The Other Paper - 10-10-24 by Vermont Community Newspaper Group

the South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977

City council passes F-35 resolution

LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

South Burlington joined Burlington and Winooski Monday in passing a resolution that calls on federal lawmakers to find an alternative to the F-35 air mission in Vermont.

The F-35s replaced the former F-16s at the Patrick Leahy Burl-

ington International Airport in South Burlington in 2019, sparking years of vehement opposition from residents in its flight path due to “bone-jarring” noise and undue environmental impacts caused by the military aircraft.

Two city councilors, city clerk Mike Scanlan and Elizabeth Fitzgerald, voted against the move.

Council chair Tim Barritt

said with Sen. Patrick Leahy now retired and a new makeup of Vermont’s congressional delegation, “there is an opportunity to try this again, to see if they would be sympathetic to requests from the various city councils in the towns and cities that immedi-

See F-35 on page 20

Candidates face off for three Chittenden Southeast Senate seats

“I said, ‘I have to give myself back to Vermont for a few more years to see if I can’t fix this.’”

Two Republicans and one independent are looking to upset three incumbent Democrats in Chittenden County’s Southeast Senate district this November, hinging their campaigns on affordability in a year that saw a 14.5 percent average property tax hike across the state.

Bruce Roy, R-Williston, ran uncontested in the primary election and received 1,527 votes from the towns that make up the Chittenden Southeast Senate district. This is his second try at a Statehouse seat after an unsuccessful run for the House in 2022.

After a four-year tour in the U.S. Air Force, he returned to Vermont and joined IBM as an engineer, continuing his military service as a member of the Vermont Air National Guard. He had a 30-year career at both organizations, retiring as a colonel from the Green Mountain Boys in 2008. He also previously served his alma mater, Essex Westford School District, on its school board.

“One of the things that’s got me cranked up was when the property taxes jumped up, and I saw all the veto overrides that were happening of Gov. Scott,” he said.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott, along with former Republican Gov. Jim Douglas, have both endorsed Roy, who said he will make it a priority to support Scott should he be elected.

Taylor Craven, I-Shelburne, a Vermont native who graduated from the University of Vermont with a civil engineering degree, took over his family’s property management business in the Deerfield Valley in 2019. He’s also worked for large engineering firms like DuBois & King, focusing on municipal infrastructure projects. He has previously served on the Colchester Planning Commission.

Craven did not participate in the August primary election but garnered enough signatures to enter the General Election race. The self-proclaimed “socially liberal but fiscally conservative” candidate says the Statehouse’s Democratic supermajority has gone unchecked for too long.

“I could bring good recommendations of where we could streamline processes to make it easier on property owners, homeowners and

See CANDIDATES on page 16

PHOTO BY THEO ANDERSON

The aurora borealis came out to play over Shelburne Bay Park on Oct. 6 and Theo Anderson of Shelburne captured the scene around 8 p.m.

Light dance

LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

COURTESY

DEMOCRATS SOUTH BURLINGTON VOTE

Working Fields announces transitions at the top

Chelsea Bardot Lewis has been named CEO of Working Fields, a staffing agency headquartered in South Burlington.

She has served as chief operating officer for the past four years and has been a member of the advisory board since the nonprofit’s inception. During her tenure, Working Fields raised over $2 million in equity capital, doubled revenue within three years, and expanded from one office in Vermont to five offices in four states.

“I am honored to take on the role of CEO and am excited about the future of Working Fields,” Lewis said. “This company’s success is due to Mickey’s vision and leadership, and I am grateful for his ongoing support. We will continue to deliver exceptional recruitment and retention services to engaged employers, and work in solidarity with resilient jobseekers as they overcome barriers.”

She succeeds Mickey Wiles, who will continue to offer strategic financial oversight and guidance in a chief financial officer and founder role while also supporting Working Fields’ nonprofit partner, Just Work, as it launches new programs and services.

Wiles founded the company in 2017.

As part of this transition, Lorcan Ackley has been promoted from senior account manager to director of operations. Ackley joined Working Fields in 2022.

Working Fields offers a “unique peer support model born from our founder’s lived experience in recovery, incarceration and socially responsible business,” according to a press release. It has part-

nered with over 3,000 jobseekers, 400 community organizations and more than 100 employers.

SB resident made partner in wealth management firm

Kylie Richards of South Burlington has become and owner and partner in Professional Financial Associates, a Vermont wealth management firm, in Williston.

She joins Timothy Monty, who has led the firm for more than a decade. They opened a new office in Williston in June.

“Kylie is a true rock star. Her expertise, dedication and fresh vision have been invaluable to PFA, and I look forward to working alongside her to lead our company into the future,” Monty said.

“I’m honored to take on this new responsibility, and excited to work with Tim and our team to build and explore new opportunities for growth.”

& Bulbs

BUILDING A VIBRANT VERMONT FOR EVERYONE

VOTING YOUR BALLOT

Ballots were mailed to active voters by 1 Oct 2024

If you did not get your ballot, contact the City Clerk

CHOOSE HOW TO VOTE

Vote at home with your ballot (Sign, Seal & Send)

Mail your ballot package by 25 Oct 2024

OR Deposit your ballot in the City Hall drop box by 4 Nov 2024 at 4:30 PM

OR Submit your ballot at your polling place on 5 Nov 2024 by 7:00 PM

OR VOTE ON TUESDAY 5 NOV 2024 BY 7:00 PM

Bring your ballot to vote at your polling place

Martin LaLonde CHI-12

Brian Minier CHI-11

Emilie Krasnow CHI-9

Bridget Burkhardt CHI-8

Kate Nugent CHI-10

Chelsea Bardot Lewis Lorcan Ackley

Mickey Wiles

COURTESY PHOTO

Kylie Richards and Timothy Monty.

South Burlington Police Blotter: Sept. 30 - Oct. 6

Total incidents: 231

Agency / public assists: 15

Directed patrol: 18

Traffic stop: 10

Accident: property damage: 12

Alarm: 9

Foot patrol: 14

Suspicious event: 12

Retail theft: 7

Motor vehicle complaint: 13

Welfare check: 15

911 hangup: 5

Noise violation: 3

Trespass: 10

Domestic: 1

Disturbance: 7

Field contact: 7

Found/lost property: 7

Operations: patrol: 6

Simple assault: 4

Animal problem: 4

Accident: insurance purposes: 9

Juvenile problem: 7

Stolen vehicle: 7

Larceny from a vehicle: 3

Larceny from a structure: 4

Mental health: 4

Arrests:

Jennifer A. Boyer, 37, of Burlington was arrested for unlawful trespass and retail theft in an

the

incident on March 16 at 6:15 p.m. on Dorset Street.

Sept. 29 at 6:05 p.m., Joel C. Tousley, 42, of South Burlington, was arrested for retail theft on Dorset Street.

Sept. 30 at 12:15 p.m., Stefan James Kluckner Jr., 47, of Rutland City, was arrested on an in-state warrant on Dorset Street.

Oct. 2 at 6:23 p.m., Jesse J. McGuire, 32, of Barre City, was arrested for retail theft on Dorset Street.

Oct. 4 at 8:30 p.m., Justin R. Cruz, 45, of South Burlington, was arrested for domestic assault on Baldwin Avenue.

Oct. 5 at 7:48 a.m., Jeffrey J. Leduc, 38, no address provided, was arrested for unlawful trespass on Vale Drive.

Oct. 6 at 3:21 p.m., Joshua J. Jerger, 36, of Starksboro, was arrested on an in-state warrant on Larkin Way.

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

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Contact: 1340 Williston Road

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Prospective Families are invited to come check out Rice!

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OPINION

Nation could learn from Vermont’s motto, ‘Freedom and Unity’

Guest Perspective

John Bossange

“Freedom and Unity” is recognized as the official motto of Vermont and those words appear on the state flag. First adopted in 1788 and used on the Great Seal of the Vermont Republic by Ethan Ellen, the motto was later approved by the Vermont Legislature when Vermont was admitted to the federal union in 1791.

Our first governor, Thomas Chittenden, called Vermont the home of “freedom and unity.”

The motto has always been about the idea of balancing two seemingly opposite ideals: personal freedom and independence of the individual with the common good of the larger community. In a way, the motto speaks to a basic dilemma of human behavior: How do we

honor the needs of a group while recognizing the natural desire for individual freedom?

Then as now, this struggle is being played out in today’s presidential election, and I wonder how Vermonters will respond.

Many of the people who migrated to Vermont years ago did so as rugged individualists, who wished to farm, trade and carve out a living in a harsh environment. Others followed as entrepreneurs in a variety of professions, but most still came here seeking a change and to begin anew. That spirit of inde-

pendence still makes Vermont a special place to live and learn.

Yet Vermonters have been able to show an understanding and acceptance of the common good in their neighborhoods, towns and state.

It’s time for us to recognize and honor the success of the Vermont state motto and speak with civility during these final weeks of the presidential campaign.

Exploring Catholicism

They have a history of helping each other during natural disasters, and a tradition of welcoming new neighbors.

Town meetings and forums held to pass budgets and make impactful decisions might still be the best examples of the word unity in Vermont.

Even today, with the stress of higher property taxes and the cost of living, budgets pass because Vermonters realize what would happen if their essential municipal services disappeared.

For those of us on a fixed income, that sacrifice for community and unity is a struggle, but we know it would be more challenging if we let our craving for individual freedom

govern our priorities and decisions.

I believe this presidential election will call on Vermonters to remember the state’s motto to guide their ability to balance unity with freedom. Just what does freedom and unity mean on the national stage? How can we apply the lessons we have learned and lived by for 233 years in a nation with polarizing campaign rhetoric?

In Vermont, freedom has not meant having yours while restricting or denying others of their individual beliefs, no matter what we may think of their opinion or decision. However, too often in this presidential race, Vermonters are listening to campaign messaging that can threaten the very essence of the state motto.

We need to guard against endangering the way we have learned to acknowledge diverse opinions and how we have worked together for the common good.

The nation could learn from Vermonters and apply the motto of freedom and unity to uncivil behaviors in this campaign. Just as we have had to dig deep to remind ourselves of the balance between freedom and unity

to make Vermont’s towns and villages functional and decent places to live, others across the nation could look at Vermont and do the same.

We are not perfect and striking the balance is a constant challenge, but Vermonters have a very good track record. At every opportunity, we need to remind others and ourselves that we can’t let uncivil fringe groups and extreme factions work to undo that necessary balance. I believe the nation’s political process and the fragile, ongoing experiment with democracy will not survive under that stress.

It’s time for us to recognize and honor the success of the Vermont state motto and speak with civility during these final weeks of the presidential campaign. Freedom and unity can co-exist, and that should be the message to the rest of the nation.

Here at home, ballots have been mailed to all registered Vermonters. Now more than ever, we need to remember to use our own history as guidance when we vote in this presidential election.

John Bossange lives in South Burlington.

Without support, youth center will have to close

To the Editor:

The Infinite Youth Center has been operating at the University Mall in South Burlington for over three years.

The city and other organizations and individuals have consistently donated to Trinity Educational Center. The city did not donate this year, which is disastrous for a small non-profit, considering it was our most significant donor. Now that the University Mall is under new management, we must pay for utilities, which are expensive for a 1,700 square foot space with no ceiling. We can no longer afford to operate and are closing Infinite on Oct. 12, but not vacating the space. We are holding on in hopes of donations from organizations, groups or individuals.

I am grateful that this small non-profit accomplished big things, and has impacted the community.

Dr. Travia Childs

South Burlington

Why not return $1.3 million surplus back to taxpayers?

To the Editor:

Regarding the $1.3 million in so-called “surplus” money, was any consideration given to the idea of returning it to the taxpayers? Or applying it to next year’s city budget? (“South Burlington City Council distributes $1.3 million surplus,” Sept. 26, 2024)

Trice Stratmann

South Burlington Neighbors fight for Wheeler

To the Editor:

Park

The Vermont Supreme Court will make the decision: Will the spectacular view of the wide-open field of the Wheeler Nature Park, framed by forest and 100-year-old farmhouse with the Green Mountains in the distance, be destroyed? Will that view, now available to the public from bike paths along the borders of the seven-football-field-sized grassland field the city once proudly owned soon be gone forever?

The court will consider that this field retains “the design, operation, and use” of a nature park and natural area under its still-in-force state Act 250 permit. It is privately owned but its nature-park landuse status remains under state law.

As the court deliberates on whether to allow 32 extremely high-priced condominiums to be built it will consider that this land is the face of the nature park. It is the most visible part of the 100-acre park from roads and bike path.

With more than a dozen huge apartment buildings under construction in or near the city center, every inch of the heavily used nature park is needed for the city’s growing population, including the 7-acre privatized portion seen from the bike path.

Rock-ledge blasting, at 133-decibels, and all-day long top-hammer drilling is not good for the health, safety or enjoyment of users of the bike paths and the walking trails in the nature park. The birds and wildlife will suffer.

Our appeal asks the Vermont Supreme Court to consider what the city had already accomplished and planned for this land, as documented in the 2016 City Comprehensive Plan: “a designated natural area, intended to be preserved in perpetuity” and “with unpaved walking trails the only type of improvement to be constructed within the property.”

The scenic and natural beauty of the central park of our city, including the private-park portion, must not be disfigured and fragmented.

Jeanne Zagursky

Alan Luzzatto

James Marc Leas

South Burlington

Roy’s got just what Vermont Senate needs

To the Editor:

If you want to send a candidate to the Vermont Senate who will come with ideas, openness, fairness, critical thinking skills, a history of accountability, a willingness to work hard and do the right thing and a sense of urgency to get those things done, I recommend that you cast a vote for Bruce Roy.

I’ve known Roy for almost 20 years and have worked with him on some of the most complex, thorny deals and issues and with some of the orneriest characters. He knows how to compromise, how to value and make reasonable concessions and how to win. He knows how to stand up firmly for good ideas while being able to shake hands at the end and get started on the next thing to be done, without having poisoned the work environment.

I will not agree with him on all the issues we face nationally, but I know that a vote to send him to the Senate is a vote for what we Vermonters need there: ideas, math, independent and critical thinking, leadership, work, acceptable and reasonable results, accountability and compromise.

Regina Darmoni Waitsfield

Former

councilor’s Long Property assertion disputed

To the Editor:

Reasonable people can, and often do, examine the same facts and reach different conclusions on what they view as the best next step. This is how I view the disagreement between former city councilor Meaghan Emery and myself with respect to using open space funds to purchase part of the Long Property. (“Taking the Long view on conservation

Bruce

“Bruce Roy is committed to working with me to make Vermont a more affordable place to live, work, raise a family, do business and retire in.

Colonel Roy has already dedicated much of his life to serving our country in uniform, and I know he would continue to serve Vermonters well in the State Senate. I encourage the people of Chittenden County to send Bruce to the Senate to help build a stronger Vermont

Roy LEARN MORE

Paid for by Bruce Roy for VT, PO Box 184, Williston, VT 05495

continued from page 7

partnership,” Oct. 3, 2024)

Still, we owe it to one another to state the other side’s position accurately. Thus, it was a disappointment to find her misstating an assertion I made about this matter. (“Taking the Long view on conservation partnership,” Oct. 3, 2024)

In my Sept. 26, 2024, guest perspective, I wrote: “A major reason for this disparity in access to open space is that all seven parcels purchased using the open space fund are in the southeast quadrant. The total funds and acreage involved are $4.1 million and 626 acres.”

The basis for this statement is a table on page 10 of a city-produced document dated Jan. 19, 2024, entitled “Planning for a Vibrant South Burlington.” This page summarizes the city’s “significant investments in conservation” and includes only purchases of land financed by the open space fund. The table includes the zoning district location of each purchase. All are in the southeast quadrant.

I focused on the purchases made using the open space fund because, to my knowledge, it is

Epic A.J. by Grayson Dailey

the only ongoing source of funding dedicated to open space for which the city council has sole decision-making authority.

I am aware of no one who has

made the assertion that Emery states in her perspective, which is: “When members of the public assert that all our land conservation dollars go to the south-

east quadrant, the area with the highest household incomes in the city, this is simply not true.”

Unless Emery can document someone having made the asser-

tion she states, her statement is simply not true.

Sandy Dooley South Burlington

OBITUARIES

Denise Paris

Denise Paris died Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at the Arbors in Shelburne.

She was born on April 19, 1930, in Montreal, Quebec, daughter of Therese and Anatole DuBuc.

She attended McGill University and worked for Esso Oil in Montreal before meeting the love of her life, Frank Paris of Yonkers, N.Y., at Gray Rocks in the Laurentian Mountains.

On Sept. 9, 1967, she married Frank at Notre Dame Cathedral and moved to Connecticut, where her daughter Caroline was born. Years later she returned to Canada before finally settling in South Burlington. She worked for the University of Vermont for more than 15 years, forming many lifelong friendships.

Denise will be remembered for her contagious smile and lovely soprano singing voice. Regardless of the circumstances, Denise always shared joy and a zest for life. An accomplished cook — way too many zucchini breads and perfectly seasoned pasta with shrimp — she loved to entertain at her home, especially her nieces and nephew from Canada.

She enjoyed romantic novels and basking in the summer sun in Wells Beach, Maine, and warmer winters in Florida.

She was predeceased by her husband, Frank Paris; sister, Yolande Auger; and brother, Gerald DuBuc.

She is survived by her daughter, Caroline Messier and her husband, Donald; grandchildren, Clayton Messier, Colleen Beahm and her husband, Chris Beahm; great-grandson, Levi Beahm; and many nieces and nephews.

A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Saint Anthony’s Church in Burlington. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society.

Willard Smith

Willard Francis Smith of Burlington, the beloved son of George and Mary Ellen Roach Smith, died on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024.

Willard was 2 years old when his father was sent to Germany in World War I and was killed. He and his five brothers and sisters were raised by his mother alone without a father.

Willard grew up in Burlington and loved to attend class reunions at Burlington High School, known as the Amazing Class of 1947. He was the oldest member of the YMCA where he participated in swimming, nautilus and aerobics. In the summer he enjoyed golfing, bicycling and watching the Burlington Cardinals, Vermont Reds and Vermont Expos play baseball at Centennial Field. He loved baseball and even drove to Montreal to watch the Montreal Expos play.

Willard served in the Vermont National Guard from 1953 to 1983. He retired at the rank of Sgt. Major. He served his country in the Korean War from 1951 to 1953. Before that he was employed with the Chittenden County Trust Co. for two years.

Willard loved Jesus and seldom missed a Sunday at church. He attended the First United Methodist Church in Burlington where he served as captain of the ushers. He volunteered as a member of the Meals on Wheels program and drove people to appointments. He helped the Methodist Movers and drove folks when they moved and their furniture. He also served on the Joint Urban Ministry Project and several other church committees and commissions.

Willard loved listening to big band music and attended many musicals at the Flynn Theater.

In 1969, he had an interest in seeing some of the world. He traveled to Europe, Asia, South America and Mexico. His greatest adventure was a 15-day safari to Kenya in East Africa. He also

went on several cruises to the Caribbean, Hawai’i and Alaska. Notable attractions in his travels were visiting the Sphinx and Great Pyramids of Egypt, Taj Mahal of India, Great Wall of China, and the Grand Canyon of the United States.

Willard is survived by his loving sister, Shirley Mercia and her three children, son, Kerry Lonergan and daughters, Kimberly Couch and Kathy-Jo Lonergan and three grandsons, Shannon Lonergan (Marie), Spencer Couch (Madeline) and Austin Couch; and many nieces, nephews and friends.

He was predeceased by his mother and father; Shirley’s husband, Len Mercia; brothers, Ken Smith (Rita) and Bob Smith (Mary); sisters, Irene Hams (Bob) and Dorothy Quaglietti (Carlo).

A celebration of Willard’s life will take place on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 2 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church with a reception to follow in fellowship hall.

Donations in memory of Willard may be made to First United Methodist Church, 21 Buell St., Burlington VT 05401, and Age Well, 875 Roosevelt Highway Suite 210, Colchester VT.

Robert Vitali

Robert Samuel Vitali died on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, at 90. Bob is survived by the love of his life, Kathy, his wife of 67 years. He was born on June 26, 1934, in Sayre, Pa., to Raffaele and Tomassa Vitali, Italian immigrants. His parents moved to Dushore, Pa., where Bob was raised. He quickly learned the importance of solid faith, community and its people. His parents owned a bar where they served the locals and were renowned for their homemade spaghetti and meatballs on Saturday nights. Bob would help his mother run

Denise Paris Willard Smith

Robert Vitali

COMMUNITY

To cellphone or not to cellphone

Community Notes

Knights of Columbus host community breakfast

Join the Knights of Columbus DeGosbriand Council # 279 on Sunday, Oct. 13, for a community breakfast, 9-11:30 a.m., in the parish center of St. Joseph’s Cathedral, 29 Allen St., Burlington.

The feast will feature bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes, French toast and more. Coffee, juice, butter and real Vermont maple syrup are included.

The cost is $10 and $25 for a family of four. The breakfast benefits seminarians or religious aspirants for books, car insurance, maintenance, travel during vacations, clerical clothing, emergency expenditures and other living expenses.

Contact David Ely, davidely1986@gmail.com or 802-8625109, for more information.

Tropical Fish Club explores creeks of Gabon

Guest speaker Gary Elson will share his adventures in Gabon in “Creeks of Wonder, Gabon 2023” at the Thursday, Oct. 10, meeting of the Tropical Fish Club of Burlington.

The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Essex Junction VFW, 73 Pearl St.

Elson will cover mostly Microctenopoma, Cichlids, Neolebias, Lampeyes and Aphyosemions, with more information on habitats. Anton Lamboj was the group leader and a Gabonese Barb researcher who went along for the adventure.

Meetings include door prizes and an auction. Also, learn more about CatCon All-Aquarium Catfish Convention 2024 coming Nov 1-3 (tfcb.org/catcon-2024).

Learn more at tfcb.org.

Cannon 5K walk run fast approaches

Registration for the Cannon 5K Walk and Run begins at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20 at South Burlington High School in honor of George Cannon, a beloved science teacher.

The race/walk starts at 9:30 a.m.

Wear a costume, with a Super-

hero theme, or green to celebrate Cannon’s favorite superhero the Green Lantern. Dogs on leash welcome and a minimum of $5 is requested.

All money raised will be donated to the Cannon Memorial Scholarship Fund. The scholarship is awarded to a senior at the high school graduation ceremony in June.

If you cannot attend the event and would like to donate to the Cannon Fund, mail a check to: South Burlington High School, Attn: Cannon Walk/Run, 550 Dorset Street, South Burlington, VT 05403. Checks must be made out to: South Burlington Schools Foundation and include “Cannon Fund” in the memo section of the check.

‘Play Every Town’ comes to Huntington

“Like so much of our everyday life, routine jet travel is unsustainable. I want to model a performance culture that doesn’t require hopping on a plane and flying all over the world.”

So, in May 2022, composer-pianist David Feurzeig embarked on “Play Every Town,” 252 free concerts in each of Vermont’s 252 towns to confront climate change through the power of community and music.

Concert No. 67 takes place on Sunday, Oct. 13, at 4 p.m., at the Sleepy Hollow Inn, 427 Ski Lodge Drive, in Huntington.

With this project Feurzeig will become the first musician to perform in every Vermont municipality. He is traveling in his solarcharged electric vehicle throughout the state, offering free concerts to bring attention to the interrelated issues of climate and community, and to call into question the normality of long-distance touring and travel, while bringing the joy of music to his audiences.

Feurzeig, a professor of music at University of Vermont, specializes in genre-defying recitals that bring together music of a variety of musical styles, from ancient and classical to jazz, avant-garde, and popular traditions.

Donations benefit Huntington Farm Aid for Flood Relief. More at playeverytown.com.

COURTESY PHOTO

Sixth and seventh graders met with Gracie Morris and Ally Leduc, South Burlington School District student school board representatives, to discuss the new rules surrounding cellphones in schools. The middle schoolers had strong opinions and Morris and Leduc will share what they learned at an upcoming school board meeting.

continued from page 9

the bar during the day while his father worked at the coal mines.

Bob attended St. Basil High School and was a standout athlete who excelled in basketball. Following high school, Bob went to Mount St. Mary’s College, where he built many long-lasting friendships. On one trip home from college, he went to the local soda fountain shop and met his future wife and lifelong partner, Kathy.

In 1957, Bob and Kathy married, beginning the next chapter of his life, and started a family. Bob loved his country and, while at college, was accepted to the Marine Corps Officer Candidates School, where he was stationed at Quantico Marine Base and then Camp Lejeune. Following his service, he left the Marines for civilian life joining IBM.

In 1964, Bob relocated to Vermont, where he enjoyed a long career at IBM, building his new community of great family friends.

During the 70s, Bob sailed, becoming a champion captain on his sailboat, the Windquest. He won several Lake Champlain Yacht Club Billado Cups and was a top three finisher in the Ladies Cup and Commodore McDonogh races.

Bob retired from IBM in 1992 but continued to try new pursuits. His main hobby was bike riding, often with his buddy, Lawlor. This passion led to working as a summer

tour guide for Vermont Bicycle Tours. He also enjoyed playing golf. In later years, he became a staff member of the Vermont National Golf Club, where he worked for many summers.

Bob was a people person, an avid storyteller and jokester. He was quick-witted and delivered well-timed wisecracks. His subtle smile revealed his ability to both give and receive banter. He loved getting to know people and was interested in their stories, families and where they came from. He was a great judge of character, his compass in life.

Bob and Kathy had five children. Bob was very involved in his children’s activities, sports and lives. His love for basketball continued, and he coached recreation league and Catholic Youth Organization basketball teams. He also learned to love other sports in which his children participated like basketball, hockey, football, field hockey, gymnastics, dance, lacrosse and skiing. Bob, aka “Grampy,” adored his grandchildren, attending as many school and sporting events as possible. He was encouraging, curious and supportive of any interest they had, making them feel special. Bob was proud to tell stories of their adventures and accomplishments and recap the details of their lives.

During his last year, he lived at Quarry Hill Assisted

Living in South Burlington, again making new friends and frequently spending time with his buddies Ron and Gene. He loved the support staff who cared for him, and they loved him.

He spent his final days at Miller McLure Respite House, making new friends and making lasting impressions on their lives. He could not have been happier with the extraordinary care of the nurses, staff and volunteers. He was grateful for their compassion and kindness in caring for him.

Bob leaves behind his beautiful bride, Kathy; four kids, Vicki Vitali Porter (Troy), Timmy Vitali, Terry Vitali (Bridget) and Pam Vitali; 11 grandchildren, Yvette, Sam, Tyler, Jacob, Kathryn, Terrence, Riley, DJ, Evie, Christian, Cale and Lola; 11 great-grandchildren, Logan, Violet, Jillian, Gus, Bella, George, Penny, Kenny, Jack and Luke.

Bob was predeceased by his parents, Raffeale and Tomassa; sister, Lena; and son, Jeff. A mass in dedication to Bob will be held on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at 11 a.m. at The Catholic Center at the University of Vermont.

In Bob’s memory, you may send donations to The McClure Miller Respite House at 3133 Roosevelt Highway, Colchester VT 05446, or The Catholic Center at UVM, 390 S. Prospect St., Burlington VT 05401 (uvmcatholic.com).

OUTDOORS Autumn means it’s time for the dragon migration

The Outside Story

Pamela Hunt

The great annual movements of fall include monarch butterflies winging toward Mexico, whales heading to the Caribbean to give birth and multitudes of birds in the autumn skies. There’s another migration this season that often goes unnoticed by casual observers: dragonflies.

Given that dragonflies (or something closely resembling them) have been on this planet for more than 300 million years, there’s even a chance they’re the original migratory animals.

We’ll never know, of course, but it’s likely that the ancient climate in which they evolved was warmer and seasonal movements weren’t as necessary. At some point, however, migration did evolve in dragonflies, and there are now a dozen or so species known to undertake seasonal movements in North America.

These are most obvious in fall, when large numbers of dragonflies are sometimes concentrated along coasts or ridgelines. Under the right conditions, thousands may pass by a location in a single day. The most familiar migratory dragonfly in our region is the common green darner (Anax junius), but this species is often joined by other migratory dragonflies such as the wandering glider (Pantala flavescens).

The common green darner is about 3 inches long and named for its lime-green thorax. More notable is the bright blue abdomen of the males (in females this is pinkish brown). These are usually the first dragonflies to appear in the Northeast in spring (often in April) and the last to leave in fall (typi-

cally by mid-October). And like monarch butterflies, the north- and south-bound individuals are from different generations.

One of the first attempts to study the fall movements of common green darners involved

attaching tiny radio transmitters to dragonflies in New Jersey in 2005 and attempting to track their movements from a small airplane (being high in the air makes it easier to pick up the radio signals).

Researchers found that most drag-

onflies stopped to rest for a couple of days (as migrating birds do), and the maximum single day flight was just under 100 miles — not bad for an insect weighing a little over a gram.

The darners we see moving south in fall are heading to the Gulf of Mexico or beyond, where they will mate, lay eggs and die. A second generation emerges in these more southern climes in late fall and gives rise to a non-migratory cohort, which spends winter there.

It is the offspring of this sedentary group that move north in the spring, arriving in our region in April or May. This third-generation mates and lays eggs, which will hatch and become adults in the Northeast and begin their southward migration as summer wanes again. Migratory green darners may travel up to 2,000 miles.

The distances covered by another migratory species are even more impressive. The wandering glider (appropriately called the “globe skimmer” in other parts of the world) has been recorded on every continent except Antarctica,

Vermont author Angela Kunkle visits South Burlington library

On Saturday, Nov. 9, librarian and author Angela Kunkel will present her new book, “World More Beautiful,” at the South Burlington Public Library.

The picture book biography details the life and art of celebrated children’s book creator, Barbara Cooney. Cooney is the author and illustrator of “Miss Rumphius,” “Hattie and the Waves” and “Island Boy” and the illustrator for “Ox Cart Man.”

Kunkel is a local school librarian by day and a writer in the very early mornings. She is the author of “Digging for Words,” a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. It also received the Americas Award and the International Latino Book Award for best English language title. She is also the author of “Make Way,” which has received two starred reviews, and “Penguin Journey,” which Kirkus called “stunning” in a review.

The special family event will feature a painting exercise inspired by the work of Cooney.

Kunkle’s book brings Cooney’s work to life and highlights the inspirational message spoken by one of Cooney’s beloved characters, Miss Rumphius: “You must do something to make the world more beautiful.”

OUTSIDE STORY

continued from page 12

and even on isolated islands in the Pacific Ocean. Unlike the darner, this species has relatively broad wings that allow it to move more efficiently with wind, and it uses this to its advantage when migrating.

Wandering gliders are slightly smaller than common green darners, with golden bodies and red eyes. Most studies on this species’ migration have been done in Africa and Asia, so we know little about its life cycle in North America. What we do know is that individual wandering gliders may travel up to 6,000 miles in their lifetimes, with some making non-stop flights of 3,000 miles from Africa to India.

Only a handful of New England’s 120 dragonfly species migrate, while the others overwinter as nymphs. So, if you catch a glimpse of a dragonfly that seems like it’s

on a mission this fall, take a closer look. Is it a common green darner headed south to launch the next generation? A wandering glider on an epic migratory journey to South America?

Or perhaps it’s another migrant — a black saddlebag, Carolina saddlebag or twelve-spotted skimmer. Whatever the species, wish them luck as they travel south into the next stage of their lives.

Pamela Hunt is the senior biologist for avian conservation for New Hampshire Audubon. Illustration by Adelaide Murphy Tyrol. The Outside Story is assigned and edited by Northern Woodlands magazine and sponsored by the Wellborn Ecology Fund of New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, nhcf.org.

COURTESY

Angela Kunkel will give a talk on her new book, “World More Beautiful,” at the South Burlington library.

Angela Kunkle

To Vermont faith groups, ‘climate crisis is a spiritual crisis’

KATE KAMPNER

COMMUNITY NEWS SERVICE

Sam Swanson understands people can feel hopeless in preventing climate change. “You can feel the despair,” he said. “No one needs to be doing the things that need to be done.”

As a member of Vermont Interfaith Power and Light, he and colleagues are taking an approach to environmental advocacy they hope can provide a bit more hope — by looking at climate solutions through a religious and spiritual lens.

The group is a faith-based organization group that educates religious communities on the environmental movement. It provides spiritual comfort and material, like when members held an event last fall at Burlington’s Rock Point where they reflected on the recent floods through workshops and meditations for spiritual guidance. There, organization board president Ron McGarvey said, people could share in their pain — and their hope.

Faith leaders see that sense of resolve as another way to rally people to action.

“What drew me to this job is that climate change as an individual can feel overwhelming and abstract,” Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder, the organization’s coordinator, said. “This group is well equipped to look at climate change as a community.”

“Faith communities have real power,” she said. “The climate crisis is a spiritual crisis.”

The group works with close to 90 congregations and religious organizations in Vermont and funds climate change protection and education for many of them. It can help churches pay for weatherization, heat pumps and other equipment, and in 2023 the organization gave more than 200 free energy assessments statewide.

“Faith communities in Vermont are respected voices,” McGarvey said. “They do their best to enact moral responsibility.”

In 2018, the group supported the Rev. Nancy Wright, former pastor at Ascension Lutheran Church in South Burlington, and

Richard Butz, a congregant there, to co-author a pair of watershed care manuals with a religious and spiritual lens.

A grant from the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church allowed the Care for Creation Committee of the church to roll out environmental education programs, like sending children in the Sunday school to the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain or working with the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum to take boat trips.

Butz found test tubes to give to families in the church and showed them how to test water near their homes. He would then look at the water and share his findings.

“All of us working with the environmental crisis are trying to phrase it as a moral and a spiri-

tual issue,” Wright said. “We say we’re being refreshed all the time and renewed by nature and by deep spiritual practices.”

Why does Wright emphasize watershed education? “You can really see the influences of pollution, you can really talk about justice and it’s clear to people — it’s clearer than climate change,” she said.

Randy Kritkausky is the president of Ecologia, an international nonprofit based in Middlebury that provides environmental education, spaces for discussion and initiatives for businesses, organizations and grassroot groups. He is also a member of the Potawatomi tribe. One of his biggest focuses is using Indigenous spiritual teachings to change people’s mindsets about environmentalism.

“How many times does Mother Earth need to send us a message of, ‘You can’t build right next to the creek or river and not expect Mother Nature to do what Mother Nature does,’ which is, assert her right to flow freely,” Kritkausky said.

“It has driven home the message of Indigenous people that we need to look at Mother Nature as our coequal and not something that we can dominate,” he said. “It just doesn’t work.”

Kritkausky said he often holds a lecture called “After the Floods,” which looks at the Potawatomi creation story to inspire people to be more reciprocal with nature. In the story, which takes place after the Earth has been flooded, a muskrat sacrifices himself to bring a clump of dirt back to the surface

for his compatriots to rebuild the planet.

“Those who’ve come before us, other than human kin, have prepared a path, and the way we can respectfully engage is with reciprocity,” Kritkausky said, explaining that people need to act selflessly to let those other species thrive.

“We all need to listen more intimately to what the natural world is telling us about how it works, not imposing our own constructs and our own assumptions,” he said. “It’s about listening, it’s about being respectful and about being humble before nature, which is our co-equal.”

Kritkausky points to urban

PHOTO BY LIV MILLER

Ascension Lutheran Church, surrounded by trees in South Burlington, has had a focus on faith-guided environmentalism.

See CLIMATE CRISIS on page 15

SPORTS

Golfers take second in qualifier; volleyballers remain undefeated

LAUREN READ

CORRESPONDENT

Boys’ golf

The South Burlington boys golf team came in second place at the Division I qualifier at the Quechee Club to earn a spot in the state championship tournament. With a score of 315, South Burlington finished just behind first-place finisher Champlain Valley (304).

Evan Marchessault had a 74 to lead the Wolves. Jack McDougall and Teddy Maynard each had a 75 and Trey Smith finished with a 91. Cooper Guerriere led the way for the Redhawks with a 73, while Camden Ayer and Jack Bryan each had a 74 and Brendan Chevrier rounded out the scoring with 83.

Field hockey

South Burlington 8, Burlington 0: The South Burlington field hockey team rebounded from an early week loss to beat Burlington on Saturday, Oct. 5.

Elise Knoth and Jill Coucke each had one goal and two assists for the Wolves, who moved to

6-3 with the win. Sawyer Bailey, Lily O’Brien, Yeono Koh, Julia Vandernat, Grace Landerman and Lucie McCarney each added a goal.

Amber Rousseau earned the win.

Boys’ soccer

South Burlington 1, Colchester 0: A penalty kick goal was the difference for the South Burlington boys’ soccer team in a win over Colchester on Saturday.

Thierry Copeland drew a penalty with under 20 minutes remaining in the second half and then converted the penalty kick for the winning goal.

Will Goyette made the goal stand with four saves in the shutout for South Burlington, which moved to 6-3-1.

Boys’ volleyball

South Burlington 3, Mount Mansfield 0: The South Burlington boys’ volleyball ran its unbeaten streak to nine with a win on Friday.

The Wolves beat Mount Mansfield in straight sets to move to 9-0 this season.

CLIMATE CRISIS

continued from page 14

wilderness interfaces, a term used by the government and scientists to describe where land populated by humans and unoccupied wilderness meet.

People in those zones tend to see wildfire burnings or crossovers from bears into their backyard.

Kritkausky said that as humans are negotiating with the natural world, the natural world is reoccupying it back.

Spirit in Nature, an interfaith sanctuary in Ripton, offers an array of paths to do just that by connecting nature with religion.

“They were here before we were, and they finally figured out how to cohabit that space,” he said. “We have not, as humans, and that is what Indigenous people have learned and lived with for millennia.”

“We have just for so long felt that we dominate everything that when we’re reminded that we don’t, it’s a shock,” he said.

Some Vermonters may want to get politically active or go to lectures to engage with the environment, but others might just want to go outside. Spirit in Nature, an interfaith sanctuary in Ripton, offers an array of paths to do just that by connecting nature with religion.

President Rob Slabaugh said Spirit in Nature looks at Christian, Quaker, Jewish, Indigenous and other spiritual beliefs and asks what they say about nature.

The group of volunteers takes quotes from religious texts, prints them on plywood boards and mounts those onto trees scattered across the paths. But the signs merely serve to guide, Slabaugh said, because it’s nature that does

Girls’ volleyball

Essex 3, South Burlington 0: The girls dropped their eighth game of the season, losing to Essex on Saturday in straight sets.

The Wolves dropped the first set 25-16, the second 25-12 and then the third 25-13 to lose the match.

South Burlington fell to 1-8.

Football

South Burlington-Burlington 31, Colchester 13: The South Burlington-Burlington co-op football team won its third in a row, beating Colchester 31-13 on Friday, Oct. 4. Ahmed Diawara had three rushing TDs for the SeaWolves, who moved to 5-1 with the win. Anthony Bouffard also had a rushing touchdown and August Frazier scored a 30-yard field goal.

Girls’ soccer

Colchester 1, South Burlington 0: Colchester scored in the second half and South Burlington could not find an equalizer in a loss on Thursday, Oct. 3. With the loss, the Wolves fell to 2-6-1.

FALL FOLIAGE PHOTO CONTEST

Submit your best Vermont fall foliage shots by midnight on Wednesday, Oct. 30.

the teaching.

“Humans are a part of nature. We need to start acting like that,” Slabaugh said. “(The path) touches people, reminds people that we are a part of nature. We feel that by touching people like that, we’re motivating in a way that people will be more tuned into what we need to do as humans.”

He’s felt that since the pandemic, more people have used the paths. They come out for events in the forested area, too, such as forest bathing — a type of therapy or meditation — yoga and poetry walks.

“It’s clear that public awareness has increased over time,” Slabaugh said of climate change and the movement to combat it. “I think Spirit in Nature has helped with being a supportive connection.”

This story was made possible through the Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship.

Winning photos will be published in a November issue of the Stowe Reporter and online at StoweToday.com. Submit images to foliage@stowereporter.com

Limit of three original 2024 foliage images per person. Visit StoweToday.com for full contest details.

Headlines and news sent directly to your inbox every Friday at 10 a.m.

2023 WINNER

Photo by Lee Krohn

continued from page 1

just small businesses in general,” he said. “One of the big catalysts that pushed me to run was the statewide property tax increase.”

Rohan St. Marthe, R-Jericho, also did not participate in the Republican Party primary election in August but was nominated as a General Election candidate by the Chittenden County Republican Committee. He ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 2022.

St. Marthe did not respond to emails.

Together, incumbents Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Shelburne, Sen. Thomas Chittenden, D-South Burlington, and Sen. Virginia Lyons, D-Williston, have served in the Statehouse for about 40 years combined. Lyons, chair of the House Committee on Health and Welfare, has served in Legislature for 12 terms. An experienced Senate is something she says will be important in the coming biennium.

House and two in the Senate.

Chittenden, a member of the Senate Committee on Finance, has served two terms in the Senate after three terms on the South Burlington City Council.

Education

The property tax increases came after a change in the state’s education funding mechanism that sought to better equalize education, but also created steep tax hikes for some towns across Chittenden County.

One answer to rising taxes, some candidates say, would be to combine schools and districts.

“I think that we really need to look at the writing on the wall with the education situation,” Craven said. “We’re going to need to combine some schools. We are so administrative heavy on the school districts. If you compare us with states like New York we’ve got so many superintendents. I

local taxpayers more control, a direct relationship between spending and the local homestead tax rate.”

Housing

But legislators and candidates also recognize that the lack of housing plays a key role in property tax increases. For Hinsdale, increasing the grand list is one of the greatest levers the state can use to balance these increases.

“My proposal would be to go ahead and give local taxpayers more control, a direct relationship between spending and the local homestead tax rate.”

— Bruce Roy

or if we should pair back some of our initiatives,” he said.

For Roy, it’s simple: Bring control back to taxpayers.

“Local taxpayers in the district don’t have complete control of the tax rate that’s not directly associated to the school budgets they’re voting on,” he said. “My proposal would be to go ahead and give

“It’s a perfect storm where you have a really high value for your home because it’s a scarce commodity, and that drives up your individual property taxes, but you’re not sharing that among enough properties overall because we are losing housing stock,” she said. Recent legislation like Act 47, introduced by Hinsdale’s committee, mandates that municipalities allow certain density requirements if the area is served by water and sewer infrastructure. In addition to making denser development more feasible, she said the legislation was designed

Ginny Lyons

Kesha Ram Hinsdale

Thomas Chittenden

Bruce Roy Taylor Craven

Rohan St. Marthe

continued from page 16

to “take some of the heat off of local decision makers and let them point the finger at the state.”

But the Legislature this year will need to look at sustainable revenue sources for affordable housing and ways to reduce any discrimination against clustered manufactured housing, she said.

Another main problem, Hinsdale said, is the state’s prevalence of second homeowners.

“They should probably be paying more for that property as a luxury than residents are paying for their primary residence,” she said. “We don’t want to be unwelcoming to people, but if you can afford a second home, you can oftentimes afford to pay more than someone’s paying on their primary residence.”

With experience as an engineer, Craven said part of the solution would be to streamline and simplify development processes, noting that he supported recent housing legislation introduced by Hinsdale’s committee. Housing opportunities will bring more revenue to the state, which has relied largely on tourism revenues, he said.

which introduced the bill — to offer a different perspective.

“How in the heck can you, as a committee, in reviewing testimonies and asking questions, how can you do that reasonably if you don’t have a contrary voice sitting on the committee?” he questioned.

The act, he said, is a “sledgehammer to the side of the head” for Vermonters who are already drowning in taxes, especially since the state produces some of the lowest carbon emissions in the country.

“Why would we put that on the back of Vermonters to the tune of maybe $3 to $4 in increase in fuel heat per gallon with propane or oil?” he said. “I believe in Vermonters, they always do the right thing, especially when it comes to the environment.”

“We may not be able to quantify the unknown of the costs we’re saving people from a volatile fossil fuel industry.”

— Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale

“I’m not saying that you would necessarily loosen every regulation across the board,” he said. “But it’s risky to invest in Vermont. From a personal standpoint, there’s really no good argument why you couldn’t put something up to a four-unit building nearly anywhere in the state if you have the wastewater capacity.”

For Roy, he noted the state’s aging population and diminishing taxpayer base adds to the problem.

“As Gov. Scott says, we don’t need more taxes. We need more taxpayers, and we’re losing that,” he said. “We’re just eroding the tax base. I’m hearing some really heart-wrenching stories from people who feel they have to leave or sell their homes. People are angry, but they’re also scared.”

The housing problems in the state, Lyons added, stretches into a lot of other areas of concern for the state. While increasing housing is important, it’s equally as important to ensure homes are not being built in vulnerable areas, especially since the state experienced two catastrophic flooding events in two years.

“Housing is an overarching issue,” she said.

Heating up

Another contentious issue is the Affordable Heat Act, which Republican candidates have been saying could lead to an even greater increase in heating fuel costs and exacerbate already complex taxing problems.

The law, meant to lead Vermonters away from using fossil fuels to heat their homes and businesses, leaves too many uncertainties, its critics say.

For Roy, he said the problem from the start was a lack of balance without any Republicans sitting on the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy —

Chittenden, who voted for the bill initially, said that while climate change is an existential crisis for the human species, he can also simultaneously recognize the limit of influence the state has overall.

He said he voted for the bill under an important provision called the ‘checkback,” which required the bill to come back to the Legislature in January 2025 with more information about what this program might cost Vermonters.

“With this checkback, we effectively came to this state where now we know, and we all agree, what the cost estimates are after spending a quarter of a million dollars on a comprehensive consulting study and those cost estimates are what I would argue as infeasible,” he said. “The complexity of standing up this solution, but also by many estimates, cost $40 million a year just for the administration of it.”

He said he now does not support the implementation of the Affordable Heat Act as contemplated in the bill passed 18 months ago.

“Vermont cannot bankrupt our rural citizens with this market-based scheme to incentivize weatherization and electrification,” he wrote online. “That bankruptcy will either drive people to move to states that don’t have this heating cost fee, or it means they may freeze to death when they try saving money by not turning on the furnace in February.”

Hinsdale, who previously taught environmental justice policy and structural inequality at the Vermont Law and Graduate School, defended her position on the affordable heat act and pointed to a volatile fossil fuel industry that creates its own uncertainties.

“When we were debating the affordable heat standard, Vermonters had lost millions of dollars to the increased cost of fuel given global conflicts,” she said. “As we try and use our resources in the state and create jobs in the state to harness more of our own energy power and remove ourselves from fossil fuel dependency, we may not be able to quantify the unknown of the costs we’re saving people from a volatile fossil fuel industry.”

Last year, Vermonters threw away 71,113 tons of food scraps which ended up in our only landfill.

Equal to 242 pounds of food scraps per person per year.

CSWD’s Organic Recycling Facility (ORF) and our six Drop-Off Centers accept food scraps from residents and businesses to keep them out of Vermont’s only landfill.

Death café in Charlotte helps people embrace living

LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

“In death!” Polly Price cheerfully signs her email.

For most people, death can conjure a slew of difficult emotions, from grief to fear to uncertainty and panic. But for Price, a Shelburne resident and certified death doula, she holds more of a friendly reverence and curiosity for what’s beyond the final curtain.

Now, she’s encouraging people to explore the sometimes-taboo topic, too.

“I’ve always been interested in death,” she said. “That sounds like a morbid thing.”

She was a practical nurse in Ohio working the overnight shift when she experienced death for the first time.

“A lot of my coworkers didn’t want anything to do with it,” she said. “For whatever reason they just didn’t want to deal with death, so I was always the one who went in and prepared the body and talked to the family.”

Little did she know that several years later that scene would set the stage for a whole new path. She had never heard about death doulas before a few years ago, but when a friend recommended that she take a course on the topic at the University of Vermont, she hopped on the idea.

The work is just as it sounds. Like a doula to a mother just giving birth, the process is separate from medical care but instead focuses on making those final moments as comfortable as possible. The last moments are sacred, she said, and the process varies from person to person. Sometimes it’s a conversa-

tion, and other times it is sitting in silence as the person plays through a musical playlist that mirrors important moments in their lives.

While Price doesn’t consider herself an expert in the business of dying — things like writing a will or funeral preplanning — she does have expertise in helping people and families go through it.

As she began to think about how to bring this help to more people, she heard about death cafes.

The movement began in London in 2011 with a simple premise: Eat cake, drink tea and discuss mortality with the hope of

encouraging people to make the most of their finite lives.

Founder Jon Underwood adapted the idea from the “café mortel” movement that emerged in Switzerland by sociologist Bernard Crettaz. Since that time, more that 19,000 death cafes have sprung up in more than 92 countries.

Now, thanks to Price, there is one happening on the fourth Wednesday of every month at the Charlotte Senior Center, where she also serves as a member of the board.

Holding firm to the foundations of the movement, it’s likely that Price will have both cake and tea.

The meeting is far from a grief support circle, but more a casual roundtable-style discussion for people to bounce around ideas about some of life’s greatest unknowns: What is on the other side? Is it painful? Why are we so afraid of it?

For Mary Donnelly, a friend of Price and frequent volunteer at the Charlotte Senior Center who joined for an afternoon discussion that turned into a two-hour meeting about death, she has found that talking openly about the topic frees her to live more, if not better.

Death, she said, is begging

all of us to question: How are we living?

“I think that talking about your fears around it, or what you perceive about it, kind of frees you to enjoy life a little bit,” she said. “Because I remember going into the death cafe, I really did not want to. I was very fearful.”

Price quietly asked, “Well, what sent you to the death cafe in the first place?”

Donnelly replied, “To see if I could work through that.”

Through going to neighboring death cafes, Donnelly has learned to appreciate the sacredness of it all.

“How we can start to really express to those people that we love the most about how much we really care for them, or get more involved with them,” she said.

Price explained that society has become more embracing of the topic of death. She noted movements like medical aid in dying — which provides eligible patients with terminal diseases the option to be prescribed a dose of medication that, if taken, will hasten the end of their life — and natural and green burials.

“Society is now allowing you to be able to talk about death more,” she said. “It’s now offering all these different things and options for death.”

Funerals, she said, have often been replaced with celebrations of life, which brings people together to remember what death has been teaching us all along: Life is short, so celebrate it.

“I want to have my celebration of life soon,” she said, letting out a laugh. “I don’t want to be dead, but everyone just come and let’s have a party.”

PHOTO BY LIBERTY DARR

Polly Price and Mary Donnelly

Firefighters reach milestones

Left to right, Jeffrey Spencer, Brian Bast and Will Boyea were part of the South Burlington Fire Department’s “Safer Six” in 2008 when city voters approved accepting a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant, which created six new positions and brought minimum staffing to eight people on duty at all times. “Sixteen years later, three of the six firefighters hired that day remain and continue to serve the city day in and day out during one of our busiest years ever,” according to the department’s Facebook page.

Top row:

Above: Firefighter/AEMT Brent Sargent, firefighter/EMT Alfred Laurent and firefighter/AEMT Gregory Swain celebrated their two-year anniversaries with the South Burlington Fire Department in September.

Right: Firefighter and paramedic Leo Wermer successfully met and surpassed benchmarks to be promoted to senior firefighter.

COURTESY PHOTOS

SOUTH BURLINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT

INVITATION TO BID SNOW PLOWING/SALTING 2024-2025

TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT

GERTRUDE CHAMBERLIN SCHOOL

RICK MARCOTTE CENTRAL SCHOOL

The Board of School Directors of the South Burlington School District, So. Burlington, Vermont, invites sealed bids for:

Snow Plowing/Salting Services for the 2024-2025 school year beginning October 18, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025, in accordance with specifications.

Bids will be accepted (signed and via email) on or before Friday, October 11, 2024, at noon. Please email bids to Jean-Marie Clark at jclark@sbschools.net. Go to sbschools.net/page/purchasing-and-bids for bid documents.

If you have any questions, please contact Jean-Marie Clark at 802-652-7056. For a site visit, please contact Bart Miceli, Director of Facilities, at 802-338-8698.

FINANCE AND TAXATION OFFICER

JOIN OUR TEAM: The City of South Burlington is seeking a dedicated and detail-oriented Finance and Taxation Officer to join our dynamic team. If you’re passionate about public service and have a talent for finance and numbers, this is the perfect opportunity for you to make a meaningful impact in our vibrant community!

WHAT YOU WILL DO: You will play a crucial role in ensuring compliance with taxation regulations, assisting with managing the City’s financial operations, and contributing to our community’s economic health. Your responsibilities will include overseeing tax assessments, property valuation, collections, and compliance activities and collaborating with the Finance Director to manage the City’s financial operations including developing budgets and forecasts.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance, accounting or a related field, plus 5 years relevant work experience in property assessment, or tax collection, accounts payable/receivables, and reporting, required; equivalency considered. Municipal government accounting experience preferred.

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APPLY NOW: Review of on-line applications will begin November 4, 2024. To apply, learn more about the position and see a complete job description, please visit: governmentjobs.com/careers/ southburlington. The City of South Burlington is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

continued from page 1

ately surround the airport that are affected by takeoff and landing noise from the F-35.”

Barritt voiced his respect for the work and the commitment of the Air National Guard, but said the noise is simply incompatible with the area.

“It’s just an incompatible use. Period,” he said, noting the nearly 200 homes in the Chamberlin neighborhood of South Burlington that have been lost due to the noise impacts. “I think most people who have stood in the wake of the F-35s taking off, will agree that that noise is very, very, very high. I think that if there is this coalition of cities that make this request, the delegation might actually listen and see what they can do.”

and, in 2016, even joined a federal lawsuit against the secretary of the Air Force regarding the decision to base the fighter jet at the Burlington International Airport.

A resolution passed two years later resolved that South Burlington would stand in solidarity with Burlington and Winooski requesting that the U.S. Air Force cancel the F-35s at the airport and instead find an alternative aircraft.

“I think most people who have stood in the wake of the F-35s taking off, will agree that that noise is very, very, very high.”

— Tim Barritt

Councilors Laurie Smith and Andrew Chalnick brought the resolution forward to the South Burlington City Council, following on the heels of neighboring cities Burlington and Winooski that passed similar statements in August and September.

“We have thousands of citizens in these three cities dramatically impacted by intolerable noise,” Smith said, noting that sound mitigation efforts by the airport will only go so far. “It’s important to acknowledge that we have citizens who are being harmed every day.”

This is not the first time the city council has considered a written resolution about the fighter jet,

Barritt, who was also a council member then, signed that resolution. Meaghan Emery, vice chair of the council at that time, also signed.

“I know that three of you were going door to door this past winter to be elected,” Emery told the city council Monday night.

“I myself have done so for years, and I have been met with people at their doors in tears, not able to live in peace anymore since the basing of the F-35.”

Scanlan urged the council to bring the question to voters on Town Meeting Day, voting against the resolution.

“Our senators have emphasized focusing on noise mitigation efforts, which Sen. Peter Welch underscored just last year, as does our recently adopted 2024 city plan. Advocating for increased federal funds to accelerate the mitigation effort is where I believe we can have the most impact,” he said.

Fitzgerald similarly argued that this resolution poses no

SOUTH BURLINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT

INVITATION TO BID RUBBISH AND RECYCLING SERVICES

The Board of School Directors of the South Burlington School District, So. Burlington, Vermont, invites sealed bids for the supply of:

Rubbish Removal and Recycling Services for the period October 18, 2024, through October 17, 2025, in accordance with specifications.

Bids will be accepted (signed and via email) on or before Friday, October 11, 2024, at noon. Please email bids to Jean-Marie Clark at jclark@sbschools.net Go to sbschools.net/page/purchasing-and-bids for bid documents.

If you have any questions regarding the bid, please contact Jean-Marie Clark at 802652-7056.

For a site visit or specific rubbish/recycling questions, please contact Bart Miceli, Director of Facilities, at 802-338-8698.

new information to members of the congressional delegation — Welch, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Becca Balint — who have been well-publicized as supporting the F-35 mission.

“The notion that a council resolution from South Burlington will turn the tide is unfounded,” she said, but noting that she does think that the quality of life for residents would be enhanced without the noise. “I find it difficult to support a resolution with no teeth in it and one which takes a position by a council that has not prioritized or planned for the consequences of urging our delegation to urge the Air Force to consider a different aviation mission for the Air Guard.”

She pointed out that a move to adopt the resolution would be disingenuous to the entire South Burlington community since the council has no prioritizations in its current city or strategic plans to do anything beyond the resolution.

Emery told the council Monday night that she was disappointed in the two councilors who were voicing opposition to the resolution, explaining that the job of a councilor is to represent the constituents of South Burlington, not the Air Force or Washington delegation.

“I thank the three of you for taking the leadership,” she said. “I’m disappointed at two of you who are speaking for Congress — not having spoken to our congressmen and woman — or for speaking for the Air Force. That conversation is not for us. Our conversation is for the people living here in South Burlington. Whether or not it is a priority, it is a time to act.”

FOR SALE

BATH VANITY : Includes marble sink and new faucet. 37in. x 22in. x 30in. $99. Call or text (540)226-4478.

WINTER TIRES: Winter is coming. Need winter tires? 4 Michelin snow tires (225/65 R17) in good condition. $280 cash. Call 802-862-5961 or email johnvarr@gmail.com. FREE

ELIPTICAL: Vision Fitness X-20. Barely used. Bought at Earl’s Cyclery & Fitness about 10 years ago. If you can get it out of our basement, it is yours. Please call Donna at 578-0417.

come Join us.

The Linden Nursing Home is hosting an Open House for LNAs, Nurses, and individuals interested in becoming licensed nursing assistants. Wake Robin wants to support you in your career growth working with older adults to include scholarships and loan forgiveness programs as well as great beneﬁts, a pristine working environment, work/life balance, and an opportunity to build strong relationships with staff and residents in a dynamic community setting.

LNA / Nurse / LNA Trainee Open House Tuesday, October 15 - 7:30am - 9:00am and 1:00pm - 4:00pm Wake Robin Drive, Shelburne, Vermont / wakerobin.com

For more information, give us a call at 802.861.1872

PUBLIC MEETINGS

PATRICK LEAHY BURLINGTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2024, 6:30-8:00 P.M. CHAMBERLIN SCHOOL, SOUTH BURLINGTON

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2024, 6:30-8:30 P.M. WINOOSKI HIGH SCHOOL

Notice is hereby given that Public Meetings will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at 6:30-8:00 p.m. (South Burlington Public Meeting) at Chamberlin School, and Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, at 6:30-8:30 p.m. (Winooski Public Meeting) at the Winooski High School.

These meetings will provide an overview of the DRAFT NOISE EXPOSURE MAP REPORT that has been prepared on behalf of Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport. The meetings will be workshop style with various stations for individuals to review the information and ask questions. There will be no formal presentation. Comment sheets will be available for the public to leave their comments.

The draft report can be found on the Airport’s noise program website: btvsound.com. Physical copies of the draft report are also available for review at the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport administrative offices located at 1200 Airport Rd, South Burlington, VT, Suite 1.

Public comments can be submitted at the meetings or via email to btvsound@jonespayne.com

The public comment period will close Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Additional comments and questions regarding the noise program can be submitted at any time.