March 31, 2016 A section by AddisonPress

Nuptial plans

Near miss

Still rolling

Our wedding special section includes 12 pages of stories to help you plan your special day.

A Brandon man pulled the driver of a truck in Otter Creek to safety. See story on Page 3A.

The Panther women’s lax team, now ranked No. 2, won two more games. See Sports, Page 1B.

ADDISON COUNTY

INDEPENDENT Vol. 70 No. 13

Middlebury, Vermont

◆

Thursday, March 31, 2016 ◆ 42 Pages

75¢

ACSU considers switch to global education plan By JOHN FLOWERS on ibo.org. “To this end, the organiMIDDLEBURY — The Addison zation works with schools, governCentral Supervisory Union is con- ments and international organizations sidering the adoption to develop chalof the International lenging programs of Baccalaureate (IB) “The design of an international educaprogram as a way of IB diploma course tion and rigorous placing students more is, I think, more assessment. These in charge of their own focused on inquiry, programs encourage learning and to make students across the them better prepared so there are a lot world to become acfor success in an in- more opportunities tive, compassionate creasingly global com- for creative and lifelong learners munity. who understand that assessments.” Offered in more than — Superintendent other people, with 4,000 schools worldPeter Burrows their differences, can wide, the IB program also be right.” “aims to develop inquirAddison Central ing, knowledgeable and caring young School Union Superintendent Peter people who help to create a better and Burrows gained experience with the more peaceful world through inter- IB program in his former life as a cultural understanding and respect,” teacher, and then principal, of Wilreads the program’s stated mission (See International, Page 2A)

Grant to float VUHS raft-building course By ANDY KIRKALDY VERGENNES — The Vergennes Union High School Fusion Program recently won a competitive $20,000 grant to help float a hands-on course this summer for incoming VUHS freshmen that will combine raftbuilding, literature, history, math and science. The month-long course, called “Rafting Adventure for Teens,” or “RAFT” for short, will be a joint effort of the Fusion Program, which offers afterschool and summer programs to VUHS and Vergennes Union Elementary School students, and the Lake Champlain Maritime

Museum (LCMM). A dozen students will build the rafts at the museum after learning how the logs are cut and measured at a local sawmill, learn how much buoyancy is needed to make the logs float properly as they make the rafts, explore the history of logging in Vermont, read Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” during the course, lash the rafts together in Vergennes, make a two-day trip along Otter Creek to the LCMM to conclude the course, and along the way journal and film their experiences. Students will either stay on cab(See VUHS Fusion, Page 13A)

Girl group “THE RONETTES” RUN through their final number in a Tuesday night rehearsal of the Mount Abraham Union High School spring musical “Little Shop of Horrors.” The show opens Thursday evening in Bristol. See more photos on Page 14A.

Independent photo/Trent Campbell

Orwell-area schools to vote on unification plan By JOHN FLOWERS ORWELL — Orwell and the five other Addison-Rutland Supervisory Union (ARSU) communities will decide on April 12 whether to consolidate their school governance system into a single board that will oversee one education budget for its five elementary schools and Fair Haven Union High School. Residents of the ARSU-member

towns of Benson, Castleton, Hubbardton, Fair Haven, Orwell and West Haven will also cast ballots on April 12 on their respective representatives to the new, 18-member board that would govern a newly created “Slate Valley Unified Union School District.” All six communities will need to endorse unification if it is to pass under an accelerated timetable offered

through Vermont’s Act 46. That new law provides financial incentives to communities that undertake school governance mergers, a transition that the Legislature wants to see replicated statewide as a means of delivering public education more efficiently and cost-effectively during this period of declining student enrollment. If the ARSU opts for unification, it would join three other area super-

visory unions that took such action earlier this year: Addison Central, Addison Northwest and Rutland Northeast, which approved the measure this past November. The looming vote comes at the recommendation of the ARSU’s Act 46 Study Committee, which spent several months exploring the potential educational and financial advantages (See Unification, Page 15A)

Lawmakers get earful on pot, lake clean-up By the way There are a spate of activities you need to prepare for between now and the next edition of the Independent. Warm up your best singing voice on Thursday to warble a heart-felt rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Vermont’s senior U.S. senator, Patrick Leahy. Smilin’ Pat was born March 31, 1940, in Montpelier and grew up across from the Statehouse. In 1974 he was elected to the U.S. Senate (the first and only Vermont Democrat to have that honor), and he is now the longest-serving representative in that body — 41 years. Happy Birthday, Patrick!

By GAEN MURPHREE BRIDPORT — Marijuana legalization and Lake Champlain cleanup dominated this week’s legislative luncheon in Bridport. This week’s event — part of the ongoing legislative breakfast and lunch series sponsored by the Bridport Grange and the Addison County Farm Bureau — focused on agriculture. Rep. Harvey Smith, R-New Haven, drew the first of many hearty chuckles that punctuated the discussion, when he responded to the Farm Bureau’s announcement of their upcoming Agriculture Appreciation Dinner Dance by saying, “I’ve got to tell you I’m really pleased to hear that announcement about the Ag Appreciation Day because the farmers that have been contacting me really don’t feel much appreciated.” Smith, a long-time dairy farmer who sold his herd and shifted the Smith Family Farm’s focus to pasture-raised meat in 2005, represents New Haven, Weybridge and Bridport and serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and Forest Products. Sen. Claire Ayer of Addison and Rep. Diane Lanpher of Vergennes, both Democrats, also attended the lunch. A Ferrisburgh resident launched the first question, asking where things stood with marijuana legalization. This question set in motion what was the most intense discussion from the engaged crowd of around 40 attendees, ranging from how

growing marijuana could benefit Vermont farmers to whether or how it might add to the state’s addiction problems. The legislation, said Ayer, passed the Vermont Senate and is now in the House Judiciary Committee. The question of whether legalizing marijuana could benefit Vermont farmers solicited a range of opinions, especially given that the legislation is still in process. Smith said he didn’t think legalization would offer much to Vermont farmers as the bill currently stands. “I know a lot of people first thought that the rural communities could benefit by being involved in growing an additional crop,” said Smith, “but with the Senate bill that came across that’s not possible … and I think it’s a mistake if we go down that road.” Ayer clarified that the current bill would favor smaller plots and smaller growers, while Lanpher added that it would cost $25,000 to apply to be a grower. Attendee Tim Buskey, membership chair of the Addison County Farm Bureau and a member of the board of trustees of the Vermont Farm Bureau, reminded attendees that any farmer who receives any kind of federal farm benefit cannot be in violation of federal law and that even if Vermont were to legalize marijuana, it would still be illegal at the federal level.

The next day, Friday, April 1, is, of course, April Fools’ Day. Plan a harmless prank, and make it original. The tradition of April Fools’ Day goes back at least to the 14th century and Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales.” If you’re interested in sheep, then Saturday will hold some interest for you. The state 4-H sheep quiz bowl and skill-a-thon will be held at 9:30 Saturday morning at the Orwell Town Hall. It is open to (See By the way, Page 1A)

Index Obituaries ................................ 6A Classifieds ......................... 5B-9B Service Directory .............. 6B-7B Entertainment ........................ 12A Community Calendar ...... 8A-10A Sports ................................ 1B-4B

JOE GLEASON OF Bridport, above, speaks during the annual Legislative Ag Luncheon held in the Bridport Community Hall Monday afternoon. Above right, Addison County Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Adam Lougee talks about road maintenance and how it can relate to Lake Champlain cleanup during Monday’s luncheon. Independent photos/Trent Campbell

Smith concurred and reminded farmers of the statement all farmers sign when applying for USDA programs that verifies they are not involved in illegal activities and that “your ability to qualify for any of the federal programs is directly tied to that statement.” But much of the discussion focused on the potential harm wrought by drug addiction. Said Bridport attendee Paul Wagner: “I live in town, I milked cows for 45 years and saw the light and stopped doing it, but the Legislature shouldn’t even be talking about it. It’s against federal law.” Wagner, who noted that marijuana has become far more potent since the 1960s and 1970s, adding “it’s not your grandfather’s weed,” also expressed concern that children are subject to secondhand smoke. “You smoke marijuana, everyone in the room smokes marijuana,” said Wagner. “Little kids in the room, it destroys their minds before they even get to be grown up.” Bridport resident Bill Keyes was one of several vocal opponents. “I’m hoping our representatives come to their senses up there. It looks as though they’re more concerned about the tax dollars than they are about the youth of the state of Vermont. I think it’s wrong to ever pass it,” he said, drawing both an “amen” and the day’s only round of applause. In a heartfelt response to the state’s addiction problem, Lanpher said she thinks Vermont has more significant issues to focus on besides legalizing marijuana and that these more significant issues include cleaning up Lake Champlain, taking care of Vermont’s children and making sure the state’s health insurance system works effectively. Later in the discussion, Lanpher responded from her point of view on the House Appropriations Committee where an overview of the state’s budget shows just how much addiction is costing Vermont. On that committee, she said, “you get to see a little bit of (See Legislators, Page 18A)

PAGE 2A — Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016

International

Picture perfect MARY BREVDA, ABOVE, lines up a shot of downtown Middlebury and the Otter Creek falls while participating in an Edgewater Gallery photographic shootout Saturday afternoon. The shootout sent more than a dozen photographers, under the guidance of retired National Geographic photographer Jim Blair, into the downtown area to capture images of Middlebury and the gallery. Among those images captured on a sunny Saturday morning was the shot at right of the new Middlebury town office building.

Independent photos/ Trent Campbell

New Haven’s Green Line talks progressing By GAEN MURPHREE NEW HAVEN — Negotiations continue between New Haven and developers of a renewable energy power line and high-voltage converter station in town, but town officials would not commit to when residents would get a vote on the

matter. The pace of these talks has become important as Middlebury has invited the Vermont Green Line project, which proposes running cable to move wind and hydro power from upstate New York to southern New England, to build the converter

station in that town. And a VGL official has cautioned that the project must keep to its own schedule. New Haven Selectman Steve Dupoise, who is one of two town negotiators, said talks with VGL developers Anbaric Transmission and National Grid are moving along.

“We are in negotiations, we have made some significant progress, and we’re meeting again tomorrow to hopefully continue that progress,” Dupoise said on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the New Haven selectboard warned an emergency (See Vermont Green Line, Page 3A)

(Continued from Page 1A) meet many of the goals of the strategic lamette High School in Eugene, Ore- plan. That’s where we started our congon. One of the courses he taught was versation about IB as a means to meet IB English. many of those objectives.” “I came in at the mid-stream of our Those goals, Burrows explained, in(IB) candidacy phase, and was part of clude personalized learning, stronger bringing IB into the high school,” said engagement by students in their studBurrows, who recently marked his ies, as well as doing a better job of conthird full year as top administrator of necting students globally and locally the ACSU. to become stronger world citizens. The IB program originated during ACSU’s investigation of IB officialthe 1960s as a diploma option for high ly began last fall with the creation of school juniors and seniors. three work groups to study the benefits “That program arose out of the de- of the Primary Years, Middle Years sire of international schools to have a and Diploma programs. Each group is shared curriculum where they could made up of ACSU administrators and be assured that students in whatever teachers. country they went to were getting the “They are learning as much as same kinds of standards, experience they can about IB,” Burrows said and preparation,” Burrows said. of the groups. “They are doing a lot But IB grew to include a Middle of reading and going on site visits to Years Program in 1994 that covers IB schools in New England to learn instruction for grades 7 through 10; a more.” Primary Years Program in 1997 coverBased on the groups’ research, the ing grades pre-K through 6; and the IB ACSU will launch a feasibility study Career-related Program in 2012 that to look at what adoption of the IB provides a choice of international edu- program might bring educationally to cation pathways for 16- to 19-year-old Middlebury-area schools, and how it students. matches with the current vision and The Primary and Middle Years pro- mission that has been established for grams are designed around inter-dis- the district. Officials would also have ciplinary units of study, with specific to determine what, within the current components, according to Burrows. curriculum, would have to be changed Students are expected to think outside to accommodate IB. of the box and ask questions about the District officials will also inform and material they are being presented. solicit feedback from residents of the A transition to IB seven ACSD-member could be fairly seamtowns, according to “We’ve been in less, with professional Burrows. development over a agreement for quite “We are planning three-year authoriza- a while that estab- some community outtion process to intro- lishing a comprereach in May with duce the program at hensive Pre-K-12 an IB forum to invite ACSU, according to curriculum is people to learn more,” Burrows. The IB diBurrows said. ploma program would essential to imAt the end of this require some changes proving outcomes exploration phase this in course scheduling for all students. fall, the 13-member at MUHS, Burrows The International ACSD board could believes. Baccalaureate pro- be asked to vote on Having IB experiwhether to pursue IB gram could be the ence on a high school for implementation transcript can make vehicle to accomin district schools. graduates more ap- plish that.” A “yes” vote would pealing to top colleges — ACSU board trigger a three-year and universities, Burchairman Rick Scott authorization process rows said. through IB. “Students can take The Vermont Agenall of the diploma courses and receive cy of Education does not need to encollege credit, and some colleges al- dorse a public school’s adoption of the low students to enter as a sophomore IB program. Burrows noted that the after completing the IB Diploma pro- program meets the state’s education gram,’ Burrows said. “The design of standards. an IB diploma course is, I think, more Burrows believes the ACSU is the focused on inquiry, so there are a lot only supervisory union in Vermont more opportunities for creative assess- currently considering IB authorization. ments.” The Dover School in 2015 became He recalled an IB English class he the first public school in Vermont to taught in Oregon in which students receive candidate status for the Intermade presentations. Some worked on national Baccalaureate program. The art pieces and talked about how that (private) Long Trail School in Dorset artwork was connected to poems they now offers the IB diploma program. had read. They spoke of the different “The IB program is not as welllayers in the poems and how they re- rooted here in the Northeast as it is in lated to different layers to the artwork. other parts of the country,” Burrows This offered students an opportunity to said, citing Chicago public schools as construct their own meaning out of the a system that has embraced IB. exercise. “I do think it offers us the ability to With unified school governance collaborate with educators to develop and a strategic plan in place, Bur- curricula that is constantly improving rows believes ACSU is well-suited to and grounded in sound pedagogy.” make the transition to an IB program. Burrows explained transitioning to Schools within the ACSU will soon be IB would not mean a wholesale switch governed by a single Addison Central in course material or academics. School District (ACSD) board. Rather, it would be a change in how That ACSU strategic plan includes the information is conveyed and how three “foundational goals,” including students would be expected to absorb educational success, community in- their lessons. volvement and developing the appro“Good teaching is good teaching,” priate educational systems and tools to Burrows said. “For some people, it further student success. would not be a dramatic shift.” “We realized that we needed to creRick Scott, chairman of the ACSU ate a guaranteed and viable curriculum board, is pleased to see the district to make sure all of our schools were evaluate the IB program as a potential articulated and students in every el- match. “We’ve been in agreement for ementary school were prepared at the quite a while that establishing a comsame depth and breadth to be success- prehensive Pre-K-12 curriculum is esful in middle school, high school, and sential to improving outcomes for all then prepared for life beyond gradua- students,” he said. “The International tion,” Burrows said. “We also looked Baccalaureate program could be the for a framework that would help us vehicle to accomplish that.”

Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016 — PAGE 3A

Sudbury man lives through river plunge By LEE J. KAHRS SUDBURY — A local man is lucky to be alive after he drove his truck off Route 73 and into the Otter Creek one morning last week. Just before 6 a.m. on March 23, Brandon police responded to a report of an accident on Route 73 West involving a pickup truck that had driven off the roadway and into the Otter Creek. Police responded and learned that a 62-year-old man from Sudbury was traveling eastbound on the road toward Brandon on his way to a medical appointment. Police said the man reported that wildlife on the edge of the road caught his eye and while glancing at it, he failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway. The man said his truck drove off the road and across a field before striking a small tree and plunging into the Otter Creek. The truck began to float in the river, which the driver said allowed him time to roll down his window, get out of the truck and start swimming to shore. Police said as he neared the shore, however, the driver clung to a tree because he had begun to lose his strength and couldn’t pull himself out of the water. As fate, or luck, would have it, Dillon Quesnel was driving by when he noticed the taillights of the truck

in the creek and stopped to help. The 29-year-old Brandon resident didn’t initially see the driver of the truck so he called out and was able to find him clinging to the tree on the shore. Quesnel then helped the older man out of the creek and transported him to the Brandon Police Station. The Chevy driver was then transported to the hospital for treatment for possible hypothermia and later released. It took three hours to pull the late-model Chevy truck from the creek on that Wednesday afternoon. The truck was in the middle of the creek about 100 yards from where the crash took place, and was completely submerged in roughly eight feet of water. Logger and heavy equipment operator Tracy Wyman brought his skidder and worked with Jared Lowell and Joe Hartley from Thunder Towing in Leicester, as well as Scott Trask, to get the truck out of the creek. “The Brandon Police Department is thankful for the efforts of all involved,” said Brandon Police Chief Chris Brickell, “and especially for the efforts of Dillon Quesnel, who as a Good Samaritan stopped and offered his assistance. The timing of all events was crucial to its successful outcome.”

JARED LOWELL, LEFT, and Joe Hartley of Thunder Towing, along with Scott Trask and Tracy Wyman work to extract a Chevy pickup from the Otter Creek after the driver left Route 73 in Sudbury in a March 23 crash. Brandon Reporter photo/Lee J. Kahrs

Porter closing one physicians practice

Vermont Green Line (Continued from Page 2A) meeting for Friday, 8:30 a.m., in the town library. The two agenda items are an executive session on Vermont Green Line negotiations and an executive session on “Solar offer.” The Independent was directed to Selectman Doug Tolles for details on the solar offer, but he didn’t return a phone call before deadline. At the Feb. 29 town meeting, New Haven residents made clear by a nonbinding vote that they wanted the decision on the VGL converter station to go to Australian ballot. Soon thereafter, National Grid U.S. Business Director Joe Rossignoli said his group would wait for the town to weigh in before VGL applied for permission from state regulators. “But … there is certainly a timeline around our permitting process and to the extent that the permitting process timeline becomes threatened by the negotiations we will have to begin looking at surrounding communities for the converter station,” he said. After being approached by Middlebury Business Development Director Jamie Gaucher, Rossignoli on March 22 presented the project to the Middlebury selectboard, which appointed Gaucher and Town Manager Kathleen Ramsay to negotiate with VGL representatives on a memorandum of understanding for siting the converter station in the town’s industrial park. At New Haven’s March 22 selectboard meeting, Richard Saudek, the attorney New Haven hired as an expert negotiator for the VGL project, said he was “pretty annoyed by the whole thing,” according to meeting minutes, but added that “we are well into the discussions and negotiations with Anbaric.” The Vermont Green Line is a proposed underground high-voltage direct-current cable plus converter station that would bring 400 megawatts under Lake Champlain and into the New England grid at a VELCO substation in New Haven. As described by VGL representatives, the converter station requires a site of roughly four to five acres and would be roughly the size of a football field and five stories high. Developers have estimated the value of the converter station at between

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$100 million to $150 million. The entire VGL project itself is estimated to cost roughly $650 million. Switching to Middlebury would cost the developers an additional $45 million to run the converted AC power to the nearest VELCO substation, Saudek told the New Haven selectboard. The developers have offered New Haven a $3 million fire station and an amount of property taxes plus cash totaling $1 million a year for 20 years. VGL developers also made a significant concession to New Haven by agreeing to limit the project to 400 MW, rather than the originally proposed 400 MW with the potential to expand to 800 MW. As residents have learned about the project, many have raised concerns about property values, noise, light, the potential need to update the VELCO power lines, safety, and about how a project of this scale would fit into New Haven’s rural landscape. NEW HAVEN NEGOTIONS So far, New Haven has secured $75,000 from VGL developers to hire its own experts. The selectboard in early February hired Robert Amelang for engineering consultation, Essex Junction-based Michael Lawrence Associates for consultation on landscaping and aesthetics, and Massachusetts-based sound consultants Cross-Spectrum Acoustics. Dupoise said that although there have been conversations with other consultants, none have been hired at this point. That VGL money is also being used to pay Carol Hall $200 a month to serve along with Dupoise as the town negotiators. Hall was a selectboard member when originally appointed, but lost her seat to John Roleau in the March 1 elections; so the selectboard voted to pay her to continue on in that capacity. According to New Haven selectboard chair Kathy Barrett and the

meeting minutes, Lawrence Associates have begun their analysis and have already made some recommendations that the selectboard has incorporated into its negotiations. Cross-Spectrum began its study earlier in March, placing microphones around the proposed converter station site. Cross-Spectrum’s Herb Singleton spoke with the selectboard on March 22, providing background on sound assessment. Dupoise said that Amelang’s role has been to help them “understand how this all works.” According to both Barrett and Dupoise, the selectboard’s plan is to continue negotiations until an agreement is reached and New Haven voters have a concrete proposal to consider. The town would need 30 to 40 days to warn a special town meeting, Barrett said. The town would hold at least one, if not more, informational meetings before the vote. Barrett said the selectboard would be posting the information from the consultants as it became available. Dupoise said that the selectboard would make the information available on the town website and/or at the informational meeting(s) before the vote. “We are working diligently to try and come to some kind of resolution so that we can bring it forward to the townspeople ASAP,” said Dupoise. “Once we have gathered all of our information and once we have completed some kind of an agreement with Anbaric, we will then hold a meeting for everyone in town to join and we will share all that information,” Dupoise continued. “We’re working diligently at getting this done and we are hoping to do that as soon as possible, but it’s going to depend on both parties being able to make that work. It’s an ongoing discussion, and that’s where we’re at.” Reporter Gaen Murphree is at gaenm@addisonindependent.com.

By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — Porter Medical Center officials on Wednesday promised to lead the organization out of its current period of financial challenges and broken morale, but served notice that the entire hospital community would in the meantime experience some short-term pain. PMC’s interim CEO, Dr. Fred Kniffin, provided a vivid preview of that pain during a jam-packed annual meeting held in Middlebury College’s Bicentennial Hall, announcing the closing of the Porter Internal Medicine physicians practice. The practice is closing, he said, due to the resignation of Dr. Naomi Hodde. Kniffin acknowledged Hodde has elected to leave in the wake of recent upheaval at Porter, which has included nursing staff layoffs and the hasty rollout of a new compensation structure for Porter providers. Those changes were overseen by former PMC President and CEO Lynn Boggs, who resigned suddenly on March 18. Kniffin — who does not plan to be a candidate for the CEO job — said Hodde will leave Porter Internal Medicine. Her partner in the business, Dr. Brad Armstrong, will be reassigned. Plans call for the Porter Ear, Nose and Throat practice to relocate into the Porter Internal Medicine office at 116 Porter Drive. “The bad news is, there will be some turbulence,” Kniffin said of some stormy months to come during what he believes will ultimately be a solid rebound for PMC. “We are going to lose some physicians; there’s no doubt about it.” During a question-and-answer period moderated by former Gov. Jim Douglas, Kniffin also acknowledged that PMC could “not walk back” on February’s layoffs affecting 17 positions (mostly nurses assigned to the 12 PMC practices), nor the reduction in benefits for part-time workers. “You have to balance what’s best for the organization,” Kniffin said, alluding to financial troubles that have resulted in PMC currently maintaining

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2.2 months of cash on hand — `below the average cash reserves held by most other Vermont hospitals. “We need to improve our financial performance,” he said. But Kniffin pledged to reach out to PMC physicians, nurses, staff and the community at large to rekindle a more cooperative relationship and take the

organization forward — albeit at a more deliberate pace. “This is not going to be a quick fix,” Kniffin said.“We are going to break this down into bites we can chew and digest.” The Independent will offer an expansive report on the PMC annual meeting in the Monday, April 4, issue.

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PAGE 4A — Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016

A DDIS ON INDE P E NDEN T

Letters

Editorials

to the Editor

Spitting into the wind? In a keynote speech Monday night honoring the winner of a journalistic prize for investigative reporting, President Barack Obama used the occasion to encourage the media to rise to “higher aspirations” in its political coverage, while lamenting the “divisive and vulgar” state of American politics. “People depend on you to uncover the truth,” he told the gathering of 450 media representatives at the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting. “People (need to be) getting information that they can trust, that has substance and facts behind it… What we’re seeing right now does corrode our society. When our elected officials and campaigns become entirely untethered to reason and facts; when it doesn’t matter what is true and what’s not, that makes it all but impossible for us to make decisions on behalf of future generations.” It is a well-founded concern, and throughout his half-hour speech the president noted that the disconcerting state of American politics was alarming not just to Americans, but also to leaders around the world. “The No. 1 question I am getting as I travel around the world or talk to world leaders right now is: What is happening in America — about our politics? And it’s not because around the world people have not seen crazy politics; it is that they understand America is the place where you can’t afford completely crazy politics,” he said. While the president was right to challenge the press corps to do better, he missed a key point: Much of the problem is that television and radio stations pander to an audience that seeks entertainment, not news. And what Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump knows all too well is that offensive/in-your-face/confrontational entertainment outsells staid and factual political reporting. Trump has also demonstrated that offensive, alluring and otherwise catchy tweets are political gold. How fitting for the times that a 140-character tweet has more impact on forming public opinion (or at least sparking political interest among the masses) than a well-considered, fact-based story or policy statement. What that says about today’s social media society is that titillation, insults and outrageous statements triumph over substance. One challenge is to change that culture. ********** But there is also another challenge. Before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the hundreds of other purveyors of social media; before Fox News and other overtly partisan news outlets; back in the days where CBS, NBC and ABC dominated the airwaves, the political establishment could rely on the American public operating from a common base of information. We all could disagree or agree on how to interpret that information, but at least a common core of understanding was prevalent. That is no longer true. What Fox News reports is very different from that reported on ABC, NBC or CBS, let alone NPR or the BBC. And what rightwing radio talk show hosts talk about is far different than the conversations going on at VPR. That is something to lament, but encouraging reporters to rise to “higher aspirations” is preaching to a choir that is already there and missing the elephant in the room: the hijacking of America’s broadcast media by partisan interests and 24-7 cable talk-shows that dwell on every single blip, scandal and attention-grabbing antic, whether it is newsworthy or not. This challenges the president’s statement in his speech: “I believe that for all the side shows of the political season, Americans are still hungry for the truth, it’s just hard to find.” It is not, actually, hard to find. There is more accurate news reporting out there than ever before; and you can get fairly reported information from a number of various perspectives. Read The Nation, The Atlantic, The Economist, The New York Times, Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, ProPublica; or listen to the BBC, NPR, or a number of other trusted sources and you’ll find balanced and factual reporting — all at your fingertips on your cell phone or computer or on the newsstand. The breakdown is not with the reporting corps of the nation’s print media, or even with good broadcast media, as much as it is the fracturing of any common news perspective based on the relevant facts. What is lost today is the public’s ability to discern between reliable news sources and those media outlets that are so partisan they betray the truth. What the president might have encouraged is for the American public to ignore the partisan bloggers, discount the round-the-clock cable news broadcasters that champion political bias and, instead, read more about the nation’s political state of affairs as part of every American’s obligation to uphold democracy by being an informed citizen. What the president might have addressed is the responsibility of broadcast stations that come with an FCC license. What the president might have championed is a re-instatement of civic classes in American high schools. Then again, in this political climate, asking Trump or Ted Cruz supporters to become more informed may be akin to spitting into the wind. Angelo S. Lynn

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New park could include garage Creating a park on the grounds of the old municipal building is a wonderful idea. Such an open area will provide an attractive entrance to the Middlebury College campus. It will also serve as a readily accessible meeting ground for the college and town communities. It will present a beautiful vista; a broad expanse leading up to Twilight Hall. Because of its topography however, this parcel of land is not ideally suited for a park. There is a significant gradient, actually a full story slope, between South Main Street and College Street. Additionally, the old municipal building and the gymnasium have full basements beneath them. Any attempt to level this land would take a huge amount of fill. Rather than treating these factors as detriments, I suggest we utilize them to our advantage. We can do this by building a single level parking garage on the property and placing the park on top of it. This has been done in many cities to great advantage. A parking garage beneath the park will provide benefits beyond the merely aesthetic. It will provide a substantial amount of daytime parking for citizens visiting the municipal offices and local businesses. It will also provide parking spaces for social events at the college president’s residence across the street during evening hours. I believe this suggestion should be seriously considered in determining how best to utilize this valuable parcel of land. Ralph Noyes Middlebury

GMO labeling law makes sense

Going under TREES STAND IN a flooded field along Otter Creek in Whiting last week.

Independent photo/Trent Campbell

Declining building delivered stories It was around 25 years ago that I first became acquainted with the Middlebury municipal building at 94 Main St. It always struck me as being somewhat of a paradox — too much building, but then again not enough, for the purpose to which it had been put to use. There seemed to more than enough space for the dozen or so employees on the main floor, but most of it was in the form of hallways and staircases leading to nowhere. You could imagine students years ago scrambling through the hallways in this By John remnant of the former Middlebury Flowers High School. But for a professional staff, the configuration seemed less than ideal. Prior to covering various municipal board meetings, I’d often wander across College Street to buy a sandwich at what was initially (to me) Lyons’ place, then Baba’s, then the Blue Hen, now Sama’s Café. I’d bring it into the town office building and eat it while perched on the short staircase linking the main floor landing and the gym. The bouncing of basketballs, shouts from children at play or the barked directions from yoga/ dance instructors would serve as my dinnertime diversion. Then I’d wander over to the main bulletin board to see if there were any news morsels that could be

gathered from posted agendas or minutes. I also covered Middlebury during an era when business was conducted in the lower level of the municipal building. From the College Street entrance, you’d descend the stairs to the police headquarters. In a dank, virtually windowless atmosphere, generations of Middlebury police officers typed up their reports and interviewed suspects. Officers would occasionally escort suspects up the stairway to the public restrooms, which could create awkward encounters for folks coming in to pay their tax bills. I recall many crime-related interviews with Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley that would end with him saying, “We’ve got to get out of this building.” It finally happened, in 2004, with construction of a new police station on Lucius Shaw Lane. Townspeople OK’d that expenditure not long after defeating, by a narrow margin, a proposal to build a new municipal building and police headquarters at their 94 Main St. location. Lest people forget, the Addison County Community Trust also used to maintain its office in the basement of the municipal building. The staircase at the South (See Clippings, Page 5A)

Clippings

Donald Trump is no Delmer Berg Last Thursday, The New York Times posted an op-ed column by Arizona Sen. John McCain titled “Salute to a Communist.” In the column, McCain paid homage to a 100-year-old man from California named Delmer Berg, who died a few weeks ago. Berg spent almost all of his life in California. In 1937, at the age of 21, he was working as a dishwasher at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. He saw an advertisement seeking recruits for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, a group of Americans who fought on the side of the Spanish Republic in the civil war that was then ravaging Spain. As Berg put it, “I was a worker. I was a farmer. I was in support of the Spanish working people, and I wanted to go to Spain to help them.” After coming up with enough money for his travel, Berg took a bus from Los Angeles to New York, sailed across the Atlantic to France, and man- By Eric L. Davis aged to cross the Pyrenees from France into Spain. He joined fellow members of the Brigade in the republican lines, fighting near Barcelona, as well as in the battles of Teruel and the Ebro, both of them bloody engagements that resulted in severe losses for the republican side. After the victory of Franco’s Nationalists in the civil war, Berg returned to California. He enlisted in the U.S. Army shortly after Pearl Harbor. He fought in the southwest Pacific during the New Guinea campaign, and was discharged in 1943 because of the effects of wounds he had suffered while fighting in Spain. Upon returning to the United States, Berg joined the Communist Party U.S.A., believing that the Soviet Union, then being attacked by Nazi Germany, was supporting the

Politically Thinking

forces of freedom in the European war. Later in life, he served as president of his local chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., supported the efforts of Cesar Chavez to organize migrant farm workers in California, and protested the Johnson and Nixon Administrations’ Vietnam War policies. When Berg died, he was the last surviving member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. John McCain obviously disagreed with many of Delmer Berg’s political views. But in his column, McCain showed his obvious admiration for Berg, for his commitment to fighting for freedom, his willingness to travel thousands of miles to risk his own life for people he did not know, his commitment to causes larger than himself, and his recognition that there are some causes that unite all of humanity. As I read McCain’s column, I could not help but thinking of Donald Trump’s remark last summer that McCain was “not a war hero ... He is a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured, OK?” Delmer Berg, and John McCain, were much bigger men than Donald Trump ever will be. McCain, as is well known, spent more than five years in a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp, where he was tortured, and refused an offer of early release after his father was named commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific. That experience has affected McCain for the rest of his life, and makes him understand the choices made, and the accomplishments of, an unsung hero such as Delmer Berg. Can one imagine Donald Trump ever acting in ways at (See Davis, Page 5A)

I want to respond to David Van Vleck’s letter to the editor in the March 24 edition of the Addison Independent regarding the new state law on GMO labeling. First, it isn’t up to David to say that GMOs are good or bad; that is up to each and every consumer. By labeling GMO-produced foods the customer can make their choice, whether they agree with David’s assessment of GMOs or if they have another opinion. It is also disingenuous of David (a retired high school science teacher) to compare the union of an egg and a sperm or the process of selective breeding to what agribusiness is doing in a lab. Nature cannot combine the genes of a salmon with an eel (done to produce faster growing farmed salmon) or a pig with a cow (done to increase the pig’s ham). Regardless if this is good or bad, it isn’t the same as breeding. Finally, there are more reasons than safe food for labeling GMO produced foods. There are people who don’t want to support GMO business. GMO seeds are patented and farmers cannot save seed from one year to the next and plant them since the seeds are owned by the agriculture firms, which own the rights to the seeds, even the ones the farmer grew. There are other political and environmental issues that are important to many consumers who do not wish to support the profits of GMO companies. There is the concern of the creation of “super bugs” and the over use of herbicides as a result of GMO plants. The issues are many and complex. The state has given us, the consumer, the help needed to make a purchase that reflects our political, environmental and health philosophy. This also helps consumers who wish to support GMO agribusiness. I don’t think this was a waste of legislative time or money; I think that was a good move on the part of the state. Peter Ryersbach Starksboro

Boggs forgot human element I would like to share my experience regarding the restructuring process implemented by the recent CEO Lynn Boggs at Porter Hospital. Last November, after working 39 years as an LPN on the medical/surgical unit at Porter Hospital, myself and three other LPN’s were told at a meeting with David Fuller, human resources; Charleen Ryan, (See Letter, Page 5A)

Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016 â€” PAGE 5A

Lucretius: Philosopherâ€™s view of the universe remains relevant today

Letters to the Editor Lowest wage earners need help with medical bills In his letter in the March 21 edition of the Independent, Dr. Cossaart makes a great argument against Medicaid and rightly so. The whole health insurance industry is so far â€œout-of-whack,â€? to the extent that it should be investigated for criminal business practices. But the medical profession is also culpable â€” physicians, dentists, veterinarians â€” their charges (expenses) should really be evaluated. I think, when one is young and decides on a medical career, they do it to HELP others, not to make a lot of money or for the prestige. But somewhere along the way, HELPING, takes a back seat to money (finances) and prestige. Donâ€™t get me wrong it happens to all of us, it is LIFE. What happens to HELPING

patients, even though the finances arenâ€™t there â€” â€œI love my patients but,â€? â€œWhen I graduated school, I took an oath to do my best.â€? Something is very wrong when it is expected and justified to go to the dentist and be charged $400$500 for an annual visit. After all, most of us go to the dentist only when we have to. Veterinary clinics (companion animal) are just as bad; there is an office visit charge of $25-$40 on top of the treatment charges and FULL payment is expected. To justify oneâ€™s charges for service, because of education, is very wrong. At least most medical clinics take insurance and they HAVE TO take Medicaid. I volunteer and meet other people who are volunteering (from different professions) but I have

yet to meet a doctor, dentist, or veterinarian. Why is that I know some doctors volunteer their time and expenses to different causes but what about the rest? How about a free clinic or discount prices for those who do not have the income to pay for extra expenses? There are many adults who are making ONLY the minimum wage $10 an hour, that is $400 a week, $1,600 a month before taxes. A person with a family cannot live on that not without some kind of HELP. We are never going to be a socialist society but we donâ€™t have to be to want to HELP our fellow citizens. It starts with CARING. James Rowe Middlebury

Super-delegates should not exist in election system Angelo Lynnâ€™s trenchant editorial of March 28 made clear how daunting Bernie Sandersâ€™ chances are to win the nomination. He not only has to continue to ride the crest of the wave in the remaining primaries. But even if he can manage that, he must then confront and sharply whittle down Mrs. Clintonâ€™s massive advantage among the partyâ€™s so-called â€œsuper-delegatesâ€? â€” the party insiders who, by virtue only of their status, assert the prerogative to support whoever they want, regardless of the wishes of their constituents. Vermont voters have made their wishes utterly clear. Eighty-sixpoint-one percent voted for Bernie

Sanders and a pathetic 13.6 percent for Clinton in the recent democratic primaries. And yet our lame-duck governor, Peter Shumlin, no doubt angling for a new career in Washington, and our prestigious Sen. Patrick Leahy, up for reelection, as well as a couple of other party pooh-bas, like Howard Dean and Billy Gosh, have from the outset committed themselves to Mrs. Clinton and insist that it is their prerogative to vote against the clear will of their partyâ€™s constituents. Rep. Peter Welch and several others have to their credit committed to Bernie Sanders. This is deplorable. Bernie should at least have the full and whole-

hearted support of his own home state at the convention, whether he makes it in the end or not. The only way to help him will be to put the public spotlight on our superdelegates, who may have the rule book on their side but are defying Vermont votersâ€™ will by writing, blogging, twittering and protesting. For, who knows, a few votes in the end may still make all the difference. Why we put up with the whole undemocratic notion of superdelegates in the first place is of course still another question. George Jaeger New Haven

has offices in Vergennes. Their former basement homes were relegated to storage, their memories protected at each stairwell with the same conspicuous police tape that is used to cordon off crime scenes. When I felt really brave, I would explore the lower level beneath the gymnasium. And Iâ€™m not talking about the portion reclaimed as the Russ Sholes Senior Center and Addison Central Teens. Iâ€™m talking about the no-manâ€™s land of serpentine, pitch-black hallways and side rooms that frequently had you looking over your shoulder expecting to see a machete-wielding guy in a hockey mask. The eerie setting

was rendered even more supernatural by the occasional â€œclankâ€? of the old boiler system. Well, the old building is now unoccupied and on death row, slated to be demolished this June. I will soon cover my first meetings in the new municipal building at 77 Main St. In terms of creature comforts, Iâ€™m sure it will be like making the proverbial leap from the outhouse to the penthouse. But part of me will miss â€œroughing itâ€? at 94 Main St. Thanks for the memories.

Clippings (Continued from Page 4A) Main Street entrance of the building led down to the modest ACCT digs where former Executive Director Elizabeth Ready and a handful of employees put together affordable housing and farm conservation projects. With limited lighting, no air circulation and an unpredictable and antiquated heating system, I bet most of the basement-cased employees wished they could have worked from home or perhaps in a less depressing setting â€” say, for example, in a Soviet gulag. Like the Middlebury police, the ACCT was eventually set free, and now

Editorâ€™s note: This is the sixth made to last, and although their in a series of essays on Lucretius, duration may seem long when coman early philosopher who provides pared to the lifespan of animals a link to â€œlost classicsâ€? through like us, they will eventually perish, his epic poem â€œOn the Nature of giving their material substance to new configurations, whence nature Things.â€? The universe as imagined by Lu- will once more work its generative cretius does not conform precisely magic. The â€œswerveâ€? is this infinitesimalto our current view of it, yet its affinities to ours are more striking ly small lateral motion that is supthan their differences, and there are posed to make possible the generacontinuities of meaning. They are of tion of worlds; it is natureâ€™s way of creation, unplanned, unpredictable, the same lineage. The universe, as it is now sup- yet fateful. As Lucretius describes posed to be, is a vast system of it, the swerve doesnâ€™t happen once, matter, constantly expanding, con- but repeatedly, â€œat uncertain times and uncertain places.â€? sisting of innumerable â€œIf this did not occur, worlds, like our solar then all the atoms would system, star clusters, and fall like raindrops down galaxies of various sizes through the void,â€? and shapes. This everLucretius theorized. expanding universe, â€œThere would be no which may be only one collisions, no impacts of many, began in an inof atoms upon atom, so stant, about 13.7 billion that nature would never years ago. What was have created anything.â€? before, no one knows â€” (Book II, lines 216â€“93). there are only the usual Notice how visual, suspects â€” nor does how tangible Lucretiusâ€™ anyone know when or Lucretius: the account of things is, and how or if it will end, although it does not seem nature of things also how correct his reasoning! Although he did to be everlasting. A lifesAn essay by not have the advantage pan of 20 billion years is Victor Nuovo of instruments to try mortal for all that. Lucretius supposed Middlebury College and experiment nature, that atoms and space professor emeritus he cultivated another indispensible element have no beginning and of philosophy of scientific imagination no end. Space is infinite â€” a keen observation in all directions, much as Isaac Newton conceived it, which of things and a rational capability should come as no surprise, for it is to draw from experience plausible likely that he first encountered the models to explain processes that idea of a world system by reading could not be directly observed, and to fashion persuasive arguments to Lucretiusâ€™ poem. Infinite space was filled with an prove his theory. Like Democritus, who started it infinite aggregate of atoms, each of them moving rectilinearly at the all, he was not after myths or likely same speed and in the same direc- tales, but real explanations of things tion, which, for convenience, was that were founded on experience called â€œdown.â€? They moved in par- and reason, on â€œthe appearance and allel courses and so would never rational system of nature.â€? Why did Lucretius believe that touch unless one or more of them shifted ever so slightly laterally. nothing exists forever, except atoms Now, Lucretius, following earlier and void? Because as we look all Greek atomists, believed that the around us, we observe things begin, only active force in the world was increase, and then decay and perish, impact, and that it was by impact casting off or leaving behind the that the dance of atoms begins, stuff of new beginnings, and new succeeding to regular circular mo- cycles of generation and decline. tions, vortices, which cause groups Without the swerve, there would be of atoms to join together and enter none of this. But the swerve has another use. If into more or less stable and regular configurations, and so form worlds, the universe were a machine, whose which, like our planetary systems, parts and powers and operations star clusters, and galaxies, are be- were so connected that everything happened by necessity, then there yond counting. These worlds, like our star sys- would be no place for spontaneity. tems, are jerry built. They are not And if there were no spontaneity,

Letter

there would be no freedom. And if no freedom, there would be neither creativity nor responsibility. And if not these, then art and morality would have never been invented. Nature would be an absolute despot. Yet, according to Lucretius, nature has made provision for all of this by the simple device of the swerve. Free will, which Lucretius attributes to all animals, including us humans, is a power in us to act spontaneously, to begin an action and, by striving, to bring it to completion. He illustrates by describing the action of proud and well-trained racehorses: â€œThe starting gates fly open, the horses are keen to go, but they canâ€™t break out as fast as their minds would wish. For all the mass of matter must be stirred through the whole body, roused through every limb, before it can follow the prompting of the mind. So you see that heart or desire begins the motion, then mind and will join in and drive it on until it all reaches the body and limbs.â€? (Book II, lines 264â€“70). How does the swerve account for all of this? It is a sign that nature is not fully determined. If we view nature from the bottom up, we see not clockwork, but striving, struggling, trial and error, success and failure. Out of all of this there occurs the emergence of feeling, instinct, desire and intelligence; of value, of pleasant and unpleasant, noble and vile, good and bad. The late A.R. Ammons, a celebrated American poet, described poetic creation in a similar way. â€œIt comes from anxiety â€Ś either the mind or the body is already highly charged and in need of some kind of expression, some way to crystallize and relieve the pressure â€Ś and an idea, an insight, an association occurs to you, then energy is released through the expression, a poem is writtenâ€? and after this follows â€œa certain resolution and calmness.â€? This is the sequence: anxiety, thought, spontaneity, expression, order and contentment. John Locke supposed that all human action originates in a state of anxiety: the more acute the feeling, the more spontaneous the act, and all action, artistic or moral â€” even political action, noble or vile â€” is fulfilled in an expression that is represented in words and informs the mind with thoughts. And so it has been with nature from the beginning. Nature is the greatest artist of all, and we her offspring and her imitators.

YOUâ€™RE NOT JUST A NUMBER period of time, then leave. I was told it cost approximately $20,000 to orient a new employee on the unit. Traveling nurses are also hired, get paid more, and usually work 13-week assignments. I never received a response from her, which I requested. Ms. Boggs was hired to improve the financial status of the hospital,

(Continued from Page 4A) vice president of patient care; and Shelley Whitehurst, nurse consultant, that our positions were being eliminated. Lynn Boggs was not in attendance so I tried to contact her by phone, and even wrote a letter explaining how Iâ€™ve seen through the years nurses come for a short

but while doing so she took away the most important part of the equation: the human factor. LPNs are an integral part of the nursing team and are committed to providing quality patient care. Wouldnâ€™t it be prudent to retain employees who have many years of experience and knowledge rather than rely on travelers or orient new

hires? I was offered a job at Helen Porter Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, which I accepted, and Iâ€™m thankful. This experience will not deter me from giving the kind of patient care that I have always provided. Brenda Haskell, LPN Salisbury

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Davis (Continued from Page 4A) all comparable to John McCain, and to Delmer Berg? Has the idea that there are some causes larger than oneâ€™s own pursuit of riches and power ever crossed Trumpâ€™s mind? Does he have the slightest understanding of what heroism, service and self-sacrifice mean? Is there any reason why a man

so lacking in decency, integrity and honor should come anywhere near the office of President of the United States? Eric L. Davis is professor emeritus of political science at Middlebury College.

Letters to the editor

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ADDISON COUNTY

Obituaries

Jutta Guay, 89, Middlebury MIDDLEBURY — Jutta G. Guay, 89, died Saturday morning March 12, 2016, after a long illness. Jutta was born March 1, 1927, in Chicago, Ill., the daughter of Joseph M. and Gertrude (Heinz) Wettenmann. She was a graduate of Plattsburgh High School, class of 1945, and attended the University of Southern California. Jutta and Paul E. Guay married on Aug. 17, 1957. After her husband’s passing she moved from Plattsburgh to Shelburne in the 1970s and worked at the Shelburne Museum for many years. A sufferer of arthritis, she moved to Middlebury in 1990 to be close to Charles Mraz to receive apitherapy. Many in Middlebury knew Jutta, who was always elegantly dressed and greeted people with an engaging smile. Jutta was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. She enjoyed collecting antiques, jewelry and summers in Maine. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 6, at 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, with the Rev. William

Arthur Gregoire Jr., 83, native of Shoreham ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — Arthur E. Gregoire Jr., 83, of Zephyrhills, Fla., died on March 23, 2016. He was born in Shoreham, Vt., the son of Arthur and Edith (Maheu) Gregoire, on July 6, 1932. He lived most of his life in Ivoryton, Conn., retiring to Waltham, Maine. In 2009 he moved to Florida year round. He is survived by his wife of

62 years, Carol Gregoire (Doane); his son Mark (Karen) Gregoire of Florida; his son Wayne (Charlene) Gregoire of South Carolina; his daughter Roxanne Fresa of Connecticut, 11 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and a sister, Helen Bullock of New York. He was predeceased by his son Michael in 2001.

Helen Burlock, 86, Vergennes VERGENNES — Helen J. Burlock, 86, passed away Tuesday, March 29, 2016, at Porter Medical Center in Middlebury. She was born March 17, 1930, in Berlin, the daughter of Guy and JUTTA GUAY Jennie (Locke) Houghton. She graduated from Dow Academy (Franconia, Beaudin as the celebrant. N.H.) in 1948. In 1950 she married Memorial contributions may be Merlin Burlock in Bethlehem, N.H. made to the American Apitherapy She was a member of the Vergennes Society, c/o Marilyn Graham, 3724 United Methodist Church for over Spencer St., Apt. 302, Torrance, CA 50 years. She enjoyed going to high 90503. school and grade school activities and Arrangements are under the direc- enjoyed road trips. tion of the Sanderson-Ducharme She was predeceased by her Funeral Home. Online condolences husband, Merlin Burlock, in August at www.sandersonfuneralservice. 1991, and her ﬁve brothers. com. ◊ Helen is survived by her two children, Steve Burlock and his wife Lisa,

and Sheila Burlock; two grandchildren, Allison Burlock and her partner Michael Mashiba, and Amanda Burlock; several nieces and nephews and many special family friends and children she supported throughout the years. Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, March 31, at BrownMcClay Funeral Home in Vergennes from 5 to 8 p.m. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, April 1, at Vergennes United Methodist Church. In lieu of ﬂowers contributions may be made to Vergennes United Methodist Church, PO Box 147, Vergennes, VT; Addison County Home Health & Hospice, PO Box 754, Middlebury, VT; or Vergennes Area Rescue Squad, PO Box 11, Vergennes, VT. ◊

Torrey to tell stories live at Folklife Center MIDDLEBURY — The Vermont Folklife Center will present “Forty Years and a Saw,” a free live storytelling performance by Bill Torrey, on Saturday, April 2, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Marquis Theater in downtown Middlebury. Preceding the event will be a “meet and greet” at the Vermont Folklife Center Vision & Voice Gallery from 5 to 5:45 p.m. Torrey’s storytelling program has been organized in conjunction with the Vermont Folklife Center exhibition “Shedding Light on the Working Forest,” paintings by Kathleen Kolb and written narratives by Verandah Porche, of which Torrey is one of the featured loggers in paint and text. The program will mix entertainment with insight as Torrey brings the audience on a narrative journey into the working forest. Torrey, a sixth-generation Vermonter, has spent 40 years working and playing in the woods. He began logging at the age of 15. His life experiences run the spectrum of the logging trade from large-volume, high-impact logging, to light-on-theland, ecologically sustainable timber harvesting. Since retiring from the logging industry in the fall of 2013, Torrey

has been writing short stories about the career experiences that led him from logging in the extreme industrial model, to logging for the forest. Additionally, he began to perform oral storytelling from these written works and has since become a regular participant in, and winner of, local and regional NPR Moth Story Slams. His storytelling prowess has even earned him an invitation to perform on the ﬂoor of the Statehouse in the Farmers Concert Series. Torrey explains that his intention is “to enlighten those who have never made a living by carving it out of the woods.” Echoing similar sentiments from exhibit collaborators Kolb and Porche, Torrey elaborates further that his “hope is that by sharing the dangers, challenges and blessings that occur by doing so, it will help the reader to better understand the difﬁculties and necessity of the profession.” The performance is free and open to the public and includes a food and cash bar presented by the Marquis Theater. The exhibition “Shedding Light on the Working Forest” will be on display at the folklife center until April 30.

Ellen Giblin, 77, Middlebury MIDDLEBURY — Ellen Smith Giblin, 77, educator, active volunteer and faithful Episcopalian, died peacefully in Burlington March 24. Daughter of the Rev. Charles W.F. Smith and Ivy Watkins Smith, Ellen was born in Exeter, N.H. She was a lifelong learner, most recently becoming a Certiﬁed Extension Master Gardener through UVM. Ellen held an MS in Counseling Psychology through Nova Southeastern University, Christian Education Certiﬁcation through the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Kentucky, a BA in Political Science/ History through the University of Virginia-Mary Washington College and Wellesley College, and graduated from the Buckingham School in Cambridge, Mass. Ellen devoted her professional life to education: teaching ballet, preschool, leading Christian Formation, and providing specialized instruction for students with learning disabilities and learning style differences (the Stern Center for Language and Learning, Williston, and Portals to Learning, Middlebury). Her life was full of music, dance, theater, the outdoors, travel, needle arts, cooking, baking and reading as much as she could. She served her community wherever she lived. After she moved to Vermont in 1997, Ellen brought that commitment to the Zonta Club of Chittenden County Area, NAMI VT, the Hinesburg Lions Club, the Flynn, Vermont Ballet Theater, and the Turning Point Center of Addison County. Her religious practice set her daily rhythm. She was a devoted member of the Episcopal Church, the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross (SCHC) and the Order of Julian of Norwich. Ellen loved spending time with her large family and many friends, sharing in her granddaughters’ activities, and especially visiting her parents’ beloved 1770 home in New Hampshire. Ellen is survived by her husband,

ADDISON COUNTY HOMESCHOOL Spelling Bee contestants gather at Ilsley Library in Middlebury on March 21.

ELLEN GIBLIN

John Thomas Giblin of Middlebury; and three sisters, Ann Lee S. Bugbee of Willmington, Del.; Ivy MacMahon of North Dartmouth, Mass.; Victoria G.S. Schilling of Concord, Mass.; and their husbands and seven nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her three children; Barry Churchill of Middlebury; Ann Dillenbeck and her husband, Mark Dillenbeck, of Charlotte; and Peggy Churchill and her partner, James Christiansen, of Rockledge, FL; and two granddaughters, Ellen and Claire Dillenbeck. There will be an Ecumenical Memorial Service and reception at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 2, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Middlebury. In lieu of ﬂowers, the family requests contributions to the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross (SCHC) 46 Elm St., Byﬁeld, MA 01922 “in memory of Companion Ellen Smith Giblin” or the Turning Point of Addison County (http://turningpointaddisonvt.org/). ◊

Money Matters

Smart Financial Moves in Your 40s & 50s What might you think of doing when? If you had a timeline of retirement fund to pay for the financial steps you their college educations, should probably take in no matter how onerous life, what would it look college loans may seem. like? You may want to look Answers to that quesinto long term care insurtion will vary, but certain ance. If you are wealthy, times of life do call for or soon will be, it may certain financial moves. not be worth buying; you Some should be made may have the money on out of caution, others out hand to pay for years of ® Shawn Oxford, AIF nursing home care (or of opportunity. What considerations emerge be- other forms of eldercare) that might tween 40 and 50? This is where you be needed as you age. If you find may be “sandwiched” between tak- yourself in the middle class, LTC ing care of your kids and your elder- insurance may be worth the exly parents or relatives. Your spending pense depending on your health hismay reach a new peak; hopefully, tory and health outlook. Buying it before age 50 and while you are in your salary is rising as well. Try to maintain your retirement good health is a wise move, if you planning effort in the face of these are interested in such coverage. financial stresses – your pace and For more information on other level of retirement account contri- age demographics, please see next butions. You may have teens or pre- week’s column. teens at home, and if you have not Shawn Oxford, AIF® yet considered creating a college Representatives of, and securities and advisofund that can grow and compound ryRegistered services offered through Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, over time, now is the right time. member FINRA/SPIC. Cetera is under separate ownership You should not dip into your from any other named entity.

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Twenty participate in Homeschool Spelling Bee MIDDLEBURY — On Monday, March 21, 20 kids from all over Addison County and their families gathered in the Community Room at Ilsley Public Library for the fourth annual Homeschool Spelling Bee. Participants ranging in age from 5 to 13 competed for medals by trying to out-spell each other. The competitors spelled words

from the Scripps National Spelling Bee word list, starting at ﬁrst-grade level and working their way up to eighth-grade level. The really challenging words started eliminating more and more kids, until there were only three contestants left. The tension grew as the three ﬁnalists entered the championship round, spelling words like “prestidigitation”

and “chrysanthemum.” Lydia Vaine, age 11, of Monkton won a third-place medal. That left William Moran, age 12, and Katherine Moran, age 10, both of Starksboro, in a sibling stand-off for the gold. In the end, William was awarded a second-place medal. Katherine, who won second place in last year’s Homeschool Spelling Bee,

Leicester

was this year’s champion speller. All of the contestants earned Certiﬁcates of Achievement for spelling words above and beyond their grade level. Everyone had fun cheering each other on, and learning new words. This story was provided by 12-year-old Faith Holzhammer of Orwell.

Have a news tip? Call the Addison Independent at 388-4944 NEWS

LEICESTER — Town Clerk Julie Delphia reminds dog owners the deadline for licensing dogs is April 1.

Animal Control Officer John Chandler will be conducting a dog census. To avoid fines and fees, dog owners need to

show proof the dog has been registered. The Leicester Historical Society is once again sponsoring

prize bingo at the Leicester Senior Center on Saturday, April 9, at 1 p.m. Refreshment will be served, and all are welcome.

(Continued from Page 1A) kids from ages 8 to 18 years old; we assume that others can watch the competition. To register, call Wendy Sorrell at 800-571-0668.

at Royals at 8:35 p.m. For those baseball purists who think the season should start on Monday, look for the Red Sox to play in Cleveland — the ﬁrst pitch is scheduled for 4:20 p.m.

Sunday is practically a holiday for many Americans, as it is the start of the Major League Baseball season. It starts with a tripleheader on that Sunday: Cardinals at Pirates at 1:05 p.m., Blue Jays at Rays at 4:05 p.m. and a World Series rematch of Mets

One thing that is not going to happen Sunday is the sale of furnishings and other surplus contents from Middlebury’s nowvacated municipal building at 94 Main St. The town of Middlebury this week announced that the

April 3 sale has been rescheduled for Sunday, April 10, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The sale was postponed in order to allow time to inventory the equipment to be sold and allow other departments to gather surplus furniture and other items to sell at the same time. All items are cash and carry at time of sale. Meanwhile, the new municipal building at 77 Main St. is slated to open on Monday, April 4.

Finally, Monday is another international holiday of dubious origin — Square Root Day. How does it earn this distinction? You’ll note that when you write out the month, day and year numerically — 4/4/16 — the square root of 16 is 4, or, another way to put it, is 4 X 4 = 16. We know, something for the math geeks. It’s interesting to note that the last Square Root Day (3/3/9) was only seven years ago, but the next one will be nine years hence (5/5/25).

By the way

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Cremation With A Service... A Celebration of Life, for those left behind, helps those family members and friends with closure. Even though your loved one says “I just want to be cremated– no funeral,” they forget the Celebration of Life service is not for them, but for the ones left behind. A service is a healthy way to say good-bye.

Sanderson-Ducharme Funeral Home 117 South Main St. Middlebury, VT • 388-2311 sandersonfuneralservice.com

New Obituary Guidelines The Independent will publish paid obituaries and free notices of passing. Paid obituaries cost 25 cents per word and will be published, as submitted, on the date of the family’s choosing. The Independent offers a free notice of passing up to 100 words, subject to editing by our news department. Photos with either paid obituaries or free notices cost $10 per photo. Obituaries may be emailed to obits@addisonindependent.com, or call 802-388-4944 for more information.

FUNERAL MEMORIAL SERVICE CREMATION PRE-PLANNING SERVICES

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Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016 — PAGE 7A

Young Writers

Project

ABOUT THE PROJECT Young Writers Project is an independent nonproﬁt based in Burlington that engages students to write, helps them improve and connects them with authentic audiences in newspapers, before live audiences and on

websites, youngwritersproject.org, vtdigger.org, vpr.net, cowbird.com and more. Young Writers Project also publishes a monthly digital magazine, The Voice. YWP is supported by this newspaper and foundations, businesses and individuals who recognize

the power and value of writing. To donate to YWP, go to youngwritersproject.org/support. Contact us: Young Writers Project, 47 Maple St., Suite 106, Burlington, VT 05401; sreid@youngwritersproject.org; or (802) 324-9539.

PROMPT: SCHOOL. What are the best and worst things about your school?

Cupcake Down

BY DANIELLE MORRIS, 17, MIDDLEBURY UNION HIGH SCHOOL Imagine a masterfully baked For a student like me, who strug- the arsenal of guidance counselors, cupcake, homemade frosting and gled to overcome learning disabili- peer leaders, support clubs, awareall, but then it’s been dropped on ties, Middlebury’s academic support ness assemblies, but little ground is the floor. Overall, it’s still a good was essential. There are tutors, case made. cupcake but with a bitter taste from managers, study areas, a large library The strongest part of my school the floor. That is Middlebury Union and more at a student’s disposal. is the awareness of the problem and High School. Despite this great plus, my school the ability to catch it when a case of Like any school, mine has its does suffer from a large flaw. bullying has begun. pros and cons. The sweet frost- Bullying plagues this school and I feel it’s a school’s happiness ing of Middlebury is that there is ruins what could’ve been a delecta- level that makes it great. Middlebury an academic and mental support ble cupcake. My school suffers from recognizes this and it lets me help system like no other. Academically, this chronic disease, despite many fight for the cause of achieving this school has thrived for many remedies that have been tried. happiness. years. Not only for the naturals but I personally have been a part My school may be a cupcake the hard-working students. of this neverending war, joining a down, but we’re wiping away the With three different support peer leader support group. We are a pieces of dirt and working to make settings, all just for academics and group of kids chosen by the teachers it taste good again. based on your level of need, my to lend a helping hand to the cause. Read the full story at http://youngschool has all the bases covered. The anti-bullying side is armed with writersproject.org/node/5413.

PROMPT: FOOL. Write about your best April Fool’s Day prank.

Funny, sad, smart play comes to college MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College Department of Theatre and Dance will present Aaron Posner’s “Stupid F***ing Bird” April 7-9 at the Seeler Studio Theatre in the Mahaney Center for the Arts on campus. This contemporary play deals in passion and is ﬁlled with hyperbole. Professor Cheryl Faraone will direct a cast of six Middlebury students and one alumna. The play is “The Seagull” on steroids: Con hates his mother. Nina, the girl he adores, lusts after his mother’s lover, and he after her. Mix equal parts art, ambition, sex and alcohol, and what you get is a recipe for madness. Reviewing the 2014 Wooly Mammoth production in Washington, D.C., The New York Times wrote, “For all its rowdiness, Mr. Posner’s bitingly funny, bruisingly sad ‘sort of’ adaptation of ‘The Seagull’ comes closer than many productions of the original to capturing the full complexity of feeling in the play. Mr. Posner turns a classic often treated with reverence into a mirror that shows in crisp detail what is new about unhappiness today (we obsess about it a lot more), and what is timeless (love screws you up, life’s a bitch, and then, well, you know).” Aaron Posner is a Helen Hayes and Barrymore Award-winning director and playwright. The cast of “Stupid F***ing Bird” includes Kevin Commins ’76, Shannon Gibbs ’18, Kean Haunt ’17, Lana Meyer ’17, Jackson Prince ’17, Greg Swartz ’17.5 and Katie Weatherseed ’16.5. The stage manager is Maxwell Leslie ’18 and the assistant stage managers are

MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE STUDENTS rehearse “Stupid F***ing Bird,” Aaron Posner’s adaptation of Chekhov’s “The Seagull.” The show will be performed Thursday-Saturday, April 7-9, in Middlebury College’s Seeler Studio Theatre at the Mahaney Center for the Arts.

Lisa Mordkovich ’19 and Madeline Russell ’19. Lighting design is by Mark Evancho, costume design is by Mira Veikley, and scene design is by Hallie Zieselman. Adam Milano contributed a farcical movement sequence. “Stupid F***ing Bird” will be performed on Thursday, April 7, and Friday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m.; and on Saturday, April 9, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. There will be a post-show discussion with the cast and crew following the

Lincoln

Thursday night show. Tickets are $12 for the general public; $10 for Middlebury College faculty, staff, alumni, emeriti and other ID card holders; and $6 for Middlebury College students. The Mahaney Center is located at 72 Porter Field Road in Middlebury, just off Route 30 south. Free parking is available. For tickets or information, call (802) 443-MIDD (6433) or go to http://go.middlebury.edu/arts.

Have a news tip? Call Kathy Mikkelsen at 453-4014 NEWS

Mrs. Krank

BY MAKAYLA FOSTER, MIDDLEBURY The school bell finally finished them. Our lips sealed with the invis- of her nose and her curly hair poked vibrating against the drum of metal ible glue that drifted equally around out everywhere. hanging outside our classroom door. the room when Sammy delicately Our heart rates increased with The shrieking laughter toned placed a round plastic circle on Mrs. every step she took, and as she went down to some muffled giggles and Krank’s wheely chair. to sit down on her chair, she made scattered conversations around the He quickly scurried back to his the most amusing noise. The laughroom. desk and slid into his seat while our ter that bubbled from our room was Soon, our eyes popped out of ancient teacher entered the room. the loudest I’ve ever heard, and Mrs. our heads as if they had springs in Her pointed glasses rested on the tip Krank’s face had never been so red.

I was a fool

I was a fool to fall for the trick. I was a fool; the trick fell like a brick. I went to my locker to get all my stuff. When I opened the locker, down with a puff

BY HUNTER NORTON, FERRISBURGH a watermelon fell Splat went the pie, straight at my face. straight on its hit! I dodged the melon I wiped the pie off and was able to trace and began to smile, bit by bit. that the watermelon I laughed and laughed, would land on a seesaw and everyone else did, too, and launch a pie even the principal, Mrs. La Rue. straight at my maw.

LINCOLN — Did you take the opportunity to visit one or more of the sugarhouses nearby? Do you have any spring ﬂowers blooming in your yard yet? I discovered a few crocuses blooming on Easter Sunday: one purple, one white and one yellow. Along with all of the cluster ﬂies and other bugs that were enjoying the warm sunshine, I do believe that spring is almost here. Have you licensed your dog yet? As far as I know, the Ladies Aid-Industria has not yet set the date for their Spring Rummage Sale, but it’s time to begin going through your summer clothes to decide if they have shrunk over the winter months. Remember that

they cannot accept any electronics for the sale, but other household items in good condition are gladly received. Larger items, i.e., furniture, can be donated to the Lincoln Historical Society or another of the boards or committees in town who have their sales at the Town-wide Yard Sales in May. Do you enjoy reading? Do you prefer the larger-print books? Do you enjoy mysteries as I do? If so, you will be happy to know that all the larger-print mystery books at the library are now together in the mystery book section. The rest of the larger-print books still have their own area. If you are interested in either

computer assistance or in learning how to play chess, please call the library at 453-2665 (453-BOOK) for more information. With better weather coming, don’t forget about the free and/ or reduced-rate passes that the library offers to various museums and historic sites around our state. Please call and ask about them and when they are available. Your child can receive a book a month in the mail for free from birth through 5 years. This wonderful program is brought to us by the Addison County Readers, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program. Information is available at the front desk.

PROPOSED SLATE VALLEY UNIFIED UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT ACT 46 SPECIAL VOTE APRIL 12, 2016 Early voting is available at your town office.

The Goals of the Slate Valley Unified Union School District Study Committee are very simple and will be realized in a YES VOTE: A Yes Vote means we will realize the goals as stated below. Pre K-12 Slate Valley Unified Union Educational System of our own design Property Tax Relief of 10 cents off the school tax in the 1st year, 8 cents the 2nd year, 6 cents the 3rd year, 4 cents the 4th year and 2 cents the 5th and final year. Transition grant of $130,000 to assist in the creation of the new district which means not having to access tax dollars for this purpose. Retain approximately $200,000 in small schools grants.

A No Vote means the ACT 46 Study Committee would reconvene to propose another alternative plan prior to July 1, 2017. If we do not have a successful vote at that time the State Board of Education can decide how our schools will be governed and who our towns will be merged with. We will also not realize the tax benefits above and will lose $200,000 of small schools grants and protections for declining enrollments.

For more information visit the ARSU website. Website Resources: http://www.arsu.org/ ACT 46 Informational Meetings will be held as follows: Monday, April 4, 2016 – Benson @ 5:30 p.m. – Orwell @ 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, 2016 – Hubbardton @ 5:30 p.m. – Castleton @ 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 11, 2016 – West Haven @ 5:30 p.m. – Fair Haven @ 7:30 p.m. Also contact your ACT 46 representative for more information. Alyson Eastman, alyson.eastman@arsu.org; Glen Cousineau, glen.cousineau@arsu.org; Amy Munger, amy.munger@arsu.org; Eric Shaw, eric.shaw@arsu.org David Carrabino, david.carrabino@arsu.org, Michael Bache, michael.bache@arsu.org; Lauritz Rasmussen, lauritz.rasmussen@arsu.org; Roy Eckler, roy.eckler@arsu.org; Timothy Smith, timothy.smith@arsu.org; Julie Finnegan, julie.finnegan@arsu.org; Toni Lobdell, toni.lobdell@arsu.org; Jeff Breslen, jeff.breslen@arsu.org; Richard Wilson, richard.wilson@arsu.org; Thomas Spangenberg, thomas.spangenberg@arsu.org

Plan endorsed by the majority of the ACT 46 Study Committee

PAGE 8A — Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016

community

calendar

Mar

THURSDAY

Acorn Renewable Energy Co-op annual meeting in Middlebury. Thursday, March 31, 5-7 p.m., Two Brothers Tavern. Talk by co-op board member titled “Solving the World’s Sustainability Problems.” Info: 385-1911. Preschool screening in Salisbury. Thursday, March 31, 6-6:45 p.m., Salisbury school. Parents who have children who will be 3 or 4 by Sept. 1 can come learn about the preschool program. Bring your child’s birth certificate and immunization record. RSVP to Donna Simpson: 352-4291. “What’s Your Watermark” documentary screening and discussion in Ferrisburgh. Thursday, March 31, 6:30-9 p.m., Ferrisburgh Town Offices and Community Center. The Ferrisburgh Conservation Commission and Addison County River Watch will screen this 37-minute Vermont film and then hold a “Water Quality Chat,” one of a series of informal discussions about local waterways. Hellenbach Cancer Support Group meeting in Middlebury. Thursday, March 31, 6:30 p.m., Mary Johnson Children’s Center. Discussion includes the role cancer has played in our lives, how to avoid it, and how to live above the confines of the disease. Info: 388-6107. Green Mountain Club lecture in Middlebury. Thursday, March 31, 7-8:45 p.m., Ilsley Library. The GMC Bread Loaf Section’s Cecilia Elwert gives an illustrated lecture titled “The ‘Other’ Mount Meru and “OUT OF FOCUS” is showing at Edgewater Gallery in the April exhibit “Donna Andreychuk: Mount Kilimanjaro: High Hopes in Tanzania.” Part of Visual Journey.” An opening reception is on Saturday, April 9, from 3-6 p.m. the James P. Taylor Outdoor Adventure Series. Free. Refreshments provided. More info: group. Free. Info: 388-4205. www.gmcbreadloaf.org. “UnSlut: A Documentary” screening at Middlebury “Little Shop of Horrors” on stage College. Tuesday, April 5, 6-7:15 p.m., Axinn in Bristol. Thursday, March 31, 7 Room 232. Free screening p.m., Mount Abraham Union High TaeKwon Do K.I.C.K.S. is proud to announce our new Toddler of a documentary on sexual School spring musical. (18m-3yrs), Preschool (3-5yr olds) and Day Classes (3-adults). shaming. Free. Refreshments provided. Info: 802-382-9222 or Vergennes Classes are Tuesdays. At Congregational Church: www.townhalltheater.org.

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HUGE RUMMAGE SALE! 5th Annual Treasures & Trinkets Sale

Saturday - April 2, 2016

Apr

BRANDON FARMERS MARKET New Vendors Wanted!

Seasonal veggies, maple syrup, a wide variety of hand-crafted products, fiber products, baked goods, jams & much more! Friday markets May 27 – Oct. 7, 2016 9am - 2pm on the Brandon Town Green

Call Wendy Cijka at 802-273-2655 for information

Vermont Maple Open House Saturday, April 2, 2016 Bread Loaf View Farm Invites You to

“Taste Spring in Vermont!” Buttermilk Pancakes, Sausage Links, Donut Puff w/maple cream, Milk & Coffee served from 9am to Noon Large Plate $ s 3MALL 0LATE $4

Nick Hammond will provide horse-drawn wagon rides 9am to 2pm

Come watch us boil our sap into Pure Vermont Maple Syrup and Sample our Maple Products.

Directions: From Middlebury College Campus head west on Route 125, 1½ miles. Turn left at the ﬂashing light onto Cider Mill Road. Proceed for 1 mile and look for the buckets!

Toddlers 9:15–10:00 and Preschoolers from 10:15 – 11:00. At Christian Reform Church: Family Style Day/Homeschooler classes 11:30-12:30. Middlebury Day Classes at VT Sun in Middlebury. Toddlers from 10:00–10:45 and Preschoolers from 11:0011:45 on Wednesdays. Family Style Day/Homeschooler Classes from 11:30 - 12:30. Toddler/Preschool Classes are $5/class. Family Day/Homeschooler Classes are $10/class (family discounts) Call 802-377-0476, email tkdkicks101@yahoo.com or check out www.tkdkicks.net. CHAMPLAIN ORCHARDS — Pruning and Grafting Workshop hosted by Champlain Orchards’ head orchardist on Saturday, April 9th from 10-12. The cost is $25 and includes a light lunch and a brief-yet-thorough education on tending to your apple trees. Sign up online at ChamplainOrchards.com or call 897-2777 to reserve your spot.

Exhibit opening reception in Brandon. Friday, April 1, 5-7:30 p.m., Compass Music and Arts Center. Celebrating the opening of “The Girl with the Purple Hair: A Retrospective,” works by fabric artist Judith Reilly. Exhibit runs through May 30. Info: www.cmacvt.org. Spaghetti dinner in Bristol. Friday, April 1, 5-7 p.m., Mount Abraham Union High School cafeteria. Enjoy dinner before the spring musical, “Little Shop of Horrors.” Dinner tickets available at the main ofﬁce: $8 adults or takeout, $5 children under 10 and seniors, $20 family of four. Gluten-free pasta available. “Little Shop of Horrors” on stage in Bristol. Friday, April 1, 7 p.m., Mount Abraham Union High School spring musical. Improv group in Middlebury. Friday, April 1, 8 p.m., Town Hall Theater. The Upright Citizens Brigade, founded by Amy Poehler, performs a night of provocative sketch comedy and absurd, invented-on-the-spot improv. Middlebury College’s improv group, Middlebrow, opens the show. Tickets $35, available at the THT box ofﬁce, 382-9222, www.townhalltheater.org or at the door.

Apr

Sponsored by the VUHS Commodore Parent/Teacher Group. Proceeds fund enrichment grants and eductional initiatives.

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Treasures and Trinkets rummage sale in Vergennes. Saturday, April 2, 8 a.m.-2 p.m., Vergennes Union High School gymnasium. Fifth annual fundraiser for the VUHS Commodore Enrichment Grant Program, featuring furniture, household goods, collectibles, adult and kids’ clothing and more. Open swim in Bristol. Saturday, April 2, 9:30 a.m.-noon, Mount Abraham Union High School pool. Music and fun for all. Cost $3 per swimmer. Children under 10 must be with an adult. Offered by the Bristol Rec Department on select Saturdays through April. Check dates at 388-5885, bristolrec@gmavt.net or on Facebook. Also on April 16, 18, 20 and 22. Creative drawing class for kids of all ages in Orwell. Saturday, April 2, 10 a.m., Orwell Free Library. Children and their parents or guardians are invited to experiment with line drawing, colors and light through visual and drawing exercises. Short discussion on how to encourage inspiration, freedom of imagination and confidence. Best for children ages 4-10 and their families; those 6 and younger or with special needs should be accompanied by an adult. Info: 802-948-2041. Book sale in Middlebury. Saturday, April 2, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Ilsley Library. Featuring over 20 categories of gently used books. All sales benefit library programs. Sugar on Snow Festival in Ferrisburgh. Saturday, April 2, noon-4 p.m., Dakin Farm. Free samples of maple syrup, ham, bacon, cheese and more; boiling demonstrations, live music and more. Info: www.dakinfarm.com/2016-Sugar-On-Snow.dlp. Met Opera’s “Madama Butterfly” live broadcast in Middlebury. Saturday, April 2, 1 p.m., Town Hall Theater. Famous Puccini opera in which a young Japanese geisha clings to the belief that her arrangement with a visiting American naval officer is a loving and permanent marriage. Tickets $24/$10, available at the THT box office, 382-9222 or www.townhalltheater.org. Free pre-show talk in the Byers Studio at 12:15. Refreshments provided. Chicken and biscuit dinner in Bristol. Saturday, April 2, 5:30 p.m., First Baptist Church of Bristol. The church will serve chicken and biscuits, cranberry sauce, peas and carrots, plus ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert. Adults $10, children 6-12 $5, children under 6 free. Proceeds benefit Village2Village Project, which supports AIDS orphans and HIV-positive guardians in northeastern Uganda. An Old Bones concert follows the meal at 6:30 p.m. “Forty Years and a Saw” storytelling event in Middlebury. Saturday, April 2, 6-7 p.m., Marquis Theater. Storyteller/logger Bill Torrey mixes entertainment with insight as he brings the audience on a narrative journey into the working forest. Free. Cash bar and food for sale. A related meet and greet is at the Vermont Folklife Center from 5-5:45 p.m. in advance of the show. Old Bones in concert in Bristol. Saturday, April 2, 6:30 p.m., First Baptist Church of Bristol. These local country musicians bring their special blend of songs, stories and humor to a benefit concert in support of Village2Village Project, which supports AIDS orphans and HIV-positive guardians in northeastern Uganda. “Little Shop of Horrors” on stage in Bristol. Saturday, April 2, 7 p.m., Mount Abraham Union High School spring musical. Middlebury Community Wind Ensemble spring concert in Bristol. Saturday, April 2, 7-8 p.m., Holley Hall. A musical journey spanning 400 years and three continents, including works by Percy Grainger, Maurice Ravel and Cole Porter. Free, but donations accepted.

Sam and Zack DuPont in concert in Brandon. Saturday, April 2, 7:30 p.m., Brandon Music. This Vermont-made folk-Americana duo performs. Tickets $20. Reservations recommended: 802-247-4295 or info@brandon-music.net. Harpeth Rising in concert in Ripton. Saturday, April 2, 7:30-9:30 p.m., Ripton Community House. The Ripton Community Coffee House welcomes this classically trained trio of woman for an evening of original, gritty lyrics with folk, roots, classical, bluegrass and rock on violin, banjo, cello, foot-percussion, and powerful three-part vocals. Admission $5/$15 generous, $3 kids. Info: www.rcch.org.

Apr

SUNDAY

Sugar on Snow Festival in Ferrisburgh. Sunday, April 3, noon-4 p.m., Dakin Farm. Free samples of maple syrup, ham, bacon, cheese and more; boiling demonstrations, live music and more. Info: www.dakinfarm.com/2016-Sugar-On-Snow.dlp. “Freedom & Unity: The Vermont Movie” screening in Hancock. Sunday, April 3, 3 p.m., Hancock Town Hall. Friends of the Hancock Free Public Library will be showing Part Two of this Vermont documentary, “Under the Surface.” Q&A with the filmmakers after the showing. Refreshments. Free community dinner in Vergennes. Sunday, April 3, 5-6:30 p.m., St. Peter’s Parish Hall. Bring your family and friends and enjoy a home-cooked meal with the theme of “Spring Has Sprung So Bring Your Green Thumb”: ham, macaroni and cheese, corn, tossed salad, applesauce, cake and ice cream, and beverage. “What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy” screening in Middlebury. Sunday, April 3, 7 p.m., Town Hall Theater. A compelling documentary about two men, both of whom are the children of high-ranking Nazi officials but who possess very different attitudes toward their fathers. One of four films in the 2016 MNFF Winter Screening Series. Tickets, $12 each or $40 for all four films in the series, available at the THT box office, 382-9222 or www.townhalltheater.org.

Apr

MONDAY

Legislative breakfast in Weybridge. Monday, April 4, 7-8:45 a.m., Weybridge Congregational Church. Breakfast at 7, program at 7:30 a.m. Art talk at Middlebury College. Monday, April 4, 4:30-6 p.m., Johnson Memorial Building 304. Cameron Visiting Artist Kenny Rivero will give a public talk. Info: csgriggs@middlebury.edu. Spaghetti dinner fundraiser in Middlebury. Monday, April 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Middlebury American Legion. The Middlebury Union High School softball team is hosting a spaghetti dinner, silent auction and bake sale. Eat in or take out. Tickets $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Ages 5 and younger free. Tickets available from any MUHS softball player or at Broughton’s Farm Supply in Bridport or Vermont Natural Ag Products in Middlebury.

Apr

TUESDAY

Free foot care/blood pressure clinic in Vergennes. Tuesday, April 5, 9 a.m.-noon, Armory Lane Senior Housing. For Armory Lane residents 9-10 a.m., open to the public 10 a.m.-noon. Bring your own basin and towel. Offered by ACHHH. Lecture on the Hindu deity Vishwakarma at Middlebury College. Tuesday, April 5, 4:30 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Room 125. Professor Kirin Narayan of the school of Culture, History and Language at Australian National University presents “Culture at Hand: The Anthropology of Creativity and the Making of a Divine Craftsman in India.” Free. “Healing Through Art” women’s support group in Middlebury. Tuesday, April 5, 5-6:15 p.m., WomenSafe. The ﬁrst meeting in a six-week support

Apr WEDNESDAY

“Transferring the Farm” workshop in Middlebury. Wednesday, April 6, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Middlebury American Legion. Designed to help farmers and farm families make informed decisions about intergenerational transfer of farmland and farm businesses. Cost $10. Info: bob.parsons@uvm.edu or 802-656-2109. Free foot care/blood pressure clinic in Bridport. Wednesday, April 6, 10:30 a.m.-noon, Bridport Grange Hall, Route 22A. Bring your own basin and towel. Offered by ACHHH. “Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs” screening in Middlebury. Wednesday, April 6, 11 a.m., Town Hall Theater. Part of THT’s Great Art Wednesdays series. A behind-the-scenes documentary about the Tate Modern’s Matisse exhibit. Includes specially commissioned performances, readings by British actor Simon Russell Beale and narration by Rupert Young. Tickets $10/$5 students, available at the THT box office, 382-9222, www.townhalltheater.org or at the door. “The Legacy of Rachel Carson” talk in Middlebury. Wednesday, April 6, 7 p.m., Ilsley Library. Dartmouth professor Nancy Jay Crumbine explores Carson’s clarity, courage and brilliance in “Silent Spring,” which not only launched the environmental movement but also identified fundamental problems with our relationship to nature. A Vermont Humanities Council First Wednesdays event. Info: www.vermonthumanitiescouncil.org or 802-262-2626. Historical society meeting in Shoreham. Wednesday, April 6, 7 p.m., Platt Memorial Library. At the Shoreham Historical Society meeting, Sue MacIntire will share a slide show titled “People, Places and Industry in 19th-century Shoreham.” Bring any old photos you have to add to the conversation. “Daughters of the Forest” screening at Middlebury College. Wednesday, April 6, 7 p.m., Dana Auditorium. A vérité documentary set in the wilds of rural Paraguay that offers a glimpse of a disappearing world where timid girls grow into brave young women even as they are transformed by their unlikely friendships with one another. Part of the Education Studies Program’s spring film series. Free. See http://daughtersoftheforest.com. Celtic jam in Middlebury. Wednesday, April 6, 8-10 p.m., 51 Main. A student-led music session. All are welcome.

Apr

THURSDAY

Blood drive in Middlebury. Thursday, April 7, 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Middlebury Regional EMS building, 55 Collins Drive. Appointments and info: redcrossblood.org or 1-800-733-2767. Senior meal in Bristol. Thursday, April 7, noon, First Baptist Church of Bristol. Feel free to come early to talk with friends. Menu: mild chili, corn/broccoli, cornbread and creamsicle dessert. Suggested donation $4. Reserve by calling 453-5276. Poetry reading by Chard DeNiord in Middlebury. Thursday, April 7, 1 p.m. Ilsley Library, downstairs meeting room. DeNiord, poet laureate of Vermont, will kick off the Otter Creek Poets’ National Poetry Month Reading series. He is the author of many collections, most recently “Interstate.” Free. Butoh class at Middlebury College. Thursday, April 7, 3-4:15 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts. Dance artist in residence Michael J. Morris will explore butoh in Katie Martin’s Dance Improvisation course. Butoh is a postmodern approach to movement developed primarily in Japan. Free class. Info: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Poetry reading by Rick Barot at Middlebury College. Thursday, April 7, 4:30 p.m., Adirondack House. New England Review and the Middlebury College Creative Writing Program present award-winning author and poet Rick Barot will read his poetry. Free. “Stupid F***ing Bird” on stage at Middlebury College. Thursday, April 7, 7:30 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts. An adaptation of Chekhov’s “The Seagull” by Aaron Posner, this contemporary play deals in passion and is ﬁlled with hyperbole. Post-show discussion with the cast and crew April 7 only. Tickets $12/$10/$6. Info and tickets: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Also on April 8 and 9. “On an Average Day” on stage at Middlebury College. Thursday, April 7, 8 p.m., Hepburn Zoo. A play by John Kolvenbach ’88; senior 700-level work of Zachary Lounsbury. Two brothers, after two decades apart, reunite in the kitchen of their childhood home and confront the scars left by their troubled past. Tickets $5. Info and tickets: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Also on April 8 and 9.

community

calendar

Apr

FRIDAY

“Ecosexuality in Performance” talk at Middlebury College. Friday, April 8, 10:10-11 a.m., Axinn Center, Room 229. Dance artist in residence Michael J. Morris will present “Ecosexuality in Performance” in Mez Baker-Médard’s Space, Place and Mental Health course. Light lunch follows. Free. Info: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Mars Curiosity rover talk at Middlebury College. Friday, April 8, 12:30 p.m., Bicentennial Hall, Room 220. After 3.5 years on Mars, the Curiosity rover has recently reached exposures of sedimentary rocks that are yielding dramatic new insights into Martian history. Project Scientist John Grotzinger will give an update and take questions. Reception for three new exhibits in Middlebury. Friday, April 8, 5-7 p.m., Sheldon Museum. Celebrating “Out of the Forest: The Woodcarvings of Chuck Herrmann”; “The Curious Cousins of Vermont Outsider Artist Gayleen Aiken”; and “Addison County in Profile: Silhouettes from the Henry Sheldon Museum Archives.” Info: www.henrysheldonmuseum.org or 802-388-2117. Middlebury Community Wind Ensemble spring concert at Middlebury College. Friday, April 8, 7-8 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts. A musical journey spanning 400 years and three continents, including works by Percy Grainger, Maurice Ravel and Cole Porter. Free. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Music Department. Fly Fishing Film Tour in Middlebury. Friday, April 8, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall Theater. Great fishing films from some of the country’s best independent filmmakers. Open house for vendors at 6 p.m. Tickets $15 in advance from Middlebury Mountaineer or 802-388-7245, or $20 at the door. “Stupid F***ing Bird” on stage at Middlebury College. Friday, April 8, 7:30 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts. An adaptation of Chekhov’s “The Seagull” by Aaron Posner, this contemporary play deals in passion and is filled with hyperbole. Tickets $12/$10/$6. Info and tickets: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Also on April 9. Tzveta Kassabova and Friends dance performance at Middlebury College. Friday, April 8, 8 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts. Assistant Professor of Dance Tzveta Kassabova, joined by Elena Demyanenko and Jennifer Nugent, will transform the theater using raw dance vocabulary, a fascinating visual landscape and a half-mile of rope. Tickets $20/$15/$6, available at www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-6433. Also on April 9. “On an Average Day” on stage at Middlebury College. Friday, April 8, 8 p.m., Hepburn Zoo. A play by John Kolvenbach ’88; senior 700-level work of Zachary Lounsbury. Two brothers, after two decades apart, reunite in the kitchen of their childhood home and confront the scars left by their troubled past. Tickets $5. Info and tickets: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Also on April 9. “Loud and Proud Benefit for Conrad F. Bell” in Vergennes. Friday, April 8, 9 p.m., City Limits Night Club. Addison County bands the Johnny Devil Band and Twist of Fate, and Franklin County band Victim of Metal will play. 50/50 raffle. No cover, but donations will be taken. All proceeds go to the Conrad F. Bell Memorial Trust Fund for Bell’s two daughters. Bell was murdered in 2012 in Ferrisburgh. Info: 734-0697. “On an Average Day” on stage at Middlebury College. Friday, April 8, 10:30 p.m., Hepburn Zoo. A play by John Kolvenbach ’88; senior 700-level work of Zachary Lounsbury. Two brothers, after two decades apart, reunite in the kitchen of their childhood home and confront the scars left by their troubled past. Tickets $5. Info and tickets: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Also on April 9.

Apr

SATURDAY

Monthly wildlife walk in Middlebury. Saturday, April 9, 8-10 a.m., Otter View Park and Hurd Grassland. A monthly OCAS-MALT event inviting community members to help survey birds and other wildlife. Meet at Otter View Park parking area, corner of Weybridge Street and Pulp Mill Bridge Road. Birders of all ages and abilities welcome. Shorter and longer routes possible. Info: 388-6019 or 388-1007. Tag sale in Weybridge. Saturday, April 9, 8 a.m.-2 p.m., Weybridge Elementary School. Wide variety of items including clothes, toys, sports equipment and household goods. Items can be dropped off at the school after April 7. Info: 545-2113 or kmason@addisoncentralsu.org. “Creating Comics” workshop in Orwell. Saturday, April 9, 10 a.m., Orwell Free Library. Cartoonist Laureate of Vermont James Kochalka walks participants through the process of creating characters,

generating ideas and drawing their own comics. Free. Register at orwellfreelibrary.org. Info: 802-948-2041. “Your Vermont Air National Guard” talk in Ferrisburgh. Saturday, April 9, 10-10:45 a.m., Assembly of God Christian Center. Lt. Col. Laura Caputo will give a short history of the Vermont Air National Guard, talk about its missions, and honor its everyday heroes. Presented by the Seth Warner – Rhoda Farrand Chapter of the DAR. Gubernatorial candidates’ panel in Middlebury. Saturday, April 9, 10:30 a.m., Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society. Featuring Vermont gubernatorial candidates Matt Dunne, Bruce Lisman and Sue Minter. Free. Prize bingo in Leicester. Saturday, April 9, 1 p.m., Senior Center. All are welcome. Refreshments will be served. “Stupid F***ing Bird” on stage at Middlebury College. Saturday, April 9, 2 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts. An adaptation of Chekhov’s “The Seagull” by Aaron Posner, this contemporary play deals in passion and is filled with hyperbole. Tickets $12/$10/$6. Info and tickets: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. “Mr. Turner” on screen at Middlebury College. Saturday, April 9, 3 and 8 p.m., Dana Auditorium. This Mike Leigh film explores the last quarter century of the great, if eccentric, British painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Free. Info: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Exhibit opening reception in Middlebury. Saturday, April 9, 3-6 p.m., Edgewater Gallery on the Green. Celebrating the opening of “Donna Andreychuk: Visual Journey.” Info: 802-989-7419 or zoe@edgewatergallery-vt.com. “Informal, In-Process Sharing” choreography demonstration at Middlebury College. Saturday, April 9, 4 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Room 109. Dance artist in residence Michael J. Morris and Maree ReMalia create work together in the dance studio. Free. Info: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Roast turkey supper in Vergennes. Saturday, April 9, 5-6:30 p.m., Vergennes United Methodist Church. Roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, vegetable, cranberry sauce, dessert and beverage, served buffet style. Adults $9, children $5. Takeout available. Info: 877-3150. Roast pork dinner and dance in Middlebury. Saturday, April 9, 5:30 p.m., VFW Post 7823, Exchange Street. Roast pork dinner with all the fixings, $12. Cocktails at 5:30 followed by dinner and dancing with Triple B DJ. RSVP: 388-9468. Contradance in Cornwall. Saturday, April 9, 7-9:30 p.m., Cornwall Town Hall. Live music by Red Dog Riley (caller TBA). Cost: $5 per person. Info: 462-3722. “Spring Thaw” gala and raffle in Middlebury. Saturday, April 9, 7-10 p.m., Carol’s Hungry Mind Café. Second annual fundraiser for Addison Central Teens, with farm-to-table hors d’oeuvres; limited free samples of Vermont spirits, beers and wines; and live music by O’hAnleigh. Tickets $25 available at http://addisonteens.com/spring-thaw. “United in Harmony” a cappella competition in Middlebury. Saturday, April 9, 7 p.m., Town Hall Theater. Second annual fundraiser for the United Way of Addison County. Numerous groups from around the state will come showcase their vocal harmony skills. Tickets $15-$30, available at the THT box office, 382-9222, or www.townhalltheater.org. Daddy Long Legs in concert in Lincoln. Saturday, April 9, 7:30 p.m., Burnham Hall. Part of the 2015-2016 Burnham Music Series. Doors open at 7 p.m., concert at 7:30. Admission $8 adults, free for kids and teens. See the Burnham Music Series Facebook page for full schedule of monthly concerts. Info: 388-6863. “Stupid F***ing Bird” on stage at Middlebury College. Saturday, April 9, 7:30 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts. An adaptation of Chekhov’s “The Seagull” by Aaron Posner, this contemporary play deals in passion and is filled with hyperbole. Tickets $12/$10/$6. Info and tickets: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Sarah Blacker in concert in Brandon. Saturday, April 9, 7:30 p.m., Brandon Music. Award-winning singer-songwriter Sarah Blacker, with Aaron Katz, plays new material in preparation for an upcoming album. Tickets $20. Reservations recommended: 802-247-4295 or info@brandon-music.net. St. Ambrose Casino Night in Bristol. Saturday, April 9, 7:30 p.m., St. Ambrose Church. Play craps, roulette or blackjack. Tickets, $20 per person, include $150 in gaming chips. Door prize: $250 Visa gift card. Appetizers and refreshments available. Info: 453-2488. Tzveta Kassabova and Friends dance performance at Middlebury College. Saturday, April 9, 8 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts. Assistant Professor of Dance Tzveta Kassabova, joined by Elena Demyanenko and Jennifer Nugent, will transform the theater using raw dance vocabulary, a fascinating visual landscape and a half-mile of rope. Tickets $20/$15/$6, available at www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-6433.

“On an Average Day” on stage at Middlebury College. Saturday, April 9, 8 p.m., Hepburn Zoo. A play by John Kolvenbach ’88; senior 700-level work of Zachary Lounsbury. Two brothers, after two decades apart, reunite in the kitchen of their childhood home and confront the scars left by their troubled past. Tickets $5. Info and tickets: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168.

Apr

SUNDAY

Green Mountain Club hike in Starksboro. Sunday, April 10, Common Ground Center trails, time TBA. The GMC Bread Loaf Section offers a 4-mile round trip on woods roads and trails along the Hogback on the Common Ground Center’s 700 acres, including views of Bristol Pond. Guided by Emily Gibbs of Common Ground. Bring winter boots or snowshoes, depending on conditions, plus water and a snack. Info: ceciliaelwert@yahoo.com or 802-453-8447. More info: www.gmcbreadloaf.org. Firemen’s pancake breakfast in Salisbury. Sunday, April 10, 7:30-11 a.m., Salisbury Community School. Pancakes, French toast, sausage, bacon, home fries, milk, juice and coffee. Adults $10, children 12 and under $5. Bingo extravaganza fundraiser in Middlebury. Sunday, April 10, 1 p.m., VFW 7823. Benefit for a woman who suffered a brain aneurysm last fall. Doors open at 11. Quickies at 12:15 p.m. and regular games at 1 p.m. Bucket raffle, auction, pull tabs, vendors, bake sale and more. Business donations welcome at 377-9839. Free community dinner in Bristol. Sunday, April 10, 5-6:30 p.m., St. Ambrose Parish Hall. This month’s menu: home-cooked chili con carne with ground turkey, served with a side of macaroni, corn bread, garden salad and fixings. Cookies for dessert. Coffee and other drinks.

Apr

Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016 — PAGE 9A

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MONDAY

Legislative breakfast in Middlebury. Monday, April 11, 7-8:45 a.m., Middlebury American Legion. Breakfast at 7, program at 7:30 a.m.

Apr

TUESDAY

Morgan Blanchard-Bilodeau Community Manager

Spring concert in Salisbury. Tuesday, April 12, 6 p.m., Salisbury Community School. In addition to the concert, the winning tickets will be drawn for the basket rafﬂe. Tickets $1 each, or six for $5, available at the school or Kampersville, or from any sixth-grader. Proceeds fund the grade 5/6 trip to Boston.

Apr

WEDNESDAY

Free foot care/blood pressure clinic in Bristol. Wednesday, April 13, 10:30 a.m.-noon, American Legion, 10 Airport Drive. Bring your own basin and towel. Offered by ACHHH. Gallery talk in Middlebury. Wednesday, April 13, noon, Sheldon Museum. Vermont wood historian, educator and self-taught artist Chuck Herrmann will talk about the Sheldon’s exhibit “Out of the Forest: Woodcarvings by Chuck Herrmann.” Free with museum admission. Talks also on April 27 and May 18. Info: 802-388-2117 or www.henrysheldonmuseum.org. “Experiments in Teaching Across Disciplines at Harvard Art Museums” talk at Middlebury College. Wednesday, April 13, 4:30 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts Room 125. Jessica Levin Martinez of the Harvard Art Museums talks about new spaces and strategies for teaching and learning at the museums, which reopened in the fall of 2014 after a major renovation and expansion. Free. Info: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Historical society meeting in New Haven. Wednesday, April 13, 7 p.m., New Haven Library. The New Haven Historical Society will hold its annual meeting and election of ofﬁcers, with a presentation by Kirk Webster, titled “Beekeeping in Middlebury and Bristol circa 1870,” and a discussion of how it relates to current beekeeping. Book club meeting in Bridport. Wednesday, April 13, 7 p.m., Bridport Highway Department conference room. This month’s title: “My Antonia,” by Willa Cather. All interested readers welcome. Info: 758-2858.

Apr

THURSDAY

Free foot care/blood pressure clinic in Middlebury. Thursday, April 14, 9 a.m.-noon, the Commons, Buttolph Drive. For Commons residents 9-10 a.m., open to the public 10 a.m.-noon. Bring your own basin and towel. Offered by ACHHH.

Songs and supper LOCAL GROUP OLD Bones will give a beneﬁt concert at the First Baptist Church of Bristol on Saturday, April 2, at 6:30 p.m. to raise funds for Village2Village Project in Uganda. The church will serve a chicken-and-biscuit dinner at 5:30 p.m., also to beneﬁt V2V. See story on Page 12A.

Maple Open House April 2nd & 3rd Saturday 8-11a.m. All-You-Can-Eat Pancake Breakfast

Sugarbus Maze!

with fresh off the farm maple syrup, sausage, homemade home fries, coffee & juice. $6 adults, $3.50 children

EE FR aple

M eats Tr

Experience our self-guided Maple Trail and tour our Sugarhouse to see how maple syrup is made! 2016 maple syrup is available. Don’t forget to bring your own container to ﬁll up with Syrup-on-Tap! Route 74E, Shoreham, VT • 802-897-2448 6 miles from Rt 30 Cornwall Junction • vermonttradewinds.com

community

PAGE 10A — Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016

calendar

Drop-in Moving Perspective art installation at Middlebury College. Thursday, April 14, 12:30-1:30 p.m., Ross Dining Hall. Further movement, video and art installations will take place on Ross Patio. Free. Info: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Twist O’ Wool Spinning Guild meeting in Middlebury. Thursday, April 14, 7 p.m., 49 Wilson Road. General meeting and show-and-tell, followed by a program on off-loom weaving by Strands, a Twist O’ Wool weaving study group. Info: 453-5960. “The Writer and the Movies” talk by Jay Parini in Middlebury. Thursday, April 14, 7 p.m., Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society. Parini, a widely published poet, novelist, biographer and critic, will discuss his experience with Hollywood. Free. “Endangered Alphabets, Cultural Erosion and the Future of the Written Word” talk in Bristol. Thursday, April 14, 7 p.m., Lawrence Memorial Library. Writer/ carver/painter Tim Brookes will share his carvings of endangered forms of writing from all over the world, while presenting how the story of a culture can be seen in its writing, even if it is beautiful, utterly unfamiliar and disappearing. Info: 453-2366 or www.oneworldlibraryproject.org. “The Pitchfork Disney” on stage at Middlebury College. Thursday, April 14, 7:30 p.m., Hepburn Zoo. Philip Ridley play in which twin siblings, after the tragic death of their parents, spend a decade locked away in a fantasy world until the door is opened and their worst nightmares invade. Tickets $5. Info and tickets: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Also on April 15 and 16.

Apr

LIVEMUSI C Starline Rhythm Boys in Middlebury. Friday, April 1, 6 p.m., Two Brothers Tavern. Caleb Elder and Brett Hughes in New Haven. Friday, April 1, 7:30 p.m., Lincoln Peak Vineyard. Will Woodson and Eric McDonald in Middlebury. Friday, April 1, 8-10 p.m., 51 Main. Let’s Be Leonard in Middlebury. Friday, April 1, 9 p.m., Two Brothers Tavern. Conqueror Root in Middlebury. Saturday, April 2, 8:30-10:30 p.m., 51 Main. Twist of Fate in Middlebury. Saturday, April 2, 9 p.m., Two Brothers Tavern. Marcelo Hanta-Davis Quintet in Middlebury. Thursday, April 7, 7-9 p.m., 51 Main. Let’s Be Leonard in Middlebury. Friday, April 8, 8:30-10:30 p.m., 51 Main. Soule Monde in Middlebury. Saturday, April 9, 8-11 p.m., 51 Main. Laurie Goldsmith Project in Middlebury. Friday, April 15, 8-10 p.m., 51 Main. The Sound Investment Jazz Ensemble in Middlebury. Friday, April 22, 8-10 p.m., 51 Main. Tim Brick in Middlebury. Saturday, April 23, 8:30-10:30 p.m., 51 Main. Isabel Rosenberg in Middlebury. Thursday, April 28, 7:30-8 p.m., 51 Main. The Paradiddles in Middlebury. Thursday, April 28, 8-9 p.m., 51 Main.

ONGOINGEVENTS By category: Farmers’ Markets, Sports, Clubs & Organizations, Government & Politics, Bingo, Fundraising Sales, Dance, Music, Arts & Education, Health & Parenting, Meals, Art Exhibits & Museums, Library Programs. SPORTS Co-ed volleyball in Middlebury. Pick-up games Monday, 7-9 p.m., Middlebury Municipal Gym. Jack Brown, 388-2502; Bruce at Middlebury Recreation Department, 388-8103.

AWOR K

CLUBS & ORGANIZATIONS ACT (Addison Central Teens). Drop-in hours during the school years: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 3-6 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday, 3-7 p.m. 94 Main St. (Middlebury Town Ofﬁce building), below rec. gym. Teen drop-in space for kids. Hang out with friends, play pool, watch movies, and eat great food. Baking: every Thursday from 3:30-5 p.m. Info: 388-3910 or www.addisonteens.com. Addison County Amateur Radio Association. Sunday, 8 p.m. On the air on club repeater 147.36/147.96 MHz, 100 Hz access tone. Nonmembers and visitors welcome. Addison County Emergency Planning Committee. Last Wednesday, 5 p.m. State Police Barracks. Public invited. Addison County Republican Party. Third Friday, 7 p.m., Ilsley Library, Middlebury. 897-2744. American Legion Auxiliary Post 27. Fourth Monday, 7 p.m. American Legion, Wilson Road, Middlebury. Addison County Council Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. Fourth

WELLNESS CENTER

A Center for Independent Health Care Practitioners “Wellness is more than the absence of illness.” 50 Court St • Middlebury, Vt 05753 Jim Condon ................... 388-4880 or 475-2349 SomaWork

Ralph Waldo It is possible for us Emerson concluded both to express our true that the purpose of life thoughts and feelings, was “to be useful, to to share our stories. And be honorable, to be that’s when I think we compassionate, to have are able to empathize. it make some difference I think we — most of that you have lived and us — have the capaclived well.” ity to care, to feel what What does it mean to others feel, to underbe compassionate? The stand what others are Dalai Lama speaks of facing and what their having a warm heart. lives are like. It is not The prolific writer the same as sympathy. I Henry James said there feel sympathy for somewere but four rules one who is struggling, of life — be kind, be who is going through kind, be kind, be kind. something difficult, Look at the family that something that I have By Johanna Nichols surrounded him. His not experienced, but I father was a theologian. understand it is painful, His brother William was a philosopher hurtful, even life-threatening. and psychologist. His sister Alice was Empathy is not the same as pity — a diarist. feeling sorry for someone. Pity is judgI turn to an 11-year-old philoso- ing that another is in trouble and needs pher who shares this reflection: “The help as they cannot fix their problems good thoughts come from the brain, themselves. No one wants to be pitied. but the best thoughts come from the I have learned not to assume that I heart.” I happen to know that he, too, know what someone else needs, but is surrounded by a family that practices to ask them what they need and how I kindness. might be able to help them to get there. A federal judge was once asked to Empathy extends well beyond feeling name the most important characteristic to understanding, and it extends beyond of a judge — “to listen and empathize” individuals to the larger community. was his response. “A judge’s decisions President Obama wrote of empathy will affect the lives of others. Before in “The Audacity of Hope,” “It is at making a decision you the heart of my moral have to put yourself and it is how I o we even code in the shoes of those understand the Golden know whom your decision Rule — not simply as will affect.” I think a call to sympathy or how to he may be saying that charity, but as somelistening and empathy listen — how to thing more demandgo hand in hand. ing, a call to stand in listen deeply? I wonder how much somebody else’s shoes we really listen. Do One ear may be and see through their we even know how to listening while eyes.” listen — how to listen Empathy is standdeeply? One ear may the other is ing in the same shoes be listening while the tuned elsewhere of someone — feeling other is tuned elsewhat they are feeling. — maybe to where — maybe to Compassion is feelhearing what we’re hearing what ing what another is going to say next. To we’re going to feeling, walking with really listen, one has others in their joy and to show up. I mean, say next. suffering, staying in one’s mind needs to our own shoes. Rachel be where one’s body is — to be present. Naomi Remen, a wise and loving physiIt’s easy to let our mind wander away. cian who works with cancer patients, Have you had the opportunity to describes how she “simply (sits) with learn how to listen and to practice people and (listens). When people are listening? The hardest part of the prac- talking, there’s no need to do anything tice for me is this: Let go of whatever but receive them. Just take them in. I might be thinking, of what I want to Listen to what they’re saying. Care say in response. Give the person who is about it. Most times caring about it is speaking the room they need to speak even more important than understandand give them the respect they deserve ing it.” by listening. It’s as simple as taking We are one with our neighbors, part turns. of the human family. We are flesh and To really listen, we have to pay atten- blood and bones. We are strong and tion. Listen with total attention. We vulnerable. Life is not always merciful. honor the other person and ourselves “Be kind whenever possible,” says the when we can set aside our frets, biases, Dalai Lama. “It is always possible.” fears, prejudice, and open our ears and Johanna Nichols is a grandmother, our minds. When we try to understand a mother, and a retired minister who the feelings and needs behind a person’s ponders how to live a meaningful life words, all criticism, attack, insults and and who enjoys writing. She hosts a judgments vanish. Over time, whole- blog at riversidemusings.wordpress. hearted listening builds a sense of trust. com.

Ways of Seeing

FRIDAY

Addison County Right to Life annual dinner meeting in Vergennes. Friday, April 15, 6:30 p.m., St. Peter’s Parish Hall. Roast pork with all the ﬁxings or macaroni and cheese. Adults $12, ages 6-12 $6, ages 5 and younger free. Reservations requested: Lee and Sandi Comly, 2012 Carlstrom Road, Bristol, VT 05443; 453-6302; or leesandi@gmavt.net. “The Pitchfork Disney” on stage at Middlebury College. Friday, April 15, 7:30 and 10 p.m., Hepburn Zoo. Philip Ridley play in which twin siblings, after the tragic death of their parents, spend a decade locked away in a fantasy world until the door is opened and their worst nightmares invade. Tickets $5. Info and tickets: www.middlebury.edu/arts or 802-443-3168. Also on April 16.

Your kindness is the fruit of a good life

National Poetry Month VERMONT POET LAUREATE Chard DeNiord will kick off the Otter Creek Poets’ National Poetry Month Reading Series with a free poetry reading at Ilsley Library on Thursday, April 7, at 1 p.m. Tuesday, noon-1:30 p.m. Addison County Courthouse in Middlebury. 388-9180. Brandon Lions Club. First and third Tuesday, 7 p.m., Brandon Senior Center. Brandon Senior Citizen Center. 1591 Forest Dale Road. 247-3121. Bristol Historical Society. Third Thursday, 7 p.m., Howden Hall, 19 West St., Bristol. Champlain Valley Fiddlers’ Club. Middlebury VFW, 530 Exchange Street. Third Sunday (except Easter), noon to 5 p.m. Donation $3. Refreshments available. Looking for ﬁddlers young and old. Open to public. Info: 342-0079. The Hub Teen Center and Skatepark. 110 Airport Drive, Bristol. Open mike night, ﬁrst Thursday of the month, 5:30-7:30 p.m., free for all ages; reserve a spot at thehub@gmavt.net. Info: 453-3678 or www.bristolskatepark.com.

LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer). Youth support group meets Monday nights, 4-6 p.m., Turningpoint Center, Marble Works, Middlebury. Info: 388-4249. Middlebury Garden Club. Second Tuesday. Location varies. Pat Morrow, 802-462-3741. NEAT (Northeast Addison Television) Channel 16. Fourth Monday, 5-7 p.m. NEAT studio in Bristol. Bruce Duncan, bduncan@madriver.com. Neshobe Sportsman Club. Second Monday, 6 p.m. potluck; 7 p.m. meeting. 97 Frog Hollow Road in Brandon. Otter Creek Poets. Open poetry workshop held Thursdays, 1-3 p.m. Ilsley Library in Middlebury. Poets of all ages are invited to share their poetry for feedback, encouragement and optional weekly assignments. Bring a poem or two to share (plus 20 copies). Led by David Weinstock. Free. Orwell Historical Society. Fourth Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. Orwell Free Library. PACT (People of Addison County Together). Third Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Vermont state ofﬁce building on Exchange St. in Middlebury, Health Department conference room. 989-8141. Salisbury Historical Society. First Saturday, 9:30-10:45 a.m. Salisbury Congregational Church. Samaritan’s Cupboard. Assembly of God Christian Center, 1759 Route 7, Vergennes. Third Thursday through October. Vergennes Lions Club. First and third Wednesday, 6:45 p.m., American Legion. Club address: PO Box 94, Vergennes, VT 05491. Info: President Tim Cowan, 877-2382. Vergennes Rotary Club. Tuesday mornings, 7:15-8:30 a.m., Champlain Valley Christian School, 2 Church St. Breakfast served at 7:15 a.m. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS Addison Peace Coalition. Saturday, 10:30-11 a.m. Triangle Park in Middlebury. Citizens for Constitutional Government in Bridport. Thursday, 7-9 p.m. Bridport Community School. Learn about the U.S. and Vermont constitutions and how to defend our rights. Five-Town Area Vigil for Peace. Friday, 5-5:30 p.m. Bristol green. All welcome to speak out for world peace. Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles Mobile Service Van. Second and fourth Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.; Every Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Addison County Courthouse, in Middlebury. The van offers written exams, customer service and road tests. 828-2000.

Go online to see a full listing of ONGOINGEV EN TS

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Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016 â€” PAGE 13A

VUHS Fusion (Continued from Page 1A) ins on the raft or camp out on the riverside for a night along the way, and once the rafts reach the museum they will be taken apart and the logs will be used to build some sort of structure there. A student-produced video documentary of the project to be shown at the museum is also planned. Fusion Program Director Jill Strube, the primary author of the grant along with LCMM Deputy Director Erick Tichonuk, said the course fits in with the larger effort at VUHS to give students self-directed, handson experiences. That effort includes pioneering Proficiency Based Graduation Requirements (PBGRs), something along with Personalized Learning Plans that the state is now requiring all schools to move toward. â€œIt ties in beautifully with the Personalized Learning Plans, because we really want kids following their passions, following their ideas,â€? Strube said. â€œIt also fits in beautifully with the PBGRs, because the kids need to present evidence of what they have done as to why they should be graduating, why they should get a diploma. If a student participates in something like this, theyâ€™re, no pun intended, going to have a raft of evidence as to how they have prepared for the real world.â€? The funding to make the course

happen came from an â€œLRNG Innovatorsâ€? grant jointly offered by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The National Writing Project and John Legendâ€™s Show Me Campaign. Addison Northwest Supervisory Union Superintendent JoAn Canning pointed out the district was one of only 11 successful applicants among 164 entries. â€œLittle Addison Northwest Supervisory Union is named among Los Angeles, Philadelphia. Weâ€™re talking about big city schools. It was a competitive grant,â€? Canning said. â€œFor a small area of Vermont to be recognized for innovation, I think it really says a lot about the quality of staff and about the wonderful opportunities that we are able to offer our students.â€? Canning also praised the role of the museum and Executive Director Michael Smiles in developing an ongoing partnership with the Fusion Program, which is funded by long-term state and federal 21st Century Learning Centers Community Grants. Every Fusion session at VUES and VUHS includes instructors from the LCMM, and Canning said this particular hands-on, multidisciplinary summer project adds to the list. â€œOnce again weâ€™re using the context our students live in to solve re-

al-life challenges and problems and address science and technology and engineering and mathematics opportunities for our kids,â€? she said. â€œItâ€™s really exciting. We hope to not only continue the relationship, but to expand the relationship.â€? BACK TO RAFTS Strube, Tichonuk and Ferrisburgh Central School teacher Peter Stapleford envision this summerâ€™s course as an upgraded version of a course Stapleford offered to Fusion participants in the summer of 2013. â€œThat was sort of the impetus, because the kids who did that tell me thatâ€™s the best thing theyâ€™ve ever done in their entire lives,â€? Strube said. â€œWeâ€™ve wanted to do this ever since.â€? It had not been offered since then in part because of safety concerns that Strube said have been addressed this time around â€” she said the LCMM will proved â€œan on-water safety teamâ€? as well as running lights for the rafts. VUHS graduate Lane Kessler, now a University of Vermont engineering student, will also join Stapleford at the museum to boost the math and science component, Strube said, while Tichonuk will oversee the project at the museum end. Current 8th-graders will be asked to apply to participate, and program overseers will evaluate the applications.

DURING A SUMMER school program in 2013, Vergennes Union High School students lift one of their three rafts onto plastic barrels as they prepare for a Huck Finn adventure on Otter Creek. The school won a grant to fund a similar program for incoming freshmen this summer.

TEACHER PETER STAPLEFORD and student Brandon Jewell put the finishing touches on a raft in a 2013 summer school program. Stapleford will be part of an upgrade of that raft-building program this summer.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

â€œTheyâ€™re going to have to write a paragraph or something about why they want to do this, and what they feel they could bring to the program and what they could get out of the program,â€? Strube said. â€œWe want kids who are really seriously interested, and we really want to give as many kids opportunities (as possible).â€? Strube said the Fusion program does not currently offer anything for incoming freshmen. The existing 21st Century Grant is written for elementary school students and 7thand 8th-graders, while high school students are offered credit-recovery and SAT prep courses. This course will at least temporarily help fill that gap. â€œWe were talking about them basically being out of the grant,â€? she said. â€œWe didnâ€™t have anything for them.â€? If all goes well, Strube hopes some students can go with Tichonuk to the 2017 World Canals Conference in Syracuse, N.Y. â€œWe would like to take some of our kids to that conference and have them present this raft project as something that can be replicated by other schools,â€? she said. That, along with the studentsâ€™ journals and blogs and the video to be shown at the LCMM, is part of the projectâ€™s publicity plan, Strube said.

â€œWeâ€™re trying to make it so that other people know about this amazing thing our kids are having the op-

portunity to do,â€? she said. Andy Kirkaldy may be reached at andyk@addisonindependent.com.

Independent file photo/Trent Campbell

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PAGE 14A — Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016

‘Little Shop of Horrors’ THE MOUNT ABRAHAM Union High School spring musical is “Little Shop of Horrors.” The show opens March 31 and runs through Saturday, April 2. The lead roles are filled by Owein LaBarr as Seymour Krelborn, right, with Harmony Taggart as Audrey; above left, with Patrick Davison as Mr. Mushnik; and bottom right, with the blood-thirsty plant Audrey II. Taggart is also seen top right and below left with Davison. Sam Kuhns, below right, plays the horrible dentist Orin Scrivello. Independent photos/Trent Campbell

Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016 — PAGE 15A

Unification (Continued from Page 1A) parent. It could also lead to more that a merged district could provide shared resources among schools, she for the six communities. The panel believes. — chaired by Rep. Alyson Eastman, “I got a better look at it from the R-Orwell — acknowledged the ad- school board perspective, and tried vantages in a final report, which in- not to look at it from the Montpelier cluded a blueprint of how the Slate perspective,” Eastman said. “For me, Valley Unified Union School District it wasn’t easy; it took a lot of time to could be created and managed. get there. There are so many intricaThe committee noted, in its report, cies of the law that it took probably that the ARSU has already laid a eight months before I was comfortsolid foundation for governance uni- able in my understanding of what we fication. were trying to do.” “In our current system we have And she noted that with a positive already centralized transportation, vote, the new unified district would teachers’ agreements, support staff still have another year to work out agreements, food service, special the kinks in the transition. The new education serunified board vices, curriculum, would supplant professional dethe current eight velopment, as well An informational meeting school boards in as accounting and on unification will be held the ARSU and technology serassume full convices,” the report on Monday, April 4, at trol of the district states. “Therefore, 7:30 p.m., at the Orwell on July 1, 2017. it makes sense for Town Hall. Australian The ARSU would our communities ballot voting on the cease all operato join together unification question tions by Jan. 31, as one unified 2018. and the elections to the union school disSome oppotrict to support new board will also take nents of unificathe best interests place at the town hall, 10 tion have voiced of our students. a.m.-7 p.m., on Tuesday, concerns that Our study com- April 12. merging govermittee believes nance could be a the formation of a precursor to closunified school district for pre-Kinder- ing schools. Act 46 supporters have garten through grade 12 would only countered that unification would give enhance the overall quality of educa- small schools a new lease on life, tion for the students in our six com- given the greater efficiencies and fimunities.” nancial incentives offered through The current teachers’ contract ex- the new law. A positive vote on April pires next June, according to ARSU 12 would give the Slate Valley UniSuperintendent Ron Ryan. All teach- fied Union School District communiers in the SU are already covered un- ties: der a master agreement. “We have worked on centralizing that throughout the years,” Ryan said. “We went to 2017 (for expiration of the latest contract) specifically for this reason. We knew we were looking at Act 46 and the bottom line is if this vote is successful, we have 90 days from that vote to open negotiations again and work on that whole unification piece.” Rep. Eastman acknowledged she was not immediately sold on unification. She is among those legislators who voted against Act 46 last year. “The reason I was a ‘no’ vote is because I didn’t believe it would provide the tax relief that folks had asked us to get a handle on,” Eastman said, adding she and others were also concerned the law might lead to additional loss of local control. But Eastman said she gained a broader perspective on governance unification after taking the helm of the ARSU Act 46 Study Committee. She believes a unified district would, among other things, make school operations and budgeting more trans-

In Orwell

• Decreases of 10 cents on the education property tax rate during the first year of the governance merger, followed by 8 cents in year two; 6 cents in year three; 4 cents in year four; and finally, 2 cents in year five. • A “transition facilitation grant” of $130,000 to assist in the creation of the new district. • The ability to retain a combined total of $200,000 in Small Schools Grants now being received by the ARSU. That amounts to around $100,000 for Orwell alone, according to Laura Jakubowski, director of finance for the ARSU. TAX BENEFITS ARSU officials tentatively estimate that Orwell would see a 10-cent reduction in its education property tax rate (from $1.41 to $1.31) in fiscal year 2017, assuming the same local and state budgeting variables that are present in fiscal year 2016. That translates into a $200 savings on a home valued at $200,000. Unification in Orwell would not trigger any additional savings for those eligible for income sensitivity provisions of Act 68, according to information supplied by the ARSU. A unified district, according to the study committee, would eliminate billing back and forth for services provided by one member district to another; allow for contracting services for the new district, versus individual entities hiring their own; and allow for district-wide pre-K and EEE programs. The Orwell Village School currently has an enrollment of 122 students and is not at risk of being closed or consolidated, according to ARSU officials.

“Enrollment in Orwell has started nities, which often provides an extra to go up, and that’s a good thing,” inducement for people to settle in the Ryan said. “Our other towns aren’t community, according to Eastman. in such a good place, in terms of enOrwell this fall will be offering rollment, but Orparents two hours of well has had a sigpre-school for their nificant increase. three- and four-yearHopefully, that will olds. The Mary Johncontinue.” son Children’s Center Here’s what the will be coordinating ARSU’s Act 46 that offering, as well Study Committee as after-school care, so reported on the topparents will have the ic of school closoption of day-long acings: tivities for their young “We do not anticchildren instead of ipate closing any of having to find transthe schools in Benportation and care for son, Castleton, Fair kids after a two-hour Haven, or Orwell,” program. the panel said in its “We are offering ALYSON EASTMAN final report. “That a neat situation that is not the intent of other schools can’t,” the law. Budgetary pressures such as Eastman said. losing the small schools grants and UNIFIED BOARD MAKE-UP losing the 3.5 percent hold-harmless Membership on the new unified protection for declining enrollment board would be based on each comwould stay in place if a new Unified munity’s proportional representation Union District formed, therefore sus- in the district. That means Orwell tainability of their school would be (1,185 residents) is in line for two greater in a larger district with more members on the 18-person board. pupils.” Castleton, with 4,367, would have In any case, the new union school the most members, with seven. district would not be able to close any Each community will vote only on schools within its boundaries dur- its delegates. ing the first four years it is fully opIn Orwell, Amy Roy and Glen erational. Thereafter, it would take a Cousineau are competing for a twounanimous vote of the board to close year term on the panel, while Easta school. man is the lone candidate for a threeEastman is proud of Orwell’s year term. strong community and thriving All terms on the board will eventuschool. ally be for three years. They are beProspective homebuyers, she said, ing staggered, initially. are encouraged to walk through the An informational meeting on uniOrwell school to check out the ame- fication will be held on Monday,

April 4, beginning at 7:30 p.m., at the Orwell Town Hall. Australian ballot voting on the unification question and the elections to the new board will also take place at the town hall, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., on Tuesday, April 12. Officials are hoping for a good turnout at the polls. They served notice that a “no” vote would have substantial ramifications for the ARSU and other supervisory unions that either reject or delay unification. Supervisory unions that don’t merge voluntarily will need to conduct a self-study and make a case for why the current systems serve students better than a unified district. The school boards would also be required to meet with other boards and discuss collaboration. The Vermont Agency of Education would then decide whether to mandate a merger in 2019 — and at that point, minus financial incentives. After July 1, 2019, these districts will only be able to retain their Small Schools Grants if the state board determines they are geographically isolated or can demonstrate academic excellence and operational efficiency, according to the study committee’s final report. As of July 1, 2017, supervisory unions found to be out of compliance with state-mandated centralization provisions will see a 5-percent tax penalty, according to the report. Eastman hopes ARSU residents will see the advantages of unification, including expanded educational options for students through shared equipment, technology and staff. “There are things about being part of a bigger unit that will help us educationally,” she said.

C E L E B R AT E S P R I N G COLORING & DECORATING CONTEST

1- Color and decorate

this Springtime picture anyway you choose (you can use this one or photocopy it or draw/trace the outline the same size).

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2- Have fun!

Get Creative!

Pansy Bowls Potted Tulips & Crocuses Fruit Trees & Berry Bushes Ne w Fa ir y Ga rden Ac ce ss or ies, Ga rden Déco r & ng Po tter y in clu di Gl azed & Te rra Co tt a.

3- Send your entry to: Addison Independent 58 Maple Street Middlebury, VT 05753 or drop them off in the Marble Works in Middlebury.

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Name:

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Age:

Parent/Guardian’s name: Address: City:

State:

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Phone: Age Group:

ADDISON COUNTY

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VERMONT’S TWICE-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER Middlebury, VT 05753 • (802) 388-4944 • www.AddisonIndependent.com

PAGE 16A — Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016

Unbelted driver is hospitalized after crash ADDISON COUNTY — A bad and, after a short investigation, decrash in Addison early Sunday morntermined that the driver was under ing sent three people to the hospital the influence of alcohol. A prelimi— one with serious injuries. nary breath test showed that Dakota On Sunday, March 27, at apYankton, 31, of Bristol had a blood tional Facility; bail was set at $262. proximately 2:41 a.m. Vermont 911 alcohol content of 0.178 percent • On March 23 at approximately 11 p.m. — more than twice the legal limit. Police cited received a report of a motor vehicle crash with injuries at the Jersey Street South and Route 17 stopped a motor vehicle on Plank Road in Bristol Yankton for DUI. and cited Timothy L. Taylor, 50, of Bristol for intersection in Addison. • On March 26 at just before 9 p.m. stopped Vermont State Police, Addison Volunteer Fire driving with a criminally suspended license. a vehicle on Lower Notch Road in Bristol for a • On March 25 at 6:38 p.m. stopped a vehicle traffic infraction. Police identified the driver as Department, Middlebury Regional EMS and on Route 7 in Leicester after observing a traffic Michael Desjadon, 23, of Salisbury, and then deBristol Rescue Squad personnel responded to the scene. Upon arrival, responders observed a 2006 violation. A preliminary breath test showed that termined that Desjadon was in violation of his Chevrolet truck off the roadway, in a tree line, the driver, identified as 56-year-old Deborah Du- conditions of release as he was not supposed to adjacent to a field. The truck had sustained sig- val of Brandon, had a blood alcohol content of be driving. Police cited Desjadon for violation of 0.098 percent; the legal limit for driving is 0.08. conditions of release. nificant front-end damage. The state police trooper said his preliminary The trooper cited Duval for driving under the in• On March 28 at a little before noon, state investigation indicated that 21-year-old DJ Her- fluence. police were called to a verbal dispute at the Mc• On March 26 at 15 minutes past midnight Donald’s restaurant on Route 7 in Ferrisburgh. riman of Brandon was driving the truck northstopped a vehicle on Creek Road in Middlebury, Police report that Daryn T. Barsalou, 20, of Brisbound on Jersey Street South when it crossed over Route 17, left the roadway tol was involved in the dispute, and smashed into a line of trees. but he left the McDonald’s before The weather was clear and the road troopers arrived. Barsalou volunwas dry. tarily came to the state police barHerriman, who was reportedly racks in New Haven, where he was not wearing a seatbelt, sustained taken into custody and cited for serious internal injuries. First reviolating an abuse prevention orMONTPELIER — The Vermont (VOSHA) acknowledged the Desponders extricated the driver from der and for violating conditions of Department of Labor investigation partment of Public Safety’s comthe vehicle and transported him to release by being at the McDonald’s into the Vermont State Police physi- mitment to improving its training the University of Vermont Medical and having contact with a juvenile cal training procedures for its Tacti- and physical testing protocols to Center. Herriman’s two passengers on the premises. cal Services Unit has been wrapped better protect its members. were transported to Porter Hospital State police lodged Barsalou at up after the Vermont Department of “As part of its commitment to in Middlebury, where they were the Chittenden Regional CorrecPublic Safety and the Department safety, the Department initiated a treated and released. tional Facility; bail was set at $500. of Labor last Thursday came to an comprehensive review of its trainOn Tuesday afternoon, UVM This followed an incident at 9 agreement. ing and physical training protocols Medical Center reported that Herrip.m. the previous evening at the The investigation was initiated for all of its special teams,” Public man was in “fair” condition, which McDonald’s in Middlebury, where after Vermont State Police Trooper Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn is between “good” and “serious,” Middlebury police cited Barsalou Kyle Young, a 28-year-old Monk- said in the VSP press release. “The and is described as, “vital signs for reckless endangerment, diston resident who was stationed at Department is committed to reare stable and within normal limorderly conduct and violating the the New Haven barracks, died dur- viewing and improving its testing its; patient is conscious, but may terms of his release. Middlebury ing a try out for the Tactical Ser- protocols to protect its members to be uncomfortable; indicators are police alleged that Barsalou pointvices Unit last Sept. 17 in Jericho. the greatest extent possible. favorable.” ed a gun at another person at the Young was in the midst of a As part of its review, the DepartState police said the crash was restaurant. 14-point physical fitness test that ment of Public Safety consulted with still under investigation, but they • On March 28 announced that candidates needed to complete two highly regarded independent exdetermined that speed, alcohol and the Department of Public Safety while wearing a military-style bat- perts, Dr. Suzanne Elliott and Denise seatbelt usage were contributing and the Vermont Department of Latle dress uniform complete with Alosa, both long-time medical team factors in this crash. bor agreed to resolve the investigabody armor and boots when he col- directors for the Vermont City MaraIn other recent activity, state potion into the Vermont State Police lapsed. thon. They have written publications lice troopers: physical training procedures for its At the time Young began his test, related to heat prevention/treatment • On March 22 at 2:33 p.m. loTactical Services Unit that resulted the temperature was 82 degrees, protocols and have treated multiple cated 24-year-old Lindsay Cushing in the death of Trooper Kyle Young. according to the National Weather Exertional Heat Stroke (EHS) cases. of Middlebury, who was wanted Young, a 28-year-old Monkton Service. He stopped moving while They have trained many emergency by police on an attempting to resident, died suddenly of heatin the penultimate phase of the test medical responders and medical elude law enforcement charge. stroke during a Sept. 17 Tactical — a climb up a sand hill. According providers on how to recognize and The trooper, who found Cushing Services Unit tryout exercise at a to the Department of Public Safety, treat EHS. on Mount Independence Road in firing range in Jericho. Young was alert and told the officer The Department of Public Safety Orwell, took Cushing into custody In the announcement, Keith administering the test that he did has been in contact with the Kory and transported her to the Addison Flynn, commissioner of the Vernot want to quit. He initially said he Stringer Institute at the University County Criminal Court. mont Department of Public Safety, was fine, then said he was tired and of Connecticut for assistance with • Stopped a vehicle on Case said that the Vermont Occupational became unresponsive. He received this review. Street in Middlebury at 11:43 Safety and Health Administration CPR and a 911 call was made. Flynn said the department “conp.m. on March 23 and ended up acknowledged his department’s According to a release by the Ver- tinues to grieve the loss of State arresting the driver, identified as commitment to improving its trainmont State Police, the agreement to Trooper Kyle Young and hopes that 47-year-old Anthony E. Andrews ing and physical testing protocols wrap up the DoL’s investigation the continued review to improve of Middlebury on an active arrest to better protect its members. (See came as the Vermont Occupational our protocols will protect our memwarrant. Andrews was lodged at story, left.) Safety and Health Administration bers in the future.” the Chittenden Regional Correc-

Vt. State

Police Log

Flynn commits to review safety of VSP training in light of trooper death

Police: Man pointed gun at another person MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury who had been driving erratically police cited Daryn T. Barsalou, on Route 7 South on March 24. 20, of Bristol for reckless endan• Checked on a man who had germent, disorderly conduct and texted his ex-girlfriend, alleging violating the term of his release, he was going to harm himself on after he allegedly pointed a gun at March 24. Police said the man another person at the McDonald’s was OK. restaurant off Court Street Ex• Served a no-trespass order on tension on Sunday, March 27, at March 24 on a man who was not shortly after 9 p.m. wanted at his ex-girlfriend’s home. Police officers were then sub• Assisted Brandon police in jected to complaints and epithets their search for a suspect in the from a drunken man (not Barsa- Court Street Extension area on lou) who complained about the March 24. McDonald’s counter being closed • Responded to a moped crash, during the investigation of the with injuries, in the Chipman gun incident, thereby delaying the Heights area on March 25. man’s opportunity to buy a burger. • Received a complaint on Police said they placed the man in March 25 from a local man who the custody of his sober fiancée. said that his truck was missing. In a related police call, the next The man told police he suspected day at a little before noon, Vermont his ex-wife might have taken the State Police responded to a report truck, as it is registered in her of a verbal dispute name. Police said involving Barsalou the man was conat the McDonald’s cerned about some restaurant on Route personal possessions 7 in Ferrisburgh. that were inside the Police Log Barsalou left the vehicle. McDonald’s before • Assisted Blue troopers arrived, but he voluntarily Spruce Motel officials in evicting a came to the state police barracks in guest who had not paid for a room New Haven. There Barsalou was and had been refusing to leave on taken into custody and cited for vi- March 25. olating an abuse prevention order • Investigated an illegal dumpand for violating conditions of re- ing complaint at Wright Park on lease by being at the McDonald’s March 25. Police were able to and having contact with a juvenile find the culprit, who picked up the on the premises. trash. State police lodged Barsalou • Investigated a report of mulat the Chittenden Regional Cor- tiple gunshots near a Case Street rectional Facility; bail was set at cemetery on March 26. Police said $500. the shooting had stopped upon In other action last week, Mid- their arrival. dlebury police: • Responded to a reported dis• Responded to a vandalism pute between some people about complaint in the South Ridge a Confederate flag that a man had Drive area on March 21. been displaying on his truck in the • Responded to a report of Charles Avenue area on March 26. a man stabbing himself with a • Were informed that someone knife in the Monroe Street area on had thrown a brick through two March 22. Police said the man was truck windows while the vehicle taken to Porter Hospital and then was parked in the MacIntyre Lane transferred to the UVM Medical area on March 26. Center. • Received a report that some• Notified Middlebury firefight- one had thrown a brick through ers about an out-of-control brush the Hannaford Career Center fire in the East Main Street area on greenhouse off Charles Avenue on March 23. March 26. • Responded to a noise com• Assisted Vermont State Police plaint in the Seminary Street Ex- in investigating a drunk driving tension area on March 23. case on Ossie Road on March 26. • Assisted an Evergreen Terrace • Were informed of the theft of resident who on March 23 alleged jewelry from a Cady Road resithat her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend dence on March 27. had been driving by her house and • Investigated a reported burtexting her. glary at an Ossie Road residence • Cited Joshua Garrow, 21, of on March 27. Middlebury for domestic assault • Assisted a local woman who and unlawful mischief, following alleged having received threatenan investigation in the Washington ing phone calls and texts from an Street Extension area on March ex-boyfriend on March 27. 23. • Issued a no-trespass order on • Received a report that a ve- March 27 on a man after he had rehicle had been vandalized while fused to leave Two Brothers Tavparked off Old Chapel Road on ern on Main Street. March 24. • Responded to a report on • Were informed of a car- March 28 of a verbally abusive versus-cow collision on Route 7 person at Porter Hospital. Police North on March 24. said the person had left upon their • Pulled over an elderly woman arrival.

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Vetsâ€™ group offering aid to nursing students VERMONT â€” The local chapter of a national veterans organization is offering scholarships to qualified undergraduate students enrolled in two- or four-year academic programs of study to be registered nurses. These scholarships can help veterans with experience in related military occupations prepare for civilian careers in the nursing profession. A national program to help alleviate the shortage of skilled nurses in this country has long been a special interest to La SociĂŠtĂŠ des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux, the veterans organization also known as the â€œForty and Eight.â€? Since 1955, La SociĂŠtĂŠ has provided nearly $32 million and assisted more than 52,000 nurses in obtaining nursing degrees. This year the Forty and Eight is celebrating 96 years since its founding in 1920. For more information about the Forty and Eight and the nurses training program, contact Leonard Normandeau at 802-479-2274. For more information about the nurses training scholarship and application forms, email Ron Merolli at ronerock1@gmail.com. Editorâ€™s note: This article was provided by Melvin McKnight of Voiture Locale 646, Forty and Eight.

Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016 â€” PAGE 17A

Edgewater Gallery exhibit to showcase Donna Andreychuk MIDDLEBURY â€” Edgewater Gallery on the Green announces its April Solo Exhibition Artist: Donna Andreychuk. The gallery will host an opening reception for her exhibit, â€œVisual Journey,â€? on Saturday, April 9, from 3-6 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. Andreychuk is a Canadian artist whose work can best be described as landscape-inspired abstract impressionism. Although many of her pieces are motivated by her love of the Canadian landscape, her scenes depict great similarities between Canada and Vermont. Both can be rugged and harsh, yet soft and soothing. Painting en plein air as frequently as three times a week, Donna uses her outdoor pieces as inspiration for her larger works. However, she rarely uses more than a fragment of a plein air piece in another painting, and hardly ever sells them. Instead, those small works become inspiration for her studio sessions. She says they are like companions in a shared space, that speak to her, and connect her back to the rocky shorelines, gnarly pines and big skies that she is so earnestly trying to capture in her work. Each larger, more ďŹ nished piece that she paints is like â€œan imaginary accumulation of elements from all the places I have been.â€? The paintings in â€œVisual Journeyâ€? come straight from her heart. She spent much of her youth alone, outdoors, â€œHELPING HANDâ€? IS hanging in Middleburyâ€™s Edgewater Gallery on the Green during its April exhibit, connecting with the earth. Painting landscapes is an intuitive approach â€œDonna Andreychuk: Visual Journey.â€? An opening reception is on Saturday, April 9, from 3-6 p.m.

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to express herself through her artwork. Whether seen from a path through the woods, the shoreline of the Thames River, or while quietly paddling a canoe along Lake Huron or Georgian Bay, Andreychuk tries to capture the essence of how she feels with a handful of loamy soil or while gazing at the point where the treetops meet the sky. The title of the show symbolizes the visual and intimate trip she took the ďŹ rst time she brought her work from Canada to Middlebury. She needed in her mind to connect the two places and spaces, to feel that her work would be at home in a place she had not yet been until then. On her journey across the border and into the Vermont landscape, she says, she felt the connection developing, as if she were able to tiptoe across the treetops and land here, with her paintings, in a place that turned out to not be too different from her home. After she left that ďŹ rst collection of work at Edgewater Gallery, Andreychuk returned to her home in London, Ontario, with a new landscape of inspiration. Equipped with photographs and mental imagery, she found her way into and through a new body of work that is every bit a piece of her journey, her home and her heart. For more information on Donna Andreychuk and the â€œVisual Journeyâ€? exhibit, call 802-989-7419, email zoe@edgewatergallery-vt.com or visit edgewatergallery-vt.com.

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PAGE 18A — Addison Independent, Thursday, March 31, 2016

STATE REP. DIANE Lanpher, above left, speaks at Monday’s Legislative Ag Lunch in Bridport. Above right, Rep. Harvey Smith responds to a question at the lunch. Monday’s discussion revolved around marijuana legalization and Lake Champlain cleanup.

Independent photos/Trent Campbell

Legislators (Continued from Page 1A) all of the budgets and you start to see their relationships … so I think you’ve heard me say this before that if I could wave a magic wand over Vermont and if there was one wish, it would be to eliminate the addiction problem because it is driving up so many of the budgets, all of them.” Lanpher then detailed the unprecedented number of children, especially those ages “zero to age five,” entering state custody because of addiction; the increasing pressure on the judicial system to handle drug-related custody and other issues; the back logs at the treatment centers; and the additional costs to law enforcement, corrections, the state’s attorney’s office, the defender general’s office, and the Department of Children and Families, on whose behalf the House recently passed a package that included funding 35 new social workers to go out into the field. Speaking directly about the 529 children from zero to age five now

in state custody, Lanpher said, “I get very emotional about this because those are our babies and we’re their custodians maybe for the rest of their lives to feed them, clothe them, educate them, love them.” LAKE CHAMPLAIN WATER QUALITY While the addiction crisis and legalizing marijuana drew by far the most responses from the audience, the legislators launched a detailed discussion about whether legislation being debated and put into place to clean up Lake Champlain would be fair and effective. At present, the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets is continuing to revise the rules for Required Agricultural Practices as mandated by the water quality legislation (Act 64) passed June 2015. Smith set the tone for the discussion by asking if the original promise that all sectors of the Vermont economy would be asked to take responsibility to clean up the lake is still the direction that clean-up is going.

“When we passed that water ways that it’s going to be beneficial quality bill,” said Smith, “one of to improve water quality and it’s gothe tenets of the bill and one of the ing to be cost effective.” selling points was ‘all in.’ EveryFarmer Marie Audet of Blue body in the state Spruce Farm, which was into this water milks 500 dairy quality issue to- “I’m hoping our cows and is a regether, all the way representatives cipient of the Govacross the board. come to their senses ernor’s Award for It didn’t matter Environmental Exwhether you were up there. It looks as cellence, echoed a large farm or a though they’re more that concern. small farm. It didn’t concerned about Audet said that matter whether you the tax dollars than on their dairy farm were a municipal- they are about the right now all the ity, a homeowner, are youth of the state of conversations recreational user, about water quality. logger, whatever. Vermont.” “For two years now — Bridport resident we haven’t plowed Everybody was all Bill Keyes any ground,” she in.” Smith continued, said, then invited “And now I’m seeattendees to come ing some lines being drawn as to to the shop at Blue Spruce and take who is in and who is out. I don’t a look at the farm’s no-till corn know how it’s all fitting together, planter. Audet also invited farmers but I know that we need to have an and legislators to come to meetings open discussion to make sure that of the Champlain Valley Farmer what we’re doing is on the concept Coalition, where farmers can work of ‘all in’ and we’re working in together on how to improve water quality and farm productivity. “We went into this water quality issue understanding that we own the 40 percent of the problem, and we are in, and we are working and the pendulum is swinging,” said Audet. “But what we don’t like is what Harvey was alluding to: special interests saying ‘Well we’re just a small piece of this.’ An acre of soil is an acre of soil. The same rules have to apply across the board if we’re going to achieve the results that we need to achieve.” Smith called on Adam Lougee, executive director of the Addison County Regional Planning Commission, to say what towns are doing to shoulder their part in improving water quality. Lougee explained that the Agency of Natural Resources is at work on new rules for a general stormwater permit that will be required of all towns and that will govern how roads are built or repaired or retrofitted to improve water quality. Local road foremen, said Lougee, MARIE AUDET OF Blue Spruce Farm in Bridport talks at the Legislative Ag Lunch held in Bridport Monday. are already out, looking at culverts, Audet’s farm is a champion of alternative energy sources and has a proactive approach to lake cleanup ef- roads and bridges to see which areas forts. have the most impact on water qualIndependent photo/Trent Campbell ity and which are most in need of upgrades. The Legislature gave the ANR a 2017 deadline for coming up with new rules that will affect roads and municipalities. “It’s a little bit of a time of angst for your road foremen because they don’t know what the rules are going to involve. They don’t know what they’re going to have to do,” said Lougee. Lougee emphasized, however, that regional planning commissions statewide have also been tasked with providing expertise and assistance to towns as they prioritize road repairs and upgrades to improve water quality. “We, the regional planning commission, are out helping them with some of the technology to look at culverts and look at road segments and look at bridges,” he said. Lougee added that the new rules will allow towns 20 years to implement changes in roads, culverts and bridges to improve water quality. Other agriculture-related subjects that came up at Monday’s lunch included a discussion of how farms and bio-digesters could become a part of the food wastes portion of Vermont’s universal recycling law and how Vermont could use its farm animal wastes to power greenhouses to produce more local food during the winters. The next forum in the legislative series will be a breakfast, starting at 7 a.m., at the Congregational Church in Weybridge on April 4. Reporter Gaen Murphree is reached at gaenm@addisonindependent.com.