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July 16, 2016
Hinesburg Forest, first on Register of Historic Places By Lou Varricchio
lou@suncommunitynews.com
HINESBURG — England’s legendary Robin Hood may have made Sherwood Forest his hunting grounds in the annals of both history and myth, but there’s one thing that the ancient woodland lacks that one of our local forests has instead—U.S. National Park Service status. The Hinesburg Town Forest in Vermont has just received National Park Service-National Register of Historic Places status. The pocket forest, located between the towns of Hinesburg and Huntington, is situated onemile northeast of the edge of the state’s Fred Johnson Wildlife Management Area. It was established in 1936 and encompasses 837 acres. While somewhat difficult to approach, the forest land is between Texas Hill and Lincoln Hill roads. Not as old as even the youngest of England’s shire-managed forests, Hinesburg’s forest has been actively managed and maintained by the Hinesburg community over the past 80 years. It is the first town forest in the nation to be individually listed in the CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
Published by New Market Press, Inc.
Rutlanders barred on vote; state admits to refugees with TB
Serving more than 30,000 Readers Weekly
LUNCH IS SERVED!
By Bruce Parker Vermont Watchdog Report
RUTLAND — The City of Rutland Board of Aldermen barred residents from voting on Syrian refugee resettlement last week. By a 6-4 vote, board members rejected putting resettlement of 100 Syrian refugees on a ballot question to be voted on as early as the Aug. 9 primary. The move by the 11-member board quashed a citizens’ petition to hold a special election on the issue. CONTINUED ON PAGE 13
The warm, penultimate week of June was a perfect time to host an outdoor picnic, Vermont style. Owner Eric Denu (center) and his staff at Countryside Carpet and Paint, located on Creek Road in Middlebury, served hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and salad to hungry customers during the late morning and lunchtime hours on a sunny day. The retailer hosts similar events several times a year to show its appreciation for local home-improvement customers. Eagle photo
Addison County is “hogweed” heaven By Lou Varricchio lou@suncommunitynews.com
JUST ITCHING TO GET THE MAIL — In an ongoing war with weeds, rural Bristol resident Peter Grant points to the enemy—wild parsnip, sometimes called “hogweed”. Regarding the noxious weed growing up, around rural mailboxes, Grant quipped that, “Email is less painful than the itching one might get picking up the mail from this mailbox.” Photo by Lou Varricchio
BRISTOL — Rural Bristol resident Peter Grant has declared war on “hogweed”. This noxious weed, more commonly known as wild parsnip, grows around many Vermont roads and country homesteads. Botanists classify the wild parsnip plant under the Latin name Pastinaca sativa; the genus name comes from the Latin word pastus meaning “food” and the species name sativa means “sown”. Grant is a keen observer of the spreading of this noxious weed during the past decade or so. He also has alerted homeowners and roadside mowers to be aware of the yellow-flowering plant. In many places around rural homesteads, Grant has observed, wild parsnip can pop up along fences, fields edges, roadsides, and even smother mailboxes (see photo). In the case of wild parsnip mailbox infestation, delivering the CONTINUED ON PAGE 11