The Bridge, March 7, 2013

Connecting Montpelier and nearby communities since 1993 | M ARCH 7–20, 2013

IN THIS ISSUE
DREAM LOVERS

courtesy Robbie Harold

New twists in local production of Shakespeare’s comedy

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SAVE OUR SCHOOL Residents vote to keep Cabot High open

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PRICEY PIPE S District heat project facing higher costs

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THE VIEW FROM UNDER THE DOME Legislative update from those in the seats

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The Bridge P.O. Box 1143 Montpelier, VT 05601

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THE BRIDGE

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Community Herbalism Workshops
at Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism Classes take place at VCIH (252 Main Street) and cost $10 members/$12 nonmembers unless otherwise specified. Preregistration required. Contact 224.7100 or [email protected]. Class descriptions at vtherbcenter.org.

THE RE-EMERGING GREEN: Spring Wild-Crafting, Herbal Medicines, and the Plant/Human Relationship with Graham Unangst-Rufenacht, VCIH graduate. Wednesday, March 20, 6–8 pm. FLOWER ESSENCES FOR JOY with Fearn Lickfield, Certified Flower Essence Practitioner. Tuesday, April 2, 6–8 pm; $5 materials fee. SPRINGTIME TINCTURE MAKING: Dandelion, Burdock, Plantain and Nettle with Rebecca Dalgin, VCIH graduate. Monday, April 15, 6–8 pm; $5 materials fee. FIVE IMPORTANT WILD VERMONT MEDICINALS: A Chinese Medicine Perspective with Brendan Kelly, Jade Mountain Wellness. Wednesday, April 24, 6–9 pm; $15 members/$17 non-members.

Chevy Volt
the all-new

THE BRIDGE

M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013 • PAG E 3

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Cumberland Farms Penalized for Storage Tank Violations

STREET

HEARD ON THE

Nature Watch
S
pring is not far off when the blue jays in our neighborhood form a morning premating flock and start popcorning. How else to describe it? Twelve to 18 of these handsome blue members of the crow family congregate in a tree or bush just above seed we have thrown upon the snow. Then they start: one or more drops vertically to the ground, then pops straight back up, branch to ground, branch to ground. They are silent, quite close together in the tree or on the ground. Then all are suddenly off, breaking into calls sometimes, flutelike and ethereal. By noon, all this activity is over until the next morning. What a bird! And what are they doing? —Nona Estrin

he Vermont Agency of Natural Resources has fined Cumberland Farms $150,000 in civil penalties for multiple violations of state laws regulating underground gasoline storage tanks at 10 Vermont stores, including stores in Montpelier, Barre, Northfield and Morrisville. “As a result of the important work of the department’s inspectors, we found significant violations that threatened Vermonters’ health and the environment,” Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner David Mears said. “This type of settlement removes a public threat and will ensure that the majority of underground tank owners in Vermont who comply with the law are not put at a competitive disadvantage.” The 39 violations were discovered during inspections conducted between 2005 and 2010 and, according to Vermontbiz.com, are for a “failure to conduct and maintain documentation of release detection monitoring of tanks and associated piping at a number of its stores, and failure to report to the Agency and investigate incidents involving release detection monitoring system alarms.” In addition to the court-approved settlement, Cumberland Farms has agreed to a two-year compliance plan that will include biannual self-inspections and correction of any noncompliance issues.

SUMMER IS COMING ...
We have a great summer camp section in this issue and in our next three issues, and great packages for summer camp advertising. For more information, contact Carolyn or Ivan, 223-5112, ext. 11, carolyn@ montpelierbridge.com or [email protected].

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Vermont Public School Staffers Outnumber Teachers

ermont is one of 21 states that employs more nonteaching staff people in its schools than it does teachers. According to a 1992–2009 study by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, the number of nonteaching staffers (bus drivers, librarians, cafeteria workers, deputy superintendents, accountants, coaches, nurses, assistant principals and other nonteaching personnel) in the state outnumbered classroom teachers by 1,838 during the last year of the study (2009). Vermont currently has a ratio of 8.8 students to each nonteaching staff person, the lowest student-to-staff ratio in the country. Between 1992 and 2009, the number of public school students in Vermont decreased by 4 percent, while the number of administrators and nonteaching staff increased by 54 percent. The report postulates that if the number of staff positions had decreased at the same rate that student numbers did during the study, a typical teacher might have received an annual salary increase of $18,075. The complete report is available online at edchoice.org/research/our-studies---reports.aspx.

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Amtrak Vermonter: Reduced Ridership but Faster Speeds and Lower Fares

mtrak’s Vermonter rail service, connecting New York City and the northeast corridor with Montpelier, Burlington and other Vermont towns, saw a 3.4 percent drop in ridership over the past 15 years, according to a study performed by the Brookings Institute. That same study showed that between 1997 and 2012, the Ethan Allen Express (linking Rutland, Albany and New York City) and the Adirondack (linking New York City and Montreal via rail lines along the western shore of Lake Champlain) both had increased ridership. The Adirondack’s ridership increased 33.2 percent while the Ethan Allen’s increased 87.5 percent. The Adirondack is one of the few Amtrak routes nationwide that made money. While ridership on the Vermonter has decreased, this could change for several reasons. The Vermont Department of Transportation will be allowing increased train speeds statewide (up to 79 mph in some areas) and is also upgrading tracks and road crossings across the state. Further, Amtrak now offers a $12 one-way fare for travel between stations in Vermont, which could increase ridership as gas prices increase. A one-way train trip from Brattleboro to Montpelier is 125 miles and currently takes less than three hours. A round-trip rail ticket for this trip would cost $24, as compared to between $35 and 440 for gas for the 115-mile round-trip by car.

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Single-Payer Advocate Presses for Open Meetings

ne of Vermont’s leading advocates for single-payer health care is proposing that the state require open hospital board meetings, per the state’s open meeting law. According to boston.com, Dr. Deb Richter, a member of Physicians for a National Health Program, argues that since much of the $2 billion spent annually by Vermont hospitals comes from taxpayers who support public health insurance programs, for-profit hospitals should therefore be subjected to the open meeting law. The open meeting law would not apply to private, nonprofit hospitals. The vice president of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, Jill Mazza Olson, responded by saying that her group will discuss with lawmakers which information hospitals currently makes open to the public and to regulators.

P.O. Box 1143, Montpelier, VT 05601 Phone: 802-223-5112 | Fax: 802-223-7852 montpelierbridge.com; facebook.com/montpelierbridge Published every first and third Thursday
Editor & Publisher: Nat Frothingham General Manager: Bob Nuner Editorial Associate: Max Shenk Production Editor: Kate Mueller Sales Representatives: Carolyn Grodinsky, Rick McMahan Graphic Design & Layout: Dana Dwinell-Yardley Calendar Editor: Dana Dwinell-Yardley Bookkeeper: Kathryn Leith Distribution: Kevin Fair, Diana Koliander-Hart, Daniel Renfro Website & Social Media Manager: Dana Dwinell-Yardley Advertising: For information about advertising deadlines and rates, contact: 223-5112, ext. 11, [email protected] or [email protected] Editorial: Contact Bob, 223-5112, ext. 14, or [email protected]. 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 2013 by The Montpelier Bridge

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March Deadlines for Art and Leadership

arch 30 is the deadline for submitting artwork to The Art of Creative Aging, Central Vermont Council on Aging’s fourth annual exhibit of artwork by seniors over 70. The art will be on display at Kellogg-Hubbard Library throughout May. Send submissions to Margaret Harmon at [email protected] or call 476-2681 for information. The Snelling Center for Government has invited people from private, public and nonprofit sectors to apply for the Vermont Leadership Institute (VLI) Class of 2014. The application deadline is March 29; the class is announced in June. The program begins in September and graduates in June 2014. For more information, see snellingcenter.org/VLI/how-to-apply, or contact Linda Wheatley, VLI director, at [email protected]. —compiled by Bob Nuner and Max Shenk

SAVE THE DATE! The Bridge will be hosting a community dinner at the Montpelier Senior Activity Center on Thursday, April 11, at 6 p.m. Check out page 21 for more information, and mark your calendars.

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THE BRIDGE

Town Meeting Day: School Budget Part B and Firefighter Appropriation Pass Narrowly
by Richard Sheir

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n the surface, Town Meeting Day in Montpelier was very much as it always has been. Many of the races went uncontested. All of the bond measures passed, as did the operating measures. The Kellogg-Hubbard Library passed in Montpelier handily (losing in Berlin), as did the recreation department and the city budget. On town meeting night, all eyes were on the three school votes. The $2,300,000 school bond issue passed by a wide margin, and Union Elementary School will have a new heating system and a new roof for the fall, as will Main Street Middle School and Montpelier High School. The parking lot at Montpelier High School will be repaired again, and new stands will be constructed for those watching the Montpelier Junior Varsity football team that plays after school. The schools had less support than in the past, but the budget their superintendent drafted still passed by a comfortable margin. The nearly 3 percent budget increase that some parents had lobbied to include for a vote, identified as part B on the ballot, had a harder road and passed by a relatively narrow margin.

This year’s city budget, which featured a 2 percent increase and more funding for infrastructure, passed handily. It was approved by 75 percent of the voters, matching its 2011 town meeting vote in terms of percentage. This year’s contested race had four candidates running for the seat in District 3. All of the campaigning resulted in 624 votes (Jessica Edgerly Walsh won with 280 votes). When the same seat was contested two years ago, there were 661 votes. There were three candidates running for three slots on the school board. As expected, they pulled in their votes by their seniority on the board. There was a slightly above average voter turnout of 2,319 (the average is 2,197), but fewer voters than last year. Of those registered to vote, 35 percent turned out, in contrast to 38 percent voting last March, when the District 2 race brought out nearly 300 voters from that district. Although the city’s voters are evenly divided into the three districts, District 2 has attracted over 40 percent of the vote in two of the last three elections. That was not the case in 2013. The districts were far more even in their turnout: 31 percent for District 1; 36 percent for District 2; and 33 percent for District 3. This was the first time that the city clerk

was able to assign a voting machine to each district that makes it possible to track city issues by district. Support for the city budget was strong in each district, marginally weaker in District 3. The first school operating budget vote was for the superintendent’s budget, which represented a 5.8 percent increase from the year before. The budget passed with 62 percent of the vote, down from 68 percent the year before and 71 percent the year before. The superintendent’s budget passed comfortably in all three districts. District 2 was most supportive, with 64 percent of the vote, and District 3 the least supportive, with 59 percent. Part B of the school budget vote was a different story. It won by only 147 votes out of 3,271. It ran significantly behind in the superintendent’s budget in every district. The firefighters issue, which confused many, passed by only 100 votes out of 2,300. This is the only ballot measure where voting differed by district. The measure failed in both District 1 and 2, but met wide approval in District 3 where it won 60 percent of the vote—enough to carry it to passage. The Downtown Business District proposal passed by 176 votes, carrying all three

districts, with District 3 again showing relative aversion to taxes. The district that contains downtown passed the measure by only 13 votes. The circulator bus passed by wide margins in all three districts as did the recreation budget. This year’s obligatory social issue on the ballot dealt with tar sands and an opposition to piping the oil derived from tar sands through Vermont pipelines. Surprisingly, over 2,200 of all voters expressed an opinion, more than on the firefighters and downtown business district. It passed overwhelmingly. It should be noted that 643 either favor the pipeline going through Vermont or wanted to thumb their nose at those putting a national issue to a local vote. Traditionally, when national issues are presented for local vote in Montpelier, they pass with ease. There are some wondering why the ballot was relatively short this year. The many social service agencies that in the past sought funding on Town Meeting Day were funded by $118,000 in the city budget instead. The senior center also was folded in (with an increase of over $30,000 this year) into the city budget instead of going up for vote.

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Kindergarten Registration
Union Elementary School 1 Park Ave, Montpelier
Registration for children entering kindergarten in the fall of 2013 will be on Wednesday, March 13th, Thursday, March 14th, and Friday, March 15th, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Please call 802-225-8204 if you have any questions. Registration is for children born on or before September 1, 2008. Please bring birth certificate and proof of residency.

FOTHERGILL SEGALE & VALLEY Certified Public Accountants

223-6261

143 Barre Street Montpelier, VT 05602 www.fsv-cpas.com

ATTENTION PARENTS of Montpelier 3- and 4-year-old Pre-Kindergarten Children
The Montpelier School District supports publicly funded pre-kindergarten for children between the ages of 3 and 5 who reside in Montpelier.

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ublicly supported pre-kindergarten is defined as six to ten hours per week, thirty-five weeks per year, of developmentally appropriate learning experiences that are based on Vermont’s Early Learning Standards. Children who reside in Montpelier and are between the ages of three to five are eligible. Prekindergarten education is limited to the academic school year. The Montpelier School District’s publicly supported pre-kindergarten programs are located in three community private early care and education programs that meet specific quality standards. The early care and education programs that the Montpelier School District partners with are: • The Family Center of Washington County • Turtle Island Children’s Center • Waldorf Child’s Garden The pre-kindergarten program offered through a partner may charge families the difference between the actual costs of providing the 6 to 10 hour pre-kindergarten program and what the Montpelier School District pays. Families would continue to be charged fully for whatever care and education program the child needs beyond the 10 hours per week during the academic year. Please note: If we receive more applications than we have funding to support, then we will use a random selection process to determine which children receive publicly funded pre-kindergarten education. We will inform you whether your child has a slot by May 20, 2013. If you are interested in learning more about these pre-kindergarten options or would like to submit an application for your child, please contact either The Family Center of Washington County at 262-3292, Turtle Island Children’s Center at 229-4047, or Waldorf Child’s Garden at 223-4338 by April 30, 2013.

THE BRIDGE

M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013 • PAG E 5

Town of Cabot Votes to Keep High School Open
by Nat Frothingham
Shall the Cabot School Board be directed to close the Cabot High School prior to July 1, 2013 and to provide for the high school education of the high school pupils (grades 9 through 12) residing in the District by paying tuition in accordance with law to one or more public high schools in one or more school districts, to an approved independent high school, or to an independent school meeting school quality standards, to be selected by the parents or guardians of the pupil, within or without the state? t Cabot’s school meeting on March 4, a standing-room-only crowd of 500plus citizens packed the Cabot High School gym and voted 322–147 to reject the motion to close. In a report that school directors delivered to voters before the vote, voters were told that their 2013–2014 property taxes would rise by 11 percent because student enrollment was down and because of a recent spike in property sales in Cabot, which had resulted in a reduction of state aid. When the motion to close Cabot High was discussed from the floor, two or three

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people went to the microphone and cited rising school costs and increasing property taxes and the advantages of school choice as reasons to close the school. Mary Carpenter, herself a graduate of Cabot High School, spoke in favor of keeping the school open. She said that if Cabot sent its high school students to St. Johnsbury Academy and the academy wanted a new swimming pool, “I would have no choice in that.” But if Cabot High remained open, she would continue to have local voting choices. Talking about families who choose to homeschool their children, she said, “If they want

to go to homeschool, that’s their choice.” Then she added, “I think it would be great if children who lived in the town went to the school.” Anyone who imagined a long and contentious floor debate on the close-the-CabotHigh-School motion was wrong. Discussion from the floor was quickly cut off by a motion to “call the question.” The vote to stop talking was overwhelming. It was as if the capacity crowd had heard enough and knew their minds. And the vote to keep the school open was decisive.

Cabot High School Closure Vote Sparks Controversy
by Bob Nuner

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eeply felt controversy surrounded the Cabot High School closure proposal voted last Monday, March 4. Before the vote, The Bridge reached Hardwick Gazette correspondent William Walters, Cabot resident and former selectman, to ask about it. Asked about the role Cabot High plays, Walters said, “It’s probably the biggest draw for bringing people together for a specific event. You’ll see more people at graduation than anything, other than the Fourth of July parade . . . People keep going even after their own children have left.” The high school generates lifelong friendships and provides a nexus for people. For example, former Cabot principal, J. David Book, a minister, has officiated at weddings of former Cabot students. Walters called cost arguments “wide open. Everything is an estimate. Most of the revenue sources aren’t going to be known to us until maybe April.” Sequestration also affects it, he said, and buildings require bond payment and maintenance, occupied or not. Renovations also take time, even if buildings housing other grades close. Closure proponents emphasized school choice, giving students a wider range of opportunities and the possibility of attending better schools, and with the high school closed, Cabot could then concentrate resources on the lower grades. But surrounding towns decide how many students they’ll accept. A host school’s administration might only accept, for example, 10 out of 15 applicants. Said Walters, “It’s like college admissions.”

Neighboring towns already send their middle school students to nearby high schools, increasing the pool from which a host town accepts students. Among them are Walden, Stannard, Peacham, Wolcott and Lyndon, all competing to send their students to Hazen Union, Danville or Twinfield high schools. These schools will likely be selective about whom they accept because it takes only a few students performing poorly on standardized tests to statistically downgrade a school’s performance, which impacts its reputation. An irony lost in school closure discussions, Walters noted, is that students preferring Cabot will lose that choice. Walters noted that in the discussions that

have been occurring online (on Front Porch Forum and Facebook), there has not been a heavy presence of student opinion. Walters approved of the Cabot school board’s decision to incorporate three students on their board, so there’d be a more direct report of student opinion to that board. School controversies are often emotional and divisive. Cabot was no exception, and online venues changed the conversation. Walters said, “When you’re at a keyboard and hit ‘send’ and then think, it doesn’t go over well . . . On the street, a person can say, ‘What do you really mean by that?’ The emotional context doesn’t exist in the electronic medium. Very often what you express as a positive

could be picked up as a negative.” Walters saw people in meetings as more polite, formal and thoughtful. Online talk, he argued, reduces a sense of community, because people shut down their machines after hitting “send” and don’t respond further. He said people have expressed dread of the meeting, with residents wishing to just vote and skip discussion. Asked to forecast the vote, Walters joked, “You have to bring your index cards.” The vote was a floor vote. Walters praised Cabot moderator Ed Smith, noting that Smith reportedly approached opposing factions, explaining meeting rules. It would be, Walters said, “Democracy at its best.”

Save Cabot High School: A Special Place
Editor’s note: While looking into the Cabot High closure, Bridge writer Ivan Shadis learned of an e-mail sent to a friend by former Cabot student, Seth O’Brien, illustrating the importance of the school’s role in the community. We received O’Brien’s permission to reproduce the e-mail, below. hen I heard the news that there is talk of closing Cabot High School, I was shocked. I graduated in the class of 2007 and feel that Cabot provided me with a top-notch education. After graduation, I went on to Pace University in Manhattan. I was a little nervous at first, thinking that people from large schools would be more prepared for college. This was not the case at all. I feel like I was much more prepared than the average freshman. I was even accepted into the honors program. When I told people about the music program, size of classes and personal attention at Cabot, they were in awe. Most of the friends I made in college assumed I went to an exclusive private school and couldn’t believe it when I told them it was just the public school in my town. The response was unanimous— that I was lucky. In some cases I was even met with jealousy when people heard the CD we recorded with The Limes or saw pictures of the Gamelan that Cabot was so lucky to be able to acquire. At Cabot, I truly appreciated that if you wanted to try something you could. There were no auditions for band. This allowed me to explore music, which might not have been possible in a large school where you must compete to join. The same is true of sports. I was never good at sports, but I wanted the experience and enjoyment that playing on a team provides. Cabot allowed me to play. The coaches were very helpful and not judgmental of my lack of experience. Cabot is an amazing community that has always been supportive of school efforts. Almost everyone in the town was willing to help out with fundraising efforts and support the school when I was there. It would be a shame to see this tight-knit community be torn apart by not having a school. Students would be sent off to another town that didn’t have that same caring, smallhometown feel.

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Sugar
on snow
Celebrate the Season!
10 am–1 pm • donations appreciated

Saturday, March 16 • market 10–2
Last few winter markets . . .

April 7 & 27, 10–2
Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier

Market moves downtown May 4!
montpelierfarmersmarket.com | Find us on Facebook

e Li v i c s Mu heefra
by S

Foghorn Stringband
Sunday, March 24
Reserve your spot in advance at Eventbrite.com!

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Heady Hump Day! $5 Heady To

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PAG E 6 • M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013

THE BRIDGE

FEMA Funding Still Pending for Waterbury State Offices
by Bob Nuner

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y late February, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funds for renovating the Waterbury State Office Complex (WSOC), damaged by Tropical Storm Irene, were still unavailable. Although schedules are slipping, officials seem sanguine that their plans will materialize sufficiently quickly. FEMA’s Vermont federal coordinating officer, Mark Landry, argued that a thorough understanding of funding opportunities, while complex, would yield the best result for the state. Dave Rapaport, who assisted Vermont’s first Irene recovery leader, Sue Minter, now overseas Vermont efforts. He reviewed WSOC plans: Broadly speaking, the historic buildings built at the turn of the (19th-to20th) century will be saved, but newer buildings closer to the river will be demolished (The Dale, Osgood and Agency of Natural

Resources buildings). Historic core buildings to be restored include the original 19th-century turreted structures visible from Main Street. A new heating plant is planned. The Stanley and Lawson buildings may be purchased by Waterbury village. The Central Vermont Community Land Trust is negotiating to buy the Ladd Building for affordable housing, and, according to Rapaport, “has been awarded some federal funds for the project.” In an e-mail, Rapaport notes that a local children’s center hopes to purchase buildings at 121 and 123 South Main Street to become preschool facilities. Any new buildings that might be built toward the river will be flood-hardened or wet-flood protected, having first floors built with flood-tolerant materials. The original complex buildings will be dry-flood protected, that is, protected from the incursion of water. Rapaport explained that FEMA offers the

option of rebuilding with “improved projects” that take into account future flooding, instead of renovating existing buildings. He noted that improved projects require approval before the old buildings are demolished. Once approved, the state can begin asbestos abatement of the buildings scheduled for demolition. Rapaport expressed confidence that agencies slated to return to the complex would be able to move in during 2015: “We’re anxious to get the final numbers determined. We’re hoping for good news soon.” As sequestration kicked in, however, The Bridge asked FEMA about its effects. Daniel Watson, FEMA spokesperson, replied in an e-mail: “Sequestration . . . reduces the Disaster Relief Fund [DRF] by nearly $1 billion, potentially affecting survivors recovering from Hurricane Sandy . . . and other major disasters across the nation. Homeland security grant funding will be reduced to its

lowest level in seven years, leading to potential layoffs of state and local emergency personnel across our country. Disaster funds will largely not be impacted in the near term. The impacts would be at the end of the fiscal year if FEMA had to implement immediate needs funding due to the balance in the DRF at the time.” Rapaport’s take on sequestration was, “So far we have not been given any reason to believe that our progress on WSOC will be impacted . . . either in terms of level of funding or timing. Our understanding is that the Joint Field Office (JFO) in Essex will be dealing with administrative cutbacks . . . through managing their costs (overtime, possibly staffing levels, etc). . . [T]his could impact the rate at which they continue to work on the issues still being resolved, but there are many factors impacting the still evolving timeline so it will be hard to know for sure.”

THE BRIDGE

M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013 • PAG E 7

District Heat Project Hits Contract Snag
by Max Shenk

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he Montpelier District Heat project is currently at an impasse, which state and city officials hope will not delay the project’s completion beyond the October start of next winter’s heating season. The project contract stipulates that the state will build the heat plant itself (a woodchip-burning steam plant behind the Department of Motor Vehicles office building), while the city of Montpelier is responsible for building heat and water distribution lines to municipal and private buildings in the downtown. According to city officials, the distribution line project is on budget and on schedule. Kingsbury Construction will install distribution lines this summer to over a dozen downtown buildings, including Union Elementary School, city hall and the police and fire department buildings. Contracts stipulate that these buildings will receive heat from the plant by October 1. However, the state has recently announced that the steam plant is facing cost overruns that could total as much as $2.6 million, and is asking the city to pay a portion of those overruns. Vermont Department of Building and General Services commis-

sioner Michael Obuchowski told The Bridge that the overruns were due to “advancement of the design” of the steam plant and “a desire to increase the contingencies, because items that were not anticipated keep rearing their ugly heads, such as the fact that we have to put in over a hundred anchors to hold the building down in case of a flood.” State officials maintain that the city is required, per the contract, to share in cost overruns and are asking the city to contribute 24.6 percent of the overrun, or $623,472. City officials were adamant that the contract makes no such stipulation. The 24.6 percent figure, according to Montpelier city manager William Fraser, is “based on the percentage of capacity of the plant that the city would own or control. [The state’s] logic is, ‘If you own 24 percent of the capacity, then you own 24 percent of the cost,’ and we’ve said, ‘Well, we understand the logic, but . . . there’s no contractual basis for that.’” “They seem to feel that if they don’t get this, they’re not going to be politically able to get additional funding,” said Fraser, “and we just don’t agree with that.” City Council member Tom Golonka added that the city “understand[s] the state needs

extra funding, and we’re willing to work with them on different things. For example, if our costs end up being under, I’m sure we’d be willing to share those. [But] we’ve still got to preserve the ability to construct our distribution network and we’ve already allocated all of our funds.” Golonka said that “the real issue is not the amount [the state is] asking from the city. The real issue is: Are they going to be able to come up with the $2.5 million from the state appropriation side? Take the city out of the equation. Is the state going to go forward regardless of whether or not the city will be able to participate in some kind of sharing arrangement with the heat plant? Seventy-five percent of [the cost overruns] really needs to come from the legislature, and that’s where the real question is.” Obuchowski said that the state intends to abide by the contract and hopes to resolve the overrun disagreements in good faith. “We’re engaged in this opportunity that was brought to us by the city for the mutual benefit of both parties,” Obuchowski said, “and we’re essentially partners. We’re hopeful that we’re going to be able to find a way out of this situation.” Still, the state recently obtained a legal opinion affirming that the state would not

be liable if it cancelled the project, an opinion that the city is asking its attorneys to review. City Manager Fraser is optimistic that the project will proceed. “We don’t want to create a panic or a concern for potential users when we don’t even know if there’s a problem yet,” Fraser said. Many of the potential users already have heating systems in place, so even if the project had to be delayed past the next heating season (into spring 2014), “the good news is that I don’t think that anybody is going to be without heat.” However, Fraser emphasized, “We have a contractual obligation to provide heat on October 1. We’ve signed contracts with private companies, we’ve signed a contract so that our pipes are going in the ground in the summer [and] we’re contracted to provide heat come October 1.” When asked if the project had a point of no return, Fraser said that such a point would only arrive if the state cannot meet the October 1 deadline. A delay would raise other questions, he said: “Does that mean you can’t meet November 1? Does that mean this heating season’s out? I think the sooner the state can be realistic about what can happen, the better.”

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PAG E 8 • M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013

THE BRIDGE

Washington County Legislators Look at the Session
by Bob Nuner

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ithout offering much time, The Bridge asked area legislators if their thinking had evolved during the first part of the session, particularly in the context of their committee work and in what, for many readers, continue to be challenging economic times. Here are some responses legislators were able to offer on short notice before press time. Representative Anne Donahue’s response, by e-mail, was instructive of dilemmas Vermont faces. Donahue is ranking member of the Human Services Committee. Her response: “The change since the session’s opening has been coming to grips with the governor’s budget. Since the Agency of Human Services is such a large component of the budget, our committee is always faced with reviewing the gover-

nor’s proposal and making recommendations to the Appropriations Committee. This year’s proposal included some major new initiatives, but both the initiatives and even the balancing of the budget itself are predicated upon cuts in other areas that are, quite frankly, off the wall. Major policy decisions belong in legislation, not as a creation of a budget cut. “For example, on the surface, changing the Reach Up program to help families become self-sustaining more rapidly is an easy sell. However, regardless of the benefits of reforming the existing system, the only way to create immediate savings is to change the rules retroactively for people who have been following the rules all along. That is simply an intolerable injustice. Since the governor has already booked those savings, however, saying no means identifying another source of $5.9 million to fill the resulting hole. “There will only be two weeks after town meeting week to work out this and many similar budget holes. I didn’t expect that we would have to be addressing policy issues so reactively, in the sense of a proposed budget that is attempting to drive major policy change without any substantive discussion. It is clear that this is not a time when we can be funding any new initiatives, but we will be grappling with how we sustain what we are already doing.

“Vermont has always based its economic well-being on maximizing federal funding, and now, once again, we face the “live by the sword, die by the sword” dilemma if there are heavy federal cuts. I think this will be weighing heavily on everyone when we return, depending upon the status of the scene in Washington.” When asked about the challenges facing her committee, Representative Janet Ancel, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, noted several key concerns, notably funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), replenishment of the transportation fund, school funding and health care. LIHEAP has been underfunded by the federal government for several years. Ancel said that her committee is seeking ways to build baseline

funding into that program at the state level, since federal contributions are no longer sufficient. She noted that funding LIHEAP does not necessarily mean new taxes, but does mean finding revenue somewhere, which suggests money from other parts of the budget. As to transportation fund shortfalls and the need to sufficiently fund infrastructure maintenance, Ancel expected the house to propose an increase in the gas tax, since everyone agrees that transportation infrastructure needs attention. Ancel brought up a challenging feature of school funding, saying, “The property tax increase is pretty significant. We’d hoped to keep those numbers down, but local school budgets underlie that rate. We don’t get to say ‘we think that budget’s too high’ and won’t raise all of it, the way we can in the state’s general budget. We have a formula, and we need to keep the reserves at a statutory level, and the rate is decided for us, by the budgets that come in from the towns.” Ancel said initial projections of a statewide increase of 4.8 percent were “high,” but then, as school budgets came in, the increase rose even higher to 5.5 percent. Ancel noted that with the state’s general budget, if an increase is too much, the Ways and Means Committee can simply refuse to raise the funds. “We could defund commerce if we [the legisla-

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MONTPELIER HIGH SCHOOL'S 20TH ANNUAL

Saturday, April 6, 2013 Capitol Plaza Hotel, Montpelier 7 p.m.; 5:30 p.m. social hour • Purely Vermont raffle & silent auction • Tickets $50/person

Honoring Elliott Morse, MHS Class of ’56, and Burr Morse, MHS Class of ’66

Debussy 1.5
Sunday, March 17, 2013, 3:30 pm • Unitarian Church of Montpelier
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Find out why Debussy matters in this 150th birthday concert featuring a colorful program of chamber music masterpieces. Featuring violinist Arturo Delmoni, concertmaster of the NYC Ballet Orchestra, with flutist Karen Kevra, cellist John Dunlop, harpist Rebecca Kauffman, and pianist Paul Orgel.

THE BRIDGE
ture] chose to (not that we would do that),” she said. But school budgets are independent of legislative control and must be funded, by statute. Finding money for health care is an ongoing, major challenge to the Ways and Means Committee, a challenge that will take up a large portion of the committee’s time and effort for the balance of the session. Asked if imposed mandates don’t lift the baseline of taxation for all taxpayers, Ancel said, “Yes, of course. I think we’re constantly talking about the values that we have: our own values, those of our constituents, and the state as a whole. Sometimes those are competing values. That’s all we do [balancing budget requirements and social benefits]—more or less successfully.” As to an assessment of where Vermont stands economically, Ancel said she’d attended a conference of peers last weekend and considered Vermont in better shape than neighboring states: “Our unemployment rate is not acceptable for someone unemployed. It’s been a slow recovery, but we’ve been moving in the right direction. Probably moving better than our neighbors. But we have a lot more to do.” Representative Warren Kitzmiller, asked the same question about his work at midsession in this economy, discussed his work as ranking member on the Commerce Committee: “In 2012, Vermont was the only state that saw a growth in income levels. We’ve got to be doing some things right. “We passed a bill that will allow injured workers to receive their benefits electronically, by means of a card that works just like a debit card. This will be a great help to workers who don’t have a banking relationship. “Another proposal we passed will allow unemployed workers to collect their benefits while working to start their own business. This is a smaller program, focused on people who fit certain profiles, and will give great assistance to help ensure the success of a new business. “We are working right now on a measure that will assist many Vermont employers who laid off workers in the aftermath of the storms of 2011. When that happened, it was certainly no fault of their own, but now their unemployment insurance rates have skyrocketed. We want to craft a bill that will allow them to be reimbursed for the excessive rates they had to pay and which have truly harmed their ability to recover from flooding. “We also are working on a measure that will update and streamline our municipal planning efforts, creating new neighborhood planning areas and neighborhood development areas surrounding our designated centers and downtown village centers. “We are considering bills that deal with a ‘used-car lemon law,’ and we are continuing our efforts to support the Vermont Telecommunication Authority.” Senator Anthony Pollina responded to The Bridge’s query by e-mail, offering the following observation: “As we reach the midpoint of the legislative session, I am increasingly concerned that we are again asking middle- and lowerincome Vermonters to bear the burden of unfair taxes and program cuts. This is something I strongly oppose. “In recent years, we have had the income of the wealthiest Vermonters increase significantly while incomes have been stagnant or actually decreased for others. The wealthiest have also benefited from big tax cuts in recent years, thanks to the U.S. Congress. Meanwhile, median family income today is still lower than it was in 2001. We have endured cuts in developmental disability services and other programs; homelessness is increasing, and one in six Vermonters receive food stamps. “Among my immediate concerns are cuts in the state’s Reach Up program, which supports some of our most vulnerable neighbors. The administration’s plan will limit benefits and cut some families off immediately. Since there are few jobs for these folks, they will simply shift to other services, and studies show that their kids will be at even greater risk. Cuts are also proposed in the Earned Income Tax Credit, probably our most important antipoverty program, which provides an important benefit to lowerincome working families. “Other proposals include a tax on home heating fuel, a gas tax and a tax on sugarsweetened beverages. These are all regressive taxes that, again, hit lower- and middle-income families hardest, and regardless of what others say, they are broad based. “In my view, we should not cut benefits or increase unfair taxes until we consider a proposal to make a small increase in the income tax of those earning over $250,000 a year. This small, targeted increase will raise significant revenue to help meet important needs. Yet these folks will still pay significantly less than they did before the so-called Bush tax cuts. It is important to note that these folks generally now pay a smaller portion of their income in taxes than do lowerincome Vermonters. “Finally, the senate Government Operations Committee, of which I am vice chair, is considering a study of ways to save money and strengthen our local economy. Transferring some of our tax dollars that are now deposited in a large private bank to a public institution—a kind of state bank—will allow us to work with local Vermont banks to increase capital available to our small businesses, farmers, affordable housing, etc., and lower borrowing costs for municipalities and even school districts. And it would also reduce the more than $70 million a year we pay in debt service to Wall Street.”

M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013 • PAG E 9
Mary Hooper, of the house Corrections and Institutions Committee, responded to our question: “This session is turning out to be the most challenging of the sessions financially since the inception of the great recession. Protecting the vulnerable and investing in our future are the principles that continue to guide me. The house Institutions and Corrections Committee continues to focus on two significant pieces of work: the rebuilding from Irene and improving the criminal justice system. “Building the new 25-bed state hospital in Berlin is on schedule and expected to open in the late spring of 2014, at a cost of about $28 million. Assuring that this and other facilities are constructed in a way that supports the new mental health system of care created since the storm has been the particular focus of the committee this year. With questions about federal (FEMA) funding still unanswered, the committee continues to try to chart a course to return 800 employees to Waterbury. This will be the principal work of the two weeks following the town meeting break. “The second major area of work will be beginning the process of no longer relying on out-of-state prison beds. We have to find better ways to keep people out of jails and return them successfully to their communities if they have been incarcerated. The current system wastes money and lives. “I am also working on initiatives to help Montpelier-based state employees with their parking issues and am determined to continue with investments in energy savings, including the district heat plant. I was impressed with my committee’s commitment, in a straw poll, to honoring the state’s commitment to the district heat plant.” —file photos courtesy of the legislators

Politics

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PAG E 10 • M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013

THE BRIDGE

City Council Establishes Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Discusses Upcoming Sewer-Line Project
by Nat Frothingham

M

ayor John Hollar called the City Council meeting to order shortly after 6:30 p.m., Wednesday evening, February 27. (The council is meeting in the library at Montpelier High School temporarily until an elevator is repaired at city hall.) Barre District Health Department Presentation Sasha Bianchi (district director) and Bonnie Alexander (public health nutritionist) from the Barre District Office of the Vermont Department of Health offered a snapshot of some of the district’s public health programs. Alexander described the department’s Women, Infants and Children (WIC) supplementary food and nutrition program that serves pregnant women, new mothers and children up to 5 years of age. To qualify for WIC, a participant must be income eligible (300 percent of poverty) and a Vermont resident. Bianchi and Alexander said that Montpelier participation in WIC is consistent at about 50 percent of women and children who are eligible. Councilor Angela Timpone asked why the WIC program was underutilized in Montpelier. Alexander offered “informed guesses”

as to why Montpelier’s WIC participation is about half of what it could be. She said that some women who might choose to participate may have transportation problems and others might prefer organic food over WIC food. In a phone conversation subsequent to the February 27 council meeting, Bianchi talked about why the WIC program is underutilized in Montpelier. “It’s a hard one,” she said, “because the people we have contact with are the people who participate. Mostly what we hear is that people don’t know about the program or think they don’t qualify.” Among other programs, the Barre District Office offers free immunizations to people who have no health insurance. Alexander reported that the health department has recently immunized 350 people against whooping cough. There has been a recent history of whooping cough increase, but the immunizations appear to have been effective. Alexander said, “We have seen a decrease in whooping cough [in recent weeks].” The Barre District Office holds a monthly immunization clinic at 5 Perry Street, suite 250, Barre. Typically, the clinic is held on the first Tuesday of the month, but because of town meeting on Tuesday, March 5, the clinic this month will be held a week later on Tuesday, March 12. (For information about the free immunization clinic and to make

an appointment, contact Nurse Tara Reil at 479-4200.) The Barre District Office is working on a number of emergency preparedness initiatives. Bianchi said that a staff person from her office is working with a regional group to train first responders such as fire and ambulance personnel. The department also has a program to sign up qualified volunteers in case of a threatened or actual emergency. Said Bianchi, “We are getting people signed up on that system,” so that if, for example, 20 nurses are needed, they can be contacted. At the Barre District Office is Karen Nelson, the school health nurse, who is the contact person between the district office and the schools. Among other things, Nelson visits schools in the district and advises on health, wellness, nutrition, immunizations and the like. At the February 27 council meeting, Alexander commended Montpelier for recently setting up a School Health Advisory Council. Again in the telephone contact with Bianchi, she talked about Healthy Community Design—an effort to get cities and towns to use “health-promoting language” in their town plans. Such plans could, according to Bianchi, include sidewalks and bike paths to promote walking, biking and other physical activity and farmers’ markets with their ac-

cess to health foods. Bianchi said the health department is working to create environments that support healthy choices. (The Barre District Office of the Vermont Department of Health has a Facebook page and is on Front Porch Forum.) School Bond and District Heat Project Montpelier school superintendent Brian Ricca and schools facilities director Thomas Wood explained a $2.3 million bond for repairs and improvements at Union School, Main Street Middle School and Montpelier High School. The bond (which was approved at the March 5 city meeting) would pay for 23 separate improvement projects at the city’s three schools. A detailed list of the proposed improvements can be found as the first item on the Montpelier public schools website mpsvt.org. Councilor Thierry Guerlain said that he thought the Montpelier schools would not be putting in new boilers at Union School, given plans for the district heat project. Wood said that a single hot-water boiler was planned as a backup boiler and that this backup boiler would be able to heat the Union School building if for any reason the district heat project was delayed or unavailable.

Summer Camps 2013
June 17–Aug. 16
Half day and full day available Multicamps discount Family discount Gymnastics, tumbling, swimming, games, crafts Exhibition at the end of every week of the camp Spring floor, foam pit, in-ground trampoline, rock-climbing wall Fully air-conditioned

LOTUS LAKE DAY CAMP
Williamstown, VT • Est. 1952
Beth Allen & Dorothy Milne, directors • Becky Watson, assistant director 802.793.4985 or 802.433.5451 • lotuslakecamp.com

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Full Day Camp

654 Granger Road, suite 2, Barre, VT 05641 223-0517 [email protected] SunriseGym.com

June 24–Aug. 16, 1- & 2-week sessions; ages 6–14; M–F, 9:15 a.m.–4 p.m. Red Cross swim lessons, boating, arts & crafts, horseback riding, tennis, archery, woodworking, outdoor adventure, games, hiking.

Half Day Camp

June 24–Aug. 2; 1-week sessions; ages 4 & 5; 9:15 a.m.–12:45 p.m. Experience in the outdoors with hiking, boating, swim lessons, pony rides, crafts.

Soccer Camp

Music, Art, Drama

Aug. 5–9; ages 8–13 Coaching & skill development, game play, swim.

July 22–Aug. 2; ages 8–14 Singing, theater games, art activities, musical theater production.

Summer Program

Musical Theater
July 15–26, 2013

Brochures available at these locations: Rite Aid and Hannaford’s in Barre; Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier, Northfield Pharmacy in Northfield.

NEW ENGLAND CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL August 11–24, 2013
Andrew Eng & Angelia Cho, Artistic Directors A two-week intensive chamber music program for string students. Each participant will receive individual lessons, chamber music coachings, performance opportunities, and master classes by worldrenowned artists.

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THE BRIDGE
City Bonds and Sewer Line Project City finance director Sandy Gallup and public works director Todd Law discussed two city bonds: first, $710,000 street and infrastructure improvements bond, and second, a $670,000 bond to repair a sewer line that has twice failed on River Street. That sewer line is located between Formula Ford and Scribner Street across from the car wash. Montpelier resident and council candidate Jessica Walsh inquired about the duration of the sewer-line project. Law said he estimated the project could take from three to four months. Montpelier resident and council candidate Ron Wild asked if the city had considered pursuing the sewer-line project in off-peak (nighttime) hours. Law said that utility work is less safe to do it at night. He said he could look into this if asked to by the council. Wild asked if there was a performance element in the sewer-line construction project. Law said it’s “a carrot instead of a stick. You meet this deadline or we [the city] will starting charging you.” Yes, he said, there were consequences for nonperformance. Committee Appointments The council made a number of committee appointments, naming four persons to the city’s Tree Board: incumbent member Sara Hoffmeier and newcomers John Akielaszek, Jeff Schumann and Ken Libertoff. Next, the council appointed Montpelier residents Jim Stiles and Tim Shea to the Montpelier Energy Committee. Finally, the council appointed Nancy Schulz and Montpelier police officer Mike Philbrick to the Bike Advisory Committee. Councilor Alan Weiss suggested an active liaison between the city’s Bike Advisory Committee at a Vermont Department of Transportation Bicycle Committee. Mayor Hollar said that James Sharp provides an overlap because he serves on both committees. Montpelier resident and sidewalk steward Harris Webster reported on the successful work of a sidewalk steward program instituted by members of the Montpelier Unitarian Church along with Vermont Interfaith Action. Webster suggested the establishment of a Pedestrian Advisory Board. City Manager Bill Fraser thanked Webster for his good service to the city. Hollar expressed support for the new pedestrian board. Councilor Guerlain wondered if the bicycle and pedestrian concern could be tied together. Webster said that bike and ped concerns are not always identical. Hollar said he felt bike corridors were one thing and ped repairs were another. Weiss said he thought that bike rack and proposed “parklets” with restaurant sidewalk seating should be a concern for a sidewalk group to look at. Hollar agreed. A motion to establish a Pedestrian Advisory Board won unanimous council support. Councilor Reports The meeting moved to its close under the heading of Council Reports, with remarks from various councilors. Councilor Anne Watson thanked outgoing councilor Angela Timpone for her service to the city. Timpone thanked District 3 voters and other councilors for the opportunity to serve on the council. She joked that like Richard Nixon

M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013 • PAG E 11
when he left office, she could say, “You don’t have me to kick around anymore.” Councilors Andy Hooper and Thierry Guerlain in separate comments thanked Timpone for her service on the council. Weiss, who is a fellow District 3 councilor, thanked Timpone for excellent phone communications and for coordinating activities within District 3. Hollar thanked councilor Timpone for her service to the city. City Manager Fraser said that his report to the council on recreation department efficiencies needed to be delayed until June. Fraser said he had located a fully certified firefighter who could become a part-time member of the city’s call force. This firefighter would enable the fire department to sustain the same coverage that the city has now. The council adjourned about 7:35 p.m.

Montpelier Voters Pass Entire School Budget
by Zachary Beechler

D

espite the proposed school budget representing a nearly 8 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, spending increases driven mainly by rising labor, health care, and special education costs, voters approved on Town Meeting Day the entirety of the $17,359,522 operating budget requested by the Montpelier school district. State law required the vote to be divided into two separate questions on the ballot,

the first asking for $16,970,390, the second for an additional $389,132, the latter representing that portion of the proposed budget exceeding the previous year’s budget adjusted for inflation. The first vote passed 1426–891, while the second passed 1209–1062, by a margin of only 147 votes. The $2.3 million bond proposal for capital improvements was also approved, 1401–875. Act 82, the so-called two-vote provision, was ratified by the Vermont legislature in 2007, in an effort by the Douglas administration to curb education spending by forc-

ing high-spending school districts to present their respective budget proposals to voters in the form of two separate questions. Voters could have passed the first part of the budget proposal and not the second, thereby avoiding rejecting the entire budget while still voting for some measure of fiscal austerity and limiting a potential raise in local property taxes. However, voters approved the full amount, a roughly 13 cent tax increase, welcome news for those programs and teachers whose jobs were potentially at stake with the outcome of the second vote.

Summer Camps 2013
Youth Baseball Camps

The Mountaineers’ Baseball Camps will be held at the Montpelier Recreation Field and will be run by the Mountaineers’ coaching staff and players. Campers will receive general baseball instruction in all aspects of the game. In addition to camp instruction, every camper will receive two game tickets, a team yearbook and a Mountaineers t-shirt. The campers will also take the field with the Mountaineers prior to a home game. The campers will be divided up by age groups so that all will receive instruction that is beneficial to improving their skills. Our professional staff of experienced coaches and dedicated players will provide an opportunity to learn the game as it should be played. The camps will be coordinated by Mountaineers’ Manager, Joe Brown, who serves as Head Coach at Cortland State College and has the highest winning percentage of any collegiate baseball coach over the last ten years! Coach Brown will be assisted by coaching staff and players from the 2013 Vermont Mountaineers. The cost is $95 per session. Participants should bring a glove, bat (optional) and sneakers. Please register in person at the Montpelier Recreation Department or mail the enrollment form to Mountaineers Baseball Camps, Montpelier Recreation Department, 55 Barre Street, Montpelier, VT 05602. Call 2235141 for more information. Our Employer ID# is 06-1393688.

April Vacation Day Camp
Licensed Child Care Program Upcoming Programs & Events
Egg Hunt in Hubbard Park: March 30 Open House/discount pool passes: May 8 Hip-Hop Dance K–5 Licensed childcare programs state subsidy is available upon request. Monday–Friday, April 22–26 7:45 am drop off; 4:45 pm pickup Grades K–6th Montpelier Main Street Middle School Special Trip: Thursday, April 25, UVAC Resident Fees: $32.00 per day first child $25.00 per day additional children $120.00 for the week/first child $105.00 for the week/additional children Non-Resident Fees: $46.00 per day first child $35.00 per day additional children $160.00 for the week/first child $140.00 for the week/additional children Ready, Set, Run! Youth Girls on the Run Girls on Track Little League, Farm League, Tee-Ball Start Smart Baseball Summer day camp, tennis, swim lessons and specialty camps

MONTPELIER RECREATION DEPARTMENT

For prices and more information on our programs and events, please call us or visit us online: 1-802-225-8699 www.montpelierrec.org

PAG E 12 • M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013

THE BRIDGE

Midsummer in Mud Season
by Robbie Harold

W

hat could be a better antidote to cabin fever than a romantic summer night’s romp? Especially one you can—and should—take the kids to. For many of us, A Midsummer Night’s Dream was our joyful introduction to Shakespeare. It drops us into a magical world in which everybody makes crazy fools of themselves and everybody ends up happy: “Jack shall have Jill, naught shall be ill . . . and all shall be well,” as the mischievous earthsprite Puck, one of the Bard’s immortal characters, puts it. Here, too, we meet the bumbling tradesman with delusions of stardom, Nick Bottom, who acquires an ass’s head and becomes the unlikely object of the Fairy Queen’s devotion. The play’s been done in every conceivable variation, from gauzy Romantic fantasy to ’80s punk rock. But in the upcoming Echo Valley Community Arts production at the Haybarn Theatre in Plainfield (opening March 15), director Peter Young is onto something completely different: age-reversed casting. Youngsters take on the play’s authoritative, adult roles: Duke Theseus (Ian Keen, who’s also played the ghost of Hamlet’s father); his bride, the Amazon Queen Hippolyta (Maggie McCaffrey, a head taller than her bride-

Preview

groom); and heroine Hermia’s tyrannical father Egeus (Adam Blachly, who at 13 has a longer acting résumé than many adults). Meanwhile, an “over-the-hill” gang takes on the quartet of goofy teenage lovers who can’t seem to keep track of who they’re in love with: rebellious Hermia (Ellen Keen), whose forbidden love for Lysander (newcomer Rob O’Leary) and flight into the enchanted woods sets the plot in motion; her childhood confidante Helena (Susannah Blachly); and Helena’s fickle lover Demetrius (Chris Pratt), the man Egeus wants Hermia to marry. “The best actors I know and trust in this area are middle aged,” Young says, in explaining his casting choices. This is his first time directing adults, though he’s acted previously with several Midsummer cast members, including David Klein as Oberon the Fairy King, Clarke Jordan as Nick Bottom the Weaver and Naomi Flanders as Titania, the lust-crazed Queen of the Fairies. Because only males were allowed to act in Elizabethan England, there are few good middle-aged female roles in Shakespeare, so Young sees the unorthodox casting as a venue for the work of the area’s talented middleaged women, while adding to the mindbending dreaminess of the plot. Ramping up the fun is Young’s decision to set the play in 1950s America, when rebel-

lious teenagers took James Dean as a role model and bowling leagues were a working stiff’s idea of a good time. A motley crew of “rude mechanicals” put down their bowling balls and put on a play to celebrate the Duke’s marriage, the mirthfully “tragic” tale of the doomed lovers Pyramus and Thisbe. The results are highly entertaining, though not in the way they’d envisioned. In this staging, Keen’s Hermia is the prom queen all the boys moon over, her beloved Lysander is the school’s “bohemian bad-boy poet,” as Rob O’Leary puts it, in Brandoesque leather, while Chris Pratt’s Demetrius is the alpha jock in a letter sweater who, as such, feels entitled to Hermia’s affections, though he and the passionate, unguarded Helena are a better fit. “This is the first modern woman in history, right here,” says Young of Hermia, who in rejecting daughterly submission for true love anticipates Shakespeare’s darker and more tragic Juliet. Happily, the hobgoblin Puck (played by 12-year-old Jordan Allen Brandon) is on hand with potions to create better loving through chemistry—but not before a chaos-inducing “mistake,” which sends the lovers haring after one another through the woods by midsummer moonlight. Diane Kaganova, a theater veteran and recent transplant from the New York area who plays Philostrate, the Duke’s Master of the Revels, is crafting the look and feel of the play in real life as well, along with set and lighting designers Nicholas Hecht and

Michael Bean, who’ve worked on numerous Echo Valley productions. Sets will be simple and rely on creative lighting to flow easily from the Duke’s court to the mossy woods and back, says Kaganova; costumes, though reflecting a 1950s color palette, will aim for a timeless look. As with most Echo Valley productions, Midsummer is a family affair: Longtime Unadilla player Alice Blachly joins her daughter-in-law and grandson as one of Titania’s fairies. Adam Rosen, a hysterical sight as Francis Flute the bellows-mender playing the “beauteous” Thisbe, joins his daughter Alia, who as Snout the Tinker does an upstanding job as the Wall that separates the lovers. Singer-songwriter Colin McCaffrey, Hippolyta’s father, has written original music for the Fairy Queen’s lullaby, the gorgeous “You Spotted Snakes.” Michael Keen, husband of Hermia and father of Theseus, is choreographing the fight scenes. Poster design is by Neil Flanders, Titania’s nephew. By the time Midsummer opens, we’ll be on Daylight Saving Time, so crawl out of your burrows and go see the show. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, presented by Echo Valley Community Arts, runs March 15, 16 and 17 and March 22, 23, and 24 at the Haybarn Theatre on the Goddard College campus. Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 p.m., Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, $5 for children 12 and under; call 225-6471 for tickets.

THE BRIDGE

M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013 • PAG E 13

Upcoming Events
FRIDAY, MARCH 8
Foot Clinic. Nurses from Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice clip toe nails, clean nail beds, file the nails and lotion the feet. Bring basin for soaking, towel, nail clippers, foot-soak powder and lotion. 9 a.m.–noon. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street. $15. Call 223-2518 to schedule a 15-minute appointment. Learn About Time Banking. Members of Onion River Exchange will be available to chat about local time-banking programs. 9 a.m.–noon. Lobby, Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street. 223-2518. We Won’t Last: A Performance Exhibition in Five Parts. Amy Königbauer’s responsive, ephemeral sculpture, movement in sand, sound, fabric, shadow and light by Camille Johnson and Elizabeth Gilbert, Knayte Lander’s poetry and verse, Hani Moustafa’s (mis)representative democracy karaoke and film, and photo roulette coupled with feminist cartoon rants by Kathleen Kanz. 6:30–9:30 p.m. Local 64, 5 State Street (second floor), Montpelier. Free, but space is limited; tickets at wewontlast.eventbrite.com Naturalist Journeys Slideshow and Lecture Series: Come With Me to Tanzania. Annie Tiberio Cameron takes attendees on an armchair safari to Mount Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar, the Spice Island. 7 pm. Unitarian Church, 130 Main Street, Montpelier. By donation. North Branch Nature Center, 229-6206. Open Mic Comedy Night: Capital Comedy Connection. See live stand-up as comics try five to seven minutes of new material in front of an audience. Sign up at 7:30 p.m.; show starts at 8 p.m. American Legion Post #3, 21 Main Street, Montpelier. Free; donations welcome. Bob, 793-3884. Extempo: Live Original Storytelling. Tell a 5- to 7.5-minute, first-person, true story from your own life. Sign up in advance, and come with your story already practiced to deliver smoothly without notes. No theme. 8 p.m. Espresso Bueno, Barre. Free to participants, $5 otherwise. 479-0896 or extempovt.com.

Women’s Moon Group. With Mary Anna Abuzahra. Mazahra Arts, 34 Elm Street, Montpelier. $10–$20 sliding scale. Contact Mary Anna for time and to register: 272-0827 or [email protected]. Group continues April 6 and May 4. Spring Book Sale Opening Day. Books, CDs, DVDs, software, magazines and more. Table of $5 treasures on opening day. Sale continues through April 13. 10 a.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier. 223-4665 or kellogghubbard.org. Hope on the Slopes. Skiers and snowboarders raise funds and compete in a vertical-feet challenge to support a cancer-free world. 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Bolton Valley. cancer.org/nehopeontheslopes. Legislative Update. Representatives Koch, McFaun, Poirier and Taylor offer their views and involvement in this year’s general assembly. Q&A follows. Sponsored by the Greater Barre Democrats. 10:30 a.m.–noon. Aldrich Public Library, 6 Washington Street, Barre. Free. Marianne, 476-4185. Yoga Nerd 101: Build Skills for Standing on Your Hands. With Margaret Pitkin. No handstands required. 12:30– 2:30 p.m. Yoga Mountain Center, Montpelier. $35 in advance, $40 day of event. Register at yogamountaincenter.com. Queer and Trans Yoga. With Jacoby Ballard. For all those who identify as LGBTIQQ; a space just for the queer community. 3–5 p.m. Yoga Mountain Center, Montpelier. $16. Register at yogamountaincenter.com. Author Reading and Signing: Jamaica Kincaid. The Vermont author presents her new book, See Now Then. 5 p.m. Bear Pond Books, 77 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. 229-0774.

Celebrate Women’s Day with Senayit. Senayit is an acoustic singer/songwriter who fills out her folky, soulful sound by looping harmony overlays. Her songwriting draws upon her life experience, from living on boats in the Puget Sound to her horse farm in the mountains of New Hampshire. 7 p.m. Plainfield Community Center (above the co-op). senayit.com. Sponsored by Vermont Pie Girl Productions. De Temps Antan. Using fiddle, accordion, harmonica, guitar, bouzouki and a number of other instruments, Éric Beaudry, André Brunet and Pierre-Luc Dupuis blend boundless energy with the unmistakable joie de vivre of traditional Quebec music. 7:30 p.m. Chandler Music Hall, 71–73 Main Street, Randolph. $25 in advance, $30 day of show. Tickets at 728-6464 or chandler-arts.org.

SUNDAY, MARCH 10

SATURDAY, MARCH 9

Snowshoe Montpelier with the Young Adventurers Club. An easy outing in Hubbard Park for youngsters and their parents. A program of the Montpelier section of the Green Mountain Club. Contact leader Gretchen Elias, 223-6360, for meeting time and place. Snowshoe Middlesex with the Young Adventurers Club. A moderate to difficult trek for young hikers and their parents. A program of the Montpelier section of the Green Mountain Club. Contact Mike Wetherell, 223-8493, or Lexi Shear, 229-9810, for meeting time and place. Snowshoe Waterbury with the Montpelier Section of the Green Mountain Club. A moderate 6.4-mile loop in Little River State Park. Contact leader Charlene Bohl, 229-9908 or [email protected], for meeting time and place.

Adamant Winter Music Series: Starline Rhythm Boys. The honky-tonk/rockabilly trio, above, plays an acoustic show showcasing original songs, along with commentary about the band’s 15-year history together. 5:30 p.m. potluck; 7 p.m. concert. Adamant Community Club. $10 in advance (tickets at the Adamant Co-op) or $15 at the door. 456-7054 or starlinerhythmboys.com. Film Showing: Then She Found Me. 2007, 100 minutes. 6:30 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street. 2232518. Sex Talk: Embodying Our Feminine Essence. Final meeting of a monthly discussion group for women to explore all aspects of sexuality. Sacred, safe and confidential. Open to women of all orientations. 7–9 p.m. Inner Sea Healing Arts, 56 East State Street, Montpelier. Free; $1–$5 suggested donation. Nina, 498-3510. POSITIVE PIE 2 22 State Street, Montpelier. 229-0453 or positivepie.com. Friday, March 8 Kina Zoré (African), 10 p.m., 21+, $5 Saturday, March 9 A Fly Allusion (horn-driven hip-hop), 10 p.m., 21+, $5 RED HEN BAKERY & CAFÉ Route 2, Middlesex. redhenbaking.com. Saturday, March 9 McBride and Lussen, 1–3 p.m. Saturday, March 16 The Usual Suspects, 1–3 p.m. Sunday, March 17 Scottish session, 1–3 p.m. SKINNY PANCAKE 89 Main Street, Montpelier. All shows 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 262-2253 or skinnypancake.com. Every Sunday Old-time sessions with Katie Trautz and friends, 4–6 p.m. (intermediate to advanced players welcome to sit in) Sunday, March 10 Sara Syms (Americana) THE WHAMMY BAR Maple Corner Café, 31 West County Road, Calais. All events free unless otherwise noted. 229-4329. Every Tuesday Trivia night, 6:30 p.m. Every Wednesday Open mic, 6:30 p.m.

Second Sunday Concert. Featuring the Ukulele Band. 9:30 a.m.; breakfast available 8:30–9:30 a.m. Bethany United Church of Christ, 115 Main Street, Montpelier. Concert free, breakfast $5 or less. Northfield Winter Farmers’ Market. Local farmers, food producers, crafters, artists and live music, plus Farm to School booth of children’s activities such as seed planting, container decorating and face painting. 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Plumley Armory, Norwich University, Northfield. Crystal, 485-5563. Paying for Presence: Yoga, Class and Capitalism. With Jacoby Ballard. Noon–3 p.m. Yoga Mountain Center, Montpelier. Sliding scale fee. Register at yogamountaincenter.com. Planning a Medicinal Herb Garden. With Angie Barger, clinical herbalist. Learn about the main properties of a selection of relaxing herbs, envision your own medicinal plant garden and choose six species to start as seedlings. Leave with newly planted seeds and growing guidance. 1:30–3:30 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, 122 School Street, Marshfield. $1–$10 suggested donation. 426-3581, [email protected] or marshfield.lib.vt.us. Cello and Piano Recital. Robert Blais and Diane Huling perform Schubert’s “Arpeggione Sonata,” Piazzolla’s “Le Grand Tango,” Hindemith’s “Frog Went a Courtin’,” and Schumann’s Fantasiestucke. 3 p.m. Unitarian Church, 130 Main Street, Montpelier. Suggested donation $20 adults, $5 students; portion of proceeds benefit the Green Mountain Youth Symphony. Shape-Note/Sacred Harp Sing. No experience needed. All welcome. 3–5 p.m. Plainfield Community Center (above the co-op). By donation. Scottie, 595 9951 or [email protected]. Event happens every second Sunday. Drive the Cold Winter Away. The Bethany Early Music Players perform songs and dances from the late Renaissance and Baroque eras with recorders, oboe, sackbut, harpsichord, lute, percussion and voice. 4 p.m. Chapel, Bethany United Church of Christ, 115 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. Arthur, 223-2424, ext. 224, or [email protected].

JACK ROWELL; COURETSY DANNY COANE

MONDAY, MARCH 11

Live Music
BAGITOS 28 Main Street, Montpelier. All shows 6–8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 229-9212 or bagitos.com. Every Wednesday Blues jam with the Usual Suspects and friends Every Saturday Irish/Celtic session, 2–5 p.m. Friday, March 8 The Barn Band Saturday, March 9 The Neptunes Sunday, March 10 Brunch with Eric Friedman (folk ballads), 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Tuesday, March 12 Open mic Thursday, March 14 The People’s Cafe Friday, March 15 Banish Misfortune Saturday, March 16 Saint Patrick’s Day party with live Irish music by Sarah Blair, Hilari Farrington Koehler and others, 2–5 p.m. Kindra Lunle, 6–8 p.m. Sunday, March 17 Brunch with Jason Mallery, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Tuesday, March 19 Old-time session Thursday, March 21 John Mowad and friends

CHARLIE O’S 70 Main Street, Montpelier. 223-6820. Every Monday Trivia Every Tuesday Karaoke Every Saturday All-request dance party with Blue Moon Friday, March 8 Dave Keller Band (blues). 10 p.m. Saturday, March 9 Cameo Harlot, L Dora (rock) Thursday, March 14 Arborea (folk) Friday, March 15 Made In Iron (metal) Saturday, March 16 Eames Brothers (rock-blues) Thursday, March 21 DJ Crucible (metal) CIDER HOUSE RESTAURANT Route 2, Waterbury. 244-8400. Saturday, March 9 Dan Boomhower (jazz piano/popular standards), 6 p.m.–close FRESH TRACKS FARM 4373 Route 12, Berlin. 223-1151 or [email protected]. Friday, March 8 Colin McCaffrey (roots/swing/blues/ country), 6–9 p.m. NUTTY STEPH’S CHOCOLATERIE Route 2, Middlesex. 229-2090 or nuttystephs.com. Every Thursday Bacon Thursday, live music and hot conversation, 6 p.m.–midnight

Vermont High School Debate Championship. Twentyfour high-school debate teams compete, discussing the topic: “Resolved: The U.S. government should not require its citizens to have health insurance.” 9 a.m. preliminaries; 1:10 p.m. semifinals; 2 p.m. championship round. State House, Montpelier. Free. 2299303. Sponsored by the Vermont Debate and Forensics League and the Vermont Principals Association. CCV Tuition Free? Learn how Vermont residents 65 and older can attend community college without paying tuition. 9–11 a.m. Lobby, Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street. 223-2518. Build Your Money Muscles Workshops: Build Your Credit. 10–11:30 a.m. Micro Business Development Program of Central Vermont Community Action, 195 Route 302, Berlin. Free, but registration required: contact Margaret, 477-5214, 800-8438397 or [email protected]. Workshop repeats March 18. Herbal Support for Sleep. With Rebecca Dalgin, clinical herbalist. Learn about herbal support for healthy sleep while sampling relaxing herbal teas. 5–7 p.m. Hunger Mountain Coop community room, Montpelier. $8 co-op member-owners, $10 nonmembers. Register at 223-8000, ext. 202, or [email protected].

see UPCOMING EVENTS, page 14

Theater
AUDITIONS FOR BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Students age 7–18 audition for Chandler’s annual Fourth of July musical. Sunday, March 17. Chandler Music Hall, 71–73 Main Street, Randolph. Contact Betsy, betsycantlin@comcast. net, to schedule an audition. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Shakespeare in the Hills and Echo Valley Community Arts present a twist on Shakespeare’s most easily understood play by inverting ages in casting: teen actors play the older characters in positions of authority and middle-aged actors play the teenage lovers. March 15–24. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Haybarn Theatre, Goddard College, Plainfield. $15 adults, $12 seniors and students, $5 kids undee 12. Tickets at 229-4191.

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UPCOMING EVENTS, from page 13

TUESDAY, MARCH 12

Stone Soup Storytime. A magical storytime with stone soup (vegetarian and gluten free). 10:30 a.m. Hayes Room, KelloggHubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. 223-4665 or kellogghubbard.org. Sponsored by Central Vermont Hospital. Medicare and You. New to Medicare? Have questions? We have answers. 3–4:30 p.m. Central Vermont Council on Aging, 59 North Main Street, Suite 200, Barre. Free. Register at 479-0531. Event happens every second and fourth Tuesday. Tech Tuesdays. Learn about the library’s new circulation software and how to use ListenUp to download audiobooks and more. Bring your iPod, tablet, phone, laptop or other device. 5:30–7 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. 2233338 or kellogghubbard.org. Event happens every second and fourth Tuesday. Building Resilience. With Melanie Meyer, ND. Explore ways to identify belief patterns that are keeping you from living your best life and discuss strategies for cultivating better health, peace of mind, emotional balance and optimism. 6–7 p.m. Hunger Mountain Coop community room, Montpelier. Free. Register at 223-8000, ext. 202, or [email protected]. Solar Hot Water Presentation. Learn how solar hot water systems work and how Energy Co-op of Vermont, a nonprofit cooperative, partners with local business to make going solar easier and more affordable. 6:15–7:15 p.m. Library, Berlin Elementary School. Andrea, 229-4411 or [email protected]. Jews in the Middle Ages. Avocational historian Lars Nielsen talks about Jewish status from an accepted minority in the early Roman Empire to a period of contraction and decreased opportunity in the Christian Roman Empire. 7–8:30 p.m. Beth Jacob Synagogue, 10 Harrison Avenue, Montpelier. Free for synagogue members, $5 suggested donation nonmembers. 279-7518 or [email protected].

Quilting Group. Working meeting of the Dog River Quilters. Let’s quilt together. 5:30 p.m. Community room, Brown Public Library, Northfield. Jean, 585-5078 or [email protected]. Event happens every second Wednesday. Transgender Health for Community and Care Providers. With Jacoby Ballard and Dori Midnight. Explore the use of herbs, nutrition and vitamins to support transgender health. Tailored to the needs and interests of participants, this workshop will cover surgery preparation and recovery, addressing the side effects of hormones and supporting mental health in a transphobic world. 6–9 p.m. Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism, 252 Main Street, Montpelier. $35 VCIH members, $40 nonmembers. Preregistration required: 244-7100 or [email protected]. vtherbcenter.org. Business Building Blocks: Your Road Map to Success. Want to start a business? Learn why a business plan is your road map to success. Interactive session on goal setting and action planning. 6–8:30 p.m. Central Vermont Community Action, 195 Route 302, Berlin. Free, but registration required: sign up with Margaret, 477-5214, 800-843-8397 or [email protected]. Series continues every Wednesday through April 10. Community Cinema Film Series: Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines. From the birth of the comic book superheroine in the 1940s to the blockbusters of today, the film looks at how popular representations of powerful women reflect society’s anxieties about women’s liberation. Panel discussion follows. 7 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library,135 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. 223-3338 or kellogghubbard.org. Sponsored by Vermont Public Television. Goddard College Community Gamelan Rehearsals. Practice playing the full set of bronze and iron Javanese gamelan instruments with fellow community members. No experience necessary. Group led by Brian Boyes and Kathy and Steven Light. 7–9 p.m. Pratt Center, Goddard College, Plainfield. Free. Steven, 426-3498, Kathy, [email protected], or Brian, [email protected]. Rehearsals continue weekly through the spring.

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

Info on Health Insurance for Seniors. Wanda Craig of the Central Vermont Council on Aging answers questions about health insurance and other senior services. 9 a.m.–noon. Lobby, Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street. 223-2518. Diabetes Education Expo. Get a road map for managing your diabetes from experts. Learn about eye care, healthy shopping and cooking, simple exercises you can do at home and more. 9 a.m.– 2 p.m. Gifford Medical Center, 44 South Main Street, Randolph. Free, bur registration required: call 728-7100, ext. 6. Training on Using Listen-Up Vermont. Cabot librarian Anne Walker shows readers how to use a free service to download audio books and e-books. Bring your iPad, iPod, mp3 player, laptops or other device. 3:30–4:30 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, 122 School Street, Marshfield. Free. 426-3581, jaquithpubliclibrary @gmail.com or marshfield.lib.vt.us.

SATURDAY, MARCH 16

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13

THURSDAY, MARCH 14

Early Childhood Day at the Legislature. How are Vermont’s young children? Come together as a community to address this question. 9 a.m.–3 p.m. State House and Capitol Plaza, State Street, Montpelier. Kelly, 272-0795. vermontearlychildhoodalliance.org. Preschool Discovery Program: Sap Will Be Running. Nature-based activities, crafts and guided outdoor explorations with nature center naturalists for children age 3–5 and their families. 10–11:30 a.m. North Branch Nature Center, 713 Elm Street, Montpelier. $5 members, $8 nonmembers. 229-6206. Complimentary Nutrition Evaluation. With Alicia Feltus. Learn how Nutrition Response Testing can detect food sensitivities, immune challenges and chemical and metal toxicity that may be interfering with optimal nutrition and health. 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Tulsi Tea Room, 34 Elm Street (upstairs), Montpelier. Free. Cedar Wood Natural Health Center, 863-5828. Beethoven’s Eroica: A Musical Leap Forward. Presented by professor William Cotte. Part of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. 1:30 p.m.; doors open at 12:30 for brown-bag lunch. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street, Montpelier. $5 suggested donation. 223-1736 or [email protected]. Series continues every Wednesday through May 8. Enjoy the Wonders of Fungi. With Eric Swanson of Vermush. See Swanson’s recent pictures and projects and learn how to culture and grow mycelium into fungi. Everyone will bring home their own oyster mushroom spawn. 5–7 p.m. Hunger Mountain Coop community room, Montpelier. $10 co-op member-owners, $12 nonmembers. Register at 223-8000, ext. 202, or [email protected].

Workshop on Starting Your Own Business. A step-bystep guide for starting a business in Vermont for the first-time business owner. Evaluate whether there is a viable business in your good idea, identify target customers, learn how to register your company and write an effective business plan, find out about financing options and more. 9:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Community National Bank, Barre. $99. Register at vtsbdc.org (click on the Training tab). Heather, [email protected]. Sponsored by the Vermont Small Business Development Center. Noontime Talk with the ACLU. Learn about recent court decisions affecting civil rights and civil liberties in Vermont with ACLU staff attorney Dan Barrett. Q&A follows. Noon. Parish hall, Christ Church, State Street, Montpelier. $5 suggested donation for lunch. acluvt.org. Introduction to Square Foot Gardening. With Peter Burke. Workshop covers planning, raised beds, permanent paths, perfect soil, grid planting, watering, trellis, succession plantings and maintenance. 6–7 p.m. Hunger Mountain Coop community room, Montpelier. $10 co-op member-owners, $12 nonmembers. Register at 223-8000, ext. 202, or [email protected]. Global Challenges, Local Solutions: Food, Fuel and Finance. A panel of experts share their insights on potential solutions to the food, fuel and finance challenges the world is currently confronting in a lively presentation facilitated by Rob Williams. 7 p.m. Big Picture Theater, Waitsfield. Free. 496-2111 or gmgf.org. A Green Mountain Global Forum event. Ecumenical Group. Songs of praise, Bible teaching, fellowship. 7–9 p.m. Jabbok Center for Christian Living, 8 Daniel Drive, Barre. Free. 479-0302. Event happens every second and fourth Thursday.

Snowshoe Underhill with the Montpelier Section of the Green Mountain Club. A difficult 5-mile trek to Devil’s Dishpan via the Nebraska Notch, Long and Underhill Trails. Contact leader Steve Lightholder, 479-2304 or steve.lightholder@yahoo. com, for meeting time and place. Let’s Go Fishing: Free Two-Day Clinic. Susan Torchia, certified Vermont Fish and Wildlife instructor, provides an overview of fishing and aquatic ecology. Learn how to be a steward of Vermont’s fishing resources, including habitat needs, fishing skills, ethics, rules and regulations, knot-tying, practice with equipment and setting up tackle boxes. Bring a brown bag lunch. 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street. Free, but registration required by Monday, March 11. 223-2518. Clinic continues Saturday, March 23. Family Fun Day. Circus extravaganza with Troy Wunderle, music with Christopher R. and His Flying Purple Guitar, story time, arts and crafts, face painting, child safety-seat demos and more. Food available to purchase. 10 a.m.–1 p.m. Union Elementary School, Montpelier. Free. 262-3292. Hosted by the Family Center of Washington County. Sugar-on-Snow at the Indoor Farmers’ Market. Sample the sticky, sweet treat with locally made pickles and doughnuts. Live music by Sheefra. Market 10 a.m.–2 p.m.; demos 10 a.m– 1 p.m. Gym, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier. Carolyn, 2232958 or [email protected]. Event continues April 6 and 27. Global Warming Conference with Senator Bernie Sanders. The senator and Vermont and national environmental leaders talk about what climate change means for Vermont. Lunch provided. 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Montpelier High School. Free, but RSVP recommended: contact 800-339-9834 or visit sanders.senate.gov. Exploring Family and Place: Using Historical Fiction to Propel Personal Narrative in the Classroom. Authors Natalie Kinsey-Warnock and Jenny Land discuss how family, history and place can be woven into classroom activities to create stronger writing and storytelling. For educators, historians, storytellers and audiences of all ages. 11 a.m. Children’s room, Bear Pond Books, 77 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. 229-0774. Transition Town Montpelier Potluck Lunch. Share food, seeds and camaraderie. Bring a generous main dish to share, plus your own plate, bowl, silverware and cup. Open discussion about getting ready for spring planting; bring seeds to share and a way to package them. Noon–2 p.m. Hayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. Gail, 223-1730. Finishing Rugs and Other Hooked Pieces. Learn finishing techniques such as whipping, binding, stretcher framing and pillow finishing. Shop open for supplies. 1–5 p.m. Green Mountain Hooked Rugs, 2838 County Road, Montpelier. $25. Register at students; and Hidden, paintings and sculpture by Theodore Ceraldi. 201 North Main Street, Barre. Through April 6. Reception Friday, March 8, 5:30–7:30 p.m. 479-7069 or studioplacearts. com. SULLIVAN MUSEUM & HISTORY CENTER Useful and Elegant Accomplishments, landscape drawings by 19th-century Norwich University alumni and their contemporaries. Norwich University, Northfield. Through June. 485-2183 or norwich.edu/museum. TULSI TEA ROOM Shades of Pussy, delicate flowers in watercolor by Fiona Sullivan. 34 Elm Street, Montpelier. Through March 31. fionasullivan.net. VERMONT HISTORY MUSEUM Freedom & Unity: One Ideal, Many Stories, experience a full-size Abenaki wigwam, a re-creation of the Catamount Tavern, a railroad station complete with working telegraph, a World War II living room and more. 109 State Street, Montpelier. $5 adults, $12 families. 828-2291. VERMONT SUPREME COURT Underwater, oil paintings by Strafford artist Micki Colbeck. 111 State Street (first-floor lobby), Montpelier. Through April 30. Hours: Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. 828-0749.

Art & Exhibits
BIGTOWN GALLERY Small Great Art Wall, works by BigTown Gallery artists. 99 North Main Street, Rochester. Through March 30. Hours: Wednesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturday, noon–5 p.m. 7679670, [email protected] or bigtowngallery .com. CENTRAL VERMONT MEDICAL CENTER Still Learning to See, photographs by John Snell. Lobby, 130 Fisher Road, Berlin. Through March 15. cvmc.org. CHANDLER GALLERY 20–30/2D–3D, juried show of work in a variety of media by Vermont artists in their 20s and 30s. 71–73 Main Street, Randolph. Through March 13. Hours: Friday, 3–5 p.m.; Saturday–Sunday, noon–2 p.m. 431-0204 or [email protected].

CITY CENTER Photos and watercolors by sisters Cherie Staples and Marilyn Wingersky. 89 Main Street, Montpelier. Through April 6. artresourceassociation.com. CONTEMPORARY DANCE & FITNESS STUDIO Seasons of the Year, color- and light-themed acrylic paintings on board by Barbara Leber. 18 Langdon Street (third floor), Montpelier. Through March 30. 229-4676 or cdandfs.com. FESTIVAL GALLERY Intertwined, a collection of innovative work from 12 of Vermont’s premiere fiber artists. 2 Village Square, Waitsfield. Through March 9. 485-9650 or vermontartfest.com. GOVERNOR’S GALLERY Eye of the Beholder, pastels by local artists Anne Unangst, Cindy Griffith and Marcia Hill comparing the same scene in their different styles. 109 State Street (fifth floor), Montpelier. Photo ID required for admission. Through March. 828-0749. GREEN BEAN ART GALLERY Liberata, digital photography by Sanam Erfani mixed with cardboard, ink and pen. Capitol Grounds, 27 State Street, Montpelier. Through March. [email protected].

KELLOGG-HUBBARD LIBRARY Animals Are Figures, Too, mixed media by Wendy Hackett-Morgan. 135 Main Street, Montpelier. Through April 26. 223-3338. OLD MEETING HOUSE GALLERY Stencil art by Martha Kinney. 1620 Center Road, East Montpelier. Through April 4. Hours: Tuesday–Thursday, 9 a.m.–2 p.m.; Sundays, 9–11:30 a.m. RED HEN CAFÉ Employee art exhibit. Route 2, Middlesex. Through April 1. redhenbaking.com. RIVER ARTS CENTER Abstract paintings by Stowe artist Lisa Forster Beach. 74 Pleasant Street (upstairs), Morrisville. Through March 25. Hours: Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. 888-1261 or riverartsvt.org. STOREFRONT STUDIO GALLERY Drawings, paintings, sculpture and more by artist Glen Coburn Hutcheson. 6 Barre Street, Montpelier. Hours: Monday–Friday, 3–6 p.m. 839-5349 or gchfineart.com STUDIO PLACE ARTS Mold Makers, group show of artwork made from and related to the mold-making process; 5 Years of Lo-fi, works by Norwich University

SUBMIT YOUR EVENT!
[email protected]

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223-1333 or [email protected]. greenmountainhookedrugs.com. Prevention and Ideal Health Through Transcendental Meditation. Learn how this technique can prevent illness and promote health, leading to greater mental clarity, vitality and happier relationships. With the Vermont Transcendental Meditation Program instructors, Edwards and Janet Smith. 2:30 p.m. Hayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. Janet, 923-6248 or [email protected]. tm-women.org. Plowing Old Ground: Vermont’s Organic Farming Pioneers. Opening reception of an exhibit by agricultural writer Susan Harlow and farmer/photographer John Nopper, documenting the stories of farmers such as Jack and Anne Lazor of Butterworks Farm and Joey Klein of Littlewood Farm. 2:30–4:30 p.m. Vermont History Museum, 109 State Street, Montpelier. Jackie, 479-8514 or [email protected]. High Mowing Organic Seeds’ Spring Social. Educational workshops for farmers and gardeners, warehouse and hoop-house tours, potluck dinner, slideshow, seed swap, networking and more. 3–6:30 p.m. 76 Quarry Road, Wolcott. Free. highmowingseeds.com. Yoga Workshop: Couples Thai Massage. Learn how to work out each other’s kinks without exhausting yourself. Open to all levels. 6–8 p.m. Studio Zenith, 50 Main Street, Montpelier. $25. Katy, 272-8923 or fusionstudio.org. Shape-Note Sing. Ian Smiley leads tunes from The Sacred Harp. All welcome; no experience necessary. Event happens by RSVP only: please call or e-mail to confirm. 6:30–8 p.m. Tulsi Tea Room, 34 Elm Street, Montpelier. By donation. Ian, 882-8274 or [email protected]. Event happens every first and third Saturday. Contra Dance. All dances taught; no partner necessary. All ages welcome. Bring shoes not worn outdoors. 8–11 p.m. Capital City Grange, 6612 Route 12 (Northfield Street), Berlin. $8. 744-6163 or capitalcitygrange.org. Event happens every first, third and fifth Saturday.

directed by Ang Lee. 7 p.m. Chandler Music Hall, 71–73 Main Street, Randolph. $9. 431-0204 or [email protected].

MONDAY, MARCH 18

Build Your Money Muscles Workshops: Build Your Credit. See Monday, March 11, for description and information. Tales and Travels in Alaska: Slideshow and Talk. John Snell and Rob Spring present a different side of the 49th state— fascinating, wild and beautiful—through the viewfinders of their cameras and tales of their travels together. 6:30 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street. Free. 223-2518. Plainfield Book Club. 6:30 p.m. Cutler Memorial Library, Route 2, Plainfield. Free. 454-8504 or cutlerlibrary.org. Event happens every third Monday.

TUESDAY, MARCH 19

SUNDAY, MARCH 17

Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra Family Concert: Music Around the World. The philharmonic is joined by the Green Mountain Youth Orchestra in a program of music from England, the United States, Austria, Finland, Norway, Russia, Spain and Israel, as well as an original composition by Vermont student Cecilia Daigle. 2 p.m. Barre Opera House. $15 adults, $12 seniors, $5 students. Tickets at 476-8188, vermontphilharmonic.org or at the door. Passover Delicacies and Recipe Swap. Bring samples of your favorite Passover delicacies to share with others. Send recipes in advance to [email protected]; recipes will be printed out and available to take home. All welcome. 3–4 p.m. Beth Jacob Synagogue, 10 Harrison Avenue, Montpelier. Free. 279-7518 or [email protected]. Capital City Concerts: Debussy 1.5. Find out why Debussy remains one of the most famous and influential composers. Program includes the Sacred and Profane Dances, sonatas for violin and cello, and trio for flute, viola and harp. 3:30 p.m. Unitarian Church, 130 Main Street, Montpelier. $10–$25. Tickets at Bear Pond Books in Montpelier or capitalcityconcerts.org. Free tickets for age 18 and under by request: [email protected]. Chandler Film Society. Watch The Wedding Banquet, 1993,

Mystery Outing with the Montpelier Section of the Green Mountain Club. Location and length is leader’s choice, depending on weather and ground conditions. Contact leaders Reidun and Andrew Nuquist, 223-3550. Prevent a Fall. With Mary Ellen Boutin of Choice Physical Therapy. Learn to understand if you are at risk, what exercises can minimize risk of falling, where to seek help with balance issues and how to set up your home environment for safety. 1:30–2:30 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street. Free. 223-2518. Pacem School Open House. Learn more about the philosophy and curriculum at Pacem School, an intellectually inspiring, joyful learning community for teens and preteens. 4:30–6:30 p.m. 29 College Street, Montpelier. Free. 223-1010 or pacemschool.org. Yoga and Wine. With Lori Flower from Sattva Yoga. Bring your own mat. 5–6:15 p.m.; wine bar open until 7 p.m. Fresh Tracks Farm, Route 12, Berlin. $8 yoga; wine available for purchase. freshtracksfarm.com. Going Solar Without Going Broke. With Jessica Edgerly Walsh from Suncommon. Learn about financing options and state and federal incentives to help you go solar and save money. This workshop will focus on solar electric systems. 5:30–6:30 p.m. Hunger Mountain Coop community room, Montpelier. Free. Register at 223-8000, ext. 202, or [email protected]. Washington County Stamp Club Meeting. Program on the stamps of Iceland, plus casual time to buy, sell, swap and converse with other local philatelists. 7 p.m. First Baptist Church, corner of School Street and St. Paul Streets, Montpelier. Free. 2232953. Local Author Reading and Signing: Lloyd Devereux Richards. Richards reads from his new thriller, Stone Maidens. 7 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library,135 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. 223-3338 or kellogghubbard.org.

Climate Change: The Real Story. Presented by climate scientist Alan Betts. Part of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. 1:30 p.m.; doors open at 12:30 for brown-bag lunch. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street, Montpelier. $5 suggested donation. 223-1736 or [email protected]. Series continues every Wednesday through May 8. Tai Chi Video and Demonstration Class. Video featuring Dr. Lam, a family physician from Australia who has developed a tai chi curriculum with simple movements to promote health and quality of life, followed by a brief demo class led by longtime local instructor Ellie Hayes. 4:30–5:30 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street. Free. 223-2518. How to Balance Hormones Naturally. Alicia Feltus talks about how Nutrition Response Testing can detect food sensitivities, immune challenges and chemical and metal toxicity that may be interfering with optimal nutrition and hormone balance. 5–6 p.m. Tulsi Tea Room, 34 Elm Street (upstairs), Montpelier. Free. Cedar Wood Natural Health Center, 863-5828. Home Sharing Info Meeting. Find out what home sharing is all about. Refreshments served. 5:30–6 p.m. Home Share Now, 115 Main Street, Barre. RSVP at 479-8544 to ensure ample refreshments. Event happens every third Wednesday. The Reemerging Green: Spring Wildcrafting, Herbal Medicines and the Plant/Human Relationship. With Graham Unangst-Rufenacht, VCIH graduate. Learn about spring plants local to our bioregion, discuss and taste culinary and medicinal preparations of some of these plants, and consider the evolutionary relationship between humans and plants. 6–8 p.m. Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism, 252 Main Street, Montpelier. $10 VCIH members, $12 nonmembers. Preregistration required: 244-7100 or [email protected]. vtherbcenter.org. Business Building Blocks: Time and Money. Learn about credit, time management and personal and business budget basics. See Wednesday, March 13, for time, location and informatiom. Song Circle: Community Sing-Along. With Rich and Laura Atkinson. All ages and abilities welcome; no experience necessary. Song books provided. 6:45 p.m. Jaquith Public Library, 122 School Street, Marshfield. Free. 426-3581 or jaquithpubliclibrar [email protected]. Local Author Reading and Signing: Sarah Gillen. The healer and therapist presents her new book, From Hurt to Joy: How to Transform Self-Defeating Patterns with Energy Dynamics. 7 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library,135 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. 2233338 or kellogghubbard.org.

THURSDAY, MARCH 21

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20

Preschool Discovery Program: Signs of Spring—Use Your Senses! Nature-based activities, crafts and guided outdoor explorations with nature center naturalists for children age 3–5 and their families. 10–11:30 a.m. North Branch Nature Center, 713 Elm Street, Montpelier. $5 members, $8 nonmembers. 229-6206.

Meeting on Disability Issues. Share stories and concerns. 1–3 p.m. Vermont Center for Independent Living, 11 East State Street, Montpelier. 639-1522 or 229-0501 (both are also V/TTY numbers). Event happens every third Thursday. Guided Partner Thai Bodywork. With Lori Flower of Sattva Yoga. Bring a friend to give, receive and learn basic techniques for a blissful feeling and peaceful mind. Mats and cushioning provided. 5:30–6:30 p.m. Hunger Mountain Coop community room, Montpelier. $8 co-op member-owners, $10 nonmembers. Register at 223-8000, ext. 202, or [email protected]. see UPCOMING EVENTS, page 16 • Alchoholics Anonymous, Sundays, 8:30 a.m. • Making Recovery Easier workshops, Tuesdays, 6–7:30 p.m. • Wit’s End Parent Support Group, Wednesdays, 6 p.m. • Narcotics Anonymous, Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. Open daily, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. 489 North Main Street, Barre. 479-7373. Overeaters Anonymous. Twelve-step program for physically, emotionally and spiritually overcoming overeating. Fridays, noon–1 p.m. Bethany Church, 115 Main Street, Montpelier. 223-3079.

Support Groups
BEREAVEMENT
Bereavement/Grief Support Group. For anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one. Every other Monday, 6–8 p.m., through April 15. Every other Wednesday, 10–11:30 a.m., through April 10. Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice, 600 Granger Road, Barre. Ginny or Jean, 223-1878. Bereaved Parents Support Group. Facilitated by Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice (CVHHH). Second Wednesdays, 6–8 p.m. CVHHH, 600 Granger Road, Berlin. Jeneane Lunn, 793-2376.

CANCER

Kindred Connections. For anyone affected by cancer. Get help from Kindred Connections members who have been in your shoes. A program of the Vermont Cancer Survivor Network. Call Sherry, 479-3223, for more information. vcsn.net. Living with Advanced or Metastatic Cancer. Second Tuesdays, noon to 1 p.m. Cancer Center resource room, Central Vermont Medical Center. Lunch provided. 225-5449. Writing to Enrich Your Life. For anyone affected by cancer. Third Tuesdays, noon– 1 p.m. Cancer Center resource room, Central Vermont Medical Center. 225-5449.

day group facilitated by Kathy Grange and Jane Hulstrunk. Evening group meets first Mondays, 5:30–7:30 p.m., DisAbility Rights of Vermont, 141 Main Street, Suite 7, Montpelier, 800-8347890, ext. 106. Day group meets first and third Thursdays, 1:30–2:30 p.m., Unitarian Church, 130 Main Street, Montpelier, 244-6850. NAMI Vermont: Connection. A peer-led, recovery-oriented group for individuals living with mental illness. First and third Thursdays, Hurricane Irene Support Group for Re- 6–7:30 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpecovery Workers. Get peer support and help lier. 800-639-6480 or [email protected]. processing emotions, strengthen relationships NAMI Vermont Family Support Group. and learn coping skills. Every other Monday, Support group for families and friends of indi3:30 p.m. Unitarian Church, 130 Main Street, viduals living with mental illness. Fourth MonMontpelier. 279-4670. days, 7 p.m. Central Vermont Medical Center, Hurricane Irene Support Group. Share room 3, Berlin. 800-639-6480 or namivt.org. your story, listen to others, learn coping skills, Celiac and Food Allergy Support build community and support your neighbors. Group. With Lisa Masé of Harmonized CookRefreshments provided. Wednesdays, 5:30 p.m. ery. Second Wednesdays, 4:30–6 p.m. ConferBerlin Elementary School. 279-8246. ence room 3, Central Vermont Medical Center. [email protected]. Diabetes Discussion Group. Focus on Grandparents Raising Their Children’s self-management. Open to anyone with diabetes Children. First Wednesdays, 10 a.m.–noon, and their families. Third Thursdays, 1:30 p.m. Barre Presbyterian Church, Summer Street. The Health Center, Plainfield. Free. Don, 322Second Tuesdays, 6–8 p.m., Wesley Method6600 or [email protected]. ist Church, Main Street, Waterbury. Third Diabetes Support Group. First Thursdays, Thursdays, 6–8 p.m., Trinity United Methodist 7–8 p.m. Conference room 3, Central Vermont Church, 137 Main Street. Child care provided in Medical Center. 371-4152. Montpelier and Waterbury. Evelyn, 476-1480. Cancer Support Group. First Wednesdays, 6 p.m. Potluck. For location, call Carole MacIntyre, 229-5931. Man-to-Man Prostate Cancer Support Group. Third Wednesdays, 6–8 p.m. Conference room 2, Central Vermont Medical Center. 8726308 or 866-466-0626 (press 3).

DISASTER

SOLIDARITY/IDENTITY

KIDS

HEALTH

RECOVERY

Brain Injury Support Groups. Open to all survivors, caregivers and adult family members. Evening group facilitated by Marsha Bancroft;

Turning Point Center. Safe, supportive place for individuals and their families in or seeking recovery.

Women’s Group. Women age 40 and older explore important issues and challenges in their lives in a warm and supportive environment. Faciliatated by Amy Emler-Shaffer and Julia W. Gresser. Wednesday evenings. 41 Elm Street, Montpelier. Call Julia, 262-6110, for more information. Men’s Group. Men discuss challenges of and insights about being male. Wednesdays, 6:15–8:15 p.m. 174 Elm Street, Montpelier. Interview required: contact Neil, 223-3753. National Federation of the Blind, Montpelier Chapter. First Saturdays. Lane Shops community room, 1 Mechanic Street, Montpelier. 229-0093. Families of Color. Open to all. Play, eat and discuss issues of adoption, race and multiculturalism. Bring snacks and games to share; dress for the weather. Third Sundays, 3–5 p.m. Unitarian Church, 130 Main Street, Montpelier. Alyson, 439-6096 or [email protected].

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UPCOMING EVENTS, from page 15 Home Builders Hold Free Mixer. Mingle with building and construction folks at a gathering hosted by the central Vermont council of the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Northern Vermont. Refreshments served. Bring business cards. 5:30 p.m. Portland Glass of Barre, 1041 Route 302 (Barre-Montpelier Road), Berlin. Free. RSVP to Mark, 476-8481 or [email protected].

The Energy Basis of Food Security. Eric Garza talks about how energy is used in the U.S. food system, how the concept of energy return on energy investment can be applied to food systems, how we might enhance food-system energy efficiency from a whole-systems perspective, both at the national and local levels. 6–7:45 p.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library,135 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. 223-3338 or kellogghubbard.org. A Transition Town Montpelier program.

Songwriters’ Meeting. Meeting of the Northern VT/NH chapter of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. Bring copies of your work. 6:45 p.m. Catamount Arts, St. Johnsbury. John, 633-2204. Event happens every third Thursday.

Submit Your Event! Send listings to calendar @montpelierbridge.com. The deadline for our next issue, March 21, is Friday, March 15.

Weekly Events
BICYCLING
Open Shop Nights. Have a bike to donate or need help with a bike repair? Visit the volunteerrun community bike shop. Tuesdays, 6–8 p.m.; Wednesdays, 5–7 p.m. Freeride Montpelier, 89 Barre Street, Montpelier. By donation. 552-3521 or freeridemontpelier.org.

HEALTH

BOOKS

Ongoing Reading Group. Improve your reading and share some good books. Books chosen by group. Thursdays, 9–10 a.m. Central Vermont Adult Basic Education, Montpelier Learning Center, 100 State Street. 223-3403.

CRAFTS

Beaders’ Group. All levels of beading experience welcome. Free instruction available. Come with a project for creativity and community. Saturdays, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. The Bead Hive, Plainfield. 454-1615.

DANCE

Ecstatic Dance. Dance your heart awake. No experience necessary. Sundays, 6–8 p.m., Christ Church, State Street, Montpelier. Wednesdays, 7–9 p.m.; first and third Wednesdays: Worcester Town Hall, corner of Elmore Road and Calais Road; second and fourth Wednesdays: Plainfield Community Center (above the co-op). $10. Fearn, 505-8011 or [email protected]. West Coast Swing Dancing. With Scott Chilstedt and Kristin Rothaupt of Green Mountain Westie. Thursdays, 7–9:30 p.m., through March 28. Studio room, Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street. Students: $8 drop-in, $25 four-week series; adults: $12 drop-in, $35 series. [email protected].

NAMI Family-to-Family Education Course. Evidence-based 12-week course to help families and friends of individuals with mental illness understand and support their loved ones while maintaining their own well-being. Begins March 14, 5:30–8 p.m. Berlin. Free. Advanced registration required: call: 800-639-6480. More information at namivt.org. ★ Powerful Tools for Caregivers. Learn tools to help reduce stress, communicate effectively, take care of yourself, reduce guilt, anger and depression, make tough decisions, set goals and problem-solve. Wednesdays, March 20–April 24, 5–7 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street, Montpelier. $20 suggested donation to help defray cost of The Caregiver Helpbook. Register with Jeanne, 476-2671. Presented by the Central Vermont Council on Aging; ★ Living with Alzheimer’s for Caregivers. Explore strategies to provide safe, effective and comfortable care for those in the middlestages of Alzheimer’s. Thursdays, March 14 and 21, 5–8 p.m. Conference room 1, Central Vermont Medical Center, Berlin. Free, but registration required: call the Alzheimer’s Association at 800272-3900. Presented by the Central Vermont Council on Aging. Free HIV Testing. Vermont CARES offers fast oral testing. Thursdays, 2–5 p.m. 58 East State Street, suite 3 (entrance at the back), Montpelier. 371-6222 or vtcares.org. Affordable Acupuncture. Full acupuncture sessions with Chris Hollis and Trish Mitchell. Mondays and Wednesdays, 2–7 p.m.; Fridays, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. 79 Main Street, suite 8 (above Coffee Corner), Montpelier. $15–$40 sliding scale. Walk in or schedule an appointment at montpelier communityacupuncture.com.

Cub Capers Story Time. Story and song for children age 3–5 and their families. Led by Carrie Fitz. Saturdays, 10 a.m. Children’s room, Bear Pond Books, 77 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. 229-0774 or [email protected].

LANGUAGE

English Conversation Practice Group. For students learning English for the first time. Tuesdays, 4–5 p.m. Central Vermont Adult Basic Education, Montpelier Learning Center, 100 State Street. Sarah, 223-3403. Lunch in a Foreign Language. Bring lunch and practice your language skills with neighbors. Noon–1 p.m. Mondays, Hebrew. Tuesdays, Italian. Wednesdays, Spanish. Thursdays, French. KelloggHubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier. 223-3338.

Deepening Our Jewish Roots. Fun, engaging text study and discussion on Jewish spirituality. Sundays, 4:45–6:15 p.m. Yearning for Learning Center, Montpelier. Rabbi Tobie Weisman, 223-0583 or [email protected]. Christian Meditation Group. People of all faiths welcome. Mondays, noon–1 p.m. Christ Church, Montpelier. Regis, 223-6043. Shambhala Buddhist Meditation. Instruction available. All welcome. Sundays, 10 a.m.–noon, and Wednesdays, 6–7 p.m. Program and discussion follow Wednesday meditation. Shambhala Center, 64 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. 223-5137. Zen Meditation. Wednesdays, 6:30–7:30 p.m. 174 River Street, Montpelier. Free. Call Tom for orientation, 229-0164. With Zen Affiliate of Vermont.

MUSIC

SPORTS

KIDS

FOOD

Free Community Meals in Montpelier. All welcome. Mondays: Unitarian Church, 130 Main Street, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Tuesdays: Bethany Church, 115 Main Street, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Wednesdays: Christ Church, 64 State Street, 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Thursdays: Trinity Church, 137 Main Street, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Fridays: St. Augustine Church, 18 Barre Street, 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Sundays: Last Sundays only, Bethany Church, 115 Main Street (hosted by Beth Jacob Synagogue), 4:30–5:30 p.m. Noon Cafe. Soup, fresh bread, good company and lively conversation. Wednesdays, noon. Old Meeting House, East Montpelier. By donation. oldmeetinghouse.org. Lenten Fish Dinner. Baked fish, soup, salad, vegetable, potato, beverage, dessert; fish sticks and mac and cheese available. Weekly raffles of gift certificates to local businesses. Benefits Central Vermont Catholic School in Barre. Fridays, 5–6:30 p.m., through March 22. Parish hall, St. Augustine’s, 16 Barre Street, Montpelier. $10 adults, $6 students in eighth grade and younger, $29 family of four; free for kids 3 and younger. 793-4276 or [email protected].

GAMES

Apollo Duplicate Bridge Club. All welcome. Partners sometimes available. Fridays, 6:45 p.m. Bethany Church, 115 Main Street, Montpelier. $3. 485-8990 or 223-3922.

★ Story Time at the Waterbury Public Library. No story time through March 10; story time resumes March 11 with special Kids Creating Music event. Mondays, age 18–36 months. Wednesdays, age 0–18 months. Fridays, age 3–6 years. 10 a.m. Waterbury Public Library. Free. 244-7036. Story Time at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Tuesdays and Fridays, 10:30 a.m. Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. 223-4665. ★ Story Hour at the Aldrich. For babies, toddlers and kindergarteners. Mondays and Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m., through mid-May. Aldrich Public Library, Washington Street, Barre. Adrianne, 476-7550. ★ Story Time with Bill and His Critters. Story and craft. Wednesdays, 10 a.m., through April 17. Ainsworth Public Library, Main Street, Williamstown. 433-5887, [email protected] or ainsworthpubliclibrary.wordpress.com. Story Time and Playgroup. For children age 0–6. Story with Sylvia Smith, followed by playtime with Melissa Seifert. Wednesdays, 10–11:30 a.m.; program follows the Twinfield calendar and is not held on weeks when the school is closed. Jaquith Public Library, 122 School Street, Marshfield. 4263581 or [email protected]. Baby Play Playgroup. For children birth to age 3 and their adults. Thursdays, 9:30–11 a.m., through June 13. St. Augustine’s Church, Barre Street, Montpelier. Christopher, 262-3292, ext. 115. fcwcvt.org. Dads’ and Kids’ Playgroup. For children birth to age 5 and their male grown-ups. Free dinner provided before playtime. Thursdays, 6–7:30 p.m., through June 13. Family Center of Washington County, 383 Sherwood Drive, Montpelier. Christopher, 262-3292, ext. 115. fcwcvt.org. Write On! For aspiring authors age 6–10. Drop in once or come for the whole series. Fridays, 3:30–4 p.m., through March 29. Children’s library, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier. Free. Linda, 223-4665.

Sing with the Barre Tones. Women’s a cappella chorus. Mondays, 6:30 p.m. Alumni Hall (second floor), near Barre Auditorium. 223-2039 or [email protected]. Vermont Fiddle Orchestra Rehearsals. Prepare for the orchestra’s 10th anniversary celebration. All ages and levels of string players welcome, as well as intermediate flute players; no audition. Mondays, 7 p.m. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street, Montpelier. $70 for season. 877-343-3531, info@vtfiddleorchestra. org or vtfiddleorchestra.org. Monteverdi Young Singers Chorus Rehearsal. New chorus members welcome. Wednesdays, 4–5 p.m. Montpelier. Call 229-9000 for location and more information. Friday Night Community Drum Circle. Open drumming hosted by the Unitarian Universalists of Barre. Everyone welcome. Fridays, 7–9 p.m. Parish house, Barre Universalist Church, Main and Church streets, Barre. Follow your ears or follow the signs. Accessible venue possible with advance notice: 503-724-7301.

Roller Derby Open Recruitment and Recreational Practice. Central Vermont’s Wrecking Doll Society invites quad skaters age 18 and up to try out the action. No experience necessary. Equipment provided: first come, first served. Saturdays, 5–6:30 p.m. Montpelier Recreation Center, Barre Street. First skate free. centralvermontrollerderby.com. Coed Adult Floor Hockey League. Adult women and men welcome. Equipment provided. Sundays, 3–5 p.m., through April 21. Montpelier Recreation Center, Barre Street. $52 for 13 weeks or $5 per week. bmfl[email protected] or vermontfloorhockey.com.

TAXES

Tax Return Preparation Help for Seniors. Volunteers from AARP assist with the preparation and filing of 2012 federal and Vermont income tax returns. Mondays and Fridays, 9 a.m.–3:15 p.m., through April 12. Montpelier Senior Activity Center, 58 Barre Street, Montpelier. Free. Call for a 45-minute appointment: 223-2518.

PARENTING

Mamas’ Circle. Meet and connect with others experiencing the joys and challenges of new motherhood. For infants up to 1 year old and their mothers (toddler siblings welcome). Snacks, drinks and parent education materials provided. Thursdays, 10 a.m.–noon, through April 19. Good Beginnings of Central Vermont, 174 River Street, Montpelier. centralvt.goodbeginnings.net.

TEENS

RECYCLING

Free Food Scrap Collection. Compost your food waste along with your regular trash and recycling. Wednesdays, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturdays 6 a.m.–1 p.m. DJ’s Convenience Store, 56 River Street, Montpelier. cvswmd.org. Dollar Days. Bring in odd and sundry items for reuse, upcycling and recycling, including toothbrushes, bottle caps, cassette tapes, books, textiles, batteries and more. Mondays and Fridays, 12:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. Additional Recyclables Collection Center, 3 Williams Lane, Barre. $1 per car load. Complete list of accepted items at 229-9383, ext. 106, [email protected] or cvswmd.org.

The Basement Teen Center. Cable TV, PlayStation 3, pool table, free eats and fun events for teenagers. Monday–Thursday, 3–6 p.m.; Friday, 3–11 p.m. Basement Teen Center, 39 Main Street, Montpelier. 229-9151. ★ Homework Help for Teens. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 3–5 p.m. Aldrich Public Library, Washington Street, Barre. 476-7550. Youth Group. Games, movies, snacks and music. Mondays, 7–9 p.m. Church of the Crucified One, Route 100, Moretown. 496-4516.

YOGA

SPIRITUALITY

Christian Science. God’s love meeting human needs. Reading room: Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–1 p.m.; Tuesdays, 5–8 p.m.; and Wednesdays, 5–7:15 p.m. Testimony meeting: Wednesdays, 7:30–8:30 p.m., nursery available. Worship service: Sundays, 10:30–11:30 a.m., Sunday school and nursery available. 145 State Street, Montpelier. 223-2477.

Yoga with Lydia . Build strength and flexibility as you learn safe alignment in a nourishing, supportive and inspiring environment. Drop-ins welcome. Mondays, 5:30 p.m., River House Yoga, Plainfield (sliding scale). Wednesdays, 4:30 p.m., Green Mountain Girls Farm, Northfield (sliding scale). Tuesdays, noon; Thursdays, 6 p.m.; Fridays, noon, Yoga Mountain Center, Montpelier. Rates and directions at 229-6300 or saprema-yoga.com. Restorative Yoga and Meditation. With Lori Flower. Mondays, 9–10 a.m. River House Yoga, Plainfield. By donation. 324-1737 or karmiconnection.com. Community Yoga. All levels welcome to this community-focused practice. Fridays, 5:30–6:30 p.m. Yoga Mountain Center, 7 Main Street (second floor), Montpelier. By donation. 223-5302 or yogamountaincenter.com.

★ indicates new or revised listing for this issue

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M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013 • PAG E 17

Class listings and classifieds are 50 words for $25; discounts available. To place an ad, call Carolyn or Ivan, 223-5112, ext. 11.

Classes
DANCE
ARGENTINE TANGO FOR BEGINNERS Creative, passionate, playful! Learn Argentine tango at Contemporary Dance and Fitness Center, 18 Langdon Street, Montpelier. No partner or experience required. Sundays, 5–6 p.m. Session 1: March 3, 17, 24, April 7. Session 2: April 21, 28, May 5, 19. $48 per session. Preregistration required at tangowise.com/communityclasses or contact instructor Elizabeth Seyler: [email protected] or 658-5225.

Classifieds
EMPLOYMENT
DRIVERS: CDL-B Great pay, hometime. No forced dispatch. New singles, Plattsburgh, New York. Passport/enhanced license required. truckmovers.com or 888-567-4861.

• Administrative assisting • Sorting through boxes/papers • Reading • Writing (cards/letters/memoirs) • Light meal preparation • Light gardening References available. Charlotte, 583-1093. STUFF TO SELL? Wish you could have a yard sale, but it’s too cold to hold one outside? Call us at T&T Repeats Thrift Store. We just may be able to help you out. 224-1360.

TRINITY COMMUNITY THRIFT STORE Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Trinity United Methodist Church, 137 Main Street (use rear entrance), Montpelier. Donations accepted during normal business hours. 229-9155 or [email protected].

SERVICES

THRIFT STORES

TAI CHI

HOUSE PAINTER Since 1986. Small interior jobs ideal. Neat, prompt, friendly. Local references. Pitz Quattrone, 229-4952. PERSONAL CARE PROVIDER Reliable, 10-plus years experience as nurse’s aid/personal care provider. I have worked with a variety of clients, including Alzheimer’s. Among my responsibilities: providing transportation, accompanying clients to the doctor, assisting with daily personal chores, preparing meals and maintaining household. References on request. Ed Norstrand: [email protected] or cell 718864-0073. PRUNING Early-spring pruning of apple, crabapple, pear; selective pruning and thinning of deciduous stock, including lilac, burning bush, viburnum, most others. Andy Plante, 223-5409. SEASONED COMPANIONSHIP PROVIDER Will provide quality services for soul in need. All needs considered. • Light cleaning • Light personal care • Chauffeuring • Mending • Picking up prescriptions • Pet care • Bilingual conversation (English/French)

TAI CHI CHUAN IN MONTPELIER Beginners class. Cheng Man-ching simplifed Yang-style. Taught by Patrick Cavanaugh of the Long River Tai Chi Circle. Begins Tuesday, April 9. 7–8 p.m., Bethany United Church, 115 Main Street, Montpelier. For more information, contact Patrick, 490-6405 or [email protected]. Registration open through May 7.

T&T REPEATS Bikes, name-brand clothes, small household furniture and more. At least two free parking spaces for T&T customers. 116 Main Street, Montpelier, or call 224-1360.

YOGA

PLANT SPIRIT YOGA YEAR Join herbalist, storyteller and yoga teacher Lydia Russell-McDade through the seasons, delving deeply into the teachings of the plants through movement, meditation, myth and magic! At Dharma Door Retreat, Underhill: March 31, May 11, June 22 (overnight), August 3, September 21, November 2 and December 21 (overnight). Preregister: lydia_dragonfly@hotmail. com or 229-6300. saprema-yoga.com.

• • • •

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PAG E 18 • M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013

THE BRIDGE

Immersion Writing for High School Students

Write Mondays

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eb Fleischman and Gary Miller started their Write Mondays program to offer high-school-age pupils the dynamics of professional writing not available through the strictures of the school essay. They saw that there were students ready to interface with the professional world of writing and who would be interested in independent programs. Much like a musician in the school ensemble who pursues private tutoring, students with an interest in writing may choose to supplement their English classes by paying $200 to participate in seven weeks of Monday classes. Deb and Gary each have writing-related MFAs and between them years of earning a living through writing, editing, curriculum development, visual art, documentary film and even stand-up comedy. Their program provides an interface between aspiring young writers and the real world of publishing and broadcasting. Screenwriting, poetry, the short story and, of course, journalism are all touched on during weekly two-hour session of what Deb and Gary have dubbed immersion writing. “Immersion writing means jumping right in before your mind has a chance to edit your voice,” is how they describe the start-to-finish pieces they have their students write each session. Their website (writemondays.wordpress.com) advises students that in the program “fun prompts will get you into the groove and from there you will learn to refine your work using the tools of the professional writer.” The two partner with local writers and media outlets. They have recruited Vermont poet April Ossman to lead their class on poetry, have had Goddard College’s WGDR radio station broadcast student-scripted podcasts and have arranged to have students’ writing published, such as the interviews of local people in this issue of The Bridge. Before the writing is broadcast or printed, it is all crafted in Write Mondays intimate workspace, where students first write then share with each other. “Sharing writing is a very vulnerable experience,” Deb Fleischmann explains of the passage from personal thought to mass distribution. “The social motive is to share.” And under Deb and Gary’s guidance, students find the connect between their immediate, initial voice and the world in which writing is shared. Following are five pieces by students of Write Mondays. —Ivan Shadis

Chocolate, Granola and Changing the World

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by Ahri Messina, Montpelier High School, grade 9

aquelyn Rieke is a business owner whose first concern is not for her own profit or even for making a living. Locally known as “Nutty Steph,” she makes and sells products ranging from bars of artisan chocolate packed with goodies such as nuts, berries and even crunchy pretzels to bags of delicious granola. She even offers a combination of both in her Magic Chunks chocolate granola squares. But instead of profit, Rieke is focused largely on the impact she makes on the environment and the people she works with. Fair trade is something she takes very seriously. In fact, she recently returned from a trip to Ecuador, where she inspected the source of the cocoa she uses to make sure that both the land and the workers who grow and harvest the cocoa are in good condition. But how does this philosophy translate into chocolate and granola? “Chocolate sells well,” she stated after some thought. “There is nothing spiritual about my answer to this question. It’s just my job. I sell chocolate . . . and . . . it wasn’t my dream to do so. I just needed a job.” Selling things has been Rieke’s ambition since she was 9 years old, and since then she has sold everything from jewelry to baked goods. But Rieke is much more interested in what she terms “a less consumerist ethic” for

her company. She believes in keeping her business in balance and works hard to maintain equilibrium. If she goes too far toward the profit end of the spectrum, she is in danger of going against her ethics. But too far toward the other end, and her business will not survive. Does she seek out local ingredients in Vermont? “No!” she exclaimed, one reason being Vermont doesn’t have the conditions to grow nuts or cocoa beans. According to Rieke, many products supposedly made with local ingredients actually contain very few, and this ends up misleading buyers. She is honest about the fact that most of her ingredients come from scattered locations, nowhere near Vermont. The driving factor behind all of Reike’s decisions is to reduce her environmental impact on the world. Rieke’s goal is to live an environmentally sound lifestyle, spending as little as possible, while keeping the business alive. To that end, Reike lives in Middlesex in the building where she works. “I haven’t done that yet,” she laughed, when asked if she includes making a living in that balance. Business owner, partner and entrepreneur, Jaquelyn Rieke of Nutty Steph’s is clearly a savvy woman. She believes in teamwork rather than hierarchy and a product that is a sure sell. After all, who doesn’t love chocolate? You can find more information about a multitude of delicious Nutty Steph’s products at nuttystephs.com.

Newton Baker, Master of the Marathon
by Ben Kaplan, U-32 grade 9

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ewton Baker, blue-gray eyes twinkling behind wire-rimmed glasses, a sincere smile spreading across his creased face, talks avidly about his lifelong obsession with running. Baker has run over 180 marathons and 32 twenty-four-hour races. Looking at his impressive track record and demanding running regimen, one might imagine a young person in his peak of fitness. But this does not describe Newton. Newton, at over 70, has suffered from leukemia and prostate cancer, yet despite these obstacles, he remains a running enthusiast. Baker started running in 1980, at the age of 38, long before his leukemia and ailments, after being inspired by local runner and legend, Darragh Ellerson, and he has never turned back. His first race was two miles, which he ran without any knowledge of technique or pacing. He ran as fast as he could,

and at the finish line, he threw up. Thinking he could do better, he attempted the same race the following week. He ran faster than he had the week before, but once again, barfed. “This isn’t fun,” Baker remembered thinking to himself at the end of his second race. But Baker loved running, and the very next day he went to Montpelier and purchased a book on technique. He attempted the two-mile race one more time and, powered by the new information he possessed, sped forward. He didn’t win but considered the race a success because he completed it without vomiting. Baker then began the rigorous training required to run a marathon, and two years later, he did it. In 2007, Baker faced a problem: he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and feared for his running career. Luckily, the surgery was simple, and he was quick to recover. Amazingly, just 18 days after the surgery, Baker ran yet another marathon.

In discussing his first 24-hour race, where you see how far you can run in 24 hours (his best is 110 miles), Baker talked about the days before Powerade and Gatorade. He had read a book about how to make his own running drink and described a recipe involving two cups of sugar mixed with juices, but preferably with ice tea. “I am lucky to still be alive today after drinking that stuff!” he exclaimed. Baker, a retired high school English teacher, runner, coach and baseball pitcher, has mostly settled into competitive running as his main pastime, although he occasionally coaches for cross-country teams. “I will keep doing this as long as I live,” Baker said in his raspy voice. He hopes that even when he is unable to run, he will still be able to participate by photographing the sport and being a race timer. Until then, Baker will continue to astound and inspire us with his Ben Kaplan. Photo courtesy Gary Miller. passion for endurance running.

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THE BRIDGE

M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013 • PAG E 19

A Peek Inside the Hungry Hearts of Prescription Drug Addicts
by Gwendolyn Bunnewith, U-32 grade 9

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verdose. Loss of family. Relapse. These are just a few of the challenging issues examined in Bess O’Brien’s upcoming film Hungry Heart: Inside Prescription Drug Addiction. O’Brien began her filmmaking career in 1989. Until then she had been involved in theater production. But when Jay Craven invited her to join his film production company Kingdom County Productions, she agreed and hasn’t looked back. Today, the two are married, and O’Brien has completed 10 films. Hungry Heart will mark her 11th. The film, slated to premiere in 2013, features interviews with both young St. Alban’s area prescription drug addicts and Dr. Fred Holmes, who is helping them through their addictions. A film about prescription drug addiction might be one of the toughest projects for a filmmaker to undertake; so why did she choose it as a subject? It started when Holmes approached her and asked for help sharing his patients’ stories. He believes that sharing their powerful experiences plays an impor-

tant part in helping other addicts at any stage of the recovery process. O’Brien agreed, and so it began. Though the film’s purpose is to educate people about the reality of prescription drug abuse and empower them to become ambassadors to those in need of help in their communities, it has taught O’Brien some fairly powerful lessons as well. “One of the first things I learned is that addiction affects anybody. People tend to . . . make assumptions that addiction only affects . . . a certain kind of person, or a certain group of people, but really, addiction can hit anyone, anywhere, no matter what their social or economic background is or where they live.” She also learned that prescription drug addiction is one of the hardest to recover from; it takes multiple attempts and often many years. But the most important thing she gained from this experience is the relationships she formed with the participants. “I . . . tend to create very close friendships with a lot of the people that I work with,” she said. While making Hungry Heart, O’Brien also came to the realization that addicts are

but intense judgment from their community. Surprisingly, it wasn’t difficult to get addicts to share their stories. Many came forward, and their overwhelming willingness to participate made the film much easier to produce. But there were challenges. For example, while interviewing addicts, O’Brien worked hard to gain their trust. “I’m very aware of the fact that I’m . . . dealing with people who have . . . very intense stories, and I have to be very aware of making them feel . . . trusted, and . . . be able to open up to me,” said O’Brien. The interviews can also be difficult to handle emotionally. For example, O’Brien met a mother who had lost her daughter to addiction just two months before the interview. “I got out of that interview and needed to do . . . something totally superfluous and fun to get my head in a different place, because it is Gwendolyn Bunnewith. Photo courtesy Gary very intense,” she shared. O’Brien’s biggest hope is that the audiMiller. ence will feel the same intensity and emotion watching her film that she felt creating it. not as terrible as society makes them out. Listening to her describe these stories of adMany are extraordinary human beings, who diction, it is certain to have that effect. not only endure the difficulties of addiction

Apples to Apples with Rowan Jacobsen
by Quinn McVeigh, U-32, grade 10

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wo centuries ago, there were 16,000 different varieties of apples in the United States; now there are just hundreds left. In researching his new book, The Apple Bestiary, Rowan Jacobsen is finding out why. Jacobsen is an award-winning food writer whose focus is on where food comes from. He’s researched and written about chocolate, oysters, honeybees and now apples. “Around college I started getting interested in food . . . but it was always in the ingredients, working with them, and what could you do with them. It wasn’t about the end product on the plate so much . . . as it was all these different parts of nature,” said Jacobsen. But why apples? For starters, apples have plenty of genetic diversity. Apples have been here since the founding of the United States, having come over with the Pilgrims in the form of seeds. Apples also represent the change in attitude that people have developed toward food in the last few centuries. During his research, Jacobsen traveled up and down the East Coast. He found hot spots with a great diversity of apples, mostly in Virginia and New England, where the United States was first colonized. He explains why: “All these different varieties were created once they [the colonists] got here, because if you take an apple seed and plant it, you will get a variety completely different than the apple it came from . . . So what the colonists did is they just planted seeds everywhere. So suddenly they had thousands of apples that had never been seen before.” Rowan explains that, as the colonists began to create good varieties of apples, they started grafting them. Instead of making new varieties, the colonists basically cloned the best ones. “A lot of them were just sour green apples, but every once in a while they found one that was really really good, and totally new to the world,” Jacobsen said. And the benefit of having different varieties is that you can have specialty apples. Some varieties bake better than others, some create a better cider, still others just taste good. Since those early days, the agricultural revolution changed apple production for good. Today, most apples in the U.S. come from only a few major farms in Washington state. Some consumers believe that we have more variety now in the supermarkets than settlers

had when they first came here, but according to Jacobsen, this is not true. Long ago, each family grew as many as 16 different apple varieties, he said, whereas today’s supermarkets commonly offer only five or six. Jacobson’s research about apples illustrates a broader point about how consumers have lost our connection to what we eat. “We have become passive consumers of our food, instead of active participants in creating it . . . We just have an apple, and it comes from the store, and that’s that. But it used to be, people, consumers, were completely familiar with apples. They were creating new varieties; they were very much connected to the world of apples.” Apples are also foretelling the future. While explaining the grafting and breed-

ing of apples, Jacobsen mentions genetic engineering. A company in British Columbia has invented a new apple, called the ‘Arctic.’ The ‘Arctic’ will not brown, even if it’s sliced and left out for four days. The company is currently seeking FDA approval for their genetically modified apple. New varieties of apple could be just a planted apple seed away. And while Jacobsen is trying to raise awareness about apples, other people are trying to save the old varieties. Apple trees can live for hundreds of years, and researchers are cross-referencing old nursery catalogs and records and attempting to track down lost varieties. Maybe someday, we’ll have as many options as our ancestors did. Who knows? An apple tree a day could keep extinction away.

Quinn McVeigh. Photo courtesy Gary Miller.

Alan LePage, Wild Foods Forager
by Eli Pandolfo, U-32 grade 9

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lan LePage, a grizzled Vermonter with a stooped back and a bag full of mushrooms, has been a dedicated hunter of wild mushrooms all his life. His career as a mycophile began when he was 9 years old and some old Italian men took him hunting for porcini mushrooms, which have been a favorite of his ever since. LePage, who travels miles on foot to gather a wide variety of mushrooms, says it is possible to gather almost year-round. “In May, there’s the pheasant-backs and morels . . . the chanterelles start in late June. This year,” he says, “we’re picking way into October, and occasionally you can find oysters and other mushrooms like these all winter,” he adds, pointing to the large chagas. Chaga are a type of fungi that grows on birch trees and have amazing medicinal values. When asked where he forages, LePage answers with an elusive, “Well, that’s a secret.” But he believes in educating people about mushrooms and conducts tours of Chickering Bog in East Montpelier as a way to teach people about wild edible mushrooms without harvesting any. He says that many people he has spoken to are afraid of wild mushrooms. “They actually recoil from mushrooms,” he observes, noting that many Americans believe that mushrooms are dangerous and so

Eli Pandolfo. Photo courtesy Gary Miller. are hesitant to go near them. LePage, an organic farmer from Barre, says that it was easier to forage 50 years ago. “Now,” he says, “most of the land around is posted with no trespassing signs.” Additionally, he regards the increase in wind turbines to be a little-known devastator of the mushroom pickings. He explains that the ridgelines that have been clear-cut

to make way for wind turbines are causing erosion and disrupting the root systems of the mushrooms. Mushrooms, LePage says, have a symbiotic relationship with a multitude of trees. For example, the chanterelle mushroom, one of LePage’s favorites, only grows under hemlock trees. The continued destruction of forests and clearing of mountaintops to provide wind power has the capacity to destroy entire forests. Without the roots of fungi to anchor soil and tree roots, entire hillsides could be cleared in a storm like Tropical Storm Irene. Ironically, LePage describes Irene as having an overall positive impact on the mushroom harvest. “Last year was a banner mushroom year,” he says. “The heavy rains provided optimal conditions for mushrooms to grow. It was wet in the spring, and [there was] abundant rain all summer.” But there was also a negative impact. LePage says the heavy winds and rain felled trees and flooded swamps and streams. LePage is concerned about the effect that natural disasters and human impact will have on the future of mushroom foraging. Alan LePage has a stall at the local farmers’ market in Montpelier selling homegrown vegetables and the wild mushrooms he collects. If you want to chat with him, stop by any Saturday during the summer and buy some mushrooms or try chaga tea.

PAG E 2 0 • M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013

THE BRIDGE

Growing Your Business
Can You Take Your Business by the Horns?
by Lindel James

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VERMONT PROFESSIONAL TAX & FINANCIAL SERVICES
• TAX PREPARATION • SMALL BUSINESS CONSULTING
GER ARD M. GALVIN, JD CPA

an you be very honest with yourself? It’s not always easy. However, as a business owner, you must have the capacity to do just that. You must be able to truly assess your strengths and weaknesses and be able to determine your opportunities and threats. You must be able to get “under the hood” of your business. You must know the numbers and other factors that are driving your business. Successful business owners regularly administer their own SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. If you have never done this for your business, you must stop and do it now! As a small business owner and/or an entrepreneur, you must look carefully and honestly at your personal (you are your business) strengths and weaknesses along with your business numbers. You must also assess your external and environmental opportunities and threats. Let’s consider your strengths and weaknesses. Ask yourself the following questions: • Do you have a passion for what you are doing? • Do you have confidence that is built on previous solid wins? • Do you have perseverance (are you willing to keep going when that going gets tough)? • Do you really love working with people? • Can you honestly think about what’s in it for them and not be “all about you”? • Are you aware of your weaknesses? • Does the telephone feel like a two-ton brick? • Are you too shy to lead a “silent prayer”? • Does networking make you nervous? • What’s your relationship with money? Now let’s consider your environment— your opportunities and threats. An opportunity is a recognized need for your product or services. Do you have access to a population base that supports your sales and recruit-

ing goals? Competitive products and pricing also provide opportunity. Conversely, threats would be the opposite of the opportunities. Do you have a niche? Do you know who your “ideal clients” are? Do you know where they hang out? What are their likes and dislikes are and what would drive them to you? Now, take out a pad of paper, grab a pen and draw a line down the middle of the paper and across the middle of the paper. At the top of the page on the right, write strengths; on the left side, write weakness. On the bottom left, write opportunities and on the bottom right, write threats. This can be quick and will give you that SWOT analysis that is a necessary piece to grow a successful business. Pay attention to what you are seeing and look for support to turn your weaknesses to strengths and threats to opportunities. When you determine your weaknesses, drill down to determine the root cause for that shortcoming. Determine if it is something that needs to be converted to s strength, or if there is someone else who has that strength who you can bring in to help you and your business. As you generate your SWOT analysis, consider all aspects of your business. Look at your past, at what has worked well and what has not turned out as you would have liked or projected. What are your new opportunities and what will you need to do to secure the success you want? Be tough with yourself. Be your own coach. Drive your self to successful outcomes. Where there is a will there is a way if you couple that will with action! Next time, we will discuss the metrics that every business must track for success. Lindel James is an executive coach, leadership development and business growth strategist, trainer and speaker. She is a Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach and Trainer. She can be reached atcenterforleadershipskills.com or 778-0626.

802-839-6929
MA X @ V TPROTA X .COM

THE BRIDGE

M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013 • PAG E 21

Editorial
Completing Our Campaign and Planning a Dinner

Letters
Most Support City’s Budget, High Property Taxes To the Editor: I was among the 75 percent of the Montpelier electorate that voted in favor of the city’s budget last March. That three out of four approval margin was consistent with votes over the last decade, during which we have overwhelmingly backed city budget requests through good economic times and bad. There’s not a better longitudinal poll of sentiment with respect to real estate taxes in support of city government. There is no reason to doubt that those results are reflective of the electorate’s values today. A current effort by some Montpelier citizens to reduce local property taxes parallels a paralyzingly contentious effort in Congress to reduce income taxes. The result of these efforts (but not the intent, I am certain) would be the same. Lower taxes will benefit the wealthy disproportionately, and it will be the less affluent who will lose the most as services are curtailed or lost altogether. Given a choice without adverse consequences, I would be delighted to pay less in real estate taxes. Regrettably, we don’t have that choice. I, along with most Montpelier citizens, like living here and view real estate taxes as the price to be paid for the scope and quality of city services we enjoy today. Justice Holmes’s “Taxes are the price we pay for civilization” is no less true locally than at the state and national levels. It is important, as the next city budget is prepared for approval on Town Meeting Day, that the process honors the values, long established, of the city’s voters. There is a generosity of spirit here that makes Montpelier special. Let’s not lose sight of who we are. —David Abbott, Montpelier H.209 builds on the Safe Passing law of 2010. H.209 has been introduced by Rep. Jim McCullough after much leg work by citizen advocate Bruce Cunningham. It mandates that a motorist pass a bicyclist (or other vulnerable roadway user) with a minimum of three-feet clearance and with additional clearance as vehicle speed increases. This bill will provide enhanced safety for bicyclists, pedestrians and other vulnerable roadway users. Here’s a link to the full text of H.209 (click on “Original Version”): leg. state.vt.us/database/status/summary.cfm?Bill =H.0209&Session=2014. H.306 doubles the fine for motorists who speed in the immediate vicinity of a school. The bill calls for the monies collected from fines to be dedicated to Vermont’s Safe Routes to School program. Currently, fines are doubled in construction work zones. Vermont’s children (and all others who use roads near schools) deserve the same level of protection. This bill has been introduced by Rep. Mollie Burke at the request of the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition (VBPC). Here’s a link to the text of H.306 (click on “Original Version”): leg.state.vt.us/database/status/ summary.cfm?Bill=H.0306&Session=2014. Many bicyclists are expressing concern about S.136, a bill introduced on the senate side that requires bikes to be registered. The VBPC’s recommendation is to take no action as this bill is very unlikely to advance. Instead, please focus your time and energy on helping to get H.209 and H.306 voted out of the house Transportation Committee. There’s lots of competition, and your voice is needed to demonstrate to lawmakers that Vermonters care about bike/ped safety. —Nancy Schulz, executive director, VBPC, Montpelier Robert Lamprey Is New Leader at Aikido of Montpelier To the Editor: On February 7, Aikido of Montpelier, at 1 Granite Street, Montpelier, honored Sara Norton, who founded the dojo (training place) 33 years ago, and Robert Lamprey, who received leadership in a ceremony attended by many past and present students and teachers of the dojo. Sara studied and completed her instructor training in Paris in the 1970s with Masamichi Noro Sensei, a direct student of Aikido’s founder, Morihei Ueshiba. After three decades of guiding the dojo and three years of shared leadership, Sara is honored to pass the lineage and leadership to Robert. Sara continues to teach classes as the dojo’s teacher emeritus. Robert has been practicing aikido for 19 years, starting in 1994, and has devoted the last 13 years to the dojo as teacher and senior student. The dojo is committed to training
see LETTERS, page 23

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ere at The Bridge, we are continuing to receive contributions that are taking us toward our annual campaign goal of $15,000. At the moment, our total donations stand at $11,900. Here’s our plan to complete the campaign. First, we are urging readers and friends to contribute to the campaign to get us to our goal. Second, as part of our March 21 issue, we will be including a return campaign envelope. Third, we are planning a community dinner on Thursday evening, April 11, at 6 p.m., to be held at the new senior center meeting room and kitchen. It’s been a number of years since we’ve had a face-to-face dinner with readers and friends of The Bridge. We want you to tell us if The Bridge is providing what you want. Are there stories we are missing? Is there information we need to supply? How can we make the paper better? We are certainly inviting anyone who has helped us with our annual campaign. And we are inviting our advertisers. And, of course, anyone who reads the paper, whether they live in Montpelier or in neighboring towns, is invited to join us. You’ll have a chance to meet our writers, editors—anyone who works for the paper. While this is not a requirement, we would be totally grateful if almost everyone who joins us for dinner brought something, even a plate of carrot sticks. We’ll also be asking eating places and restaurants to help us with food. It’s going to be a great time. We’ll have good food and music. We’ll have a speaker. We’ll talk together about the paper. And we’ll celebrate the coming of spring. In our March 21 paper, we’ll tell you how to tell us if you’re coming so that we can save you a space. And as we try to complete our campaign here is the critical information. Please send a check made payable to “The Bridge” to The Bridge, P.O. Box 1143, Montpelier, VT 05601. Or if you prefer, please drop off an envelope at our office on the lower level of Schulmaier Hall on the campus of the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Berlin Pond: Seeking Stories, Opinions, Photographs

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am currently working on a story about Berlin Pond for The Bridge, studying documents and talking to a range of people. The longer I work on this story—the more people I talk to, the more I read—the more conscious I become of both the value of the pond and of its complexity. There’s the history of the pond: its human history and its much longer natural history. Berlin Pond doesn’t exist in isolation; it’s part of a watershed, and water from hillside, mountain and wetland streams feed it. Berlin Pond is in Berlin, but the pond is the source of Montpelier’s drinking water supply. It’s also a place of recreation where people go to walk, run, bike and bird-watch. And it’s the Support Bike/Ped-Friendly Bills: range of those recreational uses—what works and what doesn’t—that presents the vexing H.209 and H.306 questions at the heart of the story I am writing. To the Editor: If you have a perspective on the pond—a story, a strong opinion about its uses, or even a Please send an e-mail this week to Fran photograph—please feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]. Cerulli ([email protected]), the legislative staffer for the house Transportation Committee, in support of the following two bike/ped-friendly bills (please cc your own representatives): H.209 and H.306. Here’s the reason for this request:

A Note About the March 11 Public Meeting on Tasers

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ccording to a March 4 press release, the office of Vermont attorney General Bill Sorrell will be hosting a public forum “to evaluate Vermont law enforcement’s use of tasers.” That meeting is set for Monday, March 11, at 10 a.m. in the Pavilion Building auditorium at 109 State Street in Montpelier. As promised by the attorney general’s office, the public forum will include presentations on the current training of Vermont law enforcement personnel, the current policies on the use of tasers, and the risks of using them. In large part, I believe, this public forum has been organized because of a public outcry over what many see as the unnecessary death on June 20, 2013, of Thetford resident Macadam Mason. But Mason was not mentioned in the attorney general’s press release. That’s too bad. Because there continue to be unanswered questions about Mason’s death, and these questions need to be taken up and dealt with. It may not have been possible for Attorney General Sorrell to organize a public meeting at a late afternoon or evening hour when the working public can attend. Again, that’s too bad. Because if members of the public who are working can’t break away and attend the meeting, they can’t be part of the discussion.

Correction: In our introduction to the Town Meeting Day ballot on the front page of our last issue (February 21), we stated that the ballot issues included “requests for increases from the library and (Montpelier) recreation department.” While Kellogg-Hubbard Library requested an increase in the 2013 ballot, the Montpelier recreation department request for 2013 is levelfunded at $575,230, the same as in the 2012 town meeting warning. The Bridge apologizes for this error.

Two Upcoming Meetings About Sabin’s Pasture

Friday Night Group for LGBTQQ Youth

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or a number of years, there has been strong community interest in Sabin’s pasture. Is it advisable to zone part of the pasture for housing? Or should it be kept as open space and zoned for recreation? Where do the property rights and concerns of the landlords fit in to such zoning proposals? These three questions, among many, will begin to be discussed at two public meetings called by the Montpelier Planning Commission, set for two Monday evenings: March 11 and March 25. Both meetings will start at 7 p.m. The March 11 meeting will be held at Noble Hall on the campus of the Vermont College of Fine Arts. The location for the March 25 meeting will be announced at the March 11 evening. The full draft of the Planning Commission’s proposed maps and ordinances are available at montpelier-vt.org/page/462/Work-in-Progress-Draft-and-Sample-Zoning.html.

’m writing to spread the news that there is a friendly setting in Montpelier where young people who identify as LGBTQQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning) can gather. On the second and fourth Friday evenings of the month, youth from the ages of 13 through 22 can enjoy free pizza, soft drinks, conversation and camaraderie in a spacious room at the Unitarian Church. The gathering time runs from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., and it’s facilitated by two adult volunteers who have been trained by Outright VT, the state’s advocacy group for LGBTQQ youth. To be young and gay in Vermont can be difficult. Friday Night Group provides an important social outlet. Thanks to Outright VT for creating this opportunity, to the Unitarian Church of Montpelier for donating the space, to Shaw’s for donating beverages and to Al Portico and Positive Pie for donating pizza for the sessions held so far. Please help get the word out about Friday Night Group to young people who may be interested. Thank you. —Nancy Schulz, Montpelier

PAG E 2 2 • M A RC H 7–2 0 , 2 013

THE BRIDGE

Eat Healthy, Be Healthy and Reduce Health Care Costs
by Brenda Thow

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he cost of health care is a major concern to everyone, and we should find ways to reduce it. However, the most obvious topic is never covered: Why are we getting sick? Remove the market and the rates will go down. Our current equation for the state of our health is eating food laden with toxins equals getting sick and taking medicine made with chemicals equals side effects and other problems equals hiring lawyers to sue the pharmaceutica l companies. It is mind-boggling to observe the number of people of all ages picking up their medications at the drugstore. At 68 years of age, I can tell you that was not always the way. As a child, the only time I took medication was for both types of measles, chicken pox, pneumonia and tonsillitis (many times). Dr. Mohler would not remove my tonsils as he felt they kept other illnesses away. Obviously, he was correct as I have enjoyed good health. My parents also made sure I had all of my immunizations. I still have my mother’s list of which ones and the dates they were administered. My father only missed work on two occasions, and my mother and grandmother had similar track records. They were of middle-class income and did not have health insurance. Of course, they were concerned

Opinions

about the cost of health care, but always were able to pay. Many people blame their health cost on someone else: the doctors, the pharmaceutical companies, the government, the food industry. As our bodies have been entrusted to us, we all should take an active part in our overall health—read, investigate and ask questions. My belief is that the food we put into our bodies is killing us. If you spray your grass with weed killer it will destroy the weeds. If you eat the dead weeds doesn’t it make sense that over time the chemicals they contain will affect your health? Isn’t it obvious that the growth hormones given to animals are making us larger ? I’ve tried discussing this with many seemingly intelligent people and get a bored uninterested look in return. A few years ago I met Dr. Christopher Hollis at a business meeting. That encounter changed the lives of my husband and myself. He introduced us to eating organically and to the book Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictorats by Sally Fallon. This real food is so delicious. I will never forget one particular evening meal. A short time after eating, this wonderful feeling started radiating from my stomach, and it was as if my body were saying thank you. That wonderful feeling lasted about two hours. All the good nutrients in that food

were what my body needed. In our quest for good health we should educate ourselves. Reading Nourishing Traditions is the best place to start. The following are a few quotes from the book to entice you to read it: At the turn of the 20th century heart disease and cancer were rare. Today, chronic illness afflicts nearly half of all Americans and causes three out of four deaths in the United States. Most tragically these diseases, formerly the purview of the very old, now strike our children and those in the prime of life. . . . Few persons alive at 70 today survive until 90 than 40 years ago. . . . All green plants produce carbohydrates. Only during the last century has man’s diet included a high percentage of refined carbohydrates. Our ancestors ate fruits and grain in their whole, unrefined state. . . . A survey of medical journals in the 1970s produced findings implicating sugar as a causative factor in kidney disease, liver disease, shortened lifespan, increased desire for coffee and tobacco, athersclerosis and coronary heart disease. . . . Consumption of sugar, refined flour, hydrogenated fats, alcohol, tobacco and many drugs deplete the body of nutrients, resulting in higher vitamin and mineral requirements. . . . Studies have shown that salt restriction may harm more people than it helps. A 1930s study found that salt deficiency led to loss of taste sensation, cramps, weakness, lassitude, and severe cardiorespiratory dis-

tress or exertion. The need for salt varies with the individual. The best and purest commercially available source of unrefined sea salt is the natural salt marshes of Brittany, where it is “ farmed” according to ancient methods. Other good reading is Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon and The Great Cholesterol Myth by Drs. Stephen Sinatra and Jonny Bowden. The first response of most people to eating organically is “I can’t afford it.” I ask: Do you make this statement after a year of eating organically or is it based on hearsay? With a little effort on your part, you can make it within your means. One source for finding ways to eat organic foods economically is Wildly Affordable Organic by Linda Watson. The second response is “I don’t have the time.” Yes, healthy cooking does take time. It will have to be your decision. What are your priorities? Would you rather get your child up at 5 a.m. so he or she can have ice time for hockey practice and eat at a fast-food restaurant or protect your child’s health with an organic meal cooked at home ? We should be demanding healthy nutrientdense foods free of antibiotics and chemicals. Most of the people involved in our food and health chain have forgotten they are working for us. We are the reason they have a job. It is our responsibility to let them know our “Natural state is one of balance, wholeness and vitality” (Nourishing Traditions). Brenda Thow lives in Montpelier.

On the Edge of Chaos
by Margaret M. Blanchard
Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from Blanchard’s novel This Land.

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ur whole generation was born on, has lived on, the edge of chaos. Most of us don’t live on the edge of chaos anymore—but some still do. The edge of chaos is not the same as being on the edge in other ways: on the brink of, or falling off of, precipitous, extremist, marginal or excluded, although we’ve been there too. No, I don’t mean that edge, unless we’re talking about the “excluded middle,” the hole in the center of everything, the place out of

which all things emerge and into which all things vanish. Edge of chaos, as I understand it, is the place where order and chaos touch, the place of meeting, the place of change—what a friend calls the zone of biomerge. She knows about molecules, how they share electrons through a figure eight dynamism and how they can mend their holy/wholly/hole-y shields by creating together a common umbrella through sharing electrons. Some people get a good look at the edge of chaos at an early age and settle way back deep in the heart of order, never again to venture far from the routines, habits, comforts of what has always been, is, and hopefully will

MHS Senior Wins Oratorical Contest

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ina Merriam, a senior at Montpelier High School, was the District 3 winner of the American Legion Oratorical Scholarship Contest at American Legion Post 3 in Montpelier on March 3. She is pictured here with post commander Richard Harlow, left, and district contest chairman Tom McGibney. Photo by Maria McKnight.

always be, traditionally, genetically, culturally. Others, no matter how much they aspire to be regular, ordinary, normal, run of the mill, no matter how much they dream of a common language or search for common ground, are drawn like moths to the flames of chaos. They push through boundaries to enter that liminal space, that in-between zone, that place of flux. Some of these are us. There is, contrary to the opinion of s/he who is living it, choosing it, feeling it, no particular life style which is more edgy than another. Chaos can be found in the most unlikely places: someone’s untidy head; the life of a nuclear family; the underside of a president. The edge of chaos, therefore, can be about risk, about shadowy selves, about uncertain outcomes, luck, fate and story. But mostly it’s about change, about choices, about fuzzy outcomes, shifting commitments and fluid priorities. If you are rich, powerful or famous, I imagine, your life exists on the edge of chaos simply by reason of your situation, there right in the middle of the fountain of life, in touch with its fullness and energy—or not. If you are on the other side of things, the margins, you have to find your own sources of transformation: poverty, drugs, sex, anger, faith, social action. But when you’re really at the edge of chaos, it doesn’t matter how you got there. Some modes allow you to live longer and enjoy more. Some are healthier than others. But all roads lead to the same source, the core of vitality, the merge of pattern with color, movement with shape, light with line, shared illuminations. Some of us worship at this shrine, some of us are wary of it, but that’s not the point really. Being there is really a question of knowing, of recognizing, ultimately of honoring, shivering with those quivering strings, letting that music flow through us. The more we go with, the less we stay. The more we embrace chaos, the more order dissolves. But without continuity, without form,

without a certain rhythm, everything dissolves into chaos. We do not want to dissolve; we want to dance. Only within a larger sphere whose own resonance contains, amplifies, and modifies our own, can we find the larger order toward which this chaos leads us. For me, I am the larger order. For I, we are the larger order. For we, you are the larger order. For us, they are the larger order. For them, the larger order is lost in the chaos. The source of which is buried in the order. Is this experience just the difference between earth and sky? Is the edge of chaos the edge of this world of ours? Where we stand and burn? Where we share the horizon with other persons, animals and trees? Maybe our generation was no different than others. Each generation seems to face some kind of major change in its youth, not always disaster. Maybe ours just seemed especially chaotic. Compared to the one which came after us, but not, perhaps, the one which preceded ours. They were the ones who fought the Great Wars. We were the ones who suffered their comings and goings. And maybe we’re the ones in our own generation who lived particularly on the edge, even after we learned early on how life is rough around the edges. Chaos is nothing if not edges. Order is smooth, solid, safe. Things come round again. People follow predictable orbits. The universe is systematic. The system is not too shaky. Within chaos, or at its edge, things “melt, thaw, resolve themselves into a dew.” They rage. They burn up. Slowly or quickly it doesn’t matter. They go back into the dark with a sigh or a cry of joy. We all know this, but those of us who live at the edge of chaos know it more closely, more deeply, most of the time. And yet we still go out to meet change at the edge of chaos so we can experience our lives where they most fully flow. Margaret Blanchard is a writer, teacher and poet. She lives in West Topsham.

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Forced Vaccination: Just Say No!
by Charlotte Gilruth
We know there are places around the country where there are large numbers of people who aren’t vaccinated. However, we don’t think those exemptors are driving this current wave [whooping cough outbreak]. —Anne Schuchat, MD (Centers for Disease Control) would eliminate both religious and philosophical exemptions for children for the pertussis/whooping cough vaccine and require all adults working in public education at any level to get that shot. Other bills (H.138/ S.102) would transfer power from the legislature to the Health Commissioner/Agency and would suspend religious and philosophical exemptions, requiring vaccination of all adults and children in a particular school if rates drop below a 90 percent trigger for any vaccine. Sponsors of the pertussis bills blame exemptors for the recent upsurge in whooping cough. Tracy Dolan of the health department counters, “We do not have any official explanation for the outbreak and have not linked it to the philosophical exemption issue.” Whooping cough flares up cyclically across the nation and worldwide, mostly in places with elevated vaccination rates. Forty-nine states reported 2012 pertussis increases—including West Virginia, with neither a religious nor a philosophical exemption. Experts posit that the pertussis bacteria has mutated so that the vaccine is not protective. Patsy Kelso, Department of Health epidemiologist, says, “The . . . pertussis vaccination is just not as effective as we’d like it to be. Even if you’re vaccinated, its efficacy wanes after a few years.” In Vermont, vaccinated children account for 90 percent of whooping cough cases. Citing low effectiveness, Australia recently ended subsidies for “cocooning”—or vaccinating those surrounding children too young or immunocompromised to be vaccinated themselves. Universal vaccination, proposed to address the poor efficacy of the pertussis vaccine, would be most unwise, due to grave risks from the vaccine itself. It is by far the most dangerous of all the vaccines on the required childhood schedule: Children injured and killed by pertussis-containing vaccines have received almost half (44 percent) of the more than $2.6 billion awarded by the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program for vaccine injuries and deaths since 1988. (The U.S. Supreme Court, when liability was lifted in 1986 for vaccine manufacture and administration, labeled vaccines as “unavoidably unsafe.”) Package inserts of four commonly used pertussis vaccines—two DTaP vaccines for children (Daptacel, Infanrix) and two TDaP vaccines (Adacel, Boostrix) for adolescents and adults—contain almost identical language: “The following adverse events were included based on one or more of the following factors: severity, frequency of reporting, or strength of evidence for a causal relationship to [Daptacel, Adacel].” All four list anaphylaxis (life-threatening allergic reaction), encephalopathy/encephalitis (brain damage), and various types of convulsions and seizures, while Infanrix includes Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) at the very end of its list! Furthermore, all these vaccines contain toxic ingredients, including neurotoxic aluminum, formaldehyde/formalin (a known carcinogen), and poisonous glutaraldehyde. Inserts for all vaccines reveal similar adverse events and noxious constituents. Concern mounts with the number of required vaccines, now 38 vaccines (24 shots) by kindergarten, with three recommended ones (9 shots) due to roll over onto the required schedule now, after the two-year phase-in period. With 300 vaccines under development, more will surely be added to the mandated schedule, and injuries will correspondingly increase. Numerous people suffering food poisoning after dining at the same restaurant would cause alarm. Yet the 30,000 adverse vaccine reactions (13 percent serious) reported annually to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System are mostly dismissed as “coincidence” or “temporal association.” In any case, high vaccination rates can be maintained without trampling rights. About half of 29 countries surveyed (mostly European) simply recommend vaccines, yet have high vaccine rates equalling those of countries that mandate them. The philosophical exemption should be held dear by anyone who believes it reasonable to be able to refuse even one of the proliferating vaccines required, while the religious exemption must be untouchable; it is unconscionable to compel parents to act against their conscience. Charlotte Gilruth is certified in classical homeopathy and advocates for health freedom as a member of the Vermont Coalition for Vaccine Choice (vaxchoicevt.com). Information sources for her article are available, and she can be contacted at [email protected].

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oss of any right is significant, and none is more personal than medical choice. Informed consent--full disclosure of the risks and benefits of a procedure before voluntary consent or refusal—is a well-established protocol that should be immune from fear-based legislation. It is nothing less than medical authoritarianism to force individuals to disavow their opinions and beliefs to undergo a medical procedure by threatening them with loss of jobs or education. As recently as 2011, the Vermont Department of Health’s vaccine exemption form stated, “I request that the following immunization(s) be waived because they conflict with free exercise of religious rights and/ or moral (philosophic) rights.” The philosophic exemption to vaccination is available to half the population of the United States, concentrated in 20 states; only two have no religious exemption. Despite last year’s clear message of the house vote of 133 to 6 to preserve the philosophical exemption, and in the face of Governor Shumlin’s and Health Commissioner Chen’s lack of support, the Vermont legislature opened their session this year with another attack on Vermonters’ rights: mirror bills in the house (H.114 ) and senate (S.103)

Opinion

LETTERS, from page 21

students in the transformation of aggression into harmony. Robert is dedicated to the unique philosophy and mission of Aikido of Montpelier and will hold its leadership with integrity. The dojo is privileged to welcome him as its head instructor. —Amy Handy, Montpelier Deny Vermont Yankee a Certificate of Public Good To the Editor: I urge the Public Service Board to deny a Certificate of Public Good for Entergy’s Vermont Yankee (VY) plant. Here’s why: 1. The irradiated nuclear waste continues to accumulate on the banks of the Connecticut River with no plans for safe, permanent storage, either there or elsewhere in the nation.

2. The plant is old, leaking tritium into the soil and groundwater and just another “incident” or, God forbid, Fukushima-type of disaster away from rendering the whole Northeast uninhabitable for generations. These plants weren’t designed for more than 40 years and then to be propped up with duct tape. We’re coming up on 41 years in March. 3. VY continues to pollute the river and endanger wildlife there with its heated discharge water. 4. Entergy is not a good corporate neighbor. Despite its assurances when it purchased the plant that it would close on time and not challenge the state’s oversight authority, they have lied (under oath), gone back on their word and tangled up the state in costly, drawn-out legal challenges. 5. Vermont’s legislature and citizens have spoken loud and clear that we are through with VY and want it shut down and the land

restored to green fields. Yet, this multimillion dollar corporation doesn’t even have the decency to supply the decommissioning fund with enough money. 6. Vermont utilities no longer include VY in their portfolios. 7. There is no realistic evacuation plan for a nuclear accident—never has been one. Planning an orderly evacuation for a major nuclear accident is an exercise in magical thinking. 8. Finally, Vermonters have every right to be concerned for their safety and the safety

of all living things here. Entergy hides behind the skirts of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s rules, saying we aren’t allowed to address safety. Nonsense! The NRC has proven again and again that it will not seriously regulate safety, and it routinely rubber stamps every plant’s relicensing. It exists to cheerlead the nuclear industry and protect the producers. It does not protect us citizens. We therefore must be vigilant and refuse to be cowed by this corporate bully. —Fletcher Dean, East Calais

An Energizing Evening

H E LP WANTE D :

GRAPHIC DESIGNER
The Bridge is looking someone with strong graphic design and computer skills to work as our graphic designer. This person will be in charge of assembling the entire paper, start to finish, including creating high-quality ads to customer specifications, designing covers and laying out feature stories. Experienced graphic designer preferred, but we would be willing to consider anyone with a strong interest in and aptitude for graphic design and a high comfort level with computers and design software. We use Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop on a Mac platform for all of our design work. This position requires strong interpersonal skills, an ability to perform well under deadlines and pressure, a talent for juggling many tasks at once, and an ability to work closely with our ad sales people and editorial team, as well as work with the general public to create effective ads. If you are interested in applying for this position, or if you would like more information, please contact Nat Frothingham: 223-5112 or [email protected].

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ontpelier’s first Energy Fair took place in the National Life cafeteria Monday night, March 4. Equipment vendors, weatherization service providers, energy interest groups and financial institutions offered information as fair-goers munched popcorn, watched Marko the magician perform and gathered information about saving energy and money. Photo by Bob Nuner.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Read something you want to respond to? We welcome your letters and opinion pieces. Letters must be 300 words or fewer; opinions, 600 words or fewer. Send your piece to [email protected]. Deadline for the March 21 issue is Monday, March 18, at 5 p.m.

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