The Other Paper - 12-28-23

Into the woods

What the hill?

Generalists, specialists vital to forest health

Ski museum exhibit chronicles lost ski areas

Page 10

Page 12

POSTAL CUSTOMER

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #217 CONCORD, NH ECRWSSEDDM

South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977

the DECEMBER 28, 2023

otherpapersbvt.com

Year in Review

VOLUME 47, NO. 52

Tool time

2023: South Burlington peeks under the hood COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER

South Burlington is undoubtably on a path of growth.

Soon, most city residents will be in multi-family housing and, if plans come to fruition, will live in walkable and bikeable neighborhoods. Many will be renters, and homeowners may soon be in the minority. The city could look very different over the next decade.

But is the city’s governing model prepared for that change?

That has been the looming question for much of 2023.

Vermont state Sen. Thomas Chittenden, a former city councilor, explained the dilemma in 2018:

“It seems to me that our current (South Burlington) constituency ratio dilutes the quality of relationships with our citizens,” he wrote at the time.

This was the year the city started taking a hard look at its governing structure. By charge of a 2021 city council resolution, South Burlington’s charter committee convened in 2022 to explore alternative models for the city and spent much of this year researching various ideas.

The committee interviewed Montpelier city manager Bill Fraser, Winooski mayor KrisSee GROWTH on page 9

Year in Review South Burlington takes big steps to curb local emissions COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER

What can individuals do about climate change? The list is not very long: buy an electric car, compost, recycle, limit how much meat you eat. But what can a municipality — or a state — do, considering studies have shown that just 100 companies have been the source of more than 70 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988?

South Burlington is trying to answer that question, and it’s putting its money where its mouth is.

Vermont’s second largest city

has made curbing its local greenhouse gas emissions a top priority, and 2023 is when it started to put that commitment into action.

Approved in October 2022, the city’s Climate Action Plan calls on the city to reduce its 2019 greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent by 2030. By 2050, it hopes to reduce emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels.

To reach these goals, the city is addressing the biggest contributors — transportation, commercial and industrial building energy usage, and residential energy usage.

COURTESY PHOTO

See LOCAL EMISSIONS on page 8

Bob Bouvier of South Burlington works with Theo Lyons Judge of Charlotte on a project to make a baseball bat. Read our story, page 2.

Page 2 • December 28, 2023 • The Other Paper

COURTESY PHOTOS

Above: Bob Bouvier came to see Theo Judge’s STEM display work at school.

Top right: Judge turns his bat under Bouvier’s guidance.

Right: Taking precise measurements.

Theo’s bat

A school project brings generations together For one student at The Schoolhouse in South Burlington, a simple school project turned into a story of tradition, craftsmanship and mentoring.

Community and connection first came together when Theo Lyons Judge, 11, of Charlotte, a kid who lives and breathes baseball, met Bob Bouvier, 84, of South Burlington, an experienced woodturner with a knack for turning timber into treasure.

For the school’s yearly STEM display, the middle school teaching team asked students to form a research question related to the school’s yearly science theme — forestry. Theo’s take on the project combined the topic with his own

passion for baseball. What kind of wood makes the best bat, he wondered.

Then, right after that: What if I could make my own bat?

“How I got the idea is that I wanted to test the bat out and see how it hit and what the difference was between metal and wooden baseball bats,” he said.

He approached administrator Elsa Oppenheimer of Shelburne, a talented woodturner who gives introductory lathe lessons to middle-schoolers, about the possibility of making his own bat.

While Oppenheimer did not have the necessary equipment, she did know Bouvier and set to work introducing the two.

“Every woodturner I know wants to pass their craft onto the next generation,” Oppenheimer said. “Bob’s willingness to work with Theo, to teach him, doesn’t surprise me. If you know Bob, you know kindness.”

The woodturners met at Bouvier’s home workshop in South Burlington, a place known for sawdust and skill. Together they embarked upon a project: teaching Judge how to turn his own baseball bat from maple wood, just in time for the school’s annual STEM display.

Somewhere along the way, a simple school project turned into a partnership between an enthusiastic kid eager to learn and a skilled craftsman generously willing to

teach. And the story became a tale of connecting the dots between education, tradition and the timeless joy of making something useful.

“Elsa, I enjoyed doing it more than I can express,” Bouvier wrote to Oppenheimer. “Seeing Theo’s face and reaction. Thank you so much for making it possible for this old woodworker to enjoy himself so much!”

For Theo’s part, he loved getting to use the tools in Bouvier’s workshop. His favorite was “probably using the roughing

gouge which is one of the big tools that scrapes off a lot of wood.”

When the bat was finished, Theo proudly presented it at the school’s STEM display along with his research project. Bouvier was first in line to congratulate him.

“It was fairly heavy,” Theo said of their finished product. “A little heavier than I thought it would be.”

Will the bat see game action?

“If I’m allowed to, probably,” Theo says, noting that his bat might take some growing-into. “It’s the next size up.”

The Other Paper • December 28, 2023 • Page 3

Year in Review South Burlington School Board shake-up shapes 2023 LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

First there were five, then four, then five — South Burlington School Board members, that is.

This year, in addition to tackling some large issues in the district, the school board faced its own set of trials, turbulences and tensions.

Starting the year with five members, the board welcomed its newest addition, Bryan Companion, to his seat after he won by just 26 votes over the board’s former chair, Travia Childs, at Town Meeting Day last year. After six years on the board, Alex McHenry was named its chair, but troubles crept in just months later when some members expressed concern over McHenry’s effectiveness in his new role.

At a school board meeting in August, board member Kate Bailey urged her fellow members to consider reorganization after voicing specific concerns with the way McHenry handled both board and community relations since being named chair, citing specifically a lack of communication and structure at school board meetings.

The board ultimately sided with Bailey, but before they could take a vote of no confidence a few contentious meetings later, McHenry stepped down and moved to nominate Bailey to take his spot.

As the board sought to regain its sense of unity, Companion suddenly resigned his seat the next month citing a “lack of respect and civility” at board meetings for his departure. Companion wrote in the resignation letter that he ran for the board believing that he could contribute to the community but said the work was neither productive nor enjoyable.

Now a four-person board, members spent weeks mulling the decision to appoint somebody to fill the open seat halfway through the year, initially landing on the decision to stay on track and wait until Town Meeting Day when residents could vote in a new member.

But weeks later, the group walked back that decision and appointed Tim Warren to fill the seat until March.

The switch-ups highlighted dysfunctions that many said stem from the small size of the board for a district the size of South Burlington, leaving members overworked and burnt out.

In a final report sent to the city council in August, the city’s charter committee recommended expanding the board to at least seven members, noting that other

PHOTO BY AUDITI GUHA/VTDIGGER

Alex McHenry, right, resigned as chair of the South Burlington School Board at its Aug. 16 meeting. Superintendent Violet Nichols, left, attended the meeting.

comparably sized districts have at least nine members, if not more.

The South Burlington School Board formally endorsed the recommendation with the aim of bringing the question to voters on Town Meeting Day this year.

Wishing you a safe and joyous holiday season.

Celebrate Sober!

on the board, there’s so much,” Tim Warren, the board’s newest member, said, adding that an expanded board would allow for more community representation and input into important decisions for years to come.

COMMUNITY INVITATION THE SOUTH BURLINGTON SCHOOL BOARD INVITES YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN THE

FY25 SCHOOL BUDGET PROCESS BOARD ADOPTS BUDGET January 3: School Board Meeting at 6 p.m.

January 10: Special School Board Meeting at 6 p.m.

Join in person at 577 Dorset Street or via Zoom.

Find all FY25 Budget information at: www.sbschools.net/budgetfy25 WE INSPIRE ALL LEARNERS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.

Carol is no sober longer celebrate 2023.indd 27 considering installing hand paddles for driving her car. Her legs and feet are working better and she's now able to make the 6-hour commute to see her grandkids, no trouble.

Presented by:

205 Cornerstone Dr Williston, VT

Reverse nerve pain WITHOUT the use of dangerous drugs or surgery.

As seen on WCAX:

Should the item make it on the ballot and pass at the annual meeting, the board would not see two additional people on the board until 2026.

After attending board meetings for a year, “and now being

Call to schedule your Nerve Severity Screening today!

(802) 878-8330

11/27/23 3:42 PM

Page 4 • December 28, 2023 • The Other Paper

OPINION ‘You better not cry’: memories of Christmases past Guest Perspective Walt Amses The windows of the old Buick are fogged over as my father winds his way through suburban New Jersey late on a 1950s Christmas night while I use my itchy wool cap to create a small viewing portal in the back window, praying the misty rain will eventually turn to snow but it never does.

The single-family houses we pass one after the other adorned with multicolored strands of light are a mystery to me having lived in rented apartments for as far back as memory will take me.

Strangers, seemingly better off, were living in houses rather than rental units far more likely to be the setting of a television show like the “Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” which dominated the airwaves for 14 seasons, a template of the nuclear family to which we would unlikely aspire. Without much competitive media it didn’t seem at all unusual that the Nelson’s son Ricky would become a rock

star singing in the family living room at the end of each episode.

The larger issue those long-ago nights as the yuletide waned, on our way back from my grandmother’s house, was that however interminable the wait for Christmas had been, in mere hours it would be suddenly, unequivocally over. The next one an agonizing year away in as unpredictable and perilous a future as could be imagined by 12-year-olds, with ready-tolaunch Russian ICBMs aimed directly at Bayonne, ready at a moment’s notice to obliterate us in cascades of fire.

In the days before weather satellites, predictions were iffy at best, but one recurring meteorological theme seemed to be that white Christmases were limited to department store windows, Hallmark cards and Bing Crosby’s dreams. They mostly didn’t happen; in fact, the first one I remember, I really don’t remember at all, at least not as a personal experience.

It was several years later when a blockbuster nor’easter finally hit our area late on Dec.

the South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977 A publication of Vermont Community Newspaper Group LLC otherpapersbvt.com Advertising Director Judy Kearns judy@otherpapersbvt.com (802) 864-6670 x21

Billing inquiries Leslie Lafountain leslie@stowereporter.com (802) 253-2101

Advertising Wendy Ewing wendy@shelburnenews.com (802) 985-3091 x12

Advertising submission deadline: Thursday at 5 p.m. advertising@otherpapersbvt.com classifieds@otherpapersbvt.com

News Editor Tommy Gardner

Editorial submission deadline: Friday at 5 p.m. news@otherpapersbvt.com

Staff Writers Aaron Calvin Corey McDonald Liberty Darr Production Manager Stephanie Manning stephanie@shelburnenews.com

Calendar submission deadline: Friday at 12 p.m. news@otherpapersbvt.com Contact: 1340 Williston Road South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 864-6670

Editor/Publisher Gregory Popa gpopa@stowereporter.com

The Other Paper is published weekly and mailed free to South Burlington residents and businesses, and rack distributed in select high-traffic areas. The Vermont Community Newspaper Group LLC assumes no responsibility for typographical errors in advertisements and reserves the right to refuse advertising and editorial copy.

25, 1969, dropping well over a foot of snow. I was in my last few months of military service and missed it other than enviously thumbing through the couple of out-of-focus photos that arrived the following week, illustrating my hometown as an unlikely winter wonderland.

But those shimmering reflections on rain-slicked streets in other neighborhoods trigger a panorama of memory that pings through my consciousness this time of year: being a kid in that monochrome world so many of

my boomer cohort recall with warm sentimentality. While I don’t necessarily share that perspective, I think I understand why people look back on those years so fondly.

Most obviously, we were kids who never had it so good and, living as we did in post-war boom times when many of our parents — even apartment dwellers — were doing pretty well.

Although time has a way of sanding down the rough edges, on the cusp of adolescence, I remember that world being

difficult to negotiate, with my life revolving around parochial school and the holidays adding another layer of complexity as commercialism and Catholicism eyed each other warily. We were inundated with subliminal messages from Madison Avenue suggesting it was perfectly fine to want things while the church was more explicit in its blanket denunciation of enjoyment.

Trying to balance piety and See CHRISTMAS on page 8

High cost of low-income housing in Vermont Guest Perspective Andrew K. Gentile The new Village Center Apartments in Morrisville were built to be affordable housing for low-income earners and the homeless, however the price tag of $7.9 million is hardly affordable by almost any housing standard.

The brand new, deluxe building has 24 apartments, most too small for a family. There are seven studios, 13 one-bedrooms

and four two-bedrooms. If all the apartments are treated as an equal percentage of the building, their per unit value would be $329,167, more than the average cost of a two-bedroom house with land in Vermont.

The unit sizes were not given on the Evernorth website, but if we assume typical apartment sizes, the square footages per unit would be approximately 600, 900, and 1,200, respectively for a studio, one bedroom or two bedroom, making the construction cost $382

per square foot, or 170 percent of the average cost of construction for a single family home in Vermont.

It would have been cheaper to have purchased 24 single-family homes with land.

Not to be outdone by the Morrisville taxpayer largesse, the Packard Court Units in St Johnsbury, also designated as low-income housing, are expected to cost $450,000 each, about the same See GENTILE on page 6

The Other Paper • December 28, 2023 • Page 5

Letters to the Editor City council should rethink Long property conservation

Voters should shoot down city, school budgets

To the Editor: Something interesting happened at the Dec. 18 South Burlington City Council meeting.

The council let us know that it is negotiating with the current owners of parcels 1720 and 1730 on Spear Street, also known as the Long property. The stated general goals of the council are to conserve most of the acreage through a third-party conservation easement (these easements are generally forever) and have a small number of affordable or mixed income homes.

There are no other details at this time and the rest of the negotiations will happen in executive session, out of public view.

Here’s some background information.

This land is in the area subject to Conservation Planned Unit Development in the City Land Development Regulations, which were adopted just before Town Meeting 2022 and greatly restricted development of homes in the southeast quadrant of the city.

This means that 70 percent of the Long property cannot be built on. I think that already meets the first goal of conserved land, especially since the city-owned 58-acre Hubbard Park, which the council recently declared can only be used for a bike path and a small portion leased to Common Roots, connects with the Long property through the conserved portion of South Point development.

Where the Long property sits, between the developments of South Point and South Village, there is water, sewer and road frontage. A great place for infill. There had been a planned road to link the back side of the two current developments in anticipation of the development of the Long property, which has been recently restricted to be no more than a bike path.

I urge the city council to our open space tax dollars to provide open park space in the planned growth areas — Shelburne Road, Williston Road and City Center — instead of in an area that already is conserved through the land development regulations.

If you would like to hear what was said for yourself, go to YouTube and look for South Burlington City Council Dec. 18, 2023. The discussion of the property starts at 34:24.

To the Editor: Nothing like coming back from vacation to those two headlines: “South Burlington spending up 14 percent” and “South Burlington budget to include 8.2 percent tax increase.” (Dec. 14, 2023) Does anyone on these two parties go shopping for groceries? Does anyone on these two boards realize that inflation is outpacing wage increases by double digits?

A 3.4 percent tax increase to “find” initiatives? What happens when they actually find the initiative?

Another $607,000 for a climate budget.

Oh my!

Between $2 and $10 million for the next six years? Seriously?

A full-time climate staff member for $115,000 — more like $145,000 with taxes and benefits — sounds a little like that one staffer we were promised when South Burlington started the stormwater fee, which, by the way, does exactly what?

The school budget, which includes a $2 million surplus, will have to be made up and passed on to taxpayers in 2025.

Nothing like starting that budget process off in a hole.

We still have to add in 2 percent for teachers, and God forbid we ask them to contribute more to their insurance like everyone else in the real world.

These budgets must be voted down.

Does anyone see the hypocrisy of all this? Out of one side of their mouths — “We need more affordable housing. Every housing project must include affordable housing.” — and out of the other side it is “let’s increase property taxes so high people can’t afford to live here.”

But the two best paragraphs are: • “Based on community feedback,” the board said, “the district’s budget is also shifting its focus toward academics.”

(Shouldn’t that have been the focus all along?)

• “The city will have a budget retreat with the council and leadership team and continue its discussion.” First, I wasn’t aware South Burlington taxpayers voted for and pay for retreats for just doing their jobs, and second, the public meeting is less than three weeks away and this is the stage we are at? Unacceptable is all I can say.

Linda Bailey South Burlington

Michael Rozzi South Burlington

Holiday Sparkle

Vermont State Police Blotter Dec. 24 at 2:46 a.m., police arrested Francisco Herdia, 21, of South Burlington, for driving under the influence, first

offense, on Interstate 89 in South Burlington. Police say Herdia was traveling 82 mph in 55 mph zone.

OtherPaperSBVT.com

Get the News of South Burlington 24/7

91 MAIN STREET, STOWE ~ 802.253.3033 ~ FERROJEWELERS.COM ~ STOWE@F ERROJ EWELERS.COM @FERRO_JEWELERS_STOWE ~ FACEBOOK.COM/F ERRO.J EWELERS

Page 6 • December 28, 2023 • The Other Paper

Beethoven’s Ninth

Epic A.J. by Grayson Dailey

COURTESY PHOTO

The Green Mountain Mahler Festival presents its annual performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, at 3 p.m. on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, at the Elley-Long Music Center in Colchester. Daniel Bruce conducts the orchestra and chorus, along with vocal soloists Bailey Hoar, Nessa Rabin, Joshua Collier and Erik Kroncke. Proceeds will benefit the McClure Miller Respite House in honor of Bill Harwood. For more information and to purchase tickets visit vtmahler.org. Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for seniors, and $20 for students and children.

Community Notes Vermont Chamber to hold economic conference The 2024 Vermont Economic Conference, presented by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, will take place on Jan. 30, 8 a.m.3:30 p.m., at the University of Vermont Dudley H. Davis Center in Burlington.

Industry professionals, policymakers, business owners, and community members are encouraged to attend.

With workforce recruitment and retention a concern for Vermont businesses, this year’s agenda will feature a lively panel

discussion entitled “The Future of Work: How Immigration Shapes Vermont’s Talent Landscape.”

In addition to highlighting the economic contributions of immigrants to Vermont, a panel of experts will share successful workforce development and diversity strategies that attendees can leverage and implement in their businesses. The panel on immigration will feature Leslie Holman of Holman Immigration Law, Tracy Dolan of the Vermont Refugee Office, Julia Birnn Fields of Birnn See COMMUNITY NOTES on page 7

GENTILE continued from page 4 cost as a nice condo in downtown Boston.

Just like the Morrisville gaffe, the Packard Court apartments are also too small for families. Out of 30 units, 21 will be studio apartments and nine will be one-bedroom. Again, if we use estimated sizes for studios and one-bedroom apartments, the cost of construction would exceed $600 per square foot, possibly the most expensive construction in the state.

Subsidized housing is big business in Vermont. Taxpayer money is being used to fund housing that few working Vermonters could even afford. And why not?

From an investment standpoint, there is no downside. It’s a great investment with almost no risk and state-guaranteed rents. There is money to be made in homelessness.

Motels all over the state are pitching in to help the homeless.

According to the Caledonian Record, from January to October

2022, the Fairbanks Inn in St. Johnsbury grossed $1.8 million, and the Colonnade Inn in Lyndonville grossed $850,000. These are not particularly nice motels, yet due to the limitless generosity of the state, they have been transformed into cash-machines and are able to maintain near 100 percetn occupancy while charging prime rates up to $180 per night. Participating motels gorging themselves on state vouchers are probably making at least double what they made as motels.

This is a tax-funded feeding frenzy, and you are fooling yourself if you think this is temporary.

We are witnessing the birth of the new, highly profitable homelessness industry. Although these housing programs are often advertised as helping “Vermont families,” consider that only four of the 54 apartments available between Village Center and Packard Court are large enough for a family.

More than half are studios.

REPAIRS APPRAISALS

Ring Sizing • Cleaning • Stone Tightening • Rhodium Plating

Performed by Our Graduate Gemologists

ESTABLISHED INDEPENDENT SENIOR COMMUNITY

Call today to plan for your future home at The Pines.

Spacious 1- and 2-Bedroom Apartments Hair Salon • Massage Studio • Art Gallery Expanded Outdoor Patio and Grilling Area • Exercise Room Community Rooms • Mature Landscaping • Resident Garden Vibrant Social Atmosphere with Weekly Events and Activities LOCATED IN THE HEART OF SOUTH BURLINGTON

7 Aspen Drive, South Burlington, VT • 802. 865.1109

www. SummitPMG. com

91 MAIN STREET, STOWE ~ 802.253.3033 ~ STOWE@FERROJEWELERS.COM @FERRO_JEWELERS_STOWE ~ FACEBOOK.COM/FERRO.JEWELERS WWW.FERROJEWELERS.COM

These subsidized units are for single people.

The dollar amounts are staggering. The state pays nearly $60,000 per year to house just one homeless person in a motel. This is just for housing, not including health care and food. To support an investment like the Morrisville apartments, the unsubsidized rents would have to be around $3,500 per month for a one-bedroom.

The Packard Court apartments would be more like $4,500 per month. This, of course, is not what residents will pay; this simply represents the market values of the units. Very few working Vermonters could afford to live in an apartment worth $450,000.

To put these bloated costs in perspective, it costs $35,998 a year for a student to attend The University of Vermont, and that includes food, housing and a college education. If you want a bullet-proof measure of just how poorly these programs are being run, consider that it would cost half as much to give a homeless person a college education at UVM — including food and housing — as it would to support them through Vermont’s motel program.

Where is all the money going?

Homelessness is a serious condition that needs to be addressed, but mostly it is a symptom of underlying financial problems. Permanent and excessive subsidies are not the solution; they are just allowing the underlying problems to continue and to worsen.

Unfortunately, there appears to be no amount of spending to which the Vermont Legislature would say, “Sorry, we can’t afford that.”

It is no wonder homelessness is increasing in Vermont. This won’t end well. It might not even end.

Andrew K. Gentile lives in Sheffield.

The Other Paper • December 28, 2023 • Page 7

State treasurer promotes ‘baby bonds’ legislation HABIB SABET VTDIGGER

Vermont Treasurer Mike Pieciak is promoting legislation that would create a state baby bonds program, an initiative that would set aside money for Vermont children who are on Medicaid at birth and allow them to access that money when they turn 18.

The policy would invest $3,200 for each Vermont child born on Medicaid into a state trust fund managed by the state treasurer’s office. Those children could later access the bond money between the ages of 18 and 30, provided they are residents of Vermont and use the money for wealth-building activities, which include buying a home in Vermont, starting a business, or pursuing higher education.

Pieciak unveiled the proposal at a press conference last week at the Spectrum Youth & Family Services Center in Burlington, addressing a room of lawmakers and community members alongside bill sponsors Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden Southeast, and Rep. Dan Noyes, D-Wolcott, as well as nationally recognized experts on the baby bonds concept.

“The baby bonds program has three basic aims,” Pieciak said. “It’s aimed at addressing generational poverty, promoting rural economic development, and retaining young people in our state.”

According to data shared at the press conference, about 2,000 children are born on Medicaid in Vermont each year, meaning that a baby bonds initiative would require nearly

$6.5 million each year.

Asked how the program would be funded, Pieciak said that the initial plan is to use money from the state’s Unclaimed Property General Fund Transfer, derived from unclaimed property given over to the state each year.

“Investing in baby bonds provides hope and a chance to allow individuals to have a stake in their own future — a future where they’re not just paying bills but actually have an ability to get ahead,” Noyes told those gathered for the press conference.

Ram Hinsdale will lead support for the bill in the Senate in the upcoming legislative session.

“So often, people just need the foundation and the helping hand to take their passion, their energy, their great ideas, their drive to be successful,” Hinsdale said. “Something to give you your own capital and your own foundation when you come of age can be life-changing for so many people and can have a huge generational impact.”

Vermont could become the second state to adopt a baby bonds program after Connecticut, which implemented a similar program earlier this year. The policies of both states are based primarily on the theories of Darrick Hamilton, a professor of Economics and Urban Policy at The New School, who also spoke at the press conference in support of the proposal.

“Baby bonds are trying to offer everybody the benefits associated with a capital foundation that those that are born into certain families already have,” Hamilton said.

COMMUNITY NOTES continued from page 6 Chocolates of Vermont, and Adam Grinold of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation.

The conference will provide networking opportunities and feature presentations on the state economic outlook with Mat Barewicz of the Vermont Department of Labor, the national economic outlook with Leslie Preston of TD Bank, and artificial intelligence with Alec Newcomb of ScaledOn. To learn more or to register, go to vtchamber.com.

UVM researchers talks about nature, happiness Does nature make us happier?

That’s the question speaker Taylor Ricketts, director of the Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont, will answer at a talk on Thursday, Jan. 25, 7:30 p.m., at Shelburne’s old town hall.

As people who love the outdoors, being in nature probably makes us happy. But is that true for everyone? How big is the effect?

What is the actual evidence that time in nature leads to measurable improvements in mental health?

Taylor will talk about what scientists are learning about the relationship between nature and mental health, using everything

from social media to wearable technology to trailhead surveys. Taylor’s research centers on the overarching question: How do we meet the needs of people and nature in an increasingly crowded, changing world?

His work has focused on the economic and health benefits provided to people by forests, wetlands, reefs and other natural areas.

Before arriving at UVM, Taylor led World Wildlife Fund’s Conservation Science Program. Taylor is an elected fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Ecological Society of America.

Cost is $5 for Green Mountain Club members, $8 for others. No registration is necessary.

More information at gmcburlington.org.

Shelburne host blood drive, sign up now St. Catherine of Siena Parish is hosting another Red Cross blood drive on Tuesday, Jan. 23, noon-5 p.m., in its parish hall, 72 Church St., Shelburne.

To give, call 800-733-2767 or visit redcrossblood.org and enter Shelburne to schedule an appointment. Appointments are strongly recommended as walks-ins cannot always be accommodated.

PHOTO BY HABIB SABET/VTDIGGERTREASURER

Treasurer Mike Pieciak unveils the proposed Baby Bonds legislation at the Spectrum Youth & Family Services Center in Burlington.

Celebrate the

New Year with

Jess

Online www.jessboutique.com

Page 8 • December 28, 2023 • The Other Paper

LOCAL EMISSIONS

First Lady stops in SoBu

continued from page 1 Draft regulations originating The city also unveiled its from the city’s energy commit- government operations impletee and its Climate Action Task mentation plan in November, and Force were this year codified into its building and thermal plan is the city’s land use regulations. expected to be presented early An ordinance that was approved next year. in November 2022 requires new But these actions will come at buildings permitted after Febru- a cost, and the expense is expected ary 2023 to use renewable energy to grow as the years go on. sources for their primary heatThis year’s draft budget tacks ing and domestic water heating on additional tax increase percentsystems. ages to fund these initiatives. As it In June, the city council currently stands, the budget would approved land use regulations tack on an 8.2 percent increase that will require the installation of in the tax rate to fund the city’s solar photovoltaic systems in new climate and policy budget. Absent commercial buildany funding for ings and some new climate initiaBut all these residential buildtives, the budget ings. would only climate actions “We should include a 4.8 will come at a cost, percent increase be very proud of ourselves in this on the tax rate, and the expense is city,” city councilcity manager or Andrew ChalJessie Baker expected to grow nick said after the said. motion passed.

As part of as the years go on.

“There’s only a the budget, the handful of juriscity would hire dictions nationwide that have this a full-time employee to oversee requirement and it makes so much these plans and look for grants to sense, so really, kudos to the city help fund the initiatives. for being forward on this issue.”

It’s unlikely that will remain These regulations were seen as the final percentage hike — the easy, one-time, moves by the coun- council is tweaking that as it cil. But as the year progressed, the continues finalizing the fiscal year city began finalizing implementa- 2025 budget, and at its recent tion plans to tackle entire sectors steering committee meeting made of the city. some adjustments to the budget.

Its transportation implementaStill, it’s a notable effort by tion plan, first presented to the city the city to cut back on its energy council in October, would focus usage. on writing into the city’s zoning “We know South Burlington bylaws several “high-action can’t make all the difference as items” like mandating the instal- one city, but we need to do our lation of electric vehicle charging part, right?” Ethan Goldman, a stations at existing multi-family member of South Burlington’s housing buildings, and mandating energy committee, said. “We can’t that developers of new projects expect that the rest of the world is include electric charging stations going to do it instead. Everyone in their plans. has to take their own little piece.”

NEW YEAR’S EVE BURLINGTON, VERMONT

2023

A VERMONT-MADE REVELRY OF ART & IDEAS

HIGHLIGHTBTV.COM

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

PHOTO BY COREY MCDONALD

First Lady Jill Biden made a stop in April at Patrick J. Leahy Airport in South Burlington to tour the headquarters of Beta Technologies, the electric aviation company, as part of the White House’s “Investing in America” tour.

CHRISTMAS continued from page 4 greed was an exhausting dance Why a blizzard would fix any we all did with fears of hell meted of that is somewhat vague, but a out by Russian missiles or at the fair amount of magical thinking hands of an angry deity populating goes a long way in fleshing out our nightmares. the concept. I I was certain we still can’t make My Christmas solace were doomed to a up my mind fiery eternity since whether my was centered on even though we childhood was might negotiate happy or miseran oddly obsessive with the Soviets, able — probably the birthday boy somewhere in predilection was not so easily between like placated and probeveryone else’s for paralyzing ably undaunted by — but one thing duck-and-cover stands out: I snowstorms that drills. never liked My Christwhere we lived never came ... Why mas solace was and constantly centered on an daydreamed of a blizzard would oddly obsessive being somewhere fix any of that is predilection else entirely. for paralyzing More trees and somewhat vague, snowstorms that less concrete, never came — at wildlife other but a fair amount least not around than pigeons, the holidays; and squirrels or rats, of magical thinking a week’s vacation and billowing from school and mounds of snow goes a long way nuns fueled by that remained passionate hatred white for more in fleshing out the of both, and than a few hours. sufficient guilt to More than concept. render a typically 30 years later, confused boy, looking for a path it’s Christmas Eve and there’s a forward through the minefield of ring around the moon. I’m middle midcentury contradictions as the aged by now, but I’m as excited country boomed and the Cold War as that 12-year-old at the prosloomed, borderline insane. pect of a heavy snowfall this well

timed. It’s as though I’ve waited for this my entire life and while I completely understand how simplistic it is for a grownup to feel this way, I allow myself to be enthralled by the sheer joy of it all.

Early the next morning there’s 6 to 8 inches of dry, fluffy powder on the ground and it’s still snowing heavily. I quietly get dressed, slip out of the house and head down the driveway on cross country skis with a specific objective in mind that would be too risky any other day. I’ve envisioned this and I’m giddy with the anticipation of knowing exactly how it’s going to go.

A couple of hundred yards down the road there’s a long hill with a curve at the bottom around which you cannot see from the top. But the unplowed road is completely mine this morning as I bend my knees slightly and put my skis together, quickly picking up speed, a million tiny snowflakes entangling my beard.

I glance down to find my skis nearly invisible, tips barely protruding from the blanket of snow, each with a distinct rooster tail of powder spraying my knees as I hurtle down the hill, euphoric as my mind wanders, momentarily still the boy in the Buick.

Walt Amses lives and writes from North Calais.

The Other Paper • December 28, 2023 • Page 9

GROWTH continued from page 1

PHOTO BY HANS BRAXMEIER

Mistletoe’s white berries ripen in December, and while toxic to humans, are a welcome feast for many species of birds and animals.

Watch out under the mistletoe!

DEBORAH J. BENOIT UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT EXTENSION

The mention of mistletoe evokes images of a seasonal kissing ball adorned with its leaves and

berries or of someone sneaking a kiss beneath a sprig of mistletoe hanging in a doorway. You probably don’t think about where mistletoe comes from or what part it plays in the ecosystems where it

grows in the wild.

While there are over 1,300 species of mistletoe throughout See MISTLETOE on page 10

tine Lott and Rutland City mayor than half of all the campaign cash David Allaire, exploring the “pros brought in in this year’s city counand cons” of each form of govern- cil election cycle came from resiment. dents living in that area.

Currently, South Burlington This has further driven concern has five city councilors elect- around equitability in representaed at-large, meaning residents tion. throughout the city vote to elect The charter committee, in its each councilor. The school board final report sent to the council in has the same August, recomcomposition. mended adding “Five city councilors “Five city counmembers to cilors are representboth the school are representing ing 20,000 people. board and the Is that enough 20,000 people. Is that city council city councilors to and keepenough to represent represent all the ing the city residents of a big manager over all the residens of a city?” city manager switching to Jessie Baker asked. mayoral-based big city?”

“In all the converadministration. sations I heard The city with the council, this — Jessie Baker council it wasn’t that they month will said, ‘We want to have X,’ it was move to let the voters decide that we should have a conversation whether they want to expand the in our community about gover- school board to seven members. nance and what we might want in But whether the council will the future.” expand or move away from a strictMeanwhile, six of the last eight ly at-large system, is unclear. The city councilors have all lived in council appeared open to expandthe southeast quadrant, one of ing its ranks but seemed lukewarm the city’s five districts that, were on creating a ward system. it its own municipality, would be It will almost certainly generthe wealthiest in the state. More ate more conversation in 2024.

STORE WIDE SALE STORE SALE Up to 70%WIDE Select Merchandise STORE *20% OffWIDE The EntireSALE Store STORE WIDE SALE HOMEP STORE WIDERT SALE *Does not Include Kitchen electrics, Services and Gift Cards Sale ends Sunday January14th 2023

Page 10 • December 28, 2023 • The Other Paper

Both generalists, specialists vital to forest health Into the Woods Ethan Tapper At one time or another, I expect that many of us have wondered if it is better to be a specialist or a generalist — to try to be great at one thing or to be passable at many different things. Across deep time, Earth’s millions of species have “asked” this same question, again and again: if it is wiser to be an expert at exploiting a single, narrow ecological niche or to be able to exist under a wide range of different conditions.

Both specialization and generalization are evolutionary strategies that can be advantageous under different circumstances, and Vermont’s forests are filled with both specialists and generalists.

Of forest trees, sugar maple is an example of a specialist, growing almost exclusively on soils with a relatively high pH and an abundance of calcium and other minerals — what foresters call enriched sites.

While this means that sugar maple is not well-suited to many places across our landscape, on an enriched site it is extremely competitive — often accounting for more than 75 percent of the trees.

By contrast, the closely related red maple is a generalist, capable of growing in swamps and on mountain tops and almost everywhere in between. While you can find some red maple trees in almost any forest, it will rarely be more than a minor component. It is a typical generalist: a jack of all trades and a master of none.

In forests and other ecosystems, we tend to celebrate the specialists — the spring beauty miner bee, which visits only spring beauty flowers; the Dutchman’s breeches, pollinated only by queen bumblebees.

Specialists are often species with unique gifts and adaptations, brilliant at accessing a specific food source or utilizing a particular life strategy. However, as Vermont’s native species face the myriad threats, stressors, changes and uncertainties of global change — climate change, non-native invasive plants, pests and pathogens, deforestation, forest fragmentation and more — the generalists, the species that can adapt, are better positioned to survive.

Among wildlife, we know our most successful generalists well: the raccoons, skunks and opossums, the gulls and the crows. All these species are sometimes ridiculed for their “trashy” behavior — gulls and raccoons have been nicknamed “dump ducks” and “trash pandas,” respectively — but, looked at another way, these species’ ability to exploit the abundance of resources produced and discarded by humans is extremely innovative and adaptive. A crow feeding on roadkill or a black bear eating trash from a dumpster is an example of a generalist species that has adapted to exploit an easy and ubiquitous food source.

While I hope that the previous paragraph helps vindicate and celebrate some of the generalist species that live, and cause mischief, among us, creating a world in which generalists thrive is also problematic for a variety of reasons. For example, all the generalist species mentioned above, except the gulls, perhaps, are nest predators. Their elevated populations around forest edges, houses and developed

COURTESY PHOTO

Deer are among nature’s “generalists,” so capable of adapting to a changing modern world that they change the natural world for other species.

areas leads to decreased songbird nesting success. White-tailed deer are another generalist species, one that has been so successful in our changing world that deer overpopulations damage habitat for tens of thousands of other species and impair the health, function and resilience of ecosystems across much of the North American continent.

In the case of red maple and sugar maple, we expect sugar maple to be one of the tree species most adversely impacted by climate change, whereas red maple is projected to be one of the most successful

— largely due to its generalist nature. While it may be that our forests’ future belongs to red maple, we cannot abandon sugar maple entirely. It, and our other specialists, are vital and irreplaceable, supporting crucial natural processes and providing habitat for entire communities of native species.

In this changed and changing world, the specialists are often the species that are most under threat, which just means that they are those most in need of our help.

Whether you consider yourself a generalist or a specialist, I’m sure that you admire people that have taken the other

road. In our human communities, both specialists and generalists contribute to diverse and functional societies. In forests, both specialists and generalists are vital to the health and the future of these incredible ecosystems.

tree’s foliage has fallen.

While mistletoe does take nutrients from its host, a healthy tree is unlikely to be significantly harmed by its presence.

However, it may cause damage to the portion of the branch beyond its location.

In addition, a severe infection of numerous mistletoe plants on a single host can stress the tree, making it more susceptible to disease or other problems. Fortunately, mistletoe spreads slowly so it is not a threat to forested areas.

Mistletoe spreads with the help of birds who consume its berries. The seeds, which have traveled through a bird’s digestive system, are then deposited onto host trees.

Seeds also spread when they adhere to birds’ feathers or animals’ fur.

Once germination takes place, mistletoe’s roots penetrate the bark of the host tree and appropriate nutrients and moisture from the tree. While its evergreen foliage allows mistletoe to perform photosynthesis, providing it with some of its needed nutrients, mistletoe does require a living host to survive and to reproduce.

Mistletoe produces small, white flowers

in late spring and early summer. The flowers are followed by white berries.

All parts of the mistletoe plant are toxic to humans, and coming into contact with the plant may produce an allergic reaction and cause skin irritation or a rash for some people. Be sure to keep mistletoe, and its berries in particular, away from pets and small children.

On the other hand, the nectar of mistletoe flowers provides a nutritious feast for pollinators. Mistletoe berries, which ripen in December, are a welcome food source for birds and animals during the winter months.

The thick bunches of intertwined branches provide habitat and cover for birds and small, tree-dwelling mammals throughout the year.

So, the next time you see a sprig of mistletoe this holiday season, remember the part it plays in nature all year long.

For more information on mistletoe and its place in the ecosystem, see go.uvm.edu/ mistletoe.

Ethan Tapper is the Chittenden County forester for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. See what he’s been up to, check out his YouTube channel, sign up for his eNews and read articles he’s written at linktr.ee/chittendencountyforester.

MISTLETOE continued from page 9 the world, the one we’re most familiar with and what we see in stores during the holiday season each year is typically American mistletoe (Phoradendron serotinum). You may hear it called by other names, such as eastern mistletoe, hairy mistletoe or oak mistletoe.

This flowering perennial plant is native to the southeastern regions of the United States. American mistletoe is hardy only to Zone 6, so you won’t find it growing in the wild in Vermont.

The Greek word phoradendron translates to “thief of the tree” in English. Mistletoe is a semi-parasitic plant (called a hemiparasite) and, therefore, is considered a plant disease.

It must have a living host plant to survive.

Its roots attach and tap into a host tree, extracting water and nutrients. It then uses those resources along with sunlight and the chlorophyll (the green pigment) in its foliage to manufacture food through photosynthesis.

Mistletoe grows into large, thick clumps on the branches of deciduous trees. Its evergreen foliage makes it easy to see during the late fall and winter months when the host

Deborah J. Benoit is a UVM Extension master gardener.

The Other Paper • December 28, 2023 • Page 11

Obituaries Leonard S. Mercia

to Tuckerman’s Ravine in New Hampshire where he and his skiing friends hiked up the mountain with skis and ski boots on their backs and skied straight down the headwall.

He was an accomplished woodcrafter and enjoyed making reproductions of dry sinks, cabinets and grandfather clocks, as well as doing furniture restoration.

Len and his wife Shirley did extensive traveling for nine years throughout the United States in their recreational vehicle. Later they enjoyed many trips abroad to Spain, Italy and the British Isles. They also enjoyed taking cruises to the Caribbean and Alaska.

In 2010 Len was a recipient of the Robert O. Sinclair Award. This award honors a faculty member whose career served the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the UVM Extension Service with distinction achieved excellence in his profession and demonstrated an exemplary record of service and commitment to fulfill the land grant mission to serve the people of Vermont.

Len was a member of the Williston Federated Church from 1954 to 1989 and joined the First United Methodist Church in Burlington in 1989. He had a love of music and he and Shirley sang in the church choir.

They also loved singing duets together in church as well as nursing homes, senior centers and the Respite House. They always looked forward to singing 14 years with the Colchester Community Chorus.

They volunteered for nine years at Allen Brook School in Williston and the teachers and students always looked forward to hearing them sing in the annual variety show at the Williston Central School. Len made a little birch canoe and he and Shirley sang a duet “On Lake Champlain in My Little Birch Canoe,” which was a big hit in both the variety show and one spring concert with the Colchester chorus.

Len and Shirley loved doing volunteer work together. They volunteered for five years at Fletcher Allen Health Care and two years in the music department at Essex Junction Summit Street School, in addition to the nine years at Allen Brook School.

They always looked forward to serving supper at the Salvation Army where they always sang the blessing before serving the meal.

Len is survived by his loving wife, Shirley; son, Bill (Susan); daughters, Jackie

Leonard S. Mercia, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and stepfather died on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, at Pines Senior Living in South Burlington.

Leonard was born in Morrisville on Feb. 1, 1923, the son of Ernest and Gladys Mercia. He graduated from Peoples Academy in 1941 and received his bachelor’s degree in agriculture from the University of Vermont in 1950 and his master’s degree from the Ohio State University in 1952.

Len, as he was known to his friends, enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on Jan. 12, 1942.

He served as crew chief and aerial engineer while stationed in the United States and in North Africa with the Air Trans- Leonard S. Mercia port Command. He was honorably discharged in 1946.

He was a charter member of the Vermont Air Guard from 1946 until 1950 and was in the Reserve until his discharge from the Army in 1954.

Len was employed by the Ohio Poultry Improvement Association as assistant field manager from 1952 to 1954.

In 1954 he joined the staff of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College as an Extension poultryman and was a professor in the animal science department until his retirement in 1983.

While at UVM he did teaching and research and Extension work. He was the author of many Extension publications used by poultry producers and youth with 4-H poultry projects.

He also authored two books, “Storey’s Guide to Raising Poultry” and “Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys.” These have been published in Spanish and English and received wide acceptance in foreign countries as well as the United States.

In 1984 Len served as a poultry consultant in Kenya and Uganda in Africa. In 1987 he spent several weeks in Honduras as poultry consultant for Partners of the Americas. He also served as secretary of the Vermont Poultry Association and as secretary and treasurer of the Vermont Feed Dealers and Manufacturers Association for many years.

Len was an avid skier, fisherman and hunter. He loved skiing in the Alps in Europe and in the deep powder snow out West, in addition to skiing in Vermont.

For about 20 years he made a yearly trip

ADVERTISING •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

An idea that SELLS.

CALL 864-6670

Owen (Gordie), and Kathie; son-in-law, Henry Benis; stepson, Kerry Lonergan, stepdaughters, Kim Couch and KathyJo Lonergan; 12 great-grandchildren; 12 grandchildren; 3 step-grandsons; and many more dearly beloved extended family members and friends.

He was predeceased by his first wife, Barbara Martin; daughter, Marilyn Benis; and brother, Norris (Ellie).

When Shirley and Len moved from Williston to South Burlington, they attended Faith United Methodist Church where they made many new friends. A memorial service to celebrate the life of Leonard Mercia will be held at Faith Church, 899 Dorset St., South Burlington, on a date to be announced. A reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Faith Church or UVM Foundation, Grassemont Building, 411 Main St., Burlington VT 05401.

Funeral arrangements are under the care of Corbin and Palmer.

Edward S. Madden III Edward Sylvester Madden III of South Burlington died on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, at his home in South Burlington after a years-long battle with cancer.

Ed was born on May 2, 1949, to Edward and Mary Madden in Orange, N.J. He graduated from Upper Dublin High School in Fort Washington, Pa., before heading to Thomas College in Waterville, Maine.

It was in Maine that he met his future partner in life and business, Leslie McNicol.

He and his wife Leslie owned the Rotisserie Restaurant in South Burlington from 1979 to 2002 before ending his working years as a driver for Premier Coach.

Ed leaves behind his wife of 41 years, Leslie; sister, Kathyrn Payne; daughters, Lauren Madden and Kate Madden; Kate’s partner, Chris King; and two grandsons, Campbell and Maddox King.

For over two decades, Ed and Leslie owned and operated the renowned Rotisserie on Williston Road in South Burlington. The Roto became a beloved gathering place for friends and family, with many fond memories. For years the Roto was host to Thanksgiving dinner for close friends and family, some of Ed’s favorite memories during their tenure.

A long-term member of the Burlington Country Club, Ed could most often be found on the course during summer months and continued to play into retirement. After retirement, Ed and Leslie split their time between Leslie’s hometown of Schroon Lake, N.Y., in the summer and Umatilla, Fla., during winter months where they quickly found a community of like-minded RVers.

They enjoyed exploring new places in their fifth-wheel camper with their dachshund, Sam. Ed’s memory will live on with his wife, daughters and grandsons. A memorial service will be held in summer 2024.

Page 12 • December 28, 2023 • The Other Paper

Museum exhibit on the hunt for lost ski areas TOMMY GARDNER STAFF WRITER

Most ski resorts are highly visible from miles away, their trails transforming mountain faces from undulating expanses of forest into crisscrossing streaks of white.

But for the roughly 150 bygone small ski areas that once dotted Vermont’s hills in all corners of the Green Mountain State, you have to look really hard for evidence that they once existed.

There’s a series of rope tow pullies being engulfed by the trees they’re nailed to at what was once known as West Mountain Farm ski area in Arlington. There’s a rusty old bullwheel and some shacks overrun by underbrush at Hogback Mountain in Marlboro. A chairlift line and a tower are all that remain of Snow Valley in Winhall.

“There’s still all these artifacts, just hiding in the woods now,” Poppy Gall said.

Gall and other intrepid snow country sleuths at the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum have been looking for the state’s once vibrant but long-gone ski areas for about 20 years, and the museum’s newest exhibit represents the fruits of their labor.

It’s still a work in progress.

For the next year, the museum will showcase the southern half of the state, featuring roughly 70 ski areas located, at one time or another, between the Massachusetts border and Route 4. Next fall, the museum will feature another 100 hills closer to home.

In the meantime, Gall said she and her colleagues are hoping to crowdsource memories.

“We really, really want the human input and the memories, and the memorabilia,” she said. “There’s not a lot of people around who are going to remember those lost areas from the ‘30s, ‘40s, even ‘50s.”

Gall said to be considered for the lost ski areas list, a place had to, well, be lost.

As in no longer in operation.

The second criterion: each ski area had to feature some sort of conveyance up the hill.

“It could just be a rope tow in some farmer’s back forty,” she said. “It could just be anywhere that, at one point, the community gathered to ski with a mechanized tow.”

Some of the hills were spartan affairs, but some were borderline luxe for their scale. Gall’s hometown hill, Snow Valley in Winhall, started life in 1941 with a T-bar, two rope tows and six trails, along with a single-story wood and stone base lodge dubbed Snow Man’s Rest. At one point in its 42-year existence, Snow Valley featured a tow on a coin-operated timer — 25 cents bought you a single trip up the hill.

Elsewhere, some of the roughly 70 lost ski areas featured in the exhibit have scant information aside from a sentence or two about their existence. For instance, little is known about Buckturd Basin, perhaps the most colorful sounding area of the bunch, other than it was open in the 1980s in West Townsend and had a rope tow serving five trails and some glades, used by the property owners and their friends.

These mysterious entries are supplemented by some ski areas with bigger exhibit presences, partly because the

PHOTOS BY GORDON MILLER

At bottom right, Poppy Gall, one of the curators behind the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum’s new exhibit exploring Vermont’s “Lost Ski Areas,” talks with a museum-goer in front of a map showing more than 170 different ski areas past and present.

museum was able to procure enough artifacts to fill the walls. One of the more information rich areas showcases Dutch Hill in Heartwellville, one of the few “lost and found” areas that were resurrected decades after their apparent disappearance.

According to the exhibit, Dutch Hill operated continuously between 1944-1980 — although its heyday was over by the late 1960s. Then, in 2016, a group breathed new life into it as a backcountry touring area.

Headed north There are a couple of reasons why the first part of the two-year exhibit starts in the southern part of the state.

For one, Gall, et al, are hoping the exhibit will spark enough interest so that people can help fill in the blanks about more than a dozen lost ski areas in the greater Stowe area.

That includes four hills not named Stowe Mountain Resort in what has long been known as the “Ski Capital of the East.”

It’s obvious when you look at some of them that they offered plenty of minor-league downhill action — for instance, Marshall Hill, which rises behind Stowe Elementary School smack in Stowe village, is still a popular recess-time sledding destination.

Other lost Stowe ski areas are Town and See EXHIBIT on page 13

The Other Paper • December 28, 2023 • Page 13

EXHIBIT continued from page 12

CLASSIFIEDS

Country and Edson Hill Manor, the provenance of which are clear to Gall, even if it’s not clear to her what kind of experiences they offered.

Classified ads are free for South Burlington residents. Ads run for two weeks, as space and time allows.

There’s also a lost Stowe ski Ads should be 30 words or less. area called Strom’s, which Gall assumes is named after legendary Call 802-864-6670 with questions or to run a paid ad for Services, Real Estate, Norwegian alpinist Erling Strom, who is perhaps best known around For Rent, Employment, Business Opportunities, etc. here as the man who challenged Austrian Sepp Ruschp, the founder of Stowe’s first ski school, to the now-famous bet that would become the Stowe Derby: a race from the top of Mt. Mansfield to Stowe village on a single pair of skis.

In addition, museum researchPUBLIC HEARING ers are seeking information on 13 SOUTH BURLINGTON DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD other lost ski areas near Stowe.

• There are five in Waterbury, The South Burlington Development Review Board will hold a public hearing in the including Ski Slide, Pinnacle Park South Burlington City Hall auditorium, 180 Market Street, South Burlington, Vermont, or online or by phone, on Wednesday January 17, 2024 at 7:00 P.M. to Skiland, Sunset Hill, Waterbury consider the following: Village Area and Waterbury Ski Prekindergarten Lottery is now open for 2024-2025!

Immediate Job Openings Tow. application #VR-24-01 of Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity for Prekindergarten Lottery is now open for 2024-2025! Variance approval to modify the dimensional standards applicable to an existing residential • Two in Morrisville: Wyck building lot. The modification consists of the minimum that will afford relief The CVSD Early Education Program is now accepting applications for House Tow and Samoset Country from the unique conditions that preclude development in strict conformity with Maintenance Technician – Skilled a random prekindergarten lottery drawing for the 2024-25 school The CVSD Early Education Program isfornow accepting applications for a random the Land Development Regulations, 58 Wright Court.

Club.

Immediate opening a skilled technician with mechanical, year.drawing This lottery is for opportunity to enroll in oneThis of our school-is for an opportunity • Two prekindergarten in Jeffersonville (notlottery for thean 2024-25 school year. lottery Board members will be participating in person. Applicants and members of the plumbing & heating, construction andper electrical knowledge.

This based classrooms which run 10 hours week. Our school-based counting Smugglers’ Notch Ski public may participate in person or remotely either by interactive online meeting or to enroll in one of our school-based classrooms which run 10 hours per week.

Our schoolposition will include day to day building needs for Williston Central by telephone: prekindergarten classrooms are 5 STARs, licensed early education Resort): Glenn Skiff Farm and & Allen Brook School.

Full time, full year 7:00 am 3:30 pm. based prekindergarten classrooms are 5 STARs, licensed early education programs that Jeffersonville Tow. programs that provide play-based, developmentally appropriate Interactive Online Meeting (audio & video): https://zoom.us/join • Johnson State play-based, College in (audio only): (646) 931-3860 provide developmentally appropriate environments all childrenByinTelephone an inclusive environments for all children in an inclusive setting. Ourfor curriculum Meeting ID: 856 2329 6412 willVermont be givenEarly for HVAC, Electrical or Prekindergarten Lottery open forcertified/licensed 2024-2025!

Johnson, which Gall said produced isPreference based onnow the Learning Standards (VELS). setting.

Our curriculum is is based on the Vermont Early Learning Standards (VELS).

AC Technician. high caliber alpine skiers.

A copy of the application is available for public inspection by emailing Marla Keene, Development Review Planner, mkeene@southburlingtonvt.gov.

• North Country Ski Park in Our programs follow the CVSD school calendar.

Children who will VSD Hyde EarlyPark.

Education Program is now accepting applications for a random Our programs follow the CVSD school calendar.

Children who will be age 3 orDecember older by For further information contact Ron Larivee, rlarivee@cvsdvt.org.

28, 2023 be age 3 school or older by September 1, 2024,iswho are not eligible for dergarten lottery drawing for the 2024-25 year.

This lottery for an opportunity • Hardwick Ski Tow in HardSeptember 1, 2024, kindergarten, who are notand eligible forcommunities kindergarten, and live in the communities of live in the of Charlotte, Hinesburg, oll in one school-based classrooms whichSt. run 10 hours perWilliston week. C.V.U.H.S. Our school- to enter the lottery. wick.of our Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, and are Groundskeeper/Maintenance Shelburne, St. George,George, and Williston are eligible– to entereligible the lottery.

• Sterling Tow in Craftsbury. prekindergarten classrooms areselected 5 Assist STARs, licensed early education programs that in caring for the school grounds, while maintaining a their highin a CVSD program Families who are for the lottery and choose to enroll their child Families who are selected for the lottery and choose to enroll There’s another logical reason e play-based, developmentally appropriate environments for all children in an inclusive standard safety.

Mowing, weedtheir whacking, maintaining sports in a of CVSD program access Act 166 publicly funded access their Act publicly funded prekindergarten funds for the school-based program. for chronicling Vermont’s lost166child g. Ourski curriculum based on — the Vermont Learning (VELS). fields, andEarly winterfunds snowfor removal.

Other duties as assigned. prekindergarten the Standards school-based program. areas from is south to north because that’s how lift-assisted All applications must Full-time, be received byopening.

February 5, 2024, and are located on the CVSD Early day shift Experience is 3 helpful for the skiing in the the stateCVSD evolved.school calendar.

All applications must be received by February 5,but 2024, andright are rograms follow Children who will be age or older by Education website at: https://tinyurl.com/CVSDEarlyEd or using this QR code. PROPOSED SOUTH BURLINGTON MUNICIPAL PLAN museum exhibit dedicates candidate, training be provided. hours: on the CVSDwill Early Education website at: Monday-Friday https://tinyurl. mber sizable 1, The 2024, who arehalf nota dozen eligible located for kindergarten, and live in theShift communities of wallPaper space toapplications are available upon request.

6:30 am - 3:00 pm.or using this QR code. com/CVSDEarlyEd CITY COUNCIL SECOND PUBLIC HEARING otte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, St. George, and Williston are eligible to enter the lottery. lost ski areas in Woodstock, where Tuesday, January 2, 2024, 7:00 pm and to this Saskadena (formerly es who are day selected for the lottery Paper and choose to are enroll their child in a CVSD full program Hourly rate commensurate with experience benefits Monday, January 8, 2024 at 6:30 pm applications available upon request. orand For additional information, questions about our program, any concerns Six publicly still operates.

This isprekindergarten s theirSuicide) Act 166 funded funds for the school-based included. Benefits: Medical, Dental, a retirementprogram. package, paid PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the South Burlington City Council will hold a public about your child’s please visitmost ourholidays website or contact the birthplace of lift-served skiing development, For additional information, about our program, Director or any hearing beginning on Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at 7:00 PM, and then continued on vacation, weekends off and questions paid. in the United States, according to Monday, January 8, 2024 at 6:30 pm to consider the City’s Draft Municipal Plan concerns about your child’s development, please visit our website of Early Education, Erin Gagne at egagne@cvsdvt.org.

Our Early Education (known as CityPlan 2024). Participation options: plications must be received by February 5, Director 2024, and are locatedErin onGagne the CVSD Early the exhibit. orFor contact of Early Education, at egagne@ further information contact Tom Mongeon, tmongeon@ team is also available for developmental screenings in the areas of Tuesday, January 2, 2024: “Until 1934, any downhill ation website at: https://tinyurl.com/CVSDEarlyEd or usingteam this isQR cvsdvt.

Our Early Education alsocode.

• In Person: City Hall Auditorium, 180 Market Street cvsdvt.org. skiing had to be ‘earned’ by climbcommunication, social-emotional development, screenings motor skills, adaptive development, applications are available upon request.

• Interactive Online: https://meet.goto.com/SouthBurlingtonVT/ available for developmental ing uphill before sliding down, citycouncilmeeting01-02-2024 and cognition.

More information about an Early Multi-Tiered System of Supports is also in the areas of communication, social• Phone: (224) 501-3412; Access Code: 436-108-613 which limited both participation District HVAC Technician Monday, January 8, 2024: emotional development, motor skills, dditional questions about our program, or any concerns available on the under the Support Services tab. and information, how much skiing you couldwebsite • In Person: City Hall Auditorium, 180 Market Street This position performs skilled mechanical maintenance, adaptive and cognition.

More • Interactive Online: https://meet.goto.com/SouthBurlingtonVT/ get in a development, day,” an exhibit display your child’s please visit our development, website or contact including inspections, repair, Director installation of equipment i.e. specialcitycouncilmeeting01-08-2023 about an Early Multi-Tiered notes. “That all changed in 1934 information • Phone: (872) 240-3212; Access Code: 839-876-141 heating, ventilation, A/CEarly and refrigeration systems and perform ly Education, Erin Gagne at egagne@cvsdvt.org.

Our Education System of Supports is also available on the with the installation of the counThe Purpose of this hearing is to consider the readoption of the City’s Municipal Plan preventative maintenance for the Champlain Valley School District. s alsotry’s available for developmental screenings in Support the areas of tab. first mechanized lift, a rope website under the Services pursuant to 24 VSA § 4381-4387. This draft Plan affects all areas within the City of South Burlington. A table of contents for the draft plan is as follows: tow powered by a Ford Model T unication, social-emotional development, motor skills, adaptive development, For further information contact Chris Giard, cgiard@cvsdvt.org engine, on Gilbert’s Hill. Soon Guiding Principles; Introduction; People & Population; Housing; Economy; ognition. about Energy; Environment; Transportation; Community, History, & Culture; after,More other information rope tows popped up an Early Multi-Tiered System of Supports is also Recreation; Community Services; Water & Utilities; Land Use Plan; Appendix A ble ononthe website underhills. theAnd Support Services tab. nearby Woodstock Please apply online to www.cvsdvt.org/jobs & B Act 174 Enhanced Energy Plan Data and Assessment; Maps in a relatively few years, tows Copies of the proposed Plan are available for inspection at the Department of were spread throughout Vermont Planning & Zoning, City Hall, 3rd Floor, 180 Market Street South Burlington, between CVSD is an equal opportunity employer. Black, Indigenous, 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM Monday through Friday except holidays, and on the city and the Northeast.” and People of Color (BIPOC), immigrants, women, and LGBTQ+ website at www.southburlingtonvt.gov.

Indeed, as the exhibit shows candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Helen Riehle, Chair — as Gall and company keep December 21, 2023 gathering artifacts and anecdotes — anywhere you might find a hill, you might find a way to get up and down it on a pair of planks underfoot.

Be sure to visit our advertisers and tell them: “I saw your name in The Other Paper.”

As long as you had a pocket full of quarters.

Page 14 • December 28, 2023 • The Other Paper

SERVICE DIRECTORY To advertise in the service directory email judy@otherpapersbvt.com or call 802-864-6670 FLOORING

Town & Country Sheds, LLC

Flooring Inventory

2175 N Wolcott Rd Wolcott, VT 05680 (802) 888-7012

 IN STOCK 

HARDWOOD • LUXURY VINYL LAMINATES • CARPET • CARPET TILE TILE • FLOORING SUPPLIES

FOR RENT 60 FOOT LIFT JLG600S

96 Commerce Street | Williston | www.floortraderwilliston.com | (802) 204-1080

• Basement Waterproofing • Crawl Space Repair • Sump Pump Systems • Foundation Repair • Egress Windows

CALL US TODAY!

Covering Your Life’s Journey Home • Auto • Motorcycle • Watercraft Business • Contractor 802-862-1600 • info@turnbaughinsurance.com 188 Allen Brook Lane • Suite 1 • Williston, VT 05495

1111-855-DRY-TIME • www.northernbasements.com

Free Estimates Interior & Exterior

802.777.8771

Scheduling 2023-2024 Interior Painting

TO ALL OF OUR CLIENTS, THANK YOU!

Residential • Commercial • Industrial

Piano Lessons

Give the gift of music-making Remote and In-Person Lessons Basic, intermediate - children, teens, adults National Keyboard Arts Curriculum References, scholarships available

Edward Darling South Burlington

Edward802-318-7030 Darling, So. Burlington

edwardjohndarling@gmail.com • 802-318-7030

CPL, RST, CPS, CHI

ANTIQUES WANTED We can help you discover, learn about and sell: WATCHES • JEWELRY • COINS • SILVER • ARTWORK

884 Old Hollow Road North Ferrisburg, VT 05473 (802) 425-3060 Certified Locksmith & Safe Technician Professional Security Consultant E-mail: georgessafes@gmavt.net www.georgeslocks.com • www.georges-safes.com

Brian Bittner • 802-489-5210 • info@bittnerantiques.com Showroom at 2997 Shelburne Rd • Shelburne Open Wed-Fri, with walk-ins to sell every Thursday. www.bittnerantiques.com

Build community LOCAL? WHY GO

Vermont Community Newspaper Group

YP E

R ELIC

Buying Sports and Collectible Cards

Hyper Relic Sports Cards Bob & Jessica Trautwine

Cell/Txt: 802-233-1451 • Office: 802-497-1681 Hyperreliccards@gmail.com • hyperrelic.com

Decluttering? Downsizing?

GEORGE GARDNER

H

Piano and Composition Lessons

R

TONY BRICE PAINTING, LLC

ADVERTISING •

• • • • • • • •

•

an idea that SELLS.

CALL 864-6670

Buying and shopping locally helps independent businesses, which in turn helps all of us shape our community’s distinct flavor, personality and character.

The Other Paper • December 28, 2023 • Page 15

Horoscope December 28, 2023

ANSWERS FROM THIS ISSUE

Weekly Puzzles

Page 16 • December 28, 2023 • The Other Paper

Fi_er In_erne_!

You can't spell "Fiber Internet" without "BT" The Fastest Internet

Enhance your wifi

Fast Internet

1 Gig

$70

Smart WiFi Add-On

300 MB

$65

$12

No Hidden Fees

Customer Centered

No Contracts

Locally Operated

No Data Caps

Symmetrical Speeds

*Only available in serviceable locations. Contact us for availability.

802.540.0007 www.BurlingtonTelecom.com 200 Church St. Burlington, VT 62 Pearl St, Essex Junction, VT