TELESCOPE SPECIALIST JONATHAN Kemp made these images of the different phases of Monday’s partial solar eclipse using a telescope with a filter at Middlebury College’s Mittelman Observatory.
Credit: Mittelman Observatory/Middlebury College
A Salute to Addison
‘Love Letters’
Going long A Brandon man won one recent Vt. Sun Triathlon and a record was set in another. See Sports, Page 1B.
See a play about intimate correspondence in an intimate theater. Read Arts + Leisure.
County & Brando
RESCUE WORKER S n
August 2017
Front line community
(See MVAA, Page
12)
Service
Emergency You probably don’t think about first responders much until you need one. See our salute to rescue squads.
By JOHN S. McCRIGH T VERGENNES Vergennes Area — When Sara McKirryh er joined the her that night, and it turned out to around 20 years Rescue Squad in August of many shifts have 2000 two or three calls be a good thing. While was getting into. old, and she didn’t know exactly she was first shift had for service, McKirryh eight. what she er’s “I didn’t know “It was abnormall said in a recent what to expect,” the Vergennes The busy pace y busy,” she said, with understate interview. “My seemed to suit the rescue squad, mom (Ann Rivers) resident 46. McKirryher, who ment. was on is now CPR course and and she convinced me to take She stuck with a healthcare join (VARS). month. And she the 12-hour shifts, doing “I just wanted six to eight a stuck with the thing of value,” to give back to the communit her EMR (Emergenc training, too, McKirryher said. y, do somefirst earning y Medical Responder and then her EMT So she did the VERGENNES ) certification, CPR accreditation within training and Squad PresidentAREA RESCUE night as a VARS Today, she’s got two years. volunteer. There showed up for her first a full-time job, is always ready Sara McKirryher (certified Emergenc five shifts were two seasoned and cut back to to serve. y Medical Technician EMTs president a month. But McKirryh four or er, Independent who is the current s) on the job with of VARS, is still photo/ deeply John S. McCright (See McKirryhe involved. As an officer, r, Page 8)
A special publicatio
n of The Addison
ADDISON COUNTY
Vol. 71 No. 34
Independent
INDEPENDENT Middlebury, Vermont
Thursday, August 24, 2017
64 Pages
$1.00
ACSD takes aim at bias & intolerance in school system Residents of color share their stories By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — The Addison Central School District (ACSD) board will create a task force to recommend ways of creating a more racially sensitive educational program and campus environment for local students. The ACSD board voted unanimously on Monday to establish a “Task Force on Racism, Bias and Discrimination” following two hours
of emotional debate and testimony, much of it provided by area residents of color who cited specific cases in which they or their children have encountered racism on campus or on school buses — behavior they said the district needs to address. “Talking to students at school would be one way to address this, so that it’s a part of the curriculum,” East Middlebury resident Betty (See ACSU, Page 7A)
Resolution supports inclusivity, rights for all
in our nation to love whom they choose; to practice the religion of their choice; to support their families; to be free from discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations; and to be safe and secure in their homes and communities.” Several residents, including Mike Winslow, recommended the council (See Vergennes, Page 11A)
Council’s statement rejects bigotry in city SEVEN-YEAR-OLD MATTEO, left, and three-year-old Linden borrowed special protective glasses from Ilsley Library Monday afternoon to view Monday’s partial solar eclipse. Thousands around Addison County paused between 1:30 and 4 p.m. to see the moon cross in front of the sun.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
Awe and community unite eclipse viewers A diverse crowd of young and old gather at Mt. Abe By ANDY KIRKALDY BRISTOL — Monday afternoon in Bristol saw clear skies that were slightly less sunny than usual as a crowd approaching 100 stood next to the Mount Abraham Union High School track, their eyes turned upward. Spectators of all ages had united at a solar eclipse party to watch the moon gradually block their view of about three-quarters of the sun. The event was organized by the Bristol Recreation Department — which provided 25 pairs of NASA-approved viewing glasses — and
by Carl Engvall, a Bristol resident, Middlebury Union High School science teacher, and a selfconfessed eclipse geek. Engvall said with regret he has never viewed a total eclipse, but thought that creating Monday’s viewing event to share his enthusiasm was his second option after his proposal to drive hundreds of miles to see a full solar eclipse, known as a totality, drew a veto. Viewers across the middle of the nation saw a total eclipse on Monday afternoon. “I couldn’t be in the path of the totality. I couldn’t convince my family to drive to South Carolina, so I figured this would be the next best thing, have a little party and share it with people,” Engvall said. “And I wanted to make sure people
who wanted to absorb the eclipse were doing it safely.” Engvall is scheming to see another total eclipse even farther away next year, in part because the next Vermont totality will come in 2024 in April — a month, of course, not known for cooperative weather. “So the next one is going to be in Chile next year, and I’m going to try to convince my wife to get at least one plane ticket,” he said. “Because I really want to see one in totality. And there’s going to be one in Vermont in 2024 in April. But there’s no guarantee there’s going to be blue skies in April in Vermont. We lucked out today.” Those who gathered at Mount Abe on Monday (See Eclipse, Page 18A)
By ANDY KIRKALDY VERGENNES — After hearing from about a dozen-and-a-half citizens at its Tuesday meeting, the Vergennes City Council unanimously adopted a resolution supporting “the rights of people
Open Door Clinic loses key health care funding By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — Leaders of the Open Door Clinic (ODC) in Middlebury are trying to fill a $62,000 budget shortfall that could have a dramatic impact on the nonprofit’s efforts to extend medical care to migrant farm workers and connect
Middlebury in the spotlight as film festival hits screens
By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury takes the regional movie spotlight this week with its hosting of the 3rd Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival (MNFF), which runs Thursday, Aug. 24, to Sunday, Aug. 27. Hundreds of young directors and cinema enthusiasts have booked rooms and made restaurant reservations, and will be shopping at area stores while they partake in a menu of more than 90 features, shorts and documentaries that will be shown during the festival and will be considered for “VTeddy” awards. As is the case each year, the VTeddy winners will receive MNFF backing to screen their films on a multi-state MORE THAN 80 people of all ages gathered at Mount Abraham Union High School on Monday afternoon to see the solar eclipse. The Bristol tour throughout New England. Recreation Department provided safety glasses that viewers shared. The gathering was the brainchild of Carl Engvall, a Bristol resident, Middlebury “The themes this year are expansion Union High School science teacher and eclipse enthusiast. Independent photo/Andy Kirkaldy (See Film festival, Page 17A)
some Addison County residents to health insurance. The $62,000 shortfall includes the loss of $12,000 in state funding for the ODC’s lone, part-time health care “navigator” who helps uninsured and under-insured Addison County (See Clinic, Page 11A)
By the way Middlebury’s new dog park off South Street will be the beneficiary of Hannaford Supermarket’s book sale through September, as long as the book supply continues to flow. Pet lovers organizing the sale are (See By the way, Page 17A)
Index Obituaries................................. 6A Classifieds.......................... 4B-8B Service Directory............... 5B-6B Entertainment.........Arts + Leisure Community Calendar......... 8A-9A Arts Calendar.........Arts + Leisure Sports................................. 1B-3B