O

n a recent in-service day hosted

by Principal Jean Berthiaume at
Fayston Elementary School, More-
town Elementary teachers joined their
Fayston colleagues to share ideas, resources
and camaraderie in order to solidify strate-
gies to face the challenges of the coming
school year. The two schools share some
staff and plan to increase the sharing of
resources in the future.
This is what consolidation could look like,
Berthiaume told the roomful of educators.
Two rural schools. We have similar posi-
tions. Were excited about the spirit of col-
laboration. This is the beginning, and rela-
tionships take time. Two similar schools can
work together for the benefit of students.
But Fayston and Moretown are not going
through a formal process to consolidate
their school districts: theyre simply pooling
resources. And, in the current discussion
of educational consolidation, the distinc-
tion between merging schools and merging
districts is crucial.
The question of how to handle the up-
ward spiral of school costs has plagued other
schools and school districts as well. The
fewer students we have in Vermont each
year, the more they cost a conclusion
that local school boards all over the state
had to reckon with this past Town Meet-
ing Day, when the largest number of towns
since 2003 rejected their school budgets,
according to VermontBiz.com. Thirty-five
out of 246 municipalities said no to their
school bills.
But that didnt make the obligation to teach
Vermonts children go away. Schools still
have to find a way to teach in an affordable
way while meeting the rigorous Common
Core standards established by the National
Governors Association.
Some have advanced school district consolida-
tion as a way to save money on education, but
so far no Washington County districts have
put forward official plans to join forces with
other districts, according to Vaughn Altemus,
director of finance and mergers at the Agency
of Education. There is no active discussion
in Washington County, he said recently, in a
telephone interview with The Bridge.
When asked for a hypothetical example
of what school consolidation would look
like, Altemus used
the illustration of
Washington Cen-
tral Supervisory
UnionU-32 and
its areas elementary
school s combi n-
ing with Montpelier
public schools. In
the unified district,
U-32 could become
a high school for
everybody and the
Montpelier High
School building
could become the
middle school for
the entire district,
rather than having
one combined mid-
dle/high school
U-32on East Montpeliers Gallison Hill,
and both a middle school and a high school
in Montpelier. The existing districts could
dissolve their boundaries and boards and
create a new, consolidated configuration. It
is not something that is being imposed. The
districts have control, Altemus said. Basi-
cally, the way the law is set up, things hap-
pen when voters agree they should happen.
The issue of consolidating school districts
inevitably intertwines itself with the issue
of consolidating the schools themselves, al-
though, according to some, the two ques-
tions need to be kept separate. A small rural
district can opt to
close its school and
tuition its students
to larger schools of
the family's choice.
The last act of local
control is to give up
local control and
give parents choice,
Altemus said. A
small school district
can also close its
school and designate
another school ap-
proved by a majority
of voters.
The spectrum of
possibilities has fu-
eled discussion in
the media and on
the street. Support-
ers and detractors of school district con-
solidation have raised their voices with equal
passion. Others have warned against jump-
ing onto either bandwagon.
Montpelier resident Peter Sterling is the parent
of two students at Union Elementary School.
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1
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IN THIS ISSUE:
AUGUS T 28 SEP TE MBER 10, 2014
NORTHFIELD CLINIC
PLANS ADVANCE
IN WATERBURY, THE
ALCHEMY CONTINUES
HALLSMITH WINS A
ROUND y s i
School District Consolidation in Washington County?
by Carla Occaso
Continued on page 12
S p o t l i g h t o n Wa i t s f i e l d ' s Y e s t e r m o r r o w s c h o o l - P P . 1 8 - 1 9
The spectrum of possibilities
has fueled
discussion in the media and on the street.
Supporters and detractors
of school district consolidation have
raised their voices
with
equal passion.
Others have warned against
jumping onto either bandwagon.
&
Education
Youth
Student in the Sustainable Design/Build semester course at
Yestermorrow school in Waitsfield. Photo courtesy of George Soules
PAGE 2 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE THE BRI DGE AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 PAGE 3
T
ides of birds start moving south now. It's early morning and vireos are flipping about in
the first rays of sunlight after a night of flying. Judging by the agitated nasal chatter, they
are not tranquil travelers. Most of the forest bird species of Canada and New England
will drain south in the next couple of months or so. Perhaps the most conspicuous among them,
thousands of broad-winged hawks will be soaring through, along the north-south updrafts of the
mountains by the second week in September. But only when the winds are right: otherwise they will
wait, feed, rest. I scan the sky now, out of habit while collecting wild plums along a hedgerow, then
head home to make just a spot of wild, sharp-tasting jam. Nona Estrin
P.O. Box 1143, Montpelier, VT 05601
Phone: 802-223-5112 | Fax: 802-223-7852
montpelierbridge.com; facebook.com/montpelierbridge
Published twice a month
Editor & Publisher: Nat Frothingham
Managing Editor: C.B. Hall
Calendar Editor: Marichel Vaught
Proofreader: David W. Smith
Sales Representatives: Carolyn Grodinsky, Rick McMahan, Mike Furey, Micheal Jermyn
Graphic Design & Layout: Jeff Blair, Marichel Vaught
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Distribution: Kevin Fair, Diana Koliander-Hart, Daniel Renfro, Anna Sarquiz, Tim Johnson
Website Manager: Marichel Vaught
Editorial: Contact C.B. Hall, 223-5112, ext. 14, or editorial@montpelierbridge.com.
Location: The Bridge office is located at the Vermont College of Fine Arts,
on the lower level of Schulmaier Hall.
Subscriptions: You can receive The Bridge by mail for $50 a year. Make out your check to
The Bridge, and mail to The Bridge, PO Box 1143, Montpelier VT 05601.
Copyright 2014 by The Bridge
HEARD ON THE
STREET
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street in between issues.
No Child Left Behind Gets Blasted Again
V
ermonts educational leadership continues to hammer away at the federal No Child
Left Behind Act (NCLB). In a lengthy press release issued by the Agency of Educa-
tion Aug. 26, State Board of Education chair Stephan Morse stated that the federal
requirements have resulted in over-testing and a narrowing of our educational focus. This
needs to be fixed.
The release cited a four-month study and review of testing and referred to a longer, five-page
statement and resolution from the board. The materials contained no shortage of disgruntled
pronouncements, including the resolutions declaration that a compelling body of national
research shows the over-emphasis on standardized testing has caused considerable collateral
damage in such areas as narrowing the curriculum [and] reducing love of learning.
We must look more broadly at the purposes of education. These purposes also include global
citizenship, good health practices, artistic expression and the transferable skills we need for
the twenty-first century, said the press release quoting state education secretary Rebecca
Holcombe. Holcombe created a national stir on Aug. 6, when she issued a four-page letter
to parents and caregivers that denounced the NCLB, whose convolutions and emphasis on
standardized tests have resulted in Vermonts schools being classified, virtually without excep-
tion, as underperforming.
Her August 6 letter in fact never reached all the states parents of public school children, since
its distribution was left in the hands of local principals and superintendents, who in some
cases did not forward it to parents. Whether a blanket mailing would have helped is debat-
able, however, given the letters bewildering news that Vermonts schools, by most measures
among the nations best, were suddenly failing. The Aug. 26 verbal salvo served to continue
the states offensive against the controversial 2001 law, but, in pursuing their agenda, op-
ponents of the statute still face, among other obstacles, a general public that still finds the
NCLB incomprehensible.
After-School Music Program Coming to Union Elementary
T
he Montpelier-based Summit School of Traditional Music and Culture will be offer-
ing after-school classes in music for pupils from the citys Union Elementary School
Sept. 2 to Dec. 23, between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. The classes will also welcome local
home-schoolers. Local musicians will lead programs in intermediate-level band, ukulele for
beginners, and choral singing with the UES World Music Choir. All instruments are welcome
in the band, a Summit School press release stated. Were working with Union Elementary
School and Community Connections, Summit School Director Katie Trautz said. Well be
using the school auditorium and classroom space.
The classes will cost $10-12 per day, on a sliding scale, and some scholarships are available,
Trautz stated. After-school care between the end of the school day and the commencement
of classes will cost an additional $3 per day. Further information is available from Trautz at
802-917-1186 or director@summit-school.org.
New Student Stipends Available
T
he Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, the state agency that helps students pay
for post-secondary education, has announced a new program which offers $50,000 in
stipends this coming school year to help low-income high schoolers cover costs of dual
enrollment, whereby students take up to two post-secondary courses tuition-free, in addition
to their high-school studies.
Only those dual enrollees who qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches and need addi-
tional help to pay for books, fees or travel for dual-enrollment courses will be consideredbut
will be considered automaticallyfor an annual stipend of $150 to assist with those costs,
VSAC spokeswoman Sabina Haskell told The Bridge. Stipends will be awarded on a first-
come, first-served basis.
A release from VSAC, which is based in Winooski, reported that dual-enrollment program
participation burgeoned from 642 in 2011-12 to over 1,600 last school year.
Persons needing more information should go to vtdualenrollment.org or call VSAC at
802-655-9602.
Advertise in THE NEXT ISSUE:
Harvest, Forestry
& Farmers
Aug. 28 - Sept. 10, 2014
ALL AD MATERIALS AND AD SPACE
RESERVATIONS DUE FRIDAY SEPT. 5, 2014
For information about advertising
deadlines, rates, and the design of your ad call:
223-5112, ext. 11, or email our ad sales
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PAGE 4 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE THE BRI DGE AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 PAGE 5
A
t a rally organized by Citizens to Pro-
tect Berlin Pond on Aug. 16 in front of
the Vermont State House, speaker after
speaker sounded a common theme of defiance.
Melissa Perley, the organizations president,
expressed her disappointment with an Aug. 14
decision from the Vermont Agency of Natural
Resources (ANR) that completely rejected a
citizens petition calling for full protection of
the pond. This fight is not over, she said.
One part of the ANR decision did, however,
concur with a request in a separate petition
regarding the pond, from the city of Montpe-
lier: the ANR agreed to prohibit the use of all
internal combustion engines on the pond.
In rejecting the citizens petition, the ANR
refused the petitioners request to ban all
boating, swimming, hunting and fishing on
the pond. The ANR contended that these
activities would not threaten Montpeliers
drinking water.
The rallys keynote speaker was Dot Helling,
a longtime Montpelier resident and attorney
who has served as a small claims judge and as
president of the Vermont Bar Association.
In the summer of 2007, Helling participated
in a round-the-world relay run that crossed 16
countries on three continents to raise public
awareness about the worldwide lack of clean
drinking water.
Helling told the rally, which drew50 to 75 par-
ticipants, that she had run a five-mile foot race
around Berlin Pond the very day of the ANR
decision. As I was running and enjoying the
beauty of Berlin Pond, I became overwhelmed
by my emotional reactions to the Berlin Pond
decisionsadness, disappointment, concern
about our future and anger. But mystifica-
tion was her chief emotion. I am mystified
that our decision-makers cant slice through
the politics and do the right thing, she said.
In her address, Helling argued that the newly
permitted recreational uses of the pondfish-
ing, swimming and boating, together with ad-
ditional traffic and shoreline parkingwould
immediately, and with intensifying effects
over time, degrade a water supply that ben-
efits some 20,000 people, including daytime
visitors, in Montpelier and parts of Berlin.
The more intensified recreational uses, she
asserted, would damage the watershed and
ecology of a pond that has been protected from
such uses for over 100 years.
Helling drew froman ANR statement to point
out that there are 36 lakes and ponds with a
size of 20 acres or more within 20 miles of
Berlin Pond.
She also stated that increased human activities
will increase the ponds turbidity, and that
increased turbidity has already compromised
the ponds water quality. She reported that,
since the 2012 Vermont Supreme Court deci-
sion allowing expanded public access to the
pond, the use of chlorine to treat the drinking
water supply from the pond has had to be
increased. She warned of growing risks from
petroleum pollution as more and more cars
and trucks park along the shorelines, with
the risk of gasoline seepage from these cars
and trucks. She decried the ANRs refusal
to prohibit ice shanties on the pond, noting
the use of propane heaters in such shanties.
Propane is a liquefied petroleum gas, she said,
and a propane heater accident could introduce
petroleum into the pond.
On the subject of invasive species, she said,
One paddle, one foot, a fishing pole can bring
in an invasive species. She stated that Eur-
asian milfoil, though not at present a threat
to the water supply, can be found in Berlin
Pond today.
Throughout her speech, she drew attention to
the very expensive investments that the city of
Montpelier has made, or might have to make,
in water treatment plants and other water-re-
lated infrastructure. To filter out petroleum,
she stated, requires an improved filtration
system which will cost Montpelier taxpayers
millions of dollars.
These are among the actions that Helling
asked citizens to take: to appeal the ANR
decision; to stop a Fish & Wildlife plan to
construct a public boat access on the pond;
to ask the Vermont Legislature to prohibit
recreational uses on the pond and to restore
the pond to its historic protected status as a
drinking water supply for the city of Montpe-
lierand the town of Berlin. She asked citizens
to reach out to community members including
sportspeople. And to keep up the educational
effort by talking to lawmakers and writing let-
ters to the press.
Dont give up the cause, she said. Accept
no reason to compromise. This is about every
small step we can take to cut the risk to our
water supply.
Also speaking at the rally were Montpelier
Mayor John Hollar, Berlin citizen and sports-
man Robert Green, state Representative War-
ren Kitzmiller (D-Montpelier), Montpelier
High School senior Zachary Acosta, and Geoff
Beyer, Montpelier parks director and member
of the Montpelier Conservation Commission.
Dot Helling Renews Call for Berlin Pond Protection
by Nat Frothingham
Tell them you saw it in The Bridge!
Photo courtesy of Citizens to Protect Berlin Pond
W
ater seeping in through crushed mortar supporting the old granite chimneys of
Montpeliers Kellogg-Hubbard Library had damaged the walls. Tiles on the en-
tryway floors mosaic were, in places, chipped and loose. Frost heaves had cracked
the front sidewalk and the lawn had suffered the indignities of patrons taking shortcuts. But,
thanks to the leadership of Jessie Lynn, the librarys head of finance and administration, these
problems have been brought under control.
If you walked through the front doors of the library this summer, you may have seen Mont-
pelier mosaic artist Amanda Canavan, owner of Broken by Design, on her hands and knees,
chiseling up grout and installing individual stone shapes, which she cut by hand, to refurbish
the floor. Donor Matthew Rubin paid for her efforts, at a cost of $6,343.69. Rubin also paid
originally for the mosaic work, including the impressive central rosette, when it went in 10
years ago, Lynn said. It was also he who suggested hiring Canavan to spruce it up this year,
again on his tab. Canavan was likewise part of the team that created the rosette. She incorpo-
rated a multiplicity of luxury stones into the mosaicemperors black marble, Bianca Carrava
marble, Rosso Verona marbleall purchased fromBest Tile in Williston; Verdi antique green
serpentine and Dakota red granite donated by Montpelier Graniteworks; and Shiva red granite
donated by Canavan herself The result is a motif at once elaborate and integrated.
In addition to the work inside the entrywaythe front doors, sidewalk and lawnwere
spiffed up this summer. National Life Group paid to restore the front doors. Other funders
paid for replacement of sidewalk panels and restoration of the lawn. The reseeded lawn has
been edged with cobblestones, and a simple sign asking patrons to stay off the lawn has yielded
results in the formof lush, plentiful green grass. Lynn said that the library will soon place new
benches in front of the building, and new shrubs will replace the invasive burning bush, which
has been removed.
To take care of the leaking chimneys that were wreaking havoc on interior walls, Alpine Res-
toration of Waterbury removed and replaced the gray stone bricks and mortar on the roof. A
crane helped workers in the replacement work. Contractors also refurbished the skylights and
installed ceiling fans.
All in all, it was quite a summer of work. The measures taken attended to much of the emer-
gency maintenance work, but Lynn is not stopping there. Plans are under way to install a
district heat system, which will replace one of the boilers and save the library approximately
$20,000 over the next 10 years. Lynn has also worked with interim library President Tom
McKone, her staff, the library board and advisors to put together a proactive maintenance
plan for future operations. Library officials have defined what work should be done at regular
intervals to avoid emergency repairs. It takes a lot more than librarians to maintain a library.
A
partments appear virtually certain to
occupy the upper floors of the future
transit center at 1 Taylor Street, Mont-
pelier, in the wake of an Aug. 18 decision
by the citys 1 Taylor Street Design Review
Committee to recommend that option. A final
public participation event, to be held Sept. 3,
will give citizens a close look at exactly what
the citys development partner, Burlington-
based Redstone, envisions for the upper floors
and the rest of the transit center site, formerly
known as the Carr Lot.
The Redstone design will call for a four-story
structure, to be owned by Redstone, with the
buildings first floor interrupted by a lane that
will accommodate buses. Smaller buses, such
as the Green Mountain Transit Agency uses,
would turn off of Taylor Street to stop along
the roughly semicircular lane, but full-length
buses, such as the Burlington Link coaches
and Greyhounds, would stop in front of the
center on the east side of Taylor Street. GMTA
would get offices on the ground floor on the
streetward side of the lane; across the lane, the
apartment houses entrance lobby would oc-
cupy the ground floor.
Redstone development manager Erik Hoekstra
told The Bridge in an Aug. 25 interview that,
under the plans latest iteration, the transit
center is taking a little bit more of the site than
we originally anticipated, so that has squeezed
down what we can fit on the site for off-street,
on-site parkingweve come up with about
48 to 50 off-street parking spaces.
Hoekstra said the building, whose footprint
would cover about 10,000 square feet, would
contain about 30 apartments. That number is
a little bit smaller than wed hoped, but its big
enough that we can make it work, said Hoek-
stra, whose company had originally favored
putting a hotel in the building. That plan,
which would likely have guaranteed Redstone
the best return on its investment, and the city
the best tax-revenue stream, perished under
the terms of an agreement reached in late
June with the Bashara family, which owns
the adjacent Capitol Plaza Hotel and had
expressed dissatisfaction with the prospect of
in-your-face competition next door.
The apartments are fewer than the 41 Red-
stone had originally proposed for the upper
floorsand the rents may be higher than
some had hoped. Hoekstra expected one-
bedroomapartments with rates in the $1,100-
1,200 range and two-bedroom units in the
$1,400-1,500 bracket. Theyll be higher-end
in terms of what exists in Montpelier today,
he said.
The Sept. 3 meeting will take place at the
Montpelier Senior Activities Center on Barre
Street, beginning at 6 p.m. Attendees can
expect to see a close-to-final plana more
refined conceptual site plan, some building
elevations, and renderings of what the build-
ing will look like, Hoekstra said. Well have
a scale model of the site and the building.
Redstone will also release an economic analy-
sis of the upper-floor options at the meeting,
but already the apartment option, as opposed
to office space, has clearly emerged as the
most popular alternative.
The building plan will then go to the City
Council as early as its Sept. 10 meeting. Ap-
proval by the council would empower City
Manager Bill Fraser to move forward with
the necessary memoranda of understanding
and contract documents.
Subsequently, as the permitting process un-
folds, "therell be other opportunities for pub-
lic input, Hoekstra noted. He said ground
would not be broken until June 2015 at the
earliest. "Thats when the city would like to
be able to move forward. We have a lot of work
in front of us. He put the earliest possible
date for completing the project as the summer
of 2016.
Kellogg-Hubbard Library
Gets a Facelift by Carla Occaso
Taylor Street Plans
Inching Forward by C.B. Hall
A rendering made this spring of the Taylor Street transit center. Courtesy city of Montpelier.
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Polarity in Practice: A Yin-Yang Workshop: Merin
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12:00-2:30 Main Studio
Whole Body Learning for Children and Their
Parents: Debra Ann Pinsof-DePillis and Stephanie
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Prenatal, Postnatal & Beyond, Therapeutics for
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For workshop descriptions, costs and registration please visit us at
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7 Main Street, Montpelier 2nd & 3rd floors 802-223-5302
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PAGE 6 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE THE BRI DGE AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 PAGE 7
Corinth Celebrates 250th
Anniversary with a Service
of Inclusion by Nat Frothingham
T
hirty-five years ago, the Barre Opera
House was a liability. Forlorn and di-
lapidated, the historic theater, built
in 1899, stood in dire need of rescue. After
serving as a performance space, it became a
movie theater in the 30s and early 40s. In
1944 it closed. In 1982 it returned from the
deadthanks to the hard work of community
members who raised a million dollars to turn
it into what it is today: an outstanding per-
forming arts venue.
With 650 seatsless than half the capacity of
Burlingtons Flynn Theaterthe Barre Opera
House offers an intimate and attractive perfor-
mance experience. We sold 23,000 tickets last
year, says Patty Meriam, who chairs the opera
houses board of directors. Thats a lot of feet
through a historic theater.
Thats good news, but the opera house, which
operates as a nonprofit corporation with paid
memberships, is facing some challenges. There
are 200 members, down from the usual 250
of recent years, and way down from the 400
typical in the 90s. The board is seeking more
members in order to help fund operations and
much-needed repairs.
People may think were doing just fine, and
that we dont need their help, says Meriam.
Dan Casey, the nonprofits executive direc-
tor, explains that many early members could
remember what it was like to not have an
opera house at all. They brought the building
back to life with their own energy and effort,
whether by repainting the interior or clearing
out the pigeon droppings. Thirty years later,
we really need to be at the forefront of peoples
minds. We need continued support from the
community both as members and ticket buy-
ers, says Meriam.
Memberships help the opera house fulfill its
organizational mission, sustain operations,
strengthen the community and, as the opera
houses literature puts it, build a strong cul-
tural legacy for future generations. Benefits
include early-bird ticket discounts, newslet-
ters, invitations to special events and recep-
tions like the annual October fundraising
gala, and more.
As a nonprofit, the Barre Opera House is
able to use grants for capital improvements,
and many such infrastructure upgrades have
been implemented in the last several years.
Fire-code safety issues have been resolved. The
stage curtains were recently repaired, cleaned
and fireproofed. A new dance floor has been
ordered, and, on the opera houses Main Street
facade, a light box will soon be installed be-
hind the stained-glass window whose design
serves as the opera houses logo. While city
code restricts the possibilities for a sign out
front, signage in the back of the house, along
Merchants Row, is an easier possibility, along
with a plaza to give attendees more space to
congregate before and after shows.
The 20-year-old addition to the back of the
building meanwhile needs updating. Inside
the opera house itself, the lobby carpet is due
for replacement, and the walls havent seen a
paintbrush since 1982.
With a bare bones staff of two full-time and
two part-time employees, the opera house ac-
complishes a lot on a small budget while keep-
ing prices low. Primarily, Casey explains, the
organization rents out the space to groups,
who use it for a great variety of purposes, but
the opera house also puts on its own shows.
Its Celebration Series and Barre Opera House
Presents programs furnish no shortage of en-
tertainment throughout the year. The estab-
lishment also offers theater workshops, a four-
show student matinee series, and two summer
campswhich were full this year.
The endeavor is prospering, but needs to keep
the ball rolling. Its for that reason that the
board is seeking more community involve-
mentmore memberships, that is. Success
can sometimes hurt you with membership
drives, explains Casey.
We have been fiscally conservative, he
adds, but just buying tickets doesnt keep
the doors open.
Meriam says that Casey has a knack for pre-
dicting which artists are going to go big, and
that on numerous occasions he has booked
performers right before they become stars.
We want people to have confidence in our
choices, she says.
The lineup for this years Celebration Series
looks strong. The series first three performers
will be an ABBA tribute band, Arlo Guthrie,
and comedian Steven Wright.
Individual memberships at a variety of price
levels are available, as are business and corporate
memberships as well as planned giving oppor-
tunities. For more information, go to www.
barreoperahouse.org or call 802-476-8188.
T
his year, the Orange County town
of Corinth has been celebrating the
250th anniversary of its founding. Ac-
cordingly, on Sunday, Aug. 17, I drove down
to Corinth fromMontpelier for the final event
of the 250 Old Home Day weekendan
ecumenical service at the East Corinth Con-
gregational Church.
The centerpiece of the service was the dedica-
tion of a new Memorial Windows Booklet.
The booklet was published in memory of the
late Judy Drury, church historian from 2000
to 2013 and an active member of the Corinth
Historical Society. Drury was the indispens-
able force who pursued the research and com-
piled the notes that tell the story of each of the
churchs 17 stained-glass windows.
The windows date from the beginning of the
20th century. Money for their creation was
collected in 1905 and the windows were in-
stalled in 1909. Each window memorializes
a Corinth resident who lived and died in the
19th century. The names on the windows are
still to be found among this quintessential Ver-
mont hill towns residents Darling and Winch,
Thompson and Ordway, Page and Sawyer.
Lets inquire into one name. Who was Mary
Knight Darling, memorialized in a window
reckoned the most beautiful in the church?
Its the only window in the house of worship
that bears a verse from the Bible: Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God
(Matthew 5:8). The window is in the back of
the sanctuary, up in the balcony and therefore
removed from the view of the congregation as
if to make our inquiry more fitting.
Born in 1834, Darling died only 39 years
later, in 1873. Can we logically imagine that
perhaps she died in childbirth, as the memo-
rial booklet suggests so delicately when it notes
that she met the fate of many women of her
time. Mary was married to Joseph Kimball
Darling, a lawyer and state senator, but little is
known about her, save that she is remembered
in the window.
An explanation does however exist as to why
the most beautiful of all the churchs windows
is largely obscured from view. Todays East
Corinth Congregational Church was once the
Union Meeting House. Back then the congre-
gation faced east and faced the Mary Knight
Darling window. But in todays East Corinth
Congregational Church, the congregation en-
ters from the back of the sanctuary and faces
west, because the pews were reversed in the
early 1900s. Lore has it that, before the pews
were turned around, they faced the church
door. Latecomers got tired of being shamed,
and so the pews were reversed, and latecomers
can now enter behind the congregation. No
more shaming.
On Aug. 17, as East Corinth Congregationals
pastor, Rev. Dr. C. Michael Caldwell, began
his tour of the stained-glass windows, he
stopped in front of the Susie Metcalf window
on the south side of the sanctuary, and asked:
What is an ancestor?
Someone who helped make us, someone
answered. People who helped make us are
remembered in these windows as family mem-
berssisters, daughters, wives, mothers and
husbands. And as farmers, pastors, doctors,
carpenters, brickmakers, a postmaster, an
overseer of the poor, a woman who worked
tirelessly in the Loyal Temperance Legion, a
junior department of the Womens Christian
Temperance Union that devoted itself to curb-
ing excessive liquor consumption in the 19th
century.
Window 16 remembers Charles Page and his
father, William Page. Charles Page is remem-
bered as one of a small group of men who, in
1870, joined hands [with others] around the
stove in the sanctuary and pledged themselves
to keep the church open and make sure that
regular worship was held as long as anyone
in the group lived, the memorial booklet in-
forms us.
Rev. Caldwells worship service and sermon
conveyed a message of outreach and inclusion.
The churchs program handout spoke about
the same themes. It listed the names of com-
munity members, and many others, in need of
prayer. All of our troops and their families.
The people of Syria, the horn of Africa and
The Congo and South Sudan. Also remem-
bered were the Nigerian hostages. The hand-
out appealed for the blessing of peace and
reconciliation throughout the Middle East and
Asia and for an end to the crisis in Gaza.
Rev. Caldwells scripture reading (Matthew
15) and sermon told of a Gentile woman from
a foreign country who came to Jesus to ask
him to relieve the plight of her daughter, who
had been possessed by a demon. Annoyed
by the woman and perhaps discriminating
against her because she was an outsider, Jesus
disciples asked him to send her away. At first,
Jesus spurned her. But she persisted, and Jesus
blessed her inclusion, saying, O woman,
great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou
wilt. And, the Bible tells us, her daughter
was made whole from that very hour.
In a phone call with Rev. Caldwell several
days after the Aug. 17 church service I asked
him about the meaning of the Bible story
about the Gentile woman. Caldwell said that
it was when Jesus decided to be inclusive that
the womans daughter was healed. "Healing
comes from the inclusive embrace of the out-
sider," he said.
Rev. Caldwell called my attention to a sign
that his church has posted outside near the
doora sign with words drawn from Isaiah
56 that speaks to a Congregational Church
aspiration: House of prayer for all peoples.
Barre Opera House Seeks
New Members
By Emily Kaminsky
Full time Maintenance Worker (Richford and Montpelier)
Requirements: Must have a minimum high school education. Valid drivers
license required and must be capable of passing a background check. At
least 5 years experience in facilities maintenance required. Electrical and
mechanical licenses and education is preferred. Please contact with resume
and references to vermont@nvttech.com
Travel: Required to be within 30 miles
Duties: General Maintenance of buildings. Minor repairs on buildings, electrical and
plumbing work and routine maintenance as well as mowing lawn and grounds
maintenance.
Compensation: $16 -$18 depending on duties.
The Center for Leadership Skills
BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Lindel James coaching & consulting
Taking You from Frustration to Enthusiasm
802 778 0626
lindel@lindeljames.com
lindeljames.com
C
onstruction of Northfield's new home
for Green Mountain Family Prac-
tice (GMFP) is in a race with the
weather. In the wake of a long process of local
permitting and responding to neighborhood
concerns, the 10,000-square-foot project on
Crescent Avenue may not begin construction
until Sept. 24.
Although Vermont granted Act 250 approval
Aug. 25, shovels cannot be lifted until after a
30-day comment period, so the permit may
not be effective until near the end of Septem-
ber," Northfield Zoning Administrator Mi-
chele Braun told The Bridge.
The project, which will include a 52-car park-
ing lot, an outdoor HVAC fixture, all-night il-
lumination and a stormwater runoff pond, will
use part of the outdoor recreation area owned
by Norwich University. Norwich will retain
the land, leasing it to Central Vermont Medi-
cal Center (CVMC), which owns GMFP.
Contractor E.F. Wall of Barre will own the
building, leasing it to CVMC.
Wall had wanted construction to begin Sep-
tember 19 to avoid winter delays and a post-
ponement of the hoped-for June 1, 2015, open-
ing. The builder referred The Bridges questions
about construction dates to Norwich Univer-
sity. In turn, Norwich deferred to CVMC.
"There are a lot of aspects to the Act 250 pro-
cess, and we are simply waiting to receive the
final approvals," Susan Kruthers, CVMC vice
president of community relations and develop-
ment, told The Bridge. "Our original plan was
to start construction sometime in the middle
to end of September, and we feel we are still
on schedule."
Pressed on specifics, Kruthers said, "Mid-
dle to end of Sept. is as specific as I can
be at this time." She said the clinic will
employ 14 workers.
"The permits associated with the new con-
struction of the Green Mountain Practice
facility located in Northfield have been is-
sued," Department of Environmental Con-
servation reviewer Christina Clark stated
in an email. However, an older stormwa-
ter runoff permit needing administrative
amendment may pose its own problems for
the construction start date.
"Unfortunately, this permit will also need to
go on a 30-day public notice period, due to
the fact that some of the previously issued im-
pervious surfaces that were covered under the
original permit will now be treated under the
new Operational State Stormwater Permit,"
she explained. That 30-day period, like the
Act 250 public comment period, will go until
September 24.
In late April, Act 250 Assistant Coordinator
Susan Baird described the timeline leading
to a September ground-breaking as "tight
but doable."
Northfield Clinic on Track
for Late September
Ground-Breaking by Ed Sutherland
Vermont Legal
Support Services
Conrad Boucher
Professional, Independent Investigations for
Colleges and Universities
Statewide Research and Document Retrieval
Corporate Process Service
Montpelier, VT 522-9631 conradboucher.com
The Bridge thanks you for
your continued support!
The French-Canadian folk group Le Vent du Nord performing at
the Barre Opera House. Photo courtesy Barre Opera House.
M
ontpelier residents will soon be
asked to participate in new storm-
water runoff mitigation efforts,
according to Todd Law, director of the citys
Public Works Department. A report Law
presented to the City Council on Aug. 13 de-
scribes new stormwater management regula-
tions fromthe Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) which aim at lowering
contaminants, particularly sediments, that
flow into rivers during heavy rainfalls. The
new permitting rules, designated MS4, for
municipal separate storm sewer system,
have been in force in larger urban areas, like
Burlington and surrounding communities,
since 2003, and will affect Montpelier in the
near future. Meanwhile, DEC has informed
Montpelier that it will be participating in a
"mini-MS4" community permitting system
that will regulate the total maximum daily
load of contaminants that can flow into the
Winooski and the North Branch.
Stormwater containment has traditionally
been combined with the sanitary sewer sys-
tem, which directs the stormwater to the
city's sewage treatment plant. However,
heavy rainfall and spring snowmelt have oc-
casionally caused the sanitary sewer system
to overflow. Therefore, since the 1990s, the
city has been separating stormwater drains
from the sanitary sewer pipes, directing
stormwater into catch basins or directly into
the rivers. According to Law, this has sig-
nificantly reduced sanitary sewer overflows,
although separation challenges remain, espe-
cially in the citys historic district.
Existing runoff collection systems that do
not entail water detention in catch basins or
infiltration into the ground move water "very
quickly and efficiently down gradient, which
has caused much damage to public and pri-
vate property," Law says. The goal of mitiga-
tion is to reduce the speed and quantity of
water flow, increasing detention and infiltra-
tion and reducing erosion and other damage
as well as sediment loads in the rivers. Law
anticipated that additional resources would be
required to assist with planning and the devel-
opment of best management practices. He and
Planning Director Mike Miller accordingly
applied to the state for a so-called ecosystem
restoration grant. Montpelier has just been
awarded a $40,000 grant under that program,
and Law and Miller will be drafting an RFP
(request for proposal) for a consultant to assist
with the work. With another grant, the city
has already purchased a new, high-efficiency
street sweeper that can clean sediments out of
stormwater catch basins.
The updated MS4 permit program encom-
passes such measures as public education and
involvement, and construction and post-con-
struction erosion controls. Law explained that
people can help with some simple procedures:
letting lawns grow a little longer to increase fil-
tration, and washing cars on the lawn instead
of the street or a paved driveway, for example.
The city will also be considering more sophis-
ticated methodologies such as rain gardens,
specialized plantings, green building initia-
tives, and low-impact development. Several
communities and organizations in Chittenden
County have developed a website, smartwater-
ways.org, which presents useful information
on stormwater control methods.
It is uncertain when Montpelier will be in-
cluded in the full MS4 permitting system,
but Law is sure that "additional resources will
be necessary to come into compliance and
perform the necessary operations and main-
tenance activities that are required by the
permit." He says implementing best practices
for stormwater management will constitute a
"huge effort," and he hopes communities can
collaborate and share the costs of education
and outreach.
New Stormwater Mitigation
Rules Will Require Public
Participation by Page Guertin
PAGE 8 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE THE BRI DGE AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 PAGE 9
T
he community is invited to celebrate
Montpelier Alives 15th anniversary
on Saturday, Sept. 6, from 4:30 to
9 p.m., on State Street between Elm and
Main. Live music will be provided by Proj-
ect 3; there will be kids games and activi-
ties including face-painting, and for those
of you who missed your favorite vendor at
our July 3 Independence Day commemora-
tion, many will be back to help us celebrate!
Birchgrove Baking is making a delicious
celebratory cake.
The grand finale will be a full fireworks show
at 8:45 p.m. Thanks to National Life Group,
Vermont Tire, Bobs Sunoco, Green Mountain
Sound and Entertainment and A &L Auto for
sponsoring this part of our celebration.
Montpelier Alive is grateful for 15 years of
community and business support and we
look forward to many more years of serving
this great city.
Please mark your calendars for the following
public meetings on Montpeliers branding.
Tuesday, Sept. 9, 6-7 p.m., is the date for the
public input program, at the senior center on
Barre Street. Arnett Muldrow & Associates
will facilitate the session, gathering informa-
tion from community members. On Thurs-
day, Sept. 11, at 5:30 p.m., in the council
chambers in City Hall, Arnett Muldrow &
Associates will facilitate the final branding
presentation. All are welcome and encour-
aged to attend these meetings. For those
unable to attend, ORCA Media will live-
stream the events.
Please support the Montpelier Food Pantry.
They are in need of many items. Donations
of food may be dropped off at the back of
Trinity Church, 137 Main Street If we all
contribute we can make a big difference in
our community!
This week, Montpelier Alive would like to
recognize VSECU and Capitol Grounds for
their continued support as members, and
Randy Durett as a stellar volunteer!
As always, visit MontpelierAlive.org and
Montpelier Alive on Facebook for more de-
tails about our activities.
I
do not spit at wine tastings. I prefer to be
taken over by the alcohol as quickly as
possible. My palate becomes a dull instru-
ment, but at least I am mercifully released
from the bombastic adjectives that savants
throw around in hope of describing some
vague nuance of the beverage. At times, it
seems the goal of the whole thing is to see
who can use the most esoteric trope. Upon
tasting his first sip of champagne, Dom
Perignon urged his companion to come
quicklyI am tasting stars. I play along
sometimes, however, especially after several
pours. Just to see who I can impress, I throw
out the occasional cigar box, barnyard, or
eucalyptus. People usually dive right back
into their glasses to determine if they can
detect what I supposedly taste.
My favorite tasting buzzword is most definitely
terroir. This exemplifies
the creative language used
to articulate what we are
tasting. Derived from
the French terre (land), it
simply means the taste of
place. Climate, soil condi-
tions and general environ-
ment contribute charac-
teristics to the grapes. One
only needs to sip a glass of
white Bordeaux to experi-
ence terrorr. White Bor-
deaux has a pronounced
minerality that reflects the
gravelly soil that the vines
are rooted in.
Terroir undoubtedly ac-
counts for the individu-
ality in other foods, too.
Coffee is greatly influ-
enced by its place; so is cheese. Several years
ago, on a trip to Frances Languedoc region,
my wife and I had an interesting experience
involving cheese and terroir. We pillaged the
village of Carcassonne in search of some good
local eats for a picnic. The boulangerie con-
tributed a yeasty, rustically browned baguette
that protruded from our backpack like a peri-
scope. We paraded around proudly with our
loaf but had to duck down so as not to snap
it off to get in the door of the wine merchant.
There we selected a bottle that seemed right
for lunch. We proceeded on to the fromagerie.
Upon our entrance the aroma that only a room
filled with hundreds of mold-covered cheeses
could produce greeted us. There was a perplex-
ing selection of rounds, squares and pyramids.
Some were covered in ash or herbs. Others
were wrapped in local leaves tied off with
strands of grass. The older cheeses sported liv-
ing coats of blue-green mold. The oldest oozed
through their rinds in a state of delicious,
liquidy decay.
All were arranged artfully, like jewels in a
showcase. We asked for a local chevre that best
characterized the season and region. Without
much hesitation we selected a small round of
young goat cheese and wrapped it up carefully
to travel with us.
One last stop for a dried sausage and we
were on our way to the castle that dominates
Carcassonne. It was a chilly spring day with a
biting wind that swept through the village as
it fell from the peaks of the Pyrenees. Surely
the walls of the fortress would provide refuge.
Choosing the castles southern side we laid
out our spread, but the sun was in Spain.
We huddled up against the great wall. We
remembered a corkscrew but a brain cramp
had left us without glasses, so we took turns
swigging from the wine bottle like a couple
of drunken invaders from the days of the
Visigoths and Huns.
The soft goat cheese spread easily on the
baguette. There is something so satisfying
about a hand-torn hunk of bread with all
its irregularity. We could have carved polite
rounds, but slugging the vin rouge with
abandon had relaxed
our obligation to civil-
ity. As we ate the cheese
we were both struck by
its buttery texture, but
something else about it
was unlike anything we
had ever encountered in
a chevre: it tasted dis-
tinctly of asparagus.
Strange, we thought, but
very pleasant.
The picnic went on for
hours. We had the best
of times. By the time the
wine ran out we had made
our way through all of the
bread and cheese and were
left with only a stump of
the dried sausage. We
packed it all up and stum-
bled lazily back down to the village to scout
out a restaurant for dinner. As we passed the
fromagerie we stopped, remembering how re-
markable the goat cheese had been. Thinking
we perhaps ought to jot down the name of that
cheese for future reference, we entered again.
The cheesemonger remembered us and in-
quired about our afternoon. We were relieved
to hear that drinking wine sans glasses was no
sin. He was happy to hear that we had enjoyed
the cheese and nodded understandingly when
we described the uncanny, wonderful taste of
asparagus that permeated it. He explained that
the cheese was from a farm that also raised
asparagus, and at this time of year the goats
were encouraged to rummage through the
asparagus beds to nibble on the stumps that
remained after harvest. The milk took on the
characteristics of what and where the goat was
foraging. Terroir, he explained.
Never before or since have we experienced
the taste of place so vividly. The cheese was a
profound reminder of how environment can
impart unique qualities to food. Given that
no two places are exactly the same, we are very
lucky eaters indeed.
I
n a case brought by former Planning
and Community Development Director
Gwendolyn Hallsmith, Judge Helen Toor
of the State Superior Court ruled August 21
that the city of Montpeliers grievance proce-
dure for terminated employees did not meet
requirements for due process.
The city fired Hallsmith last November in
the wake of conflicts between her and other
city officials. Hallsmith then filed a griev-
ance with the city, stating that she had been
terminated illegally for activity outside of her
official duties. In December, Assistant City
Manager Jessie Baker, serving as adjudicator at
the grievance hearing, rejected the grievance.
According to the courts decision, Baker had
already concurred with Frasers decision to fire
Hallsmith, and the only witness at the hearing
was Fraser. Hallsmiths appeal to the court
alleged that the grievance procedure was an
unconstitutional violation of her due-process
rights, since the hearing officer was also her
immediate superior, hearsay was allowed as
evidence, and Hallsmith was not allowed to
cross-examine Fraser.
But the city cross-examined my witnesses
[at the hearing], Hallsmith noted, in an in-
terview with The Bridge following the court
decision.
In that decision, the court sided with Hall-
smith on all the major points of contention,
rejecting the citys argument that the option
of taking the matter to court sufficed to guar-
antee her rights. In a statement circulated Aug.
21, Fraser countered that the City followed
the process outlined in the personnel policy
and city charter.
The court threw out Bakers decision and or-
dered the city to provide Hallsmith a new
grievance hearing that fully satisfies Hall-
smiths due process rights, including her rights
to confront adverse witnesses and to an impar-
tial adjudicator.
Despite Hallsmiths request, however, the
court did not rule on the cases merits that
is, whether the city terminated her with just
cause.
Partially because it was such an egregious due-
process question that the evidence couldnt be
viewed as reliable, she told The Bridge.
With the judges ruling that Im entitled
to a hearing before an impartial arbiter, Im
confident that I will prevail and will be rein-
stated to my job. Im really grateful to Judge
Toor, to the people who drafted and uphold
the U.S. Constitution.
I am disappointed that we will have to spend
additional city time and resources on the pro-
cess aspect of this casewe prefer to have the
substantive just cause reasons for termination
considered, Frasers statement read.
The court decision, he added, will require
a new process not contemplated in the citys
policy or charter. The city is reviewing the
decision and considering whether to appeal
or simply proceed to this additional hearing.
Fraser included a further statement of the citys
position on the case in his monthly article for
The Bridge, on page 13 of this issue.
The high-profile dismissal furnished fodder
for the mayoral election campaign that fol-
lowed, as Hallsmith challenged incumbent
Mayor John Hollar, one of her adversaries in
the firing dispute. Hollar defeated Hallsmith,
garnering just under two-thirds of the vote.
Asked on Aug. 25 if she would consider run-
ning for mayor again, she said, If the election
were tomorrow, sure, [but] its two years from
now. Its hard to say. I love the city. The city
deserves a choice.
As of press time, the city had not reached a
decision on whether to appeal the courts find-
ings or schedule a fresh hearing.
Eye on
Montpelier
by Ashley Witzenberger,
Executive Director, Montpelier Alive
The Taste of Place
by Mark Frano
Hallsmith Wins a Round
by C.B. Hall
W
hats so funny about Barre? The
monthly comedy nights orga-
nized by Sean Hunter Williams
downtown at Espresso Bueno.
Stroke Yer Joke, an open-mic comedy
night which takes the spotlight the third
Friday of every month at 8 p.m., has added
a welcome blast of fun to Barre nightlife.
People who want to try their hand at the
funny business get five minutes of stage
time. Williams strongly suggests that par-
ticipants prepare their routines in advance.
Five minutes in front of a bunch of people
can feel longer than you expect, he says.
And be forewarned: if its your first time
doing it, you have to go first.( No joke!)
Stroke Yer Joke events have no cover charge.
The establishments Bueno Comedy Show-
cases usually take place on the fourth Friday
of each month. They feature paid acts from
points as far away as Maine and New York.
Admission is $6 per person. Its a great deal
for four acts, Williams saysat the risk of
understatement.
We turn from the light-hearted to a darker
side with Dan Barlow, a new Barre resident
who has a fascination with the art, history,
and underlying social commentary con-
nected with Vermont gravestones. He and
partner Scott Baer have put together Green
Mountain Graveyards, a photographic ex-
hibition featuring headstones from Barre's
cemeteries. The show will run at the Ver-
mont History Museum in Montpelier from
October 18 through April 2015. To view
their photos and read more about the art
and history of gravestones (as well as a few
ghost stories), visit www.greenmountain-
graveyard.com.
With the political season upon us, local
candidates for the Vermont House and
Senate are campaigning hard. At our blog,
www.thebarrebeat.com, well be profiling
each of the candidates in the runup to
the November election. Visit the blog for
profiles as well as other stories that are fit
for print but don't make it into The Bridge
because of space and time constraints.
Got a story to share? Were queuing up
intriguing stories about Barre and its people
for upcoming Barre Beat columns. Please
send your story ideas to The Bridge at 802
223-5112, editorial@montpelierbridge.com
or 802-223-5112. Follow @BarreBeatVT and
@TheBridgeVT on Twitter for regular up-
dates on Barre and additional information.
And if youre coming to Barre, remember:
weve got some great comedyand head-
stones!
Sparge:
/sprj/ verb. A brewing technique that extracts the
sugar from the grains by exposing the grains to water.
G a r d e n e r
Hands on
BRIDGE BITES
Column
Johns
NECI
N E W E N G L A N D
CULINARY INSTITUTE
Residential Care for Men &Women
Come Join Us Every Thursday
10AM - 11AM for Coffee & Scones!
Transportation available Ask for Joan
Located in the heart of Montpelier.
Within walking distance to the library,
post ofce, banks, churches and shops.
Come see available suites
and all we have to offer.
149 Main Street, Montpelier 802.223.3881
www.thegaryhome.com
Residential Care for Men &Women
Come Join Us Every Thursday
10AM - 11AM for Coffee & Scones!
Transportation available Ask for Joan
Located in the heart of Montpelier.
Within walking distance to the library,
post ofce, banks, churches and shops.
Come see available suites
and all we have to offer.
149 Main Street, Montpelier 802.223.3881
www.thegaryhome.com
I do not
spit
at wine tastings.
I preferto be takenoverby
the alcohol
as quickly as possible.
Photo by Emily Kaminsky
Barre Beat by Emily Kaminsky
Gwendolyn Hallsmith
for Mayor
Resilience and Prosperity:
The Peoples Choice
Working with the citizens, we get things done
$8M District Energy grant
Capital Area Neighborhoods
Renovated Senior Center
Streamlined Permit Process
Sustainable Master Plan
Bring the voices of our residents
back to city government.
Transparency, Accountability, and Ethical
Standards for elected and appointed ofcials.
Vote for change on
March 4th!
Got a news tip? We want to know! Send it in to
The Bridge at: editorial@montpelierbridge.com
Photo courtesy of Gwen Hallsmith
PAGE 10 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE THE BRI DGE AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 PAGE 11
In Waterbury, the Alchemy Continues by C.B. Hall
T
he Alchemist, the Waterbury brewery that has given the worldor at least a small
part of itHeady Topper beer, will soon be expanding its operations to Stowe, but
that wont mean any reduction in its prospering operation in Waterbury. So says
Jen Kimmich, who with her husband, John, owns the brewery. In an interview with The
Bridge, she expressed the hope that ground will be broken on the Stowe brewpub in late
October, although that timeline assumes an unusually swift Act 250 review by the District
5 Environmental Commission. A pre-winter start to construction would mean an opening
by late next summer under the best scenario, she estimated.
The Stowe establishment, which will also sell beer for off-premises consumption, is to
occupy a 16,000-square-foot building on an approximately 4.5-acre parcel just off the
resort communitys Mountain Road. The Alchemist has signed a contract for the parcels
purchase, contingent on the Act 250 approval. Kimmich said she was very positive that
the venture would receive all the necessary permits; the town of Stowe has already issued
all the requisite municipal imprimaturs.
The Alchemist will continue to brew all Heady Topper, its flagship product, at its Water-
bury plant, just off Route 100. Some of the double India pale ale will be shipped up the
highway to the Stowe pub, which will at the same time brew other varieties of beer, all of
them for sale on the premises. The Stowe enterprise, which will also include a hop garden
for educational purposes, will be geared toward getting people to Vermont, Kimmich
said, in a nod to Stowes economic base of tourism.
The brewery will thus continue to expand the presence of wholesalers retail outlets in the
Waterbury-Stowe corridor, where a year-round abundance of tourists with plenty of cash
has bolstered business for the likes of Ben & Jerrys, the Cabot Creamery Cooperative and
recent arrival Petes Greens.
The Alchemists Waterbury plant, Kimmich said, will continue to operate as a separate
brewery. Its a great place for us to do our distribution, because its so centrally located.
And, for the local community, the Alchemist is more than a business that pays a tax bill.
This year the brewer awarded $42,000 in scholarships to Harwood Union graduates,
Kimmich reported. On Aug. 16 the beer makers joined with the Burlington-based crepe-
rie Skinny Pancake for a fundraising breakfast and sale of clothing accessories, with all
proceeds earmarked for Rwandas Good Samaritan School, which Harwood Union High
School helps to sponsor. The effort raised $2,400.
After the breakfast, however, it was back to business, as the Alchemist sold off 500 cases of
special-release beers--in one hour and 10 minutes. Thats almost three cans every second.
These so-called pop-up sales have become a regular feature of the brewerys marketing since
Tropical Storm Irene swept through Waterbury three years ago. The floodwaters wiped
out the Alchemists retail outleta brewpub on South Main Streetand the Kimmichs
decided not to rebuild the tavern when they discovered the fine print in their insurance
policy excluded reimbursement for damage to the buildings basement, where the brewery
and office were located. The federal government meanwhile gave the neighborhood a spe-
cial flood-zone designation, which sufficed to scare off any prospective lenders and insur-
ersand that nixed any thoughts of reopening.
As luck would have it, however, the brewery off Route 100 began producing beer the day
after Irene did her dirty work, so the business survived, albeit in an abruptly changed
format. For a time the new locations tasting room served as a retail outleta venture
extinguished by its own success. The traffic got too busy, really, Kimmich related. We
had room in our tasting room for about 60 people at a time. We ended up with 300 people
waiting to get in on a Monday, cars backed up onto Route 100...
Last November, then, the Alchemist shifted to an all-wholesale format. Today the brewery
employs 24 people and is functioning at capacity1,800 cases of beer weekly. Sales of Heady
Topper, which right now account for virtually all the companys activity, are limited, given
the production constraints, to about 140 retailers, all within about 25 miles of Waterbury.
Any retailer selling the product farther away than that is breaking the law, Kimmich stated,
since Vermont law prohibits retail sales of alcoholic beverages that do not go through the
established distribution chain. But that doesnt stop an abundance of beer merchants from
offering the beer without authorization, and at stratospheric prices.
Last year there was a lawyer trying to sell it out of a car trunk in Burlington, she reported.
She conceded a certain resignation to the abuses. When we hear of a beverage store in L.A.
selling it, we give them a call and tell them, Hey, this is illegal. The interlocutors usual
reaction, she said, is Thanks for letting us know. They just kind of play stupid, usually.
You do the best you can do and then just let it go, because you could spend all your time
trying to police people.
The Alchemists arcane names likewise conceal one of the headaches of success. One doesnt
run into names as inexplicable as Heady Topper or Focal Bangeran American IPA, Kim-
mich elaboratedin every aisle of the supermarket, and with good reason.
A lot of brainstorming and trying to come up with names that arent already trademarked,
said Kimmich on how the Alchemists nomenclature enters the beer lexicon. Names that
are fun and stick into peoples heads.
Whatever the fun, naming a new product is not a process the Kimmichs can take lightly.
There are lawsuits all the time, she continued. People think the name is too similar to
their beers. I think there are hundreds of beer names approved every day.
Beer-lovers making their way to the Stowe establishment will be hoisting brews with names
like Rapture and Beelzebubmonikers sure to arouse more curiosity than Pabst Blue Rib-
bon or Oktoberfest. Whether the offerings also excite the taste buds more is a question we
leave to the patrons own discerning palates.
O
n Town Meeting Day this March
4, when 35 of 272 school budgets
went down to defeatthe largest
number of school budget defeats in Vermont
in a decadepoliticians in Montpelier and
school people across the state took notice.
The budget defeats were not confined to small
towns. Jurisdictions that rejected school bud-
gets included some of the states largest and
most influential communitiesBurlington,
Rutland, Barre City and Montpelier.
On March 25, a quick three weeks after
Town Meeting Day, the House Committee
on Education introduced H.883, a school
consolidation bill that would have con-
densed Vermonts 280-odd school districts
into an estimated 45 to 60 expanded dis-
tricts. The bill described a process and time-
table for achieving the pared-down number
of school districts, with an ultimate deadline
of July 1, 2020.
On April 30, the House passed H.883 on
a 76-60 vote. But as the legislative session
came to a close, the bill died in the Senate.
Thus, school district consolidation and all
the issues that it excitessuch as the cost,
control and educational quality of Vermonts
schoolsstill await action as planning goes
forward in advance of a new legislative ses-
sion, to begin in January 2015.
Stephan Morse, Jeff Francis, and Peter
Peltzthree men who come at school district
consolidation and related issues from dif-
ferent perspectivesshared their viewpoints
recently in interviews with The Bridge.
Stephan Morse, State Board of Education
Morse, a past speaker of the House, currently
chairs the State Board of Education (BOE),
Vermont's most important government body
making educational policy. Morse believes
that Vermont has too many individual school
districts. "We supported the consolidation
bill in the last session," he said.
When asked what the right number of school
districts might be, he said, I dont approach
it that way. Instead he started the discus-
sion by sharing in the general agreement
about the value of individual schools as an-
chor points in small, rural communities.
We all recognize the historic significance
of schools in rural towns to the character of
individual communities, he said.
At the same time, he was utterly clear about
the need to provide the greatest opportuni-
tiesand equal opportunitiesfor students
in all of the state's schools.
He underscored the need for children in
smaller schoolsthose with fewer than 50
studentsto have access to the educational
quality they will need for their lives and
careers. When pressed about money is-
sues and property taxes, he said, Its about
educational opportunity. But money plays a
secondary role.
Speaking approvingly of the legislative sup-
port that H.883 garnered in the 2014 legis-
lative session, he said, I was encouraged the
bill got as far as it did. He didnt think the
district consolidation issue was going away.
Its urgent, he said, noting that school
enrollments are down from a high of some
110,000 students in the 1990s to 80,000
today.
You cant educate kids for the 21st century
with an 18th-century structure, he said.
Morse identified the Legislature, the gov-
ernor and the BOE as three key players in
putting together a fresh legislative proposal.
The BOE is swinging into action right now.
Said Morse, Early this fall I will form a leg-
islative committee [of the BOE] and invite
Vermonters and educators to give us their
opinions. Then we will make a presentation
to the Legislature next year.
Jeff Francis, Vermont Superintendents
Association
Jeff Francis, executive director of the Ver-
mont Superintendents Association, said he
doesnt know exactly whats going to hap-
pen with school district consolidation. But
Francis, like many other Vermonters, is con-
cerned about how schools might deal with
increases in fixed costs, such as those for
personnel and facilities. Once these costs are
paid, very little money remains, and this can
result in a loss of educational opportunity.
Were looking at a [school] cost trajectory
of 2 to 4 percent per year, and schools are
having to cut programs.
Francis also talked about school districts
that are holding costs steady and bringing
in level-funded school budget proposals. But
even a school board that keeps its budgets
bottom line where it has been may eventu-
ally have to propose a stiff tax increase,
because of the complex calculations in the
state funding formula.
School budgets have increased faster than
state revenues, he added. The state, he con-
tinued, is saying that it can only sustain
school budget increases in the neighbor-
hood of 2 percent. But what happens, he
asked rhetorically, when local schools bring
in budgets that are going up 3 to 4 percent?
Francis also had a question for school of-
ficials: Why, when enrollments decline, are
you operating with the same number of per-
sonnel? If a school official chose to answer
this question, Francis imagined he or she
would say, If we make these cuts, we will
hurt the quality of education.
Francis reported that there are small schools
in Vermont today that are half the size they
were just 10 years ago. Its an extraordi-
narily complicated thing. The challenges are
not going to go away.
He noted that the rise in taxes to sup-
port public education has reached the point
where its attracted the attention of mu-
nicipal officials and the Vermont League of
Cities and Towns. Now the states towns and
cities are taking a sharper look at the rising
cost of public education and how those costs
are affecting the availability of money to pay
for municipal budgets.
In Franciss view, not taking action may be
the least attractive alternative. He said that
some small, marginal schools might be
able to do a better job educationally by join-
ing a larger school district. A small school
in a larger system might make [that small
school] viable, he said.
I think the intensity of this discussion will
be fueled by property taxes and student op-
portunity, he concluded.
Peter Peltz, Vermont House Member
State Representative Peter Peltz (D-Wood-
bury), who served as vice chair of the House
Education Committee this past session, and
who is not running for re-election this No-
vember, acknowledged the difficulty of the
school district consolidation issue. Anytime
we try to do any structural change, he
said, there is strong resistance. That resis-
tance comes from multiple fronts, he contin-
ued, mentioning teachers unions and local
school boards.
While he has certainly heard the clamor over
property taxes, Peltz said, We cant just be
focused on the cost of education. You have to
look at the way money is raised. You have to
pay attention to the needs of students.
He expressed appreciation toward local
school board members, saying they worked
hard and focused on their respective schools.
Its hard for them to think about sharing
and merging, he said. Its not their pur-
view. This is not what they do. At the same
time, however, he felt that money can be
readily saved when schools cooperate with
each other. He questioned why each dis-
trict has to have its own budget and audits.
When you are sharing the budgets, you are
saving money, he said.
Peltz wasnt blaming anyone. Its all about
our demographics, our economy, an aging
population, a host of issues, he said.
Peltz lives in Woodbury, population 906.
The town has an elementary school with
about 50 pupils. When asked if he thought
the school was in danger of closing, he said
that he didnt think that a consolidation bill
like H.883 posed a threat to it. I think the
threat is the pure economics of itdipping
into your reserve funds to prevent that.
He said that some change in the school
district structure that would lead to a shar-
ing of resources would keep some of those
schools open. By way of example, he added,
Woodbury has a great natural environ-
ment. That could be a draw. You could do
that. That could attract students.
School Consolidation:
Three Influential Players
Discuss the Issue by Nat Frothingham
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PAGE 12 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE THE BRI DGE AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 PAGE 13
A Message from City Hall
This page was paid for by the city of Montpelier.
Home Grown reviewed by Lindsey Grutchfield
Wild Author Cheryl
Strayed at VCFA by Joyce Kahn
D
espite being billed as the story of his sons unconventional education, Ben
Hewitts new book, "Home Grown: Adventures in Parenting off the Beaten Path,
Unschooling, and Reconnecting with the Natural World" is not about parenting.
It is, as Hewitt iterates in the book itself, neither a guide to homeschooling children nor a
scathing critique of the institutional education systemalthough that doesnt mean that
the author resists pointing out the flaws he sees in said education system. Instead, "Home
Grown" is, more than anything else, a memoir of a particular lifestyle, a lifestyle increas-
ingly rare in the modern world.
Hewitt and his family live on a farmin the hills of Cabot. In a self-built, solar-powered house,
they have carved out an existence off the grid. Their lifestyle depends on their own sweat,
mutual exchange of labor with their neighbors, and the land on which they make their home.
As one aspect of what is already an unconventional way of living, Hewitts sons, Fin and Rye,
neither attend a traditional school nor participate in an organized homeschooling program.
Instead, the boys learn life skills largely at their own direction, although Hewitt and his wife,
along with many mentors in the community, serve as resources for the boys guidance.
"Home Grown," which will be
available in bookstores Sept. 9,
tells the tale of Hewitts life on
a largely self-sufficient farm,
and his children are naturally
a large part of that life. Sto-
ries of two young boys roam-
ing through the forest with
bows and fishing lines in tow
constitute much of the book.
However, what proves not only
more interesting but also more
central to Hewitts opus is the
particular rhythm of lives lived
closer to the earth than the
average Americans existence
does today. Whether he is de-
scribing his own labor in build-
ing his familys house, or the
peace of skiing in the forest on
a moonlit night, Hewitts sto-
ries captivate. "Home Grown"
is a simple memoir of a simple
life, awakening in the reader
images of a life that, while far
from easy at times, nonethe-
less imparts a satisfying grace
to both Hewitts thoughts and
his writing.
B
est-selling author Cheryl Strayed ap-
peared before a packed gymnasium of
fans at Vermont College of Fine Arts
(VCFA) on Aug. 15. Strayeds book entitled
"Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific
Crest Trail" (2007) won her national atten-
tion when it topped The New York Times
nonfiction bestseller list. In her gymnasium
appearance she was interviewed by VCFA
President Tom Greene. She then answered
questions from an enthusiastic audience of
writers and readers.
"Wild" recounts Strayeds 1,100-mile solo
hike during the summer of 1995, when she
was 26. A writer from an early age, Strayed
based the memoir on her journal entries from
the hike. She made the trek because her
life was falling apart. Grief-stricken after the
death of her mother from cancer at age 45,
she started using heroin, had a succession of
casual sexual encounters, and filed for di-
vorce from her first husband. In the book she
recounts details of her life as she copes with
the challenges she encounters on the trail.
Greene commenced his interview by ask-
ing Strayed how much she thought about
honesty when she wrote the book. Strayed
replied, "You dont sit down with all the facts
available to you. [In] everything in nonfic-
tion Ive ever written, the truth is revealed as
I write it. ... I come to know something new
about myself, the world, or the person Im
writing about. ...You come to a deeper place,
that we go to literature for, that answers the
question, Who are we?
"Wild" is being adapted as a motion picture,
with Reese Witherspoon playing the older
Strayed, and Strayeds daughter playing the
younger Strayed. Greene asked her what it
means for her to have her book made into
a film. She replied that it was both funny
and bizarre. I highly recommend having a
film made of your life. You get something
back you thought was gone before. Seeing my
daughter reenact my life helped with healing.
One audience member remarked that the
part about her mother dying must have been
difficult. I seek that out as a writer, Strayed
responded. I dont experience it as hard.
In Torch, though fiction, Imattracted to the
underneath, whats really true, whats
happening inside, she continued, alluding to
her 2006 novel. As an example, she referred
to how she might ask a husband, "So why do
you really love your wife?" in order to get at
his underlying feelings.
Strayed peppered her remarks with no short-
age of wisdom about the secrets of good
writing.
The most important rule in writing is that
you can do anything as long as its believ-
able, she advised. The core of what Im try-
ing to tell is, How do we bear the unbearable?
How do I continue forward? The world will
teach. Let it live in you.
Another audience member asked about the
role of nature in "Wild." Strayed answered
that the Pacific Crest Trail is a character in
the book. While wanting to make nature
vivid and not boring, her work, she said,
evokes the place I go to for solace. I think
it was an important piece of the journey. Im
passing through; its not really part of my
world. I grew up in the woods. It was a
return for me, like I was returning to the girl
self I had and lost.
Not having read the book myself, I asked a
friend what accounted for the wildly popu-
lar acclaim the memoir receivedacclaim
that surprised even the author herself. Its a
good story, well told, my friend responded,
a true story about a brave person doing brave
thingsan adventure story.
While for many people Strayeds experiences
parallel some of their own, and thus they
easily identify with her, I wonder how many
more people love this book because it is just
the kind of experience they wish they had
had in their youth or when they came to
a difficult crossroads in their lives--needing
solitude, the grounding nature can provide,
soul-searching, and healing.
In an email to The Bridge, he said he is cau-
tiously open to the idea of consolidation. I
believe it is a path that must be thoroughly re-
searched and understood by the public before
it is moved forward, he wrote. That being
said, I believe it is going to be nearly impos-
sible to maintain the high level of quality in
our schools without a major change in the near
future. The tax base simply cannot sustain the
current levels of school funding and the neces-
sary increases each year brought about by the
rising cost of health care, fuel, staff compensa-
tion, etc. Equally compelling is that the ma-
jority of the residents of Washington County
have consistently voted on Town Meeting Day
in support of a robust school budget, one that
provides a modern and comprehensive educa-
tional experience to students. In other words,
voters dont seem compelled, despite the high
price tag, to strip away school programs that
enhance the educational experience.
While he was not in a position to predict
how a merger might be implemented, Ster-
ling wrote, My own personal thoughts are
that U-32 and MHS are two high schools
within five miles of each other and that
could be a place to look [at] as a start.
But some Washington County residents are
not excited about eliminating smaller school
districts. Plainfields Debra Stolleroff, for
example, filed written testimony earlier this
year against proposed state legislation that
could have mandated district consolidation.
The bill in question failed in the last days
of the session. There are countless educa-
tion studies that address the success of small
schools, she wrote. Perhaps, some Ver-
mont schools are too small but all of the
research agrees schools of 150-500 students
are just right (depending on whether the
school is pre-K-12, elementary, middle or
high school). Smaller schools have higher
graduation rates, less risky behaviors and
soften the harshness of poverty. She went
on to declare that creating larger districts
would waste time and money.
Gov. Peter Shumlin, for one, appears to
disagree. We currently have more superin-
tendents and administration than any state
of our size. We need to think of a better
way, he said in a New York Times article
published on May 14.
Thus, while everyone agrees the state has a
problemthe cost of educationand some
school administrators are experimenting
with ways to share costs, the prospect of
squeezing the district consolidation trigger
is generating a controversy that may not be
resolved for some time to come.
Fayston Elementary School is one place where school district consolidation has stimulated earnest discussions. Photo by Carla Occaso
Consolidation
continued from page 1
I
ts hard to believe that this glorious summer is ending. Another season of Brown Bag
concerts, Mountaineers games, Municipal Band performances, the Montpelier pool
and other summer activities is coming to a close. School is starting up, the occasional
colored leaf can be spotted and we detect a chillier nip in the evening air.
Fall is of course always busy in our region. This autumn will be no exception. Look for
Montpelier Alive sponsored events in downtown on Sept. 6 and Oct. 18 to bookend the
lively foliage season.
Many city government projects and initiatives are also falling into place.
District Heat:
The district heat project is gearing up to begin its first full season of operation on Oct. 1.
The state heat plant is completed and ready to go. The city distribution system was com-
pleted last year and was successfully tested with our mini-system in place last winter. This
past summer saw some final touches, minor corrective work and final testing of the piping
and monitoring system.
Currently customers are finishing work to prepare their buildings to accept heat from the
system. This work is occurring in basements and utility rooms throughout downtown.
The city will be arranging full training and information for customers in early October,
shortly after the system starts up. Training will be provided by Evergreen Energy, of St.
Paul, Minnesota. Evergreen, the citys consulting partner in the project, operates the St.
Paul district heat systemone of the largest and oldest in the country.
With a full complement of customers and all system infrastructure in place, we are excited
to begin offering this new service and to help move Montpelier to greater energy indepen-
dence.
1 Taylor Street:
This much-discussed project is now taking shape. The fourth and final public session will
take place next Wednesday, Sept. 3, at 6 p.m., at the Montpelier senior center, located at
58 Barre St.
This event will outline the proposed project as it is currently being envisioned by the 1
Taylor Street Design Review Committee, development partners, the Green Mountain
Transit Agency (GMTA), and the citys project team. A presentation of workable transit
routes, proposed use, a preliminary site plan and related decision points will be made by the
project team. Questions and comments will follow the presentation. The City Council will
consider the project the following week, having had the benefit of this final public event.
The contemplated project consists of a functioning transit center, some 30 housing units,
a bike path, open seating areas along the river on the west side, direct river access on the
east side, a bike/pedestrian bridge over the North Branch, and improvements to the Main
Street gateway.
The 1 Taylor site will need to balance many community goals. The project is first and
foremost a transit projectfunded by the Federal Transit Agency and the Federal Highway
Administration to create a modern and functional transit center. In order to accomplish
this goal, the city team and GMTA have worked cooperatively to find a routing pattern
which meets present and future transit needs and still allows for other public priorities to
be addressed on the site.
In addition to transit, other community goalsidentified through the public sessions
include creation of housing units, creation of public space which honors the Winooski
and North Branch, construction of the bike path and bridge, creating an energy-efficient
building, developing a landmark site in the center of the city, and covering the citys costs
for the building portion of the project. All of these elements will contribute significantly to
the continuing vitality of Montpeliers downtown. Accomplishing all of these things on the
relatively small 1 Taylor site requires a series of decisions and compromises. The thought
process behind these decisions will be outlined on Sept. 3.
Once the general parameters of the project have been approved, design and permitting
work will begin. Over a year or so, this long-talked-about idea will become a reality.
Granite Street Bridge:
In a much more immediate case, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) has
begun work to overhaul the Granite Street Bridge. This work includes removing lead paint
and repainting the bridge, making structural repairs, rebuilding the sidewalks and repav-
ing the travel surface. This obviously creates both vehicular and pedestrian inconvenience,
since the bridge will be completely closed during the work period.
We have received many questions about the pedestrian aspect of the project. The lead
paint removal prohibits pedestrians from entering the bridge area. The bridge will be
covered in protective sheeting to prevent paint from falling into the river. It will simply
be impossible to allow any crossings during the work period. The Montpelier community
has consistently supported retaining historic metal truss bridges in the city. Proper mainte-
nance, such as this work, is a key factor for keeping such bridges in operation.
Paving and Maintenance:
Over the next three weeks, citizens should see paving work occurring in multiple loca-
tions throughout the city. It is expected that all paving will be completed by the end of
September, with the exception of Barre Street which will be completed at the conclusion
of the Granite Street Bridge project. As per the City Councils capital improvements plan,
the amount of road paving has been increased since last year and will continue to increase
over the next five years.
Along with paving, other important maintenance targets are being addressed including
retaining walls and stormwater systems.
VTrans has meanwhile notified the city that paving on I-89 between exits 7 and 8 is due to
start imminently. Work will be done on the Exit 7 interchange but not on Exit 8. VTrans
expects that there will be one-lane traffic on I-89 during this project.
State Street:
Discussion continues about the design of State Street when it is fully repavedpossibly
next summer. Current plans call for a slight widening of the street in the State House area.
This will be accomplished by removing the grassy strips between the curbs and sidewalk
on either side of the road. The additional space created will be used to add angle parking
on the State House sideresulting in approximately 16 new downtown parking spaces. A
bike lane will be added on the Department of Motor Vehicles side. Other ideas that have
been considered include moving the angle parking to the DMV side, moving the location
of the bike lane, and not making any changes. The City Council will consider this item at
its Sept. 10 meeting.
Parking Garage:
The Planning Department is in the very early stages of reviewing the feasibility of a new
parking garage to be located in the North Branch parking lot. It is anticipated that such
a structure would both help alleviate current parking pressures and allow for additional
downtown development both residential and commercial. There is no specific proposal on
the table but the City Council has approved this review.
Branding:
Montpelier Alive has initiated a community branding process. They have retained a con-
sultant to help identify those parts of Montpelier most appealing to visitors and shoppers.
They will help create a specific Montpelier brand, which will in turn help create a com-
mon image for marketing materials, individual businesses advertising, and city publicity.
The process includes an intense three-day visit from the consultant. This visit will include
a public forum on Tuesday, Sept. 9, and a wrap-up meeting on Thursday, Sept. 11. Look
for more information directly from Montpelier Alive about this process.
Zoning:
The Planning Commission continues its work on redrafting the citys zoning ordinance.
The commission continues to meet regularly. Meetings are televised and available for view-
ing on the citys website. The commission will provide an update on the rezoning process
to the City Council on Sept. 10.
Court Decision:
The State Superior Court recently issued a decision in the case of Gwendolyn Hallsmith v.
City of Montpelier, in which the former planning director alleges that her employment was
wrongfully terminated.
Judge Helen Toor ruled that Ms. Hallsmith was not provided proper due process. The
judge ordered the city to conduct another hearing containing certain key elements of due
process, such as cross-examination, rules of evidence, and a neutral hearing officer.
This decision has naturally raised questions about the citys actions in this matter. The
city at all times believed and understood that Ms. Hallsmith was entitled to proper due
process. It was our understanding that this constitutional requirement was met through
her opportunity to have the matter reviewed in court. Therefore the citys hearing (offered
but not required in our personnel plan) was not conducted in full quasi-judicial fashion as
though it were a binding arbitration case or a court hearing. Obviously, the judge disagreed
with this understanding.
The city charter, an act of the Legislature, provides the city manager with the legal author-
ity to make all final hiring and firing decisions. The charter further authorizes the City
Council to enact personnel policies. The citys approved policy spells out a termination
process which includes an appeal to be heard by the city manager with rules for the hear-
ing to be determined by the city manager. This appeal is optional and not considered a
requirement or prerequisite for a matter to be taken to court.
Ms. Hallsmith understandably requested that someone other than the city manager, who
made the decision to fire her, hear the appeal. Since the charter does not provide for any-
one elseparticularly anyone outside of city governmentto make a termination decision,
I, as city manager, chose to have the assistant city manager hear the appeal. This was clearly
not an ideal situation, but was consistent with the terms of the charter and policy. This
decision was based on advice from the citys legal counsel, as was the process established
for the hearing itself.
Judge Toors decision speaks about the proper handling of a true, neutral-party hearing.
The city does not at all dispute that this is how a third-party hearing should be conducted.
As stated earlier, the judge did not agree with the city that Ms. Hallsmiths rights to a
neutral hearing were satisfied in court.
The hearing that has been ordered is not contemplated within the charter, or in our duly
adopted policies. Such a process potentially takes decision making on employment ques-
tions out of the hands of city officials, as contemplated by the Legislature when adopting
charters and the general statutes governing town
and city managers.
The city is considering whether to appeal this deci-
sion. If there is no appeal, we are considering who
will conduct this hearing and how the outcome of
such a hearing might be consistent with our char-
ter. In general, however, this decision has caused us
to look more closely at our processes and policies in
order to provide sufficient due process at the local
level rather than relying on the courts.
As always, thank you for reading this article and
for your interest in Montpelier city government.
Please feel free to contact me with questions or
comments at wfraser@montpelier-vt.org or
802-223-9502.
Book Review
by William Fraser, Montpelier City Manager
PAGE 14 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE THE BRI DGE AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 PAGE 15
David Wax Museum
Joyful Mexo-Americana fusion, with virtuosic
musical skill and virtuous harmonies.- TIME
with Rusty Belle
Friday, Sept. 5 at 8pm
NOV 15
SEPT 5
Jonathan Richman
His loquacious word play, spoken vocals
and sing-song meanderings on life
generated infectious laughter- Spinner.com
Saturday, Nov. 15 at 8pm
Session Americana
an absolute must-see, must-hear.
- NPR
Friday, Dec. 12 at 8pm
DEC 12
ADVANCE TICKETS & INFO
www.goddard.edu/events
NOV 7
HAVE YOU SCENE ?
MYTHING
STATEMENT 3.0
GROTTOBLASTER! Be on the LOOK OUT for a highly COM-
BUSTIBLE CONFIDENTIAL ARTIST who deals only in both
CHEAP MATERIALS and CHEAP HUMOR. CONVICTED FAR
FLUNG FUTURIST. It goes by MANY SMELLS, MANY NAMES,
MANY FORMS, LIZARD BRAINS. You may find that this SUS-
PECT DISGUISES ITSELF on many occasions, or even may be
found sans garmente. This CREATURE has NO SAME. Motives:
TOTAL INSURRECTION OF THE PREDOMINANT ART-AS-
CONSUMPTION INDUSTRY ESTABLISHMENT and the ABSO-
LUTE CELEBRATION of the JOY OF LIFE and BEAUTY of ALL
CREATION. By employing spontaneous eruption of NON-
VIRTUAL ACTION and the immediate ABSURDITY of PUPPET
SHOWS to say the unsayable, think the unthinkable, wreckify the
unwreckdafiable, and PLAY FETCH with the HELL DOGS of WAR,
GREED, and INJUSTICE.
CRIMES INCLUDE but are not limited to: STEALING SUBJECT
MATTER and NOT GIVING IT BACK, freekstyle unwrapping, pop-
ping and unlocking, scatting in public, HEROIC deeds, including but
not limited to: dressing and undressing, clocking in and out, dirtying
and cleaning dishes, making coffee, drinking coffee and DESECRAT-
ING THE CEILING OF THE CATHEDRAL with PERMANENT
MARKERS!
Hasnt every possible combination been applied to the existing ART
forms, genres, subgenres, and the SUBCONSCIOUS? It the NEW
QUESTIONS that are PROPELLING US- like WHY and WHAT
THE HECK? The forms ABOVE US, are dismembered so we DIG
for POCKETS of HIDDEN GOLD to REMEMBER. BEHOLD, the
LOCKET is BROKE on the DECOMPOSITIONDIARY,
SCRAWLED in the MARGINS.
The roots of MASCULINE and FEMININE power are DELVED.
The cultural narrative based on VIOLENCE is DENOUNCED. A set
of seemingly ADVENTUROUS HEROES are CLOAKED IN SYM-
BOLOGICAL HOODIES. Just look at the GOODIES they carry:
shiny ABRACADABLET, a STAFF OF QUESTING, and a cultural
KNAPSACK never fully UNPACKED. WATCH CAREFULLY as
they TURN AWAY from WISDOM, FORSAKE LOGIC, and EMBRACE the UNKNOWN through a process of SEMI-AUTOMATIC RANDOMIZOJUSTI-
FICATION. Try to locate CONCRETE EXAMPLES of this OCCURANCE in the ABOVEGROUND, if you DARE. What is THE MOTIVE? To ILLUMI-
NATE DARKENED CORNERS, to NOT HESITATE when DISASSEMBLING the SCRATCHITTI OF PRICE TAGS, to BUST BRAGGIDOSSIO, and
leave the TRACKS that be DIFFICULT to follow, but have material traces of TRASH DECAYED in the GROTTO. PACKING HEATED CONVERSATION
that is LOADED with DOUBLE-MEANING. Very MICROSCOPIC on up to the CEILING.
Where is the GROTTO? Any place to QUESTION our INTIMACY with TECHNOLOGY. A LIVING COMIC BOOK in which all CREATURES are HE-
ROES EXPRESSING POWERS- combinations of SPOKEN CONSCIENCES and VOWELS, with a movement TOWARD the BOWELS- a CLOSE CALL
with THE ANGLE OF DEPTH. To BREAK the patterns of thought, to establish a LOWTHRESHOLD for SERIOUS PRECIPACES, to ENTERTAIN in a
way that brings ENJOYMENT and TOLERANCE, and releases TECTONIC STRESS, to AUGMENT REALITY to the point where a TOWN MEETING
erupts into a WRESTLING MATCH erupts into A GIANT CROSSWORD PUZZLE. To cast a LEVITY SPELL on HIP-HOP and LANGUAGE. Let the
KIDS have a SAFE ENVIRONMENT to REHEARSE the NEXT VERSE.
The creature is GUILTY and CONVICTED of CONFUSING the locations of HEAVEN and HELL. BEWARE of IRONIC SMELTING, DOUBLE-
MEANING DEALING, and a CRAVASSE SHAKING. WE ARE ALL FIGHTING OUR WAY OUT OF PRISONS.
This is a DEGENERATE GENESIS. CARDBOARD LADDERS. MAPS for the LOST. ALSO, there must be FOUND a new name for the AUDIENCE,
since they dont just hear the HIDDEN SOUND of art but also the noise of DECOMPOSING TOMATO PROJECTILES. MULTI-PLAYERS NOT HATERS.
In other words, say what you must but WE JUST GOT TO BUST.
Coming fromTHE OLD SCHOOL, or rather THE PRE-SCHOOL, as we are reckless with our TOYS. The EMPOWERMENT OF YOUTH is the SIN of SE-
RIOUSNESS, the SCOURGE OF POST-URGENT LEARNING, the WIZDOMto COME. In the DARKNESS, lighted MUSHROOMS GROW. DOORS
DISAPPEAR. ANIMALS dismiss their EYES grow larger EARS. CRYSTALS EMERGE, JEWELS CONVERGE, MAGNETICAL CHARGE. The POWER
OF SUSTAINING RESONANCE is the ECHO EFFECT of LIVE CULTURES. STINKY CHEESE hangs out in CAVES and AWAITS ITS POTENCY.
When it RIPENS, CRUNCHY organic Vermont CRACKERS WATCH OUT!
We will never know when the SPARK will ignite so we must take A STAB IN THE DARK. Youve been WARNING to WARNING to LOVE ONE AN-
REWIRED
YOURSELF BYDRAWINGYOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS AS TO THE WHEREABOUTS
OF CRITICALMEANING, CONSIDERATIONS OF CONTEXT, AND THE SUB-
JECTABILITYOF VALUE JUDGEMENTS UPON LABOR, AND THE QUEST FOR
PARADISE.
DUGGHA TRENCH
Known Aliases:
Professor Ben t. Matchstick, Papa Wheelie, Mr. Mysterious,
LAST SCENE: www.grottoblaster.com
ht: 31 wt: 85 lbs. Skin: GREEN Eyes: BULGING
Sex: Neither and both, never and always, please and thank you!
OCT 31-
NOV 1
Cardboard Teck Instantutes
Grottoblaster
An interactive hip hop
multi-media puppet adventure
Friday , Oct 31 at 8pm
Saturday, Nov 1 at 8pm
Saturday, Nov 1... Kids Show at 3pm
Ben Sollee
Top Ten Great Unknown Artist- NPR
with Jim and Sam
Friday, Nov. 7 at 8pm
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House Calls At School:
Barre Launches New
Student-Health Programs
by Emily Kaminsky
When Going Back to
School Means Staying at
Home by Emily Kaminsky
Vermont,
Meet China
by C.B. Hall
T
he children have gone back to school
with their backpacks and lunch-
boxes, their hopes and their dreams.
And their germs. The beginning of a school
year is often rife with coughs and sneezes,
as children in close quarters share those
germs, and some youngsters are soon miss-
ing school for doctors appointments.
At a handful of schools around Vermont, a
not-so-novel concept called the school-based
health center (SBHC) makes treating the
common cold, test-
ing for strep throat,
or following up on a
childs chronic con-
dition a matter of
course that can be
taken care of right
at the school during
school hours. Now,
thanks to a partner-
ship with Berlins
Associates in Pedi-
atrics and Central
Vermont Medical
Center (CVMC),
Barre City Elemen-
tary and Middle
School (BCEMS) is getting its own SBHC
at no additional cost to taxpayers.
"Were excited to offer this new service, says
BCEMS Principal James Taffel. Starting this
fall, two nurse practitioners from Associates
in Pediatrics will be available in the school
nurses office twice a week to provide health
care. "They can do more than what an RN
and LPN can dolike test for strep throat
and write prescriptions," says Taffel. "They'll
be able to examine the child and send an
email prescription to parents or send it to
the pharmacy. This can eliminate steps for
parents."
Linda Burger, one of the two nurse practitio-
ners fromAssociates in Pediatrics who will be
providing care at BCEMS, explains that the
purpose of the health center is to provide care
closer to students. We recognized the high
level of need in Barre City, she says. Use of
the centers services is entirely voluntary and
will not take the place of primary care, she
continues. Its important that families main-
tain relationships with their home provider.
We can help with a chronic condition or
acute visitcold, fever, sore throat, cough,
she says.
This is the first time that Associates in Pe-
diatrics and CVMC have engaged a school
to provide services through an SBHC. If the
arrangement works out, the two providers
may consider outreach to other schools, but
for now theyre concentrating on the Barre
program.
While the model is not widespread, a hand-
ful of SBHCs have emerged in Vermont over
the last 20 years, with assistance from the
state, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
and Senator Bernie Sanders. The best-known
centers started over 15 years agothe Burl-
ington school systems SBHCs, which work
with a Fletcher Allen Health Care pediatric
office; and the Strafford SBHC, also known
as the Hub, which works with five schools in
Windsor and Orange counties.
Frank Lamson, a pediatric nurse at the Hub,
became one of the driving forces behind
bringing the SBHC
model to Vermont
after he had worked
in a large school-
based health clinic
in Cambridge, Mas-
sachusetts, that was
subsidized by the
Robert Wood John-
son Foundation and
Cambridge Hospi-
tal. I came back to
Vermont with the
idea that something
a little less grand
than that would be
helpful in a rural
community, he recalls. Shortly thereafter
I found out that the Robert Wood John-
son Foundation was looking to pilot a rural
health care center in a school-based setting,
he says. Twenty years later, the center is now
more or less self-sustaining. According to
Lamson, the five schools have shown measur-
able improvement in several areas: Cigarette
usage and teen pregnancy rates have gone
down, while vaccination rates are up. The
success has encouraged the center to add
services such as mental health care and dental
hygiene.
Back in Barre, BCEMS will also be making
inroads into dental hygiene with its Tooth
Tutor program. Using Medicaid reimburse-
ments to fund the initiative, the school will
soon hire a dental hygienist to evaluate stu-
dents who are not being served by a dentist or
who present issues with their teeth. Accord-
ing to Principal Taffel, at least 200 children
could benefit from the service. "Our school
used to have someone come and teach dental
hygiene, years ago," he says. "But we've never
had anyone examining teeth. Kids literally
have rotting teeth in their mouths and their
parents either can't afford care or don't know
how to access the resources to take care of it."
The combination of services being offered to
students this year has Taffel fired up. The
school-based health center and the Tooth
Tutor, combined with free lunch and break-
fast for everyone at our school, is really going
to help a lot of kids this year, he says.
E
ach year, over 2,400 Vermont chil-
dren greet the end of August and the
beginning of the traditional school
year a bit differently: while they may shop
for school supplies and take advantage of
back-to-school clothing sales, they arent
filling their backpacks with lunchboxes or
getting up at the crack of dawn to catch the
bus. In fact they arent going to school at
all. They stay home for school.
According to Rebecca Yahm of Open Path
Homeschooling Resources who, while also
a home-school consultant, home-schools her
own seven-year-old daughtereducating
ones children at home is a growing trend lo-
cally and nationwide for a variety of reasons.
The more pressure put on teachers to meet
standards, the less they can meet individual
needs. Its hard for kids who dont adapt as
easily to following directions, sitting at a
desk and doing pencil-to-paper work for long
periods of time, she says. She also hears that
parents are choosing home schooling because
they want their children to enjoy greater
creative outlets, they need more challenging
work, or the traditional school environment
just doesnt work for them.
Jen Canfield of East Montpelier, a single
parent, was inspired to home-school her two
children to add more art, outdoor time, and
sports to their lives. While her daughter is
now back in public school and loves it, her
son is a different story. Middle-school-aged
Sasha has a lot of energy and a learning
challenge. After an attempt at an alternative
private school, she realized the school sys-
tem just doesnt fit him. He didnt thrive,
she says. Boys with high energy levels often
dont have enough opportunities to move,
and I found he was getting in trouble a lot.
Home schooling is not easy for a single par-
ent, but Canfield says she is finding her way.
The schooling runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Monday through Friday and Sasha checks
in for additional mini-lessons at two to three
other times a day. The school day includes a
half-hour of meditation, an hour outdoors,
some cooking, and a few hours of reading
and math. Canfield warns that home school-
ing isnt right for everyone. You have to
be committed and able to spend a lot of
time with your children. The upside, she
explains, is that Sasha is learning and has
discovered what he is really passionate about.
According to the state of Vermont, a home-
schooling parent cannot necessarily do
whatever he or she wants. There is a dance
between freedom and the requirements of
the state, says Canfield. The state requires
parents to get its stamp of approval for pro-
posed curricula annually for at least the first
two years. The paperwork can be daunting
to some, but the two-page curriculum form
requirement is easily handled with some as-
sistance from other home-schoolers and pro-
fessionals like Yahm. There are also lots of
resources online that are free, even programs
that you can enroll your child in, says Can-
field.
So how does a home-schooler prepare for the
beginning of school? And is there really a be-
ginning of school? Some hold to a more tra-
ditional schedule, says Canfield. Some start
after Labor Day. And many others continue
projects through the summer, which has its
own advantages. Barres Lori Tremblay says
she schools her two elementary-aged young-
sters year-round. I find it helps keep us on
track and lets us take a little time off sporadi-
cally during the year without losing pace. My
little ones love school and are usually happy
to get back to learning.
Contrary to what some assume, Yahm says,
an abundance of opportunities exists for
home-schoolers to socialize. There are home-
school collectives and co-ops comprised of
parents and children that meet regularly to
learn together, share work, take field trips
together or simply socialize. It just depends
on how much driving you want to do, how to
fit it all in and balance it.
Canfield and Tremblay concur, citing many
services that accommodate home-schoolers,
such as outdoor experience programs like
Roots or Earth Walk as well as libraries,
museums, theaters and farms. Some children
also continue to take classes at their pub-
lic schools. State law requires public schools
to share their programs with homeschooled
children, provided that the public-school
classes constitute less than 40 percent of the
homeschoolers curriculum.
And how are first-time home-schoolers greet-
ing the new school year? Ania and Jeff Laugh-
lin of Barre are first-time home-schoolers to
their two children, a kindergartner and a pre-
schooler. Ania, who grew up in Poland, says
she reached the conclusion that U.S. schools
offer the complete opposite of what young
children need: sleep, movement, nature, a
strong relationship with their parents, healthy
food and free play. Her household gets along
on one income, and she acknowledges the
challenges. English is her second language;
her childrens English, she says, is already
better than her own. A new baby is coming in
December, and its hard for Ania to find time
for herself, but she remains eager. She expects
to do a lot of learning herself this year.
M
ontpelier and Northfield fami-
lies got some quality guests this
summer when Montpelier High School
and Northfield Middle/High School, in
cooperation with the Burlington-based
student-exchange organization Spiral
International, hosted programs for 67
middle- and high-school students and five teachers from Chongqing, China. The
Chinese students got two weeks of cultural and language immersion, and host families
got their own glimpse of how the younger set lives on the other side of the globe. I
realized once I met the Chinese students that Americans often know very little about
other countries, especially the people that live there, said U-32 student Signe God-
dard of Berlin, one of the teenage peer ambassadors. I feel so grateful to have had the
opportunity to connect with Chinese students my age and learn about another culture
that I may have never learned about in school.
In the photo, three of the Chinese guests interview Abigail Burr of Northfield about
life in these United States.
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Photo courtesy Michele Tofel Murray
Home-schoolers from Plainfield, Barre and beyond meet at Plainfield's recreation fields to plan field trips and other
co-learning opportunities. Photo by Emily Kaminsky
Kids literally have
rotting teeth
in their mouths and their parents either
can't afford care
or
don't know how to access the resources to
take care of it
Tell them you saw it in
The Bridge!
PAGE 18 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE THE BRI DGE AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 PAGE 19
The Bridge: Tell us a bit about yourself.
Lieman-Sifry: I live in Hastings-on-Hud-
son, in New York. I graduated Tufts in
2012did the Yestermorrow semester pro-
gram the fall after I graduated. I studied
civil engineering [at Tufts].
The Bridge: What is your current profes-
sion?
Lieman-Sifry: I work at a civil engineer-
ing firm in Manhattan. Our projects are
mostly in traffic realignments, school safety,
designing sidewalks mostly in Manhattan
and surrounding boroughs. We are cur-
rently working on the redesign on Rockaway
Boardwalk in Queens. That was badly dam-
aged in Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
The Bridge: Do you think your experience
at Yestermorrow helped you get your cur-
rent job?
Lieman-Sifry: I am not sure if it helped di-
rectly, but I think having some knowledge of
constructionstarting from paper and mak-
ing it realhelped immensely.
The Bridge: How did you learn about Yes-
termorrow?
Lieman-Sifry: I got an email from the head
of our architecture program telling us about
a current student who had just gone through
the Yestermorrow program and recom-
mended it. I basically fell in love at first read
of that email. I went on to do more research.
I feel like it really kind of guided my inter-
ests my senior year, and then, after doing the
semester program, I did the woodworking
intensive, and then after that I worked for
the instructor from both of those programs.
And I still go up to Vermont and visit.
The Bridge: Tell us a bit about the semester
program.
Lieman-Sifry: Its in one studio. Youre
there from eight oclock in the morning
until six oclock, or sometimes much later at
night, working on projects, and everything
is combined into a holistic approach, into
designing, building, thinking about sustain-
ability, and putting those things into use.
Its a very collaborative atmosphere. Its not
at all like a normal, typical lecture class.
The Bridge: What was your favorite part of
the program?
Lieman-Sifry: My favorite part was that
there were only six people in my class. We
were able to have a hand in everything
what paint, what facade, what roofing,
everything. We were able to split up into
groups. Some people would focus on one
thing and present to the group and then we
would discuss. We would sit in the studio
for hours, just talking about each persons
individual ideas and then somehow come
to a conclusion that this is the best con-
glomerate of everything, which was really
amazing. It was really the first opportunity
I had to bring together people from very
different backgrounds. None of us had ever
built anything before. It was kind of a very
new experience for all of us. If youre in
the Montpelier area, go up North Franklin
Street, the very end of it, before it turns up
the hill, if you come over the crest, and look
down the driveway, there is this bright blue
house that looks like its just stuck in the
side of the hill. Thats what we designed
and built.
The Bridge: What do you feel makes Yester-
morrow unique?
Lieman-Sifry: I think its extremely unique
that they allow all backgrounds to join the
program. The instructors are extremely wel-
coming and knowledgeable. I dont think
there are many college or postgraduate pro-
grams that enable that kind of community
to come together and produce what we pro-
duced. Its hard for me to believe when I tell
people I was part of this program and we
actually did it. There is a community built
into Yestermorrow, whether youre in the
semester program or not. People from across
the country and international students come
in to take these classes. The students leave
knowing that not only can they contact
their instructor for advice or support, but
they can contact really anybody they have
met whether that person was in their class or
not. I dont think there are many classes that
offer going from concept on paper to build-
ing in real life and everything in between.
The ability to do it hands-on and working
with instructors was an amazing experience.
The Bridge: What is the average student at
Yestermorrow like?
Lieman-Sifry: Youre going to find people
from all walks of life. Youre going to find
the nerd who sat in the library and got
straight As in class and youre also going to
find the kid that didnt go to college. You
will find people who are my grandparents
age or people who are younger than I am
who are extremely driven in the sustain-
able design-build world. A common trait of
everybody is that they are welcoming of oth-
ers ideas but also have a very strong sense of
their own goals.
The Bridge: Do you have any standout ex-
periences you wish to share?
Lieman-Sifry: I feel like the experience as a
whole has changed my path in life. I think I
went to college and went to engineering be-
cause I was a math-science kid, but was very
invested in the physical science of it. I didnt
know that I loved being creative and build-
ing things. On any given day, something I
will do at work will remind me of a specific
moment of the process at Yestermorrow.
Kate Stephenson, executive director of Yes-
termorrow Design/Build School, grew up in
Plainfield, New Hampshire. She holds a BA
in anthropology and environmental science
from Pennsylvanias Haverford College and an
MS in management from New Hampshires
Antioch University New England. In 2002,
at age 24, she came to Yestermorrow as an in-
tern, later becoming a program manager. She
assumed the executive directorship in 2008.
Since Stephenson came on board 12 years
ago, the schools enrollment and budget have
tripled. As recently as 2000, the institution
remained a summer-only operation, head-
quartered in an abandoned hotel that the
school purchased in 1990. Since 2000, how-
ever, Yestermorrow has evolved rapidly into a
year-round enterprise. Quite naturally, it has
expanded physically, too, building new struc-
tures large and smallincluding a variety of
cabins for summer housing for studentson
38 acres of our beloved green hills.
Stephenson visited The Bridge office recently
to discuss issues facing Yestermorrowand
educational institutions across the state and
nation.
The Bridge: Our higher-education series is
looking at Goddard, Norwich, NECI, Ver-
mont College of Fine Arts and CCV, as well
as Yestermorrow. What distinguishes you
from these other institutions?
Stephenson: Were accessible to everyone.
We are not a degree-granting institution.
You dont have to commit to a four-year
program. You can start with a weekend, you
can take a week-long class, you can come for
a semester. There are a lot of different ways
where people can tap into Yestermorrow.
The Bridge: You can be of any skill set,
right?
Stephenson: Right. We have a range of
programs, ranging from courses for rank
beginnershow to use basic power tools,
for instanceto programs that are more
for professionals who have a background in
architecture, design and building and are
looking for more continuing education
and everything in between.
The Bridge: Is the model at Yestermorrow
addressing the big issues of tuition and debt?
Stephenson: I see more students who are
looking for an alternative to a four-year de-
gree thats going to cost them $100,000 to
$200,000. Were seeing more young adults
of traditional college student age who are
saying, Gee, I dont know what I really
want to do with my life. Im going to wait a
few years and figure out what I really want
to study before going on to college.
The Bridge: Our series is about tuition in-
flation, student debt, the shift from tenure-
track professors to adjuncts.
Stephenson: The adjunct thing is interest-
ing. Yestermorrow has always been an ad-
junct-only model. All of our faculty are prac-
ticing professionals in their fields, whether
theyre architects or builders or woodwork-
ers or stained glass artisans. Teaching is not
their primary occupation, or their primary
source of income.
Were growing our longer programs, and
looking at the possibility of hiring full-time
faculty. But, right now, its basically all ad-
juncts. I think theres real value in having
people who are not just academics.
The Bridge: Why arent you accredited?
Stephenson: Because were not degree-
granting.
The Bridge: Why dont you see a value in
granting degrees?
Stephenson: Were figuring out ways for
our students to earn college credit, if thats
what theyre interested in, but most of our
students are adultsmost of them already
have degrees, and thats not what theyre
coming for.
Weve been able to say, OK, it doesnt make
sense for us to be accredited ourselves, but
lets partner with other institutions that are
accredited. We recently launched a partner-
ship with Sterling College. Its a win-win.
The Bridge: How does that work?
Stephenson: Sterling offers continuing edu-
cation credits for any class at Yestermorrow.
The really nice thing about that partnership
is that it allows people to use GI Bill or
Americorps funds, or any kind of federal
funding, then go through Sterling and use
that money at attend classes at Yestermor-
row. Sterling students can also take Yester-
morrow programs and count it toward their
degree requirements.
The Bridge: Would you please critique the
traditional model [of higher education]?
Stephenson: [At Yestermorrow] one hun-
dred percent of the people in the room really
want to be there. At Yestermorrow no ones
being forced to be there, and it changes the
dynamic. Theyre not doing it to get a grade.
The Bridge: There are no grades?
Stephenson: There are no grades. If they
need to get college credit, well give them a
pass-fail grade.
The Bridge: What part of what youre doing
is blazing a new trail?
Stephenson: Were a design-build school.
Bringing the design lens into anything
youre doing is a really valuable way of look-
ing at the world, and were giving people
really practical, hands-on ways to go out and
make a difference in the world.
Location: Waitsfield, Vermont.
Format: Year-round operation. Weekend to two-week classes, 6- to 12-week certificate
programs, semester program.
Tuition: Typically $350 for a weekend course, $875 for a week-long class, $1,750 for a
two-week class; more for certificate and semester programs
Financial Aid: Work trade program on an application basis; funding from the GI Bill
and AmeriCorps available.
Accreditation: None
Enrollment: 750 students per year. Typically, there are two classes running; one in the
woodshop and one in the design studio, with 20 to 30 students on campus.
Diversity: Students come from around the world, and range in age from 18 to over 80.
Academic focus: Yestermorrow's courses are specifically designed to demystify the
design and building processes, using hands-on, experiential learning to teach students the
art and wisdom of good design, and the skill and savvy of enduring craftsmanship as a sin-
gle, integrated process. Combining design and building offers numerous advantages and
promotes the creation of intentional and inspired buildings and communities that enhance
our world. From the professional designer-builder to the do-it-yourself design-and-build
homeowner, every designer should know how to build and every builder should know how
to design. This philosophy sets Yestermorrow apart from other educational institutions,
(from Yestermorrow website).
Mission Statement: Yestermorrow Design/Build School inspires people to create a
better, more sustainable world by providing hands-on education that integrates design and
craft as a creative, interactive process (from website).
Housing: Year-round dorms; seasonal camping and cabins.
History: Yestermorrow Design/Build School was founded in 1980 by John Connell and
a small group of architect friends who wanted to change the way people build houses and
communities. With a single course and eight students they took their first steps to realizing
their dream of teaching the integrated design-build process to students of all ages and from
all walks of life (from website).
Admissions contact: luke@yestermorrow.org.
Student to faculty ratio: 6:1.
Little known fact: Yestermorrow has more than 200 faculty members, who are all
practicing professionals in the fields of architecture, woodworking, design and construc-
tion.
Statement: As a result of intensive strategic planning, this year weve changed our
class schedule to deepen the curriculum we offer, with more in-depth opportunities for
students in our certificate and semester programs. This fall we are excited to offer a second
session of our Woodworking certificate program and are bringing our Semester in Sustain-
able Design/Build program to our Waitsfield campus.
Were also moving forward on the build-out of our campus master plan and spending
this winter finalizing our infrastructure design and permitting so that in 2015 we can
break ground on the first phase of campus expansion. Were looking forward to engaging
students, faculty, and supporters in the development of the Yestermorrow campus over the
coming years, in both the design and construction of new classrooms, shops, dormitories,
dining areas, and landscapes.
Yestermorrow will continue to offer a wide range of curricula teaching the design/build
process, with opportunities for both novices and professionals to engage with each other
and the world we live in. Our goal is to engage you in an interactive, hands-on learning
experience and empower you to make a lasting impact in your local community.
Kate Stephenson, Executive Director
Q&A with Alumna Mira Lieman-Sifry
by The Bridge staff
Interview with Executive Director Kate Stephenson
by The Bridge staff
School Overview
Photos courtesy of George Soules
The Higher-Education Series The Higher-Education Series
PAGE 20 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE THE BRI DGE AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 PAGE 21
p.m. VFW, Pleasant St., Morrisville. 442-0380.
norshaftlions@aol.com.
Montpelier Alive's 15th Anniversary Street
Party. Family fun including food and craft
vendors, music and games. 59 p.m. State St.,
between Elmand Main, Montpelier. Free. For
more details: montpelieralive.org.
SEPT. 7
RawMilk Open Barn Party. Rural Vermont
partners with the farmto host this free and
family-friendly event to celebrate raw milk. Live
music, milk and cookies, farmtours and more.
14 p.m. Farmof Milk &Honey, 663 Doyle Rd.,
Washington. Free. 223-7222. ruralvermont.org.
RSVP: Open Barn Party! On Facebook.
SEPT. 8
Bereavement/Grief Support Group. Open to
anyone who has experienced the death of a loved
one. 6-8pm. Conference Center. 600 Granger
Road, Berlin, VT 05602. Free. 223-1878.
Vermont Health Connect. Vermont Health Con-
nect navigators are available to answer questions
about the Vermont Health Exchange. 11 a.m.3
p.m. Department of Motor Vehicles, 120 State St.,
Montpelier.
SEPT. 9
Lunch & Learn at The North Branch Caf. With
Catherine Cerulli. Acupressure points, focused
awareness and conscious breathing to relieve
pain. Noon1 p.m. North Branch Caf, 41 State
St., Montpelier. Presentations are free. Seating
limited; reservations required. 552-8105. info@
thenorth-branch.com. thenorth-branch.com.
Medicare and You Workshop. New to Medicare?
Have questions? We have answers. Second and
fourth Tues., 34:30 p.m. 59 N. Main St., Ste.
200, Barre. Free, donations gratefully accepted.
479-0531. cvcoa@cvcoa.org. cvcoa.org.
Williamstown Historical Society Meeting. Pot-
luck dinner and meeting 6 p.m.; presentation of
Williamstowns water systems by Irene Walbridge
7:30 p.m. Williamstown Historical Museum,
Main St., Williamstown. Free; open to the public.
433-5565. williamstownvt.org/histsoc.html.
Grandparents Raising Their Childrens
Children. Second Tues., 68 p.m. Child care
provided. Wesley Methodist Church, Main St.,
Waterbury. 476-1480.
Writing Suspense in Literary Fiction. Author
talk with Chris Bohjalian, Jennifer McMahon and
Yannick Murphy on the craft of creating suspense
in their novels. 78:15 p.m. Bear Pond Books, 77
Main St., Montpelier. Free. 229-0774. bearpond-
books.com.
SEPT. 10
Bike Northfield with Green Mountain Club.
Moderate. 35+/- miles. Randolph loop. Helmet
required. Bring lunch and water. Contact leaders
for meeting time and place: Mary G. at 622-0585
or Mary S. at 505-0603.
Silent Clowns: A Celebration of Silent Film
Comedians. Rob Mermin, circus performer and
founder of Circus Smirkus, presents a dazzling
array of clips fromclassic silent lmcomedies.
Part of the Osher Institute for Lifelong Learning.
Brown bag lunch 12:30 p.m.; presentation starts
1:30 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58
Barre St., Montpelier. $5 suggested donation.
223-2518. msac@montpelier-vt.org.
Celiac and Food Allergy Support Group. With
Lisa Mas of Harmonized Cookery. Second Wed.,
4:306 p.m. Conference room3, Central Ver-
mont Medical Center. lisamase@gmail.com.
Quilting Group. Working meeting of the Dog
River Quilters. Second Wed., 5:30 p.m. Com-
munity room, Brown Public Library, Northeld.
Jean, 585-5078 or jeanjolley@myfairpoint.net.
Bereaved Parents Support Group. Second
Wed., 68 p.m. CVHHH, 600 Granger Rd.,
Berlin. Jeneane Lunn 793-2376.
Montpelier City Council Meeting. Second and
fourth Wed., 6:30 p.m. City Council Chambers,
Montpelier City Hall, 39 Main St., Montpelier.
montpelier-vt.org.
Chile Today, Hot Tamale. Its been a great grow-
ing season. Now what are you going to do with all
those hot tamale peppers? Taste hot peppers and
pepper concoctions. Please bring raw chili peppers
and prepared dishes to taste and recipes to share.
You are also welcome if you just bring yourself.
Get inspired for the chili cook-o at the Jaquith
Harvest Festival in early Oct. 6:45 p.m. Jaquith
Public Library, 122 School St., Marsheld. Free.
426-3581. jaquithpubliclibrary.org.
Vermont Health Connect. Vermont Health
Connect navigators are available to answer ques-
tions about the Vermont Health Exchange. 11
a.m.12:30 p.m. Christ Episcopal Church com-
munity lunch, 64 State St., Montpelier
SEPT. 11
Knitting Group Info. Sessions. New Knitting
for Peace group, that will donate knitted items to
those in need, is holding two organizational meet-
ings. 10 11 a.m. and 6:307:30 p.m. Montpelier
Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St., Montpelier.
223-2518. msac@montpelier-vt.org.
Prayer Meeting and Worship Service. Second
and fourth Turs. evening. Jabbok Encounter
Ministries. 8 Daniel Dr., Barre. 479-0302.
Scams, Frauds and Identity Theft. Amy Schram
fromthe Better Business Bureau will cover the
most common scams currently circulating the
community, the major red ags to watch out for
and the precautionary steps we can take to protect
ourselves fromfalling victimto identity theft. 6
p.m. Waterbury Public Library, 28 N. Main St.,
Waterbury. Free. Register: 244-7036. waterbury-
publiclibrary.com.
Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism
Open House. Curious about the family or clinical
herbalist training programat VCIH? Interested
in hearing more about their new Herbal Roots
Apprenticeship? Have your questions answered,
meet faculty and current students and tour the
school. 7 p.m. VCIH, 252 Main St., Montpelier.
vtherbcenter.org.
Vermont Health Connect. Vermont Health
Connect navigators are available to answer ques-
tions about the Vermont Health Exchange. 46
p.m. Kellogg Hubbard Library, 135 Main St.,
Montpelier.
SEPT. 12
Reminisce Group. Drop-in group for those over
70 who want an opportunity to talk about their
early memories. 12:452:15 p.m. Montpelier
Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St., Montpelier.
Free and open to all seniors. Mary Alice: 223-
8140.
Wilkins Harley-Davidson Saddlebag Party.
Cash bar cocktail hour followed by a buet din-
ner and dancing. Silent auction and giveaways
throughout the evening. All proceeds benet
Prevent Child Abuse Vermont. Ages 21+. 6 p.m.
Barre Elks Club, 10 Jeerson St., Barre. Advanced
tickets required: 476-6104 or barrie@wilkinshar-
ley.com.
Friday Night Group. For youth age 1322 who
are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or
questioning. Pizza, soft drinks and conversation.
Cofacilitated by two trained, adult volunteers
fromOutright VT. Second and fourth Fri.,
6:308 p.m. Unitarian Church, 130 Main St.,
Montpelier. Free. 223-7035. Micah@OutrightVT.
org.
SEPT. 13
O2X Summit Challenge at Sugarbush. First-of-
a-kind mountain running experience. Featuring
multiple courses at each race venue for a variety
of tness levels. For more info. or to register: o2x.
com/pages/sugarbush-challenge.
Fundraiser for Prevent Child Abuse Vermont.
Hosted by the American Legion Family Post 10.
Play a hand in the motorcycle poker run 9 a.m.1
p.m.; barbecue, music and bake sale 11:30 a.m.3
p.m. American Legion Post 10, 320 N. Main St.,
Barre. 485-4641. jerrigwm@gmail.com.
Montpelier Memory Caf. Picnic with retired
legendary Red Sox pitcher Bill Spaceman Lee
and Brian Gallagher, vice-president and general
manager of the Mountaineers, Vermonts own
baseball team. Open to individuals with Alzheim-
ers disease and related memory disorders, and
their care partners. 11 a.m. Montpelier Recreation
Field. Free. Lisbeth: 229-9630.
Oodles of Noodles. Spaghetti dinner and time
trade fun benets Onion River Exchange. 46
p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre
St., Montpelier. $10. Reservations: 229-1998.
Vermont Health Connect. Vermont Health Con-
nect navigators are available to answer questions
about the Vermont Health Exchange. 9 a.m.1
p.m. Capital City Farmers Market, State and Elm,
Montpelier.
Visual Arts
EXHIBITS
Through Aug. 29: Eugenio Leon, Create,
Innovate, Inspire, Aspire. Mixed media.
Copley Common Space Gallery, 74 Pleasant St.,
Morrisville.
Through Aug. 29: Elvira Piedra, To Earth,
From Heaven. Entwines 13 years of Piedras
photographic work in three groups of images:
the tree peony, studies of landscape and studies
of water. River Arts Center, 74 Pleasant St.,
Morrisville.
Through Aug. 30: Political Cartoons by Jeff
Danziger. Former linguist and intelligence
ocer, Danziger has drawn political cartoons
for various news outlets nationwide. Kellogg-
Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier.
Free. 223-3338. kellogghubbard.org.
Through Aug. 30: Matthew Chaney, Un-
chained Art: Recent Drawings. Abstract
oil pastel drawings. Morrisville Post Oce, 16
Portland St., Morrisville. riverartsvt.org.
Through Aug. 30: Three SPA Exhibits. State
of Beings. Dynamic multi-media show inspired
by humans and human-like beings. Main Floor
Gallery; Sabrina Fadial and Phillip Robert-
son, Collaborate. Mono-prints. Second Floor
Gallery; Ray Brown, Paintings in Series. Tird
Floor Gallery. Tues.Fri., 10 a.m.5 p.m.; Sat.,
noon4 p.m.; closed Tues. in Aug. Studio Place
Arts, 201 N. Main St., Barre. 479-7069. studio-
placearts.com.
Through Aug. 30: Janet McKenzie, Holiness
and the Feminine Spirit. Paintings represent-
ing people of color and women, two groups that
are under-represented in traditional Christian
imagery. Gallery hrs.: Turs.Mon., noon5
p.m. Waitseld United Church of Christ, 4355
Main St., Rte. 100, Waitseld. janetmckenzie.
com.
Through Aug. 30: ARA Members Group Show.
Art Resource Association, City Center, 89 Main
St., Montpelier. artresourceassociation.com.
Through Aug. 30: Jyl Emerson, Art in
Animals. Oil on panel. Green Bean Visual
Art Gallery at Capitol Grounds, 27 State St.,
Montpelier. curator@capitolgrounds.com. Fans
of Green Bean Visual Arts Gallery on Facebook.
Through Aug. 30: Marcia Hill and Cindy
Griffith, Art with Flair. Landscape paintings,
vibrant art. Both artists love to emphasize color.
Mon.Fri., 10 a.m.6 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m.5
p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.3 p.m. Te Drawing Board,
22 Main St., Montpelier. cindy.grith.vt@
gmail.com.
Through Aug. 31: Paintings of Sam Seide-
man. Waterside Hall, Adamant Music School,
Adamant Village. 223-3347. adamant.org/
index.html.
Through Aug. 31: Josh Turk Revisits Abstract
Expressionism. Series of monochromatic
prints. Cheshire Cat, 28 Elm St., Montpelier.
Through Aug. 31: Jamie Cope. Montpelier
Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St., Montpelier.
223-2518. msac@montpelier-vt.org.
Through Sept. 26: John Snell, I Nearly
Walked By. Show of the photographers best
recent works. Gallery hours: 8 a.m.4:30 p.m.
Te Governor's Gallery, Pavilion Oce Build-
ing, 109 State St., 5F, Montpelier.
Through Sept. 26: Galen Cheney, Dimen-
sional Paint. Reveals the process by which
the abstract works of one of Vermonts most
noteworthy painters are created. Gallery hours:
8 a.m.4:30 p.m. Art in the Supreme Court,
111 State St., Montpelier.
Through Sep. 30: Peter Miller. Large format
scenic color panoramics. Peter Miller Photog-
raphy Gallery, 20 Crossroad and Rte. 100 (two
houses south of Ben & Jerrys), Waterbury. 272-
8851. peter@petermillerphotography.com.
Sep. 6Oct. 4: Joy Huckins-Noss. Oils and
pastels. Vermont landscapes in vibrant color.
City Center, ARA art space, Main St., Montpe-
lier. 272-5187
Through Oct. 10: Al-Mutanabbi Street
Starts Here. Traveling exhibit of book art
and poetry created in response to the 2007 car
bomb explosion on Al-Mutanabbi Street in the
historic bookselling district of Baghdad, Iraq.
9 a.m.4 p.m. Eliot D. Pratt Library, Goddard
College, 123 Pitkin Rd., Plaineld. Free. 454-
8311. clara.bruns@goddard.edu. goddard.edu.
ThroughOct. 12: Emily Wheeler, Raising
Mother. Goddard student Emily Wheeler
shares a collaborative exhibit of photos, original
art and oral history of local moms reecting
on motherhood and who and what support
them. Tulsi Tea Room, 34 Elm St., Montpelier.
223-1431.
Through Dec. 19: 1864: Some Suffer So
Much. Stories of Norwich alumni who served
as military surgeons during the Civil War
and traces the history of posttraumatic stress
disorder. Sullivan Museum and History Center,
Norwich University, 158 Harmon Dr., North-
eld. 485-2183. Norwich.edu/museum.
Through Dec. 19: Art Schaller, Billboard
Buildings: Collage and Mixed Media.
Sullivan Museum & History Center, Norwich
University, 158 Harmon Dr., Northeld. Free
and open to the public. RSVP encouraged:
485-2183. SMHC@norwich.edu. norwich.edu/
museum.
Magical Realism is an exhibit of paintings by local artist Cindy Griffith. On dis-
play at Red Hen Bakery in Middlesex beginning Sept. 1.
AUG. 28
Green Mountain Care Board Hospital Budget
Hearings-Day 3. Each hospitals leadership will
appear before the GMCB to discuss its budget
requests. Time for public comment after each
hospitals hearing and after the last hearing of
the day. 8:3010 a.m. Northeastern Medical
Center; 1011:30 a.m. Rutland Regional Medical
Center; 11:40 a.m.12:40 p.m. Grace Cottage
Hospital; 1:402:40 p.m. Mt. Ascutney Hospi-
tal. Montpelier Roomat the Capitol Plaza, 100
State St., Montpelier. 828-2903 or 828-971. For
detailed schedule: gmcboard.vermont.gov/hospi-
tal_budgets/2014schedule.
Commercialize Your Business. A presentation on
whether and how to turn your idea into a business
venture. 4:306:30 p.m.; Capstone Community
Action, 20 Gable Pl., Barre. Free. 479-9813. info@
vwbc.org. vwbc.org.
Prayer Meeting and Worship Service. Second
and fourth Turs. evening. Jabbok Encounter
Ministries. 8 Daniel Dr., Barre. 479-0302.
Green Mountain Dog Club Monthly Meeting.
Learn about the club and events. All dog lovers
welcome. Fourth Turs., 7:30 p.m. Commodores
Inn, Stowe. 479-9843 or greenmountaindogclub.
org.
AUG. 29
Lawn Fest. Aug. 29, 30 and Sep. 1. Lots of good-
ies, lunch and bake sale. 9 a.m.4 p.m. Waterbury
Community Church, Rte. 100 (next to Cold Hol-
low Cider Mill), Waterbury Ctr. Betty: 244-8089.
Reminisce Group. Drop-in group for those over
70 who want an opportunity to talk about their
early memories. 12:452:15 p.m. Montpelier
Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St., Montpelier.
Free; open to all seniors. Mary-Alice: 223-8140.
FilmScreening: The Iron Lady. Screening of the
2011 British biographical lmbased on the life of
Margaret Tatcher. 2:304:30 p.m. Montpelier
Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St., Montpe-
lier. Free; open to the public. 223-2518. msac@
montpelier-vt.org.
Adamant Co-op Friday Night Cookout. Grill
items, seasonal salads, decadent desserts in beauti-
ful Adamant. 5:307 p.m. Adamant Co-op, 1313
Haggett Rd., Adamant. Full meal costs around
$10. For menu: 223-5760, adamantcoop@gmail.
comor adamantcoop.org.
AUG. 30
Northfield Labor Day: Under the Harvest
Moon. Aug 30Sept 1. Northeld Savings Bank
Flying Pig Foot Race, 8 a.m.1 p.m.; fun, food,
entertainment, 110 p.m.; 1-10. Depot Square,
Northeld. Lori: 802-595-2217 or Billi: 802-793-
9554. Detailed schedule of events: northeldlabor-
day.org.
Lawn Fest. Aug. 29, 30 and Sept. 1. Lots of good-
ies, lunch and bake sale. 9 a.m.4 p.m. Waterbury
Community Church, Rte. 100 (next to Cold Hol-
low Cider Mill), Waterbury Ctr. Betty: 244-8089.
Hop Jam. Te best craft beers, special release
brews, music, pig roast. Noon8 p.m. Bolton Val-
ley Resort. For tickets, more info. and the brewer
lineup: vthopjam.com.
2nd annual Chicken Pie Supper. Enjoy the best
of locally grown ingredients in this Vermont clas-
sic chicken pie supper. Two seatings: 5:30 p.m.
and 6:30 p.m. United Church of Northeld, 58
S. Main St., Northeld. Adults $12; children 12
and under $8. Reservations taken until Aug. 29:
485-8347.
AUG. 31
Northfield Labor Day: Under the Harvest
Moon. Aug 30Sept 1. Fun, food, entertainment,
110 p.m.; car show and parade of cars on Main
St., 2:50 p.m.; Depot Square, Northeld. Lori:
802-595-2217 or Billi: 802-793-9554. Detailed
schedule of events: northeldlaborday.org.
SEP. 1
Lawn Fest. Aug. 29, 30 and Sep. 1. Lots of good-
ies, lunch and bake sale. 9 a.m.4 p.m. Waterbury
Community Church, Rte. 100 (next to Cold Hol-
low Cider Mill), Waterbury Ctr. Betty: 244-8089.
Northfield Labor Day: Under the Harvest
Moon. Aug 30Sept 1. Parade, 10 a.m.; fun, food,
entertainment, 110 p.m. Depot Square, North-
eld. Lori: 802-595-2217 or Billi: 802-793-9554.
Detailed schedule of events: northeldlaborday.
org.
SEPT. 2
ADA Advisory Committee Meeting. First Tues.
City managers conference room, City Hall, 39
Main St., Montpelier. 223-9502.
Community Together Series: Social Security
Lunch and Learn. Take your lunch hour to learn
about Social Security and retirement benets.
12:151:15 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity
Center, 58 Barre St., Montpelier. Free; open to the
public. Please RSVP: 223-2518. msac@montpelier-
vt.org.
Library Book Delivery Service. First and third
Tues., 1 p.m. See sign-up sheet near oce for more
info. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre
St., Montpelier. 223-2518.
Press Conference Event at Norwich. Sul-
livan Museumand History Center at Norwich
University will be announced as the rst Vermont
Smithsonian Aliate. Brief podiumschedule
followed by reception and guided museumtours.
1:30 p.m. Outside the Sullivan Museumand His-
tory Center on Norwichs Northeld campus. 485-
2183. smhc@norwich.edu. academics.norwich.
edu/museum.
Womens Circle. Women and mothers discuss
motherhood, family life and womens health.
Hosted by midwives Chelsea Hastings and Han-
nah Allen. First Tues., 68 p.m. Emerge Midwife-
ry and Family Health, 174 River St., Montpelier.
Save the Emerald Ash Borer. Help us save our
ash trees! Youre invited to a walk and talk about
the Emerald Ash Borer. Walk 6:457:25 p.m.; talk
7:308:30 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, 122 School
St., Marsheld. Free. 426-3581. jaquithpublicli-
brary.org.
SEPT. 3
Bereavement/Grief Support Group. Open to
anyone who has experienced the death of a loved
one. 1011:30 a.m. Conference Center. 600
Granger Road, Berlin, VT 05602. Free. 223-1878.
Grandparents Raising Their Childrens Chil-
dren. First Wed., 10 a.m.Noon. Barre Presbyte-
rian Church, Summer St. 476-1480.
Taylor Street Community Participation Event.
Rescheduled fromJuly 30. For all who participated
in past events or are interested in the redevelop-
ment. 6 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center,
58 Barre St., Montpelier. www.montpelier-vt.org/
community/102.html.
Cancer Support Group. First Wed., 6 p.m.
Potluck. For location, call Carole Mac-Intyre
229-5931.
U-32 School Board Meeting. Open to the public
and community members are always welcome to
attend. 6 p.m. U-32, Rm. 128/131, 930 Gallison
Hill Rd., Montpelier. 229-0321.
Montpelier School Board Meeting. 7 p.m. Mont-
pelier High School library, 5 High School Dr.,
Montpelier. 225-8000.
Classic FilmSeries. With Rick Winston and Tom
Blachly. Watch a classic movie from1935. Tird
Wed., 7 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, 122 School
St., Marsheld. Free. 426-3581. jaquithpublicli-
brary.org.
SEPT. 4
MBAC Meeting. Meeting of the Montpelier Bicycle
Advisory Committee. First Turs., 8 a.m. Police
Station Community Room, 534 Washington St.,
Montpelier. 262-6273.
Diabetes Support Group. First Turs., 78 p.m.
Conference room3, Central Vermont Medical
Center. 371-4152.
SEPT. 5
Coffeehouse. Enjoy live music and share your
own. Fellowship, potluck snacks and beverages.
First Fri., 79 p.m. Trinity United Methodist
Church, 137 Main St., Montpelier (park and enter
at rear). Free. 244-5191, 472-8297 or rawilburjr@
comcast.net.
SEPT. 6
National Federation of the Blind, Montpelier
Chapter. First Sat. Lane Shops community room,
1 Mechanic St., Montpelier. 229-0093.
So You Want to Start a Business? First Steps to
Get You Going. An informational workshop on
the basics of business start-up in Vermont. 911
a.m. Capstone Community Action, 20 Gable Pl.,
Barre. Free. 479-9813. info@vwbc.org. vwbc.org.
Osteoporosis Education and Support Group.
For those who have been diagnosed with osteopo-
rosis or osteopenia, have a family member who has
been diagnosed or want to learn about osteopo-
rosis. Learn froma variety of guest speakers and
medical specialists. First Sat., 13 p.m. Commu-
nity National Bank, Community Room, Crawford
Rd., Derby. 535-2011. Mary@BetterBonesNEK.
org. BetterBonesNEK.org.
Vermont Lions Charities Bingo Night. Fundrais-
er. Refreshments, snacks, silent auction and a door
prize. Doors open 4 p.m.; rst game 6:30
DANCE
Sep. 2: Teen Jazz Audition Boot-
camp. Highly recommended for all students
planning to attend the Teen Jazz Audition on
Sept. 8. Tis class will get you back into the
groove and will give you the chance to release
the stress of not knowing what to expect.
Intermediate-advanced dancers. Must be in 912
grade. 3:455 p.m. Contemporary Dance and
Fitness Studio, 18 Langdon St., 3F, Montpelier.
$16 or 3 punches on CDFS card. 229-4676.
cdandfs.com.
Sep. 8: Teen Jazz Audition. With Hanna Sat-
terlee, Teen Jazz director. Wear comfortable
dance clothes and bare feet. Te purpose of
Teen Jazz is to provide an intense dance-training
programfor talented high school students and
to provide these students with the chance to per-
formregularly throughout the school year. Te
selection committee will be looking for students
with dance and performing potential, who are
willing to work hard and want to make a large
commitment to dance. Auditioning students will
be judged on style, performance, technique/body
awareness, rhythmand musicality and
the ability to both learn as well as create
choreography. Once chosen, students will
be required to attend Monday rehearsal
from5 - 7:15 p.m., one ballet class and
one additional technique class weekly.
Students must be in grades 912 and
be currently enrolled in a high school
program. Please plan to attend the entire
audition and arrive early to register.
57:15 p.m. Contemporary Dance and
Fitness Studio, 18 Langdon St., 3F,
Montpelier. $20 or 4 punches on CDFS
card. 229-4676. cdandfs.com.
Sep. 56: DanceFest Vermont! Celebra-
tion of contemporary dance featuring
new work by 10 distinct Vermont-
based choreographers. Reaches beyond
geographical boundaries to connect dance
artists and audiences fromacross the state.
Sep. 5: Barre Opera House, 6 N. Main
St., Barre. 8 p.m. Adults $20; youth
18 and under $12. Tickets: 476-8188.
barreoperahouse.org.
Sep. 6: Spruce Peak Performing Arts
Center, 7320 Mountain Rd., Stowe.
$20 advance; $25 at door. Tickets:
760-4634. sprucepeakarts.org.
THEATER, STORYTELLING
& COMEDY
Aug. 2830: Love Letters. By A.R. Gurney.
7:30 p.m. Unadilla Teater, 501 Blachly Rd.,
Marsheld. Adults $20; children 12 and under
$10. 456-8968. unadilla@pshift.com.
Aug. 2831: Leonard Nimoys Vincent.
Presented by Starry Night Teater Company.
Intimate one-man play, which author Leonard
Nimoy (Star Treks Mr. Spock) adapted from
hundreds of letters between Vincent van Gogh
and his closest ally, his brother, Teo. Aug. 28
and Aug. 31 performances include a talk back
with actor James Briggs immediately following
the performance.While appropriate for all audi-
ences, it is best suited for adults and children ages
10 and up. Valley Players Teater, 4254 Main St.
(Rte. 100), Waitseld. Adults $20; seniors/stu-
dents $15. 230-7740. starrynighttheater.com.
Aug. 28: 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 29: 8 p.m.
Aug. 30: 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Aug. 31: 2 p.m.
Sep. 5: Laugh Local VT Open Mic Comedy
Night. Montpelier's monthly comedy open
mic. Sign-ups 7:30 p.m.; show starts 8 p.m. Te
American Legion Post 3, 21 Main St., Montpe-
lier. Free; donations welcome. 793-3884.
Performi ng
Arts
Contemporary Dance and Fitness Studio holds the Teen Jazz Audition Boot-
camp and the Teen Jazz Audition at its location in Montpelier on September 2
and 3. Photo by Peter Forbes.
PAGE 22 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE THE BRI DGE AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 PAGE 23
Weekly Events
ART & CRAFT
Beaders Group. All levels of beading experi-
ence welcome. Free instruction available. Come
with a project for creativity and community.
Sat., 11 a.m.2 p.m. Te Bead Hive, Plaineld.
454-1615.
Noontime Knitters. All abilities welcome. Ba-
sics taught. Crocheting, needlepoint and tatting
also welcome. Tues., noon1 p.m. Waterbury
Public Library, 28 N. Main St., Waterbury.
244-7036.
BICYCLING
Open Shop Nights. Volunteer-run community
bike shop: bike donations and repairs. Tues.,
68 p.m.; other nights. Freeride Montpelier, 89
Barre St., Montpelier. 552-3521. freeridemont-
pelier.org.
BOOKS & WORDS
Lunch in a Foreign Language. Bring lunch and
practice your language skills with neighbors.
Noon1 p.m. Mon., Hebrew; Tues., Italian;
Wed., Spanish; Turs., French. Kellogg-
Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier.
223-3338.
English Conversation Practice Group. For
students learning English for the rst time.
Tues., 45 p.m. Central Vermont Adult Basic
Education, Montpelier Learning Center, 100
State St. 223-3403.
Ongoing Reading Group. Improve your read-
ing and share some good books. Books chosen
by group. Turs., 910 a.m. Central Vermont
Adult Basic Education, Montpelier Learnin
Center, 100 State St. 223-3403.
BUSINESS & FINANCE,
COMPUTERS
Technology Assistance. Weekly computer
and technology help by graphic designer Nate
Vaughan. Most Mon., 1011:30 a.m. Montpe-
lier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St., Mont-
pelier. Free; open to the public. Call to conrm:
223-2518. msac@montpelier-vt.org.
Build Your Money Muscles Workshops. Topics
cover credit, budget, tracking your income and
expenses. Every Mon. starting Sept. 8 through
Nov. 17. No workshops on Sept. 22 and Oct.
13. 1011:30 a.m. Capstone Community
Action, 20 Gable Pl., Barre. Free. Sign-up: 477-
5214. mferguson@capstonevt.org.
Computer and Online Help. One-on-one
computer help. Tues. and Fri., 10 a.m.1 p.m.
Waterbury Public Library, 28 N. Main St., Wa-
terbury. Free. Registration required: 244-7036.
Personal Financial Management Workshops.
Learn about credit/debit cards, credit building
and repair, budgeting and identity theft, insur-
ance, investing, retirement. Tues., 68 p.m.
Central Vermont Medical Center, Conference
Room 3. Registration: 371-4191.
FOOD & DRINK
Community Meals in Montpelier. All wel-
come. Free.
Mon.: Unitarian Church, 130 Main St., 11
a.m.1 p.m.
Tues.: Bethany Church, 115 Main St., 11:30
a.m.1 p.m.
Wed.: Christ Church, 64 State St., 11
a.m.12:30 p.m.
Turs.: Trinity Church, 137 Main St., 11:30
a.m.1 p.m.
Fri.: St. Augustine Church, 18 Barre St., 11
a.m.12:30 p.m.
Sun.: Last Sunday only, Bethany Church,
115 Main St. (hosted by Beth Jacob Syna-
gogue), 4:305:30 p.m.
Lunches for Children and Teens. Mon., Wed.,
Fri., 11:30 a.m. Jaquith Public Library, 122
School St., Marsheld. Free. Sign-up not re-
quired but if possible, please call by 10 a.m. the
morning of to tell us your family will be partici-
pating: 426-3581. jaquithpubliclibrary.org.
Lunch and a Story. Provided with support
from Hunger Free, Vermont. No age or income
eligibility requirement. All are welcome. Mon.
through Aug, noon1 p.m.; come a little before
noon if you want to help make lunch. Cutler
Memorial Library, 151 High St., Plaineld.
Free. 454-8504. cutlerlibrary.org.
Feast Together & To-Go. All proceeds benet
the Feast Senior Meal Program. Tues. and Fri.
Dance/play with the band, 10:30 a.m.; com-
munal/take-out meals, noon1 p.m. Montpelier
Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St., Montpelier.
Seniors 60+ free; guests and others under 60 $7;
to-go meals $9 for all. Please make reservations
at least one day in advance: 262-6288.
Capital City Farmers Market. 53 vendors. Sat.
through Oct. 25, 9 a.m.1 p.m. Corner of Elm
and State, Montpelier. 223-2958. manager@
montpelierfarmersmarket.org.
Vermont Food Trucks in Montpelier. Enjoy
high quality and diverse food while listening
to local musicians. Every Sat. through Sept., 5
p.m.. 60 Main St. parking lot (behind Positive
Pie), Montpelier.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Turning Point Center. Safe, supportive place
for individuals and their families in or seek-
ing recovery. Daily, 10 a.m.5 p.m. 489 North
Main St., Barre. 479-7373.
Sun.: Alchoholics Anonymous, 8:30 a.m.
Tues.: Making Recovery Easier workshops,
67:30 p.m.
Wed.: Wits End Parent Support Group, 6
p.m.
Turs.: Narcotics Anonymous, 6:30 p.m.
Living Strong Group. Volunteer-led group.
Sing while exercising. Open to all seniors. Every
Mon., 2:303:30 p.m. and every Fri., 23 p.m.
Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St.,
Montpelier. Free. Register: 223-2518. msac@
montpelier-vt.org.
Sex Addicts Anonymous. Mon., 6:30 p.m.
Bethany Church, 115 Main St., Montpelier.
552-3483.
Overeaters Anonymous. Twelve-step pro-
gram for physically, emotionally and spiritu-
ally overcoming overeating. 223-3079. Tues.,
5:306:30 p.m. at Episcopal Church of the
Good Shepherd, 39 Washington St., Barre. Fri.,
noon1 p.m. at Bethany Church, 115 Main St.,
Montpelier. 249-0414.
HIV Testing. Vermont CARES oers fast oral
testing. Turs., 25 p.m. 58 East State St., Ste. 3
(entrance at back), Montpelier. Free. 371-6222.
vtcares.org.
Healthier Living Workshop. For chronic illness
suerers. Improve your quality of life through
this workshop oered by Giord Medical Cen-
ter as part of the Vermont Blueprint for Health.
Every Turs. through Sep. 25., 13:30 p.m. Gif-
ford Medical Center, Conference Center, 44 S.
Main St., Randolph. Free. Register: 728-7710.
KIDS & TEENS
The Basement Teen Center. Cable TV, Play-
Station 3, pool table, free eats and fun events for
teenagers. Mon.Turs., 36 p.m.; Fri., 311
p.m. Basement Teen Center, 39 Main St., Mont-
pelier. 229-9151.
Read to Coco. Share a story with Coco, the
resident licensed reading therapy dog, who
loves to hear kids practice reading aloud. Wed.,
3:304:30 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135
Main St., Montpelier. Sign up ahead: 223-4665
or at the childrens desk. kellogghubbard.org.
Read with Arlo. Meet reading therapy dog Arlo
and his owner Brenda. Sign up for a 20-min-
ute block. Turs., 45 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard
Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier. 223-4665.
kellogghubbard.org.
Drop-in Kinder Arts Program. Innovative
exploratory arts program with artist/instructor
Kelly Holt. Age 35. Fri., 10:30 a.m.noon.
River Arts Center, 74 Pleasant St., Morrisville.
888-1261. RiverArtsVT.org.
Teen Fridays. Find out about the latest teen
books, use the gym, make art, play games and if
you need to, do your homework. Fri., 35 p.m.
Jaquith Public Library, 122 School St., Marsh-
eld. 426-3581.
Mad River Valley Youth Group. Sun., 79 p.m.
Meets at various area churches. Call 497-4516
for location and information.
MUSIC & DANCE
Barre-Tones Womens Chorus. Open re-
hearsal. Find your voice with 50 other women.
Mon., 7 p.m. Alumni Hall, Barre. 223-2039.
BarretonesVT.com.
Dance or Play with the Swinging over 60
Band. Danceable tunes from the 1930s to the
1960s. Recruiting musicians. Tues., 10:30 a.m.
noon. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58
Barre St., Montpelier. 223-2518.
Swing and Latin Dance Lessons. With Samir
Elabd. Singles welcome, no experience needed.
Tues. starting Sept. 9 through Oct. 14. East
Coast Swing and introduction to West Coast
Swing, 67 p.m.; Latin sampler (rumba, cha-
cha, merengue) 78 p.m. Union Elementary
School, Montpelier. Register: 225-8699. More
info.: 223-2921.
Piano Workshop. Informal time to play, refresh
your skills and get feedback if desired with
other supportive musicians. Singers and listeners
welcome. Most Wed., 24 p.m. Montpelier
Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre St., Montpe-
lier. Free; open to the public. 223-2518. msac@
montpelier-vt.org.
Monteverdi Young Singers Chorus Rehearsal.
New chorus members welcome. Wed., 45 p.m.
Montpelier. Call 229-9000 for location and
more information.
Ukelele Group. All levels welcome. Turs., 68
p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58
Barre St. 223-2518.
Vocals and Piano. Music of all styles and eras
from 2014 to 1914. Keep time on the bar, dance
a little or just listen. Great food and desserts.
Sat. through Sept. 27, 79 p.m. Ciderhouse
BBQ & Pub, 1675 Rte. 2, Waterbury. http://bit.
ly/dboomhower.
Gamelan Rehearsals. Sun., 79 p.m. Pratt
Center, Goddard College. Free. 426-3498. ste-
ven.light@jsc.edu. light.kathy@gmail.com.
OUTDOORS
Spring Migration Bird Walks. Explore NBNC
and other local birding hot spots for spring
migrants, such as warblers, vireos, thrushes
and waterfowl. Fri., 78:30 a.m. North Branch
Nature Center, 713 Elm St., Montpelier. $10;
free for members. Call for directions to meeting
locations: 229-6206. northbranchnaturecenter.
org.
Monarch Butterfly Tagging. Catch, tag and
release some migrating monarchs. Well look for
other butteries and bugs as well. We have nets
to share, but bring a net if you have one. Every
Wed.; drop in between 3:305 p.m. North
Branch Nature Center, 713 Elm St., Montpe-
lier. $5 non-members; $3 members. 229-6206.
northbranchnaturecenter.org.
Barre Town Forest Nature Walks. Easy to
moderate walks of about 1.5 hours. Volunteer-
led walks for all ages through woodlands and
abandoned quarries. Dogs on leashes welcome.
Every Tues. and Sun. through Oct. 28, 9 a.m.
Meet at parking area: 44 Brook Rd., Web-
sterville. For more info: 476-4185. kotchm@
charter.net.
PERFORMING ARTS
Nothing-Is-Not-Ready. Te Unready-Ready
Shows will make themselves ready as they see t,
yet they are always ready to present themselves
both to and for the masses. Sun., through Sept.
7. Museum tour 2 p.m.; show starts 3 p.m.
Bread and Puppet Farm, Rte. 122, Glover. $10
suggested donation; no one is turned away.
breadandpuppet.org.
RECYCLING
Additional Recycling. Te Additional Re-
cyclables Collection Center accepts scores of
hard-to-recycle items. Tues. and Turs., 12:30
p.m.5:30 p.m. ARCC, 540 North Main St.,
Barre. $1 per carload. 229-9383 x106. For list of
accepted items, go to cvswmd.org/arcc-addition-
al-recyclables-collection-center.html.
SOLIDARITY/IDENTITY
Womens Group. Women age 40 and older
explore important issues and challenges in their
lives in a warm and supportive environment.
Facilitated by Amy Emler-Shaer and Julia W.
Gresser. Wed. evenings. 41 Elm St., Montpelier.
262-6110.
SPIRITUALITY
Christian Science Reading Room. Have you
ever asked yourself, How can I grow spiritu-
ally? Visit the Reading Room and see what
we have for your spiritual growth to borrow,
purchase or simply enjoy in a quiet study room.
We also have free literature out on the Portico,
over the bench, for you to take with you. We
are here for you! Tues., 11 a.m.5 p.m.; Wed., 11
a.m.7:15 p.m.; Turs.Sat., 11 a.m.1 p.m. 145
State St., Montpelier. 223-2477.
Christian Counseling. Tues. and Turs. Daniel
Dr., Barre. Reasonable cost. By appt. only:
479-0302.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. For
those interested in learning about the Catholic
faith, or current Catholics who want to learn
more. Wed., 7 p.m. St. Monica Church, 79
Summer St., Barre. Register: 479-3253.
Deepening Our Jewish Roots. Fun, engaging
text study and discussion on Jewish spirituality.
Sun., 4:456:15 p.m. Yearning for Learning
Center, Montpelier. 223-0583. info@yearning-
4learning.org.
SPORTS & GAMES
Roller Derby Open Recruitment and Recre-
ational Practice. Central Vermonts Wrecking
Doll Society invites quad skaters age 18 and up.
No experience necessary. Equipment provided:
rst come, rst served. Sat., 56:30 p.m. Mont-
pelier Recreation Center, Barre St. First skate
free. centralvermontrollerderby.com.
YOGA & MEDITATION
Christian Meditation Group. People of all
faiths welcome. Mon., noon1 p.m. Christ
Church, Montpelier. 223-6043.
Yoga and Meditation. With Katy Leadbetter.
Meditation: Mon., 1 p.m. (unlimited). Introduc-
tion to yoga: Tues., 4 p.m. (four-class limit).
Consultation: Fri., 11 a.m. (one per person). 56
East State St., Montpelier. Free. 272-8923.
Zen Meditation. With Zen Aliate of Ver-
mont. Mon., 6:307:30 p.m. 174 River St.,
Montpelier. Free. Call for orientation: 229-
0164.
Meditation Sitting Group. With Sherry Rhy-
nard stress management coach. A weekly medi-
tation group oers ways to nd out more about
meditation and gives support to an existing or
new practice. Turs., 67 p.m. Central Vermont
Medical Center, 130 Fisher Rd., Berlin. Free.
272-2736. sherry@easeoow.com.
Shambhala Buddhist Meditation. Group
meditation practice. Sun., 10 a.m.noon; Tues.,
78 p.m.; Wed., 67 p.m. Shambhala Medita-
tion Center, 64 Main St., 3F, Montpelier. Free.
223-5137. montpeliershambala.org.
Music
VENUES
Brown Bag Concert Series. Smoke-free
event. Noon. Christ Church courtyard. 64
State St., Montpelier. Free. montpelieralive.
org/brownbag.
Aug. 28: Island Time Steel DrumBand
Bagitos. 28 Main St., Montpelier. Free. 229-
9212. bagitos.com.
Aug. 28: Art Herttua &Stephen Morabito
Jazz Duo, 68 p.m.
Aug. 29: Nathaniel Noton-Freeman (acous-
tic guitar) 68 p.m.
Aug. 30: Irish Session with Sarah Blair, Hi-
lari Farrington, Benedict Koehler, Katrina
VanTyne, and others, 25 p.m; Dragn
Bn, 68 p.m.
Aug. 31: Eric Friedman (folk ballads) 11
a.m.1 p.m.
Charlie Os World Famous. 70 Main St., Mont-
pelier. Free. Call for show times if not listed:
223-6820.
Aug. 29: Boomslanf, Manifest Next to Me, DJ
Loupo (hip hop)
Aug. 30: Resonant Rouges (gypsy swing)
Sep. 5: Te Starline RhythmBoys (honky-
tonk/rockabilly) 9:30 p.m.
North Branch Caf. 41 State St., Montpelier.
Free. 552-8105. donia@thenorth-branch.com.
thenorth-branch.com.
Aug. 28: Open Mic Night. Soloists, duos and
trios are invited to performtwo original songs.
Sign-ups 6:30 p.m.; show 79:30 p.m.
Aug. 30: Daddy Long Legs (folk trio)
7:309:30 p.m.
Sep. 11: Open Mic Night. Soloists, duos and
trios are invited to performtwo original songs.
Sign-ups 6:30 p.m.; show 79:30 p.m.
Nutty Stephs. 961C U.S. Rte. 2, Middlesex.
Call for performance time if not listed: 229-
2090. nuttystephs.com.
Aug. 28: Andric Severence (raucous piano)
710 p.m.
Sept. 4: JimTompson (jazz piano)
Sept. 5: Latin Friday with Rauli Fernandez &
Friends
Sept. 6: Andric Severence (jazz piano)
Sept. 11: Blue Bop (gypsy jazz)
Sept. 12: Latin Friday with Rauli Fernandez
&Friends
Sept. 13: Live jazz sing-a-long with Z Jazz
Positive Pie. 22 State St., Montpelier. Call for
fee: 229-0453. positivepie.com.
Aug. 29: Anque (classic salsa) 10:30 p.m.
Sweet Melissas. 4 Langdon St., Montpelier.
Free unless otherwise noted. 225-6012. facebook.
com/sweetmelissasvt.
Aug. 28: live music, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 29: Honky Tonk Happy Hour with
Mark LeGrand, 5 p.m.; Hillside Rounders, 9
p.m.
Aug. 30: David Langevin, 5 p.m.; Miles &
Murphy, 9 p.m.
The Whammy Bar. 31 County Rd., Calais. 229-
4329. whammybar1.com. Call for performance
times if not listed.
Aug. 28: Mary Go Round
Aug. 29: Broken String Band
Aug. 30: Ben Slotnick
ARTISTS & SPECIAL
EVENTS
Aug. 28, Sept. 45: Dave Keller Band. Solo
blues and soul guitar. By donation.
Aug. 28: Browns Market Bistro, 1261 Scott
Hwy., Groton. 6:30 p.m.
Sept. 4: Sweet Melissas, 4 Langdon St.,
Montpelier. 7 p.m.
Sept. 5: Cork, 1 Stowe St., Waterbury. 7
p.m.
Aug. 30: Dragn Bn Concert. Dragn Bn
("white dragon" in Irish) is a ve-person band
based in Montral that plays traditional Celtic
and Celtic-inspired music. 11:30 a.m. Kellogg-
Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier.
Free. 223-3338. kellogghubbard.org.
Aug. 31: 22nd annual NewWorld Festival.
Celebrate Vermonts Celtic and French Cana-
dian heritage with traditionaland sometimes
not so traditionalmusic and dance. More
than 70 musicians fromNew England, Canada
and the British Isles. Concerts, music and
dance workshops, children's activities and open
dancing. Food and drink provided by the area's
nest chefs and breweries. Noon11 p.m.
Festival sites throughout Downtown Randolph:
Chandler Music Hall and Gallery, Main St.,
Bethany Church. Adults $39; $21 after 6 p.m.
on day of event. Students ages 1318 $12;
children 12 and under free. Tickets: 728-6464.
newworldfestival.com.
Sept. 24: Northern Harmony Northeast
Tour. Village Harmony's select touring en-
semble. 16 singers present a programincluding
traditional songs fromGeorgia, Macedonia
and Bulgaria, traditional and newly composed
American shape-note songs, South African
songs and dances and parts of a renaissance
mass. 7:30 p.m. Call the local number listed for
further information. villageharmony.org.
Sept. 2: United Church, 165 Wilson St.,
Greensboro. 426-3210.
Sept. 3: Community Church, Rte. 140 and
Mountain View Rd., Tinmouth. 446-2928.
Sept. 4: Opera House, 149 Main St., Plain-
eld. 802-426-3210.
Sept. 2Dec. 23: Union Elementary After-
School Music Program. Te Summit School of
Traditional Music and Culture will be oering
after-school classes in music for young students.
Local home-schoolers are welcome. Programs
will be lead by local musicians. 3:304:30 p.m.
Union Elementary School, 1 Park Ave., Montpe-
lier. $1012 per day, sliding scale. Scholarships
available. For more info.: 917-1186. director@
summit-school.org.
Sept. 5: Friday Night Fires with The DuPont
Brothers. Lush nger-style guitar work is
complimented by elegant prose and a vocal blend.
79 p.m. Fresh Tracks FarmVineyard &Winery,
4373 VT Rte. 12, Berlin. Free. 223-1151. fresh-
tracksfarm.com.
Sept. 5: David Wax Museumwith Rusty Belle.
David Wax Museumis joyful Mexo-Americana
fusion. Rusty Belle is roots-rock/junk-folk. 8 p.m.
Haybarn Teatre at Goddard College, Plaineld.
$15 advance online; $20 at door. 322-1685. meg.
hammond@goddard.edu. goddard.edu.
Sept. 5, 7: Melissa Perley, Cello and Vladimir
Odinokikh, Piano. Chopins Sonata for Cello &
Piano op 65 plus works by Astor Piazolla with
guests Jason Bergman and Eben Bodach-Turner,
John Williams and Ernest Bloch. 229-1501.
Sept. 5: St. Andrews Church, 1265 Main St.,
St. Johnsbury. 7 p.m.
Sept. 7: Unitarian Church, 130 Main St.,
Montpelier. 4 p.m.
Sept. 9: House Concert with Ruthie Dornfeld,
Jeremiah McLane and Owen Marshall. On
accordion, ddle, banjo, bouzouki and guitar,
Ruthie Dornfeld, Jeremiah McLane and Owen
Marshall are a dynamic trio that performa wide
array of traditional music fromthe British Isles,
France, Scandinavia, and North and South
America. 7 p.m. 2809 North St., E. Montpelier.
$15 suggested donation. Space is limited; reserva-
tions required. 522-3083. taloysen@aol.com.
Sept. 13: Fiddle Bowing Workshop for Kids.
With Michael Ismerio. Workshop in bowing,
specically geared to young players of all skill
levels. Students will be taught to use their bow
hand to generate the driving rhythms of old
time and other music styles. Ages 18 and under.
Noon1 p.m. Vermont Violins, 24 Main St., 2F,
Montpelier. $15. Space is limited; register early.
503-808-0362. michael.ismerio@gmail.com.
Sept. 13: Fiddle Bowing Workshop for Adults.
With Michael Ismerio. 24 p.m. Vermont Vio-
lins, 24 Main St., 2F, Montpelier. Sliding scale
$2540. Space is limited; register early. 503-808-
0362. michael.ismerio@gmail.com.
Sept. 13: Chad Hollister. With special guest Kris
Gruen. Rock and roll. Chad's special perfor-
mance in his home state. 7 p.m. Barre Opera
House, 6 N. Main St., Barre. $2431. barreop-
erahouse.org.
Sept. 13: Square Dance with Kick emJenny.
Called by Michael Ismerio. 7:30 p.m. American
Legion Hall, 21 Main St., Montpelier. $5.
De Temps Antan return with their joyful Qubecois music at the New
World Festival in Randolph on August 31.
Submit your calendar
listing by using our
online submission form
at
montpelierbridge.com/
calendar-submissions
The duo Catching Sparks performs at the New World Festival in
Randolph on August 31. Pictured here are Isabel Oliart on fiddle and
McKinley James on cello.
Do you know about some-
thing great happening in
your community? We want to
know about events that mat-
ter to you. Submit your per-
forming or visual arts, dance
and music events to our cal-
endar. Are there meetings,
groups, gatherings of impor-
tance in your community?
We want to know!
Submit Your Event!
Send listings to
calendar@montpelierbridge.com
PAGE 24 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE THE BRI DGE AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 PAGE 25
Class listings and classifieds are 50 words for $25; discounts available. To place an ad, call Michael, 223-5112, ext. 11.
Classifieds
CLASSES:
SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING: Join the fun!
No partner or experience necessary. All dances
taught. Great exercise for the body and mind.
Starts September 10. Contact Martha Kent at
mdkent@comcast.net or 802-879-7618 for more
information. Wednesdays 7:00 - 9:00 pmUnion
Elementary School, Montpelier
T'AI CHI CLASS: Hwa Yu Tai Chi fall semester
starts September 8, running 12 weeks for $120.
Payment plans available. New students welcome -
Mondays 5:00 pm, 64 Main St, Floor, Montpelier.
Instructor Ellie Hayes has been teaching Hwa Yu
Tai Chi since 1974. Please pre-register by Septem-
ber 7: 456-1983.
WELLNESS, SELF-CARE & MASSAGE LEVEL
1: Oered by Bob Onne, Te Universal Institute
of Healing Arts. Starts October 7 for 10 Tuesdays,
6:30-9PM, 90 Tree Mile Bridge Rd, Middlesex.
$500 plus $125 for textbooks. $25 Deposit. $25
discount if paid in full by Sept 2. Call 802-229-
4844. Limit 12 students.
ALLIANCE FRANAISE FALL SESSION
FRENCH CLASSES for Adults in Montpelier
starting September 22. Classes include Beginning
A and B , Intermediate A and an Advanced French
class. Descriptions and signup at acr.org. Con-
tact Micheline Tremblay: michelineatremblay@
gmail.com, 802-881-8826
WORKSHOPS:
AMHERST WRITERS AND ARTISTS WRITING
WORKSHOPS: An encouraging, supportive place
to grow in craft skills, take creative risks and
enjoy rapport with other writers of memoir, c-
tion and nonction. Mondays, 10-Noon, Sept.
15 - Nov. 17, $200. Fridays (for experienced writ-
ers), 10-Noon, Sept. 19 - Dec. 5, $200. Held at
Christ Church, 64 State St., Montpelier. Maggie
Tompson, MFA, AWA Aliate. Call to register:
454-4635.
Te following workshops are located at the
Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism:
MAKING HERBAL MEADS with Betzy Bancroft
Wednesday, September 10th 6-8pm
$17; pre-registration required
KITCHEN MEDICINE: BUILDING WINTER
IMMUNITY with Lisa Mase
Wednesday, September 17th 5:30-8:30
$25; pre-registration required
for details and to register, visit vtherbcenter.org, call
802.224.7100, or email info@vtherbcenter.org
Since 1972
Repairs New floors and walls
Crane work Decorative concrete
Consulting ICF foundations
114 Three Mile Bridge Rd., Middlesex, VT (802) 229-0480
gendronbuilding@aol.com gendronconcrete.com
QUALITY REMODELING
& BUILDING
Conscientious contracting
Int./ext. makeovers & paint
Healthy whole-home solutions
Deep energy retrofits
Kitchens, baths, additions
Doors, windows, roofs
David Diamantis
ph: 229-8646 fax: 454-8646
Certified Green Professional
EMP/RRP EcoStar Roof Applicator
GREGS
PAINTING
Metal Roof Painting
Interior & Exterior
FREE ESTIMATES INSURED SINCE 1990
802- 479- 2733
gpdpainting@aol.com
Rocque Long
Painting
Insured
30+ years professional
experience
local references.
802-223-0389
LI GHT MOVI NG, LANDFI LL
RUNS, AND ODD JOBS.
WEVE GOT THE TRUCK.
Give us a call at: 224.1360
T&T Truck for Hire
Submit Your Event! Send listings
to calendar@montpelierbridge.com
223-3447
clarconstruction.com
NEW CONSTRUCTION
RENOVATIONS
WOODWORKING
GENERAL CONTRACTING Do What You Do Best.
Bookkeeping Payroll Consulting
802.262.6013 evenkeelvt.com
Design & Build
Custom Energy-Ecient Homes
Additions Timber Frames
Weatherization Remodeling
Kitchens Bathrooms Flooring
Tiling Cabinetry Fine Woodwork
81 Main Street
Montpelier
229-0345
HeneyRealtors.com
135 Washington
Street, Barre
476-6500

Enj oy l i vi ng i n Mont pe l i e r
On First Avenue, this home is close to downtown, school and just
down the street from Vermont College. Built around 1878 with high
ceilings, wood flooring, and a classic entry foyer. The living room
opens to a central dining room with a pellet stove on a hearth. A first
floor den and full bathroom, kitchen and laundry are all on the main
floor. The second floor of the house includes three bedrooms and a
half bath. Plus a three room, one bedroom apartment on the second
floor can be easily incorporated as part of the main house or it can be
rented separately. An oversized garage offers extra storage too. This
great old home has so much potential and is available for immediate
occupancy at $286,900. Call Tim for details or to see this home today.
On First Avenue, this home is close to
downtown, school and just down the street
fromVermont College. Built around 1878
with high ceilings, wood flooring, and a
classic entry foyer. The living room opens
to a central dining roomwith a pellet stove
on a hearth. A first floor den and full
bathroom, kitchen and laundry are all on
the main floor. The second floor of the
house includes three bedrooms and a half
bath. Plus a three room, one bedroom apartment on the second floor can be easily in-
corporated as part of the main house or it can be rented separately. An oversized garage
offers extra storage too. This great old home has so much potential and is available for
immediate occupancy at $286,900. Call Tim for details or to see this home today.
SUNDAY,
AUG. 31, 2014
Noon Eleven
Randolph, Vermont
Rain or Shine!
www.NewWorldFestival.com
Lamson Howell Foundation
Green Mountain Power
Inner Traditions National Life Group
Delegation du Qubec GWPlastics
Vermont Law School
FIVE PERFORMANCE STAGES FEATURING:
Liz Carroll, De Temps Antan,
Cantrip, Mil, Wendy MacIsaac,
Ten Strings and a Goat Skin,
Nic Gareiss, Prydein,
Matt &Shannon Heaton,
Keith Murphy &Becky
Tracy, Liz Simmons &
Hannah Sanders, Barbo,
Jon Gailmor, Adina Gordon,
Pierre Chartrand,
Dan Gorno, and more!
Celebrate Vermonts
Celtic & French-Canadian Roots
Discount tickets available through August 22 online or by calling 802.728.6464
nwfPoster2014.indd 1 20140804 14:47
Please join us in celebrating this special anniversary
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6th
5:00 - 9:00 P.M.
Celebration located on State Street (between Elm & Main)
Music by Project 3 Kids games
Food and craft vendors
Fireworks
at 9:00 P.M.
We would like to thank the following businesses for their contr ibutions.
The Drawing Board The Knitting Studio
Capitol Stationers Birchgrove Baking
Featuring
EMAILED ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISING INSERTION ORDER
Thomas Hirchak Company
FROM: Matt Chaney
Phone: 800-634-7653 Fax: 802-888-2211
COMPANY: The Montpelier Bridge
1C=2.39; 2C=4.937; 3C=7.494; 4C=10
TODAYS DATE: 8/21
NAME OF FILE: FitzpatrickBRIDGE
DATE(S) TO RUN: 8/28
SIZE OF AD: 2X4
EMAILED TO:
carolyn@montpelierbridge.com
SECTION: REAL ESTATE
THOMAS HIRCHAK COMPANY THCAucton.com 800-634-7653
Friday, October 3 @11AM
110 Megans Way (Lot #3), Stowe, VT
Foreclosure: Beautful 4BR, 2.5 BA Stowe Home
w/Gorgeous Mt. Mansfeld Views
2,376 SF Colonial Farmhouse on 0.5 acre. 4BR, 2.5BA, vaulted ceilings, eat-in
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of Mt. Mansfeld. Large master suite with private bath. Walk out basement with 2 car
garage. Access to nine acres of common land! Just off Rte. 100. Easy access to I-89.
HELP WANTED:
VERMONT ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND
AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: Driver needed to
work with a visually impaired employee in our
Montpelier oce traveling to Caledonia, Orange
and Orleans county areas four days per week.
Must have reliable vehicle, clean driving record
and exible schedule. Hourly rate plus mileage.
Please call Cathie Peller at 802-828-5997 for an
application or e-mail resume to cpeller@vabvi.org.
EOE.
MORRISON MANAGEMENT SPECIALISTS
INC: a member of Compass Group, the leading
contract food service company focused exclusively
in healthcare, has a dynamic opportunity available
for Berlin Health and Rehab Berlin Vermont.
DIRECTOR OF DINING SERVICES, 3-5 yrs.
of foodservice operational management. We oer
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Please send resume to: arnitabarber@iammorrison.
com. EOE/AA/M/F/D/V.
MORRISON HEALTHCARE FOOD SERVICE: a
member of Compass Group, has immediate open-
ings in: Berlin, VT. We are currently interviewing
individuals, with prior food service experience
(preferred but will train), for the following Full-
Time &Part-Time positions: Lead Cook Food
Service Workers To be considered for a position,
YOU MUST APPLY INPERSON, Monday
through Friday at Berlin Health &Rehab, 98
Hospitality Drive, Berlin, VT 05201 802-229-
0308. We seek individuals who are willing to
work in a fast-paced, senior living environment
and who possess the following work-related values:
Openness, Trust and Integrity, Passion for Quality,
Win through Teamwork, Responsibility, Can-do
Attitude. We oer competitive wages and benets.
Drug Free Workplace. AA: EOE M/F/V/D
SEEKING LAND TO
PURCHASE:
BUYER: Land with timber requires 25 or more
acres. Cash Buyer. Quick closing. Send contact
information to: Landwithtimber@comcast.net
Tell them you saw it in
The Bridge!
PAGE 26 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE THE BRI DGE AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 PAGE 27
Two Decembers ago, before the advent of
Obamacare, I purchased a health insurance-
policy from a company called Assurant. The
firm's flurry of welcoming materials gave
two different dates for the commencement
of my coverage. I called the toll-free number
and determined which date was correct, but
sensed the flub-up would prove a harbinger
of things to come.
Pushing that thought aside, I arranged for a
routine physical at the local clinic. Nothing
seemed especially wrong with my health. It
had been over five years since my last colo-
noscopy screening, however, and the clinic re-
ferred me to a specialist for a fresh one. Having
undergone many a medical adventure before,
I knew that no United States physician will
perform a procedure involving anesthesiaa
colonoscopy, for exampleunless an adult is
on hand to conduct the patient safely home.
I made arrangements to have my adult son
accompany me.
Those arrangements went awry, however, and
I showed up escorted only by my 13-year-old,
with whom I was doing errands that February
day. I assumed I could call a taxi to take me
home. I couldn't have been more wrong. As
she wheeled my gurney into the procedure
room, the nurse in charge explained heatedly
that cabbies for homeward travel were a no-no.
I needed to summon my grown son to-the-
spot. On the double. No anesthesia would be
administered until he arrived.
Unfortunately, I explained, my elder son
would not be at home to take a call. Doesn't
he have a cell phone? the nurse snapped.
No. We don't use cell phones.
She rolled her eyes. I pleaded for leniency.
My way or the highway! she snapped, again.
A solution, fortunately, presented itself: a colo-
noscopy without anesthesia. Painful, but it
gets the job done. A bit of fortitude sounded
better, in any event, than shooting my body
full of mysterious knock-out drugs. I recalled
John Muir climbing his treetop to experience
a storm's undiminished fury and commended
myself for my petty heroism. The physician
came in and stuck her probe up my rear end,
and off we went. The controversy settled, Big
Nurse turned mellow as a kitten and gave
supportive coaching as I endured the discom-
fortmilder than the pain of childbirth, she
assured. The doctor removed one tiny polyp,
which proved benign, and sent me on my way.
No problemfor the time being.
Trouble resurfaced a few weeks laterit was
now Marchwhen the almost predictable
automated letter arrived from Assurant's com-
puter. I had to sign a medical-records release
and list every phar-
macy and medical pro-
vider I had used, and
on what dates, for the
last five years. Arrgh!
Months would elapse,
I feared, before the sor-
did machinations of
our health insurance
industry would be done with my little colo-
noscopy.
Most of the providers and pharmacies snapped
to, and supplied the information demanded.
I meanwhile received some comic relief in
the form of repeated letters from Assurant's
computers that politely acknowledged your
recent correspondence. Ultimately my file
contained six or eight of them, each as inex-
plicable as the lastbut at least the process
was inching forward.
In April things hit a further snag. The colo-
noscopy doctors office refused to send my
records to the Omaha-based medical-records
management firm handling Assurant's in-
vestigation, insisting that the Omahans pay
their records-request fee in advance. Appar-
ently they had dallied with fee payments
in the past. The Nebraska firm had not
responded to the doctors demands, leaving
everything in limbo. Assurant did as one
would expect: it sent me a notice denying
the entire claim, since it had not been able to
corroborate beyond the last syllable of doubt
that no pre-existing condition existed. Or
so I presumedthe denial letter, of course,
contained no explanation. Having gotten
that explanation with a few phone calls, I
wrote to the Omahans. Pay the records-re-
quest fee, I suggested, so that my case could
receive a fair hearing.
A month or so later, the colonoscopy docs
records finally found their way to Assurant's
inbox. The insurer then decided the case: I
had no pre-existing condition, but the polyp
removal, while incidental to the screening,
made the procedure
something other than
preventive and thus
reimbursable. In short:
pay up.
I did what anyone
ought to do under the
circumstances: file a
complaint with the state insurance commis-
sioner's office. My initial phone inquiry
early July, nowgot a sympathetic response
from a functionary who knew the whole story
before I'd gotten halfway through the blow-
by-blow. His office's investigation proceeded
even as the doctor and the pathology labor,
more precisely, their computerscontinued to
pepper me with bills.
Assurant, meanwhile, sent me a new spe-
cies of inexplicable letter, acknowledging my
request for an in-house review of my case.
The letter contained such memorable prose
as In order to obtain WHAT?, the enclosed
authorization form must be signed and dated
by yoy. (No, that mistake isn't my mine, or
our copy editor's.) I'd already sent Assurant
the authorization form months before, for its
medical-history sleuthing; presumably the
company had lost it. And I certainly wasn't
asking for a review of the fox-guarding-
the-henhouse variety.
Shortly thereafter the news turned more posi-
tive: Assurant notified me it was paying for the
almost-forgotten physical that had launched
my adventure seven months before. And in
another couple of weeks came our tale's de-
nouement: Our heroes in the state bureaucracy
notified me that Assurant had agreed to repro-
cess my claim and pay for the colonoscopy,
too. Attached to the notification was a letter
fromthe insurer to the state: we have reviewed
the medical records, it read, and reached a new
conclusion. As if it should have taken all that
time and effort.
The doctor and pathology lab sent me a couple
of more bills, warning of impending collection
action, well after Assurant had paid up. I put
them down to the real-time speed with which
the medical industry's computers manage our
lives these days. A farcical footnote to my little
saga. But to the point: For all that we Ameri-
cans grouse about the greed of insurers, we
ignore the organizationalor, perhaps, dis-
organizationalcontext. When I lived in Eu-
rope, health insurance was a matter of filling
out a half-page form at the doctor's office and
then waiting for one's payment. No problems
ever arose. Here in the U.S., the reformers will
have to reckon, sooner or later, with the chaos
factor: providers who refuse, and not always
politely, to stick a probe up your back end, or
even a simple needle in your arm, until the
possibility of a disconcerting liability has been
rendered extinct; computers that spit out irrel-
evant bills; insurance companies whose skills
do not include communication; contractors
half a continent away who botch their jobs;
government functionaries who spend tens of
thousands of hours each year making sure
insurers pay up.
Obamacare? All very well, but only a pre-
liminary skirmish in our fight for a health-care
system that actually works.
What Do
You Think?
Read something
that you would like
to respond to? We
welcome your letters
and opinion pieces.
Letters must be fewer
than 300. Opinion
pieces should not
exceed 600 words.
The Bridge reserves
the right to edit and
cut pieces.
Send your piece to:
editorial@
montpelierbridge.com.
Opinion
Opinion
How I Survived My Colonoscopy by C.B. Hall
A Political System that Needs Fixing
by Nat Frothingham
The Well-Nigh Irreplaceable Carolyn
Grodinsky by Nat Frothingham
Letters
An Open Letter to Mayor Hollar
and the Montpelier City Council
Dear Mayor Hollar and councilors:
Keck Circle, the 19th roundabout built in
the United States, represents a modern tech-
nology introduced in 1966 in the U.K.,
but composed of stone-age materials. It is
noteworthy that the design costs for the
$64,000, entirely city-funded project were
$2,300. Pinkham Engineering of Burling-
ton, later merged into Summit Engineering,
handled the design with the involvement of
Michael J. Wallwork of Florida, then with
the Florida Department of Transportation
and since the late 1990s a leader in round-
about design nationally.
At some point the city certainly will up-
date this historic intersection. As we renew
our core urban streets, accommodation of
bicycles at Keck Circle will require at least a
minimum upgrade to on-off ramping where
approach lanes narrow, thereby allowing the
cyclist the choice of shifting onto shared
space with the walk modealong with
shared crosswalks. Youll find more than one
middle-school student bicycling on the side-
walk north of Keck Circle, or on the Main
Street sidewalks to the south, while traveling
to and from school. Without bike lanes on
the approach to the roundabout, and without
on-off ramps to the sidewalks and cross-
walks, young and less-skilled cyclists wisely
use the sidewalks, instead of the roadway, as
they approach and traverse the intersection.
In recent years Wallwork has led the national
evolution of bicycle accommodation design
toat a minimum--ramps on both single-
and multi-lane roundabouts.
As you are well aware, a roundabout at Barre
Street and Main Street remains the chosen
treatment to connect the Winooski East and
West bike-paths. That solution will be easily
possible as part of the redevelopment of the
beverage outlet property.
Montpeliers two roundabouts played a key
role in the study of my Burlington neighbor-
hoods North Avenue corridor. That study is
just now ending, with two field trips, includ-
ing one where Montpelier Fire Chief Rob-
ert Gowans told our residents group about
the positive emergency-vehicle experience
at your roundabouts. The outcome of our
study includes an unprecedented long-term
recommendation for cycle track for the entire
2.8-mile corridor, and conversion of three of
the current seven signalized intersections to
roundabouts.
A revolution in transportation began in the
1990s with Montpelier roundabouts and
transportation paths. The city and state at-
tained regional leadership in the field. Now,
cycle track that will bring bicycling to all re-
gardless of age and skill stands on Montpeliers
immediate horizon. Further, we are approach-
ing a threshold of feasibility for both intercity
and commuter rail that could bring more than
a thousand workers to your worksites with 12
to 20 daily trains stopping at the new Taylor
Street transit center.
Tony Redington, Burlington
An Open Letter to the Mayor,
City Council and City Manager of
Montpelier:
I am disappointed in the reaction from
Montpelier City Hall in regards to the recent
Department of Environmental Conservation
decision regarding Berlin Pond that I have
read about in The Times Argus and VTDig-
ger.
The scientists at DEC are very knowledgeable
and know what they are talking about. They
also live in Montpelier and drink the same
water. Do you really think they would put
their own familys health in jeopardy?
You should listen to them and follow their
advice in regards to Berlin Pond. Its solid ad-
vice and avoids the uninformed overreaction
that we have been experiencing in our city. It
is not the end of the world to have a canoe on
Berlin Pond, given that we know that it will
not affect our drinking water.
Please stop representing Montpelier as a city
that ignores science in favor of uninformed
public opinion. Our country has seen enough
of that in the last few years.
Steven Targett, Montpelier
Applause for Barre Clinic
To the editor:
I recently attended the 20th-anniversary cel-
ebration and fundraiser for the People's Health
and Wellness Clinic (PHWC) in Barre.
For 20 years, the clinic has provided primary
health care and wellness education for un-
insured and underinsured central Vermont
residents who cannot otherwise afford these
services.
It is a free clinic: PHWC charges nothing for
their services, but asks for donations. A small
paid staff supports over 100 volunteers who
give freely of their services. Doctors, nurses
and nurse practitioners, mental health provid-
ers, body workers, and other specialist and
complementary practitioners offer a wide array
of treatment options. A new oral health pro-
gramprovides dental hygiene consultation and
a small network of volunteer dentists is avail-
able for referrals.
While many people are taking advantage of
the new health insurance plans under the Af-
fordable Care Act (Vermont Health Connect),
not everyone is eligible, not everyone can af-
ford it, and not everything is covered. Thats
why the clinic exists, and why it deserves ev-
eryones support.
But the clinic and the people it serves should
not have to be dependent on charity to provide
and receive health care. We need a statewide,
state-supported health care system that covers
all Vermonters. Urge your legislators to carry
on the effort to fully implement Act 48, and
bring universal health care to Vermont.
Catherine Rader, East Montpelier
Theres something badly wrong with Ver-
monts primary election system: almost no
one votes, since theres no one to vote
for. And when its that thin and non-
competitive in the primary, its thin on the
November ballot as well.
The day after the August 26 primary elec-
tion, I phoned city clerk John Odum in
Montpelier and city clerk Carol Dawes in
Barre. According to Odum, 563 Mont-
pelier residents voted on August 26. He
reckoned the turnout at about 8.8 percent.
According to Dawes, 435 Barre voters cast
their ballots on Aug. 26 out of a checklist
of 4,955 votersagain, less than one in
10.
Odumwent on to report that 4,522 people
in Montpelier voted in the 2012 Obama-
Romney election68 percent of regis-
tered voters. Thats more like it an election
turnout ought to be.
I hold the perverse view that local elec-
tions are more important than national
elections. And that Washington, D.C.,
is far more distant from the voters than
Barre, Montpelier and the rest of Wash-
ington County.
I also prefer contested elections, with
plenty of choices and loud, determined
debate. This years primary election, by
contrast, was born dead. And being born
dead hardly squares with the general anx-
iety and often volcanic anger thats out
there with people who cant afford their
property taxes, who are often working
two or more jobs to make ends meet.
This popular discontent isnt getting ex-
pressed as we pick our candidates to go
on the November ballot. And one day we
will pay for this enormous disconnect in
our political system.
What to do? You can suck it up, or you
can dig deep inside yourself, find the
time, scrounge the money, collect the sig-
natures, knock on the doors, meet the
people, and run for public office. If you
run you might lose. But if you don't run,
you can't win.
Is there anyone who is truly irreplaceable?
In the abstract I would say, No, no one
is irreplaceable. But Carolyn Grodinsky,
our key ad sales rep over the past five or so
yearsCarolyn comes as close to irreplace-
able as anyone I can imagine.
Carolyn, who is leaving to follow a career
dream of providing home health care for
pets and farm animalsand she has amaz-
ing powers in working with crittersCaro-
lyn, who radiates a brilliance that draws
people into her orbit, possesses these at-
tributes: friendliness, high intelligence,
personal warmth, total honesty, and an
impish and irrepressible love of fun. And
that was a partial list.
In her time at The Bridge, getting an early
glimpse of Carolyn through my window
on her way to the door of our office, often
with a dog on a leash, or with a treat she
had baked for us in her kitchenthat
always gave me the anticipation of a good
time.
When Carolyn started out she had never
sold an ad in her life. None of that mat-
tered. She had tons of friends. Practi-
cally everyone in Montpelier knows
Carolyn from the farmers market, and
who wouldnt want her as a friend? Who
would want to refuse her idea for an ad
in The Bridge?
As she leaves us, with full and complete
honors, to loud and sustained applause,
I thank her from the heart for her gifts
of personality, hard work, mastery of de-
tailindeed, for all she did and achieved
here.
Tell them you saw
it in The Bridge!
Matt Kilcoyne
Customer Support,
Efciency Vermont
There are many ways to make your home cooler
when its hot, and warmer when its cold
as well as lower your energy costs.
Were here to answer questions, connect you
with a certied contractor, discuss nancing
options, and help cover the costs:
Are high energy costs
bringing you down?
Lets talk.
#AskEVT
To get started, connect with Efciency Vermont at
855-388-9477 or www.efficiencyvermont.com/savings
*Not valid for Vermont Gas Systems customers
Incentives
up to
$2,000
upon completing
qualifying
improvements
$100 off
your home
energy audit
A $500
bonus
for completing
the work by
12/15/14*
Find your passion!
Open House Sept 4, 4-5 pm
State recognized 7th-12th grade
independent school
Classes and extra-curricular support for
homeschoolers aged 10-18
www.pacemschool.org
32 College St. Montpelier
223-1010
PAGE 28 AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE BRI DGE
Tell them you saw it in
The Bridge
Karen Hanron, M.A.
802-223-3219
Kreneeh@comcast.net
Confdential*Efcient*Afordable
Medical Billing
& Processing
for Mental Health
Practitioners
Be a part of our community!
Retirement living at its best!
Its not just a place to live, its a way of life.
1 Meal a Day
Weekly Housekeeping
Trash Removal
Activities
Transportation
Heat & Air Conditioning
Washer & Dryer
Maintenance/Repairs
Water & Sewer
Landscaping/Snow Removal
THE MONTHLY FEE INCLUDES:
171 Westview Meadows Road, Montpelier
802.223.1068 www.westviewmeadows.com
ARTISANS HAND
Contemporary Vermont Crafts
89 Main at City Center, Montpelier
www.artisanshand.com
Facebook ~ more images
Hand carved prints
by Mary Simpson
Boulder opal
designer jewelry
by Steve Noyes
Flights of Fancy
CVMC ExpressCARE
Get in. Get out. Get Well.
802.371.4239 / 1311 Barre Montpelier Road (next to Burger King)
Central to Your Well Being / www.cvmc.org
Central Vermont Medical Center
bridge 7.5 x 3.5
Were a not-for-prot clinic and were here when you need us.
Monday
thru Friday
10am-8pm
LOWER
CO-PAY
than the
ER
Saturday
& Sunday
9am-7pm
No
Appointment
Needed
All
Insurance
Accepted
Lab and
X-ray
on site