The Charlotte News | November 28, 2018

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Charlotte News Wednesday, November 28, 2018 | Volume LXI Number 11

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Charlotte News

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Vol. 61, no.11

November 28, 2018

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

Second open work session

Design of the State Park Road section of the Charlotte Town Link Trail Laurie Thompson CO-CHAIR, TRAILS COMMITTEE

The Charlotte Trails Committee, with Jim Donovan leading the effort, is continuing work on a detailed layout of the portion of the Town Link Trail that lies along State Park Road. The Trails Committee assembled a steering committee with representatives from the Selectboard, the Planning Commission, the Conservation Commission and the Trails Committee, as well as the road commissioner and the tree warden. The steering committee met several times and held the second open work session on the project on Nov. 13, at Town Hall just prior to the Selectboard meeting.

The Town of Charlotte completed a scoping study for two segments (one being State Park Road) of the Town Link Trail in 2017. This detailed layout work is for the portion of the trail along State Park Road, from the southern end of the Trevor and Melissa Mack Trail, along the north side of State Park Road, ending across the street

from Mount Philo State Park. This work is based on the conclusions of the scoping study that the trail should be located on the north side of State Park Road, generally close to the road.

Jim Donovan led the discussion and brought forward several options that the

Selectboard chips away at array of issues Gail Callahan

Performance reviews scheduled The Charlotte Selectboard set a date during its Nov. 13 meeting to hold employee performance reviews for four town workers beginning Dec. 4. The town employees slated for performance review are Town Administrator Dean Bloch, Zoning Administrator and Sewage Control Officer Aaron Brown, Town Planner Daryl Benoit and Recreation Director Nicole Conley. Performance reviews are not open to the public.

According to Selectboard Chairman Lane Morrison, the board spends about 20 minutes with each employee during the review period. Planning Commission Acting Chairman Peter Joslin is expected to attend Brown’s and Benoit’s meetings.

Town Hall and Senior Center generator bids The Selectboard started its meeting by opening three bids to install new generators for the Town Hall and the Senior Center.

The first bid came from Peck Electric Company. The South Burlington business sent in a $28,660 bid, which included labor costs, to install two 20-kilowatt generators.

The second bid, from Reliant Electric Works in South Burlington, was for $27,187 and included a five-year warranty, according to Selectboard Chairman Lane Morrison.

Morrison noted that the generators’ kilowatts weren’t mentioned in the bid.

Brookfield Service, a Northfield business, submitted a third bid for $54,100 for two 38kW generators.

The board will make a decision on the

steering committee had worked on for where and how the trail could go along or near State Park Road. Trail design options were discussed by the 20 or so residents who attended the open work session.

Easements given along the north side of State Park Road allow the trail to meander

away from the road in some areas and provide a more scenic trail. The easements also let the trail go around many of the mature, significant trees along the way.

For this open work session, the State Park Road section of the Town Link Trail was divided into four segments, and each segment was discussed in detail, including a ballpark cost estimate for building the trail on one route or another. For most of the trail, attendees chose the route that was set farther away from the road, except for the portion going over Kimball Brook, where the trail would come up next to the road, creating less impact on the wetlands and costing significantly less.

This agreed-upon layout for the trail will now go back to the steering committee for its review and endorsement. There will be a third open work session on Feb. 11 to give residents a chance to see the final layout. The alignment, as finally endorsed by the steering committee, will be used to get wetlands permits and for a Vermont Forests, Parks, and Recreation grant application to secure partial funding for this project.

Charlotte Fire and Rescue receive donation

awarding of the contract during its Nov. 26 meeting.

Hinesburg Road and Mt. Philo Road crosswalk An engineer from the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission discussed the proposed north/south crosswalk at the intersection of Hinesburg Road and Mount Philo Road. Last month, CCS administrator Jen Roth and four students attended the Oct. 22 Selectboard meeting to request the crosswalk to make it safer for CCS students to cross the street to Philo Ridge Farm, a popular after-school destination.

The request stemmed from concerns about traffic congestion during dismissal. Town Administrator Bloch told board members the CCRPC engineer will likely make a recommendation concerning the safe pedestrian crossing by the end of November.

Senior Center parking and proposed road project The need to create additional parking at the Charlotte Senior Center also came up for discussion. Ben Mason offered to transfer about one acre of land that sits between the Charlotte Fire & Rescue building and the Charlotte Children’s Center to the town at no cost. But Mason asked that Charlotte build about a 500-foot roadway earmarked for a proposed building lot that is under consideration for the site of the Charlotte Family Health Center. An early building estimate puts the cost of the proposed road project at about $50,000. The cost to build a parking area would be an added expense.

Bloch noted that constructing both the road and the parking lot at the same time would be the most cost effective.

Members of Charlotte Fire and Rescue were presented with a $1,000 check from the Charlotte-Shelburne-Hinesburg Rotary Club on Nov. 15. Part of the proceeds were generated by the Golf Ball Drop held in August.

Town meetings schedule

All meetings at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.

Nov. 28. Zoning Board of Adjustment, 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Agenda at http://bitly.ws/32Xi Dec. 3. West Village Wastewater Committee meeting, 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Dec. 6. Planning Commission, 7 to 9 p.m.

(Will include a discussion of the East Charlotte Village Planning Project, completed in May 2010, as it relates to Clark Hinsdale’s upcoming major subdivision application.)

Dec. 10. Selectboard, 6 to 9 p.m.

Dec. 11. Trails Committee, 7 p.m.

2 • November 28, 2018 • The Charlotte News The

Charlotte News

News From The News

The giving season

PUBLICATION DATES

Vince Crockenberg

December 12

To bring you The Charlotte News every two weeks throughout the year we depend on three sources of support: the businesses that regularly advertise with us, the volunteer writers and photographers who provide content for the paper and, importantly, the donors who contribute to our annual fundraising campaigns.

If you have already made your financial contribution to The News, please accept our deep gratitude. If you haven’t yet, we’d be very grateful if you would make it now, since the funds we raise at the end of this year help us pay our bills until we get to our summer fundraiser in July.

For 60 years, The Charlotte News has been an example to the rest of the state of truly local nonprofit journalism. So far this year 165 community members have voluntarily contributed stories and articles to The News and another 69 have contributed photographs.

Their names are listed on the facing page.

These contributors are your friends and neighbors, and even their children. I doubt any local nonprofit paper in the state has the degree of voluntary support The News enjoys.

And we can do more. Last month our readers asked us to cover local news more fully. While our volunteers are wonderful,

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they are, however, understandably reluctant to cover Selectboard, Planning Commission and school board meetings that often last past nine o’clock on weekday evenings. To provide additional local news coverage we need to attract and retain talented editors and writers and pay them fairly.

That’s where you come in. With your generous financial support we can bring you an even better Charlotte News in 2019.

You can contribute online at charlottenewsvt.org; click the Donate button just below the top stories. Or you can write a check to The Friends of The Charlotte News, PO Box 211, Charlotte, VT 05445. We would love to get 50 new first-time donors this year. All donations to the Friends are fully tax deductible.

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Thank you!

WRITERS 1. Alex Bunten 2. Alice Outwater 3. Alicia Palmer 4. Allan Miler 5. Amos Baehr 6. Andrew Jackson 7. Bennett Chappelle 8. Beth Phillips 9. Bill Fraser-Harris 10. Bradley Carleton 11. Brett Sigurdson 12. Carl Herzog 13. Caroline Swayze 14. Carolyn Kulik 15. Carrie Fenn 16. Cessie Ferero 17. Chris Dickerson 18. Chris Falk 19. Chris von Trapp 20. Christine Cowart 21. Christine Lloyd-Newberry 22. Christopher Davis 23. Cindy Bradley 24. Claire Sigmon 25. Clark Hinsdale 26. Coco Eyre 27. Dan Albrecht 28. Dave Quickel 29. Dean Percival 30. DeirdreHiggins 31. Denise Fitzgerald Danyow 32. Denise Shekerjian 33. Dorothy Hill 34. Ed Amidon 35. Edd Merritt 36. Edora Frazer 37. Elaine Pinckney 38. Elizabeth Bassett 39. Ella Beerworth 40. Ella Emmons 41. Ella Lisle 42. Erika MacPherson 43. Ethan Morris 44. F. Brian Mechanic 45. Frances Foster 46. Francine Stephens 47. Gay Regan 48. Gayle Finkelstein 49. Ginger Lambert 50. Grace Zappala 51. Hadley Abernathy Bunting 52. Hagan Smith 53. Hannah Bogard 54. Hannah Herbert 55. Hans Ohanian 56. Heather Manning 57. Heather Morse 58. J. Ethan Tapper 59. Jack Hoffman 60. Jacqueline Flynn 61. Janice Heilmann

The Charlotte News • November 28, 2018 • 3

The Charlotte News would like to thank the writers and photographers listed below for contributing their work in 2018. These dedicated volunteers make this a truly local paper created by Charlotters for Charlotters. We couldn’t do it without you!

62. Jim Dickerson 63. Jim Hyde 64. Jim Lovejoy 65. Joan Weed 66. Joanna Smith 67. John Hammer 68. John Limanek 69. John Quinney 70. Josie Leavitt 71. Judy Raven 72. Julia Beerworth 73. Julie Moore 74. Julie Silverman 75. Kate Kogut 76. Katherine Arthaud 77. Katherine Spencer 78. Kerrie Pughe 79. Kevin Goldenbogen 80. Kim Findlay 81. Krista Hoffsis 82. Laurel Lakey 83. Laurie Thompson 84. Linda S. Hamilton 85. Linda Radimer 86. Linda Samter 87. Lindsay Francescutti 88. Lydia Higgins 89. Lynne Caulfield 90. Lynne Jaunich 91. Margaret Woodruff 92. Mark Dillenbeck 93. Malayna Solomon 94. Marlie Cartwright 95. Marty Illich 96. Mary Mead 97. Mary Van Vleck 98. MaryAnne Gatos 99. Mason Daring 100. Meghan Mahoney 101. Mike Yantachka 102. Miles Jordan 103. Nancy Jenkins 104. Nancy Wood 105. Natasha Gray 106. Nate Siegert 107. Nicole Conley 108. Nick May 109. Nick Richardson 110. Norm Riggs 111. Oliver Nelson 112. Peggy Sharpe 113. Peter Joslin 114. Peter Trombley 115. Prue Stevens 116. Rachel Lee Cummings 117. Rob Mullin 118. Rosalyn Graham 119. Roz Whitaker-Heck 120. Ruah Swennerfelt 121. Ryan Trus 122. Sam Haydock 123. Sandi Detwiler

124. Sidney Vincent 125. Stacy Fraser 126. Stephanie Sumner 127. Stuart Bennett 128. Susan Blood 129. Susan Cooke Kittredge 130. Susan Crockenberg 131. Susan Ohanian 132. Suzy Hodgson 133. Tabitha Bastress 134. Terry Ryan 135. Thomas Murphy 136. Timothy Gould 137. Tom Cosinuke 138. Tom Drew 139. Tom Powell 140. Tom Tiller 141. Trina Bianchi 142. Vera Moroney 143. Vicky Smith 144. Vince Crockenberg 145. Violet Bell 146. Wendy Bratt 147. Whitney Coombs 148. Woody Keppel

YOUNG WRITERS PROJECT 1. Alicia Palmer 2. Bennett Chappelle 3. Cessie Ferero 4. Chris Dickerson 5. Claire Sigmon 6. Ella Emmons 7. Ella Lisle 8. Ethan Morris 9. Hagan Smith 10. Kate Kogut 11. Malayna Solomon 12. Marlie Cartwright 13. Miles Jordan 14. Oliver Nelson 15. Sam Haydock 16. Tabitha Bastress 17. Thomas Murphy PHOTOGRAPHERS 1. Amy Shore 2. Alison Novak 3. Bradley Carlton 4. Braxton Robbason 5. Catherine Manning 6. Chris Falk 7. Cindi Robinson 8. Cindy Bradley 9. Dan Bolles 10. Dave Baird 11. Dave McNally 12. Deb Preston 13. Dierdre Holmes 14. Dylan Jerz 15. Elizabeth Bassett 16. Elizabeth Hunt

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Emily Adsit Erika MacPherson Francine Stephens Hank Kaestner Jacqueline Flynn Jan Cannon Jane Ann Kantor Jean White Jeff Nadler Jennifer Bora Jessica Lucia Jim Hyde Joanna Smith John Butnor John Frigault John Hammer Karan Francalangias Katherine Arthaud Kevin Goldenbogen Krista Hoffsis Lake Segel Lee Krohn Lindsay Sweet Gardner Louisa Schibli Lynne Jaunich Mark Dillenbeck Matt Donahue Maura Wegmans Marice Providence Matt Kent Megan Neely Michael Levitt Mike Yantachka Nate Siegert Norm Riggs Peter Trombley Ramiro Garay Robert Coleburn Sandi Detwiler Shanley Hinge Stephan Mease Steve Gonsalves Susan Crockenberg Susan Hyde Susan Ohanian Sylvie Miller Terry Dinnan Tica Netherwood Tom Tiller Vince Crockenberg Virginia Macey-Schuette Wendy Sorrell

If you have contributed a piece of writing or a photograph to the paper this year and your name is not included above, please let us know, and we’ll include your name in the Dec. 12 issue of the paper.

Letters To The Editor Protect wildlife—everything connects

The United States is facing a wildlife conservation crisis. While we have seen some successes with population restoration for bald eagles and arctic graylings, thousands of other species of birds, mammals, fish, frogs, turtles and insects have been declining. Our moose population, for example, has declined significantly below VT Fish & Wildlife’s

stated goal populations. Unless we start investing in proactive conservation measures, the trajectory for Vermont’s rich natural heritage appears uncertain.

Vermont’s quality of life is at stake—ours, our children’s and our grandchildren’s. In a 2016 survey by Responsive Management, a nationally renowned polling firm, 97 percent of surveyed Vermont residents stated that the protection of fish and wildlife resources is important to them, as is the opportunity to participate in wildlife-related recreation.

Vermont Fish & Wildlife manages more than 25,000 species and nearly 2,000 native plants in Vermont and employs scientists and staff to do this, which takes money.

The nonprofit conservation organization National Wildlife Federation says, however, that current funding levels are “less than 5% of what is necessary.”

The fact that all 14 of VT F&W’s board members are hunters, trappers, anglers or taxidermists reflects the strong influence consumptives have on decision-making and the lack of representation of diverse values,

including those of non-consumptives.

When non-consumptives are unrepresented by this insular decision-making board and department, they will be less likely to support Fish & Wildlife financially.

Wildlife should not be “managed” for the benefit of a few. In fact, the Commissioner is statutorily required to represent all Vermonters under 10 VSA §4081.

Dean Percival New Haven, VT

4 • November 28, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Charlotte Planning Commission regular meeting agenda Thursday, December 6, 2018 Charlotte Town Hall - 159 Ferry Road All times are approximate. Reasonable accommodations shall be provided upon request to ensure this meeting is accessible to all individuals regardless of disability.

7:00 p.m. Public Meeting Call to Order Approval of Regular Agenda Public Comment Period Review of the previous Planning Commission meeting minutes Consent Agenda 7:05 Town Plan Amendment - Public Hearing. The Planning Commission has updated the Town Plan to make provision for “substantial deference” with regard to Act 174 of 2016, Section 248, energy generation siting process. There were some further corrections and clarifications that were brought up by the public at the 15 November hearing that will be addressed. The current draft may be reviewed at: https://is.gd/kneEkS. 7:15 PC-18-150-SK Kytoad, LLC – Sketch Plan Review for the property located at 3795 Ethan Allen Highway (owned by Kytoad, LLC). Project information is available at: https://is.gd/MlxJ0R. 7:40 PC-18-194-BA Hinsdale – Boundary Adjustment for properties between 1711 and 1824 Hinesburg Road. Project information is available at: https://is.gd/DGSw4c.

8:10 East Charlotte Village District (ECV) boundary & Charlotte Land Use Regulations (LUR) – Review proposed changes, updates, and comments for the “Proposed Amendments to the Charlotte Land Use Regulations.” To review the current list of proposed changes, please visit: https://is.gd/nmxdyd.

9:00 Other business Upcoming agenda Adjourn Planning Commissioners: Peter Joslin (Chair); Charlie Pughe (Vice Chair), Marty Illick, Gerald Bouchard, Dick Eastman, David Kenyon and Shawn Coyle Staff: Daryl Benoit, Town Planner; Kathy Furr, Recording Secretary

Charlotte Selectboard draft agenda Monday, December 10, 2018 Charlotte Town Hall - 159 Ferry Road Agenda is subject to change—check agenda posted on www.charlottevt.org on Friday prior to meeting for final agenda. Reasonable accommodation shall be provided upon request to ensure this meeting is accessible to all individuals regardless of disability.

Times are approximate 6 p.m L. Selina Peyser—Conservation and Open Space Agreement at 700 Mt. Philo Road 6:15 Selectboard’s report for the Town Report 6:30 Thompson’s Point Wastewater System Budget 6:45 Trails Committee Vermont Recreation Trails Grant Program—application for State Park Road Trail Allocation for Trails Reserve Fund in FY20 budget 7:00 Adjustments to the agenda 7:01 Public Comment 7:05 Selectboard updates 7:15 FY20 Budget Review 7:15—7:20 Charlotte News—request for donation 7:20—7:25 Front Porch Forum—request for donation 7:25—7:40 Town Clerk 7:40—7:55 Road Commissioner Request by Tree Warden for emerald ash borer preventive cutting 7:55—8:05 Tree Warden 8:05—8:20 Cemetery Commission 8:20—8:30 Selectboard 8:30—8:40 Donations 8:40 Hire Minutes-Taker for Selectboard, Planning Commission

& Zoning Board meetings 8:50 Minutes: November 26, 2018 8:55 Approve warrants to pay bills 9:00 Adjournment Members: Matthew Krasnow; Lane Morrison; Carrie Spear; Fritz Tegatz; Frank Tenney Town administrator: Dean Bloch Minute taker: Kathy Furr Next meetings December 17 @ 6 p.m. and January 14 @ 7 p.m.

Around Town Edd Merritt

Congratulations

to Ella Beerworth, 13, and Annika Gruber, 14, of Charlotte whose poems were featured in two separate issues of the Burlington Free Press Young Writers Project. Titled “We Judge,” Ella’s appeared on November 16. The challenge for the week was to pick a word and give it your own “personal definition.” Ella picked the word “judge.” She says we tend to judge many things—flowers, the ocean, the sun. However, sometimes we forget that things still happen despite our judgment.

Annika’s appeared a week earlier, and her response was in a “general writing” category. Titled “Piano Melody,” she describes her fascination with a neighbor’s piano-playing that would cause her to stop and listen each time she passed his house.

Now his house is empty—although she still stops to listen because someone else has taken up the tune.

Sympathy

is extended to family and friends of Tyler Tenney of Colchester who passed away Nov. 12 at the age of 36. Tyler spent many of his younger years in Charlotte and graduated from Champlain Valley Union High School. Tyler is survived by his father, Timothy Tenney, and his partner Tonya; his grandmother, Elizabeth Ann Tenney Sorrell; his aunt, Jessica Sorrell; and his uncle, Thadeus Sorrell, and his wife, Amber, all of Charlotte, as well as the rest of the Tenney family in town.

HeThe family requests that, in lieu of flowers or gifts, donations be made in his name to the S.D. Ireland Cancer Research Fund, 169 Westview Drive, Shelburne, VT 05482. is extended to family and friends of Doris Elaine Stewart of Charlotte who passed away Nov. 17 at the age of 78.

Married for 53 years, her husband, Harold, survives her. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations in her memory be made to the Alzheimer’s Association of Vermont, https://www.alz.org/vermont. is extended to family and friends of Jane Kiley who passed away Nov. 15 at the age of 57. Moving between work in advertising and real estate sales and marketing, Jane spent many years in

northern Vermont, nearly 20 of them at Smugglers Notch. She married Caleb (Deedle) Kiley in 2004, and they lived in Charlotte with their five children until her passing. The family asks that those wishing to make donations in her memory do so to the ALS Therapy Development Institute in Cambridge, Mass., www.als. net. is extended to family and friends of Holly Anne Galyean of Shelburne who passed away Nov. 12 at the age of 54. She is survived by her sister, Nancy Longe, and Nancy’s husband, Randy, as well as her niece, Lindsay Longe from Charlotte.

The family asks those who would like to make donations in her memory to consider a gift to Mercy Connections, 255 South Champlain St. #8, Burlington, VT 05401.

Regional Bite: Rumble Strip Vermont looks at mental health care in the state

Former Charlotte resident Erica Heilman created a podcast titled “Rumble Strip Vermont” five years ago, and through it she has gained a wide reputation. She currently is leading a seven-part series exploring the state of mental health care around us. Erica moderates the series with episodes using personal stories from inside the state’s mental health care system to look at a variety of topics, such as home environments, parenthood (particularly of adult sufferers living at home), the community, supervised housing such as “My Pad,” how it feels to get back to normal, the role of work in recovery.

Erica grew up in Charlotte, left to attend the University of Michigan to study music. After graduation she headed to New York City where she took an entry-level job on public broadcasting with MacNeil/Lehrer followed by nearly a decade as a freelance associate television producer.

She returned to Vermont 15 years ago, to Calais. Erica feels her message is getting heard and that word of mouth has become a highly acceptable medium.

The Charlotte News • November 28, 2018 • 5

Shopping With Chea Chea Waters Evans “Happy holidays! Here’s a ram skull.”

That could be you, talking to your grandmother, best friend or next-door neighbor, and you won’t even have to drive far to get such an amazing gift.

The holiday season is upon us, and shopping doesn’t need to stress you out—you can take care of everyone on your list right here in Charlotte.

Start with ShakeyGround Farm on Converse Bay Road. For $175 you can get an Icelandic sheep ram skull, complete with two beautiful horns.

If your loved ones want something a little more snuggly, for prices starting at $90 you can get soft and luxurious sheep pelts. Warning: Keep them away from children and dogs, unless you’re cool with them alternately sleeping and barfing on them. (I learned this the hard way.) They also have hand-spun skeins of thick yarn for $12-$95 and lovely greeting cards for $4.25.

Spear’s Corner Store, as usual, offers the most eclectic selection of gifts and treats in town. Proprietor Carrie Spear said she has a great selection of Yankee Swap items, along with hostess gifts at all price points.

For a mere $2, pick up an oversized beer mug, add in a high-octane bottle of one of the local craft brews sold in the store, stick a bow on it, and you’re done. Still popular and still on the shelves are the cat-shaped bottles of Riesling, some with jaunty ribbons around their necks. Chances are, your crazy cat lady friend also loves wine, so this is a real twofer.

If your loved ones prefer their indulgences delivered by other means, Spear’s store has CBD gummies, cute little pipes that can be used for a variety of substances and, for those who aren’t into subtlety, a large silver roach clip that is shaped like the word “roach” in cursive.

The little store that packs a big punch also has a disc golf starter set for $29.95, adorable glass bottles of maple syrup that are shaped like gingerbread men, snowmen and bears, all wearing tiny Santa hats and selling for only $14. And for the friend who has everything, for only $7.99 there’s a winter hat printed with Christmas bulbs that actually light up.

The Philo Ridge Farm store has a lot of options for fine gifting. For a fun and offbeat gift, grab a namesake tote bag with the farm’s cute belted-cow logo on it ($15) and fill it with squash. You laugh, but I assure you, it’s a unique and memorable gift. Have you ever gotten a tote bag full of squash before? I didn’t think so.

They also have beautiful handmade leather items, ranging from $25 for a small card wallet to $280 for a delicious tote, made by local company Rhubarb Leather.

You can pick up Vermont Spoon items like

hand-carved wooden spoons for $34 and $52, or a formidable rolling pin for $42 that looks like it could make a wonderful pie or scare an intruder if wielded properly.

Local artist Jennifer Kelly makes everything you ever wanted but just didn’t know about: change purses with pop-art images of David Bowie, cosmetic bags with the Golden Girls printed on the side, and a pocket-sized Bernie Sanders stuffie called My Itty Bitty Bernie Buddy, printed with eco-friendly ink and, as Kelly said, “stuffed liberally.”

She also makes and sells air planters: whimsical ones made out of brightly-colored dinosaurs, as well as lovely, more earthy ones made from driftwood. Prices start at $8; and if you are a person who kills plants, an air plant is a real stress-reliever because all they need to thrive is air and a bit of water. Therefore, if you kill them, it’s the air’s fault. Kelly is selling her items at pop-up shops at her home on Elcy Lane throughout the holiday season, as well as at the Charlotte Central School Holiday

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Market this weekend.

If your friends have enough stuff or you want to give a present to an organization that loves you back, donations of money and time are always welcome and appreciated at the Charlotte Library, the Charlotte Senior Center, the Charlotte Children’s Center and the Charlotte Central School PTO. And of

course The Charlotte News.

And finally, as in all things Charlotterelated, when all else fails, hit the Brick. The Old Brick Store sells gift cards, penny candy for $8 a pound, and has lots of wine. They also sell cards and wrapping paper, perfect for wrapping up that bag of squash.

6 • November 28, 2018 • The Charlotte News

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Happenings at the Grange Trina Bianchi

The Charlotte Grange hosted another successful open mic night on Nov. 13, with Kathy Blume singing original compositions, Matt Sargent playing the guitar and singing, Rosanna Herndon beautifully singing a capella, Robin Reid performing self-penned pieces, Tom McGrade on the guitar and singing, and Ted LeBlanc and Mike Walker doing swing tunes accompanying themselves on the guitar and mandolin.

Our last open mic night for 2018 will be Tuesday, Dec. 18, starting at 6:30 p.m. with sign up starting at 6 p.m. Come and play with other local musicians or simply come and enjoy listening to great music!

You can sign up with Mike Walker at mjwalker@gmavt.net.

The Grange is pleased that the open mic nights have been successful, and Mike Walker is willing to continue to organize them into the new year. We are currently looking at Sunday, Jan. 20, from 4 to 6 p.m. and Feb. 17 from 4 to 6 p.m. for two more musical events, so mark your calendars now. Mardi Gras will be celebrated at the Grange Hall on Saturday, March 9, with the Silver Leviathan Band performing. Watch this Mike Walker and Ted LeBlanc perform at open column for more details. mic night.

Photo by Cindi Robinson

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The Charlotte Grange is happy to see this historic hall being used and enjoyed, and our goal is to be able to start fundraising so we can apply for grants to rehabilitate and restore the building to become a true community resource in East Charlotte.

Watch this column for more on the history of our Grange Hall and our efforts to bring the hall back to life.

The color of apples Jim Lovejoy

Red Yellow Green Adam’s apple speak to me May I swallow the fruit of the tree—the Spirit knows

It took a while for me to know What I was looking for

Blue apples—who knows all the colors I have seen

Red Green or Yellow Gold Who knows how long it takes to grow Red apples Green and Yellow Gold

It took a while for me to see What I was looking for God asked me a question It took me by surprise What is the color of my eyes

Trees leaves flowers and apples—you know Some fall to the ground All round Yes all around The roots hold the tree Trees hold the branches Branches hold the leaves Leaves hold the flower Flowers birth the apple Trees of life—God knows From the leaves to the flowers Then grows the stem and the Core is born And sweet is the apple

Back on the Road again Look—stop—don’t stop Red Yellow Green go go go—you all know The color of apples Jim Lovejoy is a fixture at the Charlotte Senior Center, where he washes dishes after the Monday and Wednesday lunches and teaches an ongoing series titled “A Poem in Your Pocket.” Indeed, he pulled this poem out of his pocket and gave it to me after a recent Gents Breakfast at the Center. He lives in Shelburne.

The Charlotte News • November 28, 2018 • 7

Town

Rotary Club learns facts of opioid problem Rosalyn Graham with John Hammer Members of the Charlotte-ShelburneHinesburg Rotary Club met on Wednesday, Nov. 7, to hear Jolinda LaClair, the director of drug prevention policy with the Vermont Agency of Human Services, discuss how Vermont is dealing with the opioid crisis.

She focused on the importance of broad community involvement in the campaign to reduce the serious opioid epidemic in the state and around the country.

LaClair has oversight and management of Vermont’s Opioid Coordination Council, which was established by Gov. Scott’s second executive order on Jan. 5, 2017.

She said that she brings to her current role a talent for putting together parts of a puzzle. Her work on drug prevention has focused on building an increasingly large and diverse council that focuses on implementing prevention, intervention and enforcement plans. The council’s 22 members represent state government, private business, service providers, law enforcement, first responders and individuals in recovery or with family members who have a substance use disorder. They come from across Vermont.

She spoke highly of CVU Principal Adam Bunting’s role on the council, saying, “Adam Bunting has brought more heart to the challenge of bringing drug prevention services to youth.” Programs at CVU have been broad in their outreach, developing innovative youth and family activities and using the traditional role of

Email your news announcements to news@ thecharlottenews.org

the school library as a safe place for finding information about addiction, and much more.

LaClair said, “If every school was like CVU, embracing youth and families, we’d be much stronger in our fight to prevent drug abuse.” She also pointed to the recovery center in Burlington, which provides group therapy for addicted new mothers and programs for children to help them to be more resilient in the face of life challenges like poverty and divorce. “We can’t work in silos,” she said. “The work must be from the ground up, recognizing that many problems begin with prescription pills, with the understanding that relapse is to be expected. It’s also to be understood that the first day of treatment is the first day of recovery.”

“Vermont is ahead of the curve,” she said. There are nine hubs in the state (methadone clinics) with spokes that connect to other services in their area. This concept has proven to be a model of best practice nationally.

She went on to encourage Rotary to support the idea of a consortium of Rotary Clubs working to support engagement in their communities and helping to provide more data. “We don’t have enough data!”

And the data, so far, are alarming: In Vermont there were 106 opioid-related deaths in 2017, and 72 so far through September 2018. In another very troubling statistic, over half of the children ages 0 to 5 who are in state custody are there due to opioid abuse issues.

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Keith Walsh, president elect of Charlotte-Shelburne-Hinesburg Rotary, thanked guest speaker Jolinda LaClair, director of drug prevention policy with the Vermont Agency of Human Services, for her talk and explained that Dream Land, a book on the subject of addiction, will be presented in her name to the Carpenter Carse Library in Hinesburg, a CSH Rotary tradition for thanking guest speakers.

8 • November 28, 2018 • The Charlotte News

First snow of the season Snowfall came early for Vermonters on Friday, Nov. 16 dropping several inches in Charlotte and closing schools. Local photographers took a moment to capture the event.

Photo by Terry Dinnan Lewis Creek Rd., Charlotte

Photos by Lee Krohn

The Charlotte News • November 28, 2018 • 9

Charlotte Library News a Global Foundries engineer and CS First games, as well as books that tell the tales of coding past and present. For grades 4 through 8 (registration required).

Margaret Woodruff DIRECTOR

Thursday, Nov. 1, through Saturday, Dec. 15: Open Enrollment for Vermont Health Connect. 2019 Open Enrollment started November 1 and ends December 15. This is the time when any Vermonter can sign up for 2019 health coverage or make changes to an existing plan. We have plan information and guided directions for enrollment at the circulation desk.

Thursday, Nov. 29, at 7:30 p.m. Library Book Group: Fifth Business by Robertson Davies. The story of “a man who has returned from the hell of the battle-grave at Passchendaele in World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross and destined to be caught in a no man’s land where memory, history, and myth collide.” Join us for refreshments and conversation about Davies’ first book in the Deptford Trilogy.

Friday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. Burlington Songwriters Session. Rescheduled! Local songwriters Craig Anderson, Karen McFeeters and John Gibbons perform original music at the Charlotte Library.

Coming in December

Computer Science Education Week: Dec. 3–8 Tuesday, Dec. 4: Play-based Story Times with STEAM Skills. Celebrate Computer

Friday, Dec. 7, at 3:15 p.m. FourthGrade Writers! Because they love to read and write, a group of 4th graders has created an afternoon writing workshop led

by Giles Anderson. This program is full.

Education Week with robot stories and activities. 10:30 a.m. Preschool Story Time, 2:15p.m. Kindergarten and 1st Grade Story Time (registration required).

Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 3:15 p.m. Pet Gifts Workshop. Make some fun and healthy treats for the favorite four-legged member of your family! For 2nd grade and up. Registration required.

Thursday, Dec. 6, at 3:15 p.m. Hour of Code. Learn about the fun of coding with

Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 1 p.m. Wrapping Up a Good Read. Library staff bring their top ideas for the holiday season in this rapid-review session. From mysteries to early readers, biography to bestsellers, you’ll get a brief synopsis and a chance to look through book selections for every reader on your list. Enjoy a relaxed afternoon of gift shopping and good cheer.

Refreshments served. Book copies available for purchase thanks to the Flying Pig Bookstore. This program takes place at the Charlotte Senior Center.

Monday, Dec. 17, at 10 a.m. Mystery Book Group, A Death in Tuscany by Dick Rosano. Described as “part mystery, part wine tutorial and part romp through Tuscany’s beautiful countryside,” this novel weaves the story of recently returned Italian vintner and his aunt’s mysterious death. Copies are available at the circulation desk.

Students investigate questions and create explanatory performances Melissa O’Brien, with help from CCS students Deirdre Higgins, Lydia Higgins and Grace Zappala A new student group has formed at Charlotte Central School in which students are asking big questions and then performing the results of their inquiry.

“We research for answers and when we are done, we create a performance to explain our findings to our peers,” said founder Deirdre Higgins. The inspiration for the group came from fellow students Grace Zappala and Emma Metzler, who were

wondering why people kick.

They did what every good research scientist does: They asked some of their friends, Deirdre Higgins, Apryl Tuiqere, Kenna Hutchins, Lydia Donahue and Rebekah Lucia, for help. “Immediately, we all wanted to take action,” said Lydia.

As the students thought of more questions, they realized that there were also many other people who had similar curiosities, and so their group, Mysteries of the World, was formed.

Their recent projects and presentations have included discovery about feelings, such as anger, sadness and confusion.

In these presentations, the students talk about physical traits for the feelings, and then “we usually talk about how in your mind you can have strong feelings, too,” explained Grace.

Upcoming presentations will include eye color, nationality and government branches. Their homeroom teacher, Katie Fraser, says, “It is 100 percent student driven, and they all work together.” The crew plans to share videos of some of their performances on a safe platform once they find one.

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Charlotte Library Board of Trustees: Katharine Cohen, Nan Mason, Danielle Conlon Menk, Jonathan Silverman and Robert Smith. Next board meeting: Thursday, Dec. 13, at 6 p.m.

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

Tuesdays, Thursdays and 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.

Email your news & photos to news@ thecharlottenews.org

10 • November 28, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Outdoors

Outdoors in World War I country Elizabeth Bassett

The French know how to honor their dead, and they have many to mourn.

In 1914, France had a population of 40 million. By the end of the Great War, the war to end all wars, one in 20 French citizens was dead. In the first year of the war, 1914, every day on average 2,200 Frenchmen died. It’s hard to get your head around these numbers. In two days, the entire population of Charlotte would be gone.

The First World War was the first modern war. Tanks, chlorine and mustard gas, airplanes, machine guns and automobiles were among man’s inventions that altered the character of war and exploded the casualties. Animals also participated. Horses pulled ambulances, towed mortars, and slogged along muddy roads, mired in traffic among Renault tanks and narrow-tired Model T ambulances. By 1918, 400,000 horses had succumbed.

Even as telephones and wireless were utilized for the first time, carrier pigeons transported messages; an estimated 300,000 were employed throughout the course of the war. Some were even tricked out with

aerial reconnaissance gear. A December 1914 order, in French, from the German kommandantur, mandates that all carrier and domestic pigeons be destroyed under penalty of the most severe punishments.

Dogs were also used as couriers, carrying encoded messages faithfully and speedily.

At the Museum of the Great War, in Meaux, France, an order of requisition hangs: all horses having attained the age of five years by January 1, 1914—as long as their shoes were in a good state—and all mules having attained the age of three were requisitioned by the French state.

The mayor of each town would appear at a designated time and place to accept the animals in the name of the French Republic.

Posters admonished the French not to waste bread and to eat potatoes instead.

Others inspired: Cultivate Your Vegetable Garden; Eat More Fish and Less Meat; To Not Waste Bread is our Duty; Break your sugar (cube) in two in order to have some tomorrow. A photo of a hen on a see WAR page 11

The Charlotte News • November 28, 2018 • 11

Outdoors WAR

continued from page 10

mountain of eggs proclaims, “I eat little but produce a lot.” A poignant drawing of three small children gazing up at the window of a pastry shop stacked with sweets; the caption: We will learn how to deprive ourselves.

In recent weeks, as leaders of 70 nations traveled to Paris to commemorate the end of World War I and honor those who died, my family traveled to the Western Front in France, retracing my grandfather’s route in the Engineer Corps in 1917-18.

One hundred years later, sometimes to the day, we traveled across ground that the American Expeditionary Force, fighting with French soldiers, reclaimed from the occupying Germans. Fighting from trenches dug into the muddy earth, French and German troops had been at a stalemate for more than three years. When the AEF entered the war in 1917 with fresh if untrained and untested troops, they changed the course of the war.

Imagine, if you can, cold, muddy and wet trenches infested with lice and rats.

Add hunger to the mix. Then, consider mortars, grenades and chlorine and mustard gases.

Our detailed Michelin road atlas is peppered with tiny crosses: German

cemetery, French cemetery, American cemetery. Surprisingly we found several French cemeteries adjoining German ones.

We wandered the trenches at Douaumont and Dead Man’s Hill. We walked in the Red Zone, 460 square miles of land so disturbed, compressed, riddled with unexploded ordinance and permeated by chlorine and mustard gas that it would never be tilled or inhabited again. Forests of beech grow where nothing else will.

At Meuse-Argonne Cemetery, the largest of America’s World War I memorials in Europe, 14,246 graves, including 22 sets of brothers, stretch to the horizon. Among them, 486 are unknown; 954 names are listed on the Walls of the Missing that surround a somber chapel overlooking the sea of white crosses and stars of David.

In addition to the casualties of war, more than 40,000 men serving in the military in World War I lost their lives to the greatest pandemic of the 20th century, the Spanish flu. The flu was the main cause of death of women who supported the troops as nurses, ambulance drivers and telephone operators.

Interesting in this moment of disagreement on immigration, General Pershing’s Army reflected the demographics of America at the time; 18 percent of service members were foreign born, including my Danish-born grandfather.

On Nov. 11, at 11 a.m., in every village, town and city in France, church bells rang for five minutes as they had one hundred years before. We gathered with friends, in the drizzle, around the war memorial in their town. Rain dampened our clothes but not our spirits.

Photos by Elizabeth Bassett

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12 • November 28, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Terror in Botswana:

Field notes from an African safari

Deborah Lamden

M

y husband, Enzo, and I recently returned from a nineday safari in Botswana, Africa. Our first camp was located in the Okavango Delta, a vast wetland that offers rich wildlife viewing.

We spent the first morning at an elephant sanctuary, having an “up close and personal” experience with two gentle giants.

We touched and hugged and shared kisses with the female, feeling her velvet ears and the soft underneath of her trunk. I hugged the male’s long beautiful tusks. I was moved to tears by these sweet giants. Later we were treated to a lunch under the trees while our elephant friends enjoyed a pile of potatoes and onions. Returning to camp, we sat on our deck watching families of elephants grazing and frolicking on the grassy plain.

Following afternoon tea, we climbed into a Land Cruiser with our guide, “Professor Ice,” who provided us with a wealth of information about the animals and plants and what it was like growing up in Botswana as a Bushman. We saw herds of elephants, water buffalo, wildebeests, zebras, giraffes, impalas and baboons. As dusk set in, we found ourselves parked by a misty pond where hippos roared at us, jaws agape, eyeing us menacingly as they tried to scare us away so they could emerge onto dry ground for the night.

When the incredible African sunset led to night, Ice took out his flashlight and pointed out the constellations, stars and planets of the southern sky. As we drove back in the dark, a large hyena slowly crossed the road, staring at us with a face like a frightful Halloween mask, his eyes lit up by the headlights.

Later that evening, as we were returning on foot along the sandy path to our tent accompanied by Professor Ice and team trainer Mandy, we were suddenly attacked by an enormous bull elephant. He spread his ears wide, shook his head and came right at us. Ice immediately instructed us to “get behind

a tree!” while he remained fully exposed, facing the oncoming animal with his arms extended. When he turned to join us he was butted from behind by the elephant.

Enzo, finding himself further down the trail without adequate cover, instinctively froze in place with a perfect view of what was to follow.

The elephant positioned himself facing the tree behind which Ice, Mandy and I stood huddled together, tossing his head, flapping his ears, stomping his feet and, finally, charging the tree with one or the other tusk straddling the tree trunk. Ice had his arms around us and deftly guided us in the opposite direction from the threatening tusks. Failing to make contact with his prey, the elephant would separate himself from the tree, back away, gesturing menacingly, charge the tree again and scuffle left or right with the three of us repeatedly side-stepping to avoid whichever tusk we saw coming.

It dawned on Enzo that the elephant would soon grow impatient, realize that he presented a much easier target and turn his attention to him. As if he could read his thoughts, Ice urgently ordered Enzo to “get down!” He sank slowly to one knee.

We twisted and pivoted back and forth for what seemed to be forever. In between, there was total silence except for our nervous panting. Suddenly a big tusk would appear followed by a scuffle. Then silence again, until the tusk reappeared.

Though there wasn’t much time to think about anything but the present moment, for a split second my mind went to what death by this elephant would be like… I imagined that I would be gored and trampled. There didn’t seem to be any way out.

Earlier, Ice had offered me a blanket to ward off the evening chill. I had kept it wrapped around my shoulders through dinner and still had it on when the elephant skirmish began. At some point in the action, the improvised shawl

dropped around my ankles, tripping me and causing me to twist my knee. I felt it pop. Ice caught me and supported me as we continued jerking away from the giant tusks. I could barely stand.

Enzo noticed that the elephant’s trunk had some kind of large fabric object in its grasp and was violently whipping it to and fro and, in a final defiant upward sweep, hurled it among the upper branches of the tree. We would later discover that the mystery fabric was actually my blanket.

But in the moment it seemed as though the elephant was rehearsing what he hoped he’d eventually do to one of us.

Between charges, the elephant was silently listening and seemed to be deciding which way to go next. Shaking and breathing hard, I buried my face in Mandy’s back for fear of drawing more attention to our hiding place. But I needed to keep watch for the tusks, so I tried to deaden the sound of my breathing. The giant tusks kept coming around the tree, sending us into terrified rotations.

Just as despair began to take the place of terror, Ice called out loudly for “help!” Within a few minutes we saw headlights skirting the edge of the brush and human shapes carefully threading in our direction. So now, with one of his charges painfully injured, the animal/human stalemate

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dragging on, but fresh hope in the air for some outside intervention, Ice made a courageous decision. He emerged from behind the tree, reached down and grasped a handful of trail dirt, throwing it into the air immediately in front of the elephant. A huge cloud of dust exploded in front of the beast, causing him a moment of confusion.

Someone grabbed me from behind and carried me to the truck. Within a few minutes, I was riding someone’s back from the car to the tent, shoeless and shaking... but alive. In fact, I was in shock. Thankfully Enzo was there. He poured a tumbler of port and I gulped it down. Mandy arrived with a homeopathic medicine promising “calmness” in the form of a once-every-half-hour dose.

As clearly as I still recall every moment of the actual elephant encounter and escape, the rest of that night remains a blur. I remember Enzo and me suddenly finding ourselves alone, me limping and occasionally crying out in pain through my bedtime wash-up routine...then complete silence except for the occasional far off grunt and branch rattling of a distant unidentified animal intruder.

I was awakened in the morning by a rustling in the trees alongside the tent. As I lifted the flap to see what was there,

our elephant was standing next to the tent tearing limbs and leaves from the trees. We radioed for help and they came right away, but the adrenaline was back and I was again shaking.

Ice arrived to announce that we would be flown by helicopter to a nearby clinic to be evaluated. At the clinic, a doctor took x-rays and confirmed that I had a ruptured ACL. Finding her splints had all been stolen, she fashioned a splint from some flexible metal and wrapped the entire length of my leg so that it was immobilized. We returned to camp with crutches, brace, leg splint and thigh-to-ankle bandaging, just in time for high tea that had been set for us on our front deck.

The decision to continue was made. The following day, we were back on our safari schedule with me assuming the copilot seat next to the man who saved my life, Professor Ice. I asked about what would happen to “our elephant.”

We were told that he had been hanging around for about two weeks before this happened, being mischievous and aggressive. He was always alone and he was in a male form of heat called “musth.” Our elephant didn’t have any companions and the females rejected him. Who knows what trauma he had experienced in his life? The camp reported the incident to the wildlife authorities. We weren’t told what action they were likely to take.

Our final departure from the camp was very emotional.

The staff decided to treat us to a farewell concert. As we were seated in the truck waiting to leave, various staff members began appearing and wandering toward us. By the time we realized what was going on, they had broken into full voice, harmonizing an African farewell song, swaying and waving their arms. One woman made the sound of ululating, a high pitched screech made while her tongue went back and forth, a sound taught to female children by their mothers as an expression of joy. I tried to stand in the Land Cruiser with my crutches and swayed with the

music. I even tried ululating, which made them all laugh. As they continued to sing, they filed by us one by one to hug, shake hands and wish us well. It was a beautiful moment.

Professor Ice presented me a beautiful little woven vessel that his grandmother had long ago made for him as a token of protection. It goes without saying that we left camp, streaming tears of appreciation.

Over the next several days we traveled to two more camps where we were treated with much the same high degree of care and consideration that we experienced at our first camp.

We saw large herds of elephants, baboons, hippos, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, monkeys, lions, ostriches, cheetahs, leopards, various antelope, a variety of birds and more!

We returned home to Charlotte after 26 hours of flying— from our camp in the heart of Botswana, to a small bush airport, then to Johannesburg, Paris, New York and finally to Vermont. It’s comforting to be home again where there are no big bad surprises and where we know the routine by heart. But this winter, we will be warmed by more than wood fires and woolen blankets. We’ll have our fond memories of the kind, caring friends we made in Africa to comfort us, special people like The Professor and Mandy who helped us understand, accept, find joy in and, yes, even survive the wonders of Africa.

Deborah is the executive director of Partners in Adventure, which offers camps and year-round social and recreational activities partnering peers with and without disabilities in Chittenden County. She lives in Charlotte with her husband, Enzo Di Maio, former Emmy Award-winning senior executive producer for Vermont Public Television. They have a son, Ari, who has cerebral palsy.

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14 • November 28, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Laurel Lakey When you stop and consider your core, what is the first thing that comes to mind?

If you are like most people you probably thought of your belly and abdominal muscles. Popular culture tends to emphasize the chiseled “six pack” as its crowning definition, but this is just one piece of a greater whole. The core actually involves a number of other lesser-known muscles that create a three-dimensional oval-shaped container of support for the center of your body. By taking a more in depth look at these other areas, you can learn how to use the whole core to support your daily movements.

At the bottom of the oval lies an important and often overlooked group of muscles collectively known as the pelvic floor. They create a hammock-shaped band of muscles at the base of the pelvis, and their main function is to support the pelvic organs as well as to prevent the flow of urine or the passage of a bowel movement. You may be familiar with the “Kegel” exercise, a wellknown exercise technique used to prevent urinary and fecal incontinence. To identify this area, try to tighten the muscles you use to keep from passing gas or urinating. You can learn more about the Kegel exercise by visiting the National Association for Continence website, nafc.org/kegel Most people are surprised to learn that the gluteal muscles, a set of three individual muscles in the back and side portion of your hips, are also a part of your core. They are thick and powerful muscles that connect your pelvis to your femurs (thigh bones), enabling them to move and support your hip joint. The gluteals play a critical role in safely translating the weight of your trunk into your hips and lower body. If you are unsure how to feel these muscles, try standing on one leg and attempt to squeeze the buttock on that same side leg. If done correctly, you will recruit both the back and

There’s more to your core side portions of this muscle group.

Running up and down each side of the spine are a group of muscles that keep the spine erect, also known as the “antislouching” muscles. As a group they are known as the erector spinae, but they involve a number of different individual muscles that support and move your spine.

Try sitting in a chair and alternate between slouching and sitting tall. While in an upright posture your erector spinae are working.

In the rooftop section of the core we find a single muscle called the diaphragm. It lies just below the lungs and is shaped like a big three-dimensional dome. The diaphragm plays a vital role in respiration. When it contracts it presses downward towards the abdominal cavity, creating space for our lungs to expand and trigger inspiration. To assist exhalation, the diaphragm relaxes back up into its original parachute position, helping the lungs deflate.

Most of us use our diaphragm without having to think about it, but sometimes we develop a breathing pattern known as “chest breathing,” which neglects the diaphragm.

Try taking a few breaths and notice if your chest and belly expand as you breathe in. If your chest balloons but your belly remains still then you are not using your diaphragm as well as you could. To strengthen your diaphragm and promote a healthier breathing pattern, practice moving your belly outward as you breathe in and letting it relax as you breathe out. This technique is known as diaphragmatic or belly breathing and will not only improve your lung capacity but has also been shown to have a positive effect on blood pressure and stress.

The last muscle group is, of course, the abdominals, which are actually four different muscles spanning the front, sides and portions of the back part of your torso.

The abdominals work together to help you side bend, rotate and flex your torso, but they also play an important role in

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breathing and supporting your internal organs. Take a deep breath in and then quickly and forcefully breathe back out.

During the forceful expiration try to sense the muscles in your belly and side of your torso engaging. When you feel like you have a handle on this, attempt to engage the abdominals without forcefully exhaling.

The following is an exercise to help you use the above information and start to become more conscious of your oval core.

Lay on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Place an item between your knees such as a soccer ball or folded blanket. Place your hands on your belly, breathe in and try to feel your belly rise upward. As you breathe out, squeeze your naval down towards the floor, squeeze your thighs around the object between your knees and attempt to lift your buttocks up from the floor a few inches. Slowly lower back down and repeat this sequence 10 times.

With practice you will improve your awareness of the whole core used in this one exercise. The next step is learning how to use these muscles during your everyday movements. Lifting a suitcase, standing up from a chair or reaching a heavy plate up onto a high shelf are examples of movements that you can challenge yourself to engage your core while performing. There are a myriad number of beneficial exercise programs to help your core get stronger, but crafting a mindful approach is an important place to start. After all, a strong core should

not be something designated for the gym alone. A healthy and whole core is one that is an integrated part of your daily life.

Laurel Lakey is a physical therapist assistant at Dee Physical Therapy in Shelburne and lives in Charlotte with her husband, dog, chickens and sheep. You can contact her with comments or questions by emailing laurellakey@deept.com.

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The Charlotte News • November 28, 2018 • 15

Out Takes

Fake it up baby, print and shout Edd Merritt You know I’ve always been a dreamer Spent my life runnin’ round And it’s so hard to change Can’t seem to settle down But the dreams I’ve seen lately keep on turning out And burning out and turning out the same So put me on the highway and show me a sign And take it to the limit one more time.

“Take it to the limit” – The Eagles There’s a gentleman whose hair is a fake color. He never mentions why he painted it blond, but he does, by the same token, talk a lot about “fake news” and why the news media has it in for him.

As a newspaper person who would not like to be known as a perpetrator of such phoniness, I’d like to look at some recent journalistic conundrums. These are not necessarily what I would call “fake,” but I am nonetheless curious as to why they have appeared in our news media. They seem to me to be there for purposes other than providing important information to the readers.

Truly “fake” news is designed to pick a topic and then write an article that either favors or opposes that topic. The purpose of these articles often seems to be political or sales oriented, using journalism as a format. The format may attempt to hide a political bias or may focus on a subject in a way the client feels helps sell its product to the public.

As a journalist, I sometimes see things and wonder why they were stated that way. The Burlington Free Press has printed a couple of examples recently, the first being its review of Bernie Sanders’ promotion of his book and what some readers said about it.

I probably was taken in by the headline.

Having been trained in advertising copywriting, I was reminded time and again that headlines were crucial in gaining the reader’s attention; ad agencies’ artistic teams (writers and illustrators) often worked together to come up with spirited headlines accompanied by eyecatching illustrations. Paragraphs that described the product for the ads weren’t in our job descriptions. We were told that the headlines had to grab the reader because often many similar products appeared in the same journals (I happened to work for pharmaceutical companies).

Only catchy—usually short—headlines would lead the reader to drop down the page and learn how the product works.

The Bernie headline in the November 13 Freep read, “Bernie Sanders’ book promotion backfires.” That led me to believe that Bernie took it on the chin from what he said in print. The data the Free Press used to verify this claim came from Reddit’s “Ask Me Anything” discussion. It said his promotion had been “voted down more than 5,000 times.”

The use of the word “backfire” would

indicate he received nothing but criticism.

On the other hand, the bulk of the article described the book’s contents without disagreement or agreement, and to me that was the gist of the column.

One of the reasons I turn to good journalism is that I feel the journalists have delved into the topic in enough depth to give data-driven meaning to what they say. Bad journalism heads in a different direction. Fake news says more about the sayer—perhaps that he should go back to English 101, or that the readers he is after don’t know any better.

I have a second issue with bad journalism, much of which stems from the increased speed of social media.

Nowadays, people feel free to say anything about whatever they choose— with no requirements to justify their opinions, and the speed with which the opinions get around is aided and abetted by this new media. (The Pony Express is dead.)

So, the next time the Free Press attempts to catch my eye through a headline, I’ll revert to my advertising training and try to get beyond the bold print.

Let’s look for a moment at the newspaper’s attempt to sell things. Did you see the lead story in a recent Free Press? It was lengthy coverage of the movie depicting the Dannemora prison escape, soon to appear on TV’s Showtime.

First of all, that’s Dannemora, New York, not Vermont. So the lack of localness leaves a few questions to be answered. Is it really newsworthy enough for the front page? Director Ben Stiller is pretty well known, so by running this article as it does, the Free Press turns into a small-

time People Magazine.

Why else would the paper run this as a lead article? Does some of the reason stem from the same source as its canned reportage from its ownership by Gannett and USA Today—that reason rumored to be a shortage of staff needed to cover local news in depth. This is a problem confronted by an increasing number of papers.

On another front, but in a similar vein, did President Trump strip CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press pass to the White House because he didn’t like what Acosta said in a recent briefing? Again, the president’s move seemed to be more about

himself than about the informative value to his constituency, a constituency that should not be limited to his Republican cronies.

When I got into this business myself, I was not always as clear to the reader as I should have been. However, once writing for The Charlotte News, I realized the importance of addressing my readership and focusing on those people’s understanding of what I’m trying to say. It is not always an easy task, but if we don’t do it, we end up with movie ads passing for journalism. We don’t want to “sell postcards of the hanging.”

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16 • November 28, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Gardening Vera Maloney Throughout history humans have built forts or fortresses to protect themselves and their livestock from marauders, Neanderthals (our first cousin) and other animals. Some were quite elaborate with moats, turrets and drawbridges.

Then there is Max’s.

There are gardeners, and then there are serious gardeners. Max is in the latter category. He built a fantastic vegetable raised-bed garden inside an enclosure. No moats or turrets but nonetheless impressive.

I had a chance to chat with him.

Why did you build this?

My wife and I grew up with big family gardens and had gardens at our previous houses. We knew we would have a garden at our new house and expected we would need some sort of fences to keep the critters out. We wanted something durable that would both last and look presentable. She asked me to build the structure. She is the actual gardener.

Fortress Max How did you plan for it? Were there models? Did you have plans?

I had a rough idea. We initially had the ground tilled and a few truckloads of compost added to our lovely clay soil.

Everything else just kind of came as we went along from a couple of drawings that I made. Susan, thankfully, talked me into making it about half the size of what I had originally planned for and had tilled.

What preparations did you make?

Nothing more than what I mentioned above, in terms of the initial compost. Our land was pretty level, but our soil doesn’t support much more than field grass. We started with the fence first. The raised beds came later.

What materials did you need and where did you find them?

I calculated what I’d need for fence posts and the crossing posts and called Koenig Cedar in South Burlington. They delivered all of it. The initial fencing and hardware

I just picked up at Aubuchon and Lowes.

We added to the fencing over the years.

We initially buried much of the fencing but discovered we needed to go down further to keep out the rabbits. (It also helps that we have large dogs.) Other than the added fencing we haven’t needed to do much to maintain the fence.

What did you learn from this?

That building a fence is a lot of work.

It’s hard to put fence posts in two feet deep when rock starts at 18 inches. It is imperative to keep fingers out of the way when you are breaking up the rocks. I learned that the very hard way.

How did you decide what to plant?

That is usually Susan’s job. She is pretty traditional or at least plants the things we grew up with…tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, beans, beets, carrots, kale greens and squash. I tend to plant the garlic, potatoes, onions, leeks and peppers. We have actually planted less and less each year but seem to produce more as we get better and learn what works for us. We also have and consult garden books that we’ll look at in the winter to learn from the real professionals.

How do you maintain the quality of the soil?

We have a small compost pile and have amended it with more compost from Steve Wisbaum each of the last few years. We quickly realized we would have more success with raised beds, so I built those.

The raised beds also helped contain our habit of planting way more than we need.

Of course, we also plant outside the fence, where there are potatoes, squash, pumpkins and herbs.

PLANTS RO CKS W AT E R

“

It’s hard to put fence posts in two feet deep when rock starts at 18 inches. It is imperative to keep fingers out of the way when you are breaking up the rocks.

”

What worked best and what would you do again?

I don’t know that we would do anything differently. Getting the lumber and fencing supplies was easy, as was building the raised beds. It has taken a while to get our soil where we want it, but after five years we had a successful summer, growing nearly all of our own produce and giving quite a bit to others.

Does this mean that instead of the $100 tomato we have the $1,000 tomato?

We’ve never really kept track of how much our produce actually costs us, but nothing replaces the joy of walking out the door to get most of our produce for about half the year. Our annual costs aren’t that much: plants, seeds, compost, mulch and hay. The original fence was more expensive, but it is still in good shape after five years. Hopefully it will last many more. It is definitely worth the investment!

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The Charlotte News • November 28, 2018 • 17

Accidental Pastor I think maybe you don’t know, you really can’t know—until you stand next to a person in the coffee line at the Best Western who tells you that it Melissa O’Brien was a wall of fire NEWS EDITOR on both sides and that they dodged falling trees the whole way down—what it’s like to survive something like the Camp Fire.

You can see the images on your TV and in your newspaper and you can talk with your friends and neighbors about the fires; the sorrow from watching the videos of the charred remains of people’s homes. You can watch from curiosity from afar as the search and rescue people comb the ashes for evidence of the missing.

But until you see the parking lots full of rescue vehicles and the fields full of tents, it’s not really real.

I’m in Chico as I write this. It’s real. It is so very real.

“We watched the people behind us get crushed by a burning tree that fell on their car,” he told me as he was adding the cream to his coffee.

“Did you have time to take any of your things?” I inquired, hungry to know his story.

“No, it was just my wife and me, some clothes. No pictures, nothing like that.”

It’s always the pictures people want.

They want the story of who they are.

Because, of course, when you lose everything, how do you know it’s you?

What becomes home when home is now ashes?

“Where will you go?” I asked him.

“We don’t really know,” he said, “maybe San Diego.”

The parking lot at the Walmart is, indeed, filled with people. Some are living in their cars. Some have campers—the lucky ones, it seems. The field beside the Walmart is dotted with tents. The hotels are all filled with the displaced and first responders.

This could very much be a story about turning to your loved ones and telling them you love them; about cherishing everything you have, knowing we live in a volatile and unstable world, but it’s not. This is a call to action, a cry from the wilderness, from the reality of our lives in 2018, if you will. I know that you don’t have time nor

Dispatches from the field

Tents at the Chico, California Walmart serve as temporary shelter for people displaced by the Camp Fire that began on November 8.

Photo by Melissa O’Brien the inclination, most likely, to go to a place where there has been a natural disaster, but I do know that there are people in their own kind of exile 25 miles down the road, in Burlington. And if you ignore this reality, you are doing little to balance the scales of suffering that affect all of us. I know that you cannot travel thousands of miles to sit and talk with people who are desperate to tell their story, whose former home is a pile of ashes, whose entire community is gone, who need a hug and a cup of coffee, but you can show up for people in similar straits in your own communities.

And I’m not talking about writing a check or attending a fundraiser, either. I’m talking about using your life to better the conditions of someone who is suffering.

I’m talking about presence. I have nothing to offer the people here in Chico but myself and my time. Here’s the good news: it’s enough.

This is why we are here, people. We are here to be present for one another and not just in the kinds of polite and comfortable situations we often create in order to be able to go into places of need. We like very much to keep the homeless and the hungry, the displaced and suffering at arm’s length, most often, but I will tell you something astonishing about the homeless and the hungry: they are somebody’s son or daughter, they have a story, just like you.

As we head into the season, the rush, the buying, the madness, I issue a challenge to you, dear reader. I challenge you to move outside your zone of comfort, of familiarity

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and make yourself available to someone in this world in a place you have never gone before. Maybe prison, maybe one of the shelters nearby, maybe a nursing home.

There are lonely, cold, worried people in very short driving distance to where you are.

I will tell everyone I meet here about the beautiful town on the shores of Lake

Champlain where I came from, about the newspaper I care about, about my daughter and her terrific school there if you promise to at least try to rise to the challenge of serving this world with your life, with your self, your eyes, ears, hands, heart. The very best gift you have—yourself— to give to anyone.

Deal? Deal.

18 • November 28, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Sports CVU crews row to medals in Boston

November 17 seems like a late date to be rowing in open water, but that is exactly Edd Merritt what teams from throughout New England did. Along with crews totaling 300 rowers from four other Vermont high schools and many from other areas of New England, they headed, oars in hand, boats loaded, to the Fort Point Channel that separates Boston proper from downtown Boston and flows into Boston Harbor. The northern end of this waterway was the site of the Boston Tea Party 245 years ago.

CVU-B rowers, led by St. George coxswain Kat Nelsen, came in first in the Second Sixes Crewmaster Sprint category with the fastest combined time for the course that day. Vergennes, then Burlington, CVU-A and South Burlington—an all-Vermont top five— followed them. In the Novice Sixes, South Burlington-B won the race, followed by CVU and Vergennes—another Vermont topping.

Open-water rowing is an international sport in which boats are rowed across an “open” body of water by crews having to deal with the varieties of environmental conditions this time of year.

Charlotters Wiley Simard, Ray Lindsley, Stuart Robinson and Duncan McGrade formed the majority of the crew in the winning CVU-B boat.

Many Redhawks selected by coaches for all-state, all-league teams The coaches’ picks for all-state and allleague soccer and field hockey included a number of CVU names in each sport and in each category. Beginning with one of the

most important categories— men’s soccer coach of the year—CVU’s Rob Cole won that title. The Division I champion Redhawks had four players named allstate: Aiden Johnson, Jonah Roberts, Jack Sinopoli and Cullen Swett. In the Metro Division, Cole again received coach-ofthe-year honors. The first team awardees in the division were the same four Hawks who gained all-state status. The second team added Luke Morton, and honorable mention went to Nicolas Durieux, Caleb Martin and Nathaniel Sampson.

The women soccer Redhawks did equally well in all-state balloting with Catherine Gilwee, Sydney Jimmo, Sarah Kelley, Jess Klein and Josie Pecor receiving top ranking. That is three sophomores and two seniors among the top players in the state. In the divisional ratings, Sydney Jimmo was voted top player of the year in the Metro Division.

As with their male compatriots, the five all-staters also made the top divisional team. Second team in the Metro Division added Redhawks Olivia Morton, Dylan Walker and Olivia Zubarik, all sophomores.

Charlotte’s goalkeeper Maryn Askew and back Quinn Boardman received honorable mention.

CVU’s Nora Weisman-Rowell was chosen as one of 21 players for the Twinstate field hockey team that will face New Hampshire. The Metro Division team included Kristy Carlson along with Nora Weisman-Rowell on its first-team roster. see SPORTS page 19 Top right: The coxswain and crew of the winning CVU-B boat. Pictured: Coxswain: Kat Nelsen (St. George), Wiley Simard (Charlotte), Norah Van Vranken, Tony Nguyen (Williston), Ray Lindsley, Stuart Robinson (Charlotte), Duncan McGrade (Charlotte) Bottom right: CVU-B boat pulls out a first place win by half a boat length.

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The Charlotte News • November 28, 2018 • 19

Sports SPORTS

continued from page 18

Hailey Chase, Flynn Hall and Maggie Warren made second team, and Lena Ashooh, Jessica Gagne and Charlotte’s Caroline Reynolds received honorable mention.

Finally we hit north/south all-star football. In a game played at Castleton University’s field on Nov. 17, the north squad defeated the southerners 57-35.

Although CVU had a rocky season, Redhawk lineman Bennett Cheer played for the north team. Of the 18 games played over the course of the years, the north now leads 11-7.

Portland, Oregon here we come

CVU women’s cross-country team is headed to the national championships for the third time after placing second in the Northeast Regionals in Wappinger Falls, NY, on Saturday. Again, Alice Larson led the Redhawk finishers, coming in 8th,, Ella Whitman 17th, Chloe Silverman 39th, Catherine Noel 43rd, Alicia Veronneau 49th, Sadie Holmes 66th, and Jasmine Nails 71st.

Charlotters attend World Cup Zeke and Kelly Brush Davisson with their daughter Dylan at the Audi FIS World Cup at Killington this past weekend.

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20 • November 28, 2018 • The Charlotte News

Leavitty

Email your news to

A change of scenery

news@ thecharlottenews.org

11/9/2018

I have a different view now. I moved to Grand Isle three weeks ago (and until I sell my house, I plan on continuing this column), and I Josie Leavitt am slowly finding my eyes. Views, I think, are often taken for granted if they’re our daily companions, as my Charlotte view was for 22 years. They comfort more than they amaze. But having all new views from the entire house is letting me see again.

I am on the lake, and the water is mesmerizing. This is the first time I’ve lived on the lake, and I am constantly finding myself just staring out the window thinking about the water: how fast is it moving? In which direction? Are there white caps? Where did the raft of ducks go? And as curious as I am about learning about the lake, I love it when I just let the lake soothe my brain and make me breathe a little more deeply.

The Charlotte view had more birds, lots and lots of birds. Owls, hawks and falcons often swooped by close enough for me to really look at. Here I see ducks, geese and chickadees, but seldom in flight. I keep looking for the Adirondacks that were so large in the window in Charlotte. Here they’ve been replaced by the lights of St. Albans at night. It’s not

attachment

like it’s a lot of lights—please, it’s St. Albans—but to have some in the distance at all still feels different.

I don’t yet know my neighbors or the sounds they’re likely to make. I know this might strike you as weird, but as a woman living alone, it’s really great to know what noises need my attention and what noises are just a happy three-year-old playing or someone calling a dog. So far the most constant noise is the snow blower of the neighbor down the road. I’m still not sure why, a week and a half after the storm, he’s still out there. But every day there it is.

I live on a public road now, not at the very end of a private dirt road. No one ever really drives on this road. I know if I see the green pickup at 7:15, it’s a weekday and he’s likely going to work.

The school bus comes by around 8. The plow man comes and tidies up every day by 7:30. All make return trips in the afternoon, and, honestly, that’s about it.

But just this little bit makes me feel more connected than I did in Charlotte. I loved where I lived, but seeing a car made me suspicious, wondering, “Why are you here at the very end of a long dirt road?”

I face east and not west anymore and that might be the biggest change. My sunrises are stunning, but my sunsets are distant now. I am looking forward to seeing the changes the seasons bring.

But for now I am only looking up and savoring the view right now as it is.

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Raspberry Snow Flurries Ingredients 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened 1/2 cup shortening 1 cup sugar 2 large eggs 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup raspberry jam 1 cup sifted powdered sugar

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Step 2 Divide dough in half; store one portion in refrigerator. Roll remaining portion to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut with your choice cookie cutter, and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375˚ for 7 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned; cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets.

Remove to wire racks to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

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reforming and is currently looking for a few writers of stories, autobiographical pieces and poetry. Writers would meet once a month to read and discuss their pieces, listen to those of others, and offer encouragement. No fee. Please do call to register your interest.

On Thursday, Dec. 13, the Gents Breakfast meets at 7:30 a.m. In addition to being good cooks, they are an interesting group of guys with many interests and varied, informal presentations. Since they usually end by 9 a.m., you can attend and still have a full day afterwards.

Wednesday afternoon events Carolyn Kulik SENIOR CENTER DIRECTOR

“No one undertakes research in physics

with the intention of winning a prize. It is the joy of discovering something no one knew before.” ~ Stephen Hawking Okay, so perhaps you think that it's easy for Hawking to talk about “the joy of discovering”—after all, he was doing ‘important work.’ But that need not be the yardstick. Not long ago, I waited in my car for an extended time for a friend at the bus station. I had the time to observe a spider (with my car window closed) on a web it had spun between the side-view mirror and the body of my car.

As I watched, it looked like it was dismantling its web. “No,” I thought to myself, “this cannot be happening.” But, as I continued to watch, there was no doubt that it was happening. The web came apart in very specific sections.

Astounding! Later on, still not believing my eyes, I googled this phenomenon and discovered that spiders do, indeed, eat their webs! Why had I never known that? How had I never seen that in all my decades on the planet?

Somehow, this personal discovery gave me great joy—and not a little wonder. It was not unknown, but something I had not known—and would never have believed if someone had told me. So, you need not be a world-renowned physicist to experience

the joy of discovery.

And today, you can discover the brandnew Winter Schedule as an insert in this edition of The Charlotte News. Because people are especially busy in the month of December, it is designed with more new courses to sign up for in January and February. To register for new courses, please drop by, call the Center, or mail in the registration form at the bottom of the back of the Winter Schedule.

On Wednesdays at 10 a.m., Strolling in Charlotte on the Town Link Trail will continue into the winter depending on the weather. There is no fee, but there is a minimum of 5 strollers. Please sign up in advance for each week, so we can contact you on Tuesday afternoon if it needs to be cancelled.

In early December, a new Fiber Arts Group will be meeting on Thursday mornings from 9:15 to about noon. If you are a knitter, rug hooker or do other fiber work, drop in and stay as long as you’d like. There is no fee.

Back by popular demand, Drumming with Stuart Paton of Burlington Taiko returns for 3 more Friday workshop sessions of djembe drumming. This will be followed in January by a new class called Dancing with Drums, an exploration of Japanese movement, led by Stuart who grew up in Japan.

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On Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 1 p.m., Charlotte historian Dan Cole will present “Demons Sometimes Live in Fog,” a real-life tale of an Irish immigrant railroader, who after the Civil War went from Charlotte to the West Coast—and had a life-altering experience.

Librarians Susanna Kahn Georgia Edwards and Cheryl Sloan, our friendly neighbors from across the street, will come by on Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 1 p.m. for Wrapping Up a Good Read with book suggestions for your gift shopping.

The Flying Pig Bookstore will have books for purchase, and you can ask questions and relax with refreshments while you ponder your choices.

Looking ahead to the Wednesdays at the end of December, on the 19th at 1 p.m., Judy Chaves will return with her Cello Quartet for the Holidays. They will be playing traditional holiday carols from England, France, Spain and the United States, many of which you will know— and can sing along with.

On Dec. 26 at 1 p.m. there will be a showing of the hour-long documentary, Sabra: The Life and Work of a Vermont Printmaker. If you think you know all about her Sabra field's work, or even if you have seen this before, it is really worth viewing this beautiful video again.

Of course, there are many other courses taking place in December: ongoing exercise and health-oriented classes in T’ai Chi Ch’uan (beginner and advanced), Pilates, Strength Maintenance, Gentle Yoga, Chair Yoga, Moving Better, Fitness, and Mindfulness. Added to that is Spanish Conversation, Mahjong, Duplicate Bridge, and the Friday Morning Arts Group.

Interior or exterior, we can help you to paint a house that fits your style.

Mike Dever and John Wisell

Today, Nov. 28, at 1 p.m., the Annual Tree Trimming takes place in the Great Room. If you see this in time, stop by to lend a hand and get into the spirit of the season.

Art news do We also an handym d work an repairs!

The December & January Art Exhibit will feature the colorful work of the Champlain Valley Quilters Guild. Some of the quilts were designed in response to the challenge “Coming Full Circle,” and the remainder are wide-ranging designs by

SENIOR CENTER MENUS Suggested donation for all meals: $5

Monday Munch

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

No reservations required.

December 3

Carrot ginger soup Spinach salad Cherry coconut bars

December 10

Turkey & squash soup Salad Chocolate peppermint cookies

Wednesday Lunch All diners eat at noon.

Reservations required.

December 5

African chicken Birthday cake & Ice cream

December 12

Crustless quiche with ham & spinach Greens Chocolate surprise

Thursday Gents Breakfast

7:30–9 a.m.

Reservations required.

December 13

Menu and Topic – TBA (Keep up to date on Menus with Front Porch Forum, as they sometimes change.)

other guild members. Enjoy the beautiful complexity of these works of art in a variety of sizes.

Viewing Art Shows in December: Since the Center is utilized for many classes and events, the best times to see art shows this month: Tues. & Thurs. after 12:30, and Wed. & Fri. after 3:00. Please call the Center during the week to check on Sunday availability.

If you have not seen it already, please visit our new website at CharlotteSeniorCenterVT.org. There is a wealth of information about the Center and its history, menus and food tips, and the Winter Schedule course descriptions with monthly calendars. It will continue to evolve.

What will you discover today?

See you soon. _____________________

Charlotte Center (802)425-6345 CharlotteSeniorCenterVT.org

The Charlotte News • November 28, 2018 • 23

Calendar Saturday, Dec. 1

Trinity Episcopal Church, Shelburne, will hold its first Christmas Bazaar from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be tables devoted to crafts, Christmas items, toys, food and attic treasures, and a raffle, plus a table where children may make gifts at nominal prices.

Free parking behind the church.

CCS Holiday Market from 10:00 a.m.2:00 We invite you to come and shop local.

Books, jewelry, skin care, essential oils, local honey, wood work, art, cook ware, health tonic, pottery, knit wear, clothing, plants, decor, holiday ornaments, and much more. There will be something for everyone on your list. We will also have a free kids craft area where kids can participate in a take home activity. Hope to see you!

Sunday, Dec. 2

Charlotte Congregational Church will host the annual Messiah Sing at 10 a.m. accompanied by a professional chamber orchestra and featuring vocal soloists Sarah Cullins, Linda Radtke, Joshua Collier and Erik Kroncke. No tickets needed, free-will offerings accepted.

Players’ spring play, Noises Off by Michael Frayn, will be held at Shelburne Town Center activity room, 5420 Shelburne Road, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Performance dates are April 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13. For more information please email Sue Martin at suemartin455@yahoo.com or Kate LaRiviere at mkatelr@gmail.com. Check shelburneplayers.com for more details, sides and updates. Five men, four women, range of ages. We are also looking for a stage manager and stage hands.

Thursday, Dec. 6

Shelburne Craft School for our annual Winter Mixer & Wreath Auction at 6:00 p.m. at Peg & Ter's, 5573 Shelburne Road for an enchanting holiday-flavored evening with hors d’oeuvres, cash bar and a live auction featuring wreaths created by local artisans and businesses. Tickets include a complementary CRAFT cocktail, glass of

wine or beer, light fare by Peg & Ter's and a handcrafted holiday ornament. Funds raised will benefit the Shelburne Craft School Educational Programs.

Tuesday, Dec. 10

The Shelburne Charlotte Garden Club will meet for its annual holiday potluck brunch/luncheon at 10 a.m. at the Shelburne Methodist Church. We will be planting bulbs for indoor forcing in the coming weeks. Please bring a dish to pass for the brunch/lunch, a donation for the local food shelf, a toy for Toys for Kids and a container in which to plant your bulbs to take home. Questions? Please call Ann Mead at 985-2657. Please join us for this festive occasion!

Saturday, Dec. 15

Vermont Symphony Orchestra Holiday Pops at 7:30 p.m., Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington. José Daniel Flores-Caraballo leads the orchestra and chorus in a festive program that ranges from an a cappella version of “Jingle Bells” to the blockbuster “Many Moods of Christmas.” We pay tribute to the late, great Robert De Cormier with three of his iconic arrangements and present the Vermont premiere of a sweet ballad, “Little Tree,” by Steve Murray. Never fear, the audience has a role to play…. And, of course, Holiday Pops can’t officially ring in the season without “Sleigh Ride.” Join us for the celebration! More information at vso. org.

Integrating compassion, expertise and service • Advanced surgical and Medical Care • Exotics and Companion Animals • Evening Hours Available

Monday, Dec. 3, and Tuesday, Dec. 4 Auditions for Shelburne

205 Commerce Street Hinesburg | 482-2955

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.

INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR PAINTING If you’re looking for quality painting with regular or low voc paints and reasonable rates with 35 years of experience call John McCaffrey at 802-999-0963, 802-338-1331 or 802-877-2172.

MT. PHILO INN-A unique hotel with panoramic views of Lake Champlain and private road to Mt. Philo. 1800 sq. ft. 3-bedroom suites with 2 bathrooms and a complete kitchen. By the day, week and month. Privacy, space, tranquility. Bigger on the inside.

MtPhiloInn.com, 425-3335.

Does your home need a fresh coat of paint or brand new color?

LAFAYETTE PAINTING is ready to provide a great custom paint job for you. Allow our professionals to enhance your space with a

fresh look. Call 863-5397 or visit LafayettePaintingInc.com for your free and accurate estimate.

LUPINE PAINTING can help with any of your painting needs. 20+ years of stress-free painting. Call for a free consultation 802-5989940.

PAINTERS WANTED Local, experienced company with guaranteed inside work for a seasoned finish painter.

Exterior painting positions available also. Salary is top end for this area. Year-round work for the most qualified. Call 3550028

Local Church Services Charlotte Congregational Church, UCC 403 Church Hill Road 425-3176 | charlotteucc.org Regular Sunday service: 10 a.m.

Advent & Christmas Calendar

Lighting the Advent Wreath Each Sunday in December at 10 a.m. we will light candles of hope, peace, joy and love.

Messiah Sing Accompanied by a professional chamber orchestra and featuring vocal soloists Sarah Cullins, Linda Radtke, Joshua Collier and Erik Kroncke. No tickets needed, free-will offering accepted.

Sunday, Dec. 2, at 10 a.m. as our morning worship service Advent Hours of Sanctuary Church sanctuary open for prayer and meditation Mondays, Dec. 3, 10 & 17 from 5–7 p.m.

Carols of Many Lands Come sing old favorites and learn new ones. Free.

Friday, Dec. 14, 6 p.m.

Christmas Pageant Sunday, Dec. 16, 10 a.m.

Christmas Eve services Family candlelight service 4:30 p.m.

Traditional candlelight service 7 p.m. _____________________ Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church Spear Street, 425-2637 Sister parish: St. Jude’s Regular schedule of masses: Saturdays, 4:30 p.m., at St. Jude’s Sundays, 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Sundays, 9:30 a.m., at St. Jude’s

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