Words, images
New practice
For country
Some local poets add voice to a collection of paintings. See how they did it in Arts + Leisure.
Dr. Laura Weylman and Nurse Practitioner Ania Mortier have joined forces. See Page 13A.
A Vergennes native ended up pitching for his father’s homeland — Ireland. See Sports, Page 1B.
ADDISON COUNTY
Vol. 73 No. 13
INDEPENDENT Middlebury, Vermont
County Methodists advocating for more inclusivity in church
Gender identity at heart of disagreement By JOHN FLOWERS lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, MIDDLEBURY — Many queer or questioning, intersex, or Addison County followers of asexual — LGBTQIA. the United Methodist Church are Addison County and Brandon praying for their denomination’s are home to nine Methodist Judicial Council to congregations. reject provisions of The One Church a recently adopted “I don’t see our Plan, according to “Traditional Plan” church going retired UMC Rev. for the worldwide backwards and George Klohck, organization. The our conference would have removed new plan maintains on samegoing backwards. prohibitions the church’s ban sex marriages and on the ordination We ordain all ordination of “selfand marriage of people who avowed practicing Methodists whose are qualified, homosexuals.” It sexual orientation regardless of would also have and/or gender their sexual allowed each local identity is outside pastor, church and the traditional orientation, and annual conference heterosexual male/ we place gay to “follow their own pastors and female model. way” in such matters, The modified welcome gay said Klohck, a current Traditional Plan was parishioners with Middlebury UMC one of three options parishioner. no prejudice. the denomination’s Meanwhile, — Rev. Kim Commission on a the Connectional Hornung-Marcy Way Forward put to Conference Plan a vote by delegates would have led at the UMC General Conference to a restructuring of the UMC, held in St. Louis on Feb. 23-26. ultimately leading to three The commission floated two other jurisdictions — Progressive, options — a “One Church Plan” Tradition and Unity. and a “Connectional Conference While a clear majority of UMC Plan” — in an effort to resolve constituents from the U.S. were a longstanding UMC stalemate advocating for a lifting of the on the issue of full inclusion of church’s longstanding LGBTQ members who fit the categories of (See Methodist churches, Page 12A)
Thursday, March 28, 2019 40 Pages
$1.00
Activists gear up for climate walk Event kicks off in Midd.
By CHRISTOPHER ROSS MIDDLEBURY — On April 5, climate activists from around the state — and from elsewhere — will gather on the Middlebury green to kick off “Next Steps,” a five-day, 53-mile climate solutions walk organized by 350Vermont.
Billed as a “sacred walk for climate justice,” 350Vermont literature says Next Steps will “celebrate the solutions to the climate crisis already under way, while also grieving the (natural gas) pipeline, ecosystem destruction and the ever-growing, multi-faceted injustices of ‘industrial growth society.’” It makes sense to begin such a walk in Middlebury, where Middlebury College created
the nation’s first undergraduate environmental studies program, and where activist/author Bill McKibben’s collaboration with college students nearly 15 years ago eventually led to the formation of 350.org (separate from 350Vermont). But these are not the reasons Next Steps organizers chose the town to begin their odyssey. (See Climate walk, Page 11A)
Friendlier setting offered to divorced parents seeing kids By NICOLE POLLACK MIDDLEBURY — Imagine this scene: a family is entering divorce proceedings with a husband and wife who aren’t able to work out a collaborative transition, often resulting in a restraining order being placed on one of the parents. That restraining order, once lifted, then limits the affected parent to visiting hours with his or her children only during work hours, Monday-Friday, at the Addison County Courthouse. For parents who can’t take time off during the workweek, that’s a problem. And even if they can make those hours, the sterile courthouse rooms or hallways offer a poor substitute for a home-like environment.
Irene Poole, an assistant family court judge in Addison County for the past four years, resolved to change that dynamic and recently opened Vermont Families in Transition, or VFiT, a safe meeting place for families in conflict. Located adjacent to the Addison County Sheriff’s Department at 39 Court St. in Middlebury, VFiT services include supervised visitation, monitored exchanges, parenting classes and family mediation at affordable prices and during hours accessible to working parents. With its pale blue walls, armchairs and area rugs, the building is meant to feel more homey than institutional, to help children feel safe and relaxed (See VFiT, Page 12A)
TRENT ROLEAU, LEFT in hat, leans over his maple sap evaporator at the Gateway Farm sugarhouse in Bristol Sunday as another Gateway worker feeds wood to the fire to keep the sap boiling. Gateway welcomed many visitors during Vermont Maple Open House Weekend to see how real maple syrup is made.
Independent photo/Steve James
Snow slows sugaring season
Maple producers play catch-up but remain hopeful By CHRISTOPHER ROSS ADDISON COUNTY — Once the 2019 sugaring season is finished, Vermont will likely remain the nation’s leading maple syrup producer, but this year’s title won’t have come as easily as it did last year. Persistent cold temperatures have
delayed the initial sap run this year. Some sugarmakers in Addison County have made up for time, but others are growing a tad anxious. “It’s been too cold, with too much snow,” said Don Gale of Twin Maple Sugarworks in Lincoln, which taps roughly 5,200 trees. “There’s 30 inches of snow in the
sugarbush right now.” By this time last year, Twin Maple’s taps had already produced a significant one-day sap run — 9,200 gallons, on Feb. 28. But this year Gale has had no such luck. “The biggest day we’ve had was about 3,000 gallons,” he said. “We’re far behind.”
Gale has also seen an uptick in critter activity. “I’ve never had so much damage from squirrels as I’ve had this year,” he said. “Squirrels are everywhere.” The season has also gotten off to a slow start in Starksboro. “The way winter seems to be (See Sugaring, Page 14A)
THT to repair former ‘Diner’ By the for new uses way
Jukebox musical
EDEN GINSBURG, LEFT, Emily Tardie and Elizabeth Siminitus vamp through a number in a Monday rehearsal of Mount Abraham Union High School’s spring musical, “Mamma Mia!” The show features hit songs by the ’70s super group Abba. See more photos on Page 2A. Photo courtesy of Buzz Kuhns
By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — The former Diner restaurant at 66 Merchants Row in Middlebury is being sized up for repairs and will be available for short-term rental and/or Town Hall Theater functions as soon as this summer. Mark Bradley, executive director of THT, shared the news during a tour of the former eatery space, perhaps best known during its lengthy run as Steve’s Park Diner. Town Hall Theater officials announced the purchase of the property, for $300,000, last April. It was a strategic buy for THT, in that the former Diner is adjacent to the picturesque theater building at 68 S. Pleasant St. and thus provides the organization with future expansion options and storage space. Bradley said the long-term concept for the property is for The Diner building to be razed to make way for a proper THT addition. But short-term (See THT, Page 11A)
The Patricia A. Hannaford Career Center’s Mechanical Class needs lawn mowers for students to service and make minor repairs to. The students will be asked to sharpen/balance mower blades, change oil, service air cleaners and perform other preventative maintenance. Teacher Cheryl (See By the way, Page 6A)
Index Obituaries................................. 6A Classifieds.......................... 6B-7B Service Directory............... 4B-5B Entertainment.........Arts + Leisure Community Calendar......... 8A-9A Arts Calendar.........Arts + Leisure Sports................................. 1B-3B