MONDAY EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 30 No. 32
Bands to play on Best Night • Bristol’s New Year’s Eve will feature Bread and Bones (above) and more. See Arts Beat on Pages 10-14.
New Weybridge sidewalk planned
Middlebury, Vermont
Monday, December 17, 2018
36 Pages
$1.00
Ferrisburgh teacher gets students outdoors Elson’s tactics net major nomination By MARIN HOWELL FERRISBURGH — Judy Elson, a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Ferrisburgh Central School, has always taken her science and environmental education efforts
there outside of the classroom. From harvesting vegetables from the school garden in the fall to tapping maple trees in the late winter, Elson provides her students with tangible, hands-on science lessons.
Elson said that her teaching is centered on what she sees as the value of getting students outside. “A lot of it is getting kids out of the four walls,” Elson said. “They might be learning about rocks or plants, and instead of sitting at a desk and doing a worksheet, they’re
outside doing that.” Elson’s approach to teaching is one of the reasons FCS Principal Beth Brodie nominated her for the 2018 LifeChanger of the Year Award. This national award recognizes K-12 educators and school employees (See Judy Elson, Page 28)
• A new sidewalk between Pulp Mill Bridge and Otter View Park should improve pedestrian safety. See Page 3.
WomenSafe gets new directors
• Three women with diverse backgrounds have joined the board of the domestic violence survivor advocate. See Page 34.
It’s almost time
IN THIS GINGERBREAD house on display at the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury, a reindeer suggests to Santa Claus that he get busy wrapping the last of the toys he will carry to children around the globe next Monday night. Darcy Stratton and Keely Stratton-Pockette of Middlebury entered the entirely edible sculpture in the Adult-Amateur category. See more gingerbread creations on Page 17.
Independent photo/John S. McCright
VUHS boys win emotional game
• Commodores top Fairfax as late coach, clinician is honored and a player is badly injured. See Sports, Pages 19-21.
Medals go to two firefighters who risked their lives By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — The incident happened two years ago, but the memories of it are indelibly seared in the memory banks of both Paul Garrow and Pat Shaw. The two veteran Middlebury firefighters and 31 of their colleagues had gathered at their Seymour Street headquarters on Dec. 14, 2016, for an evening of training, food and conversation. Their training was interrupted at 7:40 p.m.
for the real thing: A report of a structure fire at 7 Murdock Court. And to make matters worse, someone was trapped in the structure. “The room rapidly emptied as every member was aware of the severity of the call,” Middlebury Fire Chief Dave Shaw noted in his account of the incident. “We were talking about the potential loss of life.” Pat Shaw, the assistant chief, and then-Captain Paul Garrow were among the first on the scene.
They had learned that 95-year-old Robert Kellogg was trapped inside the home, which at this point was fully involved in flames. Knowing that time was of the essence, Shaw and Garrow tied off a safety rope and entered the blazing building through a rear door. The two men crawled on their hands and knees through a dark, smoky oven. They hollered, hoping Mr. Kellogg would hear them and lead them to (See Firefighters, Page 24)