Happy Thanksgiving •
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 70 No. 47
Middlebury, Vermont
Thursday, November 24, 2016
82 Pages
$1.00
A centenarian shares life lessons
Wooden Wonders
Monkton woman reflects on 102 years
By GAEN MURPHREE the first African American President MONKTON — On Sunday, of the United States. Monkton resident Lillian Williams Family memory ties her back to will be 102 years old. the Civil War as well. “I just got old the last “(In the “Grandma always said couple of years,” said Wilshe was born three years liams, who holds her pe- 1930s) you after Lee surrendered,” tite frame upright, laughs were more said Williams, who is Afreadily and speaks with a apt to have a rican American. sparkle in her eyes. Williams was born piano than a As a child of four, she telephone.” Nov. 27, 2014, in Philasurvived the deadly flu — Lillian delphia, the third child of pandemic of 1918 that Williams Mary and Clyde Berkeclaimed 20 million to ley, a homemaker and a 50 million worldwide. cook. The growing famShe was 14 when the stock mar- ily moved to Pittsfield, Mass. Things ket crashed on “Black Thursday” changed when Lillian was around in 1929, 27 when the United States five, and her father returned to Philaentered World War II, 55 when Neil delphia in search of work. Armstrong walked on the moon, and “The father abandoned them,” 94 when Barack Obama was elected (See Williams, Page 16A)
JACK BROWN, OWNER of the Brown Novelty Company in East Middlebury, sits with a toy piano that is part of the new Wooden Wonders toy display at the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History in Middlebury. Brown’s company, established by his father in 1936, still makes wooden toys today. Independent photo/Trent Campbell
Museum showcases old-time toys By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — Look at a child’s holiday wish list this year and you’ll be hardpressed to find an item that doesn’t need batteries or isn’t endowed with electronic circuitry. If it doesn’t whir, ring, text, conjure explosions, rack up points or play movies, it’s probably not going to find its way under a Christmas tree. It hasn’t always been that way. There was a time when Addison County kids lit up with excitement upon receiving a wagon, truck, baby carriage or train made by folks just down the street using an abundant product
By the way Traditionally, Thanksgiving is the point when most of us begin to think in earnest about the upcoming winter holidays. Take comfort (See By the way, Page 16A)
Index Obituaries................................. 6A Classifieds.......................... 4B-7B Service Directory............... 5B-6B Entertainment.........Arts + Leisure Community Calendar......... 8A-9A Arts Calendar.........Arts + Leisure Sports................................. 1B-3B
TINY TOT TOYS made by the Brown Novelty Company of East Middlebury in the 1950s are part of a new wooden toy exhibit at the Henry Sheldon Museum in Middlebury. The Wooden Wonders exhibit runs through Jan. 14. Independent photo/Trent Campbell
growing just outside their front door — wood. The Henry Sheldon Museum of Ve r m o n t History has a new exhibit called “ Wo o d e n Wo n d e r s ” that is rekindling in visitors that love of basic toys fashioned with unpretentious artistry and ingenuity. The exhibit — featuring a wide variety of novelty pianos, bowling pin games, animal figures, pull and push toys, wagons and other wooden items — also provides a snapshot in time when the region boasted multiple companies that essentially served as extensions of
Santa’s workshop. Many of the toys featured in “Wooden Wonders” have been culled from the private collection of Shoreham resident and longtime toy enthusiast Chuck Herrmann. Others come courtesy of the East Middlebury-based Brown Novelty Co., run by Jack Brown. It was in 1936 that brothers Floyd and Roy Brown bought the old Bryant Box Factory in East Middlebury and made it the headquarters for the Brown Novelty Co. By 1940, the brothers had turned their venture into a thriving operation with 25 workers, churning out a wide variety of wooden toys. The Brown brothers had honed their technical skills while working for the Newton & Thompson Toy Manufacturing Co. in Forestdale. (See Wooden toys, Page 14A)
MONKTON’S LILLIAN WILLIAMS was nine years old in 1924 when this photo with her 12-year-old friend Henry Rollinson was taken in her hometown of Pittsfield, Mass. Williams, who will turn 102 on Sunday, shares the wisdom of a century on this Earth.
Orwell to field Act 46 vote for the third time
Nonprofit takes on parental leave issue
Modified school union is a possible outcome By JOHN FLOWERS ORWELL — Orwell residents next March will be asked for a third time to merge their school governance with that of five nearby Rutland County towns to form a new Slate Valley Unified Union School District. Voters in Orwell have already rejected such a move twice this year. But this time around the new unified school district would be able to take shape even without Orwell’s participation under a “modified” union school district permitted under Vermont’s Act 46. In such a case, Orwell would be required to manage its own pre-K through grade 8 population until it negotiates a separate educational set(See Orwell, Page 13A)
BRIDGET GOSSELIN, PICTURED here with her two-year-old daughter Vivienne, has launched a nonprofit called the Parental Leave Project. The PLP provides small grants to new parents who aren’t receiving parental leave benefits from their employers. Independent photo/Trent Campbell
By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY— Three years ago, Bridget Gosselin’s professional and personal lives were facing shakeups of major proportions. She was pregnant with her daughter, Vivienne, and anticipating the challenges of being a single mom. And while she was entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave under Vermont law, her Burlington employer was not among the few in the Green Mountain State that offer benefits to bridge the costs of the first few months of being out of work to care for a new baby. Accrued sick and personal time (See Leave, Page 13A)