The Charlotte News | August 27, 2015

Volume lVIII Number 3 The VoIce of The TowN Thursday, augusT 27, 2015

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Selectboard Talks Rail Plan 1 A Thompson Point Resident Looks Back 1

Stephen Kiernan Talks New Novel 10Pick up your Pens, Kids! YWP is Back 13

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Voice of the tow

n since 1958.

Charlotte Beach in August. PHOTO: LEE KROHN

Village continued on page 6 Selectboard continued on page 6

Vol. 58, no. 3August 27, 2015 Charlotte News

The TheCharloTTeNews.org

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

Footloose on the farmMembers of Farm to Ballet perform for an audience of 350 at Philo Ridge Farm in Charlotte August 15. The hour-long program featured classical ballet pieces mod-ified to depict the change of seasons New England farmers experience each year. The dances were bookended by two performances set to Swan Lake:“Return of the Geese” and “Geese Fly South.” Farm to Ballet has hosted seven performances at farms around the state. Proceeds from the events benefit nonprofit organizations that support art and agriculture. Photo: Chad adams

Selectboard discusses Vermont Rail Plan

Also approves live streaming local meetings

John HammerTHE CHARLOTTE NEWS

The Selectboard meeting of August 24 was reasonably quiet with the bulk of

its time being consumed by a presenta-tion from Lydia Clemmons, the head of Citizens for Responsible Railroads. She opened an almost hour-long discussion on the draft Vermont Rail Plan by saying she was “not an anti-rail fanatic.” Charlotte Fire Chief Chris Davis joined her in call-ing for heightened concern over safety and environmental issues within the plan.

The plan, which has a public comment deadline of September 15, is a 187-page document outlining an expanded Vermont rail network calling for four times more trains carrying double the current freight. Of the seven goals within the plan, the seventh, according to Clemmons, deals in safety and is virtually silent on significant elements such as public and private cross-ings and speed. Some lines will be rated for speeds as high as 79 mph.

The highest priority for upgrades is the Western Rail Corridor from Rutland to Burlington, passing through Charlotte. CFR presented a 14-page set of com-ments and recommendations presenting its concerns. The intent is to get these concerns before the Vermont Agency of Transportation before they are set in stone.

In the words of Chief Davis, “This plan is missing some big pieces. Let’s be pru-dent to get state people to focus on what’s missing.”

The State of Vermont owns the land and track along the Western Rail Corridor and once a plan is approved, according to Clemmons, the rules for its use and reg-ulations then are passed to the National Railways Administration that has proved in the past to be too far removed from the public to be responsive to their concerns. Therefore, Clemmons stated that the time for change is now—the “power is in the

planning,” she said.The Selectboard voted to authorize a

committee to finalize a letter on the Draft Rail Plan for approval and submittal to the appropriate parties on September 4. The letter will be based on the basic CFR document which can be found at bit.ly/1NFXE2Q.

Further information is available at CFR website at bit.ly/1V618O6.

Streaming meetingSThe executive director of VCAM, Seth

Mobley, appeared before the Selectboard to brief them on their mission, which is “to promote free speech, civic engagement, government transparency, and public dia-log by enabling easy access to the expand-ing world of media.”

In essence VCAM offers live cable and Internet streaming of local meetings. The service was offered last March and was turned down by the Selectboard (4-1 with Spell voting in favor). There did not appear any interest at the time. However, after this presentation, the offer was sup-ported by 3-2 with Spear and Tegatz against. The service may start as early as the meeting on September 14 and costs nothing to the town. More information on the services provided may be found at bit.ly/1V62EzN.

Other buSineSSThere followed a number of lesser

items including approval for the shift of a driveway at a newly permitted lot at 1007 Lake Road. A change order was approved for the contract that will lead to the completion of the project to drain and grade the Town Green. The project will provide curtain drains for the library and Town Hall and fill will be added to create a slope draining the green in the direction of the ditch alongside the entrance drive to the west. The change order was approved for $5,500 to Vermont Roads and Fields, a Charlotte company.

An interview with Carolyn Coleburn, one of Thompson’s Point’s longest standing sum-mer residents

Ruah Swennerfelt & Louis CoxCONTRIBUTORS

At the Charlotte Town Party this sum-mer, a lovely white-haired woman

stopped by the Transition Town Charlotte table that we were staffing. Making con-versation, we learned that she was from Thompson’s Point. Oh, so you’re just a summer resident? we asked. Well, yes, she said, she and her husband lived in Connecticut—but she had been spending summers at Thompson’s Point every year since 1934!

Wow, what a story this would make

for The Charlotte News, we immediately thought. So we set a date with Carolyn Coleburn for an interview at her fami-ly’s beautiful Thompson’s Point lakeside camp that Carolyn’s parents had built in 1935. We looked forward to hearing fas-cinating tales that Carolyn would share about those 81 summers and how life on “the Point” and in Charlotte has changed since the 30s and 40s.

Carolyn said her love for life at the Point began in the summer of 1934, when she was four years old. Her parents, Charles and Clara Sackett of Larchmont, New York, had rented a cottage on Flat Rock. The whole family enjoyed the time on the beautiful shores of Lake Champlain so much that they decided to order the construction of a lakeside

Perspective on the Point

Carolyn Coleburn has been a summer resident of Thompson’s Point since 1934. Photo: Ruah swenneRfelt

Point continued on page 9

Alex BuntenTHE CHARLOTTE NEWS

Changes and locals were afoot in the east and west villages of Charlotte

on August 20. The Planning Commission, Selectboard and a group of interest-ed citizens were joined by Richard Amore, planning coordinator with the State of Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, to tour and discuss the historic settlements of Charlotte in advance of a Village Center Designation Program, a move spearheaded by Charlotte Community Development.

Joining this program would provide access to tax credit and priority site consideration for state grants in order to revitalize the village areas. Other towns

that have utilized this program include Shelburne, Hinesburg, Richmond, Huntington and New Haven.

The tour started in East Charlotte and was led by Jeannine McCrumb, the town planning and zoning administrator, and Carrie Spear, owner of Spear’s Corner Store and a Selectboard member. The group of about 15 community members discussed the “anchors” in the commu-nity that would act as boundaries for the to-be-defined village center. The borders would be determined by the town, but Amore would offer consult on this matter.

One of the first questions asked by the tour group was about the benefit this program might have to residential units in the designated village area. According to

Planning, Selectboard explore Village Center Designation Program

2 • August 27, 2015 • the ChArlotte News

Voices

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Cole Guerriere helps school kids see away the summer with a somber tune from the top

of Mt. Philo—see page 7.

Photo: Stan SemuSkie

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Last issue, we implored you to “Go Local! ” and support our advertisers. This issue, we urge you to follow in the footsteps of these most generous donors.

We are getting closer to our fundraising goal, but can’t stop here. We have raised about $14,000 for our basic expenses with a minimum goal of $25,000 before the year’s end.

As my father would say, “Close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes.”

This remaining portion of fundraising is crucial in covering our operating costs. We’d, of course, love to crush that goal

and make other projects possible—a new website, hiring a web editor and build-ing a digital archive for starters—but not before we make the baseline funding mark!

Do you know a local business that might want to underwrite or sponsor the paper? Get in touch! Let’s talk about it.

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Alex BuntenEDITOR IN CHIEF

The CharloTTe News • augusT 27, 2015 • 3

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Voices

Brett SigurdsonASSISTANT EDITOR

All opinions expressed in Voices section are those of the writers and not of The Charlotte News, which is published as an independent, nonprofit, non-biased community service and forum.

OutTakes Commentary by Edd Merritt

This issue marks my three-year anni-versary at The Charlotte News. It also marks my final as a member of its staff. I’ve decided to step away to pursue other opportunities.

With these two milestones, I can’t help but reflect on my time here, both as edi-tor in chief and assistant editor. Shortly after starting in August 2012, several people asked me why I had moved from Wisconsin to Charlotte just to become the editor of this tiny, twice-monthly news-paper in a community I had never visited. I wanted to live in Vermont, I told them. I wanted to find a home and invest in a community after 10 years of wandering the country. Charlotte seemed like an attractive place to do this.

Left largely unsaid was the deeply per-sonal mission I had, and still have, toward community journalism. In The Charlotte News I saw an opportunity to make a difference at a newspaper that has long mattered in this community, a satisfac-tion I could no longer find in my job as a reporter at the newspaper I had just left. Its quality and mission became compromised by cost-cutting, most significantly in the form of the editor position. The editor I worked under was busy leading another newspaper, was disconnected, never even

visited the office. It was a newspaper that put profit ahead of anything resembling quality, and that rankled my idealism.

In The News I found the perfect venue in which to carry out the altruis-tic form of journalism I longed to practice, one captured in this paper’s mission statement, which I touted whenever I could these last three years: sto-ries by the community for the community, support-ed by the community. It’s a recipe that promoted a pure form of journalism, I thought, a kind that put the story, the information, above anything else. I’m not ashamed to say we lost money on some issues because I felt we had stories Charlotters needed to read despite not having the advertising reve-nue or donations to support our expenses (thankfully, we’d often make it up later). When I felt a story warranted explora-tion and context, I made space for long, in-depth stories (much to the chagrin of some readers, I’m told).

These decisions, like so many others

that go on behind the scenes week in and week out, were about putting readers first, about giving Charlotters affected by

the stories we told all they needed to understand the issue and more. This wasn’t easy, though. Managing a small nonprofit with more passion in its staff than money in the bank has its challenges, especially in terms of logistics. There are some stories we just couldn’t cover because of a lack of writers and resourc-es.

Working here also required thick skin. I know some readers dis-agreed with some stories we told, thought I carried

out an agenda as editor, was deliberately one-sided or unopen to other viewpoints. If that was the case, all I can say is the facts of the story and the interests of all our readers dictated everything. That was my only agenda.

Of course, we did get things wrong during my time here. We published cor-rections on occasion, a gesture to get the record straight and show we’re doing our

very best—sometimes we don’t quite get it right. There are some stories I would have loved to make longer, some much shorter. But in the end, I think my run here lived up to my idealism.

In closing, I’d like to thank members of the News team that helped make my time as editor in chief and assistant editor so wonderful: Vince Crockenberg, Tom O’ Brien, Nancy Wood, Shanley Hinge, Edd and Beth Merritt, Monica Marshall, Emma Slater, Barrie Dunsmore and Alex Bunten. I’d like to give a special thanks to Linda Williamson, who I worked closely with as editor in chief, and who was a vital member of our team for so long.

I also want to thank community mem-bers who helped me along the way: Dean Bloch, Carrie Spear, Charles Russell, Jeannine McCrumb, Mark McDermott, Mike Russell, Stephen Brooks, Chris Davis and so many others I don’t have the space to name.

Most of all, thanks to everyone who trusted me to tell their stories in these pages and to those of you who read them.

I don’t know that we’ll meet again on these pages, but it’s been a privilege to have met all of you here the last three years.

There’s nothing more to write but thanks

Last Dance with Mary Jane . . .

When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead

And the white knight is talking backwards

And the red queen’s off with her headRemember what the dormouse said

Feed your head, feed your head.

White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane

It has been difficult since my last column to select a topic for this one. I kept notes on three things that happened nationally since then, three things that linked to my own past and about which I had some rather strong feelings.

One was Donald Trump’s remark in which he wants to detach John McCain from war hero status. Having been on a carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin at the same time as McCain, I could have told Trump to take his bone spur and plant it some-where in the Mekong Delta. A second was a trip Bernie Sanders made to Rochester, Minnesota, when he was touring Iowa on a primary run. I still would love to get Bernie’s opinion of Rochester, my hometown, which, decades ago, was a node of conservatism in the middle of an otherwise liberal Democratic Farm Labor land. And the third was the debate over the value of legalizing marijuana in Vermont.

As you may note by the order of topics (not to mention the Grace Slick lyrics at the top of the page) I think I’ll focus on the third one because it’s far out, man, if for no other reason than it brings back a time of life in New York’s East Village

when Slugger Anne’s and the Fillmore East were only handstands away from my apartment and this cool band, the Velvet Underground, played just around the cor-ner at Max’s Kansas City, and Lou Reed was “stuck in a rock ‘n roll band” singing about Sweet Jane approximately, a song soon to be covered by another favorite group with a great name who recorded out of a Canadian cathedral, the Cowboy Junkies.

Now, who can claim that MJ isn’t worth legalizing? After landing in the city fol-lowing my Navy stint, I had three friends who proved the point week-ly and still managed to hold down very respon-sible positions, two in city governance, bright young men recruited specifically out of grad-uate school to turn New York around, the third recruited as a counsel-or in a drug treatment program. Me? I was a “Mad Man”—a copy-writer for what they called an “ethical drug agency,” meaning one that handled prescrip-tion drug advertising (What’s so ethical about that?).

My drug counselor friend and I had both just been released from the service. The other two had met in graduate school. One of them and I were friends from undergraduate days. He had majored in theater, and as I reflect upon our time in New York, the wacky weed we imbibed may, in fact, have opened a couple of stage vents in our brains. The fourth friend had been living at home and was itching to leave suburbia. I recall his arrival at our door vividly, a stack of Dave Brubeck records under one arm, his hair cut to a T and trimmed well above his ears, and he was wearing a tan suit with an Ivy League buckle on the back of the pants. Even I knew better than that.

However, he discovered the Caribbean

shortly after settling in with us. Although I don’t remember exactly how that came about, Jamaica appeared in the form of one of the most attractive young women I had ever laid eyes upon, and the rest of us always made a point of being around when she arrived. No sooner had she become a regular visitor than her boyfriend’s hair begin to sprout, and the suit found its way to the far reaches of his closet. He did save something appropriate to wear during the workday, but at night he was straight out

of the Islands. Brubeck bit the dust, replaced by reggae, Stones, the Fugs and one of the warm-up bands at the Fillmore that had been formed by yet another friend.

The night I remem-ber best in terms of checking out changes in virtual reality brought about by marijuana was one in which it led us down Abbey Road. We decided to test a rumor about the Beatles. Word ran rampant in papers like the Village Voice that Paul McCartney was dead, and all you had to do was view him barefoot on the cover of

the album, listen carefully as you rotated the record backwards and hear between the verses going forward a ghostly voice saying “Paul is dead. Paul is dead.”

Well, we nodded along with all this nonsense, rolled a joint every now and then and came to an absolute conclusion that, no, Paul was not dead but the rest of the Beatles were. (Don’t ask me to explain the logic behind our reasoning.)

One of my reasons for exploring this topic now is where these friends went from the mid-sixties of random drug usage to their business careers. All of us bagged MJ after a short spell. None of us became junkies or moved on to stronger narcotics. None of us lost job leverage because of it. The Jamaican girlfriend disappeared and was later replaced by

a phenomenally bright and successful woman who served several capacities in our nation’s government. Her hus-band became involved in independent power production as a founder and CEO. The drug counselor stuck with medicine, following our time in the “Village” by becoming CEO and President of six suc-cessful medical technology companies dealing with emerging imaging software and Internet-based medical services. My undergraduate friend retired as VP of a major international financial institution and took up dog sitting with his four-legged heroes of the midway. Leave it to say only that I hop scotched around Vermont, ending up in Charlotte.

From these experiences, I would rather see marijuana become a legally con-trolled, saleable substance—put it in a growler if you’d like or a keg-bong, because it seems much safer to use than nicotine and, many smokers would argue, a hell of a lot more fun.

If Trump had only had the brains to get himself drafted, he could have bought some high-test weed on the Saigon street corner or lost at Russian roulette like Christopher Walken in “The Deer Hunter. He might even have shared a cage with McCain in the “Hanoi Hilton.”

No sooner had she become a regular

visitor than her boy-friend’s hair begin to sprout, and the suit found its way to the

far reaches of his closet. … Brubeck bit the dust, replaced by reggae, Stones, the

Fugs

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Alas, summer is over for school kids. When they all get back to class, it’s likely their friends and teachers will ask, “So, what’d you do this summer?”

Many will say they spent their sum-mer days worry free on the shores of Lake Champlain, watching the clouds roll by the mountains, soaking up the sun between. For Charlotters Lila Taylor, 12, and Gabriel Taylor, 9, they were more concerned about what was happening beneath the surface.

According to Lila, the biggest problems affecting the lake now are farm and road run-off, storm water overflow and sewage dumping. And with algae blooms getting more press these days, it’s easy to under-stand their concern. So they decided to do something about it.

Working with Grace and Nell Kelly-Harvey, Lila and Gabriel have hosted three bake sales on the corner of Lake

Road and Thompson’s Point road and they have raised $267 for the Friends of Northern Lake Champlain. Their goal is to raise $500 and hope to attract matching donors.

“Our best sellers are our triple choc-olate chip cookies,” Lila said via email. “We have a ‘pay what ever you wish’ pol-icy, so all the proceeds are by donation.”

In addition to an admirable fundraising goal, Lila and Gabriel also hope to spread their idea. Lila said they want “to inspire other kids to do the same. Last year my class at the Lake Champlain Waldorf School did a bake sale to raise money for the new village farm in Shelburne. This gave us the idea to raise money for the lake.”

To support Lila and Gabriel’s efforts, their next bake sale will be Saturday, September 5, from 1–3 p.m., on the cor-ner of Lake and Thompson’s Point roads. For more information on the Friends of Northern Lake Champlain, go to northernlakechamplain.org.

Local kids bake for the lake

The Taylors hope to raise $500 for the Friends of Northern Lake Champlain. Photo: Courtesy


Paige Thibault, 14, has played piano since she was five years old. She recently graduated from CCS and will be headed to CVU. Tonight she’ll be playing her first proper gig at Radio Bean in Burlington from 7–8 p.m. Though on her way to the top, Paige still has time to answer a few questions about herself from her home-town paper, The Charlotte News. The first gig is big, Paige. Good luck!

The Charlotte News: This will be your first “real gig,” will you be nervous?

Paige Thibault: Of course, I am very nervous, as with any other of my either classical or original performances. However, with such a laid-back atmo-sphere as Radio Bean (and the fact that it is a “gig” and not a “concert”), the usual omnipresent nerves have backed off sig-nificantly. Since Radio Bean is such an accepting environment for a wide variety of people, I can feel confident that I will not be judged for anything but my music, which is what all artists truly strive for.

CN: What instrument do you play? How long have you been playing?

PT: I have been playing classical piano since I was five years old, which means I’ve been playing for almost 10 years now. My brother and I started taking lessons at that age through the Suzuki method, which is learning by ear, similar to how we learn language as children (through listening and then imitating). Though we also learned to sight-read, the Suzuki training has allowed me to be able to comprehend music through hearing and mental evaluation rather than just

reading notes off paper.

CN: What’re the most played five albums in your stereo/iPod/MP3 player right now?

PT: As for musical influences besides classical training, I would have to say that there are two names that stand out. The first is Fiona Apple. I have most of her albums and for fun learn her songs for covers. Her beautifully smooth alto voice combined with her classically trained (yet jazzy) piano is noteworthy enough, but the way she channels such difficult emo-tions through her music is very inspiring to me. The second is Tori Amos. I fell in love with her music through listening to the CDs my mother had stacked against the wall next to our piano, and from there my inspiration has not diminished. Her album “Little Earthquakes” in my opinion has not one weaker track in it than the rest, making it one of my most commonly played albums. Also, watching Amos per-form is a whole new experience in itself. The way she uses her body language with the piano makes me want to step up my performance tenfold.

CN: If you could play with any musi-cian alive or dead, who would it be? Why?

PT: That’s an extremely hard ques-tion, but I would have to go with Carole King. I must admit she has only become a muse of mine most recently, but since then I have thought a lot about her musi-cal influence on the industry and on the genres Singer-Songwriter and Pop. King would be a blast to perform with, and the experience would be very motivating and groundbreaking for me as an artist.

Q&A with Paige Thibault

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August 3. Jason Golder and Alanna Shanley to Guyer and Margery McCracken, 1 acre with dwelling, 1289 Greenbush Road, $346,000.

August 3. Jean A. Miner Revocable Trust to Matthew Joseph Donaldson Jr. Revocable Trust and Kimberly P. Donaldson Revocable Trust, 4.19 acres, land only, 591 Burritt Road, $55,000.

August 3. Glenn and Sylvia Mitchell to Gerard and Germana Mitchell, seasonal camp, 384 Flat Rock Road, $25,000.

August 6. Wesley and Paullette Russell to Dean and

Laura Rice, 1.76 acres with dwelling, 15 Dorset Road, $246,000.

August 6. Timothy A. and Martha A. Hunt to Edgewater Center LLC, 11.47 acres with dwelling, 1046 Ethan Allen Highway, $600,000.

August 14. Wight and Heather Manning to Eric Crouch, 5 acres with dwelling, 1092 Roscoe Road, $182,500.

August 17. Ronald and Agnes Lussier to Elizabeth Sieghardt, 1.5 acres with dwelling, 78 Carpenter Road, $525,000.

August 19. Scott Hardy to John B. Eagan, 10.1 acres with dwelling, 197 Mutton Hill Drive, $450,000.

August 20. Eileen and David Stroup Jr. to Marc and Rachel Stein, 4.5 acres with dwelling, 1547 Mount Philo Road, $495,000.

PROPERTY TRANSFERS

Intervale Center’s ‘Dinner with your Farmers’ at Adam’s Berry Farm

Joyce CellarsCONTRIBUTOR

An afternoon thunderstorm had just passed, and the sky over Lake Champlain was layered with clouds. Guests strolled among wildflowers and rows of blueberry bushes, sampling appetizers like heirloom beet skewers with goat cheese and fried green tomatoes before heading to the bar tent for glasses of Zero Gravity beer, Citizen Cider and homemade hibiscus tea.

About 100 people were in Charlotte at the “Dinner with Your Farmers” event, hosted by Adam’s Berry Farm and the Intervale Center, the Burlington-based nonprofit with a mission to strengthen community food systems. The goal of the event, said farm owner Adam Hausmann, “was to bring people out to the farm, share a delicious meal and help them better understand the Intervale Center’s impact not only in Chittenden County but across Vermont.”

Hausmann had grown strawberries, blueberries and raspberries in Burlington’s Intervale—his land was part of the 350 acres managed by the Intervale Center—for 11 years before acquiring land on Bingham Brook Road in East Charlotte and moving his operation there in 2013. He and his partner, Jessica Sanford, said that they felt a strong desire to give back to the organization that had provided them

with business-planning support, mar-keting assistance and help transitioning their farm. Jessica has worked at several Intervale farms and now runs the cen-ter’s gleaning and food-rescue program, which provides a “free food share” to 125 low-income families each week.

All the food at the event, served buf-fet-style in Hausmann’s stunning new barn, was donated by Intervale “partner farms”—farms the center has worked with over the years, either by hosting them on Intervale land or working on business planning with them—and prepared by Phillip Clayton, executive chef/partner at The Farmhouse Group, who also donated time, staff and talent to the event. Just under 20 farmers, many of them past and present Intervale Center growers, attend-ed the event to share stories, catch up with old friends and mingle with guests.

Menu items were vegetable-forward and included dishes like grilled zucchi-ni with creamed sweet corn, tarragon and currants; crushed new potatoes with roasted garlic and blue cheese and fried rosemary; and cucumbers with raspber-ries and basil-honey vinaigrette. Dessert —ice cream sandwiches from Hen of the Wood—was a big hit. All of the dishes highlighted Vermont’s agricultural boun-ty, and a large map of Vermont stationed by the buffet table displayed the Intervale Center’s statewide reach—50 or so farms from Irasburg to Brattleboro.

The dinner’s short speaking program highlighted the Intervale Center’s Success on Farms initiative, a business-plan-ning program designed to help Vermont

farms and value-added businesses (think cheese, charcuterie and fermented foods) expand their markets, increase revenue and achieve other quality-of-life goals that are critical to keeping them in opera-tion. The Intervale Center also employs a Beginning Farmer Specialist to work with farmers who are just getting started.

Sam Smith, head of the Intervale Center’s agricultural development pro-grams, explained that “support might mean anything from getting the receipts out of the shoebox and into Quickbooks, pairing a farmer with a marketing con-sultant to develop a new brand or logo, or working on a complicated farm suc-cession plan with several generations of family members.”

He added, “We also help farmers access land in Vermont and work with Intervale Center incubator farms to help them tran-

sition out of the Intervale

and onto farmland in Vermont.” Even with its (light) educational goals,

the party felt like a gathering of old friends. Current and past Intervale farmers caught up about the season, the harvest and future goals; Charlotte neighbors introduced themselves to each other. Both sets of Adam’s and Jessica’s parents were guests of honor at the event, as were Will and Lynette Raap.

Raap, founder of Gardener’s Supply Company, also founded the Intervale Center in 1987. “What a great evening at Adam’s Berry Farm,” he said. “The local food and camaraderie, the new barn, the many guest farmers who ‘graduated’ out of the Intervale to their own farms—including Adam! It felt like an emergence of ‘Intevale south.’”

Joyce Cellars is the community rela-tions manager at the Intervale Center in Burlington.

Celebrating Vermont farmers

A happy diner at the recent “Dinner with your Farmers” event August 15 at Adam’s Berry Farm. Photo: Courtesy

Carpenter Road bridge to close until November

The bridge on Carpenter Road will be undergoing

repairs, including the replacement of the deck, replace-ment of bearings, repairs to both abutments and widening of the westerly approach. To do this work, the bridge will need to be closed for approximately 67 days, from August 31 to November 5.

Please feel free to call, email or stop with any questions. Dean BlochTown Administrator802-425-3071 Ext. [email protected]

Selectboardcontinued from page 1

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Villagecontinued from page 1


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Vermont Roads and Fields was also the recipient of a contract worth $8,750 to repair a serious washout on the co-hous-ing segment of the Town Link Trail. Selectmen Tegatz and Spear voted nay, stating that they would rather have seen the project bid in accordance with the new purchasing policy. There was some ques-tion as to whether this repair was subject to emergency approval procedures allowed by the policy.

In another contract action, Lincoln Applied Geology, Inc. was approved for a contract not to exceed $6,190 to monitor test wells surrounding the Plouffe Lane landfill. The monitoring action is mandat-ed by the state for old town landfills.

Stuart Bennett was appointed to fill the vacant seat on the Zoning Board of Adjustment with a term ending in April 2018.

The next regular Selectboard meeting is scheduled for September 14.

What do you think about this story and others? Send us a letter:

[email protected]

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGON PROPOSED

TOWN CHARTERTOWN OF CHARLOTTE

The Selectboard of the Town of Charlotte hereby gives notice that a public hearing will be held on September 14, 2015 beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Charlotte Town Office, 159 Ferry Road, Charlotte, Vermont, to consider adoption of a Charter for the Town of Charlotte, which contains the following sections:

Section 1: Corporate ExistenceSection 2: General Provisions

Section 3: Adoption of Annual Budget and Budget Related Articles

Section 4: SeparabilitySection 5: Amendment

Section 6:Effective Date

The Charter in its entirety is available for inspection at the Charlotte Town Office during regular office hours, Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Charter is also available for review on the Town’s website at char-lottevt.org.

Amore, this program would only benefit commercial properties and it would have no benefit to most residential units.

However, income-producing proper-ties, such as multi-family homes that are rented, could be eligible for fund-ing through the program. This could incentivize residential units included in a commercially zoned area to use the premises for business or rent it out.

Amore used Hardwick as a successful example of village center revival. The local government there was able to gain access to $820,000 in tax credits through the program, which was then used to leverage over $5 million in outside investment.

Tax credits can be used for the rede-velopment of blighted or marginal prop-erties to incentivize housing projects or make rebuilding possible after a disaster. Of the 122 designated villages around the state, one of the most popular uses has been a 50-percent tax credit to get a building up to code—applicable retroac-tively for one year.

According to Amore, the Town of Charlotte would not be able to apply for village center designation right now, as Charlotte lacks the language included in the Town Plan relating specifically to village center designation.

The most recent Town Plan, readopt-ed in 2013, states “Charlotte supports a land use plan which fosters a pattern of small, concentrated settlements in the village and hamlet areas … [and] will attempt to direct the majority of future growth into the village areas and existing and new hamlets and clustered developments.”

Amore suggested that adding some-thing as simple as “considering or explor-ing town village designation” would be sufficient to be eligible to apply.

During the Planning Commission meeting that followed, Frank Tenney expressed concern about the public’s ability to weigh in on whether or not the town adopts this program.

The changes to the Town Plan regard-ing the village designation, in addition to an amendment to the energy section, will be discussed at a Planning Commission meeting on September 3. Public com-ment is invited. A warned Planning Commission hearing will take place on October 8, where the Charlotters can also

have their say.If the amendments to the Town Plan are

approved by the Planning Commission, and later the Selectboard, the proposed changes would be voted on at Town Meeting in March 2016.

For more information on the Village Designation Program, visit goo.gl/uHCYco.

Despite Cedar Beach closing, boat access abounds

While the Cedar Beach boat launch is closing until mid-October, boaters can use the public access at Point Bay Marina on Thompson’s Point Road to launch larger boats and smaller craft. On Converse Bay, canoes, kayaks and other small craft can be launched at Deer Point at the public launch site between the rubble dock and the concrete dock, as well as at Whiskey Bay (more causally known as Dog Beach) off North Shore Road. On Town Farm Bay, canoes and kayaks can be launched at the public landing a quarter-mile down Lane’s Lane from the turn off Thompson’s Point Road. Parking at Deer Point, Whiskey Bay and Lane’s Lane sites is quite limited.

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Next time you walk up Mt. Philo, you might be surprised to hear 24 notes from a solitary trumpet come meandering through the trees as the sun sets. It’s an unmistakeable tune that is so ingrained in American cul-ture that many people can recognize it from the first couple notes.

That would be Cole Guerriere, 20, of Shelburne, a talented Mt. Philo attendant, playing “Taps” from sum-mit lookout, marking the end of the day, but also the end of summer for many local kids.

The Charlotte News caught up with Cole on August 21 as he packed up his attendant station in the lower lot.

“Somebody told me about this guy in Oregon,” said Cole, “who used to play taps over this lake where he lived and people really liked it. It brought people together. We thought we’d give it a try here.”

Possibly most known for its use at military funerals, “Taps” is also played at memorial services, to accompany the lowering of a flag and to signal “lights out” in military training camps and summer camps alike.

The song title has some origins in the Dutch command, tap toe, which means to “shut the tap of the keg.”

Guerriere started playing the trumpet when he was in 5th grade and played in the school band all the way up to junior

year of high school. However, when The News filmed him at the summit, it was only his ninth time playing the tune for

an audience. “I’d played it for fun some-

times,” he said, “usually when someone would mess up in band. But this is the first time I’ve really committed myself to ‘Taps.’”

Cole plays this solemn trib-ute at the summit of Mt. Philo Wednesday through Sunday.

“People usually really enjoy it,” he said. “There was actually a woman whose husband died a year ago yesterday and she came up. It kinda served as a tribute for her. It serves a lot of different purposes and it has a lot of different meaning for people.”

Although some people have requested Cole come in the morning to play “Reveille,” “No one is yelling ‘Freebird’ yet,” he joked.

More pictures and a video of Cole playing “Taps” on August 21 are available on our Facebook page or website at

wp.me/p5Aks5-7z.

Lyrics to “the Day is Done” or “taps”

Day is done, gone the sunFrom the lakes, from the hills, from the skyAll is well, safely restGod is nigh.

Fading light dims the sightAnd a star gems the sky, gleaming brightFrom afar, drawing nearFalls the night.

Thanks and praise for our daysNeath the sun, ‘neath the stars, ‘neath the skyAs we go, this we knowGod is nigh.

Seeing away the day at Mt. Philo

Cole Guerriere plays “Taps” from the summit overlook, Wednesday to Sunday at Mt. Philo. Photo: Stan SemuSkie

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Alice D. Outwater, Ph.D.

Carrie FennCONTRIBUTOR

When I was the parent of small chil-dren, I made a lot of determinations about what my kids would be like when they were older. The compet-itive tomboy (can I still use that term?) would grow up to be an intense, power-driven business-woman. The very person-able middle child would go into sales. And the youngest—a long-haired rock climber—would lean even more toward long hair and rock climb-ing. I even had ideas about my grade-school-age stepdaughters.

Here’s the deal—I didn’t know my kids as well as I thought. The tomboy is now a

happy stay-at-home with two little boys. She wears cute dresses, her long hair always looks great, and her nail polish isn’t chipped. I don’t mean to imply her put-togetherness is a result of tons of effort—she is just that way. And this is

from the kid who insisted we call her “Rocko” for the first three years of grade school. The middle daughter, who ate noth-ing but pasta and cheese for most of her life, is now an aspiring chef, working in restau-rant kitchens. Despite never hav-ing stepped foot in our kitchen at home growing up,

she routinely wows her foodie family

with her creativity every time she visits. The rock climber now plays football and wants to be a lawyer. His hair is short, he shuns tie-dye, and listens to… yep, pop music. My stepdaughters took equal turns off my rails—the youngest, who couldn’t be bothered to brush her hair, is now a fashionista, as well as a force for social justice. And the shy eldest? A drama major at NYU’s Tisch School.

I know I shouldn’t be as surprised by their transformations as I am, but for some reason, it’s hard for me to reconcile the small with the grown. Perhaps it’s because I have always felt like the same person. Of

course I have changed, but in my mind I am no different than the scraped-up little girl who was always falling down or bang-ing into something. It took years to get my family to stop buying me unicorn posters for Christmas because it’s so easy to fall into the trap of denying our kids the right to evolve.

Bottom line, we can’t know what our kids are going to turn into. They grow and change and develop ideas of their own. There are pieces of them lurking around, behind what we can see and know and understand, that will shape and develop over time. They won’t turn into “us in miniature,” they won’t be the people we expect or want or hope they will be. They will have ideas that don’t agree with ours, they will do things that we think aren’t in their best interests (Or is it our best interests? That’s a tricky one, because our happiness is so frighteningly tied with theirs.).

But whether or not we agree with their choices, we have to allow them to fail and succeed on their own. We go to the games and plays and talks and dinners, we cringe and applaud and cry and gasp, and marvel at the exceptional adults our children have become, even if they do, sometimes, feel like strangers.

Say it now, give it now

Yesterday I received a long letter from a psychology client I had worked with decades ago—so far back I had forgotten her name. She wrote that due to my help she had been able to address unresolved problems that held her back. A critical one was her resentment and rift with her mother.

She wrote, “You enabled me to gain clarity in my life and dump my grudges. My mother and I finally dealt with the toxic stuff. During her terminal illness,

I moved in and took care of her to the end. The sessions with you made all the difference: I felt lighter and began to make solid personal decisions that never seemed possible before. I’m ever grateful to you, and want you to know this.”

Her letter moved me to reconsider my own regrets: actions from my past that still hampered me, unkind words said in a fit of hurt or annoyance—some from decades ago. I decid-ed to write Jennifer, a high school friend, and apologize, as well as to some other people.

Most of them responded to my let-ters. Jennifer wrote, “I never understood why you became so upset, then shunned me when I befriended Helen, and began to spend time with her. I had liked you so much…It seemed cruel. It must have been hard for you to write me, and I appreciate it.”

Her letter touched a chord in me. I decided to pursue something else. I had

extra money in my bank account, so rather than leave bequests in my will, I thought why not give them the gifts now? I wrote each a letter, thanking them for being in my life, letting them know how much they meant to me and my admiration for the way they lived. I instructed, “This is a secret fund to be used on yourself for something you otherwise couldn’t afford.”

My friend Nancy responded, “I opened your letter and cried all morning. The check sat on my bureau for a month. My husband said, “You seem so upset, just send the check back.”

“Her son advised, “OH NO, don’t do that. Your friend really loves you. Do you think this might happen to me in the future?”

She continued, “Now I’m figuring out how to handle this amazing gift. I’ve never had the opportunity to just do something for myself. We’ve always had to be so careful with every cent.”

Another friend Heather shared, “At age six I made paper flowers and was

selling them in the neighborhood to buy a football for my brothers. I had jobs through high school, then took on four jobs to put myself through college. I’ve worked all my life and had to watch every penny. When I received your gift, I could hardly think straight. I put it in the bank and I’m still stunned.”

I shared these heartwarming respons-es with my financial advisor who had encouraged me to give now. I asked if many of his very wealthy clients did this. “Oh no,” he said. “What you’re doing is unusual, and I’m proud of you. Many people just want to accumulate more and more money. It becomes an obsession.”

We all read about people of enormous wealth. Some start foundations with care-fully thought-out parameters and help make a difference with humanitarian proj-ects. Others try to sway elections, inhibit-ing the democratic process.

I can’t believe the gratification and awakening this giving has brought me. I approach my days with more thought and care.

The amount of the gift is irrelevant. You can give an heirloom or other special object of yours to show someone you are fond of them and admire their courage and choices in life.

Our communities and the universe need us all to be our best selves.

What are you waiting for?

The Humbled Parent

Carrie Fenn

What’s to become of them?

It took years to get my family to stop buying me unicorn posters

for Christmas because it’s so easy to fall into

the trap of denying our kids the right to

evolve.

“Oh no,” he said. “What you’re doing is unusu-

al, and I’m proud of you. Many people just want to accumulate more and

more money. It becomes an obsession.”

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cottage of their own. There were four remaining building lots on the adjacent Thompson’s Point, and they leased all four, with the intention of leaving most of the land wooded. In the latter part of the summer of 1935, as the Kennedy Brothers Builders were putting the finishing touch-es on the cottage, Carolyn, her parents and two older brothers moved in.

Carolyn guided us through the compact but homey three-bedroom bungalow that was the original building. As we admired its handsome fieldstone fireplace, she pointed out the Native American tools found on the site that the builders had worked into the stonework. With hand-hewn beams and dark-stained wood sid-ing and interior paneling the place had a rustic but comfy feel. Nearby was a second, smaller building, a garage and workshop that Carolyn’s parents later had converted into another cottage as over the years they needed more room for children, grandchildren and guests. All of the camp’s improvements, nestled among white cedar, poplar and other native trees, fit harmoniously into the site.

During the 30s and 40s, as each summer vacation approached, with great anticipa-tion Sackett family members packed their gear and motored up old Route 7 from New York to Thompson’s Point. After the family had settled in, Carolyn’s father would travel to work and back by train, coming up most weekends.

In those days the Thompson’s Point peninsula had three distinct summer com-munities along the lake: Thompson’s Point, Flat Rock and North Shore (just a group of rustic cottages along the shore, Carolyn recalled). Early on there was a clubhouse and tennis courts that were open only to Thompson’s Point leasehold-ers (but now open to leaseholders in all three communities). It was a place to hang out and join other residents for events, dancing and tennis. Carolyn said the ten-nis courts may have originated with the Buckland family, who liked to host grand parties on the Point and wanted additional ways to entertain their guests.

Flat Rock residents were a tight-knit community with many active young people, Carolyn said. They even pub-lished a “newspaper” called the Flat Rock Flash. By preference, Flat Rockers lived more simply, with kerosene lamps and no telephones. The Sackett place on the Point, however, had electricity from the start. Flat Rock was also called “Holy Bay” because it was inhabited mostly by Methodist ministers and their families. And it was at the New York church of Dr. Robert Cole where Carolyn’s parents first met—and it was Dr. Cole who had influenced the Sacketts to build a summer home at the Point.

Carolyn’s attachment to the Point grew

deeper with each summer vacation, and she has not missed one summer of sun and fun during all those years. She especially loved the woods, the beach, the flat rocks nearby—and the freedom to roam. She loved to swim, but had no quick access to the lake because of the rocky shoreline and steep drop from their camp site. It wasn’t until 1986 that someone figured out how to build a stairway down to the water, which allowed the family to build its own dock.

One of Carolyn’s special pleasures over the years was sitting on the screened porch, watching activities on the lake. The views were often spectacular, and she

remem-bered one par-ticularly powerful storm, or microburst, that rumbled across the lake. She also remembers watching the steamboat Ticonderoga (now an exhibit at the Shelburne Museum) passing on its scheduled excursion routes. (Before her family’s time there, the “Ti” had stopped daily at a dock on the south shore of Thompson’s Point.) There were also freight barges that traveled along the New York side and Carolyn could even feel the rumbles of their engines from across the lake.

There was no need for the family to go into Burlington very often, Carolyn recalled. A local farmer, Louis La Flamme, would come by the Point camps selling chicken, berries and vegetables. The Old Brick Store in Charlotte was then a full country general store that offered most of the groceries needed for the summer residents’ needs. It had local produce, a meat counter, and most staple foods. Doctor Falby, the general practitioner, had his offices just two doors down from the store. No appointment was necessary—you just sat on the porch to wait your turn.

The Charlotte Post Office was in at least three different locations (including the building where the Little Garden Market now operates), and Carolyn would ride her bike several times a week to pick up mail after the train came through. In those days, the train would also stop at the crossing of Thompson’s Point Road, bringing summer residents and their numerous visitors. Carolyn’s family would sometimes mail-order clothing and other goods they couldn’t get locally from Macy’s, and they would wait at the Charlotte train station to watch them being unloaded.

Getting away from “it all” meant the Sacketts didn’t have a phone until the 40s. When they finally had a phone installed, it was connect-ed to three to four house-holds, each with its distinctive combina-

tion of long and short rings. That way, if you were at a

neighbor’s house and heard your ring, you could take the call there. Sharing the Sacketts’ party line was Doctor Crane, which meant that calls from patients could be heard at their house at all hours of the night.

Life at the Sackett cottage became easier with the gradual introduction of other modern conveniences, including a dishwasher. Also, her parents were fairly affluent and didn’t believe that vacations should involve a lot of domestic chores. Her mother took her family’s laundry to a laundress in “town” and hired Mrs. Leone Foote to do the cooking. Carolyn said that until World War II many Point residents had live-in help, sometimes a couple, and in some homes the children had to dress for dinner.

The Second World War changed many things on the Point. Because there weren’t enough young men around to take care of the tennis courts, Carolyn and a girlfriend took on the job, being paid $30 each for the summer. Also, during the war, with so many of the cottages vacant, the rules of the clubhouse were relaxed, and Carolyn felt free to ask friends from the other Point communities to hang out with her at the clubhouse and tennis courts.

This reminded her of a story about the clubhouse jukebox. They had been danc-ing to records played on an old Victorola when someone thought it would be fun—and a way to make money for the club-

house—to get a juke-box. It was won-derful for the young people to be able to jitter-bug day and night

to their hearts’ content. But soon someone figured out a way to bypass the Jukebox’s coin mecha-nism and play records for free. At the end of the summer, the rental company found only a single nickel in the coin box, and that was the last jukebox the clubhouse ever had!

Teenagers from the Point also often helped out by working on local farms, Carolyn said. She also remembered an Abenaki man who was the caretaker for the community and whose family had once lived on the Point.

Beginning in the 50s, many of the summer people started working and liv-ing in Vermont. In fact, Carolyn’s son, Robert Coleburn, met his future wife at Thompson’s Point and today lives in Charlotte.

Some things have changed on Thompson’s Point since those early days. Taxes and leases have increased dramati-cally, partly to pay for a water system and sewage treatment system—something that Carolyn said was very needed but has made it harder for some people to afford to live on the Point. Some families have been forced to rent or sell their cottages. Some hang on despite the hardship, since there may be as many as five generations in a family who have summered there.

In spite of the many changes Carolyn has seen over the years, she still eagerly returns to Thompson’s Point each year. She so loves to see her children and grandchildren enjoying what is still so close to her heart and says, “One of the treasures of this place is that it is a place where children still roam free.”

Top photo: Carolyn Coleburn and Grace Tucker enjoy a lakeside moment together in the 1930s. Bottom photo: A rare glimpse of the Ticonderoga in her native environment, gliding past Thompson’s Point (c. 1930).

Pointcontinued from page 1

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In ‘The Hummingbird,’ Charlotte’s Stephen Kiernan creates an ambitious story out of a little-known WWII story

Brett SigurdsonTHE CHARLOTTE NEWS

In the darkness of a September 1942 morning, a single-engine plane launched from a Japanese submarine off the Oregon coast. The pilot flew through the first light of morning over damp Douglas firs and redwoods to a location outside the coastal town of Brookings, where he let drop two incendiary bombs on a mountainside. This attack on America failed to amount to much—one bomb failed to detonate, the other ignited a small blaze quickly extin-guished—and the story became lost in the lore of more prominent WWII events.

Exactly 20 years later, the pilot of that aircraft, Nobuo Fujita, returned to Brookings to make amends for his actions. He presented local officials with a samu-rai sword that had been in his family for 400 years, a sword that had accompanied him in the cockpit for the duration of the war.

“It is in the finest samu-rai tradition to pledge peace and friendship by presenting a sword to a former enemy,” he told the mayor and his son.

The gesture was meant to offer a form of healing to America, Oregon and Fujita, whose ashes were spread on the site of the bomb drop after his death. Yet some Brookings residents would continue to express a lin-gering resentment toward Fujita for years to come.

Something of Fujita’s story resonated with Charlotter Stephen Kiernan when he read about it in an essay by the writer Barry Lopez nearly a decade ago.

“That became a little obsession of mine,” said Kiernan, who used the account as inspiration for part of the rich narrative tapestry he weaves in his upcoming novel, “The Hummingbird,” set for publication by HarperCollins Sept. 8.

The novel centers on Deborah Birch, a hospice nurse whose husband, Michael, exhibits signs of post-traumatic stress dis-

order after returning from his third deploy-ment to Iraq. The fog of war also informs Deborah’s relationship with a bitter WWII scholar and former professor, Barclay Reed, who is dying of kidney cancer at her hospice center. As part of Reed’s dying wish, he asks Deborah to read aloud his unpublished book on Ichiro Soga, a Japanese pilot inspired by Fujita, who comes to atone for his actions in the Pacific Theater. Each of their stories intertwines to create a novel that, accord-ing to writer Mary Morris “teaches us that surrender is a part of love, and that giving away our weapons is the first step to peace.”

Weaving these disparate story lines into a cohesive whole is an ambitious move for anyone’s second novel, yet Kiernan was up for it, having written in four distinct character voices in his debut novel, “The Curiosity” (2013).

“I felt almost like I was writing a play,” he said, adding “It was enormous fun. It takes your whole brain.”

That’s why his West Charlotte neigh-bors would often see him on runs to clear his mind. On his return he’d begin writing straight away, his desk now stained from sweat dripping from his brow.

Kiernan worked just as hard conduct-ing research for “The Hummingbird.” A for-mer journalist, Kiernan explained he relishes the experience of chasing down sources to inform his narrative. But, more than anything, he wants to use research to make his fictional situations believable.

“Sometimes you just gotta go and see,” said Kiernan. “With The Hummingbird, there

was a lot of ‘go and see.’”Part of this approach involved tak-

ing multiple trips to the Oregon coast and Brookings so he could experience the landscape and explore an archive of Nubuo Fujita at the town’s library, where his samurai sword is still displayed.

Part of it also involved taking an almost method-actor approach to learning even the smallest detail for his story. Kiernan worked with his friend Justin Cronin, a writer and gun enthusiast, to learn how a

gun hol-

ster would look and feel getting into a car so it would seem authentic when a character did it. His friend David Halsey, a surgeon and certified pilot in Shelburne, owns flight simulation equipment that Kiernan used to experience how a Cessna would pull off a dangerous maneuver in the novel.

“Sometimes you can write a more dra-matic scenes if you know how something works,” he said.

Kiernan also received help from two former Charlotters. Serendipitously, Kiernan met Bonnie Ayer at a local book group event for “The Curiosity.” When Kiernan mentioned he was wrestling with a scene involving firearms, she told him her husband, Russ, had military weap-ons experience. Soon after, Kiernan and Russell traveled to LaBerge’s shooting range on Lime Kiln Road, where Kiernan shot a sniper rifle with 600-yard range.

“I believe I was a really pathetic shot, but Russ was doing his best to have me think otherwise,” he said.

Bonnie Ayer was also immensely help-ful, Kiernan added, as she offered her experience as the wife of a service man. “She was incredibly candid and coura-geous with me,” he said.

One area Kiernan didn’t have to do as much research was on the world of hospice and end-of-life care, subjects he covered in depth in his celebrated nonfic-tion book “Last Rights: Rescuing the End of Life from the Medical System” (2007). Indeed, the character Deborah Birch dis-cusses the lessons she learned from stories that Kiernan gleaned for “Last Rights.”

“Literally thousands of people have told me the story of their loved one’s demise,” he said. “Some of those stories are beautiful and poetic, but many of those stories are unjust—full of avoidable suf-fering. It draws on that experience and the values I hold about dignity for people at

the end of their lives. These are elements of the story.”

For Kiernan, Deborah Birch represents healing and compassion, qualities she uses to soothe Michael and Barclay Reed. They are also qualities Kiernan sees as necessary for America today—a notion that inspired him to write “The Hummingbird.”

“In my view, our nation experienced a trauma on 9-11 from which it has not healed,” he said. “If I wanted to write a novel about today it needed a character in the same state of the country.”

Kiernan is quick to point out, though, that in “The Hummingbird” he is less focused on making a statement and more concerned with telling a simple story about a husband and wife. Yet, Kiernan hopes readers of “The Hummingbird” will see a broader conversation about a coun-try that’s still finding its way to a kind of healing that Nobuo Fujita found long ago.

“The etymology of ‘compassion’ is to ‘suffer with’ and that’s what she does,” said Kieran of Deborah. “I think there is compassion in everything I’ve written, but in this book it’s overt. It’s about how do we help a war hero become a man of peace? How do we as a warrior nation become a people of peace? This kind of cultural conversation is not on the lips of many.”

Kiernan hopes to build his own sense of community with readers on his upcoming 26-date, cross-country book tour, com-plete with a T-shirt cannon and flying candy. The tour will be bookended by local readings: the launch is scheduled for Sept. 8 at Phoenix Books in Burlington beginning at 7 p.m. The tour closes Oct. 21 at Shelburne Town Hall beginning at 6:30 p.m. The final event is sponsored by the Flying Pig Bookstore.

Visit stephenpkiernan.com for more on Stephen Kiernan and “The Hummingbird.”

Healing the past in novel form

Stephen Kiernan will start a nation-wide book tour on September 8 at Phoenix Books in Burlington. Photo: Courtesy


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Deadlines work! With only a few weeks before Sept. 7, when Local Motion’s Bike Ferry reduces its operations to Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I seized a recent sunny day to ride the Island Line Trail with a friend.

We started in Burlington’s New North End where there is plenty of on-street parking. Many roads that intersect North Avenue terminate at or near the bike path. Pack a lunch, water and sunscreen and start pedaling north.

The Burlington Bike Path is quite shady—unusual for local riding. A short bridge crosses the Winooski River at its mouth and delivered us to a raised path-way through Delta Park. One of several green spaces that constitute the Winooski Valley Park District (wvpd.org), the park is a river delta with vestiges of sandy shore and sand dunes like those that once lined Lake Champlain’s shore. The marsh supports trees that thrive despite roots that are seasonally under water. Even at bike speed it’s possible to see stumps gnawed by beavers and, late in the season, white pompons of buttonbush. Park your bike at the north end of the park and walk a few

steps behind the wooden barrier. Fencing protects vestigial sand dunes where the endangered beach pea grows—its vines resemble garden peas.

Follow signs through a residential neighborhood to Airport Park where the bike route turns left and onto the old bed of the Rutland Railroad. The gravel path is straight and flat through Colchester Bog and onto the white marble chunks that support the causeway. Sailboats, motorboats, paddleboards and jet skis weave back and forth on the open water. Suddenly the Cut and open water lie ahead. Once an iron bridge carrying trains swiveled over this gap; today the bike ferry makes the five-minute journey back and forth throughout the day, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Round-trip ticket for a passenger with a bike is $8.

The route continues over pot-holes-a-plenty until it reaches the paved Martin Road. A well-marked right turn soon leads to a left turn onto South Street. In about a mile Allenholm Farm (allenholm.com) beckons on the right with maple creemees, lunch fare, bike racks, picnic tables (including one in the

shade), a petting zoo with cows, goats, sheep, chickens and more, as well as portalets. Allenholm is a great turnaround point for a 20-mile outing from northern Burlington. From downtown add about 10 miles round-trip, and from Oakledge Park, where there is a fee to park, the round trip to Allenholm Farm is about 33 miles.

Not ready to turn around, we continued on South Street to Route 2. Turning left, or north, we pedaled a short distance to Sunset View Road. Route 2 has a gen-erous shoulder but there can be lots of fast-moving traffic, not my idea of pleas-ant. Sunset View will test your low gears, lungs and leg muscles on a short but steep uphill. The reward is a beautiful vista of farmland, lake and distant Adirondack Mountains—and a great downhill on smooth pavement.

Another left turn onto West Shore Road, which is well-maintained dirt, leads to several miles of bucolic lakeside scen-ery: grazing sheep, flocks of chickens, bounteous vegetable gardens, fruit trees, flower gardens and two miniature stone

castles. Built by Harry Barber, a native of Switzerland, the stone castles were among dozens of stone structures he built on the island between the late 1920s and his death in 1966. The first you will pass is just before Snow Farm Vineyard, on the left side of the road beside a house. The second is on the right or water side of the road, at Crescent Bay Farm Bed and Breakfast where Barber once lived and worked. Complete with a moat and decorative planters, the latter commands a spectacular view past a flower garden to the lake. The road jogs around White’s Beach. Across the road hundreds of paint-ed birdhouses dot the woods. Among them you may also see a dinosaur munch-ing grass—or whatever dinosaurs eat. The road climbs gently back to South Street. Then a right turn and a long gentle down-hill past a farm that raises pheasants and chukkars in huge outdoor pens. One more right turn, well signed, onto Martin Road and back over the potholes to the ferry.

A day well spent!

A pedaling day on the Island Line Trail

Built by Harry Barber, a native of Switzerland, the stone castles were among doz-ens of stone structures he built on the island between the late 1920s and his death in 1966. Photos: ElizabEth bassEtt

Education12 • August 27, 2015 • the ChArlotte News

Board’s Corner An update from CCS

The

YWP is back!

The Charlotte News whole-heartedly supports the work of the Young Writers Project, a fellow nonprofit engaged in the art of textual expression, and hopes you do, too.

We welcome submissions from young writers to our publication and look forward to featuring local Charlotters involved in YWP.

To engage in the process of writing

takes time and patience. Exposing your-self to criticism and feedback takes humil-ity and courage. To all of the young folk out there pursuing “the craft,” we tip our hats to you. Write on!

Here are tHe first four writing cHallenges of 2015-2016:

Week 1. General. Share your best writ-ing of any category (including images, sound, digital stories) from the summer. Due September 4.

Week 2. Mentor: Who has influenced and encouraged you most in your life—in or out of school? Why has this person been so powerful for you? Alternate: Bookshop photo (below)—Write a story based on the photo “Recursive Bookshop” by Alexandre Duret-Lutz. (Creative Commons license. Must be linked and attributed.) Due Sept. 11.

Week 3. Self-portrait: Tell a story that you think shows your essence, your most important trait(s). You can write or use visual media or sound. Or a combination. Alternate: Sound-Engine: Go to this link (youngwritersproject.org/node/168) and write the story you hear, or use the clip and add more sound to create a sound story or soundscape. Due Sept. 18.

Week 4. Impressions: Has your first impression ever been totally wrong about someone or something? Tell a story about a first impression that was wrong OR how someone had the wrong impression

of you. How did it turn out? Alternate: Nuclear photo (above)—Write about this photo by David Blackwell, Morning Glory. (Creative Commons license must be linked and attributed.) Due Sept. 25.

want to be more involved in YwP?

Adults can contribute time as men-tors, artists, volunteers and teachers. For more details go to

youngwritersproject.org/about.

Kristin WrightCONTRIBUTOR

The Charlotte School Board and new administrators Barbara Anne Komons-Montroll and Stephanie Sumner met over the summer and continue to work to align staffing with student needs and changing enrollment.

The board approved adding a full-time behavioral systems and response coordi-nator at a special meeting held on August 14, 2015. The administration provided the board at an earlier meeting with the rationale for the proposal. This rationale included the need to support positive and safe behavior for all students at CCS, a desire to increase proactive rather than reactive approaches to improved positive

school climate, the need for specialized support and assistance to teachers and teams for students with greater behavioral challenges, and the goal of preserving and increasing preventative instruction and measures for all students to support positive student behavior.

Currently, CCS has a planning room facilitator, Mike DiNicola, who serves as the primary responder to all behavioral referrals and calls for support. He also investigates all behavioral incidences, col-laboratively develops behavioral support plans with students, collects and inputs behavioral referral data, and provides classroom instruction regarding school-wide expectations regarding behavioral expectations. At Hinesburg Community School, the closest school in terms of school population in Chittenden South Supervisory Union, there are two full-time behavior specialists serving students. At Hinesburg, as in all other CSSU K-8 schools, there is also a school social work-er on staff.

The new behavioral systems and response coordinator will coordinate multi-tiered behavioral systems, build capacity of all faculty and staff mem-bers to be pro-active regarding behav-ioral expectations, and

streamline the system for accessing and tracking planning-room supports. This person will ensure that the collection and analysis of student behavior data accurately measures the effectiveness of the system and will facilitate regular behavioral data meetings to communicate progress and identify areas in need of growth. The coordinator will also design and manage behavioral-support plans for students with more challenging behavioral needs and assist with the investigations of complex student interactions, such as bullying and harassment. The coordinator will assist with Positive Behavior Systems targeted level implementation, putting in place a team-based system of behavioral support, and the application of Functional Behavioral Assessments.

The administration plans to pay for this position through a number of budget savings. First, Spanish teacher Laura Hall resigned, and the new Spanish teacher will be hired to work one and one-quarter days rather than two full days, for a savings of approximately $9,000. Second, funds allocated for professional development to support positive behavior systems can be used to support this position, with the expectation that the professional develop-

ment will be delivered by the coordinator rather than an outside consultant, saving $18,000. Finally, an additional $18,000 budgeted for Common Core materials is not needed for the upcoming year. The total identified to pay for this new position is $45,000.

The CCS administrators are busy inter-viewing candidates for the open Spanish position and for an open music position, as Jenny Cianciola resigned as gener-al music and choral teacher earlier this month.

A future School Board meeting will include a presentation from the admin-istration regarding student behavior. As always, the board welcomes questions and input from community members and encourages attendance at our monthly meetings. The board’s next meeting is on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. at CVU. Agendas and other meeting materials will be available on the school website before the meeting.

The new administrative team hosted a meet and greet on August 24. Future events will be scheduled to allow the com-munity to get to know our new principals.

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News From CVUby Susan Grasso

This year, CVU is excited to welcome Adam Bunting to the position of principal. A Shelburne native, Mr. Bunting gradu-ated from CVU in 1994 and is a gradu-ate of Connecticut College and Harvard University where he majored in English and school leadership, respectively.

School Board: Tell us a little bit about your background. How will it inform your decision-making at CVU?

Adam Bunting: When I was in fifth grade, my mother had the idea that it would be healthy for her two sons—recently transplanted from Washington, D.C. to Vermont—to attend a camp called Flying Cloud. No electricity. No running water. No candy. Moccasins optional. Needless to say, it took time to warm up to what sounded more like a punishment than a summer camp. Twenty-eight years later, I point to that camp as one of the foundational experiences of my life. In Flying Cloud I discovered the feeling of community. I felt what it meant to con-tribute, to be one part of a larger whole, to be valued—not for my sameness—but for my individual strengths. My work as a principal and as a teacher were born from a question that began to articulate itself in my mind that summer: How do we create communities that honor difference but move in the common rhythm of shared values?

Decision-making in the context of dis-covering, building and sharing values is one of the most fun (and complex) parts of the job of being a principal. To make value-based decisions forces us to active-ly listen, try on new perspectives, contem-plate beliefs and remember the ideals that drive our community. When done right, the process becomes as important as the outcome, and the larger community feels a sense of ownership of the work.

SB: Regarding your most recent work as principal at Montpelier High

School, what are you most proud of? Is there anything from that experience that you would like to bring to CVU?

AB: We did a lot at MHS in a short period of time. We developed graduation standards, created flex-ible path-ways, moved to block scheduling, implement-ed recess, explored standards based learn-ing, cleaned up the school and played mucho kick-ball. I would love to see the CVU community embrace a more nimble and flexible culture. We know that our brains learn best when we manage a balance between focused and playful. I would like to see us maintain that balance here.

SB: What are your priorities for the coming school year?

AB: At the beginning of the summer, I asked our faculty, staff and administrators to speak to what they valued most about CVU. One clear theme emerged in almost every discussion: the power of relation-ships. To maximize learning and teaching, we need to trust and to know one another well. The teacher must know a student’s strengths, interests, challenges, personal-

ity, learning profiles, etc. A student must know that they are safe, guided purpose-fully, cared for, valued, etc. The heart of the initiatives we embrace this year will be to improve our ability to accomplish the above.

SB: What do you see as some of the challenges and oppor-tunities that are unique or particularly important to the CVU community?

AB: As with any community, our defining characteris-tic tends to be both our strength and challenge. CVU has long been associat-ed with a cul-ture of excel-lence. The upside of this culture is that we have high expectations for all of our

students. Students feel valued and rise to these expectations as a result. The downside to this culture

only became apparent to me when I became a principal at MHS. I have a vivid memory of watching the school play and noticing that the cast consisted of soccer players, cross country runners and young women from the field hockey team. The students were encouraged to take risks and involve themselves across a breadth of activities. At CVU, students tend to specialize more and to pursue depth in one area. I worry that our culture of excellence can conflict with a culture of healthy risk taking.

SB: CVU’s influence goes beyond those who have daily contact with the school. What message would you like to send out to all residents of the sending towns?

AB: Schools can’t function in isolation of the larger community. Our work—mine and yours—is to develop our future neighbors (and our future workforce). Let us know if you have opportunities for our students to explore.

————

CVU SChool Board CommUniCationS Committee

Lia Cravedi, School Board Director, Hinesburg, [email protected]

Susan Grasso, Community Member, Shelburne, [email protected]

Kim Schmitt, School Board Director, Shelburne, [email protected]

Getting to know new CVU Principal Adam Bunting

Adam Bunting was recently hired as the new principal at CVU.


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Kerrie PugheCONTRIBUTOR

Thank youSixteen families visited the Food Shelf

during our last distribution. We distributed fresh string beans, tomatoes and squash from Ten Stones along with vegetables generously and anonymously left at our door. The Charlotte Congregational Church garden is producing beautiful carrots, beets, Swiss chard, basil and cucumbers for the Food Shelf. And thank you in advance to the Charlotte Library for supplying produce from the library garden for the August 26 and 27 distribution.

We would like to thank all community members who have been leaving kids snacks and donations such as personal hygiene items at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Charlotte Congregational Church and Charlotte Library drop-off locations. Thank you for the support from Trude Gecewicz Jordan, Charlotte Congregational Church and Charlotte COOP. A special thank you to the Charlotte-Shelburne-Hinesburg Rotary Club for the donations from the table at the Shelburne Farmers Market. Thank you to the outgoing Rotary treasurer Russell M. Blodgett and wel-come to the incoming treasurer William Root.

A big thank you to Shelburne Supermarket for the last donation under Sara Clayton’s man-agement—thank you, Sara, for the many years of support.

Fresh veggiesKeep those fresh veggies coming from your

wonderful gardens. The best time to donate fresh food is the Wednesday of our distribution weeks. You may leave your donations right on the steps outside the Food Shelf door if it is locked. See the distribution dates in this paper.

Wish LisTWe need snacks for kids such as raisins,

Goldfish, rice cakes, peanut butter, crackers and pretzels.

Looking For voLunTeersWe are still in need of additional volunteers—

will you help us? We need substitutes to help us with the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning food distributions. Please call Nancy at 425-6116 if you can help.

Donated food drop-off locations: All nonper-ishable food donations may be dropped off at the Charlotte Library, the Charlotte Congregational Church Vestry, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church (main entrance) or at the Food Shelf during the distribution mornings. We request that all fresh foods be dropped off at the Food Shelf by 7:30 a.m. on the Thursday distribution mornings or before the Wednesday distribution hours.

The Charlotte Food Shelf is located on the lower level of the Charlotte Congregational Church vestry. Distribution days/times are posted in this newspaper and on the bulletin board in the Charlotte Congregational Church Hall. You may also call the Food Shelf number (425-3252) for a recording of the distribution times. We are open to all community residents. Privacy is very important and respected in our mission of neigh-bor helping neighbor.

For emergency food call John 425-3130.For emergency assistance (electricity, fuel)

call Cindi at 425-3234.For more information call Karen at 425-3252

or visit our website at sites.google.com/site/char-lottefoodshelfvt/.

Margaret WoodruffCONTRIBUTOR

REVISED SCHEDULE FOR VERMONT READS: “Charlotte & the Sea of Stories” brings the magic of Haroun’s sto-rytelling to our own town.

Thursday, Sept. 17, 3:15 p.m. Delve into Haroun’s adventures and learn about his world.

Thursday, Sept. 24, 3:15 p.m. How to tell a Charlotte story? Local historian Jenny Cole and newspaper editor Alex Bunten share the secrets.

Thursday, Oct. 1, 3:15 p.m. Put your Charlotte story together in word and action.

Saturday, Oct. 3, 10 a.m. Join us at the Shelburne Museum, first Tuckaway General Store to set the scene & then in the museum classroom to present our tales.

SEPTEMBER IS LIBRARY CARD SIGN-UP MONTH! We are celebrating library cards in September. If you don’t have a library card, stop by and get one and enter your name in our library gift raffle. As Snoopy, the Library Card Month spokesdog, says “What’s cooler than being cool? Having your library card.” If you already have a card, you can still stop in to take part in our library-card gift raffle. Simply select your choice from our dis-play and enter to win.

Wednesday Sept. 2, 5:30 p.m. Library Knitters.

Thursday, Sept. 3, 7 p.m. “Howard’s End” Movie Showing. You’ve read the book, now see the movie!

Monday, Sept. 14, 10 a.m. Mystery Book Group. Join us for discus-sion about “Cover Her Face,” P.D. James’ first mys-tery. Copies avail-

able at the circulation desk and refreshments served during our conversation.

Wednesday, Sept. 16, 7 p.m. Vermont Archaeology Month Event: Forest Service Heritage in the Green Mountains. Tim Watkins, the new forest archae-ologist with the Green Mountain National Forest, provides a brief history of the GMNF and an over-view of the Heritage Resources Program. He shares artifacts and anecdotes from the “Native Americans—Abenaki, Mohican and their ancient ancestors—[who] have been in Vermont for at least 10,000 years.” Co-sponsored with the Charlotte Historical Society.

LIBRARY BOARD Next Meeting: Sept. 10, 6 p.m.

Food Shelf News

Sports

Back in My Day

Editor’s note: The selections from our archives below are reproduced exactly as they appeared in The Charlotte News at the time of publica-tion. Do you remember these events? Share your stories with us from back in your day! Get in touch on Facebook or email us at [email protected].

August 1, 1958, Vol. 1, No. 2

Fire!!!Wednesday evening fire hit Roger

Hingsland’s car. Origin: leak in gas tank. A total loss. The fire truck and 50 odd people rushed to the scene.

Youth on the GoThe Youth Group held another dance

at the Vestry July 18th. We had a great turn out, but are expecting even more people at the dance this Friday evening. There are at these parties a wide variety of music, plenty of free refreshments,

and lots of fun for everyone.Last Sunday the Youth Group had

a picnic at the J.S. Williams camp at Flatrock. There were between 35 and 40 kids present. Swinging and lively games were enjoyed while it was still daylight. For dinner we consumed a good number of hot dogs, potatoes chips, and soft drinks. After darkness fell we all joined in a pleasant “sing” around the campfire.

“The Word of God” is the topic that will be discussed at the Youth Group meeting on August 3. The discussion will be led by Chad Hart, Joan Jacob, Sally Root, and Jonathan Foote. The true meaning of “the Word of God” and its significance will be two of the emphasized points.

On August 10 the discussion will be on “Alcohol and People.” Leading this talk will be Nancy Wood, Chick Dike, Mike Moore, and Gary Root. The rea-sons and results of drinking will be the main points.


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Edd MerrittSports Roundup

Josephs lead Vermont into tennis championships

CVU sisters Kathy and Stephanie Joseph who helped the Redhawks take state titles for the last few years now have led the 802 Tennis Academy team to become the U.S. Tennis Association’s New England sec-tional champion. Their victory earned the team an invitation to the Junior Team Tennis Nationals to be played in South Carolina in late October. This year’s Vermont team competed in the 18-advanced division. They beat teams from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut on the University of Massachusetts’ courts.

Flo Meilor sets a world record

Eighty-one years old and still going strong, Shelburne’s Flo Meilor appeared

in The New York Times on Aug. 16 after setting a world record for her age group in the heptathlon at the World Masters Athletic Championships in Lyon, France. The masters level takes athletes 35 years

and older, puts them into age groups and has them compete in heptathlon events over a two-day span. In the 81-84 age group, Flo competed in seven events including hurdles, 200- and 800-meter runs, javelin, high jump and shot put. She was quoted in The Times saying she came to Lyon because she had been “wondering if there was something more to an ath-letic career.” She has been photographing senior ath-

letes for the last eight years, “curious at first to understand what motivated older athletes, and then intrigued by the com-petitive spirit I saw.” Flo is a visitor to the Charlotte Senior Center and showed off her pole-vaulting skills at a Town Party several years ago, clearing the bar at near 10 feet behind the Fire Station.

Youth ProgrAmmiNg

Soccer—The Charlotte recreation department welcomes pre-K through 8th grade to participate in our fun-filled soc-cer program. The late registration fee is $65. If your athlete already has a Charlotte Rec T-shirt (RED with white “C”) you can subtract $5. The 6th–8th graders can sign up after the Charlotte Central School team tryouts without a late fee and may deduct $25. The season will start Saturday, Sept. 5, and end Saturday, Oct. 10.

Pre-K—will meet on Saturday morn-ings.

Kindergarten—will practice and play games on Saturday mornings.

1st–2nd grade teams—will practice once a week with games on Saturday mornings.

3rd–6th grade teams—will practice twice a week with games on Saturday mornings.

The practices for the teams will be set by the coaches based on their availability. The registration deadline is Wednesday, Sept. 2, and no registrations will be accept-ed after this date.

———Mark your calendars! This year’s

Charlotte Soccer Jamboree will be held on Saturday, Sept. 26.

———Piano Lessons—After-school piano les-

sons will be taught by Lauren Dabkowski

on Tuesdays and veteran music teacher Mary Beth Bowman on Wednesdays. The fall semester runs from Tuesday, Sept. 15, through Thursday, Dec. 16.

Time Slots: (1) 3–3:45p.m. (2) 3:45–4:30p.m. (3) 4:30p.m.–5:15p.m (4) 5:15–6p.m.

Cost: $187 group lesson package—$17 per lesson with a total of 11 lessons or

$286 semi-private lesson package—$26 per lesson with a total of 11 lessons.

Note: If students need to miss a lesson, there will be no make-ups.

Payment is due Monday, Sept. 14. ———

Driver’s Ed—We have filled our fall driver’s education program and have many students on our waiting list. We look forward to offering the program again next summer!

Adult ProgrAmmiNg

Pickle Ball at the BeachMondays: 6–8 p.m.Thursdays: 5–8 p.m.Location: Charlotte Beach

———Mat Pilates Start date: Friday, Sept. 4Fridays: 6–7 a.m.Location: Charlotte Central SchoolCost: $8 per class

———Early Morning Boot Camp Start date: Tuesday, Sept. 8Days: Tuesdays and Thursdays Time: 6–7 a.m.Location: Charlotte Central SchoolCost: $10 per class Please Note: Additional information

and registration forms can be found on our town website at charlottevt.org under the ‘Recreation’ tab or contact Nicole Conley by email [email protected] or by phone 425-6129 ext.204.

• Walls • Walks • Patios • Custom Floors • Showers • Etc.• Manufactured and Natural Stone• Brick • Block • Ceramic • Slate • Quarry

Plumbing & Water Conditioning Service

Hinesburg, VT 482-3678

Mason Associates Educational Consultants

P.O. Box 592687 Greenbush RdCharlotte, VT 05445Phone: 802-425-7600Cell: [email protected]

Benjamin Mason, MEd, CEP

RVG Electrical Services, LLC3317 Bristol Road, Bristol, VT 05443

Rick GomezMaster Electrician

for over 25 years

[email protected] rvgelectric.com

Phone: 802-453-3245Cell: 802-233-9462

[email protected] rvgelectric.com

Business Directory

4281 Shelburne Rd.P.O. Box 476

Shelburne, VT 05482

Office: 985-2453Fax: [email protected]

[email protected]


by Mary Recchia, Activities Coordinator

Charlotte Senior Center The Café Menu

Wednesday, aug. 26The other taco saladHomemade dessert

Monday, aug. 31Pasta salad with veggies and greensBlueberry zucchini bars

Wednesday, sepT. 2Hot dogsPotato salad and watermelon saladBirthday cake and ice cream

Monday, sepT. 7Center closed for Labor Day

Wednesday, sepT. 9Thai chicken salad with peanut dressingHomemade dessert

Senior Luncheons are held every Wednesday at noon. Reservations are necessary in advance and can be made by calling the Senior Center at 425-6345. Our Monday lunch is served beginning at 11:30 a.m., and reservations are not required. A $4 donation is requested.

Please look for the new fall program of activities as an insert in this issue of The Charlotte News. Below you will find a few highlights to kick off the fall season.

The French Conversation Group with Annette Zeff and Friends resumes on Wednesdays from 10:30–11:30 a.m., beginning Sept. 2. Challenge your brain! With an eye toward speaking and understanding the language better, this group comes together to “chat” about the week’s activities or interests with a goal of improving their fluency through listening and speaking. A fun, no-pressure way to meet some new folks, sharpen your mind and practice your French. Registration required. No fee.

A new session of Yang Tai Chi Chuan with John Creech begins on Thursdays from 10–11 a.m. Dates: Sept. 3, 10, 17, 24, Oct. 1 and 8. Yes, you can learn the true Yang Family style of Tai Chi famous for its myriad benefits to health and well-be-ing. The flowing movements and postures will increase flexibility, improve balance and strengthen core muscles. Practitioners cultivate a deeper sense of relaxation, increased energy level and a real sense of confidence and presence. John Creech has been studying and practicing tai chi for 10 years and invites you to come learn and practice together. Registration necessary. Fee: $42 per session.

Fitness for Every Body with Ginger Lambert has moved to Tuesdays from 9–9:45 a.m. Session One dates: Sept. 8, 15, 22, 29, Oct. 6 and 13. Want to be able to do your activities of daily living with

ease? Then this class is for you! Enjoy the class camaraderie, and increase strength, cardiovascular fitness, agility, balance and coordination. We use timed intervals and stations that incorporate body weight, dumbbells, kettle bells and more for a varied and never-boring workout. Each exercise can be modified for any level or ability. Join us, you have nothing to lose, and you will have fun while getting stronger! Registration required. Limit 10. Fee: $60.

Join Jim Lovejoy on Monday, Sept. 14, from 1–3 for a wonderful afternoon of Poetry Reading. Building on the fun and excitement that has developed with our Poem in Your Pocket readings over the years, this after-lunch poetry bonan-za provides a regular time for listening, reading, writing and sharing a love of language. No fee.

The first Fall Hike in the Champlain Valley with Marty Morrissey will be on Tuesday, Sept. 15, with the destination being a new section of the Long Trail in West Bolton. A full description of this trip and its degree of difficulty is available at the host desk. Please bring water, food and good hiking or walking shoes for departure from the Senior Center at 9 a.m.

Acrylic Painting–Loosen Up! will be the focus of an art class with Lynn Cummings on Tuesdays from 9:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Dates: September 15, 22 and 29. Sunflowers, colorful leaves and holi-day subjects are possible themes for this fall’s acrylic painting class. Bring a friend and have some fun exploring some of the

new acrylic fluids and inks. All levels welcome! Please make sure you receive the materials list at least a week prior to the first class by contacting Lynn at: [email protected]. Registration required. Fee: $72.

A colored pencil class with Elizabeth Llewellyn titled Vermont Fall and Winter Landscapes will be on held on Thursdays from 10–11:30 a.m. Dates: Sept. 17, 24, Oct. 1, 8, 15, 22. Come and join us as we capture the colors of our beautiful Vermont landscapes in colored pencil. Working from photos provided by the instructor, students will learn how to apply the most common colored-pencil techniques to reproduce vivid fall and subtle winter scenes. While geared for beginners, all levels of skill are welcome in this supportive class. Registration nec-essary. Limit 10. Fee: $100.

A collection of lectures, performances and special events that showcase the diverse interests of our community. Wednesdays beginning at 1 p.m. No reg-istration or fee.

Sept. 2: A Celebration of ArtPlease join the participating artists of

the 10th Annual Senior Center Art Show for a gala reception to view and discuss their work that will hang in the Great Room for the month of September.

Sept. 9: Survey Says...with Laurie Dana, United Way of Chittenden County

The United Way of Chittenden County is looking for “champions” to help with

the next phase of the survey work they began in the spring. They are sponsoring this small group discussion to hear from you about your ideas on how Chittenden County could better meet the unique needs of our residents as they age. They will also explore the results of the recent Healthy Aging Survey in more depth. Bring a friend!

Hills Point Lake Shore Nestled in a nicely landscaped private piece of property overlooking Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks is a comfortable, thoughtfully designed one-level home with expansion potential. This property has a three-season lake front porch for sunset viewing, a three-bedroom wing, fireplace in living room, hardwood floors, 2nd fireplace, workshop and ample storage in the lower level. $800,300

Linda H. SparksSenior Associate Broker

Four Seasons Sotheby’s International RealityT: 802-846-7860C: [email protected]

Summer Point, Ferrisburgh This turn-of-the-century Waterfront Cottage located on the shores of Lake Champlain is nearby the Basin Harbor Club, convenient for dining, golf, or tennis. Currently a seasonal property, the 3-bedroom cottage has an open floor plan with a vista of lake, mountains, and sunsets, well equipped kitchen, several sitting areas and a gas stove for those cool evenings. A unique lakeside flagstone patio includes stairs to the lake, dock and a special storage area. A separate and fun guest house is ideal for family gatherings. $799,000

Cedar Beach Lake ShoreWhat a perfect home from which to watch the sunrise over the lake and the boating activity in Converse Bay. Fish or swim off your dock in the summer, cross-country ski through the trails in the winter. This property is a unique 3-bedroom, 2-bath home with a fieldstone fireplace as a focal point. Perfect for year round or a weekend getaway. 280 feet of lake shore and 3.96 acres of land and a winding driveway ending at a little slice of heaven. $599,000

Boater’s ParadiseEnjoy the summer at Lane’s Lane in a comfortable 2 bed-room cottage with Lake Champlain as your playground. Water ski off your dock, take your boat out fishing, or go for a swim. The cottage has screened and enclosed porch-es. What fun to sit at the kitchen counter on diner stools or cozy up to the wood stove on a cool summer evening. The large side lawn is perfect for badminton or frisbee. Let your summer begin. $264,900

Chris von Trapp, REALTOR®

[email protected]

(802) 343-4591

www.ChrisvonTrapp.com

Energy-efficient home design coupled with 5

acres in a prime location, engineered for a 4 bedroom

septic.

$649,000 | MLS# 4433626

Perfect Build Package

You can’t imagine how cool this summer get away is until you

experience it. Great room, see-through screened porch roof,

”Gnome” camp.

$549,000 | MLS# 4426005

3 Cottages + 2 Lots = Priceless

Minutes from Basin Harbor Club and the Lake Champlain

Maritime Museum, this Lakeside home has the

privacy that others dream of.

$1,275,000 | MLS# 4420886

Fantastic Home on 2.8 Acres

5 acre parcel located on VT Route 7 offers a great

opportunity to build an in-home business along VT’s most

traveled highway!

$69,000 | MLS# 4441491

Rt 7 Business Building Lot

Jane Kiley, REALTOR®

Your Right Choice in Any Market

Call/text (802) 343-9980

JaneKileyRealEstate.com

[email protected]

Cider Mill Colonial Offered At$525,000 So. Burlington

This is the home you have been waiting for! Well appointed 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom home with a bright and open floor plan. Hardwood and tile flooring on first level, 9’ ceilings, chef ’s kitchen with center island, large master suite, finished basement with 3⁄4 bathroom. 3 car garage!

MLS# 4431692

...................................................

STAYCATION!!

Right here in town. Invest in a camp where you can enjoy the entire summer rather than rushing off for just two weeks. Move right in and enjoy life on the lake while still going off to work during the day. 3 bedroom camp, LR with fireplace, 4 season porch. Totally insulated with heat to extend your time on the lake. Large garage for boat storage etc. $379,000

Dottie [email protected]

RealEstate


CALL LEANNE802-233-4013

CHARLOTTE$350,000

Lovely contemporary nestled in con-served woods bordering Mt. Philo. This custom built home was designed to take in the sunshine and gorgeous view. Fresh paint inside and out. New siding, windows and sliding doors on front and sides of house. Open floor plan, large walk in kitchen pantry and master bedroom closet are just a few of the great features in this home.


Community EventsCharlotte Meetings

August 27–September 10

Selectboard: August 27, 4 p.m.Planning Commission: September 3, 7 p.m.CCS School Board: NoneCVU School Board: NoneZoning Board: September 9, 7:45 p.m.Conservation Commission: None

Meeting times are subject to change. Check the town website for more info: charlottevt.org

have your say

| Selectboard MeMberS | Chair, Lane Morrison, 425-2495 Matthew Krasnow, 922-2153Carrie Spear, 425-4444Jacob Spell, 425-6548Fritz Tegatz, 425-5564

Selectboard Regular Meetings are usually at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. If you would like to bring an issue to the attention of the Selectboard, contact the board chair or admin-istrator Dean Bloch at 425-3071, ext. 205.

| ccS School board |Chair, Mark McDermott, 425-4860Vice Chair Erik Beal, 425-2140 Kristin Wright, 425-5105Clyde Baldwin, 425-3366Susan Nostrand, 425-4999

| cVU School board-charlotte |Lorna Jimerson, [email protected] Richardson, [email protected]

| Planning coMMiSSion |Administrator, Jeannine McCrumb,425-3071; [email protected], Jeffrey McDonald, 425-4429 Vice Chair, Peter JoslinMembers: Gerald Bouchard, Paul Landler, Charlie Pughe, Donna Stearns, Marty Illick

| Vt goVernMent |vt senate (Chittenden distriCt)Tim Ashe, D/P-Burlington, 318-0903, [email protected] Baruth, D-Burlington, 503-5266, [email protected] “Ginny” Lyons, D-Williston, 863-6129, [email protected] Sirotkin, D-South Burlington, 999-4360, [email protected] Snelling, R-Hinesburg, 482-4382, [email protected] Zuckerman, P/D/W-Hinesburg, 598-1986, [email protected]

verMont house

Mike Yantachka, D-Charlotte, 425-3960, [email protected]

| U.S. goVernMent |u.s. senators

Patrick Leahy, 863-2525, leahy.senate.govBernie Sanders, 862-0697, sanders.senate.gov

us CongressMan

Peter Welch, 652-2450, welch.house.gov

Calendar Compiled by ruah Swennerfelt

Send your eventS to [email protected]

with event in the SubjeCt line.

Regular Church Services

SATURDAYSSt. Jude Catholic Church, Mass,

Hinesburg, 4:30 p.m.

SUNDAYSCommunity Alliance Church,

Hinesburg, Gathering Place, 9 a.m.,

Sunday School, 9 a.m., Worship, 10:15

a.m. Information: 482-2132.

Charlotte Congregational Church,

Worship, 10 a.m., Sunday School, 10

a.m. Information: 425-3176.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Mass, 8

a.m. and 11 a.m. Information: 425-2637.

St. Jude Catholic Church, Mass,

Hinesburg, 9:30 a.m. Information: 482-

2290.

North Ferrisburgh United Methodist

Church, Hollow Road, Worship, 10 a.m.,

Sunday School, 9:45 a.m. Information:

425-2770.

Cross Roads Chapel, Ferrisburgh

Ctr., Rt. 7, Sunday Worship 10 a.m.

Information: 425-3625.

Assembly of God Christian Center,

Routes 7 and 22A, Ferrisburgh, Sunday

worship, 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., Sunday

School, 9 a.m. Information: 877-3903.

All Souls Interfaith Gathering, 291

Bostwick Farm Road, Shelburne, Sunday

Service 9 a.m., Evensong Service 5 p.m.

985-3819

Trinity Episcopal Church, 5171

Shelburne Rd., Shelburne, 8:00 a.m.

Holy Eucharist, 9:15–10:15 a.m. “Space

for Grace” (educational hour), 10:30

a.m. Holy Eucharist (with child care and

Sunday School). 985-2269.

loCal events or events Featuring

a Charlotter

august 27thurSday

CONCERT: Paige Thibault, 14, will perform her first “real gig” at Radio Bean from 7–8 p.m. She will be performing an hour-long set of her original songs, singing and playing the piano. 8 North Winooski Ave., Burlington. Info: radiobean.com.

EXHIBIT: Art, farm, history—a new exhibit at Rokeby Museum, 4334 Route 7, Ferrisburgh. The Farm: The Drawings of Rowland Evans Robinson, 1850-1880 features nearly 40 pictures of farm life 150 years ago. The Farm will be on view until Oct. 25, 2015. Info: rokeby.org or 802-822-3406.

august 29 Saturday

PICK YOUR OWN: Shelburne Orchards’ early apples are ready—Paula Reds and Ginger Golds. From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday at 216 Orchard Rd. Info: shelburneorchards.com.

EVENT: 34th Annual Vergennes Day to Celebrate Vermont’s Little City. On the Friday evening before, the event kicks off with a street dance in City Park from 7–10 p.m. Activities on Saturday are between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. and culminate with a lighting of the Otter Creek Falls. Info: vergennesday.com.

septeMber 2 wedneSday

EVENT: Apple pies again available at Charlotte Congregational Church, Church Hill Road. Delicious apple pies for sale from 4–6 p.m. Isn’t it great that some things stay the same? Apple pies at our church have not changed. Yummy crust and Vermont apples, tiny bit of sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Info: Martha Perkins, [email protected].

BLOOD DRIVE: American Red Cross will host a blood drive from noon–5:30 p.m., Shelburne Town Center, 5420 Shelburne Road. Info: redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

septeMber 4 friday

EVENT: Apple pies again available at Charlotte Congregational Church, Church Hill Road. Delicious apple pies for sale 4 - 6 p.m. Info: Martha Perkins, [email protected].

septeMber 5 Saturday

FUNDRAISING: Lila, 12, and Gabriel Taylor, 9, will host a bake sale on the corner of Lake and Thompson’s Point roads. They are raising money for the Friends of Northern Lake Champlain, 1–3 p.m. Help them toward their goal of $500

by stopping by and buying one of their delicious triple chocolate chip cookies.

BEER: Vermont Heritage Brew Festival at Shelburne Museum. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.; first pour 6 p.m. Tickets are $55; $35 for members of Shelburne Museum and Vermont Folklife Center. Info: eventbrite.com/e/vermont-heritage-brew-festival-tickets-17672118783. Proceeds support Vermont Folklife Center and Shelburne Museum. The first 500 Vermont resident ticket purchasers will receive a commemorative sample glass.

septeMber 8 tueSday

BOOK TOUR: Stephen Kiernan starts a national book tour at Phoenix Books in Burlington at 7 p.m. to promote “The Hummingbird.” There will be readings, a T-shirt cannon and flying candy. Info: stephenpkiernan.com

septeMber 9 wedneSday

EVENT: The United Way will host a discussion at the Charlotte Senior Center from 1–2:30 p.m. and invites residents aged 60 and over to discuss their ideas about how Chittenden County could better meet the unique needs of residents as they age. They will also explore the results of the recent Healthy Aging Survey in more depth. Info: goo.gl/kn5Qog.

septeMber 11 friday

EDITOR’S PICK—FUNDRAISER: The 5th annual Latin Music & Dance Party will take place at the Shelburne Farms Coach Barn on Friday, Sept. 11, 7–11 p.m. This fundraiser will benefit the Hands to Honduras–Tela project, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit under construction at the Tela Hospital. Info: facebook.com/handstohondurastela

septeMber 12 Saturday

BIKE RIDE: The Kelly Brush Century Ride powered by VBT Bicycling and Walking Vacations celebrates 10 years of cyclists supporting the Kelly Brush Foundation’s mission to empower those living with paralysis through sport and recreation and to improve ski racing safety. The ride is in Middlebury. Info: kellybrushfoundation.org.

volunteer spotlightSeptember is Vermont River Cleanup Month. You can help improve the streams and rivers of Vermont! Volunteers are needed for events throughout the month. Info: watershedsunitedvt.org/vtrivercleanup.

NOFA-VT seeks proposals for 34th

Annual Winter Conference

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont is accepting workshop proposals for its 34th Annual Winter Conference. Proposals will be accepted until Sept. 18, 2015. The event is Vermont’s largest agricultural confer-ence, bringing together more than 1,500 farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, edu-cators, policy makers and consumers for three days of workshops, networking ses-sions, meals and celebration. It will take place at University of Vermont’s Davis Center, Burlington, Feb. 13-15, 2016.

The goal of the conference is to facil-itate learning and sharing of information on all aspects of local, organic farming and gardening. Organizers of the con-ference aim to create a gathering space that fosters collaboration between diverse groups of people, while also meeting the specific needs of these varied groups.

Info: nofavt.org/annual-events/win-ter-conference/RFP or by calling NOFA Vermont at (802) 434-4122.


The Charlotte News 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 us [email protected].

New at the Mt. Philo inn: Overnight accommodations, spacious 2-3 bedroom suites available by the day, week or month. Adjacent to Mt. Philo State Park, with panoramic views of Lake Champlain. Each "wing" in the historic inn has a private entrance, full kitchen, laundry and porch. MtPhiloInn.com, 425-3335.

Since 1977, lafayette Painting inc. has been providing the best interior painting service available. Let our experts transform your space. Call us at 863-5397 and see our work, references and more at LafayettePaintingInc.com

Need a yard service or exterior paint-ing? Call Pleasant Valley landscaPing for quotes at 425-3737.

Redstone Affordable small office spaces available on Ferry Rd. Starting at $250.00 including all utilities. For more information or to schedule a tour call 802-658-7400.

MaxiM outdooR Wood Pellet fuRnace by Central Boiler adapts to existing heating systems & heats with

renewable wood pellets. Boivin Farm Supply 802-475-4007

indePendent contRactoR special-izing in Interior/Exterior Painting, Taping, Drywall and Remodeling (light duty carpentry, flooring etc.) Discounts available for booking winter jobs ahead. Kris Rushford. 802-377-9559. [email protected]

Classifieds

Congratulations Sympathy

Around Town

Get your wardrobe in

SCHIP shape!As you and your closets transition from

summer to fall please consider donating those gently used but unwanted items to SCHIP (Shelburne Charlotte Hinesburg Interfaith Projects). The shop is on Route 7, next to the town offices in Shelburne.

SCHIP uses all its profits from the resale of gently used goods to grant funds to other nonprofits in the three communities of Shelburne, Charlotte and Hinesburg. To date over $500,000 has been awarded to many organizations that improve the lives of those in need in our communities.

Call the shop with any questions at 985-3595.

to Carly Dwight, now living in New York City, who earned a masters degree in elementary inclusive education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Carly, who grew up in Charlotte, has accepted a first-grade teaching position in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Her student teaching assignments prepared her for the Bridgeport job by taking her into inner-city neighborhoods in the Bronx and Harlem where she became convinced that she could add the most value to an inner-city school in a challenged neighborhood.

to Aiden Powell who has been recog-nized for his work in at least two artis-tic sectors of the community—film and music. One of Aiden’s documentary film shorts was selected for showing at the Middlebury New Filmmakers’ Festival August 28. The movie, entitled “This is My Home,” had also been chosen for the Green Mountain Film Festival last winter. Aiden created it when he was 15 years old, and it depicts the devastation of landscape in Appalachia, something he would not like to see happen to Vermont’s Green Mountains.

On the musical side of the equation,

Aiden and his acoustic partner, John Tatlock, known collectively as the Blind Continuum, played their brand of hip hop earlier this year at Radio Bean in Burlington and recently at Shelburne Days. Aiden’s parents are Wendy Bratt and Tom Powell of Charlotte.

is extended to the family and friends of Lee McIsaac, who passed away on August 23 at the age of 52. She served as an editor of The Charlotte News for several years and later became publica-tions coordinator for the Young Writers Project. The current head of the YWP said of her, “YWP is proud to be dedicat-ing its latest anthology to her.”

is extended to family and friends of Chandler Moore of San Francisco, California, who passed away August 12. She was the daughter of the late Stephen and Rayelen Moore of Charlotte and a graduate of Champlain Valley Union High School. Her surviving family includes her sister Ronda Moore of Boston and Charlotte. The family asks that donations in her name be made to the Sierra Club Foundation, 85 Second Street, Suite 750, San Francisco, CA 94105 or to the Sharks Foundation, 525 West Santa Clara Street, San Jose, CA 95113.

is extended to family and friends of Derick L. Benoit of Charlotte who passed away at the age of 21. Derick is survived by his mother and father, Ginna Montani and Shawn Benoit, his sisters Crystal and Jennifer Montani, and brother, Logan Benoit. Those wishing remember him with flowers may send them to the Brown-McClay Funeral home and donations may be made to his family.

is extended to family and friends of Edith Windells Illick of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and Charlotte, Vermont, who passed away June 22 at the age of 95. Edith, her husband, Rowland, and their family lived for 46 years in Middlebury and maintained a camp on Thompson’s Point where they spent summers since 1966. Her surviving family includes her daugh-ter Marty, Marty’s husband,Terrance Dinnan, her granddaughter Tai Dinnan and husband, Evan Webster, all of Charlotte.

vv

Edith Illick

A record 26 boats, hailing from Canada to southern Lake Champlain, took part in the third annual Diamond Island Regatta on Saturday, August 22. The benefit race, sponsored by the Royal Savage Yacht Club and Point Bay Marina, raised more than $1,000 for the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Ferrisburgh.

The race, beginning just after 11 a.m., took competitors north from the start in Town Farm Bay to a mark off Cedar Beach in Charlotte, south to Diamond

Island off the Ferrisburgh shore, and then back to the starting line.

The first boat to finish the race, with the fastest elapsed time of 1:29:48, was Corbeau, a Far 400 from VSC, sailed by Jean Pierre Turgeon. First to finish in the JaM fleet, in an elapsed time of 2:04:38, was Lepp’s It Wasn’t Me.

Complete results can be found here: rsyc.org/2015-diamond-island-regat-ta-results/.

Diamond Island Regatta raises more than $1K for Maritime Museum

Boats filled Lake Champlain August 22 for the third annual Diamond Island Regatta. Photo: Brandon Johnson

editoR’s note—syMPathy exPlanation

Periodically we get complaints from readers about the brevity of obituar-ies, so it behooves us to explain our approach. We often do not print an obit-uary in its entirety as we receive it or, more often, as we see it in the Burlington Free Press. Unlike other newspapers in the area, we do not charge for what we receive. Over the years that I have been involved with The News, we have limited obituaries to people who have a Charlotte connection, either who have lived here themselves or who have fam-ily in town. We explain their connection and list the family members who still live here. Then we list where donations in the deceased person’s memory should go. We have chosen not to go into great detail about family life and work because of space constraints. What we do also levels the playing field for fami-lies, recognizing all levels of social stra-ta. If we receive accurate information, the approach works 99% of the time, and we apologize, particularly to family and friends, for the errors we do make periodically. Please let us know, and we will gladly correct them.

—Edd Merritt

Aiden Powell

Volume lVIII Number 3 The VoIce of The TowN Thursday, augusT 27, 2015

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Selectboard Talks Rail Plan 1 A Thompson Point Resident Looks Back 1

Stephen Kiernan Talks New Novel 10Pick up your Pens, Kids! YWP is Back 13

Charlotte News Charlotte’s award-winning community newspaper

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[email protected] Rescheduled programming!

More info on page 14

‘Taps’ on the TopPage 7

PH

OTO: S

TAN S

EMU

SKIE

Voice of the tow

n since 1958.

Charlotte Beach in August. PHOTO: LEE KROHN

Documents

The Charlotte News | August 27, 2015