Views of Dummerston - 2024#2 - Spring

Art by Gary Blomgren

Volume 34 Issue 2

Spring ~ 2024

Free • Since 1990

Cares Honors “Raise the Alarm” Crew Folks in Dummerston are the luckiest people to be served by the West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department—the WDVFD! They staff stations in West Dummerston and in Dummerston Center. Dummerston Cares is proud to honor a group within the WDVFD as our Volunteers of the Season!

We’re shouting our thanks to the installation crew for Raise the Alarm.

What is Raise the Alarm? It’s a partnership between DummerMeeting attendees applaud retiring selectboard members Zeke Goodband and Lewis ston Cares and the WDVFD. Cares supplies smoke alarms and White when they are recognized for their service at the end of the meeting. carbon monoxide (CO) detectors and the installation crew puts them in place. The program is free of charge to any owner-occupied, single-family household in town.

It’s normal, on early Saturday mornings, for the installation crew to gather on West Street to prepare for another round of home firesafety installations. From October through March, 51 households were served with 124 smoke alarms and 31 CO detectors. More installations

By Roger Turner are forthcoming, since the program continues. The smoke detectors have 10-year batteries—an improvement over detectors that required Humans are fundamentally social beings, which is made clear when batteries every year. you ask Dummerstonians how it felt to attend this year’s town meeting continued on page 19 after a four-year hiatus. “I loved being back with people,” said Cliff Adler. “If felt so right. It was so warm and I was happy to be there, to be with the community, my neighbors.” Retiring selectboard chair Zeke Goodband agreed: “It’s nice seeing everyone. It’s a fun, social occasion.” Town clerk Laurie Frechette added, “It gives people a chance to visit with each other, and it may be the only time they get to see each other all year. It gives them a chance to reconnect.” Many people come a little early, grab a cup of coffee and one of Lester’s donuts, and mingle, catching up with people they haven’t seen in a while, maybe a full year.

Meeting moderator Cindy Jerome said that after four years, it was “an extra-special thrill to gavel this year’s meeting to order. I had to look around at everybody and soak it all in. It was wonderful to see everybody. It was as full a town meeting as I’ve seen.” Cindy is purposeful in setting the meeting guidelines. Robert’s Rules of Order governs how she conducts the meeting and navigates conflicts. She states clearly that when discussing a particular article from the warning, everybody gets the chance to speak once before she will recognize a person to speak a second time, and she won’t condone disrespect or a Scott Hatfield works outside while Allen Pike works inside to install fire-safety lack of civility in anybody’s comments. continued on page 16 equipment in a resident’s home.

Town Meeting Returns After Four Years

Photo by david shaw

Photo by Roger Turner

By Catie Berg

2 • Spring, 2024 • 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 18, 2024 Views will be mailed on: July 31, 2024 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.)

Perennial Swappers Carrries On

By Roger Turner About 30 years ago Ruth Marx caught Bess Richardson pitching some of her just-culled, excess perennials over the bank at her house, and they agreed that it was a waste of some perfectly good plants that somebody else might love to have. So they started the “perennial swappers,” a regular meeting time when anybody can show up looking to either get rid of or acquire some plants. It’s an idea that has endured, with the added feature of a series of tours of local gardens. These days Bonnie Jillson sets up the schedule of swapping and garden tour dates, generally every-other Thursday during the spring and summer, and Cheryl Wilfong takes care of publicizing the schedule by maintaining a swappers Facebook page as well as a Google group of people interested in being notified of the group’s activities.

“We’d love to have more people come.

You don’t need to bring anything. Everyone is welcome,” Ruth told me. “We ask for a one-dollar donation for the garden tour, and you don’t have to bring anything to swap. But we’re always swapping plants, and there’s never a charge for taking some plants.”

If you’re interested, check the Facebook page (Perennial Swappers) for the schedule, or get on the Google group list Cheryl maintains by sending her a request at cheryl.wilfong@ google.com, and she will send out notices of meetings coming up.

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

Sponsors Linda Rood & Roger Turner Nick & Joan Thorndike Martha & Mitch Momaney Marcy Hermansader Lou Nelson

Home Fire-Safety Checklist Adapted from the American Red Cross PLEASE See Article on page 19.

Cooking Safety • “Keep an eye on what you fry.” Stay in the kitchen when frying, grilling, or using an open flame.

Fireplaces, Space Heaters, Baseboards, etc.

“Keep 3 feet from the heat.” Keep furniture, curtains, dish towels and anything that could catch fire at least 3 feet from any type of heat source.

Smoking Safety: Never smoke in bed.

Electrical and Appliance Safety Ensure that large and small appliances are plugged directly into wall outlets. Do not use flimsy extension cords!

Children Playing: Ensure that matches and lighters are locked away.

Smoke Alarms • Make sure you have working smoke alarms. Once turned on, you should keep them on.

• Replace smoke alarms & batteries in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) Detectors • Carbon Monoxide is an invisible, odorless, colorless gas created when fuels (such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil, and methane) burn incompletely. Make sure you have working CO alarms.

• Know the symptoms of CO poisoning: headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, sleepiness, and confusion. If you suspect CO poisoning, get fresh air immediately, and then call 911.

• Ensure that heating systems (including chimney and vents) are inspected and serviced annually.

Home Fire Escape Plan Practice 2-minute drills. If there’s fire or smoke, make sure everyone can escape your home in 2 minutes or less.

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, 2024 • 3

town government Dummerston Selectboard

Nolan and Adler Join Selectboard

By Alex Wilson I am pleased to report that, following the town meeting, we have two new selectboard members: Thomas (Tom) Nolan and Paul Adler.

They join Maria Glabach, Todd Davidson (who was elected to the three-year seat that Selectboard Chair Zeke Goodband had held), and me. Tom was elected to a two-year seat, and Paul was elected as a write-in candidate for the remaining one-year seat that Todd had held since the resignation of David Baxendale.

The institutional memory of long-time selectboard members Zeke and Lewis White will be sorely missed; but what we lose in their experience we gain in new ideas and perspectives. In this report I wanted to tell you a bit about Tom and Paul.

Tom lives on Hague Road with his wife Eva and their two sons: Fox (aged six) and Donovan (aged three). He got his undergraduate degree in humanities at Harvard University and did some additional studies at MassArt in Boston. Tom splits his time between working in antiques and collectibles appraisal, and tutoring English remotely to students in Wuhan, China.

When he’s not tutoring English or appraising antiques, much of Tom’s time has been taken up with songwriting, filmmaking, and graphic arts. Tom also served as a representative on the Windham Southeast School District Board, where he chaired committees on the environment and social justice and worked to make the transition to a unified school district as smooth as possible. He has served on the board of the community radio station, WVEW, and recently joined the Dummerston Energy Committee.

On the selectboard, Tom looks forward to helping preserve Dummerston’s green and wild places, enhancing the town’s resilience to the impacts of climate change, and keeping the town affordable. “Dummerston’s special appeal to me is its rugged and idyllic landscape paired with an open-minded community spirit,” notes Tom. Paul Adler was born in Raleigh, North Carolina and lived in various places on the East Coast, before settling on a small farm in Connecticut, where he and his wife raised their two children. He studied at the State University of New York and worked as a certified echocardiographer in multiple hospitals, including Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA.

After relocating to Annapolis, MD in 2009, he worked at Johns Hopkins Medical Center and then shifted to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), carrying out cardiovascular research.

Paul also volunteered in public safety for 15 years as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), firefighter, and rescue diver, and he served on the Board of Education in Tolland, CT. Paul and his family had often visited family in Vermont and got to know Dummerston over a 48-year period. Upon retirement in 2019, he and his wife inherited the Nash home on Green Mountain Camp Road where they now

live. Paul enjoys hiking, boating, and jewelry making.

On the selectboard, Paul hopes to ensure that Dummerston is a welcoming, affordable, and safe community. “Some of the issues I would like to address are speeding/adherence to stop signs, and better cell reception for safety,” he says.

As always, the selectboard welcomes your input and feedback on our town. We can be reached by e-mail (selectboard@ dummerston.org) or by writing to us at the Dummerston Town Office, 1523 Middle Road, Dummerston, VT 05346.

Dummerston Planning Commission

Planning Commission Responsibilities Explained

By Annamarie Pluhar Do you know what the Dummerston Planning Commission (DPC) does? As a very helpful brochure (Isn’t This My Land?) from the University of Vermont says, “Many people don’t pay much attention to planning and zoning until it gets in their way.” Notice the two elements: planning and zoning. Our Commission is responsible for writing both the town plan and our zoning bylaws.

The planning legal structure is part of Act 250, the landmark legislation passed in 1970 that controls large-scale growth. With the opening of the interstate highways and the development of ski resorts, towns were being bought up by developers who were pushing local people out. Act 250 provides local towns with the ability to determine where and how development can happen. There are regional planning commissions and local planning commissions. Our town plan states who we are and what we want in our town. When a developer applies for an Act 250 permit, the town plan is consulted to determine if the

development is following the plan. The town plan must be updated every eight years.

Zoning bylaws determine how the land is used. The DPC determines what the different zones will allow and how the zones are constructed. Different zones allow for different-sized land parcels, types of buildings, and other types of land use. Depending on what your perspective is on a specific situation, zoning is either protective or restrictive. We work on the DPC to write zoning bylaws that serve the common good. The Dummerston Review Board and our zoning administrator are responsible for permitting. They rely on the zoning bylaws.

We could use some more commissioners!

We are beginning to work on a town plan update. We meet once a month on the second Monday in the town office at 6:30 p.m. Come to a meeting and see if this might be a way for you to serve our town. If you are interested, you would then apply to the selectboard to be appointed.

Both the town plan and our current zoning bylaws are available on the town website.

Prepare for tomorrow, by contacting us today.

(802) 254-6016

therichardsgrp.com

4 • Spring, 2024 • Views of Dummerston

town government Dummerston Conservation Commission

Commission Sponsors Talks on Hydro Licensing and Natural Awe

By John Anderson Over the last three months the Conservation Commission has hosted an eclectic array of speakers and programs.

Kathy Urffur, Vermont River Steward for the Connecticut River Conservancy, gave an update on the ongoing relicensing of the hydroelectric facilities that almost fully impound the Connecticut River. In Vermont, those include Vernon, Bellows Falls and Wilder Dams.

The licensing process provides an opportunity for comments and concerns to be entered into the record. And, as the licensing period is four decades, give or take a bit, no further local say in questions of recreational access, water quality or impacts on fish and wildlife will be likely to find a receptive audience. With the licensing all operating parameters will be locked in.

Although the river, which forms the entire eastern boundary of the town, is accessible to Dummerstonians in only a few locations, fishing and boating are important to many.

The Connecticut River is among our environmental assets.

As Urffur stressed, “The licensing process for these hydropower facilities will dramatically affect the health of the river and its greater watershed for generations to come.”

In January, Matthew Boulton, writer, award winning filmmaker and one time faculty member at Harvard Divinity School, gave an inspirational talk on Wonder and Awe in the Natural World.

Human emotional responses to the nearly unbelievable vastness of the universe on one hand and on the other hand the equally awe-inspiring variability of each and every snowflake that falls, provided book ends for Boulton’s explorations. The ability of each revelation the natural world grants to give us that “wow moment” that moment of awe and wonder is universal. And, according to Boulton, a sense of awe is necessary for our

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

well-being. It has wide ranging health benefits.

While many hard-working Vermonters would not, I expect, fully espouse Boulton’s language, I’ve had many a no-nonsense old timer take time from their chores to share a nature sighting, an observation or a puzzling nature anomaly.

Something that made an impression on them.

Something unarguably memorable.

When someone approaches me and says, “You know what I saw?” or, “Any idea what that is?” I know that I’m likely to learn something about both our greater world and about what holds the interest of a fellow Dummerstonian. Call the emotional responses to such revelations what you will.

And in February, Roger Haydock, trail designer and builder for over three decades, spoke about his philosophies and methods using the trail system at Deer Run Nature Preserve as an example of his work.

Haydock’s extensive trail planning and layout process involving the selection of the best of several potential routes, results in well drained trails traversing moderate slopes. Visual interest, unique habitats, and noteworthy individual trees, tree stands, or other natural features are also factored into trail planning. The result is an interesting path accessible to those of even moderate physical abilities.

A well-loved pick-mattock, a pruning saw, survey tape for trail marking and a chainsaw for clearing downed logs, either during trail building or later maintenance, are the extent of Haydock’s working trail kit.

If you’ve hiked a trail anywhere between Brattleboro and Cambridgeport there’s a good chance that you have enjoyed the fruits of Haydock’s labors.

And now, having covered the news, I’m going to ramble off into a bit of botany. Specifically, a roadside wildflower called Hog Peanut.

Hog peanut attracts little attention. Its low twining vines sprawl over other plants and grasses. Its trifoliate egg-shape leaves are

Fruit CSA Sign Ups • Farm Market Baking & Hard Cider Workshops

rather unremarkable. And its loose racemes of narrow, half-inch, white, pale lilac, or pale purple flowers open in the heat and dust of midAugust. It’s an easily overlooked plant. Most people probably never notice it.

It’s worth a closer look. It has some unique habits. Along with its normal arial flowering hog peanut produces both ground-level and subterranean cleistogamous flowers: flowers that never open, self-pollinate, and produce fruits distinctly different from those of the plant’s ‘normal’ flowers. These underground flowers produce the plant’s namesake ‘peanuts.’

Hog peanut (Amphicarpaea bractata) is a legume, a member of the pea family. Its subterranean fruits are both edible and presumably tasty. However, the plant is not closely related to the true peanut.

This is a visually unremarkable plant found in moist places. Many would never notice it.

But it produces two distinct types of flowers, one of which is subterranean, never opens and self-pollinates and it produces two distinct types of seeds, one above ground and the other below.

Of the approximately 840 flower species I have thus far identified in Dummerston only a handful (perhaps two dozen) produce cleistogamous flowers.: flowers that never open yet self-pollinate and set seed. And only two that I know of produce underground flowers and fruit.

(The other is a Milkwort.)

Plants that produce two types of fruit, one above ground and one below ground, are said to practice amphicarpy, a term incorporated into hog peanut’s scientific name Amphicarpaea bractata.

Hog Peanut isn’t showy. It attracts little attention although traditional foragers are probably familiar with its edible subterranean seeds. It’s a plant you have to seek out, one that has some unusual habits!

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

bakerviolinshop@gmail.com www.bakerviolinshop.com

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2024 • 5

organizations West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department

Chicken Barbecue Fundraiser Takes Placeat KOA On May 18

By Dan Ridlehoover Vice President

As the West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department (WDVFD) changes gear from spring into summer, we wanted to use this edition of the Views of Dummerston to share some of our upcoming events and take the

opportunity for some public thank yous!

On Saturday, May 18th, the department will be turning up the heat on a chicken barbecue, hosted by our great neighbors at the KOA Campground. The event coincides with the KOA’s Vintage Camper Rally. We had a ton of fun last year touring around the campground checking out all the amazing campers and

WDVDF Member Spotlight: Lizzie Hickin The West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department is made up of, you guessed it— volunteers! As such, we aren’t “just” firefighters and EMS providers. We’re also parents, students, small business owners, mechanics, consultants, teachers, truck drivers, road crew members, electricians, and more. Join us in welcoming a new member, Lizzie Hickin, to our department with this Member Spotlight!

What brought you to Dummerston?

I grew up in Dummerston. During my 20’s, after college, I lived in Ludlow, VT and recently moved back to Dummerston to be closer to family. It’s wonderful to be back!

What inspired you to volunteer with WDVFD? I was on the Ludlow Volunteer Fire Department for four years before I moved back to this area. It was a great way to give back to the community and they became like a second family. I missed the camaraderie and the opportunities to volunteer. I’m excited to be a part of a team again.

Which station do you respond from?

Center Station.

What do you do when you aren’t volunteering?

For work, I am the office manager at Casella Waste at the Brattleboro location. For fun, I love to snowboard, run, mountain bike, camp, and kayak. Fingers crossed for a not so soggy summer!

When was the last time you checked your smoke detector batteries and/or cleaned your chimney?

They were checked a couple weeks ago during daylight savings. And they occasionally check themselves when I make popcorn.

Do you have any pets?

I don’t personally have any pets, but my neighbors (sister, brother in-law and nephews) have a chocolate lab, Maple, that comes to visit.

What’s the best part about being a volunteer firefighter? (or EMS?) Getting to meet members of the community

submitted photo

By Dan Ridlehoover

classic cars and are looking forward to a great day. Green Mountain Tents donates a big tent for the event, so there’s room for everyone and we’re on—rain or shine! Come hungry. Hours: 11 a.m.–3 p.m., KOA Campground, 1238 US Route 5, Dummerston.

June 2nd we’ll be hosting a free youth fishing derby at the pond next to the Center Station. No experience necessary and there will be helpers on hand to clean fish for any first timers (or the squeamish). There are also hot dogs and drinks available. Kids are welcome to take home their catch! Registration and hotdogs will be from 12–1 p.m., and fishing from 1–2 p.m. at EastWest Road and Middle Road.

As we host fundraisers and events, the members of WDVFD often reach out to our neighbors and friends for donations to help offset our event costs. We’d like to thank the many, many companies and individuals that have provided us with venues, a stocked pond(!), dozens of bags of charcoal, 200+ chickens, beverages, tents/chairs/tables, prizes, and more.

We’d also like to thank Mark Kracum for a recent donation of medical equipment.

Lizzie Hickin is ready for action in her turnout gear.

that I wouldn’t get to otherwise. I remember growing up knowing everyone on my street.

It’s getting harder to maintain that level of familiarity as we progress as a society but is a crucial aspect for any town. No one loses when we are able to connect. The more connections we are able to make, the stronger our community becomes.

What’s the worst part?

Forgetting to keep socks in your locker when it’s sandal weather. Boots without socks are the worst.

Pancake breakfast: plain, apple or blueberry?

This is probably the most important question!

Apple all day!

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

6 • Spring, 2024 • Views of Dummerston

organizations Lydia Taft Pratt Library

Using Books and Imagination to Build Community

By Dena Marger, Library Director

Hello Dummerston! Ok, raise your hand if you think “books” is all we do at Lydia Taft Pratt Library?

Picture Book Storytime Well, it’s true that there are books at our weekly Picture Book Storytime Program. But, that’s not really why people come to it. Parents and caregivers come because they appreciate an outing with their kids. They come to give their kids a chance to practice socializing at an early age. They come because they know how important it is for their kids to begin to develop literacy skills. They come because it’s free and

it’s fun and it helps them and their kids be a part of their community.

Audiobooks One of our library users recently told me how much she loves being able to listen to audiobooks while she takes her dogs out on walks. Every cardholder at Lydia Taft Pratt Library has access to our collection of eBooks and audiobooks, which are easy to download using an app on your device called Libby. It’s no harder to use than that Solitaire game you downloaded! But, this library user gets exercise and quality puppy time in, as she’s also enjoying great books. So, yeah, I guess that has something to do with books, too. But it also has to do with getting outside and getting healthy

Evening Star Grange

Serendipity Funds New Convection Oven Sallie J. May The end of March is fast approaching, the daffies, tulips and other spring flowers are poking their heads up out of the ground, and the pussy willows are out in some areas…and then the snow came. Now, I’m watching flocks of birds as they flitter around the newly-filled bird feeders, looking for food.

Here at the Grange in the last week of March we were working on three meals: our senior lunch on Wednesday, Groundworks meal on Thursday, and our 3rd annual Sugar on Snow Supper on Saturday. I hope you were able to come out and enjoy some sugar-on-snow.

Thanks to the many Grangers and non-Grangers who pitched in to help us make this fundraiser a success; I’ll let you know later how we did.

The Grange was very fortunate this year to have our convection oven die the weekend before our annual inspection by Senior Solutions. We informed the inspector that we were unsure what to do for a replacement—ours was

so old it was probably not reparable—and they informed us that there was a grant that might help us out, and a week later we received a check from them for almost enough to cover the entire cost of a new oven. We had recently received several donations in memory of Don Hazelton and thought it only fitting to apply some of that money toward this project, since coming to our Senior lunches was one of Don’s favorite things to do. We also had several donations from some of our regular senior lunch attendees. Our electrician came and did the necessary wiring, and we are so grateful to all of you who did donate to our convection oven project. It worked perfectly at our March 27th senior lunch. Don will be remembered each time we open the door to this new acquisition.

The Grange is always ready to welcome new members. If you are interested in joining, or helping with a specific or ongoing project, or help in maintaining our building, please speak to any of our Grange members. You can call 802-254-1138 and leave us a message and someone will get back in touch with you.

Dummerston Community Center

Sponsors

Gathering Space Available

Debbie & Dennis Baker

Affordable location for Birthday Parties, Meetings, and Programs

Teri Robinson

Secretary

150 West Street, West Dummerston

Eleanor & Charles Fish

For Information and reservations call or text

Marguerite Demotte

For Larger Events Consider the Grange

Sallie May

802-257-0784

and having a good relationship with her dogs. I know another family that listens to audiobooks together each night as bedtime stories.

Passes Available Many people know of author/illustrator Eric Carle, who wrote The Very Hungry Caterpillar and many other children’s picture books. But, do you know about the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, located an hour to our south? Thanks to the amazing fundraising efforts of Lydia’s Friends, the Lydia Taft Pratt Library is able to make available passes for free or lower cost admission to some amazing cultural institutions! So, yes, I guess the Eric Carle Museum is connected to books, too. If you’ve ever been to the Eric Carle Museum, you know what a wonderful day trip this can be! And, we also have passes available to the Vermont State Parks and Historical Sites, and to the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservancy, and to the Montshire Museum of Science, and the NextStage Bandwagon Concert series, and others. These organizations are not directly “book related” but they are related to building a variety of literacies among children and adults, around culture, art, and science.

Movies In the name of creating community gathering spaces and fun family activities, the library has also been showing outdoor movies each summer. And, yes, often those movies (e.g.

Holes, A Wrinkle in Time, etc) have had literary tie-ins. So, you’ve caught me. The truth is that the library IS here to foster literacy and information skills among people of all ages. But, we’re also here to build community, something desperately needed in this day and age.

Cookbook Program I want to encourage you to think about all the things you might come to the library for, besides “books.” I’ve had the most fun at our new Cookbook Program! Yes, it’s nominally about the books; the cookbooks! But, more than that, it’s about cooking and eating and connecting with community members around food. Which is my favorite thing! So stop by the library for community, fun, enrichment, culture, or food!

We also have a few good books! If you’d like to become more involved with your community library, the best way is to consider becoming part of Lydia’s Friends. Lydia’s Friends are presently looking for more folks who’d like to underwrite a community pass to one of the area’s cultural institutions. If that is you, please get in touch with me at the library.

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2024 • 7

organizations

Cares Offers New Exercise Classes

By Bill Schmidt TAI CHI FOR BALANCE: This class is for those who would like to join with others to strengthen their balance and their body alignment which results in standing, walking, and moving through our days feeling more stable and safe. This ten-week, hourlong class will begin with an introductory session on Tuesday May 14, at 9:30 a.m. at the Community Center in West Dummerston, and will continue on Tuesday mornings at 9:30 through July 15. No matter your age, size, shape, or experience, everyone can benefit and all are welcome. Participation is limited to ten people. Loose clothing and indoor shoes are recommended.

The focus in the classes will be on simple but profound Tai Chi movements and Qi Gong postures that will help participants experience more fully the wisdom of their body and the Chi energy inside and all around us. The effect of the exercises can ripple into daily activities such as: walking, climbing stairs, recovering from injuries and surgeries, and gaining more

confidence and joy in movement.

This class will be led by Helen Hawes of West Dummerston. Helen has studied Tai Chi for 40 years and has spent 50 years in the studio as a practicing artist and 30 years as a Focusing Trainer. She combines Tai Chi and Focusing to create a powerful new tool for personal transformation. (Qi Gong has always been taught alongside Tai Chi which is, in fact, moving Qi Gong. So it would not be a new tool. However, combining Focusing and Tai Chi is new and comes out of the work Helen has done over the years).

NEW GENTLE YOGA CLASS This class is appropriate for everyone, including those with mild limitations or of an older age. The style of yoga that will be taught is called Viniyoga. Vini means adaptation. Attention will be given to adapting postures to each person and their needs as opposed to adapting the body to the posture.

This approach also uses the breath to help everyone attain and improve their posture.

Classic and relatively simple poses will be

Free Life-Saving Detectors Available Through Cares/WDVFD Partnership

By Meg Lyons This spring the “Raise the Alarm” program, a partnership of Dummerston Cares and the West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department, will continue providing to residents smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors installed by trained firefighters. Members of the community with owner-occupied, singlefamily homes are eligible to receive this service at no cost.

Since last fall more than 50 Dummerston families have benefitted from this life-saving program. Now is your chance to participate and keep your loved ones safe.

Having smoke alarms near the kitchen and sleeping areas ensure that you and your family are alerted as soon as fire is detected. And the smoke alarms that are being installed contain 10-year batteries that eliminate the need for annual battery replacement. Of equal importance are carbon monoxide (CO) detectors that warn you of any unusual build-up of this invisible and odorless gas, which at high levels can cause serious illness and death. It’s essential for homes with equipment such as furnaces, stoves, generators, and gas water heaters to

have CO detectors installed.

To sign up to have current devices upgraded or to have your first devices installed, call the Dummerston Cares Message Line at (802) 257-5800 and leave your name and phone number. A Cares volunteer will contact you to get your application underway. Installations are done on Saturday mornings between 9 a.m. and noon.

used. There will be no headstands or even shoulder stands. Effort will be made to gear the class to the level of the students, adapting to the person with the most restrictions. This said, suggestions for adapting poses as needed will be given to each person.

Yoga does not need to be strenuous to be helpful in developing flexibility and strength.

As one grows older one’s practice begins to change. This is normal. Practicing Yoga still provides benefits. With age breath may be emphasized more and postures less, and as we become even older in our sunset years, meditation may be emphasized more. All yoga is beneficial to our body and minds.

There will be eight one-hour classes at the West Dummerston Community Center, beginning with an introductory class on Wednesday May 15 at 4 p.m., and ending on July 3. Participation is limited to ten persons. Students will need to bring their own supplies including a mat, blanket, and block. For those new to yoga, a blanket and block help one to adapt to postures.

The class will be led by Judith Carpenter.

Judy began practicing yoga after graduation from college in the 70s, and then took teacher training courses in the late 80s and 90s. She became a certified teacher in the style of Viniyoga in 2004. She has also worked as a physician’s assistant for 25 years in family medicine and internal medicine practices.

If you would like to join either of these classes, or if you have questions or want more information, contact the Dummerston Cares Message Line – 802-257-5800 or email info@ dummerstoncares.org. Please include your name, phone number and email address if you have one.

Births Ivy Faye Loux Piper Love McDougall Wade Randy Frechette

Sponsors Meg Murtha Barbara Evans Joe & Anne Little Alvino & Bea Fantini

2/24/24 3/11/24 3/18/24

Passings Donald Merton Hazelton Elliott Ralph Freeman Deborah Denise Maia

3/8/24 3/12/24 3/25/24

8 • Spring, 2024 • Views of Dummerston

organizations Dummerston Historical Society

Artist’s Corner New Addition to Schoolhouse Exhibits

By Muriel Taylor

photo Courtesy of the Historical Society

Artists’ Corner, with one or two artists David Baldwin as a partner in the Vermont being recognized every 2-3 months. Similar New Hampshire Veterinary Clinic. Only the Our “Old Tools & Industries of Dummer- exhibits were mounted years ago and we are third veterinarian to practice in Dummerston” exhibit was a great success. The many pleased once again to note that Dummerston ston, he has been asked to tell of his early practice here. Having visitors, ages 7–97 heard rumors of Clyde’s years, were united in public speaking abilities expressing their respect and his vast accumulaand admiration for the tion of anecdotes, I can accomplishments of our only hope you all took forefathers and foreadvantage of this oppormothers using these tunity to learn about tools. The objectives of Clyde’s experiences at the times were well met, the clinic, and to enjoy using brain, community his memories as well as efforts, and a whole lot your own. of brawn. The collecThe Dummerston tion of photographs Historical Society drew attention as well, always welcomes lending a visual image donations of historical of how and where interest to Dummerthese tools were used. ston and we encourage A new exhibit is in the you to join us in 2024 making as I write which as a member, a volunwill include a collecteer, a participant in tion of photographs of our programs, or as a farm and work animals viewer of our exhibits. from the past, a featured display of a few albums Guy Taft is pictured with his team of horses and load of granite in West Dummerston Village. A Find more information and videos of recent from our collection, and similar wagon of this time is currently at the Community Center. programs at www. art in our newly-created Artist’s Corner. Beginning in May, we will is richly endowed with creative talent. If dummerstonhistorical society.org. (Please welcome visitors every other Sunday from 1-3 you are aware of artists with whom we have note that you do not need to be a member of p.m. until early summer. Check our website not been in contact, please feel free to share the Historical Society to attend any of our for exact dates: www.dummerstonhistorical- that information with us by contacting Gail functions.) Our schoolhouse is handicapped Sorenson at gailsvt@gmail.com. accessible. You are always welcome. society.org. We hope to see you there.

Our April quarterly meeting will have About the Artist’s Corner: the Society’s recent “Artisans of Dummerston” exhibit was already taken place by the time you read this so popular that we have invited contributors to article. Arriving in Dummerston in 1962, submit new material for a continuing rotating our speaker, Dr. Clyde Johnson, joined Dr.

Vegetable Soup

Calendar Photographs Needed

Do you have a photo of somewhere in Dummerston?

The Historical Society is seeking photos for the 2024 Scenes of Dummerston Calendar.

All photos must be horizontal and have no identifiable people.

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

From “The Cook Book of the Dummerston Women’s Association” April, 1940, Contributed

by Mrs. Lillian Reed

Beef soup bone (About 20 cents worth) 2 medium sized onions Several stalks celery ¼ medium sized cabbage, shredded 1 can tomato juice ½ cup rice Salt Dash of red pepper Cut vegetables fine, put in kettle with the meat bone, cover with cold water and cook slowly. When boiling, sprinkle in rice.

When done, allow to cool to remove fat.

Then reheat and serve.

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2024 • 9

organizations

Rudyard Kipling’s Naulakha Estate & Rhododendron Tour Returns

By Jeremy Ebersole,

Dummerston residents are surely quite familiar with one of our town’s most famous former residents - Rudyard Kipling, who built his unique shingle style home in 1892 on the road now named after him. The inviting home, designed by architect Henry Rutgers Marshall to resemble a cross between a Mississippi riverboat and the Kashmir houseboats of Kipling’s childhood in India, maintains its majestic site “sailing the seas” of rolling Vermont hills. While the Kiplings intended to live in southern Vermont for the rest of their lives on this land purchased from his wife Carrie’s family, their stay was famously cut short by a complicated series of events in 1896. Those four short years, however, were incredibly productive, producing some of the Nobel Prize winner’s most famous works, including The Jungle Books, Captains Courageous (his “American” novel), and portions of his childrens’ classic Just So Stories.

The home has been a National Historic Landmark (NHL) since 1993, the highest national designation available to places of historic significance. There are only 18 total NHLs in Vermont, and we’re fortunate to have one right here in Dummerston. The historic property is owned and managed by the nonprofit The Landmark Trust USA and maintained thanks to a unique preservation stewardship model of making the property available for overnight rentals, busi-

photo by Jeremy Ebersole

The Landmark Trust USA

Visitors to Rudyard Kipling’s Naulakha can enjoy the football-field-long rhododendron tunnel at the annual Rhododendron Tour June 2-3.

ness retreats, and other gatherings. Many of our Dummerston neighbors have experienced the estate as a place to house visiting family or a location for a meaningful event.

Once a year, however, the doors to the entire Naulakha estate, including the main house, carriage house, and stable, are swung open at perhaps their most resplendent glory—when the magnificent rhododendron tunnel is in full bloom.

The Naulakha Estate & Rhododendron Tour will take place once again on the first Sunday and Monday in June, June 2–3, and serves as the organization’s largest annual fund-

Landmark Trust Sponsors Barn Scholar Talk

By Jeremy Ebersol In celebration of Preservation Month, The Landmark Trust USA (LTUSA) is excited to bring noted scholar and vernacular architecture historian Thomas C. Hubka to Southern Vermont to speak on his seminal book, Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England, about one of northern New England’s most unique and distinct forms of architecture. This free talk will be presented at Next Stage Arts in Putney on Tuesday, May 14, at 7 p.m. No registration is needed to attend in person. To access the livestream, you must register at https://landmarktrustusa.org/events.

In continuous publication for 40 years, the book has become a scholarly and popular standard for New England architecture history and cultural studies. It received the

Abbot Lowell Cummings Award from the Vernacular Architecture Forum, and has been widely cited as a model for regional architectural studies, combining architectural and social/historical research.

This engaging talk will highlight the four essential components of the stately and beautiful connected farm buildings made by nineteenthcentury New Englanders that stand today as a living expression of a rural culture, offering insights into the people who made them and their agricultural way of life. It will feature numerous local examples including LTUSA’s own Amos Brown House in Whitingham, VT. Books will be available for purchase and may be signed by the author. All proceeds will support LTUSA’s historic preservation work.

Special thanks go to Next Stage for donating space for the program, which is supported in part by Vermont Humanities.

raiser, with all proceeds going directly back into the preservation of the estate as well as The Landmark Trust USA’s other historic Vermont properties: Dummerston’s Dutton farmhouse and the sugarhouse, and Whitingham’s Amos Brown house. The extensive rhododendron tunnel, added to the grounds by the Holbrook family who owned the property for decades following the Kiplings, stretches almost the length of a football field and should be bursting with beauty in early June. This year should be especially lovely thanks to volunteer pruning work on the tunnel done last year by Vermont State University landscape contracting students.

Visitors will have the opportunity to take a self-guided tour to learn about the property’s history and architecture, sit at the desk where The Jungle Book was written, wander the famous rhododendron tunnel, and enjoy the expansive grounds, including one of the oldest tennis courts in Vermont. Picnics on the front lawn overlooking the rolling hills beyond are welcome as well.

Tickets are $25 and pre-registration online is strongly encouraged, as the event generally sells out. More information and registration is available at https://landmarktrustusa.org/ rhododendron-tour.

Historic Vacation Rentals Kipling’s Naulakha + more

landmarktrustusa.org

802-254-6868

10 • Spring, 2024 • Views of Dummerston

Stan Franklin Thanks His Postal Customers As most of you know I retired from the Post Office on March 29, 2024. I want to thank all the mail customers in the West River Valley and the surrounding mountains for being more than mail customers, as you became my friends.

Everyone told me that they will miss me. I will also miss all of you. I am grateful for all the help I have been given over the years. Two of the other carriers were talking about where the worst places to have a problem on their routes

were. One said that Stan would never have a problem spot because everyone is willing to help him at any time. I am grateful for that. I also want to thank the road crew as they made my job easier by improving the roads over the last 23 years. It was nice to come back to the Post Office and say you missed less than ten mailboxes when other carriers missed half of their routes. The storm on March 23,, 2024 was a good example. Thank you to everyone who gave me cards, gifts, flowers for my wife (there were two sets), signs, balloons, and well wishes

for my retirement on my last day. It made it extra special, and I will never forget it. I will still be in the area so if you see me out be sure to say hi. Best wishes and thank you.

Photo by Roger Turner

By Stan Franklin

Grace Cottage Announces Events

By C.J. King As you put together your family’s calendar of summer events, please consider adding the following activities, organized by Grace Cottage Family Health and Hospital. Fun, fitness, friendship, and fund-raising are the goals of these upcoming events. For more information, visit gracecottage.org/events or call (802) 365-9109.

Saturday May 11: The “Spring Into Health 5K” will start at 8:30 a.m. at the Townshend Common, rain or shine. It is open to people of all ages and abilities, whether they run, jog, walk, stroll, or roll. All participants will be timed. $20 for adults; no charge for children

Primary Care  Emergency Care  PT/OT Just up the road in Townshend 365-7357 www.gracecottage.org

Do you know what a CUD is???

(Hint: It has nothing to do with cows …)

Find out at www.DVFiber.net

DVFiber is building the region’s premier high-speed fiber community broadband network.

Visit our website to learn more and get involved today!

ages 17 and younger. T-shirts will be given to the first 100 registrants. Register online at gracecottage.org/events.

Saturday June 8: “Tee Up for Health” golf benefit will start at noon at the Haystack Golf Club in Wilmington, making for a great round of golf in a spectacular setting. $175/golfer; lunch & dinner included. Prizes. Register online at gracecottage.org/events. Proceeds from the event will go toward Grace Cottage’s new primary care clinic building.

Saturday August 3: Grace Cottage Hospital Fair Day will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Townshend Common. Attractions include an all-day auction, baby parade, bargain booths, bingo, pony rides, face painting, jewelry, food, games, and more. Free admission; free parking. Proceeds from the event will go toward Grace Cottage’s new primary care clinic building.

Stan fills a row of mailboxes in the West Village from his long, white, four-wheel drive Chevy truck (which he emphatically claims has been absolutely necessary for climbing through the winter snow on the hills of his Dummerston route) for the last time on March 29th. Enjoy a well-deserved retirement, Stan!

Area Residents Invited to Gallery Walk Mixers

By Rachel Shields Ebersole New and returning Vermonters are invited to a monthly reception as part of Brattleboro’s Gallery Walk. Each first Friday, from 5-7 p.m., the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance and Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation’s GROW SoVermont program will partner to host a newcomers’ mixer at 57 Elliot Street.

The hosting organizations encourage longtime locals to bring a new friend, coworker, or employee to the mixers to help them get connected to more people in their new community. Light appetizers from local caterers will be provided.

GROW SoVermont is part of a statewide network to welcome new and returning residents and is funded in part by Vermont’s Agency of Commerce and Community Development. Learn more at sovermont. com/grow or contact GROW SoVermont program manager Rachel Shields Ebersole (rsebersole@brattleborodevelopment.com or 802-257-7731 x 218).

802-254-6662

Brattleboro, Vermont

802-258-7791

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2024 • 11

school news

Second-grade Teacher and Librarian Retiring By Cindy Bacigalupo

submitted photos

class.

I wouldn’t say kid’s attitudes have Some people can’t changed. I would wait until they are of say their needs have the age to retire, and changed over the others will take the years. Most kids love opportunity to retire to go to school and early. I have had the enjoy the activities pleasure of working throughout the day. with Heidi Bristol Lately they have had Grey and Melissa difficulty working Susan Petroski, who independently in the are respected and classroom because well-liked by staff and they need constant students at Dummerreassurance from ston School. They an adult. They often have both made that want to know if they life-changing decision are doing the work to retire at the end of correctly and want to this Spring 2024 check in five or six school year. times in a 15-minute Melissa Petroski Heidi Gray At this time, I would work time.

A major change since COVID hit teacher for grades 4-8.

In 1992 I was hired as a like to Thank Heidi and Melissa for all the time, energy, and support they have given the chil- classroom teacher for grades 3/4 then continued our country has been the attention span of these dren and families of Dummerston, and wish on as the grades 4/5 teacher. I then went on to seven and eight-year olds. The average attention them the best with all their future endeavors teach 2nd grade and over the years have done span of most is about three to five minutes. I a couple of combination classes of grades 1/2. have definitely had to adjust my direct teaching and that they will enjoy a happy retirement.

The following provides insight and memories The majority of my career has been in 2nd grade. time to meet their needs!

When you teach 2nd grade in a small town it is There are always changes in any career you in their own words of Heidi’s and Melissa’s always fun to watch those seven and eight-year combined 65 years of teaching at Dummerston. take on. I think the biggest change to teaching in the early 90’s compared to now is the use olds grow up and have children of their own. I From Heidi Gray of technology in the classroom. Computers have been fortunate to teach many children of Over the years the kids have known me by and smartboards are seen in just about every previous students and this pattern continues to a few different names. I started my career as class and they have enhanced both learning this day. Those second graders often ask, “Did Ms. Bristol and my last name changed after and teaching. We are able to provide inter- you teach this when my mom or my dad was marriage. Most recently I have been known as active learning in all subject areas with this in your class?” I just chuckle and say, “I don’t Mrs. BG because the kids decided they would technology. Other positive changes include remember…that was so long ago!” combine my original name of Bristol with my The study habits of second graders haven’t personalized learning, in which we strive to married name of Gray and shorten it to Mrs. meet each individual’s social, emotional and changed drastically over the years. If you are BG. academic needs. Also, diversity and inclusion able to keep kids engaged in the classroom and I have spent my entire 34-year career at have become part of our curriculum, as well as offer fun and exciting projects to go along with Dummerston School! In 1990 I completed my project-based learning. This type of learning their learning, they will do anything you ask! student teaching requirements in 3rd and 5th encourages kids to work together to become I think it depends on the teacher’s enthusiasm, grade with veteran teachers Lyle Holiday and critical thinkers, solve problems, and they are the personalities of the kids in each class, and Betsy Whittaker. The following year I was a continued on page 13 constantly completing hands-on activities in long-term substitute as an academic support

Sponsors

Sponsors

Bruce & Catie Berg

Elsa Waxman Elizabeth & George Wright John and Lori Brunelle Debbie & Wayne Carpenter Ellen Olmstead

Gail & Lew Sorenson David & Nina Hutchison Kevin & Sara Ryan John & Sheila Pinkney

12 • Spring, 2024 • Views of Dummerston

school news

A Round-up of Many Events at Dummerston

By Julianne Eagan, Principal

Black Lives Matter

Each class in Dummerston School studied the Black Lives Matter at School Week curriculum in the first week of February, and then created a bulletin board illustrating their interpretation of the 13 guiding principles from that curriculum. all photos submitted by the school

During the first week of February, Dummerston School celebrated Black Lives Matter at School Week, a district-wide week of action focused on racial justice.

At Dummerston School, students studied the thirteen principles of Black Lives Matter; each class then designed a bulletin board to illustrate their interpretation of one of those principles. Students also welcomed Addie Lentzner from the Let Me Be Great Campaign.

This campaign is a collaboration between the Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network (VSARN), the Rutland NAACP, Building Fearless Futures, the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance, the Vermont Human Rights Commission, the Education Justice Coalition of Vermont, and a coalition of equity directors and students.

With students in the youngerage grades, Addie shared a book and activities designed to foster inclusivity and celebrate differences. Her focus with the middle school grades included examining Dummerston School student survey data and understanding what racism looks like.

National Scripps Spelling Competition Dummerston School celebrated the love of spelling this past February during our first (in a long time!) spelling bee for grades

The National Scripps Spelling Competition came back to the Dummerston School this past February, and three students qualified for the state competition at Middlebury College, where Taz Hand advanced to the second to the final round of the competition.

D u m m e r s t o n Congregational Church

Sugaring Dummerston School recently celebrated Food Connect’s Vermont Harvest of the Month for March by delving into the world of maple syrup production! Under the supervision of Tara Gordon, Dummerston’s garden coordinator, students tapped maple trees on school grounds, collected sap (with a special donation from paraeducator Ingrid Cutler and her husband John), and used a new barrel-style evaporator to transform the sap into delicious syrup.

Each class had a chance to visit the evaporator, sample sap and finished syrup, and explore the science behind maple sugaring. continued on next page

Sponsors

B ad G oose F arm & N ursery

Paul & Jody Normandeau

Heirloom Trees and Orchard

services at 1 0 : 0 0 a . m .

Cindy Wilcox

Rev. Shawn Bracebridge, pastor Office 257-0544 • Home 802-689-0753

Michelle Cherrier & Philip Goepp

www.facebook.com/DummerstonChurch

3-6. Competitors included Bridger Brickley, Dylan Crowley, Christian Olmstead, Gavin Carpenter, Ellery Gelke, Taz Hand, Lily Arnold, Peyton Thibault, Katja Feusi, Harper Palmiter, Kyleen Lawrence, Alan Manix, Rowan Brickley, Eliza Clark-Nelson, and Layla Wheeler. Congratulations to Lily Arnold who won the school bee and to Christian, Taz, and Rowan, who were runners up.

Lily, Taz, and Rowan moved on to the Vermont State Competition at Middlebury College on March 28th. Competing in the state bee takes a lot of courage; dozens of spellers from around the state were up on stage with a large audience, lots of cameras, and a live broadcast. Congratulations to Taz who made it into the second-to-final round at the state competition, and to all of our spelling competitors!

Eleanora Patterson & Gordon Faison James Johnson & Margaret Lyons

~ www.badgoosefarm.com ~ Grow Your Own Heirloom Apples!

50+ Apple Varieties

Houghton Road, Dummerston

Pruning • Orchard Planning + Restoration • Custom Crafts

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2024 • 13

school news

School

continuied from preceding page They learned about evaporation, density, and the vital role of sap in trees. It was a true community event, bringing everyone together to learn more about maple syrup and where it comes from.

Dummerston School was able to purchase the evaporator thanks to a grant from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture’s Food and Markets Farm to School and Early Childhood Capacity Building grant (VAAFM).

It’s inspiring to see students forging meaningful connections between the food they eat and how it’s grown. To learn more about Food Connects and our Farm to School programming, visit: https://www.foodconnects.org/ farm-to-school-program.

Student-Led Conferences This past March, students in grades PreK-8 took the lead on sharing their learning at spring conferences. This student-led conference model is grounded in the school’s studentcentered approach, as well as an understanding of best practices related to learning and family engagement. Research shows that opportunities for students to talk about their learning goals and their progress toward reaching those goals contribute to higher levels of learning.

In fact, student self-assessment is identified as one of the top influences on student growth by John Hattie, education researcher and author of Visible Learning.

Student-led conferences also build communication skills and provide an authentic opportunity for families to engage in dialogue with their children about their world at school and the learning that takes place there every day. During the conferences, students show their families artifacts that demonstrate their learning, as well as talk about their goals for the future. Artifacts can include work samples, and, especially in the case of our younger students, actual places and objects that form the foundation of their experiences with their school community.

With funds from a grant, a sugaring operation was set up at the school this past spring to teach students how syrup is made. This activity was part of Farm to School programming through the school’s relationship with Food Connects.

Sponsors Allan & Sally Seymour Milt & Barbara Gilmore Rip Lhamon & Fita Ferguson Jo-Ann Tier Tim Knapp & John Bouffard

Students show their parents “artifacts” of what they have learned, and discuss their future learning, in individual conferences which are essential to the school’s student assessment process.

14 • Spring, 2024 • Views of Dummerston

Don Hazelton Lives On

by Lynn Levine At this last town meeting on March 5th, Bess Richardson walked directly toward me, and as usual she held her head high. After we hugged each other, she told me that Don Hazelton was going to die that next Friday and he wanted to return to me the sugar maker figurine I had given him eight months ago, when he had started living at the West River Senior Housing in Townshend. With a glow on her face, she told me how they had worked together, she as a nurse, and Don as an EMT. I smile as I describe the 18-inch-high model of a sugar maker with plaid shirt, camouflaged hat, and a long burly white beard. At his feet is a small toy bottle of maple syrup. In his hands is a plate of plastic pancakes with maple syrup on them. He is leaning on a sugar maple tree, which has a sap bucket attached to it which is covered with cloth sugar maple leaves that are orange and red. This is a caricature of Don! I left the town meeting, not knowing how Bess knew what day he was going to die, so I made up my own story. Just simply, he was going to die really soon. I did know I was going to see him as soon as possible.

Don and I had known each other for decades.

Each year at town meeting we would talk about the forests. We didn’t hug but stood as if we were doing just that. We worried about how healthy the trees were with all their problems, like pear thrips. We talked about the lack of sugar maple regeneration and strongly agreed that there were just too many deer. I once visited him in his sugarbush and he, just like Bess, stood up tall as he showed me how he had managed it, leaving the productive large sugar maple trees to grow. We browsed the ground and both shook our heads. All the sugar maple saplings had been eaten by deer. There would be no future sugarbush if this kept on happening.

My head hurt when I left town meeting.

I called Bess the next day with my worries.

When was it going to be okay to visit him?

How did they know he would die so soon and why was it going to be on Friday? On her next breath she said, “You can go anytime,” and told me he was choosing “death with dignity.”

I gulped. I had only known one person who had made that choice and that was Maggie Lake.

She was my nurse practitioner at the Putney Family Healthcare and on my wall still hangs

her art – pressed dried flowers and fiddleheads.

I called around to see if anyone would go with me. Bill Schmidt said, “Yes.” We had gone together on my first visit when Bill was representing Dummerston Cares. Now Bill came with heart and soul open since his wife Mary Lou Schmidt had also chosen to end her life by stopping eating and drinking.

I was shaking and I decided I needed to prepare myself for the visit on Wednesday. I called my Rabbi, Amita Jarmon, to help me process what Don was choosing. She told me in the Jewish religion it was not a choice one could make, but she soon let go of that and instead chose to counsel me. She said, “It’s okay to be nervous. You don’t have to be strong. Just share your worry with Don.” I breathed. Then I called Dr. Tortolani, the well-known gerontologist in our area. I had been to at least two funerals of his patients, which he also attended, and I knew he could help me. His wife answered and said he would be back later that afternoon and he would call me then. I tightened my face. That would be too late. But ten minutes later I received a call from the doctor. He reassured me that it took four to six months if you choose the death with dignity process. I knew it was a process but didn’t know that it was that extensive. Don had really made a conscious decision.

I wanted to share something from nature with Don, so I searched my house to find a book I had of Mary Oliver’s poems. I opened to the poem When Death Comes. I read through the words and I knew it was the right one. Just to get some assurance I called a writer friend of mine and read her the poem. I could see through the phone cord that she nodded her head. She suggested I not read it to him, but leave the poem with him, so he could read it himself. I printed it out and decorated it with watercolors.

I picked up Bill, since he is no longer driving, and headed north. Bill talked about not wanting to be alone in his life, but that he isn’t since Mary Lou visits him often.

When we arrived, there was the sugar maker figurine in a bag at the front desk for me. I told the staff I would pick it up when I left to go home and they told us that Don was on the second floor, all the way down the corridor to the last door on the left. Then I remembered that I had forgotten the poem in my car. I ran back to get it and when I returned proceeded up

to Don’s room. There were so many friendly faces that I passed along the way.

When I got there, Bill was standing talking to Don, and one of the family members was just leaving. On her way out I heard her whisper to him, “Say hello to Bunny for me.” Of course, I knew Bunny was Don’s wife and I smiled, but also realized I was taking short breaths.

Don was sitting upright in a cushy chair and looked as healthy as he always did. I went over and immediately hugged him. He smiled from ear to ear. He said, “My back is itchy,” so I put my hands where he asked me to and scratched his back. Then we talked about forests.

I told him I had a poem for him and asked him if he wanted to read it or wanted me to read it to him. He said the latter, so I read Oliver’s poem. When I finished, he smiled and shook his head up and down in agreement. That made my heart warm.

I walked to the window and looked at the forest growing on the other side of the parking lot. I asked him if he had been looking at it. He said, “Is that large tree out there an oak?” I had no idea which tree he meant, but I thought there was no problem if I lied and said, “Yes you are right. It is an oak.”

Then we moved on to talk about the Middle Road parcel of land we discussed at town meeting. He said it was dear to him and he had sugared there. He knew it was being heavily logged and wondered what had happened to “his” sugar maple trees. I couldn’t believe that Don was dying soon, but that he was living in the present. I was happy that during my visit I didn’t know that all of “Don’s” sugar maple trees had already been cut down.

Bill then shared his experience of Mary Lou’s death and Don listened. After the couple of hours we spent there, I was ready to go. I got up, my heart was beating softly now, and gave Don a hug. He just looked like Don who I cared deeply about. Bill went over to shake his hand goodbye and I said, “Come on you guys,” and then Bill bent over and hugged Don, too.

I slowly walked down the stairs to the front door when I realized I had just had a complete turnaround and was smiling. I picked up my sugar maker model and headed out the door.

That figurine is now in my house next to a coffee table topped with a slice of a maple tree showing the remains of where the taps had been. Don is with me.

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2024 • 15 Good Books

If You Haven’t, Consider Non-Fiction

By Linda Rood Do you pretty much stick to fiction for your reading choices? Do you find non-fiction intimidating? Do you avoid it because you think it will be hard to read or boring? Although I prefer to read literary fiction, I’m here to tell you that not all non-fiction is dense and dry. There are many forms and subjects and genres that fall within the scope of non-fiction, and there is much to enjoy and be inspired by. Narrative non-fiction, which reads like a story, is a good way to go. Memoir can be captivating. The best thing to do is find authors you like and topics that interest you, and most of all, get good recommendations!

This past winter, my book group decided to read Liz Cheney’s Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning (Little, Brown and Company, 2023). Cheney provides a detailed, chronological accounting of the attempt to discredit the 2020 Presidential election, the January 6 assault on the Capitol, and the subsequent work of the House Select Committee, of which Cheney was Vice Chair, to investigate this assault and report to the nation. The book is detailed and sometimes repetitive, but also very readable.

Cheney was of course present in the Capitol on January 6, and her description of the events from the perspective of a person inside the room is riveting. I couldn’t put the book down as I read of these events, even though I had seen the footage of the events over and over on television news and during the hearings themselves. It was also intriguing to learn how the committee was organized and the way the hearings were designed. Although Cheney does not represent my own political views, I felt nothing but respect and gratitude for the hard work she, her family, and her colleagues put in, and the integrity they displayed.

As I was reading this book, I wondered who Cheney was writing for, who she thought her audience was. Perhaps her fellow Republicans, certainly any Americans who would listen, and I think most of all, for history. It’s a valuable document, and I’m glad I read it.

Tracy Kidder’s newest book, Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People (Random House, 2023), follows a different non-fiction path from Cheney’s. Those familiar with Kidder’s work (Mountains Beyond Mountains, Home Town, House) will recognize the style. Kidder spent five years shadowing O’Connell and learning the history of his remarkable program and he tells the story of how O’Connell, a graduate of the Harvard Medical School, came to the work

during his surgical residency at Mass General, helping to establish and then direct Boston Health Care for the Homeless, a non-profit organization affiliated with Mass General and Brigham and Women’s hospitals.

Rough sleepers are the unhoused people who live outdoors, rarely coming in to shelters, even in the most severe weather. O’Connell and his staff move around the streets in a medically equipped van, keeping tabs on their clients, treating the medical issues that don’t require hospitalization, doling out hot coffee, food, and sometimes warm clothing, and most of all, listening. O’Connell started his work in 1985 when the program was just beginning, gave up a promising surgical career, and dedicated himself to the people of the streets. We get to know many of those individuals and hear their stories and witness their trust for and devotion to “Dr. Jim.” It’s an inspiring and enlightening story even in the face of the frustrations and disappointments of the work. As O’Connell says, “This is what we do while we’re waiting for the world to change.”

A friend passed along The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman (W.W. Norton & company, 2017). I think this absorbing book would qualify as a nonfiction narrative, since it reads like a novel with good character development, dramatic action, and vivid description. Before WW II, Warsaw had a world class, parklike zoo, which was run by naturalist Jan Zabinski and his wife Antonina.

The Zabinskis lived in a pleasant villa within the zoo, had many friends, and a happy life. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Warsaw was devastated, and the zoo along with it. The city’s Jews were rounded up and confined to a ghetto.

The Zabinskis remained in their home and did their best to keep the zoo active, even though the surviving animals were appropriated for German zoos or slaughtered. They were able to devise reasons to preserve the land and their place on it, first as a pig farm to provide meat for the German occupiers, then as community gardens, and finally as a fur ranch to supply furs for German soldiers fighting on the Russian

front. Meanwhile the Zabinskis were active members of the Polish resistance, right under the noses of their German neighbors. They hid weapons under zoo buildings, and smuggled Jews out of the ghetto and helped them to freedom. They are credited with rescuing 300 Jews from the Warsaw ghetto.

The author relied heavily on Antonina’s diary, which somehow survived the war, to tell this fascinating and at times horrifying tale. Before I read the book, I knew very little of the Polish experience of Nazi occupation. I was familiar with the story of the uprising of the Warsaw ghetto, but not much else. Besides this history, we learn a lot about Polish customs and traditions, which were of special interest to me as the grandchild of Polish immigrants.

The intrepid Zabinskis were not only inspiring for their courage, but also clever, charming individuals who quickly enlist the readers’ sympathies. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which was adapted for a film by the same name, starring Jessica Chastain, in 2017.

That’s it for this time. If you’re looking for fiction, I recommend The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, or Day, Michael Cunningham’s new novel. Elizabeth Strout fans, look for a new Lucy Barton book in August: Tell Me Everything. Enjoy your reading.

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16 • Spring, 2024 • Views of Dummerston

Town Meeting Returns After Four Years

All Town Meeting photographs by Roger turner

has been chair Zeke Goodband, a slight, wiry meeting had to consent to let her speak, which continued from page 1 She has also made it a practice of reading fellow with a prodigious beard, a quiet way of it did. She described her love of that property, the names of residents who have died in the speaking, a twinkle in his eye, and a dry wit adjacent to her home, where she said she spent hours of time exploring. But she cautioned us that because of the extensive logging that had been taking place there, the property had lost its character, and she advised us that it was beyond hope for a preserved town forest.

Motions can be made to amend an article. This year there were no proposed budget cuts, but in past years, the moderator has fielded both proposed budget cuts, and budget increases as well, if the feeling of the room is that a cut that is part of the selectboard’s budget should not have been made.

State representatives make the rounds of town meetings. This year Representative Mike Mrowicki and Senator Nadir Hashim appeared to give their rapid-fire reports on their priori-

Everyone stands for the Pledge of Allegiance to kick off town meeting.

previous year, which for this year’s meeting meant she read the names of 59 people who have died in the past four years. “I could see a face or hear a voice as I read the list,” Cindy told me, and pointed out somberly that 59 of our population of about 1800 people means, “that since last town meeting, 3% of us have died.” Several names from that list caused a real emotional swelling within me.

Sitting up in the front of the gym as I usually do, between Joyce Marcel writing for the Reformer and the BCTV camera guy, I could see people sitting in the same places they’ve sat in over the years – some at specific tables, and others in the same spots among the rows of chairs. Cindy told me she missed seeing Florence Howe in her spot right up in the center of the front row of chairs where she always sat, looking keenly forward at the proceedings.

Having established the rules and honored the deceased, Cindy began to go through the articles from the warning. This is always an adventure.

Bettors could have some fun determining which issues to place their money on for taking up the most discussion time. This year it was a reprise of a previous year’s request from the highway department for money for a tractor, or in this year’s case, an upgraded tractor.

Some of the articles are pretty straightforward, but the municipal and highway department budgets are lengthy and always require the services of a select person, usually the chair, to go through them to highlight any significant changes from the previous year’s budget. I have a suspicion that the quality of this presentation may have a subtle influence on how people vote.

For the past few years, though, the presenter

with which he punctuates the dryer recitation of numbers. Getting us to chuckle a bit while we’re hearing about a possible rate increase in our taxes is a good way to help us swallow this bitter pill.

The glory of town meeting is the opportunity to say what you think to a room full of people, in hopes you can influence how each of them thinks. “It’s great for everybody to be together and have the exchange of information and opinions,” Laurie told me. Cindy commented, “People really hear and understand opposing voices so people in the minority feel heard and part of their community, they feel an affinity with their neighbors.” This made me think of Mark Whitaker, a former resident who had a very conservative outlook, and who freely expressed his opinions about how specific financial requests within a proposed budget were going to affect his taxes. I often disagreed with him, but he was a guy who spoke and was received with respect and civility, and was quick to pitch in to help with the elections and with some of the things that need to be done for town meeting. So I was always willing to listen to him and appreciated knowing him.

This year an 18-year-old young woman, attending her first town meeting and casting her first vote, chose to speak and express her opinion on one of the articles, a brave effort.

Counting as one of the surprising events that occur at town meetings, in a discussion under “Other Business” of an effort to have the town fund the purchase of a piece of wetlands property as part of a town forest, a grade-school aged girl asked to be recognized to speak. Because she was too young to be a registered voter, the

This was the last town meeting for retiring board members Zeke Goodband (l) and Lewis White.

ties in Montpelier, and to take questions from the floor. Also this year, State Treasurer Mike Piecak appeared and highlighted some of the actions he’s taking as treasurer. Perhaps he also engendered some recognition for a possible gubernatorial run in the future.

The Grange always fixes a lunch for town meeting. When we had to hold meetings for both the municipal budget and the school budget, it was clear that there would be a crowd for lunch. Now with just the municipal budget, it’s not clear whether the meeting will be over and the hall emptying out at lunch time. To adjust, they created a soup and sandwich menu, offering three varieties of each, and asked for a show of hands in the morning from those who intended to stay for lunch to help them determine sandwich production. This year it worked out that not all business could be accomplished before the lunch break, so a good number of people enjoyed soup and sandwiches, as well as the variety of desserts provided by volunteer town bakers. continued on next page

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2024 • 17

Town Meeting Returns After Four Years continued from preceding page All day the school library hosted the Adopta-Book event. Books that have been purchased with funds from the event in the previous year

showed us ways we can do that. … When we ever we can to increase attendance.”

It was wonderful to be back meeting in start preparing for town meeting in October, invite various groups in to discuss their budgets person! There are differing opinions about and what they’d like. There’s plenty of time town meeting, as expressed above, as well as in the 2023 spring and summer issues of the Views, which you can read online at viewsofdummerston.org. The amount of support for and against change is not clear, but you can show your support for in-person meetings by showing up! Hope to see you next year!

Friends of the Library Adopt-a-Book a success

By Linda Rood

A line of people at the back of the room stand ready to take their turn registering their ballots in the town election, while other residents pay attention to the consideration of articles from the meeting warning.

are set out to be “bought,” so funds are created for purchases for the following year. This is an important contribution to the school library budget, enhancing their ability to keep their collection up-to-date and varied. The Friends of the Library, led by Linda Rood, organize this event at each town meeting. Without town meeting in recent years, Jody Normandeau initiated an online solicitation to fund library purchases. But the advantage of adopting a particular book in person is that you can create a plate to be pasted into the book with a name, dedication, and/or message. It was a record year for adoptions!

At the end of the meeting, Zeke Goodband and Lewis White were very-deservedly recognized and thanked for their years of service on the selectboard. “Other Business” also offers people in town the opportunity to speak about a particular interest of theirs that they’d like to create some public awareness for, or to recognize someone who has made a significant contribution to the town. The meeting came to its traditional conclusion when Ruth Barton made her motion to adjourn.

While I began this story with Zeke describing this town meeting as a fun, social occasion, he went on to express to me his concern that town meeting disenfranchises a significant number of people. “Having people talk in person is great, but I think there were less than 150 people there and we have over 1,600 registered voters; that’s not a very vigorous demonstration of democracy. That’s the skim milk of democracy there – all the fat’s gone.” Zeke would like to have the budgets adopted by Australian ballot, and described the process that would lead to that vote. “We have to be open to ways we can communicate with each other, and the pandemic

before we have to actually finalize the warning and budget for people who have concerns about roads or dump trucks to weigh in on what’s presented to voters on the first of March. I’d like as much input as possible from as many people as possible, whether people writing letters or emails, zooming in, or showing up in person at selectboard meetings. I’d like to see more participation in what we do as a town. I’d like to make it easier for people to be participants.”

When the selectboard finalizes their budget proposal, Zeke would then hold an information meeting to explain the budget and the reasoning behind what’s in it. Finally, the proposed budget would be voted on by Australian ballot at town meeting.

Alternatively, Cindy is having discussions with town moderators Meg Mott of Putney and Rick Zamore of Guilford about how to increase participation in town meeting because they believe in the fundamental importance of it.

They’re looking at attempts by other towns to increase participation and how they’ve worked out—weekend day or evening meetings. “Meg is really dedicated to hearing all voices and thinks everybody should listen respectfully to all sides. . . .The ability to amend an article seems so valuable. That’s a strong vote for town meeting. It’s incumbent on all of us to do what

The Friends of the Library is very grateful to all the folks who came into the library on Town Meeting Day to adopt a book. It was wonderful to be back at town meeting in person, and the library was busy. This year a record 70 books were adopted, thus assuring the ability of the Friends to continue to support our school library with the purchase of new books each year. It was exciting to welcome old friends back, to show the books we have purchased in the last two years, and to see new faces coming in to participate.

The volunteers who helped in the library this year to set up the books and assist the adoptions were Jean Bombicino, Anne Brown, Connie Woodberry, Muriel Taylor, Linda Rood, and the school librarian, Melissa Petroski.

In addition to the book adoption program, the Friends also sponsors a writing prize awarded to an eighth grader at graduation.

Anyone who would like to join the Friends to assist our efforts, please contact Linda Rood at turood802@gmail.com or 802-257-5608.

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18 • Spring, 2024 • Views of Dummerston

Second-grade Teacher and Librarian Retiring continued from page 11 of course the support from family members.

When someone retires from teaching they never stop being a teacher. I will definitely miss the day-to-day interactions with the kids and the adults at Dummerston School. I feel so fortunate to have spent my entire career at this school and I have built many long-lasting relationships with families. I think one of the best things that I shared with my classes is my sense of humor and silliness in the classroom.

Of course we had serious moments, but I will miss those belly laughs with the kids and adults who have worked with me! In retirement I plan to enjoy some downtime with my husband and grandkids and travel out west to visit our family.

I may find myself back in an elementary school as a volunteer at some point, but for now I am going to relax and live life one day at a time!

From Melissa Susan Petroski: I moved to Vermont from Carthage, NY in 1993 when I accepted the position as the Dummerston School Library Media Specialist.

When I retire at the end of the school year, I will have been here for 31 years. In 2022, I was hired for an additional two days as an Educational Technology Integrationist. Since most years my position has been part time, I have worked many other jobs concurrently: owner of Tiki’s Pets (pet-themed jewelry, gifts, and dog biscuits) 2017-present; professional musician (electric bass, vocals) 2002-present, multiple rock bands; Saxtons River Elementary School 2012-2021 (part-time), library media specialist; Fast Friends Greyhound Rescue 2007-2012 (part-time), kennel attendant; The Book Cellar 1997-1999 (part-time), book seller: and Lydia Taft Pratt Library 1995-1997 (part-time), public librarian.

When I started working at Dummerston School in 1993 there were two schools: the West Dummerston School, which housed grades K-2, and the E. Dummerston School, which housed grades 3-8. In 1994, the new addition to the East Dummerston School was being built and the contents of both schools’ libraries were consolidated and put into storage. I consulted with the architects on the new library space and requested a cozy place in which to read to the students. When the new library was completed, I moved all the books into it and was very pleased to have my Book Nook (as are the kids!).

When I started working as the part-time Lydia Taft Pratt librarian, the library was housed in a coat closet in the West Dummerston Grange.

It had around 2,000 uncatalogued books. I catalogued all the books on a manual typewriter (yes, on cards!) and eventually moved the collection to its present location in the Dummer-

ston Community Center (formerly the West Dummerston School).

Computers vs. Print: When I first started working at Dummerston, we, of course, had an actual card catalog. Students would look up books using the title, author, or subject cards filed alphabetically in the wooden, multi-drawer card catalog. With the help of the Dummerston School Friends of the Library, we converted the cards into an automated system called Winnebago. It was very work-intensive, as every book needed to be recorded and submitted to the company with its ISBN number. Years later, the circulation/catalog system needed to be changed from Winnebago to InfoCentre, and then to the present system, Alexandria.

Although it was a bit painful, some years ago, I discarded our last print encyclopedia set, which was replaced by excellent online sources such as Britannica Online and the Vermont Online Library. Likewise, although I’ve kept a few print dictionaries and thesauruses, I have moved to teaching students how to use Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com. Along with print books, we now also have access to ebooks and audiobooks through SORA, EPIC, and Overdrive. Other computer resources include WeVideo, Book Creator, National Geographic Online, Newsela, Google apps, Procon.org, Project Gutenberg, Librivox, and Swank Movie Streaming. In both tech and library classes, I teach age-appropriate media and digital literacy skills. These skills help students become knowledgeable, discerning, and responsible consumers of information, whether it is in print or digital format.

Writing Styles for students: Over the years, writing styles and what students ask for have both stayed the same and changed. Throughout the years, nonfiction books have been perennial favorites (books about dogs, cats, sports, dinosaurs, vehicles, wild animals etc.), as have picture books and easy readers. With the youngers, books about princesses, unicorns, and dragons are consistent requests. Graphic novels have surged in popularity, as have chapter books in the fantasy, strong female, and LGBTQIA+ genres. Interestingly (but not surprisingly), children have no interest in books, especially nonfiction books, that don’t have color illustrations or photos. We still have a healthy circulation of print books, although the number of books borrowed does dwindle a bit by the 8th grade.

All the schools within the Windham County school districts actively participate in interlibrary loan, as well as with local public libraries, so if Dummerston doesn’t have a requested book, I can almost always get it elsewhere.

The Dummerston School Friends of the Library (and their supporters!) have been essential throughout all these years in providing funds

to supplement the school book budget to make our library collection extensive, appealing, relevant, and up-to-date. In addition to financial support (acquired through their annual Town Meeting Day book adoption event), our FOL members have provided invaluable services such as book and periodical processing, book talks, shelving, and inventory assistance. I believe Dummerston is the only school in the district that has an active Friends of the Library group, and I am deeply grateful for all the help, support, and friendship they have shown to me these past thirty-one years.

Good memories: Thirty-one years! So many good memories! Way too many to list. One I have especially loved was being able to share so many wonderful books with students of all ages, and the interesting, informative, and sometimes humorous discussions that would ensue.

One example is A Fish Out of Water by Dr. Seuss’s first wife, Helen Palmer. I usually read this book to the first-graders when introducing them to the easy readers. At the end of the book, I always ask students how they think Mr. Carp shrinks Otto back down to his regular size. I am always surprised and delighted by new, hilarious explanations!

Also, although it makes me feel OLD, I love it when one of my former students, now an adult, greets me “out in the world.” Though they have usually changed so much that I don’t recognize them (also the memory isn’t what it once was), when they tell me their name, the memory of them as children I taught and watched grow up floods me with delight. What especially astonishes me is realizing that some of our present students are the children of my former students!

Time flies.

What I will miss: I will miss the students most of all. Having many from kindergarten through eighth grade gives me the chance to observe their development from tiny children into young adults, and as a result, to form longlasting relationships. I will miss the many hugs I get, and having some students say they wish they could stay in the library all day. I will miss the excitement they show when they talk with me about the great book they are currently reading, and when they frantically demand to be put on the list to borrow one of the new books I introduce. This year, I have been teaching the students in my tech courses how to use Edison robots - little robots that they can program to do a multitude of things and personalize with LEGOs. It has been a huge hit! I will really miss the concentration, engagement, and fascination I see after students learn how to code their robots to do their bidding.

Although I am ready to start a new life and continued on next page

Views of Dummerston • Spring, 2024 • 19

Cares Honors “Raise the Alarm” Crew Raise the Alarm is a small part of their commitment as members of the WDVFD. Their work requires regular attendance at evening meetings, at drills, and for training sessions. These volunteers range from junior to senior levels of experience and from 15 years of age to 62 years.

What an amazing asset for our community!

Installation Crew Appreciates Residents “People have been wonderful” to us, such as serving us muffins and coffee; visiting during calmer times, when there’s no emergency; enabling us to learn more about our neighbors.

“We saw interesting home construction that will help our pre-planning for an emergency.”

“Getting to some homes, we traveled unfamiliar roads, helping with our readiness.

Tips to Residents Display your house number at the road —a

continued from preceding page see what the future will bring, I will miss the people that have supported me along the way.

The staff, Friends of the Library, parents, and the community of Dummerston have been

Start at the Townshend Common at 8:30 a.m. Details at gracecottage.org/events.

may

15 Scott Farm Crepe Night—Brattleboro Area Affordable Housing Benefit

momaneypainters.com

5:30–7:30 p.m. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.scottfarmvermont.com/crepe-night.

18 WDFVD Chicken BBQ, KOA Vintage Car Rally KOA Campground, 1238 US Route 5, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.

18 Lydia Taft Pratt Library Geranium, Silent Auction, and Booksale Festival West Street, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.

30 Evening Star Grange Memorial Day Remembrance

Concert 6:30 p.m., Program 7 p.m., On the Common weather permitting, otherwise in the Grange.

2 West Dummerston Volunteer F.D. Youth Fishing Derby Hot dogs & drinks available Pond next to the Center Station on East-West Rd.; Registration 12–1 p..m., fishing 1–2 p.m.

2, 3 Naulakha Estate and Rhododendron Tour, June 2:1–4:45 p.m.; June 3: 1–4 p.m.

Registration: https://landmarktrustusa.org/rhododendron-tour. Cost: $25-$75.

7 Gallery Walk Newcomers Mixer

57 Elliot Street, 5-7 p.m. (Organized by GROW SoVermont).

8 Grace Cottage “Tee Up for Health” Golf Benefit

Haystack Golf Club in Wilmington, noon. Register and details: gracecottage.org/events.

8 Evening Star Grange Chicken Pie Supper eat in or take out

4:30–6 p.m., Dummerston Center, Reservations appreciated: 802-254-1138.

12 Scott Farm Crepe Night, Theatre Adventure Benefit

5:30–7:30 p.m. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.scottfarmvermont.com/crepe-night.

29 Dummerston Church Strawberry Shortcake Dessert eat-in or take-out 5–7 p.m., Dummerston Center.

5 Gallery Walk Newcomers Mixer, july

Serving clients in Southern VT/NH & Franklin County, MA for over 50 years

very good to me. I am really thankful for the many friendships that have resulted, and I consider myself unbelievably lucky to have been able to spend my entire teaching career at Dummerston School.

Dummerston Notable Events

802-257-7600

• Lead-Safe Painting • Lift Work/Steeples • Pressure Washing

Dummerston Cares thanks the WDVFD for partnering with us to provide the residents of Dummerston with a greater awareness of and more safety tools for preventing fires and heating hazards in our homes. Raise the Alarm couldn’t succeed without you!

11 Grace Cottage “Spring Into Health” 5K Run

COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL

• Interior Painting • Exterior Painting • Exterior Repair/Prep

huge help in an emergency!

Before an emergency, contact the WDVFD with questions at: • Chief@WestDummerstonFire.com, or station phones:West Dummerston Station (802) 254-2793, or Center at (802) 254-8495 Get important information using the Home Fire-Safety Checklist (on page 2).

Volunteers’ Words of Wisdom “The cheapest way to fight a fire is to prevent it with safety.

“Don’t ‘daisy-chain’ extension cords. Use one sturdy cord that’s rated for a heavy load.”

Second-grade Teacher and Librarian Retiring

june

continued from page 1 Valuable information: The Home Fire-Safety Checklist, found on page 2 of the Views, accompanies each installation. This link (https://dummerstoncares. org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Dummerston-Cares-Home-Fire-Safety-Checklist.pdf), clickable in the online version of the Views, provides information about safety for cooking, home heating, smoking, electrical appliances, children’s play, smoke alarms, CO detectors, and a fire-escape plan.

Part of the challenge of this work is that each residence is unique and requires the crew to inspect and evaluate what a specific household needs to be safe. Installers have visited an array of structures - homes with multiple renovations done over many years, mobile homes, duplexes, and homes with separate guest quarters. The age of a home is important to know, since fire codes and construction materials have changed over time. A typical morning for the crew could include a house built in 1776, followed by one that’s currently under construction, followed by others built at various times in between.

When Dummerston Cares approached the WDVFD about Raise the Alarm, former Fire Chief Rick Looman gave an enthusiastic, “Yes!” We’re pleased that current chief, Larry Pratt, Jr., has not only embraced the goals of the program but participates in the installations.

When asked about continuing the work this spring, we were delighted to hear, “Yes, absolutely!” from Allen Pike, on behalf of his crew.

Fire Prevention Officer, Allen Pike, leads the installation crew. F.P.O. Pike and four other installers - Chief Larry Pratt, Jr., Deputy Chief Leon Dunbar, Lieutenant David Shaw, and EMT Scott Hatfield - gathered one Saturday to talk about their work for Raise the Alarm.

Together, these well-trained firefighters have amassed over 110 years of service! Other members of the Installation Crew are Ethan Bristol, Hannah Coppo, Luke Evans, Parker Waite, and Liam Woods.

Despite having full-time jobs, these volunteers—some with young families—make time to devote their Saturday mornings to keeping our community safe. And their involvement in

57 Elliot Street, 5-7 p.m. (Organized by GROW SoVermont).

8 Historical Society Quarterly Meeting Historical Society Schoolhouse, 7 p.m.

10 Scott Farm Crepe Night—Vermont Insight Meditation Center Benefit

5:30–7:30 p.m. For more information and tickets, visit https://www.scottfarmvermont.com/crepe-night.

20 • Spring, 2024 • Views of Dummerston PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Mailed From Zip Code 05346 Permit No. 61

change Service REquested

Dummerston Meetings The Calendar is on page 19 Useful Stuff to Know

Senior Lunches Evening Star Grange; Second & fourth Wednesday, noon. For Take out call: 802-254-1138. Leave name, phone number, number of meals desired, whether Eat In or Take Out. The Front Porch Forum: online at www.frontporchforum.com Heating assistance: Fuel options listed on Dummerston Cares website. For assistance, call Cares Message Line at (802) 257-5800. Leave name and phone number to receive a callback.

Firewood: contact Charlie Richardson of the Dummerston Church Wood Pantry at (802) 254-6963.

NAMES & TIMES & NUMBERS

Community Center Randy Hickin 802-257-0784 Conservation Commission Web site: www.dummerstonconservation.com Dummerston Cares Message line & Fuel Assistance 802-257-5800, email: info@dummerstoncares.org, web site: www.dummerstoncares.org Dummerston School 802-254-2733 Web site: dummerston.wsesu.org Fire Chief Larry Pratt, 802-579-9494 Fire Warden Ted Glabach, 802-384-6994 Deputy Fire Warden Allen Pike, 802-258-0100 Lydia Taft Pratt Library 802-258-9878 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 Vermont Theatre Company 802-258-1344

Evening Star Grange Carol Lynch 802-254-2517 or Ruth Barton at mrgjb@sover.net Meals on Wheels Cynthia Fisher, 802-257-1236 Selectboard selectboard@dummerston.org Senior Solutions Carol Lynch, 802-254-2517 Springfield Office 800-642-5119 Town Garage Lee Chamberlin, 802-254-2411 Town Office Laurie Frechette, 802-257-1496 email: townclerk@dummerston.org Veterans Assistance Contact Dummerston Cares message line or email Views of Dummerston views@viewsofdummerston.org WSESU 802-254-3730 Websites: Official Town: www.dummerston.org Calendar: http://dummerston.org/calendar/index.asp Local Interest:

Please note that these meetings may not be taking place at their usual locations.

Please refer to the town web site, www.Dummerston.org, for updated information.

Town Meetings Selectboard 6 p.m.

Every other Wednesday

Planning Commission 2nd Monday

6:30 p.m.

Conservation Commission

6 p.m.

Energy Committee

5 p.m.

Development Review Board

6 p.m.

2nd Thursday 1st Monday

3rd Tuesday at the town office

Community Center

7 p.m.

PTFO

6 p.m.

WSESD

6 p.m.

1st Monday at the Community Center

3rd Thurs. at the Dummerston School Library 2nd & 4th Tuesdays, revolving locations

Historical Society

7:00 p.m.

3rd week of Jan./April/July/Oct.; July 18 at 7 p.m., at the Dummerston Historical Society Open House: Alternate Sundays 1–3 p.m.

Exact dates posted at dummerstonhistoricalsociety.org