Theo’s bat
What the hill?
School project brings generations together
Ski museum exhibit chronicles lost ski areas
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Volume 52 Number 52
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shelburnenews.com
December 28, 2023
Year in Review
Finding a balance
Shelburne officials, residents search for a path forward LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY AL FREY
The Champlain Valley Union High School gymnastics team competed in a meet Dec. 20 against Essex and Burlington high schools at the Green Mountain Training Center..
Shelburne has spent most of the year asking the hard questions: Who are we and who do we want to be? The selectboard and other town commissions have spent months discussing topics that seek to balance the rural nature of the town that many residents cherish with a need for more housing and development. According to the Vermont Futures Project, an independent nonprofit pursuing ways to support the evolution of Vermont’s economy, Shelburne makes up a little more than 1 percent of state’s population. To influence future population projections to create an economically thriving state, Shelburne would need to increase its population of 7,700 by 1,848. This adds up to an average of 154 people along with 80 new houses per year. Beginning the year in the thick of regulatory reform, Shelburne’s planning and zoning staff are now making big strides toward reworking the town’s zoning bylaws that some have deemed overly complex and inconsistent. The hope is to have the work nearly complete by the end of 2024. But as policies began to change, so, too, did town officials. Residents bid farewell to former town manager Lee Krohn in May after five years and, in June, welcomed Matt Lawless, who quickly saw the passionate level of civic engagement among residents as a proposal to revamp the Parade Ground left the town charged and divided. Most of the summer months
were spent in a fight over what many residents would say was to save the town’s historic village green from the dangers of “paving paradise to put up a parking lot,” or in this case a 28-foot by 14-foot pavilion. Residents charged meetings with vehement public comment and flooded online forums to express their distrust of the selectboard’s intentions while selectboard members urged residents to reexamine the root cause of the upheaval. Coming in just in time to clean up the kerfuffle was a threemonth community-building exercise known as Shelburne Forward Together meant to unite the community to find common goals about the direction Shelburne is headed. The community visits initiative was spearheaded over a year ago by Krohn after questions of development, expensive capital improvements and other changes to the town began to take shape. More than 300 residents participated in the monthly meetings and identified three top priorities as the town continues to grow: improving bike and pedestrian connectivity and safety, conserving open land and wildlife habitat, and advancing affordable housing in the community. “I also want to just step back and say there is a lot of change coming to Shelburne,” chair of the selectboard Mike Ashooh said. “We can be like the proverbial frog in the pot as it heats up around us and we don’t do anything, or we can be proactive and start to think about where we are going.”
Page 2 • December 28, 2023 • Shelburne News
Year in Review
Winter sun
Town of Shelburne makes headway in wastewater consolidation journey LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
After months of deliberation, the board landed on a final decision to consolidate at Crown Road as the most cost-effective A bond vote for one of the most expen- solution — but still not without a hefty $30 sive capital projects in Shelburne’s history is million or more price tag. Shelburne is not alone in its struggle. At coming down the pipeline next November: the consolidation of its two aging wastewater last year’s annual meeting, towns and cities across the state overwhelmingly asked voters treatment facilities. The project has been a heavy lift over the to approve millions of dollars to upgrade past two years as selectboard members care- these expensive infrastructures. “For Shelburne it is mostly age-related fully considered just how to go about a projand trying to improve operating efficiency ect of this scale. by consolidating the two Shelburne currently plants,” Wayne Elliot, presoperates two aging waste“For a community ident of Aldrich + Elliot, water treatment plants — said, noting that many of one on Crown Road and the size of Shelburne, these plants across the state another on Turtle Lane off first built in 1960 and Harbor Road — both in it is not very scalable were any last major upgrades need of extensive upgrades. The town debated a few to have two plants of were in 2000. “A lot of the major equipment has solutions but ultimately a useful life of 20 years. decided to pick between such a small size.” For a community the size upgrading the Turtle Lane of Shelburne, it is not very or Crown Road sites, rather — Wayne Elliot scalable to have two plants than improving both. In of such a small size.” September, engineers There are many other wastewater treatwith the firm Aldrich + Elliot recommended converting the Turtle Lane site into a ment facilities upgrades in the works around pump station and consolidating operations at the state, and there are many different drivers Crown Road — a process that could take five for each, he said, likening Shelburne’s project to South Burlington’s $22 million upgrade to years. But after hearing concerns from proper- its Bartlett’s Bay facility approved last Town ty owners on Mariners Cove and Mariners Meeting Day. The Shelburne board will put the quesWay near the Crown Road facility, selectboard members asked to study the efficacy of tion before voters on the November ballot as design and permitting gets underway. consolidating at Turtle Lane. “I’ve only seen sketch level plans of how In February, engineers again recommended consolidating the Crown Road facility as big the footprint of the building is and where the best solution, citing a slew of environ- it is on the property, so there aren’t plumbing, mental concerns with the Turtle Lane facility electrical, equipment plans,” town manager discharging into McCabe Brook, which has Matt Lawless said. “We need to fill out the little capability to handle wastewater. On the design for the facility, get an accurate cost other hand, the Crown Road plant discharg- estimate to be able to put that on the ballot es into Lake Champlain, where state effluent and have something that’s construction ready if it passes.” limitations are much more forgiving.
PHOTO BY LEE KROHN
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COURTESY PHOTOS
Above: Feeding Chittenden is a food shelf located in the Old North End of Burlington. Right: Edi Abeneto is the grocery distribution coordinator for Feeding Chittenden, and has been working there for over a decade.
Food shelves see increased need for services SAM JEFFERSON COMMUNITY NEWS SERVICE
Inside Feeding Chittenden, a food shelf located in the Old North End of Burlington, colorful murals dot the walls. Baguettes and fresh veggies fill the shelves of the space, which looks like a small grocery store. Edi Abeneto, Feeding Chittenden’s supervisor, greets up to four families at a time and welcomes them into the food shelf. He started at Feeding Chittenden as an interpreter in 2004. He speaks five languages, which has made him very valuable to have at the front desk. And recently, these services have become even more essential. Abeneto says Feeding Chittenden is seeing an uptick in the number of visitors using their services. “We have a number that’s increased now,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of people coming here.” One of their customers, Nicholas Peters, is grateful for the service. Peters says he’s been unhoused in Burlington for the past two years. “I’d starve if it wasn’t for them, so I mean it’s a great resource to have in the community,” he said. But it isn’t just people experiencing homelessness who have been using the food shelf’s services. Marie Baptiste is a nursing student and works full-time. She said the price for certain foods has gotten so high, it’s driven her to come here for things like bread and fresh produce. “When you’re in need, you
don’t want people to put you “When that ended across down, so this is one thing they the country, the average loss for don’t do here. Which is really a Vermont family was $500 a nice,” Baptiste said. month, and this was at the same A new federal report released time that food inflation was taking last month finds hunger in the U.S. off,” Sayles said. rose sharply last year. Many of Cuts to food stamps isn’t the Vermont’s charitable food provid- sole reason for increased food ers have said 2023 hasn’t been any insecurity. Meredith Niles, an better. associate professor and food secuThe Upper Valley Haven, a rity expert at the University of food pantry located in Hartford, is Vermont, said it’s a combination one of the many of things. Vermont pantries “You sort of “When you’re in that’s seen a simihave this perfect lar increase in storm of a lot of need, you don’t demand. issues where a “We can’t say lot of additional want people to put exactly what is relief programs happening behind are coming to you down, so this is the scenes of an end, and what is leading food inflation one thing they to this increase, has increased but it is dramatsignificantly don’t do here.” ic, and it is presin 2022, and ent,” said Michael — Marie Baptiste wages have not Redmond, the necessarily kept Haven’s executive director. pace,” Niles said. Morgan Bertholdt, the Haven’s That’s been the overall registration coordinator, said message: the flooding this summer, many clients have cited the same the food stamp budget cuts, a tight reason for seeking extra help: a housing market, these have all tighter budget. meant it’s hard to pinpoint the “A lot of people have exact reason why charitable food mentioned the cuts with food providers are seeing a prolonged stamps. Some families are only uptick in need. getting $25 to $30 per month, and One of the hopes is that more that’s barely a bag of groceries food stamp funding could be on nowadays,” Bertholdt said. the way via the 2023 Farm Bill. In March, a pandemic-era Renewed approximately every boost in extra government funding five years, the farm bill deterfor food stamps, also known as mines policy and funding levels 3SquaresVermont, ended. for agriculture, food assistance The financial impact on programs, natural resources, and Vermont families has been huge, other aspects of food and agriculaccording to John Sayles, the CEO ture under the U.S. Department of of the Vermont Food Bank. Agriculture, or USDA.
Sayles said much of the discussion around food stamp funding has become political. “The fight over the farm bill, where the food stamp levels are set, really is about the dollars,” Sayles said. “Depending on your political party, there are points of view of discouraging work by making food resources available.” Sayles said he believes the extra funds do the opposite. “Other people in Congress also say that (food stamps) help people’s ability to work, and that’s certainly something that I believe,” Sayles said. With a possible government shutdown looming, Sayles doesn’t
think it’s all too likely that the Farm Bill will pass through this year, and he’s not sure when the need in Vermont will cool off. “Honestly, I wouldn’t venture a guess on whether this one’s going to take 10 years or five years or 20 years,” Sayles said. This story is a collaboration between Vermont Public and the Community News Service. The Community News Service is a student-powered partnership between the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program and community newspapers across Vermont.
BARKEATERS HAS REOPENED! Back Tuesday through Saturday 11:30 a.m.- 8 p.m. Open all day Please join us in welcoming Chef Peter along with new owners longtime bartender Julie and her husband David! We couldn’t be more excited to welcome you back! 97 Falls Road • Shelburne • (802) 985-2830 barkeatersrestaurant.com
Page 4 • December 28, 2023 • Shelburne News
State treasurer promotes ‘baby bonds’ legislation HABIB SABET VTDIGGER
Vermont Treasurer Mike Pieciak is promoting legislation that would create a state baby bonds program, an initiative that would set aside money for Vermont children who are on Medicaid at birth and allow them to access that money when they turn 18. The policy would invest $3,200 for each Vermont child born on Medicaid into a state trust fund managed by the state treasurer’s office. Those children could later access the bond money between the ages of 18 and 30, provided they are residents of Vermont and use the money for wealth-building activities, which include buying a home in Vermont, starting a business, or pursuing higher education. Pieciak unveiled the proposal at a press conference last week at the Spectrum Youth & Family Services Center in Burlington, addressing a room of lawmakers and community members alongside bill sponsors Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden Southeast, and Rep. Dan Noyes, D-Wolcott, as well as nationally recognized experts on the baby bonds concept. “The baby bonds program has three basic aims,” Pieciak
said. “It’s aimed at addressing generational poverty, promoting rural economic development, and retaining young people in our state.” According to data shared at the press conference, about 2,000 children are born on Medicaid in Vermont each year, meaning that a baby bonds initiative would require nearly $6.5 million each year. Asked how the program would be funded, Pieciak said that the initial plan is to use money from the state’s Unclaimed Property General Fund Transfer, derived from unclaimed property given over to the state each year. “Investing in baby bonds provides hope and a chance to allow individuals to have a stake in their own future — a future where they’re not just paying bills but actually have an ability to get ahead,” Noyes told those gathered for the press conference. Ram Hinsdale will lead support for the bill in the Senate in the upcoming legislative session. “So often, people just need the foundation and the helping hand to take their passion, their energy, their great ideas, their drive to be successful,” Hinsdale said. “Something to give you your
PHOTO BY HABIB SABET/VTDIGGERTREASURER
Treasurer Mike Pieciak unveils the proposed Baby Bonds legislation at the Spectrum Youth & Family Services Center in Burlington.
own capital and your own foundation when you come of age can be life-changing for so many people and can have a huge generational impact.”
NEW YEAR’S EVE
Vermont could become the second state to adopt a baby bonds program after Connecticut, which implemented a similar program earlier this year. The policies of both states are based primarily on the theories of Darrick Hamilton, a professor of Economics and Urban
Policy at The New School, who also spoke at the press conference in support of the proposal. “Baby bonds are trying to offer everybody the benefits associated with a capital foundation that those that are born into certain families already have,” Hamilton said.
BURLINGTON, VERMONT
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Shelburne News • December 28, 2023 • Page 5
OPINION ‘You better not cry’: Memories of Christmases past to department store windows, Hallmark cards and Bing Crosby’s dreams. They mostly Walt Amses didn’t happen; in fact, the first The windows of the old one I remember, I really don’t Buick are fogged over as my remember at all, at least not as a father winds his way through personal experience. suburban New Jersey late on a It was several years later 1950s Christmas night while I when a blockbuster nor’easter use my itchy wool cap to create a finally hit our area late on Dec. small viewing portal in the back 25, 1969, dropping well over a window, praying the misty rain foot of snow. I was in my last will eventually turn to snow but few months of military service it never does. and missed it other than enviThe single-family houses we ously thumbing through the pass one after the other adorned couple of out-of-focus photos with multicolored strands of light that arrived the following week, are a mystery to me having lived illustrating my hometown as an in rented apartunlikely winter ments for as far wonderland. My Christmas solace back as memory But those will take me. shimmering was centered on Strangers, reflections on seemingly better rain-slicked an oddly obsessive off, were living streets in other in houses rather neighborpredilection than rental units hoods trigger far more likely to a panorama of for paralyzing be the setting of memory that a television show pings through snowstorms that like the “Advenmy conscioustures of Ozzie ness this time never came ... Why and Harriet,” of year: being which dominated a kid in that a blizzard would the airwaves for monochrome 14 seasons, a world so many fix any of that is template of the of my boomer somewhat vague, nuclear family cohort recall to which we with warm sentibut a fair amount would unlikely mentality. While aspire. Without I don’t necesof magical thinking much competsarily share that itive media it perspective, I goes a long way didn’t seem at think I underall unusual that stand why in fleshing out the the Nelson’s son people look Ricky would back on those concept. become a rock years so fondly. star singing in the Most obvifamily living room at the end of ously, we were kids who never each episode. had it so good and, living as The larger issue those we did in post-war boom times long-ago nights as the yuletide when many of our parents — waned, on our way back from even apartment dwellers — were my grandmother’s house, was doing pretty well. Although time has a way of that however interminable the sanding down the rough edges, wait for Christmas had been, in mere hours it would be suddenly, on the cusp of adolescence, I remember that world being unequivocally over. The next difficult to negotiate, with my one an agonizing year away in life revolving around parochial as unpredictable and perilous school and the holidays adding a future as could be imagined another layer of complexity as by 12-year-olds, with ready-tocommercialism and Catholilaunch Russian ICBMs aimed cism eyed each other warily. We directly at Bayonne, ready at a were inundated with subliminal moment’s notice to obliterate us messages from Madison Avenue in cascades of fire. suggesting it was perfectly fine In the days before weather satellites, predictions were iffy at to want things while the church was more explicit in its blanket best, but one recurring meteorodenunciation of enjoyment. logical theme seemed to be that white Christmases were limited Trying to balance piety and
Guest Perspective
greed was an exhausting dance we all did with fears of hell meted out by Russian missiles or at the hands of an angry deity populating our nightmares. I was certain we were doomed to a fiery eternity since even though we might negotiate with the Soviets, the birthday boy was not so easily placated and probably undaunted by duck-and-cover drills. My Christmas solace was centered on an oddly obsessive predilection for paralyzing snowstorms that never came — at least not around the holidays; and a week’s vacation from school and nuns fueled by passionate hatred of both, and sufficient guilt to render a typically confused boy, looking for a path forward through the minefield of midcentury contradictions as the country boomed and the Cold War loomed, borderline insane. Why a blizzard would fix any of that is somewhat vague, but a fair amount of magical thinking goes a long way in fleshing out the concept. I still can’t make up my mind whether my childhood was happy or miserable — probably somewhere in between like everyone else’s — but one thing stands out: I never liked where we lived and constantly
daydreamed of being somewhere else entirely. More trees and less concrete, wildlife other than pigeons, squirrels or rats, and billowing mounds of snow that remained white for more than a few hours. More than 30 years later, it’s Christmas Eve and there’s a ring
around the moon. I’m middle aged by now, but I’m as excited as that 12-year-old at the prospect of a heavy snowfall this well timed. It’s as though I’ve waited for this my entire life and while See CHRISTMAS on page 7
Wishing you a safe and joyous holiday season.
Celebrate Sober!
celebrate sober 2023.indd 27
11/27/23 3:42 PM
Page 6 • December 28, 2023 • Shelburne News
High cost of low-income housing in Vermont ed to cost $450,000 each, about the same cost as a nice condo in downtown Boston. Andrew K. Gentile Just like the Morrisville gaffe, The new Village Center Apart- the Packard Court apartments ments in Morrisville were built to are also too small for families. be affordable housing for low-inOut of 30 units, 21 will be studio come earners and the homeless, apartments and nine will be however the price tag of $7.9 one-bedroom. Again, if we use million is hardly affordable by estimated sizes for studios and almost any housing standard. one-bedroom apartments, the cost The brand new, deluxe of construction would exceed building has 24 apartments, most $600 per square foot, possibly the too small for a family. There are most expensive construction in seven studios, 13 the state. one-bedrooms Subsidized Homelessness is a and four two-bedhousing is rooms. If all the big business serious condition apartments are in Vermont. treated as an Taxpayer money that needs to equal percentage is being used to of the building, fund housing be addressed, their per unit that few workvalue would be ing Vermonters but mostly it is $329,167, more could even than the average afford. And a symptom of cost of a two-bedwhy not? From room house with an investment underlying financial land in Vermont. standpoint, there The unit sizes is no downside. problems. were not given on It’s a great the Evernorth website, but if we investment with almost no risk assume typical apartment sizes, and state-guaranteed rents. There the square footages per unit would is money to be made in homelessbe approximately 600, 900, and ness. 1,200, respectively for a studio, Motels all over the state are one bedroom or two bedroom, pitching in to help the homeless. making the construction cost $382 According to the Caledonian per square foot, or 170 percent Record, from January to October of the average cost of construc2022, the Fairbanks Inn in St. tion for a single family home Johnsbury grossed $1.8 million, in Vermont. It would have been and the Colonnade Inn in Lyndoncheaper to have purchased 24 ville grossed $850,000. These single-family homes with land. are not particularly nice motels, Not to be outdone by the yet due to the limitless generosMorrisville taxpayer largesse, ity of the state, they have been the Packard Court Units in St transformed into cash-machines Johnsbury, also designated as and are able to maintain near 100 low-income housing, are expectpercetn occupancy while charging
Guest Perspective
prime rates up to $180 per night. Participating motels gorging themselves on state vouchers are probably making at least double what they made as motels. This is a tax-funded feeding frenzy, and you are fooling yourself if you think this is temporary. We are witnessing the birth of the new, highly profitable homelessness industry. Although these housing programs are often advertised as helping “Vermont families,” consider that only four of the 54 apartments available between Village Center and Packard Court are large enough for a family. More than half are studios. These subsidized units are for single people. The dollar amounts are staggering. The state pays nearly $60,000 per year to house just one homeless person in a motel. This is just for housing, not including health care and food. To support an investment like the Morrisville apartments, the unsubsidized rents would have to be around $3,500 per month for a one-bedroom. The Packard Court apartments would be more like $4,500 per month. This, of course, is not what residents will pay; this simply represents the market values of the units. Very few working Vermonters could afford to live in an apartment worth $450,000. To put these bloated costs in perspective, it costs $35,998 a year for a student to attend The University of Vermont, and that includes food, housing and a college education. If you want a bullet-proof measure of just how poorly these programs are being run, consider that it would cost
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half as much to give a homeless person a college education at UVM — including food and housing — as it would to support them through Vermont’s motel program. Where is all the money going? Homelessness is a serious condition that needs to be addressed, but mostly it is a symptom of underlying financial problems. Permanent and excessive subsidies are not the solution; they are just allowing the under-
lying problems to continue and to worsen. Unfortunately, there appears to be no amount of spending to which the Vermont Legislature would say, “Sorry, we can’t afford that.” It is no wonder homelessness is increasing in Vermont. This won’t end well. It might not even end. Andrew K. Gentile lives in Sheffield.
Letters to the Editor Time to fly special interest flags is ‘never’ To the Editor: In response to the article “CVSD questions BLM flag,” the right time to remove the BLM flag from school property is immediately, if not sooner. The right time to raise it, or any other flag representing social activist organizations, is never. (Dec. 7, 2023) Assuming that this is not a privately funded school district, the school administration is forgetting that the school building is public property paid for by taxpayers, and it is quite likely that there are taxpayers who do not care to see that flag flying over public property. The one and only flag that should be flying over public property is the American flag, often referred to as the Stars and Stripes. Everyone sits around lamenting the fact that we are a divided country. Acts like flying BLM
flags and other flags of special interest groups that promote controversial ideas that not everyone will agree with just makes that divide even wider. Gary Brown Liverpool, N.Y.
Sheriff’s idea just erodes local control To the Editor: With reference to “Vermont needs Act 46 for town government,” Windham County sheriff Mark Anderson is publicly proposing to offer law-enforcement services shared per capita by all Windham County towns that do not have police departments — emulating shared EMS services provided by nonprofit Rescue Inc. (Dec. 21, 2023) Is “local control” becoming passé? Howard Fairman Putney
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Shelburne News • December 28, 2023 • Page 7
Veterans still struggle with the effects of asbestos exposure Guest Perspective Cristina Johnson The U.S. Armed Forces utilized asbestos-containing products throughout most of the last century. The Marines, Navy, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard heavily used products containing asbestos, resulting in many service members’ exposure to asbestos while defending our nation. The growing number of toxic exposure cases among veterans today underlines the health risks they took besides the challenges of service. On top of facing the transition into civilian life after fulfilling a duty, veterans now face developing incapacitating asbestos diseases that may be linked to their military years. Asbestos was once praised for its fire-resistant and insulating properties, and nobody considered it a potent threat when its microscopic fibers were released into the air and inhaled. It is why asbestos exposure remains a continuous concern for all veterans, including those among Vermont’s veteran community and Shelburne’s veteran population. Although the military used asbestos mainly for insulation in vehicles, tools, barracks, aircraft, ships and shipyards, the Navy exploited it the most heavily. It put personnel serving onboard naval vessels in the last century at an outstandingly high risk of asbestos exposure. However, this doesn’t prevent other military bases from being a potential source of asbestos contamination for service members. Vermont is home to Camp Ethan Allen Training Site, an Army base known for its elite Army Mountain Warfare School, and the U.S. Coast Guard established Coast Guard Station Burlington in 1948 to oversee Lake Champlain. The unit coordinates search and rescue operations and marine law enforcement on Lake George, Lake Sacandaga, and Lake Memphremagog. During World War II, the U.S. Army Air Forces established numerous airfields in Vermont to train fighter and bomber aircraft pilots and aircrews.
Deteriorating health Over the years of duty, veterans on military and naval bases worked and
lived near materials containing asbestos, unaware of the danger they represented. The toxic material was abundant on military property, such as sleeping barracks, mess halls, boiler, pump and engine rooms, and put veterans at a high risk of asbestos exposure. Thanks to the size and structure of its fibers, asbestos can float in the air for hours and this makes asbestos dust one of the most toxic substances, as the microscopic threads are easily inhaled or ingested. Once inside the body, these tiny particles cause permanent damage to major organs and lead to devastating diseases. One of the most significant aspects of asbestos-related diseases is the decadeslong latency period between exposure and the first symptoms. Even if veterans may not have experienced health problems during their service, they’ll discover the effects of asbestos exposure only over time when they are diagnosed with illnesses related to it, like mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis or other severe respiratory diseases.
• Spread awareness: Protecting the other is one of the valuable lessons in the military; veterans can play a massive role in raising awareness and educating by sharing their experiences and knowledge about asbestos exposure risks with their communities and fellow servicemen and women. By doing so, they can help ensure that others who protected our country are informed. As we express gratitude to veterans, we also acknowledge our responsibility to protect their health and well-being. Awareness of asbestos exposure is a central part of this responsibility. By shedding light on this still lurking danger, we can make sure that those who served receive the care and support they rightly deserve. Cristina Johnson is a U.S. Navy veteran advocate for Asbestos Ships Organization, a nonprofit whose primary mission is to raise awareness and educate veterans about the dangers of asbestos exposure on Navy ships and assist them in navigating the VA claims process.
Struggle for health Although many years have passed since asbestos was applied by the Navy and the other armed services, veterans who encountered it during their service years now have to fight for their health. Many must come to terms with the stark reality that their service to the country held an enormous personal sacrifice and that besides affecting them physically and psychologically, their asbestos diseases shorten their lifespan and steal precious time from their families. With Vermont ranking 47th in the U.S. for deaths related to asbestos exposure, veterans should strongly consider making an appointment with the doctor. Given that early detection considerably improves treatment results and may add years to life, they should proactively protect their health through: • Regular health check-ups: Scheduling periodic medical examinations and being open about military service and possible asbestos exposure is crucial. The inhaled asbestos fibers damage the lungs first, so veterans should request chest X-rays or CT scans and pulmonary function tests, also known as the breathing test. These imag-
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continued from page 5 I completely understand how simplistic it is for a grownup to feel this way, I allow myself to be enthralled by the sheer joy of it all. Early the next morning there’s 6 to 8 inches of dry, fluffy powder on the ground and it’s still snowing heavily. I quietly get dressed, slip out of the house and head down the driveway on cross country skis with a specific objective in mind that would be too risky any other day. I’ve envisioned this and I’m giddy with the anticipation of knowing exactly how it’s going to go. A couple of hundred yards down the road there’s a long hill with a curve at
istic tests show any damage caused by the asbestos fibers and are a reliable diagnostic tool for benign and malignant asbestos-related illnesses. • Legal rights: Veterans who are sure they’ve worked in an asbestos-contaminated environment during their duty, or those who suspect they’ve been exposed to it, should know their rights and options. Legal avenues and compensation programs are available to assist vets harmed by asbestos exposure. As a veteran, you have the legal right to seek compensation from asbestos trust funds and apply for VA disability benefits. Asbestos trust funds are a significant source of monetary indemnification for individuals harmed by occupational exposure, including former military personnel. These funds were set up by liable companies that entered bankruptcy protection and have approximately $37 billion currently available for future claimants. Veterans injured by asbestos exposure during duty can file a claim for compensation with both asbestos trust funds and Veterans Affairs.
the bottom around which you cannot see from the top. But the unplowed road is completely mine this morning as I bend my knees slightly and put my skis together, quickly picking up speed, a million tiny snowflakes entangling my beard. I glance down to find my skis nearly invisible, tips barely protruding from the blanket of snow, each with a distinct rooster tail of powder spraying my knees as I hurtle down the hill, euphoric as my mind wanders, momentarily still the boy in the Buick. Walt Amses lives and writes from North Calais.
Page 8 • December 28, 2023 • Shelburne News
COURTESY PHOTOS
Above: Bob Bouvier came to see Theo Judge’s STEM display work at school. Top right: Judge turns his bat under Bouvier’s guidance. Right: Taking precise measurements.
Theo’s bat
A school project brings generations together For one student at The Schoolhouse in South Burlington, a simple school project turned into a story of tradition, craftsmanship and mentoring. Community and connection first came together when Theo Lyons Judge, 11, of Charlotte, a kid who lives and breathes baseball, met Bob Bouvier, 84, of South Burlington, an experienced woodturner with a knack for turning timber into treasure. For the school’s yearly STEM display, the middle school teaching team asked students to form a research question related to the school’s yearly science theme — forestry. Theo’s take on the project combined the topic with his own
passion for baseball. What kind of wood makes the best bat, he wondered. Then, right after that: What if I could make my own bat? “How I got the idea is that I wanted to test the bat out and see how it hit and what the difference was between metal and wooden baseball bats,” he said. He approached administrator Elsa Oppenheimer of Shelburne, a talented woodturner who gives introductory lathe lessons to middle-schoolers, about the possibility of making his own bat. While Oppenheimer did not have the necessary equipment, she did know Bouvier and set to work introducing the two.
“Every woodturner I know wants to pass their craft onto the next generation,” Oppenheimer said. “Bob’s willingness to work with Theo, to teach him, doesn’t surprise me. If you know Bob, you know kindness.” The woodturners met at Bouvier’s home workshop in South Burlington, a place known for sawdust and skill. Together they embarked upon a project: teaching Judge how to turn his own baseball bat from maple wood, just in time for the school’s annual STEM display. Somewhere along the way, a simple school project turned into a partnership between an enthusiastic kid eager to learn and a skilled craftsman generously willing to
teach. And the story became a tale of connecting the dots between education, tradition and the timeless joy of making something useful. “Elsa, I enjoyed doing it more than I can express,” Bouvier wrote to Oppenheimer. “Seeing Theo’s face and reaction. Thank you so much for making it possible for this old woodworker to enjoy himself so much!” For Theo’s part, he loved getting to use the tools in Bouvier’s workshop. His favorite was “probably using the roughing
gouge which is one of the big tools that scrapes off a lot of wood.” When the bat was finished, Theo proudly presented it at the school’s STEM display along with his research project. Bouvier was first in line to congratulate him. “It was fairly heavy,” Theo said of their finished product. “A little heavier than I thought it would be.” Will the bat see game action? “If I’m allowed to, probably,” Theo says, noting that his bat might take some growing-into. “It’s the next size up.”
Shelburne News • December 28, 2023 • Page 9
Rowan plays packed house
CVU Music Fundraiser Christmas Tree Pick-up Want to recycle your Christmas tree AND help support CVU Music Students? CVU Band students will be picking up Christmas trees in Shelburne and Hinesburg* for a $15 donation
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Call today to plan for your future home at The Pines. COURTESY PHOTO
On Dec. 21, neighbors celebrated the Winter Solstice via a free concert by Vermont folk band Rowan. The band performed Americana classics and traditional instrumentals in front of a beyond-capacity crowd at the Old Town Hall within the Pierson Library. Rowan opened with Gillian Welch’s “Scarlet Town,” eased into Watchhouse’s “Old Ties & Companions,” and then broke into their own original “Row Chandler Row” about an 1872 tragedy on Lake Champlain. Next, the band produced the traditional Irish ballad “Spancil Hill,” during which one could almost smell the Guinness in a County Clare pub. A lively bag pipe and fiddle jig followed, before Rowan performed Watchhouse’s heartfelt “Waltz About Whiskey.” The show ended with “Holly King,” another instrumental jam and finally a cajoled encore of “Jack of Diamonds.” Town hall was full, with late arrivals forced to stand in the back.
Community Notes Shelburne host blood drive, sign up now St. Catherine of Siena Parish is hosting another Red Cross blood drive on Tuesday, Jan. 23, noon-5 p.m., in its parish hall, 72 Church St., Shelburne. To give, call 800-733-2767 or visit redcrossblood.org and enter Shelburne to schedule an appointment. Appointments are strongly recommended as walks-ins cannot always be accommodated. If you are an eligible type O, B - or A - donor, consider making a power red donation. Red blood cells are the most transfused blood component. Streamline your donation experience and save up to 15 minutes by visiting the website to complete your rapid pass, pre-donation health history.
UVM researchers talks about nature, happiness Does nature make us happier? That’s the question speaker Taylor Ricketts, director of the Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont, will answer at a talk on Thursday, Jan. 25, 7:30 p.m., at Shelburne’s old town hall. As people who love the outdoors, being in nature probably makes us happy. But is that true for everyone? How big is the effect? What is the actual evidence that time in nature leads to measurable improvements in mental health? Taylor will talk about what scientists are learning about the
relationship between nature and mental health, using everything from social media to wearable technology to trailhead surveys. Taylor’s research centers on the overarching question: How do we meet the needs of people and nature in an increasingly crowded, changing world? His work has focused on the economic and health benefits provided to people by forests, wetlands, reefs and other natural areas. Before arriving at UVM, Taylor led World Wildlife Fund’s Conservation Science Program. Taylor is an elected fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Ecological Society of America. Cost is $5 for Green Mountain Club members, $8 for others. No registration is necessary. More information can be found at gmcburlington.org/events or by calling Ted Albers at 802-5577009.
Lasagna on the menu at January Age Well meal Age Well and St. Catherine’s of Siena Parish in Shelburne are teaming up to provide a meal to go for anyone age 60 and older on Tuesday, Jan. 9 The meal will be available for pick up in the parking lot at 72 Church St. from 11 a.m. until noon and are available for anyone 60 or older. Suggested donation is $5. See COMMUNITY NOTES on page 12
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All profits will be used to help defray some of the cost of the Band’s trip to Boston in the Spring. Just write a check to “CVU Band”, put it in an envelope and plastic baggie and attach to your tree. Put your tree by the curb the morning of the 6th and CVU music students will pick up your tree. (Condos and Apartments - leave at entrance of development) * In Hinesburg, we will be picking up trees only in large neighborhoods or in the town center. You do not need to call ahead of time, just leave your tree on the curb. If you think we missed you, please call (802) 233-4917 if we haven’t picked up your tree by 2:30.
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Page 10 • December 28, 2023 • Shelburne News
Museum exhibit on the hunt for lost ski areas TOMMY GARDNER STAFF WRITER
Most ski resorts are highly visible from miles away, their trails transforming mountain faces from undulating expanses of forest into crisscrossing streaks of white. But for the roughly 150 bygone small ski areas that once dotted Vermont’s hills in all corners of the Green Mountain State, you have to look really hard for evidence that they once existed. There’s a series of rope tow pullies being engulfed by the trees they’re nailed to at what was once known as West Mountain Farm ski area in Arlington. There’s a rusty old bullwheel and some shacks overrun by underbrush at Hogback Mountain in Marlboro. A chairlift line and a tower are all that remain of Snow Valley in Winhall. “There’s still all these artifacts, just hiding in the woods now,” Poppy Gall said. Gall and other intrepid snow country sleuths at the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum have been looking for the state’s once vibrant but long-gone ski areas for about 20 years, and the museum’s newest exhibit represents the fruits of their labor. It’s still a work in progress. For the next year, the museum will showcase the southern half of the state, featuring roughly 70 ski areas located, at one time or another, between the Massachusetts border and Route 4. Next fall, the museum will feature another 100 hills closer to home. In the meantime, Gall said she and her colleagues are hoping to crowdsource memories. “We really, really want the human input and the memories, and the memorabilia,” she said. “There’s not a lot of people around who are going to remember those lost areas from the ‘30s, ‘40s, even ‘50s.” Gall said to be considered for the lost ski areas list, a place had to, well, be lost. As in no longer in operation. The second criterion: each ski area had to feature some sort of conveyance up the hill. “It could just be a rope tow in some farmer’s back forty,” she said. “It could just be anywhere that, at one point, the community gathered to ski with a mechanized tow.” Some of the hills were spartan affairs, but some were borderline luxe for their scale. Gall’s hometown hill, Snow Valley in Winhall, started life in 1941 with a T-bar, two rope tows and six trails, along with a single-story wood and stone base lodge dubbed Snow Man’s Rest. At one point in its 42-year existence, Snow Valley featured a tow on a coin-operated timer — 25 cents bought you a single trip up the hill. Elsewhere, some of the roughly 70 lost ski areas featured in the exhibit have scant information aside from a sentence or two about their existence. For instance, little is known about Buckturd Basin, perhaps the most colorful sounding area of the bunch, other than it was open in the 1980s in West Townsend and had a rope tow serving five trails and some glades, used by the property owners and their friends. These mysterious entries are supplemented by some ski areas with bigger exhibit presences, partly because the museum was able to procure enough artifacts to fill the walls. One of the more information rich areas showcases Dutch Hill in Heartwellville, one of the few
PHOTOS BY GORDON MILLER
At bottom right, Poppy Gall, one of the curators behind the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum’s new exhibit exploring Vermont’s “Lost Ski Areas,” talks with a museum-goer in front of a map showing more than 170 different ski areas past and present.
“lost and found” areas that were resurrected decades after their apparent disappearance. According to the exhibit, Dutch Hill operated continuously between 1944-1980 — although its heyday was over by the late 1960s. Then, in 2016, a group breathed new life into it as a backcountry touring area.
Headed north There are a couple of reasons why the first part of the two-year exhibit starts in the southern part of the state. For one, Gall, et al, are hoping the exhibit will spark enough interest so that people can help fill in the blanks about more than a dozen lost ski areas in the greater Stowe area. That includes four hills not named Stowe Mountain Resort in what has long been known as the “Ski Capital of the East.” It’s obvious when you look at some of them that they offered plenty of minor-league downhill action — for instance, Marshall Hill, which rises behind Stowe Elementary School smack in Stowe village, is still a popular recess-time sledding destination. Other lost Stowe ski areas are Town and Country and Edson Hill Manor, the provenance of which are clear to Gall, even if it’s not clear to her what kind of experiences they offered. There’s also a lost Stowe ski area called See EXHIBIT on page 12
Shelburne News • December 28, 2023 • Page 11
COURTESY PHOTO
White-tailed deer are a generalist species in Vermont, one expected to be increasingly well-suited to the environment as the climate changes.
Generalists vital to forest health Into the Woods Ethan Tapper At one time or another, I expect that many of us have wondered if it is better to be a specialist or a generalist — to try to be great at one thing or to be passable at many different things. Across deep time, Earth’s millions of species have “asked” this same question, again and again: if it is wiser to be an expert at exploiting a single, narrow ecological niche or to be able to exist under a wide range of different conditions. Both specialization and generalization are evolutionary strategies that can be advantageous under different circumstances, and Vermont’s forests are filled with both specialists and generalists. Of forest trees, sugar maple is an example of a specialist, growing almost exclusively on soils with a relatively high pH and an abundance of calcium and other minerals — what foresters call enriched sites. While this means that sugar maple is not well-suited to many places across our landscape, on an enriched site it is extremely competitive — often accounting for more than 75 percent of the trees. By contrast, the closely related red maple is a generalist, capable of growing in swamps and on mountain tops and almost everywhere in between. While you can find some red maple trees in almost any forest, it will rarely be more than a minor component. It is a typical generalist: a jack of all trades and a master of none. In forests and other ecosystems, we tend to celebrate the specialists — the spring beauty miner bee, which visits only
spring beauty flowers; the Dutchman’s breeches, pollinated only by queen bumblebees. Specialists are often species with unique gifts and adaptations, brilliant at accessing a specific food source or utilizing a particular life strategy. However, as Vermont’s native species face the myriad threats, stressors, changes and uncertainties of global change — climate change, non-native invasive plants, pests and pathogens, deforestation, forest fragmentation and more — the generalists, the species that can adapt, are better positioned to survive. Among wildlife, we know our most successful generalists well: the raccoons, skunks and opossums, the gulls and the crows. All these species are sometimes ridiculed for their “trashy” behavior — gulls and raccoons have been nicknamed “dump ducks” and “trash pandas,” respectively — but, looked at another way, these species’ ability to exploit the abundance of resources produced and discarded by humans is extremely innovative and adaptive. A crow feeding on roadkill or a black bear eating trash from a dumpster is an example of a generalist species that has adapted to exploit an easy and ubiquitous food source. While I hope that the previous paragraph helps vindicate and celebrate some of the generalist species that live, and cause mischief, among us, creating a world in which generalists thrive is also problematic for a variety of reasons. For example, all the generalist species mentioned above, except the gulls, perhaps, are nest predators. Their elevated populations around forest edges, houses and developed areas leads to decreased songbird nesting
success. White-tailed deer are another generalist species, one that has been so successful in our changing world that deer overpopulations damage habitat for tens of thousands of other species and impair the health, function and resilience of ecosystems across much of the North American continent. In the case of red maple and sugar maple, we expect sugar maple to be one of the tree species most adversely impacted by climate change, whereas red maple is projected to be one of the most successful — largely due to its generalist nature. While it may be that our forests’ future belongs to red maple, we cannot abandon sugar maple entirely. It, and our other specialists, are vital and irreplaceable, supporting crucial natural processes and providing habitat for entire communities of native species. In this changed and changing world, the specialists are often the species that are most under threat, which just means that they are those most in need of our help. Whether you consider yourself a generalist or a specialist, I’m sure that you admire people that have taken the other road. In our human communities, both specialists and generalists contribute to diverse and functional societies. In forests, both specialists and generalists are vital to the health and the future of these incredible ecosystems. Ethan Tapper is the Chittenden County forester for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. See what he’s been up to, check out his YouTube channel, sign up for his eNews and read articles he’s written at linktr.ee/ chittendencountyforester.
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Page 12 • December 28, 2023 • Shelburne News
COMMUNITY NOTES
Airborne
continued from page 9 The menu is baked cheese lasagna rollettes with marinara and beef, spinach, biscuit, pineapple chunks and milk. To order a meal contact Kathleen at agewellstcath@gmail.com or 802-503-1107. Deadline to order is Wednesday, Jan. 3. If this is a first-time order, provide your name, address, phone number and date of birth. If you haven’t yet filled out a congregate meal registration form, bring a completed registration form with you or send one to: Age Well; 875 Roosevelt Highway, Ste. 210, Colchester VT 05446. Forms will be available at meal pick up. Learn about restaurant tickets to dine at participating restaurants at agewellvt.org.
PHOTO BY AL FREY
A Champlain Valley Union gymnast vaults during the pommel horse competition against Essex High School.
EXHIBIT
continued from page 10 Strom’s, which Gall assumes is named after legendary Norwegian alpinist Erling Strom, who is perhaps best known around here as the man who challenged Austrian Sepp Ruschp, the founder of Stowe’s first ski school, to the now-famous bet that would become the Stowe Derby: a race from the top of Mt. Mansfield to Stowe village on a single pair of skis. In addition, museum researchers are seeking information on 13 other lost ski areas near Stowe. • There are five in Waterbury, including Ski Slide, Pinnacle Park Skiland, Sunset Hill, Waterbury Village Area and Waterbury Ski Tow. • Two in Morrisville: Wyck House Tow and Samoset Country Club. • Two in Jeffersonville (not counting Smugglers’ Notch Ski
Resort): Glenn Skiff Farm and Jeffersonville Tow. • Johnson State College in Johnson, which Gall said produced high caliber alpine skiers. • North Country Ski Park in Hyde Park. • Hardwick Ski Tow in Hardwick. • Sterling Tow in Craftsbury. There’s another logical reason for chronicling Vermont’s lost ski areas from south to north — because that’s how lift-assisted skiing in the state evolved. The museum exhibit dedicates sizable wall space to half a dozen lost ski areas in Woodstock, where to this day Saskadena (formerly Suicide) Six still operates. This is the birthplace of lift-served skiing in the United States, according to the exhibit. “Until 1934, any downhill
skiing had to be ‘earned’ by climbing uphill before sliding down, which limited both participation and how much skiing you could get in a day,” an exhibit display notes. “That all changed in 1934 with the installation of the country’s first mechanized lift, a rope tow powered by a Ford Model T engine, on Gilbert’s Hill. Soon after, other rope tows popped up on nearby Woodstock hills. And in a relatively few years, tows were spread throughout Vermont and the Northeast.” Indeed, as the exhibit shows — as Gall and company keep gathering artifacts and anecdotes — anywhere you might find a hill, you might find a way to get up and down it on a pair of planks underfoot. As long as you had a pocket full of quarters.
Vermont chamber to hold economic conference in January The 2024 Vermont Economic Conference, presented by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, will take place on Jan. 30, 8 a.m.3:30 p.m., at the University of Vermont Dudley H. Davis Center in Burlington. Industry professionals, policymakers, business owners, and community members are encouraged to attend. With workforce recruitment and retention a concern for Vermont businesses, this year’s agenda will feature a lively panel discussion entitled “The Future of Work: How Immigration Shapes
Vermont’s Talent Landscape.” In addition to highlighting the economic contributions of immigrants to Vermont, a panel of experts will share successful workforce development and diversity strategies that attendees can leverage and implement in their businesses. The panel on immigration will feature Leslie Holman of Holman Immigration Law, Tracy Dolan of the Vermont Refugee Office, Julia Birnn Fields of Birnn Chocolates of Vermont, and Adam Grinold of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation. The conference will provide networking opportunities and feature presentations on the state economic outlook with Mat Barewicz of the Vermont Department of Labor, the national economic outlook with Leslie Preston of TD Bank, and artificial intelligence with Alec Newcomb of ScaledOn. To learn more or to register, go to vtchamber.com.
Age Well, church host Frosty Funfair Luncheon St. Catherine of Siena and Age Well are teaming up to offer a Frosty Funfair Luncheon on Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the St. Catherine of Siena Parish Hall, 72 Church St. in Shelburne. The check-in time is 11:30 a.m. and the meal will be served See COMMUNITY NOTES on page 13
Beethoven’s Ninth
Shelburne Parks & Rec News Holiday office hours Shelburne Recreation will be closed Monday, Jan. 1. All facility rental requests must be confirmed by noon on Friday, Dec. 29, for the holiday weekend.
Crossfit kids Kids can join us right after school to improve general conditioning including a focus on core, strength, agility, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness. Based on the principle of movement mechanics,
consistency, form and then intensity, this program pushes for quality movement throughout childhood. Consistent mechanics translates to higher sports performance and fewer sports injuries for kids. Research also indicates that exercise is beneficial to cognitive function, which means a consistent training program will have a positive impact on a child’s academic achievement. Participants of any fitness ability are welcome to join as workouts are adjusted to the individual fitness level in a non-competitive environment. Sign
up for one or both sessions. Session A dates: Jan. 4 to Jan. 25; registration deadline Friday, Dec. 29. Session B dates: Feb. 1 to Feb. 22; registration deadline Friday, Jan. 26. Sessions are held on Thursdays, 3:15-4:15 p.m. Fee is $80 per session, for grades five to eight, led by Nick Mead and Shelburne Field House staff. See the complete listing of programs and special events at shelburnevt.org/160/parks-recreation.
COURTESY PHOTO
The Green Mountain Mahler Festival presents its annual performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, at 3 p.m. on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, at the Elley-Long Music Center in Colchester. Daniel Bruce conducts the orchestra and chorus, along with vocal soloists Bailey Hoar, Nessa Rabin, Joshua Collier and Erik Kroncke. Proceeds will benefit the McClure Miller Respite House in honor of Bill Harwood. For more information and to purchase tickets visit vtmahler.org. Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for seniors, and $20 for students and children.
Shelburne News • December 28, 2023 • Page 13
COMMUNITY NOTES continued from page 12 at noon. There is a $5 suggested donation. The menu features roast pork with sauce, diced cabbage, sliced carrots, home fries, dinner roll, apple cake and milk.
Tickets are also available at the Age Well Office, 875 Roosevelt Highway, Suite 210; Colchester. Restaurant tickets will be available for distribution for a suggested $5 donation.
Prekindergarten Lottery is now open for 2024-2025! Notice of Public Hearings for Town of Shelburne Selectboard Immediate Job Openings Prekindergarten Lottery is now open for 2024-2025! 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 9, 2024. The CVSD Early Education Program is now accepting applications for Shelburne Town Office Meeting Room 1, 5420 Shelburne Road Maintenance Technician – Skilled a randomProgram prekindergarten lottery drawing applications for the 2024-25 for school The CVSD Early Education isfornow accepting a random Immediate opening a skilled technician withofmechanical, year. This lottery is for an opportunity to enroll in one our schoolThis Selectboard meeting will include two public hearings. A complete copy of lottery prekindergarten drawing for theconstruction 2024-25 school year.knowledge. This lottery plumbing & heating, andper electrical Thisis for an opp based classrooms which run 10 hours week. Our school-based all relevant documents can be viewed on the Town of Shelburne’s to enrollwebsite in oneatof ourprekindergarten school-based classrooms which run 10 hours per position will include day to day for Williston Centralweek. Our sc classrooms arebuilding 5 STARs,needs licensed early education shelburnevt.org or at the Town Office during business hours. Call the Town Office at & Allen Brook time, full year - 7:00 am - 3:30 pm. based prekindergarten classrooms areFull 5play-based, STARs, licensed early education programs programs that School. provide developmentally appropriate 802-985-5031 with any questions. provide play-based, environments developmentally appropriate environments for all children in an i for all children in an inclusive setting. Our curriculum Preference will be given for certified/licensed HVAC, Electrical or Prekindergarten Lottery is now open for 2024-2025! is based on the Vermont Early Learning Standards (VELS). setting. Our curriculum is based on the Vermont Early Learning Standards (VELS). All are welcome. Reasonable accommodations will be provided upon request to
If it’s
ensure that public meetings are accessible to all individuals regardless of disability.
to you or your community look for it in the Shelburne
AC Technician.
Our programs follow the CVSD school Children will 3 or older The CVSD Early Education Program is now accepting applications forChildren acalendar. random Our programs follow the CVSD school calendar. who will who be age Forage further information contact Ron Larivee, rlarivee@cvsdvt.org. be 3 or older by September 1, 2024, who are not eligible for prekindergarten lottery drawing for the 2024-25 school year. This lottery is for an opportunity General Fund Operating Budget for 2024-2025 September 1, 2024, kindergarten, who are notand eligible forcommunities kindergarten, and live in the communities live in the of Charlotte, Hinesburg, to Town’s enrolloperations, in one ofalthough our school-based whichSt. run 10 hours perWilliston week. C.V.U.H.S. Our school- to enter the lo The General Fund supports most of the not theHinesburg, water,classrooms Charlotte, Shelburne, and are Groundskeeper/Maintenance St. George,George, and Williston are eligible– to entereligible the lottery. sewer, and stormwater utilities. The fiscal startsprekindergarten on July 1 and ends June 30. For Fiscalare 5Shelburne, based classrooms STARs, licensed early education programs that Assist infor caring for the school grounds, while maintaining a their highin a CVSD p Families who are selected the lottery and choose to enroll their child Families who are selected for the lottery and choose to enroll Year 2024-2025, the Town staff propose the following budgets for public review and provide play-based, access developmentally appropriate environments for all children in an inclusive standard of safety. Mowing, weed whacking, maintaining sports in a CVSD program access their Act 166 for publicly funded their Act publicly funded prekindergarten funds the school-based prog Selectboard adoption. The General Fund budget is balanced at $12,897,727. The 166child setting. Our curriculum is based on the Vermont Learning (VELS). fields, andEarly winterfunds snowfor removal. Other duties as assigned. prekindergarten the Standards school-based program.
important
News.
There will also be a 50/50 raffle and door prizes. Register by Wednesday, Jan. 10. Contact Kerry Batres, nutrition coordinator, at 802-662-5283 or email kbatres@agewellvt.org.
largest department categories are Police ($2,530,701) and Highways ($1,850,597). Town revenues come primarily from real estate taxes ($8,681,102), with smallermust be received by February 5, 2024, and are located on the CVSD All applications Full-time, day shift opening. Experience is 3 helpful for All applications must be received February 5,but 2024, andright are Our programs follow the CVSD school Children who will bebyage oror older bythe amounts from user fees, local option sales tax, and fund balance reservewebsite from calendar. Education at: https://tinyurl.com/CVSDEarlyEd using this QR code. candidate, training will be provided. Shift hours: Monday-Friday located on the CVSD Early Education website at: https://tinyurl. September 1, 2024, who are not eligible for kindergarten, and live in the communities of previous years. The estimated tax increase for a typical propertyPaper is 3.4%.applications are available upon request. 6:30 am - 3:00 pm.or using this QR code. com/CVSDEarlyEd Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, St. George, and Williston are eligible to enter the lottery.
The Selectboard is also considering several ballotwho measures additional Families are for selected forspending the lottery Paper and choose to are enroll their child in a CVSD full program Hourly rate commensurate with experience benefits applications available upon request. orand For additional information, questions about our program, any concerns in the general fund. They are: an ambulance for $375,000; a fire engine for $1,000,000; access their Act 166 publicly funded prekindergarten funds for the school-based included. Benefits: Medical, Dental, a retirementprogram. package, paid about your child’s please visitmost ourholidays website or contact an open space fund investment of $173,000. The number $173,000 represents one development, For additional information, about our program, Director or any vacation, weekends off and questions paid. cent of tax rate per $100 of assessed property value. The Townofpurchases fire and concerns about your child’s development, please visit our website Early Education, Erin Gagne at egagne@cvsdvt.org. Our EarlyEarly Education All isapplications be received by February 5, Director 2024, and are locatedErin onGagne the CVSD rescue vehicles using a bond, so the cost paid over 15 ormust 20 years, not all at once. orFor contact of Early Education, at egagne@ further information contact Tom Mongeon, tmongeon@ team is also available for developmental screenings in the areas of Education website at: https://tinyurl.com/CVSDEarlyEd or usingteam this isQR cvsdvt. Our Early Education alsocode. cvsdvt.org. communication, social-emotional development, motor skills, adaptive development, Paper applications are available 2024-2025 Capital Improvement Plan and 2024-2029 Capital Program upon request. available for developmental screenings State law calls for a capital plan connected to the Town’s long-range development and cognition. More ininformation an Early Multi-Tiered System of Supports is al the areas about of communication, socialDistrict HVAC Technician plan. Capital investments are land, buildings, and equipment which last for years emotional development, motor skills, For additional information, questions about our program, or any concerns available on the website the performs Support Services tab. This under position skilled mechanical maintenance, and are often purchased with loans. The current plan continues to pay off old Town adaptive development, and cognition. More about your child’s development, please visit our website or contact Director including inspections, repair, installation of equipment i.e. loans such as the library, while routinely replacing vehicles such as dump trucks and information about an Early Multi-Tiered heating, ventilation, A/C and refrigeration systems and perform of Early Education, Erin Gagne at egagne@cvsdvt.org. Our Early Education police cars, and investing in new infrastructure such as bike paths. The total cost of System of Supports is also available on the preventative maintenance for the Valley School District. is alsothe available for developmental screenings in Support the areas of Champlain the five-year program is $9.39 million.team Level funding program costs $1.88 million website under the Services tab. per year. The General Fund budget noted above does fullysocial-emotional fund the first year of the communication, development, motor skills, adaptive development, For further information contact Chris Giard, cgiard@cvsdvt.org capital plan.
and cognition. More information about an Early Multi-Tiered System of Supports is also available on the website the Support Services tab. online to www.cvsdvt.org/jobs Please apply You can share your thoughts about how these budgets help under us meet our community goals.
CVSD is an equal opportunity employer. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), immigrants, women, and LGBTQ+ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
-Ordered printed by Matthew Lawless, Town Manager
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Shelburne News • December 28, 2023 • Page 15
Horoscope December 28, 2023
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Page 16 • December 28, 2023 • Shelburne News
Year round in nature: Watch out under the mistletoe DEBORAH J. BENOIT UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT EXTENSION
The mention of mistletoe evokes images of a seasonal kissing ball adorned with its leaves and berries or of someone sneaking a kiss beneath a sprig of mistletoe hanging in a doorway. You probably don’t think about where mistletoe comes from or what part it plays in the ecosystems where it grows in the wild. While there are over 1,300 species of mistletoe throughout the world, the one we’re most familiar with and what we see in stores during the holiday season each year is typically American mistletoe (Phoradendron serotinum). You may hear it called by other names, such as eastern mistletoe, hairy mistletoe or oak mistletoe. This flowering perennial plant is native to the southeastern regions of the United States. American mistletoe is hardy only to Zone 6, so you won’t find it growing in the wild in Vermont. The Greek word phoradendron translates to “thief of the tree” in English. Mistletoe is a semi-parasitic plant (called a hemiparasite) and, therefore, is considered a plant disease. It must have a living host plant to survive. Its roots attach and tap into a host tree, extracting water and nutrients. It then uses those resources along with sunlight and the chlorophyll (the green pigment) in its foliage to manufacture food through photosynthesis. Mistletoe grows into large, thick clumps on the branches of deciduous trees. Its ever-
PHOTO BY HANS BRAXMEIER
Mistletoe’s white berries ripen in December, and while toxic to humans, are a welcome feast for many species of birds and animals.
green foliage makes it easy to see during the late fall and winter months when the host tree’s foliage has fallen. While mistletoe does take nutrients from its host, a healthy tree is unlikely to be significantly harmed by its presence. However, it may cause damage to the portion of the branch beyond its location. In addition, a severe infection of numerous mistletoe plants
on a single host can stress the tree, making it more susceptible to disease or other problems. Fortunately, mistletoe spreads slowly so it is not a threat to forested areas. Mistletoe spreads with the help of birds who consume its berries. The seeds, which have traveled through a bird’s digestive system, are then deposited onto host trees. Seeds also spread when they adhere to birds’
feathers or animals’ fur. Once germination takes place, mistletoe’s roots penetrate the bark of the host tree and appropriate nutrients and moisture from the tree. While its evergreen foliage allows mistletoe to perform photosynthesis, providing it with some of its needed nutrients, mistletoe does require a living host to survive and to reproduce. Mistletoe produces small, white flowers in late spring and early summer. The flowers are followed by white berries. All parts of the mistletoe plant are toxic to humans, and coming into contact with the plant may produce an allergic reaction and cause skin irritation or a rash for some people. Be sure to keep mistletoe, and its berries in particular, away from pets and small children. On the other hand, the nectar of mistletoe flowers provides a nutritious feast for pollinators. Mistletoe berries, which ripen in December, are a welcome food source for birds and animals during the winter months. The thick bunches of intertwined branches provide habitat and cover for birds and small, tree-dwelling mammals throughout the year. So, the next time you see a sprig of mistletoe this holiday season, remember the part it plays in nature all year long. For more information on mistletoe and its place in the ecosystem, see go.uvm.edu/ mistletoe. Deborah J. Benoit is a UVM Extension master gardener.
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