The Citizen - 6-20-24

Champlain Valley celebrates Class of 2024

LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

Hundreds of people packed the University of Vermont’s Patrick Gym last week to send off Champlain Valley Union’s 2024 gradu-

ating class, but no graduation ceremony would be complete without a few tears and laughs, bagpipes, words of wisdom from the rapper Drake, and, of course, a harmonica serenade.

“To the graduating class of

2024 and everyone who has come here to support us, let us celebrate our accomplishments, the small moments, good and bad, and look forward to the bright future,” graduating senior Clare Stackpole-McGrath said in her farewell speech.

“And as Drake said, when writing the story of your life, don’t let anyone else hold the pen.” McGrath was one of 330

See GRADUATION on page 10

Charlotte employees mobilize for a union

After a turbulent budget season last year that left the town of Charlotte divided over employee health care costs and wages, Charlotte’s municipal employees are now looking to join a union.

According to a petition from the Vermont Labor Relations Board that was discussed in executive session at last week’s board meeting, 10 town employees — library workers, the zoning administrator and town planner, assistant town clerk, and volunteer coordinator at the Charlotte Senior Center — are looking to be represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 93.

According to the petition, AFSCME Council 93 is requesting an election by the Vermont Labor Board in Charlotte as a majority of the town’s employees had indicated their intent to join the union.

Jim Durkin, director of legislation and political action at the council — which represents workers across New England — said that the entire process of joining a union, like anything else, typically

See UNION on page 4

PHOTO BY AL FREY

The Champlain Valley Union High School Class of 2024 assembles at Patrick Gym on the University of Vermont campus for its commencement on Friday.

LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

Girls’ lacrosse settles for runner-up trophy

LAUREN READ CORRESPONDENT

The Division I girls’ lacrosse state championship game unfolded very differently from last year’s title tilt, but the result was still the same: Champlain Valley had to settle for the runner-up trophy.

The Redhawks fell to Essex, 12-3, on Saturday at the University of Vermont’s Virtue Field in the D-I final — the second year in a row that CVU has lost in the championship game.

“Despite the score, despite the loss, I am really proud of how we have played this season,” CVU coach Tucker Pierson said. “It was a whole team effort the whole season. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

It was the first ever state title for the top-seeded Hornets, who came back from a 1-14-1 season two years ago to capture the trophy this season.

“We were not playing our game, we were out of rhythm, the fundamentals were not going well for us,” Pierson said. “We were not playing our game.”

The game started in much the same way as the other two matchups against the top two teams this season — very close.

The two teams traded goals in the first quarter, with Essex tallying two quick ones in the beginning of the second frame to pull ahead. But CVU responded and the two entered

halftime with the Hornets leading 5-3. Carly Strobeck opened scoring for the Redhawks and Emerson Rice had two goals in the first half.

But things began to go off the rails for CVU in the second half, as Essex was able to control possession and limit the Redhawks transition game.

“We really wanted to shut down their transition, that was the primary goal,” Essex coach Skip Harris said.

“When we played them earlier, they were just running down on us. We just made a commitment to stopping their fast break and controlling the ball.”

As the game continued, the Hornets continued to put up goals and the CVU offense did not respond. The Essex defense did not allow a goal in the second half.

“The last time we played them we split evenly,” Pierson said.

“They have just gotten stronger, and it showed.”

Essex keeper Sierra Harris made 13 saves in goal, part of what kept CVU from making any kind of comeback attempt.

“Being down 3-5 at the start of the third quarter, I think we definitely needed some of those goals to go in,” Pierson said. “I don’t our attack was shooting their best and Sierra had some incredible saves.”

Goalie Clare Stackpole-McGrath had 10 saves for Champlain Valley, which ended its season at 15-3.

Boys roar back for lacrosse title

LAUREN READ CORRESPONDENT

After a one-year absence from the top of Division I, the Champlain Valley boys’ lacrosse team is the state champ again.

CVU scored 30 seconds into extra time to beat Middlebury 13-12 and win the title, the program’s 10th in 11 years.

It was a return to the top for the Redhawks, who had won nine state championships in a row before losing in last year’s semifinal round.

“It comes down to a team effort, our motto all season has been brotherhood,” CVU senior Peter

Gilliam said. “The brotherhood came through today. We came back when we needed it. I just couldn’t be prouder of these boys.”

This title did not come easily for CVU, which had a 9-3 lead coming out of halftime but watched Middlebury turn on the offense to tie the game and force overtime.

The Redhawks got the faceoff to start the overtime period and immediately called timeout to set up the play. CVU put the ball in the hands of Gilliam, who navigated the offensive zone before finding just enough space to fire the ball past Middlebury goalie Levi Nuceder, who had nine saves.

“Deep breaths, in the huddle we took a couple of deep breaths as a team and we really reset,” Gilliam said. “We had the utmost confidence in ourselves and that deep breath in the huddle really gave us the energy to push through.”

Gilliam’s game winner capped off an exciting fourth quarter that saw Middlebury storm back to tie the game, CVU respond to try and pull away and the Tigers netting a goal with 13 seconds remaining in the game, sending it to overtime.

“We’re so mentally tough as team, we stayed together through it,” Gilliam said of CVU weathering the Middlebury comeback. “That is something we have really struggled with all season, but we were together as a team.”

The fun really started with under five minutes remaining in the third quarter. CVU received a two-minute locked in penalty and the Middlebury offense got to work. The Tigers scored three goals in less than a minute to close the score to 10-7.

The extra time unlocked the Tigers’ offense, which then scored three more unanswered goals to tie the game with 8:37 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“It’s something we have been talking about all year, just getting complacent when we get up,” CVU coach Brian Loughlin said. “We talked about it at halftime. Let’s keep the same intensity. We decided to make it interesting. Kudos to Middlebury, we knew they were going to fight the whole time.”

Mattias Williams responded for the Redhawks, scoring two goals to pull CVU ahead 12-10. Both efforts saw the junior attack player make great individual plays to get free and beat Nuceder in goal.

“Pete deserves a lot of credit for the OT goal, but those were

PHOTO BY LAUREN READ

The Champlain Valley boys’ lacrosse team after winning the Division I state championship on Sunday.

CVU boys, girls drop title matches over weekend

LAUREN READ

CORRESPONDENT

As Stowe and Champlain Valley faced off in the Division I girls’ tennis state championship, the two teams found themselves locked in a closely contested match.

Then, suddenly, it was over.

Stowe’s No. 1 singles player, Julia Biedermann and No. 2 singles player, Charlotte Stevens, walked off the court at Davis Park winners within minutes of each other, clinching the fourth straight D-I state championship for the Raiders and ending the season for the Redhawks for the third year in a row.

Biedermann beat CVU’s Tabitha Bastress, 7-6 (5), 6-1 to give Stowe the 3-2 lead in the match. Stevens followed it up moments later with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Anna Dauerman to clinch the title.

CVU and Stowe split the regular season matchups this year and Dauerman beat Biedermann in the singles tournament to capture the individual state title.

So, the rubber match between the two teams was expected to be a tight, tense match. Through the first four matches it delivered.

CVU won in No. 5 singles as Addie Maurer beat Lula Paumgarten 6-1, 6-1. In

No. 1 doubles, Ariel Toohey and Leonie Schwetlick beat Lucy Andrus and Sarah Hailey.

Stowe won in No. 3 and 4 singles, with Gabby Doehla and Kate Tilgner each getting straight set wins.

Boys’ tennis

The Champlain Valley boys’ tennis teams hunt for another D-I state title fell short Thursday in Middlebury.

The Redhawks, who won the D-I state championship in 2021, fell to the Tigers 4-3 in the final.

CVU won at No. 2 and 3 singles and grabbed a victory in No. 2 doubles, but Middlebury won in No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5 singles and No. 1 doubles to win.

Ziggy Babbott and Jacob Graham won for CVU, while the duo of Luke Sampson and Henry Frost finished on top in doubles.

The No. 4 singles match between CVU’s Kyle Krieger and Middlebury’s Iver Anderson was key to the match. Anderson won the first set, 6-4, then Krieger won the second, 6-4.

Middlebury won the decisive third set tie breaker to give the Tigers the edge and the victory.

CVU wrapped up the season with a 14-4 record.

Ultimate teams lose in finals

LAUREN READ CORRESPONDENT

Girls’ Ultimate

The Burlington girls’ Ultimate team captured its third D-I state championship in a row, holding off a late push from Champlain Valley.

No. 1 Burlington beat the second-seeded Redhawks, 8-6, on Saturday at the University of Vermont’s Virtue Field.

Trailing by one score late in the game, Champlain Valley had a chance to tie it. But a key defensive stop by Burlington turned into a turnover and a score for the Seahorses.

CVU then dropped the disc in the end

LACROSSE

continued from page 2

two massive, clutch goals at the end there,” Loughlin said. “That’s what he’s done all year, he is calm under pressure, he just loves having a good time and he loves playing lacrosse. You can see the joy in the game when he plays it.”

But Middlebury responded again, scoring two in the final two minutes to tie the game at 12 and force overtime, leading to Gilliam’s late-game heroics.

“Thank God we won that faceoff in overtime, and we were able to call a timeout and get the ball to our best player,” Loughlin said.

CVU started the game hot offensively, scoring the game’s first six goals as it built up a 9-3 lead at halftime.

Williams paced the offense for CVU,

zone, ending its chance to extend the game and securing the win for Burlington.

The Seahorses finished the season with an undefeated 14-0 record.

Boys’ Ultimate

The Champlain Valley boy’s Ultimate team suffered its first loss of the season in the last game of the year.

The Redhawks fell to Burlington, 9-6, in the Division I state championship on Saturday at the University of Vermont’s Virtue Field.

It is the second season in a row that CVU has lost in the D-I title game and the second title for the Seahorses.

The Redhawks ended the season with a 14-1 record.

scoring four goals, while Gilliam and Jacob Bose each had three. Alden Endres, Brian Rutherford and Niko Kapsalis each scored once for the Redhawks.

Goalkeeper Will Kearney, who started playing in net last season, stopped nine shots in goal for CVU —- a few at key times to keep Middlebury from gaining more momentum.

“That kid and his resiliency and his grit and his ability to let a couple of goals in and just bounce back, his journey has just been incredible,” Loughlin said. “I am so happy for him.”

Middlebury’s Toby Draper led all scorers with six goals, while teammates Angus Blackwell and Logan McNulty each added two.

UNION

continued from page 1

starts with a conversation.

“They’ll hear about somebody, a friend or even an acquaintance, who is represented by a union and as a result, is doing better wagewise,” he said. “Then the process is to have people sign cards indicating their desire to at least explore things further. Once you reach a certain threshold on those cards, you file for an election and the campaign begins.”

Town planner Larry Lewack said he was reluctant to go into any detail about the efforts at this point, mostly because the union has not been formally recognized and the town is currently working with its attorney on the matter.

“The bottom line is that some of the town employees believe that it would be in our interest to participate in the union to have more of a say in working conditions and salaries and benefits with the town,” he said. “It’s like we want to have a voice in the conversations and decisions that impact our jobs and our lives, just like employees from many other towns across Vermont and New England who have joined this particular union.”

Lewack said that as the legislative body for the town, the selectboard has been asked to recognize the union without a formal election, but the selectboard has not yet decided do that, which then

Hinesburg Police Blotter: June 10-17

Total incidents: 81

Arrests: 2

Traffic stops: 55

June 11 at 4:30 p.m., officers responded to a two-car motor vehicle crash on Route 116.

June 12 at 8:09 a.m. an officer investigated the report of livestock in the roadway on Shelburne Falls Road.

June 12 at 3:40 p.m., police investigated a theft on North Road.

June 13 at 6:52 p.m., officers located a stolen vehicle at a residence on Richmond Road. Anthony Seagroves, 32 of Hinesburg, and Katelynn Cannon, 28 of

Hinesburg, were both arrested on warrants. Further charges are pending. (See related, this page) June 14 at 5:23 p.m., police investigated suspicious activity on Commerce Street.

June 14 at 6:26 p.m., police investigated suspicious activity on Haymeadow Lane.

June 14 at 10:43 p.m., officers mediated a dispute on Hickory Place.

June 15 at 1:58 p.m., an officer served a relief from abuse order to a resident on Route 116.

June 17 at 7:53 p.m., police investigated suspicious activity on Lomeadow Road.

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triggers a formal election certification process.

“I don’t really want to comment on the process because it hasn’t resolved yet,” he said. “Lawyers are involved, and it would be bad to get into the sort of details of what’s come up between the union and the selectboard because we don’t have a contract and we’re not recognized yet. It’s all up in the air at this moment.”

New statewide legislation, Act 117, passed into law this year, says that after July 1 no election process is needed should a majority of employees express a formal interest in unionizing. This process known as, “majority authorization,” Durkin said, is often referred to as, “card check.”

“The reason card check is so important is it neutralizes that period, under the old system, between signing those cards and the election because management typically has extreme advantage in terms of being able to bring their employees into meetings and saying, ‘You don’t need a union. You don’t want a union. It’s

nothing but trouble,’ that kind of thing.”

Lewack confirmed that since the majority of town employees have signed cards, they would be eligible for majority authorization.

Employee health benefits have, for years, been outlined in a personnel policy that is crafted and amended by the selectboard. Several questions to town administrator Nate Bareham regarding how unionization would affect the town’s personnel policy have gone unanswered.

But Lewack said he imagines the personnel policy will have to change once negotiations begin for their first contract, which will act as the ultimate governing policy for employees.

The board is still on track to cut nearly $30,000 from employee health benefits packages this year, a promise made to voters after its budget was voted down at last year’s Town Meeting Day. The issue boiled over in a contentious battle between some taxpayers upset by tax increases, mostly associated with employee costs,

and workers who said they felt “blindsided” by proposed cuts to their compensation packages.

The board charged a working group, spearheaded by board member Kelly Devine, at that time to find cost savings for the town, but even members of the group were divided on where to make cuts.

Now, Devine and board member Lewis Mudge have been working with Blue Cross Blue Shield to work on a new benefit package for employees. At the meeting last week, Devine said that the duo is meeting with a representative from the company to go over potential options, which will then be brought before employees.

“We were definitely looking to reduce the number of options of plans that are offered to streamline things administratively,” she said.

But board chair Jim Faulkner reiterated that, regardless, the board has a certain amount of money to shave off.

“We’ve got to get to $30,000,” Mudge agreed. “That’s what we committed to.”

Two sought in kidnapping found in Hinesburg

Vermont State Police arrested two kidnapping suspects Thursday evening in Hinesburg after an hours-long search.

Anthony Seagroves and Katelynn Cannon were arrested without incident at about 8:35 p.m. at a residence on Richmond Road in Hinesburg.

Police say Seagroves, 32, of Hinesburg, and Cannon, 28, of Essex, were involved in a kidnapping in Starksboro on Wednesday. They say Seagroves was armed with a baseball bat when he ordered an adult household member into a car, drove away and hurt that person while restraining them. They say

Cannon also assaulted that person. Police say when they tried to arrest Seagroves on Thursday, he fled in a grey Honda CRV likely driven by Cannon. State troopers were assisted by the Burlington, Essex, Hinesburg, Shelburne and University of Vermont police departments.

OPINION

Fatherhood: Children helped answer life’s questions

Guest Perspective

Walt Amses

Forty years ago I woke up with an intense, celebratory hangover, which wasn’t unusual in the days when I promiscuously feted things that social circles other than the one I meticulously crafted for myself did not consider worthy of celebration.

Thursdays, for instance, were near enough to the impending weekend to hoist a few in giddy anticipation. The last day of school was seriously special, summer vacation deserving the utmost observation.

So, it was in June 1984 when I checked out of the school where I worked and made it to the first bar of the day before noon, determined to observe the hell out of it.

Much later in the day, after burning through different venues and variety of companions, I wound up on a lawn in what I believe was Marshfield, watching a string of Harleys thunder by on Route 2, heading for Weir’s Beach in New Hampshire and Laconia Bike Week, an early summer two-wheeled tradition that dates to 1916. I remember thinking — at least for a fleeting moment — that these were my people: unbridled by convention, heeding the magical call of the open road and throwing caution to the wind, embracing life and freedom to the fullest.

In retrospect, a simplistic rationalization. But it never entered my mind that the beer I was nursing that long ago evening would be my last for 40 years and probably forever. If it had, I would have joined anyone who knew me at the time in laughing at such a preposterous idea into oblivion. But inexplicably, later that weekend, that’s exactly transpired, sort of.

Instead of motorcycle shopping, I slipped into a long-term romance with roads of a different sort that continues to this day.

It was a sunny but cool Sunday — Father’s Day as it happens — and I went for a short run that, while I couldn’t put my finger on it, felt unusual but not in a bad way. I remember multi-colored lupine swaying in a gentle breeze, purple martins swirling above me chasing insects like stunt pilots in a mock dogfight, and an afternoon so vivid, so finely etched in my recollection that it feels like a perfect photograph.

We’d only lived out here for a few months at the time through that snowy first winter and miserably muddy spring, but that afternoon was exquisite. All the days before may have been as well, but I hadn’t noticed in quite the same way. What I perceived then as perhaps a major shift in my chosen lifestyle turned out to be an entirely new existence.

I began running or hiking every day, coupled with swimming, kayaking, biking and even beginning my agony in the garden saga. It all seemed weirdly important, but I couldn’t figure out exactly why. It took some years for that fog to lift.

I realized in time that some distance between you and a situation allows you to see it more clearly, evaluate it honestly and, eventually, if you’re lucky, put it in the past. My father, for instance, died at 52, the victim of circumstances common to men of his generation, who drank and smoked as a kind of blue-collar birthright: shot and beer guys who worked hard and looked forward to the hazy fellowship of the corner bar. A decent person by all accounts, without necessarily being the best role model, my dad left behind a bit more than fading memories, not least a genetic minefield that I would spend much of my life negotiating.

One year removed from that hangover, almost to the day, I became a father myself for the first time. When Cat Stevens’ “Boy with the Moon and Stars” came on the radio when Helene and I were heading to

the hospital, we knew a little boy was on the way. Enter Joshua. His brother Sam would join us in a couple of years, squaring the circle — a genuine nuclear family — which not all that long before we decided not to have. Things change along with people.

Those first couple of years I didn’t alter my routine other than adding a little baggage either in the Snugli up front or as they grew, in the backpack. We walked miles and miles, up and down hills and along the shorelines of ponds searching for whatever wildlife we could find. I loved every step.

I remember every snake, beaver, loon, frog, redwing blackbird and fox — most of them anyway —because it’s precisely what I longed to be doing when I was growing up in the concrete landscape of my New Jersey hometown. I saw through their eyes and got to re-live a childhood I never

actually had.

They met all their developmental milestones on time while I began addressing a few of my own, better late than never.

Looking at them now as grown men, I sometimes can’t help but see them as the little boys who came into my life, inadvertently answering all the questions I didn’t know I had and connecting me to the deepest, almost achingly primitive love I’ve ever experienced. All I wanted to do was protect them, keep them out of harm’s way. In those days, no matter what we were doing, I always had one eye focused in the distance, alert to any movement in the metaphorical tall grass, ready at a moment’s notice to leap in to save them. I didn’t realize until years later that they were saving me.

Walt Amses lives and writes from North Calais.

Letters to the Editor

League of Women Voters honors its male members

To the Editor:

At the League of Women Voters, we are often asked, “can men be members of the League?” The answer, of course, is yes.

But this was not always the case. When the league was founded 104 years ago, it was an organization for women, providing support for suffrage and encouraging their participation in the political process.

It would be 50 years before the League of Women Voters would open its membership to men. On May 7, 1974, the League of Women Voters welcomed men as full-

fledged members.

That’s why today in Vermont, men work alongside women to protect and expand voting rights, and advocate for critical issues like health care, reproductive freedom and the environment.

So, here’s to celebrating 50 years of men in the league, whose contributions are as valuable and essential as their female counterparts. A toast to the men who marched for women’s suffrage, fought for the Equal Rights Amendment and became our members.

Sue Racanelli President League of

Women Voters

Take a walk with the fungi in Hinesburg Town Forest

It is well known that some fungi are decomposers, but did you know that they can also eat plastic, clean up oil spills, hunt for prey and enable trees to talk to each other?

Did you know that the largest living organism on Earth is Oregon’s humongous fungus, covering an estimated 4 square miles?

If you’re fungi-curious and want to know more about these fascinating organisms, join the Hinesburg Conservation Commission and Vermont author, photographer and mycology educator Meg Madden on a mushroom curiosity walk to learn more about the lives of these fascinating organisms. Explore the woods and talk about the mushrooms found along the way, including what they are and how to identify them.

Madden shares her knowledge and passion for fungi through visual presentations, mushroom walks and online. An advocate for fungal diversity and community science, she teaches iNaturalist workshops and is working to compile an atlas of fungi for the state. She also wrote about some of her favorite mushrooms in her book, “This is a Book for People Who Love Mushrooms.”

The fungi walk is limited to 20 participants and will be held Saturday, June 22, 9-11 a.m., rain or shine. Meet at the Hayden Hill East parking lot in the Town Forest at 9 a.m. Wear comfortable walking shoes and weather-appropriate clothing.

Sign up in advance at bit. ly/3VEelFs.

Tom Giroux will lead Hinesburg July 4th parade

You know the guy. He is at every concert, sporting event, play and pub with live music.

He has probably refereed, coached, umpired, mowed or lined the field your child plays on every season for the last 45 plus years.

It’s Tom Giroux, this year’s grand marshal for the Hinesburg 4th of July.

Giroux wears many hats and has served on the Hinesburg

Recreation Board off and on since its inception in the early 1980s. He is a cemetery commissioner, assists with town elections as a justice of the peace and is always behind the scenes ensuring the town’s concert series, recreation leagues and 4th of July run smoothly.

June 22 & 23,

COURTESY PHOTO

Meg Madden

PHOTOS BY AL FREY

Derek Thomas Allen

Wesley D. Anair ^

Peyton D. Anderson ** ^

Samara Ashooh * ^ •

Trevor R. Asiimwe

Aidan P. Aumand

Tucker Babineau ***

Quinn U. Bagnato ^

Jaden E. Ballard

Scout Z. Barbic

Kiara Barbour

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Cassie M. Bastress * ^ •

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Joshua H. Batchelder ^

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Delia R. Beaudry

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Grayson J. Blom-Clarke

Jacob Bloomberg

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Kaitlin Boehmcke

Jacob A. Bose

Lysandra Bosmenier

Kate M. Bostwick

Ava Bouchard +

Cassidy S. Bouchard •

Nicholas C. Boutin

Koa Breault

Dorian J. Britt

Kailey Bruce

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Gracie L. Busier

Hailey Butchino

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Loic D. Carpentier

Lila V. Carr *

Sawyer F. Carr

Sierra R. Carrier-Potter

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Christopher M. Cervi

Stanley Chan * +

Bennett J. Chappelle

Michael R. Charney

Oliver A. Cheer ^

Gabriella R. Clark **

Isaac Cohen

Matthew Collette

Catherine Congalton ^

Jacob Crandall

Miles Crawford

Cole T. Cudney

Noah A. Culver

Declan S. Cummings

Isabelle Cunningham

Darragh Curley * ^

Louis P. Curschmann

Annalise B. Daggett

Liban Dahir

Harper Danforth ^

Sarah M. Danks

Kelsey M. Davidson

Owen F. Deale ^

Riley A. Decell

Tristan Delaportas

Kennedy M. Desautels*** ^

Christopher J. Dickenson

Mateo

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Milo Dippel

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Samuel Dore

Molly Dubois ***

Michael Dunbar **

Harlie M. Durgin ***

Ashley A. Eaton

Kyle T. Eaton

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Victoria Edson

Aren J. Eisenman ^ •

Ella R. Emmons * •

Estelle H. Emmons * •

Hiwot A. Eshete **

Samantha G. Evans

Riley Farmer

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Tyler M. Fieldsend ^

Maximilian Foerg

Autumn Francis

Sunny Francis

Kayla M. Franko

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Akosua Frimpong

Henry H. Frost ** ^

Angelina J. Gagne ^

Rhett Gardner

Emily E. Gay * ^

Peter J. Gilliam * ^

Daniel Goldsmith

Jacqueline Goldsmith * •

Katherine E. Goodwin

Liliane M. Gordon ^

Dylan J. Granger

Friday, June 14, 2024

Cameron T. Graveline

Cayden L. Graveline

Kody Guiterman ^ •

Elizabeth Hahn

Alexis Hall * •

Nathan Hanson

Tracie Harrington

Ariel K. Hassenberg

Avery L. Hawkins

Brendan Hawko

Samuel R. Haydock

Noah J. Healy

Gabriel I. Helak **

Marin E. Hemmett * + •

Benjamin Hernandez

Nisha Hickok *

Helen D. Hill

Addison T. Hoopes *

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Fisher Irwin * ^ •

Merrill A. Jacobs * ^

Elrik M. Jay

Charlie Jennings ^

Josie A. Jerome

Anders Johnson ^

Evan S. Johnson

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William Kearney

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Keara Kelley

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Skyler Kingsbury ^

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Gretchen L. Kramer

Hannah F. Kuhlmeier * •

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Caidan LaBarre

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Brady Lasher *

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Elise Lavigne ***

Zachary T. LeCours

Parker Lemery

Jay E. Leuschner ***

Elias N. Leventhal + •

Presley S. Lewis

Thomas J. Lian

Anders Linseisen * ^ •

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Alexandria C. Loner ^

Rose A. Lord •

Claire Lyons +

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Stella Makay

Calvin Malaney * ^

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Taylor E. Marchand

Claire Marcoe * ^

Beckham Marcus

Hannah Marshall

McKinley M. Martin

Lucia R. Martone

Everett G. Mason

Logan S. Masson

Addison W. Maurer

Davyonna May

Kaiden R. McClure

Maddison R. McDade

Sean McLaughlin

Patrick M. McManus

Leah Meade

Nicolas M. Menard

Storey Merrill

Aidan Militello

Sylvie B. Milks *

Luke Mincar

Veronica Miskavage + ^ •

Mohamed Mohamed

Elhassan+

Colby A. Morehouse * ^ •

Aidan M. Morris ^

Ethan L. Morris

Thomas P. Murphy

Grace C. Murray ^

Allyson L. Navarrette

Oliver J. Nelson

Robert T. Nesbit

Addie C. Nevitt

Zorah T. Ngu * ^

Andrew V. Nguyen

Philip H. Nguyen

Mitchell J. Niarchos * ^

Lillian N. Nichols Freja Nilsson ^

Abigail E. Niquette * + ^ •

Amelia J. Novak ^

Kali E. Nulty

Hailey A. O’Brien

Lily O’Brien * ^ •

Callyx B. O’Donnell

Hailey R. O’Neal

Keegan P. O’Neil

Maeve M. O’Neil ^

Alexander J. Olszewski

Ruby F. Opton ^ •

Jonuel Ortiz Cintron

Olivia R. Osekoski

Alicia S. Palmer

Elizabeth B. Parent * ^

Kyle Parent

Nevaeh S. Parrish * ^

Chloe I. Pecor

Julia T. Pecor *

Ava G. Perez

Richard A. Peters Jr.

Kayden Podlaski

Filip T. Popa

Sonia I. Prada + Ishmita Pradhan

Lucas J. Proulx

Colin Ravlin

Mae Reincke

Julia E. Rice * ^

Ava M. Richling

Stephen J. Rickert ^ MacKenna M. Riggs

Harper Riley

Adrianna E. Rivera

Charlotte G. Roberts

Jesse M. Roberts * Abigail C. Rock

Theodore Rosenau *

August L. Roth-Longe

Brian A. Rutherford

Abigail G. Ruwet

Alden L. Sadler

Catherine A. Saladino * **

Kinsley M. Sampson * ^

Luke R. Sampson ^

Cesar X. Sanchez

Eliza Sarandos * ^

Emmett M. Saylor

Amelie Scharf

Lucia C. Schepps

Kenzie Schnitzlein

Leonie Schwetlick + ^ •

Natalie G. Scriver

Sencer E. Sengur +

Katherine M. Shattie

Ethan M. Shaw

Laurence P. Sheridan *

Lila V. Shover

Julia Shrier * + ^ •

Claire E. Sigmon *

Noah A. Silvia

Asher A. Simcoe

Liam Simenon +

Charles C. Simons ^

Matthew Smardon

Hagan M. Smith

Malayna A. Solomon

Charles W. Sprigg* +

Jack O. St. Peter * ^

Clare Stackpole-McGrath

Calvin F. Steele

Chelsey Steele ^

Daniel J. Steinman ^

Keira H. Stetson

Natalia D. Stever

Kyle R. Stewart * ^ •

Peter A. Stewart ^ •

Reuben Stief **

Jacob H. Strobeck ^

Travis Stroh **

Gabriel G. Taylor

Tucker Tharpe ^

Grace L. Thompson ^

Kenyon M. Thompson

Evan J. Thorburn

Bella Trasciatti-Holmberg

Chandler Turner ^

Alaina K. Tyler * ^ •

Charlotte Tyler *

Jacob Underhill * ^

Maya S. Vander Els * ^ J. Asher Vaughn

Griffin Veltkamp * ** ^

Hannah Wager *

Sally M. Wahl

Matthew Waite

Meadow Waite ***

Greta Walberg ^

Natalie Webster

Isabella Weimersheimer

Alex Whitaker-Freitas

Jacob Whitcomb ^

Ethan White

Mia D. White

Ezra Wiggins-Millington ^

Tobias Wilczynski

Cole E. Williams

Russell Willoughby ^ •

Aiden D. Wilson

Asher Winsten-Pinel ^

Owen M. Withum

Maddie Woodson

Abraham C. Yandow

Joyce D. Yodishembo

Nina E. Zimakas * + ^ •

Maxwell Zinner

Stephen A. Zubarik * ^

Alex S. Zuchowski * ^ •

American Mathematics Competition

Arthur H. Scott Scholarship Awards

Charlotte-Shelburne-Hinesburg Rotary & Denny Bowen Memorial Awards

Coach David Bremner Awards

Craig Sampson Memorial Award

Creative Writing Awards

Kody Guiterman CVU Access

Community Education Award

CVU Senior Rowing Award

Design Technology Award

Diligence Awards Everett Mason, Direction Center Award

Donald Moore Cross Country Scholarship

Dylan Peters Visual Arts Memorial Scholarship

El Premio de Español Ava Bouchard, Marin Hemmett, Nikolas Kapsalis, Claire Lyons

Julia Shrier Environmental Activism Award

Excellence in Mathematical Thinking Awards

Cassie Bastress, Kody Guiterman, Kate Kogut

Excellence in Science Awards Hannah

Excellence in Scientific Inquiry Awards

Robert Nesbit, Alaina Tyler

Faculty Awards Nisha

Family and Consumer Science Award

French V Language Awards Tabitha

Liam Simenon, Greta Walberg, Nina Zimakas

Above: Three CVU graduates mug for the camera

Elias Leventhal

Kaylee Bliss,Nevaeh Parrish

Samara Ashooh

Charlie Jennings, Ava Barron

Calvin Steele

Riley Farmer

Veronica Miskavage

Mitchell Niarchos

Robert Nesbit

Mason, Noah Silvia Ezra, Wiggins-Millington

Jaden Ballard

Scholarship Daniel Knight

Scholarship Alex Whitaker-Freitas

Bouchard, Mateo Dienz-Del Rio, Stella Dooley,

Award Abigail Niquette

Awards Derek Allen,

Kuhlmeier, Julia Shrier, Alex Zuchowski

Helen Hill, Sadie Lahiri,

Nisha Hickok, Clare Stackpole-McGrath

Storey Merrill

Tabitha Bastress, Peter Gilliam, Merrill Jacobs,

Friends of CVU School Spirit Award

Governor Phil Hoff Vermont Honor Scholarship

Greg Cluff Award

Claud Bigue

Samara Ashooh

Cate Buley

Hannah Dorfman Performing Arts Scholarship Callyx O’Donnell

Hart Athletic Awards

Renaissance Artist Award

Robert J. Pepper Science Awards

Hailey O’Brien

Ashley Eaton, Kody Guiterman, Chloe Pecor, Alex Whitaker-Freitas

Sara Grayson Memorial Award

Xander Olszewski

Chloe Pecor, Jack St. Peter Humanities Awards

School Directors’ Awards

Aliyah Kimball, Abigail Niquette

Integrity Awards Declan Cummings, Josie Jerome, Presley Lewis

John Phillip Souza Band Award

Journalism Award

Kathy M. Stringer Devost Scholarship

Kevin Riell Memorial Scholarships

Lacrosse Awards

Larry Wagner Math Awards

Louis Armstrong Jazz Award

Master Musician Awards

Michael G. Hart Baseball Scholarship

National Federation of High Schools

Award of Excellence

Outstanding Business

Student Awards

Sadie Lahiri

Sierra Carrier-Potter

Jesse Roberts

Hannah Wager

Peyton Anderson, Stella Dooley

Elias Leventhal, Julia Shrier

Rhett Gardner

Fisher Irwin, Theodore Rosenau

Cole Cudney

Lily O’Brien, Colby Morehouse

Henry Frost, Catherine Saladino, Reuben Stief

Outstanding English Student Awards

Outstanding Essayist Awards

Stanley Chan, Aren Eisenman

The Director’s Award for Chorus Rose Lord

The Peter Marsh Foundation

Silent Servant

Samara Ashooh, Jeremiah Batres, Hiwot Eshete

Theatre Awards George Fidler, Addie Nevitt

Tom Titus Track and Field Award

Kate Kogut

Tomorrow’s Business Leader Award (FBLA): Zorah Ngu

Twenty-First Century

Social Studies Awards Merrill Jacobs, Colin Ravlin, Charlotte Tyler

University of Vermont Green & Gold Scholarship Cassie Bastress

UVM Math Test Certificate of Merit

Elias Leventhal, Julia Shier

Vergilian Latin Awards George Fidler, Alexis Hall, Brady Lasher

Vermont Basketball Coaches Association Scholarship Nevaeh Parrish

Vermont’s Golf Association Scholarship

Visual Arts Department Award

Alexis Hall, Rose Lord, Julia Shrier

Kate Kogut, Veronica Miskavage

Leonie Schwetlick Outstanding Senior in Media Education George Fidler

Palmer Athletic Awards

Pat Mraz Library Award

Principal’s Leadership Award

Redhawk Football Awards

Elise Berger, Russell Willoughby

Kaylee Bliss

Nikhil Blasius

Wesley Anair, Michael Dunbar

Elizabeth Parent

Callyx O’Donnell

Volunteer Outreach Club Award Jacqueline Goldsmith, William Lollis

Waitsfield & Champlain Valley Telecom

Eunice B. Farr Incentive Award

Willston Area Lions Club

Herb Goodrich Memorial Scholarship

Williston-Richmond Rotary Scholarship

Molly Dubois

Zorah Ngu, Elizabeth Parent

Jeremiah Batres

Zeke Kassel Memorial Awards Riley DeCell, Jack St. Peter

PHOTOS BY AL FREY

after Friday’s graduation ceremony in UVM’s Patrick gym. Right: Kaitlin Boehmcke with her diploma.

GRADUATION

continued from page 1

seniors who graduated last week. Numerous students were given departmental awards, national merit awards and community scholarships.

As seniors tossed their caps in the air and closed a big chapter in their young lives, graduates spent the last two hours as CVU students remembering. Remembering that just three years ago, they were

terrified freshman entering a big school unsure if they would find their way to math class, not to mention entering a new phase of life amid a global pandemic.

“We started out as petrified freshmen consumed in a global pandemic and we’ve made it to

See GRADUATION on page 11

Join us on Wednesday nights starting June 19th. 7-9pm for our summer concert series.

SEEKING TREATMENT PROVIDERS

The U.S. Probation Office in the District of Vermont believes that individuals subject to federal pretrial and post-conviction community supervision deserve access to quality, evidence-based treatment in the community. To that end, the District of Vermont will be soliciting for drug and alcohol, mental health, and sex offender specific treatment services, as well as drug testing services, for fiscal years 2025 through 2029. Requests for Proposals in these service categories will be made available on www.vtp.uscourts.gov/solicitations on June 17, 2024. Interested parties should contact Shawna Lapierre at Shawna_Lapierre@vtp.uscourts.gov or 802-951-0625 to be added to the Bidder’s Mailing List.

PHOTOS BY AL FREY

Top: Mira Novak and Hannah Steinare serve as 2024 class marshals at the 60th Commencement Exercise of the Champlain Valley Union High School at UVM’s Patrick Gym. Above: CVU seniors hurry excitedly through the hallway to Friday’s afternoon ceremony. Left: Veronica Miskavage sings the national anthem.

from page 10

today. We have figured this out,” Kennedy Desautels said in her welcome speech. “It feels like life is moving so fast. We don’t have a chance to take a break and just catch our breath. So let today be that break. Don’t focus on all your future stress. Just slow down and look around you look at every single person in this room. These seats are filled with people who have been there for us through our best and our worst days.”

Senior speaker Nisha Hickok, on the other hand, encouraged her fellow classmates to remember all the small moments that made up their high school careers.

“As I sat in my dimly lit kitchen, eating my meal, this small and seemingly insignificant moment made me realize I’m growing up,” Hickok said. “Big events such as convocation and graduation signify a symbol of the sum of our accomplishments. And while these occasions are monumental, it’s my belief that the small moments in our lives that go unnoticed are just as significant. The moments I’m referring to are not ones of finality. They are moments of passion, connection, progress and intentionality.”

The second class speaker, George Fidler, left his classmates with words of wisdom passed to him from his father: One day, on your travels, you will meet a man who will show you a brand new deck of cards. This man will offer to bet you that he can make the jack of spades jump out of this deck and squirt cider in your ear. Do not take this bet for as sure as you are sitting there, you’ll end up with an ear full of cider.

“Back home in England, we have a saying for when things are hard and it all feels like too much,” he said. “Chin up, mustn’t grumble. We’ll muddle through.”

“It’s a good word, muddle,” he said. “It’s not neat and tidy. Muddling is not walking down the street with your chin up and your head held high. Muddling is tripping over and falling down and crawling and only scraping through by the skin of your teeth. But it is making it. Wherever we go in life, we’ll muddle through.”

The class’s commencement speaker, Robin Fawcett, a theater and public speaking teacher for 29

years, was described by students as always finding a way to make every day feel special.

“Even though our advisory meets in a prison-like corridor, Robin finds a way to fill it with color,” Asher Winsten-Pinel said.

“Robin has been an invaluable part of our high school experience, and we feel so lucky to be in the class that she leaves with,” Storey Merrill added.

Fawcett opened her speech

by remembering the students’ freshman year in 2020, just months after the entire world shut down due to a global pandemic. Although difficult, they have more than made it, she said.

She spent more than 10 minutes calling individual students by name and thanking them for the endless life lessons they taught her. She ended her theatrical speech with a solo harmonica performance, after

which, students responded with a more than 30-second standing ovation, displaying their infinite thanks through claps and whistles.

“Trick self-doubt, comfort the ego, dare to lose, swap the righteousness of knowing for not knowing, be vulnerable, uncomfortable, embarrassed, a beginner. It is difficult, I know,” she said.

“Then there you are, over all these years, in so many ways, my teacher. Reminding me, ‘Why try?’”

PHOTOS BY AL FREY

Above: Friends and family take photos with their new graduates on Friday afternoon.

Superior Roofing Solutions

CVU baseball teams loses championship to Wolves

LAUREN READ CORRESPONDENT

Maybe it was nerves. Maybe it was the moment. Maybe it was an unfamiliar field.

No matter the reason, a first inning filled with fielding errors, walks and a hit batter doomed Champlain Valley in the Division I baseball state championship game at Centennial Field on Saturday.

CVU surrendered six runs in the first inning and that was all South Burlington needed to capture the 6-2 victory and win the state title.

“There are always going to be ups and downs,” CVU coach Nicky Elderton said. “A couple of bounces didn’t go our way early

and against a really, really good team like South Burlington it is hard to play behind.

“But we battled throughout the whole game, and I am proud of my team.”

After turning a double play to kick off the bottom of the first, CVU starting pitcher Stephen Rickert surrendered a single to Lucas Van Mullen and a walk to Sam Mazza-Bergeron. Then an error on a play that could have ended the inning instead loaded the bases. James Chagnon smacked a bases clearing triple to give South Burlington the 3-0 lead.

The Wolves kept going, getting a hit batter, single, walk and another CVU error to score three more times before the inning ended with

a 6-0 lead.

“I think it was just, it’s the championship game,” Elderton said. “There might have been a little nerves, there is a lot of emotions that go into it, but we had full confidence going in, but it didn’t go our way today.”

Rickert and CVU settled down after the first, allowing only one more hit and no runs, but South Burlington pitcher Nick Kelly was equally strong.

“We knew he was going to settle in. He’s a great pitcher,” Elderton said of his senior starting pitcher. “After the first inning, he got out of jams, and he made pitches when he had too. I am just super proud of how far he has come.”

Kelly went the distance, allowing just four hits and two runs (none earned) and striking out seven batters, and securing the win for South Burlington.

Will hold a public hearing at Town Hall, 159 Ferry Rd., Charlotte, VT on the following applications during its regular meeting of Wednesday, July 10, 2024

7:05 PM DRB 24-071-SD Davis – Final Plan approval for 2-Lot Subdivision at 250 Woodland Way

7:15 PM DRB 24-073-SD UVM – Final Plan approval for 2-Lot Subdivision at 340 South Forty Rd

7:30

– Subdivision Amendment at Shelburne Hinesburg

“When you get behind it changes the plan, but we put the barrel on the ball a handful of times and they made some really good plays in the field,” Elderton said.

Travis Stroh and Russell Willoughby each had a single and an RBI for the Redhawks, who tacked on two runs in the fifth inning to attempt the comeback.

But Kelly sent CVU down 1-2-3 in the sixth and seventh innings to snuff out any hopes for a late rally.

PHOTO BY AL FREY

CVU’s John Deyo slides safely into home during the Redhawks’ 6-2 championship loss to the South Burlington Wolves Friday at Centennial Field.

part-time and/or per diem employees with great customer service skills and a love for Vermont tourism.

Duties include some custodial tasks and physical tasks including snow removal. Weekend and some holiday availability is required.

To learn more or to apply, email welcomecenters@vermont.org

BASEBALL

continued from page 12

“What we wanted to do was just chip away,” Elderton said. “It’s tough against a kid like that, it’s going to be hard to score six, seven runs in one inning. We got a little momentum in the fifth, but he made pitches when he had too.” Rickert finished his day after going five innings and giving up five runs — all unearned. Elise

The week-long bait drop is a cooperative effort between Vermont and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services to stop the spread of the potentially fatal disease.

Rabies is a deadly viral disease of the brain that infects mammals. It is most often seen in raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats, but unvaccinated pets and livestock can also get rabies.The virus is spread through the bite of an infected animal or contact with its RABIES

saliva. If left untreated, rabies is almost always fatal in humans and animals. However, treatment with the rabies vaccine is nearly 100 percent effective when given soon after a person is bitten by a rabid animal.

So far this year, 23 animals in Vermont have tested positive for rabies, and 14 of those have been raccoons.

continued

According to wildlife officials, rabid animals often show a change in their normal behavior, but you cannot tell whether an animal has rabies simply by looking at it. People should not touch or pick up wild animals or strays – even baby animals.

Shelburne

Shelburne display lead a cemetery dors round from coffee creemees. from

SHELBURNE

CVU’s Stephen Rickert gets the call for the Redhawks during their 6-2 Division I baseball championship loss to the South Burlington Wolves on Friday afternoon at The University of Vermont’s Centennial Field.

Help us build strong foundations.

Green Mountain

Water quality plan forms to restore McCabe’s Brook

Lewis Creek Association and landowners have partnered to plan future improvements to water quality in McCabe’s Brook just south of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company and Vermont Day School.

“McCabe’s Brook has poor water quality,” said Kate Kelly, program manager of Lewis Creek Association. “Runoff, stormwater discharges and stream erosion near Shelburne village, combined with upstream agricultural runoff and stream erosion, has led to phosphorus levels in McCabe’s Brook that exceed state limits.”

The brook originates near Charlotte Central School, and passes through Charlotte and east of Earthkeep Farmcommon. It passes under Route 7 in Shelburne near the Vermont Day School, then runs west of the School Street neighborhood and goes under Harbor Road between Davis Park and the Arbors.

From there, the wastewater treatment facility drains into it, and it parallels the Ti Haul Path before draining into the LaPlatte River just upstream from its mouth in Shelburne Bay.

GIROUX

continued from page 6

“Tom is always ready to lend a helping hand. His ongoing effort to collect bottles and cans to benefit the fields at Bissonette Recreation Area is an example of his diligence and reminder that small efforts add up to large impacts,” Jen McCuin, Hinesburg’s recreation director, said.

According to town records, 390,938 returnables have been collected from the community and from Papa Nicks, which has raised $19,547 for the fields. For over 10 years, Giroux has been the guy who borrows his sister and brother-in-law’s truck — Sue and Ed McGuire — two times a month to bring the bottles and cans from the Bissonette’s barn to the redemption center.

“Tom has been the longest serving member of the Hinesburg Recreation Commission, with years of volunteerism so far under his belt. He is an enthusiastic supporter of every single one of our events,” Frank Twarog, chair of the commission, said. “From coaching to delivering spectators to the bandstand for the Wednesday Night Concert in the Park series to gathering Fourth of July float prizes to rallying support of both past and current special events, his efforts are tireless and so often unseen.”

“All these efforts are most appreciated by those of us on the commission as well as the citizens of Hinesburg who are the beneficiaries of decades of Tom’s energy,” he added.

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency say McCabe’s Brook is impaired in its downstream stretches by excess nutrients, as it does not adequately support aquatic life. Excess phosphorus can also contribute to harmful blue-green algae blooms and fish die-offs.

In early 2023, the association developed a plan to prioritize a list of water quality improvement projects in the brook’s watershed. A concept design to restore habitat and improve water quality in the area is now complete.

“The brook in this area was historically straightened and is lacking tree cover and natural floodplain connection. The design includes tree and shrub plantings while also controlling invasive species and lowering the floodplain by adding wooded structures to the stream to allow the brook to spill out onto its floodplain,” Kelly said.

The association is collaborating with the Vermont Day School, Vermont Teddy Bear Company, and private landowners to make the project a reality.

Giroux has been recognized by the Red Cross for giving over 34 gallons of blood and platelets; he gives every two weeks. He also helps with the blood drives.

When asked why he works so tirelessly for his community, Giroux pays tribute to his parents, Bernard and June Giroux, for instilling the importance of giving back to others. Bernard was a fire chief for many years and June started the Hinesburg Record and school library.

He also volunteers for other organizations, including 29 years for the Burlington City Marathon. He serves on the marathon’s board and those of the Hinesburg Record and Twin State Soccer. He is a regular lector and greeter at St. Jude of the Apostle parish.

Help celebrate Giroux’s many efforts on behalf of the community as he leads the Hinesburg July 4 parade. He will be joined by his goddaughter, Kaitlin Francis Gilbert, and her daughter, who have also been the recipients of his generosity and kindness over the years.

COURTESY PHOTO

Tom Giroux