The Charlotte News | June 11, 2020

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Thursday, June 11, 2020 | Volume LXII Number 24

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Vol. 62, no.24 June 11, 2020

Vermont’s oldest nonprofit community newspaper, bringing you local news and views since 1958

The ongoing cycle of violence against black Americans Rev. Dr. Arnold Isidore Thomas

What white Americans refer to as a crisis, black Americans call business as usual. The murders of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and George Floyd in Minnesota are but the latest in an ongoing cycle of violence toward black people that has plagued this nation since its inception. The present racial crisis our nation is experiencing, intensified by the devastation the coronavirus pandemic is having upon black and brown communities, is the consequence of a culture that has placed capital over compassion and property over people. And until we as citizens commit ourselves to placing the priorities of the most oppressed, marginalized and victimized communities as our uppermost priorities, this crisis will only worsen.

Black and brown people in Vermont feel taken for granted because we comprise less than 6 percent of the population, causing state and local officials to disregard or ignore matters we consider crucial to our survival. Still, the few, but growing, representative voices we have continue to work within the legal apparatus of the state in stressing the need for all residents to pay attention to the daily desperation many of us, along with poor white people, face—with the

Rescued with a good lunch

reminder that when you empower the most vulnerable members of our society, we all benefit.

When a country fails to implement fair and impartial policing on local, regional and national levels, we will continue to experience abuses by law enforcement officials. When a country fails to feel outraged by the disproportionate number of people of color in our nation’s correctional facilities, we will continue to experience injustice on all levels of our criminal justice system. When the nation’s highest court continues to dismantle the structure of civil rights legislation for which thousands fought and died, and the nation’s chief executive leads the charge of his party to suppress the voting rights of people of color, we will continue to experience civil unrest and violence in every region and state. When a nation turns a deaf ear to the cries of the poor and oppressed for quality education, employment, housing and healthcare, all the protest rallies and speeches will amount to nothing.

In other words, “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong and a clashing cymbal.”

(1st Corinthians 1:1)

Left to right: Assistant pastry chef Molly Hadwin from Philo Ridge, AEMT Mikeala Natale, AEMT Mike Kelleher, and Meg Dawson, pastry chef at Philo Ridge Farm.

Photo by Patrice Machavern

Philo Ridge Farm, through the Frontline Foods Vermont program, donated and delivered lunch to the Charlotte Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service staff on Friday morning. CVFRS said they are grateful for the farm’s generosity and that the meals were delicious. “We would also like to thank Kelly Devine, Charlotte resident and Frontline Foods Vermont coordinator, for pairing local restaurants with local essential workers during the pandemic. Having people in our community take care of our staff so we can take care of our community means so much to all of us. It truly does take a village!”

see CRISIS page 5

Taking care of business Chea Waters Evans

The Selectboard tackled topics from picnic tables to open-space tax refunds and everything in between on Monday night.

Recreation The beach is a hot spot this summer— even before it opened last weekend there were crowds every day. The meeting kicked off with Charlotter Eli LesserGoldsmith requesting that the Selectboard open the playground. “I think as a culture we need to enter more of a phase of personal responsibility; if people don’t want to go to playgrounds because they’re afraid, they should stay away from the playground. If other people want to play… party on,” he said.

Later in the meeting, Recreation Director Nicole Conley and Recreation Committee Chair Bill Fraser-Harris concurred that it would be feasible to do so, and the Selectboard approved 5-0 that as long as the town lawyer confirmed that the town wasn’t liable should the playgrounds, picnic tables and docks be opened up, Recreation would go ahead and do so.

Selectboard member Louise McCarren

gave a “shout out” to Conley and Fraser-Harris for all of their hard work and diligence with keeping the beach coronavirus precaution compatible.

Net metering The Energy Committee and the Selectboard decided to go back to basics in the search for a viable net metering arrangement for the Town of Charlotte.

(Net metering is a system where money is made from having an excess in funds from solar energy apparatuses.) After they decided in a February meeting to ditch a previous plan, the board issued another RFP and decided on Monday to not consider any of the bids that came in from that.

Energy Committee Chair Rebecca Foster proposed, and the Selectboard agreed, that a fresh start is needed to resolve the issue, and that a “patchwork” approach to the problem might be a better solution. She suggested that a more slow and deliberate approach, moving in smaller steps, might help the issue develop more organically, and that there would be less of a chance for a major money loss or contract issue should things not go as planned.

Deirdre Holmes from the Energy Committee did the legwork and research for solar array possibilities and talked with the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, which agreed to grant 12 hours of free consultation. They will look over maps that lay out possible solar sites in town and assess which might be the best option for the first square of the patchwork. The issue will be revisited at the July 17 meeting.

Other business The Selectboard approved a Thompson’s Point lease for a new homeowner, approved issuing an RFP for site work at the library, and decided to make an offer for the position of town planner to Larry Lewack, who is currently the planning and zoning administrator in Bolton, Vermont.

Sarah Reeves, director of the Chittenden Solid Waste District, presented the FY21 budget, which had been altered somewhat in the last few months due to financial concerns as the result of the COVID-19caused economic crisis. The budget was approved 5-0.

The Selectboard also opted to resume in-person meetings at Town Hall, but in-

person attendees will attend by invite only.

The meetings will all remain broadcast on Zoom for local participants.

An electronic vehicle charger will be installed by Cummings Electric in the Town Hall parking lot. It will be paid for with a $16,000 grant from the state that comes as a result of Volkswagen’s reimbursement plan to states for falsifying environmental impact data on their cars.

The library and town will split the cost of the remaining $2,000 or so.

KR Properties requested that the Selectboard refund permitting fees that were paid in the course of designating land for open space. Eddie Krasnow, the owner, said he did not realize it was an option to apply for a waiver or refund until he had already paid the fees. Selectboard member Frank Tenney said he understands the issue from Krasnow’s point of view, but he is “trying to figure out how this is supposed to play out…What are the repercussions of this and how can we make it clear in the future? What kind of liability will we have going backward and forward?” Tenney and McCarren will discuss the issue further and a vote will take place at the next meeting.

The Charlotte News • June 11, 2020 • 3

Opinion The incremental journey May 25th, 2020 was a Memorial Day. Millions of Americans look back on this day on the quintessence of protecting the global order or the continental homeland by Chol Dhoor the United States military.

I, too, did my own reflection and went for a quiet walk on the Charlotte Village Loop Trail, all the way to Ethan Allen Highway. Though I was running at first, I decided it would serve me well if I took the pleasure of walking instead. Where you do this leisure matters a lot.

Mine is in this small town of Charlotte. A town filled with three things: life, hospitality, and convenience of trails. The seagulls, the tractors on the fields, the runners on the streets and the firefighters who answered the emergency calls all speak to that uniqueness, among others.

These characteristics validate what a vibrant neighborhood looks like. I would like to share a thought on life while I save gas on others for the future.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m up for a self-recollection here, because I live so close to a trail. Such vicinity helps me to appreciate the value of the trail to the town and residents every time I take those few minutes to walk on a mowed path. Every step I make in the woods serves as a timely reminder of how much work and leadership goes into planning and maintaining it yearly.

It’s amazingly beautiful once deep in the

woods. It’s full of life, to put it lightly. The birds have returned. They were busy doing their singing, perhaps making sense of everything that has changed since they escaped the blizzards and below zero temperatures of last winter. I can’t of course prove that was exactly all they were doing. But what else can I say, when the cool shade from the trees above me was much better than a roaring indoor air conditioner. How can I not assume their uninterrupted echoes were not coming from the pathways of their short beaks and muscles of their elegant necks. How can I not assume everything I heard or saw has nothing telling about their ways of life. You got the point.

Contrary, so much has changed since that same day and the last few weeks and months. A recent case in point is the brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by a police officer--not to mention incarceration rates, among other serious problems. Americans are on the streets to ask an old question: Should enforcement of the law be lethal, especially on unarmed fellow Americans? That answer varies depending on the case. They are on the streets to reaffirm and speak to the long and well documented occurrences of similar incidents where equal protection before the law felt preferential to some. All is to say, they are renewing unfinished work from historical civil rights, voting rights, women’s rights and many other legal provisions. Each of these milestones were painfully slow and many thought they wouldn’t be realized in their

lifetimes. Today, they are practical reminders of the work at hand toward a perfect justice, or full interaction with the law and power without heavy lifting.

Clearly, making a case for racial equality and justice will always be dividing given the political and institutional cycles of today.

Pronunciation of solidarity and collective rejection of existing national conditions can permanently improve historical racial relations so the likes of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and many others should be alive today. That can only happen if we all believe justice has a place across this land.

In the next few years or so, we will reevaluate what we didn’t do now as individuals, towns, states and as a nation to meet judicial gaps for many who feel differently historically. This journey can be incremental. However, it’s a duty of every individual American to make a difference racially, judicially and economically for blacks, indigenous and people of color, not only when events happen, but always.

With that point rested, I make sense of consequential days, as it has been recently, at my own speed when I go for a walk on the trail. So, what is the best way to honor this work? Yours might be different but taking a walk with a family or a friend is just one way to honor those who made it accessible for all of us.

Chol Dhoor is a founder and executive director of Charlotte-based Sudanese Foundation of Vermont Inc.

The subtleties and the damage Grace Amao Ciffo

George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Thousands before these strong men. I’ve been at a loss for the right words. And sad. And dejected because it feels like nothing ever changes.

Tired of abuse of power. Tired of so much entitlement and callousness. And who am I to push unsolicited views? Well, I’m Grace Ifeloju Amao. I’m a Nigerian Vermonter (okay, half Nigerian, half European, 100% Proud of who I am and who I come from).

This is no sob story.

County. In Hinesburg, even. So I know racism. I know shadism. I know the subtleties and I know the damage.

My white mother raised me in very white Hinesburg, first on her own and then with my white stepfather. I love my parents, who happen to be white, to death. I never wanted race to be a big deal. My biological father didn’t either, actually. He used to talk about people as rainbows, encourage us to shrug it off or just riff back, “Yeah, so what?” in the nasty face of the N-word.

But I can’t always hide in the comfort and kindness of my own kitchen, my own family, or my own little rural Shangri-La. Not when it really feels like there is a war raging. Not when the level of suffering and fear due to

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve led a privileged life. But my 6’3” black father endured far too much overt racism in his life. Way too much of it right here in Vermont, in Chittenden

YES

ON ARTICLE 4 YES YES ON ARTICLE 4 ON ARTICLE 4

 Trails Improve Charlotte’s Quality of Life.  Trails Keep Us Safe and Healthy.  Trails Have Wide Public Support.

Support Charlotte Town

Support Charlotte Town Link Trail Support Charlotte Town Link Trail

HERE’S WHY IT’S WORTH YOUR HERE’S WHY IT’S WORTH YOUR CONSIDERATION: CONSIDERATION:

✓ Trails Improve Charlotte’s Quality of Life. ✓ Trails Improve Charlotte’s Quality of Life. ✓ Trails Keep Us and Our Children Safe and Healthy. ✓ Trails Keep Us and Our Children Safe and Healthy. ✓ Trails Are Financially Responsible. ✓ Trails Are Financially Responsible. ✓ Trails Have Wide Public Support. ✓ Trails Have Wide Public Support.

Article 4 will ask for $57,000 to build another key section of the Town Link Trail, following construction this year of the State Road Trail section.

Link Park Trail Our Goal : A trail that links Mt. Philo with the Town Beach, via the village.

Article 4 will ask for $57,000 to extend the current Article 4 will ask section for $57,000 to extend the current 2-mile completed of the Town Link Trail.

2-mile completed section of the Town Link Trail.

These funds, together with existing funds, will allow These funds, together with existing funds, will allow us to complete the Trail along State Park Rd. and us to complete the Trail along State Park Rd. and construct another half-mile section. The sooner we construct another half-mile section. The sooner we can complete the Town Link Trail, the more money can complete the Town Link Trail, the more money 4 Article we will save Charlotte taxpayers in the end. we will save Charlotte taxpayers in the end.

HERE’S WHY IT’S WORTH YOUR CONSIDERATION:

will ask for $57,000 to extend the current 2-mile completed section of the Town Link Trail.

These funds, together with existing funds, will allow

racial profiling and violence is rising.

Some of the people I love the most have seemed in the past to chafe the quickest, or be offended and even outraged, by the slightest suggestion of systemic racism in this country, especially when talking about white racism perpetrated on the black community in this country.

I watched a clear instance of racism right in my local market this week. But you know what? A bystander, a white woman, stepped in and stood up for the black man who was first ignored, then spoken down to and nearly refused service, by a store clerk. So that was beautiful to watch.

And the fact that so many Americans are bothered, are standing up in agreed outrage, is a good sign. Rather than the insane and cruel victim shaming and defensive excusing that we have so often seen and engaged in, we could get to a higher place in this country. We could. But first we have to come together and acknowledge that this problem of racism, especially against black men, is real. It shows up subtly (that’s what I often see here in Vermont) and behind closed doors. Sometimes it shows up in violence, sometimes in murder.

Racism, even “mild” racism, causes unimaginable pain. It stunts lives and potential, and we must flush it out, practice zero tolerance in public and in our social and private lives, and teach our children from day one that every single shade of human is equally beautiful and worthwhile.

Grace Amao Ciffo lives in her hometown of Hinesburg, and graduated from CVU.

The Charlotte News Mission Statement The mission of The Charlotte News is to inform our readers about current events, issues and topics, and to serve as a forum for the free exchange of views of town residents and community volunteer organizations on matters related to Charlotte and the lives of its residents.

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4 • June 11, 2020 • The Charlotte News

Letter to the Editor

Around Town Congratulations to Alex Graham, M.D., for his appointment as a family physician at the Charlotte Family Health Center. Alex grew up in Charlotte, where his parents were both doctors, his mother on the staff of the Charlotte Family Health Center. Medicine was not the family’s only calling, however.

Living on a “rough and tumble farm,” they raised most of what they ate.

Alex says he had a “wonderful, nerdy childhood, doing every sport and activity Vermont afforded.” Music was in his repertoire, and he played several instruments. After prep school he went to Harvard where he “majored in rowing . . . and English.” He then earned an M.B.A. and went to work for Patagonia, traveling all over the world, but he found Vermont hard to resist. He came back to his home state and became a director and owner of a travelbased school for boys with emotional and behavioral disabilities. This is what drew him into medicine, gaining his pre-med requirements from UVM (while coaching crew), then going on to earn an M.D. from Tufts on its “Maine Track” in Portland. Alex says “It feels perhaps a little too Norman Rockwell-esque to be doctoring at the same clinic where my mom worked. But it’s a great organization and an exciting time to be there.” He says they are looking to redesign their clinic to deal more effectively with the post-coronavirus.

Congratulations also to several young Charlotte writers whose poems have appeared in The Burlington Free Press’ Young Writers Project. On May 15, Margaret Eagan’s verse titled “All my poems are written at midnight,” written with the moon watching, “when the day gets quiet and the work is done.” Her words flow as the “stars twinkle merrily.” On May 29, Lila Taylor saw her poem “Unchanged” on the Project page. In it she dreams she is a bird singing a song, and nothing can

hold her back, a bird with a sweet song that remains unchanged. In the June 5 issue, Rose Lord is into burlap sacks, and Ava Rohrbaugh, into seashells. Having jokingly been called a burlap bag that’s held open by iron bars, Rose does fear that she has sprung a leak, and it scares her; one day the burlap will fray and the iron bars will rust and crack, and she will become empty. To Ava, people are seashells that wash into the waiting hands of families to help them ashore. “We stay content, stay smiling, stay strong.”

Sympathy is extended to family and friends of Jan (Mike) Harford who died in Brooksville, Maine, on May 14 at the age of 84. Mike married Ellen Hildreth, and together they raised two daughters while living in Grand Isle and Charlotte. Upon his retirement from Fletcher Allen Health Care, they moved to Maine. The family asks that donations in his memory be made to the Brooksville Free Public Library, 1 Town House Road, Brooksville, ME 04617.

Sympathy is extended to family and friends of Philip Bothwell who passed away May 30 at the age of 35. Philip had many connections to Charlotte. He volunteered for the Fire Department and the Charlotte Volunteer Rescue Squad. He was predeceased by his great grandparents, Howard and Alice McDurfee, and his grandmother, Janett Bothwell, all of Charlotte. His surviving family includes his mother, Loralyn Bothwell, and stepfather, John McCaffrey, formerly of Charlotte, now of Monkton; sister Tia Loyer, brothers Brandon Bothwell and Zachary McCaffrey and their families; and nephews Dillion Bothwell, Damion Bothwell and Keagan Bothwell and niece Kayla Bothwell. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, those wishing to remember him donate to his family at http://gf.me/u/X7has6.

Integrating compassion, expertise and service

Support for Town Link Trail investment Dear Charlotte News,

I’m writing to add my voice to those in favor of trail investment and for a “Yes” on Article 4 in the upcoming ballot.

I’m one of the many people who make use of our trails several times a week, and I believe they represent a valuable public good that is more than worth the investment.

In particular, we’re so lucky to have the Town Link Trail, which is thoughtfully designed with accessibility and multi-use enjoyment in mind. I’ve seen people come by on foot, on skis, on bikes and with strollers—this is not possible on most of our other trails. Indeed, for our family, the Town Link Trail is the only place we can walk with my mother-in-law, who is not steady on her feet but who very much appreciates access to the views and the surrounding biodiversity.

I hear the perspective that says we shouldn’t invest during an economic downturn, and I respect where that comes from. At the same time, I look at some of the public goods we’ve all inherited and see many things that moved forward during times of economic distress because people chose to invest in their communities. Just look at what was accomplished nationally during the Great Depression. Closer to home, the Green Mountain Club completed the Long Trail

in the year following Black Tuesday. I also appreciate that trail RFPs have been sent to Charlotte and nearby businesses, so the investment in our community infrastructure might also help local enterprises.

I know there are folks who would rather not invest in trails at all because they don’t use them, and I understand that view. At the same time, the Town Link Trail is a public resource used by so many in our community. The results of last year’s survey by the Trails Commission showed over 40 percent of respondents using the trail at least once a month—that’s huge. Indeed, in recent weeks, I’ve seen the Cohousing parking lot full as people sought out fresh air and exercise with appropriate distancing.

We’re lucky to live in Charlotte for so many reasons, and I count the Town Link Trail as one of them. The vision to build a multi-use trail from Mount Philo to the beach is an inspiring one. I hope we can realize it for the present generations of Charlotters—and for everyone who will follow in our footsteps.

Happy trails to all.

Joseph Ingram

ON THE COVER Charlotte Ferry Photo by Lee Krohn

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The Charlotte News • June 11, 2020 • 5

Town

Charlotte Rally Against Racism draws crowd to school Chea Waters Evans

“We need healing, and we need reconciliation, but first we need justice. We need justice for George Floyd and we need justice for all the people of color that lost their lives, and their loved ones, to the brutality of this nation’s past.”

Last Friday, in dense 84-degree heat, Jeanne KaczkaValliere addressed a crowd of approximately 200 people through the sunroof of a Jeep in the parking lot at Charlotte Central School. The Charlotte Rally Against Racism, organized by Kazcka-Valliere and Maura Wygmans, drew a group of peaceful protesters, most wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“We cannot forget about that past,” she said. “We have work to do. We cannot heal as a nation, we cannot heal as a community, until we have that justice and that truth.”

Protesters lined Charlotte Hinesburg road, holding signs and occasionally chanting, “No justice, no peace.” Many cars slowed and honked as they drove by. At 4 p.m., the group moved to the sidewalk and grass in front of the school to lie still for 8 minutes to reflect the amount of time George Floyd laid in the street with a police officer’s knee on his neck, which ultimately ended in his death. Even the children present were quiet; protest attendees were largely families, many with young children.

After, the names of black Americans who were recently killed due to police violence were read aloud and repeated back by the crowd.

During her speech, Kaczka-Valliere said, “The place that our children face the most racism is at school. That’s why we’re doing it here.”

She had one final request: “This summer, I ask you to commit to being anti-racist.”

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6 • June 11, 2020 • The Charlotte News

Town Coronavirus shows value of Charlotte Town Link Trail The Charlotte Trails Committee

Much of the debate over the years on the Town Link Trail in Charlotte has included the constructive give-and-take that is the hallmark of a healthy democratic process.

Regrettably, some of the debate has included misinformation about trails’ costs and benefits. While people can argue any public policy issue almost endlessly, the proof on the Town Link Trail and other trails in Charlotte is, as they say, in the pudding.

The need for our residents to recreate outdoors locally and safely because of the coronavirus has put more people on Charlotte’s trails than ever before. Large numbers of individuals and families can be seen taking walks, runs, and bike rides on the trails. One such family—Derek Yackel, his partner, three kids, and dog— without prompting told a volunteer trail

CRISIS

continued from page 1

The increasing numbers of black and brown people across the nation and in Vermont have also increased in their intolerance of the noisy-gong-andclashing-cymbal-like rhetoric of whites who momentarily raise their voices against what they see as a momentary crisis and then resume their lives supporting and sustaining the systemic racism that caused it.

Life will only change for the better, for all of us, when we take seriously the sacred creed that all are created equal; that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights; “that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”; and further, that “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” (Declaration of Independence)

crew in mid-May that the Town Link Trail “has been a lifesaver” during the lockdown. In a backhanded compliment, the only complaint we have received during this period was about so many people using the Town Link Trail that some ventured onto neighbors’ branch trails (new signs now ask users to stay on the main trail). It is unlikely that, once the coronavirus crisis passes, people will unlearn the value of Charlotte’s trails.

This usage comes at a relatively low cost. Trails are located on public rights of way and donated private easements, and are maintained by volunteers and, when needed, local contractors. Some trails are simple walking paths through woods and meadows. Some require more elaborate construction—including gravel surfaces, culverts, and short boardwalks—to account for diverse users and environmental factors.

these principles and pursue these rights is wrenched from the grip of the wealthy few to become the commonwealth of all.

I urge Vermonters to take action by pressuring their local and state officials to move on initiatives and legislation uppermost in the lives of black and brown people, including: • • • • •

•

•

Life will only change for the better, and for all of us, when the power to interpret

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The call for civilian oversight of law enforcement A statewide policy and procedure for the use of force by police (Senate Bill 119, House Bill 464) Reparations for Slavery (House Bill 478) Justice System-wide data collection Implementation of Act 54 requiring the Attorney General’s Office, the Human Rights Commission, along with other interested stakeholders, to develop a strategy to address racial disparities across all systems of state government.

Designating a portion of COVID-19 funds to address the severe and disproportionate impact on people of color within the state.

Choosing selectboards, city councils, mayors, police chiefs, and state and national officials who embrace these priorities.

YES

Which brings us to the town budget re-vote on June 23, when voters will be asked to affirm the decision at Town Meeting to spend $57,000 to construct another section of the Town Link Trail.

That is a sizeable amount of money, Support Charlotte Town Link Trail especially during these difficult economic times. But the cost is far less than the town pays each year for other services we Town Link Trail Support Charlotte cannot imagine doing without, including the library, Senior Center, and recreation.

The money will stay local because it will pay for construction workers and materials from our area, helping small businesses get back on their feet.

YES

ON ARTICLE 4

ON ARTICLE 4

Coronavirus has shown that investing in HERE’S WHY IT’S WORTH YOUR HERE’S WHY IT’S WORTH YOUR town amenities has paid off in improved CONSIDERATION: CONSIDERATION: quality of life, safety, health, and in on June 23 or by mail-in ballot, which is attracting and retaining the population will ask for $57,000 the 4helpful folks atto extend the c HERE’S WHY IT’S already WORTHavailable YOUR fromArticle 2-mile completed section of the Town Link T Charlotte needs to sustain itsCONSIDERATION: all-important Town Hall.

These funds, together with existing funds, w schools, farms, and businesses.

Please us to complete the Trail along State Park Rd ✓ Trails Improvejoin Charlotte’s Quality of Life. construct another half-mile section. The so ✓ Trails budget Keep Us and Our Children and Healthy. us in voting in favor of the trails ThankSafe you. can complete the Town Link Trail, the more ✓ Trails Are Financially Responsible.

(Article 4) either in person at Town Hall we will save Charlotte taxpayers in the end ✓ Trails Have Wide Public Support. ✓ Trails Improve Charlotte’s Quality of Life. ✓ Trails Improve Charlotte’s Quality of Life. ✓ Trails Keep Us and Our Children Safe and Healthy. ✓ Trails Keep Us and Our Children Safe and Healthy. ✓ Trails Are Financially Responsible. ✓ Trails Are Financially Responsible. ✓ Trails Have Wide Public Support. ✓ Trails Have Wide Public Support.

Most of all, I urge Vermonters to not feel powerless in their ability to change the ongoing crisis we face. Our inaction created this crisis. Our proactive engagement will turn the tide to favor us all.

Rev. Dr. Arnold Isidore Thomas is pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Jericho, Vermont, moderator of the

The

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Article 4 will ask for $57,000 to extend the current Article 4 will ask section for $57,000 to extend the current 2-mile completed of the Town Link Trail.

2-mile completed section of the Town Link Trail.

These funds, together with existing funds, will allow These funds, together with existing funds, will allow us to complete the Trail along State Park Rd. and us to complete the Trail along State Park Rd. and construct another half-mile section. The sooner we construct another half-mile section. The sooner we can complete the Town Link Trail, the more money can complete the Town Link Trail, the more money we will save Charlotte taxpayers in the end. we will save Charlotte taxpayers in the end.

Racism in America Forums and former conference minister of the Vermont Conference of the United Church of Christ (the first black denominational leader in the state). He was also interim pastor at the Charlotte Congregational Church, UCC, in 2016.

The Charlotte News • June 11, 2020 • 7

COVID-19

Together, continuing to move forward Trina Bianchi

As I look at the calendar and see that we have turned to another month, I realize that we are now into the fourth month of the COVID-19 journey. Vermonters have come through this crisis quite well to date in terms of stemming the tide, but there are other areas in our lives that have sustained damage. Financial issues, food shortages, kids not being with their peers, struggling with online school, social distancing, no team sports, no religious services, no inperson organizational or group meetings.

The relationships that we depend on for our own mental and emotional health are largely absent, and now, adding to all of that, the current nationwide unrest.

Vermont has not seen the spike of COVID-19 that has been seen in many other parts of our country, but there is a cost in terms of financial, emotional and mental health. Any one of these issues brings some level of anxiety into our lives. Last week at our meeting of the COVID-19 Resources Group, we talked extensively about the emotional and mental toll this crisis has taken on our community and discussed possible options for assistance.

At our next meeting on June 15, we will be joined by at least one mental health professional who will talk with us about ways to care for folks who may be

challenged emotionally or mentally. If you know of someone who you think may be struggling, now is the time to speak up. We all will experience a time in our lives when we need the help of others. We are all in this together. Reach out to friends and neighbors and make sure folks are okay.

Mental health resources. A list of books about mental health and self-care are available from the Charlotte Library at https://bit.ly/2XHfqy8. The library also hosts a health and wellness resource page at charlottepubliclibrary.org/mental-healthresources/.

If you or someone you love or know is in crisis or needs support, contact Chittenden County First Call at 802-488-7777. Their trained staff, available 24/7/365, provide phone support, crisis intervention and assessment, referrals to appropriate services, and connection to follow-up care and collaborate with emergency responders during a crisis.

You can access further information at howardcenter.org/first-call-for-chittendencounty/.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 800-273-8255.

Food and hunger resources. School lunch programs end June 28, but the Charlotte Food Shelf, in conjunction with the Charlotte Congregational Church, Our Lady

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of Mount Carmel Parish, and the Charlotte Library are beginning their summer lunch program at the end of June. Bag lunches will be available at CCC, the Food Shelf and Spear’s Corner Store. Information will be posted soon with starting dates and additional information.

Emergency financial aid resources.

People can request aid by contacting any of the following: Charlotte Congregational Church, rev.kemg@gmail.com; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 425-2253 or dgcray@gmail. com; Charlotte Food Shelf, 425-3252.

Senior resources. Age Well’s helpline is available Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 800-642-5119. Services include Meals on Wheels, Friendly Visiting Volunteers who practice strict COVID-19 safety protocols, community health workers and options counselors, and state health insurance program counselors.

Emergency management resources and safe protests. Visit the Vermont Department of Health’s updated COVID-19 website at healthvermont.gov/covid19 for details on travel restrictions, quarantine information and group gathering guidelines.

Health officials support those who wish to protest and remind Vermonters who engage in public protests and other civic activities to minimize the risk of spreading the virus by taking the same COVID-19 safety precautions as with any other gathering.

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of state? The Health Department’s new travel web page is dedicated to providing Vermonters with travel-related information and guidance, including for quarantining and testing. Anyone coming to Vermont is strongly encouraged to sign up through the DOH website for daily symptom check reminders through Sara Alert. This is not a contact tracing system and does not monitor a person’s movements or track their location.

College students returning to Burlington should also use this as a resource.

Testing information. People who do not have symptoms of COVID-19 can still make an appointment to be tested at pop-up sites located throughout the state.

Find locations and make an appointment at humanresources.vermont.gov/popups.

You can also call 2-1-1 or 802-828-2828.

All clinics operate from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Healthcare workers, first responders, childcare providers, people returning to Vermont such as college students, people who winter out of state, and second-home owners should get tested.

Keep a list of your close contacts. Health officials suggest that Vermonters keep a list of people with whom they have been in close contact. If you get sick, this will make it easier to get in touch with those people so they can take precautions. __________________ School is ending, graduations are being held virtually, and we need to remember that this health crisis is far from over. Masks and social distancing are a part of our lives for the foreseeable future. Hopefully sooner rather than later, there will be a vaccine or a cure for COVID-19, but until then life will march on with safety protocols in place.

People are being challenged in a myriad of ways, and the abject failures in our culture and society are beyond apparent; we are fortunate in Vermont that we have not seen the violence that has erupted elsewhere the failures of our culture and society are ever more apparent today. As our world opens back up, hopefully many of us will recognize the benefits from the slowdown and make some real changes in our lives.

But let us recognize that in our little state, we are not immune to hate, intolerance and racism, and unlike COVID-19, no one can create a vaccine to counteract it. It’s time to speak! When we don’t speak up, we are part of the problem. We need to act, speak, and live like we mean it.

Stay well, stay safe.

8 • June 11, 2020 • The Charlotte News

COVID-19

Childcare options—A complex puzzle in pandemic Chea Waters Evans

The Charlotte Children’s Center has seen countless little ones over the years for summer childcare, year-round daycare, and for a small preschool program.

Due to COVID-19 and the restrictions and guidelines set forth by the State of Vermont, gone are the carefree summer days of before.

Many parents rely on a carefully constructed Jenga tower of summer plans for their children, planning weekly activities and locations for each child at area day camps. With many options closed for the summer and parents scrambling to enroll their children in those programs that are open, they are turning to other options like leaving older children at home alone, hiring a babysitter (there are lots of unemployed teenagers this summer), and sharing duties between parents.

For those who rely on daycare for young children, however, the situation is trickier.

Kristy Sargent, the director of the CCC, said that health and safety regulations set by the state have had a significant impact on the way the summer will play out. “We strive to offer children emergent activities as well as time to mingle with all the classrooms during the summer outside,” she said.

“Any typical summer you would see preschoolers and older infants drawing at the table or reading books on a blanket in the shade. Now, we will have designated play areas on the playground separated by a six-foot corridor to ensure that classrooms aren’t mixing, all while practicing safe distancing.”

Though the classroom and play areas will look different, Sargent said that the CCC staff hopes to still provide fun and enrichment. “Our goal is to try our best to create a cohesive environment given the special circumstances,” she said.

The staff will have a different way of life as well, Sargent said. Classroom

doors will be shut and teachers will be specifically assigned to a class, and the staff room won’t be operational so the space can be used for younger children.

With the coronavirus showing a spike in Vermont over the past few days, the decision for parents to send their children back to daycare or preschool is difficult Some worry that their children will bring home the virus and infect older family members, and Sargent said she understands and supports those who decide to keep their kids at home. Other people don’t have much of a choice and must send their kids back to school and daycare.

Kiona Heath is a parent whose children attend CCC. Though she carefully thought through health and financial concerns, she decided that it was in their best interest to go back this month. She wrote in an email, “It feels very important to us that the kids go through the process of adjusting to this new normal with their entire early childhood community as soon as it is safe and possible. They need their friends and their teachers to learn how to live in this new world…. I’m mostly sending my children because I want them to learn alongside their people about how to live their lives in these challenging times. We trust that the Center will be taking great precaution and stay responsive to whatever happens.”

With childcare centers permanently closing this month at both the University of Vermont and St. Michael’s College, and closures earlier in the school year by Loveworks daycare centers in Chittenden county, parents will soon feel the crunch.

“I think that it is devastating,” Sargent said. “There is a shortage of high-quality childcare in Vermont and they just closed two of the most monumental preschools.”

The Charlotte Children’s Center currently has openings for the summer, Sargent said, but are otherwise operating on long waitlists.

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The Charlotte News • June 11, 2020 • 9

Hi, neighbor!

Diana McCargo: At home in the garden Phyl Newbeck

A Pennsylvania native with a degree from Hampshire College in writing and environmental studies, Diana McCargo first moved to Vermont when she was hired by the state to work as a naturalist at various state parks. She lived in Franklin and then Addison County, but having two brothers at the University of Vermont brought her to Chittenden County on a regular basis. “I just fell in love with the Champlain Valley,” she said.

Serendipity led McCargo and her husband, Peter Swift, to purchase their house from a cousin of the Foote Family who owned the farm next door. “Geneva Foote found out that I was interested in gardening and history,” McCargo said “and that began our connection with the farm.” The story of McCargo and Swift’s 2012 purchase of what is now called Philo Ridge Farm is well known, but less well known is how McCargo’s love of organic farming and history have shaped their new endeavor.

“One of the great pleasures and joys I’ve had in Charlotte is living on Philo Ridge, which is the geological name for the area,” McCargo said. “I had a beautiful organic garden for 35 years and enjoyed working the soil, but part of my pleasure has been cooking for friends and family.

When the farm came up for sale, we

looked at it as an opportunity to figure out what was going on agriculturally in this region and seeing if we could have a positive impact.”

“My husband likes to play music for friends

McCargo believes the change to organic farming at Philo Ridge Farm has resulted in a 200 percent improvement in soil health. “It’s all about building the soil without chemicals,” she said “and you need patience, time and energy. We’re working in conjunction with UVM, and it’s been very exciting to see the positive impact.”

and family,” she said “and I tell him that working in the garden is my music.”

McCargo’s neighbors have noticed the difference as well. “They say the pollinators have come back,” she said.

“We are nurturing a landscape that is friendlier to them.” McCargo knows quite a bit about pollinators. She cared for a hive for several years as a teenager, and, after leaving her naturalist job with the state, she worked as a commercial beekeeper in Franklin County, tending to 200 hives. She continues to raise bees as a hobby, but, unfortunately, all three of her hives died last winter. For the first time in years she is taking a break, but she intends to build up her apiary again next year.

the food.” In addition to her role in the kitchen, McCargo plays an active part in the layout and design of the property.

“Part of the goal of Philo Ridge Farm is to enhance the beauty of this agricultural area,” she said. “I’m very much the person driving the planting, the design of the inside and outside of the building, the look of the plates, and the food on the plates.”

McCargo still enjoys spending time in her extensive garden, growing vegetables, herbs and edible flowers as well as fruit trees and berry bushes. She forages for Photo by

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We wish you all a very healthy, safe, and joyful summer.

The Champlain Valley School District

mushrooms and other wild edibles and enjoys cooking and sharing the fruits of her labors with others. “My husband likes to play music for friends and family,” she said “and I tell him that working in the garden is my music.” The couple leads an active lifestyle with Nordic and alpine skiing, hiking, kayaking, sailing, cycling and horseback riding.

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The onset of COVID-19 has changed the dynamics of how Philo Ridge Farm does business, and McCargo is looking forward to the day when that will change again.

“One of the things that really pleases all of us is the incredible warm and positive reaction from the local community,” she said. “It gives me great pleasure to have people walking the gardens, eating the food, and enjoying the baby lambs.

It’s almost like opening my home to the community.”

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10 • June 11, 2020 • The Charlotte News

CONGRATULATIONS

8TH GRADE GRADUATES Charlotte Central School Every time you look up at the moon, I too will be looking at a moon. Not the same moon, obviously. That’s impossible. ─Andy Dwyer

It’s been quite a year.

Marking the end of the eighth-grade year at Charlotte Central School has decadesold traditions, ways to mark years of good work: the eighth-grade trip, the Carnation Ceremony, awards night, the graduation dance.

Students at other area schools have their own ceremonies and special nights as well. All of those events were canceled this year due to COVID-19, but these students will long remember this time of their lives.

Tabor J. Ballard

Cassie M. Bastress I have flaws, What are they? I sing in the shower. Sometimes I spend too much time volunteering.

Occasionally I’ll hit somebody with my car.

So sue me. ─Michael Scott

As parents got a little extra family time with their students before they head off to high school, getting to keep them under their wings just a little more before they start the exciting years before they leave the nest for good, these kids endured their families with the strength and the angst only a 14-year-old can muster.

Congratulations to the Class of 2020; what a special group of kids.

Tabitha E. Bastress

If you’re not first, you’re last. ─Ricky Bobby

Joshua H. Batchelder No baseball pitcher would be worth a darn without a catcher who could handle the fastball. ─Casey Stengel

Oliver Beerworth

Nikhil J. Blasius In the world there are two types of balloons: up balloons and down balloons. ─Peppa Pig

Marlie Rae Cartwright

Sawyer F. Carr When there’s a fork in the road, take it. ─Yogi Berra

Christopher Michael Cervi

Bennett James Chappelle

Congratulations Natalie Grace Scriver, we are SO proud of you!

You can truly be anything you want to be; all you have to do is believe.

“Dream big when you can and enjoy it.”

-Chipmunk

“It takes courage to grow up and be who you really are.”

-E.E. Cummings

CTCT 1212!

Can’t wait for the next chapter!

Love, Mom and George

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The Charlotte News • June 11, 2020 • 11 This feature is presented by:

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Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. ─Albert Einstein

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Samuel Robert Haydock The human world...it’s a mess. ─Sebastian from the Little Mermaid

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Congratulations to Will Sprigg and all of the CCS 8th grade graduates.

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We are extremely proud of you Malayna. We know that you are capable of many great things and we look forward to all that you will accomplish in your high school years and beyond. We love you very much.

- Mom, Dad & Myles

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12 • June 11, 2020 • The Charlotte News This feature is presented by:

Congratulations and best wishes to all of Charlotte’s eighth-grade graduates, from the Board of Directors of The Charlotte News.

Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it’s unbelievable. ─Roald Dahl

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe. ─Mark Twain

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Elizabeth Chase Lisle

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Use your smile to change the world but don’t let the world change your smile. ─Unknown

Keep the change, you filthy animal! ─Kevin McCallister

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Congratulations to Will Lollis and the entire CCS class of 2020.

It was a hair-raising year, but you made it!

CONGRATULATIONS TARYN!

We are so proud of you!

Love, Papa, Dad & Elyse

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I’m so proud of you!

Love, Mom Way to go, CCS Class of 2020!

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Have a great time at CVU!!

Love, Mom, Dad, Ani and Henry

14 • June 11, 2020 • The Charlotte News

Sports

CVSD School Board

Cullen Swett earns Gatorade Player of the Year, Soccer

CVSD board addresses racism Nancy Richardson

Photo by Al Frey

CVU’s Cullen Swett (19) tussles with a Cougar.

On June 8, Gatorade announced CVU’s Cullen Swett as Vermont’s Gatorade soccer player of the year for the 2019-20 season. The award is based on athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.

Swett has been recruited to play at the University of Vermont in the fall.

Leagues cancel seasons American Legion baseball canceled Vermont American Legion baseball has cancelled its 2020 season for only the Edd Merritt fourth time since it began in 1928. The last time was 1945, and it was not held for the next three years during World War II. Vermont has 16 Legion teams that play in Northern and Southern Divisions. S.D. Ireland Construction Company sponsors the Charlotte-area team in the Northern Division.

Make-A-Wish Hockey Classic takes its wish off the list The Make-A-Wish All-Star Hockey Classic will not be held this year. Were it played as scheduled in Stowe Arena,

it would have been the 28th game for men and 23rd for women. The Mount Mansfield/CVU women’s team had Nicole Wright on its roster, and the CVU men’s team imcluded James Bernicki. Normally proceeds from the game go to help children with life-threatening medical issues. The event has raised over $300,000 since it began.

CVU’s Finn O’Brien granted VGA Scholarship Redhawk golfer Finn O’Brien was one of 14 recent high school graduates who earned scholarships to attend colleges/ universities of their choice. Finn selected the University of Vermont. Forty-nine students currently receive scholarships from the Vermont Golf Association Scholarship Fund. They are all Vermont residents who have been accepted to college on a full-time basis.

The Champlain Valley School District board spent the June 9 meeting discussing a response to the social upheaval occurring in the nation because of systemic racism. A letter to the board from 60 teachers and staff requested that the board make an affirmative statement supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and take a stance in addressing racism in the school district. Acknowledging that the district has work to do in the area of racial relations, the board responded by voting to waive the restrictions on raising the BLM flag at CVU and approved the raising of the flag in all K-8 schools in the district from June 15 to the end of the school year. In addition, a task force of board members will meet to issue a written statement in response to the faculty letter and to affirm the board’s commitment to racial justice.

Superintendent Elaine Pinckney stated that there is no question that incidents of racial harassment have occurred in the district. Students of color comprise 10 percent of the total student population.

Since 2018, schools have been engaged in professional development featuring experts in the field, have formed diversity committees in each school, have improved the curriculum, and have become more aware of unconscious bias in instruction and discipline. The district has been pursuing a coordinated response to these issues across all schools.

The focus this year has been to improve recruitment of minority staff and faculty, review existing policy and practice in the district, and examine the curriculum to ensure that the effects of institutional bias are addressed. The district has a

hired diversity coordinator to lead this effort. Some of these efforts have had to be suspended temporarily because of COVID- 19. Pinckney stated that the district tracks major incidents of harassment, but that there is no general tracking system for the small incidents that may go unreported. That matter is under review. The board and administration acknowledged their responsibility and commitment to address and mitigate the effects of racism in the district.

In other matters, the board supported the effort of Jeanne Jensen, chief operations officer, to plan to continue to provide free food service for students over the summer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has not renewed the funding to provide free food for students across the country. One in five families in the United States does not have enough food. The cost of providing the food this summer will be about $125,000. Jeanne Jensen praised the work of the food service staff who have risked their own welfare to cook and deliver the food to students in need.

There will be a four-week summer program for students who need compensatory services. More information on this and other matters will be addressed at the next board meeting at the end of June.

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Library News

The Charlotte Library is working to provide additional resources and information about racism and civil rights, both in print and through digital media. In addition, Margaret Woodruff we look forward to DIRECTOR offering opportunities for conversation and engagement through book discussions and other online/in-person programming.

You can view our updated lists of books and other materials dedicated to the topics of racism, civil rights and Black history on our website. If there are books you feel strongly about, please consider making purchases for the library collection, and if you would like suggestions for either the adult or youth collections, please feel free to contact Margaret or Cheryl at the library.

The written word is a powerful platform for speaking out against racism, injustice and discrimination. It can educate young and old alike.

June is Pride Month. Booklists and other information on this important topic are also available on our website: charlottepubliclibrary.org.

Reopening. We know many of you have been wondering about the reopening of the Charlotte Library. Considering the ever-changing public health situation and concern for the health and well-being of our community, the Charlotte Library Board is proceeding with care and deliberation phasing in library service. We are currently

The Charlotte News • June 11, 2020 • 15

in Phase 1 with porch pick-up (thank you for helping this process to work effectively).

The board anticipates making the transition into Phase 2 in the next few weeks (limited walk-in service: open for selection and checkout of materials). In due time the library will increase service and use of space so everyone can enjoy our expanded library!

Again, we thank you for your patience and patronage. In the meantime, please continue to take advantage of our porch pickup service and the activity packets. Porch pickup schedule: Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you’re interested in checking out library books and other items, please place holds for those materials through the library website charlottepubliclibrary.org or by calling the library at 802-425-3864.

New offerings on hoopla & Libby, our digital platforms for e-books and audiobooks now offer many timely titles on race and racism and we have added Charlotte-only copies for many of these.

• hoopla: hoopladigital.com/ • Overdrive & Libby: help.libbyapp.com/ index.htm Seeds and seedlings to share Just in time for more sunny weather, free vegetable seeds and seedlings are available

through the Community Seed Sharing and Seedlings to Share programs.

Email seed@ charlottepubliclibrary.org to request access to the lists of seeds or seedlings being offered by other community members. And it’s not too late to add more! To offer vegetable, herb or pollinatorfriendly flower seeds, go to charlotteseedlibrary.org/ community-seed-sharing. To offer seedlings, go to charlotteseedlibrary. org/seedlings-to-share. There you›ll find more information about each program, and links to the entry forms so you can share your bounty.

Thanks to everyone for participating in this program and for gardening. Your reward will be delicious fresh food this summer and fall!

Linda Hamilton and Karen Tuininga, coordinators, Charlotte Seed Library seed@charlottepubliclibrary.org Upcoming Online Baby Time, Tuesdays, 8:30 a.m. through June. 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.

Zoom Story Time, Tuesdays, 10 a.m.

Cheryl shares stories from the library every Tuesday. Join her for a fun morning session every Tuesday!

Think Resilience Online Course & Discussion Group, Thursdays, June 11 to July 23 at 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.

Men’s Book Group: It Can’t Happen Here, Wednesday, June 17, 7:30 p.m.

It Can’t Happen Here is a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression when America was largely oblivious to Hitler’s aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a president who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, rampant promiscuity, crime and a liberal press.

Bringing History Alive: 1936 Discussion Group, Part 2, June 24, 3 p.m. We continue our investigation into the events and experiences of this pivotal time period.

We will look at three broad topics: FDR and economic/political reform, science and technology, and arts, culture and literature. The library welcomes resource ideas (short articles, websites, images and other materials) that you believe would enrich our conversation. Even if you missed the first session, it’s not too late to join the conversation; please email info@ charlottepubliclibrary.org.

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Town

Windows to a multicultural world Staff report

Want to know what’s happening to help young people, their teachers and their parents learn about black history and a full range of black experiences, and in doing so foster racial justice? Start in Charlotte at the Clemmons Family Farm.

Closed for tours this year due to the coronavirus, CFF has remained active on many fronts, including a pivot away from its place-based arts and culture programs at the farm and in schools and communities around Vermont to programs through Zoom and social media.

“There are many forms of activism and many ways to protest against racism. Our activism lies in our work to share our African American history, culture and art and build community around it: our parents have been doing this in Vermont since 1962, and we’ve formalized their legacy through our nonprofit organization,” Lydia Clemmons said. She is the president of the Clemmons Family Farm.

On May 25, the day George Floyd was killed by a white policeman and Christian Cooper was threatened in Central Park by Amy Cooper, CFF began its pilot workshop, titled “Windows to a Multicultural World: Traveling While Black,” for a group of Vermont K-12 teachers and teaching artists of African descent. Originally designed to bring teachers and artists together in person, with Lydia’s usual can-do spirit, the plan morphed into two-hour Zoom sessions conducted over six consecutive days, the first in a series of professional development workshops the farm will hold for its collaborating artists. The goal is to integrate arts into teaching African American history and culture to help children learn empathy, express their thoughts and feelings and facilitate dialogue within and across racial groups.

“Traveling While Black,” the theme of the pilot workshop, explores the African American experience of travel, first during the transatlantic slave trade and subsequently during their intrepid escapes

north from enslavement, then segues into the 20th century and Jim Crow laws that restricted how Black people traveled and what facilities they could use, necessitating the “Green Book” to inform Black travelers where they could safely eat, sleep and find restrooms.

Part of the Clemmons’ mission is the belief that education and exposure to artistic representation can serve to engage children’s minds and hearts.

When implemented in schools and other venues, programs like these offer students and teachers important opportunities for meaningful experiences with black artists in Vermont, where there are exceedingly few black teachers or other teachers of color.

From Clemmons’s perspective, “The arts engagements that CFF is developing to support K-12 education are an important part of the complex solutions we, as a community, need to put together to undo entrenched systems of racism and discrimination and to create a more just and welcoming multicultural world.”

Aware that the African American artists participating in the workshops had been hit hard by the economic downturn associated with the coronavirus and ineligible for the various benefits made available to others in similar positions, CFF provided each artist who completed all six Zoom sessions with a $500 stipend through funds from a Bay and Paul Foundation grant that together with ArtPlace America and the Vermont Arts Council, funded the pilot workshop.

The Clemmons Family Farm will apply for additional funding to hold more workshops and support their collaborating artists to engage with schools around African American and African diaspora history and culture.

Donations are accepted by check in the mail or through PayPal on the website, www.clemmonsfamilyfarm.org. Shortterm pro bono professional volunteers are also needed.

News from the Grange After applying for several grants and now having been super successful in being awarded not one but two grants this year, the Grange is now Trina Bianchi busy meeting the requirements on the first one so that Slater Construction can begin the work on the beautiful, inside schoolhouse windows on the first floor.

We are pleased to be able to work again with a local contractor on this project. You should be seeing activity on this project this summer.

An RFP for the work covered by the second grant, the painting of the remainder of the exterior of the Grange Hall, will be going out to a minimum of three contractors for bid. We have one contractor interested; if there are other painting contractors, preferably local, who would be interested in bidding on this job, please contact me (Trina Bianchi) at alchemy@gmavt.net.

You may recall that Slater Construction did all the restoration and repair on the south side of the building last year, with Shamrock Painting, John McCaffrey of North Ferrisburgh handling the painting and Ward Preston, Preston Excavating, moving the fire escape. That entire project is now completed, with the last piece of the fire escape back into position. A huge thank you to Brian Slater, John McCaffrey and Ward Preston for their work on our Hall.

We also want to acknowledge and thank Ward Preston and Preston’s Excavating for keeping our parking lot plowed and ready for use for the past two winters: Preston donated all his time and effort to the Grange. John Sheehan recently mowed the grass at the Grange this year; Stuart Robinson, a graduating senior at CVU, kept the grass mowed all last summer and is planning to continue that this summer.

All mowing by John and Stuart has been donated. We do appreciate these donations as they are very important to our financial viability.

Grange is now looking for donations from folks who, like us, feel this building is a valuable historic community resource that warrants restoration and rehabilitation.

We want to thank all those folks who have already contributed toward our Building Fund; we have $2,050 in the fund, which will go toward matching the first grant of $12,000. Obviously, we have a way to go in terms of being able to match both this grant and the second $20,000, which is also a matching grant. We are looking at the possibility of a loan. Stay tuned.

The unfortunate fact is that we do have deadlines we need to meet in having the work completed, which means we have to have the funds to pay for the work or we will have to make the very difficult decision to relinquish the grant, which obviously we do not want to do.

Because our normal, annual big fundraiser, the Rummage Sale, was canceled this spring due to COVID-19, we are now totally dependent on our community helping us out. We are confident that we will be able, between donations and perhaps a loan, to meet the financial requirements of the two grants and to have all the work completed by the grant deadlines. If you are interested in helping out but would like more information, please feel free to contact President Margaret Woodruff at Margaret. woodruff@gmail.com or me, the treasurer, at alchemy@gmavt.net.

Again, our sincere thanks to all of you who have sent checks over the past year to the Grange—and one of you has contributed twice! All those donations have gone into our Building Fund. We would like to be able to acknowledge all of you publicly, but I am thinking that we need your permission to do so. If you have donated and are willing to allow us to publicly acknowledge your donation, please email me, and if you do consider donating now or in the future, let us know if we can give you kudos “out loud.”

All donations are tax deductible, and we do acknowledge each and every one with a letter that can be used for documentation.

With the receipt of the two grants, the

Dottie Waller Cheers to the 2020 class of Charlotte Central School, and to our graduates at Champlain Valley Union High School. Go Out And Shine!

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The Charlotte News • June 11, 2020 • 17

Outdoors

Who’s walking whom?

Stay safe and get outdoors!

Elizabeth Bassett

It looks like we may be socially distancing for a while to come. If the pandemic continues, we will all need to sort out how to stay safe, healthy and sane. For many Vermonters, playing in the outdoors may be the best solution for sanity. Why not take this moment to learn something new about the natural world that lies beyond the reach of our feet or a car trip?

Sandy Schofield took her dog out for a stroll with Ruah Swennerfelt on one of their daily walks on Roscoe Road. Often there are other human walkers, but none have more dogs.

Photo by Nancy Goodrich

Buy books from local bookstores that support our community with jobs, taxes, and community events. Bookstores are opening gradually, some by appointment.

Buy a bird book, a tree or wildflower guide.

On each walk, hike, or paddle, learn a new bird, tree, and flower. Naturally Curious

by Mary Holland is a month-by-month guide with terrific photos through the fields, woods, and marshes of New England. Her essays and pictures on nest building, animal courtship, caterpillar metamorphosis, and pollination are informed and a delight to read.

Invasives removal. Kate Kelly at Lewis Creek Association orchestrates the removal of aquatic invasive species. Two volunteers in a canoe are socially distanced as they paddle our beautiful local waterways while helping to improve the health of our lake and its tributaries. To learn more or to volunteer, contact Kate Kelly at lewiscreekorg@gmail.com.

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rainy to be comfortable outside. Audubon Vermont has links to activities for children and adults at Audubon.org. These include virtual field trips; Skype a scientist (for free!); Ten Outrageous Ways Birds Dance to Impress Their Mates—Nature has way better moves than the Funky Chicken; and dozens of videos, webinars, and suggestions for outdoor activities.

Webinars. The Nature Conservancy— Vermont offers the Nature Uninterrupted webinar series, which is available on video if you miss the original online event. These include “Spring Wildflowers”; Virtual field trips: “Paddle the Flooded Forest through Otter Creek Swamps Natural Area” (recording available) and, on June 18, from 1 to 2 p.m., a visit to Eshqua Bog Natural Area to learn about its wild orchids, known as showy lady slippers, and the conditions that produce them; “Carbon Cents: A Natural Climate Solution,” an overview of the ability of trees to remove and store carbon and of emerging carbon markets that may help to protect Vermont’s forests (recording available).

Chittenden County Forester Ethan Tapper sends emails with links and information about upcoming webinars of interest like tree or wildflower identification. I’ve attended webinars about woody invasives (how to rid your land of buckthorn and other exotics), another on frogs, toads, and snakes, and one about northern white cedars, native trees that thrive along the shore of Lake Champlain. You will see nature with new, more informed eyes. Send a note to Ethan.Tapper@vermont.gov to get on this distribution list.

Keep a nature journal. For aspiring or curious writers, take this moment to record thoughts and observations about the outdoors. Sit quietly—probably protected by some bug repellent—and listen. Do you hear frogs, birds, owls, coyotes? Look around. Being still or walking slowly, especially if you usually move at a high speed, can reveal surprises. What excavated that huge hole in my pear tree? Pileated woodpecker, most likely. Who lives there now? A family of raccoons or owls? Unlike many avian creatures, owls do not build nests, making homes either in old crows’ nests or tree cavities.

I keep a nature journal that is organized by weeks (first week in June, for example).

It’s nearly time for an enormous mother snapping turtle to lay her eggs in our driveway. For the past five years she has dodged Mt. Philo Road traffic, and she lumbers from her home pond to our driveway. Last year I was on the porch when I heard a scraping sound not far away.

Mother turtle was digging a hole in the gravel with her rear claws. As darkness fell, she dug several holes (to distract predators) and finally selected one into which she deposited her eggs. She covered the eggs, again with her rear legs, before walking quite quickly, for a turtle, back toward her pond.

Open your eyes and mind to appreciate the wonders of our natural world!

18 • June 11, 2020 • The Charlotte News

Into The Woods

Keystone species Ethan Tapper

A keystone species is a species, usually of wildlife, that has a disproportionate effect on its environment. In our region, the classic example of this is the beaver.

Beavers dam and flood fields and forests, essentially creating, or driving, their own natural disturbance events. Besides making great habitat for themselves, they support a whole ecosystem, home to many reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, plants and more. Even once abandoned and drained, beaver meadows provide unique habitats across our landscape. While it sometimes causes problems for us, the work of beavers has human benefits, improving water quality and lessening the effects of flood events on our infrastructure.

We have long known that forests influence wildlife, but beavers are an example of how wildlife influence forest development. We increasingly understand these connections, from the blue jays that transport and plant acorns, to the rodents that help expand forests’ critical mycorrhizal fungal networks, to the woodpeckers that control populations of wood-boring insects.

Beavers are also an example of how, while it may seem counterintuitive, some disturbances—the events that kill trees— are actually good for forests. They, and the natural regeneration that follows them, help make forests diverse, resilient, and provide great wildlife habitat. While the gnawing and flooding of beavers kills trees, it creates broader ecosystem benefits that ultimately make forests healthier.

In this vein, a less well-known historic example of a keystone species is the passenger pigeon, which once populated our region in mega-flocks of billions of birds. John James Audubon described a forest following a visit from such a flock as looking like a “tornado” had hit it, breaking off trees “two feet in diameter.” While a mega-flock visit to your neighborhood would have been startling, to say the least, the “early successional” or “young forest” habitat that regenerated in their aftermath would have provided unique habitat for a huge number of wildlife species, including several bird species whose populations are now declining in Vermont.

As with the beaver, the passenger pigeon created habitat for many other species and thus may be called a keystone species. Its extinction in the early 1900s represented a loss for our wildlife and ultimately for our forests as well.

The recent resurgence of gray wolves, grizzly bears and mountain lions on our western landscapes illustrates how predators can also act as keystone species. They do so by influencing herbivory pressure, which in turn impacts reforestation and thus ecosystems and their natural processes.

In Vermont, predator-prey dynamics have changed drastically over the last 300 years.

Prior to the 1800s the dominant herbivores

We have long known that forests influence wildlife, but beavers are an example of how wildlife influence

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forest development.

on Vermont’s landscape were caribou, moose and the eastern elk, with small populations of white-tailed deer, and the apex predators were wolves and catamounts. Elk and caribou disappeared from Vermont by the late 1700s (eastern elk is now extinct), deer hunting was closed in 1865 due to low populations, and wolves and catamounts were driven out by the late 1800s (the catamount, or eastern cougar, was declared extinct in 2018).

Reintroduced to Vermont in 1878, deer have become over-populated in much of New England, with dramatic negative impacts to forest health, diversity and wildlife habitat. In addition to the loss of predators, deer overpopulations in Vermont can be attributed largely to a diminishing influence of deer’s current apex predator— humans—due to crashing hunter numbers and increases in inaccessible, posted land.

Beavers are a success story. While extirpated from Vermont in the 1800s, they were reintroduced in 1932, and their populations are now healthy and growing.

But catamounts, elk and passenger pigeons are never returning to Vermont’s landscape.

What does the loss of a species like this mean for us and for our forests?

At the same time that we look back at what we’ve lost, we continue to create new challenges for our forests. Our climate is changing, invasive-exotic species threaten our biodiversity, and over 2,000 acres of Vermont’s forestland is lost each year (and is being fragmented much more quickly).

Humans have power like no other species to degrade our environment but also to shape it in a positive way. By acting to manage our forests responsibly, actively addressing the threats of invasive species, deer overabundance, climate change and more, we have the opportunity to become a keystone species; using this power to help our forests become healthier, more diverse, more resilient, and to provide rich, abundant habitat for all of our wildlife.

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The Charlotte News • June 11, 2020 • 19

Town

Charlotte Senior Center news That word, “vulnerable,” keeps popping up a lot—but there is another adjective to consider: precious. Like exquisite crystal or porcelain, those in the older crowd need to be carefully protected. We are all treasures.

Carolyn Kulik SENIOR CENTER DIRECTOR

“The cyclone had set the house down gently . . . in the midst of a country of marvelous beauty. There were lovely patches of green sward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruits. Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes. A little way off was a small brook, rushing and sparkling along between green banks . . .”

L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ______________ Doesn’t the description of Oz remind you a little of Vermont? A few days ago, a friend was saying she was so happy because this was the first time she had been out of her house since March. Her excitement at re-entering the “outside world” again made me think of the scene at the beginning of the movie The Wizard of Oz. You know, the one where the munchkins are cautiously emerging from their hiding spots under the flowers and toadstools. That’d be us. And maybe in the not-too-distant future, we can celebrate and sing the “Ding Dong” song about the coronavirus, while holding hands and dancing in a really big circle. ______________ Update on re-opening Still no news from the State of Vermont at this time. Senior centers around this state—and New England—continue to wait to learn when they can re-open, what activities will be allowed, and what the maximum number of participants permitted inside will be. The state has declared that those in the over-65 age category warrant special consideration—so, do not be confused by what is allowed for the general population.

New Zoom course Beginning on 6/22 at 9:30 a.m. will be online Chair Yoga with Carol Bokan.

This is an ongoing course and can be joined at any week, with a minimum of five participants required for it to run. This class uses chairs for balance and for all seated postures, making yoga accessible to those who are challenged by balance, the ability to get on the floor, or any physical limitations.

After retiring from a career in counseling and educational administration, as well as many years as a yoga practitioner, Carol moved into yoga teaching. She became a Kirpalu certified yoga teacher in 2016, and a certified chair yoga teacher in 2017. She has since taught chair yoga in many senior residences in Vermont and Florida.

To register for this course, send your name, address and phone number to CSCZoom@ gmavt.net; be sure to indicate “chair yoga” in your subject line. Payment by donation is suggested at $5 per class, payable by check at the end of the month. For questions, please call to leave a message at 425-6345.

Not to worry, Tiny Sikkes, the Center’s much-loved, regular chair yoga instructor, will be returning whenever in-person classes can resume at the Senior Center.

Wednesday Events The first Wednesday event this season will take place only as a Zoom meeting. Please note that there will be no in-person gathering planned for the Great Room on 7/1.

The topic on 7/1 at 1 p.m. is COVID-19: What We Know—What We Have Yet to Learn—Where Are We Likely Headed with Jim Hyde. There will be a quick overview from a public health perspective of what is known about the prevalence of infection, current trends in incidence and the impact of the virus on mortality. Jim

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will also discuss the collateral impacts of the virus on the health of the general population and the effects on the healthcare delivery system, as well as the status of vaccine development, new drugs and treatments, and testing. Time will be reserved for Q&A. 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.

Ongoing Zoom Classes

Although you may have heard and read a lot about this topic, the details keep changing. And this will probably be your first opportunity to ask your own questions.

There are two ways you can do this: 1) In advance, email questions for Jim to address at the end of this talk to james.hyde@tufts. edu. 2) During Jim’s presentation on Zoom, use the chat function on your screen to ask questions about what he has said—which he will also respond to at the end.

In the next issue we will take a look at which of the July courses in the Summer Schedule can move to the Zoom platform and which are likely to be canceled.

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.

Since there will be no limit on attendance, you will not need to sign up in advance for this event. In order to join the Zoom meeting, you will be able to access a link on the Center’s website at CharlotteSeniorCenterVT.org. If you wish to connect to the presentation by phone rather than via the internet, please leave a message with your name and phone number on the Senior Center line at (802) 425-6345 no later than Monday, 6/29.

Since future Wednesday events might conceivably be held with a limited audience, it is a good idea to drop a note to CSC, P.O. Box 207, Charlotte 05445, or leave a message on the Center’s voicemail, 425-6345, with your name, phone number and the event and date you would like to attend.

On 7/8 the 1 p.m. offering is 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. Don’t miss it!

Please be sure to check out the other ongoing Zoom classes on the website: CharlotteSeniorCenterVT.org. You are welcome to join at any time, with the exception of those courses that are already fully enrolled. The technology is pretty easy and the rewards are worth the minimal effort. If you feel you need help getting started, you can email CSCZoom@gmavt.net.

______________ 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.

Website: CharlotteSeniorCenterVT.org. ______________ Be careful. Stay well. But mostly, be kind. ______________ “Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t you think?” ~ L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ________________ Charlotte Senior Center 802-425-6345

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Classifieds

NOTICE OF VACANCIES ON TOWN BOARDS June, 2020 The following boards currently have unfilled seats: •

Planning Commission (1 seat; term ending April 30, 2022)

•

Recreation Commission (1 seat; term ending April 30, 2023)

•

Charlotte Park & Wildlife Refuge Oversight Committee (1 seat; term ending April 30, 2021)

•

Conservation Commission (1 seat; term ending April 30, 2022)

•

Energy Committee (2 seats; terms ending April 30, 2022)

If you have interest in serving the Town by participating in any of these capacities please send a short statement explaining your interest and any relevant background information to Dean Bloch, Town Administrator at dean@townofcharlotte. com. If you have questions, please e-mail or call 425-3071 ext. 5, or stop by Town Hall).

NOTICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATIONAL HEARING FOR AUSTRALIAN BALLOT ARTICLES TO BE VOTED AT A SPECIAL MEETING TOWN OF CHARLOTTE The Selectboard of the Town of Charlotte hereby gives notice that a public informational hearing will be held on Monday, June 22, 2020 beginning at 6:05 p.m. at the Charlotte Town Hall, 159 Ferry Road, Charlotte, Vermont, to hear questions regarding Articles 3, 4 and 5 of the Warning for the Town of Charlotte Special Town Meeting to be held on June 23, 2020, which states: Article 3:

Article 4:

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.

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Contact ads@TheCharlotteNews.org WARNING TOWN OF CHARLOTTE

Will the voters of the Town approve the Selectboard’s budget of $3,451,157 for the fiscal year July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, in addition to those monies raised pursuant to Article 4 and Article 5 if any, of which an anticipated sum of $1,991,349 will be raised by property taxes and an anticipated sum of $1,459,808 will be raised by non-tax revenues?

Will the voters of the Town approve raising the sum of $57,000 by property taxes, in addition to those monies raised pursuant to Article 3 and Article 5 if any, to be allocated to the Trails Reserve Fund?

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SPECIAL TOWN MEETING JUNE 23, 2020 The legal voters of the Town of Charlotte are hereby notified and warned to meet at the Charlotte Town Hall, 159 Ferry Road in said Town, on Tuesday, June 23, 2020 to vote by Australian ballot to begin at seven o’clock in the forenoon and to close at seven o’clock in the afternoon.

BY AUSTRALIAN BALLOT

Article 5:

Will the voters of the Town approve raising the sum of $0 by property taxes, in addition to those monies raised pursuant to Article 3 and Article 4 if any, to be distributed to the not-forprofit organizations identified on page 21 of the Town Report specifically as requested by those organizations?

The following articles as approved at the annual meeting on March 3, 2020: Article 3:

Will the voters of the Town approve the Selectboard’s budget of $3,451,157 for the fiscal year July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, in addition to those monies raised pursuant to Article 4 and Article 5 if any, of which an anticipated sum of $1,991,349 will be raised by property taxes and an anticipated sum of $1,459,808 will be raised by non-tax revenues?

Article 4:

Will the voters of the Town approve raising the sum of $57,000 by property taxes, in addition to those monies raised pursuant to Article 3 and Article 5 if any, to be allocated to the Trails Reserve Fund?

Article 5:

Will the voters of the Town approve raising the sum of $0 by property taxes, in addition to those monies raised pursuant to Article 3 and Article 4 if any, to be distributed to the notfor-profit organizations identified on page 21 of the Town Report?

The public informational hearing is being held as required by 17 V.S.A. §2680(g). Town officials will be present during the public informational hearing to answer questions regarding the articles.

Send us your Charlotte news and photos

email us at: news@thecharlottenews.org

Dated this 27th day of April, 2020 at Charlotte, Vermont.

Town of Charlotte Selectboard

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Classic Potato Salad (potato, fresh dill, dijon) ..........................................................$16.00 Caesar Salad (house-made dressing, croutons, parm) ...........................................$18.00 New England Bake Beans (bacon, onions &maple syrup) .....................................$18.00 Greek Orzo Salad (spinach, tomato, kalamata, Maplebrook feta & lemon garlic vinaigrette) ...............................................................................................$16.00 Mixed Green Salad (carrot, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, sunflower seeds, vinaigrette ...........................................................................................$19.50 Cornbread Muffins (scalllions, Vermont cheddar, honey butter).......................... $8.00 BBQ Beef Brisket (slow cooked, dry rubbed, served with BBQ sauce) ............................................... $42.00 Vermont Raised BBQ Baby Back Ribs - (2 full racks) (spice rubbed, served with BBQ sauce ....................................................................... $44.00 Orange Scented Pound Cake (fresh strawberries & Chantilly cream) ....................................................................... $24.00

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