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Thursday, May 28, 2020 | Volume LXII Number 23
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Charlotte News
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Vol. 62, no.23 May 28, 2020
Vermont’s oldest nonprofit community newspaper, bringing you local news and views since 1958
Two Selectboard meetings means twice the fun Give us a brake, Chea Waters Evans
There were some money worries and library celebrations, among other business, at the May 18 and May 26 Selectboard meetings. Well bill issue resolved. A 17-year break on the electricity bill for their well pump is coming to an end for the Gujac and Wygmans families. The Old Lantern property, which is owned by the Gujacs, and the Wygmans’ home, use a well
for their water supply that is located on town property. The old flea market land, located on Route 7, is currently unused by the town; when it was purchased, the properties that use the well, which are located on Greenbush Road, were permitted by contract to do so. After several large bills this winter, due to a possible plumbing issue at The Old Lantern, the town discovered it had been paying for the well’s electricity for 17 years.
At the May 18 Selectboard meeting, property owner Maura Wygmans said that she didn’t believe the town should suddenly stop paying the bill after it had done so for so long, but after legal review, the town disagrees. The Selectboard decided on the May 26 meeting to turn over responsibility for those bills to the property owners, giving them until September 1 to transfer the utility bill into their own names. Board member Louise see SELECTBOARD page 2
School board plans on many fronts The CVSD Board met on May 19 to continue conversations on the measurement of school indicators that had begun in February, prior to the pandemic. Nancy Richardson These indicators are measures of the effectiveness of curriculum and instruction in general and are not designed to measure individual student progress. The conversation quickly moved into issues concerning how the school district should measure traditional curriculum and instruction benchmarks in the midst of a completely altered delivery system: emergency remote instruction. The board decided that the work on global indicators for the system as a whole will continue, but the immediate need may be for local student assessments that track student learning and social emotional health during this altered programming.
A kid with a kid
Although teachers have put huge effort into remote instruction, the delivery of these lessons has not been at the same level as inclassroom instruction and discussion. The administration acknowledges this and plans to devote major professional development resources to remote instructional programs this summer. The Vermont Learning Collaborative will work with the district on professional development. A plan is emerging to continue identifying major benchmarks for measurement but also to create local assessments that seek to identify student gaps that may have been created during the spring instructional period. Members of the board and the school administrations will form a task force to identify these measures and report to the full board. There will also be a parent survey to elucidate aspects of instruction that may have been missing in prior surveys. The administration would like to deliver a local assessment this summer, prior to school opening, to identify areas of
Complicating the matter of instruction and assessment is the fact that the state authorities have not offered guidance on either the financial deficit confronting the state or whether the schools will reopen in the fall. The administration is planning for the possibility that schools will be open, but instruction will most likely be a combination of remote learning and in-class time. This means the district must work with public health experts to create a safe environment in schools and must spend more time and professional development resources on internet instruction. There is planning for the delivery of special education instruction this summer and perhaps instructional programs for other children who may need remediation. The board will hold a retreat and two additional meetings during the summer to keep pace with the moving target of finance and school openings.
Vince Crockenberg
The advent of good weather, coupled with continuing stay-at-home restrictions, has unleashed cycling enthusiasts to get on their bikes and ride. Given the increasing number of cyclists on Charlotte’s roads, now is a good time for our annual reminder to both drivers and cyclists about how to share our roads safely. Cycling is one of the best forms of outdoor exercise available to us. It is also dangerous. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 857 cyclists were killed in traffic crashes in 2018, and 55,000 were injured seriously enough to file a report; vastly more were injured less seriously. As a driver and a cyclist, I’d like to suggest some ways motorists and cyclists can share the road safely. First, for motorists: Give us a brake. Two situations pose particular dangers to cyclists. The first is when a car is coming from behind us in our lane and another is coming at us in the oncoming lane, and we’re all going to meet at the same spot in the road at the same time. The second is when we’re slowly laboring up a hill and into a curve. In either situation, there is no good outcome for the cyclist if the motorist coming from behind misjudges the space available for passing. see CYCLING page 11
Charlotte Town Beach opening soon Bill Fraser-Harris
RECREATION COMMISSION CHAIR
Nicole Conley RECREATION DIRECTOR
Neighbors, Great news! As I write this I am listening to Governor Scott’s address, and in Vermont it is still looking like our policies and actions are continuing to positively impact our COVID-19 data. With this in mind the Selectboard has approved the reopening of the beach with some health and safety contingencies. First, we will be selling season and day passes online via charlotterec.com. Please do everything you can to purchase your pass online and print a receipt for entry. We will have change at the beach, but exact change is preferred. This process will limit exposure between our beach “ambassadors” and you. George Charlson, 13, cuddles a new pal while his old friend Bob the goat looks on. The Charlsons keep Nigerian dwarf goats on their farm. Photo by Chea Waters Evans
concern for remediation.
turn on your lights, do the reach
The bathrooms will open with the beach and be cleaned at least three times a day, but please consider your own health and safety, bring a personal hand sanitizer and remember to wash your hands.
The playground will open as soon as we can provide several effective hand-sanitizer stations. If anyone has a design that could be mounted in several locations and refilled, please let me know.
Other facilities already open will remain so, but the dock and floats will not be put out until our new processes are established and group gathering sizes are increased by the State. The wooden picnic tables will return ASAP, but remember to bring your own chairs and preparations for your own picnic until they do. We are expecting a very busy summer at the beach and we need your help with feedback and input. If you have any extra hand sanitizer, bleach, or nitrile gloves you might be able to spare, please be in touch. Beach events are presently on hold but let’s enjoy a fantastic summer of smiles at the beach. Thank you billandeva@gmavt.net/, recreation@ townofcharlotte.com 802-343-7038 / 802-425-6129
File photo by Louisa Schibli
The Charlotte News • May 28, 2020 • 3
Town ON THE COVER Stuart Robinson placed Memorial Day flags on veterans’ graves in Morningside Cemetery on Spear Street. He, his mother, Cindi, and other Charlotte Grange volunteers have participated in this tradition for years. Photo by Cindi Robinson
Melissa Mendelsohn joins the News board as technical adviser We’re pleased to announce that Melissa Mendelsohn, known to many readers as owner extraordinaire of Orchard Road Computers, has agreed to join The Charlotte News as a technical advisor. If any of our computers misbehave, it is reassuring to have Melissa available to fix them. More important, she will be providing key advice on marketing, community outreach, social media, and website performance and effectiveness as we steadily work to strengthen our digital presence. Welcome aboard, Melissa.
SELECTBOARD
continued from page 1
McCarren said, “I think we basically say to them, ‘You guys so settle this or we’re getting out of the deal.’ I don’t mean to be nasty, but at some point it’s not our problem.” Pay increase considered for assistant town clerk/treasurer. Saving the town that money might not mean much after a decision to possibly spend more in other areas—a hot topic over two meetings was the request by Town Clerk/Treasurer Mary Mead to raise the pay grade for the Assistant Town Clerk/Treasurer position, which is currently held by Christina Boohers, who has announced her departure, which could take place as soon as August 1. Town employee salaries are determined based on a pay scale that applies a variety of criteria to a position which then receives a grade; salary is based on where that job falls on the scale. Mead is requesting that the assistant clerk/ treasurer position be given a higher grade. McCarren said she has “great misgivings” about the Selectboard taking on the role of raising the pay grade but appreciates Mead’s dedication and hard work and the importance of providing adequate support for her. “It’s a very important position and we all see the value, [but] if we do it ourselves, that will be politicizing it and I
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think that’s a mistake.” Selectboard member Carrie Spear quickly responded, “This has been political since it started, Louise. I think Mary’s not ever given the credit she should be given. The woman’s taken care of our town for 22 or 23 years.” Boohers voiced her opinion on the matter as well, saying she thinks she is underpaid and that, out of loyalty to the town, she has turned down other opportunities to make more money. Selectboard Chair Matt Krasnow suggested, and the board approved, inquiring into the cost of hiring human resources consulting firm Gallagher Flynn & Co. to evaluate the situation. Other news. After some frustration on the part of the Energy Committee, the Selectboard eventually approved $1,900 for a computer and some weatherproofing. The computer will be installed in the library as part of the EC’s education mandate in the Town Plan; the weatherproofing will be done at the Food Shelf. The Selectboard also heard recreation updates (see below) and heard from the Charlotte Library, where site work is in progress and a reopening plan is in the works. Library Director Margaret Woodruff said they are doing their “due diligence” as far as safely continuing to offer programs and get books and other materials to the town.
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Editorial Staff Managing Editor: Anna Cyr (anna@thecharlottenews.org) News Editor: Chea Waters Evans (chea@thecharlottenews.org) Contributing Editor: Edd Merritt Copy editors: Beth Merritt, Vince Crockenberg Proofreaders: Edd Merritt, Mike & Janet Yantachka Business Staff Ad manager: Elizabeth Langfeldt (ads@thecharlottenews.org) Bookkeeper: Susan Jones (billing@thecharlottenews.org) Board Members President: Vince Crockenberg (vince@thecharlottenews.org) Treasurer: Ted leBlanc (treasurer@thecharlottenews.org) Board members: Bob Bloch, Gay Regan, Tom Tiller, John Quinney, Jack Fairweather, Christina Asquith, Claudia Marshall, Ben Miller, Bailey Grattelo, John Hammer (emeritus) Technical advisor: Melissa Mendelsohn, Orchard Road Computers Website: thecharlottenews.org Subscription Information The Charlotte News is delivered at no cost to all Charlotte residences. Subscriptions are available for first-class delivery at $60 per calendar year. Want a subscription? Please send a check payable to The Charlotte News, P.O. Box 251, Charlotte, VT 05445. Postmaster/Send address changes to: The Charlotte News P.O. Box 251, Charlotte, VT 05445 Telephone: 425-4949 Circulation: 2,000 Copyright © 2020 The Charlotte News, Inc. Member of the New England Newspaper and Press Association, LION Publishers and the Vermont Press Association.
4 • May 28, 2020 • The Charlotte News
Report from the Legislature
Ensuring our right to vote Our United States Constitution guarantees American citizens many rights, most notably those contained in the first 10 amendments, the Bill of Rights. The right Rep. Mike of every eligible citizen Yantachka to vote is fundamental to our democracy and ensures that our other rights are protected by holding government accountable. While originally reserved only for free male citizens of age 21 or older, the right to vote was extended over time by subsequent amendments to freed male slaves, women, and citizens of age 18 and older. In fact, this year is the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. After the Civil War and up until the 1960s, African Americans’ right to vote was suppressed by southern states through the use of poll taxes and literacy tests. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 eliminated those measures in the states and jurisdictions with a history of discrimination, and any changes to their voting laws required federal oversight (preclearance). However, in 2013 a divided Supreme Court struck down the preclearance clause of the act. This allowed a wave of measures enacted by many
conservative states to make it harder to vote or skewed the vote by redrawing districts, a practice known as gerrymandering. Requiring voter IDs, reducing the number of polling places in minority-heavy districts, and mass purges of names from voter lists have all eroded this fundamental element of our democracy. On the other hand, many states, including Vermont, have made it easier for eligible citizens to vote. Five states conduct all elections by mail: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah. Vermont allows people to register to vote right up to voting day. We maintain a statewide voter database to reduce duplication of registration. We allow absentee and early voting to begin 45 days before the election. Several weeks ago, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Wisconsin voters had to risk their health by standing in line to vote in person because the Wisconsin Supreme Court would not allow absentee voting without a valid excuse. Subsequently, a University of Wisconsin study found a “statistically and economically significant association” between in-person voting and the spread of COVID-19 after the election. We don’t know at this time whether
Around Town Congratulations
Students from Charlotte helped raise a total of $140,813.89 for the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital by participating in RALLYTHON, an annual, year-long student-led fundraiser that culminates in a 12-hour dance marathon, which occurred February 22 this year. Through its six years in existence, RALLYTHON has raised over $500,000 for the Children’s Hospital. This year three Charlotte students participated: Alexander D’Amico, Allison Feeney and Ethan Leonard. All of them were recognized for reaching the “Dancer Goal” of raising between $100 and $249. The following students from Charlotte had their work published recently in the Burlington Free Press’s Young Writers Project: In her poem titled “All my poems are written at midnight,” Margaret Eagan
COVID-19 will still be widespread at the time of the primary election in August and the general election in November. Vermont has been relatively successful in suppressing the spread of the virus. As the restrictions on social participation are relaxed, we hope that we will not see a second wave of infections. However, we can’t take that for granted. We should be preparing now for both elections to be held primarily by mail. House bill H.681, which passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by Governor Scott, gives the secretary of state temporary authority to change the way we hold elections during the COVID-19 emergency. Secretary of State Jim Condos, in consultation with Governor Scott, is exploring options for the primary and general elections. These will certainly include an expansion of Vermont’s existing early and absentee voting system. It’s a safe and secure process that allows any registered voter to cast a ballot by mail and is the method recommended for Charlotte’s budget and trails vote on June 23. (You can vote now!) The polls will still be open on election day in some safe, modified way for people who prefer to vote in person. As individuals we can prepare now for
whatever form future elections take. The first step is to visit the “My Voter Page” (mvp.vermont.gov/) of the secretary of state’s website. You’ll see two green buttons where you can register to vote or confirm that you’re registered to vote. If you know you’re registered to vote but the site says you’re not, then check with our town clerk. I was unable to find my record and called the town clerk’s office. I learned that my birth date was set to 1/1/1900 in the database, which was easily corrected. Then I was able to confirm it on the website. You can also verify that your address is correct, which is important if ballots will be mailed. Finally, you can always ask for a mail-in ballot by calling our town clerk. Vermont has a better record of voter turnout than most states, ranking 11th in 2018 with a 56 percent showing. Absentee ballots accounted for about 30 percent of votes cast in both the 2016 and 2018 general elections. Vermonters take their commitment to democracy seriously. We will not let even a pandemic get between us and that commitment. I welcome your emails (myantachka.dfa@ gmail.com) or phone calls (802-233-5238). This article and others can be found at my website (MikeYantachka.com).
The says that when she goes through a day of work and things get quiet, “all that’s left is wonder for the words coming down, so softly spun.” And each poem makes its appearance “as the stars twinkle.” In the May 22 Young Writers Project, the work of three Charlotters was shown. Lily Keech’s poem “Children” talks about the details of growing up, foibles as well as “Laughing eyes, thoughtful gazes showing consideration for every little thing.” All these things provide our only hope for redemption. In her poem “Seeds,” Ava Rourbaugh describes what happens to seeds she plants, their adaptation to the environment, what happened if she never turned off the sun, how she spent her time “trying to find the perfect medium, slaving for fussy green sprouts.” The Photo of the Week was by Quinn Sunderland, a color shot showing a hand under water.
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The Charlotte News • May 28, 2020 • 5
COVID-19 What you need to know about COVID-19 testing “Testing, contact tracing and isolation” is the new mantra for the COVID-19 age. Each is a critical part of the overall strategy to keep us safe as the economy opens and we Jim Hyde begin again to circulate. Of the three, testing is the most poorly understood. Here are some things you should know about what these tests are, how they work and how they should be interpreted. Tests are not perfect. Biomedical tests, no matter how sophisticated, can produce both false positive and false negative results, indicating that you have a disease when you don’t (false positive) or are disease free when you are not (false negative). Ideal tests would have false positive and false negative rates of 0 percent, but they never do. For example, a recent study from the Cleveland Clinic (not yet published) showed that one of the most commonly used rapid tests for SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cause of COVID-19, failed to detect approximately 15 percent of infected patients, while others detected between 96 and 100 percent. From the patient and provider prospective, a false negative test can have devastating consequences: health care providers may be unknowingly exposed to disease and patients may fail to get the timely care they require. Multiple types of tests are currently widely in use. Diagnostic tests search for current infection with the virus while antibody, or serology, tests look for indirect evidence of previous infection. The most common viral test requires a nasal swab from the back of the nasal passage or throat. The sample is either sent to an off-site laboratory or analyzed at the point of collection using a sophisticated portable device. Results
are produced in a matter of minutes or hours depending on the device. A positive result means the tested person is currently infected; negative result implies the opposite. As of this week Vermont reported performing more than 29,000 diagnostic tests. The second type of test, the antibody test, uses a blood sample to look not for the virus itself but for evidence of past infection. Antibodies are protein molecules made by the body’s immune system in response to infection. It can take four to seven days for the immune response to develop and be detectable. It is thought, but not yet known, that these same antibodies might provide some sort of immunity from future infection. A positive test simply means that you were likely infected at a point in the past and therefore may have some sort of future immunity. Over 170 manufacturers of antibody tests have applied for authorization by the Food and Drug Administration, but so far only a handful have received it. There is actually a third type of test, the antigen test. These tests are just now being developed and evaluated. It also uses nasal swabs and detects proteins associated with a current infection. Potentially holding great promise as rapid, low-cost screening tests, antigen tests have not yet been shown to have acceptable false positive and false negative rates. However, this is likely to change with time (see sidebar). Understanding testing and the natural history of the disease plays a role in its control. It may take up to 14 days for a person to develop symptoms once they are infected. During this pre-symptomatic period, a person may actively shed the virus, potentially infecting others. An estimated 35 percent of infected people may never develop symptoms but may still infect others. Viral tests are essential at this stage, while antibody testing is of little value.
As a rule of thumb, if someone tests negative and yet there is a high level of suspicion that the person is infected— they live with someone infected, have at least three of the seven symptoms—then the test should be repeated a couple of days later. It’s a good bet it was a false negative.
COVID-19 symptoms per U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms with a wide range of severity. Symptoms may appear 2 to14 days after exposure to the virus.
Testing and community control of COVID-19 is important. Vermont is indeed fortunate in having avoided the worst. Low population density and a strong proactive response from state leadership have produced dramatic results. But opening up the economy will mean more new cases. It’s inevitable. Active surveillance through testing and subsequent contact tracing and isolation can keep the number of new cases to a minimum. Early testing of suspected cases is a must, as the longer we let those infected circulate the more opportunities they have to infect others.
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing • Fever • Chills • Muscle pain • Sore throat • New loss of taste or smell This list does not include all possible symptoms. Other less common symptoms have been reported, including gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.
We also need an aggressive antibody testing program. Random samples from diverse population sectors allow tracking of the ebb and flow of the pandemic. One of the biggest failures to date is that these programs do not exist. We can only guess at the percentage of the Vermont population that has been infected. A reasonable guess is five percent. This means 95 percent of us are still vulnerable and must continue to engage in protective behaviors until such time as there is a vaccine, or herd immunity develops.
• FDA testing links: https://bit. ly/2TBmZEh; https://bit.ly/2WYPvBK • CDC testing link: https://bit. ly/2TDV32v • VDH diagnostic testing link: https://bit. ly/3eclhko
The market for tests has exploded. Currently there are at least 140 different manufacturers of COVID-19 tests. There are even two new in-home tests waiting for approval. The validation and vetting of these different tests is largely in the hands of the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unfortunately, they have been slow to respond except through emergency use authorizations. What does this mean for my family? If you think you may have been infected and have even mild symptoms, you should call your health provider and be tested. Vermont is also now offering diagnostic testing for people with or without symptoms at pop-up sites around the state. However, since testing materials and equipment are still in relatively short supply it’s best to hold off being tested
For further information on testing for SARS-CoV-2 virus
Additional Information on SARS-CoV-2 virus testing • NPR: https://n.pr/2M0ESIc • Health.com on antigen tests: https:// bit.ly/2X1s8HM • Mayo Clinic on antibody and antigen tests: https://mayocl.in/3efB7uM • VDH: https://bit.ly/2zsYSRk
unless you have symptoms or believe you may have been exposed to someone who is infected. Antibody testing may also be available through your provider if you believe you may have had COVID-19 previously. Remember, however, that antibody tests may have high false negative rates. The bottom line: Testing technology and availability are changing at lightning speed. Good, up-to-date information is available online. In the meantime, keep practicing distancing and the hand and face hygiene behaviors that got us this far.
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6 • May 28, 2020 • The Charlotte News
Town
Electronic waste collection on Green Up Day
Getting ready to green it up
Ruah Swennerfelt
TRANSITION TOWN CHARLOTTE
Do you have old stereos, VCRs, boomboxes, and other items that are just cluttering your house? Are you wanting to be sure they don’t end up in the landfill? Then we have a solution for you! Once again Transition Town Charlotte will join Green Up Day efforts, and coordinate the collection of electronic waste, but with a few changes. Those collecting will be wearing masks and gloves. We’ll do our best to maintain the 6-foot physical distance for everyone’s safety. If you wear a mask, it doubles the safety for everyone involved. If you need help with carrying something, we ask that you open the car or trunk door and step away. We’ll then carry the equipment to the receptacles. Carrie Spear spent her Memorial Day “day off” putting up a Green Up Day sign. She also spent the holiday hanging geraniums around the East Village. Photo by Chea Waters Evans
of cleaning up roadside waste, the electronic collection eliminates thousands of pounds of hazardous items and potentially recyclable rare minerals from ending up in our Vermont landfill. Even though it’s not legal in Vermont to throw away what is recyclable, many people still are filling our landfill with electronics. Good Point Recycling, which collects the electronics, helps make sure that they are recycled. We can collect all electronic devices such as computers and their components, DVDs, VCRs, stereos, phones, record players, radios, TVs, laptops, video machines, microwaves, small kitchen electronics, and their various chords and chargers. We cannot accept appliances such as air conditioners, stoves, refrigerators, washers, and dryers.
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Thanks for making this collection such a success in prior years. Please share this information with your neighbors. Let’s keep Vermont clean and beautiful. Contact me at 802-922-2259 with questions.
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The Charlotte News • May 28, 2020 • 7
People
Lucky Gabe Chea Waters Evans
Years ago, my friend Gabe and I started a well-thought-out and carefully planned subterfuge campaign to undermine his wife, Sara. She is one of the dearest people in the world to me, but a great failing of hers at the time was the inability to understand the necessity of a DVR on their cable box to record television shows. Gabe was a basketball player and coach and a huge sports fan and wanted to catch every
second of every game without neglecting his family. “You watch enough sports already,” she said to him. “It won’t make me watch more sports,” he said. “I’ll watch more efficiently, because I won’t need to watch commercials, and I can watch the games when it’s convenient.” “He watches enough sports already,” she said to me.
“He won’t watch more,” I said. “He’ll just watch them more efficiently and will spend less time watching television because he can watch when it’s convenient.” In retrospect, we probably should have been more nuanced in our approach, but it worked, and I still have the celebration email he sent me—the forwarded email from Sara with the information about their new DVR, and his teasing response to her: “You really love me!” Everyone really loved Gabe. The coming week marks the first anniversary of his death from cancer at the supremely unfair age of 45. He was a terrific husband, brother, son, uncle, cousin, friend and, above all, he was the best father. He left behind two little ones who are luckily old enough to have memories of him but are so terribly unlucky to not get the chance to make any more. This summer it will be 10 years since I lost my own father to cancer. Those 10 years seem to have lasted just a second or two, but in that time, so many things happened in our family. New jobs, new houses, more grandchildren, and all the things that go along with them—berry picking, loose teeth, backyard kickball games, and all the sports. So many sports. I wish we had a life DVR and I wish we could get my dad back, and then we could watch everything more efficiently, not wasting time on commercials or missed communications and regretting all the things we wished we said but didn’t because we thought we had a little more time. Taking it on a June-to-June basis, this past year has been a particularly unsettling one—starting with the loss of one of the best people on the planet and ending in the midst of a global pandemic that has sent us all home to stay for a while. I’ve done my share of complaining about the current situation (why does everyone walk right by their father to ask me to make them something to eat?) while recognizing, appreciating, and being deeply grateful for how relatively easy it has been for us. The sun is shining today, and we’re all here and well, but there are many who are grieving the loss of someone dear to them because of this startling and uncontrollable virus. This pandemic has surely sent many people into an existential crisis—or at least leaves one questioning a life choice or two. It’s not fun to feel like things are out of your control. Even the sunshine can feel
Gabe’s kids were his heart--his daughter Macie and his son Will. Photo by Sara Wool
insulting, even as it’s so welcome and was so desperately needed. At the end of April last year, Gabe and I were texting back and forth about the previous evening, when we had all been hanging out, and he wrote, “I am a lucky man!!!” I remember at the time being just totally floored that someone who had been through all that a cancer diagnosis entails, who was facing his own mortality, who was deeply concerned about his wife and his kids, would not only declare himself lucky, but would do so with multiple exclamation points. He seemed impossibly full of gratitude. After all that’s happened over the past few months, I’ve come around to this idea. I’m going to do my best to make this next Juneto-June the year of luck—which, Gabe knew, comes not from what happens to you, but what you decide to do with it.
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8 • May 28, 2020 • The Charlotte News
Hi, neighbor!
Ken Spencer: Finding joy in keeping his town clean
Charlotte’s new CSWD representative is passionate about eliminating litter.
When he was interviewed by the Selectboard regarding his interest in being the town’s representative to the Chittenden Solid Waste District, Ken Spencer Phyl Newbeck joked that he wanted the appointment because he was bored. The truth of the matter is the position was tailor-made for Spencer, a veteran Green Up Day Coordinator and the creator of Planet Pack, a backpack designed for collecting litter. “It’s an opportunity for me to get educated,” he said. “When I talk to groups, it will be good to know more about recycling and waste management streams.” Abby Foulk, Charlotte’s long-time CSWD representative, encouraged Spencer to apply and will serve as his alternate. For the last three years, Spencer and Kim Findlay have been co-coordinators for Green Up Day in Charlotte. Because of COVID-19, this year’s event will be a little bit different. It has been postponed to May 30, there will be markers at the sign-in to prevent people from getting too close to one another, and there won’t be a donut table. New this year will be a washing station for recyclables. “Traditionally, people haven’t wanted to deal with recycling on Green Up Day,” Spencer said, “but this is an opportunity to learn more about what can and can’t be recycled.” Bottles and cans will be cleaned at the station and brought to Tenney’s Bottle Redemption as a thank you for their work. Several years ago, Spencer designed the Planet Pack backpack for picking up litter and launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to produce 1,000 packs. He met his goal, in part through people who loved the concept but didn’t necessarily want their own bag, and roughly 200 packs have been pre-purchased. Spencer sells the packs through his Planet People website. He said he wants that site to be more than a commercial endeavor and hopes it can be used to disseminate ideas that will help people reduce litter. He also donates $5 in each purchaser’s name to one of Planet People’s partners, which include a number of Vermont environmental nonprofits and others further afield, including
Courtesy photo
the Adirondack Mountain Club and a community garden program in Harlem. Spencer has a program for schools to purchase Planet Packs or for schools to ask for donations toward their purchase. “They can go to any age classroom that has a motivated teacher,” he said. “Once kids start going around with the packs, people will thank them and it will provide positive energy. I’m hoping schools will set up competitions or other events and the kids will become ambassadors for the packs.” For every 60 bags of trash collected, the students will get a free Planet Pack. Spencer hopes to set up a similar program for senior and community centers. The current pandemic has the potential for creating more trash with single-use plastic bags replacing reusable ones, but Spencer hopes the situation is temporary. “I think it’s completely appropriate to do what we have to do to keep people safe,” he said “but it points out the importance of thinking about singleuse products. It’s a gigantic shame that we will have a pile of stuff that will never degrade.” One way Spencer is cutting down on singleuse plastics in the waste stream is through a partnership he and Findlay have established with a company called Trex, which makes decking and siding. The Old Brick Store, Spear’s Corner Store, Charlotte Library and Charlotte Senior Center have placed boxes for the collection of stretchy plastic material ranging from dry cleaning bags to Saran Wrap and pellet bags. Once a week, Spencer brings the content of the boxes to Hannaford’s, and once a month Hannaford’s sends the collection to Trex. Spencer collects over 150 pounds of plastic each month, and through the Trex incentive program he has received four benches made of recycled milk jugs that were donated to the collection sites. A former lawyer, restauranteur, teacher and nurse, Spencer says he enjoys picking up litter. Every day this year he has cleaned a two-mile section of Greenbush Road, moving from town line to town line. “I really like doing it and talking to people about what I do,” he said. “I love finding simple things that people can do to help out. This is safe, fun and COVID-friendly. It’s a very mindful, peaceful thing to do; it’s healthy, it’s easy and it feels good.”
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The Charlotte News • May 28, 2020 • 9
Library News Porch pickup continues at the Charlotte Library. If you’re interested in checking out library books and other items, please place holds for those materials through Margaret Woodruff, the library website: DIRECTOR charlottepubliclibrary. org or by calling the library at 802-425-3864. Details available on the library website.
Overdrive & Libby: help.libbyapp. com/index.htm. Available 24/7! See our expanded collection of books on our Online Library. We’ve also added some suggested reading lists. If you are new to Libby or OverDrive, take a look at our Online Resources page to get started. Tumblebooks: Ebooks and audiobooks for all ages and interests. Use the links below. No password required. • TumbleBookLibrary: tumblebooklibrary.com. K-6 children’s ebook database, including animated read-a-longs • TumbleMath: tumblemath.com. K-6 math ebook database • TeenBookCloud: teenbookcloud.com. 7-12 grade ebook database • AudioBookCloud: audiobookcloud. com. All ages audio book database • RomanceBookCloud: romancebookcloud.com. A huge collection of Romance novels!
The library staff continues to work from home to keep our community connected and our library collections up-to-date. We want to make sure you know about our latest online offerings, which can be found at our website. Some highlights include: The Community Seed Share: Don’t forget to let us know if you have extra egetable/herb/ pollinator-friendly flower seeds to share with your neighbors! The Seed Library has made the process easy. Just complete the Community Seed Sharing form on our website at charlotteseedlibrary.org/community-seedsharing/, and your seeds will be entered into a secure database which we’ll open in a few days to anyone seeking seeds for their garden. If interested in your seeds, they will contact you directly and arrange a convenient and safe pick-up. This is a great way to support your fellow gardeners, and get more food growing. Remember that most seeds up to 3-4 years old are still fine, so check your supply
today, and share what you can. Thanks! If you have room, another possibility for those extra seeds is to plant a few extra veggies in your garden for the Charlotte Food Shelf. They will be so appreciated, especially fresh tomatoes, squash, green and yellow beans, peas, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers, radish, corn, broccoli, potatoes and anything else with general appeal. Check Food Shelf notices later in the season as to drop-off days and times.
Upcoming Online Baby Time, Tuesdays @ 8:30 a.m. Join us for a live Baby Time on Tuesdays at 8:30 a.m. Stories, songs and fun for the youngest ones. Please contact us for an invitation to the virtual event: info@ charlottepubliclibrary.org.
Happy gardening, and thanks for sharing the local bounty! Linda Hamilton and Karen Tuininga Seed Library coordinators.
Zoom Story Time, Tuesdays @ 10 a.m. Cheryl shares stories from the library every Tuesday. Join her for a fun morning session every Tuesday!
New offerings on hoopla & Libby, our digital platforms for ebooks and audiobooks.
Library Book Discussion: A Summons to Memphis, Thursday, May 28 @ 7:30 p.m. Join us for a Zoom discussion of this Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Peter Taylor. “During the twilight of a Sunday afternoon in March, New York book editor Phillip Carver receives an urgent phone call from each of his older, unmarried sisters. They plead with Phillip to help avert their widower father’s impending remarriage to a younger woman. Hesitant to get embroiled in a family drama, he
hoopla: hoopladigital.com. Instantly borrow free movies, TV series, music albums, eBooks, and audiobooks anytime with your library card. No waiting or holds! Hoopla is available on your desktop, phone, tablet, Alexa devices, Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, and Android TV. Download the app to take your borrows anywhere.
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reluctantly agrees to go back south, only to discover the true motivation behind his sisters’ concern. While there, Phillip is forced to confront his domineering siblings, a controlling patriarch, and flood of memories from his troubled past.” Think Resilience Online Course & Discussion Group, Thursdays, June 4 – July 16 @ noon. Sustainability starts with community resilience. We live in a time of tremendous political, environmental, and economic upheaval. What can we do? Post Carbon Institute’s Think Resilience is an online course to help you start doing something about climate change and our other sustainability challenges—starting in your own community. We’ll go through the course each week and discuss together on Zoom. Contact the library for registration and resource information: info@charlottepubliclibrary.org. Mystery Book Group: An Agent Running in the Field, Monday, June 15 @ 10 a.m. Join us on Zoom for a discussion of John LeCarre’s latest novel. Nat, a 47-year-old veteran of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, believes his years as an agent runner are over. He is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Summer Reading Program: Cheryl is working hard to put together a fun-filled summer of programs and activities. We are still not sure how much of this can take place here at the library and how much will continue to be online. In the meantime, stop by the library porch to pick up a kit and join the “Great Charlotte Sunflower Challenge.” We are also planning a 2020 Time Capsule and invite you to take part. Look for the journal kits from Cheryl on the porch coming soon.
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10 • May 28, 2020 • The Charlotte News
On Books
A book that can send you flighting in the fields
Katherine Arthaud
I think it’s been awhile since my last article on books and reading, so as you might imagine, I have quite a stack (it’s literally a stack) of reading material.
One book I read during These Days of Quarantine and Social Distancing and highly recommend is Untamed by Glennon Doyle. I have not actually spoken to a male who’s read this book, but I would be curious to hear from one how it affected him. For me, it is a powerful book. Glennon Doyle is married to retired soccer superstar Abby Wambach. But don’t go thinking this is a book about soccer (though there is a good and very touching part about how stepmother Abby encourages and supports Glennon’s daughter to join an elite soccer league despite Glennon’s fears and extreme misgivings). This is a book about so many important things: being, learning, growing, telling the truth, raising daughters, raising a son, racism, having a vision for one’s life, living authentically and with gusto. There are many quotes I could share with you to give you an idea how resonant, relevant and on-point this book is. In one passage Doyle describes how she used to contort herself “to live according to a set of old memos I’d been issued about how to become a successful woman and build a strong family, career, and faith…I thought those memos were universal Truth, so I abandoned myself to honor them without even unearthing and examining them. When I finally pulled them out of my subconscious and looked hard at them: I learned that
it. I’ll tell you this: The braver I am, the luckier I get.’” Sometimes this book reads like a self-help book, but it’s better and more interesting than that. This is also a story about the life of a woman who went through addiction, unhappiness, divorce and heartbreak to get to a different place in herself, in the world, and in relation to others. I’m going to keep this book close. If you see me “flighting” around the fields, you will know why. these memos had never been Truth at all—just my particular culture’s arbitrary expectations…I abandoned the memos and began honoring myself. …When women lose themselves, the world loses its way. We do not need more selfless women. What we need right now is more women who have detoxed themselves so completely from the world’s expectations that they are full of nothing but themselves. What we need are women who are full of themselves. A woman who is full of herself knows and trusts herself enough to say and do what must be done. She lets the rest burn.”
that has raised over 20 million dollars for women, families and children. She is in a strong marriage to a person with whom she experienced the most extreme case of love at first sight of which I have ever heard tell. It’s a pretty great life. Yet we learn, through some pretty riveting narrative, that this life was not simply bestowed upon her from on high, but rather, hard won. Doyle takes us through the difficulties she endured to get to where she is now. Her story is interspersed with her philosophy and feminist/humanist manifesto. It’s very well, very gracefully done.
Does that get you the way it gets me?! When I read that, I feel the way I think my dogs do when they have just plunged in cold water. They hoist themselves out of the lake, sodden, dripping with wetness, and start “flighting” (my kids and I call it)—racing wildly around and around, shedding/spraying droplets into the sunshine, so filled with energy and aliveness and refreshment and zing they just have to run and run as crazy fast as they can. That’s the way I feel when I read certain parts of this book.
Toward the end, Doyle describes an unusually serene moment when she and Abby are sitting together on a dock watching fish jumping and a deepening purple sunset. “Before we went back inside, I snapped a picture of us, smiling with the sun setting behind us, and later I posted it. Someone commented, ‘Gah, you’re so lucky to have each other and this life.’ I replied, ‘It’s true. We are terribly lucky. It is also true that we imagined this life before it existed and then we each gave up everything for the one-in-a-million chance that we might be able to build it together. We did not fall into this world we have now, we made
Glennon Doyle is an activist, speaker, and founder and president of a nonprofit
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Writers & Lovers by Lily King is excellent; about a 31-year-old aspiring writer, former child golf prodigy and waitress at a frou-frou Harvard Square bistro. Moving, quirky and funny. I loved the unusual narrative voice. Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke (winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel) is also great—about a black Texas Ranger investigating two small-town murders. Mysterious, well written, very unusual. Fascinating twists, moods and observations. Interesting perspective on life and small-town racism and crime. I am also on a huge Tessa Hadley kick. I found myself very sorry to read the last sentence of The Past, about an extended family vacation in a dilapidated ancestral home in the Somerset (England) countryside. Gorgeous writing. Beautiful descriptions of people and their eccentricities, affections, quirks, dreams, shames, assumptions and transformations. Subtle and poetic. This is really good. Perfect for summer. Highly recommend. I hope you are healthy and happy, seeing friends safely, enjoying the beautiful warm weather, and maybe taking a moment to lie in a hammock or on a lawn chair and let yourself be enveloped by a very good story.
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The Charlotte News • May 28, 2020 • 11
Town
Food Shelf news Susan Ohanian
The name “pansy” is derived from the French word pensée, “thought,” and so we see Ophelia distributing flowers while saying, “There’s pansies, that’s for thoughts.” We would say “good, generous thoughts” to the Horsford Gardens and Nursery for their gifts. In addition to a very generous monetary donation to the Food Shelf, they gave a pot of pansies to every family. Surely the pansy is a harbinger of good weather. It was a favorite of Emily Dickinson, who noted that its hardiness in withstanding the end-of-winter chill announced the coming of spring. You can find pansies in the herbarium Emily made as a teen, pressing plant specimens into 65 pages of a leather-bound book. Harvard’s Houghton Library owns this delicate item and has digitized its pages so you can take a look https://tinyurl.com/ybkx53eb. Next, enjoy Vincent van Gogh’s “Basket of Pansies” on display at the Amsterdam museum bearing his name and think generous thoughts about the continued good health of our community. https://tinyurl.com/ybkx53eb Thank you. Thank you. Every senior year before graduation the class at Champlain Valley School District chooses a special organization to receive a gift from the class. This year the class chose to give to area food shelves. So a special hats off to the class of 2020!
Susan Raber Bray is in the process of making 108 ceramic bowls for the people who signed up within a few days of her announcement on Front Porch Forum. People write a check to the Food Shelf and receive a hand-crafted bowl. This means $4,104 will be coming to the Food Shelf through Susan’s creative and generous talents. You can take a look at the beautiful bowls at susanraber.com/bowl-benefit. More generosity A grant from Vermont Food bank Patterson Fuels Edward & Birgit Deeds Matthew Zucker & Claudia Marshall Robert & Katherine Mesaros James & Jennifer Usher Laura Cahners Ford Jeff & Irene Hobar Barry Finette & Sharon Mount Katherine Reo Catherine Hughes Meg Berlin Norman & Dorothy Pellett Ronda Moore, DVM Mr. & Mrs. Richard Flood Daniel Pflaster & Tanna Kelton Catherine & Gregory Manning Josie & Benjamin Kaestner Elizabeth Bassett & John Pane Greg & Lynn Cluff Ella Kenny CVS fundraising project A special nod of gratitude to Carrie Spear for supplies of needed items (including toilet paper— think of that, the item everybody is hoarding!); to Louise McCarren, special flour finder; to Lynn Cluff for choosing the Food Shelf for Mother’s Day; to Michael Russell, our newest distribution volunteer.
About that flour: Louise brought in a 25-pound bag of this item as scarce as toilet paper. And here’s a fascinating feature on how the pandemic has affected the producer, King Arthur, the employee-owned company that started in 1790 in Boston as an importer of European flour. The company fielded 50,000 questions in April — about half of them asking where to find flour.
Anyone who has a fever or cough—or symptoms that might seem like a cold— should not come to the distributions. Also, don’t come if you have been in contact with anyone who has these symptoms. Instead, call 425-3252 and leave your name and number. You will receive a call back to come up with a plan. We need to help families and volunteers stay safe.
Bringing the goodwill story full circle, we note that during the pandemic King Arthur has been paying some of its bakery customers around the country to bake bread and donate it to local good causes.
We are now open every Wednesday evening from 5 to 7 p.m. This is curbside service only. Cars pull up to a sign that says “Please wait in car.” A volunteer offers a checklist for patrons to select the items they need. A volunteer packs the items and then another volunteer carries the bags out, setting them beside the car. Financial assistance Reminder: The Food Shelf has some funds available for emergency assistance with fuel and electric bills. Call 425-3252 if you need assistance. For emergency food call John at 425-3130. Donations
https://tinyurl.com/ydb4yv3y Sharing seeds and local food Because of Covid-19 precautions, the Charlotte Library isn’t distributing heirloom seeds this spring. But they do offer regular gardener-support programs and plenty of online information that they hope will support and encourage local food producers. Take a look at the plan for seed sharing: https://tinyurl.com/ybx2cuub Linda Hamilton and Karen Tuininga, seed library coordinators, offer this suggestion: If you have room, plant a few extra veggies in your garden for the Charlotte Food Shelf, especially fresh tomatoes, squash, green and yellow beans, peas, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers, radish, corn, broccoli, potatoes. They will be so appreciated. Just reading this list offers us a warm glimpse of the tastes of summer, and please do remember: Sharing a tomato is as delicious as eating one. Keeping safe The Food Shelf continues to take precautions to help everyone keep safe.
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The Charlotte Food Shelf, Inc. is a nonprofit organization, and all donations are tax deductible. Our organization is run by volunteers, and so all donations made to the Food Shelf go directly for nutritious food or assistance to our local neighbors in Charlotte and North Ferrisburgh. Should you wish to honor someone with a donation, a special acknowledgement will be sent to that person. Checks may be mailed to Charlotte Food Shelf and Assistance, P.O. Box 83, Charlotte, VT 05445. Call the Food Shelf number (425-3252) for a recording of the distribution times.
12 • May 28, 2020 • The Charlotte News
Town
CYCLING
continued from page 1
If you’re coming up on a cyclist and another car is coming toward you and all three of you are going to meet at the same point in the road, slow down and let the oncoming traffic get clear before passing us. And wait for us on blind curves and hills. Perhaps remind yourself as you slow down and delay your arrival somewhere by a few seconds, or even a few minutes, that the cyclist in front of you is someone’s child, parent or grandparent doing something that contributes to their health and well-being—and that the time invested in slowing down is well worth the time and hassle of the ensuing legal procedures and the multiple years of increased insurance that can come in the wake of an avoidable accident. Turn your lights on. Most cyclists ride with a small mirror attached to their handlebar or bike helmet. It’s far easier for us to see you coming in our mirrors and to make the appropriate adjustments in our riding, like getting into single file, if your lights are on. This is particularly true if your car is dark colored. Darker cars often blend into the asphalt and are almost invisible in our mirrors until they are fairly close behind us. Not so, however, if their lights are on. If you’re hauling a trailer…Twenty years ago I was knocked off my bike and
into a hospital when a driver pulling a hay trailer passed me and swerved back into my lane too soon. A week ago, my wife, who was riding in front of me on Hawkins Road in Ferrisburgh, almost got hit by a boat trailer when that driver also pulled too quickly into our lane after passing us. Vermont law requires motorists, when passing cyclists, to “exercise due care, which includes reducing speed and increasing clearance to a recommended distance of at least four feet.” That four-foot clearance applies to both the vehicle and the trailer. Violations are subject to a civil penalty of $200 or more. My best guess is that the boat trailer missed my wife by about 12 inches.
Now for cyclists: For NHTSA, there is one overriding rule: Ride defensively. Wear a helmet and bright clothing. Equip your bike with a white front light and a red tail light. Be constantly alert to road and traffic circumstances, and anticipate the actions of pedestrians and vehicles. NHSTA’s rules of the road include the following: • Ride with the flow, in the same direction as traffic. • Obey street signs, signals and road markings, just like a car. • Assume the other person doesn’t see you; look ahead for hazards or situations to avoid that may cause you to fall, like toys, pebbles, potholes, grates, train tracks. • Do not text, listen to music or use anything that distracts you by taking your eyes and ears or your mind off the road and traffic. Cycling on Greenbush Road.
Do the Dutch reach. Parked cars also pose a danger. Cyclists can, and do, get seriously injured when a driver opens the driver’s-side door just as a cyclist is passing by. The easy way for the driver to avoid “dooring” the cyclist is to open the door using the hand farthest away from the door. By reaching across your body with your right hand, your torso
Photo by Lee Krohn
and head turn toward the door, which enables you to scan the side mirror and, by twisting a bit more, look behind you for oncoming traffic before opening the door. For everything you need to know about the Dutch reach, including several short videos, go to dutchreach.org.
A particular peeve of motorists is coming up on cyclists who fail to get into single file to allow safe passing. The penalty in Vermont for riding more than two abreast and for impeding traffic while riding two abreast is $100. Charlotte’s roads are for drivers and cyclists alike to enjoy. Let’s all be safe on them.
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The Charlotte News • May 28, 2020 • 13
Out Takes
Living in the bike lane Edd Merritt
I’ve got a bike. You can ride it if you like It’s got a basket, a bell that rings and Things to make it look good. I’d give it to you if I could . . . “Bike” – Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd So, where did my focus on bicycles come from? Well, it’s a bit of a convoluted story that connects my own youth with a modern read from one of the more interesting books I have picked up recently. That book, Charles Pierce’s The Best American Sports Writing, 2019, is not a standard text on sports. It is 24 writers’ in-depth analyses of a wide variety of what not all of us would identify as athletic activities. For example: How many people consider Rubik’s Cube speed competition a full-blown sport, or winning a minirefrigerator while covering the Super
Bowl for Gentleman’s Quarterly? (To me, that really stretched the meaning of the word, but the author seemed thrilled that she was able to lay out her victory on the page.) Even something that brings in an NBA superstar, who happens to be from Cameroon and went through a tribal ritual of killing a lion in order to reach manhood and America. “Fists of Fury,” Tom Layden’s article from Sports Illustrated that delved into the personalities of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, runners and fist raisers on the 1968 Olympic podium, describes as much their personalities, their distinct differences in attitudes as well as their likenesses, both, however, punctuating a common cause and identifying themselves as symbols and promoters of the Black Power movement to be followed by Colin Kaepernick a half century later. One of the chapters that jogged my memory was from Bicycling magazine,
“The Redemption of Artis Monroe.” It discussed how he, incarcerated in a California state prison near Napa Valley, is a fixer of bikes. He says that there is “no better job on the Ranch than this. It’s freedom within prison.” In his workshop, a corrugated metal shed, he restores donated bikes and returns them to the community. Its purpose is not only for him to learn a job skill but to then show its use in society. Well, reading Artis’ redeeming occupation took me back to my own youth and what a central feature my bicycle was in it (It was my bike without incarceration, mind you, around which my world revolved. Come to think of it, perhaps my bike kept me out of the slammer.). I had a Schwinn. You remember them, don’t you? The seats were closer to rotund than to narrow and padded for comfort. The handle bars spread out broadly from the frame so that when you rode it appeared that you were cruising at a significant speed when, in fact, you were more bent over the bike’s body than bent to a finish line on the track. They had fenders front and back to keep water and mud from the rider’s chin or back of the neck. You applied the brakes by stepping backward on the pedals. Handbrakes were for those riders whose primary language was not English. Minnesota adults rode inside automobiles with heaters. We pre-driver’s license juniors offered our bodies to the winds— stopping just short of snow season. Much of non-winter was spent on our bikes. I’m not quite certain which activity came first, delivering newspapers or living in my bike saddle. I do know that the bicycle and the Rochester Post Bulletin delivery were combined. Between folding the paper in a tight bundle, riding nonstop and throwing the folded papers on the porches house to house, block to block without dismounting from the bike, gave me a sense of accomplishment—as well as a snippet of cash.
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My paper route was a daily one except for Sundays. The Post Bulletin did not print an issue that day. If it had, it would have been a tough fold. The Post Bulletin came out as an evening
edition, complementing the morning Minneapolis Tribune, but I could start and finish my route before dinner. I covered the southwest section of town, and between my front basket and my over-theshoulder bag, I was able to hold enough folded papers to deliver to all subscribers in one circle of the neighborhood. Several of them timed me perfectly and greeted my throw to their porches with smiles and thank yous. I maintained my business face. Schwinns were perfect parent-style bikes—squat, a broad gas-tank-like structure between the seat and the handlebars that made them look like a turtle with wheels. We young riders felt we needed to give them some flare, so we raised the seats and lowered the handlebars, meaning we sat high and leaned low as though we were chasing a mountain lion. We attached baseball cards to the rear wheel spokes, thinking we were mimicking hot rods. In fact, we were simply ruining Yogi Berra. Our bikes provided us with opportunities to learn some simple mechanics. Chains and derailleurs seemed to separate periodically, and we needed to become adept at re-attaching them before peddling again. If the process slowed my paper route, I had to develop the leg strength to up my speed—good sports training. Our bikes became the hot rods of our generation as we did wheelies up Broadway in the closest thing to a gang that we could muster. In his story, Artis Monroe was also a rider as well as a fixer. He was his own gang of one, but his bicycles were his telescopes to his future, out of prison, into a productive world. That occurred in February of 2017 after he had restored over 800 bikes. He did not keep the one he had saved for himself—nor did I. My Schwinn and I departed one afternoon at the bottom of the “Canyon Trail,” leading from “Pill Hill” (doctor homesteads) through a cut in the hillside that was the closest thing we could call a canyon to a section of town ignobly known as “Goon Valley.” Having moved forward in life to the age at which I could win an automobile driver’s license, I exchanged Schwinn for VW and drove it off to college.
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14 • May 28, 2020 • The Charlotte News
Sacred Hunter
Take the long way home It is our errors in our balance or direction that often bring us the most rewards.
Bradley Carleton
The current pandemic has changed a lot of our daily interactions and caused us to take a closer look at what really matters. When the population of our country is struggling to maintain a civil discourse on politics, I have found great solace in my own form of worship: that of nature and all that she offers us. Today I stood in a river with my waders on and, and although my intention was to catch a handsome rainbow trout, I seemed to fall into a trance-like meditation. I felt the warm early summer breeze and watched the ripples on the water sparkle in the sunlight. I felt the current tugging at me and occasionally was swept off my feet and stumbled to keep my balance. At one point I toppled into the water and soaked my left side up to the shoulder before my hand found the bottom of the rocky waters. My friend John asked me if I was okay. I replied, “Better’n ever! I have just been baptized in the holy trout waters.” I was sure that after having paid my dues to the river I would now be blessed by a nice rise to my elkhair caddis fly, tied on the end of a 4x tippet with a nymph dropper
bouncing along the bottom of the riverbed. My thoughts drifted back 51 years to my initiation into fly fishing, at a trout club in Berea, Ohio, outside of Cleveland, and the first monster rainbow that I caught on a wooly bugger fly. But right now, right here, everything was just right. The shade of old trees along the bank kept us from getting sunburned. The breeze kept us cool. We stealthily approached a deep pool where John and I have had great success in in the past. The sound of the water rushing over some deeply embedded boulders gave lifeaffirming oxygen to the hope that trout would be lurking below the froth. We cast simultaneously in clockwork rhythm; peeling off more line with each false cast, until we presented our flies in the exact location in the water column. We both knew a big brown trout might be lying in wait for the insect world to provide him with his next meal. Like I said, everything was perfect. We cast into that pool and a few others for four hours and never once got a bite. John started to apologize for leading us to this fish-less water. I stopped him before he spoke another word. Although my intention had been to hook a nice rainbow, the deeper intention was to meld with everything around me and feel a sense of relief from all the troubles of the world. Standing in the still water beside the sandy
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bank and watching insects hatch from the subsurface film and dance in the pillared sunlight beaming through the trees, I felt what many of us are craving right now: a sense that the world was still right. That I belonged and that our time here on earth is measured not in how many breaths we are given but in how many times our breath is taken away by the sheer beauty and serenity that surrounds us. As we climbed out of the river up a steep embankment, we had to cross over a decaying tree trunk. It was so weathered
Photo by Bradley Carleton
that we could not even tell what kind of tree it was. As I took a step forward and tried to lift my right leg over the battered trunk, I lost my balance, again, and this time as I hurtled toward the ground, I came face to face with a colony of pheasant back mushrooms. I laughed out loud and said to John, “If I hadn’t lost my balance, I would never have seen them.” The moment I recovered and stood up, it occurred to me that sometimes we need to lose our balance to see things we have overlooked before. see HUNTER page 15
The Charlotte News • May 28, 2020 • 15
Town
Charlotte Senior Center news
Carolyn Kulik SENIOR CENTER DIRECTOR
What if you thought of it as the Jews consider the Sabbath— the most sacred of times? Cease from travel. Cease from buying and selling. Give up, just for now, on trying to make the
world different than it is. Sing. Pray. Touch only those to whom you commit your life. Center down. And when your body has become still, reach out with your heart. Know that we are connected in ways that are terrifying and beautiful. (You could hardly deny it now.) Know that our lives are in one another’s hands. (Surely, that has come clear.) Do not reach out your hands. Reach out your heart. Reach out your words. Reach out all the tendrils of compassion that move, invisibly, where we cannot touch. Promise this world your love– for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, so long as we all shall live. “Pandemic” by Lynn Ungar, 3/11/20 ________________
As you can see, this issue of The Charlotte News has the Summer Schedule insert for the months of June, July and August. It does not reflect the “new normal”— because that is something that has yet to be established. Senior centers throughout the state are anxiously waiting to learn what date they can open, what activities will be allowed, and what the maximum number of participants permitted inside will be. One mandated change will be temperature taking (forehead) and the recording of visitors’ names for contact tracing—if any is needed. Under consideration is what activities would allow for low attendance numbers and also social distancing. Outdoor activities are likely to get the
RAISE YOUR HAND
green light, but the Birding Expedition with Hank Kaestner on June 10 is not likely to be approved because it is before the mid-June opening date that the state has announced. In addition, there will be special guidelines for those over 65 or with underlying health conditions, which could result in re-opening delays. Of course, as time goes on and the weather gets nicer and nicer, it is harder than ever to be patient. But the stakes are high and forbearance is an essential virtue. Wednesday events The Wednesday events that take place at 1 p.m. will be continuing with—or without—an audience. Most likely, a very limited number of attendees will be allowed, so registration in advance will be necessary every week up to the cut-off number. So, the planned events will go forward and will be videoed with a Zoom link posted to our website for those not able to attend. Because of the uncertainty regarding opening guidelines, no events are scheduled in June. The first Wednesday event this summer will be July 1 on Covid-19: What We Know—What We Have Yet To Learn—Where Are We Likely Headed with Jim Hyde. Jim is an emeritus professor of public health at the Tufts University School of Medicine and former director of preventative medicine at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. (More about Jim and this event in a future issue of this paper.) For a complete change of pace, on July 8 at 1 p.m. will be Music ~ Marty Morrisey, Robert Resnik and Patti Shannon performing folk, country and original tunes from Vermont, Ireland and around the United States on a variety of instruments. Marty has been coming to CSC pretty much since it opened in 2002. He has also been known as the organizer of hikes in the spring and fall, which he started doing in 2006. Not long after that, he began studying tai chi here, and for about eight years has been the leader of T’ai Chi Advanced Practice on Thursdays. What people may not know about him is that long, long before his career as a musician, he was an uninspired student who became intrigued with the world of printing; awards
In addition to the 1 p.m. events, there are also two courses scheduled on Wednesdays: Essentrics™ with Sherry Senior at 8:30 a.m. and Mindfulness with Jill Abilock at 2:30. These have been reconfigured as Zoom courses, and they both work surprisingly well, especially considering that one is exercise and the other is meditation. Depending on what the restrictions are regarding re-opening the Center, both of these are set to continue as Zoom classes, if necessary. It almost goes without saying that the Senior Center is full of folks with engaging backgrounds and broad life experiences. Jill, for example, has been practicing mindfulness for 30 years—with 20 as a trained facilitator. She is a certified endof-life doula, has been a hospice volunteer for five years, and describes herself as a “spiritual caregiver.” She is also a book artist and works in mixed media. Did I mention that she lived in Japan for 12 years and worked as a translator for 25? And that is most—but not all—of her story.
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Blood Drive Please don’t forget that our Blood Drive is Thursday, June 11, from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Senior Center, although the building is closed for other activities. If you wish to donate blood, please go to RedCrossBlood. org or call 1-800-RED CROSS. Peggy Sharpe, the Senior Center’s volunteer coordinator, is collaborating on this event with Charlotte Fire and Rescue. If you have any questions, you can email her at srctrvol@gmavt.net or leave a message for her on the Senior Center’s number, 4256345. Zoom classes The Zoom classes will continue as long as the Senior Center is closed—or as long as gatherings for those particular activities are restricted by the state. In the meanwhile, please check out the ongoing Zoom classes on the website. You are welcome to join at any time. And there may be more Zoom classes coming. Honestly, the technology is pretty easy and the rewards are worth the minimal effort. You, too, can Zoom! Please visit CharlotteSeniorCenterVT.org for additional information about the Senior Center, course descriptions, payment and reduced fees. Announcements regarding the re-opening of the Senior Center will be posted on our website, on Front Porch Forum, on the telephone message of the Center, and in this paper. We are still at the hurry-upand-wait stage. Maybe soon—but not yet. It is good to know that the Senior Center is important to so many people—and it is hard at the same time. Everybody misses everybody! The empty building is. Really. Empty. ________________
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and recognition followed. Much later, he used his degree in print production management and his training as a linotype operator at George Little Press—where he worked as a supervisor for 25 years. Of course, that is most—but not all—of his story.
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The Senior Center’s mission is to serve those 50 and up. Residents from other communities are always welcome. There are no membership fees. Feel free to leave a message on the Center number anytime: 425-6345; voicemail will be checked daily. Be careful. Stay well. But mostly, be kind. ________________ Charlotte Senior Center 802-425-6345
16 • May 28, 2020 • The Charlotte News
HUNTER
continued from page 13
As we drove home in John’s old van, I began to point out spots where I had known wild asparagus had grown in years past. We took the long way home and found a few wild asparagus and several more mushrooms. At one point I told John to “take a left here,” and it was minute or two before I realized that, once again, I had lost my bearings. Mind you that I have been an outdoorsman for a long time—ever since I was kicked out of Boy Scouts for wandering off the trail and finding a “better way back to camp.” But here I was, first losing my balance then losing my bearings, and this time I discovered a new asparagus patch.
I began to look for meaning in my follies, and it came to me tonight as I sit here in my den surrounded by prints of duck hunting, an 8-point buck mounted on the wall, a full turkey fan mounted with its beard, a mount of a double banded drake mallard and my old cherry rolltop desk. It is our errors in our balance or direction that often bring us the most rewards. It has taken me a mere 61 years to discover that the most beautiful and meaningful moments come to us not when we expect them but when our routines are thrown off balance and we take the long way home. 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.
Big news at the Charlotte Grange Even though our entire world has turned upside down with COVID-19 and everything has either stopped, slowed down or totally changed, some things continue on their merry way. And at Trina Bianchi the Charlotte Grange, although our building is closed and we are not hosting any events, some things are still happening. This week Grange members will be visiting all our local cemeteries and other local sites, honoring all the veterans who have served our country in various conflicts and are now resting forever within our town. The grave of each veteran will have a new American flag, the old one removed and properly disposed. Between Barber Cemetery, Grandview Cemetery, Morningside Cemetery and the cemetery at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, plus the various monuments, Grange members will replace close to 200 flags. Huge thanks to Cindi and Stuart Robinson, Ruah Swennerfelt and Louis Cox, Dorothy Hill, Dave Perrin, Margaret Woodruff, Jim Donovan and Mike Walker for their time in making sure the veterans of Charlotte are honored. And now for the big news: As many of you know, we applied for and received a grant from. the Vermont Division of Historic
Preservation last October to repair and restore the interior of the eight large “schoolhouse” windows in the main room and to restore/ rehabilitate the two main entry doors. This grant was for $12,000 and is a 50/50 grant, with the Grange paying $12,000 to complete the project and Historic Preservation then reimbursing the Grange $6,000 or half the amount spent. We have until September 2021 to complete this project. The original plan was to have the work done this summer and fall, giving us the time to have our spring rummage sale, fall rummage sale and at least one, if not two, big fundraising events during the summer so that we could raise the $12,000 necessary to pay for all of the work. Needless to say, that plan had to change as we had no spring rummage sale and the fundraising events we had hoped to have this summer most likely will not happen. However, we are going to start the work anyway with the window part of the project and if necessary, secure a loan to cover the cost. The hope now is that we can raise enough money to have the doors done next summer, if not sooner. Earlier this year we also applied for another one-time grant from the Preservation Trust of Vermont to paint and repair the remaining three sides of the exterior of the building, and we were awarded that grant earlier this month. Again a 50/50 grant, this time for $20,000!
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Reach your friends and neighbors for only $12 per issue. (Payment must be sent before issue date.) Please limit your ad to 35 words or fewer and send it to The Charlotte News Classifieds, P.O. Box 251, Charlotte, VT 05445 or email ads@thecharlottenews.org. MT. PHILO INN A unique hotel with panoramic views of Lake Champlain and private road to Mt. Philo. 1800 sq. ft. 3-bedroom suites with 2 bathrooms and a complete kitchen. By the day, week and month. Privacy, space, tranquility. Bigger on the inside. MtPhiloInn.com, 425-3335. Want a great start to 2020? LET LAFAYETTE PAINTING will give your home a beautiful, fresh look. Our painters can do a lot in a day. Lafayettepaintinginc.Com or call 863-5397 to hear about our winter discount. The Charlotte News is looking for a few DRIVERS TO VOLUNTEER THEIR TIME on the day our newspapers are issued to help drop them at various locations within Charlotte, Shelburne, Ferrisburgh Upon completion of the project, the Grange will be reimbursed $10,000, or half the amount spent. And the entire exterior of our little Grange Hall, including the cupola, will be completely repaired and painted. And now for the challenge. When we applied for the second grant, we were in the beginning stages of planning for a couple of fundraising events and then COVID-19 entered the picture and put our fundraising plans into limbo, at least for now. Unfortunately, the Grange does not have that amount of cash in order to do the work, which is why we applied for the grants, knowing we would need to fundraise but would then be reimbursed half of the cost. As Grange members, we love our little building, and we hope our community shares our belief that this historic building is worth saving. Obviously, we need your help. We know this is not a great time to be out asking for donations, but we are under a time crunch in order to take advantage of these two grants
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that we have been awarded. After three years of applying for a grant, we finally hit the jackpot, and it would be very disappointing if we couldn’t make use of the grants because we lacked the initial funding to get the work accomplished. If you have questions or would like further information about our future plans for the Grange Hall….and yes, we do have longterm plans that include making a handicapaccessible bathroom…..please call or write Trina Bianchi at 425-3691 or alchemy@ gmavt.net, or contact Margaret Woodruff, president, at margaret.woodruff@gmail.com or at the Charlotte Library. Donations are tax deductible; we do acknowledge them with an appropriate letter upon receipt. Donations can be sent to Charlotte Grange, P.O. Box 54, Charlotte, VT 05445. We thank you in advance for considering the Charlotte Grange Building Fund as something you are willing to support.
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