Reporter
July 14, 2016 • The Essex Reporter •1
THE ESSEX
celebrates
Vol. 36, No. 28
years!
July 14, 2016
Prsrt Std ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 266 Burlington, VT 05401 Postal Patron-Residential
a sPeCIaL eDITION FOllOWING UP ON OUr FIrst stOrIes FrOM 1981
35 years later:
Your hometown paper By COURTNEY LAMDIN
F
or Kit Wright, the passage of 35 years doesn’t seem like a minute. But that’s the amount of time since the first edition of The Essex Reporter was published, on July 17, 1981. Wright, now in her 70s, was the paper’s first editor, serving in the role for seven years. Back then, Wright and publisher Tim Callahan wrote their aim was to create an eight-page paper and sell enough ads to pay for it for at least six weeks. Needless to say, they accomplished their goal. Today, the Reporter averages 16 pages a week and employs eight full-time employees. That’s a lot of growth since Wright and Callahan’s two-person operation. As with many small businesses, the Reporter was born from opportunity and entrepreneurial spirit. Callahan, then a 23-year-old local with a storied high school sports career, met Wright at The Suburban List, a See REPORTER, page 14
The first issue of The Essex Reporter from July 17, 1981 is pictured above. See our reproduction in the special section inside this paper.
Photo by COURTNEY LAMDIN Stephen Schneps of Wolcott spent an afternoon last week reflecting on another life as El Schnepo the Clown. In his prime, he performed a unique show up to three times a day at locations across the state, including in Essex.
Still clowning after all these years
By ABBY LEDOUX
Photo by KAYLEE SULLIVAN
Happily ever after
Luana and William McCormick, whose engagement announcement appeared in the first-ever Essex Reporter, display their wedding album at their Williston home. The couple will celebrate their 35th anniversary in October. See BROCHU-MCCORMICK, page 16.
I
t’s 1983 in Czechoslovakia, and Stephen Schneps is spending the night in an armed guard's custody. After arriving by train from Italy, Schneps and his two traveling companions are detained by Czech officials. The next
morning, the three are interviewed by a man akin to Fearless Leader from Rocky and Bullwinkle in a room with posters of Marx, Lenin and the Communist flag. Finally released, they board a train for Poland, only to be stopped en route again. This time, a stern, decorated female guard inspects the travelers’ lug-
gage, searching for contraband. She retrieves a rubber chicken. Next, a red clown nose. “They are actors,” she says to her colleagues, cracking a wide grin. “Let them pass.” So goes the story of El Schnepo the Clown’s brief stint as a foreign detainee See SCHNEPO, page 3
Discovery Museum fed curiosity for all By COLIN FLANDERS Polly Whitcomb McEwing sat in the dining room of Lynnette Donahue’s Essex Jct. home on Monday for a glass of iced tea and an afternoon of nostalgia. Though it was about 20 years since Essex’s Discovery Museum closed its doors, the two had no shortage of memories. Remnants of the museum’s history were scattered across Donahue’s table. Black and white photos documented its grand opening on Oct. 6, 1974, showing a sea of visitors lis-
tening on as Robert Donahue, Lynette’s late husband, spoke from the museum’s front porch. Robert initially eyed the property of 51 Park St. as a real estate investment, but after learning of its history, he felt compelled to preserve its legacy. The property dates back to the original New Hampshire land grants of 1763, and the museum’s initial building was erected around 1850. Prior to that, records indicate the property was used for education; a school was likely there from 1815 to 1823, Donahue said.
One day, Robert returned home from his job at IBM with an idea: A children’s museum, drawing inspiration from a similar museum across from his childhood home in Manchester, Conn. “I said, ‘Yeah, sounds great,’” Donahue recalled. “‘Let’s go for it.’” So they set a meeting to gauge interest. McEwing was one of 12 enthusiastic community members to show, setting in motion a grassroots effort to get the museum off the ground. The volunteers then went doorSee MUSEUM, page 14
Photo by COLIN FLANDERS Polly Whitcomb McEwing holds a copy of "Farm Wife News" magazine from 1977 which featured her role at the Discovery Museum.
Essex police reflect on 35 years of service By MICHAELA HALNON
W
hen Detective Lt. George Murtie walked into the Essex Police Depart-
ment for his first day on the job in 1984, he had never shot a gun. After a quick lesson, he was off to the Champlain Valley Fair – an event that, according to Chief Brad LaRose, was a
little different back in the ’80s. “The fair was like the wild west,” he said with a laugh. LaRose and Murtie, along with Cpl. Kurt Miglinas and dispatcher Peggy McCabe, have each worked at Essex PD
for more than 30 years. Combined, they have more than 135 years of experience on the force. The department has seen its fair share of change in 35 years – sometimes welcomed,
like a spacious new facility. Others, like the opiate crisis, have presented a challenge. The town’s population has grown from nearly 14,400 in 1980 to 20,950 in 2015. The See POLICE, page 13