Shelburne News - 3-21-24

LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

After seven years, Wild Hart Distillery, a craft distillery and tasting room in Shelburne, ran its last batch of specialty spirits at the end of February.

Craig Stevens, owner and operator, said that he had let staff know about the decision in December to allow ample time for employees to find their footing.

“My biggest regret is disappointing folks,” he said. “It’s always a mixed bag when you do something that’s good for yourself, but it does impact other people both in terms of having a tasting room where people were able to come and listen to music as well as our products in the liquor stores.”

Since its founding in 2017, Stevens’ product has catered to people who crave a luxury spirit brand but at a price that doesn’t leave too big a dent. His goods can be bought at just under $30, a price point he has remained committed to keeping since the distillery’s beginning.

“The flavor profiles that we’ve developed have been things that

See WILD HART on page 12

After its first budget failed on Town Meeting Day, the Champlain Valley School District is now moving forward with a $101.8 million budget that would reduce spending by $4 million and cut 42 full-time positions.

The district’s original $105.8 million budget was voted down by nearly 2,000 votes. The new budget eliminates 17 support staff positions, previously funded through federal dollars that board members hoped to fund on their own, as well as $1.5 million in one-time spending for various school infrastructure.

Tax rate hikes expected for the district’s five member towns would be reduced by several points but would still remain in the double digits. A revote is now set for April 16.

Champlain Valley Superintendent Rene Sanchez, during the board’s emergency March 12 meeting, said that the district “took the message to heart about reducing the tax impact that largely led to the March failed vote and the community feedback that we

See BUDGET on page 16

COREY

STAFF WRITER

Sarah Dopp, South Burlington Land Trust founder, dies

COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER

Inside of the First Baptist Church in Burlington stands a 160-year E. and G.G. Hook tracker organ, an instrument as integral to the congregation as the church itself. When you enter the building and hear it play, its sound “fills the whole space and shapes the building itself,” says pastor Rev. Karen Mendes.

There are only four of these instruments in Vermont, and its historical relevance often draws visitors for the instrument itself. For decades, the organ was played by Sarah Dopp’s mother, Katherine, who became the church’s Organ Emeritus in 1982 and played the instrument until her death in 1999.

Through Sarah’s 63 years as a member of the church, the preservation of the instrument and innumerable other historical facets of the community and the state, became the driving force of her life. It propelled her work in the Chittenden County Historical Society, Vermont Historical Society

and South Burlington Land Trust, among many other local organizations.

“I think all of the work that she did in all of her different arenas came from the same source — that she felt that a person’s life should make the world a better place,” Mendes said.

Dopp, a resident of South Burlington, died suddenly on Thursday, March 7, at the age of 77. Born in Burlington to Katherine and Leroy J. Dopp in 1946, she attended South Burlington schools and graduated from the University of Vermont in 1968. She worked as a medical technologist at the Mary Fletcher Hospital for 50 years.

Dopp worked tirelessly for dozens of organization that were close to her heart and in many ways functioned as her family.

She was a regular volunteer at Meals on Wheels and Age Well Vermont, served as president and supporter of the Craftsbury Chamber Players, and sponsored the Katharine Dopp Organ Recital each year at First Baptist and supported the preservation and use of historic organs around Vermont.

“The central thing about Sarah is her volunteerism,” said Michael Mittag, a South Burlington planning commissioner member and the treasurer of the South Burlington

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7:00PM SolemnCelebrationMass oftheLord'sSupper

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COURTESY PHOTOS

Sarah Dopp on the land she donated to the South Burlington Land Trust. Dopp with Kevin Graffagnino, the former director of the Vermont Historical Society, and former trustee Lyn Blackwell, during a 2009 visit to the White House. See

DOPP

from page 2

Land Trust. “Quite honestly, I have never met anybody who managed to keep so many balls in the air at once. She volunteered for I would almost say dozens of organizations, and every day of her life she was volunteering.”

Her life revolved around historic preservation. She was an honorary board member of the Vermont Historical Society, and one of the earliest founders of the Chittenden County Historical Society, diligently keeping records and documents of local history.

“Sarah really came from a family that valued history,” said Joseph Perron, the secretary and archivist with the Chittenden County Historical Society. “She was a multigenerational Vermonter, and so I think that gave her a lot of really profound appreciation for Vermont and its history.”

At the Vermont Historical Society, she served on the board in various capacities from 1992 until 2022, when she was named an honorary trustee. She oversaw the response of the organization to the Montpelier flood of 1992, as well as the decision of the historical society to move its headquarters and its collections out of the pavilion building in Montpelier, and into old Spaulding High School, which is now the Vermont History Center in Barre.

“There was a family connection to Vermont history in general, and I think, through her love of her family and I think wanting to preserve that family story, it extended to preserving this history of Vermont,” said Stephen Perkins, the executive director of the Vermont Historical Society. “The whole idea of how family intertwines with history and affects change, that was very important to to her.”

In her younger years, she worked with Lillian Baker Carlisle, a driving force behind the foundation of the Chittenden County Historical Society who worked with Electra Havemeyer Webb in establishing collections at the Shelburne Museum.

Dopp, along with Carlisle and David Blow, worked over a 10-year span on the three-volume “Historic Guide to Burlington Neighborhoods.”

“Sarah was really a protege of her and followed in her footsteps,” Perron said, “and I think was really trying to carry on her legacy and was sort of inspired by Lillian’s example.”

A champion of conservation, she was the founder and the “heart and soul” of the South Burlington Land Trust, said Janet Bellavance, the organization’s secretary — a vehicle through which she advocated for the sentiment of place and for the preservation of some of the last remaining natural land in the community.

Spring sprang

For years, she advocated tirelessly to protect other lands in the area from potential development and for permanent conservation, and often urged community members to conserve their own properties. And in September 2023, Dopp donated 40 acres of her own land in the city’s Southeast Quadrant to be permanently protected — the city’s largest gift of a conservation easement in its history.

She was honored for her work in 2014 with the Hildene Award, given annually to Vermonters who have made extraordinary contributions in the areas of land conservation and historic preservation.

“Without Sarah, South Burlington would be a very different place,” Mittag said. “Particularly with farmers like the Leduc family and the Auclair family, Sarah was the person who talked to them about conserving their land, rather than dividing it up and having it sold for development.”

Without her, Mittag said, the area “might look like New Jersey. It would be overdeveloped. Lots

that are now open would be paved over — I don’t think it’s a hyperbole to say that.”

But while Dopp advocated for historical preservation, those who knew her said she was progressive in her understanding of what history means and “was very expansive in wanting us as an organization to tell everyone’s story,” Perkins said.

She supported the organization’s work to expand its historical women’s database and was very much an activist in LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, and in and all these ideas of “telling as many stories and accepting as many people as possible,” Perkins said.

“She was not stuck in the past, but she had a real reverence for it and wanted Vermont’s story to be told and in an authentic and an honest way, and was kind of working for that,” Perron said. “There’s a huge void that’s going to be left in her absence.”

A memorial service for Dopp will be held at the First Baptist Church in Burlington on April 12 at 10 a.m. All are welcome to attend, Mendes said.

in the Beautiful Four-Story Atrium Restaurant

PHOTO BY LEE KROHN

This week might have signaled the arrival of spring, but it still seems too early for crocus.

Shelburne honors new police, dispatch hires

MIKE DONOGHUE CORRESPONDENT

Shelburne will honor some newly promoted police officers and a half dozen new hires during a special reception at the Shelburne Museum on Friday evening.

Officer Kyle Kaputanski, a former Richmond police chief and Rutland County deputy sheriff has been elevated to sergeant. The 22-year veteran joined the department in July 2022.

He replaces longtime Sgt. Bruce Beuerlein, who retired, according to chief Mike Thomas.

Thomas said the department also has filled two corporal slots. Officer Matt Denis, a retired Vermont State Police sergeant, and officer Keith Gonyeau, who previous worked at Vergennes and Williston police departments, will be elevated to corporal.

The town also will recognize five new emergency dispatchers hired as replacements over the past seven months. Shelburne

also will welcome former Burlington Police Lt. Daniel Delgado, who was recently hired as a probationary patrol officer.

Williams said two people applied during a competitive process to fill the sergeant’s slot. He said two other people applied to be corporals and were approved.

The recognition and appreciation ceremony will be from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education at the Shelburne Museum.

KWINIASKA RIDGE

Shelburne Police Blotter: March 11-17

Total reported incidents: 68

Traffic stops: 4

Warnings: 3

Tickets: 2

Arrests: 1

Medical emergencies: 33

Suspicious incidents: 5

Domestic incidents: 1

Directed patrols: 4

Agency assists: 7

Citizen assists: 6

Motor vehicle complaints: 3

Automobile incidents: 3

Car crash: 1

Animal problem: 2

Fire: 1

Theft: 1

Fraud: 1

Harassment: 1

Alarms: 3

False alarms: 2

Pending investigations: 4

911 Hang-up calls: 2

March 11 at 2:57 p.m., employees from Tractor Supply reported a retail theft. The case is under investigation.

March 11 at 5:26 p.m., Shelburne, Charlotte and South Burlington fire crews responded to a Deer Run Drive residence for a chimney fire. The fire was

extinguished, and no injuries were reported.

March 11 at 7:29 p.m., a fraud was reported to police from Harbor Road and is under investigation.

March 13 at 11:45 p.m., Samuel Lipin, 23, of New York, N.Y., was arrested on Shelburne Road near Ridgefield Road and charged with driving under the influence. He was taken to the police station for processing and released.

March 14 at 10:50 a.m., a walk-in told police they were receiving threatening calls and messages. Police are investigating the matter.

March 15 at 9:56 a.m., a two-car crash that had occurred earlier in the day was reported to police.

March 16 at 10:10 a.m., police responded to the Shelburne Campground to assist in mediating a verbal dispute between a man and a woman.

Note: Charges filed by police are subject to review by the Chittenden County State’s Attorney Office and can be amended or dropped.

Another car plows into Shelburne Post Office

Shelburne police chief Mike Thomas was just stepping out of the station Monday afternoon when he got an all-too-familiar call: Someone crashed into the post office, the second time since December.

At approximately 2:38 p.m., officers from the Shelburne Police Department responded to the report of a car crashing into post office building.

Shelburne fire and rescue crews also responded to help the driver and inspect for structural damage to the building.

When officers arrived, they found a 2012 Audi Q5 at rest on

PHOTO BY SHELBURNE POLICE DEPARTMENT

A driver crashed into the Shelburne Post Office Monday, the second time the building has been damaged in four months.

LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

OPINION

Forward momentum: meditations while mall walking

John R. Killacky

Wintry months have me meandering indoors at the University Mall in South Burlington. Morning crew starts at 8:30 a.m. when only the IHop restaurant is open. We are quiet and determined with our walkers, canes and shuffling gaits. Regulars acknowledge each other. We are on task in our forward momentum.

After a lap or two, some sit and join their coffee klatch. Others soldier on. Even with my Ferrari stickers, me and my walker are about the slowest. I

am passed again and again as I do three rounds. A few determined shop owners get their steps in before start of business.

Professional service folks exercising with nonverbal clients join the fray, as do some fashionistas rolling in their wheelchairs who settle in the food court. People who seem to be unhoused wash up and use the facilities, and then linger on benches to stay warm.

As we continue to circle, administrators do daily walk throughs and security benignly strolls. Retailers raise grates and open doors while taking out garbage and restocking. Special events teams set up tables and

prepare temporary displays all before the public arrives.

Late afternoons are quite different. Unsteady walkers dodge teenagers paying attention to themselves and their phones. Girls with their off-shoulder sweaters and impossibly tiny shopping bags have so much more game than unfocused boy packs. A few couples tentatively hold hands.

One man carries a teddy bear on his walks between stopping at both coffee shops at opposite ends. He never initiates contact but warmly smiles when greeted. I marvel at trans individuals moving more assuredly into being in this public space — flowing granny dresses for the young and miniskirts for bewigged boomers.

Weekends, during business hours, are family fests. Moms set the itineraries, with dads and

kids in tow. Grandparents put little ones on the mini carousels, swings and train. Birthdays are celebrated. Gamers line up for competition. Even miniature golf is played. It can be a bit of bumper cars for me.

Holiday pop-up shops are gone, but free tax helpers have taken their place. They, too, will season out soon. Amid all the economic churn, it is reassuring how many stores survive. I wave to a few kiosk operators and worry when they close even for a short vacation.

Friends sometimes accompany me. I find sauntering allows for freer conversations, although I prefer walking alone. My snail pace is constant, there is no second gear. To keep it fresh, I change directions, layer in shortcuts, even add store extensions into the routine. Occasionally I count steps in one of my three

loops to gauge consistency.

Mostly, I feel invisible in my circumambulations. No one pays attention to an old man using a walker. No bully pulpit here. I am caught up short at how difficult it is for me to observe without judgement. I so often want to give unsolicited advice. A little mouth yoga (smiling) and breathing quiets my all too busy mind.

Warmer temperatures will soon invite me to stroll outdoors to experience spring and listen to the birds. Here I encounter joggers, dogs, parents pushing strollers and walking neighbors. I look forward to greeting them; we made it through the winter.

Of course, I will still have rain dates with my mall family.

John R. Killacky, a former state representative, is the author of “because art: commentary, critique, & conversation.”

The question on many minds following the Republican response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union address was “Where does the GOP find these people?”

In a kitchen straight out of the “Twilight Zone,” Katie Britt, heavily breathing each syllable of a 17-minute rejoinder, went full Bobby Jindal, creeping out everyone within earshot in the most bipartisan moments of the evening, earning a resounding “WTF was that?”

A conservative rising star right up to the moment she was zombified by the glare, Britt’s ... one ... word ... at ... a ... time ... cadence sounded like a firstgrade teacher whose Xanax kicked just as the current events lesson was getting off the ground. As though auditioning for her first speaking part, Britt plowed steadily ahead until suddenly pinging into the lurid narrative of a woman trafficked into sexual slavery at the age of 12, an indictment of Biden’s immigration policies as horrific as it was compelling, particularly for fact checkers.

Turns out it was a manufactured talking point delivered in a wounded voice, coupled with a hundred-yard stare, insinuating this woman’s experiences were perpetrated by drug cartels operating somewhere in the United States on the president’s watch: “We wouldn’t be OK with this happening in a third world country. This is the United States of America, and it is past time, in my opinion, we start acting like it. President Biden’s border policies are a disgrace.”

Except in this case, they were Republican policies.

While the incident did actually happen, it took place over 20 years ago in a Mexican brothel without cartel involvement. If Britt was looking for someone to blame, she could have chosen George Bush. Or if clarification was her aim, it was readily available in the woman’s recorded testimony, offered nine years ago to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

But it wasn’t the clarification Republicans sought so they simply embellished the story with the kind of alternative facts they’ve come to rely on since the Trump presidency so unequivocally demonstrated lying had no

political consequence in MAGA World. Lying was, in fact, the very foundation of MAGA World, so Britt’s repackaging reality came as no surprise.

Her delivery though was another matter entirely, offering the nation a glimpse of the revolting bless-your-heart demeanor often employed by evangelical women in what’s called the Fundie Baby Voice, which in Britt’s response was clearly a dog whistle, a coded GOP message to Christian nationalists intent on turning America into a theocracy: “We’ve got your back.”

Weirder still, Alabama’s first female senator’s actual voice is quite clear, articulate and normal by any measure.

What we heard last week, however, was just one part of a carefully orchestrated theatrical production that included the kitchen itself — a woman’s implied place; the dangling cross; the whole “I’m just a mom” shtick; and assuring other Christian women that she understands her — and their — role in the culture. Even Britt’s

continued from page 6

green dress, servant’s attire in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” had the internet losing its mind.

Jess Piper, a former progressive political candidate in Missouri, recalled on Substack having grown up in a conservative Christian household where the baby voice was a familiar “cadence of condescension” as she called it, that ever so sweetly said “I am better than you and here are the ways ... I have children. They are perfect. I have a marriage. It is perfect. I am pretty and well educated. I am Christian — I am God fearing and I prove it by holding hands with my family and praying for the rest of you.”

Although it’s easy to dismiss Britt’s concocted vulnerability at the kitchen counter, the evangelical bent of judging everyone else’s morality, especially coupled with Christian nationalism and the quest for dominion, directly threatens democracy and clearly points to why the founders adamantly insisted on church and state separation. Despite evangelical fabrications to the contrary, John Adams was unequivocal: “The government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”

While Britt’s venture into the spotlight had more heavy breathing than Tommy Tuberville trying to name the three branches of government, it was also the latest incursion of Alabama politics into the national spotlight, perhaps offering a small glimpse of a future with Christian nation-

Did CVU school district hear voters’ message?

To the Editor:

I’m delighted to report that Champlain Valley School District administrators have been working hard to fix our budget affordability problem. Somewhat.

On March 5, the $105.8 million consolidated school budget proposal failed by 1,699 votes, a substantial margin. Nearly everyone asked to comment on the defeat, and in most articles reporting about the vote outcome, have agreed it was due to affordability and not the need or quality of education.

This is not a vote about our teachers, administrators and schools. The huge sum of $105.8 million was just a bridge too far. Unfortunately, even though school administrators attempted to bring forward a reasonable new budget proposal, in my opinion it’s still too high and will

alism holding sway. The Heart of Dixie State provided rationale for building tiny playgrounds in petri dishes through a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos were “children,” going well beyond any constitutional or legal precedent to reach their decision.

The court’s chief justice, Tom Parker, explained:

“Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God,” in a concurring opinion that invoked the Book of Genesis and the prophet Jeremiah, quoting from 16th- and 17th-century theologians.

“Even before birth,” Parker added, “all human beings have the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.”

2022, a tear-down-the-goalposts moment for anti-abortion Christians. At least briefly.

Britt’s delivery offered the nation a glimpse of the revolting bless-yourheart demeanor often employed by evangelical women in what’s called the Fundie Baby Voice, clearly a dog whistle to Christian nationalists intent on turning America into a theocracy.

As sanctimonious as Parker’s ideology might be, he is a near mythical figure in fundamentalist circles, credited with having laid out the legal roadmap Mississippi used to initiate the Supreme Court of the United States’ decision overturning Roe v. Wade in

Letters to the Editor

likely face defeat as well. School administrators have reworked the numbers and are proposing a new budget vote for mid-April on a $101.8 million budget, cutting 42 full-time equivalent positions throughout the district and towns. Cuts will be evenly distributed to district and central office positions, paraprofessionals and teachers.

Calculated into the new budget is also $380,000 in non-personnel spending reductions, loss of $1.5 million in school construction money and flipping $1.8 million of fund balance money into this year’s budget.

Assuming the legislative yield number to be around $10,085, the fiscal year 2025 property tax rate should be about $1.96, which is an 18 percent increase in taxes over last year. This would add about $876 of additional taxes on a $300,000 dollar home. I believe I got these numbers right, but the official

SCOTUS’ unprecedented decision sparked a fierce backlash, upending Republican dreams of a red wave in the 2022 midterm elections with Ohio and Kansas, both considered conservative states, voting overwhelmingly to reinforce reproductive freedom, including abortion. Fearing these results a harbinger of a disastrous general election with women abandoning the party in droves, the GOP sought to stanch the hemorrhage with Britt, which prompted a backlash of its own. Apparently, grown women babbling like frightened toddlers isn’t all that appealing. While we’re on the topic, Republicans might consider the implications of having a self-professed, serial sexual predator at the top of the ticket in November.

Walt Amses lives in North Calais.

numbers should be published soon. Hopefully.

The school board was given a choice by school administrators between two budget choices, one with an estimated tax rate of $1.96 or $1.93, and the board voted for the higher tax rate. The vote was 7-5, with one abstention.

The discussion leading up to the vote was lively and included remarks from board members and the community. I got the impression that of the 178 residents online, and 20 who attended in-person, many were teachers who offered strong words in support of less drastic action. But some school board members pointed out to those attending, that most voters sent a clear message that they wanted to see spending reductions and that the board received the message.

John Clifford Hinesburg

Community Notes

Shelburne firefighter steps in to help skier

Kevin McNeill, South Burlington resident and a senior at Rice Memorial High School, was instrumental in helping an injured ski racer during an Alpine ski race at Burke Mountain.

McNeill was at the top of the slope collecting his teammates’ jackets and he could see an skier had fallen during his race. He dropped everything and skied down to help.

The injured student had deeply lacerated his leg and because McNeill volunteers with the Shelburne Fire Department, he could see that the tourniquet was not applied correctly. He calmly took charge of the situation and re-tied the tourniquet, which helped slow the blood loss.

The skier required 50 internal stitches and 30 external staples and is incredibly grateful to McNeill for his help in this critical moment otherwise his injury could have been much worse.

“McNeill has a calm and confident demeanor, a genuine desire to help others, and is incredibly mature for one so young,” according to a press release from the South Burlington school.

“I felt confident in my training and knew I could make a difference,” said McNeill, who has been volunteering with the Shelburne Fire Department for two years.

Shelburne police recognize officers at ceremony

The community is invited to a Shelburne Police Department recognition and appreciation ceremony, Friday, March 22, 5-9 p.m., at the Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education at the Shelburne Museum.

Come welcome the department’s new employees and celebrate officer promotions.

RSVP to Heather Hamilton by March 18 at heather.hamilton@ shelburnepdvt.org.

‘Fund racing’ event aims for accessible waterfront

The Community Sailing Center kick-offs its Access for All Virtual Regatta, a three-month campaign to raise the final funds for a new construction project with an experiential learning space on the waterfront, multicraft launch facilities, a deep-wa-

ter basin for keelboats and universal accessibility.

The Sailing Center has raised 95 percent of the money needed to create safe, accessible infrastructure at the waterfront. To help raise the remaining funds, the virtual regatta will see teams of “racers” set a fundraising goal and then compete to meet that

goal through sponsorships, donations, events and matching gifts.

Prizes for reaching fundraising milestones will be awarded throughout the event and on June 1, an actual on-water regatta will be held for participants who meet their goals.

Learn more at lakeaccessforall.org.

Grab and go meal in Shelburne, April 9

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, April 9.

Meals 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.

The menu is chicken in gravy with mashed cauliflower, diced carrots, southern biscuit with butter, carrot cake with icing and milk.

To order a meal contact Kathleen at agewellstcath@gmail. com or 802-503-1107. Deadline to order is Wednesday, April 3. If this is a first-time order, provide

See COMMUNITY NOTES on page 9

Shelburne Parks & Rec News

Shelburne lacrosse

Registration closes March 29 for kids in kindergarten through second grade.

Don’t miss out on this popular spring coed program for kids looking to try out lacrosse for the first time, or for those excited to continue learning the game. Parent volunteer helpers are needed. Sign up to volunteer at time of registration.

Registration for grades three to eight is closed.

Yoga

flow for mobility

Find some calm in your body and your mind. Join Jane Taylor for an accessible, fun, energizing

yoga flow that brings students out of their daily grind and into their true nature of goodness. Get the heart rate up with vigor, and then wind down and relax in a balanced class designed to make you feel better than when you came in the door.

All levels welcome. Bring your own yoga mat and whatever props you need.

Sessions are on Tuesdays, March 26 to April 30, 9-10 a.m., Shelburne town gym. Cost is $90. Deadline is March 18.

Visit shelburnevt.org/160/ parks-recreation for online registration and complete details on summer camps, programs and special events.

COURTESY PHOTO

Kevin McNeill

COMMUNITY NOTES

continued from page 8

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.

Virtual arts fundraiser helps asylum seekers

Would you like to receive a poem in your inbox every day in April? Or a weekly sketch or photo? Enliven your April and help new neighbors as they navigate the legal process of seeking asylum by being an Arts for Asylum Seekers sponsor.

Chittenden Asylum Seekers Association has recruited a group of creatives who will produce original work such as poetry, photography, crafts, videos and more throughout the month of April. Sponsor their creativity and receive their creative work daily or weekly through e-mail or another online method.

To see the full list of participating creative types and to sign up to be a sponsor, visit casanvermont.org. Still have questions? Write to artsforasylumseekers@ gmail.com.

The network assists people who have come to Chittenden County to seek asylum. Asylum seekers are not eligible for work

permits until well into their legal process, and do not qualify for many kinds of government assistance, in contrast to those with refugee status.

Lund holds annual fundraising celebration

Lund presents its third annual Lund by the Lake fundraising celebration on May 16, 5 p.m., at Hula on the waterfront.

Last year’s event raised more than $166,000 and drew 140 attendees, including donors, staff and client families.

This year, Lund by the Lake will shine a spotlight on the integrated services Lund provides and its collaborative approach to supporting families.

“This year’s event aims to celebrate the perseverance of our clients and the collective efforts that empower them to overcome challenges and achieve lasting positive change,” Mary Burns, president and CEO, said.

For more information, go to lundvt.org.

Shelburne church, Age well host April luncheon

Age Well is offering a luncheon on Tuesday, April 16, in the St Catherine of Siena Parish Hall, 72 Church St. in Shelburne.

The menu is Salisbury beef with barbecue sauce, baked beans, broccoli florets, wheat bun with butter, frosted pound cake with raspberry filling and milk.

Check-in time is 11:30 a.m. and the meal will be served at noon. There is a $5 suggested donation.

Diners must register by April 10 to Kerry Batres, nutrition coordinator, 802-662-5283 or email kbatres@agewellvt.org. Tickets are also available at the Age Well Office, 875 Roosevelt Highway, Suite 210, Colchester.

Enjoy Age Well meals at Charlotte Senior Center

The Age Well meal pickup for Thursday, March 28, is from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Charlotte Senior Center features turkey burger with vegetable gravy, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, wheat roll with butter, peach and Craisin crisp and milk.

You must pre-register by the prior Monday at 802-425-6345 or meals@charlotteseniorcentervt. org.

The suggested donation is $5. Check the website for last-minute cancellations at bit.ly/3FfyLMb.

News from Pierson Library

Yoga by moonlight in Shelburne Town Hall

Come to historic town hall at 8 p.m. on Monday, March 25, for a rejuvenating and tranquil hatha yoga practice beneath the full worm moon. Led by instructor Laura Meyer, this flow promises to connect mind, body and cosmos. Dress in warm layers and bring a yoga mat plus something to write in.

No previous yoga experience required. Call the library at 802-985-5124 to register.

Vermont astronomers offer night sky viewing

On Tuesday, March 26, the Vermont Astronomical Society with telescope in tow will be set up outside the library for a viewing of the night sky. The starlight you see may be thousands of years old — or thousands of light years away.

This informative viewing is appropriate for all ages. No advance registration required.

Film festival of movies directed by women

All March the Pierson Library is screening films by female identifying and/or XX-chromosomal-pair-having folx.

They’re showing a classic from the 1940s, a sci-fi short film from Kenya, a contemporary western, and the series culminates March 29 with a certain best-picture nominee that rhymes with Darbie. That event will be something of a gala affair with photo booth and popcorn machine so dress in pink.

Discover the astrological implications of the eclipse

Intuitive Lydia Solini will be at Pierson on Thursday, April 4, to present on what the eclipse means astrologically.

Knowing which house the eclipse falls in for your chart may give guidance to the changes ahead. Life is a trippy ride, my friends. Gather to hear more.

The Outside Story

Jackie Bussjaeger

In the wild, finding a suitable mate is no simple matter, and it’s an extra complicated affair for one familiar resident of the woods and underbrush.

With its chunky build, boldly striped head, and namesake white throat, the white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) is among the most common and recognizable birds of the northern forest. During the spring breeding season, one doesn’t need to go far to hear its “Old Sam Peabody-Peabody-Peabody” call, or to spot a group of these birds noisily raking for seeds in the leaf litter.

Close observers will notice these sparrows come in two distinct color varieties. Approximately half of white-throated sparrows have black and white stripes on their heads, while the other half show a duller tan-and-brown coloration. It’s not unusual for a bird species to have more than one color morph. The Eastern screech owl, for example,

comes in shades of either red or gray. But for white-throated sparrows, there’s a more complex story to this variation. In almost every case, a

white-throated sparrow of either color variation will end up with a mate that has the opposite coloring: white-striped males pair with tan-striped females, and vice versa.

Canadian ornithologist James Lowther, studying populations across Canada in the early 1960s, was the first to publish findings that white-throated sparrows will almost exclusively choose a mate of the opposite morph.

Lowther and researcher J. Bruce Falls of the University of Toronto together noticed something even more fascinating: color type seemed to be an exceptionally accurate predictor of an individual bird’s behavior. They noticed that whitestriped sparrows of both sexes almost always seemed to show more aggressive behaviors than their tan counterparts.

Both white-striped males and females sing more than tan-striped birds, and males defend their territories more rigorously and invade the territories of their neighbors more often. White-striped males are also more likely than tan-striped males to mate with other females in addition to their nesting partners, a behavior scientists refer to as extra-pair copulation.

Tan-striped birds of both sexes, in comparison, tend to be more nurturing, spending much of their time finding food and looking attentively after their partner and nestlings. However, the time they spend away from the nest sometimes leaves their mate and territory vulnerable to incursions from threats – including rival white-striped males.

This mixed bag of traits creates quite the genetic love rectangle. A 1993 study by Falls and Jeffrey G. Kopachena found that females of both colors find the attentive tan-striped males most desirable. But the white-striped females, more confrontational than their tan counterparts, snap up tan-striped males almost immediately, leaving the tan-striped females to pair off with the remaining white-striped males.

In the era of DNA analysis,

scientists such as the late behavioral geneticist Elaina Tuttle have found that these characteristics are determined by a chromosomal supergene, tied not only to coloration, but also to a wide range of behavioral traits. This unique genetic quirk means that the white-throated sparrow as a species effectively has four separate sexes. Individual birds need to select a mate from an eligible quarter of the population, rather than the half of the other sex available in other bird species.

But what happens when two same-color birds pair up? These types of pairings have rarely been observed, but as naturalist Kenn Kaufman theorized in a 2017 Autdubon article on this topic, they probably make for unsuccessful parents. Tan-striped couples might fail at defending their territory and protecting their young, Kaufman wrote, while white-striped couples might fail to bring home enough food to keep their hatchlings alive and healthy.

By settling in with a partner of the opposite coloring, white-throated sparrows can have the best of both worlds: one parent who will fiercely defend, and another who will tirelessly provide. So far, this unusual strategy has worked well. For white-throated sparrow offspring, the stripe colors will be split nearly 50/50 in a single brood, preserving the balance of the two color forms – and their associated personality traits — within the greater population.

Jackie Bussjaeger is a writer and naturalist working in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Illustration by Adelaide Murphy Tyrol. The Outside Story is assigned and edited by Northern Woodlands magazine and sponsored by the Wellborn Ecology Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, nhcf. org.

Delight

CLOSETS GARAGE PANTRY LAUNDRY ROOM

HOME

ILLUSTRATION BY ADELAIDE MURPHY TYROL

The Charlotte-Shelburne-Hinesburg Rotary club hosted Pie for Breakfast March 16 at Shelburne Community School. The annual all-you-can-eat event drew Mina Smith, Miss Northern Vermont Teen.

Pie for breakfast

PHOTOS

WILD HART

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are super approachable, and we’ve really worked hard to keep our prices at below that $30 level,” he said, adding that as the need to increase staffing and prices of everything began to skyrocket, “our margins were getting smaller.”

Although products could be found locally at liquor stores and more than 15 farmers markets that Stevens frequented, products were also shipped as far as the mid-Atlantic. To make his vodka, spiced rum and signature gins even more accessible, Stevens opened a tasting room last year that featured live music, specialty cocktails and a cozy vibe.

In addition to crafting his own product, Wild Hart Distillery also acted as an incubator space for smaller spirit brands like Linchpin, Rectified Bourbon and Arcana Botanica.

Stevens said that the overhead to open a distillery in incredibly expensive, and finding folks to collaborate with him when he was first started was difficult.

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“I made a commitment to basically try to help other small makers bring their product to market and the way that I operated that was instead of paying rent, I did commission based,” he said. “So, for every bottle that they sold, I made a commission, and they make money. It was a little easier for them in terms of not bearing that type of overhead and the concept was once they started to feel like they’re paying me too much commission, then they’ve probably grown large enough to start their own distillery.”

All those businesses, Steves said, are expected to continue, and they have even solidified two new “homes” for the businesses.

“I’ll continue helping them out

in terms of transferring over to a new distillery and everything that comes with that,” he said.

Stevens says he still loves the farmers markets and local events he’s frequented through his business but looks forward to returning to the public health care field.

“I’m really looking forward to

having those weekends to actually be on the other side of the table because we’ve just got a huge, amazing community of makers,” he said. “I met so many people throughout this process and made so many great bonds with other makers and those are things that’ll continue.”

COURTESY PHOTOS

Wild Hart Distillery owner Craig Stevens works on machinery at his business in Shelburne. Stevens recently announced its closure.

POST OFFICE

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the sidewalk in front of the post office’s north entrance. The vehicle crashed through the exterior wall, traveled through an indoor hallway that contained post office boxes and crashed into a wall, causing significant damage to the building.

After the collision, the driver backed the vehicle out of the building and stopped on the sidewalk.

“It was the same scenario as last time,” Thomas said. “They thought they were hitting the brakes, but hit the gas, and when they hit the building, they hit the gas some more still thinking that it was brakes. There was extensive damage, more damage than last time.”

He said that renovations resulting from that last crash in December were still being completed.

“It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve been able to pick up mail, but they weren’t done the last time I went over,” he said.

The driver, Laura Krawitt, 89, of Shelburne, was uninjured and no employees were injured during the crash.

The post office closed for business after the incident.

INVITATION FOR BIDS

Seeking Section 3 and WMBE Subcontractors

D.E.W. Construction (DEW), on behalf of Evernorth and Champlain Valley Housing, is seeking interested bidders to participate in the bidding of their new forty eight (48) unit residential building to be located at 108-110 Margaret’s Way, Shelburne, VT. The new building has a lower-level basement & parking garage of approx. 22,566 square feet and two (2) separate three (3) story wood framed residential buildings on a shared podium with and approx. total square footage of 60,265 square feet.

This project is partially funded by State and Federal funds through VHCB, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, VHFA Financing, VT Community Development Program (CDBG funds), EPA Brownfields Funding, Energy Incentives and Investment Tax Credits. There are Davis Bacon Residential wage rate requirements, Build American Buy American requirements and WMBE and Section 3 goals on this project. We are actively seeking the participation of qualified Section 3 and WMBE subcontractors.

D.E.W. Construction Corp. is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EEO) that complies with Executive Order 11246 and takes affirmative action to ensure that it employs qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, ancestry, place of birth, age, protected veteran or military status, genetic information, disability, or persons in any other status protected by federal or state law or local ordinance.

Please contact Aimee Plotczyk – aplotczyk@dewconstruction.com at D.E.W. Construction for more information.

Community Bankers

Community Bankers

Community Bankers

BUILDERS | MAKERS | DOERS®

BUILDERS | MAKERS | DOERS®

Community Bankers

BUILDERS | MAKERS | DOERS®

There is no better time to join our Team!

There is no better time to join our Team!

There is no better time to join our Team!

BUILDERS | MAKERS | DOERS®

Community Bankers

There is no better time to join our Team!

BUILDERS | MAKERS | DOERS®

There is no better time to join our Team!

North eld Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest LOCAL BANK in Vermont. We are committed to providing a welcoming work environment for all.

Northfield Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest LOCAL BANK in Vermont. We are committed to providing a welcoming work environment for all

Northfield Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest LOCAL BANK in Vermont. We are committed to providing a welcoming work environment for all

Northfield Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest LOCAL BANK in Vermont. We are committed to providing a welcoming work environment for all

Consider joining our team as a Community Banker at our Taft Corners or Richmond location!

Northfield Savings Bank, founded in 1867, is the largest LOCAL BANK in Vermont. We are committed to providing a welcoming work environment for all

Consider joining our team as a Community Banker at our Taft Corners or Richmond location!

Consider joining our team as a Community Banker at our Taft Corners or Richmond location!

Relevant Skills: Customer Service, Cash Handling (we’ll train you!)

Relevant Skills: Customer Service, Cash Handling (we’ll train you!) Even better… if you have prior banking experience, we encourage you to apply!

Consider joining our team as a Community Banker at our Taft Corners or Richmond location!

Even better… if you have prior banking experience, we encourage you to apply!

Relevant Skills: Customer Service, Cash Handling (we’ll train you!)

Relevant Skills: Customer Service, Cash Handling (we’ll train you!) Even better… if you have prior banking experience, we encourage you to apply!

Even better… if you have prior banking experience, we encourage you to apply!

If you are 18 or older and have a high school diploma, general education (GED) degree, or equivalent, consider joining the NSB Team!

If you are 18 or older and have a high school diploma, general education (GED) degree, or equivalent, consider joining the NSB Team!

Opportunity for Growth

If you are 18 or older and have a high school diploma, general education (GED) degree, or equivalent, consider joining the NSB Team!

Opportunity for Growth

If you are 18 or older and have a high school diploma, general education (GED) degree, or equivalent, consider joining the NSB Team!

Opportunity for Growth

Opportunity for Growth

NSB has training opportunities to engage employees and assist with professional development within our company. The average years of service for an NSB employee is 9! If you’re looking for a career in an environment that promotes growth, join our team!

NSB has training opportunities to engage employees and assist with professionaldevelopment within our company. The average years of service for an NSB employee is 9! If you’re looking for a careerin an environment that promotes growth, join our team!

What NSB Can Offer You

What NSB Can Offer You

NSB has training opportunities to engage employees and assist with professional development within our company. The average years of service for an NSB employee is 9! If you’re looking for a career in an environment that promotes growth, join our team!

What NSB Can Offer You

NSB has training opportunities to engage employees and assist with professional development within our company. The average years of service for an NSB employee is 9! If you’re looking for a career in an environment that promotes growth, join our team!

What NSB Can Offer You

Competitive compensation based on experience. Wellrounded benefits package. Profit-Sharing opportunity. Excellent 401(k) matching retirement program. Commitment to professional development. Opportunities to volunteer and support our communities. Work -Life balance!

Competitive compensation based on experience. Wellrounded benefits package. Profit-Sharing opportunity. Excellent 401(k) matching retirement program. Commitment to professional development. Opportunities to volunteer and support our communities. Work -Life balance!

Please send an NSB Application & your resume in confidence to: Careers@nsbvt.com

Competitive compensation based on experience. Wellrounded benefits package. Profit-Sharing opportunity. Excellent 401(k) matching retirement program. Commitment to professional development. Opportunities to volunteer and support our communities. Work -Life balance!

Please send an NSB Application & your resume in confidence to: Careers@nsbvt.com

Competitive compensation based on experience. Wellrounded benefits package. Profit-Sharing opportunity. Excellent 401(k) matching retirement program. Commitment to professional development. Opportunities to volunteer and support our communities. Work -Life balance!

Please send an NSB Application & your resume in confidence to: Careers@nsbvt.com

Please send an NSB Application & your resume in confidence to: Careers@nsbvt.com

Equal Opportunity Employer / Member FDIC

Equal Opportunity Employer / Member FDIC

Equal Opportunity Employer / Member FDIC

Equal Opportunity Employer / Member FDIC

Shelburne resident Rosalyn Graham took this photo Monday on her way to pick up her mail.

BUDGET continued from page 1

received in town meetings and in town halls and other venues.”

During the meeting, district board members debated three options. The first option would have retained funding for those 17 support positions, previously funded by the federal government, and would have only cut the $1.5 million in one-time facilities spending from the budget, bringing the total down to $104.3 million. This option was hardly considered by board members.

The second option — which was eventually approved by a 7-4-1 vote — reduced expenditures by $4 million. On top of cutting the $1.5 million, the district also cut an additional $2.5 million in various full-time and part-time positions.

Under the revised budget, 42 full-time positions would be removed, including seven central administration positions, 19 paraprofessional positions — including the 17 positions previously funded through federal COVID-19 funds — and 16 teaching positions.

The district’s chief operating officer, Gary Marckres, said this would result in “no major structural changes to our schools,” meaning schools would not have to completely restructure how it organizes classrooms and student-teacher ratios.

be able to provide education at the same level.

Under options two and three, respectively, Charlotte would see a 17 and 15 percent tax rate hike; Hinesburg would see an 18 and 16 percent hike; and Shelburne would see a 14 and 13 percent hike.

During its meeting, the board motioned to consider the second option and ultimately approved it, with four members voting no and one member abstaining.

Board member Brendan McMahon said he would have considered voting for the third option had the impacts to education been more clearly defined.

But other members, like Keith Roberts from Hinesburg, said that the cuts proposed in the second option were “not enough,” adding it still results in an anticipated 18 percent increase in Hinesburg.

“The system is broken, and it needs to be fixed.”

— Keith Roberts

The former board chair, Angela Arsenault, was among those who felt the board should have considered the third option: “I feel worried, as I did two weeks ago, about what happens if we don’t show voters in the strongest sense that we’ve received their message.”

Board members and speakers at the meeting urged the district to consider making as little impact to faculty as possible.

“Please remember there are humans behind these decisions,” Peter Langella, CVU’s librarian, said.

Cuts would be made according to weighted student counts, Sanchez and Marckres said, and would be equitably distributed across the district’s schools.

A breakdown of the reductions provided by the district show that administrative operations would see $776,000 in cuts and Champlain Valley Union High School would face $612,000 in cuts.

Cuts at Williston Central School total $413,000, while Shelburne Community School would see cuts totaling $317,000, Hinesburg Community School faces $226,000 in cuts and Charlotte Central School will be cut by $144,000.

If the budget is approved by voters, the administration will have to decide which positions to cut. In making those decisions, Sanchez said the district would consider cutting positions that were currently open or unfilled, as well as by taking “advantage of the known retirements and leaves of absence so that that way we could have alternate approaches.”

A third option that was presented to the board would have cut an additional $500,000 from the budget. District officials said they had yet to identify where those cuts would be made but noted that it would likely translate into more cuts to faculty. One board member estimated it would amount to an additional four to six positions.

“When we get to that point, within that $500,000, there will likely have to be structural change either within the district or at campus level,” Sanchez said. “We would have to find different ways to be able to serve the kids at the same level without positions that could be paraprofessionals or teachers or even administrators.”

The district would likely, he said, not

One significant factor in the board’s decision was the use of fund balance, or undesignated or surplus funds, in the board’s second and third budget options.

The approved budget used $1 million of the district’s fund balance, while the third option would have used an additional $500,000. Marckres noted that there is a risk of depleting those funds. The board has typically either retained these funds and applied them to future budgets or allocated them to capital reserve funds or other infrastructure funds.

The board’s current fund balance of $3.2 million “has been built over several years, “Marckres said. “We do have risk of unforeseen expense that fund balance must be applied to. I won’t editorialize, but fund balance is an important risk mitigation factor for unforeseen tax impacts for the community.”

The Champlain Valley School District is among the hardest hit by the Legislature’s newest state education formula, and more than a third of the state’s school districts were voted down earlier this month while almost half of the state’s district’s currently do not have a passed budget, board chair Meghan Metzler said.

It reflects a growing concern in the state around education spending, and the hikes in property tax rates needed to pay for it.

“The system is broken,” Roberts said, “and it needs to be fixed.”

Sanchez, at the start of the meeting, said that he and other superintendents across the state are “continuing to lobby the Legislature to make sure that we have a cohesive education financing program that helps our school districts and our students be successful.”