at Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center; advocates for people with disabilities; an expert witness; Raven Hendrix, a former resident at Woodside; Eric S. Miller, general counsel for the University of Vermont Health Network; and email exchanges with former DCF commissioner Ken Schatz and his deputy, Karen Shea, former deputy attorney general Joshua Diamond and former DCF commissioner David Yacovone. Several sources are not named because they cited fear of retaliation.

Read the documents at sevendaysvt.com/woodside.

Woodside, opened in 1986 and operated by the Vermont Department for Children and Families, could house 30 children from ages 10 to 17. The population was a mix of boys and girls with mental health issues, some of whom had run afoul of the law. They were supposed to be provided schooling, counseling and group activities. Later, after Woodside was rebranded as a rehabilitation facility, those kept there were to be provided

Seven Days receives financial support for investigative projects like this one from the nonprofit Journalism Funding Partners, which leverages philanthropy and fundraising to boost local reporting. To join the major donors who support Seven Days’ work through JFP, email publisher and editor-in-chief Paula Routly at paula@sevendaysvt.com.

therapy and treated for their mental health disorders. The video, taken through the locked room’s window, captures the girl during her second stay at Woodside. For months before, she’d enjoyed some stability in her life at home with her family, the only place she’d ever wanted to be. Her attendance at school was nearly perfect. She was a valued volunteer at a nearby home for the elderly. But that peace was

ROB DONNELLY

When I talk with people outside the state about Woodside, they always respond the same way: “Vermont? Really? That happened in Vermont? No way!” K E R R IE J O H NS O N

“Pain is good,” she said in an intake interview. “I deserve it to hurt.” Much of the hurt administered at Woodside was filmed by the cameras that its director, Jay Simons, required staff use to record their interactions with the children. “No, no, no,” the girl screams during one violent encounter with male staffers as they cut her pants off. “I can’t breathe,” she sputters in another. “Let go. My back. I promise I’ll walk,” she pleads in yet another. Once, a paramedic answering a 911 call found the girl in her cell, naked in her own menstrual blood

Grace Welch at age 5

disrupted profoundly when she reported being raped by a local farmworker, with whom she’d gone out to pick pumpkins. “Look at the moon,” she said the man told her as he forced himself on her. She was sent to Woodside after she took a truck belonging to a friend of her father’s for a dangerous joyride. In a life of myriad miseries, the girl resigned herself to more.

and urine, so cold that she was at risk of hypothermia. The video of her naked and stained with excrement was shot days after that episode. The child — resentful, willful, creatively reckless — could act out, and this time she and other children had succeeded in causing a round of mayhem for the staff. In such instances, the workers who would restrain her could don

biohazard suits and break out riot shields. They didn’t want the shit on them. They would drag her to her cell, dump her and dash backward out through the door. The woman recording the scene inside the white room says she is not enjoying it. “I don’t like to see you hurt yourself,” she says. The woman speaks with another staffer, and it is clear that the two are weary of the treatment of the girl and the others kept in the North Unit. Those children, to be sure, could often be a threat to themselves or the staff and a problem for the workings inside Woodside — tying clothing or other material around their necks, damaging property inside the facility, disrupting life for the less troubled residents. Over decades, best practices have been developed for how to care for and protect children in such moments — ways to ease tension and upset, protocols for listening, offering respect, rewarding safe behavior. Making such moments about power and punishment almost always worsens things for traumatized children. Under Simons, lawyers for the children would assert, power and punishment were the fundamental approaches to control in the North Unit at Woodside. The price the children paid was high. Kerrie Johnson, a lawyer with the Vermont Office of the Defender General’s juvenile unit, said children kept in isolation for weeks or even months devolved into compulsive self-harm because of their loneliness, helplessness and boredom. They would strangle themselves with their clothing, then staff would forcibly strip them naked. Some tried to burn themselves, while others refused food and water. Children could become catatonic, seeming to lose touch with reality. Some would use their fingernails to carve words or shapes into the paint on their cell doors. One carved a set of animals and talked to them. The woman filming the naked girl talks to her colleague about the toll it is taking on those who must enforce such

policies. She confesses to her colleague that she does her best to keep it all inside. “If I showed emotion...” she says before failing to finish the thought. “I can’t,” she adds. She says she can’t even talk about what goes on at Woodside with her husband. “I’m emotionally dead inside,” a male staffer responds. The child continues to insert the bits of wire into her arm. She does it with the concentrated ease of someone knitting. She gets up and kicks her leg in a little dance. She then comes again to the window, holds her arm outstretched to show the camera. “I can’t feel my arm,” she says. Simons was one of the men who put on a biohazard suit and then put his hands on the children. He participated in the frontline work of violently restraining them. Lawyers for the children alleged he had no problem with men restraining naked girls, some of whom were victims of sexual assault. Now, he is at the window of the child’s room. “Oh, look at that,” he says jokingly to the child with the wires in her arm. “You’ve got some piercings.” To a staffer, he adds, “Get a close-up with the camera.” Simons was a former Vermont prison boss who had no formal background or specialized training in caring for children, much less traumatized adolescents with mental health and behavioral issues. His second in command, another former corrections employee, had a poster in his office off the front lobby. It was a chart of the human body labeling where maximum pain could be inflicted with the use of a baton. “Not qualified to lead this facility,” Christopher Bellonci, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said of Simons in a sworn affidavit. “Traumatic, unnecessary and dehumanizing,” Paul Capcara, a nurse with a master’s degree in public health, said in a sworn statement about conditions at Woodside. The Defender General’s office said Woodside’s clinical director, Aron Steward, condoned and helped oversee what was done to the children at Woodside — the violent restraints, and the extended isolation in the North Unit — despite ample research detailing the harm done to children kept in such conditions. In 2020, that office accused Steward of having repeatedly testified falsely under oath about her professional credentials, including during proceedings that involved the placement and detention of children at Woodside. In January 2023, the Vermont Office of Professional THE LOSS OF GRACE

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The Loss of Grace « P.27 Regulation cited Steward’s alleged misrepresentations and charged her with “engaging in conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud or harm the public.” “Good at putting a stamp of legitimacy onto this otherwise completely barbaric practice,” Johnson, the lawyer with the Defender General’s Office, said of Steward’s role in the treatment of children at Woodside. Vermont’s history of scandals involving children is long and ugly: the eugenics work done in the 1920s, including with families at the Weeks School in Vergennes, in pursuit of legalized sterilization; the abuse at St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Burlington; the children handcuffed to their beds in the juvenile unit of the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury; the dozens of pedophile priests in the Burlington diocese who preyed on boys and girls; the mistreatment of students at Kurn Hattin Homes for Children. And yet what happened in the North Unit at Woodside was allowed to go on for years — much of it known to the most senior officials at the Department for Children and Families, including then-commissioner Ken Schatz, and the office of then-attorney general T.J. Donovan. Claims of violence at the hands of staffers, stays in what amounted to solitary confinement, administrators and medical personnel coercing children into withdrawing their complaints of abuse were all laid out in court filings, memos and emails from the children’s lawyers and in the multiple and damning reports by DCF’s own internal investigators of inhumane conditions and negligent care. A paramedic who had rescued the bloody and freezing girl even wrote directly to DCF about what she had seen — not only a child at risk of death but a staff ignorant of her history and unconcerned that a girl naked but for a smock was being dealt with exclusively by men. The circle of knowledge, however, went well beyond the state’s child welfare and top law enforcement offices. At least six different Vermont judges heard cases alleging damage was being done to children at Woodside, and none of them intervened to demand meaningful investigations or order an end to the mistreatment. The state legislature also had plenty of reason to know of the problems at Woodside. Advocates testified before its committees and personally sought out individual legislators to encourage them to investigate. Formal proposals were submitted about how to reform the policies and conduct of the staff at the facility. None of it provoked decisive action or, in truth, all that much interest. 28

Grace, age 11, with her brother Gene

Johnson filed many of the cases seeking emergency relief for the children in the North Unit at Woodside. She testified about Woodside before the legislature. She wrote directly to Schatz, the DCF commissioner, beseeching him to act and offering her own plan for key reforms. Schatz and others at DCF sought to have Johnson professionally sanctioned for her fierce advocacy.

be filed under seal in court cases and denying them to a lawyer for some of the damaged children and their outraged families. Bellonci, the expert from Harvard, ultimately got to review the videos — a boy knocked flying through the air, another screaming that his arm was being broken — including 32 involving the naked girl alone in the white room. “Horrifying and deeply disturbing,” he wrote in an affidavit, saying the incidents amounted to child abuse that, in another setting, could be criminally prosecuted. In June 2019, the advocacy organization Disability Rights Vermont filed a sweeping federal lawsuit seeking an emergency halt to what was taking place at Woodside, saying children were being irreparably harmed by the violent restraints and extended and humiliating

Grace looked at the judge and said, “I’m gonna make everybody’s lives a living hell until I go home.” And from that day forward, she did just what she set out to do. Made their lives miserable. Did it help her? No. But that girl is stubborn. Oh, my God. Stubborn. J O S IE W E L C H

“There is a certain exceptionalism that is baked into the culture here in Vermont,” Johnson told Seven Days. “Out of that exceptionalism, it is almost axiomatic that while such things as what took place at Woodside may happen in other places, they cannot happen here. When I talk with people outside the state about Woodside, they always respond the same way: ‘Vermont? Really? That happened in Vermont? No way!’ How the rest of the country sees us is also how we see ourselves. Because we cannot believe that such things can happen here, they do. And often.” All along, officials at both DCF and the Attorney General’s Office sought to keep the videos taken of the children at Woodside from the public. Management at Woodside told staffers that the videos were meant to protect workers from claims of malpractice. The staff, for their part, suspected that they were a management tool to find fault with their work and weed them out in favor of more people with corrections backgrounds. But again and again, DCF and the Attorney General’s Office worked to keep them secret — demanding they

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

stays in the North Unit. In response, Simons defended the restraints of the children as safe and maintained that children were only sent into seclusion for their own good. Federal Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford got a chance to see some of the videos, and he quickly determined Woodside

Children’s artwork on a cell door in the North Unit

was “an institution in need of systemic change and reform.” He noted the violence of the restraints, the catalog of damning findings made by DCF’s own investigators and the abusive use of the North Unit’s seclusion cells. He ordered DCF to revamp its policies for restraining and isolating residents. It would be the beginning of the end for Woodside. Schatz, the former DCF commissioner, and his top deputy, Karen Shea, told Seven Days in separate statements that they had done their best to provide care to extremely troubled and vulnerable children and had been clear with the legislature and others about the limits of what they could do for those children — constraints owing to funding and the physical plant at Woodside. In sworn testimony, Simons was even blunter: Woodside had become a place of last resort not set up for or capable of successfully treating some of the most damaged children sent there. The naked girl in the video, Simons later said in court, was one of those children. At the end of the video, the girl ultimately winds up collapsed in a corner of the featureless cell. She looks exhausted and defeated. Her name was Grace Welch. In the video, she is 16. Lawyers would win her release from Woodside, and she would rejoin her family and work hard to piece together a future. She discovered basketball, graduated high school, dreamed of adopting a puppy. Hungry for love of any kind, with anyone, she found her first boyfriend. He was years older than her, and Grace’s family said he introduced her to illicit drugs. She would not give him up. Grace died of an overdose two months shy of her 19th birthday. After Judge Crawford’s ruling, Grace and six other children held in the North Unit sued the state for their mistreatment at Woodside, but lawyers hired by then-attorney general Donovan argued that Grace’s claim of damages did not survive her death. Her family was owed nothing. A modest celebration of her life was held at a ball field near her grandmother’s place in East Corinth. Grace, daughter of Josie and Gene; granddaughter of Cathy; sister to Faith, Hope and Little Gene. Today, a handmade box holding her ashes rests inside Cathy’s hillside trailer, the horses Grace loved out back. A tribute is etched into the borders of the box: “She was the perfect example of grace because she was a butterfly with bullet holes in her wings that never regretted learning to fly.” This is that child’s story.

ROB DONNELLY

‘A Horror’ Grace Welch was born on December 17, 2002, the first child of Josie Farnham and Gene Welch. Josie and Gene had known each other throughout their childhood, and their subsequent romance was a whirlwind. “He’s like, ‘You wanna go fourwheeling?’ And I’m like, ‘Sure.’ And he threw me over his shoulder and threw me in his truck and away we went,” Josie said of their courtship. Josie, who was kicked out of her childhood home at 13 by her abusive, alcoholic mother, would drop out of high school when she became pregnant with Grace, and she and Gene would set up a spartan home on a piece of property in West Topsham. Gene was one of the “Welch boys,” hardworking, harddrinking loggers and machine operators who were not easily bent to 21st-century norms. “Short in stature, high energy, hard to teach,” George Denagy, a neighbor, said with an admiring chuckle. “Intractable pains in the rear.”

And deadly serious about certain core things, such as family and loyalty. “Nobody messed with the Welch boys,” Josie said. “They’re very committed to each other.” Grace’s records and interviews with those close to her offer glimpses into her early life, some of them consistent, others conflicting, none of them comprehensive. She was certainly a child of Vermont’s countryside, roaming the forests, driving ATVs, at ease with animals and wildlife and the grit of rural life. Energetic, happygo-lucky, strong-willed like a Welch girl, she could be a handful, too. When Josie took her to kindergarten for the first time, she alerted the teachers that Grace might have some form of ADHD. Grace’s files, though, include evidence of hardship and trouble, too. There’s a clinical note suggesting Josie struggled with alcohol as had her mother — showing up drunk at the bus stop to send Grace off to school, requiring hospitalization more than once. Another included a claim that Josie’s drinking could lead to fights with Grace. There are references not just to frugal circumstances but to impoverished ones. There

was no running water, electricity or phone in the family home. Grace would be sent to her grandmother’s to bathe every other night. “Desperately poor,” one assessment states. School did not go well, and one psychological report in Grace’s files includes a theory that might help explain why. “Sometimes youth like Grace who grow up in rural environments and have limited experiences away from their family with other children and adults, once they enter public education, can present as overwhelmed, and with what some have termed ‘environmental autism,’” the report says. According to Grace’s mother and paternal grandmother, the local elementary school in Orange made things worse. Grace was routinely sent for hours to the school’s empty and windowless “blue room” for misbehavior. Cathy Welch, Grace’s grandmother, said Grace never spoke of her treatment at school, and the family only learned about this after it had been going on for months. Over two years, Cathy said, Grace was forced to spend parts of 200 days in the room. School

officials said by law they could not comment on Cathy’s claim. There were attempts to treat Grace’s behavioral issues — one listing of them included impulsivity, aggression, running away — with a variety of medications and a stay in the hospital. Grace, at 86 pounds, was sent home from the hospital with a prescription to take the maximum adult dose of Seroquel, a powerful medication meant to treat serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. Grace’s family could not make sense of the diagnoses or medication regimens, other than to conclude that they did not help much. “I met with 14 professionals with a whole bunch of college degrees and none of them could tell me what was wrong with my daughter,” Gene, Grace’s father, told a psychologist evaluating his daughter at one frustrated moment. Cathy Welch, her grandmother, came to believe that Grace suffered from some kind of multiple personality disorder — often a reaction to trauma meant to keep painful memories at bay. Cathy even named Grace’s second distinct personality “Gracezilla,” saying she surfaced when Grace felt cornered or endangered. Over the years, Cathy said, she begged the authorities to take her seriously, without success. The state’s child welfare agency came for Grace when she was 11. The department’s case file is not public. But there are notes from her other records indicating that the state took her into its custody because of neglect. She was missing too much school; Josie couldn’t supervise her medications diligently. Cathy said it was nothing more than a confusion over Grace’s medication lapsing during a holiday. Whatever the full truth, it was harrowing for the child and her family. The state police accompanied DCF workers to get Grace. “They came at night, woke her up out of bed,” Cathy said. At an early court proceeding, Grace said she wanted to be returned to her family. “Grace looked at the judge and said, ‘I’m gonna make everybody’s lives a living hell until I go home,’” Josie recalled. “And from that day forward, she did just what she set out to do — made their lives miserable. Did it help her? No. But that girl is stubborn. Oh, my God. Stubborn.” THE LOSS OF GRACE

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The Loss of Grace « P.29

ROB DONNELLY

In the following months, DCF would send Grace to an inpatient hospital, a specialized school in Massachusetts and eventually a treatment facility in Savannah, Ga., where she came to nickname the powerful medications its staff used to sedate her “booty juice.” Grace was assigned an assortment of diagnoses: bipolar disorder type 1, oppositional defiant disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, behavioral disruptive disorder, ADHD. And she was given an array of drugs: Seroquel, lithium, Concerta, Thorazine, Risperdal, Depakote, Invega, Cogentin, Geodon, Lamictal. Some seemed to exacerbate her problems; others produced side effects of suicidal thoughts, sexualized behavior and involuntary muscle spasms. The medications were started, ended, restarted, used in combination, discontinued. Grace’s records reflect that there was considerable confusion about her intellectual abilities. Some records say that at age 12, she couldn’t list the months of the year or spell the word “world.” Others showed that she tested at a superior level for verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning. Her IQ scores varied. Her brain was scanned in the hunt for answers, and Grace herself later offered a child’s take on what had been found. “My brain never stops,” she said. There’s nothing in the record to suggest these efforts were anything but well intentioned. They are full of generous observations about Grace: her desire to make friends; her work ethic; her devotion to, and need for, her family. “Grace is creative and enjoys learning practical knowledge and applying that knowledge,” one history reads. “When she is in a good space, she is charismatic and has a good sense of humor. Grace is also very persistent and works hard to get what she wants.” But it’s also hard to read the records and not see the work on Grace’s behalf as scattershot, almost improvised, inadequate — done by multiple people in multiple places unable to solve the puzzle of this child. John Turner served for several years as a court-appointed guardian for Grace. He admired her family’s dedication to her. They attended every court hearing; they visited her wherever she was taken; they fought for her. “I’ve worked with lots of kids who didn’t have half the commitment of their families that Grace had,” Turner said. But in DCF, he said, that family was up against an agency that he said fancied itself “on the side of God” and that was populated by people from backgrounds far different and more privileged than Grace’s.

“These people are out of another century,” he said of the Welch family with a mix of respect and regret. “They had a hard time understanding why people were coming for Grace. Looking back, Grace didn’t have a shot.” Josie, Grace’s mother, certainly felt overmatched. “She needed DCF to get out of her life,” Josie said of Grace. “She needed DCF to give us a chance, to actually listen to us. All she needed was her family.” The family sought her return in court, but the losses just stacked up. “We’d go in; the lawyer would say their thing; DCF would say their thing,” Josie recalled. And the judge would say, ‘We agree with the state.’” From ages 10 to 16, Grace would repeatedly be admitted to the Brattleboro Retreat, the only inpatient psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents in Vermont. Staff on the child unit during her earliest stays called in as many as 10 daily “Code Greens,” urgent requests for assistance from across the hospital in physically restraining her. One of those people often called in to help was Paul Capcara, then the clinical manager of the adult intensive unit.

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If this was a parent doing this to their child to control the child’s mental health issues and this was not a facility doing this stuff, we would look at this as abuse. K ER R I E J O H N S O N

“It could be all day long,” Capcara said. “She probably set the record for the most codes at the Retreat.” Capcara, a registered nurse with a master’s degree, and others intimately familiar with the Retreat said its staff was too often overwhelmed, undertrained and ever changing. Records show that regulators found it out of compliance with standards for care. Budgets were strained. A child there died by suicide. Judith Christensen, a former senior official at Woodside, said children arrived there from the Retreat with “suitcases full of medications.” Advocates considered litigation to compel improvements but didn’t sue only because they struggled to find experts to testify. Capcara never personally assessed Grace, but over the years, at Brattleboro and, later, during Grace’s trips to the

emergency department at the Central Vermont Medical Center, he would come to know her well and eventually testify as an expert on the harm being done to her and others at Woodside. Capcara said he came to mistrust all the various diagnoses involving Grace. For him, she suffered from attachment disorder — a painful but common problem for children who have had inadequate or abusive caregiving at home or in residential facilities, and who might have suffered a series of traumatic losses. “In order to keep themselves safe, these children act out,” Capcara said. “Because it gets you attention, and it gets you lots of people who hopefully will help keep you safe.” He said Grace might have been something of an outlier in terms of the severity of her problems, but the issues were recognizable and conquerable.

FILE: JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR

Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in 2007

Director Jay Simons at the Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in 2017

issues and this was not a facility doing this stuff, we would look at this as abuse,” Johnson told Shea and Simons. “You couldn’t do these things to your own child in your own home.” She made the case for decency. It was an urgent one. “Grace is young. She’s only 13 years old, but, emotionally, she’s even younger,” Johnson said to the DCF chiefs. “I can’t imagine how long the days must feel to her in here. Every day is just — is the same. It’s very repetitive, very monotonous, very low stimulation. And she’s a kid who is used to being active, living in the country, spending most of her time outside. It’s a huge change for the negative for her, and I think it’s really showing in her functioning. I think she doesn’t understand what, exactly, it is she needs to do.” Shea said she would get back to Johnson — and rejected the grievance that same day.

FILE: JAMES BUCK

‘It Was Crazy’

FILE: JAMES BUCK

“All she wanted was someone to engage with her, treat her with respect and listen to her and, you know, be with her,” he said. “And if you did that, she was charming. She was a lovely young girl. She was smart; she was capable. She actually had insight, which, you know, sometimes you don’t see in people that are in those settings.” Woodside under Jay Simons, then, was about the worst place Grace could wind up. Yet that’s where she was sent in 2016 after she damaged property and struck a staffer at a therapeutic group home. Then 13, she was nude during early testing upon her arrival; her clothes had been taken so she could not rip them and try to strangle herself. She’d eventually spend six weeks without access to clothing while being kept in the North Unit, given a safety blanket of material that could not be picked apart and that felt like a stiff piece of burlap, her lawyer said. She spent nine days straight in a locked room. She was not allowed to attend any educational sessions for months. She was not even allowed a book in her cell. She went days without bathing. Locked up, with no physical activity and a steady diet of medications, she put on so much weight so quickly that stretch marks formed on her body. She raged and harmed herself, including stuffing plaster from the walls in her ears. A psychiatric evaluation done around this time points to the problems that Grace experienced when she was placed in facilities. “It is this examiner’s opinion that referring Grace to another secure program will not lead to any improved functioning,” it reads, “and likely only increase the distrust that Grace’s parents and Grace already have toward service providers.” Kerrie Johnson, the lawyer with the Office of the Defender General, came to represent Grace. Johnson has a master’s degree in social work and had spent seven years in a variety of positions with DCF before going to Vermont Law School. She’d been trained in how to peacefully resolve volatile situations with children; she’d learned how to restrain them without injuring them; she’d managed a caseload of children and families at risk; she’d done investigations. She’d never encountered anything like the North Unit at Woodside. “I don’t think at the time our office had a ton of information about what was happening there, or how that was used, or when it was used, or why,” Johnson said of the North Unit. She quickly figured out what was taking place there. “A horror,” she said. “I would leave that place, and I would be like, This

A cell at Woodside in 2017

stuff is so awful you could get the United Nations to care about it.” She said the leadership of DCF and the Attorney General’s Office would prove more challenging. Johnson, in lodging a grievance on Grace’s behalf, met at Woodside with Simons and one of his bosses, DCF deputy commissioner Karen Shea. She knew Shea from their time together at DCF. Everyone agreed to having the meeting recorded, and Johnson laid out the mistreatment of Grace. She told them staff

had to use VapoRub when they entered Grace’s room to ward off the stench of feces and urine. She noted that Grace, who couldn’t exercise, worried about her weight gain. She lamented her lack of schooling; Grace was denied access to books. She pointed out that Grace, then 13, was naked in front of male staff and had no mattress to sleep on. Grace had despaired that she’d never get out and had grown more and more withdrawn. “If this was a parent doing this to their child to control the child’s mental health

There is little dispute today that the creation of Woodside was a bad idea, born in a moment of hysteria about juvenile crime. In 1981, in an outrage still seared into Vermont’s collective memory, two 12-year-old girls were attacked in Essex Junction, stabbed and sexually assaulted, with one left dead. The culprits were two boys, 16 and 15. Vermont at the time did not have a secure facility for children accused of crimes. There were some group homes and foster families, but the unit for juvenile offenders at the state hospital had been closed down after its own scandal. In what felt like an instant, there were calls to build a locked facility bigger than had ever existed in the state. Judith Christensen, now a senior lecturer in psychological science at UVM, was one of the people charged with bringing Woodside into existence. Some state legislators wanted a facility with 130 beds. “Every kid on the corner needed to be put in an institution,” Christensen recalled of the prevailing sentiment. “Of course, it was crazy.” Woodside opened in 1986 off Route 15 in Essex in an isolated stretch of forest along the Winooski River, its perimeter ringed by barbed wire. It wound up with 30 beds, more than were needed, but less crazy, Christensen said. Crazy, less crazy — Vermont’s Defender General’s Office thought Woodside was illegal. Children were THE LOSS OF GRACE

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Kerrie Johnson, lawyer with the Office of the Defender General

The Loss of Grace « P.31

HILARY SWIFT

being sent there without the approval of a judge. The lawyer who helped lead the legal challenge to Woodside was Ken Schatz, the man who would later oversee and defend Woodside’s operations as commissioner of DCF. Christensen became Woodside’s clinical director. Over more than a quarter century, she said, she hired staffers with degrees in social work or mental health counseling. She herself wore a suicide smock in solidarity with the children for whom that was a necessary safety precaution. The sleeveless, collarless garments are made of tough material that can’t easily be torn. She kept staff assigned to the same shifts to maintain consistency and familiarity with the young residents. A nurse who worked for Christensen at Woodside described it as a place where pediatricians and psychiatrists visited regularly; therapy plans were discussed with families and included the input of the children being held there. Each resident was assigned a team that included a youth counselor, and there were periodic meetings with a child’s DCF caseworker and court-appointed guardian. It wasn’t paradise, though. Christensen said Woodside had imperfections in its early years. Children who had committed truly violent crimes and been charged as adults were sent there because by law they could not be kept in adult prisons. Children stayed too long. “We didn’t make it with all the kids, I’m not going to tell you that,” she said. “But we were pretty darn good at what we did.” Christensen said she left Woodside not long after Simons, the former superintendent at the state prison in Newport, arrived in 2011. David Yacovone was the DCF commissioner at the time, and he selected Simons from what Christensen said was a pool of exactly two candidates. Simons had a military background and had worked at Ethan Allen Furniture before getting into corrections. Once in command, Simons brought in people with similar corrections backgrounds. The North Unit, once a place children enjoyed going if only for the use of their own toilet, was turned into cells for seclusion. “Staff became guards,” Christensen said. Johnson said children on the North Unit could go unseen by doctors or psychologists. They were denied the right to choose the food they ate. They were forced awake and to bed earlier than the other children. Girls were denied tampons, not permitted to shave their legs and only given appealing toiletries as rewards. Victims of sexual violence were strip-searched upon

entering Woodside, just as other new residents were. Former members of Woodside’s staff spoke to Seven Days about Simons and his operation of Woodside, but none agreed to be named for fear their current or future work opportunities would be hurt. “I don’t think there was a rhyme or reason to what happened,” one former youth counselor said. “It was just Jay’s way. His idea of safety.” “It wasn’t long before we had to take mandatory classes on how to restrain a child and were taught to use codes over

“Woodside policed itself,” the supervisor said. There is no doubt that questions of safety existed inside Woodside — for both the traumatized children and the staff working with them. Misconduct could go well beyond mere acting out to damaging property, potentially deadly self-harm, striking out at workers. The staff included committed people of conscience and dedication capable of effective and even loving work. “If you allowed them to be, the kids could be sponges for the positive things

We’ve all been all complicit. Not enough people, in communities and in government, care about these kids. We tell them and ourselves it’s their family’s fault. We do not fund remedies adequately. And the kids get chewed up as a result. A. J . R UBE N

the walkie-talkies,” a nurse who worked there recalled. “Later, riot equipment was brought in: helmets, body gear and shields.” “The people Jay hired were not there for the kids,” the nurse added. “They were there to get out of corrections while keeping their seniority with the state.” One former supervisor said staff who had been there for years were never asked for their input, and this supervisor asserted that Simons and his methods must have had the blessing of people higher up in DCF. Indeed, Schatz’s deputy, Karen Shea, personally signed off more than once on the practice of children being held in the North Unit for longer than seven straight days, according to the Disability Rights lawsuit. There was certainly no meaningful supervision from outsiders.

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you were giving to them,” the former supervisor said. “In all my time there, I didn’t encounter one child who was beyond help.” Yet those workers could do little to alter the prevailing atmosphere under Simons. They feared retaliation; they worried about their careers if they left the employ of the state. “What was the alternative?” the former youth counselor asked. Demoralized and marginalized, some staff members ultimately left; others soldiered on under a regime the former workers said was capable of harming children. After all, lawyers for the children would argue, the system for restraining children under Simons featured the infliction of pain. One expert would later testify he’d never seen anything like it

in a juvenile setting. Simons called the system “Dangerous Behavior Control Techniques.” He conducted multiday trainings on his technique, which involved holding children face down on the ground, their arms bent back behind and above them, legs bent at the knees, with feet set against their rear ends. Simons admitted that restraints were painful, but he created a manual for his training and used his own son to show how it was done. He said in a sworn affidavit he was an expert in human anatomy and that his trained staff were too gifted to, say, cause the hyperextension of children’s joints. He would tell others that the children who complained they were being choked during restraints weren’t in danger; their ability to talk was evidence they could breathe — which is not true. Christopher Bellonci, the Harvard psychiatrist, would give sworn affidavits and testimony about the treatment of children at Woodside. “I am concerned that there is a high risk of a child being killed in the course of one of these restraints, particularly if the child is overweight or has asthma, as additional factors,” Bellonci testified before one of the judges who heard cases alleging abuse at Woodside. “I believe that it’s a high risk. It’s the No. 1 cause of death in restraints. And it’s the reason in most restraint modalities you are trained never to apply weight to the back.” Children had the right to file grievances against staff members if denied necessities or subjected to physical harm. It was an empty exercise, according to the federal lawsuit, which cited numerous problems: Children were often denied the forms needed to file the complaints and warned that making the complaints would be deemed “negative behavior.” Children were retaliated against when they went ahead and filed the complaints anyway. Urgent calls for intervention could languish for months. One of the people who adjudicated the grievances was Simons himself. Vermont, like almost every other state, has difficulty financing mental health care for its people, especially its children and adolescents. There are too few inpatient beds across the state; as a consequence, children wind up marooned in hospital emergency departments poorly equipped to care for them. The UVM Health Network, the state’s largest health care provider, has struggled to offer inpatient psychiatric care for children. The number of nonprofit organizations capable of delivering services to children in their homes and communities — organizations that are, in effect, the privatized agents of the state — is insufficient to meet the need.

ROB DONNELLY

in the street. She said some of the children at Woodside were simply beyond the place’s ability to aid. “There are some youth that have been failed by the system so significantly that we don’t have time to help them recover,” she said. As for what Anne Donahue called the Medicaid funding “scam,” it worked for years before Medicaid officials called a halt to it in 2017. Their rationale was straightforward: The children at Woodside were not patients; the children were inmates.

‘It’s Like You Don’t Exist’

“We’ve all been complicit,” said A.J. Ruben, a lawyer formerly with Disability Rights Vermont. “Not enough people, in communities and in government, care about these kids. We tell them and ourselves it’s their family’s fault. We do not fund remedies adequately. And the kids get chewed up as a result.” At one point, DCF decided to apply for federal funding to bolster Woodside’s finances. It argued that Woodside could be a therapeutic facility where substantial treatment would take place. “A scam,” said Vermont Rep. Anne Donahue (R-Northfield), who has worked on mental health care issues for years. She conceded that the state had put money toward improving the care inside Woodside. It was a scam nonetheless, she said. “The driving force was to get Medicaid funds rather than the driving force being to improve quality of care,” she explained. By 2014, the person in charge of the quality of therapeutic care was Aron Steward. Steward has written that she was raised on a farm in Vermont and was herself the victim of childhood trauma. That experience, she wrote, had informed her choice of career and left her gifted in caring for kids. “I knew my path professionally, but personally it took me over ten years

to work on my own experiences and recover enough to truly serve others,” she wrote in an online profile for a wellness consulting outfit with which she is associated. “To this day, I continue to strive towards my recovery ... Every day is a new day. Every person deserves as many chances and as much support as they need to build the life they want and deserve.” However, Steward’s truthfulness about her professional credentials was the subject of an action brought by Vermont authorities. In January, an attorney with the Secretary of State’s Office of Professional Regulation issued a set of charges accusing Steward of having repeatedly misrepresented her training. While she has a doctorate in counseling/ school psychology, she falsely claimed other degrees and certificates, including in art therapy and clinical psychology, the state alleged. Those claims did not just appear on some résumé. Rather, the state alleged that Steward testified falsely about her training under oath in court cases determining the fates of children and their families, as well as in a criminal case. Johnson said Steward sold DCF superiors and others on the idea that the North Unit at Woodside would offer children yoga sessions, as well as art and music therapy. Johnson said Steward

called the North Unit a “low-stimulation environment,” what Johnson called “doublespeak” for solitary confinement. Johnson said that in all her time in the North Unit, the only “yoga” she’d seen was “the brutal restraints” and the only music she heard was “staff playing a radio in the hallway for certain kids who demonstrated good behavior.” “The closest thing to art therapy that happened back there were kids using their fingernails to chip away at the paint on the cinder block walls inside their cells,” she said. “Kids continued to be denied basic human rights like education, showers, sanitary living conditions, contact with peers, access to the outdoors, feminine hygiene products, basic freedom of movement.” In sworn testimony, Steward defended Woodside as a professional operation. She said children were only secluded in the North Unit if they were a threat to themselves or others. Some, she said, chose to go to the North Unit to “self-isolate.” She said some of the staff that came from corrections were favorites of the children. She said she never personally took part in restraining children. The screams of the children being restrained at Woodside, she said, were not distinctive. People being restrained, she said, always screamed, whatever the setting — in adult prisons,

Getting in to see the child inmates was often difficult. Records show that lawyers on occasion were prevented from meeting with them; experts sent to evaluate the children, or merely contact them by phone, were denied access or had their meetings delayed. Grace’s family often was limited to looking at and talking to her through the locked door of her cell in the North Unit. “We’d have to stay on the outside of the door and stand there and take turns stepping in front of the little window,” Josie, Grace’s mom, said. Lawyers for children at Woodside said the videos taken by Woodside’s own staff suggest why its leaders didn’t want parents or lawyers visiting: a boy who had been sexually victimized in an earlier placement by DCF held face down on his bunk with a riot shield as men cut off his clothing, leaving him alone and in his shorts for four days. A girl hurt by a worker who the girl said had punched her during a restraint. A girl who had been sexually molested by a relative having her pants cut off, exposing her genitalia for the men to see, and then left naked from the waist down for 48 hours. A boy complaining he could not breathe as a male worker drove his hand into his neck. Those videos were obtained by DCF’s internal investigators, who in 2018 produced a withering list of ways staff had violated policies. A sampling: After a child had lost consciousness during a suicide attempt, Steward, the clinical director, rejected the professional advice that the child be taken to the emergency room of the local hospital; the use of force was often unwarranted and the infliction of pain a violation of Vermont statutes; seclusion was used for punishment, and staff failed to adequately supervise the vulnerable children locked in their cells; residents’ THE LOSS OF GRACE

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The Loss of Grace « P.33

the founding of Woodside, stating that the placement of some children there was unconstitutional. And Johnson had once worked for DCF during Schatz’s early years as commissioner. Johnson wrote that she had been at Woodside once or twice a week for more than two years. She alleged, among other things, that she had seen how information and data about the workings of Woodside had been manipulated for outside observers, giving a false impression of Woodside’s performance. “As a former DCF investigator, it takes a lot to shock and dismay me. I am shocked and dismayed at Woodside on a regular basis,” she wrote to Schatz. “Moreover, the lack of accountability for staff who hurt residents and perpetuate a culture of silence in the face of resident maltreatment is deeply troubling.” Johnson said Schatz was not moved to act decisively.

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As for Simons, Johnson said she had no better luck with him. “He’s good at talking. He picks up on information quickly, and he figures out how to kind of integrate it into his repertoire for justifying stuff, making everything that he did sound normal and reasonable,” she said of Simons. “He testified in the legislature at times and would talk about the brain and the changes in the brains of kids who’ve been exposed to trauma. And so he could speak the language of being traumainformed, but in my opinion there was absolutely nothing about anything that he did that was trauma-informed.” Johnson did not shy from confronting Simons personally about the North Unit. “I would be like, ‘Jay, you see what’s happening back there. That’s not OK,’” she recalled. “And then he would figure out a way to sort of make me feel like he was going to address some aspect of what I said.” HILARY SWIFT

rooms were often stripped of bedding and belongings; written goals set for the children in the North Unit were not specific to their individual cases but rather rote and generalized language; Simons on at least one occasion had misrepresented the facts in denying a boy’s grievance. Critically, the investigators talked directly with the children. At least one did not hold back. “What’s consent when you have five guys holding you down?” that boy said of how staff got them to do what they wanted. Staff “pick at you until you blow” and “cover their bullshit,” he said. He added, “It’s like you don’t exist.” The boy said Simons had told him that he would always back the staff “no matter what” in any dispute over the treatment of residents. Presented with the findings of his own investigators, Schatz, the DCF commissioner, wrote a letter of response. He sought to place any troubles at Woodside in the larger context of Vermont’s inadequate resources for treating and protecting its children. The letter does not read as if it is addressing any kind of emergency. Woodside faced unique challenges, Schatz wrote; it was the only facility in Vermont that had to accept any child sent to it, and so it was exempt from some of the rules that applied to other facilities. He worried about the hardships his staff faced. As for the children locked alone and without clothes or schooling in the North Unit, Schatz said there would be no “corrective action” until the state decided the long-term future of Woodside itself. The lead investigator, Brenda Dawson, later testified that she’d never seen the work of her team disputed or disregarded so blatantly. “Ken Schatz had a choice,” one former DCF manager said. “He could believe the state’s own regulators, or he could believe Jay Simons. He chose not to listen to his regulators.” On October 31, 2018, Schatz met with those held in the North Unit to hear them out. They were as direct with him as they had been with the investigators: The North Unit was used for punishment, not treatment; the grievance process was a joke; the staff’s use of force was unnecessary. The North Unit should be shuttered, they told him. It wasn’t. Kerrie Johnson thought a personal appeal from her to Schatz might get results, so she wrote to him directly. He once led the office for which she now worked. He’d filed motions in court at

Josie Welch, Grace’s mom

DCF in 2017 created a Woodside stakeholders group that included Shea and Simons, members of the Attorney General’s Office and Johnson herself. Johnson said it resulted in “paper” improvements. Simons agreed not to decide grievances that involved claims against him. Shea’s sign-off would become required for children staying more than seven days in the North Unit. But Johnson said the dangerous conditions at Woodside endured virtually unchanged. Johnson did not let up. During 2018 and 2019, the Defender General’s Office filed court cases seeking immediate injunctions to stop the mistreatment of children at Woodside — in Rutland County, Orleans County, Washington County, Franklin County and Chittenden County. Schatz was named as a defendant; a copy of one formal complaint was hand-delivered to deputy attorney general Josh Diamond, a top lieutenant to T.J. Donovan. The judges who heard those cases included Mary Miles Teachout, Samuel Hoar, Helen Toor, Mary Morrissey and Thomas Devine. Johnson typically brought the cases in Family Court, and the secret nature of the proceedings make it difficult to determine how the judges regarded her claims of abuse. However, in one case brought in civil court, records show Judge Teachout had prepared an order demanding that Woodside end “the purposeful infliction of pain on children within its care.” The order went unsigned and unenforced when Woodside released the individual child on whose behalf Johnson had filed the complaint. The case was declared moot, and Johnson said Teachout rejected her appeal to go ahead and intervene nonetheless. Johnson said she believes the judges gave a reflexive, undue deference to DCF, a department they might naturally have regarded as engaged in hard, virtuous work with vulnerable families. She said the children’s accounts — the very same kinds of accounts of mistreatment that DCF and judges tended to credit when, say, parents were being investigated for neglect or abuse — were not trusted. She said DCF and the Attorney General’s Office fought to prevent the judges from seeing the videos of the children’s mistreatment. “We regularly litigated the admissibility of the videos, and that was hotly contested at every stage of the process,” said Marshall Pahl, Johnson’s boss at the Defender General’s Office. Johnson said the case before Teachout was not isolated and that

ROB DONNELLY

Without any kind of road map for that type of litigation and advocacy, there was a lot of trial and error, and I made a lot of mistakes.” Others think Johnson is a hero in a story with way too few of them. “All of these other people are looking at what was happening at Woodside and talking about how they might, for instance, need more resources,” said Paul Capcara, who would testify in court as one of Johnson’s expert witnesses. “And she was like, ‘No, this is fucking fundamentally not OK.’ People were ignoring her, and she would not stop standing up and saying that. They told her she was being too emotional. They went after her job. They were making it clear: If you keep doing this, it’s going to cost you your career.”

‘A Huge Heart’

She wasn’t going to murder anybody. She was killing herself. Be empathetic for that. It’s not a threat to you, and it’s not a threat to anybody else. PAUL C AP C AR A

DCF ensured that none of the cases was decided on the merits by releasing children from Woodside before a case went to trial so that the actions brought by the Defender General’s Office would be declared moot and accountability would be avoided. Johnson said she documented how Simons and Steward got children to withdraw their cases. In one instance, Johnson, on behalf of a damaged boy kept for months in the North Unit’s isolation cells, asked a judge to end the restraint policies that Simons had enforced. The boy later told his lawyers that Steward met with him at Woodside and told him that he had no chance at prevailing in court. He said she promised to give him more privileges if he told Johnson to dismiss his case. He said she also told him not to authorize his lawyer to gain access to his clinical notes at Woodside. Simons, the boy said, joined the pressure campaign, and the boy agreed to write a letter telling Johnson

to withdraw her filing. The boy later refused to talk to investigators working on the complaint of another child. He said Steward applauded his “good choice.” Of the judges, Johnson said: “I think it was just really hard for them to wrap their minds around that this could be real.” The failure of anyone to act, Johnson said, left her questioning her own instincts. “Is there something wrong with me? I’m seeing this as wrong and unjustified, and it’s actually justified,” she said she asked herself. “Am I the crazy one? Like, who do I call? Do I call 911? Do I call the FBI? Do I call the Department of Justice? Do I call fucking Ghostbusters?” In response to Johnson’s efforts, Schatz and his deputy, Karen Shea, sought to have Johnson investigated for possible ethical violations, writing a letter of complaint to the Vermont Professional Responsibility Board.

Schatz and Shea claimed that Johnson had encouraged children at Woodside to decline treatment; that she had pressed on with court cases against the will of the children; that she’d inappropriately contacted DCF staff during litigation; that her visits with children at Woodside left the children agitated and potentially a threat to the staff; that she was rude and demanding and overly emotional, as evidenced by her once crying after watching one of the videos of a child’s mistreatment. The complaint was dismissed, deemed unworthy of a formal investigation. Johnson is hard on herself all the same. “There is a part of me that wants to personalize it and take responsibility for failing to advocate effectively,” she said. “I pissed people off, often without meaning to, and I don’t think that helped. I was a brand-new lawyer, and I didn’t know what I was doing when I started trying to address the issues at Woodside.

Late at night on May 17, 2019, Grace Welch, now 16, was brought by law enforcement officers to Woodside. She was in shackles after having stolen a truck belonging to a friend of her father’s and leading state troopers on a chase. “I act out,” Grace had said of herself years earlier. “I get the cops called.” Now she had again. No one was injured in the episode. Taken into custody by the troopers, Grace talked of harming herself. Outside Woodside, Grace refused to enter willingly. She once had declared that she’d rather go to jail than Woodside. She tore off a slice of her shirt and tied it around her neck. Yet upon her admission, Grace was not screened for risk, as was required. Woodside’s clinical director, Steward, had moved on, and the job had not been filled. Grace was put directly into a North Unit cell with nothing more than a blanket and a mattress. Grace’s return to Woodside ended a roller-coaster year for her, one marked by personal growth, unfortunate repeats of damaging behavior and frightening stays in hospital emergency rooms. Her records make for heartbreaking reading. Grace had become a cherished volunteer at a rehabilitation facility for the elderly in Berlin. She read to one resident who long before had given up on books; another resident insisted that only Grace could help her with her makeup. Grace, whose weight gain had left her clinically obese, liked to exercise along with the THE LOSS OF GRACE

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The Loss of Grace « P.35 residents. When there was a fire at the facility, Grace was credited with keeping the residents safe and calm. “Grace is respectful, appropriate, shows kindness and empathy towards both staff and residents and both look forward to seeing her each day,” a supervisor wrote in a report. The supervisor said Grace had a “huge heart” and had expressed interest in one day becoming a licensed nursing assistant. If she found a way to get the training, the supervisor said of Grace, “a job will be waiting for her.” Grace, supported at home by both her parents and grandmother, had also been thriving in the one-on-one educational work she did every day with a teacher named Deb Hutchings. “Barn science” was one field of study, and she’d mastered practical things such as how to wrap a wounded horse’s leg and how to calculate the proper medication dosages based on a horse’s weight. She’d learned to ride and loved it. She was pursuing a certification so she could operate a tractor. She signed up for a forensic science class. Her attendance record was perfect. To be sure, there was lots of work to be done. “Grace can get into grumpy moods; I navigate these by setting clear limits,” Hutchings wrote in a summary of her engagement with Grace. “I’ve learned to speak ‘Grace.’ I redirect negative comments and do not engage in a power struggle.” Grace, among other things, was working on “how to be a better friend,” Hutchings noted. “Her confidence in all areas is growing,” Hutchings said. But for a child so used to hurt and setbacks, her blossoming came with worry. Grace worried; others worried for her. “Success has scared her,” Hutchings wrote, “and a part of her doesn’t think she’s entitled to this kind of success and happiness. And she doesn’t have the tools to deal with it. Therefore she’s selfsabotaging herself.” During 2018, Grace was taken by police to hospital emergency rooms half a dozen times. She’d never harmed anyone or committed significant crimes. Twice, she’d run off from school, once after a disagreement with the principal. “She wasn’t Bonnie and Clyde or anything,” said Paul Capcara, the nurse who had become familiar with Grace at the Brattleboro Retreat. “She wasn’t capable of that kind of thoughtful bad acts.” Another time, Grace had called 911 to say she was feeling suicidal. On one more occasion, state police brought her to the Central Vermont Medical Center after she’d tied a shoelace 36

Grace in 2019, age 16

around her neck, her face turning blue. She reported that she’d been raped by a local farmworker. Grace’s records do not make clear what, if anything, anyone did with the allegation and whether the state police investigated. The report, however, would become part of her formal record, and Woodside was aware of it when she arrived there in May 2019.

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Because no psychiatric beds were available, the hospital stays in 2018 were hellish for everyone: Grace, her family and the medical personnel. Emergency rooms are not designed for lengthy psychiatric stays; at Central Vermont Medical Center, Grace spent as long as three weeks in a room without windows, losing track of whether it was day or night. And she could spin out of control, becoming violent with the staff, damaging property, harming herself in creative and gravely serious ways. She tried to swallow batteries and screws from a smoke alarm she took apart. She ran into walls. She punched a female nurse in the mouth. Capcara was now the head of the inpatient psychiatric unit at CVMC. He said he’d spend 2018 struggling to get his staff to care for Grace in a way that would limit the drama and risk. The staff, he said, didn’t understand Grace or, perhaps not surprisingly, much like her. They were emergency workers, not psychiatrists. Her stays became battles of will that left everyone frustrated and exhausted. The episodes offered Capcara insights into Grace’s struggles in placements. “So she was just a normal kid in the sense that she wanted people to care about her. She wanted to be engaged. She wanted to be listened to. She had a story to tell,” he said. “She definitely was able to get out of control in a spectacular way when things were not going the way she wanted them to go.” “I spent the entire time trying to tell people to not put hands on her, to engage with her, talk with her, be present, be a human being, but don’t get engaged in this cycle of putting hands on her and restraining her and putting her in seclusion,” he said. “It’s a pathology. Please don’t treat her like you need to control her. She’s actually a fairly resourceful, capable, smart young woman. Engage her as a human being, and she will be fine. Treat her badly or try to manipulate her or control her, and it’s not going to be fine. I was like, ‘Trust me, she will prove to you that this will be more painful for you than it is going to be for her.’ And people just would not listen.” Capcara, like other professionals, didn’t buy the idea that Grace suffered from multiple personality disorder. But

he conceded there was something to Grace’s family’s insistence that she did. “When you suffer trauma at a young age, there’s parts of you, literally parts of your personality, that get sort of formed and walled off,” he said. “I think Grace had a little-girl part of her that wanted to be loved and cared for. And then I think there was another sort of protector part of her that when she felt like she was getting abused or taken advantage of, that part would come out and be very aggressive.” “But I don’t know what everybody was afraid of,” he went on. “She wasn’t going to murder anybody. She was killing herself. Be empathetic for that. It’s not a threat to you, and it’s not a threat to anybody else.”

The paramedic who arrived found Grace naked and dangerously cold, shivering uncontrollably, blood and urine on the floor. For Grace, then, Woodside was, according to Capcara, “the perfect storm,” a place “that basically uses coercion to get people to do what you want them to do.” It was a 24-7 trigger for Grace’s most willfully defiant behavior. When Capcara saw the videos of Grace during her 2019 stay at Woodside, he wept. And raged at the explanation by Jay Simons and his staff that it was all normal. “To have Jay stand there and say, ‘We treat these kids really well. I have proof on video,’” Capcara said, “and then you look at the video and you’re like, ‘Are you insane?’” After Grace entered the North Unit on May 17, 2019, sustained turmoil followed. On May 18, Grace packed plaster in her ears. On June 4, Grace damaged a fire exit sign and tried to grab a staffer’s keys. On June 9, Grace, furious that she was denied the use of tampons for safety reasons, tried to swallow the menstrual cup she was given as an alternative. Staff dislodged the cup but left Grace naked and alone in her cell. A 911 call was made when she started banging her head against a wall. The paramedic who arrived found Grace naked and dangerously cold, shivering uncontrollably, blood and urine on the floor.

ROB DONNELLY HILARY SWIFT

The paramedic, Ashley Williams, said staff on hand did not appear to know Grace’s history and told her Grace’s only diagnosis was PTSD. They told her Grace had chosen to be naked. They said she was manipulative. The emergency responder was shocked that Grace was being overseen only by male staffers when female workers were available. Williams was so alarmed that she wrote directly to Simons. He wrote back saying he had forwarded her concerns to internal investigators and inexplicably invited her to apply for work at Woodside. Staff reports about the incident applauded their “quick response” and “knowing how to utilize their skills” for keeping Grace safe. Woodside’s internal reports on the staff ’s interactions with Grace called her homicidal and noted that she had assaulted workers. She flooded her cell in the North Unit and defecated on the floor. The reports listed Grace’s repeated attempts to strangle herself and threats to swallow a screw. The reports were self-congratulatory, describing how staff “carefully” rolled Grace over during restraints and applied “only the force necessarily needed” in order “to save her.” For her part, Grace alleged that male staffers made sexual remarks to her and

Cathy Welch, Grace’s grandmother

that staffers provoked her so they could be justified in physically restraining her and sending her to isolation. Much of it was captured on videos taken by staff. Christopher Bellonci, the expert from Harvard who reviewed the videos involving Grace, said in a sworn affidavit that he knew of “no treatment facility that would forcibly remove a resident’s clothing while having male staff take videos of the juvenile.” What he saw was “antithetical to trauma-informed care” and in fact constituted “child

abuse by the very agency responsible for ensuring youth are protected from such traumatic practices.” Bellonci personally met with Grace to talk about her miserable standoff with staff. “G.W. has expressed she doesn’t feel safe at Woodside, that she is not receiving any therapy and that keeping her in a locked setting is the very trigger for her current behavioral presentation,” he wrote. “She has proven incredibly resourceful in finding ways to self-injure

all while under the supervision of Woodside staff who appear unable to break this cycle of suicidal behavior. I have no confidence that Woodside can prevent G.W.’s psychiatric decline and frankly am fearful that if something is not done soon to rectify the situation G.W is at risk of killing herself.” Once more, the continued tumult at Woodside was known to DCF commissioner Schatz. He was aware that in December 2018, the advocacy group Disability Rights Vermont had begun to prepare a potential lawsuit against Woodside. The organization shared a draft with Schatz to see if he would act and make the lawsuit unnecessary. Schatz told lawyers for Disability Rights that children who were suicidal would no longer be held at Woodside, though he would later reverse himself. He promised things would improve at Woodside, but the lawyers said they didn’t. Schatz delivered an almost upbeat report to the state legislature in April 2019. He noted that 71 children had spent time at Woodside in 2018 and said it had cost some $6.2 million to care for them. The report cited encouraging numbers about lengths of stays at Woodside and reductions in how many children were being kept there. He did concede that the place amounted to a “jail-like facility” and that some children could spend years there. Schatz disclosed nothing about the repeated court filings seeking an end to the mistreatment of children there. He did not mention a possible lawsuit against him and his department. He stayed silent about the videos his lawyers and those with attorney general T.J. Donovan’s office had fought so hard to keep from the public. Schatz’s proposal for the future care of the children being sent to Woodside was maintaining, as he put it, “the status quo.” On June 20, Kerrie Johnson filed a 16-page complaint in Chittenden Superior Court asking that a protective order be issued for Grace and that she be returned from Woodside to the custody of her grandmother. Johnson detailed the history of Grace’s most recent stay at Woodside. “There are clear violations of Grace’s right to dignity, privacy and humane conditions, and it is difficult to conceive of meaningful treatment when she has been treated this way by the people charged with caring for her,” Johnson wrote. “Given Grace’s responses to institutional settings, treatment to THE LOSS OF GRACE

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The Loss of Grace « P.37 address her mental health needs will not be successful unless it occurs in the community.” Grace was left at Woodside. Videos captured what happened next — three more violent episodes involving Grace naked and manhandled by men in biohazard suits utilizing a riot shield. Those videos would include the one of Grace, streaked with her own waste, inserting wires into her arm as the camera rolled. Late in that video, pain registers. “Ow, motherfucker,” she says. “Ow. Ow. Ow.” She is alone, her eyes alternately possessed of warmth and wide with terror. No one is coming to help. She is the child called “the crazy one” by classmates; the child with many diagnoses and medications; the child harmed by others and by herself; the child taken at age 11 by the State of Vermont for her own safety; a child, at that very moment, with just two years left to live. On July 9, Johnson appeared at a hearing before Superior Court judge Thomas Devine. She said she had reams of documentary evidence of what had happened to Grace at Woodside. She had subpoenaed the paramedic who rescued a naked and freezing Grace. She had testimonials from people who had been part of Grace’s success at home over the previous year. And she had the videos that she was prepared to show Devine. She’d never get the chance. Lawyers for the state suddenly decided they had no objection to Grace being released to her family, Johnson said. Grace could go home that day, they said. There was no need for the hearing. The videos would stay secret. Woodside would stay open.

‘A Laugh in the Face’ In June 2019, Disability Rights Vermont filed a suit against Ken Schatz and his department. The lawsuit drew on the work done by Kerrie Johnson and others at the Defender General’s Office, as well as the reports done by DCF’s investigators. The complaint ran to 42 pages and asked a judge to grant a temporary injunction to end what it said was the suffering of children at Woodside. In response, lawyers with attorney general T.J. Donovan’s office said the case involved “past, isolated and alleged experiences of eight juveniles.” And establishing the “mere possibility of irreparable harm” was not enough to warrant the judge’s intervention, the lawyers wrote. 38

Grandmother Cathy Welch holding the box containing Grace’s ashes

Karen Shea, who was now a former deputy commissioner of DCF, said in a sworn affidavit that efforts were already under way to improve things. DCF had hired an independent consultant to assess Woodside’s use of force techniques. It had reformed the process by which children could lodge complaints and be heard. It was working with local hospitals to improve access to higher levels of care. Simons in his own affidavit argued Woodside had to accept children sent there, no matter their needs. “Woodside receives individuals that no other facility wants to treat,” he said. “In this context, it is difficult to understand what [the] plaintiff expects from Woodside.” A month later, a hearing was held before Judge Crawford in federal court. Videos of the mistreatment were given to the judge. Experts were called, and they once more detailed the harm being done to children at Woodside and the role of its director, Jay Simons. “I think many injuries can’t be seen,” Bellonci, the expert who had met with Grace, testified of the videos he reviewed. “Psychological injuries and trauma is not something that is always going to be imminently apparent. It’s hard for me to imagine how what I was seeing, and the trauma that I felt just watching this experience, would not cause irreparable psychological harm.” In court, David McLean, a lawyer with the Attorney General’s Office, suggested that the videos could not be trusted; they might have been edited, he told the judge. That same lawyer, in defending

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the violent restraints of children, likened them to challenging yoga positions. Simons himself testified. He defended his use of force at the facility as safe and effective, and he said his staff had never had to take a child at Woodside for outside medical care as a result of an injury inflicted by him or his workers.

children who wound up there — and hadn’t been for his entire tenure. “So you’ve been at Woodside now for 11 years?” A.J. Ruben, then a lawyer for Disability Rights, asked Simons. “Eight years,” Simons responded. “Would you agree with me that at least for the last 18 months or so you

The treatment of this girl is entirely inappropriate and demonstrates in the space of a few minutes Woodside’s limited ability to care for a child who is experiencing symptoms of serious mental illness. J UD G E G EO F F R EY W. C R AWF O R D

He said the psychiatrists employed by Woodside to evaluate the children played a role in treatment decisions and had never raised concerns about the North Unit. The DCF investigators who had found his staff violating the children’s constitutional right to humane treatment had applied the wrong standard, he argued. The videos, he testified, were far from the full picture of life and care inside Woodside. “Looking at an institution through a few videos is like looking at a scene in a play through a keyhole,” Simons told the court. Yet under questioning, Simons acknowledged that Woodside was not a good place for treating the kinds of

have been aware that Woodside, the actual physical plant of Woodside, is unacceptable and inappropriate for the mental health treatment that kids receive there?” “I have been aware of that for eight years,” Simons said. “So for eight years you’ve been the director of the facility and the whole time you’ve known the facility is inappropriate for the treatment that’s being provided there for kids?” Ruben asked. “Yes,” Simons testified. Asked about Grace, Simons described her as a serious threat to herself and others and admitted that she had been held in the North Unit for 10 straight days in her latest stay. He indicated that

has long chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, and care for the state’s troubled youngsters has been a lifelong concern for him. In an interview, he acknowledged that he and others could and should have done more to dig into what was taking place at Woodside. Of the warnings, he said, “I don’t know if we recognized them or ignored them.” Aron Steward, the former clinical director under Simons, found a job with the UVM Health Network. Her online profile said she “specializes in reduction of aggression and violence, limiting maladaptive behaviors in patients and

permanently attached to her license and must complete coursework in ethical practices for psychologists. Kerrie Johnson and another lawyer from the Defender General’s Office, Kelly Green, appeared at the hearing and criticized both the outcome and the process that produced it. It took three years, they noted, for the Office of Professional Regulation to file charges against Steward. The board, they argued during the hearing’s public comment stage, had been denied vital material about the nature and extent of Steward’s false testimony and her role in the mistreat-

Asked if he felt badly for the children harmed at Woodside or regret that they had been failed, Schatz said, “All youth who were sent to Woodside had significant challenges. I wish the best for each and every one of those youth.” In a statement, Shea, his former deputy, said any “suggestion that I was aware of ‘harm’ being done to children is a gross mischaracterization.” “My goal was always to keep youth placed at Woodside safe from harm — many times from themselves — and that was a goal I took very seriously,” she wrote. “As someone who lost my only

ment of children at Woodside. Johnson said she’d never once been interviewed during the investigation. “The process seemed like it was really aimed at keeping information from the board,” Johnson said at the hearing. “And that makes me question what the point of the process is.” Neither Steward nor Simons would agree to be interviewed by Seven Days. Schatz declined to be interviewed and did not respond to a detailed set of questions. Late last month, he sent a statement saying he had unsuccessfully sought funding to make it possible for Woodside to provide adequate mental health care. He said staff were committed to doing what they could to care for the children but that “some of the practices at Woodside needed to be updated.” He claimed that the number of children sent to Woodside had declined during his tenure in charge of DCF.

sibling to death by suicide, I understand the devastation experienced by those left behind and worked with others to keep youth served by Woodside moving toward addressing the issues that brought them to us as well as the threat they posed to harm themselves and others. My work was always focused on helping them make it to another day so that they could grow and mature and, hopefully, find health, stability, love, and happiness.” David Yacovone, who as DCF commissioner appointed Simons, said he could not remember having done so or why he had chosen Simons. He would not say what, if anything, he had learned of the methods employed by Simons, if he’d heard complaints about them or what he had done in response. Told that it seemed improbable he could not remember

HILARY SWIFT

keeping her alive was no small accomplishment. But there were costs. “I think any time we can’t treat their problems that that’s exacerbating their condition,” he said. Just 18 days later, Crawford, having watched the videos, granted a preliminary injunction that required Woodside to immediately remedy its policies for restraining and isolating children. The record makes clear that he was appalled by the videos, especially the one of Grace naked and harming herself. “Horrific,” he called it. “The treatment of this girl is entirely inappropriate,” Crawford ruled, “and demonstrates in the space of a few minutes Woodside’s limited ability to care for a child who is experiencing symptoms of serious mental illness.” Soon enough, more than 30 years after Woodside opened and three years after Grace was first jailed there, the last child held in Woodside was relocated. In November 2020, it closed for good. No far-reaching inquiry into what went wrong at Woodside was ever ordered or done — not by Gov. Phil Scott, not by DCF or the Agency of Human Services, not by police or prosecutors. In a statement, Scott’s office said: “The Governor and administration fully understand that individual, tragic incidents took place at Woodside, and adequate, clear and direct communication up the chain of command was an issue which complicated our overall detection of, and response to, those incidents. The Governor does not believe that is an acceptable outcome and it remains something we are committed to addressing so it does not happen again.” Yet no one paid with their job. Schatz retired. Simons was awarded a new job within DCF, running the department’s office in Newport. He oversaw an office charged with assisting and protecting some of Vermont’s most vulnerable and at-risk children. Simons retired from work with the State of Vermont in August. Asked directly and repeatedly when Scott had first learned of the harm being done at Woodside, and why no one had been disciplined, demoted or fired, Scott’s office did not respond. Rep. Alice Emmons (D-Springfield), the longtime chair of the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions, heard testimony about the alarming conditions for children at Woodside. In an interview, she said she lacked direct oversight jurisdiction but had raised the concerns with colleagues on the Human Services Committee. “Everyone was aware; everyone understood the gravity of it,” she said. Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington)

Grace Welch’s family, from left: Gene (father), Gene (brother), Hope (sister), Josie (mother), Faith (sister), Gene (grandfather) and Cathy (grandmother)

trauma prevention and intervention.” In an interview, Eric Miller, general counsel for UVM Health Network, would not say what, if any, kind of review had been done of Steward’s work at Woodside before she was hired. He said she had provided “excellent care” at the hospital in Plattsburgh and that UVM was “really happy with her.” Asked about the accusations that were pending before the licensing board that Steward had misrepresented her credentials under oath, he said it wasn’t appropriate to comment. During an October 13 hearing, Steward formally admitted to repeatedly testifying untruthfully about her credentials in cases involving the treatment and detention of children at Woodside as part of an agreement with state regulators. Under the deal, approved by Vermont’s Board of Psychological Examiners, Steward will pay $1,500, have a reprimand

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The Loss of Grace « P.39 whom he appointed to one of DCF’s most sensitive positions in caring for children, Yacovone stood by his claim. “You can bait the hook as you please,” he said, “but I will not bite.” Former attorney general T.J. Donovan, whose office had defended Woodside and the people in charge of it, said he was obligated to represent state employees. He said he did not know the specifics of many of the allegations of wrongdoing and would not say what legal advice he’d contributed to defending DCF. Asked if he believed his obligation to defend state workers included those engaged in the mistreatment of children, he would not answer. Vermont’s current attorney general, Charity Clarke, who had served as chief of staff to Donovan, said through a spokesperson that she played no role in the defense of DCF. In December 2021, David J. Williams, a civil rights lawyer, filed suit in federal court on behalf of seven former residents of Woodside, including Grace. The named defendants included Schatz, his deputy Shea, Simons, Steward and 18 other employees at Woodside. Williams had gained access to the videos of Grace, her full medical and legal history, Woodside’s records, and internal communications among DCF officials. Outside counsel hired by Donovan’s office filed various motions to dismiss all or some aspects of the lawsuit. Senior management at DCF were immune from any claims of damages brought by the children who had spent time there, they argued. Senior officials had no duty to intervene to stop what was going on. Supervisors could not be held liable for the actions of subordinates. The U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment did not apply to children. Williams said he had approached the Attorney General’s Office before filing suit in an effort to settle the matter out of court. He said that on the eve of mediation, the Attorney General’s Office pulled out of the commitment. Williams said he believed the state’s strategy of delay was based on the possibility the plaintiffs would be dead or in jail soon enough. “We suspected, frankly, that it was going to be this game of attrition, that they could outlast our clients,” Williams said. “And in fact, that’s what happened with Grace.” Williams placed responsibility for the state’s legal strategy with Donovan and his deputy, Josh Diamond, whom Williams described as the lead attorney dealing with the failed effort to settle the lawsuit. “The state had two choices,” Williams argued. “They could accept responsibility and negotiate some kind of resolution 40

Kerrie Johnson

that would provide our clients with financial compensation and maybe even an apology. They chose full, scorchedearth litigation. T.J. Donovan and Josh Diamond ran that litigation strategy.” Diamond, like Donovan, maintained that the office was required to defend state employees, and he rejected Williams’ allegations as “beyond the pale.” He otherwise declined to answer questions about his role in defending Woodside. Of all the others who had reason to know what was going on at Woodside — the workers there, the judges — Williams said: “Any of them at any time could have simply called the cops. Children were being abused.” Donovan left office in June 2022. Gov. Scott installed one of his most trusted aides, Susanne Young, to serve as an interim attorney general. Within weeks, Young restarted mediation discussions, and in February the State of Vermont, conceding no wrongdoing, agreed to pay the child victims of Woodside $4.5 million. Each plaintiff got around $420,000. The state, in the end, included Grace’s estate in the settlement. The money has provided little peace or sense of justice for the Welch family. Grace, freshly traumatized, had emerged from her 2019 stay at Woodside and once more tried to navigate a way forward. She took up basketball and graduated from high school. But the pandemic derailed much of her constructive engagement with the world, including her work at the eldercare facility in Berlin. And her first romantic relationship with a man several years older than her sealed her fate. Grace had begged her grandmother to let the man stay with Grace in the basement of her home, her family said. Cathy was suspicious of the man but could not risk Grace taking off. Not long after, Grace was found dead of an overdose in that basement.

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Grace’s death shattered the tightknit Welch clan. Josie and Gene lost their firstborn. Grace’s three siblings — Faith, Hope and Little Gene — lost their complicated, loyal older sister. Cathy lost the granddaughter she’d helped raise as if she were her own child. Vermont lost a candidate for a career in nursing.

I wasn’t all there. But I tried. R AVE N H E ND R IX

Today, Cathy is incensed at what happened to Grace and regrets her decision to allow the young man into her house. “Nobody could have walked away from that,” she said of Grace’s stints in the care of the State of Vermont. “Not what she had been through. And I think that God said, ‘You, girl, have suffered enough from mankind. It’s time to come home.’” As for DCF, Cathy is close to speechless with fury. The payoff was no comfort but rather a fresh blow. “Four hundred thousand dollars is a laugh in the face,” she said. “Oh, here’s your money back for us destroying your kid.”

Cathy said everyone who played a role in Grace’s saga seems to have a nice new job or comfortable retirement. She said the money the family got doesn’t include a price paid with real consequences. “Grace withstood more than any kid should ever have to have withstood,” Cathy said. “They need to all be held accountable for it. All of them. Because right now, they all walked away scot-free.” Kerrie Johnson, like Cathy, feels there has been little consequential reckoning with what was done to the children of Woodside. “People haven’t been held accountable. Four and a half million dollars paid out by the state’s taxpayers and insurance carriers isn’t enough,” she said. “Top leaders losing their jobs, explicitly because of what happened at Woodside and other places like it, gets people’s attention. People losing their property to pay a judgment gets attention. Criminal prosecution gets attention. The reputational damage that comes from being named publicly as presiding over or defending Woodside gets attention. Also, getting the people who are in positions of power to publicly promise that what happened at Woodside cannot be repeated can create an ongoing level of accountability.” Johnson said Grace deserved “to be remembered for who she was, not what was done to her.” A girl who liked to look good, who liked cute clothes. A girl who loved the outdoors and who had a gift for working with the elderly. “The most important thing is that Grace loved her family,” Johnson said. “She would light up when she saw them. Anyone who saw them together could feel how much they cared for one another. Watching Grace skip across the street with her parents during an early December snowstorm after her release from Woodside in 2016 will remain one of the highlights of my career. Words cannot express how tragic it is that she did not have more time with those who loved her best.”

Epilogue Chris Winters, the recently appointed commissioner of the Department for Children and Families, said the “ghosts of Woodside” haunt the agency. Anger, regret, worry — all of it, Winters made clear in an interview, had shaped a commitment not to repeat the tragedy. As a result, in the years since Woodside was closed, the state has developed a plan to do better. The plan involves opening four treatment centers — two secure structures to provide stabilization and care for troubled children caught up in

HILARY SWIFT

Raven Hendrix with his girlfriend, Heaven Clogston, and their child, Ella Clogston, outside the home they share with Heaven’s parents

the criminal justice system; a less restrictive place for any child in crisis; and a residential psychiatric facility meant to serve children with acute mental health or developmental issues. Gov. Scott, in a statement, described his administration’s aims as “a comprehensive system of care which offers services at multiple levels, and which will rely on contracting with experts to develop and staff programs to best serve the complex needs of Vermont’s youth.” But much of the plan remains just that — a plan. For instance, the effort to open a secure treatment facility in Newbury, one that would be operated by a private organization, has run into opposition from the community and the state workers union, and its fate is tied up in litigation. Wherever the secure treatment center is ultimately located, Winters said, it won’t look or operate like Woodside. “We don’t want it to be punitive,” Winters said. “We don’t want it to be corrections.” Sears, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he was deeply frustrated by the slow pace of progress. Children in need of care are stuck in jail or emergency room beds. Social workers and others out in the field, he said, are having to improvise inadequate solutions. He said he intended to hold hearings in November to take stock. “Government is known for moving slow,” he said, “but not this slow.” Sears, though, said he was certain there would someday be a secure facility for the most challenging children. He sees no other choice.

Kerrie Johnson, whose long fight helped lead to the closing of Woodside, is troubled by that conclusion. She has a raft of issues with the state’s plan. She thinks any kind of locked facility for children creates an environment where abuse can occur. The plan, too, contemplates mixing children as young as 10 with those as old as 22, another bad idea. Johnson did agree with the plan’s aim to have any such secure facility be run by an outside group. DCF’s dual role staffing and ostensibly policing Woodside had been at the heart of the tragedy, she said. “We also need to look at who these kids are. How many of them first entered the system because DCF intervened in their birth family, necessarily or unnecessarily? I think many of the children of the North Unit would say they would have been better off if DCF had left them at home, because whatever they were facing there had nothing on what they ultimately came to experience at Woodside.” Successful models have demonstrated that community-based therapies for youths who commit crimes can work, she noted. “Personally, that is where I think the state should focus its resources,” she added. “Kids don’t need coercion and control, and the vast majority do not require treatment in a locked environment. They need at least one adult who gives a shit and is willing to go to the mat for them. I think most of us know this to be true on some level.” Since Woodside closed, DCF has sent some of the children who would have

wound up there to facilities out of state. Those programs have their own troubled track records, including a facility in New Hampshire, the Sununu Youth Services Center, made notorious by widespread allegations it inflicted physical, sexual and psychological harm on children. “The second chapter is as shameful as the first chapter, in my mind,” Rep. Barbara Rachelson (D-Burlington), a state legislator, said of the recent out-of-state placements. The book on Woodside, of course, is not closed. In April, Brooke Cole, 21, another plaintiff in the lawsuit against Woodside, died of an overdose. Like Grace Welch, she had been held in the North Unit, subjected to isolation, forced nudity and violent restraints. She survived Woodside, though, and gave birth to two boys in the years after her release. However, DCF took the boys from her after an earlier overdose. Brooke died two months after her children’s removal. “They took her kids away, and that’s the only thing she loved,” said Midge Gallagher, who had served as a courtappointed guardian for Brooke. “What did [she] have to live for?” Raven Hendrix is one of the surviving children of Woodside and another of the seven plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Taken into DCF’s custody as a child, Raven endured an unfathomable 45 different

placements — in treatment centers, group homes, with foster families as far away as Oregon — before he wound up at Woodside. Today, Raven lives with his girlfriend and 3-year-old daughter in a trailer in the hills outside Richford. He has, at age 22, no high school degree and no job. It is unclear how much of the financial settlement he got from the state is left. He declined any professional assistance in managing what for him was a fortune. On a visit in late summer, electricity to the trailer had been cut off for lack of payment. Raven, who spent weeks in isolation in the North Unit, suffers from profound PTSD. He can be shorttempered and suspicious. Inside his darkened trailer, he wore a hat that said “Fuck ’Em” pulled over his face, his eyes hidden by hair. Of the day he turned 18, and thereby aged out of Woodside, Raven said it was the “happiest day of my life.” But his life after has become its own uncertain jumble. His girlfriend was targeted by men with guns seeking some of the money he’d got in the lawsuit. He hates Richford, a town with pockets of drug dealing and crime. He feels judged by people who know of his brutal upbringing. He has little clue about what will become of him. And he beats himself up for what he thinks is his own role in his circumstances. “I was a bad kid,” he insists. “I wasn’t all there. But I tried.” Johnson represented Raven, as well, and she both fears for him and mourns what he and the other children of Woodside endured. “The seven Woodside plaintiffs deserved better. The hundreds of other kids who suffered in the same way as the plaintiffs, but weren’t included in the lawsuit, deserved better,” Johnson said. “Every kid who could have or might still wind up in a place like that deserves better. I hope we have learned our lesson, at least for now.” ➆ Journalist Joe Sexton spent years as a reporter and senior editor at both the New York Times and ProPublica. He lives in Vermont with his family. Help us fund in-depth stories like this one by becoming a Seven Days Super Reader. Learn more at sevendaysvt.com/super-reader.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

JAMES BUCK

food+drink FIRST

BITE

Paneer tikka and garlic naan

New Naan on the Block Aromas of India cooks up vegetarian comfort food in Williston BY R AC H E L S TE AR NS

arita Devi’s new restaurant, Aromas of India, draws inspiration from North Indian dhabas — roadside stands that offer affordable comfort food to travelers. Time will tell if the Williston spot, which opened in July, becomes a stopping point for cars zipping by on Interstate 89, but it’s already making locals happy as a one-of-a-kind restaurant in a land of big-box stores and their eatery equivalents. Aromas of India is located off Route 2, a stone’s throw from Maple Tree Place. It marks a big step for Devi, who started cooking for customers from her South Burlington home and, more recently, through regular pop-ups at Richmond Community Kitchen under the name Sarita’s Kitchen.

Devi quickly built a devoted clientele for her takeout Indian vegetarian menu, all made from scratch, including the breads and chutneys. Guests at her new restaurant will find expanded offerings, such as generously stuffed samosas enveloped in flaky pastry; a wide array of hearty paneer dishes; and a rich dessert called carrot halwa, made with milk, dry fruit and cardamom. Devi’s husband, Yogi Singh, who helps at the restaurant when his information technology job allows, said Aromas of India has been busy from the start. The couple moved to the United States from northern India in 2010 and lived in Minnesota before following Singh’s job to Vermont, now as a family of four. In her new home, Devi invited acquain-

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tances over for dinner as a way to develop friendships and forge community. Impressed, her guests encouraged her to start a business and told their friends where to find her delicious, authentic Indian food. “Sarita truly takes pride in her cooking,” said close family friend Riddhi Patel over a snack of fritters called pakoras and a cup of spicy-sweet gingery masala chai at the restaurant. “It gives her that sense of purpose, that her cooking is bringing people together.” An interior designer, Patel has been involved with Aromas of India since the beginning, helping to plan and design it as the community gathering space that Devi and Singh envisioned. According to Patel, they considered a fast-casual model without

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servers but changed course when they realized they couldn’t name a local sit-down Indian place that met their expectations for great food, ambience and service. A step inside makes the gray strip-mall exterior of the building feel miles away. Brightly colored, intricately decorated wallpaper portrays traditional Indian figures gathering, dancing and playing music. Houseplants and shelves of artifacts add whimsy, as does the turquoise-painted tikistyle bar that serves as the room’s centerpiece. Tasseled, multicolored umbrellas from India add flair. The festive atmosphere provided the perfect setting for a late lunch when my NEW NAAN ON THE BLOCK

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ST ORY & PHOTOS B Y MELISSA PASAN E N

Casa Real to Bring Mexican Menu to Colchester A new Mexican restaurant called CASA

REAL will open by the end of November

at 85 South Park Drive in Colchester, according to co-owner EDUARDO FUENTES. The 150-seat restaurant space has been empty since June 2018, when Junior’s Italian closed. Fuentes is new to Vermont but not to the restaurant business, he said while Eduardo Fuentes taking a break in Casa Real from renovation work. The 30-year-old native of Guadalajara, Mexico, came to the United States when he was 15 and worked as a dishwasher in Louisiana. He now owns a small restaurant called La Casita Mexican Restaurant in Berlin, N.H., and will co-own Casa Real with RICARDO

GUZMAN, who also has a restaurant in

Maine. The new restaurant’s menu will resemble that of La Casita and feature “a little bit of everything,” including seafood dishes and specialties such as quesabirria tacos, Fuentes said. The restaurateur said he sees an opportunity for authentic Mexican food in the area: “I already checked out the competition.” Fuentes also owns a construction company and has done his own renovations to the space, included tiling, painting and replacing most of the kitchen equipment. Learn more at Casa Real Mexican Restaurant on Facebook.

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Winooski Café to Relaunch as Specs Under New Ownership EMMA ROSE of ROSIE’S CONFECTIONS has

sold her Winooski café to SAM NELIS, a longtime Vermont beverage professional. The café and chocolate shop at 7 West Canal Street will close on October 31 and reopen as SPECS after a short break. Current café manager KYLE PALMER will stay Rose of on under the new Emma Rosie's Confections ownership. Rose said running the café while also crafting her ethically sourced chocolates was too much to manage. She will continue to produce the fresh, Europeanstyle chocolates, some of which contain CBD, in her St. Albans production kitchen. They can be purchased directly from the Rosie’s Confections website and at some retail stores. Rose also produces chocolates containing THC at X-Tract Vermont, a

licensed artisan cannabis production facility in St. Albans that she and her family own. Those chocolates can be sold only through licensed dispensaries. Currently beverage director at BARR HILL in Montpelier, Nelis was opening bar manager for WATERWORKS FOOD +

DRINK in Winooski.

He confirmed by text that he will take ownership of the café and the lease for the neighboring storefront soon to be vacated by Catland Vintage, which closed the weekend of October 20. Nelis said he plans to expand into that space with new offerings, but his initial focus will be on the existing café business. The name Specs, he explained, is short for “specifications,” the industry term for the details of, or recipe for, a drink. ➆

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sister and I stopped in on a recent Saturday. We were in a heightened mood, buzzing with excitement for our afternoon plans: seeing Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour at the Majestic 10. I asked Singh, who was working the front of house, for advice on navigating the extensive menu, as I had on my first visit. “Always,” he replied graciously. For our entrées, we settled on rajma curry ($10.99), a kidney bean dish that is one of Singh’s favorites, and aloo gobi ($12.99), a potato and cauliflower combination I recognized from other Indian restaurants. To start the meal, we gambled on the papri chaat appetizer ($6.99), which was new to us. The menu description mysteriously said just “chickpea, potato, and papri.” (The online menu, available by QR code from the paper menu, explains that it’s a popular north Indian street food that also includes yogurt and chutneys.) Our bet paid off with a wealth of flavors and textures, delivered by a base of perfectly cooked chickpeas and potatoes topped with yogurt, red onion, herbs, and fried noodles called sev that look like sprinkles. A generous dusting of red chile powder brought heat that nicely countered the sweetness of the tamarind sauce drizzle. The papri turned out to be airy crisps to scoop it all up. I had to cut myself off to save room for the curries, which arrived in shiny metal bowls and — depending on the selections — run the gamut of fall foliage colors: deep reds and browns, rich yellow, and earthy orange. I’m a big fan of beans, so the rajma hit the spot with its thick, heavily spiced tomato sauce and tender legumes. The aloo gobi provided textural contrast with its chunky potatoes, cauliflower and onion. Both were intensely flavorful and so filling I didn’t need dinner that night. Devi tailors the spice level of each dish to individual preference, but if, like me, you dine with people whose capsaicin tolerance exceeds your own, a side order of soft, tender naan ($1.99 to $4.99) can help. It comes in nine varieties, including cheese, butter and chile garlic. (Be advised: The last variety is delicious but does not subdue spiciness.) Singh also suggested a cooling side order of the yogurt-based condiment called raita ($2.99) or a bright, creamy mango lassi ($3.99). Over two visits, I tried a representative sampling of four types of main course: paneer, bean, dal and vegetable, each accompanied by basmati rice ($10.99 to $14.49). For the uninitiated, dal is made from lentils, and paneer is a soft Indian cheese that, when served cubed in sauce, is reminiscent of tofu. It subs for chicken in dishes such as paneer tikka masala and butter paneer masala, as Aromas of India is fully meatless. 44

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New Naan on the Block « P.42

Samosas, bhindi masala and garlic naan

SARITA TRULY

TAKES PRIDE IN HER COOKING. R ID D H I PATE L

Samosas and mixed pakora

Devi and Singh are vegetarian themselves, a common religious and lifestyle choice in India. “She is 200 percent vegetarian, and I am maybe 101 percent,” Singh joked. He occasionally eats eggs, which are widely categorized with meat in India. In Singh’s view, the lentils, beans, milk and cheese on the menu provide ample protein, but he said some people order takeout and add their own meat at home. Devi has no plans to add meat to the menu, but wine and beer will soon be available.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Word has spread quickly about Vermont’s newest Indian restaurant. While my sister and I sang along with other Swifties in the multiplex down the street, state Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden-Southeast) shared a meal with New York-based Indian deputy consul general Varun Jeph, I learned later from Singh. The consulate had held an event to provide passport and visa services in Essex Junction that day. Reached by email afterward, Ram Hinsdale, whose father emigrated from India, said she heard Hindi, Urdu and Bengali at

Sarita Devi and Yogi Singh

tables around the restaurant. That is a sure sign that Aromas is drawing interest from Vermont’s diverse Indian communities. “We ordered comfort foods like matar paneer, bhindi masala (okra) and potato paratha,” Ram Hinsdale wrote, noting that she plans to return with a group of young Indian moms. “I can’t tell you how much that felt like a taste of home.” ➆

INFO Aromas of India, 202 Cornerstone Dr., Williston, 876-7809, aromasofindiavt.com

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Put on your patty pants and bite into Seven Days Burger Week! n ov e m b e r 3 - 1 2 Participating restaurants are serving up burger specials that you’ll really flip for. Think breakfast burgers, triple-deckers, veggie burgers and, of course, good old-fashioned beef patties. The biggest burger fanatics will win epic prizes throughout the week. And remember — calories don’t count during Burger Week!

it’s not too late to ketchup. c’mon, get on the list! burgerweek@sevendaysvt.com

3 Squares Café Agave Alpine Hall Archie’s Grill Backyard Bistro Bessery’s Butcher Shoppe & Delicatessen The Blue Donkey Burlington Beer Butter Bar & Kitchen Café Provence Copper at Dorset The Daily Planet Fire & Ice Restaurant Grazers Halvorsen’s Headwaters Restaurant & Pub Hinesburgh Public House Jules on the Green Kraemer & Kin

Maple City Diner Mule Bar Nectar’s Our House Bistro Park Squeeze Railroad & Main Rí Rá Irish Pub & Whiskey Room Shakedown Street (Stowe Cider) Shelburne Tap House skinny pancake The Tavern at The Essex Tourterelle Two Brothers Tavern Vermont Pub & Brewery Village Tavern Wayside Restaurant Woodstock Inn & Resort Worthy Burger

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Shave ice

Shoyu chicken ramen

GLOBAL EATS

Hot and Cold Onsen Ramen in Essex Junction reopens with noodle soups and shave ice

Neil and Perry Farr

S T O RY & P H O T O S BY COL L EE N GOODH UE

With the arrival of fall’s cooler temperatures, I’ve found myself yearning for bowls of hot soup. Just in time, Onsen Ramen has reopened. The Essex Junction ramen spot opened last December but closed for the summer due to staffing shortages. It reopened on October 18. Married co-owners Perry and Neil Farr, who also own the Scale poke bar in Williston, have decided that, going forward, Onsen will be open from fall through spring, for what I like to call “the cozy seasons.” When Perry was growing up, ramen was her comfort food during Connecticut winters. She has fond memories of seeing the windows fog up with steam wafting from bowls of ramen on cold nights When the Farrs first tested ramen noodles at the Scale in 2019, the fogged-up windows on busy nights were a sign of success. They soon decided that ramen warranted its own location. On my most recent visit to Onsen, I ordered the shoyu chicken ramen ($18). When it arrived, I instinctively clasped the bowl with both hands, drawing it closer to me and taking in its warmth and comforting aroma. The soup is the definition of cozy, with tender shredded dark and white chicken meat, crisp nuggets of corn, and a boiled egg so soft that even this nonexpert could slice it with her chopsticks. The noodles are sourced fresh from Hawaii. The broth, infused with the Japanese soy sauce called shoyu, is deeply flavored and restorative. Neil had previously shown me a photo on his phone of a side-by-side comparison of two chicken broths he’d made. When building the menu, the Farrs concluded that local free-range chicken from Adams Turkey Farm in Westford really made a difference. Ramen can be deceiving in its apparent simplicity, so quality ingredients are critical. “There’s nothing to hide behind,” Perry said.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Onsen offers three other ramen options. The shio and miso come with pork belly, egg and wakame in chicken or miso broths, respectively. Spicy miso ramen features roasted pork, mushrooms, corn and egg. All can be made vegan and gluten-free. Beyond ramen, Onsen serves the refreshing, light icy dessert known in Japan as kakigori and in Hawaii as shave ice. My server placed a block of ice in a machine that quickly shaved it into a fluffy pile; she then formed this into a ball. To top the ice, Onsen offers more than 50 syrups, from chocolate to fruit punch, and toppings such as mochi ice cream and adzuki bean. A small is $5 and a regular $7, with three syrups included. For my first taste, Perry recommended “the most Hawaiian” combination: mango and pineapple syrups, condensed milk ($1), and li hing mui powder (50 cents) on top. Li hing mui is a plum pickled with a variety of spices, dried, then ground into a powder. Perry said to expect a salty-sour flavor, but I thought it brought a grounding earthiness. The condensed milk created a creamy texture and flavor reminiscent of ice cream. It was like a snowball had crashed into a tropical island. Perry said one family took a copy of the kakigori menu home so that they could methodically go through the list and try every flavor and topping. Sounds like a great idea to me. ➆

INFO

Onsen Ramen, 137 Pearl St., #3, Essex Junction, 662-4372, onsenramen.com

Lia Washburn making shave ice

Neil Farr making ramen

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culture

BUSINESS

Shiloh and Heather Sefcik at Inkwell Emporium

Eek-Commerce A Burlington boutique offers witchcraft supplies B Y M ARY A NN L I CKTE IG • maryann@sevendaysvt.com

hey can’t set you up with Halloween candy, but if you’re after a cauldron, a hex, a spell or a few voodoo dolls, Heather and Shiloh Sefcik have you covered. The married couple own the Inkwell Emporium, a Burlington witchcraft retailer and tattoo parlor. Heather runs the retail shop. Shiloh tattoos in back. He specializes in esoteric designs and does a lot of neo-Gothic black work, “witchy stuff … like weird, pagan, occult stuff,” he said. The two halves of the business, he noted, dovetail nicely. “We had a guy the other day who came in, and he bought a copy of the Necronomicon and divination tools specifically to commune with eldritch beings. And then we did this big eldritch sigil [tattoo] on his back.” The original Necronomicon, a book of knowledge said to drive readers mad, appears in the fiction of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. Though it didn’t exist, subsequent authors have produced books with 48

the same title. Eldritch beings are strange different people, she said. To her, it’s or unnatural entities, and a sigil is a symbol “anyone who just practices the metaphysibelieved to have magical power. cal in any way … You don’t have to be an For the uninitiated, the Sefciks’ occultist or do black magic or anything (pronounced see-viks) world requires some like that,” she said. “Some people just are explanation. Even they call it weird. herbalists.” “Oh, it’s definitely weird,” Shiloh said. In the Main Street shop next to Memo“I mean, I grew up around it, rial Auditorium, a taxidermy and it’s — you just don’t get goat head hangs on the wall used to it.” opposite the door. Little His mother’s Czech, coffin-shaped display boxes Native American and Celtic and skeleton decorations are roots intertwined to produce tucked among the merchana roster of traditions that dise. But many of the products dictated appeasing spirits, not look as if they could be found S H IL O H S E F C IK touching certain objects on in a gift shop or spa: books, certain days and dodging the “white lady,” herbs, incense, perfume, scented candles a ghost that roamed their West Newbury in antique teacups, and teas to promote property. His mother, aunts and grand- sleeping, healing and concentration. Even mother didn’t call themselves witches, he the spell jars aren’t evil-spell jars. They’re said. “They were just like, ‘Oh, you leave designed to bring about love, happiness, this out on this stump, and whatever takes abundance, protection and good health, children doesn’t take children anymore.’” the couple said. Heather considers herself a witch, Heather makes those jars, along with a term that means different things to the candles, smudge sticks and hexes.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

OH, IT’S DEFINITELY WEIRD.

Unlike their gift shop counterparts, each of these items carries intent, she said. Her craft nights are tied to phases of the moon. Inside each spell jar are attractively layered “objects of intent” selected to manifest a specific outcome. They may include bark, flowers, leaves, salt, seashells, chains and broken glass. Sealed with colorful wax, topped with crystals and adorned with a charm, each spell jar comes with an incantation and a recommendation for periodic recharging via the energy of the full moon. Heather designs the candles to produce similar results — peace, motivation, joy, love, purification and protection. Hexes have less cheery functions. Nightmare and Illness have sold out, but Exile and Despair are currently in stock. Made by Heather’s business, Inky Cap Coven, each “contains a formulated blend of herbs and spell components aimed towards their particular intent,” the online product description says. “There are small crystals inside as well, which excel at different things such as nausea, frailty, and chaos.” Unlike curses, which last forever — or until broken — the description continues, hexes are temporary and produce small hindrances or annoyances. Users can add a “taglock” to increase efficiency. “This can be anything associated with the target: DNA such as hair, nails, or blood, a photo of the person, their signature, something that belongs to them, or even just writing their name on a piece of paper if you have nothing else.” Add the taglock to the hex bag, meditate, focus intent on the target, and then place the hex near that person. “Be careful how you use this kind of magick,” the site says. “As with all Inky Cap products, the creator is not responsible for the effects this product may or may not have.” Heather, who uses the name Hade professionally, started Crypt, a Goth dance night at Bent Nails Bistro in Montpelier where she deejays as Ghost <3 (Ghost Heart). She came to witchcraft naturally, she said. A solitary child who played alone, she was drawn to nature and the energy she felt in the woods and from the moon. She got a bachelor’s degree in fine arts at Burlington College and worked as a photographer, practicing witchcraft privately, until she was laid off from her day job during the pandemic. Then she started Inky Cap Coven, listed her spell jars on Etsy and began selling her wares at events, such as the Salem Night Faire and Haunted Happenings in Salem, Mass., and Deadwick’s Ethereal Faire in Portsmouth, N.H.

PRESENTS

At that point, Shiloh worked for Event Horizon Custom Tattooing, which occupied half of the first floor of a house at 236 Main Street. Last fall, when owner Brant Newton announced plans to close the Burlington shop and open a new business in St. Albans, Shiloh took over the lease. He took out the fluorescent lights and replaced the drop-panel ceiling with a coffered one. The purple-and-lime-green walls are now Cottage White with trims and accents in Dark Kettle Black and Raven Gray. The tattoo room walls are papered with pages of books, including Edgar Allan Poe’s poems and short stories.

bridesmaid who had failed to show up for the wedding. A soccer dad came in asking for a curse to put on the man he believed was having an affair with his wife. Shiloh persuaded him to consult tarot cards instead, which, Shiloh said, revealed the woman was not having an affair. “You just need to talk to her,” Shiloh advised the customer. He created a custom spell for a woman who wanted to head off criticism from her boss during her presentation the following day. It involved two ritual candles embedded with sage to provide protection and clear negative energy, burdock to add

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Conjoined skulls at Inkwell Emporium in Burlington

McKenna McNall, a medical assistant who does not practice witchcraft but does get spooky tattoos, stops by Inkwell Emporium several times a month. On a recent Friday the 13th, she popped in during her lunch break. “It’s just such a great place to come,” she said. “You feel so comfortable here.” Pagans, witches, occultists and Goths are the store’s primary clientele, Heather said, but all sorts of people come through the door. Honeymooners en route to Salem detoured to Burlington after they found the store online. Sorority girls and soccer dads come in, too. “And it really weirds me out sometimes,” Shiloh said. “You don’t want to judge, but you’re just like, You’re so normal. Like, you’re just a chill, regular person. I mean, you’re welcome, obviously, but I just didn’t expect you.” Heather recalled a woman and her bridesmaids who bought hexes to exile a

grounding, and peppermint for “a little pizzazz,” Shiloh said. “She smells that, she’s gonna feel good right off the bat.” He instructed the nervous presenter to recite the incantation he gave her, burn or bury it, burn the candles down to nubbins, put the nubs in a spell satchel, and take it to work. Her boss didn’t show up for work that day, and her presentation went well. The Sefciks witnessed one of the most striking results of their work when Heather sold an abundance spell jar to a woman, Shiloh said. “And then, like five minutes later, she came running back and was like, ‘Dude, I literally just found $100.’ And I was like, ‘What?!’” He was floored. “And Heather’s just standing there, like, ‘Yeah, it’s what they do.’” ➆

INFO Learn more at theinkwellemporium.com.

Thursday - Sunday November 9th - 12th November 16th - 19th

Black Box Theater - Main Street Landing - Burlington

TICKETS & INFO

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CEMETERIES

Susanna Jaynes’ 1776 gravestone

Grave Concerns

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

What lies beneath the cryptic symbology of old New England tombstones BY K E N P IC AR D • ken@sevendaysvt.com

Constant Barney Jr.’s 1792 gravestone in Arlington

COURTESY OF AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY

pend some time poking around old Vermont churchyards and cemeteries — such as those in Arlington, Bennington, Chester, Dorset, Rockingham and Westminster — and you might spot some odd, eerie or downright bizarre imagery etched into the centuries-old gravestones. Amid the names of the deceased and their dates of birth and death, sometimes you’ll also see geometric patterns that appear as though the stonecutter drew them with a protractor: spirals, whorls, daisy wheels and hexafoils. Other gravestones bear the carvings of hourglasses, coffins within coffins, skulls sprouting wings, and disembodied heads that resemble cartoon characters or bugeyed extraterrestrials. Such hieroglyphic-like etchings, which to us seem merely decorative, actually have their roots in Puritan culture, and their meanings would have been instantly understood by New Englanders 300 to 400 years ago. In fact, as Jen Bartlau of the Cambridge Historical Society explained, many of these symbols were once so common that they appeared in primers to teach children their ABCs, with their presence on cemetery stones serving a similar instructional role. “For about 150 years, this is what you saw on tombstones: a final warning or lesson from the deceased,” said Bartlau, 56, who gives presentations at libraries and historical societies about Puritan-era grave symbology. Memento mori, a common Latin phrase etched into many old gravestones, “doesn’t mean ‘Remember me,’” she added. “It means, ‘Remember: You, too, shall die.’” Bartlau is neither a professional historian nor an expert on Puritan theology. But for more than three decades, she worked as a genealogist, often conducting her research the old-fashioned way: by perusing the headstones of old New England cemeteries. In the past few years, she became curious about the meanings behind many of the symbols she encountered, then sought to understand their historical context. Some have personal significance to her, as they appear on her ancestors’ gravestones. Those whorls, spirals, four-armed crosses, and circles with dots, mesh or webbing? They are what Bartlau calls “apotropaic witch marks” — symbols, markings or “demon traps” that the Puritans believed would ward off evil spirits. Although the Puritans considered it sinful to practice magic, she said, they hedged their bets, if you will, by using counter-magic to protect themselves and their loved ones. Like the hex charms that the Pennsylvania Dutch hung over barn doors, counter-magic symbols were commonly etched into walls, buried beneath floorboards and carved near wells

COURTESY OF JEN BARTLAU

culture

to keep evil spirits from passing through open passageways. For the same reason, these symbols, which were engraved on New England gravestones from the 1600s to 1800s, were believed to provide similar defenses for the dead. “If you think about it, a grave is an opening between heaven and hell,” Bartlau said. “So it would protect your loved one’s soul from being attacked by evil.” Why were early New Englanders so obsessed with these symbols? “The Puritans had this idea that salvation was no guarantee,” Bartlau continued. “You could go through your whole life and do good works. But if you slipped up somewhere, that might be the one thing that would keep you out of heaven.” Bartlau has a photo of the gravestone of Susanna Jaynes, an 18th-century woman who was interred on Old Burial Hill in Marblehead, Mass., one of the oldest cemeteries in the country. “It’s a very busy stone,” she said, “with tons of symbolism.” On it, death appears as a skeleton with a crown of laurels and holding a scythe. There’s the moon and sun, cherubs and vampire bats, the latter of which were symbols of hell. There’s also an hourglass, which represents that time has run out, and an Ouroboros, or serpent eating its own tail, a symbol of eternity. Other common symbols of mortality included wheat, which represented a life being cut down; fallen leaves, which portrayed the cycle of life; and a candle being snuffed out. “The Puritans would recognize these symbols immediately,” Bartlau said. Over time, some of these symbols’ meanings evolved. In earlier years, skulls might have personified death, but later they came to represent the deceased’s soul taking flight toward heaven. Disembodied skulls sprouting wings are known as “soul effigies,” “death heads” or “winged faces.” In fact, when I met Bartlau, she bore a henna tattoo of one on her forearms; another death head decal decorates her laptop. By the 1800s, Bartlau said, New Englanders’ fear and uncertainty about unrealized salvation gave way to more hopeful attitudes about the afterlife, which was reflected in a more optimistic symbology of angels and ascension. Not all such symbols were practical, such as demon traps, or metaphorical, like the hourglass or skeleton wielding a scythe. Others were representations of the deceased themselves, such as one gravestone that features a coffin within a coffin. This carving indicates that the grave belongs to a woman who died during childbirth with her baby still in her womb. Bartlau’s interest in cemeteries and

COURTESY OF AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY

Eliab Burk’s 1804 gravestone in Westminster

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genealogy began at age 12, when her she pointed out, some of the stonecutpaternal grandmother gave her the fami- ters’ engravings are rudimentary, even ly’s pedigree chart, which dates her fami- hilarious. There’s one Robert Crumb-like ly’s presence in Vermont creation, on an Arlingto 1783. As a child, she ton gravestone from often joined her mother 1792, that has bug eyes, a and grandmother when crooked nose, a winged they regularly tended bow tie and stick-figure their family’s burial arms. Another, in a plot in Woodstock, a Hartford, Conn., crypt, practice Bartlau has is supposed to resemble continued to this day. a dragon but looks Bartlau is descended more like a kinderJ E N B ARTL AU from Pilgrims, includgartner’s drawing on a ing Mary Estey, who was refrigerator. accused of witchcraft during the Salem Bartlau has also found soul effigies witch trials, then hanged, as was her that look like Charlie Brown and the sister Rebecca Nurse before her, in 1692. Cookie Monster, as well as one whose Despite her family’s dark past, Bart- nose bears a striking resemblance to a lau maintains a lighthearted scrotum. approach to her study of As she put it, “Death is death and the Puriheavy … but sometimes tan symbology that it’s OK to laugh in its surrounds it. As presence.” ➆

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culture

COURTESY OF DAVID CAWLEY

a video about that. When I look at my list of videos, I can remember where I was at different stages of my life during each one. I think of the “Stuck in Vermont” video series like short documentaries. I am a big fan of feature-length documentaries, like Stories We Tell and Grey Gardens, which help us understand the human condition in very intimate ways. This episode includes a lot of footage from over the years. For most of my videos, I film a few hours of footage from one session. This video had about six hours of footage — filmed over the span of 25 years — and a lifetime of photos that needed to be woven into a cohesive story. I was overwhelmed by 600 clips, and my first cut was two hours long. Since the invention of iPhones, I have started to document lots of everyday moments with my mom. And I tried to include a mixture of sweet, salty and Eva Sollberger with her embarrassing moments. mother, Sophie Quest I often think of Agnès Varda’s French documentary film The Gleaners and I when I am editing. You carefully extract all the tasty bits and leave the rest to rot in the field. Then you assemble all the puzzle pieces and try to make the story sing. It is a cumbersome process that takes me days and is allEpisode 700: All About My Mother Eva Sollberger talks to her mother, Sophie Quest, about aging consuming and disorienting. I wish I had access to cameras when I was younger. I would or her 700th episode of “Stuck Sollberger spoke with Seven Days about This is a universal experience, grow- love to have video of my mom practicing in Vermont,” Seven Days senior filming the episode. ing old and taking care of our loved ones. I the flute, which she did every day of my multimedia producer Eva Sollthought other people may be able to relate childhood. I bought my first camera in 1999 berger sits down with her mother, This story is close to home. Why did to the joys and hardships of this journey. and, since then, have proceeded to film my Sophie Quest, to talk about aging. Soll- you choose it? family nonstop. berger just turned 50; Quest will turn 90 My relationship with my mother is central What’s it like to film such a personal in the spring. The two have lived together to my life. I moved back to Vermont from story? This is like a love letter to your mom. for the past seven years and are navigat- California when she turned 70 and I was Most of my videos are about illuminating As I think you can tell by watching this ing this experience together. Quest used 30. Her husband died suddenly, and I different pockets of this chaotic universe and video, my mom is my person. Being to walk four miles a day but now uses wanted to be closer to her. searching for connections. They are often with her for this journey is an immense a rollator to walk one to two miles at a I have featured my mom a few times very personal to me. And I can track the past privilege, and, as I mention in the video, slower pace. She broke both of her ankles in previous “Stuck in Vermont” videos. 16 years of my life through the series. it is also slightly terrifying. Granted, none last year and caught COVID-19. The two Some people may recall watching “The I bought my home in 2007 when the of us knows when we are going to die. discuss the positives and negatives of Deadbeat Club” on cable access, which series started, thanks to getting hired full But when you are approaching 90, death getting older, including hospital trips, featured my mom and my sister, Seven time at Seven Days. In 2009, I had an ovar- seems a lot closer. And after a number declining mobility and having fewer Days associate editor Margot Harrison. ian cyst removed and made a video about of hospital visits and broken bones, I am responsibilities. I have been so grateful for this time that it. That same year, I adopted a tiger kitten always waiting for the next crisis. Sollberger also made videos about her we have had together, but I know it could while making a video at the Great Vermont But I am grateful for every moment we mom in March 2020, end at any moment. Every morning when Corn Maze in Danville. Lexy is 14 now and have together. We both try to enjoy the at the beginning of I knock on her door, I hold my breath to likes to eat popcorn. small things: reading books by the lake, the pandemic, and see if she will answer. Death comes for all In 2016, I got a concussion while filming walking through parks and eating a fresh in 2015 at Grand of us, and we have been very lucky to have the River of Light on the Winooski River. loaf of olive bread. We try to take it day Isle State Park. her for so long. In 2018, I had cataract surgery and made by day. ➆

700 Episodes

Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger has been making her award-winning video series, “Stuck in Vermont,” since 2007. New episodes appear on the Seven Days website every other Thursday and air the following night on the WCAX evening news. Sign up at sevendaysvt.com to receive an email alert each time a new one drops. And check these pages every other week for insights on the episodes.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

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culture BOOKS

A Book About Halloween — and Baseball — That’s More Silly Than Scary BY JENNIFER SUTTON

The World Series begins this weekend, but Gurney’s wacky, punny sense of humor to the Astros, the Phillies, the Rangers — who life in the series include Hammy Sosa, the cares? There’s another baseball team Fuzzies’ catcher, and Jackie Rabbitson, who that’s been capturing imaginations on the plays second base — a pig and a rabbit, diamond, a team of players so dedicated respectively, paying homage to iconic and quirky that fans can’t help but players Sammy Sosa and Jackie Robinson. cheer them on. Meet the Fernwood Valley In Fuzzy Baseballoween, Fuzzies, the animal-athlete they pitch, bat and catch characters in Fuzzy Baseball, with enough skill, but it’s a five-volume series of the goofy commentary that graphic novels for kids by draws the reader in. When Brattleboro author and the Fuzzies arrive for the illustrator John Steven game with the Ghastlies, Gurney. The Fuzzies take on their host, a bat named a different team in each book, Count Flappula, leads them John Steven Gurney and in the latest installment, through a stretch of dark Fuzzy Baseballoween, they play woods to the field, where they’re a monsterlike team — the Graveyard alarmed to see tombstones at each Ghastlies — on a moonlit Halloween night. base. “Probably best not to slide,” comments With goblin spectators filling the stands and Sandy Kofox, one of the pitchers (who is, a cauldron bubbling away between second yes, a fox named after Baseball Hall of Fame and third base, Fuzzy Baseballoween will pitcher Sandy Koufax). charm any reader who prefers a Halloween Surprises pop up throughout, like when tale that’s more silly than scary. Gurney breaks the fourth wall and shows “I like the idea of animals being funny,” up in the opening pages, pitching other, said Gurney, who has illustrated nearly highly alliterative holiday book ideas to his 150 children’s books over the past several editor, all in vain: Gobble Gobble Grounder, decades. “I look at the Fuzzy Baseball books Ho-Ho Home Run, Double Play Dreidel and as ensemble comedies, almost like the Kwanzaa Kurveball each get the ax, so characters are a troupe of actors.” Baseballoween it is. The editor, an oversize The anthropomorphic animals bringing bulldog, appears again, in the second

inning, to complain that the story is too Halloween-y and not baseball-y enough. And there’s a visit from a Reading Level Police officer, who objects to the use of the word “preposterous” by Blossom, the honey possum center fielder. “That’s a Level 13.5C word,” the officer warns. “You can’t use the word ‘preposterous’ in a Level 7.4B book.” Papercutz published Gurney’s first Fuzzy Baseball book in 2016, after he’d previously illustrated several wellloved chapter book series, including A to Z Mysteries, Bailey School Kids and The Calendar Mysteries.. He wrote and illustrated Dinosaur Train, a picture book, and has also illustrated board games, puzzles and a shopping bag for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. All of his characters, including those in Fuzzy Baseballoween, are colorfully rendered and lively. The growly Ghastlies pitcher Lou Lupino, Count Flappula with his wide-eyed glee and the cheerful, sensible Blossom — they’re proof of Gurney’s claim that he might have gone into zoology had he not become an illustrator. Gurney is currently on the faculty at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, where he teaches illustration, drawing and visual storytelling. He recalls that during his own college days, his creative sensibility was a

AWARDS

Director Jay Craven Wins 10th Annual Herb Lockwood Prize B Y H AN N AH F E U E R • hfeuer@sevendaysvt.com

S TE

F TO

D D R. L O C K W O O

Local indie filmmaker Jay Craven is known for creating Kerrin McCadden, Bread and Puppet Theater founder Peter movies set in New England, founding Catamount Arts and Schumann, and actor and director Steve Small. artistic directing the annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Craven said the money will grant him time for writing Festival. Now Craven’s contributions to Vermont arts have a script and for personal pleasures he wouldn’t normally won him the 10th annual Herb Lockwood Prize, with a indulge, such as buying art for his home. cash award of $10,000. In 1991, Craven and his wife, filmmaker The prize rewards “the pinnacle of arts Bess O’Brien, cofounded Kingdom County leadership in Vermont,” artists who produce Productions, through which the two have prosignificant work and have a positive impact duced 10 feature films and 11 documentaries, on their community, according to a press along with projects for television, theater release. Craven is known for his ability to and radio. While financing independent produce star-studded movies on shoestring filmmaking has “never been easy,” Craven budgets, and prize founder Todd Lockwood said working in Vermont has given him said he has played a pivotal role in developthe creative freedom to choose compelling ing Vermont’s rural performing arts. stories over potential blockbusters, giving “He created an arts scene in the St. Hollywood less of a monopoly over which stories Johnsbury area that probably didn’t exist at all preget told. Jay Craven vious to that,” Lockwood said — referring to Catamount Craven works “with budgets that were a fraction of Arts, the film and performance venue that Craven founded what would be normally spent in Hollywood for the same in 1975. “There’s no one else doing what Jay does.” kind of film,” Lockwood said. “He really established himself Lockwood founded the prize in 2014 to honor the as a new kind of director, reinventing the way films are memory of his late brother, Herb, an artist and musician made.” who died in 1987. An anonymous group of 20 people selects In recent years, for instance, the former professor nominees each year before whittling the list down to a at Marlboro College and Sarah Lawrence College often winner. Individuals can’t apply for the award, nor do they worked with crews that were mixtures of professionals and know they’re being considered — an important provision in students, with the latter getting course credit for their work. a small arts scene such as Vermont’s, to avoid hurt feelings, A number of Craven’s movies are adaptations of Lockwood said. Past recipients of the prize include poet novels by late Vermont author Howard Frank Mosher, a U

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

little darker and more biting than what’s on display in Fuzzy Baseballoween. But all along, he’s been inspired by his childhood humor favorites Mad magazine and Bugs Bunny cartoons. For the Fernwood Valley Fuzzies, he creates gags that are gentle, accessible and dad-jokey, with intentional nods to readers of all ages. “The youngest kids like the silly pictures, fourth and fifth graders understand the humor more, and adults get the references,” Gurney said. “I’m aiming for a wide, wide range of appeal.” ➆

INFO

Fuzzy Baseball Vol. 5: Fuzzy Baseballoween by John Steven Gurney, Papercutz, 64 pages, $7.99.

2017 Lockwood prize winner who wrote fiction set in the Northeast Kingdom. Craven’s 1993 film Where the Rivers Flow North tells the story of a Vermont logger and his Native American friend whose way of life is threatened by the construction of a hydro dam. Also based on a Mosher book, Craven’s 1999 A Stranger in the Kingdom focuses on a Black minister who moves to small-town Vermont and is accused of murder. In spring 2022, the filmmaker shot parts of Lost Nation in Marlboro. Set in colonial Vermont, the narrative features real figures such as Ethan Allen and African-born poet Lucy Terry Prince. Craven hopes to premiere it next summer. The Peacham resident said he chooses stories with a strong sense of place that he views as learning opportunities. “For me, it wasn’t really about driving huge numbers in a commercial domain,” he said. “It was about telling stories that have a connection to where I live.” His next film will be an adaptation of Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw’s Tony-nominated comedy Major Barbara, which follows a young woman who becomes disillusioned after learning the Salvation Army has accepted money from an arms manufacturer and a whiskey distiller. Now 72, Craven said he plans for Major Barbara to be his last feature film. He’ll continue to be involved in Vermont’s arts scene but gradually step back from leadership roles, he said. He’s also in the process of writing a memoir. Looking back at his career, Craven said he’s always aimed to create “a cultural connection and understanding of who we are and where we are. That element of where we are, which is Vermont, is something that really motivated me.” ➆

INFO Learn more at herblockwoodprize.org.

Tech Jam 2023 By the Numbers: Years since the first Tech Jam:

Exhibitors:

Attendees:

1,200+ 1

Robot dogs:

hanks for talking tech with us last Saturday at the Vermont Tech Jam! Seven Days’ annual career and tech expo at Hula Lakeside in Burlington really rocked, from the FIRST in Vermont student robotics parades to the instant headshots by Montpelier’s Storyworkz, from BETA Technologies’ MobileDome flight simulator to the reception sponsored by KORE Power. Look for a video of the keynote conversation with Dr. Rachael Floreani and Irfan Tahir, moderated by Seven Days deputy publisher Cathy Resmer, in the coming weeks at techjamvt.com. See you again next fall!

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

10/24/23 7:36 PM

COURTESY OF MELINDA SUE GORDON/APPLE TV+

on screen Killers of the Flower Moon ★★★★★

he new epic from Martin Scorsese, currently in theaters, is certain to be an awards front-runner. Based on David Grann’s book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, the movie dramatizes a shameful and all-too-obscure chapter in U.S. history. In the 1890s, an oil strike in rural Oklahoma was a windfall for members of the Osage Nation who collectively owned the land. By the 1920s, they were some of the world’s richest people per capita. But it wasn’t long before the “buzzards” — as a character in the film phrases it — descended. Legislators declared the Osage “incompetent” and assigned white guardians to manage their money. Scammers preyed on them. All this culminated in the “Osage Reign of Terror,” during which local authorities failed to investigate the suspicious deaths of at least 24 tribe members. The newly formed federal Bureau of Investigation eventually determined that many of them had been murdered for their “headrights” — the precious legacy of oil.

The deal

The federal investigation is still years away when World War I veteran Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) arrives on the Osage reservation to live with his uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro). The prosperous rancher claims to be a great friend to the Osage — such a great friend that he encourages Ernest to romance Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), one of three sisters who own oil headrights. Ernest knows that his uncle — whose nickname is “King” — is using him. But he’s accustomed to being the muscle, and he’s fond of cash — exclaiming, “I love money!” so often that Jordan Belfort, DiCaprio’s character in The Wolf of Wall Street, would be proud. Soon Ernest is raising kids with Mollie, whom he loves — but not enough to stop ripping off the Osage in ways great and small. The murder of her sister alerts Mollie to the dangers that lurk behind the beneficent masks of the town’s prominent white 56

Family bonds are no match for greed and racism in Martin Scorsese’s mountainous epic.

REVIEW citizens. But she doesn’t realize just how close the menace lies.

Will you like it?

Killers of the Flower Moon isn’t a mystery. By the time the FBI agents finally arrive with Tom White (Jesse Plemons) in the lead, the damage has already been done — and, except for a few details, we know by whom. Scorsese’s decision to tell most of the story from the villains’ point of view makes sense, given how Grann describes the Osage Reign of Terror in a recent New York Times op-ed. This was no whodunit, he writes, that could have ended with the capture of an evil mastermind. The real question is “who didn’t do it. It was about a widespread culture of killing” in which white lawyers, doctors, morticians and other authorities all participated, seemingly without compunction, because they viewed the wealth of the Osage as rightfully theirs. Scorsese tells the story as a sprawling, three-and-a-half-hour human tragedy — without a hero. Even Macbeth struggled with his conscience before he steeped himself in blood. No one here has such doubts: Hale is too sociopathic, conflictfree in his murderous hypocrisy. Ernest isn’t sharp enough to understand where things are going until it’s too late, and when he does, he’s too weak to do much about it. If our sympathies lie with anyone, it’s Mollie, who’s soon bedridden, unable to

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

oppose the insidious attacks on her family in any sustained way. While she’s no twodimensional virtuous victim — none of the Osage characters embodies that insulting stereotype — her main role in the story is to suffer. So, what sustains us over the film’s enormous run time? Largely the power and gravity of the spectacle itself. The bleak expanse of the land unfurls in drone shots, while tracking shots thrust us into the rowdiness of a western town, bristling with galloping horses and impromptu fistfights. This unruliness contrasts with the stately assemblies and rituals of the Osage, who are all too aware of the threats that assimilation and intermarriage pose to their culture. Working with consultants from the Osage Nation, Scorsese makes these scenes beautiful and poignant, especially one that showcases the wonderful Canadian actor Tantoo Cardinal as Mollie’s mother. Killers of the Flower Moon is Shakespearean in its reach and complexity; Hale’s many henchmen are fascinating grotesques. As always, Scorsese loves to trace the webs of corruption that compose criminal empires, all glued together by the excuses people concoct to justify their greed and cruelty. The filmmaker captures the “culture of killing” Grann describes — its pervasiveness, its stickiness, its small-town banality. I stumbled out feeling as if I’d spent a few weeks in a nightmarish stronghold of

smiling fascism akin to the town in Jim Thompson’s classic Pop. 1280. Because no one in the story changes in any meaningful way, Killers of the Flower Moon leaves us shell-shocked rather than uplifted. But perhaps that’s the point. MARGO T HARRI S O N margot@sevendaysvt.com

IF YOU LIKE THIS, TRY... “OSAGE MURDERS” (2022; PBS, YouTube):

This 13-minute documentary from the PBS Short Film Festival, produced by Indigenous filmmakers, offers background not covered in the film, plus interviews with descendants of the victims. THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY (2022; rent-

able): Gladstone is a magnetic presence in Killers of the Flower Moon, even when she’s not speaking. Her silence also speaks volumes in this compelling indie road-trip drama, in which she plays a Lakota woman on a personal quest in the wake of a loss. SMOKE SIGNALS (1998, Paramount+,

Showtime): Among the entries in Cardinal’s impressive filmography are two titles by Vermont’s Jay Craven and this indie coming-of-age drama, the first high-profile film with an Indigenous writer, director and cast.

COURTESY OF ORION PICTURES

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PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIEHH1/2 A meteor endows the titular pups with superpowers in this family animation. (92 min, PG. Bijou, Essex, Majestic, Palace, Welden)

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SAW XHHH Terminally ill Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) decides to slaughter some medical scammers in the long-running horror franchise. (118 min, R. Majestic)

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NEW IN THEATERS AFTER DEATH: This faith-based documentary from Stephen Gray and Chris Radtke combs near-death experiences for information about a possible afterlife. (103 min, PG-13. Essex, Majestic, Palace) FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S: In this horror flick based on the video game, a guy gets more than he bargained for when he takes a night security gig at kids’ party spot Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Josh Hutcherson and Mary Stuart Masterson star; Emma Tammi (The Wind) directed. (110 min, PG-13. Essex, Majestic, Palace, Paramount, Star, Sunset) FREELANCE: John Cena plays a retired special forces operator who must save a journalist (Alison Brie) from a coup in this action comedy from Pierre Morel (District 13). (109 min, R. Essex, Majestic, Palace) INSPECTOR SUN: A spider detective must solve a new case in this family animation directed by Julio Soto Gurpide. (88 min, PG. Star) JOAN BAEZ I AM A NOISE: The singer and activist looks back at her 60-year career in a documentary directed by Miri Navasky, Maeve O’Boyle and Karen O’Connor. (113 min, NR. Savoy)

TAYLOR SWIFT: THE ERAS TOURHHHH Fans who didn’t score tickets can catch this cinematic version NICK PARENT of the pop star’s concert, filmed at three August shows and directed by Sam Wrench. (168 min, Owner/Broker NR. NMLS 92154 Thu-Sun & Tue only: Bijou, Essex, Majestic, Marquis, Palace, Paramount, Roxy, Savoy, Star, Stowe, Sunset, Welden)

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HOCUS POCUS 30TH ANNIVERSARY (Majestic, Roxy, Sunset, Welden)

THE EXORCIST: BELIEVERHH Ellen Burstyn returns in this sequel to the classic possession horror flick, in which two teens vanish into the woods and return disturbingly altered. David Gordon Green directed. (121 min, R. Majestic, Roxy) A HAUNTING IN VENICEHHH Kenneth Branagh returns as detective Hercule Poirot in this Agatha Christie adaptation. (103 min, PG-13. Majestic, Palace) KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOONHHHH1/2 Martin Scorsese’s historical drama traces the 1920s murders of Osage Nation members enriched by oil deposits on their Oklahoma land. Leonardo di Caprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone star. (206 min, R. Big Picture, Bijou, Essex, Majestic, Palace, Playhouse, Roxy, Star, Stowe, Welden; reviewed 10/25) OPPENHEIMERHHHHH Director Christopher Nolan tells the story of the man (Cillian Murphy) who played a key role in creating the atomic bomb. (180 min, R. Majestic; reviewed 8/2)

REBECCA MORGANWILLIAMS WOOLF

REBECCA RONNIEWILLIAMS RYAN

JOHN RONNIE MALONEY RYAN

JOHN MALON

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KEYS BAGS NAMES WORDS (Savoy, Sat only) M3GAN (Sunset) THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS 30TH ANNIVERSARY (Essex, Majestic, Marquis, Palace, Sunset) THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Roxy, Fri & Sat only; Savoy, Fri only) SPIRITED AWAY (Essex, Sat-Mon & Wed 1 only) STOP MAKING SENSE (Roxy) WHAT’S HIS NAME: A PHANTOM THEATER EVENT (Big Picture, Fri only)

The Capitol Showplace and Catamount Arts are currently closed until further notice. (* = upcoming schedule for theater was not available at press time)

DUMB MONEYHHH1/2 This comedy relates the stranger-than-fiction tale of how a grassroots online movement made GameStop the hot stock. (105 min, R. Roxy; reviewed 10/4)

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BARBIEHHHH Margot Robbie plays the Mattel toy as she experiences her first-ever existential crisis. (114 min, PG-13. Palace; reviewed 7/26)

THE CREATORHHH An ex-soldier (John David Washington) finds the perfect weapon for a war between humans and artificial intelligence in this sci-fi adventure. (133 min, PG-13. Majestic, Roxy)

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OLDER FILMS AND SPECIAL SCREENINGS

OPEN THEATERS

THE CANTERVILLE GHOST: An American family contends with a ghost in their new British country manor in this animated comedy with the voices of Toby Jones and Freddie Highmore. (89 min, PG. Palace, Star)

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CURRENTLY PLAYING BOTTOMSHHHH Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri play lovelorn high school friends who hatch a wild scheme to get close to their crushes in this comedy. (91 min, R. Roxy; reviewed 9/13)

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

10/11/23 11:52 AM

CNMLS 13

8/23/21

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PHOENIX GALLERY

art

ultidisciplinary artist Trystan Bates, 46, started out making figurative work. Originally from New York City, he trained in illustration at Parsons School of Design at the New School and studied traditional printmaking and graphics at Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, Netherlands. His first exhibition in Vermont, in the Phoenix gallery in Waterbury, contains something very different. “The Starling Symphony” begins with grids of precisely rendered abstract symbols — like a key to personal hieroglyphics. The graphic shapes become the colorful building blocks of fantasticallooking constructions. Curved bars enclose half circles, drops fit inside triangles, and dots punctuate assemblages of curves and rectilinear shapes. Bates’ exhibition progresses through five “movements,” as he calls them, along with a range of materials: mixed-media collage on paper, laser-cut acrylic and wood, etched acrylic layered on sparkly paper. The artist likens this iterative creative process to the starling’s unique birdsong, created from bits of sound it encounters throughout its day. Humans are similar, Bates proposes in an artist statement, in the way we “process, assimilate and store information,” both emotional and experiential. His own experiences are as far-flung as those of starlings, whose migration routes can span 2,000 miles. After running a Japanese-owned gallery in New York for two years, Bates fled the city after 9/11 by taking a vacation in Buenos Aires with a friend. (His lineage is Cuban, Puerto Rican and Spanish.) He ended up staying in Argentina for 17 years and founded an artists’ collective and storefront gallery called Honeycomb Arts. Despite landing a commercial collaboration with Coca-Cola for himself and one with Adidas for the collective, Bates found that the weak Argentine economy eventually rendered Honeycomb unsustainable. An only child, Bates returned to the U.S. with his husband to care for his aging mother. While driving around upstate New York in 2018, the couple crossed into Vermont on a whim and found a perfect house. They bought it.

TALKING ART

The Things We Carry “The Northern Conference” by Trystan Bates

Artist Trystan Bates on birdsong, iconography and creating community BY AMY L IL LY • lilly@sevendaysvt.com

“I kind of go where the flow takes me,” Bates said during a phone call from his Weston home. In addition to making art, he works as collections manager of the Londonderry Arts and Historical Society. Seven Days asked the relatively new Vermonter about his personal symbolic vocabulary, the power of collecting valued objects and more.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

You seem to have put an emphasis on community in all you’ve done — for example, creating that artists’ collective in Argentina, figuring out ways for them to interact with Indigenous communities and bringing American artists over to collaborate with them. Have you continued to create your own art throughout?

For me, I feel like there’s a balance between creating art and creating opportunity for others. Both are always present. I started Honeycomb in response to a lack of opportunity for artists over there. I thought, Let me try to unite these people, get to know who’s here, see how they’re working. Through that, I was able to build my community over there as an immigrant and also create opportunities for others. [Honeycomb] went from seven people to 100-plus. I never had a solo show there. In our street-front gallery shows, we would always pair an artist with someone from outside the country, and they’d work on pieces together as well as show their own. I’m reworking Honeycomb now, with a goal of reopening [in Argentina, working remotely from Vermont] in 2025, creating thematic shows dealing with social issues and sending them to underserved areas. As I’m getting older, I’m leaning more towards the social and community power of a project rather than income. My income can come from my personal artwork, but to go back to that balance: How can we make a difference and unite people through what we’re doing? How does “The Starling Symphony” relate to those efforts? Or is it more about working out your own iconography? The idea came about when I started this job in this [Londonderry] arts and historical society, housed in the home of [Works Progress Administration artist] Bernadine Custer Sharp. She came up from New York with her husband and built this organization that is pretty important here. A lot of their collections belonged to her, but they also have Londonderry residents’ stuff relating to the history of the town. So, this year, sorting through those things, I started thinking about the things we carry with us through our life. How do the things we hold on to shape us? For me it was a treasure trove; my head was going wild. It made me think about my life. I’ve traveled a lot; what do I have from when I was 17 that I’m still carrying? How does that define us as individuals but also as a community? How do certain things become iconic and valued? How do we take a raw element that begins embedding itself in our life, and how does that element end up shaping us and our personality? Can you talk about what some of the symbols in the show’s first movement mean to you?

ART SHOWS

EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE LATE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

September 5–December 10, 2023 midd.art/Levant

Clockwise from top: “Hungry Snakes Feast on the Eggs of Distracted Birds”; “Crowded Cities”; “Radio Signals From Alternate Realms”

The drops are a moment of sadness or a heavy moment. Wavy lines together are something that would require me to go with the flow. Things that look like a scribble are a moment of confusion. An asterisk is a moment of revelation. Discs or circles have to do with the closure of a cycle. Three lines together relate to my family — myself, my husband and my mother. They mean something to me, but they don’t need to be that for everybody else. I used to work figuratively; I switched

over to abstraction because I like the flexibility it gives viewers. I don’t want them to negate what they’re seeing in the work. There’s a lot of white, negative space in my work and elements that are suggestive of figurative elements but not completely fleshed out. That’s because I want people to see what they see. Individual interpretation is one of the most beautiful aspects of creating this work. THE THINGS WE CARRY

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

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art NEW THIS WEEK burlington

VICTORIA BLEWER: “At a Crossroad,” photographic and mixed-media collages by the Vermont artist. Reception: Saturday, November 4, 4-6 p.m. October 30-November 27. Info, 863-6458. Frog Hollow Vermont Craft Gallery in Burlington.

outside vermont

‘VELVET TERRORISM: PUSSY RIOT’S RUSSIA’: An exhibition that documents the performances, videos and street actions of the feminist punk art collective in protest of the country’s political repression and injustices. October 25-March 10. Info, 514-847-6226. Montréal Museum of Contemporary Art.

ART EVENTS ARTIST TALK: JUNIPER CREATIVE ARTS: The Vermont-based Black and Dominican family collective present “Wall Power: Creating a Sense of Belonging Through Mural Art,” focused on their purpose-driven practice of creating art that celebrates the lives and stories of the African diaspora. Williams Hall, University of Vermont, Burlington, Wednesday, October 25, 6-7:15 p.m. Free. Info, jennifer.berger@uvm.edu. BAT BAZAAR: A showcase of local vendors, performers and interactive art. Costumes are encouraged. Second floor; no elevator. MothershipVT, Burlington, Sunday, October 29, 1-5 p.m. Free. Info, daisymay0531@gmail.com. BATMAN SCULPTURE UNVEILED: A sculpture featuring the Caped Crusader and Rutland Halloween Parade organizer Tom Fagan, designed by designed by Jiannan Wu, completed by Alessandro Lombardo and using Vermont granite, is revealed along the parade route on West Street. Downtown Rutland, Wednesday, October 25, noon. Info, 438-2097. FAMILY ART SATURDAY: Kids, caregivers, students and adults make abstract masterpieces using provided watercolors, pastels and colored pencils. Halloween costumes welcome. BCA Center, Burlington, Saturday, October 28, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Free. Info, 865-7166. OPEN STUDIO: Draw, collage, paint, move, write and explore the expressive arts however you please during this drop-in period. Available in studio and via Zoom. Most materials are available in the studio. All are welcome; no art experience necessary. Expressive Arts Burlington, Thursday, October 26, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Donations. Info, info@ expressiveartsburlington.com.

ONGOING ART SHOWS

EXHIBITION

In ‘Interface,’ Hexum Gallery Offers Glimpses Into Other Worlds BY PAMEL A PO LS TO N ppolston@sevendaysvt.com

The term “science fiction” might conjure up thoughts of alien invasions, superheroes or stranger things, but an exhibition called “Interface,” at Hexum Gallery in Montpelier, is way more subtle. According to a written introduction, the artwork on view has a “sci-fi aesthetic,” yet without this prompt, viewers might not pick up on the ostensible theme. No matter. In the fertile imagination of owner-curator John Zaso — a self-described fan of sci-fi movies and literature — the five artists he selected for “Interface” evoke elements of the genre, whether futuristic or ancestral, earthy or … not. Philadelphia artist Erin Murray uses ink and graphite to cover canvases and their frames with deep black and neonbright symbology. Zaso described them as bioluminescent. The shapes she creates “make me think of computer interfaces you’d find on the bridge of futuristic starships,” he wrote in an email, “where some channel a dark post-apocalyptic world.” The metallic-looking graphite abstractions by Brooklyn-based Charles Sommer make Zaso think of “eyewitness renderings of UFO investigations.” The black-and-white drawings are indeed mysterious. Two other artists submit to the allure of antiquity and myth. Vermont artist Kerry O. Furlani presents

wall-hung slate reliefs that center abstract or spare figurative forms. Their titles alone suggest archetypal stories: “Thalassa, Waiting to Set Sail,” “The Lost Hymn of Demeter.” Three terra-cotta skulls by Russian-born, New Yorkbased Alexander Ney, from Zaso’s personal collection, are meticulously perforated in complex patterns. “I see Ney’s skulls and the figures in Furlani’s work as extraterrestrial ancestors, superior alien overlords, overseeing civilizations and nurturing early humanity,” Zaso wrote. “Definitely futuristic but rooted in the ancient past.” Zaso rounded out the exhibition with another sculpture from his collection, an untitled abstract work in bronze by the late artist and Syracuse University professor Rodger Mack. The freestanding piece conjoins twisty elements that seem pulled from a postcatastrophe scrap heap — some flattened, some elegantly turned. “It makes me think of the creature in John Carpenter’s The Thing,” Zaso suggested, “where we see all of its different victims melded together.” Or perhaps Mack envisioned the remnants of a ruined civilization recast in a material that can live forever. ➆

INFO

“Interface,” on view through November 17 at Hexum Gallery in Montpelier. Closing party, Friday, November 3, 4-8 p.m. hexumgallery.com Clockwise from top: “Love Story” by Erin Murray; “Satellite no.5 (still navigating)” by Charles Sommer; “The Wedlock Series: The Lost Hymn of Demeter” by Kerry O. Furlani; “South Skull” by Alexander Ney

burlington

‘60 YEARS OF BREAD & PUPPET’: Puppets, prints and banners by Peter Schumann, founder of the puppet theater group based in Glover. Through December 1. Info, hello@karmabirdhouse.com. Karma Bird House Gallery in Burlington. ‘ABENAKI: FIRST PEOPLE EXHIBITION’: The council and members of Alnôbaiwi (in the Abenaki way) and the museum open a new exhibition featuring the Abenaki Year, the seasonal calendar of people who lived in the area for more than 8,000 years before Europeans arrived, as well as works by contemporary Abenaki artisans and a replica of a 19th-century Abenaki village. Through October 31. Info, 865-4556. Ethan Allen Homestead in Burlington. ADDISON BALE: New paintings whose gestural aesthetic takes inspiration from New York’s aging infrastructure, signage and detritus. Through November 5. Info, 917-846-1719. Foam Brewers in Burlington.

= ONLINE EVENT OR EXHIBIT 60

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

VISUAL ART IN SEVEN DAYS:

ART LISTINGS ARE WRITTEN BY PAMELA POLSTON. LISTINGS ARE RESTRICTED TO ART SHOWS IN TRULY PUBLIC PLACES.

GET YOUR ART SHOW LISTED HERE!

PROMOTING AN ART EXHIBIT? SUBMIT THE INFO AND IMAGES BY FRIDAY AT NOON AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM/POSTEVENT OR ART@SEVENDAYSVT.COM.

ART SHOWS

‘ART AND THE MATTER OF PLACE’: A small exhibition of works in the Wolcott Gallery that encourages critical thinking about place and why it matters. ‘PRAXIS’: An exhibition of recent work by more than a dozen studio art faculty at UVM in an array of mediums. Through December 8. Info, 656-0750. Fleming Museum of Art, University of Vermont, in Burlington. ART AT THE HOSPITAL: “Nebizun: Water Is Life,” artwork by the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association (Blue Path, Level 3); Jay Ashman, watercolors (McClure 4); Erica Sloan, photographs on aluminum (EP2); and Lorraine Manley, acrylic paintings on canvas (Breast Care Center). Through January 31. Info, 865-7296. University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. CAROLYN BATES: “Street Murals of Burlington,” photographs from a new book by the local professional photographer. Through October 31. Info, 862-5010. First Congregational Church in Burlington. CHRISTINA WATKA: “Listening to the World,” mixed-media sculptures in mica and ceramic by the Maine artist. Through November 30. Info, 324-0014. Soapbox Arts in Burlington. ‘FLUXFEST’: A performative conversation with the Fluxus and avant-garde movements of the 1960s; faculty, students and guest artists are invited to create work in response to ideas presented by artist-in-residence John Killacky. Through October 29. Info, gallery@champlain.edu. Champlain College Art Gallery in Burlington. ‘HOW PEOPLE MAKE THINGS’: An installation inspired by the Mister Rogers’ factory tours includes hands-on activities in cutting, molding, deforming and assembly to show participants how certain childhood objects are manufactured. Through January 7. Info, 864-1848. ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain in Burlington.

‘TEXTURE & RESPONSE’: An exhibition that explores the visual perception of texture through the work of New England artists Karen Cygnarowicz, Gracia Nash and Ann Wessmann. Through January 27. KATE LONGMAID: Contemporary portraiture, still life and landscape paintings in oil and acrylic gouache by the Vermont artist. Through December 17. TERRY EKASALA: “Layers of Time,” improvisational paintings that explore color, texture, gesture and form at the intersection of abstraction and representation. Through January 27. Info, 865-7166. BCA Center in Burlington. KEVIN RUELLE: “Landmarks,” original large-scale watercolors for the artist’s vintage-inspired travel posters. Through October 28. Info, 863-6458. Frog Hollow Vermont Craft Gallery in Burlington.

chittenden county

‘FINDING HOPE WITHIN’: An exhibition of poetry and other writings, visual art, and sculpture by incarcerated artists in Vermont. In collaboration with Vermont Works for Women, Women’s Justice and Freedom Initiative of Vermont and A Revolutionary Press. Through November 30. Info, 482-2878. Carpenter-Carse Library in Hinesburg. GABRIEL BORAY & COLOSSAL SANDERS: Acrylic paintings of Vermont with a focus on cows, and satirical digital montage illustrations, respectively. Second-floor Skywalk. Through December 5. JULIA PURINTON: Abstract oil paintings inspired by nature. North Concourse. Through February 29. Info, 865-7296. Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport in South Burlington. JOSEPH SALERNO: “Inside & Out: Landscapes to Relics,” al fresco oil paintings by the Vermont artist. Through November 4. Info, 985-3848. Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery in Shelburne.

LAURA WINN KANE: “A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words,” pastel paintings by the South Burlington artist. Community Hallway Gallery. Through October 28. Info, 985-5124. MIKE SIPE & COLLEEN MURPHY: Photographs on canvas and mixed media on panel, respectively. Curated by Burlington City Arts. Through February 13. Info, 865-7296. Pierson Library in Shelburne. MICHAEL STRAUSS: Brilliantly colored paintings in acrylic and pastel. Through November 5. Info, 899-3211. Emile A. Gruppe Gallery in Jericho. OCTOBER AT UNDERHILL IRONWORKS: The sculpture garden is decorated with Halloweeninspired themes that reflect the changing of the seasons. Through October 31. Free. Info, 324-3897. Gerald K. Stoner Sculpture in Underhill. ‘SPOOKY SPACE’: A display about terrifying and mind-blowing destinations in our galaxy, created by Bridget Kimsey, a Vermont solar system ambassador for NASA/JPL. PAUL BETZ: Photography by the South Burlington artist. Through October 31. Info, 846-4140. South Burlington Public Library Art Wall. ‘SPARK: FUELING A LOVE OF BIRDS’: An exhibition of works by more than 60 artists and writers expressing avian admiration. Through October 31. Info, 434-2167. Birds of Vermont Museum in Huntington. TONI BASANTA: “Toni’s Excursions,” an exhibition of music-themed photography taken over the past 14 years. Through November 11. Info, 318-8867. Lake Champlain Access TV Studio in Colchester. VAUGHN BELL: “We Are the Weather,” an installation of soft sculptural forms drawn from imagery of weather systems, storms and atmospheric events and that connects the idea of weather events with the flow of water in the SMC Natural Area and Winooski River. Through December 15. Info, bcollier@ smcvt.edu. McCarthy Art Gallery, Saint Michael’s College, in Colchester.

barre/montpelier

‘ROCK SOLID XXIII’: An annual exhibition that showcases stone sculptures and assemblages by area artists, as well as other work that depicts the qualities of stone. Main-floor gallery. Through October 28. ANN YOUNG: “Autumn Pond Abstract,” oil paintings of water shield plants found in the artist’s pond in the fall. At SPA’s annex location at 159 North Main Street. Through December 30. ELINOR RANDALL: “Deep Impressions,” a survey of the master printmaker’s work 1954 to 2013. Curated by NNEMoCA. Second-floor gallery. Through October 28. KATE ARSLAMBAKOVA: “Primordial,” paintings influenced by surrealism that bring the microscopic world into focus. Third-floor gallery. Through October 28. Info, 479-7069. Studio Place Arts in Barre. EARL HENRY FOX: “Oblique Fixations,” a survey of recent work by the painter, woodworker and mixedmedia artist. By appointment. Through November 17. Info, 720-215-9519. Grist Mill Studios in East Calais. ‘ELEMENTS OF SHELTER’: Original works in wood, metal and glass by Yestermorrow faculty members Thea Alvin, Meg Reinhold, Nick Pattis, Anna Fluri, Sophia Mickelson and Johno Landsman, in conjunction with the Waitsfield design/build school. Through May 31, 2025. Info, 828-3291. Vermont Arts Council Sculpture Garden in Montpelier. ‘ENOUGH SAID? COUNTING MASS SHOOTINGS’: An installation that addresses rampant gun violence in the U.S., featuring artworks by Susan Calza, Samantha M. Eckert and Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Through November 30. Info, 224-6827. Susan Calza Gallery in Montpelier. ERNEST HAAS: “Lake Champlain Through Time,” paintings by the renowned Vermont maritime artist. Card Room and cafeteria. Through October 29. Info, BARRE/MONTPELIER SHOWS

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Vermont Independent Radio pointfm.com 2H-ThePoint042821 1

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

4/26/21 3:38 PM

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CALL TO ARTISTS

david.schutz@vermont.gov. Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier. ‘FRUITS OF THE FOREST FLOOR’: A juried, mushroom-themed group show with painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography, fiber arts, ceramics, jewelry and more by New England artists. Through December 15. Info, chelsea@northbranchnaturecenter.org. North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier.

‘THE ART SHOW’: The open-invite community art exhibition accepts work of any size or medium. Drop-off and installation is November 1 through 3, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Gallery at RL Photo, Burlington. $10 to enter. Info, theartshowvt@gmail.com.

‘INTERFACE’: A group exhibition in multiple mediums that evokes the aesthetics of science fiction, featuring Erin Murray, Charles Sommer, Kerry O. Furlani, Alexander Ney and Rodger Mack. Closing party: Friday, November 3, 4-8 p.m. Through November 17. Info, hexumgallery@gmail.com. Hexum Gallery in Montpelier.

‘CELEBRATING THE SMALLS’: Seeking hangable artworks 10 inches square or smaller for an end-of-year exhibit. Submit works November 7 through 15. Axel’s Frame Shop & Gallery, Waterbury. Info, 244-7801.

PAT HARRINGTON: “Removing the Mask: Let’s Talk About Child Sexual Abuse,” paintings on canvas and wooden bowls that tell the artist’s story of surviving sexual abuse and using art as a healing tool. Through November 7. Info, janna@mosaic-vt.org. Montpelier Senior Activity Center.

‘HEAD FOR THE HILLS’: Traditional and nontraditional mediums accepted for an upcoming exhibition about the region’s woodlands, mountains and creatures. Deadline: December 12. Studio Place Arts, Barre. $10 for nonmember applicants. Info, studioplacearts.com, submissions.studioplacearts@ gmail.com.

SHOW 57: A group exhibition of painting, drawing, sculpture and installation by all the gallery members. Through October 29. Info, info@thefrontvt. com. The Front in Montpelier. ‘S.L.U.A.T.H.’: An annual crowdsourced exhibit of art rescued from yard sales, free piles, estate clean-outs, junk stores and flea markets. Many pieces up for auction. Through November 8. Info, 479-0896. Espresso Bueno in Barre.

HOLIDAY MARKET: Sparrow Art Supply in Middlebury seeks original artworks for its annual artisan market. The theme is “Home is where the art is.” Guidelines and entrance form at

WENDY HACKETT-MORGAN: Paintings of horses that straddle abstraction and realism. Through November 18. Info, 262-6035. T.W. Wood Gallery in Montpelier.

stowe/smuggs

sparrow-art-supply.square. site. Deadline: November 5. Online. Free to enter; $5 per category if accepted. Info, 989-7225. HOLIDAY SHOWCASE & CRAFT FAIR: The annual sale on November 18 at Bellows Free Academy benefits the BFA Fairfax baseball team’s spring training trip to Florida. Register at bit.ly/ BFAcraftFair2023. Online. Through October 28. $50-75 per booth. Info, 355-0832. LEGO CONTEST & EXHIBIT: Makers of all ages are invited to design and build original LEGO creations and display them at the museum for the 16th annual exhibition November 9 through 12. Entry dropoff is November 6, 4-6 p.m.; fill out application online beforehand. Details at brattleboromuseum. org. Online. Free. Info, 257-0124. MEMBER HOLIDAY EXHIBITION & SALE: AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, N.H., invites member-artists to submit their work for this end-of-year showcase. Submission details at avagallery.org. Online. Through November 3. $35. Info, 603-448-3117.

JO WEISS: “Absence/Presence,” paintings and drawings on paper. Through December 2. Info, 646-519-1781. Minema Gallery in Johnson. KEN LESLIE: A retrospective exhibit featuring works by the retired VTSU-Johnson faculty member. Through November 10. Info, 635-1469. Julian Scott Memorial Gallery, Vermont State University-Johnson. ‘LAND & LIGHT & WATER & AIR’: The 16th annual group exhibition of landscape paintings featuring more than 90 regional artists. Through December 23. ‘NATURE’S ABSTRACTION’: A group exhibition of nature-inspired paintings that transcend traditional representation. Through November 5. LEGACY COLLECTION: A showcase exhibition of paintings by gallery regulars as well as some newcomers. Through December 23. Info, 644-5100. Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville. MARGARET JACOBS: New sculpture and jewelry by the multimedia artist and member of the Akwesasne Mohawk tribe. Through November 29. Info, 635-2727. Red Mill Gallery, Vermont Studio Center, in Johnson. SCOTT LENHARDT: An exhibition of graphic designs for Burton Snowboards created since 1994 by the Vermont native. Through October 31. Info, 253-9911. Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in Stowe.

mad river valley/waterbury

‘BEYOND THE CURVE’: A special exhibition about the American Abenaki COVID-19 experience, presented by the Vermont Abenaki Artist Association. Through January 6. Info, 496-6682. Mad River Valley Arts Gallery in Waitsfield. ‘PHOTOGRAPHY SHOOTOUT’: An annual exhibition of photographs open to viewer voting for prizes. Through November 11. Info, 244-7801. Axel’s Frame Shop & Gallery in Waterbury. STEVE BUDINGTON: “Call Shore,” recent mixed-media abstract paintings by the University of Vermont associate professor of painting. Through December 31. Info, 355-5440. Waterbury Studios. TRYSTAN BATES: “The Starling Symphony,” a five-part exhibition of abstract collage, sculpture, prints and mixed media that examines the ways in which we process, assimilate and store information.

Through November 17. Info, joseph@thephoenixvt. com. The Phoenix in Waterbury.

middlebury area

CHELSEA GRANGER: “The Future Belongs to Ghosts,” a solo exhibition of paintings that grapple with grief, honor the dead and offer thanks. Through October 31. Info, 877-2173. Northern Daughters in Vergennes. ‘FROM HOMESPUN TO COUTURE: FASHION IN HISTORIC MIDDLEBURY’: An exhibition featuring local advertisements, newspapers, fashion magazines, photographs, trade cards, catalogs and other documentation from the museum’s archives; curated by Eva Garcelon-Hart. ‘STELLAR STITCHING: 19TH CENTURY VERMONT SAMPLERS’: An exhibition of needlework samplers made by young girls in the 19th-century that depict alphabets, numerals and decorative elements. Through January 13. Info, 388-2117. Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History in Middlebury. KATHRYN MILILLO: “Simple Matters,” paintings of Vermont landscapes and farm buildings. Through November 15. Info, 989-7419. Edgewater Gallery on the Green in Middlebury. ‘THE LIGHT OF THE LEVANT’: An exhibit of early photography in the late Ottoman Empire, which encompassed contemporary Greece, Turkey and most of the Arab world. ‘TOSSED’: Nearly 20 works that make use of found, discarded or repurposed materials, curated by museum exhibition designer Ken Pohlman. Through December 10. Info, 443-5007. Middlebury College Museum of Art. ‘MACRO | MICRO’: An exhibition of large and small works in a variety of mediums by more than 40 artists, featuring the monumental and the miniature. Through November 4. Info, 989-7225. Sparrow Art Supply in Middlebury. PENNY BILLINGS AND HOLLY FRIESEN: “Nature’s Inner Light,” paintings of the New England and Québec landscape. Through November 15. Info, 9897419. Edgewater Gallery at the Falls in Middlebury.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

MEMBERS’ HOLIDAY EXHIBITION: Annual show at AVA Gallery & Art Center featuring works by New Hampshire and Vermont artists in five galleries. Two works per artist. Details at avagallery.org. Deadline: November 3. Online. $35. Info, 603-448-3117. ‘MY DOG AND THE WOLF’: Radiate Arts Space is sponsoring an unjuried art exhibit about the dog-wolf connection: about people and their dogs, humans’ role in the domestication of the wolf, and why and how it has resulted in such a variety of breeds. Workshops October and November; celebration in December. Richmond Free Library. Through November 1. Info, mauie@gmavt.net. ‘WHO ARE WE? PIECES OF THE IDENTITY PUZZLE’: November is a time for reflection and introspection. The gallery is seeking artwork depicting your take on identity, whether personal or as a people. All mediums accepted. Deliver work on or before Wednesday, November 8. Register at melmelts@yahoo.com. The Satellite Gallery, Lyndonville. $20. Info, 229-8317.

rutland/killington

ARTIST MEMBERS’ SHOW: An exhibition of painting, photography, woodturning, pottery, collage and mixed media by 21 Vermont artists. Through December 10. Info, krista.rupe@gmail.com. Stone Valley Arts in Poultney. ‘BROOM ART’: The inaugural exhibition in the new gallery features paintings and sculpture made with brooms by artists Warren Kimble, Sandy Mayo and Fran Bull. Through November 30. Info, 558-0874. Conant Square Gallery in Brandon. NEW MEMBERS EXHIBITION: Fused-glass work by Garrett Sadler, wood crafts by Guy Rossi, landscape paintings by Brian Hewitt, pastel paintings of animals and nature by Lynn Austin, and sculpture and realist paintings by Liza Myers. Through October 31. Info, 247-4956. Brandon Artists Guild. SHA’AN MOULIERT: “I Am VT Too, Rutland,” photographs of Rutland-area BIPOC residents and their stories, presented by the Root Social Justice Center and Rutland Area Branch of the NAACP. Through November 4. Info, cmm02180@castleton. edu. Vermont State University-Castleton Bank Gallery in Rutland. ‘THEN AND NOW’: Works by member artists throughout the 1890s mansion. Through October 28. Info, 775-0356. Chaffee Art Center in Rutland.

upper valley

KUMARI PATRICIA YOUNCE: Landscape paintings in a sensory relationship with place and people. Through October 28. Info, 738-0166. Jai Studios Gallery and Gifts in Windsor. ‘LOCAL COLOR’: The 12th annual showcase of paintings, photographs, mixed-media works, sculptures and ceramics by more than 60 area artists. Through November 4. Info, 457-3500. Artistree Community Arts Center in South Pomfret. MAX GLEASON: “Seasons of Self,” paintings that represent portals of archetypal worlds and cycles of life by the California-based artist. Through October

28. Info, 347-264-4808. Kishka Gallery & Library in White River Junction. ‘VERMONT FEMALE FARMERS’: Forty-five photographs by Plymouth-based JuanCarlos González that focus on the impactful contributions that women farmers are making to the state’s culture, identity and economy. Through October 31. Info, 457-2355. Carriage Barn Visitor Center, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park in Woodstock. VERMONT PASTEL SOCIETY: A juried exhibition of paintings by 19 members of the artist group. Through November 18. Info, 295-4567. Long River Gallery in White River Junction.

northeast kingdom

ADELAIDE MURPHY TYROL & RICHARD J MURPHY: “A Sense of Place,” nature-based paintings and photographs, respectively. Through November 12. Info, 533-2000. Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro. ELIZABETH NELSON: “Iceland Dreams,” acrylic paintings inspired by the landscape of Iceland. Through October 31. Info, 525-3366. Parker Pie in West Glover. ‘HANGING BY THREADS’: An exhibition of quilts presented by the Memphremagog Arts Collaborative and North Country Quilters Guild, including the raffle of a quilt by the late Carolyn Ferrara. Through December 30. Info, 334-1966. MAC Center for the Arts Gallery in Newport. HEIDI BRONER: “The Works,” paintings of people at their jobs by the Vermont artist. Through November 4. Info, 229-8317. The Satellite Gallery in Lyndonville. PEGGY WATSON: “Vermont Outdoors,” sculptural paintings based on the natural world. Through November 11. Info, 748-0158. Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild Backroom Gallery in St. Johnsbury. PHILIP HERBISON: “Water in Motion” and “Assemblages,” photographs of large bodies of water, and wood sculptures using the scraps of other works, respectively. Through December 31. Info, 748-2600. Catamount Arts Fried Family Gallery DTWN in St. Johnsbury. ‘WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND’: An exhibition of objects that explores the practical, spiritual and ecstatic human relationship to wheels and what they enable. Through May 31. Info, 626-4409. The Museum of Everyday Life in Glover.

brattleboro/okemo valley

ANDY WARHOL: “Small Is Beautiful,” 100 of the artist’s smaller-format paintings, from the Hall collection. RON GORCHOV: A 50-year survey of the American abstract artist’s work, featuring shaped canvases from the 1970s to large-scale paintings in his last years. SUSAN ROTHENBERG: Nearly 30 figurative, gestural paintings by the late American artist from throughout her career. Weekends only; reservation required. Through November 26. Info, info@hallartfoundation.org. Hall Art Foundation in Reading. ARON NAMENWIRTH: “The Long Way,” an exhibition of new drawings focused on the circle by the artist and musician. Through October 29. Info, 380-9072. 118 Elliot in Brattleboro. ‘HOME BODIES’: A collaborative exhibit of ceramic artist Fawn Krieger and textile artist David B. Smith that reimagines home as not just physical environments but also within our own bodies and imaginations. Through March 9. ‘PAPER MADE’: A group exhibition of artworks made by tearing, cutting, binding, stitching and rolling various papers. Through February 11. ART COSTA: “Sounds Deep,” strange, sightless denizens of the ocean’s depths constructed from reclaimed cardboard, papier-mâché and natural materials. Through March 9. MICHAEL SMOOT: “And to This World,” prints using a variety of techniques that explore ideas of interconnectedness, as well as systems and structures we put into place to fulfill our needs. Through March 9. Info, 257-0124. Brattleboro Museum & Art Center.

BRATTLEBORO/OKEMO VALLEY SHOWS

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1,10/24/23 2023 1:56 PM 63

art « P.59

I’m a firm believer that there’s no right or wrong way of approaching art. The work in the show is very controlled and precise. Where does that come from? All the organic stuff, spilling stuff, making textures, experimenting comes in the first month. Then I refine it into whatever the final images are going to be. My prior work was heavily focused on micro work — pieces the size of a postage stamp. I’d work with a triple-zero one-hair brush, use needlenosed tweezers to place a collage piece. The precision comes from that. I loved working that way. People have to get close in order to view what they’re looking at. You can play with that, guide the experience of the viewer. It’s intimate. For me, the closer a person has to get to my work, the more successful it is. The fifth-movement works are monoprints with dry-point etchings printed over them, but they look like blueprints. Why did you want them to look that way? The fifth movement is about what you do

Vermont Railway

I’M A FIRM BELIEVER

THAT THERE’S NO RIGHT OR WRONG WAY OF APPROACHING ART.

COURTESY OF PHOENIX GALLERY

THE THINGS WE CARRY

“In a While Crocodile” by Trystan Bates

TRYS TAN BATE S

with the knowledge you gain from what you collect. The idea of a blueprint is being able to form a primary plan for something based on the elements you gather. It’s about preparation through past experience. I think all my experience has kind of set me up. Even a terrible experience — there’s value in it. For me, anything I go through, good and bad, becomes something that I can use later. So that, if I come across an opportunity or situation or moment, I’m better prepared to process it because I have that blueprint that’s internal already. ➆

INFO “The Starling Symphony” by Trystan Bates, through November 17 at the Phoenix in Waterbury. thephoenixvt.com, trystanbates.com

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

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BRATTLEBORO/OKEMO VALLEY SHOWS

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‘GLASS | PASTEL’: A group exhibition of blown and sculpted glass along with pastel paintings by nine local artists. Through November 4. ‘MARTHA & JOHN: A LOVE STORY OF YOGA AND ART’: Oil paintings of the Vermont landscape by the late Martha Nichols and abstract mathematical paintings inspired by the yoga tradition of yantra by John van der Does. Through December 9. LINDEN ELLER: Mixed media and painting centered on the theme of memory architecture by the newest participant in the gallery’s Working Artist Program. Through December 8. PENELOPE ARMS: A solo exhibition of new oil paintings featuring the changing New England landscape. Through December 9. Info, 289-0104. Canal Street Art Gallery in Bellows Falls. PHOTOGRAPHY: FOUR PERSPECTIVES: An exhibition of images in different styles and subject matter by Al Karevy, Davida Carta, Joshua Farr and Vaune Trachtman, members of the Vermont Center for Photography in Brattleboro. Through November 12. Info, 451-0053. Next Stage Arts Project in Putney. VAUNE TRACHTMAN AND RACHEL PORTESI: An exhibition of images by the Vermont-based alternative-process photographers. Through October 29. Info, 387-5566. Michael S. Currier Center, Putney School.

manchester/bennington

‘THE WEE WORLDS OF SALLEY MAVOR’: An exhibition of bas-relief embroideries, featured as illustrations in many children’s books, by the Massachusetts artist. ASHLEY BRYAN: “The Spirit of Joy,” an exhibition of toys, puppets, painting and photography by the late children’s book illustrator and author, who centered stories of Black life and African folk tales. Through January 7. Info, 362-1405.

Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester.

November 26. Info, artetcvt@gmail.com. ART, etc. in Randolph.

‘A HISTORY OF BENNINGTON’: An exhibition of artifacts that invites viewers to examine how history informs and affects our lives. Through December 31. ‘FOR THE LOVE OF VERMONT: THE LYMAN ORTON COLLECTION’: More than 200 pieces of art, primarily from the 1920s to 1960, acquired by the founder of the Vermont Country Store. Simultaneously exhibited at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester. Through November 5. Info, 447-1571. Bennington Museum.

CAROLYN EGELI & CHRIS WILSON: Landscape oil paintings and figurative sculptures, respectively. Through November 5. Info, 728-9878. Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. ‘CURSED’ AND GRAND (RE)OPENING: The third annual group exhibition exploring the theme “cursed” marks the new location of the gallery, tattoo studio and dark/goth clothing shop. Through October 31. Info, blackmeadowgalleryandtattoo@gmail.com. Black Meadow in Randolph.

‘FOR THE LOVE OF VERMONT: THE LYMAN ORTON COLLECTION’: More than 200 works of art that capture Vermont’s unique character, people, traditions and landscape prior to the 1970s from the collection of the Vermont Country Store proprietor. Also displayed at Bennington Museum. Through November 5. Info, 362-1405. Yester House Galleries, Southern Vermont Arts Center, in Manchester.

JAMES SECOR: “Eclosion,” new landscape paintings with experimental drips and other water-based movement. Through December 20. Info, 889-3525. The Tunbridge General Store Gallery. KIRSTIN QUICK: “In the View of a Magpie,” paintings and mixed-media collage. Thursdays. Info, 508-3309031, kwekq1@gmail,com. The People’s Gallery in Randolph.

NORTH BENNINGTON OUTDOOR SCULPTURE SHOW: An outdoor exhibition featuring 77 sculptures by 59 artists, curated by Joe Chirchirillo. Through November 12. Info, nbossvt@gmail.com. Various Bennington locations.

‘NO PLACE LIKE HERE: PHOTOGRAPHS FROM VERMONT, PAST AND PRESENT’: Vermont photographs, 1978-98 by Peter Moriarty, main gallery; and Farm Security Administration photographs of Vermont 1936-43, center gallery. Through October 29. Info, 767-9670. BigTown Gallery in Rochester.

‘VERMONT LANDSCAPES’: More than 100 paintings in oil, gouache and watercolor by regional artists Matt Chinian, James Coe, Tony Conner, Ann Larsen, John MacDonald, Robert Moylan, Eric Tobin, Mark Tougias and George Van Hook. Also, paintings and drawings by pastel master Corey Pitkin. Through December 31. Info, 318-4444. Monument Arts & Cultural Center in Bennington.

online

ART TO GO LUGGAGE AUCTION: Come Alive Outside’s fundraiser showcases Monos luggage pieces hand-painted by more than 15 artists, including muralist Kathryn Wiegers. Bidding starts at $50. Through October 27. Info, admin@ comealiveoutside.com. Online.

randolph/royalton

AMY SCHACHTER & JAN FOWLER: Views of the natural landscape in acrylic and graphite on wood panels, and oil paint, respectively. Through

EDGEWATER GALLERY

outside vermont

CHERYL BETZ, RACHEL GROSS & MARY MEAD: An exhibition of sculpture, prints, drawings and photographs. Through November 11. JIHYE HAN, YEONSOO KIM & JENNY SWANSON: An exhibition of works in clay in the Clifford B. West Gallery. Through November 11. JOAN FEIERABEND: “Multitudes,” 365 works inspired by the Vermont artist’s daily practice over a year. Through November 4. Info, 603-448-3117. AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, N.H. ‘HOMECOMING: DOMESTICITY AND KINSHIP IN GLOBAL AFRICAN ART’: More than 75 works drawn from the museum’s collection of African and African diaspora art that emphasize the role of women artists and feminine aesthetics. Through May 25. KENT MONKMAN: “The Great Mystery,” four new paintings by the Cree artist along with five works in the museum’s collection that inspired them, by Hannes Beckmann, T.C. Cannon, Cyrus Edwin Dallin, Mark Rothko and Fritz Scholder. Through December 9. Info, 603-646-2808. Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H. ‘MARISOL: A RETROSPECTIVE’: A comprehensive survey of sculptures and paintings by the groundbreaking artist (1930-2016). Through January 21. ‘THE POP OF LIFE!’: An exhibition of 70 iconic pop-art works from the museum’s collection. Through March 24. Info, 514-285-2000. Montréal Museum of Fine Arts. ‘MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF HAUT-RICHELIEU’: An exhibition created in collaboration with La Cargaison Collectif that features 10 artistic visions about the stories of the territory. Through March 10. Info, 450-347-0649. Musée du Haut-Richelieu in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. ➆

HOLLY FRIESEN

Currently Featuring Two Fall Exhibitions

“SIMPLE MATTERS” Edgewater Gallery on the Green 6 Merchants Row

“NATURE’S INNER LIGHT” Edgewater Gallery at the Falls One Mill St

THROUGH NOVEMBER 15, 2023

PENNY BILLINGS GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday - Saturday 10AM – 5PM Sunday 11AM – 4PM or by appointment

SIMPLE MATTERS A SOLO EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS

BY KATHRYN MILILLO

2H-edgewater102523 1

One Mill St and 6 Merchant’s Row, Middlebury Vermont 802-458-0098 & 802-989-7419

edgewatergallery.com

NATURE’S INNER LIGHT – A TWO PERSON EXHIBITION – SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

10/20/23 10:22 AM

music+nightlife

The Late Greats Burlington indie-rock royalty Chin Ho! reunite B Y CH RI S FAR NSW ORTH • farnsworth@sevendaysvt.com

hin Ho! are one of the great whatifs of Vermont music history. Singer Andrew X Smith and guitarist Dave Morency formed the band in 1989 after meeting at Johnson State College when Smith bought weed from Morency’s roommate. They became perhaps the closest Vermont ever came to making a splash in the alternative-rock boom of the 1990s. Along with contemporaries such as the Pants and Wide Wail, Chin Ho! formed a more robust indie-rock scene than Burlington had ever seen before — or, arguably, has seen since. Smith became an almost mayoral figure. His zine and indie record label Good Citizen served to connect a previously disjointed community of musicians and fans, in the Queen City and throughout the state. The city’s music scene had an aura in those days, an air of excitement bordering on certainty that Burlington bands — Smith’s chief among them — would make it. Ever searching for commercial success, Chin Ho! moved through different phases, from the R.E.M. and Replacements-like college radio rock of their 1991 debut, Drink, to the heavier, post-grunge vibes

of their 1997 final LP, Low Flying Planes. were aiming high, as we should have, but The band produced seven albums, played it didn’t happen and there were some bad more than 1,000 shows across the country, feelings that came with that.” shared the stage with the likes of CountAt the far end of the table, Smith ing Crows and the Tragically Hip, flirted smiled ruefully, rubbing a hand over his with Elektra and Tommy Boy Records, skull, which is as hairless as it was in the and provided music band’s heyday, though for TV shows such his goatee has gone as “Dawson’s Creek” snow white. At 63, he and MTV’s “Making still exudes a palpable energy, his wiry frame the Band.” Yet it never quite achieved breakrarely motionless while out success. speaking, though there After 27 lineup is a touch more gravel in changes and multiple his voice. “almost ” chances, “Honestly, I’ve said Chin Ho! unceremono to this for fucking niously disbanded in 20 years,” he admit2003. Feeling jaded ted. “I’ve only just and forgotten by a stopped being terrified AND R E W X S MITH scene they helped in rehearsals. These create, most of the guys make me laugh so band members were much, though. It’ll be sure they’d reached the end of their story. nice being a band again, even if it’s just “Putting into context what we did is one last time.” sort of hard,” bassist Chris Parizo said as What Smith has tried to avoid, and last he sat beside Smith and Morency at Seven year relented on, is the classic reunion gig. Days’ office in Burlington last week. “It’s Spurred on by a failed documentary of the easy to say we weren’t successful. We band, he finally put aside his reluctance

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

SOMETIMES I’D JUST ASK MYSELF,

WE’VE PLAYED 1,000 SHOWS. HOW COME NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD OF US?

LUKE AWTRY

Chin Ho!

to “do the cliché thing” and marshaled his troops for a one-night reunion show this Saturday, October 28, at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge in South Burlington. As they prepare to return to the stage, Chin Ho! are contemplating their place and legacy in the Queen City’s music history. And they’re basking in the feeling of making music without the commercial pressures they put on themselves decades ago. “Look, Dave had triple bypass surgery a few years ago,” Smith said. “Matty [Vachon, drums] has a new hip, and I pretty much take care of my mother 24-7…” “I’m getting a colonoscopy the week of the show!” Parizo added with a laugh. “Maybe I should do it onstage?” “Point is, we’re all in very different places these days than we were back then,” Smith continued. “We’re not worried about status. We’re just enjoying making music with friends, which is why you play in bands in the first place.” Neil Cleary remembers the Burlington music scene in the early ’90s, with its electric atmosphere that made it feel like anything — even rock stardom — was possible. As the drummer for another great could-have-been indie-rock act, the Pants, Cleary saw how the grunge boom in Seattle changed the game, if only for a moment. Small, college-town scenes such as those of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Athens, Ga., were getting unlikely attention from big record labels. “For a minute it was like, ‘Fuck, maybe us, too?’” Cleary said. “Ultimately a lot of it was us huffing our own fumes in a little terrarium, but Chin Ho! were the rare example of a band that actually understood what it took to take a run at being a real band — like actually trying really hard and taking it seriously.” According to Cleary and Chin Ho!, the band took plenty of heat from its local contemporaries for that attitude. “Trying really hard doesn’t always look supercool to the rest of us entitled slackers, who apparently expected to make it based on a cool jacket,” Cleary said. “People called us ‘Chin Whore,’” Smith recalled. A relentless gigging machine during their prime, Chin Ho! were driven by Smith, who was determined to achieve success on the band’s own terms. When local promoters warned him that the band was oversaturating Burlington’s small market, he booked them at Nectar’s as a Chin Ho! cover band. “As a band, they set an example by creating a path for themselves,” said James Lockridge, executive director and cofounder of the Vermont music repository Big Heavy World. The nonprofit’s

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Burlington- and Vermont-made music. WED 10.25 Before it folded in 2000, he published 14 FREE 21+/ $10 18-20 issues of the zine and produced a dozen compilation albums. FRI 10.27 + SAT 10.28 Parizo, the youngest member and fifth The Magic Beans bassist of Chin Ho!, remembered Good (Fri- w/ Dizgo, Sat- w/ Squeaky Feet) Citizen as an integral part of his musical SUNDAYS Wings & Fries specials DNA growing up in Burlington. Only 18 NFL Football $3 Bud Lights when he auditioned for Smith, he was Mi Yard Reggae Presented by Kona already steeped in the mystique of the MON 10.30 Burlington scene, thanks to the zine. High Fade & A Halloween Event “Chin Ho! was a gateway drug for No Showers On Vacation me,” Parizo said. “I discovered them PRESENTED BY FIDDLEHEAD, TUE 10.31 at the same time I was just getting into Stowe Cider & Upstate Elevator grunge, and I was like, ‘Fuck Seattle. Grateful Tuesdays w/ Dobbs’ Dead HALLOWEEN SPECIAL Burlington has a great scene.’ There was such a mythos and vibe around everything FRI 11.3 + SAT 11.4 Lawton, Metzger here then, and we’d all read Good Citizen Paczkowski whenever it came out.” Smith was creating the infrastructure of a healthy music scene with his compilation albums, magazine and radio shows. FRI 10.27 He also gave up-and-coming bands Emo Night w/ Malachi chances to tour with and open for Chin SAT 10.28 Ho! — one part of the grind he misses to this day. w/ Tobin Ellsworth, Left Cat, Vetica “A lot of us got our first taste of legitimacy off those platforms Andrew TUE 10.31 Cherry Valley, created,” Cleary said. “And I think a lot Easy Honey w/ Earthworm of us owe him more than we realize, certainly more than he gets credit for. In my opinion, he deserves a statue on Church Street alongside ‘Big’ Joe Burrell.”8v-nectars102523 1 10/23/23 11:36 AM While a statue isn’t exactly on Smith’s mind, the reunion show has made him consider what sort of future Chin Ho! might have, if any. “None of us want to be the cliché, right?” Smith said, adjusting his whiteframed glasses. “Just milking nostalgia and all that shit. Because we have no idea who may or may not give a shit about us dragging our asses back up on that stage, we don’t know how the tickets will sell.” When he learned the show was actually selling rather quickly (it’s since sold out), Smith’s eyes lit up — the flicker of an old ghost, perhaps, of ambition and the eagerness to seize opportunities. For the first time in years, the entire band lives in the greater Burlington area. It’s not hard to detect traces in Smith of the fire that drove him to push his band from a tiny college town on tours of the country. “I don’t know if this is it or not,” he admitted. Then he added, “We do have two unfinished records, so you never know. You just never know.” ➆ Get the newsletter featuring notable news, arts and food stories INFO handpicked by our editors. Chin Ho! 33 1/3 Reunion Show with Sit back, relax and read up on what Danny & the Parts and the Maple Run you may have missed.. Band, Saturday, October 28, 7:30 p.m., at

MATTHEW THORSEN

Clive

Chin Ho! in the 1990s

name comes from an unreleased Chin Ho! track that Lockridge overheard the band rehearse while he was living with Smith years ago. “And Andrew had an original voice as a singer and a songwriter at a time when originality was especially valued,” Lockridge continued, “during the rise of the ‘alternative’ format.” Smith still has trouble reconciling the hard work he and his many bandmates put in and the extensive touring they did with the lack of recognition they received outside the Green Mountains. “Sometimes I’d just ask myself, We’ve played 1,000 shows. How come no one has ever heard of us?” he said. “Obviously, we were playing the wrong places,” Morency quipped, sending his bandmates into a fit of laughter. Chin Ho!’s impact on the Vermont music scene can’t be measured in album sales or dashed dreams. They never did get that big record contract or even score a minor hit and become one-hit wonders to the rest of the world — as Smith admits he always hoped to. Yet the band left a changed music scene in its wake. For one, it showed other local musicians that it was possible to take a stab at stardom, even if you were a Vermont band not named Phish. “I still have their poster in my old room at my mom’s house,” said Danny LeFrancois, front man for the indie-rock/ Americana act Danny & the Parts, one of the opening acts at the Chin Ho! reunion show. LeFrancois first heard the band when an uncle brought him to the Vermont Reggae Fest — where, in true hustle fashion, Smith had booked Chin Ho! even though the band never came near the reggae genre. Taken by the band’s muscular indie rock and Smith’s frenetic stage energy, LeFrancois sought out

Chin Ho!’s 1992 album Recovery, which he recalled buying on cassette at Recycle North — now known as ReSOURCE and decidedly less stocked with local music releases. “As a musician, I was just beginning the journey, and Chin Ho! inspired me with their cool merch and funky songs,” LeFrancois said. It wasn’t just the band’s music that changed the scene. Smith had always wanted to create a hub for musicians and fans to follow what local acts were up to. The result was Good Citizen, his zine and label dedicated to all things

Listening In (Spotify mix of local jams) 1. “SEE OR BE SEEN” by the Leatherbound Books 2. “FEEL THE COLD” by Lavenderlux, Amelia Wilcox 3. “YEA YEA” by Conswank 4. “POWDERED MILK” by No Showers on Vacation 5. “LOW FLYING PLANES” by Chin Ho! 6. “ALL I WANT IS YOUR LOVE” by Ursa and the Major Key 7. “TRUE TO YOU” by Pulse Prophets

Scan to listen sevendaysvt. com/playlist

LaMP

Doc Martin

the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge in South Burlington. $10/$15. AA. Sold out. highergroundmusic.com

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« P.78 SKELETON’S SOIRÉE: Monsters mash and demons fill the dance floor at this merry, moonlit Halloween party featuring costume contests, cocktails and carnival-inspired bites. Highland Center for the Arts, Greensboro, 7-11 p.m. $5-15. Info, 533-2000.

Town Offices, 9-11 a.m. Free. Info, hnroque24@gmail.com. UNION BANK FIELD HOUSE FALL 5K/10K & HALF MARATHON: There’s something for runners of all levels and experience. All routes offer beautiful scenery and begin and end at the Field House. The Field House, Shelburne, 8-11:40 a.m. $30-50. Info, rayne@ racevermont.com.

SPIRITS OF ROKEBY: SPECTRAL ROOMS: See FRI.27, 4:15-8:45 p.m.

holidays

STONE CORRAL COSTUME PARTY & CONTEST: Gift cards and cauldrons full of candy are on the line at this all-day competition. Stone Corral, Richmond, noon-9 p.m. Free. Info, 434-5787.

performing choreography from Michael Jackson’s 1983 music video. Church Street Marketplace, Burlington, 1:30-2:30 p.m. Free. Info, shannonkellymovement@ gmail.com.

‘THRILLER’ FLASH MOB: A team of zombified Montpelier dancers descends upon the Queen City every 15 to 30 minutes,

montréal

‘AURA’: See WED.25, 7 & 9 p.m.

Social Insecurity

CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN THE MONTPELIER WAY: See FRI.27, 9 p.m.

The early 2010s may not seem very long ago, but in our social media-dominated world, a play about the invention of the influencer is practically a period piece. The Middlebury College Department of Theatre’s production of Greek Tragedy, the newest dark comedy from fan-favorite playwright Lia Romeo, takes audiences back to the early days of Instagram, as seen through the eyes of a beloved social media star — and the mousy best friend who is actually writing all of her content. As the woman behind the camera struggles to tell her own story and the woman in front of it spirals out of control, they are forced to ask questions about where our online personas end and our true selves begin.

DANCE FILMS & DANCE PARTY: A screening of dance films by local performers is followed by a creature-themed costumed dance party. Blossom Wellness Center, Montpelier, 7-10:30 p.m. Donations. Info, animaldancevt@ gmail.com. GARAGE OF DOOM: See FRI.27. GORY DAZE PARADE & REALLY BIG BALL: An eerie extravaganza includes a costume procession, live music by the Western Terrestrials and a devilishly fun dance at the Main Street Museum. Downtown White River Junction, 6-11 p.m. Free for parade; $10 for ball. Info, info@ mainstreetmuseum.org.

‘GREEK TRAGEDY’ Thursday, October 26, and Friday, October 27, 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, October 28, 2 & 7:30 p.m., at Wright Memorial Theatre, Middlebury College. $6-15. Info, 443-6433, middlebury.edu.

HALLOWEEN BLOCK PARTY: Kids, dogs and party people of all ages are welcome at this monster mash packed with food trucks, live music and costume contests. Switchback Brewing, Burlington, 1 p.m. $15. Info, info@localmaverickus.com.

music

THE BLUE MOON BAND: An evening of jazz standards supports P.E.O.’s higher education scholarship and loan programs. First United Methodist Church, Burlington, 7-9 p.m. $20. Info, peo.chaptera.vt.event@gmail. com. HAWKTAIL AND VASEN: The bluegrass supergroup and the eclectic Swedish duo show off everything that acoustic music has to offer. Fuller Hall, St. Johnsbury Academy, 7 p.m. $16-51. Info, 748-2600. VIV & RILEY: The boundarypushing Appalachian roots duo displays soul and stunning originality. Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph, 7 p.m. Pay what you can. Info, 728-9878.

outdoors

FALL FOREST BATHING: Folks unplug, slow down and experience nature through a guided mindfulness practice. Audubon Vermont Sugarhouse, Huntington, 9 a.m.noon. $35-45; preregister; limited space. Info, 434-3068. OCTOBER BIRD-MONITORING WALK: Birders at every experience level join museum staff in recording all the feathery friends living on the grounds. BYO binoculars. Birds of Vermont Museum, Huntington, 8-9 a.m. $10-15 suggested donation; preregister; limited space. Info, 434-2167.

HALLOWEEN-O-THON 2023: ARTIFICIAL MALEVOLENCE: Mini horror masterpieces by local filmmakers have audience members on the edge of their seats at a screening event and costumesencouraged awards ceremony. Junction Arts & Media, White River Junction, 5 p.m. Free. Info, 295-6688.

NIGHTMARE VERMONT: See THU.26.

‘LOVE & PHYSICS’: See THU.26. ‘SELLING KABUL’: See WED.25, 2 & 7:30 p.m.

PUMPKIN PAINTING PARTY: Guests unleash their inner eerie artist by decorating spooky squash. The Essex Resort & Spa, 2 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, 878-4200.

words

theater

COURTESY OF MICHCOLE BIANCOSINO

‘GREEK TRAGEDY’: See THU.26, 2 & 7:30 p.m.

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. BOLLYWOOD SPOTLIGHT SERIES: See WED.25, 4-7 p.m. ‘GREAT WHITE SHARK 3D’: See WED.25. ‘JOURNEY TO SPACE 3D’: See WED.25. ‘OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET 3D’: See WED.25. ‘TINY GIANTS 3D’: See WED.25. VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: See WED.25, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

food & drink

CHAMPLAIN VALLEY DINNER TRAIN: See FRI.27. FERMENTATION WORKSHOP WITH PETER YOUNG: Locals learn how to turn any vegetable into kraut or kimchi. BYO veggies and equipment if you wish, but cabbage and supplies can also be provided. Jaquith Public Library, Marshfield, 1 p.m. Free; preregister for supplies. Info, 426-3100.

health & fitness

NINTH MILLER SYMPOSIUM: ‘ITALY AND THE HOLOCAUST’: Two days of talks hosted by the UVM Center for Holocaust Studies examine the experience of the Italian Jewish community under fascism. Alexander Stille of Columbia University keynotes. University of Vermont Alumni House, Burlington, 7:30-9 p.m. Free. Info, 656-3180.

FRIENDS OF PIERSON LIBRARY BOOK SALE: Thousands of gently used books are for sale at this library fundraiser. Pierson Library, Shelburne, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Info, 985-5124.

OCT. 26-28 | THEATER

film

talks

‘LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS’: See WED.25.

SALVATION FARMS AID: A lineup of local cover artists summons the spirits of James Brown, B.B. King and more to benefit local growers. Dressing up as your favorite musician is encouraged. Double E Performance Center T-Rex Theater, Essex, 6-10 p.m. $35-40. Info, 888-4360.

YARN CRAFTERS GROUP: See WED.25, 1-3 p.m.

RACE AROUND BIRDS: See WED.25.

K.J. DELL’ANTONIA & TORI ANNE MARTIN: The authors of Playing the Witch Card and This Spells Disaster celebrate all things witchy and wonderful in literature. Norwich Bookstore, 2 p.m. Free. Info, 649-1114.

‘THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW’: See FRI.27, 7:30 p.m. & midnight.

crafts

FOOD, FILM & FRIENDSHIP: VTIFF teams up with Québécois tourism emissaries to serve up haute meals inspired by films in the festival. The Essex Resort & Spa, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. & 5:30-8:30 p.m. $45-125. Info, 660-2600.

sports

HALLOWEEN IN WINOOSKI: See WED.25, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.

SUN.29

THE POETRY EXPERIENCE: Rajnii Eddins hosts a local writing and sharing circle. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 1 p.m. Free. Info, 863-3403.

KARUNA COMMUNITY MEDITATION: A YEAR TO LIVE (FULLY): Participants practice keeping joy, generosity and gratitude at the forefront of their minds. Jenna’s House, Johnson, 10-11:15 a.m. Free; donations SUN.29

» P.82

FOMO? Find even more local events in this newspaper and online:

art Find visual art exhibits and events in the Art section and at sevendaysvt.com/art.

film See what’s playing at theaters in the On Screen section.

music + nightlife Find club dates at local venues in the Music + Nightlife section online at sevendaysvt.com/ music. Learn more about highlighted listings in the Magnificent 7 on page 11.

= ONLINE EVENT

Casino Night Bet on Hope

An evening of Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, Poker and more! Enjoy delicious bites created by some of the areas' most celebrated chefs, along with live music and dancing. If you play your cards right, you could walk away the big winner!

November 4, 2023 6:00-9:00PM Hula Burlington

Give Hope to Vermont Cancer Patients Tickets $75 Includes $100 in gambling chips

cpsfvt.org/casinonight

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

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« P.80

accepted. Info, mollyzapp@live. com.

holidays

HALLOWEEN IN WINOOSKI: See WED.25, 4:30-10 p.m.

music

FACULTY RECITAL: STEVE KLIMOWSKI & PETER MATTHEWS: The longtime friends play solos and duets alongside special guests Wendy Matthews and Bonnie Klimowski. University of Vermont Recital Hall, Burlington, 3 p.m. Donations; free for UVM students. Info, 656-3040.

and needlework. Manchester Community Library, Manchester Center, 3-4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 362-2607.

and reflect on the news cycle. 10-11:30 a.m. Free. Info, 878-6955.

film

DJ SWING DANCE — HALLOWEEN THEMED: Costumes are encouraged but not required at this kooky, spooky dance from Vermont Swings. Bring clean shoes. North Star Community Hall, Burlington, 7:30-9 p.m. $5. Info, 864-8382.

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. ‘GREAT WHITE SHARK 3D’: See WED.25. ‘JOURNEY TO SPACE 3D’: See WED.25. ‘OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET 3D’: See WED.25. ‘TINY GIANTS 3D’: See WED.25.

MANIA: THE ABBA TRIBUTE: Mamma mia! An international touring act covers the legendary pop group’s smash hits until audiences say “Thank You for the Music.” The Flynn, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. $29.50-86.75. Info, 863-5966.

health & fitness

NORTHEAST KINGDOM CLASSICAL SERIES: LYSANDER PIANO TRIO: An acclaimed ensemble opens the season with a program of compelling works by Amanda Maier, Edvard Grieg and Franz Schubert. South Church Hall, St. Johnsbury, 3 p.m. $6-20; $60 for season pass. Info, nekclassicalseries@gmail. com.

BEGINNING TAI CHI (SUN SHORT FORM): Newbies learn how gentle movement can help with arthritis, mental clarity and range of motion. Holley Hall, Bristol, 10:30-11 a.m. Free; donations accepted. Info, jerry@skyrivertaichi.com.

‘SACRED SONGS OF THE MARY’S‘: See SAT.28. Warren United Church of Christ, 4-6 p.m. WINE & JAZZ SUNDAYS: Sixpiece band In the Pocket invites special guests to sing alongside vocalist Taryn Noelle each week. Shelburne Vineyard, 5-7 p.m. Free. Info, 985-8222.

sports

RACE AROUND BIRDS: See WED.25.

talks

ADVANCED TAI CHI: Experienced movers build strength, improve balance and reduce stress. Holley Hall, Bristol, 11 a.m.-noon. Free; donations accepted. Info, jerry@ skyrivertaichi.com.

LAUGHTER YOGA: Spontaneous, joyful movement and breath promote physical and emotional health. Pathways Vermont, Burlington, 2-3 p.m. Free. Info, chrisn@pathwaysvermont.org. YANG 24: This simplified tai chi method is perfect for beginners looking to build strength and balance. Congregational Church of Middlebury, 3:30-5:30 p.m. Free; donations accepted. Info, elizabetharms56@gmail.com.

holidays

CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN THE MONTPELIER WAY: See FRI.27, 6-7 p.m.

NINTH MILLER SYMPOSIUM: ‘ITALY AND THE HOLOCAUST’: See SAT.28, 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

montréal

theater

music

‘LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS’: See WED.25, 2 p.m. ‘LOVE & PHYSICS’: See THU.26, 3 p.m. ‘SELLING KABUL’: See WED.25, 5 p.m.

words

FOMITE PRESS AUTHORS MARATHON READING: The Queen City independent publisher presents a book sale and a stacked program of readings by 15 writers. Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Burlington, noon-8 p.m. Free. Info, fomreading@ gmail.com. FRIENDS OF PIERSON LIBRARY BOOK SALE: See SAT.28, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

MON.30 crafts

KNIT WITS: Fiber-working friends get together to make progress on their quilts, knitwear

‘AURA’: See WED.25.

MAVIS STAPLES: The dynamic diva lends her powerful pipes to an expansive repertoire, including selections from her recent album We Get By. The Flynn, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $35-69. Info, 863-5966.

sports

RACE AROUND BIRDS: See WED.25.

words

ADDISON COUNTY WRITERS COMPANY: Poets, playwrights, novelists and memoirists of every experience level meet weekly for an MFA-style workshop. Swift House Inn, Middlebury, 6-8 p.m. Free. Info, jay@zigzaglitmag.org.

TUE.31

community

CURRENT EVENTS DISCUSSION GROUP: Brownell Library holds a virtual roundtable for neighbors to pause

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

dance

MORRIS & MORE: Dancers of all abilities learn how to step, clog and even sword fight their way through medieval folk dances of all kinds. Revels North, Lebanon, N.H., 6 p.m. Pay what you can. Info, 603-558-7894. SWING DANCING: Local Lindy hoppers and jitterbuggers convene at Vermont Swings’ weekly boogie-down. Bring clean shoes. Champlain Club, Burlington, beginner lessons, 6:30 p.m.; dance, 7:30-9 p.m. $5. Info, 864-8382.

film

food & drink

OLD NORTH END FARMERS MARKET: Fresh local produce, bread, honey and prepared food bring good vibes to the Queen City’s melting pot. Dewey Park, Burlington, 3-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 355-3910.

health & fitness

TAI CHI TUESDAY: Patrons get an easy, informal introduction to this ancient movement practice that supports balance and strength. Manchester Community Library, Manchester Center, 9-10:15 a.m. Free; donations accepted. Info, 362-2607.

holidays

CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN THE MONTPELIER WAY: See FRI.27, 4 p.m.-midnight. GARAGE OF DOOM: See FRI.27. HALLOWEEN ON MAIN STREET: The Northeast Kingdom’s most ghostly gathering features a costume parade, a screaming contest, live dance performances and food trucks in Four Seasons Park. Various St. Johnsbury locations, 4-8 p.m. Free. Info, 748-8575. ‘THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW’: Hot patootie! Theaterprovided props in hand, costumed fans have a rocking good time with this 1975 film about newly engaged lovebirds who encounter an unconventional scientist. Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, 8 p.m. $16-18. Info, 382-9222.

language

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: Instructor Andrea Thulin helps

non-native speakers build their vocabulary and conversation skills. Manchester Community Library, Manchester Center, 5:307 p.m. Free. Info, 549-4574.

accessibility and other disability rights measures. 8:30 a.m.-noon. Free. Info, 779-9021.

PAUSE-CAFÉ FRENCH CONVERSATION: Francophones and French-language learners meet pour parler la belle langue. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, 5-6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 343-5493.

LISA DANFORTH: A work-life wellness coach explains how slowing down can improve both the personal and professional spheres. Presented by Women Business Owners Network Vermont. 8:30-10 a.m. Free; preregister. Info, 503-0219.

montréal

‘AURA’: See WED.25.

music

COMMUNITY SINGERS: A weekly choral meetup welcomes all singers to raise their voices along to traditional (and not-so-traditional) songs. Revels North, Lebanon, N.H., 7:30 p.m. Pay what you can. Info, 603-558-7894. TOWER OF POWER: The longtime funk act celebrates its 55th anniversary with a dynamo of a show. Paramount Theatre, Rutland, 7:30 p.m. $55-249. Info, 775-0903.

sports

RACE AROUND BIRDS: See WED.25.

words

BURLINGTON LITERATURE GROUP: LAURENCE STERNE: Readers analyze the author’s 18th-century experimental novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman over eight weeks. 6:30-8 p.m. Free. Info, info@ nereadersandwriters.com.

WED.1 activism

DAARA: DISABLED ACCESS AND ADVOCACY OF THE RUTLAND AREA: Community members gather online to advocate for

FOMO? Find even more local events in this newspaper and online:

art Find visual art exhibits and events in the Art section and at sevendaysvt.com/art.

film See what’s playing at theaters in the On Screen section.

music + nightlife Find club dates at local venues in the Music + Nightlife section online at sevendaysvt.com/ music. Learn more about highlighted listings in the Magnificent 7 on page 11.

= ONLINE EVENT

business

QUEEN CITY BUSINESS NETWORKING INTERNATIONAL GROUP: See WED.25.

games

MAH-JONGG OPEN PLAY: See WED.25.

health & fitness

CHAIR YOGA: See WED.25. SEATED & STANDING YOGA: See WED.25.

language

BEGINNER IRISH LANGUAGE CLASS: See WED.25. ELL CLASSES: ENGLISH FOR BEGINNERS & INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS: See WED.25.

crafts

JEWELRY MAKING WITH CASEY: Crafty kids string beads together to create necklaces with names. Ages 7 and up. Brownell Library, Essex Junction, 3-4:30 p.m. Free. Info, 878-6956.

SPANISH CONVERSATION: Fluent and beginner speakers brush up on their español with a discussion led by a Spanish teacher. Presented by Dorothy Alling Memorial Library. 5-6 p.m. Free; preregister. Info, programs@damlvt.org.

YARN CRAFTERS GROUP: See WED.25.

seminars

dance

WESTIE WEDNESDAYS DANCE: See WED.25.

education

RUTLAND ISHIDORIYA STUDENT EXHANGE COMMUNITY NIGHT: Former RISE students and host families meet up for a fun evening celebrating Rutland’s relationship with its Japanese sister city. Rutland High School, 6-7:30 p.m. Free. Info, 786-1942.

film

See what’s playing at local theaters in the On Screen section. BOLLYWOOD SPOTLIGHT SERIES: See WED.25. ‘DEAD MAN WALKING’: Filmed live at the Metropolitan Opera, this modern classic by American composer Jake Heggie follows a nun’s attempts to save the soul of a murderer on death row. Catamount Arts Center, St. Johnsbury, 11 a.m. $16-25. Info, 748-2600. ‘GREAT WHITE SHARK 3D’: See WED.25. ‘JOURNEY TO SPACE 3D’: See WED.25. NXT ROCKUMENTARY FILM SERIES: ‘THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION’: Bands including Black Flag, Fear and Germs rock out to the end of the old world in this hardcore 1981 film. Next Stage Arts Project, Putney, 7-9 p.m. $10. Info, 451-0053. ‘OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET 3D’: See WED.25. QUALITY SKI TIME FILM TOUR: Slope denizens enjoy some of the year’s best films about the sport. Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Burlington, 7:30 p.m. $15. Info, 833-230-0292. ‘TINY GIANTS 3D’: See WED.25.

food & drink

COMMUNITY SUPPER: See WED.25.

GROW YOUR AUDIENCE: Artists and content creators learn how to build and connect with a fan base. RETN & VCAM Media Factory, Burlington, 1-3 p.m. Free; donations accepted; preregister. Info, 651-9692.

sports

GREEN MOUNTAIN TABLE TENNIS CLUB: See WED.25. RACE AROUND BIRDS: See WED.25.

talks

YESTERMORROW FALL 2023 SPEAKER SERIES: LUKE FOLEY AND IRA SHADIS: Friends of the Mad River reps discuss their clean water and flood resilience initiative, the Ridge to River project. Virtual option available. Yestermorrow Design/Build School, Waitsfield, 6:30-8 p.m. Free. Info, 496-5545.

words

BANNED BOOKS TOUR: Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman hosts a reading featuring stories that have faced conservative backlash across the country. The Eloquent Page, St. Albans, 6 p.m. Free. Info, 828-2226. COME WRITE IN! NANOWRIMO: Writers participating in National Novel Writing Month gather to put pen to paper and offer each other encouragement. ADA accessible. South Burlington Public Library & City Hall, 4-6:45 p.m. Free. Info, 846-4140. MARILYN WEBB NEAGLEY: The former president of Shelburne farms shares her new lyrical memoir, Attic of Dreams. Norwich Bookstore, 7 p.m. Free. Info, 6491114. ➆

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

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NOTICED

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OUR LEGAL ADS?

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.

Check them out for important and useful information, including: • Act 250 Permit applications • Foreclosures

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art

• Notices to creditors

Contact Kaitlin for a quote at legals@sevendaysvt.com; 865-1020 x142. 6H-legals2022.indd 1

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Daily Eight hours DAILY of IN-DEPTH, News LOCALLY-PRODUCED news, Specials weather, sports and commentary:

5:00 – 9:00 AM Morning News Service Noon – 1:00 PM Noon News Hour 4:00 – 5:30 PM Afternoon News Service

MORE LOCALLY PRODUCED NEWS EVERY DAY THAN ANY OTHER VERMONT RADIO STATION

World and National News on the Hour Headlines on the Half-Hour NEWS PARTNERS

VERMONT Interviews with political and VIEWP INT business leaders, authors,

educators, and others in the news with call-ins from listeners.

5:30 – 7:00 PM

f Red Sox eo

Locally Owned and Operated Since 1931 STREAMING 84

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

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FIGURE DRAWING NIGHT!: Please join us for an evening of figure drawing at Soapbox Arts in the Soda Plant, hosted by Ana Koehler of Devotion. A live nude model will be in short and long poses. Bring your own drawing supplies. Please no wet supplies such as inks or paints. All drawing levels welcome. Ages 18-plus only. Mon., Nov. 6, 6 p.m. Cost: $20. Location: Soapbox Arts at the Soda Plant, 266 Pine St., Ste. 119, Burlington. Info: 617-2905405, sevendaystickets.com. THE KINTSUGI BOWL EXPERIENCE: Feeling in pieces? Play with the metaphor of bowl as self. This workshop honors your unique beauty, stories of challenge and resilience, and healing journey. Blend visual art, ritual and writing with the process of bonding, breaking, painting and repairing a bowl. Enjoy sharing in compassionate, creative, confidential community. No experience required. Sun., Nov. 12 , 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Cost: $135 in studio, incl. all materials; $150 online, incl. shipping, bowl & glue. Deadline for online participants is Nov. 1. Location: Expressive Arts Burlington, 208 Flynn Ave. #3A. Info: Topaz Weis, 802-343-8172, topaz@expressiveartsburlington. com, expressiveartsburlington. com.

Pine St., Burlington. Info: 802-7369493, allie@fourbitalfactory .com, fourbitalfactory.com/ continuing-thred.

culinary ROSEMARY APPLE GALETTE WORKSHOP: In this workshop, we will tackle making an extraflaky homemade pie crust and a delicious filling of rosemary apples! You’ll go home with your own custom galette and the recipe to make it again on your own at home. We will also get the chance to eat a slice during the class. Tue., Nov. 14, 6 p.m. Cost: $12-45. Location: Red Poppy Cakery, 1 Elm St., Waterbury Village. Info: 203-400-0700, sevendaystickets.com.

martial arts

THE SECRETS OF RETIREMENT INCOME: This talk is open to the public. We have witnessed time and again that Vermonters nearing retirement are facing some challenges. Come to hear from local experts as well as academics and professionals from around the country on the complex topic of retirement financing. Wed., Oct. 25, 6 p.m. Location: South Burlington Library, 180 Market St., S. Burlington. Info: 802-825-1976, sevendaystickets.com.

AIKIDO: THE POWER OF HARMONY: Cultivate core power, aerobic fitness and resiliency. The dynamic, circular movements emphasize throws, joint locks and the development of internal energy. Introductory classes for adults and youths. Ask about our intensive training program and scholarships. Inclusive training and a safe space for all. Visitors welcome! Beginners’ classes 4 days/week. Membership rates incl. unlimited classes. Contact us for info about membership rates

SEW A SCRAP-BUSTING POUF: Make a patchwork floor pouf (11” high by 21” wide) using our factory fabric scraps for filling. All project materials are provided: precut organic cotton twill fabric, zipper, piping, needle and thread. Bring your own machine and zipper foot. Maximum class size is six. This is an intermediate-level class. Ages 16-plus. Sat., Nov. 4, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Cost: $100. Location: Continuing ThrED at Fourbital Factory, 750

music TAIKO TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS!: Kids & Parents Taiko, Tue. & Thu., 4-5:30 p.m. Adult Intro Taiko, Tue. & Thu., 5:30-7 p.m. Accelerated Taiko, 7-8:30 p.m. Drums provided! Four-week classes. Visit our space next to Nomad Coffee. Location: Taiko Studio, 208 Flynn Ave., Burlington. Info: Stuart, 802-9994255, classes@burlingtontaiko. org.

well-being

business

craft seball Ba

Local, regional, and national sports news, interviews & features with listener call-ins.

The Hom

9:00 – 11:00 AM

for adults, youths & families. Location: Aikido of Champlain Valley, 257 Pine St., Burlington. Info: Benjamin Pincus, 802-9518900, bpincus@burlingtonaikido. org, burlingtonaikido.org.

FACING CHANGE: LIFE’S TRANSITIONS &TRANSFORMATIONS: From the joys of births and weddings to the sorrows of death, illness and divorce to grappling with relocation, family struggles, identity issues, job changes, trauma and loss, change can leave us feeling unmoored and powerless. Facing Change is a small group experience focusing on embracing the transformative power of change. Wed., Oct. 18, 6 p.m. Cost: $5-25. Location: Online. Info: 802-8258141, sevendaystickets.com.

VISION CAMP LIVE: Get a personal blueprint to get unstuck, gain clarity, build confidence and design a life you love! Gain a complete blueprint to transform your life, including a five-point test to determine your next steps, tools to dissolve resistance, a system to accelerate your results, and strategies to eliminate fear, doubt and worry. Sat., Oct. 28, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Cost: $47-87. Location: Town Hall Theater, 68 S. Pleasant St., Middlebury. Info: Coach Christal, 919-292-9305, sevendaystickets. com.

Find and purchase tickets for these and other classes at sevendaystickets.com.

= TICKETED CLASS

CLASS PHOTOS + MORE INFO ONLINE SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSES 10/10/23 4:58 PM

PAULA ROUTLY

Financial support from readers helps offset some of the cost of producing of Seven Days and makes our in-depth, long-form journalism possible. This week’s cover story represents countless hours of effort by reporters, editors, proofreaders, photographers, illustrators and graphic designers.

“The Loss of Grace” is the kind of story you’d expect to find in a national magazine, not in a free weekly newspaper. If you appreciate our reporting, please help us pay for it by becoming a Super Reader. You’ll join thousands of civicminded contributors who value this free public service. With your help, Seven Days will continue 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 Kaitlin Montgomery at 865-1020, ext. 142 or superreaders@sevendaysvt.com.

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

In your heart forever. SPONSORED BY

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Share the story of your special friend. Your beloved pet was a part of the family. Explain how and why in a Seven Days pet memorial. Share your animal’s photo and a written remembrance in the Fur-ever Loved section of the newspaper and online. It’s an affordable way to acknowledge and celebrate the nonhuman companions in our lives.

TO SUBMIT A PET MEMORIAL,

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COURTESY OF KELLY SCHULZE/MOUNTAIN DOG PHOTOGRAPHY

housing »

APARTMENTS, CONDOS & HOMES

on the road »

CARS, TRUCKS, MOTORCYCLES

pro services »

Humane

Society of Chittenden County

Wren AGE/SEX: 10-week-old spayed female ARRIVAL DATE: August 9, 2023 SUMMARY: Meet Wren, one of our bird puppies! She and her siblings

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DOGS/CATS/KIDS: Wren and her siblings have been raised together and have met other dogs at the shelter. They have not been around cats or children but may do well with a proper introduction.

CHILDCARE, HEALTH/ WELLNESS, PAINTING

APPLIANCES, KID STUFF, ELECTRONICS, FURNITURE

INSTRUCTION, CASTING, INSTRUMENTS FOR SALE

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DID YOU KNOW?

From puppies to adults, successful training is based on rewarding your dog for the behavior you want versus punishing them for what you don’t. This creates a safe and secure bond between you and your pup, which opens the door for a wonderful relationship. Sponsored by:

Visit the Humane Society of Chittenden County at 142 Kindness Court, South Burlington, Tuesday through Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. or Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 862-0135 or visit hsccvt.org for more info.

NEW STUFF ONLINE EVERY DAY! PLACE YOUR ADS 24-7 AT SEVENDAYSVT.COM. SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

CLASSIFIEDS homesharevermont. org for application. Interview, refs. & background checks req. EHO .

on the road

CARS/TRUCKS 2010 GMC TERRAIN SLT Asking $7,200. 103,500 miles. Located in Colchester. No rust. AWD. Inspected. 6 cylinder. Please text or call 802-355-4099 for more details.

housing

OFFICE/ COMMERCIAL 2ND-FLOOR, 390-SQ. FT. STUDIO IN BTV 2nd-floor studio space in Burlington’s South End. 390 sq.ft. Avail. Nov. 1. $600/mo. Mo. to mo.; deposit & 1st mo.’s rent req. Heat & electric incl. Email hglaeserco@ gmail.com.

WATERBURY, CLOSE TO I-89 Waterbury: Share apartment & occasional companionship w/ independent, inclusive senior who enjoys reading & being active, in coveted Waterbury location. New flooring & appliances, private BA. $550/mo. + small utils. contribution. Call 802-863-5625 or visit homesharevermont. org for application. Interview, refs. & background checks req. EHO .

services

AUTO DONATE YOUR CAR TO CHARITY Running or not! Fast, free pickup. Maximum tax deduction. Support

OFFICE/RETAIL SPACE AT MAIN STREET LANDING on Burlington’s waterfront. Beautiful, healthy, affordable spaces for your business. Visit mainstreetlanding.com & click on space avail. Melinda, 864-7999.

HOUSEMATES LIVE AFFORDABLY IN BTV Burlington: Upbeat woman in her 90s enjoys chair yoga & connecting w/ her faith community. Share conversation & cook a few meals/week. $500/mo. No pets. Call 802-863-5625 or visit

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

Patriotic Hearts. Your car donation helps veterans! 1-866-5599123. (AAN CAN)

ELDER CARE FIND SENIOR LIVING My Caring Plan has helped thousands of families find senior living. Our trusted, local advisers help find solutions to your unique needs at no cost to you. Call 866-386-9005. (AAN CAN)

FINANCIAL/LEGAL $10K+ IN DEBT? Be debt-free in 24-48 mos. Pay a fraction of your debt. Call National Debt Relief at 844-9773935. (AAN CAN) APPEAL FOR SOCIAL SECURITY Denied Social Security disability? Appeal! If you’re 50+, filed SSD & were denied, our attorneys can help. Win or pay nothing. Strong recent work history needed. Call 1-877-311-1416 to contact Steppacher Law Offices LLC. Principal office: 224 Adams Ave.,

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

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

housing ads: $25 (25 words) legals: 52¢/word buy this stuff: free online

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 OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

services: $12 (25 words) fsbos: $45 (2 weeks, 30 words, photo) jobs: michelle@sevendaysvt.com, 865-1020 x121

Scranton, PA 18503. (AAN CAN) FREE AUTO INSURANCE QUOTES For uninsured & insured drivers. Let us show you how much you can save! Call 855-569-1909. (AAN CAN) SAVE YOUR HOME Are you behind paying your mortgage? Denied a loan modification? Threatened w/ foreclosure? Call the Homeowner’s Relief Line now for help: 855-7213269. (AAN CAN)

HEALTH/ WELLNESS CASH FOR CANCER PATIENTS Diagnosed w/ lung cancer? You may qualify for a substantial cash award, even w/ smoking history. Call 1-888-3760595. (AAN CAN) DISCOVER OXYGEN THERAPY Try Inogen portable oxygen concentrators. Free information kit. Call 866-859-0894. (AAN CAN)

LIFE COACHING Looking for support navigating anxiety to regain focus & peace in these trying times? Visit sage-lotus.com or call Lauren at 802-2385259 for a free 20-min. consult. MASSAGE FOR MEN BY SERGIO Time for a massage to ease those aches & pains. Deep tissue & Swedish. Contact me for an appt.: 802-324-7539, sacllunas@gmail.com. PSYCHIC COUNSELING Psychic counseling, channeling w/ Bernice Kelman, Underhill. 40+ years’ experience. Also energy healing, chakra balancing, Reiki, rebirthing, other lives, classes & more. Info, 802-899-3542, kelman.b@juno.com.

HOME/GARDEN BEAUTIFY YOUR HOME Get energy-efficient windows. They will increase your home’s value & decrease your energy bills. Replace all or a few! Call 844-3352217 now to get your

print deadline: Mondays at 3:30 p.m. post ads online 24/7 at: sevendaysvt.com/classifieds questions? classifieds@sevendaysvt.com 865-1020 x115

free, no-obligation quote. (AAN CAN) COVERED HOME REPAIRS Never pay for covered home repairs again! Our home warranty covers all systems & appliances. 30-day risk-free. $200 off & 1st 2 mo. free. Call 1-877-4344845. (AAN CAN) NEVER CLEAN YOUR GUTTERS AGAIN! Affordable, professionally installed gutter guards protect your gutters & home from debris & leaves forever. For a free quote, call 844-947-1470. (AAN CAN) SECURE YOUR HOME Secure your home w/ Vivint Smart Home technology. Call 855-621-5855 to learn how you can get a professionally installed security system w/ $0 activation. (AAN CAN)

➆

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FURNITURE KITCHEN TABLE Beautiful, contemporary round glass table, 40 in. diameter, w/ 4 gray leather chairs. Rarely used, looks brand-new. $400. Email valentek aren@yahoo. com.

MISCELLANEOUS BCI WALK-IN TUBS Now on sale! Be 1 of the 1st 50 callers & save $1,500. Call 844-5140123 for a free in-home consultation. (AAN CAN) DISH TV $64.99 $64.99 for 190 channels + $14.95 high-speed internet. Free installation, Smart HD DVR incl., free voice remote. Some restrictions apply. 1-866-566-1815. (AAN CAN)

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DIRECTV SATELLITE TV Service starting at $74.99/mo.! Free install. 160+ channels avail. Call now to get the most sports & entertainment on TV. 877-310-2472. (AAN CAN) MALE ENHANCEMENT PILLS Bundled network of Viagra, Cialis & Levitra alternative products for a 50-pills-for-$99 promotion. Call 888531-1192. (AAN CAN)

PETS F2 BERNEDOODLE PUPPIES $1,600. Ready for forever homes on Thanksgiving weekend. Lots of tricolored traditional Berner markings. Expected weight is 70 pounds. Search for Bernedoodles Vermont on Facebook or visit doodleforme.com.

WANT TO BUY TOP CASH FOR OLD GUITARS 1920-1980 Gibson, Martin, Fender, Gretsch, Epiphone, Guild, Mosrite, Rickenbacker, Prairie State, D’A ngelico & Stromberg + Gibson mandolins & banjos. Call 877-589-0747. (AAN CAN)

131 Dorset Lane, Williston, VT

400+ Pieces anticipated, including: • Winchester Lever Guns evolvers and Semi-Automatic Pistols • Colt Revolvers • Smith & Wesson Revolvers • Savage 1899’s • Remington Collection ary Long Arms & Hand Guns • Military • Modern Sport Rifles, Shotgun & Hand Guns • Antique, Collectible & Engraved Arms • Ammunition, Knives & Bayonets

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FORECLOSURE AUCTION OPEN HOUSE: THURS., OCT. 26 11AM-1PM LIVE AUCTION: THURS., NOV. 9 @ 11AM

5190 Whipple Hollow Road, Florence, VT 05744 3BD/2BA home with 1500± SF on 1.2± acres. Needs some TLC. Only 10 miles to Rutland, VT, 40 mins to Killington Ski areas, close to Routes 4 and 7.

music

INSTRUCTION

obsessed? Find, fix and feather with Nest Notes — an e-newsletter filled with home design, Vermont real estate tips and DIY decorating inspirations. Sign up today at sevendaysvt.com/enews.

GUITAR INSTRUCTION Berklee graduate w/ 30 years’ teaching experience offers lessons in guitar, music theory, music technology, ear training. Individualized, step-by-step approach. All ages, styles, levels. Rick Belford, 864-7195, rickbelford.com. KIDS’ ROCK BAND For ages 5-12 in Randolph/Bethel, Vt. Music lessons incl. Free afterschool or weekend slots for income-eligible students. Call 802-4318629 or email sprouts. education.vt@gmail. com for info.

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Put your knowledge of Vermont news to the test.

See how fast you can solve this weekly 10-word puzzle.

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: ★★

DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: ★★★

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 one-box 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.

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ANSWERS ON P.90 ★ = MODERATE ★★ = CHALLENGING ★★★ = HOO, BOY!

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crossword

FOLLOWING CONCEPTION ANSWERS ON P. 90

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Legal Notices PROPOSED STATE RULES ===== By law, public notice of proposed rules must be given by publication in newspapers of record. The purpose of these notices is to give the public a chance to respond to the proposals. The public notices for administrative rules are now also available online at https://secure.vermont.gov/ SOS/rules/. The law requires an agency to hold a public hearing on a proposed rule, if requested to do so in writing by 25 persons or an association having at least 25 members. To make special arrangements for individuals with disabilities or special needs please call or write the contact person listed below as soon as possible. To obtain further information concerning any scheduled hearing(s), obtain copies of proposed rule(s) or submit comments regarding proposed rule(s), please call or write the contact person listed below. You may also submit comments in writing to the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, State House, Montpelier, Vermont 05602 (802-828-2231). ----Expansion of Eligibility Criteria for Temporary Housing Assistance. Vermont Proposed Rule: 23E11 AGENCY: Agency of Human Services CONCISE SUMMARY: Temporary housing assistance under the General Assistance program provides up to 84 or 28 days of housing in a hotel or motel. Households that are without housing due to a catastrophic situation may be eligible for up to 84 days. Households that are ineligible under catastrophic criteria may be eligible for up to 28 days if the household has a member belonging to a vulnerable population. This rule maintains categorical eligibility for 28 days of housing for families with children under 18 years of age or who are 18 or 19 years of age and attending school, as initially established in 23-E05. This rule also maintains the update to the basic needs standard chart in rule 2652.4 and the methodology for calculating the 30 percent income contribution in rule 2652.4, as initially established in 23-E05. This rule adds language addressing lodging licensing violations. Criteria related to the Act 81 transition

PLACE AN AFFORDABLE NOTICE AT: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/LEGAL-NOTICES OR CALL 802-865-1020, EXT. 142.

benefit are not included in this rule and will be included in a separate emergency rule. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Heidi Moreau, Agency of Human Services, Department for Children and Families 280 State Drive, NOB 1 North, Waterbury, VT 05671 Tel: 802-595-9639 E-Mail: heidi.moreau@vermont.gov URL: https:// dcf.vermont.gov/esd/laws-rules/current. FOR COPIES: Jennifer Myka, Agency of Human Services, Department for Children and Families 280 State Drive, NOB 1 North, Waterbury, VT 05671 Tel: 802-798-9824 E-Mail: jennifer.myka@vermont.gov. ---------Emergency Housing Transition Benefit. Vermont Proposed Rule: 23E12 AGENCY: Agency of Human Services CONCISE SUMMARY: Act 81 established an emergency housing transition benefit that provides continued housing in a hotel or motel for households that were housed through the pandemic-era General Assistance Emergency Housing Program as of June 30, 2023. Under Act 81, the transition benefit ends April 1, 2024. This emergency rule maintains the eligibility criteria initially established in 23-E05, with the following changes: 1) language clarifying that a household must accept and maintain a hotel or motel housing placement for the duration of the eligibility reassessment period to maintain eligibility for the transition benefit; 2) not including “upon expiration of the eligibility reassessment period” from rule 2652.5(D)(i) to align with the requirement in Act 81 that eligibility terminate upon noncompliance with the criteria established in the Act; 3) new definition of misconduct; 4) language addressing hospital-level care and short-term alternative housing placements; and 5) language addressing notice and appeal rights. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Heidi Moreau, Agency of Human Services, Department for Children and Families 280 State Drive, NOB 1 North, Waterbury, VT 05671 Tel: 802-595-9639 E-Mail: heidi.moreau@vermont.gov URL: https:// dcf.vermont.gov/esd/laws-rules/current. FOR COPIES: Jennifer Myka, Agency of Human Services, Department for Children and Families 280 State Drive, NOB 1 North, Waterbury, VT 05671 Tel: 802-798-9824 E-Mail: jennifer.myka@vermont.gov. -----

Independent School Program Approval Rules. Vermont Proposed Rule: 23P037 AGENCY: Agency of Education / Vermont Board of Education CONCISE SUMMARY: The proposed amendments to the Independent School Program Approval Rules are designed to incorporate the principles and goals of Act No.1 (2019), seeking to ensure that schools (1) promote critical thinking regarding the history, contributions, and perspectives of ethnic and social groups; (2) include instructional materials and methods to enable students to explore and understand questions of identity and membership in ethnic and social groups, race equality, and racism; and (3) facilitate welcoming environments for all students without bias or exclusion. These amendments also establish a method for recognizing school accrediting agencies, create an annual compliance assurance requirement for approved schools, require a method for evaluating whether an approved school is compliant with nondiscrimination requirements, clarify the process for accredited and non-accredited schools to apply and become approved, and reorganize the order of the rules for clarity and to align sequentially with the steps for independent school approval and reapproval. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Jennifer Deck Samuelson, State Board of Education 1 National Life Drive Davis 5, Montpelier, VT 056022501 Tel: 802-828-0047 Fax: 802-828-6430 E-Mail: SBE.PublicComment@vermont.gov URL: https:// education.vermont.gov/state-board-councils/ state-board/rulemaking. FOR COPIES: Sarah Buxton, Special Counsel State Board of Education, 44 East State Street, Montpelier, VT 05602 Tel: 802-223-1112 Fax: 802-223-6225 E-Mail: sarah@tarrantgillies.com. ---------Children’s Personal Care Services. Vermont Proposed Rule: 23P038 AGENCY: Agency of Human Services, Department of Health CONCISE SUMMARY: The rule sets forth the criteria for Medicaid coverage and reimbursement for Children’s Personal Care Services (CPCS) under Vermont’s Medicaid program. This rule revises and replaces current Medicaid covered services rule 4.233. The proposed amendments include the following: 1) Implements payment to legally

PUZZLE ANSWERS FROM P.89

The legal voters of the Town of Westford are hereby notified and warned to meet at the Westford School, 146 Brookside Road, Town of Westford, Vermont on Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 7:00 a.m., at which time the polls will open until 7:00 p.m., at which time the polls will close, to vote by Australian ballot on Article I below: ARTICLE I Shall bonds of the Town of Westford be issued in an amount not to exceed Four Hundred Thousand Dollars ($400,000) for a term of up to 30 years and at an expected interest rate of two percent 2% for the purpose of constructing a community wastewater system, as further described in Stone Environmental’s documents entitled Westford Community Wastewater – Revised Construction and Total Project Cost Estimates, Westford Community Wastewater Project Description, Costs, Funding, and Bonding Authority Recommendation, and Westford Community Wastewater – Draft 30% Design? The legal voters of the Town of Westford are further warned and notified that a public informational hearing on this ballot article will be conducted on November 1, 2023 at the Westford School, 146 Brookside Road, Town of Westford, Vermont beginning at 7:00 p.m. The public may also attend the public hearing and information session via Zoom at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/824 28695329?pwd=UHZJZ3pzZTQ0VjFBeUY2OUNH emdWdz09. The legal voters of the Town of Westford are further notified that voter qualification, registration, and absentee voting relative to said special Town Meeting shall be as provided in Chapters 43, 51 and 55 of Title 17, Vermont Statutes Annotated. Approved this 14th day of September, 2023.

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WESTFORD SELECTBOARD Lee McClenny, Chair David Baczewski William Cleary

Received and recorded this 25th day of September, 2023

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OFFICIAL WARNING SPECIAL TOWN MEETING TOWN OF WESTFORD NOVEMBER 7, 2023

responsible individuals for providing children’s personal care services authorized under Vermont’s Medicaid program. This was put in place as a temporary option during the public health emergency caused by COVID-19. It became a permanent option after the Vermont Medicaid program obtained the necessary 1115 Global Commitment to Health Waiver authority to continue payment to legally responsible individuals beyond the end of the public health emergency. 2) Implements the Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) tool for all CPCS providers as mandated by Medicaid through the 21st Century Cures Act. 3) Modifies the rule for clarity by defining program practices. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Natalie Weill, Vermont Department of Health, 108 Cherry Street, Burlington, VT 05401 Tel: 802-863-7280 Fax: 802-951-1275 E-Mail: ahs.vdhrules@vermont. gov. URL: https://www.healthvermont.gov/ laws-regulations/laws/public-comment. FOR COPIES: Brendan Atwood, Vermont Department of Health, 108 Cherry Street, Burlington, VT 05401 Tel: 802-863-7280 Fax: 802-951-1275 E-Mail: ahs.vdhrules@vermont.gov

Attest: Callie Hamdy, Town Clerk Posted at: Westford Town Office, Westford School, Westford Library, Westford Post Office, Westford Country Store & Café, and Town Website. OFFICIAL WARNING SPECIAL TOWN MEETING TOWN OF WESTFORD The legal voters of the Town of Westford are hereby notified and warned to meet at the Westford School in said Town of Westford on Monday, Wednesday November 1, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. at which time the Town’s Special Meeting will commence to act on the following article: ARTICLE 1 Shall the voters of the Town of Westford elect two additional Selectboard members for terms of two years each? The legal voters of the Town of Westford are further

SEVENDAYSVT.COM/CLASSIFIEDS notified that voter qualification and registration relative to said Special Town Meeting shall be as provided in Chapters 43, 51 and 55 of Title 17, Vermont Statutes Annotated. Approved this 28th, day of September, 2023. WESTFORD SELECTBOARD David Baczewski William Cleary Received for record September 28, 2023 at Westford. Attest: Callie Hamdy, Town Clerk Posted at: Westford Town Office, Westford School, Westford Library, Westford Post Office, and Town Website. STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL DIVISION WASHINGTON UNIT DOCKET NO. 41-1-20 WNCV Estate Of Gordon Stone and Estate Of Jennifer Harwood Stone Plaintiffs, v. John C. Kirby; State Of Vermont Office Of Child Support; And Any Occupant(S) Residing At 43 Randall St., Waterbury, Vt Defendants. NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE By virtue, and in execution of a Power of Sale as granted by the Judgment Order and Decree of Foreclosure and Order for Public Sale dated May 8, 2023, the undersigned, holder of a lien to secure payment of unpaid Principal and interest due on the Court’s Judgment Order dated May 8, 2023 entered in the case entitled “Gordon Stone and Jennifer Harwood Stone v. John C. Kirby, Docket No. 163-3-19 Wncv, of record in Book 448 at Page 27 of the Town of Waterbury Land Records (“Judgment Lien”), for failure of Defendants to satisfy and for the purpose of foreclosing the same, will cause all of the premises described below to be sold by Public Auction to the highest bidder at 3:00PM on November 10, 2023 at the property located at 43 Randall Street, Waterbury, Vermont. (This sale was previously scheduled for September 28, 2023 and postponed). To wit: Being all and the same lands and premises conveyed to John C. Kirby by Warranty Deed of the State of Vermont dated September 1, 2016 and recorded in Book 387, Page 76 of the Town of Waterbury Land Records, consisting of a main residence and a carriage house set on 0.27 acre, more or less, located at 43 Randall Street in Waterbury, Vermont; the carriage house is also known as 45 Randall Street. Terms of Sale: Successful bidders will sign a no contingency Purchase and Sale Contract and shall pay a deposit in the amount of $10,000.00 or 25% of the highest bid, whichever is less, in cash or certified funds at the time of sale with the balance due at closing, which shall be held within ten (10) days of confirmation of the sale. Proof of financing for the balance of the purchase price must be provided at the time of sale; such sale being as-is, where-is, with buyer taking all risks and defects associated with or connected to the property. If necessary, this sale may be postponed for up to 30 days for good cause. The Defendants are entitled to redeem the premises at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the Final Judgment Order, including the costs and expenses of the sale. Other terms to be announced at the sale or inquire at Stackpole & French Law Offices, P.O. Box 819, Stowe, VT 05672, (802) 253-7339. Estate of Gordon Stone and Estate of Jennifer Harwood Stone By: Anna A. Black, Esq. Stackpole & French Law Offices P.O. Box 819, Stowe, VT 05672 Dated: October 5, 2023

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STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT PROBATE DIVISION CHITTENDEN UNIT DOCKET NO.:23-PR-06091 In re ESTATE of Nicole Killian Notice To Creditors To the creditors of: Nicole Killian, late of Richmond, Vermont 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 within the four (4) month period. Dated: October 17, 2023 Signature of Fiduciary: /s/ Michael A. Killian Executor/Administrator: Michael A. Killian, 393 Stonefence Rd., Richmond, VT 05477 1mikekillian1@gmail.com (802) 881-4794

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Property commonly known and numbered as 363 Sharkeyville Road, being 1 acre, more or less, owned by Lawrence N. Moran (deceased), conveyed to him by Warranty Deed of Richard R. Bosley, Sr., dated August 31, 2001, and of record in Book 55 at Pages 407-409 of the Town of Bolton Land Records. Said lands and/or premises will be sold at a public auction at the Bolton Town Office, 3045 Theodore Roosevelt Highway (U.S. Route 2), Bolton, Vermont, on Thursday the 9th day of November 2023, at One o’clock in the afternoon (1:00 p.m.), to discharge such taxes with costs, unless the same are previously paid. Information regarding the amount of taxes due may be obtained at the offices of Stitzel, Page & Fletcher, P.C., P.O. Box 1507, Burlington, Vermont 05402-1507, (802) 660-2555. DATED at Bolton, in the County of Chittenden and State of Vermont, this 25h day of September 2023. /s/ Amy Grover Amy Grover, Delinquent Tax Collector Town of Bolton, Vermont STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT CHITTENDEN UNIT CIVIL DIVISION DOCKET #23-CV-01107

Name of Publication: Seven Days Publication Date: 10/25/2023

SAFEGUARD MISTY REALTY GROUP LLC Plaintiff

Name of Probate Court: State of Vermont Chittenden Probate Division Address of Probate Court: PO Box 511, Burlington, VT 05402

STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT PROBATE DIVISION CHITTENDEN UNIT DOCKET NO.:23-PR-05496

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CAROLINE EARLE, AS FIDUCIARY FOR THE ESTATE OF LAWRENCE G. HELLER OCCUPANTS residing at 9 Bluestar lane, South Burlington, VT 05403 Defendants Notice Of Sale

Notice To Creditors

According to the terms and conditions of the Stipulated Judgment and Decree of Foreclosure by Judicial Sale (the “Order”) in the matter of Safety Misty Realty Group LLC V. CAROLINE EARLE, AS FIDUCIARY FOR THE ESTATE OF LAWRENCE G. HELLER Vermont Superior Court, Civil Division, Chittenden Unit, foreclosing one mortgage given by Safeguard Misty Realty Group LLC, to Lawrence G. Heller, dated January 22, 2009 and recorded in Book 833, Page 332-334 of the City of South Burlington Land Records, and assigned to Safeguard Misty Realty Group, LLC, by assignment of mortgage dated February 22, 2022 and recorded on March 28, 2022 at Volume 1651, Page 1 of the City of South Burlington Land Records, respectively, the real estate with an address of 9 Bluestar Lane, South Burlington, VT 05403 will be sold at public auction at 11:00 a.m. on November 15, 2023 at the location of the Property.

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 within the four (4) month period. Dated: October 18, 2023 Signature of Fiduciary: /s/ Brennan Perley Dayton Weed Executor/Administrator: Brennan Perley Dayton Weed, 12 Martel Ln, Westford, VT 05494 weedb86@gmail.com (802) 338-1136 Name of Publication: Seven Days Publication Date: 10/25/2023 Name of Probate Court: State of Vermont Chittenden Probate Division Address of Probate Court: PO Box 511, 175 Main Street , Burlington, VT 05402 TOWN OF BOLTON’S COMBINED NOTICE OF TAX SALE The resident and non-resident owners, lienholders, mortgagees and all persons interested in the purchase of land in the Town of Bolton, County of Chittenden and State of Vermont, are hereby notified that the taxes assessed by such Town for the 2022-2023 and prior fiscal years remain, either in whole or in part, unpaid on the following described lands and/or premises situated in the Town of Bolton: Property No. 1: Property commonly known and numbered as 81 Gardiner Lane, being 0.7 acres, more or less, together with buildings thereon, owned by Garrett Mernick, conveyed to him by Warranty Deed of Randy Couch, Sr. and Misty Couch, dated November 10, 2020, and of record in Book 99 at Pages 698699 of the Town of Bolton Land Records. Property No. 2:

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as follows: beginning at a point in the southerly side of Blue Star Lane right-of-way, said point being the northeasterly corner of said lot no. 61 and the northwesterly corner of lot no. 62 as shown on the aforementioned plan; thence proceeding S 03° 58’4 8” E for a distance of 133.53 feet, more or less, to a point marked by an iron pin; thence turning to the right and proceeding S 84°07”W for a distance of 73.03 feet, more or less, to a point marked by an iron pin set in the easterly side of Irish Lane rightof-way; thence turning to the right and proceeding N 03°58’4 8” W in and along the easterly side line of said Irish Lane right-of-way for a distance of 120.72 feet, more or less to a point marked by a concrete monument; thence turning to the right and proceeding in a generally northeasterly direction along a curve having a delta of 90°00’00” at a radius of 15.00 feet, more or less, for a distance of 23.56 feet, more or less, to a concrete monument; thence proceeding S 86°01’12” E in and along the southerly side line of Blue Star Lane right-of· way for a distance of 58.00 feet, more or less, to the point or place of beginning. Included herein is the right of use for ingress and egress, in common with others, the roadway shown and depicted on the above-referenced plan, together with an easement over the roadway extending from Dorset Street to the roadways shown on the above-referenced plan, provided, however that such right of way shall terminate at the time said roadways are accepted as public streets by the City ff South Burlington. Terms of Sale. The Property shall be sold “AS IS, WHERE IS”, to the highest bidder for cash or wire funds only. The sale of the property is subject to confirmation by the Vermont Superior Court, Civil Division, Chittenden Unit. The Property is sold subject to unpaid taxes, municipal assessments, and superior liens, if any.

In re ESTATE of Perley Norman Weed

To the creditors of: Perley Norman Weed, late of Williston, Vermont

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Property Description. The Property to be sold is all and the same land and premises descripted in the mortgage, and further described as follows:

The public sale may be adjourned one or more times for a total time not exceeding 30 days, without further court order, and without publication or service of a new notice of sale, by announcement of the new sale date to those present at each adjournment or by posting notice of the adjournment in a conspicuous place at the location of the sale. Mortgage Property Deposit. $5,000.00 to be paid by certified check by the purchaser at the time of auction, with the balance due at closing. The balance of the purchase price for the Property shall be due and payable within the latter of 10 days from the date of confirmation of said sale by the Vermont Superior Court, Civil Division, Chittenden Unit, or 45 days from the date of public auction. If the balance of the purchase price is not paid within the period set forth herein, the deposit shall be forfeited and shall be retained by the Plaintiff herein as agreed liquidation damages and the Property may be offered to the next highest bidder still interested in the Property. The mortgagor is entitled to redeem the Property at any time prior to the sale by paying the full amount due under the mortgage, including the costs and expenses of the sale.

Being all the same lands and premises conveyed to Lawrence G. Heller by Quitclaim Deed of Nancy G. Heller dated January 5, 1995 and recorded in Volume 379 at Page 27 of the City of South Burlington Land Records. Being all the same lands and premises conveyed to Lawrence G. Heller and Nancy G. Heller by Quitclaim Deed of Lawrence G. Heller and Nancy G. Heller dated April 26, 1989 and recorded in Volume 278 at Page 284 of the City of South Burlington Land Records. Being all the same lands and premises conveyed to Lawrence G Heller and Nancy G. Heller by warranty deed of Homestead Design, Inc. dated April 25, 1989 and recorded in volume 278 at page 210 of the City of South Burlington land records. Being a parcel of land containing .22 acres, more or less, with dwelling and all improvements thereon, located on the southerly side of Blue Star Lane, socalled, in the City of South Burlington, said parcel of land depicted as lot no. 61 on a plan entitled “The Village at Dorret Park, plat of subdivision of lands of Southcott Partnership, South Burlington. Vermont” dated August 1986 prepared by FitzpatrickLlewellys incorporated and recorded in map volume 252, pgs.77-78 of the South Burlington city land records, and more particularly described thereon

Other terms to be announced at the sale or inquire at Korde & Associates, P.C. at (802) 393-4184. Dated: October 10, 2023 /s/Daniel Young, Esq. Attorney for Plaintiff STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT PROBATE DIVISION CHITTENDEN UNIT DOCKET NO.: 23-PR-05351 In re ESTATE of Daniel McDonald Notice To Creditors To the creditors of: Daniel McDonald, late of Hinesburg, Vermont 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

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

LEGALS » 91

Legal Notices

PLACE AN AFFORDABLE NOTICE AT: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/LEGAL-NOTICES OR CALL 802-865-1020, EXT. 142.

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TOWN OF BOLTON DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD PUBLIC HEARING: NOVEMBER 9, 2023

Court. The claim may be barred forever if it is not presented within the four (4) month period.

The Town of Bolton’s Development Review Board will hold a public hearing on November 9, 2023, at 6:30pm.

Dated: October 17, 2023 Signature of Fiduciary: /s/ Priscilla McDonald

Place: Virtual or Municipal Conference Room, 3045 Theodore Roosevelt Highway, Bolton, VT, 05676.

Administrator: Priscilla McDonald, Admin, c/o Timothy G. Hurlbut, Esq., 375 Lake Road, Suite 2A, St. Albans, VT 05478 (802) 527-7200 tim@vtlaw.us

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87368279429?pwd=W XlJdUdOVFFTSUVBcC9za2FXQ3JNZz09

Name of Publication: Seven Days Publication Date: 10/25/2023

Call (audio only): +1 646 558 8656 Meeting ID: 873 6827 9429 Passcode: 206580

Name of Probate Court: State of Vermont Chittenden Probate Division Address of Probate Court: 175 Main Street , Burlington, VT 05402

The following applications will be reviewed:

TOWN OF COLCHESTER SELECTBOARD NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Pursuant to Title 24 Appendix VSA, Chapter 113, Sec. 105(a)(b), the Colchester Selectboard will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, November 14th, 2023 at 6:40 PM at the Colchester Town Offices at 781 Blakely Road, Colchester, Vermont in the third floor Outer Bay Conference Room. Residents are welcome to attend in person or, or alternatively, send a note to TownManager@colchestervt.gov with “Citizens to be Heard-Stormwater Ordinance” in the Subject and their name. As with in-person Citizens to be Heard, we ask that you SHARE YOUR ADDRESS. The email will be shared with the entire Selectboard prior to the meeting and included in the information packet at the next meeting. The amendments to Chapter Eighteen of the Colchester Code of Ordinance Stormwater are proposed to address recent legislation that exempts certain properties from municipal stormwater fees and to eliminate non-roadway “soft” impervious as a billing category for the stormwater program. A complete set of the changes and a memo explaining the rationale for the proposal is available here: https://bit.ly/45sUNFy If you have questions regarding these amendments, contact the Colchester Public Works Department at 264.5620. For publication no later than October 30th, 2023 (15 days prior to Public Hearing) CITY OF BURLINGTON Sponsor(s): Public Works Commission Action: Approved Date: 10/18/2023 Attestation of Adoption: _____ Phillip Peterson, PE Public Works Engineer, Technical Services Published: 10/25/23 Effective: 11/15/23 In the Year Two Thousand Twenty-three A Regulation in Relation to Rules and Regulations of the Traffic Commission—26 Motorcycle parking. It is hereby Ordained by the Public Works Commission of the City of Burlington as follows: That Appendix C, Rule and Regulations of the Traffic Commission, 26 Motorcycle parking of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Burlington is hereby amended as follows: 26 Motorcycle parking. The following locations are designated for the parking of motorcycles only: (1)-(21) As written. (22) On the east side of Clarke Street beginning at the driveway for 40 Clarke Street and extending fifteen (15) feet south. (23) On the east side of Clarke Street beginning at the driveway for 48 Clarke Street and extending thirteen (13) feet south. ** Material stricken out deleted. *** Material underlined added.

2023-11-DRB; Applicant: CSC Properties LLC is seeking two setback waivers for the construction of a two-family dwelling at 41 Champ Ln. (Tax Map# 15A-4060049) 2023-15-DRB; Applicant: Acreage Capital, LLC, 3047 Theodor Roosevelt Highway, is seeking a waiver to reduce property line setback in order to utilize existing concrete footings for an accessory structure unit. (Tax Map#02-034.000) Additional information can be obtained through email by calling 802-434-5075, or by email at zoningbolton@gmavt.net. Pursuant to 24 VSA § 4464 and § 4471, participation in this local proceeding, by written or oral comment, is a prerequisite to the right to take any subsequent appeal. TOWN OF RICHMOND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD AGENDA NOVEMBER 8, 2023, AT 7:00 PM Location: 3rd floor meeting room Richmond Town Offices, 203 bridge street Richmond VT, 05477 Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom. us/j/82607801509 Meeting ID: 812 7003 3916 Passcode: 550860 Call-in: +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) Application materials may be viewed at http://www.richmondvt.gov/boards-minutes/ development-review-board/ before the meeting. Please call Tyler Machia, Zoning Administrator, at 802-434-2430 or email tmachia@richmondvt.gov with any questions.

comment regarding the proposed 2024 Jericho Comprehensive Town Plan.

xWXUzUT09 Meeting ID: 828 5309 2094 Passcode: 328992 / Questions: 802-434-3557.

The public hearing is scheduled for November 16, 2023 at 6:30 pm in the Jericho Town Hall, located at 67 Vermont Route 15 and via Zoom (link available on the Selectboard agenda). The purpose of the hearing is to receive public comment on the proposed Town Plan. Written comments can also be submitted to Linda Blasch, Town Planner via email at LBlasch@jerichovt.gov. The proposed Plan will affect all areas in the Town of Jericho.

TOWN OF JERICHO- DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Table of Contents: Volume 1: Introduction, Vision, Goals and Priorities, Stewarding a Resilient Community, Creating Housing Choices for All, Growing a Vibrant Community, Building a Connected Community, Supporting an Effective Community, Future Land Use Plan, Getting It Done, Maps. Volume 2: Community Profile, History and Cultural Resources, Natural Resources, Land Use, Housing, Economy, Health and Wellness, Mobility, Public Utilities, Community Facilities and Services, Statutory Consistency67 and Regional Compatibility. Appendix 1: Other Plans Incorporated by Reference. Appendix 2: Outreach and Engagement Report. Copies of the proposed Town Plan are available at the Jericho Town Hall, located at 67 Vermont Route 15. A digital copy may be viewed on the Town of Jericho website at https://jerichovt.org/ town-plan-2024. TOWN OF ESSEX PLANNING COMMISSION NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOVEMBER 9, 2023, 6:00 PM Hybrid & In Person (Municipal Conference Room, 81 Main St., Essex Jct.) Meeting. Anyone may attend this meeting in person at the above address or remotely through the following options: Zoom link: https://www.essexvt.org/1043/ Join-Zoom-Meeting-Essex-PC Call (audio only): 1-888-788-0099 | Meeting ID: 923 7777 6158 # | Passcode: 426269 | Public wifi is available at the Essex municipal offices, libraries, and hotspots listed here: https://publicservice.vermont.gov/ content/public-wifi-hotspots-vermont 1. Simple Parcel: Hans Huessy and Margaret Laggis are proposing to create a new lot by subdividing 10.45 acres from a 114.13 acre parcel, located at 1070 Old Pump Road in the Conservation (C1) Zone. Tax Map 12, Parcel 28. Application materials may be viewed before the meeting at https://www.essexvt.org/182/ Current-Development-Applications. Please call 802-878-1343 or email COMMUNITYDEVELOPMENT@ESSEX.ORG with any questions. This may not be the final order in which items will be heard. Please view the complete Agenda, at https://essexvt.portal.civicclerk.com or the office notice board before the hearing for the order in which items will be heard and other agenda items.

Item 2 CU2023-06 Noyes Properties LLC Parcel ID#RR0053 The applicants, Noyes Properties LLC, are seeking to amend their planned unit development by adding a new use to the list of approved uses for their property located at 53 Railroad Street. The applicant seeks to add the following uses: •Catering •Educational Facility •Private Club •Research Lab •Office, Professional and Business •Arts and Crafts •Wholesale Trade •Personal Service

TOWN OF HUNTINGTON NOTICE OF DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD

•An appeal to the DRB by KCS LLC of a Zoning Administrator’s determination. This property is located at 20 Morgan Road which is in the Low Density Residential District. All interested persons may appear and be heard. Additional information related to this application may be viewed at the Jericho Planning and Zoning Office during regular business hours. Chris Flinn Zoning Administrator cflinn@jerichovt.gov

The contents of storage unit 01-04224 located at 28 Adams Drive, Williston VT, will be sold on or about the 9th of November 2023 to satisfy the debt of Zena Hall. Any person claiming a right to the goods may pay the amount claimed due and reasonable expenses before the sale, in which case the sale may not occur. The contents of storage unit 01-02104 located at 28 Adams Drive, Williston VT, will be sold on or about the 9th of November 2023 to satisfy the debt of Melissa Myers. Any person claiming a right to the goods may pay the amount claimed due and reasonable expenses before the sale, in which case the sale may not occur. The contents of storage unit 01-04131 located at 28 Adams Drive, Williston VT, will be sold on or about the 9th of November 2023 to satisfy the debt of Maggie Simpson. Any person claiming a right to the goods may pay the amount claimed due and reasonable expenses before the sale, in which case the sale may not occur.

Zoom Meeting* Applications Under Review For November 21, 2023 – 7pm

The Huntington Development Review Board (DRB) will meet via Zoom to conduct the following business, pursuant to the Huntington Zoning and Subdivision Regulations: Subdivision – Final Review Eugene and Kathlyn Depetrio seek an 18.6 acre Subdivision on a 52.05 acre lot. Property is located in the Rural Residential District (5-acre zoning) on Stagecoach Road, Tax Map ID# 06-011.000.

TOWN OF JERICHO- SELECTBOARD NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The project information is available on the town website www.huntingtonvt.org. Participation in a hearing is required to appeal a decision of the DRB. Application materials may be viewed the week before meeting -Yves Gonnet, DRB Staff, October 23, 2023

The Jericho Selectboard hereby provides notice of a public hearing being held pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 4385 for the purpose of hearing public

*Zoom:https://us06web.zoom.us/j/828530 92094?pwd=K2pFMU9MMkpQcDQrMVVSakF

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

•A request to the DRB by North Mountain LLC to amend a perversely approved eight lot PUD for a one lot reduction. The property is located at 63 Browns Trace which is in the Low-Density Residential Zoning District.

VERMONT SELF STORAGE

Public Hearing Item 1 SUB2023-14 Eden Sand and Gravel Parcel ID#KR0854 The applicants, Eden Sand and Gravel, are seeking final approval for a two-lot subdivision located at 854 Kenyon Road. Lot 1 will be 38.06 acres and will contain the preexisting gravel pit. Lot 2 will be 1.54 acres and will be improved with a new office building.

The Applicants have a tenant that is interested in running a wellness business that is focused on prenatal care and other associated services. Conditional Use Review

The Jericho Development Review Board will CONTINUE the public hearing at 7:00 pm on WEDNESDAY November 8, 2023 at the Jericho Town Hall to consider the following.

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Support Groups A CIRCLE OF PARENTS FOR MOTHERS OF COLOR Please join our parent-led online support group designed to share our questions, concerns & struggles, as well as our resources & successes! Contribute to our discussion of the unique but shared experience of parenting. We will be meeting weekly on Wed., 10-11 a.m. For more info or to register, please contact Heather at hniquette@pcavt.org, 802-498-0607, pcavt.org/family-support-programs. A CIRCLE OF PARENTS FOR SINGLE MOTHERS Please join our parent-led online support group designed to share our questions, concerns & struggles, as well as our resources & successes! Contribute to our discussion of the unique but shared experience of parenting. We will be meeting weekly on Fri., 10-11 a.m. For more info or to register, please contact Heather at hniquette@ pcavt.org, 802-498-0607, pcavt.org/ family-support-programs. A CIRCLE OF PARENTS W/ LGBTQ+ CHILDREN Please join our parent-led online support group designed to share our questions, concerns & struggles, as well as our resources & successes! Contribute to our discussion of the unique but shared experience of parenting. We will be meeting weekly on Mon., 10-11 a.m. For more info or to register, please contact Heather at hniquette@ pcavt.org, 802-498-0607, pcavt.org/ family-support-programs. AL-ANON For families & friends of alcoholics. Phone meetings, electronic meetings (Zoom) & an Al-Anon blog are avail. online at the Al-Anon website. For meeting info, go to vermontalanon alateen.org or call 866-972-5266. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Do you have a drinking problem? AA meeting sites are now open, & online meetings are also avail. Call our hotline at 802-864-1212 or check for in-person or online meetings at burlingtonaa.org. ALL ARTISTS SUPPORT GROUP Are you a frustrated artist? Have you longed for a space to “play” & work? Let’s get together & see what we can do about this! Text anytime or call 802-777-6100. ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION SUPPORT GROUPS Support groups meet to provide assistance & info on Alzheimer’s disease & related dementias. They emphasize shared experiences, emotional support & coping techniques in care for a person living w/ Alzheimer’s or a related dementia. Meetings are free & open to the public. Families, caregivers & friends may attend. Please call in advance to confirm the date & time. The Williston Caregiver Support Group meets in person on the 2nd Tue. of every mo., 5-6:30 p.m., at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library in Williston; this meeting also has a virtual option at the same time; contact support group facilitators Molly at dugan@cathedralsquare.org or Mindy at moondog@burlington telecom.net. The Middlebury Support Group for Individuals w/ Early Stage Dementia meets the 4th Tue. of each mo., 3 p.m., at the Residence at Otter Creek, 350 Lodge Rd., Middlebury; contact Daniel Hamilton, dhamilton@ residenceottercreek.com or 802-9890097. The Shelburne Support Group for Individuals w/ Early Stage Dementia meets the 1st Mon. of every mo., 2-3

p.m., at the Residence at Shelburne Bay, 185 Pine Haven Shores, Shelburne; contact support group facilitator Lydia Raymond, lraymond@residenceshelburnebay.com. The Telephone Support Group meets the 2nd Tue. of each mo., 4-5:30 p.m. Prereg. is req. (to receive dial-in codes for toll-free call). Please dial the Alzheimer’s Association’s 24-7 Helpline, 800-272-3900, for more info. For questions or additional support group listings, call 800-272-3900. AMPUTEE SUPPORT GROUP VT Active Amputees is a new support group open to all amputees for connection, community & support. The group meets on the 1st Wed. of the mo. in S. Burlington, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Let’s get together & be active: running, pickleball & ultimate frisbee. Email vtactiveamputees@gmail.com or call Sue at 802-582-6750 for more info & location. ARE YOU HAVING PROBLEMS W/ DEBT? Do you spend more than you earn? Get help at Debtor’s Anonymous & Business Debtor’s Anonymous. Wed., 6:30-7:30 p.m., Methodist Church in the Rainbow Room at Buell & S. Winooski, Burlington. Contact Jennifer, 917-568-6390. BABY BUMPS SUPPORT GROUP FOR MOTHERS & PREGNANT WOMEN Pregnancy can be a wonderful time of your life. But it can also be a time of stress often compounded by hormonal swings. If you are a pregnant woman, or have recently given birth & feel you need some help w/ managing emotional bumps in the road that can come w/ motherhood, please come to this free support group led by an experienced pediatric registered nurse. Held on the 2nd & 4th Tue. of every mo., 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Birthing Center, Northwestern Medical Center, St. Albans. Info: Rhonda Desrochers, Franklin County Home Health Agency, 527-7531. BETTER BREATHERS CLUB American Lung Association support group for people w/ breathing issues, their loved ones or caregivers. Meets on the 1st Mon. of every mo., 11 a.m.-noon at the Godnick Center, 1 Deer St., Rutland. For more info, call 802-776-5508. BRAIN INJURY SUPPORT GROUP Vermont Center for Independent Living offers virtual monthly meetings, held on the 3rd Wed. of every mo., 1-2:30 p.m. The support group will offer valuable resources & info about brain injury. It will be a place to share experiences in a safe, secure & confidential environment. To join, email Linda Meleady at lindam@vcil.org & ask to be put on the TBI mailing list. Info: 800-639-1522. BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR DRAGON BOAT TEAM Looking for a fun way to do something active & health-giving? Want to connect w/ other breast cancer survivors? Come join Dragonheart Vermont. We are a breast cancer survivor & supporter dragon boat team who paddle together in Burlington. Please contact us at info@drgonheartvermont.org for info. CANCER SUPPORT GROUP The Champlain Valley Prostate Cancer Support Group will be held every 2nd Tue. of the mo., 6-7:45 p.m. via conference call. Newly diagnosed? Prostate cancer reoccurrence? General discussion & sharing among survivors & those beginning or rejoining the battle. Info, Mary L. Guyette RN, MS, ACNS-BC, 274-4990, vmary@aol.com.

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CENTRAL VERMONT CELIAC SUPPORT GROUP Last Thu. of every mo., 7:30 p.m. in Montpelier. Please contact Lisa Mase for location: lisa@harmonizecookery.com. CEREBRAL PALSY GUIDANCE Cerebral Palsy Guidance is a very comprehensive informational website broadly covering the topic of cerebral palsy & associated medical conditions. Its mission is to provide the best possible info to parents of children living w/ the complex condition of cerebral palsy. Visit cerebralpalsyguidance.com/ cerebral-palsy. CODEPENDENTS ANONYMOUS CoDA is a 12-step fellowship for people whose common purpose is to develop healthy & fulfilling relationships. By actively working the program of Codependents Anonymous, we can realize a new joy, acceptance & serenity in our lives. Meets Sun. at noon at the Turning Point Center, 179 S. Winooski Ave., Suite 301, Burlington. Info: Tom, 238-3587, coda.org. THE COMPASSIONATE FRIENDS SUPPORT GROUP The Compassionate Friends international support group for parents, siblings & families grieving the loss of a child meets every 4th Tue. of the mo., 7-9 p.m., at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 2 Cherry St., Burlington. Call/email Alan at 802-233-0544, alanday88@ gmail.com, or Claire at 802-448-3569. DECLUTTERERS’ SUPPORT GROUP Are you ready to make improvements but find it overwhelming? Maybe 2 or 3 of us can get together to help each other simplify. 989-3234, 425-3612. DISCOVER THE POWER OF CHOICE! SMART Recovery welcomes anyone, including family & friends, affected by any kind of substance or activity addiction. It is a science-based program that encourages abstinence. Specially trained volunteer facilitators provide leadership. Sun. at 5 p.m. The meeting has moved to Zoom: smartrecovery. zoom.us/j/92925275515. Volunteer facilitator: Bert, 399-8754. You can learn more at smartrecovery.org. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SUPPORT Steps to End Domestic Violence offers a weekly drop-in support group for female-identified survivors of intimate partner violence, including individuals who are experiencing or have been affected by domestic violence. The support group offers a safe, confidential place for survivors to connect w/ others, to heal & to recover. In support group, participants talk through their experiences & hear stories from others who have experienced abuse in their relationships. Support group is also a resource for those who are unsure of their next step, even if it involves remaining in their current relationship. Tue., 6:30-8 p.m. Childcare is provided. Info: 658-1996. FAMILY & FRIENDS OF THOSE EXPERIENCING MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS This support group is a dedicated meeting for family, friends & community members who are supporting a loved one through a mental health crisis. Mental health crisis might include extreme states, psychosis, depression, anxiety & other types of distress. The group is a confidential space where family & friends can discuss shared experiences & receive support in an environment free of judgment & stigma w/ a trained facilitator. Wed., 7-8:30

p.m. Downtown Burlington. Info: Jess Horner, LICSW, 866-218-8586. FAMILY RESTORED: SUPPORT GROUP FOR FRIENDS & FAMILIES OF ADDICTS & ALCOHOLICS Wed., 6:30-8 p.m., Holy Family/St. Lawrence Parish, 4 Prospect St., Essex Jct. For further info, please visit thefamilyrestored.org or contact Lindsay Duford at 781-960-3965 or 12lindsaymarie@gmail.com. FCA FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP Families Coping w/ Addiction (FCA) is an open community peer support group for adults (18+) struggling w/ the drug or alcohol addiction of a loved one. FCA is not 12-step-based but provides a forum for those living the family experience, in which to develop personal coping skills & to draw strength from one another. Our group meets every Wed., 5:30-6:30 p.m., live in person in the conference room at the Turning Point Center of Chittenden County (179 S. Winooski Ave., Burlington), &/or via our parallel Zoom session to accommodate those who cannot attend in person. The Zoom link can be found on the Turning Point Center website (turningpointcentervt. org) using the “Family Support” tab (click on “What We Offer”). Any questions, please send by email to thdaub1@gmail. com. FIERCELY FLAT VT A breast cancer support group for those who’ve had mastectomies. We are a casual online meeting group found on Facebook at Fiercely Flat VT. Info: stacy.m.burnett@gmail.com. FOOD ADDICTS IN RECOVERY ANONYMOUS (FA) Are you having trouble controlling the way you eat? FA is a free 12-step recovery program for anyone suffering from food obsession, overeating, under-eating or bulimia. Local meetings are held twice a week.: Mon., 4-5:30 p.m., at the Unitarian Universalist Church, Norwich, Vt.; & Wed., 6:30-8 p.m., at Hanover Friends Meeting House, Hanover, N.H. For more info & a list of additional meetings throughout the U.S. & the world, call 603-630-1495 or visit foodaddicts.org. G.R.A.S.P. (GRIEF RECOVERY AFTER A SUBSTANCE PASSING) Are you a family member who has lost a loved one to addiction? Find support, peer-led support group. Meets once a mo. on Mon. in Burlington. Please call for date & location. RSVP to mkeasler3@ gmail.com or call 310-3301 (message says Optimum Health, but this is a private number). GRIEF & LOSS SUPPORT GROUP Sharing your sadness, finding your joy. Please join us as we learn more about our own grief & explore the things that can help us to heal. There is great power in sharing our experiences w/ others who know the pain of the loss of a loved one & healing is possible through the sharing. BAYADA Hospice’s local bereavement support coordinator will facilitate our weekly group through discussion & activities. Everyone from the community is welcome. 1st & last Wed. of every mo. at 4 p.m. via Zoom. To register, please contact bereavement program coordinator Max Crystal, mcrystal@bayada.com or 802-448-1610. GRIEF SUPPORT GROUPS Meet every 2nd Mon., 6-7:30 p.m., & every 3rd Wed. from 10-11:30 a.m., at Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice in Berlin. The group is open to the public & free of charge. More info: Diana Moore, 224-2241.

GRIEVING A LOSS SUPPORT GROUP A retired psychotherapist & an experienced life coach host a free meeting for those grieving the loss of a loved one. The group meets upstairs at All Souls Interfaith Gathering in Shelburne. There is no fee for attending, but donations are gladly accepted. Meetings are held twice a mo., the 1st & 3rd Sat. of every mo. from 10-11:30 a.m. If you are interested in attending, please register at allsoulsinterfaith. org. More information about the group leader at pamblairbooks.com. HEARING VOICES SUPPORT GROUP This Hearing Voices Group seeks to find understanding of voice-hearing experiences as real lived experiences that may happen to anyone at any time. We choose to share experiences, support & empathy. We validate anyone’s experience & stories about their experience as their own, as being an honest & accurate representation of their experience, & as being acceptable exactly as they are. Tue., 2-3 p.m. Pathways Vermont Community Center, 279 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington. Info: 802-777-8602, abby@pathwaysvermont.org. HELLENBACH CANCER SUPPORT People living w/ cancer & their caretakers convene for support. Call to verify meeting place. Info, 388-6107. INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS/PAINFUL BLADDER SUPPORT GROUP Interstitial cystitis (IC) & painful bladder syndrome can result in recurring pelvic pain, pressure or discomfort in the bladder/pelvic region & urinary frequency/ urgency. These are often misdiagnosed & mistreated as a chronic bladder infection. If you have been diagnosed or have these symptoms, you are not alone. For Vermont-based support group, email bladderpainvt@gmail.com or call 899-4151 for more info. INTUITIVE EATING SUPPORT GROUP Free weekly peer-led support group for anyone struggling w/ eating &/or body image. The only requirement is a desire to make peace w/ food & your body. Meeting format is: a short reading from Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch, 4th edition, followed by open sharing & discussion. Come find community through sharing struggles, experience, strength & hope. Located at the Pickering Room, Fletcher Free Library, Sun. 1-2:30 p.m. Contact 202-553-8953 w/ any questions. KINDRED CONNECTIONS PROGRAM OFFERED FOR CHITTENDEN COUNTY CANCER SURVIVORS The Kindred Connections program provides peer support for all those touched by cancer. Cancer patients, as well as caregivers, are provided w/ a mentor who has been through the cancer experience & knows what it’s like to go through it. In addition to sensitive listening, Kindred Connections provides practical help such as rides to doctors’ offices & meal deliveries. The program has people who have experienced a wide variety of cancers. For further info, please contact info@vcsn.net. KINSHIP CAREGIVER SUPPORT GROUP A support group for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. Led by a trained representative & facilitator. Meets on the 2nd Tue. of every mo., 6:30-7:45 p.m., at Milton Public Library. Free. For more info, call 802-893-4644, email library@miltonvt.gov or visit facebook.com/events/561452568022928.

SUPPORT GROUPS »

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Support Groups [CONTINUED] LAUGHTER YOGA Spontaneous, genuine laughter & gentle breathing for physical & emotional benefit. No yoga mat needed! This group is held every Mon., 2-3 p.m., at Pathways Vermont Community Center, 279 North Winooski Ave., Burlington. Contact Chris Nial for any questions: chrisn@ pathwaysvermont.org. LGBTQ SURVIVORS OF VIOLENCE The SafeSpace Anti-Violence Program at Pride Center of Vermont offers peer-led support groups for survivors of relationship, dating, emotional &/or hate-violence. These groups give survivors a safe & supportive environment to tell their stories, share info, & offer & receive support. Support groups also provide survivors an opportunity to gain info on how to better cope w/ feelings & experiences that surface because of the trauma they have experienced. Please call SafeSpace at 863-0003 if you are interested in joining. LGBTQ VETERANS Share the struggles & celebrate the joys of being a service member & LGBTQIA+ in this peer-led discussion group. Meetings are at the Rainbow Bridge Community Center in Barre on the 2nd & 4th Tue. of each mo. Visit rbccvt.org for more info. LIVING THROUGH LOSS Gifford Medical Center is announcing the restart of its grief support group, Living Through Loss. The program is sponsored by the Gifford Volunteer Chaplaincy Program & will meet weekly on Fri., 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., in Gifford’s Chun Chapel. Meetings will be facilitated by the Rev. Timothy Eberhardt, spiritual care coordinator, & Emily Pizzale MSW, LICSW, a Gifford social worker. Anyone who has experienced a significant loss over the last year or so is warmly invited to attend & should enter through the hospital’s main entrance wearing a mask on the way to the chapel. Meetings will be based on the belief that, while each of us is on a unique journey in life, we all need a safe place to pause, to tell our stories &, especially as we grieve, to receive the support & strength we need to continue along the way. MARIJUANA ANONYMOUS Do you have a problem w/ marijuana? MA is a free 12-step program where addicts help other addicts get & stay clean. Ongoing Wed., 7 p.m., at Turning Point Center, 179 S. Winooski, Suite 301, Burlington. Info: 861-3150. MYELOMA SUPPORT GROUP Area myeloma survivors, families & caregivers have come together to form a Multiple Myeloma Support Group. We provide emotional support, resources about treatment options, coping strategies & a support network by participating in the group experience w/ people who have been through similar situations. 3rd Tue. of every mo., 5-6 p.m., at the New Hope Lodge on East Ave. in Burlington. Info: Kay Cromie, 655-9136, kgcromey@aol.com.

NAMI CONNECTION PEER SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS Weekly virtual meetings. If you have questions about a group in your area, please contact the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Vermont, program@ namivt.org or 800-639-6480. Connection groups are peer recovery support group programs for adults living w/ mental health challenges. NAMI FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP Weekly virtual & in-person meetings. ASL interpreters avail. upon request. Family Support Group meetings are for family & friends of individuals living w/ mental illness. If you have questions about a group in your area, please contact the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Vermont, info@namivt.org or 800-639-6480. NARCONON SUNCOAST DRUG & ALCOHOL REHABILITATION & EDUCATION Narconon reminds families that overdoses due to an elephant tranquilizer known as Carfentanil have been on the rise in nearly every community nationwide. Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid painkiller 100 times more powerful than fentanyl & 1,000 times stronger than heroin. A tiny grain of it is enough to be fatal. To learn more about carfentanil abuse & how to help your loved one, visit narconon-suncoast.org/drug-abuse/ parents-get-help.html. Addiction screenings: Narconon can help you take steps to overcome addiction in your family. Call today for a no-cost screening or referral: 1-877-841-5509. NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS is a group of recovering addicts who live without the use of drugs. It costs nothing to join. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using. Held in Burlington, Barre & St. Johnsbury. Info, 862-4516 or cvana.org. NARCANON BURLINGTON GROUP Group meets every Mon. at 7 p.m., at the Turning Point Center, 179 S. Winooski Ave., Suite 301, Burlington. The only requirement for membership is that there be a problem of addiction in a relative or friend. Info: Amanda H., 338-8106. NEW (& EXPECTING) MAMAS & PAPAS! EVERY PRIMARY CAREGIVER TO A BABY! The Children’s Room invites you to join our weekly drop-in support group. Come unwind & discuss your experiences & questions around infant care & development, self-care & postpartum healing, & community resources for families w/ babies. Tea & snacks provided. Thu., 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Bring your babies! (Newborn through crawling stage.) Located in Thatcher Brook Primary School, 47 Stowe St., childrensroomonline. org. Contact childrensroom@wwsu.org or 244-5605. NORTHWEST VERMONT CANCER PRAYER & SUPPORT NETWORK A meeting of cancer patients, survivors & family members intended to comfort & support those who are currently suffering from the disease. 2nd Thu. of every mo., 6-7:30 p.m., St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 11 Church St., St. Albans. Info: stpaulum@myfairpoint. net. 2nd Wed. of every mo., 6-7:30

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p.m., Winooski United Methodist Church, 24 W. Allen St., Winooski. Info: hovermann4@comcast.net. OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS (OA) A 12-step program for people who identify as overeaters, compulsive eaters, food addicts, anorexics, bulimics, etc. No matter what your problem w/ food, we have a solution! All are welcome, meetings are open, & there are no dues or fees. See oavermont.org/ meeting-list for the current meeting list, meeting format & more; or call 802-863-2655 anytime!

REFUGE RECOVERY MEETING Burlington Refuge Recovery is a Buddhist-oriented, nontheistic addiction recovery group that meets every Tue. at 6:45 p.m. at Turning Point Center, located at 179 S. Winooski Ave. in Burlington. SCLERODERMA FOUNDATION NEW ENGLAND Support group meeting held on the 4th Tue. of every mo., 6:30-8:30 p.m., Williston Police Station. Info, Blythe Leonard, 878-0732.

PONDERING GENDER & SEXUALITY Pondering Gender & Sexuality is a twicemonthly facilitated mutual support group for folks of any identity (whether fully formed or a work in progress) who want to engage in meaningful conversations about gender, sexuality & sexual orientation, &/or the coming-out process. Discussions can range from the personal to the philosophical & beyond as we work together to create a compassionate, safe & courageous space to explore our experiences. The group will be held on the 2nd Sun. & 4th Tue. of every mo., 1-2:30 p.m., either virtually or at Pride Center of Vermont. Email pgs@pridecentervt.org for more info or w/ questions!

SEX & LOVE ADDICTS ANONYMOUS 12-step recovery group. Do you have a problem w/ sex or relationships? We can help. Info: Shawn, 660-2645. Visit slaafws.org or saa-recovery.org for meetings near you.

POTATO INTOLERANCE SUPPORT GROUP Anyone coping w/ potato intolerance & interested in joining a support group, contact Jerry Fox, 48 Saybrook Rd., Essex Junction, VT 05452.

SEXUAL VIOLENCE SUPPORT HOPE Works offers free support groups to women, men & teens who are survivors of sexual violence. Groups are avail. for survivors at any stage of the healing process. Intake for all support groups is ongoing. If you are interested in learning more or would like to schedule an intake to become a group member, please call our office at 864-0555, ext. 19, or email our victim advocate at advocate@sover.net.

QUEER CARE GROUP This support group is for adult family members & caregivers of queer &/or questioning youth. It is held on the 2nd Mon. of every mo., 6:30-8 p.m., at Outright Vermont, 241 N. Winooski Ave. This group is for adults only. For more info, email info@outrightvt.org. READY TO BE TOBACCO-FREE GROUPS Join a free 4-5-week group workshop facilitated by our coaches, who are certified in tobacco treatment. We meet in a friendly, relaxed & virtual atmosphere. You may qualify for a free limited supply of nicotine replacement therapy. Info: call 802-847-7333 or email quittobaccoclass@uvmhealth.org to get signed up, or visit myhealthyvt.org to learn more about upcoming workshops! RECOVERING FROM RELIGION Meets on the 2nd Tue. of every mo., 6-8 p.m., at Brownell Public Library, 6 Lincoln St., Essex Junction, unless there’s inclement weather or the date falls on a holiday. Attendees can remain anonymous if they so choose & are not required to tell their story if they do not wish to, but everyone will be welcome to do so. The primary focus of a Recovering From Religion support group is to provide ongoing & personal support to individuals as they let go of their religious beliefs. This transitional period is an ongoing process that can result in a range of emotions, as well as a ripple effect of consequences throughout an individual’s life. As such, the support meetings are safe & anonymous places to express these doubts, fears & experiences without biased feedback or proselytizing. We are here to help each other through this journey. Free.

SEX ADDICTS ANONYMOUS, MONTPELIER Do you have a problem w/ compulsive sexual behavior? A 12-step program has helped us. SAA Montpelier meets twice weekly at 6 p.m.: Mon. virtual meeting, details at saatalk.info; Thu. face-toface at Bethany Church, Montpelier. Details at saa-recovery.org. Contact saa.vtrecovery@gmail.com or call 802-322-3701.

SOCIAL ANXIETY SUPPORT GROUPS For screened adults ages 28-40. Therapist-led sessions. For more info, contact diane@ldtayeby.com. STUTTERING SUPPORT GROUPS If you’re a person who stutters, you are not alone! Adults, teens & school-age kids who stutter, & their families are welcome to join 1 of our 3 free National Stuttering Association (NSA) stuttering support groups at UVM (join by Zoom or in person). Adults: 5:30-6:30 p.m., 1st & 3rd Tue. monthly; teens (ages 13-17): 5:30-6:30 p.m., 2nd Thu. monthly; school-age children (ages 8-12) & parents (meeting separately): 4:15-5:15 p.m., 2nd Thu. monthly. Pomeroy Hall (489 Main St., UVM campus). Info: nsachapters.org/ burlington, burlingtonstutters@gmail. com, 656-0250. Go, Team Stuttering! SUICIDE SURVIVORS SUPPORT GROUP For those who have lost a friend or loved one through suicide. 6:30-8 p.m., on the 3rd Tue. of every mo. Maple Leaf Clinic, 167 N. Main St., Wallingford. Info: 446-3577. SUICIDE HOTLINES IN VT Brattleboro, 257-7989; Montpelier (Washington County Mental Health Emergency Services), 229-0591; Randolph (Clara Martin Center Emergency Service), 800-639-6360.

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SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

SUPPORT GROUP FOR WOMEN who have experienced intimate partner abuse, facilitated by Circle (Washington Co. only). Please call 877-543-9498 for more info. SURVIVORS OF SUICIDE If you have lost someone to suicide & wish to have a safe place to talk, share & spend a little time w/ others who have had a similar experience, join us on the 3rd Thu. of every mo., 7-9 p.m., at the Faith Lighthouse Church, Route 105, Newport (105 Alderbrook). Please call before attending. Info: Mary Butler, 744-6284. SURVIVORS OF SUICIDE: S. BURLINGTON This group is for people experiencing the impact of the loss of a loved one to suicide. 1st Wed. of each mo., 6-7:30 p.m., at the Comfort Inn & Suites, 3 Dorset St., S. Burlington. Info: Bob Purvee at 802-922-4283 or ripurvee1@ yahoo.com, or Aya Kuki at 802-881-3606 or ayakokuki@gmail.com TOPS Take Off Pounds Sensibly chapter meeting. Hedding United Methodist Church, Washington St., Barre. Wed., 5:15-6:15 p.m. For info, call David at 371-8929. TRANS & GENDER-NONCONFORMING SUPPORT GROUP As trans & GNC people in the world, we experience many things that are unique to our identities. For that reason, the Transgender Program hosts a support group for our community on the 1st & 3rd Wed. of every mo., 6:30-8 p.m., either virtually or at Pride Center of Vermont. The Trans & GNC Support group is for Vermonters at all stages of their gender journey to come together to socialize, discuss issues that are coming up in their lives & build community. We welcome anyone whose identity falls under the trans, GNC, intersex & nonbinary umbrellas, & folks questioning their gender identity. Email safespace@pridecentervt.org w/ any questions, comments or accessibility concerns. TRANSGENDER FAMILY SUPPORT We are people w/ adult loved ones who are transgender or gender nonconforming. We meet to support each other & to learn more about issues & concerns. Our sessions are supportive, informal & confidential. Meetings are held at 5:30 p.m., the 2nd Thu. of each mo., via Zoom. Not sure if you’re ready for a meeting? We also offer 1-on-1 support. For more info, email rex@pridecentervt.org or call 802-318-4746. WOMEN’S CANCER SUPPORT GROUP FAHC. Led by Deb Clark, RN. Every 1st & 3rd Tue., 5-6:30 p.m. Call Kathy McBeth, 847-5715. YOUNG ADULT SUPPORT GROUP A support group for young adults to build community & access peer support. This group meets weekly on Thu. from 3-4 p.m. at Pathways Vermont Community Center, 279 North Winooski Ave., Burlington. Contact Chris Nial for any questions: chrisn@pathwaysvermont.org.

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Craft Beer Delivery Driver Lawson’s Finest Liquids & The Beer Guy craft and deliver the finest and freshest beer to delight our fans. We are values-driven companies with a focus on excellence, cultivating and supporting vibrant communities, and having fun. We are passionate about delivering world-class brews throughout our nine-state Northeast region and beyond.

$70.00/hour Work 8-16 hours per week at the Northlands Job Corps Center in Vergennes, VT. Hours flexible but no evenings or weekend work available. You choose amount of hours per week. Remote work a possibility. Please call Dan W. Hauben ASAP at 888-552-1660.

The Craft Beer Delivery Driver is responsible for ensuring the timely delivery of goods to predetermined customers on specific routes, review orders prior to delivery, load and unload trucks, & provide exceptional customer service. Driving experience preferred. Apply: lawsonsfinest.com/about-us/careers.

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ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/ INTAKE COORDINATOR Vermont Center for Anxiety Care Matrix Health Systems Exclusive Burlington waterfront location Duties: • Manage online client applications for mental health services • Telephone screening of new clients • Health insurance verification • Manage client wait list • Coordinate case assignments • Telephone and in-person patient reception • Implement health safety protocols • Administrative support to practice director

Manufactured Home Improvement and Replacement Program/Home Repair

Guest Services Specialist 4 DAYS A WEEK (PART TIME-ONSITE) — $750 SIGN-ON BONUS

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SPECIALIST The Home Repair Technical Assistance Specialist will primarily administer technical and application assistance to park owners and residents who have unmet needs that affect habitability leading to unsafe and unhealthy housing living conditions and/ or displacement. This position requires supporting applicant(s) through their financial assistance request(s) process including follow-up support, referral and reporting services as needed. To apply, visit cvoeo.org/careers to submit a cover letter and resume.

We seek a part-time (4 days a week with an option to go full-time), detail-oriented professional to oversee a wide range of essential guest services at our Shelburne, VT, location. Organization and meticulous attention to detail are crucial qualities for this role. This position is eligible for a one-time signing bonus of $750. The bonus will be paid out after completing a successful 180-day with the company.

Operations Specialist 3 DAYS A WEEK (PART TIME-ONSITE) — $750 SIGN-ON BONUS The Operations Specialist role is a part-time (3 days a week) position and is responsible for assisting and supporting the pre and post-tour operations at our Shelburne location. The ideal candidate should be comfortable working with multiple team members and vendors and understand operations and team deliverables. This role is eligible for a one-time signing bonus of $750. The bonus will be paid out after completing a successful 180-day with the company.

The City of South Burlington has the following job opportunities available:

MULTIPLE POSITIONS OPEN!

• IT Network and Telecommunication Systems Administrator

Are you our next Guest Services Representative? Buyer? Produce Associate?

Required skills: • Friendliness and effective verbal communication Computer skills: • Spreadsheets, JotForms, scanning, faxing, email, MS Word • Efficiency and organization Send resume to Alesia: alesia@ocamhs.com

10/23/23 1:10 PM TO APPLY

• Highway Maintenance Worker (2 positions)

Scan to see all open positions!

• Highway Mechanic

STAFF CURATED BENEFITS

Maintenance Worker • Firefighter • Police Officer • Horticultural Specialist

To learn more about the positions and how to apply:

southburlingtonvt.gov/jobopportunities.

Apply online at healthylivingmarket.com/careers 4t-HealthyLiving020922 1

• Recreation & Parks

2/2/22 4:58 PM

YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR ATTENTION RECRUITERS: POST CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

96 OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

JOIN OUR TEAM!

Shared Living Provider Seeking shared living provider for a 47-year-old male who enjoys going for long rides, dogs, and male companionship. The providers must be willing to provide complete personal care. A first-floor bedroom and bathroom will best meet his needs.

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS The South Burlington School District is seeking a selfmotivated, dynamic individual to join our Central Office as the Director of Operations. This position will serve as a key advisor to the Sr. Director of Finance and Operations and will oversee a variety of operational functions and assigned departments. The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree, or the equivalent, and 3-5 years’ experience in detailed administrative work, operations management, project management, safety program management, procurement, or transportation fleet management. Strong technical skills is a must.

RETREAT THERAPISTS

If you have questions, contact Elissa Galvez, HR Employment Specialist at (802) 652-7247 or egalvez@sbschools.net.

Wild Trails Farm is seeking psychotherapists and other types of mental health counselors for personal retreat guests. Ideal candidates have a flexible schedule and are available on weekends and occasional weekdays in Springfield VT. No scheduling or other administrative tasks required.

Hegeman Electric, Inc. has immediate opening(s) for full-time/long term licensed electricians and apprentices.

Office Manager

Meet with clients in wellappointed spaces in our solarand geothermal-powered lodge, with views of the surrounding mountains and forest. Join our gathering of retreat practitioners in blazing a new wellness trail in Southern Vermont!

Most projects fall within a 50-mile radius of Essex Jct. Residential and commercial wiring knowledge is a plus. Fire alarm experience is a plus. Willingness to work overtime is required. Must have good work ethic and work well with other employees and contractors. Must supply own hand tools and have dependable transportation. Salary commensurate with experience. Generous benefits package includes paid Holidays, Vacation, Medical, Dental, Vision and a generous 401(k) Match. Vacation and 401(k) match are available after 1 year of service.

Resonant Link is transforming the charging experience across industries and leading the movement to electrify work, logistics, transportation, and patient care.

Compensation includes a generous Tax-free stipend, 20-hours weekday supports, and a substantial respite budget. Contact Shirley at Sdonohue@howardcenter.org or 802-324-5729.

howardcenter.org • 802-488-6500

Please send your resume and cover letter with current contact information to: across@hegemanelectric.com or Hegeman Electric, Inc., 16 Gauthier Drive, Essex Jct., VT 05452. Please feel free to stop by our office to complete an application Monday-Friday 8:00am – 3:00pm.

Operating Room RN or Certified Surgical Technologist NORTHEASTERN VERMONT REGIONAL HOSPITAL (NVRH): Join our team of experienced nurses and provide exceptional patient care in Perioperative Services. We offer competitive wages, loan repayment, generous paid time off, and a comprehensive benefits package. Don’t miss out on this amazing chance to advance your career and join a healthcare team that delivers excellent services to the community. Apply now and experience the rewards of being in a supportive and thriving environment at NVRH.

NVRH.ORG/CAREERS.

To apply, visit SchoolSpring.com, reference Job ID #: 4438622, or visit our website: sbschools.net/page/ employment-opportunities.

Contact retreats@ wildtrailsfarm.com for details.

As Resonant Link’s on-site Office Manager, you will be responsible for creating a frictionless work experience in our Burlington headquarters, as well as our hub locations in Zurich and Boston, helping ensure that the entire team (whether working in the office or remotely) is working in safe, accessible, and functional workspaces and have access to what they need to work efficiently. This is a full-time, salaried position with benefits. For details and to apply: apply.workable.com/resonant-link/j/1881C79AC9/.

THE GRIND GOT YOU DOWN?

Resonant Link is an equal opportunity employer and includes “Together is Better” as a core value.

Adolescent Literacy Teacher The Stern Center for Language and Learning is hiring literacy teachers who are ready to make a difference at a new level in their career. If you thrive in an educational setting that shakes up the traditional school model, apply to join our team in the life-changing work of teaching reading. Work one-on-one or in small groups, with adolescents who need the support of caring educators who believe in them, in a context where social-emotional wellbeing and support is a critical part of the learning journey. We have current openings for structured literacy instructors with a background in dyslexia/special education, Orton-Gillingham, or similar qualifications. A flexible position based part-time or full-time in a Chittenden County, VT alternative high school program location is a priority hire. The Stern Center for Language and Learning is a non-profit organization with a fortyyear history of dedication to learning for all through direct support to learners and transformative programs for educators. We invite you to learn more at sterncenter.org. To apply, email a cover letter and resume to hcastillo@sterncenter.org.

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8/26/21 5:17 PM

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! 3.83”

JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

EVENT OPERATIONS MANAGER

We have several exciting career opportunities available! Scan the QR code to view job descriptions & apply.

Youth Coach Part Time

Youth Shelter Coordinator

Youth Shelter Support

an equal opportunity employer

Join the Flynn and be part of a team striving to make the community better through the arts. All backgrounds encouraged to apply. This is an hourly, non-exempt, in-person position. Coordinate, oversee, and conduct ‘Night of Show’ security and facility needs, support fellow Flynn staff during such events, and provide a high level of customer service and assistance to patrons. Your job will be to provide professional service that ensures the well-being and safety of patrons and the theatre during Flynn Center events. Candidates must have excellent communication skills, the ability to multi-task, and have outstanding problem-solving skills. For the full description please visit: flynnvt.org/About-Us/ Employment-and-Internship-Opportunities Email materials to: HResources@flynnvt.org No phone calls, please. E.O.E.

Mental Health Counselor n also apply online via our website

We’re Hiring! We offer competitive wages & a full benefits package for full time employees. No auction experience necessary.

(802) 862-7662

DELIVERY DRIVERS WANTED

We’re seeking an energetic & motivated individual to join our auction team. Techs work an average of 40 hours per week. Email: info@thcauction.com

Feel free to stop in to our office at 54 Echo Place, Suite# 1, Williston, VT 05495 and fill out an application.

10/17/23 12:13 PM

Video Producer

The Media Factory is looking for a motivated person with a passion for community media to join our team as a part-time Field Producer and Production Technician. The position requires strong communication skills, attention to detail, and a willingness to work with the public at a busy community media center. Video production experience is great but not required - we will teach you! You will need a valid driver’s AVENUE,and PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WI 53158 CGD Design.LLC 10330 32ndlicense must be available to work weeknights and carol grabowski-davis cgrabod@sbcglobal.net weekends to be considered.

You can also apply online via our website at shipvds.com or email Tom Knox directly at tknox@shipvds.com.

Hiring Now

Smokehouse Staff • Call Center • Gift Assembly CHOCOLATES CLIENT: LAKE CHAMPLAIN DATE: 04-01-16 Responsibilities: JOB NO: LC-0253

PROJECT: LCC Employment Ads

• Record school board and municipal meetings, lectures, 5v / 3.83”x5.25” NAME: LC0253_RETAIL FNAT Help to make our World Famous PHASE: Smoked Hams and FILE Bacon, DS 302-3 and community events speak with people around the country processing orders, or PLEASE CHECK CAREFULLY. Although every effort is made to ensure that this artwork is correct, 25-0-95-0 assemble gift boxes errors for the Staff liability the Media Factory reservation andholidays. omissions do occur. CGD DESIGN cannot•assume beyond the corrections needed. counter, answer

If you are looking for a job for a few weeks or months we have seasonal part and full-time positions with scheduling flexibility, in a fun team focused work environment. Apply in person. 210 E Main Street - Richmond

THCAuction.com

Email Us: Info@THCAuction.com 10/2/23 4t-Harringtons101823 11:48 AM 1

phones, and fulfill community producer equipment reservations

This is a part-time position with a compensation range of $16.69/hr - $20/hr and includes paid time off. Send cover letter and resume to careers@mediafactory.org to apply. The Media Factory is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, ancestry, national origin, color, religion, gender, gender identity, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status.

Thomas Hirchak Company is an at will employer. See details at:

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Please visit our website for additional job details: https://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/careers

We are currently accepting applications for both part time and full time positions. We have several 5v-LakeChamplainChocolates101823 1 different shifts available. Part-Time

Auto Auction Staff (WILLISTON, VT)

Auction Site Tech (MORRISVILLE, VT)

(Night Shift - November & December only) 3:30pm-11:30pm Monday - Friday, with ability to work some weekends and extended hours

OPEN POSITIONS:

Want to make a quick buck in your free time in a fun, fast paced environment? We’re looking for Friday & Saturday Auto Auction Staff. 8:45AM-Noon. Email eric@thcauction.com

Join our enthusiastic, hard-working crew of people passionate about excellent chocolate! Shipping extraordinary chocolate across the country on a daily basis is no small task - it requires physical endurance, motivation, and careful attention to detail! As Seasonal Order Fulfillment Specialist at LCC, you are responsible for picking, packing, and preparing specialty gift boxes and wholesale packages for shipping and delivery. Attention to detail, basic math skills, and accuracy are critical to the success of this position. Must be able to lift up to 50lbs and stand for long periods of time.

(Day Shift) 7:30am - 4:00pm Monday - Friday, with ability to work some weekends and extended hours in December during peak season

ph 3

Navigator

Seasonal Order Now Fulfillment Hiring! Specialists Full-time, seasonal schedule based upon availability at our 290 Boyer Circle chocolate factory in Williston, VT:

Full & part-time positions

vds.com or email TomAdult Knox directly Young at tknox@shipvds.com.

97 OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

10/16/23 2:29 PM

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YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR ATTENTION RECRUITERS: POST CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

98 OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

MANUFACTURING TEAM MEMBER Super Thin Saws, of Waterbury, VT, manufactures precision circular sawblades and similar tooling, primarily for the woodworking industry. We are seeking highly motivated individuals to work and grow in our manufacturing operation. Candidates must be mechanically inclined. Previous experience with measuring tools such as micrometers, calipers, and dial indicators is desired. We will provide training to successful candidates. Super Thin Saws provides excellent benefits, including medical, good pay, and flexible work hours.

To apply: please send your resume to bookkeeping@ superthinsaws.com or call 802-244-8101

JOIN OUR TEAM!

Shared Living Provider Seeking a full-time Shared Living Provider(s) to support a 21-yearold young man who loves music, video games, cats, sharing with others, and technology. This individual communicates verbally, has a great sense of humor, and enjoys joking around with others. This individual is looking for a provider who can develop strong boundaries, support him in learning to be more independent, provide ongoing supervision and support with medical care. Compensation: $65,000 tax free annual stipend plus room and board ($760.69/month.) Interested candidates contact: ahornyak@howardcenter.org, or 802-373-1144.

howardcenter.org • 802-488-6500

Co-Executive Director Philanthropy & Communications

Structured Literacy Instructor If you’re a qualified educator with training and experience in structured literacy instruction, this rewarding role allows focus and impact, teaching one-on-one to make a positive difference every day. Preferred candidates will have training in Orton-Gillingham and/or Wilson, and/or have Special Education certification. This position includes the Stern Center’s 6-week summer program through the 202324 school year. Our ideal candidate will have exceptional communication and organizational skills, an understanding of research-based interventions, and experience in developing individualized learning plans. If you desire a culture where you receive outstanding support from your peers, and recognition for excellent work, and would like to work in an academically stimulating environment, we encourage you to apply. You will be changing lives through the use of evidence-based instruction. The non-profit Stern Center for Language and Learning is dedicated to learning for all as we recognize that all great minds don’t think alike. We invite you to learn more about us at sterncenter.org.

The Vermont Garden Network (VGN) advances the collective good in health, wellness, environment, food security, and human connections by delivering garden and nutrition education, along with related resources and programs. Our mission is to cultivate well-being by helping people grow food, build confidence, and connect with each other. VGN is seeking a Co-Executive Director of Philanthropy & Communications. The Co-Executive Director is part of a shared leadership structure that governs the operations and program delivery of the Vermont Garden Network. This position reports to the Board of Directors and collaborates with the Co-Executive Director of Programs & Partnerships to educate, support and connect gardeners across the state of Vermont.

2024 Legislative Internship Would you like to learn about Vermont’s legislative process and track policies related to climate change, affordable housing, transportation, environmental justice, clean water, forests and wildlife? Vermont Natural Resources Council is seeking a Legislative Intern to assist VNRC and our partners, Vermont Conservation Voters and the Vermont Planners Association, in advancing legislation through the Vermont State House, January-May 2024. Visit vnrc.org for the full job description & to apply.

GOT A CASE OF THE

SUNDAY SCARIES?

Find a job that makes it easier to sleep at night.

To view job description: vtgardens.org/get-involved/join-our-team.

OPERATIONS & HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

Explore opportunities like: Coordinator of Prospective Student Engagement champlain.edu/careers View opportunities here

Join our Team to nurture our shared economic prosperity, ecological health, and social connectivity for the well-being of all who live in VT. Responsible for HR, organizational development, operations, and special projects management. FT salary between $70-75k, great benefits, casual but professional hybrid work environment, and an organizational culture where people feel valued, are energized, and can support forward-thinking solutions to our economic, social and climate challenges. VSJF is an E.O.E. committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and a strong sense of belonging in the workplace. Full job description: vsjf.org/about-vsjf-vermont/job-openings. Send cover letter & resume to jobs@vsjf.org by 5pm 10/30/23.

Browse 100+ new job postings each week from trusted, local employers.

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See who’s hiring at jobs.sevendaysvt.com 4v-Zombie-Campaign.indd 1

8/25/21 12:51 PM

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY!

JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

BOOKKEEPER Conant Metal & Light seeks a permanent, part-time bookkeeper. Quickbooks, MS Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams experience helpful, but not required. Tasks include payroll administration, AP/AR, account reconciliation and general office administration. Approximately 16-24 hours per week, flexible, but must be on site.

PART-TIME LECTURERS

The Department Department of of Education Education at at The UVM is is currently currently hiring hiring part-time part-time UVM Lecturers for for Spring Spring 2024 2024 for for Early Lecturers Please send your resume, cover letter and salary requirements to Early Childhood, Early Childhood Childhood, Early Childhood Special Ken@conantmetalandlight.com. Special Education, Elementary, Education, Elementary, and and Secondary Education Student Secondary Education Student Teaching Supervision; Supervision; Elementary Elementary Teaching Education Practicum Practicum Courses; Courses; and and a Education We are seeking an experienced Sales Representative and a Secondary Education Curriculum Secondary Education Curriculum a Customer Service Associate to join our team. A leading and Assessment Assessment Course. Course. and compost & potting soil producer for over 30 years, we provide On-site supervision is required for On-site supervision is required for some courses. Qualifications include a fun and dynamic environment. Staff enjoy competitive wages some courses. Qualifications include teaching experience and a master's teaching experience and a master's and a generous benefits package. degree. The position begins on degree. The position begins on January 16, 2024. January 16, 2024. Visit our website for more information: To apply, please include a cover VermontCompost.com/Careers To apply, please include a cover letter that specifically addresses letter that specifically addresses The Flood Recovery Assistance Specialist works directly with a) your philosophy of teaching a) your philosophy of teaching, mobile home park individuals and families affected by flooding b) your commitment to diversity, b) your and commitment diversity, equity, inclusion to and c) disasters to identify and assess their recovery needs. The equity, and inclusion illustrations of any experience with4t-VTCompostCo102523.indd 1 10/23/23 12:16 PM Specialist will advocate on behalf of individuals being served c) illustrations of any experience supervision, mentoring, or to ensure accessibility to available resources and also facilitate with supervision, mentoring, or professional feedback to peers. resident/park owner conflict and mediate conversations that professional feedback to peers.

Vermont Compost Co. in Montpelier is hiring!

Mobile Home Program/Flood Recovery ASSISTANCE SPECIALIST

Send theletter cover letter Send the cover with a resume with a resume or CV to or CV and three references and three references to Julia.Stein@uvm.edu. Julia.Stein@uvm.edu.

Open Open until until filled, filled, aa review review of of applications will applications will begin begin immediately. immediately.

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Join the Community Kitchen Academy! Community Kitchen Academy (CKA) is a 9-week job training program featuring: Hands on learning, national ServSafe certification, job placement support and meaningful connections to community. Plus... the tuition is FREE and weekly stipends are provided for income eligible students!

10/10/23 10/7/22 12:26 3:48 PM PMAt CKA you’ll learn from professional chefs in modern commercial kitchens and

General Assembly

Director & Chief Counsel

lead to conflict resolution. In addition, this position will address barriers by providing information referrals to available programs and agencies.

JOB TRAINING. WELL DONE.

4t-CVOEOflood101823.indd 1

graduate with the skills and knowledge to build a career in food service, food systems and other related fields. Throughout the 9-week course, you’ll develop and apply new skills by preparing food that would otherwise be wasted. The food you cook is then distributed through food shelves and meal sites throughout the community. CKA is a program of the Vermont Foodbank, operated in partnership with Capstone Community Action in Barre and Feeding Chittenden in Burlington. Next sessions start November 13th in Barre and January 22nd in Burlington. APPLY ONLINE: vtfoodbank.org/cka.

You will be part of a highly professional and collegial team that is proud of, and enthusiastic about, the mission of the state legislature.

State Transport Deputy

To apply, please go to 'Career Opportunities' at legislature.vermont.gov.

Positions are open until filled.

The Old Stone House Museum team is a highly collaborative group drawn together by the premise that history matters. Our work environment is friendly and supportive. All employees enjoy a hybrid work model which offers a combination of working from home and collaborating with team members in the office.

~Director of Development & Communication

THE VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF STATE’S ATTORNEYS AND SHERIFFS is hiring for the position of full-time State Transport Deputy in the Chittenden County Sheriff’s Office. The StateTransport Deputy is a Vermont certified law enforcement officer (level 2 or 3), whose position is assigned to the Vermont Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs. Minimum Qualifications: High school diploma or GED equivalent and two years of experience in law enforcement. A full description for this position can be found here: prosecutors.vermont.gov/job-opportunities.

10/17/23 10:58 AM

We’re Hiring!

Two positions available:

Full-time

The Legislative support offices are currently hiring. The nonpartisan offices are an interesting, challenging, and exciting place to work.

To apply, visit cvoeo.org/careers to submit a cover letter and resume.

~In-School Education Director To request a full job description and to apply, please send a letter of interest, resume and 3 references by November 27th to:

director@oldstonehousemuseum.org

Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village 1-802-754-2022 director@oldstonehousemuseum.org 109 Old Stone House Road Brownington, VT 05860

For more information about the museum, please visit:

www.OldStoneHouseMuseum.org

Inquiries can be made by emailing sas.jobs@vermont.gov.

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10/24/23 11:42 AM

YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR ATTENTION RECRUITERS: POST CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

100 OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Vermont Commodity Manager

Seeking Operations Manager Operations Manager

Salvation Farms in Morrisville is looking for a detail oriented and organized individual to fill its Vermont Commodity Manager position. This staffer is responsible for the production of minimally processed products and expanding the organization’s surplus food brokering, processing center operations, and workforce development initiatives. For more information visit, salvationfarms.org.

FrontPorch PorchForum Forum is seekingforanan Front is searching experiencedperson operations to join experienced to leadlead our Operations our growing mission-driven team of out this Team. Accounting and HR focus. Check two dozen Vermont staff. Full-time and flexible, full-time and primarily remote position. remote + Burlington office hybrid. Help

Deadline to apply is October 27, 2023. us fulfill our community-building mission. Apply Today!

Learn more and apply: Learn more and apply at: https://frontporchforum.com/ bit.ly/FPFoperationsMgr. about-us/careers-at-fpf 5h-FrontPorchForum072722 1

We’re Hiring! P AR T– TIM E

SALES ASSOCIATE We’re looking for a part-time sales associate ready to work in a fashion-forward environment, providing high-touch service to our customers and be part of our growing store. Weekend availability required.

Join our team! Resumes & Inquiries: hello@addieandgrace.com

7/25/22 2:22 PM

Director of Development

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Administrative Wealth Associate

The Lake Champlain Chamber is a dynamic organization dedicated to creating economic opportunities in our region. We are seeking a passionate and experienced Director of Development to join our team and play a crucial role in supporting our mission. This newly created role will be responsible for developing and executing fundraising strategies to secure financial support from individuals, businesses, and organizations. You’ll play an integral part in strategic leadership and be responsible for acquiring and managing various resources, including financial support and partnerships. Your work will directly benefit programs like Leadership Champlain, Burlington Young Professionals, and LaunchVT and directly impact our ability to create economic opportunities for Vermonters.

10/23/23 3:50 PM

Community Financial Services Group, a VT-based trust company that provides local personal investment and financial planning services to our clients, is currently recruiting for an Administrative Wealth Associate for our Newport, VT office. Primary duties include processing contributions and distributions, daily settlement of transactions, bank reconciliation, and other related tasks. Attributes of a strong candidate include Associate’s Degree or higher, Microsoft Office proficiency, excellent math, verbal and written skills, and ability to multi-task.

To view a complete job description, visit bit.ly/LCChamberDofD. Interested candidates should submit their resume and a cover letter detailing their fundraising experience and their passion for economic development to vermont@vermont.org. Please include “Director of Development Application" in the subject line. The Lake Champlain Chamber is an Equal Opportunity Employer that welcomes diversity in the workplace. We strongly encourage all qualified persons to apply.

We offer a competitive salary, generous benefits, including 401(k), paid vacation, medical, dental and life insurance and an excellent work environment with opportunities for career development. Please send resume/cover letter to: bmason@cfsgtrust.com.

WHERE YOU AND YOUR WORK MATTER...

Copley Hospital is Seeking a Quality Management Director Do you want to work in a senior leadership role supporting a vibrant community hospital?

APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM SUPPORT SPECIALIST – MONTPELIER

The Apprenticeship Program Support Specialist will provide technical assistance and high-level customer service to employers, apprentices, intermediaries, and educational institutions to ensure the effective operation and expansion of the Registered Apprenticeship (RA) program. Will ensure proper registration of programs, evaluate program standards, and verify compliance of programs. A successful candidate is a problem-solver, detail-oriented, and has excellent communication skills. For more information, contact Cindy Robillard at Cindy.robillard@vermont.gov. Department: Labor. Status: Full Time. Location: Montpelier. Job ID #48442. Application Deadline: October 29, 2023.

If you are looking to grow your career and work with a dynamic team of new and seasoned professionals, thriving in the beautiful state of Vermont,we want to hear from you!

LIBRARIES GRANT SPECIALIST – BARRE

Reach out to J.T. Vize at jvize@chsi.org or apply online at www.copleyvt.org/careers.

Reporting to the Library Buildings Project Manager V, this position manages and oversees approximately $26,000,0000 in funds dedicated to Library Capital Grants Fund projects that the Vermont Department of Libraries will grant to public libraries from two federal funding sources: Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and US Department of Treasury to support improvements to their library buildings. For more information, contact Gina Hruban at gina.hruban@vermont.gov. Department: Libraries. Location: Barre. Status: Full Time, Limited Service. Job ID #48449. Application Deadline: November 12, 2023.

Learn more at: careers.vermont.gov 5h-VTDeptHumanResources102523

Exceptional Care. Community Focused. That’s Copley.

The State of Vermont is an Equal Opportunity Employer 10/20/23 9:40 AM

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10/20/23 11:20 AM

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY! JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

Huntington Town Administrator

101 OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Now Hiring!

Seeking highly responsible, dynamic, collaborative & organized individual. Full-time, salaried position with great benefits & competitive salary. Requires some night meetings while offering schedule flexibility. Position provides principal liaison and administrative support for Selectboard in fulfilling their statutory & quasi-judicial responsibilities. Strong budgetary, fiscal management, HR, community engagement, and leadership skills are essential. Experience in business, public or non-profit administration and management; local government; and progressively responsible experience in a professional office setting preferred. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Medication Tech/Resident Services Assistant • Resident Services Assistant • LPN An excellent work environment, competitive pay, and great benefits await you at our brand new, state-ofthe-art Residential Care program. Clara’s Garden Memory Care is looking for caring staff to join our team. Our community is beautiful, peaceful, and purposefully designed for those living with memory loss.

Job description available at www.huntingtonvt.org. Direct questions to current Town Administrator at TownHunt@gmavt.net or 802-434-4779.

LEARN MORE & APPLY

Submit letter of interest and resume via email to the Huntington Selectboard at TownHunt@gmavt.net.

Apply at thegaryresidence.com

Applications due 11/14/23 with 1/2/24 preferred start date. Position will remain open until filled.

Email your resume to HR@thegaryresidence.com

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Multiple Positions Open

4:30 pm - 7:00 pm

The Village Lodge at Smugglers’ Notch Resort. Scan QR code for more info.

Case Manager (Multiple Positions Available) Philanthropy & Communications Coordinator Volunteer Coordinator Wellness Coordinator

JOB FAIR Wednesday, November 1st

10/6/23 3:30 PM

Family season passes!

4 23/2

AmeriCorps Volunteer Outreach Member

APPLY NOW!

(until Aug. 2024)

Work at an organization that cares as much about you as the clients it serves! Our employees appreciate their health benefits, employer paid retirement plan contributions, flexibility, professional development opportunities and positive work environment. Job sharing will be considered for the right candidate. We seek new team members who can empathize with others, are comfortable with computers, are strong communicators and are enthusiastic about growing as professionals. For more information, visit: cvcoa.org/employment.html. 7t-SmugglersNotch101823 1

10/11/23 1:47 PM

YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR ATTENTION RECRUITERS: POST CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

102 OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

IT Network and Telecommunication Systems Administrator

Join NPI, Vermont’s premier Technology Management firm

Do you want to put your computer technical skills and networking/telecommunications experience to work and join a fantastic team of professionals? Do you enjoy communicating with customers and helping them improve processes and systems? The City of South Burlington is searching for an IT Network and Telecommunications Systems Administrator who will use these talents to oversee the day-to-day operation of our network and telecommunications infrastructure.

CANOPY IT SUPPORT TECHNICIAN Have fun and delight clients!

This position is responsible for the configuration, design, installation, support, repair, and regular maintenance of the phone & network infrastructure, computers, software applications and audio-visual equipment for the city. This position also provides internal customer service for day-to-day IT and phone functions of the City.

As a member of our top-flight Canopy team, you will be a go-to for products and applications that clients rely on every day. The team handles support requests, monitors network components, configures workstations and users, automates service delivery, reports on system health, resolves issues, and visits client sites. Some team members are embedded at client sites. 1 year+ full-time IT experience or degree required. Salary $50,000 - $65,000. SM

APPLY NOW: Review of applications will begin on November 6, 2023, and will remain open until filled. To learn more detail about this job opportunity, see a detailed job description and to apply, please visit our job opportunities website at southburlingtonvt.gov/jobopportunities. The City of South Burlington is an E.O.E.

NPI appreciates its staff, and offers a pet-friendly office, generous time off, matching 401k, family health coverage (including HSA option), Flexible Spending Accounts, open-book Sound management, profit-sharing, and hybrid interesting? work-from-home opportunities for Apply online selected positions after training period.

today!

https://tinyurl.com/NPI-Canopy6-SD

WORKPLACE SERVICES SPECIALIST The Workplace Services Specialist role is to provide a wide range of assistance to the site and supports the Facilities Manager in the maintenance and operation of Marvell’s Burlington, VT office, and may provide support to other sites as requested. Job Responsibilities:

Requirements:

• Facilities and Office Management

• Excellent organization skills • Ability to prioritize & manage time effectively • Exemplary written/verbal communication skills • Expertise working with diverse, cross-functional teams • Ability to manage and direct outside resources • Excellent problem-solving skills, self-starter who can drive items to closure • Proficiency with Microsoft Office & ability to learn new applications quickly

• Reception and Visitor Management • Procurement and Financial Management of the Site • Event Planning and Activities • Safety and Emergency Response

New, local, scam-free jobs posted every day!

At Marvell, we offer a total compensation package with a base, bonus, and equity. Additionally, we offer a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental and vision coverage or opt-out credit; 401(k) with company match including pre-tax, roth and after-tax contributions; employee stock purchase program (ESPP); wellness & mental health support including coaching and therapy; family support programs including back up care, tutoring, and SNOO rental. Paid time off options include vacation time, holidays, volunteer days, sick time, family care leave, and bonding leave. For more information, please go to marvellbenefits.com. Marvell provides a work environment that promotes employee growth and development. We are searching for an individual who wants to grow with the company and will strive to improve performance. If you are driven, personable, and energetic, there will be additional opportunities for you here at Marvell. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status. Any applicant who requires a reasonable accommodation during the selection process should contact Marvell HR Helpdesk at TAOps@marvell.com. 9t-Marvell102523.indd 1

jobs.sevendaysvt.com

10/23/23 10:56 AM 5v-postings-cmyk.indd 1

6/18/19 1:26 PM

VLITE Seeks Applications for

VELCO Board Member Full description and to apply go to:

bit.ly/VLITEsearch

NEW JOBS POSTED DAILY!

103 OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Retail Manager Full-Time

Umiak Outdoor Outfitters, Stowe, VT

Woman/LGBT+ owned and operated. Seeking a badass CSR to join our team!

Details can be found at: umiak.com/employment

Send resumes to: jessie@ vermontawards.com.

STORMWATER COORDINATOR

OFFENDER RE-ENTRY HOUSING SPECIALIST

$26 - $32 hourly, DOQ

We’re expanding our team of professionals in the Housing Retention and Services department. We’re looking for a full time Offender Re-entry Housing Specialist in our Housing Retention and Services department. The Offender Re-entry Housing Specialist provides support to men and women under the VT Department of Corrections supervision from prison back to Chittenden County. The ORHS focuses on high-risk men and women who are being released from jail and graduating transitional housing programs and in need of permanent housing. The ORHS provides intensive retention and eviction prevention services and works collaboratively with the Burlington Probation and Parole Office. Additionally, the ORHS works with various case workers, Re-Entry staff and the Administrative Staff from the VT Department of Corrections and the broad network of COSA staff as necessary throughout Chittenden County. The ORHS works to meet program objectives and BHA obligations under its grant agreement with the Department of Corrections. Candidate must have a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and at least 2 years of experience providing direct services to diverse populations. Knowledge of the social services network is preferred. Proficiency with Microsoft Office and internet navigation required. Excellent time-management skills, ability to work independently, as well as effective verbal and written communication skills are required. BHA serves a diverse population of tenants and partners with a variety of community agencies. To most effectively carry out our vision of delivering safe and affordable housing to all, we are committed to cultivating a staff that reflects varied lived experiences, viewpoints, and educational histories. Therefore, we strongly encourage candidates from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ individuals, and women to apply. Multilingualism is a plus! Our robust benefit package includes premium medical insurance with a health reimbursement account, dental, vision, short and long term disability, 10% employer funded retirement plan, 457 retirement plan, accident insurance, life insurance, cancer and critical illness insurance. We provide a generous time off policy including 12 days of paid time off and 12 days of sick time in the first year. In addition to the paid time off, BHA recognizes 13 (paid) holidays and 2 (paid) floating cultural holidays. Interested in this career opportunity? Send a cover letter and resume to: humanresources@burlingtonhousing.org. Human Resources, BHA 65 Main Street, Suite 101 Burlington, VT 05401

JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM

burlingtonhousing.org Burlington Housing Authority is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Full-time position with specific training available and excellent local government benefits. The Town of Shelburne team has grown to require a dedicated stormwater professional. The Town has a new stormwater utility, ordinance, and regulations. Help our community achieve environmental excellence, working with a wide range of partners. This coordinator will support other departments and contractors with mapping, grants, construction management, and agency reporting. The ideal candidate has related education and experience in stormwater work, with a mix of technical and people skills. We have opportunities to grow, and to shape this position to the skills and interests of the right candidate. The work is both indoors and outdoors in the beautiful environment of Shelburne. Visit shelburnevt.org/jobs to see the full job description and application. To apply, email scannizzaro@shelburnevt.org. Review of applications begins immediately. The Town of Shelburne is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Sterling College is an environmentally focused liberal arts college located in Craftsbury Common,Vermont. We offer affordable experiential learning that prepares people to be knowledgeable, skilled, and responsible leaders in the communities in which they live. Join our team in our pursuit to educate and inspire the next generation of environmental leaders.

Chief Advancement Officer: Spearheads the College’s fundraising initiatives and alumni engagement programs. Director of Advancement Services: Combines administrative and fundraising responsibilities to achieve annual fundraising goals.

Director of Residential Life: A pivotal force in shaping an inclusive and vibrant campus environment.

Residence Life Coordinator: Supports an engaged, welcoming, and vibrant student community.

Admission Counselor: A vital link between the college and prospective students, school counselors, and families. Director of Buildings & Grounds: Focuses on ensuring that the campus infrastructure is safe, functional, and aligned with the College’s operational goals. Director of Graphic Design & Social Media: As the College’s “story teller,” they play a critical role in amplifying Sterling’s mission of ecological thinking and action.

To read the full position description and application instructions, visit:

sterlingcollege.edu/employment

YOUR JOBS AT JOBS.SEVENDAYSVT.COM FOR FAST RESULTS, OR ATTENTION RECRUITERS: POST CONTACT MICHELLE BROWN: MICHELLE@SEVENDAYSVT.COM

104 OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Driver We are seeking a weekly driver for our 20 y.o. daughter who is unable to drive for reasons of neurodiversity. We will pay generously above minimum wage and cover mileage as reimbursed at .655 per mile (IRS mileage rate).

Emergency Team Coordinator Full-time • Middlebury, VT • Adult Department

Details: We are seeking a dedicated and experienced clinician to support our crisis response team. As the Emergency Team Coordinator, you will play a pivotal role in training and supervising staff who respond to adults experiencing a mental health crisis. You will oversee the systems of operation for our 24/7 program and serve as a primary contact person for community and state partners. This opening occurs in a dynamic time of change and possibility and there will be opportunities to help develop innovative crisis support models. At CSAC, we offer a collaborative and supportive work environment that values the integral link between crisis response and ongoing treatment. We are committed to making a positive impact on our community & providing excellent care to those in need. Responsibilities: · Train and supervise staff members engaged in delivering crisis services · Oversee the operational systems of our 24/7 program · Serve as a key point of contact for community and state partners · Foster strong relationships with stakeholders to ensure effective collaboration · Continuously assess and enhance crisis service delivery based on community needs Qualifications: · Master’s degree in a mental health field · Prior experience in crisis work is essential · Previous managerial or supervisory experience in mental health service delivery · Prior training in Open Dialogue is a plus · Availability to cover shifts on nights and weekends is required Full time with excellent benefits. Our organization is an Equal Opportunity Employer, fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Salary starting at $70,000 per year.

Adult - Police Liaison Crisis Specialist CSAC is hiring for the position of Police Liaison Crisis Specialist. This position is designed to provide immediate intervention, support, and referrals by coresponding to calls with law enforcement related to mental health, substance abuse, and other social service needs. Overall goals include reduction of unnecessary ED visits, inpatient admissions, involvement in the legal system, and length of time on scene for Law Enforcement through availability of specialized mental health intervention at the time of crisis. Requirements for this position are Associate’s degree, but preferably Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in mental health or a related field. At least 3 years of relevant human services experience. Demonstrated proficiency in emergency services and/or crisis response reflective of the person’s ability to manage crisis and traumatic incidents. Ability to engage individuals, assess needs, and manage stressful situations in community settings and de-escalation skills. Full time with some flexibility for occasional nights and weekend hours. Comprehensive benefits. Pay starting at $24.25 per hour. To apply, please submit your resume, cover letter, and any relevant certifications or training materials at: csac-vt.org/careers. E.O.E.

Creative Project Manager Creative Project Manager + This is a full-time, in-house position + This is a full-time, in-house position + Interface with clients, and internal design andclients, development teams +Hark Interface with and internal Hark design and development teams + Develop and maintain internal creative and standards +process Develop and maintain internal creative process and standards + 2-4 years PM experience required + 2-4 years PM experience required Full-time opportunity with benefits. opportunity with benefits. Full-time Learn more and apply on our site... Learn more and apply on our site...

Apply-->hark.bz/careers Apply-->hark.bz/careers 2v-Hark101823 1

Applicants will need to complete an ARIS employee application and complete a criminal background check. Contact Heather via phone (619) 602-4598 Or email jheatherfitzpatrick@ yahoo.com.

10/13/23 9:20 AM

Residential Program Manager Why not have a job you love? Benefit package includes 29 paid days off in the first year, comprehensive health insurance plan with premium as low as $13 per month, up to $6,400 to go towards medical deductibles and copays, retirement match, generous sign on bonus and so much more. And that’s on top of working at one of the “Best Places to Work in Vermont” for five years running. Great jobs in management, and direct support at an awardwinning agency serving Vermonters with intellectual disabilities. Job Highlight of the Week - Residential Program Manager: Exciting management opportunity coordinating residential supports for an individual in who lives in their own home. This individual is a considerate, resourceful, wheelchair-using man with a budding talent for photography. He is a great conversationalist and appreciates time spent with others. This is an excellent position for someone who is looking for the next step in their career or to continue their work in this field. The ideal candidate will enjoy working in a team-oriented position, have good organizational skills, and demonstrated leadership. Salary is $48,300 plus $1,000 sign on bonus at six months. Send resume to staff@ccs-vt.org. See all our positions at ccs-vt.org/currentopenings/. Make a career making a difference and apply today!

2v-HarborVillage102523 1

10/19/23 12:37 PM

You’re in good hands with...

“Seven Days sales rep Michelle Brown is amazing! She’s extremely responsive, and I always feel so taken care of. I can only imagine how many job connections she has facilitated for local companies in the 20 years she has been doing this.” CAROLYN ZELLER Intervale Center, Burlington

Get a quote when posting online. Contact Michelle Brown at 865-1020, ext. 121, michelle@sevendaysvt.com.

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8/20/21 1:41 PM

CALCOKU & SUDOKU (P.89) CROSSWORD (P.89)

fun stuff HARRY BLISS

JEN SORENSEN

SEVEN DAYS OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023

105

fun stuff JULIANNA BRAZILL

KRISTEN SHULL

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.

106 SEVEN DAYS 1OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 1, 2023 SR-Comics-filler071520.indd

7/14/20 3:32 PM

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY REAL OCTOBER 26-NOVEMBER 1

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21)

Scorpio author Ófeigur Sigurðsson writes, “You should never do what’s expected of you; there’s always another path through life than the one before you.” I wouldn’t recommend his approach to any other zodiac sign but Scorpio. And I would only advocate it for maybe 40 percent of Scorpios 10 percent of the time. The coming weeks will be one of those 10 percent times. So if you are among the 40 percent who would thrive on this demanding but potentially exhilarating counsel, get ready to be as original and imaginative in living your life as you have ever been. Halloween costume suggestions: unicorn, dragon or phoenix.

ARIES (Mar. 21-Apr. 19): “Shadow work” is a psychological practice that has been deeply healing for me. It involves exploring the dark places in my soul and being in intimate contact with my unripe and wounded aspects. Engaging in this hard labor ensures that my less beautiful qualities never take control of me and never spill out into toxic interactions with people. I bring this up, Aries, because the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to do shadow work. Halloween costume suggestions: Be your shadow, demon or unripe self. TAURUS (Apr. 20-May 20): The country where I live, the U.S., has banned over 2,500

books in recent years. I’m appalled by the ignorance that fuels this idiotic despotism. But there has been an amusing consequence, which I am pleased to report: Banning the books has sometimes hiked their sales. Gender Queer by Maia Kolbabe had a 130 percent increase. Art Spiegelman’s Maus I and Maus II jumped 50 percent. Let this scenario serve as an inspirational metaphor for you in the coming weeks. If any person or institution tries to repress, deny or resist you, do what you’re doing even bigger and better. Use their opposition as a power boost. Halloween costume suggestions: rebel, dissident or protester.

GEMINI (May 21-Jun. 20): Do you ever feel

you are treated unfairly at your job? Is your workplace sometimes detrimental to your health? Is it possible that a few small changes could add up to a big improvement in how you feel while you’re earning a living? There’s rarely a perfect moment to address these concerns, but the coming weeks will be a more favorable time than usual. If you decide to seek shifts, devise a strategy that’s as foolproof as possible. Resolve to be calm, poised and unflusterable. Halloween costume suggestion: a worker doing your ideal job.

CANCER (Jun. 21-Jul. 22): Cancerian come-

dian Dave Barry says that, as he grows older, he looks forward to “continued immaturity.” That sentiment is probably based on the fact that his humor is often juvenile and silly. (I like it, though!) I’m guessing it’s also because he aspires to remain youthful and innocent and surprisable as he ages. I mention this, fellow Cancerian, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time to celebrate and honor the parts of you that are still blooming but not yet in full blossom. Be grateful you have not become a jaded know-it-all. Would you consider revisiting joys you loved as a child and teenager? Halloween costume suggestion: your younger self.

LEO (Jul. 23-Aug. 22): Horseshoes have symbolized good luck in many cultures. A common usage is to hang them over front doors. But there’s disagreement about the best way to generate the good fortune. Some people say the open end of the horseshoe should point upward, since that collects the luck. Others

insist it’s best for the horseshoe to point down, as that showers luck on those who enter and leave the house. If you experiment with this fun myth, I advise you to point the open end up. It’s time for you to gather blessings, help and fortuity. Halloween costume accessories: good-luck charms such a four-leaf clover, acorn, cat’s-eye gemstone, ankh, dragon, laughing Buddha, Ganesh statue and horseshoe.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sep. 22): There would be no life on Earth if it weren’t for the sun. Our home star’s energy is the central force at work in the creation and sustenance of all humans, animals and plants. Yet we must be sure not to get extravagant amounts of our good thing. An overabundance of solar heat and radiance can cause failed crops, dehydration, droughts, skin cancer and wildfires. Are other factors at work in your sphere that are also nourishing in moderate amounts but unhealthy in excess? And do you know when just right becomes too much? Now is a favorable time to ruminate on these matters. Halloween costume suggestions: Goldilocks, Lady Justice with her scales, or a bodysuit adorned with a giant yin and yang symbol. LIBRA (Sep. 23-Oct. 22): The earliest known human settlement is Göbekli Tepe, in what’s now the country of Turkey. When archaeologists first excavated it in 1994, they realized it was built over 11,000 years ago. This was shocking news, since it dramatically contradicted previous estimates of how long people have lived in villages. I’m predicting a comparable shift in your understanding of your own past, Libra. The full effect may not be apparent for months, but there will be interesting jolts soon. Halloween costume suggestions: archaeologist, time traveler or yourself in a past life. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Only

two items appear more often in the world’s landfills than disposable diapers. They seem to be among the least ecologically sound products. Or maybe not. Japanese researchers at the University of Kitakyushu have made building materials out of them in combination with gravel, sand and cement. (Read more: tinyurl.com/betterwaste). In the spirit of this potentially glorious alchemical transmutation

and in accordance with astrological omens, I encourage you to ruminate on how you might convert wasted stuff into usable valuables in your own sphere. Halloween costume suggestion: a janitor or maid wearing a gold crown and pearls.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Of all the ideas propounded by major religions, the saddest is the Christian assertion that all of us are born sinful – that we come into this world with a corruption that renders us fundamentally flawed: tainted, soiled, guilty, foul. I reject this stupid nonsense. In my spiritual philosophy, we are all born gorgeous, loving geniuses. Tough experiences may diminish our radiance and make it a challenge to be our best, but we never lose the gorgeous, loving genius at our core. In accordance with astrological mandates, your task in the coming weeks is to get into close touch with this pure source. Halloween costume suggestion: your gorgeous, loving genius. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): According

to my meticulous analysis of the astrological omens, you now have a sacred right to expand your ego at least one full size. Even two sizes will probably be fine. Your guardian angel is lobbying for you to strut and swagger; so are your muses, your ancestors and God Herself. I hope you will overcome any shyness you feel about expressing your talents, your intelligence and your unique understanding of the world. Halloween costume suggestions: a charming braggart, charismatic egomaniac or beautiful narcissist.

PISCES (Feb. 19-Mar. 20): “The secret for harvesting the greatest fruitfulness and enjoyment is to live dangerously!” Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said that. “Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius!” he added. “Send your ships into uncharted seas!” As for you in the coming weeks, Pisces, I don’t recommend you live dangerously, but I do suggest you live adventurously. Surpass your limits, if you dare! Transcend your expectations and explore the frontiers. Those activities will be a good use of your life energy and are likely to be rewarded. Halloween costume suggestions: daredevil, swashbuckler, gambler, fortune hunter or knight-errant.

CHECK OUT ROB BREZSNY’S EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO HOROSCOPES & DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES: REALASTROLOGY.COM OR 1-877-873-4888.