The Charlotte News | April 4, 2018

Volume lX Number 19 | WedNesday, april 4, 2018

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Vol. 60, no. 19 April 4, 2018

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

Listening to the sounds of the March for Our Lives: Montpelier Rev. Kevin Goldenbogen On Saturday, March 24, 2018, 14 youth and adults from the Charlotte Congregational Church (UCC) assembled with thousands of others at the March for Our Lives: Montpelier. It was a solemn event, held simultaneously with similar events all over the country, in the wake of the shootings at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and in the wakes of countless other mass shootings in the U.S. I can’t speak for others, but I participated in this event for many reasons. I lament the deaths at Marjory Stoneman Douglas and too many other places. I want to support our courageous young people. I want to give witness to the relentless gun violence in this country. I am compelled by my faith to engage in prayerful, compassionate and courageous action in the world. And I believe that real and sensible change is possible.

There is more that I could articulate about my experiences in Montpelier on March 24, but I won’t do that here. As I listened in Montpelier, and as I listened at home afterward to a recording I made of the day, it became clear to me just how much all of us, whoever we are, wherever we come from and however we feel about guns, need to listen to the sounds and voices that came from the March for Our Lives: Montpelier.

I heard words of warm welcome by

The first in a series of profiles of Charlotte Selectboard members

volunteers at Christ Church Episcopal, who provided snacks and a warm place for marchers to gather before the event started. I heard prayers for safety and change by Rev. Joshua Simon (Essex Junction, UCC) as marchers gathered at Bethany UCC. I heard laughter and conversation from a crowd of a few thousand who seemed grateful to be “doing something” in the face of violence.

I heard a “don’t tread on me” flag

Photo by Rev. Kevin Goldenbogen whipping in the wind, held high by a man wearing blaze orange. I heard hundreds of rustling signs that expressed sorrow, frustration, anger and a desire for sensible gun legislation. I heard cheers, gasps and chants as Sen. Bernie Sanders walked through the crowd and then joined to listen.

I heard speakers: a woman who had see

MARCH page 21

Running, cycling and brush hogging on the agenda as Selectboard moves into spring Meghan Neely With all five Selectboard members back, the March 26 Town Hall meeting was a productive one. No adjustments were made to the evening’s agenda, and Selectboard member Fritz Tegatz began by giving updates on the status of the wastewater ordinance draft as well as the production status of a new fire engine for the Charlotte Fire Department. The new engine is expected to arrive in Charlotte within the next two to three months, and the wastewater draft should be completed

by June.

The Selectboard took a moment to revisit and approve minutes from the four previous meetings.

Rayne Herzog of Race Vermont then spoke to Selectboard members seeking application approval for a 5K, 10K and half marathon that would take place on

Selectboard Profiles: Carrie Spear

September 8 in Charlotte. The races would primarily run along Orchard and Lake roads, finishing in Shelburne. Herzog discussed plans for runner safety and waste disposal. The board ultimately approved the event.

Kelly Brush also spoke to the Selectboard seeking application approval for the Kelly Brush Ride on September 8. The Kelly Brush Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to helping those with spinal cord injuries maintain an active lifestyle. Cyclists attending this event will be traveling along Mt. Philo Road, Hinesburg Road, Spear Street, Lake Road and Greenbush Road. The Selectboard approved the proposal, meaning this September will mark 13 years for the Kelly Brush Ride in Charlotte. The board also approved Andrea S. Harvey’s request for Highway Access Permit for her property at 600 Guinea Road.

Lawn mowing and brush hogging

bids reviewed by the Selectboard are now awaiting a decision pending further discussion. The Selectboard received three lawn mowing bids, although one was submitted past deadline and will not be considered unless deemed more suitable than the other offers. Only one bid, at $2,595, was submitted to the town for brush hogging. The highest bid the Selectboard received for lawn mowing came in at $39,940, the lowest at $9,950.

The Selectboard also reappointed several committee members. Mary Van Vleck was reappointed to the Conservation Commission for a four-year term ending in April of 2022. Peter Joslin was reappointed to the West Charlotte Wastewater Advisory Committee for a two-year term ending April 2020. Robin Pierce was reappointed to the Thompson’s Point Design Review Committee for a see

SELECTBOARD page 21

By Meghan Neely Selectboard member Carrie Spear is gearing up for her second term serving the Town of Charlotte. Born in Duchess County, New York, she moved to Charlotte 25 years ago. She has worked in retail, or what she calls “people service,” for most of her life. With her husband, Carrie purchased Spear’s Corner Store in East Charlotte in 2001.

Today, she sells everything from jewelry to toys and most of your foodstuff needs. Pictures from the community cover the wall, floor to ceiling behind the counter, a testament to Spear’s involvement in her community.

Carrie is probably best known, however, as the organizer of the annual East Charlotte Tractor Parade, which has grown to be one of the most popular fall events in the country, attracting native Vermonters and leaf peepers alike. The parade features both antique and modern tractors, a farmers market, food and craft vendors, live music and even a petting zoo for the kids. This year will mark the parade’s 18th year, and Carrie doesn’t seem to be giving it up anytime soon.

When Carrie joined the Selectboard in 2015, she said that she simply felt it was just the right time to do so. She had been interested in running for a seat on the Selectboard for several years and saw it as something new to add to her life. Spear enjoys being involved in her community. For her, learning the ins and outs of running a town has been the best part of the job.

When she isn’t busy with town meetings or running her small business, she can be found at home, gardening.

Legislature Update 3 | Principals Corner 11 | Gardening 15 | Fiddlehead Recipe 17

2 • April 4, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Editorial

To imagine your role

During Easter week what you have is a news editor with very few words. Or, rather, a pastor with a lot going on. Also, while I’m sitting here feeling a little lacking in vision, let Melissa O’Brien me mention that one of us three hospice NEWS EDITOR chaplains who cover hundreds of Vermont miles is out with a broken arm, and I have two papers to write for my Fordham classes.

Read with compassion, kind Charlotter.

Since I arrived back in this place, I have been thinking about ways in which we can all help move this wonderful newspaper into the future. The trend in paper advertising is a downward arrow, and advertising is primarily what keeps the lights on in the office. Like it or not, it costs something to produce this paper every other week.

How do we continue to do this? How do we continue to do this together? Do we want to continue to do this, together?

These are very real and valid questions.

I have been pleasantly surprised by the response we have gotten since I’ve been back hanging around The News: You read this paper; you care about its contents. I do, too, or I wouldn’t have tossed this job on the mom/pastor/chaplain/student pile.

So what do we do then? How can we work together to see that The Charlotte News has a robust future? That we don’t have to worry, from issue to issue, if the word issue will one day disappear? How can we move the burden from the few who have committed themselves to providing funding to the many who don’t want to see this newspaper go the way of so many others, to the newspaper graveyard. I did not come here in my capacity as a hospice chaplain to tend to an enterprise on life support.

Let’s start thinking and talking and dreaming about what we can do and how we can do it, together. If business owners no longer see benefits to placing advertising in our print newspaper, what do we do next? Instead? What does the future look like?

This week, board president Vince Crockenberg and I will start talking about ideas we have, working together

with the Friends of The Charlotte News, for community gatherings as a means of generating funds to keep this paper chugging. This conversation was begun already, with my friend, Suzanne Slesar, who is a terrific ideas person; with Francine Stephens at Philo Farm, who is game; with Stacy Fraser, foodie extraordinaire, Dave Quickel and James Vogler. This is a very good starting place. We are imagining gatherings with food and music and stories to benefit this paper and to build community ties.

Please take a moment, as you read this, to imagine your role in holding this paper’s hand and walking into the future with it. The day it no longer arrives in your mailbox, the day you no longer see whose kid is playing lacrosse or who died or who spoke up at Town Meeting or who bought the house that was for sale down the street; who’s running for justice of the peace or who traveled to Bhutan; who is a new grandparent and who ran in the marathon; the day the lights go out on this 60-year-old gem is a day I don’t care to imagine, and I believe, I hope, I’m pretty sure you don’t either.

Let’s figure this out together.

Letter to the Editor Recognizing Jay Strausser To the editor: You have a gem living among you!

King Street Center would like to publicly recognize Charlotte resident Jay Strausser for his dedication to vulnerable children over the past decade. Since 2006, Jay has committed an abundance of time, leadership, relationships, resources, advice—and heart— to King Street Center. Early on, Jay was the

The Charlotte News The Charlotte News is a nonprofit, communitybased newspaper dedicated to informing townspeople of current events and issues. It serves as a forum for the free exchange of views of town residents and celebrates the people, places and happenings that make the Town of Charlotte unique.

Contributions in the form of articles, press releases and photographs pertaining to Charlotte-related people and events are accepted and encouraged. For submission guidelines and deadlines, please visit our website or contact the editor at news@thecharlottenews.org.

The Charlotte News is published in Charlotte

by The Charlotte News, Inc., a Vermont domestic 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation.

Distribution is made every other Wednesday to all households and businesses in Charlotte and to more than 50 outlets in Shelburne, Hinesburg, North Ferrisburgh, Ferrisburgh, Vergennes and Burlington. The Charlotte News relies on the generous financial contributions of its readers, subscriptions and advertising revenue to sustain its operations.

Publisher: Vince Crockenberg

driving force behind the establishment of the Roxane Leopold Scholarship, named in honor of our former executive director, to aid first-generation students in their quest for higher education. In addition to chairing our Development Committee and overseeing an annual golf tournament, Jay also chaired our Raise the Bar Capital Campaign. Determined to create a space that reflected respect for our kids and families, most of whom are New Americans, Jay helped to motivate generous community members to contribute over $5.1

million to build our bright and beautiful new facility.

I am so grateful to Jay for his constant can-do attitude and contagious positivity.

Motivating fellow board members, our staff team and me, I can always rely on Jay for a smile, a hug and thoughtful guidance. We know Jay will continue to be a part of the King Street Center family—as well as his talented wife, Lisa, and son, long-time Kids on the Ball Tennis pro, JJ. Thank you, Jay Strausser, for your dedication and service to a generation of wonderful kids. You’ve made so much opportunity happen.

Vicky Smith Executive Director, King Street Center

Remembering John Sheehan To the editor: John was a gentleman.

Stuart Bennett Charlotte

The The silhouette was taken on the top of Mount Philo in the fall of 2017. It is a kestrel, the smallest falcon in this area, about the size of a dove. I enjoyed watching this bird for about 10 minutes as it chased songbirds around.

Photo by Robert Coleburn

Charlotte News

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Editorial Staff News Editor: Melissa O’Brien (melissa@thecharlottenews.org) Managing Editor: Anna Cyr (anna@thecharlottenews.org) Contributing Editor: Edd Merritt Copy editors: Beth Merritt, Vince Crockenberg, Proofreaders: Edd Merritt, Mike & Janet Yantachka Archives: Liz Fotouhi Business Staff ads@thecharlottenews.org / 343-0279 Ad manager: Monica Marshall (ads@thecharlottenews.org) Bookkeeper: Jessica Lucia Board Members President: Vince Crockenberg (vince@thecharlottenews.org) Secretaries: Rick Detwiler, Carol Hanley Treasurer: Patrice Machavern (treasurer@thecharlottenews.org) Board members: Rachel Allard, Bob Bloch, Gay Regan, Louisa Schibli 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 $40 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: 3,000 copies per issue.

Copyright © 2018 The Charlotte News, Inc. Member of the New England Newspaper and Press Association and the Vermont Press Association.

ON THE COVER:

Charlotte-Essex Ferry

By Melissa O’Brien

The Charlotte News • April 4, 2018 • 3

Opinion Gayle Finkelstein

Climate change: A public health as well as an environmental crisis

Most scientists agree that there is a link between global warming and climate change. Look around the world and see what is happening. Cape Town, South Africa, is about to become the first major city in the world to be running out of water this year. The terrible floods in Bangladesh, Nepal and the U.S. last year and the wildfires in the west are more examples of how global warming is already making a negative health and economic impact on society. It is difficult to prove that individual extreme weather events like these prove global warming is real, but according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other highly respected scientific organizations, global warming will intensify storms and lead to increased risk of extended droughts.

Vermont has seen a 50-percent increase in federally-funded disasters in the past 10 years compared to the previous decade.

The negative health impact of climate change will not just be a footprint in the sand. It will not be washed away unless we address this problem and find solutions.

Worldwide, 2017 was the second warmest year on record. Since 2000, the world has

seen 17 of the top 18 warmest years. Lake Champlain temperatures have increased from 2 to 7 degrees from 1964 to 2009, according to the Vermont Department of Health. Changes in the vector ecology would result in an increase in tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme’s disease. More floods and extreme events will hurt our most vulnerable neighbors – the elderly, the chronically ill, and children – first and hardest. Continued use of fossil fuels has enormous health impacts.

There are many potential solutions to help turn this problem around. One is a tax on carbon. Carbon pricing is a marketdriven solution that encourages people to utilize clean energy and to transition away from fossil fuels. Countries like Canada, which put a price on carbon pollution, have seen substantial job growth in clean energy technologies. Vermont has made some significand efforts by being a part of a nine-state regional greenhouse gas initiative to reduce carbon emissions. A recent independent study in Cambridge, Mass., reported a large reduction in premature deaths, heart attacks and respiratory illnesses in the Northeast since 2009 as a result of this regional approach to greenhouse gas reduction. People may

challenge this as being difficult to measure as a causative change, but the results are still promising and worth noting.

There are a few carbon pricing policies being proposed in Vermont. A carbon tax is a good idea, but the revenue generated needs to be used to fund technologies that produce less carbon pollution or reduce overall greenhouse gas effects. The revenue should also be used for educating our youth on climate change. For those in education I encourage you to examine California’s environmental literacy school program that is being implemented into history and social sciences curriculums and the climate change resolutions that were recently passed by the California School Board.

Maybe it is time to adapt a similar model for our youth.

As a nurse working in public health, I am concerned that too many people don’t recognize this as a public health, as well as an environmental, crisis. The Vermont Climate and Health Alliance (VTCHA) is a group of health care professionals who are concerned about the direction our state and country are going regarding climate change and its impact on human and animal health. As a member of this organization, I encourage you to learn more

about the policies that are being discussed at the State House. You might not agree with all the components of these bills, but it is imperative that Vermonters advocate for state policies to be developed and adopted in response to climate change.

Please join me in finding solutions that will help to decrease morbidity and mortality related to carbon pollution. I encourage you to look at the VTCHA website and watch the videos presented by experts, as well as read the reports.

VTCHA supports purchasing electric school buses from money allocated to the state from the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund. Another bill that VTCHA supports is Bill H.763, which would allocate funds to study different financial approaches to reduce greenhouse gases.

Small changes can have significant impact on the future of our state. Every Vermonter can play a part. Let your state representative know that Vermonters want climate change to be a focus and what bills you support. It is imperative that they know this is a priority. Let’s all be Vermont’s voice for change.

Gayle Finkelstein, M.S., is a registered nurse and lives in Charlotte

Report from the Legislature

The Doyle Poll 2018

The Doyle Poll, created and still conducted by former Senator Bill Doyle, has been a Town Meeting tradition in Vermont for decades. This Mike Yantachka year 113 Charlotte voters shared their CONTRIBUTOR opinions, about the same as last year’s number. Of the 15 questions, three dealt with affordability. A strong majority feel that Vermont is currently not an affordable place to live. Similar majorities believe that the minimum wage needs to increase and that employees should have paid family leave. These policies would mitigate the affordability problem for many low-income Vermonters and dual-income families.

Clearly most people think we need to do a lot more to address the opiate crisis, water quality and finding alternatives to prison for nonviolent offenders. A question not answered is whether this translates to a willingness to increase spending tax dollars on these problems.

There’s a strong consensus that we rely too heavily on property taxes for education, but respondents are also quite satisfied with the quality of education our district provides. The bill H.911, recently passed by the House, takes steps to relieve some of the burden on property tax by relying more on income and consumption taxes.

Governor Scott’s approval rate exceeds his negative rating by 34 percent, which bodes well for his re-election at this time.

About 34 percent also had no opinion on the question. About two-thirds of respondents favor a four-year term for the office of governor. This would require a change to the Vermont Constitution, however.

There is also strong support among respondents for increasing the scope of the bottle deposit system. There are

many ways to expand it, including adding noncarbonated beverages such as bottled juice, water and tea, as well as adding a deposit on wine bottles. I would favor this if the law were also changed to have the state collect and manage the system. This way the deposits for unredeemed containers would accrue to the state rather than the beverage distributors.

As your representative in Montpelier, I appreciate your input on these and other issues. Your comments help me look at issues from several perspectives, and that is a valuable opportunity for me. You can always contact me by phone at 802-4253960 or email me at myantachka.dfa@ gmail.com.

Here are all the results of the poll in Charlotte.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Question Are you concerned about the Vermont opiate crisis?

Do you believe water quality is a major issue in Vermont?

Should Vermont increase the minimum wage?

Do you believe Vermont is an affordable place to live?

Are you concerned about the decrease in Vermont’s population?

Should Vermont have a four year term for Governor?

Should Vermont’s bottle deposit law be expanded?

Do you believe Governor Scott is doing a good job?

Should Vermont have paid family sick leave?

Does Vermont rely too heavily on property taxes to fund education?

Are you satisfied with Vermont’s health care?

Are you optimistic about Vermont’s economy?

Do you think that Vermont values are a reason that many people live in Vermont?

Should we reduce Vermont’s prison population by using alternatives for non-violent offenders?

Are you satisfied with the quality of education in your local school district?

% Yes 95 79 60 9 60 65 72 50 61 79 45 35

% No 3 12 26 65 34 16 15 16 24 9 32 35

% Unsure 2 9 14 26 6 19 13 34 15 12 23 30

75

12

13

90

5

5

69

12

19

4 • April 4, 2018 • The Charlotte News

To Advertise in

Charlotte News

The

Around Town Congratulations:

to Courtney McDermott of Charlotte whose poem, “Girls who walk alone at night,” was selected for the Young Writer’s Project in the March 23 Burlington Free Press. Responding to the theme, “How you stand out from the crowd,” Courtney, in fact, hopes she can stand apart as she walks down Burlington’s Church Street at night.

She runs through a series of her concerns, and her final thought is that everyone knows what happens to girls who walk alone at night, and it is not necessarily a pleasant thought.

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to Sammie Blackmore of Charlotte who, as a member of the Chittenden County 4-H Club, competed in the Chittenden County 4-H Invitational Horse Hippology Contest at UVM. The contest consisted of a combination of inquiries and activities ranging from a test of general knowledge and horse judging to identification of breeds through face markings and bones. The contestants were also asked about types of riding pants and chaps, tack equipment, bits, and the types of poisonous plants horses should avoid. Sammie placed among the top-10 scoring contestants in the senior division of ages 14 and older.

PA-C

lth

Photo by contributed

to The Sun and Men’s Journal. His pieces have included seven articles comprising a series, Seven Lengths of Vermont, in which he writes of his own experiences touring by bike, paddling the Connecticut River, cruising Lake Champlain in a “man boat.”

One of his best is a description of the “Most Ridiculous, Suicidal Sport You’ve Never Heard Of.” In it he and two Charlotte cronies, Craig Bunten and Ethan BondWatts, head to Mount Snow for the World Jack-Jumping Championships. He does say that none of them are professionals in the sport. At the time Leath wrote the piece, Ethan blew glass sculptures and Craig worked in construction.

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Andrea Regan, MD has been serving the Charlotte and surrounding communities as a board-certified physician for over 13 years. She grew up in Hinesburg and graduated from UVM Medical School in 2005. Dr. Regan has a special interest in adolescent and women’s health and is accepting new patients at Charlotte Family Health Center.

to former Charlotte resident Leath Tonino, who wrote a piece that appeared in the spring 2018 edition of Orion Magazine.

The piece is titled “Horse Talk,” and using information gathered by Dr. Aaron Peterson, who studies animal communication in general, Leith delves into the ways in which horses communicate. Leath says Dr. Peterson could easily pass as the “horse whisperer.” Peterson says that in contrast to humans, who hold layers of psychology, belief and all sorts of inanimate matter behind nearly every thought, horses care only about what is physical and direct. “It’s a cleaner line of communication,” Peterson says.

Leath has written a series of essays that will be coming out as a book titled The Animal One Thousand Miles Long.

He has been a prolific writer, primarily in magazines ranging from Outside Magazine

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to the following local companies who are part of a large community of organizations that are involved in raising money and needed items for the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS): Lake Champlain Chocolates, La Villa Bistro, Rhino Foods, Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Burton Snowboards.

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is extended to family and friends of Ronald Chevrier of Shelburne who passed away March 15 at the Age of 85. His surviving family includes his daughter Michelle Chevrier Jordan and her husband, John, of Charlotte as well as their children, Brooks and Colby Jordan.

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The Charlotte News • April 4, 2018 • 5

Weary Pilgrim

The joys and wonders of teaching adaptive skiing Mason Daring When I’m not binge-watching “Have Gun, Will Travel” in the winter months (a man’s gotta get through the dark times as best he can), I have spent a fair amount of time in the last few years teaching adaptive skiing.

Adaptive skiing has existed for many years but has enjoyed a tremendous increase in participation recently as word has gotten around about its many benefits.

It’s a program of sports education, loosely separated into three camps of students: those with developmental disabilities (autism, Down syndrome, etc.), those with physical disabilities (usually wounded veterans), and those with visual impairment (read: blind).

Trying to discuss any of these client camps without actually holding an advanced degree in a related field is a little like trying to discuss baseball stats without having at the very least ever traded baseball cards. I mean, this stuff is COMPLICATED, and anybody who thinks they are qualified to lecture on it better have a degree from the Sorbonne.

There are no shortages of adventures in teaching skiing, especially adaptive skiing: There’s the admonition about watching for your clients’ tendency to lick the safety bar on the chairlift—which at sub-freezing temps is a REALLY bad move. And remember, these are children, disabled or not. At the beginning of the day, they’re kids, just like we were. So while you’re guarding against that, keep an eye out for the one who wants to just ooze out under the safety bar; I mean, who doesn’t want to fly?

This has happened once to me, with a student who was not disabled—he was just a six-year-old kid testing the limits of gravity and his teacher’s stupidity.

He landed just fine, by the way, as did I, when I flipped up the bar, screamed, “Stop the chairlift!”, took a deep breath and flew off the lift 20 feet beyond him and 10 feet higher. Is this enough drama for you? Because it was for me. By some small miracle, I landed just fine, thank you very much, and after a brief lecture on

“

There are no shortages of adventures in teaching skiing, especially adaptive skiing.

”

safety, we got back on the pony and rode it to the top. The moral of the story: We are all developmentally disabled, teachers included.

Teaching wounded veterans is as uplifting as it sounds. Whether they are in chair-skis with outriggers, on a mono-ski or upright on two skis, the special events held each winter to honor those who have fallen but insist on getting back up are always a big draw—for those of us who teach as well.

Blind skiers come in two types: those who skied before they lost their sight and those who have never skied. If you think it sounds tricky, you’re right. It’s a matter of constant communication and requires a degree of trust normally found only in

places like war zones and cathedrals. The teacher skis closely behind the student, either rapidly describing the immediate next move (Right, NOW!) or describing the terrain in a zone format, one for the left edge and ten for the right edge. In my first experience l managed to find the only deep sinkhole on the mountain and expertly guided my client straight into it.

He forgave me, but I’m still working on forgiving myself.

That’s the nub of it as far as teaching adaptive sports goes. In after-hours’ discussions with my fellow teachers, we all seem to share the feeling that we are never going to get this just right, but it would be far worse to never try doing just that. This is the ultimate Calvinistic approach to skiing, like saying we don’t deserve getting to the bottom of

the mountain, but which way is the top anyhow?

I’ve noticed something I want to share in my dealings with children with autism.

(By the way, we never call them “autistic kids”— they are all “kids with autism” because, after all, they are kids first, and it’s healthy to remember that.) We often find a sibling of our student tagging along, like that adorable younger sister who just won’t stop bugging you when you’re getting ready for the prom.

My point is that when you get a child to the bottom of a slope after a couple of hours teaching rudimentary turns, and the parents are standing there with tears streaming down their cheeks, you realize that, while your lesson may be over, theirs NEVER is, that the love of a parent for their child, or a sister for her brother, is the glue that holds our lives together, that being able to be part of this is what draws us to this incredibly difficult, strenuous and stressful profession.

Actually, we don’t get paid, so I’m not sure what to call us…Wait a minute, I’ve got it: “lucky.”

Mason Daring is a writer, film composer, record producer and teacher at the Berklee School of Music.

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6 • April 4, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Region

WNRCD seeks locations of overlooked snail within Vermont waters

Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District Within Vermont waters is a snail that is

often overlooked. This snail, while small, can negatively affect the ecology of our lakes, ponds and reservoirs. Recent studies indicate that the Banded Mystery Snail, a non-native species should be classified as a nuisance species or potentially as an invasive species. The Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District seeks your help to identify bodies of water where the snail can be found across Vermont.

The Banded Mystery Snail (Viviparus georgianus or, hereafter, BMS), a nonnative species to Vermont and New York, was introduced in 1867 into the Hudson River. It is historically native to Florida and Georgia, among other southeastern states. It has been found in many bodies of water located within Vermont and New York, including Lake Champlain, Lake Iroquois and Lake George. Neither the public nor officials and scientists have taken much note of this snail, believing that any environmental impacts would be negligible. Current data, however, indicates otherwise.

The BMS competes with native snails and mussels for both food and habitat. It forms dense populations that cover the substrate and have a 40 percent greater survival rate of young than native snails, giving them a competitive advantage.

They produce multiple generations of live (born, not hatched) young. They can survive out of water for days, making eradication nearly impossible. The snail overwinters in deeper parts of the water then migrates to shallow, warmer water

where live birth takes place. When they die, their shells wash up on beaches, clog intake pipes and could hinder both recreation and property values.

The BMS serves as a host for parasites that can impact both wildlife and humans.

Large waterfowl deaths in the upper Midwest have been linked to the snail as the intermediate host for the trematode worm. This is of concern within the Lake Champlain Watershed as many duck populations do feed on the snails.

The presence of the BMS has also been associated with decreased nearshore spawning fish populations, including bass, as the snail will feed on fish embryos.

The BMS can be an indicator of pollution from excessive fertilizers and stormwater runoff, as they are found in nutrient-rich environments and will feed on chlorophyta (green algae), diatoms and decomposing matter, including dead fish, in addition to live plants. The snails prefer sandy bottom areas, but if a littoral benthic algal bloom is present, they can be found in high numbers on rocks and other substrates. In some studies over 60 percent of the snail population will be comprised of the Banded Mystery Snail.

They are spread by active release from aquarium tanks, and by boats and equipment, where they have attached to plant material. Eradication is nearly impossible. With further scientific data indicating the impact of this non-native species to the aquatic ecosystem, it is time for the full ecological impacts to be studied.

The Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District, which encompasses all of Chittenden and Washington Counties as well as parts of Orange County, is seeking public help to identify

The Banded Mystery Snail. bodies of water that contain the BMS. Mapping of current population within Vermont will help managers understand the impact that it may be having.

To learn how to identify this snail, or

Photo by contributed to report a body of water that you have found it in, please visit: winooskinrcd. org/invasive-species/ or email: info@ winooskinrcd.org.

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The Charlotte News • April 4, 2018 • 7

Town

John Sheehan, a neighbor of distinction Edd Merritt

In his classic poem, “Mending Wall,” Robert Frost quotes his neighbor who says, “Good fences make good neighbors.” Well, that may have been true for those two, but my neighbor of several decades, the recently deceased John Sheehan, and I did not need a good fence to respect and enjoy our neighborliness.

Oh yes, John did have an electric fence through his front yard, but that was just to keep Murphy and Jackie, his lateryear companions, from running onto Hinesburg Road to either greet visitors or bark at trucks.

As Celtic vocalist Bono said of Ronnie Drew, his fellow musician in the Dubliners, “He was not just a musician, he was King of Ireland.” Similarly, John Sheehan was not just our neighbor, he was the “King of East Charlotte.”

John Bland, a former UVM physician, wrote a book titled Live Long, Die Fast: Playing the Aging Game to Win in which he urges elderly people to maintain their physical and mental activity in the likelihood that their deaths will then simply be a final and quick stage at the end of an active life. That was certainly the case for John Sheehan. As of this past summer and fall, he still rode his lawn mower over his own lawn before heading up the hill to ours. It was a treat to look out into our back yard and see him circling the property on a John Deere as green as the grass he was cutting. It seemed as though he cared that what had been part of the agricultural site of his family for a number of generations ought to be maintained and not, as is often the case now, with farms, left to go to rack and ruin (plus, he needed the activity for his own well-being). So probably for both reasons, he also cut the lawn around the village-center barn until he could do it no longer.

East Charlotte could easily have been named “Sheehanville.” From the iconic white house at the intersection of Hinesburg Road and Spear Street, kitty-corner from the former family barn,

John Sheehan. to north and west past Sheehan Green (now with housing but previously part of John’s family’s pasture area) to John’s smaller house west on Hinesburg Road, on property through which the VAST trail runs past a former orchard and into a maple woods whose trees are now tapped for syrup, the working farm that John took over many years ago lives on with a variety of local operations that one hopes will carry on in perpetuity.

I will miss John. His friendliness as a neighbor was contagious. There was a period in my own life when I used to walk to Spear’s Corner Store each morning, and on the way I would often pick up John’s newspaper from his mailbox and deliver it to him. We would chat a bit about whatever was on each other’s mind. I will miss that. I will miss his dog Jackie stopping just short of her electric fence, at first yipping at me, then later greeting me with a lick.

Good neighbors make good neighbors.

Charlotte pianist Claire Black performs with Burlington Choral Society The Burlington Choral Society will present “A Baltic Heartbeat: Music of Latvia” as its spring concert. Richard Riley, artistic director, will lead the chorus, with vocal soloists, organ and piano, in works from classical and folk traditions on Saturday, April 28, 7:30 p.m. at the College Street Congregational Church in Burlington.

Pianist Claire Black, a Charlotte resident, accompanies the chorus at it’s rehearsals. In this concert, she will also accompany the group in performance of a contemporary work called “The Fruit of Silence,” based on simple words by Mother Teresa.

The concert features the 1943 cantata Dievs, Tava Zeme Deg! (God, Thy Earth Is Aflame!) by Lūcija Garūta, which premiered in the capital city of Riga with the sound of bombs in the distance. A fervent prayer for peace and freedom, it was banned during Soviet control of Latvia and revived in the 1990s after independence.

Celebrating the traditional side of Latvia’s music, the program includes two works sung at Latvian song festivals: “Līgo!” (“Sway!”) and “Pūt vējiņi” (“Blow Winds”).

Contemporary composers are represented in “Stars,” a shimmering piece by Ēriks Ešenvalds with accompaniment on tuned wine goblets, “The Fruit of Silence” by Pēteris Vasks, and “Ave Verum Corpus” by Imant Raminsh.

Besides Claire Black, guest artists include Joshua Collier, tenor, Erik Kroncke, bass, and Lynnette Combs, organist.

Claire Black.

Riley said, “Latvia is one of the peaceful ‘Singing Revolution’ Baltic nations with a rich musical heritage. I hope the power and passion of the music will transport our audience to a country and culture where choral music represents the very beating heart of its people.”

Tickets are at the Flynn Box Office, flynntix.org and (802) 86-FLYNN. Prices are $25 for adults and $20 for students and seniors. The historic College Street Congregational Church is at 265 College Street in Burlington. More information is available at bcsvermont.org.

VPR is media sponsor for the Burlington Choral Society’s 2017-2018 season.

Have a News Announcement?

Send it to: news@thecharlottenews.org

82 Ballards Corner Road, Hinesburg • (802)482-3155

8 • April 4, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Town Water Matters, Part 5 discussion to take place Please join Lewis Creek Association and friends Thursday, April 12, 7 to 9 p.m., Hinesburg Town Hall to learn more about the cost of clean water and who pays when rivers and streams become impaired.

Prevention is less costly than remediation. We will investigate how towns and villages can avoid tax increases and plan ahead to avoid water pollution in our rivers and streams. Shelburne has recently incurred a $7 million fee to fix stormwater-related problems, according to Shelburne Town Manager Joe Colangelo.

How can our rural watershed towns avoid a similar fate?

One answer is to collect and use pertinent information about our villages and towns. Consulting engineers and scientists Jessica Louisos and Roy Schiff, from Milone and MacBroom, have conducted Hinesburg hydrology studies and have created a build-out scenario especially for Hinesburg Village. They will present strategies and opportunities to avoid costly impairment fees. Krista Hoffsis of the Lewis Creek Association and Shannon Kelly of the Lake Iroquois Association will share water-quality sampling results for the LaPlatte River and Patrick Brook regarding the Hinesburg Village area. They will offer their assistance to help keep track of Hinesburg Village’s water-quality conditions over time.

Lewis Creek Association is excited to be collaborating on “Water Matters, Part 5” with the Hinesburg Planning Commission.

Alex Weinhagen, Hinesburg town planner, will share three planning priorities: tighter regulations, education outreach such as

this event, and implementation of state-ofthe-art stormwater treatment practices such as LCA’s “Ahead of the Storm” optimal conservation practices.

Additional “Water Matters, Part 5” sponsors and participants are Responsible Growth Hinesburg, Lake Iroquois Association, New England Grassroots Environment Fund and the Vermont Natural Resources Council.

Like previous Water Matters events, this program is designed for rural town boards and commissions in the middle Lake Champlain region and for all interested community members and community service groups. After the talks, attendees are invited to enjoy homemade desserts, peruse table-top materials and share conversations with folks from other towns.

Contact Info: Marty.Illick@gmail.com or 425 2002.

Vermonters urged to participate in household health insurance survey There’s a phone survey going on through May about household health insurance, and if you get a call, state health officials are hoping you’ll pick up. The Vermont Household Health Insurance Survey is conducted every few years to gather data pertaining to health care, health insurance coverage, frequency of doctor visits and what influences decisions about whether or not to seek medical care.

The survey is being conducted for the Health Department by the Portland, Maine-based research company Market Decisions.

Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., says that by measuring changes in factors such as access to health care and the impact and affordability of insurance programs, policymakers can better evaluate and improve how health care is provided and covered in Vermont.

“Over the years these surveys have helped us understand what our citizens’ needs are regarding making health care more accessible and affordable,” said Dr. Levine. “We hope that everyone who gets one of the survey calls takes the few minutes to participate in this important study.” Responses are strictly confidential, and Dr. Levine said no one

will be asked for credit card or bank account details or to give their Social Security numbers.

Anyone who has questions about the survey itself or to confirm that a call is legitimate can contact Dr. Brian Robertson, director of research at Market Decisions at 1-800-293-1538 or the Department of Health’s Division of Health Surveillance at 1-800-869-2871.

The Charlotte Grange annual spring rummage sale The Charlotte Grange #398 will hold its annual spring rummage sale on Friday, April 27, and Saturday, April 28.

For the Grange to hold this very popular event, we need willing volunteers to help us accept donations, set up the sale and staff the two sale days. If you can come and help us, even for an hour or two, please let us know.

This is a great time to clean out your closets for those clothes that really do need a new home and clean out those miscellaneous storage areas in your home that contain those still usable items that you no longer use. And it’s also the perfect time to shop for some new items for your closet or your home.

Saturday, April 28, is bulk rate day: $5 per person or $8 per family to shop, and you can fill as many bags or boxes as you want for the entry fee.

The money the Grange earns from the rummage sale is what we use to keep our building maintained and open for community use. Please consider volunteering to help us run this sale.

Email or call and let us know when you can help for a bit of time. And also come to the sale itself!

Dorothy Hill, windytop2@aol.com or 425-4140; Trina Bianchi, alchemy@ gmavt.net or 425-3691; Heather Manning, HeatherLGManning@gmail. com or 734-9416.

DROP-OFF

Saturday, April 21, 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Sunday, April 22, 2 p.m.–4 p.m.

Monday, April 23, 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Tuesday, April 24, 4 p.m.–7 p.m.

SET-UP

Wednesday, April 25, 9 a.m.–noon Thursday, April 26, 9 a.m.–noon (if needed)

SALE

Friday, April 27, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

Saturday, April 28, 8 a.m.–noon

The Charlotte News • April 4, 2018 • 9

Principal’s Corner

Educators face complex challenges Dealing with safety concerns has become a routine part of our work CCS Principal Stephanie Sumner

Meet Stephanie Sumner CCS Principal Stephanie Sumner lives in Williston with her husband, Sandi, and their children, Sadie (15) and Jack (11).

She grew up in West Haven, Vermont, where she attended a two- (sometimes three-) room school.

Stephanie graduated from UVM in 1996 with a B.S. in elementary education and a B.A. in psychology.

She completed a Master of Education degree in K-8 science education at Johnson State College in 2012 and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in educational leadership at St. Michael’s College in 2017.

She began her teaching career in 1996, teaching 4th grade, and she has taught grades four, five and six, as well as worked as a curriculum consultant and math coordinator.

Charlotte Grange presents CCS 3rd graders with dictionaries

On March 8, members of Charlotte Grange #398 presented personalized student dictionaries to all 37 students in the CCS 3rd grade. Our Grange’s participation in the Dictionary Project, or “Words for Thirds” as it is popularly known, has been ongoing for 15 years and is a highlight of the school year for these budding scholars. Teacher Kathy Lara has seen it unfold over the years; both she and teacher Linda Poirier enjoyed the excitement of the presentation and subsequent exploration of the books with their students.

The goal of the Dictionary Project, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, “is to assist all students to become good writers,

active readers, and creative thinkers by providing students a gift of their own personal dictionary.” The national and, lately, international charity has over the decades facilitated sponsorship of tens of millions of student dictionaries and other resource materials to students to support literacy and the pursuit of knowledge.

Charlotte Grange is pleased to sponsor this program in our community.

Please contact the Grange if you would like to learn more. Email us at TheCharlotteGrange@gmail.com, send mail us at Charlotte Grange P.O. Box 54, Charlotte, VT 05445, or like us on Facebook: Charlotte Grange #398.

One might argue that being a principal (or an educator in any capacity) during this time is challenging, to say the least.

In the weeks since the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, CCS, along with other schools across America, has grappled with how to respond to the most recent acts of threats and violence in American schools.

Despite the amazing amount of work that has been done to implement greater measures of safety in our schools, we have once again been catapulted into an acute need to respond in a way that takes care of all of our students, teachers and staff members.

I began teaching in 1996—one year before Columbine. Nothing in my undergraduate work had ever prepared me for the school safety work that has had to evolve over the past two decades.

The work of creating and implementing school safety plans has become just as much a part of the role of educators as the work of planning for instruction, teaching and assessing student learning. There are many preventative measures in place in our school to ensure school safety, as well as plans and practices to respond to safety concerns. This work continues to become more and more complex, yet more routine, as we work with our fellow administrators, district leadership and law enforcement agencies.

Much of what my teacher training did prepare me for, and much of what I have always loved about being an educator, points to the real work that we do: getting to know our students well and forming meaningful connections with them. This is our daily experience, but in recent weeks it has taken on even more importance and intention. We have focused on taking

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cues from the students—allowing them to express concerns and ask questions, giving them support and maintaining a sense of normalcy. We have listened to our students and honored their voices, including having students organize and lead a very respectful walkout on March 15 while other students participated in discussions or reflection time.

One of the challenges of working with young students is that they have a lot of ideas! However, that is the gift of working with young students as well. They have ideas, and if we listen to them—really listen—and follow their lead, we will be able to provide them with what they need the most at this particular moment.

“

We have once again been catapulted into an acute need to respond in a way that takes care of all of our students, teachers and staff members.”

10 • April 4, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Schools CVU students travel to Washington to join March for Our Lives Peter Trombley The story of my trip to D.C. began with a message from a CVU alumnus, Josh Ravit. Mr. Ravit, like so many others, was moved by the events in Parkland and wanted students from his former high school to participate in the call for action. Until his call I had not anticipated that CVU would be able to participate in the March for Our Lives in D.C. But he assured me that together we could raise the money necessary. So we launched a “Go Fund Me”, and in less than two days we had exceeded our fundraising goal. But that wasn’t the end of our planning. There was a plethora of issues—last-minute price increases on the bus, complications with the wire transfer necessary to pay for the bus, and even an issue with our brakes on the bus only hours before we were due to depart!

Despite it all, 38 students and five chaperones boarded a (perfectly safe) bus to D.C. at midnight on March 24. We drove for nine hours to the outskirts of the city and took the train to Metro Center Station. When we emerged from the subway we joined the groups of protesters streaming toward the entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue. The march wasn’t slated to start for an hour and a half, but already the streets were packed with people. And they weren’t just students; they were teachers, parents, grandparents and concerned citizens from all walks of life. We were not defined by a single race, class, age or national origin; our creed was what unified us. We were marching on the capitol dome in the distance for one thing: our lives.

And so we students of CVU fought our way through the crowd, closer to the stage. As noon drew closer more and more people filed into Pennsylvania Avenue until we were packed shoulder to shoulder.

As we waited, an energy spread amongst the crowd and through the jumbotrons that showed the sister marches around the nation. It was the ineffable feeling of hope, a hope I never thought I would experience so soon.

I had expected to hear from Parkland students on the issue of school safety, but what I got was a much broader range of speeches punctuated by beautiful performances. We heard from the Parkland students whose community had so recently been devastated by gun violence, from siblings of the elementary school children who were murdered at Sandy Hook, as well as from young people living in communities, such as Chicago, D.C., Baltimore and South Central L.A., that have been experiencing this violence for decades.

They spoke on the need to address poverty, so that people have the kind of hope that can deter crime. They spoke on the need to address the way we treat mental health, so that nobody feels a desire to commit these atrocities. And

“

As I listened to these speeches, I couldn’t help but think about my own family. I tried to put myself in their shoes, to think about what it would mean to know that I would never talk to my sisters again, to never hold them in my arms.

”

most important they spoke on the need to address the ease of access that dangerous people have to dangerous weapons. These are not solutions that I am proposing, these are the solutions called for by those who have stared down the barrel of a gun or have looked upon the faces of loved ones lying in a casket, knowing a bullet put them there.

The march culminated in a speech by Emma González, a Parkland student.

She spoke of the names of the 17 victims of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, one of whom would have turned 18 that day. She spoke about all the things they will never do again, such as complain about piano lessons, chat with their friends, eat dinner with their families. Her words left us all with a deeper understanding of the immeasurable loss that these students felt and the unknowable pains of death. As I listened to these speeches, I couldn’t help but think about my own family. I tried to put myself in their shoes, to think about what it would mean to know that I would never talk to my sisters again, to never hold them in my arms. The reality of their pain brought me to tears as I stood—staring at the capitol dome.

When the speeches were over, we walked to the nearby sculpture garden with aching muscles and heavy hearts.

We met a reporter there and shared our thoughts on this incredible experience.

I left that garden feeling somewhat hopeful, but as I boarded the train my mind inevitably turned to what has to be done to address this. I thought of poverty,

its cyclical nature, and how hard it is to escape. I thought about mental health, and how daunting of a task overhauling our treatment system is. I thought about how divided our nation is, and how split people are along party lines, turning what should be unifying issues into points of contention. It’s almost overwhelming to think about these large systemic issues that contribute to the difficulties of ending gun violence.

But these issues don’t have to be addressed all at once. We can take much simpler actions to save lives.

We can ban bump stocks, high-capacity magazines and assault rifles. We can make sure that those arrested or cited for domestic abuse have their weapons taken away, making their victims much safer.

We can enforce universal background checks so that dangerous people can’t buy dangerous weapons. These measures can

Photos by Peter Trombley

and will keep us safer. We accept limits on all of our rights, from speech to assembly and to many others. If we only accepted limited restrictions on our right to bear arms, we could make our society a much safer place.

Finally: a call to my community. I implore you to stand with your youth on the issue of gun control. I implore you to be vigilant in the fight for our collective safety. Make this a defining issue when deciding how you vote in the future.

Moreover, if you’re not registered to vote, do so. It is more than just a right we possess, it’s a responsibility we all bear.

The responsibility to be engaged as citizens, it is ours.

Peter Trombley is a senior at CVU. He lives in Shelburne.

The Charlotte News • April 4, 2018 • 11

Schools

Turn Around

Hagan Smith, Grade 6 One day I when I got to school, I heard everyone talking about this guy on the phone saying, “TURN AROUND.” But I knew it was all fake. Later that night when I got home from school, I was all alone and the phone rang.

I ran to the kitchen to answer the phone, and when I picked up the phone, I heard a man saying in a creepy voice, “TURN AROUND.” I turned around, but there was nothing except for my cat next to the fireplace.

When I put my ear up next to the phone again, I heard the man say, “Turn around.”

I turned around: nothing but my cat next to the fireplace. I hung up and ran to my cat that was near the fireplace; when I went to go pet her, she was cold. When I stroked her stomach to wake her up, I didn’t feel her breathing. I started to cry.

I turned around and there was a man in black, all black, and I said, “Who are you?” Then he disappeared. I went to sit down next to the cat, but the cat was gone.

I wondered if she had run up to my room. I ran upstairs and lay down on my bed when I heard footsteps walking up the stairs. I said to myself, “It’s all a dream; it’s all a dream.” I opened my eyes and saw a black figure at the end of the bed. I was so scared I passed out and didn’t wake up.

When I woke up with a bright light in my eyes, I saw my mom and my dad and thought, “Why are they here?” I told them my question, but they didn’t respond. Then I was back in my house, lying in my bed.

I was afraid and crying in sorrow. When I saw my mom, she didn’t look at me or anything.

I went downstairs for breakfast. I saw Dad crying. “Why is he crying?” Then I noticed a coffin that he was kneeling at and sobbing over. I opened the coffin, and I saw me; why me? I’m right here; I’m alive. I saw myself, my dead body as pale as the fresh snow on the ground outside…

(Excerpt)

One Day

Malayna Solomon, Grade 6 One day I was hanging out in my living room, and all of a sudden, my dad said, “Malayna, come quick!” My dad was looking out the window, so I looked out the window too.

What did I see? A cat glaring at my chickens. I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch.

Suddenly, things turned completely around, and three of my chickens were chasing the cat, and they didn’t seem too happy. It wasn’t long before the cat was out of sight.

My chickens were pretty proud after this.

They were walking around as if they were the queens of the world. Let’s just hope that they don’t have as much confidence with a bear.

Something Went Terribly Wrong Tabitha Bastress, Grade 6

It was a beautiful morning and nothing was wrong. It was the first day of summer: everything was green, the weather was hot, but not too hot, and it still smelled like spring, the best smell there is. My sister Cassie and I had recently gotten guinea pigs (our first pets), and we had no experience. I had been looking forward to this day for some time. It was the day I was going to take Nugget and Gumdrop outside. My sister grabbed Nugget, and I, Gumdrop. I decided to show Gumdrop our backyard and let her taste the fresh grass while Cassie, on the other hand, decided to put Nugget on a sled and pull her across our front yard. Naturally, Nugget jumped right off and ran under the porch. When my sister told me what had happened, I almost couldn’t breathe.

I ran into the house and pulled my dad out into the yard. “We need to get her back!” In my mind, I started thinking up the worst possible outcomes. What if she starves? What if something finds her and gobbles her up for an afternoon snack?

What if we never find her? We looked all day long, calling her nonstop until it was too dark to see. I didn’t eat dinner.

I couldn’t. Every time I started to think positively, I would think about how small and innocent Nugget was. She wouldn’t last a second.

Two weeks later, I was still very miserable. I had pretty much given up.

Nugget couldn’t last two whole weeks! But as I was playing outside with my siblings, my brother turned around to see a little rodent peeping out from the porch. “A mouse!” he exclaimed, very surprised to see it in broad daylight.

I turned around and stared at where Andrew was pointing. But as I looked closer, I noticed the “mouse´s” fur was orange with bits of black and white, just like Nugget’s. I crept toward Nugget, but before I could get too close, she ran back under the porch. While I was doing that, Andrew and Cassie had run into the house and grabbed my dad.

The first thing we did was try to lure Nugget out with food. No use. Then we tried to scare her out. That didn’t work either. Finally, we grabbed a plastic bag, a carrot, and her old hay basket that was turned over and cut to be a shelter. Dad placed the basket down right next to the porch, with the carrot inside. We waited for what felt like just about enough time for me to give up all hope. But finally, Nugget crept out from underneath the porch and into the basket. My dad threw the bag over the basket. He quickly but carefully turned the bag right side up and ran into the house, up the stairs and into Cassie´s room where the guinea pig cage was. We placed the squirming, frightened animal into the cage.

Nugget immediately started purring as she

realized where she was, and who she was with. She used to be a chubby guinea pig, but when I saw her two weeks later, she looked starved.

Scar

Chris Dickerson, Grade 6 Bam. I just fell from my treehouse. I fell onto a rock, and my head hit the rock.

It didn’t hurt because I blacked out. It was the middle of the day, and I was a kindergartener. I went into the house and I fell asleep. I had a bump on my head, but it didn’t hurt. It was like I was in a dream because I didn’t feel anything. My step-dad found me in bed. He saw me sleeping and saw the bump.

I’m used to moving through pain—I always try to ignore it. The next day I started to feel it. It felt like someone had stabbed me in the head with 15 daggers at close range.

This was a long time ago, and I’m now 12. I’ve had other injuries but none with scars. You can’t see it because my hair covers it— I hope I don’t go bald when I get older or you will see it.

Funny thing, my father, step-brother and I all have the same size scar in the same place. I don’t know how they got their scars. Maybe they fell out of a treehouse when they were young :).

A Story, (Pretty Much) Bennett Chappelle, Grade 6

It was a beautiful morning and nothing could go wrong. I was running around my house annoying my little sister who was vacuuming her room (it was pretty dirty), and I was running in and out the door.

She was getting pretty mad (I never could figure out why).

“You’re blowing dust into the room every time you shut that door!”

I left the door open and continued to run

around her room, but while I was jumping on her bed, my cat Eliot came in unnoticed, dragging in a dead mouse he had found crawling around in our attic or somewhere.

My sister screamed and ran out of the room. “HELP, MOM! BENNETT LEFT THE DOOR OPEN AND NOW THERE IS A MOUSE IN MY ROOM!” my sister screamed without pausing for breath.

“AH!” she crumpled, gasping on the ground.

Did I mention she really doesn’t like mice? And when I say really, I mean really, really doesn’t like mice, like pee your pants and faint kind of doesn’t like mice.

One time she had a dream about one and woke up screaming while my parents tried to calm her down; eventually she fell back asleep from sheer exhaustion. Anyways, my mom called me down to the kitchen where she was mopping the floor (I guess it runs in the family).

“Is this true?” “No,” I replied. “Then why is your sister hysterical?” she asked me. From behind my mom’s back my sister smiled. When my mom turned around to set down her mop, she quickly started crying again. “Well?” my mom asked me.

“It wasn’t me! I can’t see the future; how was I supposed to know? Blame Eliot; he brought in the mouse!” My mom twirled around. “Is this true? You said Bennett brought the mouse in on a stick,” she said.

While my mom was yelling at my sister I was thinking... wow, she really went all out on this one; what does she have against me? Just then my thoughts where interrupted by my father walking in the door. “What’s going on?” my dad said, sensing trouble. “This young lady has been lying to me!” my mom shouted.

Again I was thinking...that night my sister would be watching no TV along with all the other nights for a month, so I guess the moral is don’t lie ever, not even to your parents.

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12 • April 4, 2018 • The Charlotte News

News from the Charlotte Library Programs for kids of all ages Tuesdays, April 3, 10 & 17 @ 9 a.m. Baby time @ the library! Join us to chat, sing songs, and share some favorite books with baby.

Tuesdays, April 3, 10 & 17 @ 2:15 p.m.

Story Explorations. Stories & crafts for K & 1st graders.

Wednesdays, from April 4 @ 3:15 p.m.

Junior chess club. For students, grades 2 to 12, any level. Learn & improve your game with mentor Ajat Teriyal.

Thursdays, April 5, 12, & 19 @ 3:15 p.m.

T.H.I.N.K. Tank. Tinker, hatch, imagine, (e)nvision & know. Take on a new tech challenge each week. Grade 4+.

Fridays, April 6, 13 & 20, 10:30 a.m.

Preschool Story Time. Ages 3 to 5.

Interest & information for adults Wednesday, April 4 @ 10:30 a.m.

Passwords, strong for safety. Melissa Mendelsohn of Orchard Road Computers shares strategies for secure online access.

Thursday, April 5 @ 7:30 p.m. Book to Movie: A Very Long Engagement. Join us to see the French film inspired by Sebastian Japrisot’s novel.

PLANTS RO CKS ER P L AW NAT TS

RO CKS W AT E R

Our Heritage. Don Stevens, chief of the Nulhegan tribe; Abenaki scholar Melody Walker Brook, chair of the VT Commission on Native American Affairs; and Lake Champlain Maritime Museum curator Eloise Beil discuss garments in community & tribal identity. Supported by the Vermont Humanities Council.

Monday, April 9 @ 10:30 a.m. Backing Up & the Cloud for Macs.

The second in computer series led by Melissa Mendelsohn. Learn essentials for backing up data.

Wednesday, April 11 @10:30 a.m. Backing Up & the Cloud for PCs. The third in computer series led by Melissa Mendelsohn.

Learn essentials for backing up data.

Wednesday, April 11 @ 12:30 p.m. Wendell Berry Conversations. An ongoing series to discuss Berry’s works. Contact library for readings.

Monday, April 16 @ 10 a.m. Mystery Book Group: Murder In the Marais by Cara Black. A murder in the old Jewish quarter features encryption & swastikas.

Wednesday, April 18 @ 7:30 p.m. Book discussion Group: If Not Now, When?

Primo Levi’s novel about lives of partisans behind enemy lines during WW II.

Thursday, April 19 @ 7 p.m. Wearing

Wednesday, April 25 @ 12:30: Wendell Berry Conversations.

Join us at Shelburne Farms for a showing of Look & See: Wendell Berry.

Charlotte Library Board of Trustees: Katharine Cohen, Nan Mason, Danielle Conlon Menk, Jonathan Silverman and Robert Smith.

Next board meeting: Thursday, April 12 @ 6 p.m.

Library Staff Margaret Woodruff, library director Cheryl Sloan, youth services librarian Susanna Kahn, tech services librarian Hours Mondays & Wednesdays: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Art in April:

Bring your family or grab a

friend and join us for one or all of these hands-on art activities: • Saturday, April 7 @ 10:30 a.m.

Origami fun! Origami artist Erina Tsubota shows how to make animals, boxes & more. For families & kids 9+.

• Saturday, April 14 @ 10:30 a.m. Whirligigs. Learn about this old-time folk art and make one or two to play with and share.

For families & kids 9+.

• Saturday, April 21 @ 10:30 a.m. Poetry in motion. Celebrate national poetry month by creating some interactive poetry! For families & kids 9+.

Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Reach us on the web at charlottepubliclibrary.org.

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/ charlottelibraryvt.

Follow us on Twitter & Instagram @ charlottevtlib.

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The Charlotte News • April 4, 2018 • 13

Food Shelf News Kerrie Pughe

Thank you Thank you for the support this month from Charlotte Organic COOP, Julia and Daniel Cavanagh, and Barry and Susan Cluff in honor of Greg and Lynn Cluff. And thank you to Nancy Smith for donating 15 dozen fresh eggs from her flock.

We are looking for a new Charlotte News Food Shelf article writer!

This is a wonderful way to put your writing skills to use as you volunteer for a local charity. You would submit one article to The Charlotte News per month, updating the town on what’s going on at the Food Shelf. The time commitment is just about one to two hours per month. Please contact Karen Doris at 425-3252 if this is something you might be interested in.

Financial assistance As a reminder, the Food Shelf has some funds available for emergency assistance with fuel and electric bills. You may contact Cindi at 425-3234 if you need assistance.

Feeding America The Charlotte Food Shelf supports Feeding America’s efforts to bring attention to the issue of hunger in our country. The proposed spending cuts to the SNAP (food stamp) program could have devastating effects on those who experience food insecurity in our country every day. Check out feedingamerica.org to learn more about their advocacy work.

Wish list We need granola bars, kids’ healthy cereal, crackers, popcorn, pudding cups, trail mix, spaghetti sauce, shelf parmesan cheese, vegetable soup, creamed soup, beef and chicken noodle soups, tissues and body lotion. Thank you!

Donations We are a volunteer organization, so all donations you make to the Food Shelf go directly for food and assistance to our local neighbors in need. Thank you so much for considering donating today. Checks may be mailed to Charlotte Food Shelf & Assistance, P.O. Box 83, Charlotte, VT

05445.

Donated food drop-off locations The Charlotte Food Shelf is located on the lower level of the Charlotte Congregational Church vestry. All nonperishable food donations may be dropped off there or at the Charlotte Library or at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church (main entrance) during the distribution mornings. We request that all fresh foods be dropped off at the Food Shelf before the Wednesday distribution hours or before 7:30 a.m. on the Thursday distribution mornings.

Distribution days/times are posted on the bulletin board in the Charlotte Congregational Church Hall. You may also call the Food Shelf number (425-3252) for a recording of the distribution times.

New Facebook Page “Like” us at our new Facebook page, Charlotte Community Food Shelf and Assistance, to see photos and get updates on all the Food Shelf activities.

We are open to all community residents.

Privacy is very important and respected in our mission of neighbor helping neighbor.

For emergency food call John 425-3130.

For emergency assistance (electricity, fuel) call Cindi at 425-3234. For more information call Karen at 425-3252.

Charlotte Food Shelf Distribution Dates Wednesdays, April 4 and 18, May 9, 5 to 7 p.m.

Thursdays, April 5 and 19, May 10, 7:30 to 9:00 a.m.

The Charlotte Food Shelf is located on the lower level of the Charlotte Congregational Church vestry.

Charlotte Congregational church food drive.

Photo contributed

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ing for a phone number.

There other entertaining things 14 • April 4,were 2018 • The Charlotte News about the phone-booth bathroom. At least Sports for us, sometimes disconcerting entertaining for guests.EddImagine the newcomer, excusing As tradition has held, the men switched Merritt teams from Austin to Harris, CVU this time herself from the dinner table for a trip toice.the playing on the Harris end of the The Winter sports turn into allmen’s game was not the same nail-biter as loo. seated theon theThetoilette, the women’s.

Austin side again came starComfortably games out on top, this time by a 5-2 score. The Men’s and women’s high school hockey redandwall ringing.

Atincluded the CVU’s table we Harris squad Jennings basketballphone staged their starts all-star contests Lobel (a Charlotter), Quinn Francis and Raf on March 24.

Robero.

Lobel was cited as a third-team might giggle quietly at our guest’s likely disall-state all-star by the coaches.

On the courts

The hoopsters traveled to Windsor for a full day of games in all divisions, men and women. The northern squad of Divisions I/II girls contained CVU stars Lindsey Albertelli and Shannon Loiseau. The North topped the South by 40 points, 97-57, with five players hitting in double figures.

On the men’s ledger, the North also won by a fairly extensive measure, 9675, despite the fact that no players hit for double figures. Scoring was spread among seven players, including CVU’s Will Burroughs.

Later, when the kids were a little older and we had a firm commitment to dinner together each evening, the phone was a different kind of problem as clients and colleagues telephoned during the dinner hour. Finally John started telling folks he was not available between 6 and 7 when he had dinner with his family. For that sweet hour, the bathroom was just a bathroom, not a phone booth.

Three Redhawks make the Free Press “prime-time performers” list

ess Directory Reed Dousevicz in hockey, Alice Larsen in indoor track and Becca Provost in Alpine skiing were listed among the 32 “primetime state high school performers” in the March 25 Burlington Free Press.

A Charlotte resident, Reed is a sophomore goaltender for the CVU men’s hockey team. He stopped 59 shots in the Redhawks eventual double–overtime loss to the Essex Hornets, who went on to win the Division I state championship.

As a freshman, Alice claimed titles in the 1,500- and 3,000-meter races in the Division I indoor track championships. She was noted as a top contender going into the competition, but because CVU did not field a full team, Alice ran as an independent.

Becca found Burke Mountain slalom courses to be to her favor, as she won the slalom the day after placing second in the giant slalom in the state championship Alpine events.

Music Lessons

On the ice

all Ages and Abilities

Essex was the site of all-star hockey at the 34th annual Rotary Classic. CVU sent players to both men’s and women’s teams, the women’s group being the combined MMU/CVU Cougar Hawks. The Austin and Harris teams were evenly matched, and the women’s game went into overtime before Northfield’s Brianna Doty scored the game winner for Austin, 3-2. CougarHawk Jodie Wright shared duty in the goal for the winners. CVU skaters playing as all-stars from MMU/CVU were Lauren Hanley, Jackie Ryan, Lydia Maitland and Jodie Wright. Coaches named Maitland and Wright academic all-stars as well.

•Guitar • Bass • Ukulele • Banjo • Percussion • Music Exploration for younger children • Voice Lessons • Song Writing Contact: Salliemack@gmavt.net (802)425-6212 VermontGuitarLessons.com

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The Charlotte News • April 4, 2018 • 15

Gardening

Digging out and digging in

Dave Quickel Ah, springtime in Vermont! The grasp of winter ever so slowly relenting and allowing us to consider that perhaps soon we’ll be without snow banks, icy walkways and frosty windshields every morning and will instead be out strolling through the garden with bare feet. But the journey to fairer weather is a slow and nonlinear path around here. What’s lies ahead in April? Is it going to snow another foot, be sunny and 70 degrees, be overcast, windy and 40? Of course, as you all know (unless you just moved here, in which case I’m sorry to inform you...), it is going to be answer D—all of the above.

I run a seasonal vegetable farm in Charlotte. We sell vegetables to stores and restaurants from here to Burlington, run a CSA from the farm, and sell at the farmers market in Shelburne. Our farming season starts in late March. Growing in the winter has never made sense to me here on our exposed land, and so I shut the farm down in November. During the winter I work as a carpenter off the farm and spend nights and weekends planning for the upcoming farming season.

Coming back onto the farm in the spring is always a mixed blessing. My winter life is scheduled, predictable, orderly and payable by the hour. Returning to the farm, which sits somewhat like a time capsule for the winter, I’m quickly reminded of which things I left in good order and which things I pushed off to the side to deal with later. It feels a little chaotic and messy at first. It takes time to transition, but slowly it starts to click.

Hearing the newly returned redwing blackbirds cackling in the hedgerows and watching the marsh hawks and turkey vultures soar above helps me settle back in to the landscape. Their return to the farm helps gird me for the battle ahead. Lists are made, priorities established.

It all starts with the delivery of the season’s potting mix. Fifteen yards of black gold arrive in a tandem dump truck and get dumped out unceremoniously in the barnyard in front of the heated greenhouse where all the season’s transplants will be started. Tens of thousands of plants will have their beginnings from this pile. Now it’s game on.

Next is getting the greenhouse ready to start all these starts. The things that happen in this greenhouse at the end of the season are very different from the things that need to happen at the beginning of the season. In November we were washing and packing vegetables here to avoid the cold, but now we need to get ready for lots of seedlings. The soil mixing tub and seeding tables need to come back out and get cleaned. We use a soil blocking machine to start seedlings, and this needs to be prepped. The blocking machine is a truly awesome piece of equipment. You shovel moist potting mix in, which is then compressed, cut into sheets of inch and a half by inch and a half blocks with seeds accurately placed into to the top of each one as the blocks are rolled out on a conveyor belt. These are then picked up with a funky pitchfork and slid into bread trays, one hundred seeded blocks per forkful. The machine can do something like 10,000 an hour, but it’s faster than we are. We do roughly 5,000 an hour.

Now we need to get the heating system going. There is a big Modine gas heater that we use once we have a bunch of tables-worth of seedlings to protect from the frosty spring nights, but for the first few weeks we use electric heat mats.

These heat the trays of seedlings from the bottom and are placed on insulated tables that can be covered at night to keep the heat in. We use four-by-eight-foot mats that are thermostatically controlled. The heat is nicely targeted, and the mats are way more efficient than trying to heat a big plastic bubble, which is basically what the greenhouse is. The covers over the top are a bit of a pain to take on and off daily, but critical, as the temperature in the greenhouse on a sunny winter day can easily go up to 130 degrees during the day and then to below freezing at night.

So a little cover maintenance is required to prevent cooking all our precious little seedlings.

Finally, we’re finally ready to start seeding. First on the list of are the onions, scallions and leeks. Next come lettuce and brassicas for field planting, and tomatoes, peppers and eggplant for inside greenhouse planting. Slowly the greenhouse starts to fill with newly sprouted seedlings. Now, it’s off to the races.

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Hearing the newly returned redwing blackbirds cackling in the hedgerows and watching the marsh hawks and turkey vultures soar above helps me settle back into the landscape. Their return to the farm helps gird me for the battle ahead. Lists are made, priorities established.

”

Dave Quickel (center) sits with his son Eli (left) and cousin, Beatrix (right).

Photo contributed

16 • April 4, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Food

Foraging for fiddleheads Joanna Smith When the April breeze becomes rich and earthy, I start thinking about one of my favorite hobbies: foraging for fiddleheads.

There is something primitively satisfying and uniquely meditative about collecting these little wild gems. Fiddleheads are the tightly coiled fronds of the ostrich fern that reveal themselves through the moist and fertile spring soil. They earned their name because they resemble the curled up stem of a violin or fiddle.

In our neck of the woods I usually start checking my secret spots around Cinco de Mayo. Since fiddleheads are only harvestable for a few days, it’s a best to be diligent in your efforts to find them.

Fortunately for us, this typically entails visiting some quintessentially beautiful Vermont landscapes. As fiddleheads grow in lush settings, you will likely enjoy foraging along riverbanks and streams.

Fiddleheads emerge from the mounds of last year’s plants, so one tell-tale sign to look for is the dried up stems of old feathery fronds. Fiddleheads are usually partially covered by papery brown sheaths that easily rub off. Ostrich ferns are identifiable by a deep channel along the inside of the sleek stem. Be sure to leave a few behind on each plant in order for it to continue to thrive. As there are different types of ferns and some are inedible, if you are unsure, check with an experienced forager or consult a trusty guide or the

internet for proper identification.

Not surprisingly, fiddleheads have a rustic taste with hints of asparagus and spinach, and they can be substituted for asparagus in most recipes. They must always be cooked, so resist the urge to sample your bounty until they are cleaned and boiled or steamed. Once they have been cooked (and ideally not over-cooked),

you can simply sauté them as a side dish or use them in salads, pastas, stir-fries, soups and egg dishes.

Since the fiddlehead season is so shortlived, I like to freeze some of my harvest for later use. I also make a few jars of pickles to enjoy throughout the year.

Recipe Simple Sautéed Fiddleheads

1 pound fresh fiddleheads Salt and freshly ground pepper 1/2 tablespoon butter, olive oil or avocado oil 1 clove garlic or 1 small shallot coarsely chopped Lemon juice and zest, or soy sauce • Remove papery skin and trim the browning stems from fiddleheads. Wash thoroughly in cold water.

• Bring 2 quarts water and 2 tablespoons salt to boil and add the cleaned fiddleheads. Cook them for 2 minutes then rinse in cold water or submerge in ice bath. Drain and spread on paper towels to dry a bit.

• Heat oil or butter in sauté pan and add blanched fiddleheads.

Sauté for about 5 minutes until they start to brown a bit. Add garlic or shallot and sauté for another minute.

• Season to taste with fresh lemon juice, zest, salt and pepper or soy sauce.

Pickled Fiddleheads

I’ve learned that processing jars of fiddlehead pickles in a hot water bath can take away their wonderful crisp texture. I like using the inversion technique to create a seal on the jars, or I simply store my creations in the refrigerator where they will last for several months.

Photo by Joanna Smith

1 pound fresh fiddleheads 2 small garlic cloves, smashed 1 teaspoon dill seeds 1 teaspoon smashed black peppercorns 2-3 fresh or dried bay leaves 1 teaspoon mustard or coriander seeds (optional) 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1 crushed fresh or dried chili pepper (optional) 1 cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar 1 cup water Kosher salt • Wash and sterilize jars.

• Clean fiddleheads by removing chaff and trimming off any brown stems. Rinse in a few changes of water baths until water runs clear. Bring about 2 quarts water and 2 tablespoons salt to a boil. Add fiddleheads and cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

Immediately drain in colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Gently press against them to remove excess water.

• Pack fiddleheads, spices and garlic into jars.

• In small saucepan bring vinegar, water and 2 teaspoons salt to a boil.

• Pour hot liquid into jars to cover the fiddleheads and spices.

Allow to cool and refrigerate. Let them pickle for at least a week before enjoying them.

The Charlotte News • April 4, 2018 • 17

Into The Woods J. Ethan Tapper I don’t know who started it, but at some point a lot of people started talking about timber harvesting in two categories: “clearcutting” and “selective cutting.”

When I describe my job to laypeople, they often ask if I do “selective cutting,” perhaps trying to ensure that I’m not one of those “bad guys” associated with “clearcutting.” This is a tough question to answer; these two terms are complicated and convoluted, and impose a binary distinction that misrepresents the nuances of modern forestry.

Early European settlers were amazed by the abundance of the timber in North America, particularly the massive white pine. Coming from a continent that had been intensively managed by (European) humans for thousands of years, this resource seemed to be endless. Settlers and loggers used clearcutting as a means to clear pastureland, to harvest lumber to use around their homesteads and as a means to liquidate this valuable resource.

Because the supply of timber seemed infinite, there was little thought given to the future of the forest, though some believed that by the time loggers had reached the westward extent of this New World that eastern areas would be ready to harvest again.

Today clearcutting persists in the U.S. as a standard method of harvesting timber in intensively managed tree plantations, most notably in the southeast, northwest and portions of Maine, where trees are planted and grown like corn. Clearcutting has become less common in the Northeast as its long-term effects have become more apparent and as people have become more

“

As far as I can tell, a “selective cut” is any harvest where some trees are retained; the term, however, while it avoids the negative connotations of “clearcut,” says nothing about the effect of the harvest on the forest’s health.

”

Selective cuts

sensitive to its visual impacts. We are also blessed in Vermont with forests that readily regenerate new trees following disturbance and that have valuable timber species that grow in partial or complete shade.

While clearcutting had become unpopular in the Northeast by the mid to late 1900s, extractive logging had not.

Loggers and landowners took to “highgrading,” a practice where only the most valuable trees are cut, or “diameter-limit” cutting, where all trees above a certain size are cut. While these harvests were still driven entirely by economics and not by a concern for the long-term health or productivity of the forest, they were not clearcuts, and so the term “selective cuts” was used. As far as I can tell, a “selective cut” is any harvest where some trees are retained; the term, however, while it avoids the negative connotations of “clearcut,” says nothing about the effect of the harvest on the forest’s health.

This terminology was further muddied by the development of the “selection” system, a silvicultural technique where single trees or small groups of trees of all sizes are harvested to encourage the growth of trees of many species and ages. In contrast to selective cutting, the selection system is a science-based way of improving wildlife habitat and a forest’s health and resilience, based on the natural disturbance regimes of a forest.

In addition to the selection system, there are dozens of different forest management strategies (“silvicultural treatments”), each intended to address conditions in the forest and achieve a specific result and each informed by research on the way trees and forests grow and develop. While most of these management strategies involve harvesting timber, which is used for building materials, firewood, paper and electricity, none of them are designed solely to capture the timber value in a forest.

The understanding of clearcutting in the forest management community has also changed. Silvicultural clearcuts are sometimes used by foresters as a way of regenerating a uniformly unhealthy stand of trees. Most clearcuts that I see in Vermont are in areas that have been highly degraded by humans, in forests that have been extensively high-graded or where unhealthy stands have resulted from agricultural field abandonment. Forests like this will often be healthier in the long term if the unhealthy trees are removed and the area is completely regenerated to new trees. These harvests can create “early successional” forests, a somewhat rare habitat condition valued by an array of native wildlife, and provide diversity in our forests by encouraging earlysuccessional tree species such as white birch, pin cherry and aspen.

One of the hardest parts of being a forest manager is defusing the misconceptions about forest management and repairing the damage and misconceptions created by logging

Stock image practices of the past. One of the first steps in this is getting people to think a little harder about how we talk about forestry.

Ethan Tapper is the Chittenden County forester. He can be reached at (802)585-

9099, at ethan.tapper@vermont.gov or at his office at 111 West Street, Essex Junction.

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18 • April 4, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Conservation Currents

Keeping Vermont forests as large as possible Mary Van Vleck

Throughout Vermont, people interested in our environment are increasingly concerned about the health of our forests and the current development trends. People come here to visit or to settle down, largely because of the magnificent mountains and pastoral scenes that surround our highways and towns, and, of course, because of the people. But are we loving our land too much? As people move here and more homes and businesses sprout up, they are nudging back the very things that we all love about Vermont: the great expanses of forests on majestic mountains, cows grazing in green pastures, lakes and babbling streams.

We have all witnessed the continued spread of housing developments in Chittenden County along the major northsouth roads and beyond. People with abundant resources are buying larger pieces of pasture, forest and wetland farther from town centers, where they build large or multiple homes with extensive lawns (ecological deserts) and gardens; then they move in with children, dogs, cats, horses.

With more people come more roads, schools, businesses and shopping plazas.

Each new construction on what was pasture or forested land is an intrusion into undeveloped territory, a fragmentation—a breaking up—of the previously undisturbed forests so important for our very survival: for the clean air that is purified as it passes through the foliage, the clean water that is absorbed by and filtered through the sponge-like forest soils that are held in place by the trees, preventing that water from careening down hill and into our streams after each heavy downpour.

The millions of trees hold vast amounts of CO2, one of the main gases affecting global warming. Destroying or burning these trees releases that CO2 into the atmosphere, adding to the warming effects of many other effluents. Without the trees and absorbent soils to soak up the water, it

would flow downhill much faster, carrying away soil particles that are lost to the mountain into the streams and eventually depositing them in the lakes where they don’t belong. We have all seen viscous, muddy water flowing downstream and into lakes, robbing soils farther uphill of those valuable nutrients. Developers work hard to prevent this kind of erosion, but it still happens wherever soils have been disturbed.

Each new development casts a wide spell into the surrounding area, well past the mowed lawns and property lines, causing the larger native animals that have lived there for generations to slip away, unnoticed by the builders and new owners. Bear, bobcat, fisher, bald eagle and peregrine falcon, for example, retreat from what has been their homelands, probably failing to reproduce that season or perhaps ever again unless or until they find other territory unoccupied by others of their species. Like those larger animals, the forest-dwelling song birds dependent on large tracts of undisturbed forest—such as the wood warblers, the Blackburnian, black-throated green warbler and the Cerulean warbler, whose population is in free fall— must also withdraw from all civilized areas. As the area suitable for these very wild animals decreases, the populations of those animals also decreases. Coyotes, bears, and bobcats require large areas to roam, find food and raise their young; they may cross but will not linger in the smaller woodlands.

In Charlotte, each person planning to build a house must start with at least five acres of land for each house. While this system has led to low-density development and retained the rural landscape, it has led to rapid fragmentation. Each house in the middle of a five-acre lot leaves little room for much wildlife, except the animals that are adapted to live close to human settlements, those we see most often.

By contrast, cluster zoning, where houses are built closer together even

Stock image while adhering to five acres per house, allows for the same number of houses on a large lot, but by building closer together a large section of the property is saved for recreation and for wildlife. The Champlain Valley Cohousing community off Greenbush Road, for example, plans to have 26 houses on 125 acres. (One extra house is allowed because two units are “affordable.”) All 26 houses and attached units surround a green, and all of them plus a chicken coop and small pasture occupy only 10 acres. The individual lots are small, well under a half-acre each, but all residents share the remaining 110 acres of pasture and woodlands, now with an extensive network of trails, several gardens, a flock of 30 chickens and a few goats. Between the cohousing model and the current Charlotte system are many possibilities well worth considering.

Beyond the aesthetics of unspoiled landscapes, forests are essential to a healthy environment.

We can all witness that the vistas we

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cherish are slowly changing as houses and new roads creep up the hillsides and into the green valleys once dotted with sheep and cows. We probably agree that a few more houses would be okay, but how many?

Is unchecked development in Vermont what we want? Probably not, but changing the current enthusiasm for building houses in undeveloped areas presents formidable challenges. Most developers thrive in this usually lucrative business, and others, perhaps eager to move to Vermont, may not understand the full implications of what they plan to do and how their plans will affect the whole. Changing our system may require that people begin to recognize the value of the unbroken or less fragmented landscape for the good of all and alter their priorities in consideration for the bigger picture. And in time we might re-examine and perhaps alter legislation at the town or state level. But that’s not likely in the near future.

The Charlotte News • April 4, 2018 • 19

Outdoors

Spring walking and cycling ideas and a road trip to the Montreal Botanical Garden

Elizabeth Bassett Mud season is upon us. It may not be muddy at your house, but as snow and ice melt, first in the valleys and later at higher elevations, it’s good to have some ideas for spring outings. Also a Plan B for days of April showers.

Shelburne Farms has plowed a walking trail throughout the winter, so even if ice remains in shady spots there is a safe place to walk at the farm. Reminder: no dogs from April 1.

The Burlington Recreation Trail has been widened and improved. From it one can walk or pedal across the Winooski River and then to the Colchester Causeway, which projects several miles into Lake Champlain.

Beginning May 25 on weekends and June 15 on weekdays, the Bike Ferry crosses the cut between the Causeway and South Hero, giving access to the Champlain Islands.

The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail will one day extend 93 miles across Northern Vermont, from the Connecticut River to Lake Champlain. This four-season, multipurpose trail has been in the research and planning stages for two decades. Two segments of crushed gravel trail, a total of 33 miles, are now open from St. Johnsbury

to West Danville and from Morristown to Cambridge. Former rail trails have minimal grade changes, rarely exceeding 3 percent, making them universally accessible.

The Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail stretches 26.4 miles from St. Albans to Richford. The crushed-gravel roadway trends uphill from St. Albans—meaning a free ride most of the way home!

Road Trip: Montreal Botanical Garden With 10 greenhouses and some 36,000 plants, this garden and greenhouse complex is a cheerful destination on any day. In addition to seasonal displays (think tulips and other spring bulbs), greenhouses feature ferns, arid-region plants, orchids, tropical rain forest, and tropical food plants, among others. Thirty thematic gardens spread over 75-hectares (about 185 acres). Even if this is not the season for flowers or vegetables, many of the outdoor “rooms” display beautiful color, texture and design year round. Spend the day and enjoy lunch or tea before the drive home. The garden is open daily from 9 to 5, except Monday. It stays open until 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Full price is CDN $20.50 with discounts for seniors, students, youth and families. Note: the Biodome is currently closed for renovation and scheduled to reopen this summer.

Local Business Directory

An excellent reason to visit the Montreal Botanical Garden now is a display, through June 30, of the sculptural stick work of Patrick Doherty. Some may recall a decade or so ago when Doherty crafted a whimsical collection of figures, rooms and spaces on the lawn in front of Middlebury College Museum of Art. During his career Doherty has created nearly 300 sculptures across the world. It is a rare opportunity to see his work so close to home. Doherty enlists local artists and art students to help gather truckloads of saplings and then weave them into his gigantic designs. In Montreal Doherty utilized more than 15,000 volunteers and visitors to weave willow branches into his three installations.

Doherty’s completed sculptures tower up to 30 feet in height and, in addition to being beautiful, are ethereal, fun and even funny.

Their names often are puns. The three Montreal installations are Thrown for a Loop, Fancy’s Bower and Doodle Coming to Life.

Closer to home.

If you have not yet cleaned out your bluebird houses, do it pronto. It is suggested that you place boxes in pairs, one for the inevitable house swallows that will occupy one and a second for a nesting pair of bluebirds. If you are lucky enough to host a successful breeding pair, it is possible a

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20 • April 4, 2018 • The Charlotte News

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Sunny Side Up

The humble task of discovering the inarticulate speech of the heart When Melissa approached me about writing a column for The Charlotte News, I asked what she needed. “The only need is to fill the paper with as Carrie Fenn much meaningful content as possible.” I’ve been rolling her words over in my mind for a couple of weeks now. It’s a nice image—filling something, anything, with meaningful content. And her request struck me as a metaphor for life.

What are the things that fill my life with meaning? Do I honor them as such?

When I had the Brick, the growth chart at the front of the store provided the fuel I needed to get through an exhausting day— watching the stream of children come through to mark their height and age, checking in every few months to see how much they’d grown. The chart gave each child a connection to the store, and to me, and when it was gone, I actually cried. But all of life is impermanent, and everything, eventually, changes—acceptance of that is meaningful in and of itself.

There’s the belly laugh of a grandchild, tea with a friend who is hurting, spying on one’s partner while he studies his raspberry patch. Chopping and stacking wood is meaningful, as is hunting, gardening, hiking, running.

I’m not promoting the “savor every second” idea; frankly, some seconds, minutes, hours, even days, don’t deserve

to be savored. But, our lives are made up of small moments that, taken together, create a hailstorm of meaning. We find those moments in our day-to-day work or with the things we do with money earned from that work. We find meaning in our causes, both local and far-reaching.

And we search for it, looking to our deep recesses for the meaning within. To search for, and find, meaning is a distinctly human endeavor; it can consume, uplift, destroy.

And so, readers, what is it that fills your life with meaningful content? I recognize what’s meaningful today might not be such tomorrow, and that’s okay. I want to explore this with you, I want us to explore it together. Whenever Melissa gives me space, we’ll wander down the path of the big and small, the quiet (and sometimes not so quiet) ways you move through your world creating, absorbing and experiencing meaning. Maybe meaning is eluding you, and you are struggling to find it. I want to hear about that as well.

In the words of Mary Oliver, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

You can send me a text, write me an email, give me a call or send it snail mail.

You can tell me your name or you can be anonymous. But I need to hear from you.

Give me the what and, if you can, the why, because ultimately, it’s the why that is the most important part.

You can reach me at: carriebfenn@gmail.com 802-999-1024 3421 Lake Road, Charlotte, VT 05445

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The Charlotte News • April 4, 2018 • 21

MARCH

continued from page 1

been shot by her stepfather as a youth, testified to the reality of domestic violence; a female high school student thanked the Vermont legislators who had voted for recent gun legislation; a young man from the Social Justice Union at Burlington High School whose life was forever changed when his grandma was shot at a school in Essex when he was only 6; a female high school student in Vermont who feels afraid in her school, saying, “I don’t want to go back, but I have to”; a female high school student in Vermont who repeated the refrain, “we need more, and we need it now”; a high school student who ended her comments by saying, “they tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds”; a student a cappella group from Brattleboro who sang a song titled “Shine,” written

by two student survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas; a student who recited a poem written in response to the Pulse nightclub shooting, which said, “this world drunk on hate, decides blood is wine”; a student poet who read his poem about the real dangers of being black in the U.S.; a public school teacher of 30 years and president of the VT Union of Professional Educators, who asserted, “no guns for teachers, no way”; many speakers who acknowledged that “thoughts and prayers” are simply not enough.

I heard no hate. I heard no personal attacks. I heard no politics of division. I heard gratitude for the courage of our young people. I heard a diverse cross-section of Vermonters coming together to reduce gun violence in our state and beyond. And when the event was over, and the crowd dispersed, I heard murmurs of hope that the way things are now, are not how they will always be.

SELECTBOARD continued from page 1

three-year term ending April 2021.

Chris Davis was also reappointed Charlotte emergency management director for a one-year term ending April 2019.

Charlotte resident Andrew Milliken was the only new appointment at the meeting.

Milliken will be filling one of the two empty spaces on the Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge Oversight Committee. Milliken has worked with Vermont Fish and Wildlife for 25 years and is excited to bring his experience to the park.

The Selectboard closed out the night by approving an application for a five-year renewal of the indirect

discharge permit for the Thompson’s Point wastewater disposal system.

Lengthy discussion involving the separate question of the Thompson’s Point wastewater disposal system ordinance and its draft amendments prompted the Selectboard to move discussion of the ordinance to the April 9 meeting.

Puzzles THEME: BEFORE AND AFTER

Answers on page 23

ACROSS 1. “____ Fever,” movie and novel 6. “Is” in the past 9. Name of the Blue Ox 13. Rome’s Colosseum, e.g.

14. Fla. neighbor 15. Jig, in France 16. Volcanic rock, pl.

17. Basketball hoop 18. Opposite of adore 19. *Before Rodham; After - ____ 21. *Before - ____; After - Mumbai 23. Make mistakes 24. Prickle on a wire 25. Art degrees 28. Abominable humanoid 30. “American Horror Story: Hotel” hotel 35. Tangerine and grapefruit hybrid 37. Sailor’s call 39. Tarzan’s swing 40. Search without warning 41. Audition tapes 43. Shorter than maxi 44. King of ancient Crete 46. Time distortion

47. Bit of slander 48. Bobbysock 50. Row of vagrants 52. “All the Light We Cannot ____,” novel 53. Auctioneer’s quantities 55. El ____ 57. *Before - ____; After - living room 60. Like misanthrope’s remark 64. Pluck 65. Flying saucer acronym 67. Nary a soul 68. Sicker 69. Waikiki garland 70. Written corrections 71. English playwright Coward 72. Japanese capital 73. Fit out again DOWN 1. Locker room supply 2. Caspian feeder 3. Denim innovator 4. Foolish 5. *Before - flour, water, shortening; After - ____ 6. Announce Red Alert 7. *Before - Clay;

After - ____ 8. Brazilian dance 9. Kind of lettuce 10. Turkish honorific 11. Channel marker 12. Always, in verse 15. Run around 20. Artemis’ companion 22. Middle-earth creature 24. Organic matter used as fuel 25. *Before - ____; After - Myanmar 26. “Encore!”

27. Move furtively 29. Muscle or strength 31. #17 Across, pl.

32. Quarter side, pl.

33. Empower 34. *Before - ____; After - Democratic Republic of Congo 36. *Before - William Michael Albert Broad; After - Billy ____ 38. *Before - New Amsterdam; After New ____ 42. Like certain foods 45. Amazon, e.g.

49. #me____ 51. *Before - supper; After - ____ 54. “Yours ____” 56. D in LED

57. Prince William’s sport 58. Car shaft 59. Cambodian currency 60. Mint product 61. Salon creation

62. Hostile to 63. Just in case 64. M in rpm 66. ATM extra

22 • April 4, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Charlotte Senior Center News Carolyn Kulik

SENIOR CENTER MENUS

SENIOR CENTER DIRECTOR

It looks as though spring has finally arrived, after the usual false starts. This means that the Senior Center will be having more activities geared towards the outdoors as the weather gets warmer. One of the first is the Birding Expedition led by our favorite bird expert Hank Kaestner on April 18. (Registration is required, starts at 9 a.m.)

Do you know?

Do you know—that the Charlotte Senior Center does not have any membership fees? That there are no forms to fill out? That you do not have to be from Charlotte? That many classes are free—and those with fees mostly range from $7 to $10 a class? That you don’t have to be really old to participate? (Fifty is fine.)

Many of the instructors at the Center have been teaching for more than eight to 10 years. One of our long-time teachers is Sylvia, who leads a strength maintenance class (using weights and stretch bands) to a full class of women and men. Trained in the Live Strong program, she is known for being focused, friendly and funny. She is a force of nature—and is only 95.

Stop in to check us out—there is always a helpful host at the desk. Or call the Center at 425-6345 to ask questions, register for a class or make a reservation for the Wednesday lunch. If you are coming alone to lunch or a class, have no fear. We can introduce you around, and you will fit right in. (You will not eat at a table by yourself!) We are not strangers— just friends you haven’t met yet.

You can pick up a calendar of activities here or check out the Town of Charlotte website. Go to charlottevt.org, see the Senior Center listed on the left, and click on it for the Spring Schedule.

Consider volunteering one morning a month on a cooking team to make a “munch” for Monday. It’s a great way to get acquainted. For other options and for more information, contact Peggy, our friendly volunteer coordinator, at 4256345. The Center functions only because of its wonderful volunteers who do so many different things!

“The Strength Training

class (of 15–20 people) is a pretty rowdy

crowd—for a bunch of seniors.”

– Nancy

Have you heard about our great meals?

(See the menus above.) The Men’s Breakfast will also be viewing videos of dramatic ocean sailboat racing and real-time, whole-earth satellite views of weather patterns. (Next breakfast is on April 26.)

Although courses are already underway for the Spring Schedule, you can join most of them at any time. Coming later in April and May will be road hikes, another birding expedition, pastels and acrylics.

Exercise: There are a variety of intensity levels, and many are adapted for those with injuries or limitations. They range from Yang Tai Chi Chuan, to Chair Yoga, to Pilates and more.

The arts: Origami has two sessions left, on Tuesday, April 3 and 17 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. The Friday writers group meets once a month at 1 p.m., this month on April 13.

VT Reads 2018 continues on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. at the CCS library. Be part of an intergenerational discussion of the historical novel Bread & Roses, Too by Katherine Paterson. The last meeting is April 17.

Monday Munch 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

No reservations required April 9 Pumpkin chili soup Green salad, Pineapple upsidedown cake Apr1l 16 Lentil Bolognese over spaghetti squash, Apple, dried cherry & pecan salad, Coconut cake Wednesday Lunch All diners eat at noon.

Reservations required.

April 4 Stuffed peppers reimagined Birthday cake & ice cream

Health events

Thursday, April 12, from 2 to 7 p.m. the Center hosts the American Red Cross Blood Drive.

Wednesday, April 18, Foot Clinic at 9:15 a.m. with Julia Jacques & Martha McAuliffe, R.N. (prior appointments required). At 11:30 Martha McAuliffe, R.N., UVM Medical Center, offers the Blood Pressure Clinic (appointments not required).

Wednesday presentations

April 4 at 1 p.m. visit Gardens of Spain with Charlotte Albers. Journey to Barcelona and Madrid and look inside the royal palaces of the Alhambra in

Doodle & Jots

April 18 Oven-fried chicken Baked potatoes with sour cream Steamed asparagus Homemade dessert Thursday Men’s Breakfast 7:30–9 a.m.

Reservations required.

April 12 Buckwheat pancakes & local maple syrup Fresh fruit Suggested donation for meals: $5.

Granada—a UNESCO World Heritage site built in the 10th century—and the Alcazar in Seville. We’ll look at centuries of architectural detail in hidden gardens and courtyards. Charlotte is a garden writer and designer who travels widely to visit public gardens.

April 11 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. is Protecting Against Identity Theft with Elliott Greenblott, AARP. Identity theft can disrupt your finances, credit history and reputation. Learn how to recognize it and how to protect yourself from becoming a victim. Registration not required. No fee. [Note: this is a late morning event.]

April 11 at 1 p.m. is Alaska by Small Ship with Mike Lynch, who will share his experiences and photos from his smallboat, one-week cruise from Juneau to Glacier Bay National Park.

April 18 at 1 p.m. there will be Irish Music with Marty Morrissey and Robert Resnick of the Highland Weavers Band.

Sponsored by Friends of Charlotte Senior Center.

April Art Show

This month’s art show is “Eco Art and Transformations,” mixed media by Linda Finkelstein. She says, “For me, the creative process is centering, healing and transformative. I hope you will sense the spirit and sparkle of my creations.”

“The Charlotte Senior Center is full of life,

all ages, all kinds of activity. If the word

Note: The art show pieces are hung in the foyer and in the Great Room. (Yes, it deserves the name.)

The foyer is always accessible, but because the Great Room is utilized for many classes, the best times to see the art shows are Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons after 12:30 and Wednesdays after 3.

‘senior’ keeps you

away, it shouldn’t. . . It’s cozy, comfortable and casual.”

– A frequent visitor

April 11 Rosemary pork roast Creamed Boursin spinach Glazed carrots Homemade dessert

See you soon!

The imprint of memory is a jostle of something not quite something.

Illustration by Jim Morse

The Charlotte News • April 4, 2018 • 23

Calendar of Events April 6

Stellaria Trio presents: Dark horses.

Violinist Letitia Quante, cellist John Dunlop and pianist Claire Black of Charlotte perform Beethoven’s Piano Trio No. 6 in E-flat Major and Dvoák′s Piano Trio No. 3 in F Minor, two robust, delightful and yet lesserknown works by these celebrated composers. 7:30 p.m. at the Richmond Free Library in Richmond. Free admission. Donations welcome.

April 7

Sixth annual indoor equine clinic and lunch at Cedar Spring Farm, Charlotte. Come and pick the brains of these knowledgeable professionals in different disciplines. Clinic begins with a welcome coffee at 9:30 a.m. (doors open at 9). Fee: $50 (including lunch) and $35 (lunch not included).

Reservations required (limited to 60). Send reservations and check made out to MHHF to Anne Brown, 1380 Old Stage Rd., Westford, VT 05494. Tel: 802-878-4128 – leave message. Additional Information at morganhorseheritagefoundation.org.

Directions: cedarspringfarm.net or email bonnies461@aol.com.

April 10

The Shelburne Charlotte Garden Club will meet on Tuesday, April 10 at 10 AM at the Shelburne Methodist Church. The program, arranged by Lois Lynch, will be Masia Canada: Living Plant Sculptures, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Canada. All are welcome. For further information, please call Ann Mead at 985-2657.

April 11

Many insurance companies offer a discount to drivers who have completed the class. There are no tests.

The fee for the course is $15 for AARP members and $20 for nonmembers.

To reserve space please call Jennifer McCuin, recreation director, at 4822281 extension 230.

April 13 and 14

North Ferrisburgh Methodist Church rummage sale, 227 Old Hollow Road, on Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday is also “Take-AllYou-Want-Day” for a flat fee of $5 per person. Proceeds benefit children and youth attending summer church camps and mission trips.

April 20

Jukebox: A Warehouse Chamber Music Project 7:30 p.m. at ArtsRiot in Burlington. Brooke Quiggins, John Dunlop, and Mary Jane Austin bring our first-ever piano trio to Jukebox for an evening that promises to be extra special. With the piano taking center stage (literally) at ArtsRiot, the audience will get a chance to enjoy the musicians from every angle… including above! Our passionate and exhilarating program features Shostakovich’s second piano trio, an incredibly moving work that transcends both time and history, plus works by Arvo Pärt, Jennifer Higdon, and Astor Piazzolla. This innovative chamber music series, co-presented by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and ArtsRiot, and curated by Vermont composer Matt LaRocca, features a sliding-scale payment option and a unique concert experience. 7 p.m. doors, 7:30 p.m. show.

The Hinesburg Recreation Center will host the new AARP Smart Driver class from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. (with half hour lunch break). The 4.5 hour refresher course is open to all drivers 50 years and older.

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Classifieds Reach your friends and neighbors for only $7 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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Job Title: Beach Attendant

Supervisor: Recreation Coordinator Start Date: Memorial Day Weekend End Date: After Labor Day Job Description: The beach attendant position is a part-time seasonal position that begins Memorial Day Weekend. The beach attendant will be responsible for the maintenance of the beach area and the facilities located near the beach (e.g. tennis court, playground, volleyball court and picnic area). Dependent on the shift, the beach attendant will be responsible for set-up or cleanup of the beach. During their shift the beach attendant will supervise the parking area and manage the sale of all parking passes. There will be daily responsibilities to help maintain the cleanliness of the beach and its facilities.

Job Responsibilities: 1. Morning set-up and/or night pick-up which includes unlocking/locking bathrooms, posting signs, organizing parking passes, checking supplies, etc.

2. Manage and distribute parking passes 3. Deposit all revenue from parking pass sales at the end of their shift 4. Assist individuals at the beach with any questions or concerns 5. Track and report all parking pass payments 6. Complete all assigned tasks efficiently 7. Janitorial duties will be required (proper protective gear will be provided) 8. Oversee and assist with approved private events at the beach 9. Enforce all beach rules and regulations 10. Report any issues to the Recreation Coordinator in a timely manner Qualifications: • Great customers service skills • Strong communication skills • Ability to handle and exchange money • Very dependable • Must be assertive • If hired, attendant must attend paid training session which will occur the weekend before Memorial Day weekend.

Preferred Qualifications • First Aid and CPR certification • 1-2 years of work experience Hours: Part-time to average 20-25 hours per week.

Work Conditions: Work is outside, generally during good weather conditions. Some lifting will be required.

Please submit a job application with three references to the Charlotte Town office. Applications can be found on our town website or you can fill one out at the town offices. The Recreation Coordinator will be reviewing applications and will be contacting individuals’ mid-April. Should you have any questions please the email or phone information listed below.

Nicole Conley, Recreation Director Email: Recreation@townofcharlotte.com Phone: (802) 425-6129

Voice of the town since 1958

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