Champlain Quadricentennial concludes with the Festival of Nations, Sept. 18-20.
Care Net banquet will feature a speaker with experience in Christian counseling.
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Health-care debacle helping party From New Market Press Staff & News Reports Daniel T. Riley has declared his candidacy for the Vermont Republican Party chairmanship. Riley, formerly the Bennington County Republican chairman, has a strong political background. Riley’s political move comes at a time when many Vermont voters are disgruntled by Democrats and the health-care debacle. Record numbers of Vermonters have attended tea party protest rallies in Montpelier, Burlington and Rutland in recent months. The rallies have received scant news coverage Daniel T. Riley in the state. In 2000, Riley coordinated U.S. Sen. John McCain’s campaign in the First Congressional District of New York and became a delegate to the Republican National Convention that same year. Since then he has been active in Republican politics consulting various organizations and campaigns. “Chairman Rob Roper has decided to move on and will be missed. He has made great strides during his tenure—no small feat considering the political climate he has been working in. Rob helped unite us as a party and make sure our incumbents had the GOP support they needed to get re-elected last year. We are all grateful for his commitment and sacrifice. It would be an honor and privilege to continue and further where Rob is leaving off. Riley said, “State Auditor Tom Salmon, undoubtedly one of the best financial minds in Montpelier, said it best during his departure from the Democratic Party—’The majority of Vermonters do not want to see tax increases as a response to poor planning.’” Vermont Republicans will continue to present common sense solutions to the challenges of our state’s future and we believe that the majority of Vermonters will agree, particularly on economic issues. Gov. Jim Douglas, Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, State Auditor Salmon, and the Republicans in the legislature have been seen as unwavering in their positions about reducing state spending and economic growth to ease the burden on hardworking Vermonters, especially in these tough times. Riley will be advising Republican candidates
See RILEY, page 8
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September 19, 2009
Riley seeks to take charge of Vt. GOP
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From the Editor:
A farmstead in peril I
n our tiny corner of the world, Vermonters are witnessing the continued erosion of the family farm, once a part of the bedrock of New England and beyond. So who’s helping our struggling family farmers and other rural residents? To their credit, some of our elected officials have shown concern; they have taken action, at least on the dairy front, but we never see these officials budge when it comes to taxes. For many rural dwellers in Vermont, the house of tax cards is soon to come crashing down. One, little example of Vermont’s rural woes can be seen in the case of the Hurlburt family’s Meadowlark Farm. This 1,151-acre heritage farmstead straddles the Monkton-New Haven town line. English immigrant Lebon Gates Hurlburt started this Addison County farm in 1801. Thomas Jefferson was president and Vermont was still a frontier state. Meadowlark is the oldest family held farmstead in our region. It has remained in the hands of the Hurlburt family since Lebon first plowed the land. But today— after first selling 130 milking cows in 1994 to pay the ever increasing property tax burden—patriarch Herrick Hulburt, age 78, is now facing the family’s greatest
Herrick Hurlburt, Sr. is hoping the towns of Monkton and New Haven will reduce his excessive property taxes—taxes that may force him to sell his family’s 208-year-old heritage homestead. Photo by J. Kirk Edwards
crisis in 208 years: How will the Hurlburts pay the taxes before the property is seized?
Herrick’s health has affected his dayto-day activities now; the last thing he wants to deal with are tax hungry state and local government officials. And the Hurlburts’ tax bill has been increasing each year since they sold their herd. In true Vermont farming tradition, Herrick’s children and grandchildren live on the family land, too. Three sons, Michael, David and Rick, and their families, live in separate houses spread across the property. Their future on the land is clouded by the shadow of a growing tax obligation that is both unreasonable and impossible for them to pay based on their income-todebt ratio. Herrick Hurlburt’s land was originally assessed by the Town of Monkton at $1,452,400. It was later “reduced,” barely a micron, to $1,450,200. One of the Hurlburt property sites, occupied by Herrick’s son Michael, was also assessed above the local average just because it has “lovely views of the Adirondacks.” Michael Hurlburt likes to cite Vermont’s extinct Council of Censors which was designed to oversee the collection and use of public funds and taxes. In the historic council records, you can find references to old Article 9 of the
See FARM, page 13
Rooney in Ag Hall of Fame Monument Farms Dairy owner By Larry Myott Special to the Eagle WEYBRIDGE—Millie Rooney of Monument Farms Dairy in Weybridge, was recently honored by being inducted in the Vermont Agriculture Hall of Fame at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction. She was nominated by the Addison County Farm Bureau. Rooney was being presented the special award, by Gov. Jim Douglas at the fair. Millicent Rooney's son, Jon, now milk plant manager of Monument Farms Dairy. The Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame was founded seven years ago by the Vermont Farm Bureau in cooperation with the
See ROONEY, page 12
Millie Rooney is presented a special award by Gov. Jim Douglas at the Champlain Valley Fair. Millicent Rooney's son, Jon, now milk plant manager of Monument Farms Dairy is on the left, and nephew Bob James is on the right. Photo by Larry Myott
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