The Charlotte News | July 3, 2013

The Charlotte News Volume lV Number 23

The Voice of The TowN

wedNesday, July 3, 2013

New Calendar in the Works for Chittenden County Students Chea Waters Evans coNTribuTor

S

(From left) Kathryn Blume, Rebecca Foster and Hart Burget-Foster pose with the Vermontivate community service award—one of five awards given out by the Vermontivate game masters this year—which was given to Rebecca.

Charlotte Team Tops Vermontivate Competition

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harlotte was recently crowned the champion in both the school and town divisions of a statewide sustainability contest called “Vermontivate.” Its victory was one that everyone could savor, as the award for winning the prize was a town-wide ice cream party hosted by Ben & Jerry’s on Saturday, June 29.

Under a sunny sky, many gathered at CCS to enjoy the 800 scoops Ben & Jerry’s served for the occasion. Vermontivate game masters offered awards. The top ten high scoring players received maple syrup—and five Charlotters were among them: Rebecca Foster, Hart Burget-Foster, Sevi Burget-Foster Nancy Severance and Deirdre Holmes. The game

masters also delivered a six-foot teddy bear to CCS, which was the winner of the school division, and anded out the Vermontivate trophy, which will be displayed somewhere in Charlotte for a year.

Also at the party, John Quinney of The Energy Co-op of Vermont offered a raffle for a home energy audit, and SunCommon and All Earth Renewables had information about solar panels for Charlotte citizens. There was also a DIY food swap, a collection for the Charlotte Food Shelf and a walkthrough trailer displaying home weatherization options. Jacob Edgar of Cumbancha Records served as DJ for the world music dance party.

According to Holmes, Charlotte just barely beat out Calais

for the top spot. As the six-week game neared the finish line last Friday night, players in the top two towns, Calais and Charlotte, racked up points as quickly as they could before the competition ended at midnight. Calais appeared to be in the lead, but after some post-game adjudication by the Vermontivate game masters, Charlotte prevailed by 130 points.

It was “an absolutely fabulous game with a white-knuckle finish,” said the lead player from Calais, who goes by the secret code name of Jumpin’ Jersey.

A broad-spectrum community sustainability game, Vermontivate presented challenges that allowed

Vermontivate

continued on page 20

With End of Fiscal Year in Sight, Selectboard Talks Future Spending No Candidates Named Yet for Vacant Selectboard Seat John Hammer

The charloTTe News

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he agenda for the June 24 Selectboard meeting gave some hope that candidates to fill Heather Manning’s vacant selectboard seat would be revealed. The attendees were disappointed when the Selectboard came out of closed session and did not divulge the names of those candidates they will interview on July 2.

Money matters Much of the regular meeting was consumed by financial discussions. These were opened by Town Treasurer Mary Mead, who presented a wrap-up ofthe present fiscal year. While there is still a week to

run before the new fiscal year starts, the final tabulations won’t be complete until Mead and the town’s contracted auditor reconcile the accounts in midJuly. In summary, the revenues and expenses will be “close to budget.”

Following this was what is becoming a regular occurrence on the agenda, the pre-budget “guestimates” on budgets for the year beginning July 1, 2014. The library board, not anticipating any changes to its budget, mentioned only the need next year to replace the building’s roof. The library was followed by the Senior Center board, which also saw little change in the budget, though it will be proposing the

Selectboard

continued on page 6

ummer in Vermont is short, and next year it could be a little bit shorter for Charlotte students. The Champlain Valley Superintendents Association (CVSA) is proposing an adjusted school calendar, called Calendar 2.0, for all public schools in Chittenden County beginning with the 201415 school year; this includes CCS and CVU. Calendar 2.0 would add a week of school at the end of the year in June, a week at the beginning of the school year in August, and adjust vacation times, which would be called “intersessions,” throughout the school year. The new schedule would actually lessen in-school time by a day, bringing the total days in school from 176 down to 175. For the 2014-15 school year, students would get back to work on August 20 and head home for the summer on June 19 or later, depending on snow days. An intersession week would occur in mid-October, Thanksgiving week would be a vacation week at the end of November, December break would be two weeks, and February and April breaks would be extended to two weeks each.

Chittenden South Supervisory Union (CSSU) Superintendent Elaine Pinckney says the schedule change has been in the works for quite some time; six years ago, she and some other superintendents were given the task to investigate what a schedule

Calendar 2.0

continued on page 8

Voters Approve Ambulance Purchase at Special Town Meeting Brett Sigurdson The charloTTe News

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fter about 25 minutes of discussion and questions, voters at the Special Town Meeting on June 25 approved an article authorizing the Selectboard to spend up to $185,000 on a new ambulance for Charlotte Volunteer Fire & Rescue (CVFRS).

Despite the deluge of rain that let up just before the start of the meeting, about 90 Charlotters appeared at the evening meeting at CCS’s multipurpose room. Several were members of Rescue, many of whom sported dark pants with matching blue T-shirts emblazoned with “Charlotte Rescue.” Four of the members—Rescue Chief Meg Modley, Assistant Chief Pam Dawson, Rescue Operations Manager Dave Stewart and Corporate Board President David McNally—told the audience about CVFRS’s ambulance replacement strategy and the need to upgrade its aging ambulances.

Currently, CVFRS has two ambulances, a 2006 Ford used as its primary ambulance and a 1998 International used as a backup. The $185,000 amount had been earmarked in the town’s Fire Rescue Capital Reserve Fund—a long-range spending plan that budgets for the

Ambulance

continued on page 3

The Charlotte News

Dear Neighbor,

The Charlotte News PublishEd by and for CharlottErs sinCE 1958 The CharloTTe News is a nonprofit community-based newspaper dedicated to informing townspeople of current events and issues. It serves as a forum for the free exchange of views of town residents and celebrates the people, places and happenings that make the Town of Charlotte unique.

Contributions in the form of articles, press releases and photographs pertaining to Charlotte-related people and events are accepted and encouraged from all townspeople and interested individuals. For submission guidelines and deadlines, please visit our website or contact the editor at news@charlottenewsvt.com The CharloTTe News is published in Charlotte by The Charlotte News, Inc., a Vermont domestic 501(c)4 nonprofit corporation. Distribution is made every other Thursday to all households and businesses in Charlotte and to selected outlets in Shelburne, Hinesburg, North Ferrisburgh, Ferrisburgh and Vergennes. It relies on the generous financial contributions of its readers, subscriptions and advertising revenue to sustain its operations. oN The weB aT:

TheCharloTTeNews.org

Editorial Staff

News@CharloTTeNewsvT.Com

802-425-4949 Editor-in-ChiEf…………………..BreTT sigurdsoN Contributing Editor…………………edd merriTT ProduCtion & dEsign Editor….liNda williamsoN CalEndar Editor..…………………...KaryN luNde intErn…………………………………emma slaTer CoPy Editors………..BeTh merriTT, leslie BoTjer, viNCe CroCKeNBerg, roBBie sTaNley

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When it was announced in May 2012 that the New Orleans Times-Picayune would halt its daily print publication and move its operation online—cutting 200 jobs in the process—the city briefly looked as if it had thrown a Mardi Gras party in the Twilight Zone. Hundreds of people took to the streets to protest cutbacks to a newspaper that had, in its 175-year existence, become an integral part of life in the Big Easy.

Thrive @ 55

“We’re so sad the paper decided to give up on us,” New Orleans resident Sharon Morrow told The Lens, a nonprofit newspaper. “I’ve stopped my subscription. I mourn the paper almost every day.”

Here at The Charlotte News, we’re not immune to the trends that prompted the TimesPicayune’s publishers to take such drastic money-saving actions. Like other papers, our advertising revenue has taken a hit from the financial crisis and increased competition from other publications.

But here’s where The Charlotte News breaks from these trends: regardless of ad revenue and regardless of competition, our small paid staff and host of selfless volunteers are still devoted to bringing you and your neighbors the news about this fascinating place we’re all lucky enough to call home. And we do it largely because we care about Charlotte as much as you do. We are a nonprofit organization, after all, and we work on a break-even basis, supporting our work largely through advertising revenue and donations. All we ask is that when we come to you once a year for a contribution to support our mission, we hope you’ll take a moment to think about what having a free, independent community voice means to you and to Charlotte.

The thing is, there’s something unique and special about what we do. The Charlotte News is created by Charlotters for Charlotters and sustained by the contributions of Charlotters. Think about what that means. There’s so much information out there, so many words and images vying for your attention. Isn’t it comforting to know that you have a community resource whose sole mission is to provide you and your neighbors coverage of the issues, events and people that have the most direct impact on you? Isn’t it great to know you have a place to always share your opinions, your images, your stories? This is what has made The Charlotte News the quintessential community newspaper for 55 years, longer than any other local newspaper.

But we know we can’t rest on our history alone. While The Charlotte News continues to be the first publication on the scene, the go-to source when town leaders want to share information and the paper with the most in-depth reporting, we’ve got big ideas and lots of energy to go even farther. That’s where you come in.

Starting July 6, we’re kicking off a fundraising campaign called Thrive @ 55. In honor of our 55th anniversary, we’re launching our biggest fund drive ever. By the end of the year, we aim to raise $55,000, which will lay the foundation for an expansion of our team, our reach and our accessibility for years to come. We’ve made it easy, too. Simply return this year’s donation envelope with your contribution or visit our website (thecharlottenews.org) and click on “Support the News.”

For a donation of $55 or more you’ll be entered into our drawing to win a beautiful handmade quilt or a new iPad, both of which we’ll give away at our annual Holiday Party in December. More than that, your contribution will help sustain The Charlotte News’s unique, independent voice—the voice of Charlotte—into the future.

Just over a month ago, after readers and advertisers left the once-beloved paper in droves, the Times-Picayune announced it would return to a daily print publication. If the story of the Times-Picayune is any indication, newspapers—especially those that are so ingrained in their communities—still matter. For over half a century, The Charlotte News has been your paper, your voice. Be here for us. Help us thrive with a generous contribution today.

Thanks for your support.

Brett Sigurdson, Editor-in-Chief

Tom O’Brien, Co-President, News Board of Directors

The CharloTTe News is delivered aT No CosT To all CharloTTe resideNCes. persoNal or ouT-of-TowN suBsCripTioNs are availaBle for $15 per year (BulK mailiNg) or $35 per year (firsT Class). please seNd CheCK or moNey order To The address Below.

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CoNTriBuTioNs: Thursday, july 25, By 5 p.m. leTTers: moNday, july 29, By 10 a.m.

NexT puBliCaTioN daTe: Thursday, aug. 1

The Charlotte News

Letters Reaction to Town Link Trail is misguided In reading the commentary by Peter Demick in the June 6 edition I was struck by his negative attitude and more struck by his misguided focus on taxes. While the more recent letters from the Trails Committee define the benefits of the trail link and how it will be funded, they diplomatically fail to directly address Mr. Demick’s pronouncements. Allow me.

Mr. Demick states that the improvements to Route 7 are a “waste of vital town money,” but he doesn’t tell you what money is being wasted. The real question is where is our town money and why isn’t it being used to improve Route 7?

Each year the Town of Charlotte writes four checks to the state: one check for CCS, one check for CVU, and two checks to the State of Vermont totaling a little more than $2.5 million (in 2012). Of that $2.5 million, some Charlotters receive back about $1.4 million in prebates. That leaves a cool $1.1 million with the state of our tax money every year. Ever wonder where that money goes? I do.

Here’s the question we should be asking: What direct services from the state do we receive in exchange for the more than $1 million dollars we send into its coffers every year, year after year. Naturally we need to carry our burden of the costs of government, but shouldn’t we also see some direct services? And what is the state’s primary asset in Charlotte?

Route 7. And while we watch our neighbors receive significant attention to their

portions of Route 7 on a constant basis, our portion of Route 7 remains in a sad state of disrepair.

So, rather than throwing up your arms about a tiny underpass that adds value to the Town Link project, throw up your arms and clamor for something direct in return for your money. With all the millions we have handed to the state over the years, where is our share of direct services and why does our portion of Route 7 get neglected? One would think that with Mr. Demick’s focus on money he wouldn’t be quibbling over nickels but would be shouting for his millions. In that cause I would join him.

And finally, as for the fear mongering that trails result in a tragedy waiting to happen and strangers popping up in your backyard, it is noteworthy that study after study after study demonstrates that trails do not solicit anti-social behavior. Rather, studies consistently show that trails are a highly beneficial, low-cost community asset. Consistent with Charlotte’s values, trails promote the conservation of land and protection of open spaces. Trails also promote healthy life styles and community pride. Land values and marketability of homes increase as well. Hard to imagine how a home’s value would increase if a nearby trail resulted in bad behavior as suggested by Mr. Demick.

When considering the Town Link Trail, don’t be misled by misguided, knee-jerk reactions. Look at the facts and ask the right questions.

Gary Franklin Charlotte

News from The News

The Charlotte News would like to welcome Emma Slater as a summer intern.

Emma grew up in Shelburne, attending the Shelburne Community School until seventh grade before moving to Charlotte. She now attends CVU as a senior and has been a Charlotte resident for five years. At CVU she has been a member of the Nordic ski team and Ultimate Frisbee Club and spends free time painting and working with horses.

This summer, Emma will be working at the Green Mountain Conservation Camp as a junior counselor, volunteering with HOPE Youth Corps and studying barn management and natural horsemanship techniques for her graduation challenge

project.

We’d also like to offer our thanks and gratitude to Karyn Lunde, who is stepping away from her role as the News’ volunteer calendar editor with the publication of this issue. For two years, Karyn has not only put together a list of all the most happening events in the area—she’s been our ace in the hole, always at the ready with a great story idea or contribution or picture (her “Speechless” photo on page three is just one of many examples of great contributions). While she won’t be doing the calendar anymore, we’re glad to say she’ll continue submitting pictures and ideas to us.

A Note to Our Readers: As is our tradition here, the staff of The Charlotte News will take a twoweek publication break for summer vacation. We’ll be back with a new issue on Thursday, August 1. In the meantime, check out our website (charlottenews. org) for news and updates on town happenings.

SpeechleSS

Ambulance continued from page 1 replacement of CVFRS’s rescue equipment—to replace the current backup ambulance. The expenditure is not tied to CVFRS’s controversial FY 20132014 budget, which many Charlotters spoke out against earlier this year, noted Modley.

“I’m here to tell you tonight that it’s really prudent to purchase the next ambulance and to release those funds and tax dollars that have already been set aside,” she said. “It won’t cost you any more money to move forward this vote.”

According to Selectboard Chair Charles Russell, who spoke at the outset of the meeting, the town set up the Fire Rescue Capital Reserve Fund in 2007 to help spread the cost of large purchases over time so taxpayers would not be burdened too heavily during any one tax year. This approach also allows the town to pay for equipment up front rather than to borrow money and incur interest.

Modley noted that Rescue intended to purchase a new ambulance last year.

Russell told the audience that, the Selectboard, while it was aware of Rescue’s schedule for purchasing a new ambulance, neglected to put the article in the official town meeting warning in March. According to town policy, expenditures over $50,000 must be approved by the voters. CVFRS asked the Selectboard to hold a Special Town Meeting in order to approve the ambu-

lance purchase.

The new ambulance will have several features that make it a better fit for Charlotte’s terrain than the two ambulances currently in service. It will have four-wheel-drive, a stronger chassis and a safer box construction that will better protect patients and Rescue personnel in the event of an accident during a response, Stewart noted.

CVFRS will move its current primary ambulance, the 2006 Ford, backup status and will sell the 1998 International.

The proceeds of that sale, which Stewart expects could net around $10,000— CVFRS paid $6,500 out of its special funds for it in 2012—would be returned to the capital fund to offset the cost of future vehicles, Stewart said.

CVFRS currently projects it will next replace its 1980 pumper and 1993 tanker in 2017-2018. It expects to replace the 2013 ambulance in 2019-2020.

The measure passed almost unanimously on a voice vote, though a few voters did voice opposition to the article.

Stewart said he hopes CVFRS will receive the new ambulance by the fall.

The meeting closed with McNally briefly introducing CVFRS’s new advisory board, which consists of five Charlotters not involved with CVFRS. The group, which consists of Peter Carreiro, Richard Lunt, David Nichols, Ann Owen and Ruth Uphold, is charged with acting as a conduit between the community and the CVFRS board. Uphold told the crowd its members can be reached via a new e-mail, cvfrsboard@townofcharlotte.com.

Get Involved in Town Government!

The Selectboard is looking for interested citizens to fill the following vacancies: Community Safety Committee—5-7 vacancies with a term ending in January 2014 Conservation Commission—1 vacancy with a term ending in April 2014 Charlotte Park & Wildlife Refuge Oversight Committee—1 vacancy Recreation Commission—1 vacancy with a term ending in April 2014 Interested applicants should e-mail, call or stop by for more information.

Dean Bloch, Selectboard Assistant Charlotte Town Office, P.O. Box 119, Charlotte, VT 05445 E-mail: dean@townofcharlotte.com Phone: 425-3533.

The Charlotte News

Congregational Church Hosts Rally to Stop Lopez Deportation Jed Pauls

Contributor

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n the past ten years, Vermont’s dairy industry has seen an influx of workers from Mexico, Guatemala and other Latin American countries who are looking to create a better life for themselves and their families. Often these workers are from rural towns in regions economically ravaged by broken systems and one-sided trade policies. These workers are here because the scale of farming in Vermont is growing, workers are needed, and the local workforce is not large enough to adequately support the demands of 21st century dairy farming. There is also no viable path of legal entry for the year-round, nonspecialized workers needed to support the growing sizes of our state’s dairy farms.

So it is not surprising that an estimated 1,500 people work on Vermont dairy farms without the paperwork necessary to be in this country legally.

Danilo Lopez is one of the 1,500. On Monday, June 24, Danilo Lopez came to the Charlotte Congregational Church to tell his story to the public.

In September of 2011, Lopez was detained at the Canadian border after the truck in which he was a passenger was stopped for speeding. Lopez was unable to provide documentation of his citizenship, whichwa and he was subsequently turned over to U.S. Immigration and

Customs Enforcement.

After working on Charlotte farms for some years, Lopez’s life trajectory took a sudden turn with this traffic stop.

Facing deportation, he accessed support through Migrant Justice, a Burlingtonbased immigrant rights advocacy organization.

Inspired in part by Lopez’s situation, members of the Charlotte Congregational Church have been hosting bilingual communion services for area migrant workers and volunteering with Migrant Justice for the past two years.

“We have been dealt with so graciously ourselves (by God), we extend that same graciousness to others,” said Reverend Will Burhans.

Burhans, along with Migrant Justice, has been rallying support to help urge U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement to use prosecutorial discretion and throw out Lopez’s deportation case. The 35 in attendance at Monday’s event heard the details of opez’s path – from being kidnapped during his border crossing from Mexico, to finding his way from Florida to Charlotte, to being arrested and becoming an immigrant rights leader. He spoke plainly but urgently of his situation and expressed gratitude for the support and generosity of his Vermont community.

Rep. Mike Yantachka had the opportunity to meet Lopez when he visited the Statehouse to advocate for passage of S.38, an act relating to expanding

eligibility for driving and identification privileges in Vermont. Lopez, through an interpreter, spoke about the need for migrant workers to be able to obtain driver privilege cards so that they would not be confined to the farms on which they worked. According to Yantachka, Lopez was a key witness before the Senate and House Transportation committees, and his testimony played a large part in getting S.38 passed.

Reflecting on Lopez’s work at the Statehouse, Yantachka said, “I was very impressed with the young man. His activism, in terms of moving legislation through the Vermont State House, shows tremendous work ethic. He’s the type of person that would really be beneficial as a citizen of the United States.”

On Thursday, June 27, Lopez and 50 Vermonters took their campaign to Massachusetts for a New England-wide “Not One More Deportation” rally at the regional immigration headquarters office. They delivered over 300 petition signatures and united with groups across the region to show the human face of what they consider to be a broken immigration system.

With documented support of Governor Shumlin, Senators Leahy and Sanders and Congressman Welch, Lopez is hopeful. But nothing is guaranteed. His departure date has been set for July 5.

Albert’s Way is Underway in Charlotte Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity’s (GMHFH) five-affordable-home project is underway.

GMHFH will construct three single-family homes and one duplex on Albert’s Way off Spear Street.

Named for the former landowner Albert Gecewicz, it will be the largest Habitat project in Chittenden County to date. Incorporated with the buildings themselves, Habitat will conserve four and one-half acres of LaPlatte River watershed.

The organization is looking for financial donations to help fund the project. Those who are interested in making donations should go to GMHFH’s website, vermonthabitat. org, and click on “Donate” on the home page. Those who are interested in volunteering should contact Habitat’s office at 300 Cornerstone Drive, Williston.

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The Charlotte News

Mark Your Calendar for Town Party July 6

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egun 19 years ago to showcase the library-building effort that was still on the drawing board, the Town Party has evolved into an alltown event that celebrates Charlotte’s community spirit.

This year’s party, again organized by the Friends of the Library, is on Saturday, July 6, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Town Green.

Highlights include a great book sale, parade, community organization displays, Quinlan School activities and lunch at the fire station.

The well-loved book sale, an annual crowd pleaser, will open as usual at 11 a.m. sharp.

The parade forms in the Old Lantern parking lot on Greenbush Road and proceeds up Greenbush to Ferry Road, turning east and passing by the Town Green at around 11 a.m. All parade participants should be at the Old Lantern by 10:30 a.m. All marchers (costumes encouraged), tractors, fire engines, floats, bikes, scooters and skateboards are welcome.

Check out the big tent on the green where local organizations will be displaying and dispensing information about their activities.

Groups include the Grange, Charlotte Land Trust, Lewis Creek Association and Champlain Valley Canine Rescue, as well as the tables of the Selectboard, Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge Oversight Committee, Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity, Conservation Commission, Trails Committee, Recreation, Planning Commission and Charlotte Historical Society.

You’ll also find Transition Town Charlotte, the

Food Shelf, Hunger Free Vermont, the Vermont Community Foundation, and Genealogy Day’s August “Get Together” table.

You’ll also find The Charlotte News display in a separate tent this year. In celebration of the paper’s 55 years of highlighting the news of the town, the Town Party serves as the kick-off date for its annual membership drive—$55 will buy you an annual membership plus ensure your entry into the raffle for a fabulous antique quilt and an iPad. Finally, don’t miss the Charlotte 250th committee’s table, where you can purchase the Charlotte 250th Anniversary Quilt 2014 calendar. Proceeds will benefit the Veterans Monument Garden project on the Town Green. Also for sale will be The Charlotte 250: That’s How the Story Goes, a fourDVD collection of recorded reflections about our town ($20).

The aroma of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs will draw you across Ferry Road to the fire station. Lunch, under the able direction of Rita St. George, includes soft drinks and baked goodies. Next door, the Senior Center will be open with coffee available. View Lillian Kennedy Rockfire’s art display, “Boats, Barns and Beyond,” featuring Charlotte landscapes, as well as a collection of her paintings from Europe and the U. S. Finally, don’t forget to stop in at the Quinlan School. Take a step back in time to when Charlotte’s children attended one-room schools—and at the same time make your own card prints.

New Owners Excited to Continue Charlotte Berry Business

Melissa Beatty, along with her husband, Russ, is the new owner of the Charlotte Berry Farm. It opened for the summer June 7.

Diane Walker The CharloTTe News

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elissa and Russ Beatty enjoyed picking berries at the Charlotte Berry Farm so much they decided to buy the Route 7 business from Polly and Brad Simpkins.

On June 5, the Monkton couple closed on the sale. They opened for the season on June 7.

“We wanted people to come in and meet us,” says Melissa of the quick turnaround.

Berry pickers can rest assured that little will change at the well-known destination for pickyour-own blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, as well as pumpkins and the farm’s popular fresh-fruit creemees. Chocolate chip cookie icecream sandwiches, scones and pies are available for purchase as well.

According to Melissa Beatty, the couple’s focus right now is on “upkeep.” The couple and their staff of six part-time helpers have been busy getting the fields and facility in shape for the season. Most important is establishing and stabilizing the berry bushes, noted Melissa.

When heavy spring rains wiped out two of their strawberry fields, the Beattys purchased 1,000

new strawberry plants that they installed in a different location on the property.

Melissa said she and her husband ran a “small-scale” berry farm in Monkton and wanted to get involved in berry farming on a larger scale. The berry farm consists of 26 acres, of which seven acres are planted with blueberries.

They plan to expand their crops, raspberries in particular. Over the past month, they’ve planted 4,000 pumpkins, Melissa said.

Although the pick-your-own-strawberry business was largely affected by the rain, Melissa said the farm sells between 15 and 20 quarts of strawberries on a good day. As for the blueberries, “they’re looking very good,” she noted.

Beatty said her sons Kyle (age 13) and Liam (age 8) are enjoying the family’s new enterprise, and the business will allow them to spend even more time together.

“My younger son thinks it’s fabulous,” she said. “He loves the equipment and knows where everything is around the farm.”

For information call 425-3652. The farm’s website will be available soon.

The Charlotte News

Selectboard continued from page 1

Tim King, a CLT board member, poses with a CLT sign during last year’s bike tour.

Land Trust Announces Bike Tours In celebration of Charlotte’s 250th anniversary last year, the Charlotte Land Trust sponsored a bike tour highlighting conserved properties and local farms. The tour was so successful the Land Trust is making route maps available this year as well. The route maps will be available at the Town Hall and Town Party and to download on the CLT Facebook page and website (charlottelandtrust.org) and via a link on The Charlotte News website This year’s bike tours will be selfguided and on your own schedule. Two tours are available—one 11 miles and the other 19 miles. The tours traverse some of the most scenic areas in Charlotte and highlight the conserved

land in town. Through a longstanding community commitment Charlotte has conserved many of its most productive farms, significant natural areas and scenic vistas. Combine that stunning landscape and a pleasant bike ride – what better way to enjoy a summer day?

While the tours can be ridden anytime, CLT suggests trying them out in the days and weeks before and after the Town Party, held this year on July 6.

During that period the well-known red signs identifying conserved properties will be in place. CLT also encourages riders to submit pictures and comments on the tours either through Facebook or the CLT website.

CSWD Rover Coming to Charlotte Aug. 3 The Rover, the Chittenden Solid Waste District’s (CSWD) mobile hazardous waste collection unit, will make a stop at CCS on Aug. 3 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Rover accepts household hazardous wastes such as paints and stains, automotive fluids, hobby supplies, pesticides, fertilizers, household cleaners, and similar items with the words “Danger,” “Caution,” “Warning,” or “Poison” on the label.

The Rover is free and available to Chittenden County households only. If you are a Chittenden County resident, you can also bring these items to the Environmental Depot any time of year, free of charge. For more information, contact CSWD at 872-8111.

will be proposing the addition of a parttime coordinator of volunteers position.

The Senior Center has about 120 volunteers who give approximately 5,700 hours of time a year. These volunteers need a fair amount of management, and Director Mary Recchia is already maxed out.

Several interesting facts came out in discussion about the Senior Center. One hundred meals are served weekly for which the diners pay. There is a modest federal allowance for seniors. The center’s programs are used equally by citizens from Charlotte, Shelburne and other communities. About $20,000 is contributed to the center, with the highest donors from Shelburne. About $22,000 is taken in from program fees which are turned over to the town for the General Fund. This comes back to help pay for the $72,000 that the town budgets to the center for operations.

If participation were not permitted to citizens from other towns, there would not be enough demand to sustain the number of programs now offered.

The Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge came in with a flat budget request as well. Its spending for this year is on track despite torrential rain damage. Some modifications will be made in the agricultural areas of the refuge.

Town Meeting solutions During the public comment period, Vince Crockenberg of the Town Meeting Solutions Committee updated the Selectboard on what that committee is considering for public discussion prior to December 2013. The committee is considering recommending that a Special Town Meeting be held January 20, 2014, at which the FY 2015 town budget will be discussed, amended and finalized (but not fully voted) for a warned vote by Australian ballot on Town Meeting Day, March 4, 2014. A second vote would be held to move the vote on the final budget from the floor to an Australian ballot format.

Other Business In a spate of administrative actions the Selectboard: al Planning Commission (CCRPC) offer to publish a request for proposals for the design of signage for the town’s trails.

This will be at no cost or obligation to the town. $63.74 per ton of recycled asphalt for a total of 2,716 tons. This should repave about 3.5 miles of roads this summer. with the Town of Shelburne for services not to exceed $25,000 in FY 2014. to reflect numerous revisions to holiday, vacation and sick time policies. The Selectboard agreed to communicate these policies to the town’s employees and answer any questions that might arise from the forthcoming Independence Day holiday. tion for all permits necessary to repair the pier on Bridge 31 (Dorset Street over the LaPlatte River). These would likely include a stream alteration permit, an endangered species permit for the stonecat fish, and a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report. first constable with an amendment to his contract to reflect the vehicle fee as authorized by the IRS. Fund Committee. The Selectboard will take over the administration of the fund. advisory committee on traffic matters at the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission.

Party with the Planning Commission in order to present town issues and collect views from citizens.

The next regular Selectboard meeting will be held on July 8.

Gathering to Remember Kay Teetor July 5 Join family and friends in remembering former Charlotter Katherine (Kay) Teetor at the Ferrisburgh Grange/Community Center on July 5 beginning at 2 p.m. Parking is available at the community center and at the church next door. Handicap parking is available in the side lot of the building. For directions or more information, contact Nina Bacon at 877-3070.

The Charlotte News

With A Man Frozen in Time, A Dream Comes to Life Local author Stephen P. Kiernan’s debut novel, The Curiosity, will be published July 9.

Brett Sigurdson

The CharloTTe News

T

he length of James Taylor’s “The Frozen Man” is approximately three minutes and 55 seconds. The time between Stephen P. Kiernan’s first hearing the song and deciding to write a novel about a frozen man who comes back to life is approximately 18 years. The time it took Kiernan to write a draft of the novel is approximately 252 days. But the only number that Kiernan, a Charlotter, is thinking about right now is one, as in first—his first book of fiction, which is scheduled to hit bookstores July 9.

For Kiernan The Curiosity represents the culmination of a lifelong dream but also a leap into the unknown. An awardwinning journalist, columnist and the author of two nonfiction books, Last Rights and Authentic Patriotism, Kiernan has carved out a space for himself as a nonfiction writer and advocate for social justice.

Despite the fact he has published, by his estimation, millions of words as an author and former Burlington Free Press columnist, just under a week out before The Curiosity hits bookstores, Kiernan is feeling the anxiety and anticipation of being a first-time author.

“To the publishing world in New York I’m a debut novelist,” said Kiernan, “which feels strange to a guy who’s had four million words in print. And it’s kinda fun.”

The Curiosity, a thriller, centers around a brilliant scientist named Kate Philo—Charlotters will recognize the inspiration for her name—whose team discovers a body frozen deep in an Arctic iceberg. Despite protests, scientist Erastus Carthage orders the body returned to Boston, where it is reanimated into Jeremiah Rice, a judge who fell overboard into the Arctic Ocean in 1906. When news of his revivifica-

tion spreads, the “Lazarus Project,” as it is called, ignites protest from religious fundamentalists and the media, bringing Philo and Rice closer together. The novel mixes history, science and a romance into a book that is at once a love story and social commentary.

While the book was 18 years in the making, it had its impetus in a conversation with his friends, the writers Chris Bohjalian and Dana Yeaton in Tuscany in 2010. All three were staying in an old granary tower in Montisi. One night around midnight they were sitting around a table after a day of riding bikes and a dinner filled with local Chianti when Kiernan, feeling expansive, spoke at length about his idea for the novel, which at the time had a basic structure but was missing a key ingredient.

“When I was done there was a pause of about 30 seconds,” noted Kiernan, “and then Chris said, ‘What this novel lacks is a beautiful woman.’ And then Dana said, ‘And she needs to be smarter than all the other scientists together.’

I said, ‘I’ll be right back.’”

Said Bohjalian, “He told us the tale of the James Taylor song and his idea for this book about a frozen man, and it was one of those perfect moments: A fellow writer shares with you the germ of a novel you know has the potential to be brilliant. Also, the stars that night? Perfectly aligned.”

By the end of his flight home Kiernan had a rough outline of the story. He worked on the novel every day, even on Christmas and his birthday. Less than a year later he had a draft, which he polished for another year. The first person

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Stephen P. Kiernan poses for a in his home office. He has written two books of nonfiction. The Curiosity is his first work of fiction.

he sent it to was Bohjalian, who sent his feedback to Kiernan late one night—a sign that maybe he was onto something, Kiernan said.

“The fact I wrote him at one in the morning was indeed a good sign,” said Bohjalian. “It meant I didn’t have to be circumspect or wise or weigh in with advice. I could simply tell him that I completely loved the book and then go to sleep.”

One of the things that helped Kiernan make the leap from nonfiction to fiction was that he used journalistic techniques to enrich the narrative. He walked the streets of Boston, where the novel largely takes place, traveled to gritty mill towns, went through historical records in Lynn, Massachussetts, and researched cell science and the Grateful Dead. He found a poetry in Lynn’s street names and a popular song sung by Red Sox fans in 1903.

“Everybody with any curiosity about the world should spend a day in the historical society of Lynn, Massachusetts,” said Kiernan. “It is so rich.”

Kiernan also “fell in love” with the process of revision through the writing of this book as well as the freedom that fiction offers a writer. He compared it to painting in a new way.

“If all your life you’ve been painting still life and someone gives you a blank canvas with nothing on it, you lose the discipline of the light being on that apple just so,” he said, “but you gain the oppor-

tunity to say ‘forget that apple, I want a pomegranate.’”

Kiernan is looking forward to a potential film adaptation of The Curiosity, which he recently sold to 20th Century Fox. He’s also looking beyond The Curiosity to his next book of fiction and is already 150 pages into his second novel, which takes place in the Pacific Ocean, he said.

Kiernan will appear at The Flying Pig in Shelburne on July 7 at 7 p.m. The following day, he’ll kick off the “Rock and Roll Book Tour” with Bohjalian at the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington beginning at 7 p.m. On the tour Kiernan and Bohjailian will make stops in Ohio, Minnesota, North Carolina and Missouri.

While Bohjalian does a lot of events with other others, he is particularly looking forward to touring with Kiernan.

“I love all of these sorts of gigs,” he said. “But how often do you get to tour with a guy who is like a brother to you?”

Similarly, Kiernan is excited to take in the experience of having a first novel published.

“It is literally a lifelong dream coming true,” he said. “I feel so privileged to have this experience. I’m looking forward to engaging with readers in a new way.”

To find out more about Kiernan and The Curiosity, visit stephenpkiernan.com, his author page on Facebook or find him on twitter at @stephenpkiernan.

The Charlotte News

Calendar 2.0 continued from page 1 change would look like, and how it could benefit students.

While no studies or data analyses show an improvement in student performance, better test scores or higher graduation rates, Pinckney says she is confident that the new calendar would be a positive change for students, teachers and families.

“I do know,” she said, “that when schools take the opportunities that are provided when learning sessions are uninterrupted and more uniformly scheduled throughout the year, learning is less hectic; curriculum can be more strategically planned, implemented and assessed; there’s built-in time for reflection (for teachers and students), and there’s more balance.”

The schedule change aims to decrease learning regression during long summer breaks, and the intersession weeks would provide an opportunity for remediation for students who need extra assistance and possibly provide time for teachers to do imbedded teacher-education days instead of taking these days during regularly scheduled classroom time. There are also other possibilities for these intersession weeks, Pinckney says.

“I imagine there would be lots of interesting, fun, educational opportunities for the students who avail themselves of our programming, and ‘interventions’ would just be one such programming opportunity,” she noted.

Critics of Calendar 2.0 are concerned about the burden the new schedule places on families with two working parents, single-parent families and families with less socio-economic flexibility to find appropriate childcare during intersessions. There is also concern about losing family and outdoor playtime from a season that for many Vermont-

ers seems too short already. Financial issues come into play as well.

Pinckney says that childcare snafus will be addressed by “figuring out how regional libraries, 21st Century After School programs, the Y programs, etc. can be coordinated,” although how those organizations will come up with the extra funds to support programming changes is yet to be determined, especially if they are non-profit programs that rely on tax money, grants and donations to operate.

There is also a question of compensation for teachers who will work during the intersessions; this will be addressed when contract negotiations come up again for the 2014-15 school year.

The timeline for official adoption of the calendar has yet to be determined.

CCS co-principals Audrey Boutaugh and Greg Marino say that they are still learning about the schedule.

“Our understanding is that it’s in the planning stages,” Marino says, and he adds that many of the questions community members have are the same questions being asked by the school administration and staff. Pinckney says that superintendents are meeting this summer to determine when they will hear from the community about Calendar 2.0, and that “in the fall, this same group is planning five or six regional family/community meetings.

This will provide parents and other community members opportunities to hear in greater detail about our thinking and also to share their thoughts.”

The ultimate decision about whether or not Calendar 2.0 is approved, however, falls solely with the CVSA. Community input is currently being accepted through the CSSU web site, cssu.org, where there is more information about Calendar 2.0 and a Reader’s Corner section where people can post their opinions online. Pinckney can also be reached at epinckney@cssu. org.

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CCS PTO Proves that Slow and Steady Wins the Race Chea Waters Evans Contributor

L

ast October, a group of parents gathered in the Charlotte Central School library to discuss revitalizing the recently disbanded PTO. No one knew what to expect, except that snacks had been promised. School co-principals Audrey Boutaugh and Greg Marino explained that the previous iteration of the PTO board had resigned at the end of the last school year, and if an executive board wasn’t formed within days, the group’s nonprofit status might expire and the organization could be gone for good.

“We were cautiously optimistic,” Marino says. “We knew there was some positive energy and some individuals who were interested, but we didn’t know what to expect. We were definitely a little nervous about the outcome.”

Fortunately, not only did plenty of interested parents show up (the snacks must have worked), but before the night’s end a new PTO board was in place. With Mandy Koskinen and Katie Taylor as co-presidents, Julie Holmes and Rebecca Foster as co-vice-presidents, Chea Evans (full disclosure: there’s only one Chea Evans in Charlotte, and I’m the one writing this article) as secretary, and Jennie Auster as treasurer, the board members were ready to get started right away, even if they weren’t completely sure what they were doing.

At first, Taylor says, survival was the only priority.

“The board’s goals were mainly to keep the PTO going,” she said.

Soon, though, a two-part approach was decided upon: focus first on community building and second on raising enough money to continue to at least partially fund current programs that were already supported by the PTO. With the book fair and craft fair quickly approaching, there was little time for talk—jumping in head first was the only way to get these two events off the ground. Auster coordinated, planned and pulled off another great year at the December craft fair, despite never having previously attended one. In this and in general, she says, the school community truly rallied around the cause.

“I’m not surprised,” she says, “but I’m really thankful that so many people stepped up, volunteered, and made this year such a success.”

Parent and teacher participation is key to a successful PTO. Andy Smith volunteered to serve as the official teacher liaison, and several teachers, particularly

Jen Leach and Kelly Boutellier, regularly attended the monthly Tuesday night meetings. Parent attendance was impressive, too, though one goal for next year is to get even more parents into the meetings. Marino says he was impressed that 20 people would regularly attend, but that’s not enough for this ambitious group. In order to accommodate parents with a variety of childcare needs, this coming school year the PTO meetings will alternate monthly between morning and evening times. Co-president Taylor points out that this is a great way to start new programs, continue old ones with fresh ideas, and use parents’ life experiences and talents to better our school.

One particularly successful initiative came from this exact situation: parentsponsored monthly teacher and staff appreciation lunches. In this same spirit of bringing people together and improving our school, Boutaugh says that one of the highlights of the year for her was the after-school Enrichment Program. Conceived by retired CCS teacher Tom Scatchard and developed by parents Sarah Scranton and Julie Holmes, the program offered after-school programs in everything from musical theater to rocketry. Enrichment will be offered again in the spring, and any Charlotter with a talent to share is welcome to get involved.

During the school year, the Knitwits fundraising sale, the popular annual Variety Show, and a comedy night at the Old Lantern proved to be fun and lucrative events. The grand finale, though, was the Champ Run. Traditionally a fun run aimed at younger children, co-chairs Ellen Santos and Melissa Colvin decided to make it a landmark event and to add 5k and 10k chip-timed road races. Santos said, “I was overwhelmed by the positive feedback regarding our new format and partnership with RaceVermont.”

Over 200 runners participated, and the post-race party at the school was a hit with families and community members alike. Next year, the PTO board is hoping to attract more runners and increase community participation even more.

“Through race registrations, raffle tickets and generous sponsorships,” Colvin says, “we were able to raise over $6,000 to fund essential school programs cut from the regular budget.”

Community outreach: check. Fundraising for school programs: check. With these goals accomplished, the PTO board looks forward to welcoming new members next year (spots are open, and elections will be held in the fall) and new ideas from current members, and welcomes all that would like to participate.

The Charlotte News

News from CVU Robin Lauzon Contributor

Amira Silverman wins VCS Award for Art In early June, at graduation ceremonies held at the Vermont Commons School, Ben Patrick, chair of the school’s visual and performing arts department, presented the 2013 award for distinguished achievement in visual arts to Charlotte resident, Amira Silverman (right), an eighth grader at the school. In bestowing the award, Patrick remarked, “Amira Silverman is in the studio every day.

Amira spends her lunch time and study halls working on prints, paintings and collages. She asks questions, is always in motion and seeking to inherit creative worlds with new eyes. Her unmatched technical skills as an artist can be witnessed by her drawings in the sketchbooks she is continuously filling.”

Patrick stated that he was proud to share the studio with a student like Amira and remarked that she is an inspiration to all other student artists. Amira is the daughter of Jonathan Silverman and Martha Whitfield.

Welcome to our final CVU community article. Thanks for reading this past year and look for our column again in September.

For this piece, we thought we’d let the community know how some of our faculty and staff are spending their summer months. From education to travel to everything in between, CVU faculty and staff will be continuing their love of learning and then bringing it back to the classroom.

What CVU teachers are doing on summer vacation First of all, 80 teachers will participate in summer professional development at CVU. Three different learning seminars will be conducted and run by instructional coaches and administrators to build learning around standards-based grading.

This will be important preparation for the work that CVU will be doing in the next few years (look for an article next year on this work).

Below shows what some faculty and staff will be doing this summer:

the classroom by taking CVU Technology Integrationist Charlie MacFadyen’s technology seminar and working with the

director; School as well as Browns River Middle School parents and teachers to prepare Clubs to compete in the FIRST Lego League robotics competition; study skills and algebra; on a study tour sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation and made possible through the Vermont Council on World Croft, a nonprofit, experiential-learning, Vygotsky-philosophy driven program.

Fitness Center open The CVU Fitness Center will be open this summer, and all members of the extended CVU community are invited.

The center will be open from 7-10 a.m. and 3-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

work on display at the gallery space for about a month afterward;

hours will be 7-8:30 a.m. (the afternoon hours remain the same).

Check back in the fall for more News from CVU.

and Catamount Outdoor Family Center in Williston to offer a variety of art camps for ages six through 15 (for more information, visit http://catamountoutdoor.com/ camps/visual-arts-camps/);

Charlotte Representatives to the CVU School Board Lorna Jimerson and Marilyn Richardson

Have a story idea? Want to submit a photo or recap of your event?

Feel like writing a story about your community?

Drop us a line at news@charlottenewsvt.com.

wednesday workshop:

Printing Hands-on introduction to traditional letterpress printmaking in the Museum’s Print Shop. 4-6 p.m. July 17. $20; $15 for Museum Members. Registration is required, please call (802) 985-3346 x 3368.

www.shelburnemuseum.org

The Charlotte News

My (Mis)Adventure as a Charlotte Tourist Brett Sigurdson The CharloTTe News

I

should have taken the ducks swimming in the road as a sign.

It’s 7:34 a.m. on a Wednesday. I’m driving down a dirt road on my way to Spear’s Corner Store to get a cup of coffee before I begin work on an ambitious story: do five things a tourist might do in Charlotte, all in one day, without stopping.

If the gloomy clouds and the humidity—so thick it seemed to be seeping from the air like an over-wet sponge—doesn’t tell me the glut of recent rain could dash my plans, two mallards contentedly playing around a deep puddle in the middle of Baldwin Road certainly hit the point home.

I pull into Spears at 7:42 a.m. As ever, owner Carrie Spear is at the center of the action. A group of regulars she jokingly refers to as the “town council” is talking loudly about the previous night’s special town meeting and Charlotte Volunteer Fire & Rescue’s financial issues. I pull the brim down over my eyes. Today I’m not reporting on town business. No, today I’m a tourist. My assignment—which, I should mention, nobody else would take—is to write about five things a tourist could do in Charlotte: hike, bike, ride a boat, see a museum and do a wine tasting. Because I’m told Vermonters take their summers seriously, owing to how brief they are, I vow to do them all in one day, back to back. To up the stakes, I give myself a deadline of 5 p.m. to finish everything.

So I grab a cup of coffee, the store’s super-caffeinated blend, and ask Carrie five things she would do in Charlotte. She has no idea, she tells me. Are there five things?

8:23 a.m.

I decide to start my day with a breakfast hike up Mt. Philo. If there is one key attraction in Charlotte that I think everyone could agree upon, it’s got to be this 968-foot peak, Vermont’s first state park.

As I enter the trail I feel as if I’m entering a rain forest or Tolkien’s Shire. Everything is lush, green—a white fog envelopes everything in a veil of mist. It all makes me feel so serene.

And then a dog comes bounding down the trail and jumps to my chest, startling

me, its owner running just behind it, apologizing profusely. So much for a peaceful morning hike.

What makes Mt. Philo such a great place for a morning jaunt is that one can hike Mt. Philo with a cup of coffee. In fact, the trail and the coffee seem to augment each other. While steep in places, the trail offers several places to pause and take in the increasingly expansive views, each one becoming more and more powerful such that, like a good cup of coffee, I feel a sort of electric charge through my veins as I drink in the scenery and make my way up the mountain.

But today the fog is so heavy I can’t see much beyond the rocks and trees below me. Everything else is engulfed in white, like someone dropped a giant bag of flour on the universe and it hasn’t yet settled.

So,when I reach the summit a half hour later, I don’t linger very long.

9:58 a.m.

I choose a 15-mile bike ride for my next tourist activity. To fuel up, I stop at the Old Brick Store for a breakfast burrito.

Like Spear’s Corner Store, the Old Brick is a hive of activity—people coming and going, getting provisions for the day. I’m tired from the hike but invigorated and ready for a bike ride, though 15 miles is more than I’ve done in a year.

I grab a Snickers and a Clif Bar for a mid-ride power boost. Leaving the store in a light sprinkle, I drive to the nearby News office, my starting and ending point for the ride. As I finish my burrito in the driver’s seat and look at a map of my intended route, a saucy pile of beans, cheese and egg falls on the page, staining my map.

The rain seems to fall harder.

10:18 a.m.

When I was 15 I took a family trip to Disney’s Magic Kingdom. The pictures of me the morning we entered the park show a bright, smiling kid perhaps a bit too excited to ride Splash Mountain.

Somewhere over the course of the day, though, I lost my wallet and the $74 I had in it. In the pictures from that afternoon the unexpected tragedy clearly left its mark.

I look catatonic, zombielike, immune to my siblings’ attempts to cheer me up with goofy faces.

One of the risks of being a hardcore tourist is the unforeseen obstacle that throws one’s well-planned day into a tail-

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spin. It seems that when we take a vacation we also expect the regular ups and downs of life to also take some time off. When this doesn’t happen, we can either laugh it off, get dispirited or work even harder to avoid reality.

As I prepare to leave for my bike ride, I slowly find myself choosing the second two.

After drying my bike, oiling the chain and changing my pedals, I grab my biking clothes and start toward the office to get changed. Almost as an afterthought I pause to check my tire pressure. The back tire needs air. And I forgot the pump.

I drop my clothes and grab my travel pump. I’m missing the adaptor for my tube’s presta valve—which has the frustrating propensity to let air out of the tire when it’s loose—and end up deflating my back tire even more. In a panic, I run to see if our officemate Doug Hartwell, an avid cyclist, still has a bike pump outside his door. Nope. Gone. I scurry through the other rooms of the Ferry Road Business Park, hoping to find a bike pump or cyclist.

Nope again. I find neither.

It’s now about 11 a.m. Lacking alternatives I load up my bike and drive to the North Ferrisburgh Short Stop for an air pump. When I try to fill my tire, the pump doesn’t fit; I end up completely deflating the tire.

Anyone else would have called it a day then and changed plans. But I am a tourist today, and I’m going to have a good time.

I drive the ten miles back to my house and grab my bike pump. I arrive back at the News office around noon and pump up my tire in about two minutes. I had planned to be back from my ride by this time and on to the next task, so I dash inside and change into my bike gear.

With my helmet hanging loosely from my head I step outside, only to find it’s now raining so hard I can barely see my car in the parking lot. A clap of thunder echoes in the distance. I look at my bike with the same countenance I gave my parents’ camera all those years ago at Disneyland. I turn around to go back inside and find the door has locked behind me.

12.32 p.m.

After changing again, I set out for the next logical activity: I go for a drink.

The “Open” flag on the Charlotte Village Winery sign is drenched and hangs forlornly over the road. I dash into the wine-tasting area’s entrance under an awning so soggy that a waterfall of rain is coming off it. Inside, owner Colleen Pelkey and her granddaughter Katy Myers are quietly busying themselves.

Every bottle looks delightful to me as Katy sets them up on the bar for the tasting. As she pours a small amount—I have to restrain myself from asking for more— she tells me about each of the 12 wines, nearly all of them award winners. While the rain continues to fall we talk dogs and wine, and I ask her what she would do in Charlotte if she were a tourist on a day like this. She draws a blank.

“Drink wine,” she finally says.

I order a glass of the raspberry delight and drink it down.

1:15 p.m.

So far my day is a bust. It’s half over, I have only two activities under my belt, and I have only four hours to complete the remaining three. But I’ve learned a lesson: when you’re a tourist, stay flexible.

Given the rain, I have to stay indoors.

The Charlotte Memorial Museum is closed, so I choose the next closest museum I can think of, the Rokeby in Ferrisburgh.

After making a stop at the Little Garden Market for a hummus sandwich, I drive the

ten minutes to the Rokeby. The museum’s new 2,500-foot education center, which opened in mid-May, still has the fresh new smell, and I’m excited to see its opening exhibit, “Free & Safe: The Underground Railroad in Vermont.”

Now I learn my second important lesson of the day: always bring cash or a check. I neglected to bring either and can’t pay the entrance fee.

Still, I’ll be back.

2:33 p.m.

While my goal of completing five tasks isn’t looking good—do I have two or two and a half?—the weather is at least looking a little better. On my way back into Charlotte I decide to check out the Vermont Wildflower Farm on Route 7. It bills itself as the “seediest place in Vermont,” and that’s no lie. The store features everything from seeds—lots of ‘em—to books to shirts to gardening items.

But it’s the quarter-mile walking path through a wildflower field and woods that really draws me. I love going to places where I can get exercise while I learn something new. The wildflower field is a bustling world unto itself, and, as I walk the trail, I get a charge out of learning about the flowers in front of me—through signs that are so well done I see a bee trying to harvest nectar from a flower painted on one.

As I make my way back to the car I see a sliver of blue sky peeking through and the rain letting up.

Time to bike.

3:27 p.m.

I waste no time getting my biking gear ready at the News office. The weather now is the complete opposite of this morning’s.

I don’t have 15 miles in me at this point, but I decide a short ride along Greenbush, Thompson’s Point and Lake roads should suffice.

From the first small hills on Thompson’s Point its clear my aspirations to participate in the next Tour de France will have to be pushed back another year. I’m rusty and feel every bit of the year out of the saddle. I don’t so much pedal up the hills on Greenbush as galumph feebly up them. The heat doesn’t help much either.

Still, there’s clearly a reason that Charlotte’s roads are filled with cyclists on days like this, and I feel a deep pleasure cruising down the hills toward Lake Champlain with the distant Adirondacks seemingly cheering me on. It’s not a feeling I can describe outside of saying it’s the opposite of the way I felt this morning.

4:22 p.m.

I take a rest at Town Beach. The weather has become magical, hot, breezy, summer. The beach is empty but for a young girl walking along the water’s edge in rain boots. I sit on the dock with my feet dangling over the water and watch her as she keeps walking to the edge of the dock to empty out her boots and then back to the water to walk in with them on.

“My boots aren’t high enough to walk in the water without getting wet,” she tells me. She continues to do this, though, and it becomes kind of comical. Just then, it occurs to me that I’ve only done four things and I’m coming up on my deadline.

So I do perhaps the most essential Charlotte vacation activity: go for a swim in Lake Champlain.

As I swim, I start to feel that maybe I’m not so different from the girl who can’t keep her feet dry. As much as the wet weather has ruined my attempts to be a tourist, I kept at it. As I immerse myself in the cool water I start to feel like the ducks this morning. I’m finally content.

The Charlotte News

My Blueberry Memories Emma Slater

The CharloTTe News Blueberry picking is a sport that spans generations in my family.

One of the most prestigious pickers is my grandfather, who is famous in family legends for picking 40 pounds of berries in one day. Each July he comes up from Connecticut to visit our family in Charlotte and pick berries at Pelkey’s farm, although not necessarily in that order. A friend swears that his graceful aging must be the result of sleeping packed in ice, but I think that his fountain of youth takes the shape of a small juicy berry.

When he picks, he hangs a pail off of each hip, diving double fisted into the bushes. I remember picking beside him at a young age with a green quart-sized container, topped with a slice of cardboard. In the lid there was a small hole that was just large enough to fit a single berry through and small enough to keep my little fingers out.

As I picked, the sound of my berries hitting the carton was like the patter of summer rain, in comparison to my grandfather’s hailstorm of berries.

These visits to the berry patch are some of my quintessential summertime memories of Charlotte, and I’ve found that it’s the perfect place to observe fellow “Charlotters” in their natural habitat. Some pickers favor the same aggressive picking stance as my grandfather, but most prefer to chat and wander their way up and down the bushes. These quiet pockets of conversation mingle with a distinct smell of melting sunblock and the sporadic thuds of berries landing in buckets.

Although I’ve long since graduated from that carton to the full sized plastic pails, I have to admit there are still many of my blueberries that never see the inside of a bucket. However, with the remaining berries that survive voracious snacking on the ride home, I love to make my great-grandmother’s recipe for blueberry cake. She was a resident of Sudbury, Massachusetts, where she lived in the same house her entire life, originally built by her father. Out behind the screened-in porch, planted in soil filled with old Indian arrowheads, there was a beautiful patch of mature blueberry bushes. Her cake recipe has now been passed down from my grandmother to my mother and on to me. It’s perfect for summer afternoons when we all sit on the back porch with a sweating glass of sun-brewed ice tea, three generations of blueberry lovers.

Gram’s Blueberry Cake 1 ½ cups floured blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and drained ½ cup butter or margarine 1 cup sugar 2 eggs, separated 1 ½ cups flour 1 tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. vanilla Sugar for sprinkling Beat egg whites until stiff. Set aside. Beat egg yolks. Stir together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Add to egg yolks with milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Fold in floured blueberries and egg whites.

Pour batter into a greased tube pan. Sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

The Charlotte News

Charlotte Full of Great Hiking Opportunities With something for everyone, the trails maintained by the Charlotte Trails Committee are a great way to get out and explore our beautiful landscape.

1- Pease Mountain Trailhead: The trailhead is located on top of a hill in the southwest corner behind the athletic fields at Charlotte Central School. Park between the metal maintenance shed and the school, walk across the athletic fields and up the hill to a large sign that marks the trailhead.

Description: 2.3 miles (both loops), moderate incline, rough dirt trail. Mountain bikes are not permitted. Be mindful on the lower loop that a few trails lead off to nearby homes.

Pease Mountain is composed of an upper and lower loop, with two spur trails on the upper loop that afford beautiful views of the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain.

The trail starts out in a stand of white pines before transitioning into a hard-

wood forest. Just shy of the half-mile mark you come to the first trail junction and the start of the lower loop. Here you will see another spur trail straight ahead that loops back into the south side of the lower loop.

There are many options on the length of your hike, depending on the ability of those in your group and the amount of time you have.

Town Link Trail 2- Co-housing section 3- Melissa and Trevor Mack section Trailhead: From the center of the west village go approximately 1.5 miles south on Greenbush Road and turn left onto Common Way. Follow the signs to the Town Link Trail parking area. The trailhead is a little farther up the road on the right hand side.

Description: Cohousing section: 1.1 miles, flat, crushed gravel and grass.

Melissa & Trevor Mack section: 0.7

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miles, slight incline, crushed gravel.

The trail starts out as a gravel path and gives the traveler a glimpse of what the entire seven-mile Town Link Trail will eventually look like. Just over the bridge the trail becomes a mowed path that meanders along the hedgerow before passing by a beautiful pond tucked into the rolling meadows. Continuing southeast, the trail dips and then climbs on its way to Route 7. Here you have the option to cross the highway (please be extremely careful) so that you can continue on the Melissa and Trevor Mack Trail (MTMT), which passes through working fields and vineyards before ending at State Park Road. The MTMT offers good views of the Adirondacks.

4- Plouffe Lane Trailhead: From Route 7 and Church Hill Road take Church Hill Road to the stop sign and turn right onto Hinesburg Road. Take Hinesburg Road to Spear Street and turn left. Take Spear Street approximately 1.3 miles and turn right onto Carpenter Road. Plouffe Lane will be a short distance down the road on your left. Follow the road to the end (there is

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a red gate), open the gate and park your car inside.

Description: Approximately 1.5 miles in length,rolling hills, some moderate inclines, grass and rough dirt. Please respect the homeowners on Plouffe Lane by obeying the speed limit and all posted signs.

Just below the parking area at the bottom of the hill is a picnic table—a great place for families to have a picnic and let the children run around. The meadow trails fork here, one going up the hill and passing a bench that is a good resting spot and affords a nice view of the Green Mountains. The trail continues into a back field and loops back onto itself.

As the trail starts to curve back around you have the opportunity to slip into the woods and follow a nice path down to the lower field trail. If you go a little farther, another path into the woods branches off almost immediately. The right path is a short loop; the left path meanders through the forest and brings you back into the meadow.

Maps of these trails can be found at trailfinder.info.

If you are interested in volunteering with the trails committee, especially with trail upkeep and maintenance, please contact Jorden Blucher at Jorden@easystreetcreative.com.

The Charlotte News

SUMMER CALENDAR FAMILY FUN SATURDAY, JULY 6 Charlotte Town Party! 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Charlotte Town Green. Friends of the Library-organized all-town event includes a great book sale, parade, community organization displays, Quinlan School activities and lunch at the fire station!

SUNDAY, JULY 7 Butterfly Walk, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., Birds of Vermont Museum, Huntington. All ages come experience butterflies and insects up close. Bring binoculars, magnifying glasses and/ or butterfly nets. Donations welcome.

Info: 434-2167 or birdsofvermont.org.

SUNDAY, JULY 7 Annual Middlebury Summer Festivalon-the-Green, through Saturday, July 13, 35th day and evening events, junction of Routes 7, 125, 30 in the heart of Middlebury. Family friendly programs Monday – Friday at noon.

Concerts at 7 p.m. For performance schedule visit festivalonthegreen.org.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, Thursday, July 10, Friday, July 11 Circus Smirkus, 12 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. shows, Champlain Valley Expo, Essex Jct. Enjoy Big Top Tour 2013: Oz Incorporated! Tickets: $21/adult, $18/ child, under 2 free. Info: smirkus.org.

THURSDAYS, JULY 11, 18, 25 Summervale: Eat! Drink! Taste!

Groove! Create! Learn!, 5:30 – 8 p.m., The Intervale Center, Burlington.

Free admission; food and drink available for purchase. Info: intervale.org.

SATURDAY, JULY 13 French Heritage Day, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Vergennes City Park. Celebrate Franco-American heritage at this free, educational, fun-filled family day! Events include historical walking tour, food, music, step dancing,

re-enactors, book reading, puppet show, exhibits and so much more!

Info: 802-388-7951 or 800-733-8376 or visit addisoncounty.com/events for schedule.

Garden Tea Party at the Inn, 1 – 3 p.m., Inn at Shelburne Farms. Enjoy a treasure hunt adventure, then make tea bags and enjoy tea and treats in the colorful, fragrant gardens. Fee: $5/member, $6/non-member. Preregistration required at 985-8686. Info: shelburnefarms.org.

MONDAY, JULY 15 Charlotte Grange #398 Summer Picnic, 6:30 p.m., Charlotte beach.

Info: 425-4140.

SATURDAY, JULY 20 Moonlit Campfire, 7 – 9 p.m., Shelburne Farms. Enjoy a campfire along with fun activities, s’mores, and a visit from a live owl. Fee: $5/member, $6/non-member. Preregistration required at 985-8686. Info: shelburnefarms.org.

SUNDAY, JULY 21 Family Day: Circus-Palooza, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Shelburne Museum. Come one, come all to a circus spectacular as the museum plays ringmaster to all things circus. Info: shelburnemuseum. org.

Charlotte Community Beach Party!, 3 – 8 p.m., Charlotte beach. The recreation department is holding the first event with live music, potluck, pig roast, games, storytelling, EMS demos, Celtic dancing and family activities!

SATURDAY, JULY 27 Learn S’more About Camping Workshop, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., Mt. Philo State Park. State park staff and experts from Eastern Mountain Sports will show you everything you need to know about camping gear, setting up a campsite, building a campfire and cooking techniques. Free. Info: vtstateparks.com.

Rodney Crowell and Emmylou Harris will appear at the Flynn Main Stage in Burlington on Wednesday, July 10.

MUSIC THURSDAY, JULY 4 Folk By Association, 6 – 8:30 p.m., Shelburne Vineyard. First Thursdays Summer Music Series features intricate harmonies and eclectic traditions. Free admission; food and drink for purchase. 10% proceeds benefit Shelburne Dog Park. Info: 985-8222 or shelburnevineyard.com.

FRIDAY, JULY 5 Free Lunchtime Concert: Pete Sutherland and Oliver Scanlon, 12 – 1 p.m., City Hall Park, Burlington.

Enjoy lively old-time and contradance tunes from local fiddle/folk duo! Info: burlingtoncityarts.org.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10 18th Annual Summer Farm Barn Concert Series, gate opens 5:30 p.m., concert begins 6:30 p.m., Shelburne Farms. Concert features Ragged Glory, local father/son duo of Ken and Jesse French performing an acoustic Neil Young tribute. Bring chairs, blankets and picnic for outdoor fun. Concession food and drink available. Donations accepted. Info: shelburnevt.org/events or 985-9551.

Hart & Mead Concert in the Park, 6:30 p.m., gazebo behind Hinesburg Community School. Music by Wolcot, Hinesburg’s own indie rock band.

Grab a blanket, snacks and friends for an evening of music! Free. Info: 482-2281 x230 or hinesburg.org/recreation.

Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival: A Friendship of Consequence, 7:30 p.m., UVM

The Little Garden Market... events from backyard BBQs to crystal and silver extravaganzas Serving restaurant quality prepared foods to go. Beer and wine.

86 Ferry Rd, Charlotte littlegardenmarket.com Menu updates at https://www.facebook.com/TheLittleGardenMarket

THEATER JULY 3 - 13 Tuesdays With Morrie, Saint Michael’s Playhouse, Colchester. Evening and matinee performances of the inspiring and humorous play based on the best-selling novel. Tickets $34 – $43.

Info: 654-2281 or saintmichaelsplayhouse.org.

FRIDAY, JULY 5 Narnia: Traveling Wagon Tour, 6:30 p.m., Staige Hill Farm, Garen Road, Charlotte. Very Merry Theatre musical performance follows the narrative of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series.

Donations greatly appreciated. Info: 355-1461 or verymerrytheatre.org SATURDAY, JULY 6 Sandglass Theatre’s “D-Generation: An Exaltation of Larks,” 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. shows, Town Hall Theater, Middlebury. Cutting-edge puppet production from Putney, Vt. based on stories written by people with latestage dementia. Tickets $20. Info: 802-382-9222 or townhalltheater.org.

JULY 17 - 27 Rumors, Saint Michael’s Playhouse, Colchester. Evening and matinee performances of Neil Simon’s hilarious comedy. Tickets $34 – $43. Info: 6542281 or saintmichaelsplayhouse.org.

JULY 18 - 20 Dirty Blonde, Town Hall Theater, Middlebury. Evening and matinee performances of Pendragon Theatre of Saranac Lake’s performance of the Broadway play about two people’s obsession with Mae West. Tickets $20. Info: 802-382-9222 or townhalltheater.org.

OutTakes Commentary

by Edd Merritt

Stuck in Martha’s Vineyard with the Memphis Blues Again We are on Martha’s Vineyard Island off Cape Cod this week for our annual four-generation get- together at the great grandparents’ cottage in the town of Oak Bluffs. Don’t misunderstand me, but if I were given my choice of places to gather, I think I would remain in Vermont. Not that the Vineyard isn’t an interesting spot with a fascinating history that goes back to its whaling days. I just don’t have the oceanic talents, nor am I interested in developing them at this stage in my life (capability probably plays a role as well).

I don’t sail or fish; I do eat the latter with gusto, however. I don’t care to hang out on ocean beaches, shop for everything Black Dog or drive every night to an over-priced restaurant.

So what I do instead is observe and learn, and my father-in-law has been a superb teacher. Now we have two sets of grandkids with us—grandchildren to Beth and myself, great grandchildren to Poppy and Nonnie—who are able in seconds to ransack just about anything they choose.

The problem Beth and I faced this year is that, because we arrived a day ahead of the kids, we spent a quiet, peaceful night in a house all by ourselves with food,

JULY 18 - 21 Shrek, the Musical, FlynnSpace, Burlington. Evening and matinee performances of the hilarious story of everyone’s favorite ogre. Tickets $16/ adult, $14/child. Info: 86-FLYNN or flynntix.org.

JULY 25 - 28 The Fantasticks, Town Hall Theater, Middlebury. Evening and matinee performances of the longest running musical in theater history by The Skinner Barn of Waitsfield. Tickets $20. Info: 802-382-9222 or townhalltheater.org.

BOOKS MONDAY, JULY 8 Chris Bohjalian and Stephen Kiernan: The Light in the Ruins Rock-and-Roll Book Tour and The Curiosity, 7p.m. Fletcher Free Library, Burlington. Phoenix Books and the library welcome local authors.

Both will discuss and read from their new works. Info: fletcherfree.org.

TUESDAYS, JULY 9, 16, 23, 30 Lunch Time Read Aloud!, Brown Dog Books, Hinesburg. Bring your lunch and your appetite to hear a story. Info: 482-5189 or browndogbooksandgifts. com.

TUESDAY JULY 16 Camp Boyfriend Launch Party, 4:30 p.m., Flying Pig Bookstore, Shelburne.

The debut novel from J. K. Rock deals with issues of popularity and staying true to yourself that will resonate with most teens. RSVP at 985-3999 or flyingpigbooks.com.

shelves, furniture and utensils all in order and a porch uncluttered by bubble blowers and scoop toys. We were suckered into complacency like a couple of clams.

We should have known that peace would be a temporary dream, a figment of an adult imagination, and that upon arrival, the opportunity to turn not one but two houses upside down would be glorious undertakings for a pair of six-year-old twins, watched with intensity by a three-

FARMERS MARKETS Burlington Farmers Market Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m., City Hall Park, Burlington Bristol Farmers Market Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., Village Green, Bristol Fletcher Allen Health Care Farmers Market Thursdays, 2:30 – 5:30 p.m., FAHC, Davis Concourse of the hospital, Burlington Hinesburg Farmers Market Thursdays, 3:30 – 6:30 p.m., United Church of Hinesburg, Route 116 (Main St.), Hinesburg Middlebury Farmers Market Wednesdays and Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Marbleworks, Middlebury Online Farmers Market – yourfarmstand.com Browse and order online and pick up close to home! For more info e-mail info@yourfarmstand.com or visit yourfarmstand.com.

Richmond Farmers Market Fridays, 3 – 6:30 p.m., Volunteers Green, Richmond Shelburne Farmers Market Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Church St. and Rte. 7, Shelburne South Burlington Farmers Market Sundays, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., South Burlington High School, Dorset Street Williston Farmers Market Wednesdays, 4 – 7 p.m., New England Federal Credit Union Parking Lot, 141 Harvest Lane, Williston Vergennes Farmers Market Thursdays, 3 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Village Green, Main Street, Vergennes

PLAY BALL 2013 LAKE MONSTERS JULY HOME GAME SCHEDULE

at historic Centennial Field, Burlington (milb.com)

Sunday, July 7 HUDSON VALLEY 5:05 p.m.

Monday, July 8 HUDSON VALLEY 7:05 p.m.

Tuesday, July 9 HUDSON VALLEY 11:05 a.m.

Wednesday, July 17 ABERDEEN 7:05 p.m.

Thursday, July 18 ABERDEEN 7:05 p.m.

Friday, July 19 ABERDEEN 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, July 20 AUBURN 6:05 p.m.

weather is good because the backyard holds us all. Inclement weather makes the porch feel like a lower Manhattan subway car at rush hour. A positive feature has resulted, however, as both dads rediscovered the value of lacrosse sticks and tennis balls with bushes surrounding the yard that hid the balls while parents grabbed sips of cool Margaritas between throws.

Trips “up island” were also daily features. The old parental “nap” ruse,

Poppy napping with Paddington Bear on Martha’s Vineyard.

year-old cousin and cheered with tongue over new teeth by his baby brother.

The first words out of three-year-old Teddy’s mouth were, “Look mom, I can go from this book shelf to the top of this little three-legged table to the back of the couch to the arm chair with no rungs— almost to South America without touching carpet. And just in case you missed my first try I’ll make several passes followed by an extremely loud and highpitched, WATCH THIS EVERYBODY!” While at times it seems as though we are feeding a full Fenway Park, there really are only 16 of us at the table. Clement

“You’ve been good, so get in the car, we’re driving 20 miles for ice cream,” worked more often than not. Ice cream on fingers, knees and nose, the Chilmark Store front porch underneath them, the entire Merritt clan cleansed their souls and palettes.

And I learned some things along the route. I discovered that simply calling yourself a “drug store” doesn’t make it any longer. You have to be an apothecary.

Movie theaters are rapidly becoming antecedents of a changing technology. Two dead ones stand with boarded doors and signs announcing the “New Cary Grant

Sunday, July 21 AUBURN 5:05 p.m.

Monday, July 22 AUBURN 7:05 p.m.

Friday, July 26 TRI-CITY 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, July 27 TRI-CITY 6:05 p.m.

Sunday, July 28 LOWELL 5:05 p.m.

Monday, July 29 LOWELL 7:05 p.m.

Movie” in downtown Oak Bluffs, one of the busiest sections of the Island. Public bathrooms—oh, don’t get me started.

Snooty wharf-front Edgartown doesn’t have one without preceding your visit with a $25 luncheon order (that doesn’t include the ketchup). Three blocks up the hill, the public library does provide facilities as long as you whisper. Oh, to be like three-year-old Teddy again and just drop trou.

Many island houses still surround their chimneys with widow’s walks, but I have to admit that I’ve yet to see a widow walking any of them. Carly Simon (and now Burlington’s Nector’s) has given up her Hot Tin Roof near the airport, and some of the best lobster rolls anywhere can be found across the harbor from “Squid Row” in Menemsha. Now, I know our president prefers to overlook the Oak Bluffs pier while munching lobster, but each to his own taste.

So, with that said, here is my advice for those heading to Martha’s Vineyard—the Obamas included. Bring many books, a cribbage board, three decks of cards, in the event two fall through the cracks in the porch and one attempts the Kennedy swim to Chappaquidick, and a fully financed charge card.

One final word of caution: Remember your wife’s ice cream order between home and the Ben and Bill’s store (yes, that’s its true name), so that one does not come back, as I did, with mint chocolate chip, aka, the “anything but” flavor I trundled down Circuit Avenue to purchase.

After 43 years of Mad Martha’s and now Ben and Bill’s you would think this boy would learn. Al- though, even to the guy coming down the street, guitar on his back saying, “Hey mister, can you tell me where a man might find that pistachio?”

I just grinned and shook his hand. “No” was all I said.

The Charlotte News

Charlotte Senior Center

by Mary Recchia, Activities Coordinator

A reminder that the Genealogy Group will meet on Friday, July 5, from 1–3 p.m.

Do you want to research your ancestors but are not sure how to get started? Have you started your search and need some ideas on what to try next? Come have some fun, share ideas, trade information and tell stories of your journey through history. Family Tree Maker and Ancestory.com are available at the center to assist you in your search.

No fee.

–––– Let’s Ride! with Sojourn Bicycling on Tuesday morning, July 9, beginning at 9 a.m. from the center.

Get outdoors, meet some folks and enjoy yourself!

Join Charlotte-based Sojourn for fun, supported recreational rides along the best cycling roads in the region. This trip will go to Essex, N.Y., where you will enjoy van support and the camaraderie of Sojourn tour leaders. Snacks and refreshments will be provided, and we will return to the center by noon.

If you would like to come along but don’t have a bike, let us know.

For $15 Sojourn will provide you with a properly sized bicycle. Registration required. Fee for ferry.

–––– “Sail” by ferry to Essex for a Mid-Day Concert and Lunch coordinated by Harriett Brainard, Mary Harry and Tani Gagner. We will meet at the Senior Center at 10 a.m. and go together to board the 10:30 a.m. Charlotte ferry. The concert takes place at the Essex Community Church, a one-block walk from the ferry dock, starts at 11:30 a.m. and lasts about 45 minutes. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

Afterward, you can visit the unusual shops in town and stop in at one of the local eateries for a bite to eat

before returning home to Charlotte via ferry by 4 p.m.

Please call the center for a detailed description of each concert offering: July 11: Immanuel Davis, flute trio.

July 18: Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival.

Registration required. Fee: Lunch money and $6.50 for roundtrip ferry ride.

–––– Kayak Trips for Women provide an opportunity for like-minded older women who share a love for recreational kayaking, paddling and exploring our many local lakes, ponds and rivers. We help each other, laugh a lot and have fun.

Our second trip will go to Arrowhead Mountain Lake in Georgia and Milton on July 12, and on July 26 we will paddle from Kingsland Bay to Charlotte Beach. To register your interest, please respond by e-mail directly to Susan Hyde, susanfosterhyde@gmail.com.

–––– Join Phyllis Bartling and Sukey Condict for Tubing on the White River Thursday, July 18, and Friday, Aug. 2, from 9 a.m.–3 p.m., weather permitting.

Affectionately known as the tubing capital of Vermont, “The Stockbridge Yacht Club,” as the locals call it, has the finest tubing on the White River. For $13 you get a tube and a shuttle up the river, and then you are on your own for the three–mile float down the river that takes about two hours—slow enough to just sit back and watch the world go by.

The water is no more than a couple of feet deep, but even in its deeper holes the bottom of the river is crystal clear. Enjoy summer in full swing at one of Vermont’s natural playgrounds! A hat, sunscreen and water shoes are recommended. Pack a bag

MONDAY, JULY 8: Persian barley soup, cold broccoli salad, and homemade dessert

lunch to enjoy at the end of the trip on the “shore” with fellow tubers.

Reservations required. We will meet and carpool from the Senior Center.

Fee: $13.

–––– “Art Inspired by Poetry and Song.” That is the 2013 theme for our eighth annual fall Charlotte Senior Center Community Art Show, which will hang in the Great Room during the month of September.

Again, we encourage all of you “creative spirits” in our community, 50 years old or older, to enter. Registration forms with specific details will be available in the foyer by Friday, July 19. (Deadline for submitting forms is August 16.) As always, artists, friends and relatives are invited to gather at an artists reception on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at 1 p.m. for an opportunity to meet the artists and take part in discussions about their art.

–––– Events Following the Wednesday Luncheon at 1 p.m. Those who do not share lunch with us are welcome to drop in around 1 p.m. to enjoy the after- lunch offerings: July 10: The Charlotte 250: That’s How the Story Goes! Part IV. A Perceptions Production by Don and Betty Ann Lockhart As part of the 250th Celebration of Charlotte, the Lockharts have compiled fascinating stories about our town from 29 Charlotters to be presented in a four-part series.

With a backdrop of “The Charlotte Song” composed and sung by Robert Resnik and Marty Morrissey, this is a must-see series for anyone who loves our little town! Part IV speakers include Valerie Graham, Jeanne Brink, Jenny Cole and Clark Hinsdale III.

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The Café Menu

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10: tomatoes stuffed with tuna salad, orzo salad MONDAY, JULY 15: assorted sandwiches, salad, and Mom’s cherry cobbler WEDNESDAY, JULY 17: grilled linguica, Mediterranean potato salad, tossed salad MONDAY, JULY 22: butternut squash/ cranberry soup, green salad, and lemon yogurt with blueberries Guitar music will be played from 11p.m. to noon WEDNESDAY, JULY 24: ginger beef & noodle salad, Asian cucumber salad MONDAY, JULY 29: chef’s choice, salad, and blueberry cobbler WEDNESDAY, JULY 31: grilled Italian sausage w/peppers and onion

Senior LunCheonS are held every Wednesday at noon. Reservations are necessary in advance and can be made by calling the Senior Center at 425-6345. A $4 donation is requested. Reservations are not required for the Monday Munch.

Don't Miss 'Bluegrass and Berries' Festival The Basin Harbor Club will present the first installment of its summer music festival series with a selection of local bluegrass and folk music, as well as berry-inspired refreshments. This event takes place on July 6 from 2 to 10 p.m.

Musical entertainment will include sets by Caroline Rose, The Blind Owl Band, Patti Casey, After the Rodeo, the Dupont Brothers, Red Hot Juba, and Belle Pines.

Tickets can be purchased online at basinharbor.com for $15 until July 5. Tickets will also be sold at the door for $18.For more information, call 800-622-4000 or 475-2311.

The Charlotte News

SPORTS

by Edd Merritt

Cluff retires from St. Mike’s coaching position Charlotte’s Greg Cluff, who has been coaching the St. Michael’s College women’s tennis team for the past ten years, has announced his retirement. Cluff led the team to 124 wins with only 65 losses over the past decade. He took them to the NCAA Tournament three times and was named the Northeast-10 Conference coach of the year twice.

Despite Rainy Weather, Little League All Stars Play Ball After a frustrating week of rain delays, postponed games, rescheduled games, indoor practice and lots of miles on parents’ cars, the Charlotte Little League 11/12 All Star team finally completed its first game of pool play on Saturday, June 29, at Schifilliti Park in Burlington. Charlotte won in a well-played, competitive

game against Mt. Abraham of Addison County with a final score of 12 to 10. If Mother Nature cooperates, the Charlotte team will play four more games in the next week, and its record will determine if it moves onto the next round of the playoffs that ultimately culminates in the Little League World Series.

Sydney Beldock named first team all Western New England lacrosse Sydney Beldock finished her junior year at the Berkshire School in Sheffield, Mass., this spring. As a junior, she was captain of the lacrosse team and was named to the first team all Western New England squad after scoring 40 goals and adding 20 assists over the season. Sydney played lacrosse for Shelburne’s Field House team, CVU High School and Charlotte Central School prior to entering Berkshire.

Charlotte’s Maeve Higgins is lone CVU top finisher in heptathlon Upcoming sophomore Maeve Higgins was the lone CVU runner to finish among the top three runners in individual events at the 38th annual Heptathlon Championships at UVM in mid June. She placed third in the 800-meter run.

CVU’s Autumn Eastman named athlete of the year Only a junior this past year, CVU track star Autumn Eastman was named the Gatorade athlete of the year for Vermont. In this year’s state track meet she was an individual winner twice and anchored the 4 by 800-meter relay squad to victory. In winning the 800- meter run, she broke a long-standing Division I record, and she and her relay mates smashed the 4-by-800 record as well. Interested in a career in health care, Autumn is pursuing that desire through UVM’s MedQuest program this summer.

American Legion Baseball off to a soggy start SD Ireland, the local American Legion baseball team, should probably stay as far away from Essex as possible.

In three games between the two teams over the last week of June, Ireland dropped all of them. Unearned runs in the opener proved to be the problem in a 4-1 loss on June 22.

Two days later Essex was forced to hold off an Ireland rally in the top of the seventh inning to keep its 6-5 win, and the teams combined for four home runs several days later with Essex again pulling away in the latter innings for an 8-4 victory.

Cole Brown dashes down the base path during a recent game.

00 xt 3 bills d get $25. off your ne !

Sign up by April 10 an 00 the Vermont Foodbank to 0. $1 te na do ill w plus we

Cole Otley (above) throws a pitch during a recent Charlotte Little League game against Mt. Abraham.

com in which participants encouraged parents to purchase gift certificates from the business as an end-of-theyear gift for school staff, and registering CCS in the state’s “Safe Route to Schools” program, which encourages more students to walk or bike to school.

“Over the six weeks of the game, we had over 200 players complete more than 2,500 challenges,” says Vermontivate co-founder Nick Lange. “That’s triple what we had last year. Hopefully,” he adds, “we can expand throughout the whole state, and then take Vermontivate nationwide.”

"The best part about Vermontivate is that it makes taking action on such a

Vermontivate continued from page 1

players to learn about sustainabilityrelated concepts, such as fair trade and Gross National Happiness, as well as take on challenges with real-world impact, such as participating in the Way To Go Commuter Challenge, creating a Zero Waste Day in their home, starting compost piles, test-driving electric cars and visiting the decorated rain barrels in Burlington that educate citizens about water quality in Lake Champlain.

Town Teams also took on collective challenges such as setting up an information table at the South Burlington Farmers Market, hosting a public localvore potluck in Charlotte and organizing a weeklong “Buycott” in Calais to encourage people to buy everything they need from their small town.

Rebecca Foster was one of the driving forces behind Charlotte’s success in this year’s event, noted Holmes.

“Thanks to Rebecca Foster’s motivational e-mails, leadership and cheerleading, the team pulled in extra points for various challenges,” she said.

These challenges included a town-wide local and foraged food potluck dinner, a “buycott” of Yourfarmstand. A young Vermontivate particpant holds up the 2013 Madame Pheobe's Award.

SATURDAY HOURS.

Ben & Jerry's served 800 scoops of ice cream at the Vermontivate celebration.

serioius issue so much fun," said player Karen McKenny.

For her part, Holmes will definitely participate again. “It took me several weeks to understand how the game

Attendees big and small took advantage of the nice weather and the cool treat.

News From the Library

by Margaret Woodruff

Summer Reading Program: DIG Into Reading

Charlotte Family Health Center Richard H. Bernstein, MD – Family Practice Andrea Regan, MD – Family Practice Gordon Gieg, MD – Family Practice

527 Ferry Road, Charlotte / 802-425-2781 A PART OF THE CHARLOT TE COMMUNIT Y SINCE 19 7 5

works,” she said. “Now that I do, I look forward to being able to jump right in next year.”

For more on Vermontivate, visit vermontivate.com.

July 8 to 12: Animals in Caves & Holes.Who lives in that hole in the ground? Or that cave on the hill? Bats, squirrels, chipmunks and foxes do! We’re lucky to have them all in Vermont.

Join us this week to learn all about these creatures.

Tuesday, July 9, 10:30 a.m.: Critter Story Time for ages 3 to 5. Registration required.

Wednesday, July 10, 1 p.m.: Movie Antz Thursday, July 11, 10:30 a.m.: Exploring Animals for ages 6 & up. Registration required.

July 15 to 19: Rock Out at the Library.

Where do those mysterious rocks and minerals come from? Discover the answers as we delve into the rocky world of geology with hand lenses, cool books, crystal recipes and microscopes, too.

Tuesday, July 16, 10:30 a.m.: Rocks All Around for ages 6 & up. Registration required.

Wednesday, July 17, 1 p.m.: Movie Gnomeo and Juliet Thursday, July 18, 2 p.m.: Project Micro with Jan Schwarz: Dig into the microscopic realm of rocks, minerals and other wonders.

Ages 6 & up. Registration required.

Friday, July 19, 10:30 a.m.: Teen Rocks!

Explore iridescent art as we make prismacolor stones…all you need to do is hold a pencil. Ages 12 and up. Registration required.

It’s not too late to sign up. Share your favorite book titles with us and try out our new marble run to keep track of all the reading you do.

Town Party and Friends of the Library Book Sale. In case you missed the buzz, the Party of the Year is Saturday, July 6, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Stock up your shelves with summer reading, discover activities from around town, meet and greet old friends and new.

JUST A REMINDER New Hours (*) at the Library Starting July 1 Mondays: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. *Tuesdays: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Wednesdays: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. *Thursdays: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. *Fridays: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. *Saturdays: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Charlotte News

Waiting for the Right Moment Sam Johnson is on this season’s “America’s Got Talent,” but it’s a different TV show that he's really passionate about.

Brett Sigurdson The Charlotte News

Any other time and Sam Johnson wouldn’t have done it. The handstand on the sway pole 80 feet in the air, on national television, for a crowd of ten million, that is.

Johnson was one of several people to vie for a handful of competition spots on the popular NBC show “America’s Got Talent” on June 4. As Johnson tells it, he stayed motionless on the pole just below the handstand supports for close to three minutes, waiting for the wind from Lake Pontchartrain to subside enough for him do to the acrobatic stunt he’d traveled 2,000 miles in a rental truck full of equipment to do.

The producers of “America’s Got Talent” bused in a large audience to watch the show at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. When it came time for Johnson’s performance, everyone walked outside to stand and watch.

Johnson doesn’t get nervous before these performances. It’s what being an entertainer is all about. He knew that most of the hard work happens before the stunt with correctly setting up the sway pole and its guy wires.

He could hear the crowd below creating the most sustained wave of noise he had ever experienced. Still, he waited for the right time, swaying back and forth in the wind. *** Only a few weeks before he was working at Spear Street Mower Specialties in East Charlotte. He had largely given up on the street performer game he’d been a part of since he was 13, when he got involved with Circus Smirkus. His last project, the Old Iron Circus—which he debuted at the East Charlotte Tractor Parade—fell through for several reasons. He tried to go the police academy, but that fell through, too. A single parent with a five-year-old child at home, he thought it was time to pack in the lifestyle.

But then he received a call from the producers of “America’s Got Talent.”

They had seen a video collection of his tricks on the Internet and asked him to do a pre-audition for the show. He said no. They then invited him to the audition show in New Orleans to do his sway-pole-handstand trick, and he said yes.

However, Johnson hadn’t done the trick in almost two years. He wasn’t even sure where his equipment was.

While these things weighed heavy on him as he prepared for his performance, he was excited by the prospect of a last hurrah and the excitement of the unknown.

On his drive down to Louisiana he told everyone he met that he was going to be on television. When he arrived on Saturday, the day before the Sunday taping of the show, he began to set up his sway pole—a cameraman recorded him the whole time—and the familiar feeling of being in the air came back to him. *** Johnson’s former troop, the Big Aerial Show, was once performing at the Arizona State Fair at the same time the Travel Channel was recording footage for a television show. While Johnson was being interviewed, a producer asked him about his life on the road, thinking it would make great television. Johnson agreed and contacted two production companies about hosting a documentary television series. From all his years on the road he had heard a lot of people, knew a lot of people. However, that fell through, too.

Last summer, a cameraman from the Travel Channel show contacted him to see if he’d be up for making a short pilot for the show to take around to production companies. They traveled to Boston to look into the lives of street performers David Graham and Tobin Renwick of the Red Trouser Show and Jason Escape, whose act is equal parts Houdini and AC/DC. Johnson sat on the footage for a while and then started editing it into a pitch for “Street Performers with Sam Johnson.” While he didn’t have any past editing experience, he went by feeling, getting feedback from friends and family about how it flowed. He’s excited by storytelling, by sharing the lives of the people who share his passion for street performance.

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He was going to start a Kickstarter fundraising campaign when he got the call from “America’s Got Talent.”

Johnson doesn’t even like television and had a hard time waiting up to watch his own segment. He makes no bones about his desire to use “America’s Got Talent” as a springboard for launching his documentary project. If it can help him realize his dream to make “Street Performers with Sam Johnson” a reality, then he’ll play along.

“I want it to be my destiny,” he said.

Sam Johnson—also known as Slackwire Sam—juggles fire on a unicycle high in the air. It's tricks like this that got him noticed by producers at America's Got Talent.

*** The episode of “America’s Got Talent” doesn’t show him waiting near the top. With a dramatic musical score as a backdrop, Johnson is shown briefly looking at the audience below and saluting them with an outstretched hand.

As the pole waves from side to side Johnson is all determination. Any fear he may have is captured by footage of gasping crowd members or the shocked banter between the celebrity judges.

When Johnson angles himself into position and lifts his legs to the sky and holds them outstretched toward the sun, the crowd goes wild. He holds the position only briefly, but when he comes back down, he’s welcomed like a hero.

As the crowd moved back into the theater Johnson took some time to reflect. He was mad at himself for pushing beyond his usual safety threshold.

From not having done the trick in two years to doing it under these intense conditions? Crazy.

But this is what appealed to the judges, and they liked what he did enough to send him on to the next round in Las Vegas. Though the episode has already been taped, Johnson can’t say anything

about it due to the conditions of his contract. However, an NBC representative did note he would be featured on an episode airing on July 18.

After the first episode aired he found he had around 200 new Facebook friend requests, most of them from northern Maine, where he grew up. “It was great getting support from all these people in the past,” he said.

Johnson recalls waiting with other performers on “America’s Got Talent”— singers, musicians, dancers, daredevils. Everyone was chatty and friendly and interested despite the stakes. It was like the old vaudeville days but relocated to the 21st century, he said. This is the world of performers that many don’t see, the world he wants to share with everyone.

Johnson is eager for the day when he can have the financial wherewithal and connections to make his real television debut. Until then, he’ll wait patiently for the right moment to come along.

To find out more about “Street Performers with Sam Johnson,” visit his Facebook page.

Charlotte Conservation Currents Butterflies in Charlotte Gary Pittman Contributor

W

hile walking through my emerging Charlotte forest this spring I noticed a beautiful mourning cloak butterfly resting next to the trail.

Thus began a process of wondering, “What is the role of the butterfly?” Do butterflies need conservation practices similar to birds and other wildlife? We all recognize swallowtails and monarchs, as well as see many

other open field varieties, but what about the lesser-known forest dwellers?

Butterflies play an important role in the natural world as part of the food web, as pollinators and as herbivores. I was saddened by reports of declining populations of many of these beautiful creatures due to habitat loss, invasive species, pesticide use and climate change.

Apart from the mourning cloak, which is fairly common, I learned that there are four lesser-known species that inhabit Charlotte’s clayplain forests and are classified as species of greatest conservation need. The West Virginia white, occupying maple-beech-birch forests, is most endangered. Early hairstreak butterflies are found in beech stands. Hackberry and tawny emperors favor the clayplain forest.

Most woodland butterflies will be found along trails and the forest edge or other small open meadows. Conservation recommendations are the same as for other wildlife species. There are needs to have structural complexity, habitat diversity and landscape conductivity.

I will be much more aware of the butterfly while walking woodland trails.

Gary Pittman is a member of the Charlotte Conservation Commission

A tawny emperor butterfly

The 'Hearts' of Charlotte Larry Hamilton Contributor “Hearts of oak are our ships; hearts of oak are our men.”

So goes an old British Navy song that I learned and loved from my time in World War II as a pilot in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It conjures up the strength, tenacity and reliability of oak trees of various species for a myriad of uses.

There may be as many as 450 oak species worldwide, at least 22 in eastern North America and at least six in Charlotte. One very large and old one, dating from around 200 years ago, and one rather young one, planted in 2012, are shown in the photo.

These trees are swamp white oak, a species native to our Champlain Valley Clayplain Forest.

Other species occurring naturally in Charlotte include white, bur, red, black, scarlet and chestnut oaks. Nearby relatives include Chinquapin oak and pin oak (the latter being widely planted here as an ornamental). Precise identification is often difficult because the white oak group (white, bur, swamp white) hybridize readily. They are long-lived but fairly fast-growing trees.

The oldest known tree in Charlotte is in Williams Woods and several years ago was aged 380 years.

Oak trees have been held in high esteem down through the ages. To the early Druids the oak was a sacred tree, and it hosted the sacred mistletoe (a guard against evil).

Oaks were consecrated to Zeus, and oracles were given by oaks in the Sacred Grove of Dodona. The Romans thought oak wood to be lucky, and they made dice of oak. In Europe, the oak tree has been considered the Tree of Justice, and particularly in Switzerland and Germany local magistrates sat under an oak to render a judgment.

Here in the United States, charters and legal documents in early days were signed under an oak tree. The famous Charter Oak, a large white oak tree that costood in

Hartford, Connecticut, came by its name when, in 1687 Connecticut’s Royal Charter of 1662 ccwas hidden in a hollow of its trunk to safeguard it from being revoked.

Aside from its valued wood for furniture, flooring, barrels, shipbuilding and as a fine fuel wood, its crop of acorns makes it a fine asset for wildlife in our forests. The acorns of the white oaks nourished Native Americans and early European settlers.

The acorns must be leached of tannins by boiling or soaking, and today only locavore foragers take the time and trouble to make a nutty flour from acorns. For many forms of wildlife, however, acorns are a staple, highly nutritious food. The State Wildlife Department maps and lists concentrations of these valued mast producers as Necessary Wildlife Habitat and has successfully protected many of them in the Act 250 process.

Charlotters be warned—next year we will probably experience very large populations of squirrels and chipmunks. This spring we have experienced remarkable flowering of most of our trees, providing stunning sights of lilacs, flowering crabs and plums, and black locusts. Oaks, too, flowered prolifically, especially red oaks. I look for a bumper crop of acorns.

Other mast-producing trees such as beech, hickory and hop-hornbeam are also producing large crops. Of course, as well as the aforementioned rodents, other species such as deer, grouse, turkey and bear will benefit also. In “normal” years oak reproduction is inhibited by acorn predation by insects, squirrels and chipmunks, but every so often a “swamping” of the opposition occurs, and oaks are able to reproduce and perpetuate their presence in our forests.

This fall looks like one of these.

We are fortunate to have so many oaks in Charlotte! To see the largest bur oak in town and its smaller offspring grouped around it, visit the Charlotte Park and Wildlife Reserve and walk the nature trail.

At station 7 you can see the champion with an impressive circumference of 152 inches.

Larry Hamilton is Charlotte’s volunteer tree warden.

Solar Hot Water Taking Off in Charlotte

Solar hot water panels on the roof of a building on Linda and Larry Hamilton’s property.

F

or a town of only 3,600 people, Charlotte is ahead of towns 10 times its size when it comes to efficiently heating water with the sun. In fact, Charlotte led Chittenden County in new solar hot water installations in 2012.

A driving force behind this trend is Co-op Solar – a program run by the Energy Co-op of Vermont. John Quinney, the general manager of the Co-op and a Charlotte resident, attributes the rapid adoption of solar in Charlotte to three factors: a desire to reduce energy consumption in order to save money and reduce pollution; the affordability of solar; and how easy Co-op Solar has made the evaluation and installation process.

“It’s usually just a one-day project, then families save on their energy bills for decades to come,” said Quinney.

Big savings By solar-heating the cold water that flows into its existing hot water tank, one family on Greenbush Road is saving almost $600 a year in electricity charges. Another family on Mt. Philo Road has reduced its annual fuel oil consumption by over 110 gallons.

Charlotters and Energy Co-op of Vermont members Linda and Larry Hamilton had their solar hot water system installed through the Co-op Solar program in 2012. Said Linda, “We’ve only had the solar hot water panels since last summer, and already there’s a noticeable drop in our oil use.”

By partnering with Shelburne-based Sunward Systems, and coupled with federal and state incentives, the Co-op

has lowered the cost of installing solar hot water, on average, by almost 50 percent.

National and local leadership “Vermonters are leading the way,” said Thomas Hughes, CEO of Sunward Systems. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, in 2011 Vermont installed more solar hot water systems per capita than any other state in the country.

The success of the program has not gone unnoticed. Co-op Solar received the Vermont Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for the program’s contributions towards sustainability in Vermont.

Delivering heating fuel has been one of the Energy Co-Op’s main sources of revenue since its founding in 2000.

Quinney explains the organization’s transition to renewable energy options by saying, “All of these evolutions reduce the gallons of oil the Energy Co-op sells each year, but our business is more varied, more responsive, and stronger for it.”

Free site assessment Co-Op Solar offers a free site assessment, followed by a no-cost, no-obligation consultation that details system costs, payback period and financial and environmental savings over time.

The deadline for Charlotte residents and business owners to sign up for the program is July 10. For more information or to sign up, go to co-opsolar.net or call the Co-op at (802) 860-4090.

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The Charlotte News

New Beginnings Bradley Carleton Contributor

A

bout nine years ago, a woman from the Shelburne Community School asked me if I would consider mentoring a young man who was challenged to adhere to some basic social tenets of the institution. I accepted the challenge and began meeting him once a week during school time.

We got to know one another and realized that we shared a common passion, the outdoors.

We would talk at length about things that 14-year- olds experience and soon formed a bond where, in the hour we would spend together, he taught me one of the most valuable lessons of my life: that my actions could have a significant impact on someone younger.

What I said, what I thought about, how I handled my own life, even my deep passion for hunting and fishing, became the central driver of our connection.

Soon I was introduced to his caretakers and found that our relationship took on a new form, that of ice fishing partners. I would work him into my weekly rituals of jigging for panfish, sitting on a pickle bucket out in Shelburne Bay. Sometimes we caught yellow perch, sometimes the nearly translucent rainbow smelt, but every expedition we undertook, I learned more about my purpose in life.

My strongest desire is to share the world of the hunter, fisher and gatherer with others who might not otherwise

consider it. I mentored seven more young men over the following eight years and started writing about my outdoor exploits. Soon, I was offered a monthly column in a regional publication, then another.

Before long, my passion was bringing me greater rewards than I could have imagined. I decided to start a mentoring program based on the belief that nature can teach us so many valuable lessons, as well as comfort us in times of stress. I decided to call it “Traditions Outdoor Mentoring.”

Our mission would be to work with at-risk young men who may not have male role models in their lives A young girl enjoys a catch on Free Fishing Day. and teach them outdoor pursuits focusing on respect, empathy and had been “rescued” from joining a compassion. We took two young men at a time and con- metropolitan gang in Texas. During a structed an outdoor curriculum that particularly difficult time, his psychiaencompassed habitat management, trist had told us that he was a sociopath species identification, firearms safety, and would inevitably wind up in jail. hunter education, animal calling, cam- His school counselors, therapist and I ouflage, scouting, landowner relations refuted that opinion, and we continued and more. For the full range of lessons to work with him. He is now a mature we offer, go to our website, tradition- and responsible young man who works soutdoormentoring.org and click on several jobs in Rhode Island and cares for his fiancé and one-year-old child.

“Curriculum.”

Another young man came to us This program often found that young wrestling with self-confidence issues men with ADD or ADHD, anti-social and was just trying to find his way behaviors or anger issues slowly dissolved through the application of time through adolescence. He mastered spent outdoors and being mindful of waterfowl hunting—scouting fields for geese and learning decoy sets—and the earth and all its manifestations.

We had one young man who recent- became truly an expert at the sport. ly contacted me, five years after fin- One day he announced to us that he ishing the program, asking me to be wanted to serve his country and join best man in his wedding next summer. the Marines. He is now serving in He had come to us as a student who Afghanistan. Although I do not like to

embrace war as a solution, we are very proud of his desire to serve his country.

Currently, we have a young man in our program who has gone from boastful and angry to a maturing 15-year-old who is learning the peaceful art of fly fishing. His casting abilities astound me. What took me 15 years to master he imitated and reached in less than a month.

While mentoring these young men I recognized that there was a small but growing community of people here in Charlotte who want to be able to connect to their environment on a meaningful level and perhaps even be responsible for the meat and vegetables they eat. We began teaching foraging, basic hunting ethics and fishing to those who were curious about where their food came from.

From this idea evolved Sacred Hunter.org, which now incorporates Traditions Outdoor Mentoring and contributes several articles a month to local publications, sponsors Free Fishing Day, and provides speakers for several outdoor events like Dead Creek Day in October or the Yankee Sportsman’s Classic in January.

We are currently conducting an online campaign to raise funds for more equipment for our young men. If you have ever felt compelled to give to a cause that contributes to the belief that we can all benefit from direct contact with nature, please visit our website or Facebook page and make a donation to our campaign at Indiegogo. com. Once at Indiegogo.com, do a search for “Sacred Hunter.”

Thank you for your consideration.

Now get outside!

Bradley Carleton is executive director of Sacred Hunter.org, a nonprofit that seeks to educate the public on the spiritual connection of man to nature and raises funds for Traditions Outdoor Mentoring.org, which mentors at-risk young men in outdoor pursuits.

Food Shelf News

by Kerrie Pughe

Thank you Thank you to the Charlotte Central School 8th grade graduating class.

We appreciate the leftover items from your graduation night party. Thanks to Charlotte Coop for the monthly support. Thank you, Meg Berlin, for the support. We thank Shirley Bean for the cereal and pasta donations and Rachael

Hutchins for the fresh farm eggs.

The Food Shelf Wednesday evening hours have been a great help to working families. Thanks go out to our Wednesday evening volunteers for making this additional time available to families.

Congratulations to Elizabeth Richards, who graduated with honors from Rice High School. She has been our long- time volunteer shopper.

We need clean jars with tight-fitting lids to dispense vegetable oil, dish soap, window cleaner and Pine Sol. Do you have some you could donate? Jars can be dropped off at Food Shelf drop boxes. Thanks! Also, we are stocking up with healthy summer snacks for kids. Any donations would be greatly appreciated.

Mark your calendars for the Charlotte Town Party on July 6. Audrey Bean has again this year made an afghan, which you can see and buy a raffle ticket for at the Food Shelf table. Tickets

are $2 each or 3 for $5. Everyone who visits our table gets a treat, so stop by.

The Food Shelf is run entirely by volunteers, so all donations go directly for food or emergency assistance. If you are a customer of yourfarmstand. com, you may make a donation to the Food Shelf as part of your online order; otherwise checks may be mailed to: Charlotte Food Shelf & Assistance 403 Church Hill Road P. O. Box 83 Charlotte, VT 05445 Donated food drop-off locations: All non-perishable food donations may be dropped off at the Charlotte Library, the Charlotte Congregational Church vestry, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church (main entrance) or at the Food Shelf during the distribution mornings. We request that all fresh foods be dropped off at the Food Shelf by 7:30 a.m. on the

distribution mornings (see “Ongoing Events” calendar).

The Charlotte Food Shelf is located on the lower level of the Charlotte Congregational Church vestry. We are open for food distribution from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 11, and Thursday, July 25, as well as from 5 to 7 p.m. on the Wednesday evenings before each Thursday distribution morning.

We are open to all community residents. Privacy is very important and respected in our mission of neighbor helping neighbor.

For emergency food call John 4253130. For emergency assistance (electricity, fuel) call Karen 425-3252.

For more information call Karen 4253252 or visit our website at https://sites. google.com/site/charlottefoodshelfvt/.

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In Charlotte, Refugee All Stars Bring It All Back Home From a brutal civil war to international acclaim, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars are an inspiring success story. Despite the past, the band looks forward on a new album it recorded in Charlotte last month.

Brett Sigurdson The CharloTTe News

I

are fighting, the grass will suffer.” The music is catchy, upbeat—one could say happy. But it’s born from the most horrific circumstances imaginable, and the first songs don’t shy away from the life of a refugee or the horrors of war.

In spite of the circumstances that bring them together, the band members find a kind of solace and hope in each other and in the music. The film shows the band traveling to other refugee camps, making people dance and lose themselves in the

t’s around noon at Lane Gibson Recording and Mastering on Carpenter Road, and the members of the Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars are hungry. They crowd around a picnic table, eagerly filling their plates with an African dish of rice, fish and meat cooked by guitarist Ashade Pearce.

It’s a taste of the band’s home country that is augmented by the lush, green mountains in the near distance, which evoke the members’ home country of Sierra Leone, said lead singer Reuben M. Komora.

“Vermont is beautiful,” he said just before grabbing a bowl to serve himself. "And the people are warm. Good people.”

The scenery is not the only thing that has made the band feel at home in Charlotte while it records a new album for Cumbancha, a record label headquarted in Charlotte and owned by renowned worldmusic expert Jacob Edgar.

The entire six-piece band, for example, stayed with Bill Racolin and Allison Williams (Above) Members of Sierra Leone's on Lake Road. They’ve also Refugee All Stars take a break from had a steady stream of visitors recording at Uncle Sam's in Charlotte. and old friends.

(Right) Lead singer Reuben M. Komora “The feel here is naturecords a vocal track at Lane Gibson ral,” said Koroma, comparing Charlotte to Brooklyn and Recording and Mastering.

New Orleans, where the band recorded its last two albums.

“And it looks like Africa, so it makes music. Throughout the film, us feel more connected than those gor- the band becomes a testageous cities. It’s really more homelike ment of the deep power of for us than any of the other places we’ve music to transcend tragedy.

“It’s been a long struggle recorded.” out of the war, out of miserHome—Sierra Leone—is an integral able conditions,” notes Koropart of the band’s story, which is capma, “We try to bring out sentured in the 2005 documentary Sierra sitive issues that are affecting Leone’s Refugee All Stars. As the docuthe world.

It is all of our responsibility mentary begins, the viewer is given backthat the masses are suffering. We bring ground on the story. From 1991 to 2002, our positive messages into the world Sierra Leone, a small country in West so we can expect a positive change in Africa, was embroiled in a devastating the world.

And, most importantly, bring civil war between rebel factions, governabout peace.” ment troops and peacekeeping forces.

The record that would follow, Living War crimes were prevalent on all sides.

Like a Refugee, and the film would go on To escape the brutality, many fled to the to become critical successes. The band neighboring country of Guinea. would go on to tour the world, playing The original band, all from the city of renowned stages like New York’s CenFreetown, came together in 2002 at the tral Park Summer Stage, Red Rocks and Sembakouny refugee camp in the RepubBonnaroo.

They appeared on the Oprah lic of Guinea. There was Reuben, who Winfrey Show, opened for Aero-smith sang and played drums, making a cymbal and earned praise from Paul McCartney, out of a hubcap and metal scraps, and his wife, Grace, who sings. There was Keith Richards, Ice Cube and Angelina Francis John Langba, or Franco, a guitar Jolie.

Through Zach Niles, a co-director of player who was so close to Reuben they the film who hails from Woodstock, followed each other everywhere. Arahim Edgar brought the band to Cumbancha played harmonica. His arm had been cut in 2006, around the same time he was off by rebels. Mohammed, a singer, nearcreating the label. He had seen the doculy had his eye sliced out by rebels. Black mentary and was struck by the musicians Nature, a young rapper, lost his father to and their story. the rebels and doesn’t know what hap“It revealed the people behind the stopened to his mother—he couldn’t even ries you here in the news,” he said. “They recognize her now, he said. have this effect through the sheer joy of The documentary opens with the band their music.

It resonates with people.” singing “Weapon Conflict,” which feaCumbancha released the All Stars’ tures lyrics like “When two elephants

next two albums, Rise and Shine (2010) and Radio Salone (2012). The new album is also a sort of return to the beginning for Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars.

The band has reunited with musician and producer Chris Velan, who produced the first album in Freetown. The sound too is also meant to be a link to the band’s first album—a stripped-down, raw throwback to its acoustic beginnings.

Yet, Koroma said the band won’t be looking back to the horrors of war that

were a part of the band’s original sound.

The new songs deal largely with love, said Koroma, and have titles like “Ghana Baby,” “Treat You Right” and “You Can’t Make Me Lonely.” While the war is part of the band’s legacy, these are reflections of where the group is at now.

“Our music really responds to activities that are occurring,” he said. “We talk about the present now. When we were refugees we talked about our experience being refugees. So know that we are no more refugees, we are returnees, we are sharing the experiences of our real lives.

“However, there are still political songs like ‘Rich but Poor’ that speak against class differences in Sierra Leone created by a wealthy minerals industry that not everyone has benefitted from.”

Despite their world renown, the band members—nearly all of whom still live in Freetown—are not particularly prosperous in Sierra Leone. They don’t perform often in their home country because they don’t have a PA system. They don’t have cars—a sign of prosperity in Africa—and have trouble getting to gigs. One of the band’s goals on their summer tour is to purchase cars to ship back home.

The band hopes to start a radio station in Freetown called Radio Salone, which means “Sierra Leone” in the native language of Krio. “We want to have a kind of place for Sierra Leone’s local and traditional musicians, so that their songs can be heard, their interviews, so that we keep the culture awake.”

It’s only one of many ways the band members are trying to give back to their home country. The band and Cumbancha donated the revenue generated by the advertising placed on this video and the sale of the “Big Fat Dog” video on iTunes to World Food Program USA. They’ve partnered with other NGOs, too.

“Through this we’re able to help them raise money and awareness for the band,” said Edgar. “It’s a win-win for everybody.”

Edgar admits he feels different about Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars than other bands on Cumbancha. Their sound is more raw than other artists on the label, less clean.

They also don’t have experience with the DIY aspect of the music industry, the promotion and social media.

“But for me it’s more than that,” he said of being a sort of father figure for the band. “It’s about their genius music and the spirit that comes across in their music and in their personalities.”

Edgar has also seen the Charlotte community embrace the band.

Aside from the generosity of Racolin and Williams, Edgar put out a call for guitars on Front Porch Forum. He had to turn people away.

“The reality is I’m dealing with musicians who are not rich,” said Edgar. “It’s really, really nice to have that support from the community.”

“We’ve been very lucky on this recording,” said Koroma. “We have a lot of good people offering good things to just make it work. It’s really encouraging. All those hospitalities make us feel rich.”

The community feeling works both ways, Edgar added. He has an opendoor policy at the studio and welcomes Charlotters to visit to watch a recording session and find out more about world music.

“It’s a magical thing,” he said. “I love it because I love involving the community in what we’re doing here.”

See World Music Locally in July One thing that Edgar hopes to promote through Cumbancha is world music in Vermont. Charlotters can experience the sounds on several occasions locally this summer. On July 6, at Higher Ground Cumbancha is presenting The Garifuna Collective from Belize and Honduras, together with Vieux Farka Toure, from Mali. According to Edgar, the show is a very unique double bill of two of the best groups from Africa and the Caribbean. Details are at highergroundmusic.com On July 11 and 12 Cumbancha will be present Kobo Town, a phenomenal group from Trinidad by way of Toronto. On July 11 the band will be at Middlebury Festival on the Green, and July 12 it will appear at Club Metronome in Burlington. All details are available at kobotown.com.

For more information, or to get on Cumbancha’s mailing list, visit cumbancha.com.

The Charlotte News

Around Town Congratulations to the following Charlotte CVU graduates who received special recognition at the high school’s commencement exercises June 12 that was not listed in the previous issue of the Charlotte News: Carolyn Woodruff and Gabriel Peck-Frame who earned their diplomas summa cum laude. Carolyn, along with Isabelle Fenn earned recognition for Graduation Challenge projects, and Lilly Harris received the Cowboy Lewis Scholarship along with the Devost Scholarship and the Kessel Award. to Tyler Barnes and Julia Kiendl, students at Kent School, Kent, Conn., who earned placement on the honor roll for the spring term 2012-2013. Tyler will be a senior next fall and has been chosen to be a prefect to help run the senior class and is also a captain of the lacrosse and football teams. He is the son of Nancy and Jack Barnes of Charlotte. to Elizabeth Aube who was awarded a Master of Arts degree from Johnson State College at the school’s commencement on May 18. to Bianca Moureau, a Johnson State College undergraduate who earned placement on the school’s Dean’s List for the spring semester 2013. to Nicholas Carreiro who was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in global studies and international affairs from Emmanuel College, Boston. to Katherine Russell, a student at Binghamton University, Binghamton, N.Y., who earned the Edward Weisband Award for Distinguished Achievement in Political Science. It is awarded to a graduating senior who has demonstrated “high academic achievement and creativity and who has made an outstanding contribution to the political science department and demonstrated an abiding commitment to public affairs or public service.” to Patrick Sharrow who earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree with honors from Norwich University, Northfield. Patrick is a graduate of Charlotte Central School, Champlain Valley Union High School and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona, Fla. The son of Elaine and Harv Sharrow, he is an Operation Specialist at the Burlington International airport. to Ethan Merrill whose business, Duane Merrill & Co. of Williston was featured in an article in the June 26-July 3 Seven Days. His company was the site on Saturday, June 29, of a large sale of furniture and artifacts designed by Andrew Szoeke, who lived from 1893 to 1969. According to Merrill’s book and paper specialist, Linus Leavens, incorporation of decorative items into modernist furniture “is a great

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combination,” something Szoeke did well. Charlotte resident Ethan is the grandson of the gallery’s founder, Nathan Merrill. The idea for the auction business, he said, grew out of his grandfather’s work for Green Mountain Power during which time he became intrigued with what was stored in attics as he was installing wiring. Nathan later opened his antique business in Burlington. to Jasmin Townsend-Ng of Charlotte who won the third-grade award in the Public Broadcasting System’s KIDS GO! Writers Contest sponsored

by Vermont Public Television. Jasmin’s piece was entitled The Special Lantern Festival of Montreal, and it was based on a trip she and her parents took to Montreal for the festival. Jasmin’s book contains watercolor pictures of what she saw there and written descriptions. This is her third entry into KIDS GO! She plans to continue her writing with a story about her dog, Violet. to the following Charlotte students from Champlain Valley Union, Champlain Waldorf School and Rice Memorial High School who participated in the All-State Music Festival May 9 through 12. Orchestra members: McKinley James, Hayden Kjelleren, Noah Marconi, Graeme Waples, Colin Snyder, Robyn Leary and Eileen O’Grady; choral members: Chelsea Huber, Seamus Buxton, Delphine Vandal, Katie Bedell, Sarah Caffry, Arianne Davis, Evan Cohen, Cole Marino and Bill McSalis; band members: Christopher Jordan and Justin Belliveau. to the Charlotte Quilters who won the “Best Group” award for the “250” quilt that was entered in the Vermont Quilt Festival. The quilt portrays Charlotte landmarks that are part of the town’s 250year history. Members of the group who designed and constructed the 12 individual blocks are Shirley Bean, Aileen Chutter, MaryAnne Gatos, Tammy Hall, Joan Jamieson, Louise McCarren, Beth Merritt and Donna Pittman. The quilt’s permanent home is in Charlotte Town Hall. to Stephany and Bruce Hasse whose donation to the Vermont Children’s Hospital at Fletcher Allen Health Care will go toward the purchase of a hightech incubator for use in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Called “Giraffe on a Bed,” the unit has many features that provide an optimal environment for neonatal patients – things such as precise heat, humidity and oxygen control; a rotating mattress and easy access for caregivers. Stephany said she wanted to do something to honor her mother, Katherine Komen, who passed away recently. Lewis First, M.D., chief of pediatrics at Fletcher Allen, said, “The Hasses’ generosity is a great example of the wonderful support Vermont Children’s receives from individuals and communities throughout our region.” to Walter Judge, a Charlotte attorney with Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC whose interest and expertise

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was quoted in a recent article on Vermont Digger about litigation between organic seed growers and Monsanto Corp. The local growers apparently were seeking protection from potential lawsuits from the larger seed firm in the event that their crops were inadvertently cross-pollinated with the company’s patented genetic material. Judge questioned whether the lawyers for the small firms were really pursuing the case because they were afraid, despite what Monsanto's claims to the contrary, or whether they were using the court system as an attempt to draw publicity for themselves. He felt the issue of genetically modified seeds had relatively little to do with the court’s opinion and should not carry meaning for the larger GMO-related issues that spark controversy in Vermont. to Virginia Farley who, upon graduation from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA spent 5 1/2 weeks hiking 450 miles with two friends up the Appalachian Trail to Vermont. Having earned a BA in environmental science, Virginia found the hike to be an inspiring and fitting end to her four years of study. She admits, however, that she's in need of a pedicure.

Sympathy is extended to family and friends of Ronald Marble of Charlotte who passed away June 18 at the age of 87. Long affiliated with Marble’s Store (now Spear’s Corner Store) in East Charlotte, he leaves surviving family in town: a son Robert Marble, a daughter Sharon Winn and her husband Ron, and another daughter Tammy Clark with her husband Nick. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his memory to the VNA, 1110 Prim Road, Colchester, VT 05446. is extended to family and friends of Sarah N. Gruenig and David Parker III of Charlotte who passed away, she on October 17, 2012, he on June 17, 2013. They were friends and partners for over 40 years. Memories and condolences may be sent to the family at Parker/Gruenig, P.O. Box 159, Shelburne, VT 05482. is extended to family and friends of Ernest Keppel of Richmond, Va., who passed away June 20 at the age of 92. His surviving family includes his son Mark (“Woody”) Keppel and Woody’s wife, Andrea Grayson, of Charlotte. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory be made to the VMI Foundation, Lexington, VA, or to All Saints Church, 8787 River Road, Richmond, VA. is extended to family and friends of Leonard Metivier of Milton who passed away June 22 at the age of 87. His surviving family includes his son James Metivier and James’ wife, Christina, of Charlotte. The family asks that memorial donations in his name be made to the American Cancer Society, 55 Day Lane, Williston, VT 05495-1460. is extended to family and friends of David Waller NacNiven Conard of Shelburne who passed away June 24. An attorney with the firm of Langrock, Sperry and Wool, he and his family summered on Thompson's Point where he served on the Board of Directors of the Thompson's Point Association. The family asks that those wishing to make contributioons in his memory consider giving to the Vermont Youth conservation Corps, the Committee on Temporary Shelter or the Kelly Brush Foundation.

Clarification: Dr. John T. Pane, age 92 of Yonkers, N.Y., who passed away on May 20, 2013, was the father of Dr. John A. Pane of Charlotte. Our apologies for any confusion.