Volume 23 Issue 3
Summer ~ 2013
Free
Worden Stepping Down as LTP Librarian By Catherine O’Callaghan I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library. Jorge Luis Borges June is a time of transition and the library is sad to bid farewell to our wonderful librarian, Melissa Worden. Melissa has worked tirelessly to promote our library, and serve our patrons. Many of you know of her gift for recommending just the right book for you. Melissa has accepted a position teaching literacy and math to fourth graders at St. Michael’s school. When I sat down with her over a glass of wine last week, I asked her about what she will miss the most. “Oh that’s easy, I will miss talking with our regular patrons and I especially loved developing the children’s collection.” When asked what her dream for the library’s future is, Melissa said, “As the Lydia Taft Pratt Library
celebrates 100 years of serving Dummerston, my wish is that the library will continue to develop autonomy and thrive. “ As if conjured by our dear librarian, beautiful blue skies and gentle breezes blessed the annual geranium festival and book sale sponsored by Lydia’s Friends. The festival was held in West Dummerston village on Saturday, May 18 to support Dummerston’s own Lydia Taft Pratt Library and the many services it provides the community. Lydia’s Friends would like to extend their sincere thanks to the many people who made our geranium festival and book sale such a resounding success. Geraniums for sale were generously provided at cost by Walker Farm. Books for the sale were donated by people throughout Windham County. A wide variety of titles for young and old were available. The festival also had continued on page 6
It’s Their World, and We Live In It By Joyce Marcel I’ve been asked to write about bears and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It used to be that whenever I saw a truck bearing (heh heh) the bumper sticker “A fed bear is a dead bear,” I would nod my head in smug self-congratulation. After all, my husband and I live deep in the Dummerston woods, and we know enough not to feed the bears. But it’s not that simple. Back when we first moved into our little tree house and knew nothing of bears, we had garbage cans. And one day we stood at the window and watched a black bear pop the lids off them as if they were Pringles cans. Then we had a carpenter friend make us a metal-clad dumpster that he claimed was “bearproof.” We even padlocked it, so every time we wanted to throw away a bag of garbage we had to search for the key.
The bears just tore the back hinges off the lid and left the padlock there. So we learned that not only do you have take down the feeders (duh!) when the bears come out of hibernation, but they relish chicken carcasses and steak bones. (The Windham Solid Waste District has a recycling bin just for those things, bless them — but no plastic please. And bring baby wipes with you.) Biologists say there are at least 6,000 black bears in Vermont right now — a number that has doubled in just two decades. Per capita, that’s a lot of bears. After many years of being responsible-bordering-on-obsessive about garbage, my husband and are older and wiser. We wash and recycle our cans and bottles. We recycle our magazines and that ever-growing collection of catalogs. We heat with wood (which also takes care of newspapers and mail with our social continued on page 11
Gladys B. Miller
August 20, 1933 - April 26, 2013
A Remembrance of Gladys By Susanna Griefen Dummerston is different now. Gladys is gone, and at apple pie and strawberry suppers, at morning worship, at church board and Community Chest meetings, we will miss her cheerful face and strong hands to help. Her life was deeply interwoven with so much that is good among us. Gladys was a farmer’s daughter, and a farmer’s wife, and a farmer’s mother and a farmer’s grandmother. Her roots are deep in the Vermont soil. She was born at home on a dairy farm in Putney, the youngest of four sisters. Musically inclined, by high school she was playing the organ every Sunday at The Putney Federated Church. She and Dwight met at a square dance in West Dummerston, and it was love at first sight. They met in August, were engaged at Christmas, and continued on page 2