Open Studios
Buzzer-beater
Dozens of local artists are inviting the public into their studios this weekend. See Page 17A.
A dramatic last-second goal capped a rally by the MUHS boys’ lacrosse team. See Page 1B.
Memorial Day Find out all about the six local parades and more in our special Memorial Day pullout.
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT Vol. 67 No. 20
Middlebury, Vermont
â—†
Thursday, May 23, 2013
â—†
44 Pages
75¢
Bears  bolder  as  their  numbers  rise Contact  with  homeowners  increases By  JOHN  FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY  —  It’s  often  the  comic  relief  segment  in  a  TV  wild- life  documentary:  Curious,  affable  bear  pokes  snout  into  honeycomb;Íž  long,  pink  tongue  darts  out  to  scarf  up  some  honey;Íž  angry  bees  send  the  irrepressible  fur  ball  lumbering  back  into  the  woods. But  in  most  cases,  it’s  not  a  laugh- ing  matter  when  a  wild,  hungry  bear  strays  into  civilization. Just  ask  Middlebury’s  Charles  Mraz,  who  recently  experienced  the  latest  in  a  growing  number  of  local  brushes  with  what  Vermont  wildlife  exerts  said  is  a  rapidly  growing  bear  population. “It  was  a  rare  thing  in  the  Cham- plain  Valley  to  have  bears  in  your  bees,â€?  said  Mraz,  whose  family  has  owned  and  operated  Champlain  Val- ley  Apiaries  since  1931. Âł%XW LQ WKH SDVW IRXU WR ÂżYH \HDUV
ARTIST  YINGLEI  ZHANG,  above,  paints  a  delicate  design  on  top  of  an  upright  piano  in  her  Middlebury  studio  Monday  morning,  while  Mary  Hogan  Elementary  School  sixth-Âgrader  Brenna  Cook,  below,  paints  her  design  onto  another  instrument.  The  pianos  are  two  of  six  being  painted  by  local  DUWLVWV WKDW ZLOO EH SODFHG WKURXJKRXW GRZQWRZQ 0LGGOHEXU\ DV SDUW RI WKH 7RZQ +DOO 7KHDWHUÂśV ÂżIWK ELUWKGD\ FHOHEUDWLRQ Independent  photos/Trent  Campbell
Discarded pianos ready for an encore Artists help stage THT birthday promotion By  JOHN  FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY  —  Yinglei  Zhang  has  earned  her  well-Âearned  artis- tic  reputation  by  using  a  thin  brush  to  deftly  place  ink  and  watercolor  strokes  on  delicate  rice  paper. But  her  latest  canvas  weighs  in  at  several  hundred  pounds  and  will  require  some  burly  football  players Â
Addison County
By the way
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Index Obituaries  ................................ 6A &ODVVLÂżHGV  ....................... 9B-Â13B Service  Directory  .......... 10B-Â12B Entertainment  ........................ 13A Community  Calendar  ...... 8A-Â10A Sports  ................................ 1B-Â4B
to  move  it  from  her  studio  when  it  is  ready. “This  is  crazy!â€?  she  said  with  a  playful  chuckle,  as  she  painted  an- other  vibrant  plum  blossom  on  a  panel  of  an  upright  piano  that  along  ZLWK ÂżYH RWKHU VWXQQLQJO\ GHFRUDWHG pianos  will  be  placed  in  random  out- (See  Pianos,  Page  20A)
Forlenza  and  Finger  joining  the  Lincoln  selectboard By  XIAN  CHIANG-ÂWAREN LINCOLN  —  Lincoln’s  select- ERDUG KDV RIÂżFLDOO\ H[SDQGHG IURP WKUHH PHPEHUV WR ÂżYH %LOO )LQJHU and  Paul  Forlenza  were  elected  to  the  board  in  a  special  election  last  Tuesday,  May  14,  joining  incum- bents  Barb  Rainville,  Elwin  Isham  and  Oakley  Smith. Forlenza  garnered  169  votes  and  Finger  received  189.  The  two  bested  opponents  Joe  Martell  and  Jim  Ad- ams,  who  received  30  and  22  votes,  respectively.  The  May  14  vote  followed  a  spe- cial  town  meeting  in  Burnham  Hall  on  May  7,  when  around  200  voters  DIÂżUPHG D SHWLWLRQ WR PRYH DKHDG with  the  selectboard  expansion  this  year  instead  of  waiting  until  town  meeting  next  March.  They  also  re- (See  Lincoln,  Page  18A)
Commencement  bringing  5,000  visitors  to  town MIDDLEBURY  —  More  than  5,000  family  and  friends  of  the  Mid- dlebury  College  class  of  2013  are  ex- pected  this  weekend  for  commence- ment.  Almost  600  students  will  get  their  diplomas  in  a  ceremony  on  the  central  lawn  of  the  college  that  will  run  from  10  a.m.  to  1  p.m. Jonathan  Safran  Foer,  a  writer  and  author  of  critical  and  commer- cial  acclaim,  will  deliver  the  2013  Middlebury  College  commencement  DGGUHVV )RHUœV ¿UVW QRYHO ³(YHU\- thing  Is  Illuminated,�  was  published  (See  Commencement,  Page  18A)
things  have  changed  dramatically.â€? Mraz  this  past  Mother’s  Day  re- luctantly  destroyed  a  bear  that  had  plowed  through  the  apiary  behind  his  family’s  home  off  Springside  Road,  a  well-Âpopulated  neighbor- hood  on  Middlebury’s  Chipman  Hill  that  is  only  a  half  mile  from  the  town  green.  Mraz’s  12-Âyear-Âold  daughter  had  spotted  the  young  male  bear  that  evening  as  it  waited  to  see  if  some- one  was  going  to  replenish  the  honey  he  had  devoured  earlier  that  day. “My  daughter  said,  ‘Daddy,  are  those  eyes?’â€?  Mraz  recalled  of  his  daughter  spotting  two  gleaming  orbs  piercing  through  the  darkness  in  the  back  yard. $W ÂżUVW 0UD] GLVPLVVHG WKH WZR dots  as  faraway  house  lights.  But  ZLWK WKH DLG RI D Ă€DVKOLJKW KH ZDV DEOH WR FRQÂżUP LW ZDV D EHDU With  permission  from  state  of- (See  Bears,  Page  18A)
Salisbury  to  unveil  new  veterans’  park By  JOHN  FLOWERS SALISBURY  —  Salisbury  resi- dents  will  have  an  extra  reason  to  honor  their  local  veterans  this  Memo- rial  Day  thanks  to  a  successful  effort  by  the  local  historical  society  to  install  a  monument  on  town- owned  land  off  of  Maple  Street. The  society,  led  by  Barry  Whitney  Jr.,  spent  the  last  sev- en  years  raising  mon- H\ WR FUHDWH WKH ÂżUVW GHVLJQDWHG veterans’  park  for  honoring  all  lo- cal  servicemen  and  women  who’ve  VHUYHG GXULQJ HYHU\ PDMRU FRQĂ€LFW dating  back  to  the  Revolutionary  War. Whitney,  whose  family  roots  in Â
Salisbury  go  back  more  than  200  years,  explained  that  the  town’s  trib- utes  have  consisted  of  an  obelisk  across  from  Maple  Meadow  Farm  honoring  local  Civil  War  veterans,  and  a  stone  tablet  located  near  Lake  Dunmore  off  Maple  Street  that  pays  tribute  to  Salisbury’s  World  War  I  soldiers. It  just  made  sense,  Whitney  said,  to  centralize  those  two  monuments  while  expanding  recognition  to  locals  ZKR VHUYHG GXULQJ RWKHU FRQÀLFWV LQFOXGLQJ WK FHQWXU\ FRQÀLFWV DV well  as  World  War  II,  Korea,  Vietnam  (See  Memorial,  Page  19A)
Ferrisburgh  teacher  ready  for  next  step Change  calls  Lilly  30  years  after  she  follows  mom’s  lead By  ANDY  KIRKALDY over  the  time  that  you’re  FERRISBURGH  —  with  them  all  of  a  sud- Like  many  teachers,  Fer- den  it’s  not  a  struggle  any  risburgh  Central  School’s  more.  And  I  think  that  is  Alana  Lilly  grew  up  with  something  that  I  feel  very  a  strong  educational  role  proud  (about),  that  I  see  model  in  her  family:  Her  the  ‘ahas’  in  students  ‌  mother,  the  late  Ferris- (My  mother)  was  very  burgh  resident  Dorothy  proud  of  her  students,  and  Tracy,  taught  for  34  years. totally  was  vested  in  what  Lilly,  52,  who  she  was  doing  in  June  will  step  “She has with  them,  and  down  from  her  started I  feel  like  I  am  FCS  teaching  job  following  in  her  after  30  years,  traditions footsteps.â€? said  she  started  that will While  at  following  her  live on Castleton,  Lilly  mother’s  path  after student-Âtaught  early  on. in  Ferrisburgh,  she has “I  hear  stories  not  far  from  retired.â€? about  when  I  her  Greenbush  — FCS was  little  play- Road  home.  By  Principal ing  school  up  then  she  had  met  Joanne Taftin  my  bedroom,  Craig  Lilly,  now  Blakely and  my  mother  her  husband  of  saying,  ‘Oh  33  years  and  the  boy,  you’re  going  to  be  father  of  their  two  sons,  a  good  teacher  some- John  and  Morgan. day.  You’ve  kept  your  Alana  and  Craig  Lilly  students  in  line  when  settled  in  Bridport,  as  now  you  play  school.  And  have  John  and  wife  Mi- you  give  a  lot  of  home- chelle  (with  Alana  Lilly’s  work,’â€?  Lilly  said. 10-Âmonth-Âold  grandson  As  Lilly  matured,  her  Cooper),  and  Morgan  and  mother  helped  her  to  un- girlfriend  Ann.  derstand  the  rewards  of  Seeing  more  of  them  all  the  profession,  and  she  is  part  of  the  plan.  pursued  and  earned  her  “Not  having  to  spend  teaching  degree  at  Castle- a  lot  of  my  weekends  ‌  ton  State  College.  doing  (teaching)  plans  for  Lilly  described  the  the  next  week  and  such,  FHQWUDO EHQHÂżW DV ÂłVHHLQJ I’ll  be  able  to  spend  a  little  FERRISBURGH  CENTRAL  SCHOOL  teacher  Alana  Lilly  is  retiring  after  30  years  on  the  these  students  who  pos- bit  more  time  with  fam- job.  She  plans  on  spending  more  time  with  her  family,  including  two  grown  sons  who  live  sibly  may  struggle,  and  in  Bridport. (See  Lilly,  Page  12A) Independent  photo/Trent  Campbell