Artisan-made
There’s a lot going on in Addison County this holiday season. See our guide inside and dive in.
For some people shopping for the season starts at our local craft fairs. See Arts + Leisure.
Black ta Yellow Cyan Magen
Holiday Guide
1
ADDISON COUNTY
Vol. 71 No. 47
INDEPENDENT Middlebury, Vermont
Thursday, November 23, 2017
78 Pages
$1.00
Water main breaks affect industrial park
Middlebury eyes potential $1 million fix By JOHN FLOWERS the 1970s and is M I D D L E B U R Y “Keeping deteriorating sooner than — Middlebury voters business in it should, according to next fall could be asked Middlebury Middlebury Director to approve a bond rests on the of Operations Dan issue of more than Werner. That’s because $1 million to replace town’s ability the contractor included a deteriorating water to meet the stone in the backfill for main that serves several infrastructure the project, which has of the community’s and community been triggering leaks largest water users in the development and breaks in the now community’s industrial corroding water main, needs in the park. according to town At issue is an 8-inch future.” officials. — Bret Weekes, ductile iron water Exchange Street water president/CEO of main breaks have been main pipe that feeds multiple connections eDOC Innovations on the rise during the past off Exchange Street, two-and-a-half years, including the Agri-Mark/Cabot cheese according to Werner, and affected plant, Vermont Hard Cider, Otter business leaders have been clamoring Creek Brewing and the many health for a fix. Middlebury Town Manager care providers within Catamount Kathleen Ramsay shared a string of Park. email complaints that followed the (See Middlebury, Page 12A) The pipe was installed during
VTrans, planners revive idea of Vergennes truck bypass SCHOOL NUTRITION SPECIALIST Laura LaVacca helps Robinson Elementary School third-graders Oren Bentley, left, and Thompson Davis mix up a batch of corn cake batter at the school last Thursday morning.
Independent photos/Trent Campbell
Kids get hands-on lesson in Abenaki ways Students grow and cook traditional foods
ROBINSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL fourth-grader Carter AntosKetcham grinds corn into cornmeal with a hand-cranked grinder in his classroom last Thursday morning.
By GAEN MURPHREE STARKSBORO — It’s the Thursday before Thanksgiving — the day the Robinson Elementary School cafeteria dishes out its holiday meal: roast turkey and gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, squash, cranberry sauce, apple crisp. (Also broccoli). In Ruth Beecher’s third/fourthgrade classroom, something else is cooking that goes straight to the heart of that first Thanksgiving — indigenous Americans’ foods. They are in the middle of studying the Abenaki, Vermont’s first people. Today’s lesson focuses on three foods central to the Abenaki diet: corn, beans and squash. Especially corn. A high point for everyone in Beecher’s room today is grinding corn they grew themselves and using it to fry and eat something resembling an Abenaki corn cake — something not so different from what might have been eaten at the first Thanksgiving in 1621. As is well known, close to half of the 102 Pilgrims who sailed to America on the Mayflower in 1620 died that first winter. The very survival of the 57 or so who lived to celebrate that first Thanksgiving feast depended in large part on the kindness of strangers. Wampanoag Native Americans taught the struggling newcomers to hunt local game and to grow local crops, chief
among these the three sisters: corn, beans and squash. Back in the Starksboro classroom, Beecher is writing a word on the whiteboard. “Appone.” She explains it’s a Native American word for corn cakes. This morning, her 15 students will be drawing and painting corn, learning about the healthfulness of corn, beans and squash, and making something as close as possible to “appone.” When Beecher began teaching about the Abenaki 10 years ago, she turned to tribal members themselves to create her foundational curricula. She’s been diligent in creating lessons that help bust stereotypes and help students accurately understand Abenaki both then and now. “I want to be respectful in teaching this unit,” Beecher emphasized. “They were here first. This is their homeland. It’s so important to be respectful of our indigenous people.” This fall’s study of the Abenaki started last June when last year’s class planted a three sisters garden of corn, beans and squash (including pumpkins). This year’s fourth-graders are proud that they got the garden planted. This year’s third-graders are proud that they’ve been part of weeding, harvesting (See Thanksgiving, Page 10A)
By ANDY KIRKALDY VERGENNES — Once again the possibility is alive of a bypass that would send truck traffic around downtown Vergennes, although local and state officials say one is not likely to be built for at least 30 years. At a Nov. 15 meeting in Middlebury of the Addison County Regional Planning Commission’s Transportation Advisory Committee, or TAC, Vermont Agency of Transportation officials agreed to work with regional planners to study city bypass options, with a recommendation probably to be made by the end of 2018. That pledge was made after TAC members voted unanimously in
Organizers put a lid on Chili Fest
Town shifts gears to ‘Winter Fest’ By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — Organizers of Middlebury’s annual late winter Chili Fest have decided to temporarily suspend the spicy culinary convergence, citing a shrinking downtown footprint and burnout experienced by some of the regular entrants. Instead, the Better Middlebury Partnership (BMP) will replace Chili Fest with an inaugural “Winter Fest,” to be held at the Middlebury Recreation Park on Feb. 24, 2018. Plans also call for a community block party to be held in the downtown next April, according to BMP Marketing Director Karen Duguay. She stressed Chili Fest boosters are (See Winter Fest, Page 7A)
By GAEN MURPHREE BRISTOL — An estimated 13 million American kids go hungry. In Vermont, it’s estimated that 13 percent of all households are food insecure — leaving about 20,000 youngsters under the age of 18 without enough on their plates. In Bristol, a program called Bites in a Bag is tackling child hunger one bag of snacks at a time. Each Friday, 40 kids at Bristol Elementary School take home healthy snacks to help tide them through the
weekend in food insecure years ago, when the “We try to do households. Have a Heart Food Shelf “For some kids, there’s string cheese board began discussing not very much food every week. Vermont Foodbank’s at home,” said Bristol It’s kind of a Backpack Program, teacher Kathy Smith. said board member favorite thing, Jill Kopel, an organic The program is a cooperative venture and they farmer and a lead Bites of three organizations: are kind of in a Bag organizer. The Bristol’s Have a Heart indestructible.” group inquired to see if Food Shelf runs and — Jill Kopel it could become part of funds the program, that existing program, Bristol Elementary but the Backpack packs and distributes the bags, and Program was limited to the 18 Addison Northeast Supervisory schools then enrolled. Union’s Child Nutrition Services So Have a Heart organizers handles ordering. discussed what a similar, homegrown The program started about five (See Bites in a Bag, Page 7A)
By the way In the “For-what-it’s-worth” category, an online outfit called reviews.org this week ranked Vermont as the second-safest state for Black Friday shopping. Black Friday, of course, is the day after Thanksgiving, when many stores have amazing sales the bring out hoards of wild-eyed shoppers … apparently (so we’re told, we live in Vermont and don’t see much of that). The state with the lowest risk for Black Friday violence is Maine. The highest-risk states for violence — including trampling, shooting, stabbing, pepper spraying, fighting and something generically labeled “car” — on Friday are 1. Tennessee, 2. Arkansas, 3. Alabama and 4. Louisiana. Well, there’s something for us Vermonters to be thankful for. Thanks to the generosity of the community and those who came to see “The Crucible,” the Middlebury Community Players were able to exceed their goal and collect 78,097 (See By the way, Page 12A)
‘Bites in a Bag’ helps fight child hunger Program sends food home for the weekend
support of a bypass to provide relief for Vergennes. The city, because it sits on Route 22A — the major truck route on the state’s western corridor — sees more than 800 trucks rumble along its Main Street every day. At least half of those trucks, according to VTrans director of policy, planning and research Joe Segale, are large ones going through downtown Vergennes while headed somewhere else. Segale, who attended the meeting, said no other small Vermont community deals with a similar volume. But, he added, before VTrans officials would agree again to look at a bypass — earlier studies (See Vergenens, Page 12A)
Index Obituaries................................. 6A Classifieds.......................... 5B-9B Service Directory............... 6B-7B Entertainment.........Arts + Leisure Community Calendar......... 8A-9A Arts Calendar.........Arts + Leisure Sports................................. 1B-3B KRISTA SIRINGO, LEFT, and Jill Kopel pack snack bags for the Have a Heart Food Shelf Bites in a Bag program that sends 40 snack bags home every weekend with Bristol Elementary School students. Independent photo/Trent Campbell