Families come out to Shelburne Farms on Sunday to enjoy all things maple as part of the statewide Vermont Maple Open House Weekend. Tapping trees, collecting fresh sap and tasting sugar-on-snow are always popular activities. Shelburne Farms staff Perry Willett and Dianne Laberge served up the sugar-on-snow. Farm educator Elijah Hines guided families in the search for dripping sap.
and faculty, called his resignation “a bittersweet announcement.”
Champlain Valley School District Superintendent Rene Sanchez will resign at the end of the school year after three years as head of the district.
The announcement came at the end of the school board’s March 19 meeting, where board members unanimously accepted his resignation. Sanchez, in a letter to staff
He thanked district employees and said the last three years with the district’s five towns “will always hold a special place in my heart.”
“These are challenging times across the state for public education and I’m very proud for the
See SANCHEZ on page 12
Amid Shelburne’s massive bylaw overhaul, the planning commission is exploring what inclusionary zoning requirements could look like for the town.
Rod Francis and Brandy Saxton, consultants with PlaceSense hired by the town, said that inclusionary zoning is a concept that addresses regulatory practices in combination with market forces that can lead to overwhelmingly homogenous neighborhoods that
are both expensive and exclude people from low-income households.
“The idea is that you make the development of new residential units responsible for the provision of some number of affordable dwelling units in various forms,” Francis said. “There are plenty of examples, moderately successful in the towns surrounding Shelburne. They are much more commonplace in other parts of the country.”
See ZONING on page 5
Vermont’s newest artistic festival returns April 5 and 6 to Market Street in South Burlington.
Illuminate Vermont features cocktails, food trucks, live music and an indoor-outdoor market. And it’s all free. The event is being held around City Center from 5-9 p.m. both days.
Bring an ID if you plan to have a drink or sample Vermont-made liquors, wines or beer.
For more information, check in at illuminatevermont.com.
Here’s the schedule of events:
Friday, April 5, gates open, 5 p.m.
Main Stage
• 5-6:45 p.m. — Better Angels trio
• 7:15–9 p.m. — Better Angels
Market Street
• 6-8 p.m. — Ryan Sweezey
Library
• 5-6:30 p.m. — A Pair of Pauls Playing Piano offer original compositions, jazz standards, selections from the Great American Songbook and ragtime, jazz and novelty tunes.
• 7-8:30 p.m. — Ukulele Clare is a duo that charms audiences with originals and songs drawn from the American Songbook, bringing the best of jazz, country, folk and blues.
Auditorium
• 6 p.m. — Vermont’s Own 40th Army Band
• 7:30 p.m. — Blue Note 6
Saturday, April 6, gates open, 5 p.m.
Main Stage
• 5-6:45 p.m. – Judi Emanuel Family Band
• 7:15-9 p.m. — Jenni Johnson and the Jazz Junketeers perform a variety of music that includes jazz, soul and swing.
Market Street
• 6:30-7 p.m. – Cirque de Fuego, a Vermont-based fire performance troupe, performs fire breathing, fire juggling, partner acrobat fire routines, choreographed pieces and fire dancing.
• 6:30-8 p.m. — EmaLou and The Beat is a Burlington-based trio offering a mix of contemporary and classic folk, rock ‘n roll and funk.
Library
• 5-6 p.m. — Dr. Jolivette Anderson-Douoning performs Poetry Theater, a lively spoken word literary artform.
• 7-8:30 p.m. — Music Brings Joy
Auditorium
• 6 p.m. — Andriana Chobot Duo
• 7:30 p.m. — Green Mountain Brass Band
A special reception on March 22 honored three recent Shelburne Police promotions and the hiring of about a half dozen civilian employees in the past few months.
About 75 people attended the invitationonly, catered event at the
Total reported incidents: 61
Traffic stops: 5
Warnings: 5
Medical emergencies: 28
Mental health incidents: 1
Suspicious incidents: 4
Directed patrols: 3
Agency assists: 2
Citizen assists: 6
Welfare check: 5
Motor vehicle complaints: 1
Automobile incidents: 1
Car crash: 2
Animal problem: 1
Fire: 2
Theft: 5
Vandalism: 1
Alarms: 2
False alarms: 1
Pending investigations: 5
March 18 at 2:38 p.m., a one-car crash was reported on Falls Road. The driver was reportedly injured but refused transport to the hospital.
March 19 at 7:44 a.m., a two-car crash with no injuries was reported to police on Shelburne Road.
March 19 at 8:43 a.m., a 911 caller reported smoke coming from the rear of their Meadow Lane residence. Shelburne fire, rescue, and police were dispatched, the source of the
smoke was located, and the fire was extinguished.
March 20 at 8:30 p.m., a retail theft was reported at Kinney Drugs. Police are investigating.
March 21 at 12:07 p.m., a caller reported items stolen from their car on Graham Way.
March 21 at 12:32 p.m., a caller reported their residence on Shelburne Road had been vandalized. Police are investigating.
March 21 at 12:49 p.m., a Sycamore Street resident told police items had been taken from their home. Police are investigating.
March 22 at 3 p.m., a retail theft was reported at Tractor Supply and police are investigating.
March 22 at 7:34 p.m., police responding to an unattended fire in the backyard of a LaPlatte Circle residence told the homeowner they were in violation of local ordinance and asked them to extinguish the fire.
March 24 at 9:44 a.m., a retail theft was reported at Kinney Drugs. Police are investigating.
Note: Charges filed by police are subject to review by the Chittenden County State’s Attorney Office and can be amended or dropped.
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The newest police officer hired by Shelburne Police was quietly demoted as a Burlington police lieutenant last year after an internal investigation showed he filed 25 timesheets that were inaccurate or untimely, according to public records.
Former Lt. Daniel C. Delgado was reduced to patrol corporal and ordered to repay $695.05 to the city of Burlington last summer because it found he had inappropriately collected taxpayer money for hours he never worked, according to interviews and records.
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah F. George eventually told the department she would not file any criminal charges against Delgado but began issuing so-called Giglio letters to defense lawyers in Chittenden County last July indicating she had found the officer was not fully honest, records show.
“Although there may be probable cause for a criminal charge, I do not believe we could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the intent of this conduct was to defraud. Therefore, we would not seek criminal charges at this time,” George said in a June 2023 letter to then-acting Burlington police chief Jon Murad.
“The allegations, however, are concerning, and contain an element of untruthfulness that I believe we are required to disclose to defense counsel in any incidents which Lt. Delgado is called as a witness,” George said in her letter.
That July, George provided Murad a copy of the Giglio letter she said she intended to share with defense lawyers about Delgado.
Delgado’s jump to Shelburne police became public in a social media post by the town and a news story in the Shelburne News last week.
Repeated attempts to get a comment from Delgado this week were unsuccessful.
Shelburne Police Chief Michael Thomas said Delgado came “highly recommended” but would not say who provided the references or who conducted the background check for his department.
Thomas said Delgado worked a couple years for the Brandon police and more than 11 years with Burlington. The chief said he was
satisfied with the new hiring.
Shelburne Town Manager Matt Lawless said he was made aware of the demotion incident and was satisfied with the explanation. He did say the background investigation was done within the police department and not completed by Adam Backus, the new human resources assistant hired by the town last month.
Selectboard Chair Michael Ashooh did not respond to a phone message.
During a special reception Friday evening to honor three recent Shelburne Police promotions and the hiring of about a half dozen civilian employees in the past few months, attendees were told the town is still seeking to fill vacancies in the police department.
About 75 people attended the invitation-only, catered event at the Shelburne Museum.
Government timecard cases have been handled different ways in Vermont. Perhaps the biggest was a former Vermont State Police patrol commander, who falsely claimed 63 hours of overtime across two pay periods in July 2012. He was charged within days by then-Chittenden County state’s attorney T.J. Donovan.
The investigation eventually revealed former Sgt. James Deeghan had duped Vermont
taxpayers out of more than $200,000. Deeghan later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison. Vermont laws changed to let state or local government to get restitution by collecting their pensions.
In the Delgado case, public records show that George passed on filing any criminal charges.
George said her decision came after Murad provided her access to the internal affairs investigation conducted by Burlington police.
A few hours after George sent the June 6 letter to Murad, he was confirmed by the Burlington City Council to be the permanent police chief.
Murad and his new public information officer, Sarah Hernandez-Timm, never disclosed the investigation or announced the demotion in a news release.
When George notified Murad about the Giglio letter last July, the chief said he appreciated her work on the case.
“Thank you for your time on this matter, and for the deep thought you put into your review of the materials we shared with you. I am deeply appreciative of your partnership and counsel,” Murad wrote in an email.
Delgado was reduced to the rank of corporal.
Delgado, who was hired by
from page 1
This form of zoning could be a new way for Shelburne to approach affordable and “missing- middle” housing, a conversation that has remained at the forefront of a bylaw overhaul and was outlined as a top town priority during the three-month community building initiative known as Shelburne Forward Together.
According to the 2023 housing booklet compiled by the town’s housing committee, the median price of primary residences in Shelburne was almost four times higher than in 2000. As of 2022, the median price of a primary home sold in Shelburne was $724,828 — 235 percent higher than the price statewide, and nearly $200,000 higher than new homes in the rest of Chittenden County at $595,881, reads the report.
towns like Burlington and South Burlington have similar regulations in place. But, he said, inclusionary zoning regulations are not overly common in Vermont.
The current proposal by PlaceSense would require that 10 percent of developed units be classified as affordable housing whenever an applicant is creating 10 or more residential dwelling units or lots. These units would have to meet the definition of affordable housing from state statute and be perpetually affordable.
“I think this is being considered now because the Shelburne Town Plan clearly encourages the town to pursue these kinds of goals and policies in its housing objectives.”
— Aaron DeNamur
It also allows for developers to contribute a payment in lieu of constructing affordable units to a theoretical “Shelburne Affordable Housing Trust Fund.”
the overall number.
There were 108 primary residences, including 91 single family and 17 condominiums sold in Shelburne in 2022.
“I say ‘theoretical’ because no such fund currently exists so this would be a major policy decision for the town,” DeNamur said.
Although this is the first time Shelburne has explored zoning that stipulates affordable housing, the town’s planning director Aaron DeNamur said surrounding
continued from page 4
Burlington in September 2012, moved up quickly through the ranks in recent years.
Records show Delgado was paid $150,684 in 2022 by the city, compared to $87,468 in 2021.
It is unclear how much manpower Murad assigned to the Delgado investigation and why an outside agency wasn’t called in to handle it.
The 10 percent requirement currently outlined is smaller than surrounding towns like South Burlington, whose inclusionary zoning law requires that new housing developments include affordable units totaling 15 percent of
“I think this is being considered now because the Shelburne Town Plan clearly encourages the town to pursue these kinds of goals and policies in its housing objectives,” DeNamur said. “Additionally, we are all intimately familiar by now with the ongoing housing emergency in the state, Chittenden County and Shelburne, which has showed no serious signs of improving. The intention would be for this to be another tool to potentially address the crisis.”
While consultants Saxton and Francis explained that inclusionary zoning can increase the base prices of units, other issues that often come into play are the role of the municipality in maintaining and operating inclusionary zoning. Francis said that their draft language would minimize significantly the administrative burden on the town.
“The town is not directly involved in interviewing or reviewing or assessing the eligibility of the households moving into the inclusionary zoning units. That is the responsibility of the developer to provide an annual report,” Francis said.
The planning commission is expected to continue to talk about inclusionary zoning in Shelburne, but the idea already found favor with some commission members.
“I’m really in favor of having this inclusionary zoning,” Stephen Selin, a commission member, said. ZONING
Murad sustained their findings, George said. She said the 25 timesheets that were not accurate or timely also showed Delgado was not punctual on those days and that “this behavior was improper and unbecoming.”
The overpaid money was taken out of subsequent paychecks to restore the city of Burlington,
Documents indicate that both deputy police chiefs, Wade Lebrecque and Brian LaBarge were involved in the internal investigation.
she said.
Issues over the timesheets apparently first surfaced in February 2023, according to George. She said, “Burlington police discovered improprieties in then-Lieutenant Delgado’s timecards when compared to his actual work hours — specifically that several of them were entered after the fact rather than using the fingerprint scanners as is custom to the department and did not accurately reflect.”
Sen. Ginny Lyons
March 15 was the last day for the Senate and House to pass bills out of policy committees for consideration in the other chamber. Senate legisla- tive committees now work on bills from their counter- parts in the House. In addi- tion, committees may also review the administra- tion’s work imple- menting legisla- tion passed during previous sessions.
Act 76 of 2023 is significant child care legislation and is unique in the country. The law provides affordable access to child care for working families. On Jan. 1, 2024, child care programs received benefits to expand and improve their programs. Increased benefits and compensation for child care staff were also implemented
on Jan. 1.
That staff includes some of the lowest paid professionals with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Vermont. The increase in salary is an important recognition of the value legislators place on early childhood care. On April 1 and in October more families will be eligible for child care support. This will add child care slots in many programs.
By December, over
7,000 additional children and families will be eligible for reduced tuition. These changes make Vermont a more affordable place for young families in our workforce. Child care is one of the many difficult problems facing Vermonters. As Act 76 is implemented, more families will be able to afford child care and programs will support and maintain staff. Everyone benefits. Vermonters can take pride in this ongoing support of our children and families.
By December, over 7,000 additional children and families will be eligible for reduced child care tuition.
continues to be debated in legislative committees. Efforts to ensure that emergency housing is available, whether for flood recovery, weather events or other things will continue. My committee, Senate health and welfare, will focus its attention on general assistance housing recommendations from the House Committee on Human Services. Improvements to the General Assistance Housing program should help relieve access problems caused by economic pressures or climate induced flood events. Underlying housing discussions about permits, zoning, Act 250 and funding sources are the desperate needs facing underrepresented groups in society.
area is important. There are many folks with disabilities living with aging parents. Having a residential facility that allows those with disabilities to live independently in small congregate settings can alleviate stress on families and potentially increase single family home access.
Another exciting proposal is Wisdom House, a new senior living multigenerational community envisioned for Jericho and Underhill. By providing community services (not assisted living) close to affordable condos or homes would allow older Vermonters to age in place. This could be a model for more rural parts of the state where community support, including transportation, makes it difficult for seniors.
Going ahead, housing issues will continue to dominate legislative conversations. Providing adequate housing stock for middle- and lower-income workers
Before the pandemic I suggested that some Vermont Housing and Conservation Board funds might appropriately be allocated toward long-term or nursing home care, senior living, crisis step down beds, recovery residences, residential support for those with mental illness and for people with disabilities capable of living independently.
These critical needs for housing have not changed; they have increased. Each
To the Editor: In reference to the Shelburne Post Office “drive-thru” attempt: How about some metal poles at the sidewalk’s edge to prevent another crash?
Or any other barrier?
Laura Cahners-Ford Shelburne
To the Editor:
Kudos to superintendent Rene Sanchez, his team and the Champlain Valley School District School Board for posting options for a revised budget that could reduce our tax increase from 26 percent to between 13 and 14 percent. Getting there involves deep cuts, which are steps in the right direction, but that cannot be the end of it.
While the efforts of Champlain Valley district and other Vermont school districts to mitigate their constituents’ tax pain are appreciated, it is critical that legislators don’t misinterpret the applause. The education funding system and policies enacted by Montpelier caused this train wreck. H.850, which went into effect 12 days before
During the next weeks of the biennium, we will work on legislation that could reduce administrative burdens on health care providers, increase access to insurance for lower-income Vermonters, improve primary care access and reduce prescription drug costs. I look forward to sharing more about these issues in the future. Thank you for your thoughts and feedback.
Ginny Lyons, a Democrat from Williston, represents South Burlington, Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne and several other towns in the Chittenden-Southeast Senate district.
Town Meeting Day, was a recognition of the many flaws in Act 127, but the attempt was too little too late.
Statistics that speak to how misguided Vermont education funding and policies are include:
• K-12 spending as percentage of taxpayer income is 5.33 percent compared to 3.51 percent in New Hampshire and 3.6 percent in Massachusetts.
• Public spending per K-12 student in Vermont is $21,219 versus $19,193 in Massachusetts and $17,456 in New Hampshire.
• As Vermont’s student population has declined by 19,000 in 24 years, about 70 of our 290 or so schools have entire grades averaging 15 students or fewer. As smaller schools are much more expensive to operate, Act 46, which was passed in 2017, provided incentives for communities to consolidate their schools into larger districts. But in 2022, Act 127 reversed that direction with incentives to avoid consolidation.
Our elected representatives in the House and Senate need to explain their vision for a funding and policy reset that will get the delivery of education in Vermont back on a sustainable track.
Robert Finn ShelburneNot unexpectedly, Vermont has once again hit a brick wall in public education funding. It’s nothing new. In fact, the wall was built and reinforced over decades by legislators, governors and school boards who jointly avoided addressing the root causes of the dilemma.
Simply put, the underlying structural problems in Vermont’s education system are threefold: Vermont has too many school buildings, too much staff and too few students. That the funding is not well spent is evidenced by the fact that despite being second in the country in per-pupil spending ($23,299), pupil performance is in the middle of the pack, below many states spending much less. It’s reasonable to wonder what might be possible if we were to invest that funding more effectively and efficiently in programming for students instead of on redundant infrastructure and staffing.
There have been promising temporary efforts over the years — acts 60 and 68 and, most recently, Act 46 — that showed real promise toward addressing underlying structural challenges. But every time, when the conjoined specters of closed schools and laid-off staff arose, legislators, governors and school boards, assailed by constituents and special interests, backed off, making exceptions where they shouldn’t — Stowe and Ripton come to mind — and thereby defeated any potential for real reform.
The challenges faced this year come from not addressing underlying problems, not, as has been said, because pay raises and health care costs have exploded. They have, of course, but those costs have exploded everywhere, every year. They are a factor, but not the root cause. Our relative performance continues to be middling at best, and per pupil cost continues to rise far beyond what payroll and health care inflation require.
The cycle of increased costs and declining results is made worse by postponed maintenance, repair and replacement of too many aging buildings, most often in a misguided effort to forestall staff reductions. The combination of too many staff, too many aging buildings and too few students is a toxic feedback loop. It forces misspending on redundancy and unneeded space instead of investing in excellence.
— next year and year after year after that. Property taxes, which pay for more than 60 percent of school spending, will continue to increase by thousands this year and next — ad infinitum. This makes Vermont even less affordable for the young families we say we want to attract.
Already, postponed decisions to close schools and lay off staff has metastasized into an obstacle that impacts everything we hold dear in Vermont. Every funding decision made by the Legislature or the governor is overshadowed by the unsustainable school funding problem.
Vermonters must take a cold-blooded look at what we want Vermont’s education system to accomplish, and how it can be accomplished sustainably, over time.
The response from the Legislature this session is familiar: Tweak the formula (increase the yield, look for any revenue) to get through the immediate funding crisis. Tweaking always fails to address chronic underlying structural problems, and it guarantees the immediate budget crisis will reappear — with Groundhog Day certainty
Addressing Vermont’s other very real immediate needs — housing, environment, agriculture, municipal, economic development, et al, requires that it be addressed. School spending must become predictable, sustainable and equitable, or the whole economy grinds to a halt.
We’ve been here before. In the 1970s, after much bloodletting and political angst, Vermont consolidated many village
high schools into regional union schools, where students gained access to a richer array of academic and extra-curricular choices. Cries of “you’re killing our community” faded as communities adjusted to the new realities and learned to take advantage of them.
On the federal level, in 1988 both Congress and the administration recognized that too many aging military bases were not adding value to changing military needs. Predictably, efforts to close redundant bases were stymied by unsurmountable political impediments.
Their solution created Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), described by the U.S. Department of Defense as “the Congressionally authorized process DoD has used to reorganize its base structure to more efficiently and effectively support our forces, increase operational readiness and facilitate new ways of doing business.”
Nearby Plattsburgh Air Force Base was repurposed. BRAC removed most political and emotional considerations by anchoring decisions in objective criteria agreed to by a wide range of interests.
Vermont can no longer wait to realign education spending. We must prioritize educational enrichment and equity for students as well as long-term economic viability for taxpay-
ers, over short-term parochial considerations. By not addressing the triple threat of too many aging schools, too much staff and too few students, the economic impacts of that indecision have grown over time and are crashing over us, drowning other emergent needs in a tsunami of school misspending.
Vermonters must take a cold-blooded look at what we want Vermont’s education system to accomplish, and how it can be accomplished sustainably, over time. It’s time to authorize a BRAC-like process for Vermont’s future that would reorganize Vermont’s education system by repurposing schools, reducing staff and investing in excellence to, echoing BRAC, “more efficiently and effectively support our students, increase student readiness for post-secondary education and training and facilitate new ways of doing business.”
It can be done, but it will take political courage to do it.
Floyd Nease served in the Vermont House from from 20022010, for a time as Democratic Party Majority Leader. Trained as a mental health clinician, Nease led several nonprofit human services agencies in Vermont, including an alternative school for children and adolescents who were unable to thrive in public education settings.
The Vermont Community Newspaper Group took home 13 first-place awards — and more than twice as many second- and third-place nods — for journalism and design at the New England Newspaper Convention, held over the weekend in Waltham, Mass.
The annual Better Newspaper Competition, held each year by the New England Newspaper and Press Association, awards the top newspapers from all six New England states in 85 editorial categories and 35 advertising categories. In recent years, the best college newspapers have also been honored.
The Vermont Community Newspaper Group publishes five community weeklies in Lamoille and Chittenden counties — the Stowe Reporter, News & Citizen, South Burlington’s The Other Paper, Shelburne News and The Citizen of Charlotte and Hinesburg — and two glossy magazines, the Stowe Guide and Magazine and Stowe/ Green Mountain Weddings. All seven publications took home awards at this year’s competition.
“We’re small but mighty,” said publisher and editor Greg Popa. “I’m continually amazed by the talent of this crew and the serious news coverage and solid reporting they provide for our readers. I hope the sixteen communities we serve appreciate the
work they provide to report the news week after week.”
The newspapers took home 20 awards for reporting, photography and overall presentation. That included five first-place prizes:
• Human interest feature story, by Aaron Calvin, for his piece about the death of a homeless veteran.
• Pandemic coverage, by Corey McDonald, for his piece about a well-known businessman grappling with the death of his son.
• Arts and entertainment reporting, by Avalon Styles-Ashley, for a profile of local artist Sue Gilkey.
• Serious Columnist, by David Rocchio, for a piece about snow and another about his memories of his father.
• Sports Action photo, by Al Frey, who also won second and third place in the same category, for three different photos of high school basketball games.
The newsroom also won seven secondplace newsroom awards:
• Best Niche Publication, for the Stowe magazine, by publisher and editor Greg Popa.
• Arts and entertainment, by Rob Kiener, for a profile of painter Luigi Lucioni.
• Business and economic reporting, by Calvin, for a magazine story about how Idletyme restaurant and brewery weathered
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.
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.
the pandemic.
• Climate change or weather, by Calvin and news editor Tommy Gardner, for their coverage of last July’s flooding in Lamoille County.
• Humor column, by Carole Vasta Folley, for her wit about tech trauma and kitchen freezers.
• Portrait photo, by Glenn Callahan, for a picture of Bambi Freeman.
• Reporting on religious issues, by McDonald, for a report on South Burlington schools renting out space to a church.
• Right-to-know, by Calvin, for a series about the dismissal of a Stowe police officer.
• Serious columnist, by Folley, for a piece about gender pronouns.
• Sports action photo, by Gordon Miller, for a Peoples Academy softball pitcher.
The newsroom won half a dozen thirdplace journalism awards:
• Crime and courts, by McDonald, about an investigation into a Shelburne cop.
• Human interest feature story, by Kiener, for a story about a man confronting the end of his dog’s life.
• General news story, by McDonald, for
To order a meal contact Kathleen at agewellstcath@gmail.com or 802-5031107. Deadline to order is Wednesday, April 3. If this is a first-time order, provide your name, address, phone number and date of birth.
More at agewellvt.org.
Join the Solaris Vocal Ensemble, led by Dr. Dawn Willis, for two evenings filled with the uplifting power of choral music. As part of its 10th-anniversary celebration, Solaris offers “Radiant Light,” a concert featuring Mozart’s “Vesperae Solennes de Confessore,” with its soaring melodies and intricate harmonies and accompanied by a chamber orchestra.
Be moved by powerful motets and spiritual arrangements with selections by Bruckner, Hogan and Thompson. Witness the world premiere of Solaris’ own composer-in-residence, James Stewart, and his new work, “It Had to Be Your Fascinating Rhythm,” a reimagining of two iconic 1924 jazz tunes.
Concert dates are Saturday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m., at the College Street Congregational Church, Burlington, and Sunday, April 7 at 4 p.m., Bethany United Church of Christ, Montpelier.
Advance tickets are recommended at solarisensemble.org.
On Wednesday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m., Farmers Night at the Statehouse will honor Pete Sutherland, a leader of traditional and Americana music who touched and inspired many in Vermont and internationally through his compositions, playing, mentoring and teaching. Friends, fans, students, collaborators, admirers and others will join to celebrate and pay tribute to him. Guest musicians will include Lee Blackwell, Jim Burns, Patti Casey, Grey Larsen and Cindy Kallet, Tom MacKenzie, Oliver Scanlon, Fiona and Emmett Stowell and David Zuckerman. The Farmers Night Concert Series is a longstanding Statehouse tradition that goes back over 100 years to a time when lawmakers entertained themselves in the House chamber mid-week while away from home.
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@char
COURTESY PHOTO
“Material Matters,” a collection of hand-colored and black-and-white photographic images and mixed media collage by Weybridge artist Victoria Blewer is on display at the Vermont Supreme Court Gallery in Montpelier from Thursday, April 4 to June 28. There will be an opening reception and art walk on Friday, April 5, 4-7 p.m. As a photographer and visual artist, Blewer explores a variety of photographic mediums that derive from silver-print black-and-white and hand-colored images of agricultural structures. “I’m not the sort to live my life based on a bumper sticker, but one stuck with me as I realized that technology was forcing me to re-imagine everything I have done or may do next as an artist,” says Blewer, who has exhibited her photography broadly and has won many national and regional awards.
continued from page 8
lotteseniorcentervt.org.
The suggested donation is $5. Check the website for last-minute cancellations at bit.ly/3FfyLMb.
The meal for Thursday, April 4, features sweet and sour pork with vegetable sauce, brown rice with lentils and vegetables, green beans, wheat bread with butter, fruit crisp with cream and milk.
The meal for Thursday, April 11, features chicken in gravy with mashed cauliflower, diced carrots, southern biscuit with butter, carrot cake with icing and milk.
The meal for Thursday, April 18, features beef with barbecue sauce, baked beans, broccoli florets, wheat bun with butter, pumpkin craisin cookie and milk.
Come to Shelburne’s Pierson Library on Saturday, April 13, at 10:30 a.m. for a storytime celebrating the release of Robert Broder’s newest children’s book, “Reading Together: A Heartwarming Story About Bonding with Your Child Through the Love of Reading.”
Broder is a children’s book author and librarian at Carpenter Carse Library in Hinesburg. The
storytime is free and books will be available to purchase.
Broder’s book helps families to discover the magic of reading together. It is a story of a family’s love for picture books and the moments of laughter, imagination and connection they share. Filled with playful illustrations and fond memories from classic children’s tales, the book takes readers on a nostalgic journey through childhood, when the joys of discovering new stories together create bonds that last a lifetime.
Native Shelburnite Kevin Lepage’s need for speed landed him a spot this year in the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame.
One of 12 inductees for 2024, he’s the only Vermont-born stock car driver to compete at the highest levels of NASCAR.
But for the self-proclaimed “car nut,” his love for cars is something that seemingly runs in his blood. His dad, a mechanic and local gas station owner, started drag racing in Milton in the 1960s around the time Lepage was 3 years old.
“I just fell in love with his drag car and my mom used to say that I used to cry and throw a fit when he used to leave with the car because we weren’t able to go with him,” he said.
For Lepage, the need to be close to the action started in adolescence. He recounts being 8 years old, sneaking into the pit area with his dad and then watching the races from the highest grandstand.
would ultimately move him up to the prestigious Winston Cup series.
to
one but
it three times. It was really good.”— Kevin Lepage
But winning his first heat in his home state of Vermont all those years ago is ultimately what sparked an illustrious career that
“I would just watch the cars and I just loved racing. When I got my first race at Catamount, I won my heat race and I think I finished 10th in the feature and that’s where it all started. I wanted to be one of those guys, that when I’m sitting 60, 70, 80 years old with my grandkids, I wanted to be the guy that would say, ‘We took a gamble, and we made it.’”
In the mid-70s, his dad bought a car for Lepage’s older brother, who started racing at Catamount
and Barre’s Thunder Road until Lepage took over in 1980, when he was Rookie of the Year that year.
“I missed the overall Rookie of the Year for the tour and finished second to Leland Kangas out of Maine,” he said.
Lepage had a successful run on short track in Vermont, including Thunder Road, where he won three Milk Bowls, one of the country’s toughest short-track races.
“To win the Milk Bowl three times in that era, that’s a such a tough race to win one but to win
it three times. It was really good,” Lepage reflected. “It was just one of them days that I couldn’t do anything wrong with the car and the car was just flawless and to beat Mark Martin and Terry Labonte, that was a very special day for me.”
He left Vermont in 1994 for the NASCAR Xfinity circuit, competing in 350 races with 19 top five finishes, 51 top 10s and he posted two wins at Homestead and Bristol on NASCAR’s second-level tour.
“I was really good friends with John Sortino who started Vermont
Teddy Bear Company and he came into my shop one day and I said, ‘Hey, John, I said, I’ve got a proposition for you.’ I told him that I wanted to go NASCAR racing and I needed Vermont Teddy Bear sponsorship. After some meetings, we put a deal together and we came down to North Carolina and started a race team and it’s where my career started down here,” he said.
Although he could have stayed up North, the goal was to be a Winston Cup driver, he said.
“At the time when I moved, I was in my early 30s and that was a young driver to make it into the Winston Cup,” he said.
He raced 13 years in the Winston Cup Series starting in 1997 and compiled two top five finishes and nine top 10s. In his first full season in 1998, he qualified for 27 of the 33 races he entered. Between the Winston Cup series and the Busch series, Lepage has run over 560 races in his career.
“Looking back at my Winston Cup career, over 201 races,” he said. “We easily could have won five or six of those races. I can go back and replay them in my mind that maybe we had a bad pitstop, or just something happened. It was a great career and I’m not disappointed at all that I didn’t win a Winston Cup race.”
He paid homage to his home state when he retired by completing his final race at the Milk Bowl in 2017, the place where his career began.
“Never forget where you came from,” he said. “Anytime there’s any publications or any media stuff that I had to do throughout my career, you know, I was always, ‘Kevin Lepage, from Shelburne, Vermont.’”
Three Champlain Valley players helped the Austin team win the 38th annual Rotary All Star Classic on Saturday as the state’s top senior hockey players faced off.
Nic Menard, Travis Stroh and Alex Zuchowski were named to the team while coach J.P. Benoit was named as a coach.
Stroh scored twice and Menard added a goal and an assist for the Austin team, which won 7-4 over the Harris team. Zuchowski chipped in with an assist.
The two teams are dubbed Team Harris and Team Austin, named, respectively, after the founder of Rotary International and the president of Vermont’s first Rotary chapter.
Menard was named to the third team for the Metro Division all-league team. Zuchowski was named an honorable mention.
Evia Mae Buford was the lone CougarHawk representative at the Rotary All Star Classic.
Buford represented Champlain Valley-
continued from page 8
a piece about the Charlotte fire and rescue squads’ funding.
• Pictorial photo, by Gordon Miller, for a shot of the Spear Barn.
• Serious columnist, Tamara Burke, for pieces about marginalized people and school choice.
• Sports feature, by Gardner, about the Stowe soccer team with five sets of siblings.
The Vermont Community Newspaper Group performed particularly well in the advertising categories, with eight first-place awards:
• Overall design and presentation of a niche product, by Popa, for Stowe magazine.
• Advertising in a niche publication, for the wedding magazine, by production manager Katerina Werth.
• Audience building, by designer Kristen Braley, for Get Connected.
• Automotive display ad, by Braley for Lamoille Valley Chevy.
• Creative use of small space, by Braley, for Manufacturing Solutions, Inc.
• Integrated ad campaign, by Werth and
Mount Mansfield on the Austin team, which beat Harris 5-3 on Saturday.
The Champlain Valley boys’ basketball team was well represented when the Vermont Basketball Coaches Association announced its all-star rosters.
Kyle Eaton, Colby Morehouse and Tucker Tharpe were named to the North team for the all-star game that took place Saturday at Windsor High School.
CVU’s top players helped North win 97-75 over South. Eaton hit four three-pointers for a 12-point effort, while Morehouse added 10 points.
Coming off their second straight Division I state title, three Champlain Valley players got to represent the Redhawks one more time after being named to the roster for the Vermont Basketball Coaches Association all-star games.
Samara Ashooh, Elise Berger and Merrill Jacobs were all named to the South team, which fell to North 68-49.
In addition, CVU’s Zoey McNabb was named to the Dream Dozen, the top underclassmen players from across the state.
Braley, for Ferro Jewelers.
• Local display ad, color, by Werth, for Country Store on Main.
• Special section, by Werth, for the annual RIDE mountain biking supplement.
Second-place awards by the group were:
• Events ad, by the staff, for its advertising of newspaper-hosted political debates.
• Special section, by the Stowe Reporter staff, also for the RIDE supplement.
• Local display ad, black and white, by Werth, for Stowe Family Dentistry.
• Local display ad, color, by Braley, for Lamoille Valley Dance Academy.
The design crew took home five thirdplace awards:
• Advertising general excellence, by the Stowe Reporter staff.
• Health ad, by Werth, for Stowe Family Dentistry.
• Local display ad, black and white, staff, for Rimrocks Mountain Tavern.
• Advertising sales media kit, by Werth, for the company.
• Audience building promotion, by the Stowe Reporter staff, for The Stowe Kids Report, a collaboration with Stowe Elementary School.
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work that we continue to do for our students and our teachers,” he said.
The resignation will not be effective until the end of the school year, Sanchez said, “so my plan is to be laser focused on the remainder of the school year to make sure that we finish strong.”
“I’ve got a lot of work to do to make sure we pass the budget and get the district in a place where we can hand it off to an interim,” he said.
Board chair Meghan Metzler, on behalf of the board, thanked Sanchez for his service to the
district: “We greatly appreciate that he’ll be staying through the end of the school year to continue the work that he’s led and ensure a smooth transition.”
“I’m sad to see him go and excited to find out where he lands,” board member Angela Arsenault said.
In a followup interview, Sanchez was mum on why he was resigning or what his future plans are, only saying that it was “the right time for me to move on.”
“What I can say is there are things in the works, but they’re still in the works right now,” he said.
The board had several agenda items at previous board meetings regarding the superintendent’s evaluation, but those meetings were held behind closed doors.
Sanchez first joined the district in July 2021, succeeding Elaine Pinckney after her 15 years with the Champlain Valley school system. He relocated to Vermont with his wife and three kids from South Bend, Ind., where he was the assistant superintendent for operations in charge of the human resources and transportation departments.
Prior to that, he spent six years as a principal of the César E. Chávez High School in Houston.
In the first months in his new role, Sanchez oversaw the return of students to schools after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the district into remote learning. He guided the five-member school district by juggling multiple strategies of deterrence, including mandatory masking and vaccinations, and keeping up with contact tracing.
search for a director of diversity, equity and inclusion.
By September of 2021, three months into the job, the district had lost its second director of diversity in 14 months. The first, Rhiannon Kim, quit six days after being hired in July 2020, while the second, Liliana Rodriguez, resigned months later.
Then, in October, five diversity, equity and inclusion coaches at several schools resigned at the same time. During this time, the district was faced with questions over equity practices in the district, including the Champlain Valley Union High School’s process of selecting soccer players for the varsity team that community members alleged was discriminatory.
ber 2022, showed marginalized groups in the district have not been achieving comparably high outcomes compared to their peers.
Around the same time, the district hired Dr. Asma Abunaib as the district’s third director of diversity, equity and inclusion. She remains in the job.
“I’m sad to see him go and excited to find out where he lands.”
Sanchez’s tenure was also marked by continued improvements in the consolidated district, including the creation of a director of data systems position, and the implementation of the first district data warehouse, which integrates all students’ data in one location for use of teachers and administrative faculty.
During this time, the district began making improvements to heating, ventilation and air conditioning in the Charlotte Central School, Hinesburg Community School’s 7th and 8th grade wing and the Shelburne Community School. Masking continued until the district reached an 80 percent vaccination rate.
Sanchez’s initial tenure with the administration was mired by repeated turnover in the district’’s
Sanchez, in an editorial, promised to “improve our knowledge and implementation of practices that support students, staff and others in diversity, equity and inclusion work.”
The district in November 2021 announced it would be contacting with Mass Insight to undertake a formal equity audit to review district practices.
That audit, completely and presented to the board in Septem-
The district also created its first strategic plan, the first since it fully consolidated seven years ago.
“You’ve done a lot for us here,” Hinesburg board member Keith Roberts said. “You’ve started us on a journey, and I very much appreciate that — we have a long way to go but you laid the groundwork for us to go there.”
Metzler said the school board plans to appoint an interim for the 2024-2025 school year and share more information in coming months.
Born Nov. 2, 1924, in Detroit, Mich., Sally Robinson died on Friday, March 15, 2024, at the age of 99.
She resided in Osprey, Fla., and previously lived in Birmingham, Mich. She spent summers in Old Bennington and then Charlotte. She was the beloved wife of Eliot Robinson, whom she married in 1949, and together they shared 57 wonderful years of marriage. Eliot predeceased her in 2006.
Sally graduated from Bennington College in 1947 with a major in art and psychology and received her Master of Fine Arts from Wayne State University. She was driven by a passion for art and artmaking that came from her family background as the daughter of the noted art collector, Lydia Winston, and granddaughter of the famed Detroit industrial architect Albert Kahn.
She was highly accomplished herself in printmaking and the technique of Cliché-Verre and never stopped making art in her various home studios.
Sally exhibited both nationally and internationally, including a one woman show of her works at the Bertha Urdang Gallery in New York.
Vibrant and intellectually active to the end of her life, Sally also possessed a curiosity about others and world events. Throughout her life, she served her community through active involvement with Planned Parenthood, Detroit Artists Market and Bennington Museum.
Later, when she moved to Florida, she catalogued rare plant specimens as a volunteer at Selby Gardens in Sarasota.
She loved to play tennis and compete in tournaments. In Flor-
ida, she was a superb croquet player in her league and an avid bridge player.
Most of all Sally valued family and was an incredible inspiration and role model to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
She instilled in the next three generations her love of art, travel and civic engagement, and above
all, what it takes to be a truly devoted mother and wife.
She is survived by her sister, Ernestine Ruben (Herbert) of Princeton, N.J.; children, Peter Robinson of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Lydia Robinson of Princeton, N.J., Suzanne Buchsbaum (Andrew) of Old Bennington and Sarah McGarghan (Kevin) of Charlotte; eight grandchildren; four great grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
There will be a private family burial in Michigan. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, The Albert Kahn Legacy Foundation in Detroit and Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center in Birmingham, Mich.
Arrangements are under the direction of Sanderson-Ducharme Funeral Home in Middlebury. Online condolences and tributes are welcome at sandersonfuneralservice.com.
Notice of Public Hearings to be held April 17, 2024, 7:00 PM Town Center Meeting Room #1 and Remote Meeting via Zoom
CU 24-02/SP 24-03: Application by Town of Shelburne for Site Plan and Conditional Use to replace an existing playground. Property located at 18 Hedgerow Dr (Hullcrest Park) is in the Residential District and the Stormwater Overlay District.
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March 28th, 2024
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!
There is no better time to join our Team!
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
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
Consider joining our team as a Community Banker at our Taft Corners or Richmond location!
a welcoming work
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!)
Banker at our Taft Corners or Richmond location
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!
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
Competitive compensation based on experience. Wellrounded benefits package. Profit-Sharing opportunity.
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!
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!
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
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
