Bread and Butter farm turns barn into listening room
Light from the setting sun came in through the slats of the barn at Bread and Butter Farm last Wednesday as Mikahely, a Burlington-based musician who often plays traditional instruments from Madagascar and sings in his native Malagasy, picked up a small instrument made of bundled
bamboo reeds from the floor in front of him, a kaiamba. He began to shake it and hit it against his opposite palm, creating a rhythm, its rattle and the beat of his foot the only sounds in the barn.
“When it’s a small group audience, it feels much more closer,” Mikahely said.
Mikahely was the first of three artists Bread and Butter has invited to play as part of their new monthly concert series: Silo
Sessions. Chris Dorman, one of the owners of the farm, planned the series with his friend, Justin LaPoint. Both are folk singer-songwriters and saw an opportunity in Bread and Butter’s recently restored barn to make space for musicians to play. Their goal on concert nights, they said,
See LISTENING ROOM on page 5
Students demand to be heard
BRIANA BRADY STAFF WRITER
Twenty-five students from across the state came to testify in person last Friday before a joint session of the Vermont Senate and House education committees. One by one, they sat at a small desk facing a horseshoe of senators and representatives and asked to be heard.
“It is just wonderful to have so many students here and to have your voices and your input and your authentic engagement. It means so much to us, and it’s an important part of our process,” Erin Brady, D-Williston, who chairs the House education committee said before the testimony began.
Brady, along with Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale and Champlain Valley Union junior, Zoe Epstein organized the testimony. While on the schedule the time was officially logged as related to H. 454, the education reform bill recently passed by the state House of Representatives, the students’ comments ranged across topics that they wanted to address such as diversity, equity and inclusion programs or school choice, sometimes giving opinions that put them at odds with each other. However, at the center of the testimony was a demand that echoed Brady’s comments at the beginning of the session: the students would like to be involved in the legislative process.
See STUDENTS on page 2
PHOTO BY BRIANA BRADY A rearing horse at Shelburne Museum stands in the middle of other sculptures, which appear to be almost grazing on the lawn. See story on page 11.
BRIANA BRADY STAFF WRITER
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STUDENTS continued from page 1
The four Champlain Valley Union students who gave testimony focused on a variety of topics even amongst themselves.
“Being the only hijabi person and person of color (in middle school) and there being no DEI programs, I found it hard to engage with school and with other students as well. But that kind of changed while transferring to CVU and joining the Racial Alliance Committee,” Hibo Dahir said.
Nicole Richie Asiimwe, a CVU junior who stated that she also represented the Vermont Student Anti-Racist Network, agreed, citing how her DEI coordinators had shown up for her again and again.
“They would come to my classes to talk about kids’ microaggressions, and it wasn’t something awkward. They’d be very serious about it,” she said. “DEI education means creating an environment where all students, regardless of background, feel valued, supported and empowered.”
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For Chloe Ngu and Zoe Epstein, the two student representatives to the Champlain Valley School Board, the focus was more on the impact of the bill itself and how students could be involved in the decision-making process. Epstein, in particular, is passionate about student involvement.
In addition to direct asks that the Legislature pull back on expanding school choice and include students on school boards after consolidation, Epstein highlighted the importance of bringing students into the room while legislation is crafted.
“We are the ones sitting in classrooms, navigating the curriculum and living the direct consequences and benefits of every policy decision. Time and time again, we are left out of the rooms where those decisions are made,” Epstein said.
This is not the first time Epstein has given testimony to the Legislature. Last month, she went before the House Commit-
See STUDENTS on page 3
COURTESY PHOTO
Zoe Epstein, a junior at Champlain Valley Union High School, helped organize student testimony in the Legislature last Friday.
continued from page 2
tee on Education with Gracie Morris of South Burlington High School and Cashel Higgens of Harwood Union Highschool to talk about her work spearheading studentled discussions of the local budget and promote student inclusion in drafting education policy.
Whether or not the Legislature opens the door to students earlier in the process, Epstein has plans to organize. She is in the process of forming the Vermont Learners Association, what she envisions as the student counterpart to the Vermont school board, superintendents, and principals’ associations.
For this first year, she said, the group consists of student school board representatives from around the state – it made sense to start by bringing in students who already had a background in the budget and policy processes in their districts. Epstein said she has already reached a number of students from the Canadian border down to the southern part of the state. Their first meeting was held over video call this past Monday.
Her goal? To have every decision that impacts students be made in conjunction with their input.
“If we build credibility in this organization, there’s a higher likelihood that they’re going to call upon us rather than us calling on them,” she said.
While they want adults to hear them, Epstein said that she has no plans to let adults direct the group itself.
“There’s not going to be an adult in the background. There have been suggestions that I’ve been given to have an adult be like an executive director, but that taints our entire mission of we want this to be completely student led,” she said. “There will be adults all around us, and we will consider things that they have to say, but they are not in charge.”
Although that poses some difficulty in relying on students who are over 18 to manage some parts of the organizational process — Epstein plans to register it as a nonprofit — she’s hoping to resolve those issues.
That’s in line with other goals that she has to empower students before they turn 18. One of the group’s first priorties is to grant student school board members voting rights once they’ve been on a board more than a year, which is the same process used to give voting-member status to one of the two students on the Vermont Bord of Education.
In some ways, the student testimony last week was a testament to how much students from across the state agree with Epstein and want their opinions to impact decision making.
When she reached out to other students to invite them to come, Epstein said she didn’t specify what they needed to comment on. It just so happened that the themes many cared about such as DEI or class size overlapped, showing how closely many students are watching both federal and state policies.
“I kept a running list on a notebook of sort of major themes and phrases and was putting check marks when they came up again and again,” Brady said. “The things that got the most check marks were preserving DEI and preserving our educational opportunities. Small class sizes came up again and again.”
While Brady said that it’s hard to know how much change the testimony might drive in the legislation, she thinks their perspective matters, especially as the Legislature moves forward with education reform.
“There is a strong electoral push for financial efficiency and spend less, but that’s very different from what it might mean to actually change our system. I think their voices are really important in making sure that we don’t rush change, that we don’t make changes just for the sake of consolidating if it isn’t achieving quality goals,” Brady said.
As of right now, H. 454 has passed from the House to the Senate, and Brady said they are in the process of making changes. Whether or not those changes echo the desire of the state’s students remains to be seen.
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Shelburne Police Blotter: April 20-26
Total reported incidents: 98
Traffic stops: 4
Warnings: 4
Medical emergencies: 32
Mental health incidents: 3
Suspicious incidents: 10
Directed patrols: 23
Citizen assists: 11
Motor vehicle complaints: 2
Car crash: 2
Animal problem: 2
Theft: 3
Harassment: 1
Vandalism: 1
Property damage: 1
Fraud: 3
Alarms: 8
Pending investigations: 7
911 Hang-up calls: 1
April 21 at 3:26 p.m., a caller reported a retail theft from Kinney Drugs. The officer located the suspect and he was issued a trespass notice and then released.
April 21 at 4 p.m., a caller reported that their residence or vehicle was vandalized on Turtle Lane. A vandalism report was taken, and the case is pending additional leads.
April 22 at 7:11 a.m., a 911 caller reported an unresponsive family member on Route 116. The Police and EMS determined, Gail Greer, 68, of Shelburne had died. The officer investigated and determined the death was not suspicious.
April 22 at 11:08 a.m., a caller reported a two-car motor vehi-
cle crash with no injuries on Locust Hill. Statements were taken from all individuals involved, and a crash report was completed.
April 22 at 4:18 p.m., a caller reported a strange raccoon hanging out in the area of Greene Road. The officer checked the area but was unable to locate the animal.
April 22 at 4:58 p.m., a caller on Deer Run Drive reported a fraud complaint. A fraud report was taken, and the case is pending further investigation.
April 22 at 8:05 p.m., a 911 caller reported an unresponsive resident at Lakeview House. Police and EMS determined the patient, Thomas Bostwick, 61, of Shelburne, was dead. The officer investigated and determined the death was not suspicious.
April 23 at 11:41 a.m., a caller reported a theft of a trailer from the parking lot of Harbor Place. The officer determined the complaint was unfounded.
April 23 at 12:12 p.m., a caller reported a fraud complaint on Hedgerow Drive. A fraud report was taken, and the case is pending further investigation.
April 24 at 11:26 p.m., a 911 caller reported an unwelcome female guest at the Countryside Motel. The individual left the scene prior to the officer’s arrival. The female was later found walking along Shelburne Road and issued a trespass notice.
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Contact: PO Box 489 Stowe, VT 05672 (802) 253-2101
LISTENING ROOM
continued from page 5
is to turn the barn into a listening room. For them, a listening room means a quieter space where the focus is on the artist. It’s intimate.
“We want the artist to feel like when you’re in a one-on-one conversation with someone, and they deeply care about everything you’re saying,” Dorman said.
Mikahely’s performance typified that environment. In between songs, he told stories about his childhood and how he taught himself to play valiha, the national instrument of Madagascar, which is made of a large hollow bamboo body and around 20 strings. At moments, Mikahely delved deeper, sharing stories and songs about his father’s abuse or surviving a tropical storm.
At one point, he taught the audience to clap out a rhythm as a call and response to his prompts. The barn filled with percussion.
Only a few years ago, the Bread and Butter barn was on the verge of falling apart. According to Dorman, the structure dates to the turn of the 20th century. Some of the beams, he said, may be
even older — you can tell from the hand-hewn quality of the wood. In 2022, the farm received a barn preservation grant from the state, enabling it to make structural repairs while retaining the integrity of the historic building.
For the Silo Sessions, Dorman and LaPoint hung string lights from the beams. On the stage were carpets, a chair, some microphones. The audience of about 30 or 40 sat in folding chairs, snacking on baked goods from the farm’s café. A black cat wandered through the crowd, occasionally jumping up onto a lap.
Beyond just the listening room aspect, Dorman and LaPoint see Silo Sessions as supporting local artists. They’ve limited their invitations to musicians who are within four hours of Shelburne — Mikahely and Henry Jamison, who is playing in May, are both Burlington locals and Springtide, playing in June, is from Maine.
“Chris and I are also both artists and have played in the past, and we really want it to be fair to the artists, because I think there is
a lack of that,” LaPoint said.
Dorman said that he’s been inspired by Beth Duquette and Richard Ruane at the Ripton Community Coffee House, which wrapped a 29-year concert series last May. The nonprofit had a mission of supporting musicians while offering affordable concerts to their community.
“That is in an old town building, and it’s all seated, and it’s great sound. They have a bake sale, and everyone’s focused on you, and it was a big deal as someone who just started playing out. It’s like, oh, well, people are actually listening to me,” Dorman said.
At the beginning of last week’s show, Dorman got up to the mic to introduce Mikahely and the series. He led the audience in a call and response song.
“We transform,” he sang, “by listening.” The audience sang it back.
Mary Elizabeth Remington will open for Henry Jamison at Bread and Butter’s next Silo Session on May 21.
PHOTO BY BRIANA BRADY
Kaiamba player Mikahely also played instruments more common in the United States such as the guitar, at Bread and Butter Farm.
OPINION
Letters to the Editor
Delivering reliable energy is essential for co-op
To the Editor:
My name is John Hango and I’m running for a seat on the Vermont Electric Coop board of directors to represent the West District.
As we continue to become more dependent on electricity, safely delivering reliable and affordable energy to our members is essential. The variability in the different sources of electrical energy, combined with our changing demand, makes maintaining and expanding our grid more challenging than ever.
As this shift continues to evolve, we need to ensure that our infrastructure is capable of reliably meeting our electrical demands at a reasonable cost.
A balanced approach to accomplish this with good diversity in energy sources will be essential to achieving both objectives for our members.
I grew up in Berkshire, where four generations of local families reside. My wife and I raised four children here, and we feel strongly that there is a pathway for future generations to continue to live sustainably. My background is in mechanical engineering — large-scale manufacturing of generic drugs and R&D for future
immunotherapy drugs to fight cancer.
Based on my experience running a large manufacturing plant in Vermont, as well as helping to take care of our family’s home and farm, I understand that work must be accomplished safely and efficiently. It is imperative to retain and recruit VEC’s current and future staff to ensure we meet our goals.
In our leisure time, my family and I enjoy outdoor recreation and raising a small herd of beef cattle. I’ve had the privilege of serving on boards such as United Way; Northwestern Medical Center; Governor’s Institute of Vermont; Franklin County Industrial Development Corporation; and Parish Council.
I am committed to working collaboratively to support our community, businesses, and farms to ensure a resilient infrastructure that reliably and affordably meets the needs for future generations. It would be a privilege to serve and bring my perspective to the table. I would appreciate your support and vote.
You can vote via VEC online, through the SmartHub App or by the ballot that you received in the mail, through May 8.
John Hango Berkshire
The April 17 edition of Shelburne News, the Guest Perspective by Mui, Denenberg, Austin and Webb (“Get involved to shape our town’s community, economic development”) opened with the bold statement, “Shelburne is special.”
I agree. Shelburne is not only rich in natural beauty, but with aware citizens who engage in thoughtful dialogue across our differences. This is special, particularly in today’s America.
Yet, perusing the pages of the Shelburne News each week demonstrates that we are similar to other communities because we repeatedly experience the NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) challenge. Recent examples include resistance to the needed upgrade to Shelburne’s wastewater treatment infrastructure and the O’Brien development project.
Before proceeding, it’s important to state I know none of the individuals involved or details of the events in these or other local controversies other than what the Shelburne News has reported. I am not pointing blame at any of the involved parties and am not taking sides. And I have no expertise in wastewater treatment, housing development or any other aspect of town management.
The expertise I do have to offer is in conflict resolution. After careers as a family physician and physician executive, I spent 25 years consulting with hospitals, healthcare systems and physician groups across the country helping to make healthcare work for all of us. In healthcare, conflict is a growth industry.
It is lessons learned in the heat of many battles that I want to share today, with the goal of helping our community work its way through these conflicts and the countless conflicts to come.
One of the early steps in mediating conflict is to listen deeply to the involved parties then reframe their conflict in a manner that captures the richness of the issues while inviting the parties to view their disagreements in a more flexible, hopeful and open-minded way. I would like to offer two reframes that apply to common challenges that arise in all communities.
The first reframe is to recognize the difference between solvable and unsolvable problems. Solvable problems require either/or thinking. Examples include whether to hire a particular contractor or what computer system our town hall needs.
Unfortunately, the most consequential challenges any commu-
nity faces are inherently not solvable. In the examples of our wastewater treatment infrastructure and the O’Brien development project, the core challenge can be reframed as, “Which is more important, success of the part or success of the whole?”
In any collective, the whole can’t succeed unless the parts succeed. But if we overvalue the success of any part compared to the success of the whole, the whole will not succeed, which will come back to undermine the success of the part. We could call this a “polarity” because both “poles” are of value. If we overvalue one pole to the neglect of the other, bad things happen. A polarity can only be managed but never solved.
The parts can be individual citizens, families or businesses. They define their success, at least in part, by what happens to their property, their business, and/or their finances.
This is completely appropriate. Yet their success, as they define it, can conflict with the success of Shelburne as a whole, which needs, for example, to update its wastewater treatment infrastructure and provide more housing. The ways these part/whole polarities have been managed until now have given rise to expensive, protracted legal and other battles. In other words, these polarities have not been managed well.
What might it look like to manage these polarities better going forward? It begins by accurately diagnosing a given issue as an unsolvable problem. Then all involved parties must shift from either/or thinking to embrace both/and thinking by reframing this challenge to, “How can we help both the part and the whole succeed as each defines success?”
This leads to the second reframe, which is to recognize this is a negotiation. The problem arises because most of us have a limited understanding of negotiation, reducing it to the wrangling over price that happens in a flea market. Thanks to the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project summarized in the excellent book “Getting to Yes,” we have come to recognize that the thing we call negotiation is actually four distinctly different types of activities, each carried out under a different set of ground rules.
The four types of negotiation are based on position, power, interests and principles.
The bartering that happens in a flea market is position-based negotiation. Each party states their position, in this case a price. Progress only happens when one party gives up some of their position, with the hope of meeting somewhere in the middle. Because each feels they have given up something (often more than they want to), this type of negotiation injures relationships and makes it harder to live and work together going forward.
Power-based negotiation injures relationships even more. After adopting a position, each party seeks the most powerful possible leverage over the other party to get what they want.
Interest-based negotiation occurs when the parties move beyond their positions, seeking to understand the interests of each party that lie behind their position. For example, individual citizens have an interest in the beauty, tranquility and value of their property. The town has interests in updating the wastewa-
Shelburne puppet show a Hands On affair
Hands On Puppets returns to Shelburne’s Trinity Church with a new show May 3 at 2 p.m. The free show will feature three parts: “The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly,” Aesop’s fable “The Lion and the Mouse,” and “Noah and the Ark.” The audience will enjoy popcorn and lemonade, along with this opportunity for a close-up view
of the puppets and how they work to tell the stories. The Puppet Show will take place in the McClure Room at the rear of Trinity Church, 5171 Shelburne Road. Parking and entry are accessible.
Shelburne Parks and Recreation
• Group Swim Lesson Program: In a new offering, the department
“This Land: A Sonnet for Shelburne”
By Drew Arnold
What is a town but a parcel of land upon a rock in a vacuum –its history in fossils, a collection of particles, marked on a map, bound to its own room?
A survey would show: shops for wine and yarn, a school, a beach, two storefronts for treats, a shipyard, old ferries, a fancy working farm, lumberyards and teddy bears, and a market just for meats, houses a hundred years old, neighborhoods over putting greens, more to be built, homes not yet sold, and your barn – more vital the more it leans.
All of this packaged by hands not feeble because what is a town but its people?
partners with The Edge Sports & Fitness to offer preschool and learn-to-swim lessons. The pool is located at 75 Eastwood Drive in South Burlington and is 81 degrees. A parent or guardian accompanies the child for the in-water lessons.
June session dates: Sundays, June 1, 8, 15, 29. Cost (5 lessons): $117.50. Registration deadline: May 23. July session dates coming soon. Register through Shelburne Parks and Recreation.
• Summer camp spotlight on Ultimate Frisbee Camp, July 21-25, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., at the Shelburne Athletic Fields, 166 Athletic Drive. Whether your child is a beginner or knows about Ultimate Frisbee, this camp will help stretch his or her skills and provide the perfect environment to learn, grow and have a blast. Over the week, work on catching, throwing, strategy, knowledge of the game and speed — and, of course, play a lot of Ultimate. Campers will get to take home a disc and a T-shirt. Please bring a water bottle and snack (if desired), come dressed for the weather outdoors and wear sunscreen.
Cost: $175. Ages: 10-15 years old. Minimum of 12 participants and a maximum of 30. Registration deadline: June 30.
• Summer Tai Chi: Basic Sun Levels 1 to 3, Mondays and Wednesdays, June 2-July 30, Shelburne Town Gymnasium, with instructors Chris Curtis and Kim Rainbolt. Come and join a relaxing, joint-safe activity. Tai chi has been shown to improve flexibility, reduce stiffness and help keep joints mobile. It can also help with concentration, memory, balance, strength and energy levels.
Learn to relax more with tai chi’s slow, gentle movements, while having fun and meeting new people. Class is sponsored by Age Well Vermont. Registration is required through Shelburne Parks and Recreation. .
From 9:30 a.m.-10 a.m., those familiar with Sun 73 will run through the form and review movements as needed. Participants should warm up before the session and are welcome to stay for the basic review beginning at 10 a.m.
From 10-11 a.m., after beginning with fundamental warm-ups, we will run through Sun style levels 1-3, followed by a review of particular basic moves or sequences.
New folks are welcome. Registration deadline: Friday, May 30.
Free • Table tennis summer session, Fridays, June 6-Aug. 29, from 6:30-
10 p.m.: Ages 16-99 and all abilities are welcome to enjoy informal instruction, organized play and competitive matches. Registration is required. Cost: $20 for summer session.
More information at shelburnevt.org/160/Parks-Recreation. Call 802-985-9551 with questions.
Tree giveaway and other library events
Here’s what’s going on in the coming week or so at Shelburne’s Pierson Library, 5376 Shelburne Road:
Arbor Day Weekend: Join the library May 2 and 3 for Arbor Day fun as organizers pass out more than 200 American persimmon and bald cypress seedlings donated by town stormwater coordinator Shayne Geiger. In addition, the Shelburne Tree Committee will guide folks on a free tree walk around the village Friday, May 2, at noon. Project lead on the Master Gardener Extension Program, Steve Budington, will give a tree planting demonstration Saturday, May 3, at 10 a.m.
• Book Release Party with Author/Illustrator Jason Chin,
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Brewer, grower create joint effort
PATRICK BILOW STAFF WRITER
Cannabis and craft beer is a feel-good combination in more ways than one.
The Alchemist, a brewery in Stowe known for Heady Topper and other double IPAS, has started donating captured carbon dioxide from its facilities to Vermont Medicine Man Craft Cannabis in Marshfield, and it seems to be the special ingredient for producing big, dense nugs.
“It’s kind of a perfect fit,” John Kimmich, who owns The Alchemist with his wife Jen, said. “The carbon that our beer produces is literally a physical building block of [Medicine Man’s] cannabis flower.”
Carbon dioxide is created alongside alcohol during the fermentation process, and while some breweries might just release that gas into the atmosphere, The Alchemist has been capturing its own for years.
The brewery uses a special machine made in Texas, allowing it to capture and recycle CO2 back into its production process for carbonating beer and cleaning out containers. But they can’t reuse all of it.
Luckily, cannabis plants love CO2. In fact, it’s a key component of nearly all industrial indoor grow operations and it boosts plant metabolism, accelerating their growth and producing denser flowers, according to Justin Kuehnel, the cultivator at Medicine Man.
“It’s a pretty novel concept,” Kuehnel said. “As far as I know, we’re the only grow operation in the state that’s doing this. A lot of people are asking me about it. They’re very curious about what we’re doing.”
Kuehnel is a longtime friend of the Kimmichs — John and wife Jen — and they’ve been business partners since the early 2000s.
When the Kimmichs opened
COMMUNITY NOTES
continued from page 8
Saturday, May 3, 2-3 p.m. The Flying Pig Bookstore and Pierson Library team up to host Caldecott-winning author and illustrator Jason Chin. Join and celebrate the release of Jason’s newest work, “Hurricane.” Be the first to hear this new title read aloud, ask Chin questions and learn all about the artistic process that goes into creating his books.
• A Choral Music Recital with Social Band, Saturday, May 3, 7:30-8:45 p.m. Welcome Spring with a free concert from Burlington-based a cappella singers, Social Band. The band weaves poetry and
the Alchemist at its original location in Waterbury 22 years ago, food was a bigger part of their business, and they served produce grown by Kuehnel on his farm, which now yields veggies and weed.
Before they started swapping CO2, Kuehnel made frequent trips to a local welding shop to buy the stuff by the tank, and like everything these days, the price was increasing. Now, Kuehnel is taking almost everything The
Alchemist has, slashing his overhead and eliminating his reliance on commercial CO2 or generator alternatives that run on propane.
The Alchemist invested in special tanks to transport the carbon from Stowe to Marshfield, and Kuehnel is making monthly trips to Stowe for collection.
The fruit of their partnership is available at dispensaries now — just look for a special Alchemist graphic on Medicine Man products.
song together, performing both original compositions and classic Renaissance arrangements.
• Caregivers learn about infant massage with Lila Nadelmann, Monday, May 5, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
As a pediatric occupational therapist and trained educator with Infant Massage USA, Lila Nadelmann provides an introductory workshop on infant massage. Learn how baby-led massage can help promote relaxation, positive interaction and pain relief for your little one.
• Coffee and Conversations: “Democracy,” Tuesday, May 6,
10:30-11:30 a.m. What is democracy and what isn’t it? What does it need to be healthy and be for and of the people? Is it under attack right now — yea or nay? What lengths are appropriate to go toward its defense? Coffee and Conversations is a safe space for neighbors to connect and exchange meaningful ideas.
• How to navigate caregiving, dementia, and end-of-life considerations with Lili Fiore, Thursday, May 8, 7-8 p.m. Certified death doula, grief counselor and dementia practitioner Lili Fiore is back to share her wisdom and experience.
COURTESY PHOTO Cannabis cultivator Justin Kuehnel and brewer John Kimmich check out Kuehnel’s crop.
Joanne Lavallee
Joanne Myers Lavallee, wife of Edward Lavallee, passed away after a long illness on Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025, at the age of 89. She was born on July 18, 1935, in Burlington.
Joanne was the daughter of Theodore and Helena Beauchemin and spent her childhood in the Burl-
ington area. She graduated from Cathedral High School, where she was known for her warm smile and kindness.
Joanne embarked on a successful 25-year career in banking, beginning with Howard Bank, where she worked for 12 years, and later with Chittenden Bank, where she spent 13 years and played a key role in opening the Shelburne
branch. She continued her career at GE for 12 years and later at Blodgett, retiring after decades of service.
Outside of her professional life, Joanne was deeply involved in her community. She was affectionately known as the “Grandmother Elf” at the Christmas Loft in Shelburne, where she took great joy in spreading holiday cheer. She also embraced the Halloween season, dressing as a witch each year to entertain children and families. For many years, Joanne and Ed volunteered with the Salvation Army, preparing and serving meals for those in need as part of St. Catherine of Siena Church’s community dinners.
Canada, where Joanne’s Canadian heritage was celebrated.
One of Joanne’s greatest joys in life was fulfilling her dream of riding in a hot air balloon. In 2016, she checked that final item off her bucket list — an adventure she cherished for the rest of her days.
Joanne is survived by her four children: David Myers and his wife, Shelle, of Georgia, Vt.; Carolyn Palmer of Hinesburg; Steve Myers and his wife, Sue, of Jericho; and Angie Myers and Jeff St. Cyr of Milton. She is also survived by her stepfamily: Cindy Carey of Worcester, Mass.; James Lavallee and his wife, Lynne, of Boylston, Mass.; and Melissa Sweeten and her husband, Tim, of Holden, Mass.
their dedication and support.
Joanne’s faith was at the center of her life. As a devoted Catholic, she found great fulfillment in serving as a Eucharistic minister, distributing communion to the elderly, the needy and residents of local nursing homes. It was a role that brought her immense joy and gave her the opportunity to connect deeply with others. She also worked as a secretary at Bishop Booth Conference Center, where she and Ed hosted elder hostels for several years. Through these educational programs, they met fascinating people from around the world and enjoyed trips, including a memorable visit to St. Joseph’s Oratory and Fort Chambly in
Joanne was predeceased by her brother, Bob, but is also survived by her siblings Gloria King of Florida and Susan Underwood and her husband, Ralph, of Arizona. Joanne leaves behind numerous nieces, nephews and friends who will miss her deeply.
The family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to the nurses in the Brookside section of Christopher House for their exceptional care — especially Elsie, Martha, Jessica and many others. Their compassion and kindness made Joanne’s final days comfortable and filled with love. Special thanks also go to hospice nurses Marjorie and Katherine for
A funeral Mass will be held at St. Catherine of Siena in Shelburne on May 19 at 11 a.m., followed by a reception at St. Catherine’s Hall. All who knew and loved Joanne are welcome to attend.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Saint Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Shelburne, Vermont, in Joanne’s memory, a parish she cared deeply about and supported throughout her life.
Joanne found comfort in the words from the Dolors of Mary: “I found him whom my soul loves, I held him, I will never let him go.”
Arrangements made by Stephen C. Gregory and Son Cremation Service, 472 Meadowland Drive, Suite 7, South Burlington, VT 05403.
Joanne Lavallee
Museum mixes present, past
BRIANA BRADY STAFF WRITER
Shelburne Museum’s opening day is May 10, but some of the six new exhibits the museum is hosting have been in the works for more than a year.
While the museum is known for its dedication to New England history, from quilting to the massive Ticonderoga steamboat, the new exhibitions each year draw in contemporary art that often stands in conversation with its more historical collection, according to Leslie Wright, the museum’s communication director.
“That’s what Electra Havermeyer Webb, the museum founder, was doing when she passed away in 1960. She was starting to look at modern art, and she had a shopping list and she was definitely looking to connect the past and the present. And we continue that. It keeps us relevant,” Wright said.
This year, the six new exhibitions run the gamut as far as medium and subject. The museum lawn is dotted by Karen Petersen’s large bronze horse statues, their rounded shapes and thick necks echoing the lines of cave drawings. The museum is also hosting an exhibit of Higher Ground gig posters throughout the years, a series of fiber and textile animal sculptures from Dahlov Ipcar, a series of Mara Superior’s porcelain creations, and a textile and sound exhibition focused on indigenous artists.
The contemporary exhibit with the most direct link to the museum’s collection, however, might be the series of cyanotype photographs by David Sokosh. The blue and white photographs Sokosh developed using one of photog-
raphy’s oldest methods feature the museum’s collection as their subject.
“I’ve been always interested in technology, technological objects, outdated technologies, typography, and strange juxtapositions of different objects, either showing an object in a way that’s surprising or different, or showing it in a way that separates it from what it what it was used for,” Sokosh said.
Sokosh said he often visited the museum as a child. Now, he credits the collection as having been part of what spurred his interest in objects and old technology. A few years ago, he reached out to the museum, asking if he could photograph pieces from its collection for a personal project.
After he visited and started taking photographs, a curator from the museum, Carolyn Bauer, approached Sokosh and asked if he’d be interested in putting together an entire exhibit.
It took Sokosh months to shoot and put together the exhibit. Not only does he have photographs, he put together a cyanoanimation, a term he says he didn’t coin but is uncommon. After shooting on his iPhone, Sokosh split the digital movie into traditional frames — 12 per second — printed negatives and developed them using traditional cyanotype processes, using ultraviolet rays to create the blue and white images. Sokosh estimates there are well over 6,000 frames in the 9-minute film.
In using such an old form of photography –—cyanotype was first developed in 1842, only a few years after the advent of photography in general — and focusing on historical objects as his subjects, Sokosh creates that conversation between past and present that Wright said Shelburne Museum
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seeks out in its contemporary exhibits.
“I don’t think that people would necessarily mistake them for an image made in 1850 or 1900. To me, they don’t look particularly old fashioned. They have a contemporary, kind of abstract, mysterious quality that wouldn’t necessarily remind you of something earlier,” Sokosh said.
The progression of the exhibit moves through in a way that highlights this contemporary composition. Sokosh said that, throughout the exhibit, the photographs become increasingly abstract, often utilizing composite images or duplicating things to create a new image. However, it never loses site of the past.
Sokosh took some of his more geometric photos, such as a grid of bottles, and created a quilt out of fabric panels with the photos printed on them. With the museum’s own quilt collection nearby, the piece becomes almost a collection of a collection of a collection.
The other new exhibits this year often do this same kind of
echoing. Superior’s porcelain creations often take the shape of plates, putting a contemporary artistic creation in the form of an centuries old trade. The animal sculptures made by Ipcar look almost quilted themselves. The bronze horses stand in front of a replica of a historic barn. Even the Higher Ground gig posters, while seemingly the most starkly contemporary pieces, are still pieces of local history and the
community’s connection to music.
Wright said the museum has a host of programming, from connections to children literature to ink print workshops to the museum’s summer concert series on the lawn planned for the season. David Sokosh will be back mid-July to give a talk on his work.
The museum’s opening day on May 10 will be free to the community.
COURTESY PHOTO
A mermaid weather vane eclipses the moon in David Sokosh’s cyanotype photograph.
SHEFF continued from page 7
ter treatment infrastructure at minimum cost.
The magic of interest-based negotiation occurs when the parties get on the same side of the table and put their respective interests on the other side of the table. Then they brainstorm creative approaches to the conflict that optimize the interests of all the parties at the same time. This builds trust and relationships that make it easier to work together on whatever challenges may come next.
Principle-based negotiation involves the parties agreeing to principles or shared values that will guide the nego-
tiating process and eventual outcome.
My hope in offering these two reframes is to help our town and its citizens better manage the unsolvable problems we will face, and to elevate the level of dialogue in our community from position- and power-based negotiation to interest- and principle-based negotiation. If we succeed in this effort, together we can make Shelburne truly special.
Rick Sheff, MD, is a family physician and healthcare consultant. He recently retired and moved to Shelburne.
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Redhawks remain lossless after narrow LAX win
LAUREN READ CORRESPONDENT
Girls’ lacrosse
Champlain Valley 11, St. Johnsbury 10: Champlain Valley moved to 2-0 with a narrow win over Saint Johnsbury on Wednesday in girls’ lacrosse.
Rose Bunting had five goals and one assist to pace the Redhawks in the win, while Georgia Marcoe added three tallies.
Heather Pelletier, Carly Strobeck and Reesa Bagnatoeach chipped in with a goal for CVU. Kenna Hutchins stopped four shots to earn the win in goal.
Softball
Rice 15, Champlain Valley 6: Rice scored nine runs in the second inning to earn a comeback win over Champlain Valley on Thursday in high school softball.
Amber Reagan went 3-for-3 for the Redhawks, hitting a home run and driving in four runs. Tegan Scruggs added a double and two RBIs. CVU falls to 0-2 with the loss.
Baseball
Rice 8, Champlain Valley 5: Champlain Valley dropped its second game of the season on Thursday, falling to unbeaten Rice.
Noah Musgrave had a home run and two RBIs for the Redhawks (0-2), while Tommy Barnes and Riley O’Brien each drove in a run.
Andrew Nunziata took the loss for CVU.
Champlain Valley also took on Burr and Burton on Friday but the game was suspended due to darkness in the 10th inning with the teams tied 3-3.
Track and field
Champlain Valley came in second place in both the boys’ and girls’ standings at last Wednesday’s Essex Vacational meet at Essex High School.
Alice Kredell came in first place in the 1,500-meter race and second in the 800-meters. Charlotte Crum was first in the 3,000-meters and second in the 1,500.
McKena Lesage was second in the long jump and Zoe Jenkins-Mui finished second in the pole vault.
On the boys’ side, Charles Garavelli was third in the pole vault and third in the 300-meter hurdles, while Avery Rogers was second in the long jump and eighth in the 100-meter dash.
CVU also went 1-2-3 in the discus, with Wade Nichols coming first, Beckham Palmer in second and Ulysses Sansoz finishing third.
PHOTO BY AL FREY
Carly Strobeck sneaks around the St. Johnsbury net during a nail biter last week.
CVSD students leave country rather than face uncertainty
BRIANA BRADY STAFF WRITER
After hearing that they may have been granted an extension, the family of a Champlain Valley School District kindergartener has still chosen to leave the country.
Last week, the school district sent out an email to the community asking for financial support to help the family relocate to Ecuador, and as of this past Monday, the family has left the United States.
“While they were granted a
continued from page 2
temporary extension, there was still a slight chance of deportation, and the thought of potentially being deported without the children was too great of a risk for the family to take,” Christina Daudelin, a student and community engagement facilitator with the district, said in an email.
While the number of people across the country choosing to leave, or “self-deport,” is unclear, according to NBC News and other outlets, it’s an outcome President Donald Trump administration
and the Department of Homeland Security are pushing for.
In a Department of Homeland Security advertisement, Secretary Kristi Noam stands in front of an American Flag saying, “President Trump has a clear message for those who are in our country illegally: Leave now. If you don’t, we will find you, and we will deport you. You will never return.”
According to the same report from NBC News, this ad comes as the number of people the administration is deporting is dropping,
largely due to a decrease in border crossings.
The kindergartener and their family bring the total number of students in Champlain Valley School District choosing to leave the country up to three. This includes two high school students from Nicaragua who were told by Homeland Security that they would no longer have humanitarian parole protections to remain in the country legally. While there’s currently a stay on that policy, the two seniors chose to leave rather
than face the uncertainty of a legal battle.
Part of the consideration the students and families in Champlain Valley have weighed relate directly to the statement made by Noam: they hope to return. According to communications from the district, the two seniors hope to be able apply to U.S. colleges, and, as for the kindergartener and their family, Daudelin said in her email, “we continue to hope that one day they will be able to return to our community.”
The week-long bait drop is a cooperative effort between Vermont and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services to stop the spread of the potentially fatal disease.
saliva. If left untreated, rabies is almost always fatal in humans and animals. However, treatment with the rabies vaccine is nearly 100 percent effective when given soon after a person is bitten by a rabid animal.
SHELBURNE DAY continued from page 4
So far this year, 23 animals in Vermont have tested positive for rabies, and 14 of those have been raccoons.
Rabies is a deadly viral disease of the brain that infects mammals. It is most often seen in raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats, but unvaccinated pets and livestock can also get rabies.The virus is spread through the bite of an infected animal or contact with its
According to wildlife officials, rabid animals often show a change in their normal behavior, but you cannot tell whether an animal has rabies simply by looking at it. People should not touch or pick up wild animals or strays – even baby animals.
Shelburne Historical Society will have a display and president Dorothea Penar will lead a cemetery tour at 1 p.m. Food vendors round out the event with everything from coffee and lemonade to burgers and creemees. Kids will enjoy meeting animals from Shelburne Farms, craft projects, and
face painting. Towards burne-Hinesburg head to the Fire Golf Ball depending land. Proceeds Rotary’s
RABIES BAIT
Let’s Get Growing
Spring Open House
Thursday, 5/8 from 5-6pm at Rice
Learn about our academic programs, meet our teachers, and see what sets Rice apart. Talk to current parents and ask questions in a no-pressure setting. RSVP using the QR code below. We look forward to meeting you!
