Shelburne News - 4-25-24

Shelburne’s farming community voices

concern over zoning regulation proposals

LIBERTY

With Shelburne in the thick of regulatory reform, members of Shelburne’s farming community — some of whom have called the town home for more than 100 years — are concerned over what some proposed changes could do to their land and property values.

Situated in the middle of the bustling Route 7 corridor, Shelburne is less than 10 miles from the state’s most populated cities, Burlington and South Burlington. During a drive down Route 7, the initial views of Shelburne don’t look much different than a small suburban community tucked in between a bustling highway packed with drive-thrus, new development and commercial businesses.

farmers have set down their farming implements and instead taken up attending planning commission meetings.

“Protect us who are helping the town.”

— Sylvia Maille

After hearing requests from community members last year to undertake the massive zoning project with the help of a consultant, the town hired PlaceSense to lead the way with regulatory reform. Since then, the bylaw rewrite has been underway with a second draft of the proposed changes on the way, town planning and zoning director Aaron DeNamur said.

But, on the other side of town, hidden among the nearly $800,000 median-priced homes is a community of generational farmers whose families have been maintaining hundreds of acres of Shelburne land, some for over a century. Now, as the town begins to discuss changes in its rural zoning districts, the

But initial proposals have caused a stir among some landowners who say that the proposals devalue their property and cause an undue burden to their farming operations. The crux of the concern centers on a proposal to change from 5-acre zoning in certain parts of the rural district to 10-acre zoning.

Like much of the state, Shelburne is toeing the line trying to protect the town’s natural resources while also encouraging the devel-

See FARMING on page 10

PHOTO BY LEE KROHN A

Shelburne author speaks about memoir at Pierson

Marilyn Webb Neagley will speak about her memoir, “Attic of Dreams” on Thursday, May 2, 7 p.m., at the Pierson Library in Shelburne.

Neagley will recall her time at Shelburne Farms when it transitioned from a private estate to a public educational resource. Her work there spanned 20 years, including 1976-1988 when she served as president.

“Marilyn Neagley’s memoir addresses issues so critical now: how to take care of our natural world, of each other, of ourselves — we need magic attics of imagination and stories that inspire our activism. In addition, her book touches on a beloved place in Vermonters’ hearts, and by extension all the beloved places on our planet home we have neglected for far too long,” said Julia Alvarez, Dominican American poet, novelist and essayist.

“Attic of Dreams’ traces a life of healing from family dysfunction to jumping headlong into a life of natural curiosity, activism, restoration and wholeness. Themes include home and community, addiction and secrecy, recovery and restoration, the arts and the natural world, and how the changing times and culture are perceived through older eyes.

She is the author of two previous books and the co-editor of another. Her 2007 book, “Walking through the Seasons,” received an Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) gold medal for best northeastern nonfiction. She has been a Vermont Public Radio commen-

tator and has written essays for her local newspaper. Neagley was raised in Ascutney and has lived her life in Vermont. She and her husband currently live in Shelburne where her father, grandparents and great-grandparents lived.

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Learn about beginning beekeeping

Saturday, April 27, 10-11:30a.m.

The second lecture for the beginning apiarist focuses on honeybee biology, pests to be aware of and the nuance of caring for bees in the age of climate change.

Zentangle art workshop

Saturday, April 27, 2-3 p.m.

Zentangle instructor Julia Davenport will introduce this relaxing and forgiving art form leading attendees in some beginner tangles (patterns) to calm the nervous system. With minimal tools and a small paper tile creativity will be found

within a loose structure of the Zentangle method.

If you can write your name, you can do this peaceful artform. Limit of 20. Register by calling the library at 802-985-5124.

Vermont poets’ celebration

Tuesday, April 30, 6- 8 p.m.

As National Poetry Month wraps up, this special celebration recognizes the work of Vermont poets, past and present. Sit back and listen, or even better, share a brief biography and two to three poems from your favorite Vermont poet.

This will be a relaxed forum — think sitting in chairs

Toddler open gym

Come play and connect with others. No pre-registration necessary, just sign in at the door. A parent or caregiver must always be present.

Scooters, bikes and ride-on toys are not permitted. There will be balls, hoops and tumbling mats. Wear indoor shoes or socks inside the gym. No food is allowed. In case of inclement weather, call 802-985-9551 to check for cancellations.

The open gym for toddlers and preschoolers is held the second and last Sunday of the month through May, 9:30-11 a.m. The dates are April 28 and May 12 and 26.

A $5 suggested donation per family would be appreciated.

Volunteer coordinator is Aisha Mueller at Shelburne town gym.

Davis Park raised bed gardens

Located next to the natural playground at Davis Park on School Street, these raised bed gardens are designed to provide better accessibility for those that may need it.

The plots are small, and few are available. Water is available on site. Gardening is organic only; no pesticide or chemical use. Plots will be assigned in April with planting starting in early May.

in a circle — and anyone is welcome. Let’s lluminate the work of Vermont’s own together, remembering the greats and introducing one another to lesser-known writers as well. Call 802-985-5124 to register, but drop-ins are also welcome.

Attic of Dreams’ author speaks

Thursday, May 2, 7-8 p.m.

Join us for an evening with Marilyn Webb Neagley as she shares stories about her dynamic experiences as president of Shelburne Farms during its formative years. She’ll also read excerpts from her new memoir, “Attic of Dreams.” (See related item at left)

Plot size and cost is 8-feet by 3-feet, 30 inches high, $20; and 8-feet by 4-feet, 24 inches high, $25.

Lifeguard positions

Applications are being accepted for lifeguard positions at Shelburne Beach.

Visit shelburnevt.org for a complete job description and application. Applications will be accepted until positions are filled.

Fall youth soccer

The early registration deadline is Friday, June 14 to secure the early bird price and uniform guarantee.

The Shelburne Recreation Soccer League is for students entering grades one to six next fall. All teams will be assigned one practice night during the week and will compete in games on Saturdays. Register by June 14, the cost is $40; $55 after that date. The uniform fee is $25; a uniform shirt is required. It’s the same reversible jersey as past years. Order when registering if your child does not already have one. Uniform orders must be placed by June 14 to guarantee preferred size.

Correction

We misspelled the name of Devin Colman, historic preservationist and architectural historian for the state, in last week’s story of Marcel Beaudin.

News from Pierson Library

Shelburne Parks & Rec News

Marilyn Webb Neagley

Shelburne residents graduate from leadership institute

Two Shelburne women have graduated from the Early Childhood Leadership Institute at The Snelling Center for Government.

Justin Lee and Susan Torncello joined the Class of 2024, which celebrated with family members, colleagues and friends April 13 at Burke Mountain Resort.

Torncello previously served as the coordinator of the Early Childhood Education Program at the University of Vermont, while Lee is currently the early childhood coordinator for the Milton Town School District.

As a participant in the Institute, they joined 21 others from around the state for a

series of six overnight sessions designed to foster meaningful relationships and explore some of the most important issues facing early childhood care and education in Vermont.

With session themes including personal leadership adaptation, complex systems thinking, public policy and advocacy and use of data, the program challenges and supports participants to develop self-awareness and acquire knowledge and skills that result in strong, effective leadership and thoughtful action.

Lee and Torncello join a professional network of over 1,000 Vermont Leadership Network Alumni.

Lewis Creek group releases stormwater guidance manual

What is stormwater and how can you help manage it to promote healthier watersheds?

“How To Manage Stormwater to Promote Healthier Watersheds: An Ahead of the Storm Guide” was recently published to assess and understand where problems might occur and the opportunities available to address them.

Lewis Creek Association, along with its partners, has released this new manual to help answer these questions.

In the last two years, the association has collaborated with SLR Consulting, Lake Champlain Sea Grant, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation and the Lake Champlain Committee to develop materials, photos and examples of how to assess land and find solutions to better manage stormwater and improve

water quality.

The manual is now available on Lewis Creek Association’s website, as well as in local libraries in the Lewis Creek and LaPlatte watersheds: Bristol, Charlotte, Hinesburg, Monkton, Shelburne, Starksboro, Vergennes and Williston.

It specifically applies to properties in the Lake Champlain Basin, including New York but its concepts are relevant to any area in the Northeast or beyond.

You can learn more about the problem and what landowners can do to improve water quality in a 17-minute presentation at bit.ly/lca-wq-videos. These include things like slowing water down, spreading it out and sinking it into the ground — the “three Ss” that are central to the association’s Ahead of the Storm program, which you can learn more about at bit.ly/lca-aots.

Justin Lee Susan Torncello

Total reported incidents: 65

April 16 at 8:04 a.m., Ellen Coolidge, 87, of Shelburne, was found dead at Shelburne Bay Senior Living. Police do not consider the death to be not suspicious.

April 16 at 8:11 a.m., a vehicle passed a school bus while the red lights were activated on Marsett and Shelburne roads. The driver was issued a ticket by mail for passing a school bus.

April 16 at 3:36 p.m. a 911 caller reported a two-car crash with injuries. Shelburne police, fire, and rescue were dispatched. All patients refused transport to the hospital.

April 17 at 1:29 p.m., police located a suspicious vehicle on Shelburne and Allen roads, which turned to be a stolen U-Haul from Burlington. A wrecker removed the vehicle.

April 17 at 5:36 p.m., someone reported being blocked from a Vermont Teddy Bear warehouse to pick up leased equipment. An officer mediated, and the equipment was secured.

April 17 at 7:26 p.m., a turkey in the roadway created a traffic hazard on Shelburne Road. An officer

CRIME & COURTS

located the feathered criminal and negotiated its removal from the roadway.

April 18 at 1:25 p.m., a couple was reportedly having a verbal dispute at Shelburne Campground. Police located them and mediated the dispute.

April 19 at 7:57 p.m., fire, rescue, and police help to remove several individuals trapped in an elevator on Harrington Avenue. No injuries were reported.

April 20 at 11:54 a.m., a two-car crash on Shelburne Road led to one person being taken to the hospital with injuries.

April 20 at 12:20 p.m., someone reported the theft of items from his motor vehicle on Littlefield Drive. April 21 at 10:48 a.m., Kinney Drugs reported a theft.

April 21 at 4:05 p.m., an erratic motorist on Shelburne and Bostwick roads wasn’t found but the vehicle was located at Hannaford’s in South Burlington. It was later returned to its owner.

April 21 at 6:46 p.m., a retail theft is being investigated at Tractor Supply.

April 21 at 11:53 p.m., a person on Henry Street reported a domestic issue with a partner. Officers mediated.

Arrested at protest Family speaks out about teen who killed two in 2020 Charlotte crash

A teenage driver fined $220 for her part in a double-fatal car crash that killed an elderly Addison County couple in September 2020 in Charlotte was among those arrested at an anti-Israel encampment at Columbia University in New York City last week.

Meanwhile, the family of the two dead victims still aren’t happy that Isabel Jennifer Seward of Atlanta, Ga. never went to prison for the crash.

Public records show Seward, then 16, received a Vermont civil traffic ticket for an offense listed as “driving on roadways laned for traffic” during the double fatal crash.

Seward’s mother later paid the $220 fine. Seward pleaded no contest to the violation.

Her father, William J. Seward, was a longtime high-ranking executive at United Parcel Service and the family lived in a $2.2 million home in Georgia.

“The only reason she wasn’t charged with murder is because she has a rich daddy. She should be behind bars,” the New York Post quoted Eve Taylor, a niece of the victims, in its Sunday edition.

Seward, who was visiting her grandfather, a doctor in Charlotte, was a two-sport varsity athlete at Paideia, an exclusive private school in Atlanta at the time of the crash. She was in her junior year.

Attempts to reach the Hawkins family members through their lawyer before the deadline were unsuccessful.

Connie Hawkins died at the scene of the crash, while Chet Hawkins died five hours later at the hospital. Both died from blunt trauma to the head, body and extremities, a medical examiner said.

Seward provided at least three conflicting stories about her cellphone use leading up to and after the crash near Church Hill Road

The family of the couple killed in the crash — Chet Hawkins, a longtime town official in Ferrisburgh, and his wife, Connie — say they are furious that Seward was never seriously held accountable for killing the elderly pair, who were married for almost 55 years, according to news accounts.

about 4:05 p.m. Sept. 8, 2020, according to the Vermont State Police accident report.

A northbound driver trailing Seward captured the crash on his dash-camera video. It showed Seward in a Toyota Tacoma crossing the double yellow line and crashing into the Hawkins’ car as he tried to pull as far right into the breakdown lane to avoid Seward’s vehicle, records show.

Facing two felony criminal charges of careless and negligent driving with death resulting, Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George directed Vermont State Police to issue the teen the civil ticket, records show.

Seward arrested at Columbia University

Over the past weekend, both the New York Post and the Daily Mail reported the Hawkins family was shocked that Seward was back in the news.

Seward was among 114 protestors arrested at an anti-Israel encampment at Columbia University in New York City last week, where New York police arrested Seward, handcuffed her and led her away, the Post reported.

Taylor said she called Vermont State Police Saturday morning to see if they would re-open the investigation into the fatal crash.

“Chet and Connie’s family are all incensed,” Taylor said. “I want her charged with murder. She has no remorse; she received no punishment. ... After basically getting away with murder, she’s now promoting murder, with no understanding of what she’s promoting,” the Post quoted the niece as saying.

Seward may also have faced some kind of juvenile hearing in Vermont Family Court for the double fatal, but officials at the time said no serious action could be taken.

“The footage clearly shows Vehicle #1 leaving its lane of travel, continue travelling (sic) north in the southbound lane of US Route 7, before colliding head-on with Vehicle #2. There did not appear to be any attempt by Vehicle #1 to correct its course prior to the crash,” trooper Nate Quealy wrote in his preliminary crash report. He said Seward estimated she was driving 56 mph in the 50-mph zone.

SCOTUS: So, is this what we all wanted to happen

Guest Perspective

Walt Amses

Ten years ago, the suggestion that Donald Trump would successfully nominate three U.S. Supreme Court justices, including the preposterous replacement of progressive titan Ruth Bader Ginsburg with her ideological antithesis, Amy Coney Barrett, later to join the conservative majority in overturning Roe v. Wade, would have been laughed out of the room. More absurd was the notion that a self-aggrandizing, perennial New York City B-lister would ride a golden escalator to the presidency of the United States.

With the former president, more unhinged and desperate than ever, again knocking on the White House door, in what has become, in large part because of his first term, a fundamentally different country, the laughter has been replaced by the grim acknowledgement that we never saw this coming.

In a campaign marked thus far by incoherent malice, Trump’s vainglorious delusions go unchallenged by congressional Republicans so addled by a taste of power and the smell of money that the wholehearted acceptance of massive lies has become a litmus test for admission.

One of the first questions asked of applicants and employees of the Republican National Committee, co-chaired by Lara Trump and staffed by MAGA minions, is whether they believe the 2020 election was stolen. RNC spokesperson Danielle Alvarez explained that they wanted “candidates who have worked on the frontline in battleground states or are currently in states where fraud allegations have been prevalent” to share their “experience.”

Unspoken, of course, is that their experience damned well better have convinced them that Dear Leader’s victory had been snatched away and Joe Biden’s presidency is illegitimate.

But thanks in part to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s racist sleight of hand, the Supreme Court has been hijacked and Trump’s diabolical influence still holds sway in a series of decisions that have arguably changed

the trajectory of the country, laying the groundwork for far-right fever dreams of Christian dominion. Such ideology would countenance evangelicals presiding over laws governing LGBTQ and women’s rights, gun legislation and, of course, the separation of church and state, which is already becoming a quaint relic of the past.

Once considered a staid bastion of reason, SCOTUS has become increasingly politicized, delivering a series of divisive rulings lacking credibility and — at least in Samuel Alito’s case — rife with either thoroughly tortured analysis or simple snark.

Writing for the majority in overturning Roe, Alito cites as justification the opinions of Sir Matthew Hale, a 17th-century jurist who believed husbands could not be prosecuted for raping their wives and sentenced women to the gallows as “witches.”

While we may marvel at Alito’s audacity, his strident use of archaic precedent to predicate his rulings, Hale was just the beginning.

Joined by Clarence Thomas, Alito repeatedly invoked the Comstock Act during recent oral arguments on the abortion drug mifepristone, according to the Washington Post, “pressing lawyers about whether the 1873 federal law should apply to abortion drugs being sent through the mail,” essentially rejecting the Biden administration’s argument that the law is obsolete, despite its not having been applied in over a century.

rian-era law, insisting it remains viable while providing legal cover for a future administration seeking to invoke it down the road.

Mailing anything “obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or vile” or “designed for immoral use” was a federal crime under the 1873 statute, long considered anti-vice rather than anti-abortion. The ultra-conservative justices are insinuating the same case, brought with different criteria, would have a better chance of winning, transparently encouraging staunch abortion opponents to give it a try.

This week, after SCOTUS steamrolled public opinion on the topic, the former president, who frequently boasts of his judicial appointees forming the conservative majority that overturned Roe, seemed bent on simultaneously taking credit and dodging responsibility, parroting “state’s rights” as though channeling Strom Thurmond.

Writing for the majority in overturning Roe, Alito cites as justification the opinions of Sir Matthew Hale, a 17th-century jurist who believed husbands could not be prosecuted for raping their wives and sentenced women to the gallows as “witches.”

Abandoning his own prior positions, including “punishing” women for obtaining abortions and hanging his evangelical supporters out to dry, Trump took to his oxymoronic Truth Social, releasing an over four-minute long video that accused Democrats of baby “executions,” claimed that thanks to the Dobbs decision “we now have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, and the equally false notion that “all legal scholars on both sides wanted and, in fact, demanded” Roe be overturned.

Even as the rest of the court appeared skeptical and likely to preserve the FDA’s authority, legal scholars feared Alito and Thomas were planning a separate opinion based solely on the Victo-

Meanwhile, two state Supreme Courts are following SCOTUS’ lead while providing test cases for Trump’s assertion that post-Roe has left women’s right to choose “where everybody wanted it.”

Act 127 remains a fiscal train wreck

To the Editor:

I must take issue with Marc Schauber’s letter to the editor regarding Act 127. (“Act 127 overdue, and good law,” April 18, 2024)

While I applaud the goal of equity in the legislation, the law has been and will be in the next five years, as it fully takes effect, a financial disaster for the state, and specifically for the communities of the Champlain Valley School District. While I have not heard the following used with respect to school funding, it seems appropriate: The law is well intentioned, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

While the law recognizes that some students — those from disadvantaged backgrounds, learning challenged, those for whom English is a second language — cost more to educate and puts in equalized student formulas toward leveling funding on this basis, that is really about how to distribute funding above or below an average per student, not how much it should cost overall.

Where the act completely failed was fiscal responsibility and discipline. It basically told 95 school boards: “You can increase your budgets 10 percent, cap your tax rate increase at 5 percent and the state will cover the difference.”

Districts and school boards logically did what Act 127 told them to do, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the basic flaw, and by fall 2023, the $200 million train wreck was coming. The

quick patch of Act 850 poured gasoline on this fire by saying, “We don’t have that $200 million at the state level and can’t find it, so we are removing the cap and property tax rates can go up as much as they need to.”

I am not surprised that 30-plus school budgets failed. I am surprised they all didn’t fail. Of the five biggest districts, including the biggest — Champlain Valley — four of them were severely and negatively impacted in terms of resulting property tax rates.

Vermont does not have just a school funding issue. We have, first and foremost, a cost issue at the state level. At $21,000 per student for 86,000 students, we are the second highest in the country. Only New York is higher. This shows we are not fiscally efficient or effective in our spending. The current model of $1.8 billion across 95 districts and 250-plus buildings for 86,000 students is not sustainable.

Before we talk about increasing funding, we need to cut costs, and significantly so. We are pricing everyone out of the state.

David Buley Shelburne

Ram Hinsdale should have recused herself

To the Editor:

Vermont is no longer the Vermont where a handshake and meeting of the eyes seals the deal. Attorneys were not needed back then to settle up. Folks had greater respect for themselves and for their neighbors.

Vermont could take the lead

in shining a light. Folks all over are losing hope in government and elected officials, officials who should be there to protect democracy. Once, the balance of power between the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government kept government in balance.

We once trusted our elected representatives. Today many officials have forgotten the folks who elected them, and they don’t want to work together. It’s all about politics, or “I’ll rub your back, if you rub mine.” They care more about what is lucrative for them. “I’ll do what is good for me and a select few.”

I’d love for Vermont to be the bright light in these United States. Our elected representatives have a duty to represent us, the people of Vermont.

Vermont is unique as is. Let’s not destroy these lands and wildlife. Once we proportion many subdivisions into 1 acre, we have a bunch of buildings with more people; the developer is happy, but the people of Vermont have lost.

Laws must apply to all people. Nature and wildlife are part of us, Vermont, and it is essential we keep this in mind. Reconstructing Act 250 is one thing, but we must not entirely derail what we have in place with Act 250. Act 250 has been good for wildlife, forests and people.

Being elected to represent constituents is an honor. With honor must come honesty, integrity, transparency, trust. Kesha Ram Hinsdale knows her husband has a lucrative business and she’s cognizant of wielding power as a senator. She did not recuse herself. She knew Act 47 was a

conflict of interest. What she says is one thing, but her actions tell a tale. Can Ram Hinsdale respectfully represent Vermont with integrity?

Hinsdale needs to have a heart-to-heart talk with herself. Is she honestly representing her Vermont constituents, or is she representing herself, family and a select few?

Doris Sage Shelburne

CV School District thanks voters for support

To the Editor:

On April 9, the Champlain Valley School District community voted in favor of the fiscal year 2025 school budget, 4,358-2,947. With the passage of the proposed budget, the school district can return to focusing on preparation for the end of this school year and the beginning of the next one. We know that the past few months have been difficult. We had to make hard decisions affecting programming and services supporting our students in our schools — directly or indirectly — every day. We value and care for all the people who hold positions that are impacted and appreciate all they have done for our schools.

Seeing how our community came together to support our schools has been a bright spot. We would like to thank everyone who engaged in the effort — the educators who held visibility events, parent groups who organized budget meetings, students who voiced their concerns, community members

who spoke to neighbors about the school budget, and every other person who supported our schools. Hearing what you love about the district, what you feel is most valuable to students, and the importance of the district’s collective work will continue to guide us.

We know we still have more work to do over the coming years to control costs. We are committed to this work and are actively working through these strategic decisions both at the district level and advocating for Champlain Valley School District at the state level. We encourage you to stay engaged in this process going forward.

Again, thank you, voters, for supporting our schools.

Rene Sanchez, superintendent Meghan Metzler, chair Champlain Valley School District board of directors

Trapping setbacks show no measurable gain

To the Editor:

Senate bill S.258 has passed and is now in the Vermont House of Representatives. This bill was pushed by and written in cooperation with animal rights groups.

One feature of this bill is setbacks. A setback would allow traps no closer than 50 feet to all roads and trails. Although reasonable and logical at first glance, it is not what it seems. It is meant is to create an unjustified burden on trappers, and not supported by sufficient evidence of harm to

AMSES continued from page 5

Beginning in May, Florida, which saw 84,000 women seeking abortion care last year, will impose a six-week ban on the procedure.

Arizona’s justices jumped into the time machine as enthusiastically as their federal counterparts, upholding a near total abortion ban initially enacted in 1864.

Reaction was swift and did not bode well for Trump’s almost daily shape-shifting quest to evade accountability as Democrats sought to yoke him like a plough horse to the Civil War era legislation certain to cause problems for Republicans who were just as vociferous in their denunciation of the law as progressives.

Barrett Marson, an Arizona GOP consultant, said, “This is an earthquake never seen in Arizona politics. This will

LETTERS continued from page 6

domestic pets or raise any issues of public safety.

Previous legislation provided for some setbacks. There is no data that suggests even these setbacks were warranted or are solving any known issues.

The setback provisions of S.258 would come close to ending trapping in the state. Often a key place to trap is near streams that parallels or crosses under roads. Requiring setbacks there would clearly exclude some of the most important areas trappers rely on — the key goal of animal rights groups.

Unofficial hiking and bike trails and cross-country ski tails have proliferated and very often zig zag back and forth, at times coming within 30 feet of each other. They can cover a great percent of the acreage involved on any given property. These trails often are not permanent and are often redirected, creating a labyrinth of trails, new and old.

Animal rights groups know that a setback rule will make trap placement extremely difficult to impossible, which is why they have pushed for these unjustified changes from existing policy.

Hunting and trapping are already highly regulated. No public safety gain will come from this bill. However, it will create great harm to traditional outdoor culture so important to so many of our citizens, urban as well as rural. Please oppose it.

Ray Gonda South Burlington

Ram Hinsdale’s defense

on ‘conflict’ is flawed

To the Editor:

In the April 18 issue of The Other Paper (“Ethics panel: no violation against Sen. Ram Hinsdale”), Sen. Ram Hinsdale tried to defend herself against the conflict-of-interest complaint filed by 14 Vermonters. Here are examples of the senator’s flawed defense.

She said, “I try to keep (that) separate from my husband’s line of work. But we share a last name. People still have elect-

shake the ground under every Republican candidate, even those in safe, legislative or congressional seats.”

It’s difficult to remember Trump never tells the truth about anything because his blatant and consistent lies permeate whatever he says, including his “clarifying” statement on abortion. A far more likely scenario is that his team realized going all in with the evangelicals to get elected — including making good on a promise to rig the Supreme Court — has clearly become a loser in the long run. A healthy majority of Americans favor choice.

The simple fact is that if Roe v. Wade had not been overturned, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Walt Amses lives is a Vermont writer.

ed me knowing that.”

Does anyone believe that a husband and wife do not talk about their daily work, especially when the arenas are professionally connected? In most relationships, working couples share and listen to each other so there is no separation.

Further, the senator believes that because voters elected her knowing of the connection between her family’s vast real estate holdings and her work on the housing committee, it’s now OK to chair the committee, propose legislation and then vote on those proposals.

Since when does the voting public dictate personal ethical standards? Ethical politicians govern from their heart, not from the perceived opinions and values of their constituents.

Worse yet, here is another of the senator’s statements excusing her decisions not to recuse herself: “If everyone did (that), there would be no one left to vote. ... If everything was investigated because there was the appearance of a conflict, we wouldn’t be able to function.”

Wrong again, senator.

I’m sure there are plenty of senators and House members who have a knowledgeable background and contribute to a committee of their interest.

However, I doubt there are other multi-millionaires who have their own personal family interest in mind as they perform their duties as a legislator. If there are, I am certain they have been smart enough to rise to their own ethical standards and recuse themselves from voting on their committees’ proposals so there is no conflict of interest or even an appearance of one.

Ram Hinsdale’s actions and now her words have stained her reputation and may have unfairly undermined the trust Vermonters have for her colleagues in the Legislature.

“Everyone has a conflict, so it’s OK” is an unacceptable standard for any representative to excuse a potential conflict of interest. One has to wonder why the senator has not yet realized that. John Bossange

FAURÉ’S REQUIEM

Friday, May 10 at 7:30PM

Sunday,

Green Mountain Valley School, Fayston

Community Notes

Webinar offers study of Indigenous hunting

American Abenaki people in Vermont were and are culturally competent in many types of Indigenous hunting and trapping techniques as well as the use of traditional hunting spirituality. They have used sophisticated Native American technologies such as canoes and snowshoes to get to hunting grounds, stayed in the field in wigwams or tents, fished with spears and handlines, hunted and killed game with lances, bows and guns, and brought it back to camp for processing.

In an upcoming Zoom talk, “Hunting and Fishing: A Case Study in Cultural Continuity,” Dr. Frederick M. Wiseman presents abundant evidence of these activities in the form of objects, tools, historic photographs, family stories and distinctive skills passed down through generations of Abenaki families all with good documented historical Vermont provenance.

Register in advance for this webinar, which will be held Thursday, May 2, 6:30 p.m., at bit.ly/4aKVs8M.

This event is free, but donations are appreciated. For infor-

mation, contact Francine Poitras at communications@abenakiart. org.

Shelburne community holds Walk & Roll May 5

Grab your bike or walking shoes and come share the joy of getting around car-free in Shelburne Village.

Shelburne Community Walk & Roll will be held on Sunday, May 5, at 3 p.m. It starts at the

Parade Ground and participants will bike or walk the same loop as the Halloween parade. Everyone is welcome, and for more fun, festively decorate your bike, helmet or hat.

This free event is organized by Shelburne Forward Together Bike and Pedestrian Task Force. The purpose of the event is to promote getting around Shelburne Village car-free. The event will happen rain or shine.

After riding or walking the

loop, enjoy live music and free cookies, face-painting, free helmets, and a mobile bike repair unit at the Parade Ground. Bring your own water bottles and please keeps the dogs at home.

Enjoy Age Well meals at Charlotte Senior Center

The Age Well meal pickup for Thursday, April 25, is from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Charlotte Senior Center features meatloaf with

brown sauce, garlic home fries, green beans, pumpkin custard with cream 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.

Grab and go meal at St. Catherine’s

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, May 14.

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 breast with sweet and sour sauce, brown rice pilaf with veggies and cannellini beans, brussels sprouts, wheat roll, cookie and milk.

To order a meal contact Kathleen at agewellstcath@gmail.com or 802-503-1107. Deadline to order is Wednesday, May 8. If this is a first-time order, provide your name, address, phone number and date of birth.

Frederick M. Wiseman

Obituary

Janet L. Clear

Janet LaCross Clear, 90, of Shelburne, died peacefully, with loved ones by her side, on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024.

Janet was born and raised in Hudson Falls, N.Y. She grew up with her mother, Theresa, her father, Lester, as well as her brothers, Don and Bob. In school, Janet skipped eighth grade and was voted class secretary all four years she attended Hudson Falls High School. It was there she met her husband, Jerry, and her dear friend, Carol.

After Janet and Jerry were married, they moved to Camden, S.C., and then back to Hudson Falls where Janet worked for the New England Telephone Company. As their family grew to six children, they moved to Ilion, N.Y., Dedham, Mass., Pelham, N.H., and Queensbury, N.Y.

like Janet are memorable for that reason, aren’t they?”

Throughout her life, Janet was an avid reader who often read a book a day. In her later years she also enjoyed playing sudoku, walking with her beloved dogs and bird watching.

After retiring from 25 years of service in the IRS, Janet cared for Jerry. Prior to his death, she ran a gift shop at The Great Escape Six Flags resort in Lake George, N.Y. In the early years of being a widow, Janet spent time living on a farm in Tennessee with her son, Ed, and his wife, Lisa. They note she loved working as it seemed to give her a purpose outside of family life. She would feed the cows and walk down to the mailbox, which was an uphill walk both ways.

These moves were dictated by Jerry’s promotions within the Woolworths Company.

Along the way, Janet supported the needs of their children while always enjoying the friends they brought home. She found time to volunteer and to discover new ways to supplement the family income.

In Dedham, Janet worked remotely sewing for a tailor. In Pelham, she joined the Women’s League of Voters and played in weekly volleyball and softball games with girlfriends, as well as led Brownie and Girl Scout troops.

In Pelham, Janet and Jerry bought a drive-in restaurant they named The Buccaneer. Janet ultimately managed the business on her own while employing her older children to help as needed. They never minded because The Buccaneer became a bit of a high school hangout as was their home on Willow Street.

Before leaving New Hampshire, Janet was hired to work for the Internal Revenue Service in Andover, Mass., where she found a new calling. When the next move brought the family to a home on Glen Lake in Queensbury, N.Y., Janet transferred to the Albany office of the IRS to be the problem resolution officer.

A co-worker, Mike Smith, sent this upon hearing of her death: “Janet Clear was the rock of what was called “office group/office branch,” which processed everything going in and going out of the IRS Albany District for the Collection Division. If there was a problem, we would all call Janet. Janet was unfailingly super helpful and more important always of good cheer. When I think of her, it was with a smile on her face. People

After a brief return to Queensbury, Janet moved to Stowe to live in Copley Woodlands, a 55-plus community. The spot that was chosen because it was somewhat in the middle of her six children. Janet eventually bought a condo at Copley Woodlands. It was there she made new friends and managed to get into a surprising amount of mischief before the COVID-19 lockdowns. (Thank you to their very patient office crew.)

Ultimately, Janet moved between The Arbors in Shelburne and Sterling House in Richmond, where she was supported by staffs of very caring people. She will be missed for her dry sense of humor and, most important of all, her quiet, steady kindness toward residents whom others might shun.

Janet is survived by her six children and their families, Terry Lincoln and her husband, Jim, Shelly Bronner and her husband, Billy, Andrew Clear, Ed Clear and his wife, Lisa, Laura LaPoint Eckert and her husband, Ned, and Matt Clear and his wife, Cathy.

Throughout the years and across state lines, Nana was always interested in hearing about her grandchildren and what they were doing. She is survived by 14 grandchildren, Tara and Molly Lincoln, Abby Bronner Theis, Luke and Corey Bronner, Adam, Rachael and Matt Clear, Cody, Casey Jane and Max LaPoint, and Jenna, Duncan and Sam Clear; and 19 great-grandchildren.

Family and friends are invited to gather when Janet’s ashes are laid to rest on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at 1 p.m. at St. Paul’s Cemetery, 23 Vaughn Road, Hudson Falls, N.Y.

Please consider sending donations in memory of Janet L. Clear to your local hospice or The University of Vermont Health Network Home Health & Hospice, 1110 Prim Road, Colchester, VT 05446.

COMMUNITY NOTES

continued from page 8 91

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.

Janet L. Clear

FARMING

continued from page 1

opment of much-needed housing — one aspect that the zoning rewrite is attempting to remedy. The proposal to switch from 5-acre to 10-acre zoning in certain parts of the rural district, DeNamur said, would funnel growth and development into more residential parts of town, while discouraging it in places like the rural district, where much of the town’s conserved land is.

“I think the consultants proposed that change, again, just as an extra step to encourage the protection of space in that part of town because it is encouraged in the town plan,” DeNamur said. “I think that’s really the prime motivation behind the recommendation.”

But in an open letter circulated on social media last month, four farms and farm families — Guillemettes, Lapierres, Mailles, and Fisher Brothers Farms — banded together to highlight what exactly these types of proposed changes could do to their land.

away a lot of options of what the future might hold for the farms,” he said. “That greatly changes the property value. A lot of conservation people are pushing to get their two cents into it. It’s just been a lot of changes that they want to make that don’t necessarily the benefit of the landowners.”

Similarly for the Mailles — the last family-owned dairy farm in Shelburne, which has been operating for 105 years — as their youngest son Benjamin looks to take over farm operations, the zoning proposals put his future livelihood at stake, Sylvia Maille said.

“When you start to erode the value of our land, that’s directly eroding the value of our livelihood.”

— Bob Clark

“It negatively impacts our ability to secure financial backing, to grow our businesses, to provide for our families, to be successful,” they wrote in a letter signed by the six farmers. “If the end result that various groups are trying to achieve is truly the maintenance of ‘open lands,’ the course they are setting is not the way to do it, as we are, in fact, the people who maintain the open lands,” adding that it wrecks their motivation for doing so, and targets their property as “undesirable” at a time when land is becoming an increasingly more competitive asset.

“That maintenance will most definitely end,” they wrote.

Andy LaPierre, whose family has owned a farm on Route 116 since 1912, explained that although his family isn’t looking to necessarily develop, the changes to 10-acre zoning could greatly change the value of his property, making the future of several farms in the area uncertain.

“Putting more restrictions really takes

“My son, who’s a fourth-generation farmer farming in Shelburne, he has to be able to make a living and if he can’t sell,” Sylvia Maille said at a planning commission meeting, tossing her hands in the air. “Protect us who are helping the town.”

DeNamur emphasized that since there are mixed views and a strong stance against the proposal from landowners, the planning commission has yet to make any concrete decisions about the 10-acre zoning proposal.

“I do anticipate that the planning commission will be discussing that in May,” he said. “And likely we’ll make a decision where to go for at least the second draft. I do suspect that being discussed next month.”

Becky Castle and Bob Clark, whose farming endeavors began at their farm Fisher Brother Farms in 2012 and may be considered a “newer” farm on the block compared to some of their neighbors, have spearheaded much of the advocacy efforts in recent months.

“The town plan says that they want working lands, they want passive recreation. We’re that, and the Lapierres, the Mailles, the Guillemettes, and other farms all are doing land-based businesses,” Clark said. “When you start to erode the value of our land, that’s directly eroding the value of our livelihood.”

Find us on Facebook (beCAUSE Craft Show)

Admission: $3 per adult donated directly to the Vermont Food Shelves (under-12 enter free)

‘Hey, bud’

PHOTO BY LEE KROHN

Hyacinth and daffofils make a lovely spring display in the landscape.

MITIGATED COMBINED NOTICE OF FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT AND NOTICE OF INTENT TO REQUEST RELEASE OF FUNDS STATE OF VERMONT

April 25, 2024

Matthew Lawless, Town Manager

Town of Shelburne

PO Box 88

5420 Shelburne Road

Shelburne, VT 05482

Phone: 802-985-5111

Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development

Alex Farrell, Commissioner, VT Department of Housing and Community Development

One National Life Drive, Davis Building, 6th Floor

Montpelier, VT 05620

802-828-3080

The purpose of this notice is to satisfy two separate but related procedural requirements for activities to be undertaken by the Town of Shelburne.

Request for Release of Funds

On or about May 11, 2024, the Town of Shelburne will submit a request HUD for the release of HUD Risk Share Mortgage Insurance Funds under Section 542(c) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, to undertake a project known as the Bay Ridge located at 3164 and 3229 Shelburne Road, Shelburne, VT. The project has recently obtained the authority to use CDBG, HOME, HOME-ARP and Congressionally Directed Spending funds and this notice is being prepared to add Risk Share funding to the project. The proposed project will replace dated, obsolete motel units used for emergency short term stays with 68 high quality units of new, income restricted permanent rental housing. With 20 units set aside for homeless and at risk households, all of which will be supported by project based rental assistance. Project activities include demolition of four 1960s motel buildings and office building and new construction of two 24 unit multifamily rental buildings on the eastern part of the site. The southern part of the site will consist of up to 27 two and three bedroom for sale townhomes. Buildings D and E will be converted from hotel use to permanent housing. The Bay Ridge project includes one 4.89+/- acre parcel approximately 450 feet of frontage along Shelburne Road. An additional 5.23 +/- acre parcel across the street will be utilized for a solar panel field. The proposed project also includes a stormwater easement.

The estimated total cost of the project is approximately $36,644,354 including anticipated amounts of approximately $4,500,000 in Risk Share funds, $750,000 in CDBG Funds, approximately $841,704 in HOME funds, approximately $841,704 in HOME-ARP funds, approximately $6,000,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending, and approximately $1,156,152 in National Housing Trust Funds. In addition, approximately 30 project based vouchers are anticipated.

Mitigating factors include the following: Implementation of the approved Corrective Action Plan and Land Use Restriction. Additional lead based paint testing and potential abatement at the renovated buildings as required by state and federal regulations. Asbestos containing materials abatement is also required to be in compliance with state and federal regulations. Use of windows with an STC of 27 or more for adequate noise attenuation in the new buildings. New buildings will be constructed using radon resistant construction methods, and passive radon mitigation systems will be installed and activated, if necessary, based on post-construction radon tests to ensure compliance with the EPA’s threshold of 4.0 picocuries/liter.

Finding of No Significant Impact

The Town of Shelburne has determined that the project will have no significant impact on the human environment. Therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) is not required. Additional project information is contained in the Environmental Review Record, which will be made available to the public for review either electronically or by U.S. mail. Please submit your request by U.S. mail to Attn: Matthew Lawless, Town Manager, Town of Shelburne, PO Box 88, 5420 Shelburne Road, Shelburne, VT 05482 or via email at mlawless@shelburnevt.org.

Public Comments

Any individual, group, or agency may submit written comments on the ERR to the Town of Shelburne regarding the use of Risk Share funds, Attn: Matthew Lawless, Town Manager, Town of Shelburne, PO Box 88, 5420 Shelburne Road, Shelburne, VT 05482 or via email at mlawless@shelburnevt.org.

All comments received by May 10, 2024 will be considered by the Town of Shelburne and the Agency prior to authorizing the submission of a request for release of funds. Comments must specify which Notice they are addressing-the Finding of No Significant Impact or the Request for the Release of Funds.

Environmental Certification

The Town of Shelburne is certifying to HUD that the Town of Shelburne and Matthew Lawless, in his official capacity as Town Manager consents to accept the jurisdiction of the Federal Courts if an action is brought to enforce responsibilities in relation to the environmental review process and that these responsibilities have been satisfied. HUD’s approval of the certification satisfies its responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act and related laws and authorities and allows the Town of Shelburne to use Risk Share funding.

Objections to Release of Funds

HUD will accept objections to its approval of the release of funds and the Town of Shelburne’s certification for a period of fifteen days following the anticipated submission date or its actual receipt of the request (whichever is later) only if they are on one of the following bases: (a) the certification was not executed by the Certifying Officers Matthew Lawless; (b) the Town has omitted a step or failed to make a decision or finding required by HUD regulations at 24 CFR part 58; (c) the grant recipient or other participants in the development process have committed funds, incurred costs or undertaken activities not authorized by 24 CFR Part 58 before approval of a release of funds by the HUD; or (d) another Federal agency acting pursuant to 40 CFR Part 1504 has submitted a written finding that the project is unsatisfactory from the standpoint of environmental quality.

Objections must be prepared and submitted via email in accordance with the required procedures (24 CFR Part 58, Sec. 58.76) and shall be addressed to the HUD Director of Community Planning and Development CPD_COVID-19OEE-BOS@hud.gov for the Risk Share funds. Potential objectors should contact the Agency/HUD via email to verify the last day of the objection period.

Highway Foreperson Needed

This is a supervisory position that is responsible for overseeing and participating in the maintenance of the town’s highway infrastructure. A valid VT issued CDL Class A license is required. Required skills include proficient operation of a road grader, excavator, front-end loader, backhoe, and tandem plow truck. The starting pay rage is $33.00-$36.00/hr and is dependent on qualifications and experience. Responsibilities include but are not limited to: snowplowing, heavy equipment operation, scheduling and oversight of contractors, heavy equipment maintenance.

This position provides health, dental, vision and disability insurance; paid time off; pension plan; and 13 paid holidays. For more information visit https://www.hinesburg.org/home/townmanager/pages/employment-opportunities or contact Todd Odit, Town Manager at todit@hinesburg.org or 482-4206

SPORTS

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

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

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

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

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

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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!

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What NSB Can Offer You

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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!

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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!

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

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Boys hold off late comeback by Middlebury in lacrosse

LAUREN READ

CORRESPONDENT

Boys’ lacrosse

Champlain Valley 9, Middlebury 8: The Champlain Valley boys’ lacrosse team held off a

GARAGE SALE:

Equal Opportunity Employer / Member FDIC

comeback attempt by Middlebury to win Thursday night under the lights at South Burlington.

Peter Gilliam had three goals to lead the Redhawks, who had a 9-1 lead at halftime. Jacob Bose added two goals, while Matias Williams, Alden Endres, Darragh Curley and Roman Evans each added one.

CVU moved to 2-0.

Maurer all earned wins in singles for the Redhawks.

Ariel Toohey and Ella Lisle won in No. 1 doubles, while Millie Boardman and Leonie Schwetlick grabbed a win in No. 2 doubles.

Boys’ tennis

Stowe 4, Champlain Valley 3: Champlain Valley fell to Stowe 4-3 in boys’ tennis on Wednesday.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Member FDIC

Equal Opportunity Employer / Member FDIC

APRIL 27-28: 430 Clearwater Road, Shelburne. Moving out and selling almost everything from a four-bedroom house on Shelburne Bay. Furniture, decor and much more!

Girls’ tennis

Champlain Valley 7, St. Johnsbury 0: The girls swept St. Johnsbury on Wednesday, April 17.

The team is now 1-0.

Cassie Bastress, Anna Dauermann, Sage Peterson and Addie

Oscar Andersson and Ziggy Babbitt each got a win in No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively, for the Redhawks.

Henry Frost and Nile Blaisius nabbed a straight set win in No. 2 doubles.

CVU fell to 1-2.

PHOTO BY AL FREY

Travis Stroh delivers the pitch to an Essex batter in a scrimmage on April 17.

Green Mountain Bike Club offers intro rides

Are you tired of riding alone on the same bike paths and roads but worried you don’t have the skills for a group ride? The Green Mountain Bicycle Club will offer introductory group rides on select Saturdays in May and June.

Experienced riders will explain the rules of the road and teach novice cyclists how to ride safely in a group.

Rides start at 10 a.m. at the Wheeler lot at Veterans Memorial Park in South Burlington and will travel between 12 and 20 miles. Nobody will be left behind. There will be at least two ride leaders who will teach group dynamics, including signaling and passing, as well as learning to respect (and be respected by) cars. The pace will be determined by the ability of new riders. Cyclists must wear helmets and have bikes in good working condition. Those under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Cyclists should sign up in advance and sign a waiver at bit. ly/3VPMCSI.

The rides will take place on May 4 and 18 and June 8 and 22.

Contact ride leaders for more information: May 4, John Bertelsen, 802-864-0101; May 18 and June 8, Dawn Fragola, 802-238-8752; and June 22, Holly Creeks, 802-233-901.

To learn more about the club, visit thegmbc.com.

Green Mountain Bike Club

May rides

All riders must sign an annual waiver. Cyclists should sign up for each individual ride so ride leaders know how many people to expect.

For club rules and to join, visit the gmbc.com. Contact Donna Leban at donna.leban@gmail.com for social ride sign-ups.

Sunday, May 5

Covered Bridges of Chittenden County: 23-, 30- and 36-mile options of rolling hills through Shelburne and Charlotte with the longer ride going through Ferrisburgh.

Meet at 9:15 a.m. at Veterans

Reader offers tribute to Coach Ute Otley

Hoop Phi is the playful name of the fraternity of Ute Otley’s Champlain Valley High School girls’ basketball players. Let me tell you why Hoop Phi will never die.

We’ve had mixed emotions after hearing of Otley’s new adventure. There was grief but mostly gratitude. Gratitude for all that coach did for our program, school, community and our girls and their futures.

To be around an adult who has a vast passion for anything is a gift for any kid. When that passion is for you, your development and a beautiful game you love the gift becomes a treasure. We learn most from the presence of inspiring people. Feeling how they live. Learning how life might be done.

The girls carry Coach Otley inside them. She will be there as they find their callings and pour themselves into their passions as she poured hers into them. Think of how many lives our girl’s positive passion will touch?

It’s a good thing to be proud of your high school. When

someone asks these girls, “Where did you go to high school?” it will spark joy. A bright smile.

Our girls are fortunate. I’ll bet a higher-than-average percentage of CVU grads of all kinds feel that spark in the decades after graduation. Otley is part of that. For these girls, that spark will be a burning sun, bursting forth with championship trumpets.

And it’s not just the kids. Parents feel it too. We were the lucky ones. Our kids went to CVU. We had Coach Otley.

Winning was a critical Otley element. In fact, the unapologetic pursuit of victory at a high level may be among coach’s greatest legacies, in an age and state that can feel guilty about success. But she was never all about winning. There was compassion in her delayed gratification, said to be one of the cornerstones of a successful life, according to the famous Stanford marshmallow study.

Coach consistently attended to the kid at the end of the bench. First and foremost, Otley is a great educator.

The lessons of CVU hoops will pass directly from our girls’ palms into the ball as they pass it onto their kids, biological and otherwise, and the grandchildren of Hoop Phi will learn to shoot lefty layups starting about age 5.

We will be there with Coach Otley at maroon-and-gold Norwich University, to celebrate her new maroon and gold shoes. And we will smile at her in the stands as we support our enduring program next year and in the years that follow. We will celebrate next year’s team, which is so well prepared for their unique life challenge.

Hoop Phi will never die.

It takes a strong leader to embrace moments of unpopularity. Take it from Winston Churchill. But those watching carefully saw 10,000 tiny moments of tenderness that are the reality of adventures in team greatness. These acts appeared during games, between games and even between seasons.

By Erik Thompson St. George

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ANSWERS FROM THIS ISSUE

BIKE CLUB

continued from page 13

Memorial Park, South Burlington, Wheeler lot. Social ride option.

The leader is Dorothy Pumo, 802-829-8729, dpumo5@gmail.com.

Sunday, May 12

Vergennes Voyager: 26-mile rolling or 39-mile flat to rolling rural ride running along Otter Creek to Middlebury for a possible bakery stop. The longer ride heads toward Kingsland Bay State Park before heading south to Middlebury.

Meet at 9:15 a.m. at Vergennes Union High School, Monkton Road, east parking lot. Social ride option. The leader is Kevin Batson, 802-825-2618, kevbvt@ gmail.com.

Sunday, May 19

Meet at 9:15 a.m. at Shelburne Shopping Plaza. Social ride option.

The leader is Josh Simonds, 802-355-4352, jsimonds9@gmail.com.

Saturday, May 25

Gravel Hinesburg: Buck, Gilman and Baldwin. This roughly 20-mile, mostly gravel ride traverses quiet roads of Hinesburg.

Meet at 9:15 a.m. at Hinesburg Park and Ride behind the town offices. The leader is Brian Howard, 802-304-0610, bjhowd@gmail.com.

Sunday, May 26

St. Albans Explorer: light, rolling hills with beautiful views by the lake. The 35-mile route goes out to Kill Kare State Park and returns while the 50-mile route continues to Swanton and back.

Meet at 9:15 at Georgia Park and Ride. Exit 18 off I-89. Social ride option.

The leader is Josh Simonds, 802-355-4352, jsimonds9@gmail.com.

Kingsland Bay: 35-mile ride rolls from Shelburne through Charlotte to Kingsland Bay Park and back. The 51-mile ride heads toward Vergennes and climbs to Monkton Ridge, returning through Hinesburg and a 65-mile option heads into Huntington but will not have a leader.

Aurora Chamber Singers: ‘Seeds of Modernism,’ Fauré, Bruckner

The Aurora Chamber Singers will present its spring concert, “Seeds of Modernism,” at the College Street Congregational Church, 265 College St., in Burlington, on Saturday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m.

The program of late Romantic European music by Gabriel Fauré, Charles Gounod, César Franck and Anton Bruckner features the voices of the Aurora Chamber Singers, soloists and organ, under the leadership of conductor David Neiweem.

The selections are perfectly suited for the acoustics of the church where it will be performed, built at roughly the same time as the music was conceived.

Aurora is a group of experienced choral artists formed in spring 2018 to continue the mission of the Oriana Singers upon founder William Metcalfe. Aurora’s choral repertoire spans ages and cultures, including choral masterworks, contemporary music and thematic programs.

Neiweem has been involved in choral music since his earliest years in Chicago. He has been a

member of countless ensembles and enjoyed a lengthy career as a baritone soloist. He was professor of music and chair of the music

program at the University of Vermont until 2023.

For ticket information, visit aurorachambersingers.org.

COURTESY PHOTO

David Neiweem