Views of Dummerston - 2020#2 - Spring

Art by Gary Blomgren

Volume 30 Issue 2

Spring ~ 2020

Free • Since 1990

By Roger Turner On Sunday, April 5th, it had become clear to all of us that Dummerston was fully enveloped in the cloud of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic; this distracted us from enjoying the sweet maple mist which wafts through town at this time of the year when multiple sugar houses are boiling. I couldn’t buy the Sunday paper at the Newfane Market anymore because they had to close on Sundays due to a lack of business. So, I had to decide where to buy the paper. I considered the Sunoco Station in Putney, but then I thought – NO! People

Squeeze Dummerston and Maple Syrup Pours Out

by Joyce Marcel

Dummerston, which proudly hosts the oldest continuing sugar bush in the continental United States, is blessed with lots of maple trees, and while the rational among us like to stay home in the winter (or when there’s a virus in the air), some people like to stand waist deep in the snow, rigging tubes and taps.

Of course this was a warm winter, so no snow up to anyone’s gizzard. But the sugarers were out in force and they report a great year.

Over at the Bunker Farm, Noah Hoskins was delighted.

“We’ve had a great year,” Hoskins said.

“We put out 4,500 taps and we buy taps from a couple of other people. We’ve made close to 3,000 gallons. We have about two or three people working on it. My brother-in-law, Mike Euphrat, does it full time. We’re very responsive to the weather. I don’t think we’re seeing any direct effects from climate change, but things are different from year to year. This was a very warm winter, and we’re not entirely sure how continued on page 11

fleeing the coronavirus in New York City are streaming up the interstate, and while stopping for gas and in need of a cup of coffee, or the key to the bathroom, will be gripping the door handle I would have to use to go in for my paper. I mentally ran through my options, settling on Hannafords, with a mask, because the doors open automatically, meaning I could get in without touching anything, and I could pull a paper out from a stack and hand the cashier some cash, which again would involve no touching. So, having made this mental calculus of survival, that’s where I went.

Paper in hand, I headed up Putney Road on my way home and found Agway was open with only a couple of cars out front; it seemed safe to go in to buy some seeds for what this year will be our “coronavirus garden”. With an added cargo of seeds, I proceeded up Middle Road to the Center where in front of the church continued on pag 14

photo by roger Turner

Dummerston Navigates COVID-19

Daffodils to make people happy set out at the end of Dan and Karyn Tyler’s driveway on the East-West Road.

Dummerston School Staff Have a Parade!

By Julianne Eagan

Second Grade teacher Heidi Bristol loves a parade!

On April 17th, Dummerston School staff held a Teacher Parade, caravanning throughout town with decorated cars and words of encouragement and love for Dummerston School students and families. Likewise, families and townspeople greeted us with their own messages of love and support. For everyone, parade participants and spectators alike, the parade was unforgettable and filled our hearts with joy and love for our school community.

Thank you to Molly Stoner for mapping out our route and to Deputy Jessica Fellows of the Windham County Sheriff’s Department and Rich Cogliano of the Dummerston Fire Department for helping us make our way through town safely.

2 • Spring, 2020 • Views of Dummerston The Views of Dummerston is a quarterly newsletter published by a group of citizen volunteers since 1990, and has non-profit status through the Dummerston Community Center. Mary Lou McBean had the original vision for and was first editor of the Views, and Gary Blomgren created the original masthead art.

The current steering committee includes Roger Turner (editor), Michelle Cherrier (co-articles coordinator and calendar), Fred Lee (layout), Sara Ryan (ad coordinator), Linda Rood (co-articles coordinator), and Lee Ives Tice (mailing). We always welcome new interest in joining the committee.

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

The Views is mailed free of charge to all residents of the town of Dummerston. It is also available online at viewsofdummerston.org. We encourage people to help us save printing and mailing expenses by cancelling their print subscription and accessing the Views online at viewsofdummerston.org; to do so please email Sara Ryan at: subscribe online@viewsofdummerston.org.

If you are not a resident of Dummerston and would prefer to receive a paper copy of the Views, you may subscribe for an annual cost of $5. Mail a check made payable to Views of Dummerston, with your name and mailing address to Lee Tice, 230 School House Rd., East Dummerston, VT 05346.

ARTICLES:

We welcome all articles related in any way to the town of Dummerston, including news of town organizations, personalities, history, or activities. Email Microsoft Word documents (preferred) to: articles@viewsof dummerston.org. Typed or hand-written articles can also be sent to: Michelle Cherrier, 72 Miller Rd., East Dummerston, VT 05346.

CALENDAR:

Any (non-commercial) event you would like listed on our Calendar of Events should be emailed to: calendar@ viewsofdummerston.org, or mailed to Michelle Cherrier at the above address.

NEXT ISSUE:

Submissions due: June 23, 2020

Views will be mailed on: August 5, 2020 ADVERTISING:

Rates: All rates are for four issues, however a large or small box ad can be placed for just one issue at an adjusted rate. Payment should be by a check made out to the Views of Dummerston, and mailed to: Sara Ryan, 53 Greenhoe Rd., East Dummerston, VT 05346

Small Box Ad $55

Large Box Ad $85 Information/Inquiries: Contact Sara Ryan at: ads@ viewsofdummerston.org, or at 387-0110.

SPONSORSHIPS:

Sponsorships of $25 for four issues augment our ad revenues to provide us with operating funds. You will be notified when your sponsorship is up and invited to renew. If you wish to become a sponsor or have questions, contact Sara Ryan as above.

Digital Views Available Featuring easy navigation, clickable links, and full color, we’re sure you’ll love it! viewsofdummerston.org

Dummerston Selectboard Meetings Recorded and televised by BCTV and online at www.brattleborotv.org. (Select “Watch”, select “Watch On Demand”, select “Playlist”, scroll to “Dummerston”, select meeting.)

Tax Bills To Be Mailed in July

By Charlotte Neer Annis Dummerston Town Treasurer

Laurie and I would like to let everyone know that we are hoping to send out the 2020 tax bills in the second week of July. We have to wait for the state to send us the education tax rates but hopefully they will be on time this year.

The first tax payment will be due August 20th, 2020 by 5 p.m. If you are planning on paying with cash, please bring the correct change. We do not accept debit or credit cards at the town office but we do have a third-party vendor that can set up a payment for a 3% fee. Please call the office if you need that information. We are

also able to set up direct debit for tax payments.

The funds are withdrawn from your account on the day that taxes are due. It only takes a few minutes to set up and will save you time and worry in the future!

Laurie sends out numerous reminders for both tax payments via her weekly email so please provide the office with your information if you would like an email reminder and lots of information about other “goings on” around town. If you do not use email, reminders for the February payment will be mailed to you if you provide the office with a stamped selfaddressed envelope We hope that you all have a wonderful and healthy spring and summer.

Town Reappraisal Procedure Important to Property Owners By the Dummerston Listers To the property owners of the town of Dummerston: As we have previously reported, Dummerston is in the process of a town wide reappraisal. The town has contracted with the New England Municipal Resource Center (NEMRC) to conduct this reappraisal, but as with everything else, the process will not be proceeding in the usual manner due to the current situation.

We want everybody to know that the reappraisal will be proceeding as planned, but

the exact process is not clear at this time.

As we proceed we may need to get in touch with you and thus would appreciate you responding to any calls or emails we may send to you. We will use our page on the town website (dummerston.org/boards/listers. asp) to update you on the process we will be following based on guidance from the state and NEMRC. Please feel free to call us 802-257-1496 or email us at listers@dummerston.org with any questions or concerns you may have.

Leave us a message and we will respond as soon as possible.

Town Volunteer Positions Available Planning Commission: 4-year term DRB Alternate: two 1-year terms Assistant Zoning Administrator: 1-year term Energy Committee: one term to complete until 2022 Animal Control Officer: two 1-year terms Health Officer: 1-year term Windham Regional Commission Representative: two 1-year terms Delinquent Tax Collector: 1-year term Social Services Advisory Committee: 1-year term If interested in applying for any of these positions please check with town clerk Laurie

Frechette (257-1496) to confirm that the position remains open, then submit a letter of interest to: selectboard@dummerston.org.

Information Wanted The Dummerston listers would like to know the year that your house was built to update our records. If you know the approximate year built, please let us know by phone at 257-1496 or by email: listers@dummerston.org or mailed to the town office at 1523 Middle Road, East Dummerston, VT 05346.

Thank you from the listers.

The Views of Dummerston Mission Statement Providing reports of town organizations, and stories of townspeople and their good deeds, in promoting cooperation and understanding toward creating a more “ideal” Dummerston.

“All who read may also contribute!”—Mary Lou McBean, founder, Views of Dummerston

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2020 • 3

town government

Amended Budget Process Prompts Review Jerelyn Wilson,

Dummerston Selectboard

On March 3rd, 150 of us gathered for town meeting at the Dummerston School. It was the last time such a large group got together in person locally before stricter stay-at-home protocols were enacted by the Governor due to Covid-19.

Seem like ages ago? There was no school budget to discuss, and one might have thought the town portion would be finished before noon with lunch served early. Not the case!

Among other debates, residents voted 77–70 by paper ballots in favor of adding an extra $8,000 for the West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department. I don’t think anyone would argue the significant value our fire fighters bring to our town or the effort and dedication their

positions demand. The debate had mostly to do with process. Out of this process we are looking forward to a stronger, more collaborative relationship between the town and the volunteer fire department.

We want to work together in a way that recognizes the important work these volunteers do, that provides the financial resources they need to provide the high level of emergency service upon which we all depend, and that strengthens the working relationship between the selectboard and the volunteer fire department. Communication will be key.

Following town meeting, on March 11, the selectboard welcomed new member, David Baxendale (elected to the open seat by write-in votes), and reorganized, electing Zeke Goodband as Chair, Terry Chapman as Vice Chair and

Dummerston Planning Commission

Planning Commission Reorganizes

By Sam Farwell On town meeting day at 6:30 p.m. the Dummerston Planning Commission assembled at the town office for its regular March meeting.

Chair Joe Little and long-time-serving member, Deb Forrett, had decided to step down, but both were in attendance to assist with our organizational meeting and say good bye. We will miss Joe’s effective meeting leadership and humor, and we will miss Deb’s leadership in our discussions as well as her perspective from serving for over ten years on the Commission. Thank you to both and best of luck in future endeavors.

We elected Bob Danzi our new chair and Regina Stephanelli vice chair. Annamarie Pluhar agreed to serve another year as our stalwart secretary. Our goals this year are to finish and hold hearings on amendments to the zoning bylaw, including improvements to the home business and sign regulations. We want to make

the bylaw more readable and user-friendly with these amendments. Where the current regulations seem too restrictive, we are looking for the balance that allows more flexibility without removing protections against adverse effects.

The Planning Commission’s regular meetings are on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the town office. Our current members are: Annamarie Pluhar, Beverly Tier, Bob Danzi, Maria Glabach, Regina Stefanelli, Sam Farwell, and Sarah Bergh. We have two vacant seats so if you have an interest in working on the town zoning bylaws and the town plan please come to a meeting or speak with one of us. Planning commissioners are appointed by the selectboard. The agenda and minutes are posted on the Commission’s page of the town website.

Meetings are always open to the public.

Written comments are welcome and can be emailed to planning@dummerston.org or mailed to the town office.

Sponsors

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Offices in Brattleboro and Dover

Maria Glabach as Secretary. March 11th was the last in-person selectboard meeting. Thank goodness for the internet! With online meeting platforms we have been able to carry on our business while also honoring the open meeting laws. Agendas have been posted and residents have been attending the online meetings.

You can see selectboard agendas on the town website. If you haven’t already visited Dummerston.org please do so. It’s quite impressive, especially for a small rural town. (Thanks, Kevin Ryan!) Here’s something that you’ll see on the website–there are many people who play a variety of roles to keep our town running.

Turns out, even a small town like ours doesn’t run itself!

You might be someone who has played a part in our town’s business. If so, thank you so much! If you are someone who doesn’t think of themselves as having the interest or skills to participate in town government, I’d encourage you to challenge yourself to take a closer look.

Dummerston is the place it is because of the people, and that means everyone. We can all take a turn on one committee or another. Just find your place. A true democracy is built upon the active participation of all citizens. With no commercial town center in Dummerston, it’s on committees and boards that we meet new neighbors and get to know one another. If you are new to the town or have lived here for years and never served before, try it. You’ll likely be surprised. Spend a little time on Dummerston.org and explore the many opportunities open to you!

Brattleboro Support Pharmacy Locally 413 Canal Street

254-7777

Thank you for your business

Gordon & Linda Evans Heather & Gene Rostov Akara Draper & Linnie Jones Elizabeth Catlin & Jared Flynn Cliff Adler & Lynn Levine

4 • Spring, 2020 • Views of Dummerston

town government Dummerston Conservation Commission

How to Successfully Coexist with Bears

By John Anderson Another three months have come and gone, spring is giving way to the long days of early summer, and the hay crop has already set seed. Vegetable gardens and flower gardens are the focus for many. The growing season waits for no one.

Over these last months the Dummerston Conservation Commission has kept active and engaged. In January, Jaclyn Cuomo, wildlife biologist at the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, gave a talk on black bears and the avoidance of human/ bear conflicts.

Conflicts and property damage occur when bears are lured into our yards by food sources such as bird seed, garbage and compost, dirty grills, bee hives, chicken coops, and pet food. Bears quickly become habituated, returning regularly to places where they have found food. Property is often damaged. Bird feeders, compost bins, beehives, garbage cans, and chicken coops are frequently demolished by hungry bears. Few would intentionally scatter food in their yards to attract bears, yet many unintentionally do just that.

Since the goal of Vermont Fish and Wildlife is to maintain a black bear population of from 4,500 to 6,000 animals, bears and humans are now, and will in the future be, sharing territories. And it is up to us whether

we teach the bears habits that may ultimately lead to them having to be destroyed.

You can view Living with Black Bears at vtfishandwildlife.com/learn-more/livingwith-wildlife/living-with-black-bears.

Problems with bears can also be reported at vtfishandwildlife.com.

In late February, Commission member and longtime wildlife educator Lynn Levine gave a workshop on Tracks and Trees. After exploring her collections of fur and scat, and equipped with her book Mammal Tracks and Scat: Life-Size Pocket Guide, participants took to the woods exploring a 200-acre Dummerston deer yard. Levine has been introducing people to that greater world, especially the Vermont winter woods, for over four decades!

And now having dutifully reported I’m going to jump the fence and ramble off cross lots. A good ramble has purpose but no predetermined destination, no time schedule, no focus-narrowing expectations. On a ramble you never know where you might end up or what you might see. Anything is possible.

Awareness and curiosity hold equal sway.

While rambling one day in February, I happened upon what I thought might be either an insect or a spider frozen deep into the icy, crusty winter snowpack. However, it was in such disarray that I could not be sure just what it was. I chipped it free and took it, ice and all, indoors to thaw. An hour later it became evident that the forlorn creature was a cricket! Two hours later it was evident that it was very much alive!! It rearranged

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its legs, antennae, cerci; it groomed and recomposed itself and looked none the worse for its experience.

I had always assumed that crickets overwintered in the soil as eggs. No adults survived. Obviously some research was in order.

It turns out my little house guest was a northern spring field cricket, a species that overwinter as nymph, or sub-adults which are smaller than adults and lacking the wings that they would acquire with their final molt, but are otherwise identical.

These crickets hatch out midsummer, go through part of their growth cycle, overwinter as freeze-tolerant nymphs, and complete their growth in the spring before mating, laying eggs, and then dying.

Field crickets singing in spring or early summer are northern spring field crickets.

Field crickets singing in August and September are northern fall field crickets, which are not freeze tolerant. They overwinter as eggs.

My research also led me to information about ground crickets, tree crickets and cave crickets all of which I knew about only in a vague, unspecific sense. I know them all by sight but knew little else about them.

One species that I was totally unfamiliar with was the sphagnum cricket. This species is said to grow to only about 5 mm long and live exclusively in sphagnum moss! Its song is described as faint and delicate. It is jet black and small enough to rest on and leap from the surface film of standing water. Sphagnum crickets! Who would have guessed?

You never know where you’ll end up when you ramble with no preconceived objectives and attempt to satisfy your curiosity. I started by chipping a seemingly doomed creature out of the ice only to see it resurrect itself, and I’m now eyeing every sphagnum lined wet area and wondering if I might find sphagnum crickets in its damp, dense, acidic depths.

When I started this ramble I wasn’t even aware that sphagnum crickets existed. In searching for these crickets I will certainly find something else equally unknown to me and yet worthy of further exploration something to be chipped from whatever ‘icy matrix’ I find it in.

For more information on the Conservation Commission go to www. dummerstonconservation.com.

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2020 • 5

organizations Dummerston Historical Society

Alice Loomis Letter Describes Life in 20s and 30s

by Muriel Taylor Although the COVID-19 virus required the cancellation of our April quarterly meeting and monthly directors’ meetings, our work of documenting our collection continues, albeit in an individualistic manner. As I was organizing some letters recently, I came upon a document written by Alice Loomis in 2007 entitled “I Remember When”. I’d like to share the first half of this letter with you. The next half will appear in the summer Views. How many of these do you remember?

I Remember When: Alice Loomis on the 1920s and ‘30s Kids went to one-room schoolhouses.

There were three in East Dummerston, one in West Dummerston. High School was in the Municipal Building in Brattleboro.

Students had to find their own transportation. Luckily, some were old enough to have driver’s licenses.

There was no electricity in most homes until the early thirties. Kerosene lamps were sufficient. The chimneys would get black and had to be washed every day.

No indoor plumbing. The little room out in the shed took care of nature’s callings.

There’s a story about one farmer who wrote to Sears Roebuck to order toilet paper. A letter came back asking for the catalog number. His answer: “If I could find your damn catalog, I wouldn’t need toilet paper.”

The Reformer published personal news.

You had a visitor from out of town, if you went on a trip somewhere, you had a party, a stay in the hospital, a divorce, it was all there in print. The Reformer came through the Post Office with your mail.

There were circuses, dances, ball games on Island Park in Brattleboro, located just above the Hinsdale bridges. Now under water.

There was shopping on Sat. nights in Brattleboro. The Chief of Police was always standing around. His name: Pat O’Keefe. He was so handsome and stern looking. And stores were open on Christmas Eve for last minute shoppers.

There was the Valley Fair every fall for two days on grounds now occupied by the High School. Schools were closed for one of those days so the students could go.

Sam Zarr would come around every now and then with horse and wagon to pick up old rags and clothes.

Homeless men would walk by now and then. We called them “tramps”. We kids had a fear of them for some reason and would run into the house and peek out the window.

Shoes would wear down at the heels. We were forever having to have new lifts put on.

next year, please contact Jody. We appreciate your support. These sales help fund our ongoing expenses such as heat, electricity, and insurance.

Donations of Historical Items: Our collection builds as community members and others contribute items of historical interest to Dummerston. Donations preserve Membership Email: We are actively us- these artifacts for the appreciation of future ing our email list to notify you of meetings generations. and other activities. In the immediate fu- Membership: The Dummerston Historical ture, a postcard announcement will be sent Society encourages you to join us in 2020 to our entire membership, but soon people as a member or volunteer and to come to for whom we have email addresses will our exhibits and meetings. Please note that have to request regular mail if they want you do not need to be a member of the Hisit. Mailing costs are very expensive. Thank torical Society to attend any of our funcyou for supporting this effort to reduce our tions. We always welcome your company expenses. and help. Our Schoolhouse is handicapped Items for Sale: Our signature black tee- accessible. shirts with the covered bridge motif are still available for purchase at the town office or from Gail Sorenson at 254-9311. We have only a very few 2020 “Scenes of Dummerston” calendars left. If you are interested, please call Jody Normandeau at 254-9037.

By the way, we are always looking for photos of Dummerston in horizontal landscape format for our annual “Scenes of Dummerston” calendar. If you have a “keeper” for

Vermont Insight Meditation Center Offering instruction in personal and interpersonal mindfulness practices.

254-7077

www. vermontinsight.org

john & Lori Brunelle office fax: (802) 254-5818 416 Tucker Reed road office phone: (802) 254-9788 e. dummerston, vt 05346 John cell: (802): 579-9788 lori cell: (802) 275-7111 john@brunelleandson.com lori@brunelleandson.com www.brunelleandson.com

6 • Spring, 2020 • Views of Dummerston

organizations Lydia Taft Pratt Library

LTP Library Adapts to Social Isolation

By Dena Marger Librarian

These are challenging times for everyone, including for us in the library world. And, as the new librarian for the Lydia Taft Pratt Library, this is not exactly the way I’d hoped to introduce myself to you! We in the library world want so desperately to be a source of inspiration, learning, entertainment, and comfort in these times. I had hoped to be able to tell you about the newest books and DVDs on our shelves, and the upcoming events and programs sponsored by the library. But, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, we’ve been forced to curtail most of our services, and our annual Spring Book Sale fundraiser has been postponed indefinitely. This is a big deal to us, because our entire new materials budget comes from our fundraising efforts.

In some cases, though, we’ve been able to change and modify our services, to move online and provide things that twenty years ago were unthinkable. For example, we are exploring the possibility of upgrading our access to downloadable e-books and audiobooks. And, we’re looking into creating online instructional tutorials to help folks use these services! A library is meant to be a hub of information sharing, and in this capacity, I will also be looking to help keep folks up to date on what’s happening in our library, as well as what’s happening across the state and the nation as we cope

Sponsors John & Karen Abel Arnold & Roberta Garland Orly Munzing & Bob Dunbar Mark and Lee Tice Fred Lee

e lin sh i in

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Construction L .L. C.

with the COVID-19 pandemic. So, keep an eye out for more frequent postings to our Facebook page, and for our regular monthly email newsletter. If you have not “liked” our Facebook page (https://www.facebook. com/dummerstonlibrary/), now is the time to do it!

So what else can the library offer our community these days? Well, at the moment we are still available to provide curbside pickup of library materials. Access to our online library catalog is available via our webpage (dummerston.org/boards/library. asp) on the Town of Dummerston website.

You can search for book, DVD, or audiobook titles this way, and then request materials by either calling or emailing the library.

I will pack the materials for you in a plastic bag, and leave them on our book drop on the porch for you to pick up. We are requesting that folks do not return our materials at this time. There will be plenty of time to return

them when the library officially reopens.

And speaking of reopening, we don’t know exactly when that will be. We expect to reopen when the governor’s Stay Home, Stay Safe order is lifted, and we hope that will be soon. In the meantime, we are planning to resume our summer programming, including our monthly Book Club, the Summer Reading Program, and others!

The truth is that the COVID-19 Pandemic crisis is giving us all the opportunity to stretch and grow, to view libraries as dynamic institutions that have the flexibility to change with the times to meet our community’s needs. Now is the ideal time to be thinking about the future, and about what our library could be for our community. I especially would love to hear your thoughts on this question, and invite you to call or email me at the library.

And when this is all over, our browsing collection will be here, waiting for you!

Dummerston Community Center

Community Center Activities on Hold

By Ann Davis The first order of business is to thank those of you who came to our Pampered Chef fundraiser. A special thank you to our hostess, Kim Martin, who is always so good to us. It was fun, as always, with lots of new products and yummy food…thanks again, Kim. The wagon project is still ongoing, with plans being drawn up for the building in which to house our “treasure”. We had hoped to have work underway this spring…but everything is on hold until the COVID-19 virus passes.

The swings will go back up after the wagon building is complete. I know, I miss

them too.

The Community Center is closed until the coronavirus pandemic has passed and things are back to “normal” once again. With that in mind, please, everyone stay safe and healthy.

But continue to keep the Center in mind when planning those get togethers, classes, workshops, or whatever. We have plenty of parking, are handicapped accessible, have a great kitchen, and lots of room for outdoor activities.

Remember to be a responsible pet owner and clean up after your four-legged best friend.

As always, thank you to those who continue to support the Community Center, and remember it is here for you to use and enjoy.

Sponsors Carolyn Mayo Brown & Gregory Brown Len Oppenheim Tonia & Whit Wheeler Cheryl Wilfong & Bill McKim Mary Lou & Bill Schmidt

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2020 • 7

organizations Dummerston Cares

Putney Foodshelf Resources Available to Dummerston Residents

By Nancy Olson Our mission at the Putney Foodshelf is to provide supplemental healthy food to area people in need. We turn no one away. Shopping is anonymous, and no proof of income is required. The Foodshelf is working with Dummerston Cares to help fulfill our mission to Dummerston residents in need.

At the current writing of this article in April, during the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis, in a fast-changing situation, we remain committed to staying open. As of April 4th, our open hours were changed to Saturdays from 9-11 a.m. at the Putney Community Center, 10 Christian Square. They may have changed again before the publication of this edition of the Views, so please make sure you have up-to-date information by visiting

our website: www.putneyfoodshelf.org, or calling 802-387-8551.

After careful consideration, however, we have changed our procedures. In order to implement social distancing for the benefit of both shoppers and volunteers, we have designed a drive-up model. Shoppers remain in their cars. A Foodshelf volunteer serves each car, maintaining a distance at all times.

Shoppers receive a bag pre-packed with shelf-staple items, with an option for some additional choices when possible. We also are serving walk-ups in the same way. Only Foodshelf volunteers enter the Community Center.

We see demand increasing rapidly and expect it to continue increasing as long as the COVID-10 pandemic causes people to be out of work. The Vermont Foodbank, where

we buy most of our food, has told member food shelves it will do all it can to insure sufficient food supplies for the duration of the pandemic.

Please help us ensure that we are reaching those in Dummerston who could benefit from our services. Financial contributions are most welcome, whether by mail at P. O. Box 337, Putney, Vermont 05346, or at our website, putneyfoodshelf.org. Our phone number, checked daily, is (802) 387-8551.

We appreciate that Dummerston Cares is helping us to get the word out so that we are reaching those in need in Dummerston.

Chronic Pain Management Workshops Postponed

By Bill Schmidt A series of six workshops on chronic pain management planned for late May and June has been postponed until the fall. These workshops are for those who suffer from long-lasting (chronic) pain – from an injury, surgery, or another condition like back, neck or shoulder pain, fibromyalgia, neuropathic pain, or post-stroke pain.

The workshops offer support and education including:

structions on how to pace yourself boro Memorial Hospital and the Vermont Department of Health. There will be no charge. between activity and rest, and For more information or to express your • Tips for talking with your family, interest in attending the workshops, contact friends, and health care professionals Rebecca Best at 802-251-8604 or leave a about pain. message on the Cares Message Line (802This program is co-sponsored with Brattle- 257-5800).

Sponsors Paul & Jody Normandeau Cindy and John Wilcox

• Techniques to deal with problems such as frustration, fatigue, isolation and poor sleeping,

Gincy Bunker Michelle Cherrier & Philip Goepp Eleanora Patterson & Gordon Faison

• Exercises to improve your strength, flexibility, and endurance – and in-

Sponsors Bruce & Catie Berg Gail & Lew Sorenson

Mark’s Place Serving my neighbors

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David & Nina Hutchison

Chainsaw Chains, Mowers, Wood Processors, Brush Cutters, Axes, Hatchets, Mauls

Kevin & Sara Ryan

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Barry & Elsa Waxman

West Dummerston, VT

8 • Spring, 2020 • Views of Dummerston Windham Solid Waste Management District

A Progress Report of the Path to Full Recycling

By Michelle Cherrier, WSWMD Representative

In the fall 2012 issue of the Views of Dummerston there was a complete description of Vermont Act 148, the Universal Recycling Law, which was passed in 2012, and various parts have been phasing in ever since. Here is one assessment of the question “Are we there yet?”

Here is a recap of the final goal of Act 148: “Beginning July 1, 2017, collect food residuals separate from other solid waste and deliver food residuals to a location that manages food residuals . . . .” This requirement has five additional individual dates (July 1 in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2020) associated with different volumes of food residuals, based on tons per year. The key date for individual residents is July 1, 2020.

Act 148 states: “Beginning July 1, 2020, any person who generates any amount of food residuals . . . [will be required to] . . . separate food residuals from other solid waste.”

Here we are, eight years later, and the final deadline is in our sights; in two months we must begin to divert all of Vermont’s food scraps from landfills, a practice known as mandatory composting. If you don’t have a compost bucket or bin in your kitchen yet, you will need one by this summer.

Food waste rots in landfills, and that creates a lot of methane, a greenhouse gas 84 times more powerful than CO2 over a twenty-year period, according to the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.

As stated by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR), food leftovers comprise about one-third of our landfill payloads. Our landfill space is scarce, and haulage increasingly expensive; the only large landfill in Vermont is in Coventry.

In Act 148, the term “food recovery” is substituted for what has been known as food “waste.”

In a quote from the Burlington Free Press (05/04/14) “The distinction is an important one,” said Josh Kelly, an analyst and planner with the agency, “Waste disposal of the outof-sight/out-of-mind variety has been found to exact too great a cost to human society, and to the rest of the planet.” Kelly referred to the new colorful, inverted pyramid Vermont recovery model. It’s much like the dietary food pyramid created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The recovery model recommends the following courses of action, beginning with the highest priority and working down:

• Source Reduction—modifying a household or institution’s acquisition of food to match its real needs.

• Food for People—making good, healthy surplus food available to those in our communities who are least able to afford it.

• Food for Animals—from backyard chickens to farmstead livestock.

• Composting & Anaerobic Digestion”— processes that rely on microorganisms to break down food, in the presence and absence of oxygen, respectively. Aerobic decomposition is a hotter and faster method to break down pathogens and weed seeds.

When done with care, its higher heat is more effective at breaking down weed seeds and pathogens.

• Energy Recovery—most typically, the installation of sophisticated and expensive equipment to trap and burn methane at landfills or in sealed, anaerobic “digesters.”

The hierarchy of options is not meant to pit one strategy against another, ANR’s Kelly concluded. “To varying extents, Vermonters already embrace them all.”

Beginning on July 1, 2017, Act 148 required transfer stations and waste haulers to accept food scraps separate from trash. It also required places likes restaurants or other businesses that produced at least 18 tons per year (1/3 ton/week) to separate out their food waste to be composted at any certified facility within 20 miles.

Now, as individuals, it’s our turn to separate food residuals from our solid waste. According to Chittenden Solid Waste District marketing coordinator Clare Innes, “The first step is to break old habits. Right now, for a lot of people, food waste becomes invisible—just as our other

recyclables used to be.” Recycling our bottles, cans, and cardboard has become routine. Now we must train ourselves to collect food scraps for pickup or composting.

For non-animal (vegetarian) food waste, including all vegetables, fruits, or plant matter, put a small compost bucket or bin in your kitchen, near your food scraps source, either on or under the counter. It should have a lid and be washable. Put your vegetarian food waste into this bucket or bin. Then add this vegetarian compost to your outside compost pile or bin, if you have one. Or arrange to give your kitchen bin scraps to a farmer. Or ask your waste (trash) hauler to include your food scraps in their pickup schedule. (If you contract with your trash hauler to collect your food waste, be sure to use whatever curbside container they require.) Or bring your kitchen-bin contents to the Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) for composting, and please remember that recycling and composting are free. However, to use any WSWMD services you must purchase an annual WSWMD access sticker.

Animal food waste, including any form of animal or poultry meat and/ or bones, seafood, or dairy products, needs to be treated differently than plant waste because of its potential to smell and attract wildlife if put outside on a compost pile. Put your animal waste into some kind of container (I use a cardboard shoebox) or large ziplock bag in your freezer. Transfer your frozen animal waste to the recycling for any of the disposal options listed above.

Here’s a link for compost on the WSWMD website: https://windhamsolidwaste.org/ project-c-o-w-composting-organic-waste.

In addition to handling all of our traditional recycling for over twenty years, the WSWMD has also been successfully composting food scraps, wet paper products, leaves, wood chips and grass clippings for several years, and selling the compost as a source of revenue.

While you’re at WSWMD, pick up a bag of the Brattlegrow Compost, which is made from all these food scraps and more! You can buy a small bag at the scalehouse. Or check out the website for other large distributors: https:// windhamsolidwaste.org/distributors. This compost meets or exceeds all requirements by the state. You can see the compost lab test results for 2019 on the WSWMD website: https://windhamsolidwaste.org/testing.

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2020 • 9

school news

School Staff Adapt to Social Isolation

By Julianne Eagan Principal

My last submission to the Views featured stories of our middle-school dance, the joyful sounds of our youngest children emanating from the forest classroom, visits with local experts from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, and students skiing, ice skating, tumbling, bowling, and exploring farm and field through our Winter Activities program.

Today, as I write these words, unimaginably, our halls, forest, and fields sit silent as the physical building and campus of Dummerston School enters its sixth week of closure.

Dummerston School staff, students, and families have been navigating a complex emotional landscape as we adjust to our extended physical separation. While there is simply no replacement for learning together in the same shared space, from the very moment we learned our doors would be closed, we began making plans to stay connected with students and families. In the process, we have learned that the love, connectedness, and collective strength of Dummerston School is not contained within a physical building, but rather rests within all of the individuals who make up our school community.

While we grieve the loss of a shared spring with our students, we have been honored and so grateful to continue our learning together from a distance.

Since the first days of the closure, our first priority has been the physical, social, and emotional wellbeing of our students. Within days, Windham Southeast School District (WSESD)

coordinated the preparation and delivery of breakfast and lunch throughout our district.

Dummerston families can pick up meals in front of the Dummerston Town Office or have meals delivered to their school bus stop. This effort would not be possible without the tireless work of WSESD staff, including a number of Dummerston School staff members, who volunteer to prepare meals and deliver them throughout town. Thank you to these volunteers and to our school bus drivers for their dedication to this effort. Families can sign up any time to receive meals at www.wsesu.org/ covid-19.html or by calling Ali West at 802-2573322.

Simultaneously, with the support of central office and district curriculum and assessment leaders, Dummerston School staff mobilized to develop a system for remote learning and to support students and families in this transition. Almost overnight, packets of lessons were prepared for students, Chromebooks went home, and Dummerston School instructional teams went virtual, meeting via Zoom in order to collaboratively plan for the weeks ahead. At the center of our work is the deep understanding that, while we are all affected by the same pandemic, each family’s experience is marked

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by unique challenges, and each student needs different levels of support to navigate distance learning and the emotional challenges of social distancing. As such, our planning teams, made up of classroom, specials, academic support and special education teachers, as well as our school counselor, nurse, and paraeducators, have been vital in individualizing our support and outreach to students and families.

That said, while each student’s day is unique in the distance-learning environment, there are common elements. All students have opportunities to engage with their teachers and peers virtually through morning “circle,” story times, and, for older students, whole-class instructional sessions. Older students also access independent activities and lessons via their teacher’s websites and Google Classroom. Teachers of younger students send a menu of activity options that students can complete with the support of an adult at home. Many students access additional opportunities for academic, social, or emotional support, including smallgroup interventions in math or literacy; meeting with Ms. Garnett, our school counselor; or getting together with a staff member for a “lunch bunch.”

Teachers hold office hours via Zoom and make weekly contact with parents to discuss their child’s progress and any significant needs that are surfacing.

We are also focused on keeping the love and strength of our school community front and center during this time. Our middle-school ASSET team continues to meet with Ms. Garnett and is planning on publishing “Some Good News from Dummerston School”, inspired by John continued on page 10

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10 • Spring, 2020 • Views of Dummerston

school news

School District Board Conducts Online Meetings

By Thomas Nolan The past month has been a difficult one for us all. Without question, issues surrounding COVID-19 have been our greatest concern.

Superintendent Lyle Holiday ordered our schools closed starting Monday, March 16th, and Governor Scott followed with a statewide closure two days later. This order has been extended through the rest of the school year.

We are clearly living in a moment with no modern precedent, and the district has had to react creatively.

First, we convened for a brief in-person meeting at Brattleboro Union High School on March 17th. In this meeting, we voted to postpone the scheduled annual meeting to a point in May, though it is unclear if that meeting will be safe to hold. Time will tell.

The board then conducted a reorganizational meeting, where the now ten-member board voted to appoint David Schoales to chair, Anne Beekman to vice chair, and myself to clerk. We also voted for representation to the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union, with Liz Adams representing Putney, David Schoales representing Brattleboro, Michelle Green representing Dummerston, and Kelly Young representing Guilford. Additionally, to address any urgent matters that may come up due to the pandemic, we established a steering team of five members to meet informally “to communicate and make decisions in the event of a crisis” about issues that could not wait for a warned public meeting. So far, this team

has not needed to meet.

The district has arranged for online meetings for the time being. The legislature has passed Act 92 (H.681), which suspends open meeting laws temporarily. This makes it legal for boards to meet over the internet, with no physical location. For the duration of this situation, we will be meeting through platforms such as Zoom and GoToMeeting in forums that are open to members of the public, including those without internet access, who can join by phone. BCTV is also broadcasting these meetings as normal. All details for joining these meetings will be included in the standard warning notices issued by the WSESU. I believe this is the only reasonable solution to a situation with no good options.

The WSESU announced on March 30th that they had found a replacement for our outgoing Superintendent Lyle Holiday, stating: The Windham Southeast Supervisory Union School Board is thrilled to announce that Andrew Skarzynski has been offered the position as our new Superintendent of Schools. After an extensive four-month search process, the Board chose Skarzynski in part for his strong management skills, his experience with diverse student populations and his commitment to student centered learning. His start date is July 1, 2020.

On April 1st, the WSESD Board met to approve warrants, hear from school administrators, and plan for the coming months.

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internet. It has been difficult to watch children there since they first began their quarantine in early January. Some are just now able to go outside in limited amounts. Most of these children live in megacities like Beijing and Shanghai and have complained about the boredom, the isolation, and how much they wished to go outside. We are lucky in Vermont that most of us are able to get fresh air and spend time outdoors. Our school district is also lucky to have an administration that is actively checking in on the emotional well-being of our students during this confusing, scary time.

School Staff Adapt to Social Isolation continued from page 9 Krasinski’s series of the same name. While we missed our beloved Arts Night, May will be Dummerston School Art Month, and students and staff will have an opportunity to publish their artistic creations on our Dummerston School website (dummerston.wsesu.org) and Facebook page. Please visit our website and “like” us on Facebook!

For our eighth graders, a particularly painful element of the school closure is the loss of traditional rites of passage and rituals, including our beautiful graduation ceremony in June. Our hope is that, when it is safe to do so, we can bring our community together to honor our eighth graders. While public health directives will guide our timing and action in this regard, we are committed to celebrating this class and look forward to the day when we can be together.

The Dummerston School Leadership Council will be meeting virtually via Zoom. Please visit our website to view our schedule and agendas.

Thank you, everyone, for all of your love and support as we navigate this unprecedented challenge. As always and particularly now, we are so honored and grateful to partner with you to educate, celebrate, and support the children of Dummerston.

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Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2020 • 11

Squeeze Dummerston and Maple Syrup Pours Out weren’t discussed. The answer was: “Enough for the family and enough left over to sell.” If people asked how many taps, we’d say, ‘Enough to keep us well entertained.’ Right now you’re talking to a Vermonter. I’m old school. The

year of sugaring. He also had a good year.

“Last year we made 180 gallons and this year we made 220,” Bristol said. “It was a good season. We had lot of light syrup, a lot of everything, really. We just started last year. We

photo by roger Turner

continued from page 1 that contributed to the large crop.

“Sugaring is a wonderful part of farming,” Hoskins said. “It’s the time of year that’s long and dark. Folks come out and visit each other’s sugar houses. It’s a wonderful way to see the world wake up and a locally produced natural sugar product is a great thing to put in other people’s kitchens.”

Stone wall guru Dan Snow agrees that it was a good year for sugaring.

“We had a blast that came very quickly and I think I recorded 110 hours where the trees continued to drip day and night,” Snow said.

“Generally, things stop at night because it goes below freezing. But it stayed above freezing for three days and nights. It didn’t shut off and it didn’t slow down.”

Snow runs a family operation with his children and grandchildren doing the gathering and the tasting. This year they put out 240 taps, burned about two and a half cords of wood and came away with 39 gallons.

“It’s probably the most enjoyable time of the year for me,” Snow said. “I get to be outdoors, active on the landscape, when other things aren’t ready to go yet. Stonework has to wait until ground firms up, so sugaring is a good way to greet the new year.”

Sugarhouse people are known for their friendliness. Snow suggests that people who are interested in sugaring volunteer to help out.

“I feel I was pretty lucky,” Snow said. “I got to learn from the Evans family in Guilford in the 1970s. I was living with them, helping with barn chores and their sugaring operation for a few years. I learned a commercial and professional way of looking at it. Every sugaring operation is a little different. Everyone has their own methods and techniques. It’s an individual-type project. A lot of people like it so much for that reason; they get to problem-solve. They get to do a lot of tinkering.”

That oldest continuing sugaring operation? It belongs to the Miller Farm.

“The oldest continuing operating sugar bush in the U.S. is here at the Miller farm,” Read Miller told me. “The first tap was at Sweet Tree Farm, when Dummerston was still Fullum. Fullum is the oldest Anglo-Saxon settlement in Vermont.

My forefather, who came in 1760, worked for Kathan at Sweet Tree for three years while he surveyed the town. Then he settled here.

This farm abuts Sweet Tree Farm. We’ve been tapping as a family ever since then. We literally go back to the earliest records of Fullam.”

When I asked Miller how many taps he put in and how much syrup he got out, he refused to give me a direct reply.

“When I grew up,” he said, “the numbers

Mike Euphrat feeds the arch at the Bunker Farm Sugar House.

information you get from me is what you would have gotten from my forefathers.”

However, when pressed, Miller said this was a “good-normal” year.

“The sugar content for us was about average,” Miller said. “The length of season was about average. It ended a little earlier.”

The Miller farm has a lot of sugaring equipment, so once it’s set up, it takes only one person to do the woods and another one to run the sugarhouse.

The corona virus and the national quarantine isn’t a factor in farming, Miller said.

“We have to get through the chores,” Miller said. “When you have livestock, you don’t stop.

Where the virus has affected us is where we sell things. Restaurants have gone to zero. We do some retail. Right now we’re running about normal for sales, but we don’t know where we’re headed.”

Travis Bristol on Hague Road is in his second

did it mostly to get the kids involved, which has been good for them. I have twin boys that have just turned 12 and my daughter will be 14 in June. Kevin Morton and his son Aiden help. We do about 280 buckets and 850 taps. The sugar content was not good this year in the sap, so we burnt more wood.”

Bristol sells some of his maple syrup in bulk, and he also cans some of it. He donates to the library and the fire department, and that’s some of his syrup at the yearly pancake breakfast.

Dennis Baker started sugaring when he was five years old.

“It’s a hobby that got out of hand,” he said. “I had a little pot out in the front yard. Once you start, it’s hard to give up. And it’s hard to reduce.

With all the equipment, it’s difficult to cut back.

I make anywhere from 100 to 150 gallons. The best I ever did was 200 gallons. It’s pretty much myself doing it, but I get some help in tapping.” continued on page 15

12 • Spring, 2020 • Views of Dummerston

United Way of Windham County Responds to COVID-19 Pandemic

By Ruben R. Garza The United Way of Windham County is responding to the communities’ needs on many fronts, including: the United Way of Windham County COVID-19 Response Fund, working with Windham Regional Commission and other agencies to create a COVID-19 Resource Guide, volunteer coordination via the Get Connected volunteer portal, and participating in relief efforts with the multi-agency Community Response Team and Hunger Council.

The COVID-19 Response Fund has been established to rapidly mobilize resources to support organizations on the front lines of COVID-19 relief efforts. All dollars given

Support United Way Response Fund To make a contribution to the COVID-19 Response Fund, which will be used to support businesses and individuals in Windham County. please go to www.unitedwaywindham.org/ responsefund.

through this fund will be used to support businesses and individuals in Windham County.

The COVID-19 Response Fund has been jumpstarted by a generous $25,000 gift from the Thomas Thompson Trust. To date the COVID-19 Response Fund has met 39% of its $100,000.00 goal. Contributions have come in small and large amounts from local community members, such as yourself. To make a contribution to the COVID-19 Response Fund, you can go to www.unitedwaywindham.org/ responsefund.

United Way of Windham County has also assisted the Windham Regional Commission in its efforts to deliver a wide scale COVID-19 Resource Guide for Southeastern Vermont.

The Resource Guide covers topics as far ranging as food access, free wifi, unemployment claims, and how to request help. Many questions regarding COVID-19 relief can be answered by browsing those topics. The Resource Guide can be accessed by going to the Windham Regional Commission’s website, www.windhamregional.org, and selecting COVID-19 Resources for Individuals.

On other fronts United Way of Windham County has coordinated volunteer efforts for local school districts and non-profits using its Get Connected volunteer portal. The volunteer portal, if you wish to volunteer, can be found on the United Way of Windham County website. Further, we take our responsibility to be an informed constituency very seriously.

By attending multi-agency meetings, we strive to learn all the available information so that we can disseminate that information to our

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Please note: Your contribution to the United Way of Windham County’s COVID-19 Response Fund will be unrestricted to the agencies and individuals to which it is distributed.

The mission of the United Way of Windham County is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of the community. Working with volunteers, donors, service providers, businesses, and others, United Way is creating hope for Windham County by investing in health, opportunity, prosperity, and education initiatives. For more information, visit www. unitedwaywindham.org.

“Adopt a Book” Event Clears $900

By Linda Rood There was a very good turn-out for the Adopt-a-Book event on this year’s town meeting day. We were able to bring in over $900 to cover the purchases of books for the school library, thanks to both faithful returning contributors, and several newcomers. It was fun and encouraging to see new faces coming in to see us, and as always, great to see old friends.

The great support we got this year means we will return to town meeting next year, offering more books for the school library which you can adopt! Thanks to all who came in and participated. We are grateful for your generosity. If you missed us and would still like to support our book purchase contributions, you can send your check made out to “Friends of the Library” to Linda Rood at 668 Quarry Road, Dummerston 05301.

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2020 • 13

Good Books

What to Read During a Pandemic

By Linda Rood

Catherine Anne Berger

01-01-20

Natalie Rose Giordano

02-05-20

however; there was too much “telling” for my taste. With such a poetic title, I was expecting a deeper experience, but I’m glad I read it all the same. The tension throughout the novel between socialism and authoritarianism seemed creepily timely. The author herself went into exile after Pinochet came to power, eventually immigrating to the United States, where she still lives and is now a citizen. She says, “I have been a foreigner all my life. I don’t feel I belong anywhere. I’m an immigrant.” Her theme of displacement seems especially relevant right now.

As soon as we found ourselves confined to home by the coronavirus emergency, books about epidemics and plagues started to float in to my memory. Perhaps some of you might be interested at this time to explore some pestilence fiction. The first work that came to mind was The Plague by Albert Camus (Penguin Classics, 1947), which I read in college, and which, according to news reports in March, has started selling thousands of copies. Set in Algeria in 1940, the novel describes an outbreak of the plague. Everyone is ordered to remain at home, and the main character, a doctor, works desperately to save lives.

Camus wanted to examine how individuals respond to suffering and death. He also said the book could be seen as an allegory of the French resistance to the “pestilence” of the Nazi occupation of France during WWII. He wrote, “The inhabitants, finally freed, would never forget the difficult period that made them face the absurdness of their existence and the precariousness of the human condition. What’s true of all the evils of the world is true of plague as well. It helps men to rise above themselves.”

Another book that comes to mind is the best seller from 2001, Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague, by Gwendolynn Brooks (Viking Press, 2001). This historical novel is based on the story of a small English village that was struck by the plague in 1666 and quarantines itself to prevent further spread.

I also remembered that Tracy Chevalier’s

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The first book I read during our coronavirus sequestration was A Long Petal of the Sea

by Isabel Allende (Ballantine Books, 2020).

This is the newest of sixteen novels for the acclaimed South American-born author and the first one that I have read. I was attracted to that beautiful title, which is a phrase from a Pablo Neruda poem meant to describe Chile, his native country and the main setting of this historical novel.

The story follows the Dalmau family of Barcelona, Spain. During the Spanish Civil War, they side with the Republicans against the Franco forces. One son, Guillem, fights for the resistance, and the other, Victor, is a medic.

When the war is collapsing, the surviving Dalmaus, along with Roser, the pregnant fiancée of Guillem, escape across the Pyrenees to France, where they are placed in refugee camps under horrific conditions. In 1939, as German forces were invading France, Neruda, the great Chilean poet, organized transport for 2000 Spanish refugees aboard the ship Winnipeg, and Victor, Roser, and baby Marcel are lucky enough to be taken to Chile where they settle and carve out a new life.

I enjoyed learning some basic history of Chile, including the brief idealistic presidency of Salvador Allende, the Americanbacked coup which put the brutal dictator Augusto Pinochet in power, and the role of Pablo Neruda in Chilean culture and politics.

Victor and Roser, who have been drawn together by external circumstances, must navigate the twists and turns of their political fates. They are strong, admirable characters, survivors, and I enjoyed following their stories. I was disappointed in the writing,

Births

Passings Mary M. Forrett

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novel, Girl With a Pearl Earring (Dutton, 1999) takes place during a time of plague in Delft, Holland. Although the epidemic is not a main event of the book, it lurks in the background and affects the life of the main character, a maid in the painter Vermeer’s household. Then there is The Stand by Stephen King (Doubleday, 1978), in which an influenza pandemic kills almost the entire world population, and groups of survivors form new societies.

The March 30, 2020 issue of The New Yorker features an article by historian Jill Lepore titled “Don’t Come Any Closer”.

LePore discusses the literature of contagion, going back to Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year, written in 1772, and continuing on to modern fiction. She says, “The literature of contagion is vile….it cuts away the loftiest capacities of humanity, and leaves only the animal.” This interesting article made me think that perhaps reading plague fiction isn’t really the best thing to be doing right now, and that what we really need are stories to comfort us through the ordeal.

If you haven’t already read Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow (Viking, 2016), it might be just the thing. The delightful Count Rostov is ordered by the communist government on pain of death to be confined to a luxury hotel in Moscow for the rest of his life. He endures this sentence with great imagination and style, and the resulting story is a very entertaining read, perhaps a model of how to endure being stuck inside. Or, how about reading books that take us to other places, like A Long Petal of the Sea? I wish you all well and hope you find good reading.

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14 • Spring, 2020 • Views of Dummerston

Dummerston Navigates COVID-19 continued from page 1 I noticed a rack full of crosses made out of palms, and realized that this was Palm Sunday, when normally these crosses would have been passed out during the service. I thought to myself that for the foreseeable future there will be no Sunday gatherings in this church.

Looking up Park Laughton Road, I saw a solitary figure walking slowly with his shoulders slumped forward and his hands clasped behind his back, a sight which seemed to capture the loneliness and weightiness of our vulnerable, quarantined time.

Following up on my Sunday observations, I called town clerk Laurie Frechette for her impressions of how the virus is impacting the town.

She now works alone, in an office normally alive with visits from people paying taxes or getting a dog license, coming in to study real estate records, or to file for a building permit.

“It’s very lonely and too quiet,” Laurie told me. “I miss everyone, though I can get a lot of work done.” She doesn’t go to the office for her normal hours on Thursday mornings so that Jean Newell can come in for lister work, whereas their time in the office would often overlap. Likewise, town zoning administrator Roger Jasaitis now only works in the office on Wednesday mornings, when Laurie’s normal schedule calls for her to come in at noon. He otherwise does all of his work from home.

“On the other hand,” Laurie said of the effect of the virus, “it’s bringing out the goodness in people.” She asked if I had noticed the chair along the East-West Road at the end of Karyn and Dan Tyler’s driveway. On the chair was a vase full of bunches of daffodils, and a sign that said, “daffodils for you! or for someone you

love.” “It was such a cool thing for Karyn to do,” said Laurie.

She mentioned neighbors helping other neighbors with food, and the teacher parade that was being planned by the school. She had also observed many people parking in the church or town office parking lots, and heading out on foot for a walk out Park Laughton Road, sometimes in small groups maintaining appropriate social distance. “The other day a guy with a fishing pole headed up the road. I don’t know where he was going,” she told me.

The school has also made a huge effort to continue teaching our children, as described in principal Julianne Eagan’s article in this Views.

Not only have the teachers been adapting

And more photos of the Teacher Parade are featured on these pages.

Photos by Roger Turner and the school staff

to online teaching, but the school has also been arranging for students to get the meals on which they depend. Perhaps most heartwarming of all, the entire staff participated in a “teacher parade” around town on Friday April 17th, again as described in another article in this Views. The parade went to the furthest corners of town – north to Park Laughton and Hague Roads, west up Stickney Brook Road to the junction with Hill Road, south to Kipling Road, and east to Carpenter Road. For the entire circuit, the teachers, some in decorated cars, honked, waved, blew horns, held up dogs, and generally poured out their affection for our kids.

In return, families lined the route and waved back to the teachers with whom they so miss spending time. It was a wonderful, poignant event.

I also checked in with Bill Schmidt, who as president of Dummerston Cares spends a lot of time thinking about, and acting on, the needs of our town’s residents. “A number of people really feel isolated,” he observed.

“They live alone, but living alone now is different from living alone before. People don’t have the freedom to go out whenever they want. They’re nervous about going to Hannaford’s for food. There is an extra level of nervousness the virus is inspiring.”

He’s been making calls to people, just to continued on next page

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2020 • 15

Dummerston Navigates COVID-19 continued from previous page check in with them, and at their last meeting, the Cares board decided that calling people is one of the most important things they can be doing right now. Five of them have committed to making regular calls to residents.

Stories that Bill has heard in the course of making these calls illustrate how the virus has disrupted routines. A woman who has always gone to the Putney Diner for Sunday morning breakfast now continues to go to the diner on Sunday mornings, but only for a cup of coffee—to go.

Another woman normally has groceries brought to the house by her daughter, who would then sit down for a chat. Now the daughter has to leave the groceries on the porch, and talks to her mother through the door.

Bill spoke of the uncertainty about how long our lives will be affected by the virus. “The medical community says it could go on for another 12–16 months until a vaccine is developed. It’s hard for me to fathom staying at home for a year to a year and a half. Regulations may be loosened, but there will still be a need to be cautious.

There is a lot of uncertainty about what is ahead. It’s hard to plan anything. We have to live day by day. . . . I think it’s important to be in contact with each other, to reach out to neighbors and others in town and just ask how they’re doing.”

He continued, “Dummerston doesn’t have a village center or a store; it’s kind of an isolated town, which I haven’t said before, but which seems to fit. . . . People have really welcomed the calls I’ve made to them. ‘Gee, so glad you called,’ they’d tell me. Calls may last five or ten minutes, or half an hour. I talked to a man in his late 70’s and we had a wonderful conversation. I’ll call him again.

“I think it’s important to be in contact with each other, to reach out to neighbors and others in town and just ask how they’re doing.

Friends and families are helping each other out more, now. People are shopping for others who can’t go themselves.”

Bill concluded, “Times are changing. We’re going to be having new experiences in many ways.”

Profoundly affected by the stay-at-home

order are local businesses, which even when they are allowed to open back up will have to adapt to social distancing requirements and customer anxiety about personal susceptibility to the virus. I greatly appreciate the online ordering system Walker Farm has managed to so quickly put in place, but it’s just not the same. I want to be able to walk around and look at actual plants, in full, bounteous, colorful display, and, for instance, to pick out

“the best” six pack of mixed-color nasturtiums from the twenty six packs on the table before me. And Walker Farm is missing all the people who come in for five specific items, but leave with ten.

When will the summer campgrounds be allowed to open, and how will their businesses be affected?

It’s indeed a strange new world which has had profound effects on us socially, economically, and on our spontaneity and impulsivity.

It’s awful that Dummerston kids aren’t together in their classrooms with their teachers, playing spring sports, and participating in the celebration of graduation. It’s awful that Dummerston adults have to be wary of each other in all chance social encounters. But we have to be smart and patient about understanding and following medicallysound guidelines to get through this pandemic, and we should follow the advice and examples of our friends and neighbors: be good and kind to one another, and check in by phone with anybody who you’re concerned might be lonely or need help with an errand.

Squeeze Dummerston and Maple Syrup Pours Out continued from page 11 It was an average season for Baker, he said.

“It ended the earliest I’ve ever stopped,” he said. “It’s getting earlier every year. But it lasted about three weeks, which is not that uncommon.

The biggest difference was the sap wasn’t very sweet. It was 1 percent, or even less in some cases. That makes for a lot of work. We had to do a lot more boiling. We didn’t have much snow, and that had something to do with the sweetness. At least, that’s one theory.”

For road crew foreman Lee Chamberlin, who owns a sugar bush next door to the Scott Farm called Barefoot Farm, it was his second best season.

“We made about one-third of a gallon of syrup per tap,” Chamberlin told me. “A quart per tap is the state average. We did better than average.

I’m sure other people did better. We had 3,500 taps and 1100 gallons.”

Chamberlin works with his cousin, his brother-in-law, brother and nephew. “We ship and package it,” Chamberlin said. “This was a good year, and it was a real warm year. I don’t know about climate change. I think there’s going to be a point where it makes a difference, but I don’t think it’s this year.”

Wild animals can be a nuisance, Chamberlin said.

“The deer will chew on the tubes and the squirrels will chew through the tubing,” he said.

“I don’t know if it feels good on their teeth. Or if they hear the sap running. Or if they’re trying to get a little bit of sweetness. They do it a lot. We can find hundreds of holes. During the season we’ll just tape them up.”

Other syrup producers in Dummerston are the Glabachs, Roger and Faith Evans, Art McGrath, who leases the Sweet Tree Farm sugar ∆bush, and Mike Ethier.

16 • Spring, 2020 • Views of Dummerston

Mud Season T’aint What It Used to Be . . .

In 2003 I wrote an article for the Views about what had been an epic mud season.

Lew Young, who lived at the intersection of Rice Farm and Howland Roads, reported a mud hole with fourteen cars stuck in it. “How about that fourteenth car coming along,” Lew imagined, “seeing all the other cars stuck, and saying, ‘Nah, I can make it.’ It had to be a guy.” He and his wife Roberta, owners at the time of the Putney Road Market, had to spend two weeks in a motel because they couldn’t get home.

Wayne Emery, who was then the road commissioner, told me that the single worst mud hole was on Park Laughton Road near Don and Bunny Hazelton’s house. “We dumped twenty-seven truck loads, six-yard trucks, of gravel in that road in a sixty-foot section before it became passable,” he told me, and added that the road grader almost got swallowed up by the mud while pushing in the gravel.

When I spoke to Calvin Farwell for that article, we started musing about how deep mud might get, and, though I couldn’t see his face because we were talking on the phone, he told me about a man he had found slogging up to his waist through some mud years before. In awe of the man’s effort, Calvin called out, “I commend you sir, but it looks like tough going.” “Yes it’s tough,” the man replied, “but it’s tougher on my horse.”

I searched for explanations about what causes the mud. Eliza Bergh, whose ride home includes about two and a half miles of driving on dirt roads, claimed to know “the truth”. “It’s the thawing out of the frozen dirt. It’s worse in years when it’s very cold, because the ground freezes deeper below the road. It also depends on the water underneath, whether there are springs, or water that’s settled in the ground.”

Dwight Miller had some details to add.

“Mud is the result of freezing and thawing.

When mud freezes, it will rise up about two inches with crystals. Then when it thaws it

has a slimy consistency. Rain changes the consistency of the mud. It washes out the crystals and instead of slimy, you get a soft grainy mud.”

Over the years, people found ways to manage the mud. Dwight told me, “Before there were gravel crushers, stones were thrown into the mud holes. There’s literally a whole stone wall that was tossed into the road between my house and my sister’s.”

Susan Hamilton, who lived on Park Laughton Road, claimed that her dogs loved to roll and dig in the “wonderful” mud, and driving in it wasn’t a problem for her. “I don’t get stuck because my car jumps,” she claimed.

It used to be common for there to be car parks at the bottoms of muddy roads. Such was the case for people who lived up Camp Arden Road beyond the initial flat section along the river, who parked by Falls Brook, and had to walk up the hill from there to their homes. Debbie Cook, who lives about a mile up Camp Arden Road from Falls Brook continued on next page

photo by roger Turner

By Roger Turner

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2020 • 17

But Then Again, Snow in May? continued from previous page ran a small day care in her home. When our daughter Liz was two, because of a particularly bad mud season, she walked with Debbie back and forth to the Cook’s house for a few days. Debbie presented Liz with a personalized “Mud Season Medal” in recognition of her effort.

Cars also had to park at the bottom of the Hague Road. Barbara Rocray, who lives up the Hague Road, told me, “There’s a very hospitable, community feeling during mud season . . . . One day I was walking down the road with some school kids going to their bus. We were having a nice little conversation and somebody offered us a ride. We looked at each other and said, ‘No thanks.’

Everybody is nice to each other in mud season, but it’s very stressful.”

So, how was mud season this year? I checked in with town road commissioner Lee Chamberlin, who said it was not bad at all. “By bad, I’d mean so ‘soupy’ that cars couldn’t get through. We haven’t had much of that in ten years,” he said. When I asked him why we don’t have such bad mud seasons any more, he explained, “We use better gravel and keep a good crown on the roads. Four inches of crushed gravel on the top keeps the roads in pretty good shape. It’s when the water gets through the top layer to the bottom layer that you get the bad mud.” He said the worst mud this spring was at the south end of the Dummerston section of Sunset Lake Road.

I thought I’d just call around to the far reaches of Dummerston to see what people had to say, and in so doing, found that this mud season was nothing like 2003, and in general, mud seasons have gotten less daunting over the years, confirming Lee’s assessment. Certainly, improved road maintenance and drainage have resulted in less mud. Mo Momaney said there are places on Stickney Brook Road, particularly near where Chris and Carmen Derby live, where in the past the only way to get through was to “put it in four-wheel drive and barrel through.” But not this year. He attributed this to not only a better road surface, but to drainage that was created for a spring near that section of the road. Mo said that there were some minor frost heaves down by the Stickney Brook swimming holes, but otherwise, the road was good up to his driveway.

I spoke to Terry Lafland, who lives just down Stickney Brook Road from Sunset Lake Road. He found this mud season to be “gradual”. When I asked him specifically about Sunset Lake Road, which is his

usual route into Brattleboro, he said, “It got a little humpty, and soft, and then it would straighten out. It was passable. It wasn’t rough, just bumpy. The town graded it two or three times.”

Cliff Bergh, who lives on the other side of town, way down Greenhoe Road, told me, “It was an easy mud season. Gradual and on and off. Miller Road had two or three bad spots but they were passable.” He remembered when there was a big mud hole at the top of Greenhoe Road by Kevin and Sara Ryan’s house. “There were years when it was really hard to get through to take the kids to the bus stop. But they filled it with rocks and rocks and rocks and graded it and it’s been fine for years. I’m comparing things to years when there were really deep mud holes, and it’s not like that anymore.”

Then Cliff took my inquiry into an unanticipated, but totally logical direction. “Nobody remembers the challenges of driving the old Oldsmobiles and Fords. I had a Mercury Meteor; you couldn’t get anywhere in those cars. Or the two-wheel drive pickups. Today, everyone has good vehicles—a Subaru or a Toyota four-wheel drive truck, not Oldsmobiles, and they can go right through.”

Finally, I talked to Randy Holhut, who

lives way up Spaulding Hill Road. I got pretty much the same story from him. “It was a pretty mild mud season. There were many mini-mud seasons, after some freezes and thaws. There were some points down in the flats in Evansville that got a little soupy, but not overly so. Down by the Hazeltons it got a little rutty. But compared to other years, it was one of the easier mud seasons.” Randy also referred to new drainage the town road crew put in down by Roger and Faith Evans’ house, and other drainage on the long hill on Park Laughton Road that goes down to the junction of Spaulding Hill, past Mark Richards’ house. “That could get mucky, but it wasn’t bad this year.”

This may be the last article to appear in the Views about mud season. It seems that improvements to the roads over the years, new drainage, and better gravel mix for the road surfaces, have improved the roads so that in most cases, even an old Mercury Meteor could get around on them. Nevertheless, from my vantage point at the bottom of the East-West Road I’ve seen lots and lots of trucks loaded with gravel passing by this spring. Even the improved roads require patching and regular maintenance, and our town road crew does a great job of it.

School Lunch Meal Signup Information

Business Owners

Families can sign up any time to receive meals at https://www.wsesu.org/covid-19.html or by calling Ali West at 802-257-3322.

Calendar Photographs Needed Photographs will be needed for the 2021 Dummerston Historical Society’s annual calendar. Photos must be horizontal and must be of and around Dummerston with no identifiable people.

Please send photos to Jody Normandeau at jodydvt@ gmail.com. If your photo is used in the calendar, you will receive a free calendar.

Are you aware that the Views of Dummerston is now available online at ViewsofDummerston.org and various commercial outlets in town.

And the online Views has live web and email links and is in color!

for more information contact sara ryan at ads@viewsofdummerston.org

18 • Spring, 2020 • Views of Dummerston PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Mailed From Zip Code 05346 Permit No. 61

change Service REquested

Senior Lunches

Dummerston Meetings

Evening Star Grange, 2nd and 4th Wednesday; Take-out only. Call 254-1128 by 6 PM Tuesday.

Please note that these meetings will not be taking place at their usual locations. Please refer to the town web site, www.Dummerston.org, for updated information.

The Front Porch Forum

online at www.frontporchforum.com

Town Meetings Selectboard

Every other Wednesday

Planning Commission 1st Tuesday

6:00 pm 6:30 pm

Conservation Commission 7:00 pm 2nd Thursday

Energy Committee 1st Monday

6:00 pm

Development Review Board 7:00 pm 3rd Tuesday at the town office

Community Center

7:00 pm

PTFO

6:00 pm

WSESD

6:00 pm

1st Monday at the Community Center

3rd Thurs. at the Dummerston School Library 1st & 3rd Wed., revolving locations

photo by Roger Turner

Community Center Jean Momaney 254-9212 Conservation Commission Web site: www.dummerstonconservation.com Dummerston Cares Helpline & Fuel Assistance Are you a veteran seeking assistance?Bill Schmidt 257-5800, email: info@dummerstoncares.org Dummerston School 254-2733 Web site www.dummerston.wsesu.org Evening Star Grange Ruth Barton 254-1128 or mrgjb@sover.net Fire Chief Rick Looman 258-1731 Fire Warden Marty Forrett (h)387-2180 (w)254-9877 Deputy Fire Wardens Charlie Richardson 254-6963

Wayne Emery (h)254-8708 Lydia Taft Pratt Library 258-9878 Hours: Tue. 2-6; Wed. 1-5; Thu. 1-5; Sat. 10–1 Web site: library.dummerston.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/dummerstonlibrary email: dummerstonvtlibrary@gmail.com Meals on Wheels Chris McAvoy 257-1236 Selectboard selectboard@dummerston.org Senior Solutions Ruth Barton 254-1128 Springfield Office 800-642-5119 Town Garage Lee Chamberlin 254-2411 Town Office Laurie Frechette 257-1496 email: townclerk@dummerston.org Vermont Theatre Company 258-1344 Views of Dummerston views@viewsofdummerston.org WSESU 254-3730 Websites: Official Town www.dummerston.org Municipal Calendar http://calendar.dummerston.org Local Interest www.dummerston.com

Town Clerk Laurie Frechette is a lonely person, as the office is closed, and the usual town events, which would normally appear in the calendar in this space won’t be happening this spring.

Dummerston School Leadership Council Monthly meetings; date, location and agenda posted on the Dummerston School web site

Historical Society

7:30 pm

3rd Thursday of Jan./April/July/Oct. at the Dummerston Historical Society

Senior Congregate Meal

Information/reservations:Ruth Barton 254-1128