MONDAY EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 30 No. 19
Middlebury, Vermont
Monday, September 3, 2018
28 Pages
$1.00
Middlebury recalls Cold War victory Participants in groundbreaking student exchange look back three decades later
Otter coach aiming high •John White hopes to tap the growing crop of soccer talent as OV’s new girls’ soccer coach. See Page 17.
By NICK GARBER MIDDLEBURY — In the late 1980s, as Mikhail Gorbachev led the Soviet Union through a series of major political reforms known as glasnost (sometimes translated as “openness”) newspapers across the United States began reporting on a
burgeoning diplomatic effort that, if successful, could signal a change in the course of the Cold War. “Unprecedented,” reported the Associated Press. A “radical departure,” said The New York Times. “Far-fetched,” noted the
educators aimed to take advantage Burlington Free Press. But unlike most high-profile of the Soviet Union’s increasing dealings between the Soviet Union openness by trying something truly novel: persuading and the United States, the Soviets to send this effort to bring When glasnost dozens of college the two superpowers came to Middlebury students to the closer together did not originate and First in a two-part series United States, for a year of unsupervised grow in Moscow or Washington. Instead, it was taking study at American liberal arts colleges. place in Middlebury, Vt. Here a team of ambitious (See Middlebury College, Page 26)
Play considers a winning obsession • Actor Andy Butterfield will take part in a staged reading of ‘Red Speedo.’ See Arts Beat, Pages 10-13.
State works on beaver dams
• Devices installed to stop excess flooding created by structures made by beavers. See Page 14.
Summer on a vine
SADIE THOMPSON HARVESTS cherry tomatoes at Lester Farm in New Haven last Thursday afternoon.
Aesthetician takes holistic approach • Bristol woman opens a new skincare boutique with a light touch. See Page 2.
Newcomer picked for city council By ANDY KIRKALDY VERGENNES — The Vergennes City Council said goodbye to longtime City Manager Mel Hawley at its Aug. 28 meeting, Hawley’s last as manager, and welcomed a new council member by appointing David Small to replace Alderman Matt Chabot, who the council had hired the week before to replace Hawley. Small’s appointment will run
through this coming March, when if he wishes to continue on the council he will have to stand for election. According to Small’s letter of interest he first came to the area in 2005 as a Middlebury College freshman and has lived on South Maple Street since this past October with his partner, Abby. Small, a member of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Vergennes board, said he chose Vergennes
when he moved back to the area from San Francisco. He now works in sales for Burlington firm “Select Design,” which he described in his letter as “a design, marketing and production agency.” In his letter he wrote Abby and he “are excited about” Vergennes. “We immediately felt the strong sense of community and are excited about being involved in the evolution (See City council, Page 7)
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
Whiting to host debate for pair in House race
WHITING — With Labor Day past the local election scene is kicking into high gear. In one of the first debates of the fall, the candidates vying for the Vermont House seat representing Whiting, (See Whiting, Page 28)