Pro gra ms , Ath
leti cs and Spe
cia l Eve nts
for Adu lts,
You th and Fam
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me201r8 Sum May - August uide Activity G
RY BUon DLReEcre ati MID Parks & connect
Activity guide
Paint pours
Eagles fly
Learn about programs, athletics and special events in our Parks & Rec Summer Activity Guide.
Shoreham artist Lisa Balfour adds a special ingredient in creating her paintings. See Arts + Leisure.
Tiger softball knew it was facing the defending state champs in Bristol. See the result, Page 1B.
grow • move •
townofmiddle
bury.org
Vol. 72 No. 17
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT Middlebury, Vermont
Thursday, April 26, 2018 70 Pages
$1.00
Scott, lawmakers tussle over toxics
Governor’s veto faces stiff challenge
By JOHN FLOWERS NEW HAVEN — Local lawmakers are entering the home stretch of the 2018 legislative session, a period marked by frantic negotiations to salvage bills that will otherwise lie dormant until next January, or risk dying altogether. Sen. Chris Bray, D-New Haven, on Monday estimated the Legislature has around three weeks to complete this year’s work, barring a special session later this year to consider overrides of legislation that already has — or will be — vetoed by Gov. Phil Scott. An override effort is already under way on Scott’s April 16 veto of bill S.103, a measure that would, among other things, give the state greater power in regulating
products containing harmful chemicals — specifically ones particularly hazardous to children ages 12 years and younger. The bill is, in part, a response to pollution of groundwater in southwestern Vermont by the industrial chemical PFOA. “I vetoed S.103, in part, because of the changes the bill makes to Vermont’s already high standards around chemicals of high concern in children’s products,” he said in a veto statement. “These changes, in my opinion, have no practical impact to how my administration regulates these chemicals.” Scott added he believes S.103 “creates duplicative committees that (See Toxic bill, Page 11A)
Clean water bill would give citizens role in enforcement
Signs of spring!
TWO FRIENDS TAKE a break near the Otter Creek falls in downtown Middlebury on Monday, one of the first warm and sunny days of a spring that has been long in coming. Temperatures reached into the high 50s on Monday and peaked in the high 60s on Tuesday, bringing a belated end to sugaring season in some parts of Vermont that had extended well into mid-April.
By JOHN FLOWERS NEW HAVEN — Dairy farms came into the spotlight at Monday’s legislative breakfast at the New Haven Congregational Church when local lawmakers discussed a clean water bill that would give citizens the right to challenge Vermonters who they think aren’t complying with the law. One farmer at the breakfast expressed concerns that putting this right to challenge in the clean water law could create friction
between dairies dealing with manure management and non-farmers who think the dairies aren’t doing enough to keep phosphorus out of Vermont’s waterways. S.260 is a bill that would establish a Vermont Clean Water Authority to coordinate, manage, plan and “ensure accountability” of the state’s efforts to clean impaired waters up to state standards for the long-term. The bill would also create a “clean water assessment” on all parcels in (See Breakfast, Page 11A)
Independent photo/Angelo Lynn
Photos conjure local history By the way Attention, four-legged friends and their humans: The Middlebury Dog Park, a wonderful amenity off Collins Drive, is currently closed for at least two weeks as volunteers perform some maintenance chores, including some re-seeding of the grounds. Mud season has hit the fenced-in park with a vengeance. Stay tuned for a reopening date. Funding is now available through the Walter Cerf Community Fund (WCCF), which has contributed millions of dollars to statewide and local charitable causes during the past few decades. The late Walter Cerf, a former Addison County resident and native of Germany, gave more than $10 million to various non-profit organizations and projects statewide before passing away in 2001. He focused much of his giving in Addison County and Brandon. His giving continues through the fund that bears his name, which is run through the Middlebury-based Vermont Community Foundation. Roughly two-thirds of the grants are reserved for Addison County/ Brandon projects and roughly one-third is reserved for statewide (See By the way, Page 7A)
Sheldon exhibit displays 100 years of people and places By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — The Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History has for years proudly shown visitors various objects Addison County’s earlier residents prized for work and play, as a way of better understanding what life was like in this area during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Museum officials are now giving visitors a glimpse of what some of those earlier residents looked like, through a new exhibit titled, “Our Town: Love, Joy, Sadness, and Baseball — 100 Years of Photography from the Sheldon Museum.” The show, on display through July 8, borrows from the museum’s archive of almost 30,000 photos that have been restlessly reposing in the organization’s
climate-controlled archive. Who knows how long these timeless faces and familiar places would have remained hidden were it not for the combined efforts of Sheldon Archivist Eva GarcelonHart and renowned National Geographic Society photographer James P. Blair. With his keen eye for photography and respect for history, Blair sought out antique images of his newly adopted town upon moving to Middlebury a few years ago. His quest naturally led him to the Sheldon Museum, a rich repository of Addison County artifacts ranging from maps to quilts to penny-farthing bicycles. Garcelon-Hart introduced Blair to the museum’s (See Sheldon, Page 12A)
JUST MINUTES BEFORE the curtain went up on the 2014 Mount Abe production of “Seussical,” Martha Chesley, left, and Anne Gleason hug their co-producer Andi Gordon, to whom the show was dedicated. The three women directed the Mount Abe Fall Musical for a quarter century, but recently retired from the program. Photo by buzzkuhnsphotography.smugmug.com
Mt. Abe musical trio enjoys a final bow
Index Obituaries........................... 6A-7A Classifieds.......................... 4B-8B Service Directory............... 6B-7B Entertainment.........Arts + Leisure Community Calendar......... 8A-9A Arts Calendar.........Arts + Leisure Sports................................. 1B-2B
“THE TWO REVERENDS,” a photo taken in 1845, shows Addison County preachers Abiel Hovey and Thomas Merrill. It is one of the oldest images in the new Sheldon Museum exhibit that features local photos depicting life here over 100 years.
By CHRISTOPHER ROSS those students knew that rooting BRISTOL — Hundreds of for them were three dedicated, 5-Town residents will never and by then legendary, women: forget it. Anne Gleason, Martha Chesley In the fall of 2011, and Andi Gordon, nearly 100 students “That directors of the Mount in bright yellow they have Abe Fall Musical raincoats electrified maintained program. the theater at Mount The trio’s recent Abraham Union High the energy retirement from that School. Covered for decades program marks the from one end to the is really end of an era. other, the unusually amazing.” “We in the 5-town wide stage seemed to — Caleb Elder area are incredibly push the students up fortunate to have through the floor, like flowers. our children grow up with the They were “Singin’ in the unquestioned assumption that Rain,” of course. theater is a part of their lives, Whether they were 12th- accessible to anyone who cares graders belting out the lyrics to participate,” wrote Buzz or seventh-graders still finding Kuhns in “Thespians Three,” a (See Mt. Abe, Page 10A) their voices, every single one of