Monday, May 20, 2019

Page 1

MONDAY EDITION

ADDISON COUNTY

INDEPENDENT Vol. 31 No. 1

Middlebury, Vermont

Monday, May 20, 2019

• An exhibit of images from around the world transport viewers to far-off lands. See Arts Beat on Pages 10-11.

Service set for Tilly Boulanger

Addison’s salt shed advances

• The plan for a $175,000 building in town got a key approval last week. See story on Page 2.

32 Pages

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VUHS seniors give something back to their communities

Photos put you there

• The family of a young Weybridge accident victim will celebrate her life on June 1. See Page 3.

NEW ENGLAND DONOR Services representative Jennifer Cray, left, came to the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op this past Wednesday to present the business an award for how it treated employee Grace Sauerwald leading up to and after her kidney transplant. Also pictured, from left, are MNFC Human Resources Manager Laura King, Sauerwald, and MNFC General Manager Glenn Lower.

Photo courtesy of Emily Landenberger

Co-op lauded for going extra mile MNFC earns award for helping employee through health crisis By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — Grace Sauerwald’s two children are grown and have long since left the house. It’s just her and her husband, Lee. Or is it? Sauerwald feels like she’s part

of a 100-person family, and their home is the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op (MNFC). Though not bound by blood, it’s a family that works together and looks out for its own, carrying Sauerwald through an epic health scare that fortunately ended with her getting

a life saving new kidney earlier this year. It’s a wonderful story, one that culminated on May 15 with MNFC officials being given a regional award for going above and beyond the call of duty to (See MNFC, Page 16)

By MARIN HOWELL VERGENNES — Early on a recent morning, Vergennes Union High School seniors spread out across northwestern Addison County to complete a day’s worth of community service. VUHS faculty member Lee Shorey, who has helped plan each service day since the start of the tradition, said that these service days began years ago as a way to get seniors out of the classroom and into the community during standardized testing days for younger students. Freshmen and juniors would get snacks to honor their efforts by taking the tests seriously because good scores helped the school, while sophomores and seniors would leave the campus. “Service days were an idea I presented to a teacher leadership group many years ago when the school had three days of (See VUHS, Page 23)

2nd-grader combines business & activism Starts nonprofit to save the oceans Tiger girls’ lax, tennis net wins • Both MUHS teams enjoyed their time at home late last week. See Sports, on Pages 18-20.

By CHRISTOPHER ROSS BRISTOL — Eight-yearold Ethan Tanych decided to save the oceans from plastic two years ago, when he saw a video in his kindergarten health class. “He came home from school one day talking about plastic bags floating in the ocean, hurting animals,” said his mom, Emily Tanych. At the very same time, Ethan was also participating in the Expanded Learning Program’s Mini Marketers project at

Bristol Elementary School, in which kids got to create their own jobs, Emily Tanych said. What did Ethan want to do when he grew up? Save the ocean. For his business he would sell T-shirts and other items and donate the money to environmental organizations. Ethan didn’t care much for the “when you grow up” part, however. He wanted to get started right away. “He kept at it,” his mom said. “He would come to us and say, ‘When are we going to start my business saving the ocean?’” Second grade, it turns out. (See Tanych, Page 13)

ON GREEN UP Day in Bristol, eight-year-old ocean activist Ethan Tanych, right, and his little brother, Gavin, took orders for Ethan’s Ocean Operation. The nonprofit business sells bags, T-shirts and other things featuring Ethan’s original artwork — and donates the proceeds to the Ocean Conservancy. Photo courtesy of Emily Tanych


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